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Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#88026: Dec 17th 2014 at 7:50:44 AM

US, Cuba seek to normalize relations.

Cubans and Havana Club all round!

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Gabrael from My musings Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
#88027: Dec 17th 2014 at 7:56:36 AM

[up] About damn time! grin

Wealth gap the largest in at least 30 years!

This ties in to the election money thought Aprilla brought up last page.

We can't get progressive policy and reform when the people making it are bought.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#88028: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:17:57 AM

[up] Every Man (And Woman) Has His (Or Her) Price. Just depends on who gets there first smile.

edited 17th Dec '14 8:19:45 AM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#88029: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:19:08 AM

One thing I wanted to throw in about self-driving cars. While I understand hiring them to appear at specific times to take you places, what about if a person must shop at multiple stores?

So, you summon the car to arrive at your house at a particular time. You have to wait until it arrives. You ride it to the first store. You shop, and then will the car still be at the store waiting for you, or will you have to summon it and hope it arrives at a good time? What if it takes minutes after you come out of the store in order to show up? Waiting between summons will prove to be a pain in the ass for a lot of people.

That's another reason why I imagine that people who can afford it would rather just buy their own self-driving car instead of summoning them.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#88030: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:23:33 AM

@Bonsai: I imagine that you could "rent" an autocar for a period of time — say, an entire shopping trip. This would be part of the available options for utilizing them. It would be a more expensive option, of course, but considering how much you'd be saving by not maintaining your own vehicle, you should easily be able to afford it. In fact, charging for time used rather than trips would be a preferable way to manage a pool of autocars.

Of course, it seems kind of pointless considering that almost all modern shopping can be done from the convenience of your home and, if we take autocars to their logical conclusion, your purchases could be delivered to you directly from the store within minutes or hours. In fact, stores might invest in a fleet of vehicles that may not even resemble traditional cars as they would lack a driver/passenger compartment and consist entirely of engine, frame, and storage.

I know people love the sensation of walking into a store and seeing all the stuff so prominently and enticingly displayed, then handing over money and walking out with bags and boxes in hand, but it's terrifyingly inefficient.

edited 17th Dec '14 8:30:00 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#88031: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:30:31 AM

I do await a future of having automated delivery of things you want, including groceries. It could be interesting to live in such times and hopefully money will be saved. Though it could have unintended side effects. But that's probably something more for the economics thread.

Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#88032: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:32:02 AM

The simple question to ask them is "if we give you these things, how will we avoid a repeat of the 2007-08 meltdown?"

Not that they're likely to get much more in the next year. Government's funded, Obama doesn't have to sign anything, unless they trade this horse for continuing of immigration reform, which would be a hard sell to the tea party crowd who is suspicious of big banks and rabidly xenophobic.

carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#88033: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:40:28 AM

Automate grocery delivery would be a godsend for the mobility impaired. Speaking as someone who lives in a rural area, I know many seniors who have very poor diets partially because it's so difficult for them to get groceries often. The only delivery services available charge by the mile, so if you're out in some mountain valley you're looking at a delivery bill that far exceeds the cost of your items. Volunteer groups can only handle so much. . .

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#88034: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:40:55 AM

Frankly, outside of the independence it gives me, I hate driving: Between slow commutes, having to get gas every week, having to get it serviced every three months, and dealing with idiot drivers, it's not really all that fun. I would welcome self-driving cars. Theoretically, if every self-driving car were perfect, there would be no auto accidents or slow drivers, thus, no slow commutes. In that sense, I'm all for it.

edited 17th Dec '14 8:50:50 AM by speedyboris

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#88035: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:41:48 AM

I should point out that we do in fact have a model for car-borrowing rather than ownership (and not expensive car rental agencies): zipcar. Mostly for cities where you don't need a car all the time and parking is a headache-inducing and expensive prospect, but it is there.

carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#88036: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:43:57 AM

My distance vision is so poor that my optometrist once said if I was crossing the road I might avoid a semi-truck, but I'd be hit by a Volkswagen for sure. Makes driving rather difficult even with the best glasses. As much as I like being able to control the vehicle, I'd be all for a workable & safe self-driving vehicle.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#88037: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:51:21 AM

I too hate driving but like the fact that I can drive - that is, that I have my own car. Self-driving cars seem like the best of both worlds.

But we are moving away from the topic of politics. There's a self-driving car thread, and yet nearly all the detailed discussion and intelligent thoughts about the subject are coming from here.

So, ways self-driving cars will affect us politically. Companies will lobby against them and try to get them regulated into unprofitability or out of existence, but self-driving taxis could help close the urban-rural divide if rural people can afford them. Not being able to get groceries often really sucks, and I do feel that lack of mobility really hurts rural people in probably many other ways.

