plank_time (u/plank_time)

plank_time commented on NYT gives 'water witches' the both-sides treatment thewhyaxis.substack.com/p... · Posted by u/jashkenas

wpietri · 4 years ago

As much as I like to criticize the NYT, I think this is unfair. The original article makes it clear that it's BS. The article says clearly, "scientists and groundwater experts make clear that the dowsers’ methods are unscientific and amount to a kind of hocus-pocus".

What I think people don't understand here is that the NYT doesn't just come out and call people assholes. A traditional journalist is not supposed to insert themselves into the frame to that extent. The highfalutin' journalist approach to the problem is to paint a sympathetic picture of the asshole in ways that make it clear that they are an asshole.

plank_time · 4 years ago

Imagine the article was about a right wing anti-trans activist. The criticism would be that the NYT was providing a platform to someone that doesn’t deserve it.

But this water witch is clearly a fraud. They are giving a platform to someone who does not deserve it because that are ripping off people. They are humanizing a fraudster.

plank_time commented on The German Experiment That Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/amadeuspagel

jeff3dx · 4 years ago

Not sure how this is a hacker story or tech.

plank_time · 4 years ago

Don’t read it then. The beauty of HN is how it breaks the echo chamber and introduces people like me to articles I never would have seen.

This particular one is shocking and sad, I probably won’t be able to sleep at night at his angering it is.

plank_time commented on Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator shouldigetahouse.com/... · Posted by u/alach11

Finnucane · 4 years ago

Maybe. Flipping is a risky business. Returns are not guaranteed. If you're just looking for a place to live, you should really evaluate it on that basis.

plank_time · 4 years ago

I know something who went bankrupt and got a divorce after flipping condos in chicsgo just before the housing bust. It works until it doesn’t and it’s usually catastrophic.

plank_time commented on Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator shouldigetahouse.com/... · Posted by u/alach11

alach11 · 4 years ago

My wife wants to buy a house, but I'm unable to make life decisions without trying to minmax them. I wasn't satisfied with existing rent vs. buy calculators, so I decided to build my own! I'm not a developer, so I apologize if it's a little rough looking...

Some things it takes into account:

  - The actual rate of return on your down payment and extra costs of a house
  - Inflation
  - Itemized deductions on your taxes
  - The impact of state taxes
  - Mortgage interest deduction limit and SALT tax deduction limit

Let me know what you think or what improvements you would like to see!

plank_time · 4 years ago

Some decisions aren’t mathematical. Sometimes it’s better to make a decision based on whether or not it makes sense for the family as opposed to dollars and sense.

If your wife wants to buy a place, I suggest finding a compromise to figure out how to make both parties happy.

plank_time commented on Cities try to phase out gas stoves but cooks are pushing back wsj.com/articles/cities-t... · Posted by u/voisin

varelse · 4 years ago

Unreasonable homeowner associations are everywhere, sure, but homeowner associations that hate solar power do seem restricted to the states that didn't vote for the guy who won the last election in my experience.

Not my house, I wouldn't have moved to that neighborhood, but my mom didn't have a whole lot of time at the time but of course that doesn't matter we must all embrace the free marketplace of ideas because no other solution is possible here I know I know... Bored now...

The funny thing is that my conservative friends complain about exactly this sort of mindset in California. And I tell them to move to Florida or Texas instead of perpetuating their own misery but they rarely do. One of them seems to have killed himself last year over this. I conclude that I do not understand people and why they can't just do the simple obvious things because you're right that my mom shouldn't have moved there but there's a story behind how she ended up there and you've completely neglected that. Maybe my late friend has a story too.

plank_time · 4 years ago

My friend in DC said her HOA tried to ban her from getting solar panels but she pushed back using a similar law saying they can’t prevent her from getting solar, and the HOA shut up. It’s not just red states, Karens are ubiquitous.

plank_time commented on Study: Global plant growth surging alongside carbon dioxide (2017) noaa.gov/news/study-globa... · Posted by u/morpheos137

voisin · 4 years ago

Have you come across any quantification of this?

plank_time · 4 years ago

Back in the early 90s a volcano erupted in the Philippines. In Canada where I grew up, late that summer in August, it was below freezing in the mornings. I had never encountered that before and was a direct result of the volcano.

plank_time commented on Study: Global plant growth surging alongside carbon dioxide (2017) noaa.gov/news/study-globa... · Posted by u/morpheos137

edrxty · 4 years ago

It's more that it's an unspoken thing. Those of us who understand these issues aren't going out of our way to provide an excuse for dissonance to the masses or worse, easily misrepresented ammunition for the talking heads. The underlying systems are obviously complex but the end result is simple and society is currently having a hard time processing things that aren't simple.

plank_time · 4 years ago

This is the perfect way to cause complete mistrust in a movement. Look at what happened with covid and masks.

Thinking that controlling the narrative and lying for the “greater good” is corruption.

plank_time commented on Don’t Let Police Arm Autonomous or Remote-Controlled Robots and Drones eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07... · Posted by u/DiabloD3

plank_time · 4 years ago

The militarization of the police in the US is a huge problem that is out of control. I was extremely disappointed that Obama didn’t not only rein in this militarization but effectively made it worse. We are now having to deal with a generation of cops who think they are GI Joe but don’t have the training. This is why so many unarmed people are getting shot by the cops, because they start their day thinking they are in Fallujah instead of Cleveland.

plank_time commented on Pacific Northwest Heat Wave Killed More Than One Billion Sea Creatures scientificamerican.com/ar... · Posted by u/Bender

spiffydave · 4 years ago

In other news, 288,000,000,000 pounds of seafood was consumed last year.

If we give a rough estimate of 5 lbs. per animal (probably a lot less than that) that's around 60 billion animals killed last year so we can eat them.

It's estimated we can add another 40% to that as unwanted by-catch. So now we have 84 billion sea creatures killed each year on purpose.

If you're concerned about the environment you might consider not adding to this number.

https://www.yourfishguide.com/how-many-fish-do-we-eat-a-year...

https://oceana.org/sites/default/files/Bycatch_Report_FINAL....

plank_time · 4 years ago

How much of this was farmed seafood? I have a friend right now who is planning on opening fish farms because he feels it will have less of an environmental impact.