A good SWE salary doesn't necessarily elevate you to the same strata anymore. Most of the programmers I work with have parents that supported them, especially monetarily. I myself, could not rely on either parent. Well-off parents can help you with a down payment on a house, be a better present grandparent, and be a reliable source of financial support in hard times. For most people in these well-paid positions, a job doesn't guarantee buying a house anymore, or a stable future. Only generational wealth does.
These prices are pretty meaningless. They said the same thing about Hyundai Konas but dealer prices are substantially different. Used/new car purchases continue to be a terrible value proposition.
Per CarGuru's stats page[1], prices have been in steady decline across the board. Average is 4.63% decline in the past 90 days. Hyundai/Kia are down >5% in the past 90 days. Teslas are actually down a lot more, 14% in the past 90 days and 29% YoY.
Not any more. Within 20 miles of where I'm sitting there are two dozen Lightnings for sale at MSRP (and I'm not in a big city). Markups are not really a thing at this point. Too-high of an MSRP is causing these to languish on the lot. Ford needs to start doing rebates like the good old days.
I've been following this story for a bit. I'm traveling to Mexico soon and the last leg is on a 737 MAX 9. I'm looking into contacting Aeromexico to see about changing flights to a different airplane.
Is that a good idea? I always feel like the best time to fly a plane or airliner is after they've had some incident that leads them to being under a microscope.
That is, all the MAX 9s have been grounded, and I'm guessing they'll all be thoroughly inspected for this issue before they fly again. So if your concern is that you'll hit a repeat of this same issue, that seems like the wrong concern.
When I searched for the engine nacelles issue, that appears to only apply to an earlier version (737 NG) of the 737, not the MAX.
Which kinda proves my point - someone saying "I don't want to fly on a 737 MAX" may just get put on another plane that has different issues. I guess if you've completely lost faith in Boeing you can decide not to fly any of their planes, but that's going to make flying at all very difficult. And if you decide to drive instead you'd just be taking a more dangerous mode of transportation.
Any of the newly engined Max models are involved, even the Max 8 and 9. The problem with the de-icing mechanism was only found _after_ the 8 and 9 were certified so they've been allowed to continue flying with the "pilot fix" in place (this is ludicrous btw).
The Max 7 is being blocked currently because it hasn't been certified yet.
I'm just not that compelled by that argument. If cars are at the center, then so are a hundred other things that are impacting biodiversity at least as much.
I'm really not trying to be a car stan here, I don't really care about cars. But focusing on cars is kindof a dumb distraction, in my opinion.
It's not so much cars themselves as it is car-centric development that causes many problems.
In the US at least, this is pretty clear: when you design new areas and cities around cars as the primary or even only way to get around, this hurts the environment a lot more than denser, multi-modal style of developments. It results in more total space needed per person, and it results in higher energy expenditures.
> It's not so much cars themselves as it is car-centric development that causes many problems.
I wouldn't call it car centric, more like everyone-gets-to-have-a-lawn-and-2000-sq-ft-home centric.
Herein lies the crux of the problem, not in the mode of transportation. Americans are used to such huge spaces per inhabitant that driving appears to be the only option.
We have districts with detached houses where I live and to me they were always sort of a dead zone. No shops, no restaurants, not even a way to get across, as every square metre is someone's property, so at times you'll have to take a huge detour on the way to your destination.
Do the people living there drive everywhere? Apparently not all of them and instead they accept that they have to walk a significant distance to get to the next bus stop. All because they're used to having a lot of space and will never sacrifice it for an apartment in a place where everything is closer.
Apartments are horrible. If you get a crying baby neighbor, or a dog, or neighbors who blast music at 3am, there’s nothing you can do about it.
Nothing. The police will not help you, as noise ordinance is not enforced. Your apartment manager won’t do anything because none of them do anything.
Other fun apartment specific happenings: constant clouds of marijuana smoke, curry spice smell seeping through the walls and sticking to everything, and constant thuds from anyone walking above you.
Without rigorous enforcement of rules, apartments suck. And there is no enforcement.
Suburban homes suck. If you get a neighbor mowing their lawn, weed-whacking, leaf-blowing, ignoring their dog endlessly barking outside, or partying late on their patio, there’s nothing you can do about it.
Nothing. The police will not help you, as noise ordinance either doesn’t exist or is not enforced. Your HOA, if you have one, won’t do anything because none of them do anything.
(Yes, this is tongue-in-cheek, but it is also rooted in real experience. Yes, I’m aware electric lawn equipment exists and somewhat improves some of the above when used. Nevertheless, city apartment living for me has been quieter than suburbia.)
Gas mowers are fast and run during the day. I couldn’t care less about daytime noise, because I sleep at night.
Animal control will eventually come for dogs left outside, but it takes some effort. The more property you own, the less this matters. And some HOAs DO enforce where apartments will not. HOAs aren’t in the business of making anyone happy, unlike apartments. They exist to do the opposite, in fact.
There are levels to apartments - I have lived in apartments like this in my 20s, but there is a whole world of single family condos that is more like my suburban childhood home. I live in a townhome in a dense area and experience no noise from neighbors beyond the occasional lawnmower or loud car. I’ve been able to find homes like that easily in urban centers in various parts of the US where I’ve lived.
