Mars gets 40% earth insolation. 40% isn't a tiny fraction. It's like the difference between California and Germany. Hardly a show stopper.

That escalated quickly. In the real world we have limited resources; specifically its preposterous to legislate against all potential problems. On top of that it also violates a very popular, long standing interpretation about the role of the US Federal Government. Given that the number of hypothetical problems is infinite, it seems like a prudent course of action to use past results as a key input to planning, priority and predictor of future consequences. I asked for some of examples. I presented several potentially deal-breaking problems with the proposed legislation. I also suggested that sponsors of this particular legislation are not genuine in their motivations. Good luck with your opposing theory. I imagine it's quite some task to solve all the hypothetical problems in the world.

Interesting analogy. I checked my credit score recently to see the effect of playing CC games. I took a huge hit, but I still have excellent credit. Credit Karma had a neat feature where I could compare myself based on age, income, sex to others. I was surprised to see that I am only in the 55-60% percentile. Since I'm still offered the cheapest rates of capital, it seems to me that about 40% of similar people are offered cheap capital, thus benefiting from credit history.

I was weary about facebook and google in 2005. I don't really use facebook and google's 10 years of my data hasn't noticeably impacted me in anway (neglecting insignificant enhancements). I don't care much for my privacy these days, advertisers haven't been't been successful in harnessing data to sell me stuff (despite vastly increasing income, my expenses remain constant), the government nor my employer haven't persecuted me based on public knowledge, and I sort of enjoy seeing my timeline evolve on facebook exclusively via others' input.

That said, it still seems rather trivial to maintain personal privacy, mostly at personal expense. So what gives? Why is it so important I share your values? Can't you just go off and do your anonymous things in some quiet place? What is the point of this advocacy?

Good unintended analogy. As with the vast majority of recreational drug users, most people will live in both worlds without having an issue. I don't know why my virtual existence wouldn't define who I am since it is effectively just a database of data about me.

Do you have examples of this occurring? I'm not one for legislation for the sake of hypothetical problems.

Who is the arbiter of these requirements in each case? Critics? People who have a direct financial incentive to stall and kill any attempt to be regulated? When institutions that fund bogus science make technical claims against the "completeness of the science, that they "can't reproduce results"," take 10 years to "study the science" "reproduce results," or come up with "conflicting" results, like for example they have in the past with lead and smoking, then what? Do you spend time and money while people literally die to settle the issue?

If I understand you clearly, you would like to preserve the sanctity of the scientific method and we should accept that people may be poisoned for decades while its all sorted out?

I have no problems with the idea in principle if our regulatory approach required that we first scientifically demonstrated that chemicals and processes weren't harmful (in the manner proposed). But that isn't how it works, in the current environment one poisons first, and investigates later. This seems backward to me...

How do you reconcile that one of the sponsors of the bill explicitly rejects the scientific method in favor of biblical interpretation?

freedom pop gives better service for free if you live in a good coverage area.

yep, I use it exclusively over 3g/4g and wifi.

galaxy s2 is a great phone. I don't foresee giving it up for a long time.

Net metering only exposes the existing flaws in the industry. For example, I am a low electricity user and the apparent cost of transmission and distribution exceeds my monthly bill to the utility. Some researchers have argued that most residential consumers are subsidized in this way. Net metering exacerbates the problem and exposes poor planning by the utilities. Taking this to its logical conclusion, if the cost of transmission and distribution truely costs as much as utilities disclose then they are doomed to lose to distributed systems. Roadblocks will only forestall this event so long. Cost savings for utilities on solar + storage compared to residential solar + storage will never be enough to pay for distribution and transmission. Utilities will fundamentally change their business or they will all starve and die.

It is interesting to me that you start with the Carter Doctrine, surely many other prior interventions by the west in the region are equally if not more important?

re: street lights Some communities have done this to save money and energy. An even larger number are aware of the potential. So it may be a small minority, but it isn't nobody at all. It's an idea I've advocated for a long time, for energy, cost, and its a gross violation of the night. And of course researchers have studied whether street lights deter crime or just let criminals see better. Results are inconclusive. re: the excessive waste caused by petty vanities and stupid choices. Yes.

The US has 150+ military interventions to its name. On average more than 1 per year since the 1890s. Retaliation to empire building should not be unexpected.

This is some troubling reasoning; are proposing that the scientific efficacy of an idea is all that matters? Surely you recognize the ethical and moral problems that present themselves here. Also I think you are confusing intersecting ideas. I can recognize the scientifically tested efficacy of vaccines and nuclear power and still contrive scientific arguments against both, depending on my world view. AGW may be somewhat different in this respect since we are specifically referencing "deniers," but there is a substantial (educated) crowd with an agnostic belief on AGW that is treated as denial (It's simpler to deny that admit you just don't care), which is also a sound way of thinking (to my dismay..).

Since there are plenty of schools with non-union teachers, surely such a simple hypothesis could be tested (and has been) with publicly available data. I'm guessing it has and this idea holds no water.

weird attitude, in conflict with with nerd community I have grown up with on slashdot, which has for 15+ years routinely and actively promoted a hacker-like ethos with respect to one's products, tools, etc.

Who cares what they say, on all my devices, even with flags for modification, I've been able to bring it back to factory. Warranty issues really?

That's an easy question. The entire distance my desire, abilities, and time, will take me. What's the problem? We arrive back at my earlier comment, somehow spending an evening to understand the relationship between your phone hardware and software and modifying it to better suit you is made to be some perilous, indefinite journey galaxy fraught with imagined dangers that cause one to sit home on the internet and complain. Actually it was 3 hours of reading, 2 hours of fuck ups, and 1 hour of getting it right, one evening, 14 months ago.