Hacker News Reader

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

Wrong article--The food pyramid pushed corn based sweetener and other plant-basey carnohydrates grains and gluten based products at the expense of animal protein and (saturated) fat.

001skyon The Sketchy World of Fake Bike Gear

A (trivially) true but empty statement without a appropriate context for relevance.

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

Obviously real estate and food prices are correlated at the county and/or zip code level and that is a bit of a data challenge in reviewing this linked data.

My point above is that its a hard thing to mandate people eat food X when it might be $10 for 2,000 calories vs $2 for 2,000 calories. Its also a problem if the $10 option pre-supposed you buy in bulk, have access to refrigeration, and use spreadsheets to minimize wastage which otherwsie might be as high as 30% (making it $10 for 1400 calories down the gullet). My understanding of what little research has been done in this area has highlighted that the logistics and economics of fresh fruit/veg are heavily biased towards the upper/middle classes in many ways that are not obviously apparent nor addressed stricly by "guidance" on what is a "better" mix of foods. To use an analogy that people with white priveldge may be more able to understand: if I tell you to pack a weeks worth of fresh fruit and raw meat for a hike in yosemite, which you have to carry, and forbid you from eating anything like nuts/granola/raisins/cliffbars/dried meat, you probably would have a bad time lugging around that backpack over 10,000 ft passes and what not. The reality is that rich white people in the backcountry eat the same crappy food as inner city poor people once they lose access to refrigeration/storage and frequent/convenient resupply options. It doesn matter if you look at a pro bar or a nature valley or a power bar or a snickers. They are all interchangeble in that context and do the job, despite some being up to 7x as expensive. And nobody would call a diet of 8 probars and a pack of beef jerkey a day either healthy or well rounded, but you will survive your trip. Of course, if you eat this diet in a sedentary culture, you're BMI will get out of wack. But that is the power of the explanation.

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

The last time the feds tried to influence the nations diet, it was a disaster. That disaster involved pushing macro-nutrient consumption away from meat/dairy (fat, protein) and into vegan/vegetarian (carbohydrate) sources. That should be abundantly clear, but you can google it as it is very well known in the usa, see for example this article front page WaPo this morning:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/06/f...

and for background, an left-wing politics view on usda the old food pyramid that has been discredited

http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/food-pyramid.html

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

yes, walmart is one of the largest us grocers. the issue is that walmart is not in many areas despite being in a much larger footprint than TJs. traders joes, on the other hand, is only in ABC1 demos in the US which means its an upper/middle class niche biz. While wallmart is much more avail than TJ it is still limited to Interstate corridors, which is another form of premium real estate. That link is sort of important to think about. Also, wall mart does not have cheap meat for the most part and its fresh produce is mid-tier pricing. More expensive than say, Aldi.

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

Isn't the issue that poor people cannot afford fresh food? The calorie/dollar of veg+fruit is not a good value because in places like NYC or SF the markets are completely gentrified and the prices are astronomical. The other consideration is that the poor cannot live in nice real estate areas -- they live in grocery ghettoes. Take a look at the un-even distribution of places like trader joes around the uS and compare that to wal-mart. TJs is only in NFL metros for the most part (with upscale exceptions proving the rule). All of these public health "concerns" reeek of 1st world problems by weatlthy urban people who don't farm or have extensive familiarity with subsistence living. Remember that food stamps were created for poor white people in rural appalccia. The urban poor have completely different health concerns tied to the economics of real estate and transportation. None of this is served or in the scope of normal by the usda.

001skyon USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment

WTF they already pushed carbs for 30 years

turns out cheetos and coke is a vegan diet

that strategy backfired massively, tho

001skyon How Will We Get Off Mars?

Yep, a flyover of populated areas is avoided with an offshore lz/barge.

001skyon Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

negligence casts a very wide remit, but applies mostly to professionals (ie, credentialed staff). general executives are granted considerable leeway with respect to negligence in many context it would appear through things like the 'business judgement rule', where bein incompetent is a legitimate excuse and not presumtive negligence. INAL but just throwing this out there for discussion to see some other sides of the issue.

001skyon Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

The original comment expressly states a "non-scaling" version of twitter...what is so hard about that? this sub=thread then clearly illustrates what "non-scaling" means and doesn't mean. smh

001skyon Apollo missions photo stream

"The Project Apollo Archive has just uploaded more than 8,400 astonishing, high-resolution images to Flickr"

001skyon Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

These three cases seem to be ill-linked in the correlation/causation department. One was a clear medical condition; another a suicide; and the third was linked to an event involved a relapse of substance abuse. Three deaths of this nature could easily occur in any industry with a presence in a major city like nY, sf, london, tokyo, hong kong, paris etc. How many creatives list similar CODs ? Heath ledger, amy winehouse, peaches geldof and many other creative types at varying levels of success. We can look high-risk activities and see near-suicidal behaviour in the extreme sports athletes (RIP dean potter and 250 others http://base-jumping.eu/base-jumping-fatality-list/). And similar medical related deaths and accidents occur in athletes even in standard sports (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/healt...).

Which is no apology for mis-management. Its just perhaps a larger picture issue than any single industry or particular niche. Glory and all that.

001skyon The Sketchy World of Fake Bike Gear

at some stage all of the implicit knowledge is or will be actually sitting over in taiwan/china. many high end frames are performing in similar peformance buckets, despite the stickers on them. And the number of facilities is much smaller than the number of brands.

This is like generic drugs at some stage, all the US prices are high subsidizing low cost elsewehere. grey market importation is basically a sensible solution. the incumbents will rely on brand name and safety scare tactics to limit the arbitrage. but its probably worth seeing thru this.

carbon reinforce plastic is ultimately just fancy plastic. there is also no need for an 800g frameset, most punters are better served by 1100g of more durable and longer-lasting design. That is, those people buying retail. If your stuff is free or grey market or pro-deal its another story...amortization of capital expense is entirely diffent math in that case.