Aprilla Since: Aug, 2010
#88038: Dec 17th 2014 at 8:54:15 AM

I've never heard of it being seen as technologically behind automatic shifting nor the latter advertised as somehow an advancement over manual. You can get automatics here but if it's more than 1 in 7 or 8 I'd be surprised.

Fuel Economy.gov - Transmission Technology

My previous comment didnn't imply that stick shift is somehow horribly outdated or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that transmission technology is steadily moving away from the more traditional manual gearbox, and I strongly suspect this will become a worldwide advancement.

[up] Right. This is the same problem with arguments about defunding the Postal Service. There is this strange belief that the USPS is somehow draining taxpayers' money or that its methodologies are draconian. People who argue against the continued existence of the USPS tend to forget that its implementation was a cultural and economic milestone for families living outside of major population zones.

edited 17th Dec '14 8:57:37 AM by Aprilla

carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#88039: Dec 17th 2014 at 9:27:22 AM

The existence of the USPS is also critical to many small/home businesses across the US. Anecdotal; almost every small/single person business that deals with shipping physical commodities in my community relies on the USPS for reliable delivery to and from their establishment or home. Fed Ex/UPS rates have been rising, so the USPS is often a cheaper alternative that people will go for.

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#88040: Dec 17th 2014 at 9:29:00 AM

[up][up][up] I often forget how much easier it is for me to get groceries than most people (my apartment building actually shares an underground parking lot with a big grocery store), so I keep thinking that it isn't that expensive to keep your car gassed up. I only really use it for the 10 minute drive to work (and before anyone says anything about public transit, it seriously takes an hour to take the bus or an hour and a half to take the subway because of the bizarre routes they take).

[up] Canada Post is having funding issues too (mostly because of the enormous area the average post office needs to cover), but the compromise they're having is to put communal mailboxes within reasonable walking distance of every house, offering a paid home delivery, and waiving the fee for those who won't be able to get to the communal mailboxes. Also, home delivery in the areas where the houses are too far apart for a communal mailbox to be worth anything. It's not a bad idea.

edited 17th Dec '14 9:31:10 AM by Zendervai

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#88041: Dec 17th 2014 at 9:47:50 AM

So! it is official. The U.S and Cuba re-established relations, and will exchange ambassadors.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#88042: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:08:35 AM

The embargo's still on though.

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#88044: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:24:49 AM

"How DARE we patch things up and get along? Rage rage rage hate hate hate!"

I'm reminded of Samantha Smith, a 10-year-old from Maine who wrote a letter to the president of Russia during the 1980s, asking "Why do you want to go to war with us?" She got an official response. This led to her getting a trip to Russia, and becoming known in Russia as the "Goodwill Ambassador", after a big media circus. Eventually, she died in a place crash.

There were those who were suspicious of her, calling it a media stunt or calling her a puppet of Russians who manipulated her for their own country's gain.

Read more if you're interested in this lesser-remembered piece of American history. There's numerous websites and articles that go into more detail.

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#88045: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:24:52 AM

The embargo's basically been weakened as far as Obama possibly can, from the sounds of it.

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#88046: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:28:15 AM

There were those who were suspicious of her, calling it a media stunt or calling her a puppet of Russians who manipulated her for their own country's gain.

Given she was invited over by Yuri Andropov, who sent Soviet tanks to three foreign capitals over his career as a Party apparatchik and KGB head, they were probably right.

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#88047: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:34:05 AM

The goodwill ambassador for the U.S-Cuba relationships is officially Cuban Pete

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#88048: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:38:04 AM

The embargo is in question now, Obama intends to ask Congress to to lift the embargo.

Apparently this comes on the heels of a prisoner exchange involving Cuba releasing an American civilian who was convicted of espionage - one source says he was helping to set up Internet to bypass government censorship - in exchange for three Cubans who were serving life sentences for spying in the US. Cuba denies this was a swap, however, and maintains that they released the American on humanitarian grounds.

Politicians are divided, Democrats and Republicans alike having mixed reactions. Among those most hostile to the normalization are prominent Cuban-American such as Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Senator Bob Menendez, (D-NJ).

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#88049: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:40:39 AM

Cuban-Americans are the most prominent voices against normalizing relations, but how long can their tail wag the dog of practical politics? Sooner or later we have to say, "Enough is enough. We aren't invading the place to 'instill democracy', so why are we pretending it's still the Cold War?"

On a slightly more cynical note, the revelations about our torture program should forever dispel any delusion that the United States is the global exemplar of human rights.

edited 17th Dec '14 10:41:56 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#88050: Dec 17th 2014 at 10:41:28 AM

Hmm...I wonder what venezuela might do about this...?

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

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