I think you're right that cars are not a unique ill here. But I think it's worth observing that car-dependent societies disproportionately exhibit complexes of destructive patterns: car dependency goes hand-in-hand with insufficient urban design, poor transit networks, food deserts, etc. The latter aren't uniquely produced by car dependency, but are substantially aggravated by it.
They're related phenomena. In general, sprawl (associated with car dependence) tracks with food deserts[1]. Reduce the sprawl, and you reduce the need for cars to access affordable, healthy food (and corresponding absence of access when people can't afford cars).
Constructive dismissal is typically a couple of years salary at best. If the company doesn't care about the bad PR from the legal proceedings then it's just a hard graft for little benefit and lots of potential downside.
Love Steve. I had the pleasure of meeting him at a conference once. I wonder if Mexico City's historically bad air pollution had something to do with it. Apparently the oxygen levels are 25% lower in the city, due to its high altitude, making the air pollution worse. Carbon-based fuels also do not combust completely.
I understand where you're coming from, as they can be highly destructive and are to be blamed for some species on Pacific Islands going extinct! The humans who brought cats to such fragile ecosystems are clearly to blame.
By and large, domestic US outdoor cats are not in fragile ecosystems, but they are the number one killer of birds. They roam outside along with other species (like squirrels and crows) that have had to adapt to the insane environment humans have developed.
I've always seen my pets as persons, with feeling and moods. Trapping them inside is cruel. Cats in nature are adapted to roam and explore.
My cat in the US regretably, has brought home a few birds, but all of the birds were species of least concern. Fortunately, there are a lot of cheap collars owners can use to help alert the bird of the cat's presence before predation occurs.
Your cat doesn't know which species are of least concern, and you certainly aren't seeing every bird or small mammal or reptile your cat kills for fun.
I recently took a course on ornithology and was stunned by how difficult a bird's life is from the migrations, predations, building collisions, and the sheer amount of work they invest in nesting and raising their young. It's easy to take them for granted until you actually understand what they go through just to exist, unlike a pampered cat who gets to kill for sport.
Cat owners who allow their cats outdoors are being cruel to birds and small animals, period. A bell on your cat's collar doesn't make much difference. There's no way to wiggle out of this moral dilemma. If you love nature and want it balanced and protected, then keep your cat indoors. Or, if you can, train your cat to kill only invasive species.
> Your cat doesn't know which species are of least concern, and you certainly aren't seeing every bird or small mammal or reptile your cat kills for fun.
Of course they don't know which is of least concern, but by and large I do see everything they kill because they bring it home and I have to clean it up. It is in their nature to bring it home.
> A bell on your cat's collar doesn't make much difference.
There's barely any species of concern in urban environments anymore, because:
* Industrial run-off
* Habitat destruction
* Roads and highways with vehicles
* Air pollution
* Light pollution
* Poisons
* Electrocution from power lines
* Buildings with glass (actual a #2 killer of birds!)
* Hunting (both legal and illegal)
Domestic cats are merely a cherry on top of the myriad of environmental mistakes humans have made in the name of progress.
They are simply acting on instinct and trying to be happy in a world of human creation.
If you truly care about birds I would urge you to:
* stop driving
* use no lights past dusk
* not use or consume any product that contributes to air pollution
* not use any power grid that uses power lines
* not use any building with glass
* not consume any poultry
You forget that cats aren't always 100% in their kill rates. They also maim many critters who die sooner or later from their injuries.
So while you pet and play with Fluffy that evening, the mother bird she maimed earlier that day can no longer make ~100 trips a day to feed its hatchings. She tries, but can only manage a dozen or so trips. They slowly starve over the next few days despite the mother's desperate attempts.
That bird survived all the other leading causes of bird mortality, but not Fluffy. And Fluffy gets a few more bonus kills when the hatchlings expire.
I'm curious what would you do if people had a new breed of small domesticated dog that is efficient at killing outdoor cats, and those people let that dog roam like a cat?
Given that your cat is out there doing his thing, this new breed of outdoor dog is also out there doing his thing. As you said, they are simply acting on instinct and trying to be happy in a world of human creation.
His owners think he's a person. It would be cruel to lock him up all day.
But one of these dogs swiftly kills your outdoor cat. And your next cat. In fact, they're becoming the leading cause of death among outdoor cats, seconded only by cars.
Would you a) demand that dog breed not be allowed to roam because it harms cats, b) keep your next cat indoors, or c) ?
1. those collars don't work. birds didn't evolve alongside cat w/ flashy collars, so it doesn't always trigger flee instinct
2. if your cat wants to go outdoors, you can leash them like any dog-owner is required to do. the whole "cats need to be in nature" argument is rooted in the assumption that you as the owner aren't involved in that nourishment. if you can't be a responsible cat owner (keeping it from roaming on it's own; keeping it stimulated) then don't get a pet. is the cat really a critical unit of your family if you skirt responsibility and are okay w/ it dying violently outside?
3. the US is very much a fragile ecosystem. source on it not being? we, like many other place, have had a huge and trending decline in biodiversity.
4. cats haven't adapted to the human environment; we've developed technology and laws that have protected cats in our human environment. i'm not sure how they've had to adapt as they can interact with humans safely.
5. you don't see everything your cat kills. you may be able to placate yourself that your cat isn't one of the "rampant killers", but that thought isn't based solely on fact.
