Why not, though? Advancements in robotics happen all the time. If we end up with a decent AGI in 50 years, I expect the state of robotics to have advanced too, perhaps to the point where it could carry furniture up a stairway to an apartment.
That’s nonsense. Startups are only for the young and unencumbered? I’ve had several successful startups and managed to combine that with a family life as well as time off for R&R and mentally recharging.
If this is your belief, I strongly advise you to reconsider your life choices and priorities
Please make your substantive points without name-calling (in the sense that the site guidelines use the term - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) and without crossing into personal attack. Your comment would be just fine without the first and last sentences.
> Referring to people as “felons” is such a terrible and dehumanising practice.
I don't think there's anyone who could reasonably argue that reform isn't needed to American justice. However I think it's absolutely necessary, and not dehumanizing, to be able to identify someone as having incomplete incarceration status and the level of criminal conduct.
A felon is commonly used to refer to a person who has been convicted of a crime and particularly (but not only) whose sentence is not yet completed. Is that dehumanizing? Perhaps, but I don't currently think it is.
There are legal actions necessary when engaging with someone convicted of certain types of crimes. Certain crimes in the USA prohibit you from owning a gun even after your sentence is served. Sure, I think that is dehumanizing (sentence is served, so why are there additional restrictions?) but the legal requirement to be able to identify such persons doesn't make it dehumanizing on its own, it just makes it necessary.
What words would you use to describe such a person?
> A felon is commonly used to refer to a person who has been convicted of a crime and particularly (but not only) whose sentence is not yet completed.
Not, though. According to Wikipedia:
“The status and designation as a "felon" is considered permanent and is not extinguished upon sentence completion even if parole, probation or early release was given.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony
And a felony is defined differently in different states. And since such a wide variety of crimes are classified as felonies it is really hard to usefully draw any conclusions other than “person convicted of a felony at some point in their life” which is hardly useful. Could be a stone cold killer, could be a tax evader. Who knows? A felon is a felon.
Thank you for engaging constructively on this discussion.
I would argue that the definition I provided (convicted of a crime AND particularly (but not only) whose sentence is...) is relatively compatible with the definition you cite. I continue that it's my definition I provided and so perhaps I am not the only one whose use of the word differs from Wikipedia.
> it is really hard to usefully draw any conclusions other than “person convicted of a felony at some point in their life” which is hardly useful.
It is indeed hard to usefully draw any conclusions other than "person convicted of a felony at some point in their life" and I would argue that's the point.
If you want more information, then guess what? Felonies are public record and are often available online. Go find it instead of expecting it to be directly told to you. That's kinda creepy though, so perhaps you shouldn't advertise that you know what crimes your neighbors are convicted of.
Is it hardly useful? No, it's very useful for specifically legal purposes... which only make distinctions between types of felonies when stating what the felon can or can't do. Can't buy a gun. Can't live within some distance of a school. Must tell others your criminal history. Okay, and it's good to know that someone is required to (not) do some action merely by a word: they're a felon, so they're not allowed to do this or that. That's very useful for legal purposes -- can't sell a gun to this person, can't provide a loan for this person to buy a house at this address, whatever.
It's not very useful outside of legal purposes, and it shouldn't be. As long as the person has already gone through the justice workflow, why should it matter what their crime was?
Losing the right to privacy should be part of the punishment. After enough convictions or offenses large enough tracking your location and/or randomly searching your house shouldn't be a big deal. Lower the prison sentence and fines accordingly.
My understanding is that different states have different definitions for the meaning of “felon” and the applicability depends on possible jail time, not actual jail time.
Given that “felon” means “person that’s been convicted of a felony at some point in their life” and the fact that “felony” covers such a wide variety of crimes, it is a genuinely useless indicator of context.
Counterpoint: starting with assuming over-specific context is not entirely useful and there is general consensus on broad meanings of both “felon” and “felony”. We can then quickly either narrow down to specific instances of those words, or stay in broader generalizations depending on where the conversation goes.
Jump too quickly into arguing for hyper-specific contexts bringing meaninglessness to colloquial, general contexts is a surefire way to signal to counterparties you are unwilling to play the negotiation-over-contexts games necessary for smooth conversation with most people generally.
There is no coercion or deception in this situation, so it can't be racketeering. Unless you want to classify all taxation as an extortion racket.
It's just a bad tax policy that creates weird incentives ("use the canteen even if you don't need it"). Let's keep the word racket for criminal enterprises and antivirus companies.
I agree this one is terrible, but I don't think it's because this one is racketeering.
If we think this tax is a racket, we should equally think that all taxes are a racket. That's because your "Try not paying it" argument applies to all taxes.
If we think this tax is uniquely bad, there should be another reason that it's bad. Which is my point.
