Viewing profile — PraetorianGourd

I am not normally one to cry “ableism!” but seriously. If technology allows more people to enjoy nature and trails, awesome. Nature of all places doesn’t need your gatekeeping.

The way COVID responses developed augers very poorly for future emergencies. We responded to worst case scenarios with a chainsaw when a scalpel was more appropriate. This was heav…

My larger point is that if the dealers can make identical looking counterfeits, including imprints, then I am pretty confident they can make legit looking blister packs as well.

Wow I didn't know that grey/black-market dealers used blister packs in the EU. Unless you are implying that the bogus Vicodin he took was pharmacist provided, which is absolutely a…

SpaceX owns Starlink, it is a product of theirs.

Yeah, paying billions for something you currently get for free would certainly cut into profits by quite a bit. Ford would make a lot more money if they didn't need to pay for meta…

That isn't the concern. The concern is that the "rules for appropriate content" have been moved to restrict views that, while outside the mainstream, are not hateful or violent. Th…

I didn't flag it. I don't believe that I've ever flagged a comment. I believe doing so removes the opportunity for dialog and only serves to give the illusion of consensus or harmo…

This trope is getting tired. It is perfectly valid to ask why an author of a piece focused on one company and not another. It is perfectly valid to point out that while _x_ does a …

I am very familiar with Portland ;), the green ways are cool for sure. Except if I am on Salmon or Clinton and want to go to Fred Meyer, I need to ride on 39th or Hawthorne at _som…

My understanding was that Chinese consumers (generally) prefer cars with much longer wheel-bases than American consumers. While it is true that SUVs popular in the US may be taller…

I would argue that it is less due to politics and "safe streets" being an extreme position and more to do with the fact that _entire metropolitan areas_ are designed around the car…

While I understand your point, this comment is pretty close to trite comments like "downvote me if you want, but..." or "does anyone else..." or even the sinful "first!". It sets a…

Ignoring the hyperbole in the title (polio was pretty bad), the article itself claims that 17% of people have a high fear of developing long-term symptoms post-COVID. Now, assume o…

To be fair, $2,500 for a hand-knotted Persian rug is actually a great price, unless it was a very small piece. That one anecdote didn't seem too absurd, or at least not at the same…

If you’ve not read it yet, I would recommend “The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis” by Jose Saramago. Of course not directly about Pessoa but he plays an important narrative role.…

I honestly do not think it would matter much. Most folks in the South and Midwest are already accustomed to hot, humid temperatures. As such, it would be a matter of "hmm the AC is…

I did not mean it was not reasonable, but it was still childish. The more important point is that many anecdotes exist (with the low trust that we should have all in anecdotes) poi…

At the same time, it does speak to an almost childish obsession with recognition and being seen by the outside as the "most genius". I think the extreme vanity demonstrated by Mr. …

People can travel now, they can shop in person, they can eat out and drink at bars, they can attend shows.. there are a lot more things competing for their dollar. Combined with th…

I made this argument in response to people who called him out for calling Twitter employees back to the office. It is interesting, the response to the "well he owns it" argument se…

There has been some more recent arguments that Nero wasn't all that terrible, but more so disinterested in the job. Coupled with two facts that the article mentions (upper class Ro…

Can you back that up with any study at all? Or are we counting smug anecdotes as facts these days?

Why does it need to be either/or? Some youths might be inspired by watching non-astronauts in space, some may be inspired by this climate activism. Others may be inspired by watchi…

I think NI is the outlier here. I am almost certain that if there was a multi-decade conflict where police officers were _directly targeted_ for assassination, there would be limit…