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Comment Re:Fuck "Eat the Rich" (Score 1) 90

And here's why that study was meaningless - "We are not going to consider the impact of the principle being decided. Rather, we just want to know who got the money in the case in question." That is, they ignore the single most important factor and focus only on the least relevant - the private fiscal implications of the ruling.

There may be something of interest in the findings, but in regards to the nature of cases being heard, not the relative finances of the claimants.

If it's the principle that's driving the decisions, not the affluence of the beneficiaries, across a sufficiently-large set of cases we'd expect to find no correlation between the political leanings of the justices and their votes benefiting wealthy vs poor people. Which is what the article said happened for many decades.

Unless, of course, the principle being applied is "Who benefits?"

It's worth pointing out that although gtall framed it as the Republicans siding with the wealthy, it's equally true that the Democrats are siding with the poor. Both sides are inordinately focused on who benefits.

Comment Re:How much do we care? (Score 1) 44

True, but to be fair, the scientists, engineers, and scholars are largely fleeing the country, the tech industry is in a massive slump (agriculture is the only sector growing jobs according to the last reliable official figures), and there's a political need to create the impression that the country isn't in a bad way.

Comment Re:I mean (Score 1) 135

I don't doubt that HP-UX was capable but it's exactly the situation that the guy in the article is describing -- it was 100% an enterprise product sold to banks and similar customers with zero effort made to make it sexy or accessible to even broader commercial customers.

I used HP/UX as a development platform in the mid-90s, cross-compiling to m68k boards running pSOS and VxWorks. It was a little weird, but rock solid, utterly reliable, as were the HP workstations it ran on.

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 1) 136

You aren't factoring in all the other maintenance a fossil needs too. Brakes, fluids, belts, gearbox, exhaust, filters, all sorts of crap.

EVs and hybrids shoudln't have significantly different brake wear. Factored in oil changes, which includes the oil filter. I've never needed to add any other fluids in any car I've owned other than wiper fluid, which an EV also requires. I guess I left out the air filter, but that's such a tiny maintenance cost compared with the other stuff that it almost isn't even worth mentioning.

Belts and transmission do wear out eventually, but that's not an issue unless your car is outside of its warranty period, and an out-of-warranty EV can also have things go wrong. The only straightforward comparison is between two in-warranty cars, because it's impossible to predict the costs for an older vehicle reliably. It might go 300k miles or it might blow a head gasket 10 miles out of warranty.

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 1) 136

Add to that an oil change for $100 every 5,000 miles on oil changes

Every... 5,000... miles? Are you out of your mind? Cars didn't need oil changes that frequently even back when they used unleaded gasoline. How far are you willing to go to lie for the petroleum industry?

An oil change for $100? Are you out of your mind? Where are you getting your car serviced?

Jiffy Lube in the Bay Area. And while cars are under warranty, if you don't do an oil change at the recommended interval, it can negatively impact your ability to get engine problems covered under the warranty, so most people do so.

Comment Re:More complicated (Score 1) 136

The 'killer app' will be a smaller lighter (and safest) solid state battery with a range over 500 miles Thats when adoption will take off to get the people that are hesitant to switch

Nah.

All that's required is that EVs be cheap. A 300-mile range is sufficient. When the purchase price of a car with a 300-mile range is at or only slightly above the purchase price of a comparable ICEV, EVs sales will explode because they're cheaper to operate and maintain. All of the range anxiety and concerns about fires (which are silly, since gasoline vehicles are a lot more prone to burning) will inhibit a few people, for a little while, but pretty soon they'll all have friends and relatives who are driving EVs and happy about it, and they'll start making the switch, too.

It's all about the benjamins.

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 1) 136

That is all true except PG&E's EV2 plan has off-peak energy at 28.5 cents per kWh, which should cover most of the needs of people who charge at home. That rate makes it competitive with the Prius, even before you consider oil changes.

Of course, they also charge you more for your heat and air during the day. With a whole-home time-of-use plan, they're likely to get their money either way.

I'm pretty sure the only way you're not going to get screwed with your pants on is to have a separate meter on an EV-B rate plan. Totally worth $1.50 a month. Too bad I'm not currently eligible because of where I live (because PG&E doesn't own the meters). Then again, I have unlimited supercharging, so I guess I probably wouldn't use it anyway. :-)

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 1) 136

Well, if you can charge from solar the equation changes significantly-- closer to $0.09/kWh or $0.02/mile.

Sure, but only if you also have a Powerwall or similar. Otherwise, your car is going to be at work during the day, rather than charging at home, and you're going to be getting jack s**t for your excess solar during the day thanks to PG&E's rate structure, and then buying that power back at night at full price.

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 1) 136

PG&E residential service averages 45.33 cents average per kWh.

That's crazy? California has huge amounts of solar generation, but no cheap mid-day tariffs ?

PG&E nearly went bankrupt with lawsuits over their mishandling of gas pipe maintenance (San Bruno explosion) and high tension line maintenance (multiple wildfires). If they can't make a profit from cutting corners on maintenance, their only choice is to make a profit with extortionate rate hikes. /s

In all seriousness, the biggest mistake multiple California governors have made was not letting PG&E go bankrupt, buying up the assets, and starting over with a state-owned not-for-profit power company. For-profit essential utilities are like for-profit medicine: you pay more for less. Competition never really works when you have a natural monopoly like essential utilities or when comparison shopping is impractical, such as emergency medical care. That's why certain essential services are generally better off socialized. And anybody arguing otherwise doesn't have a solid grasp of economics.

Comment Re:No. Just better mileage (Score 2) 136

If you cannot charge at home, their cost per mile goes up to the same as a gas car's or more.

In California, even if you can charge at home, the cost per mile is more than many gasoline-powered cars:

Model 3: 3.7 to 4.2 miles per kWh. PG&E residential service averages 45.33 cents average per kWh. That's 10.79 to 12.25 cents per mile.

My usual gas station is $3.90 per gallon. A Prius hybrid gets 56 miles per gallon. That's 6.9 cents per mile. Add to that an oil change for $100 every 5,000 miles on oil changes, which is 2 cents per mile, and the Prius hybrid is still 2 to 4 cents per mile cheaper than the Model 3.

The only way you save money per mile with an EV in California is if you have free unlimited supercharging or free workplace charging. And even then, somebody is paying for your charging, just not you.

Comment Re:Just take some ivermectin (Score 1) 62

Or maybe some colloidal silver. It's certainly okay that we have cut billions of dollars to funding scientific research because there's nothing homeopathy can't cure right?

Colloidal silver is almost certainly useless when taken orally, but don't knock silver in general. It is used in wound dressings for a reason. Candida auris is one of those reasons. From the article:

The antifungal susceptibility testing of silver nanoparticles under planktonic conditions of C. auris isolates showed significant antimicrobial activity against all C. auris isolates, the MIC of AgNPs was <6.25 g/mL, and the MFC was 12.5 g/mL for all isolates, except one isolate was 6.25 g/mL.

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