> I think in Europe no one holds back in the grades, school will push a kid forward.
That is hilariously incorrect.
I had an adverse childhood, my dad died when I was 8, and my mom was literally not around, she was on the other side of the country and not interested. I was in care. I was passed around middle and high schools like a hot potato, nobody wanted me, simply because I was in care. The folks in care told me I was going to do exceptionally well in life, as my IQ tests were incredible - they were the only really structured approach to testing at the time. I ran the computer labs at all the schools I was at (C64 FTW!), because I was known as a “whizz kid” and could be trusted with that, but before ever setting foot in any of those schools I was already “branded” because I was in care. The teachers, all of them bar one, literally didn’t give a fuck. The one that cared, cared deeply. He was the music teacher, steadfastly wore punk t-shirts to class, and taught me drums and percussion. I still think of him often, but music lessons are not enough.
As for the rest of the bastards, my questions and educational needs were ignored, I was told to “just don’t bother” by many. I was great in the computer lab of course, English, and history. I struggled with many other subjects, but was deeply motivated to do well in school - I saw all the _other_ kids in care around me and was absolutely positive that I did not want to end up like that, but as I said I simply was ignored. Not only can I not do math until today, the “European schools (Netherlands, to be precise) experience” traumatised me to an extent where any kind of formal learning causes some kind of brain freeze and I simply cannot. I was relentlessly bullied at and outside of school, until I learned to stand up for myself, at which point it went in a kind of binary fashion directly to outlandish punishments for standing up for myself. Punching back in self defence can, in fact, land you in a straitjacket and in isolation for a week, who knew?! That was also where my deep distrust and rejection of any kind of authority figure or structure comes from.
I never finished school, I emancipated myself from care and dropped out when I was 17, and got the fuck out of the Netherlands. I am, until this day (54 years old now), unable to get a degree as I dropped out and as I am unable to study in a traditional sense. I was homeless and living rough a few months later, and it took me years to fight my way out of that shit. By good fortune and stubbornness I was able to learn and work in stage lighting, and did that for many years. I designed shows, clubs, bars, and ran the lights at too many events to count. I was at the forefront of the (then new up and coming) move away from pure analog lighting and into digital control and moving lights.
I eventually pivoted into IT professionally, again at a time when this was all new for everyone, and managed to build a career. I did well for a very long time and love the work. As a certified Old, I now struggle to get the contracts I need to keep going, companies want young blood and believe that deep skill and experience is overrated, so we will see what the next stage of life will bring.
Nothing special about European schools. They suck just as much as all the others.
Push forward doesn't mean help in some special way.
It means only that they will never let a kid to stay the same level with younger kids, you always move with your peers to next class - even if you won't have any passing grades.
Maybe on high school level they will kick you out but in primary school I don't think they have any real grades even anymore.
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That rule explicitly states that it's not for being able to stop, though, it's just to have time to react to the driver ahead stopping. Two seconds isn't nearly enough to stop in front of a stationary object. At highway speeds it's even barely enough to not rear-end the vehicle ahead if it has to panic stop.
> I apologize for any flame wars this creates, since people find driving to be deeply personal and any findings which may criticize their driving habits is generally frowned upon.
I appreciate your attitude here. Mine is opposite. Dangerous driving injures, maims, and murders both perpetrators and innocents alike. Criticise bad driving loudly and often. You might save lives. I had to tell my mother in law that her daughter, my wife, lost her life in a road traffic accident. There are few aspects to serious road traffic accidents that are not horrific, and speaking up may save lives. Every year, 1.19 million people die as a result of a road traffic accident. Between 20 to 50 million people suffer non-lethal injuries, many of those leading to disability.[1]
In the U.K. some years ago the police changed the term in common use from "Road Traffic Accident" (RTA) to "Road Traffic Collision" (RTC) in order to underscore that these were not accidental but mostly due to poor driving of one sort or another.
"Road Traffic Collision" is encoded in the applicable laws.
Deepest condolences on your loss, and thank you for your candor—I can only speak for myself, but I’m definitely turning up my driving conservatism after reading your post.
I’m very sorry for your loss. I agree with your stance on being vocal about poor driving.
People speeding through the 30 mph limit in my village boils my blood like nothing else and I’m one of those parents who shouts at traffic on the school run, even driven by people I know. This has likely cost me a few invitations to the pub but I don’t care.
Can you lobby your gov't rep to install automated camera? It seems reasonable. If you are brushed aside, email/write/call a local newspaper or TV station. They would probably like to report it.
Clinical trials of toothpaste va other methods are welcome. Can’t find any. I do have anecdata, which is that I go to the dentist every year and no caries for the past 15 years.
“Toothpaste is a strong abrasive” is fact, not vibes.
The article and discussion are literally about machines moving stuff.