And 'Names' make it worse than 'Numbers.'

Trying to pretend the words on your account somehow mean that's who you are is the problem. This idea that if someone has "Michael Jackson" next to their post then its the actual famous person talking isn't something that can work.

It's better if that name next to people's posts is known to be just 'self-selected words.' Nobody will be fooled into thinking it's Michael Jackson, if there are 5000 different accounts claiming they are Michael Jackson.

Actual 'authentication' shouldn't be done based on your username or any other 'self-selected words.' Instead, there's a 'behind the scenes' unique identifier, and you keep track of the ones you care about.

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The problem becomes, not one of 'identification', but one of 'discovery.' How do you find the real one? You go to the official source, and they tell you who they are. Then you only care about that one particular "Michael Jackson" and ignore the rest.

Depends where you live.

Here in the UK, most employers started insisting on payment to bank account years ago, and cheques stopped being used at retail when the cheque gaurantee card scheme was shut down in 2011, but they are still used in other contexts, particularly for one-time payments. Traditional high street banks still issue and accept cheques, though I've heard that some no longer hand out chequebooks by default and some of the challenger banks are more problematic.

I understand in the USA, Canada and France cheques are far more widely used than here. OTOH many European countries are much further along the path to getting rid of them than us.

What the fuck is a "net zero" HVAC?

A window. The top models come with a sunscreen.

Fuck that.

Living in New Orleans...with easily avg temps in the mid to high 90's with mid to high 90's % humidity too....AC is a necessity.

That's been long known here....can't fathom why EU is having such a problem simply using AC when needed.

This isn't rocket surgery , this isn't NEW.

Natural gas is common in many southern states....TN, AL, MS, LA, AR and TX.....I've lived and visited there most of my life and it is common.

I've only lived in one apartment ONCE didn't have gas and I will not do that again.....I prefer gas to cook on and is cheaper for heat and water heating than electric by far....

Solar is already cheaper than coal

People and companies are STILL FREE to use all the solar they want, or any other source....

It just isn't mandated by the state.

.. which major American political party claims it is in favor of local control?

I would posit this IS an example of local control.

Most things of this nature need to be handled at the state level.....not at the federal level.

With the economy and high prices, etc....no one wants to force those in a state to enact policies that willl cost the citizens MORE money, and have pretty much "NET ZERO" measurable benefit to show for it on a global....hell, even on a local scale.

Well the car companies gotta do something, they've all (in the US) lost billions trying to convert to EVs....and no one in the US wants them.

They overshot the perceived demand...and have to retool to go back to ICE to keep selling cars/trucks in the US.

Something has to give with losses like that.

Interesting....I've never heard of such a thing,,...a minum energy building....?

LOL...I doubt I'd survive there long...my tube amps alone likely would have me thrown out of such an abode...

You can't just hang a window AC unit out of one of your windows?

That's easy, does't require any apt. Modifications....

Thank you good answer.

We do not want "mob rule" here in the US...and if we didn't use the EC to more proportionally allocate vote weighting....then basically NYC and California for the most part would dictate who was president....and ignore the vast middle of the US.

Here in the US, you are a citizen of your state first and then of the United States....the state is what affects your life the most directly...and each state is diverse in its population climate, land types and laws....so they need to be more represented on a state level by the president...the Congress has a house with proportionate representations as a part of this too.

Most of us do NOT want a national ID.

If it can misused, it WILL be misused and we all know that...at least to date we do.

The US has a single centralised government with a single currency, Europe is not.

You've partially right....we have a single currency, but we do NOT have just a single centralized government.

The Federal govt. is and is supposed to be somewhat weak...and its few enumerated powers are in the US constitution....

The real power that actually governs the people for the most part, resides in the individual states. That's how we have VERY varying laws in many respects.....there are some cases the SCOTUS has had to take over the years, mostly on equal rights, etc....to establish that are constitutionally the same across states, but for the most part, everything that affects a citizens' life daily is governed by the laws of the state they reside in....so, financial laws, tax laws (state and local)...etc can all vary by state.

Most states have sales taxes..some do not. Some do not have income tax and others do...some states require car inspections annually, some to not and even those that do, vary in what they check..most do not check emissions if I recall correctly....

So, the US has. Federal govt that manages the currency....and is a singular face to the world....but internallly it's largely a mishmash of state laws that change as you cross state borders...

The US - within living memory - used to be a high trust society.

Of course, no, it wasn't perfect but I grew up in MN. You could leave your car running outside a Target on a bitterly cold January day and it wouldn't get stolen. In the small town I grew up in, it was pretty common to 'run a tab' at the local grocery so if you needed to stop and get stuff but turned out you forgot your wallet, etc they'd just note your name and the amount and you'd come back in (usually as soon as you could, as it was embarrassing) and pay off your tab.

But then...the Somalis came along with millions of other illegal and legal migrants from LOW trust societies.....and helped ruin this.

It's easier to be a high trust society when the member of the society are more homogenious , and live and think alike largely.

Then why did the US give up paying in cash?

Err....we still pay in cash over here....I actually try to do MOST of my local domestic shopping in cash.