If social media companies want to exercise editorial control over the content that appears on their platform like newspapers/radio/TV outlets, then they must also agree that they will be help liable for any content that then appears on their platform. This is the crux of the problem, as most want to have their cake and eat it too...

Actually, no. The rent should be comparable to the rents being paid for similar properties in a similar location, I.e. market rates. The owner has an asset, and that asset should provide a comparable rate of return.

All goods/services are sold at the market rate. To do otherwise would distort the pricing mechanisms that normally would encourage more supply, and thereby arrive at the appropriate price for any good/service. Of course in the case of housing in these localities, the real distortion of supply was purposeful and intentional by the elected officials who legislated/ruled on local and state laws and regulations...

In my school, Algebra was always a mid level mathematics course. New York had lower level course work geared towards those who were going to go into the trades as an example, and they took general math and received a general diploma. The majority were tracked towards a regents diploma, which required algebra, geometry and trigonometry in math as an example, and was targeted at those looking to move on to higher educational pursuits. Lastly, there were higher, more competitive level course work which eventually ended up with AP level course work in the last year or two of high school. At the end of the day, not all students have been born with equal levels of educational aptitude, nor an educationally supportive family structure or the benefit of like-minded peers. Hell, children born and raised in the same family often achieve different results...

Of course Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had a hand in slowing down their efforts by suing NASA because of their award to SpaceX, stopping all progress on the contract while the lawyers figured out that the Blue Origin legal complaint was baseless

These types of articles lose all their credibility when they can't even express their key datapoint in an appropriate unit measure, i.e. MW is a measure of power, not energy.

Internationally, marxist political parties (e.g. the Soviets, CCP, etc.) also created their own armies, subjugated whole countries, caused wars, artificial famines , enslaved and killed 10's of millions of people within a century.

The whole point of this thread is to point out that some in the California legislature are proposing putting speed limiters. My suggestion is that before they focus their efforts on restricting the freedoms of the state's car drivers, that perhaps there are more important concerns to focus on. Do you want me to confirm how bad other states are? Sure, other states also have a raft of serious issues that need addressing. That being said, when states are in demand and free people are moving to those states, that is a metric worth understanding. Conversely, when people are leaving other states (like mine in New York), that is also a metric that it is worth understanding.

There are other parts of the sate with similar issues, and from a macro perspective, for the last 3 years: the population of California in 2023 was 38,965,193, a 0.19% decline from 2022, the population of California in 2022 was 39,040,616, a 0.27% decline from 2021, the population of California in 2021 was 39,145,060, a 0.91% decline from 2020. These numbers are juxtaposed with a positive growth rate 1959 to 2022 when California’s average rate of population growth was 1.52 percent. In addition, as a whole, the nation continues to see population growth (although it is slowing). So while everything might all be smelling roses in CA, it's growth rate has declined over the last decade (losing a congressional seat in 2020) and is now in negative territory. These are just facts, although you can mock them all you want as right wing talking points, but something odd is going on...

All of California, no doubt you are correct. Some localities, things are clearly not so good, per: "At least 17 retailers have left San Francisco's Union Square area since 2020. The latest departures include Nordstrom, Office Depot, and Old Navy, reports say. Retailers cite concerns over employee and customer safety related to shoplifting and other crimes." and as reported by CNN: “A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area.” Is it possible that the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN and other right wing rags are wrong -- certainly, but something has clearly happened and all is not as rosy in all parts of California. Do I hope they "put the genie back in the bottle" - certainly, but something has clearly changed for the worse (and I have been traveling to San Francisco for decades, and it is not the place I recall from the 1990's.

Once again, a distinction without a difference. If the DA's will not charge and prosecute those misdemeanors -- then they are effectively not crimes. If the DA's will not charge and prosecute those misdemeanors, then the police will stop arresting the criminals. If the police will not arrest the criminals, then the stores/people will stop reporting those crimes...

A distinction without a difference I fear. If the crime will not result in an arrest and if the arrest will not involve a prosecution and conviction...

Absent a speeder responsible car accident -- there are no victims in the speeding case. The same cannot be said for the theft, fraud, forgery cases where there are clearly defined victims. Sometimes the immediate victim is a larger corporation (with the resultant victims being those who lose opportunities to buy food, medicine, etc. and pay more and at additional friction when they are able to procure those goods. However, not all the immediate victims are larger corporations...

Hey, I'm fine with a culture which believes that a certain level of theft should be tolerated -- but those that live in such a culture will have to acclimate themselves to the resultant consequences -- i.e. fewer retail establishments, more restricted access and higher prices. It just seems like if certain criminality is to be tolerated for certain individuals, why should others not be so treated (i.e. the person driving 78 mph on a 65 mph speed limit highway).

You almost solved the conundrum about what to do regarding electric car mandates. We just need to build cars as we do trains, i.e. have the engine turn a generator which produces electricity to then drive the electric motors to propel it forward -- presto change, electric vehicle (i.e. EV).