Well, I don't expect anyone earning MINIMUM WAGE to own their own home, regardless. Do you? That's what renting is for. Move up out of minimum wage, then we'll talk about ownership.

Also, the costs of a death row inmate by far exceeds the costs of a long term imprisonment. (This is particularly true in the states that allow prison slave labor - which has a high correlation to the states that allow capital punishment). The many rounds of appeals that a death sentence automatically trigger cost a heck of a lot more than the room and board.

That's a dangerous argument in this case because a lot of death penalty proponents would simply reply that the appeal process is too lengthy, and that is not an inherent difficulty with the death penalty.

It's not like an entrepreneur is going to want to do it anyway. Once they finish, they'll be told they didn't build that.

Only in the UK would 50 miles be considered a "long distance".

It's not the free market. Those alfalfa farmers get subsidies. Not sure about Nestle... considering it's a public water company, I'd say it's reasonable to impose consumption limits.

Not sure why you have this anti-avocado agenda. You're just regurgitating the 1970s and 1980s "facts" that claimed high fat diets made people fat. That's like claiming that drinking a lot of water makes you retain water. Avocados are 160 calories per 100g. That's not high for a "snack food". Most of their carbs are in dietary fiber, which is good. They have some saturated fat, but that's low in relation to the unsaturated fat so I wouldn't call it a problem unless your doctor is worried about blockages. They're also pretty damn high in several vitamins.

It's a lot better than dipping your chips in sour cream and onion dip, I'd say.

It's an interesting concept, isn't it? Funny how governments treat the same water. When water flows through my property, the government tells me what I can and can't do with it-- even if it ends up in a lake with no outlet. In some areas, you can't even collect the rain, which is pretty much an anti-green, anti-science policy. So the government owns the water-- until it's flooding your basement, causing toxic mold to grow. Then that's YOUR problem.

Yes, it is. He'd be giving somewhat less than $30 billion to a politician's campaign. I mean, you can't write a check to the government with "FOR WATER PIPELINE PROJECT ONLY" in the memo.

It's hard to get anything out of the trees without cutting them down and releasing the carbon dioxide. Also, trees are hard to grow on top of buildings.

It's OK-- most of the people commenting below didn't read the article either.

Starting today Seattle pedestrians can no longer pat their pockets and claim to have no cash

So now they will have cash? MAGIC!

Don't give them any ideas.

I'm all for sexism. Now, what are we going to do to reverse the trend of fewer and fewer males attending and graduating college? How about the lack of male veterinarians and elementary school teachers?

You just gave me a bunch of comparative figures, which shows me you STILL think life is a zero-sum game.

Well, considering the negative responses I can see in this discussion (he probably also makes millions in stock and bonuses, $1 million is a drop in the bucket, etc.) I imagine the applause of the general public isn't one of his motivations.

Who forced him? You said never.

And yes, this kind of bold thinking is rare. That's why success is business is almost as rare.