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Sana'a

idlewords.com

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Re: Sana'a

#51

Post by soapdog »

jpatokal wrote: post #43

Every rooftop has a low wall around it and has been capped off with a little cone of rubble. In case anybody was wondering, this is most likely because Yemen has the same daft law as much of the Middle East: you only start paying property tax when your house is complete, so if you leave the "last floor" (roof) notionally incomplete (a row of bricks plus some construction detritus, as if you were still working on it),…

In Brazil during the colonial times catholic churches would have to pay taxes once they were complete that is why they always have one bell tower and a second incomplete tower.

Re: Sana'a

#52

Post by clarry »

eLobato wrote: post #9

How is this Hacker News worthy content? It's a great article, granted, but it has nothing to do with hacking (unless I'm missing something). If you downvote this comment, I think explaining in a reply why this article belongs in Hacker News would be great.

I kind-of get your point -- I don't see why the linked post is something that hackers in particular should find intriguing. But I personally found it to be an interesting read, and I expect most people (hackers or not) should feel the same. In any case it's a refreshing change for all the "big tech corp did this or that" stories that are repeated in all tech media (even mainstream media) and are only tangentially related to hacking because it's got something to do with technology.

Re: Sana'a

#53

Post by msandford »

idlewords wrote: post #45
rmc wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, manual labour is cheap. But if you want to buy computers, electric equipment or high quality machines then you have to buy the same stuff that us rich westerns buy. I. E. You're paying western prices.

Do you people realize you don't need to have this debate from first principles? There's a LOT of interesting (and depressing) cost analysis on providing Sana'a with water vs. trying to relocate. Not everything has to be a Fermi thought experiment.

The point I was trying to make is that a civil engineer from the US might take a lot of factors for granted. And given those factors it would completely make sense to build a pipeline. But it sounds like those factors don't apply in Sana'a.

It's not the OPs inability to believe that's the problem. Show him all of his flawed assumption and he'd readily change his mind (I would hope anyhow). But how do you disabuse him of those things which he takes for granted here in the US? That's a difficult process.

Re: Sana'a

#54

Post by jpatokal »

idlewords wrote: post #44
jpatokal wrote: post #43

Every rooftop has a low wall around it and has been capped off with a little cone of rubble. In case anybody was wondering, this is most likely because Yemen has the same daft law as much of the Middle East: you only start paying property tax when your house is complete, so if you leave the "last floor" (roof) notionally incomplete (a row of bricks plus some construction detritus, as if you were still working on it),…

I have heard this with regard to Cairo, but as for Yemen... citation needed. It sounds like reactor-grade bolonium.

Good luck digging up citations to Yemeni tax law, but I've seen it in Jordan as well. Perhaps some shared vestige of Ottoman rule?

Re: Sana'a

#55

Post by idlewords »

jpatokal wrote: post #54
idlewords wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard this with regard to Cairo, but as for Yemen... citation needed. It sounds like reactor-grade bolonium.

Good luck digging up citations to Yemeni tax law, but I've seen it in Jordan as well. Perhaps some shared vestige of Ottoman rule?

People have reported similar stories from Turkey and Greece, for what it's worth. No one seems to agree whether it's about tax stuff or leaving the option to extend dwellings by another floor.

In Yemen the practice is to have the top floor of a dwelling be the mufraj (room with views where men chew qat) which is what makes me skeptical about the tax idea there. The buildings certainly don't look unfinished from rooftop level.

The thing that makes me most skeptical, though, is just that it's such a wonderful, repeatable story.

Re: Sana'a

#56

Post by contingencies »

Best middle eastern food in Bangkok is Yemeni, as rated by my family and two random middle eastern dudes we met under our sitar teacher's apartment in another part of the city who pointed us there as the best place to go. The owner screams when you walk in... every customer is Habibi!

Re: Sana'a

#57

Post by jtheory »

Kiro wrote: post #50
jtheory wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. You don't even know the age of the boy, or if he even intended the cow's eye to be hit (maybe he was just throwing a rock to see it jump?), and you're ready to judge that punishment as well-deserved? It's all hypothetical, of course -- and no one is removing eyes based on your say-so -- but that's a shitty punishment for anything. Generally a punishment for a wrong-doing should try to encourage/force the guilty…

> in a morbid attempt at fun That's what I'm basing my comment on and what we're discussing. If the OP is wrong is another discussion but I don't see any room for interpretation here. > maybe he was just throwing a rock to see it jump? Are you seriously saying it's OK to throw rocks at cows? > should According to who? My grandfather was a prison governor and a pioneer in treating prisoners humane. Before his time the…

> Are you seriously saying it's OK to throw rocks at cows?

There's a lot of space between "OK" and "take the boy's eye out with a rock", which is what I'm arguing is the wrong punishment. (No, it's not OK to throw rocks at cows.)

>> should > According to who?

According to me, of course, for the reasons I (briefly) gave. You're welcome to continue the discussion with your own arguments, and your grandfather's experiences sound interesting.

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