001skyon Agloe, New York

"In Alexandria Drafting Co. v. Andrew H. Amsterdam dba Franklin Maps,[6] the court ruled that "fictitious names may not be copyrighted" and "the existence, or non-existence, of a road is a non-copyrightable fact".[7]"

== side note to this story

001skyon Study: Some car models consuming around 50% more fuel than official results

nobody wants to read website TOS either, but that's not how the world or the law work. there is a line between 'street smarts' and blind faith in people you don't know telling you stuff. 2x4's are not 2x4...that's something everyone probably should know...similarly, EPA fuel mileage is not accurate...and never has been...its not anyone's fault that everything in the world is not "literally" true

The same transaction costs argument for regulatory disclosure apply to the quality of such disclosure as well. Ever try reading nutritional labels? It goes on and on...has very little to do with one particular instance.

That being said, a auto is a capital good and a substantial purchase and investing some time to understand the buying process is both economic and sensible. so in this case the faux shock/outrage seems particularly misplaced...as the arguments for ignorance are weak indeed.

001skyon Study: Some car models consuming around 50% more fuel than official results

Have you ever measured a 2x4?

probably not

001skyon Study: Some car models consuming around 50% more fuel than official results

no, its like saying "caveat emptor"

http://rockyroadblog.com/caveat-emptor-vetting-mpg-claims-30...

001skyon Study: Some car models consuming around 50% more fuel than official results

They didn't call those bands "rage against the machine" and "public enemy" for nuthin now did they? I mean, in all seriousness, why be so serious? Simple points need to be understood, not simply dismissed out of hand. In theory everything the government or your employer tells you is true. In reality, they have alot to gain from asymetric information distribution, both in terms of negotiating financial outcomes but also in terms of maintaining their political power base.

001skyon Study: Some car models consuming around 50% more fuel than official results

that's no excuse, its basically ignorance. not personal critique, but still lots of people follow blindly things they don't understand.

001skyon Volkswagen Chief Martin Winterkorn Resigns Amid Emissions Scandal

NOtwithstanding the other comments here, in europe the % or diesel cars is already very high. so europe is optimizing for diesel allowances, and the usa is optimizing also for its own local issues.

001skyon Is There a Shortage of STEM Workers?

offshoring has to do with excess supply, not shortages. eg, after telecom became cheap int't calls allowed telconferencing to bring english speaking people online who were overseas (eg, india). So, it's not that there is not shortage, there is simply new excess capacity (oversupply). The tech sector is the same way. There is no shortage... people actually just want to tap into pools of cheap labour to decrease market power of existing staff...and are marketing this as being needed by a shortage. Its complete BS as far as common english usage is concerned. There are plenty of engineers available, but there is only a shortage of engineers willing to work below market. By tapping into h1b and other new labour pools, again it shows that outsourcing is simply tapping into latent excess capacity. Totally different than a "shortage" being the original issue. But there will always be a shortage of people willing to work below market rates...that is a tautological logic working there, no/?

001skyon Is There a Shortage of STEM Workers?

If I complained about a "shortage" of Ferraris while only offering to buy them new at the price of a Honda Civic, no one would take me seriously.

-- The issue in a nutshell

001skyon Volkswagen Is Ordered to Recall Nearly 500k Vehicles Over Emissions Software

70% is getting hit by cars...motos are not unsafe

its the cagers that are the problemo, thus the comment

(FWIW, I hate loud exhausts)

001skyon Ahmed Mohamed will not face charges related to device [pdf]

this hinges on good faith and ignorance of the law. you can legitimately arrest suspects under the auspices of 'suspiscion' of a crime (eg, murder). Whereas false arrest is an arrest contary to known fact.

In cases of bomb threats and security breaches, qualified immunity is going to provide significant leeway when dealing with IEDs. Since most high-schools have strict anti-weapons rules, you can get arrested for a swiss army knife. Again, this is not the same thing as an apologia for a perp walk of a 14 year old. But if you want to see a "false arrest" look at what happened to the Blake last week in NYC. That was an unreasonable takedown of a private citizen with no effort made to establish identity; and a violent arrest for a non-fleeing suspect in a non-violent crime, etc.

In this case you are dealing with an "IED" vs an "Improvised Timekeeping Device", and since the former often includes the latter as a component part, its not completely baseless. This is why you cannot fly with liquid water on an airplane--the security forces cannot distinguish (on-sight) "legitimate water" in a clear bottle from several chemicals (aslo clear) than can be combined into an explosive IED that will puncture a pressure hull of an airliner. If you insist on taking your water through security you will get it removed or be arrested.

001skyon Ahmed Mohamed will not face charges related to device [pdf]

point being that questioning a kid and releasing him are not that big a deall. perp walk is OTT. but stuff happens...look at woz...people do dumb shit like that...same thing as sarcasm in security theatre at the airport...justic is working OK when people get pulled aside...contrast to the way the police publicly execute black people for holding a toy or a telephone...those cases seem alot more egregious in many ways. I don't mind playing devil's advocate here...i think some discussion is warranted. no worries.

001skyon Ahmed Mohamed will not face charges related to device [pdf]

Just a note--an IED in a backpack is what IED looks like...that's the whole point of an ied--strategic ambiquity, right? Your larger point is correct, tho, that adults should have sacked up and handled this thing immediately. Common sense being 20/20 in hindsight.

001skyon Ahmed Mohamed will not face charges related to device [pdf]

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-wozniak-in-jail-fake-bo...

001skyon Ahmed Mohamed will not face charges related to device [pdf]

First,

go try joking about explosives in security line at the airport, or at the white-house, or the local federal courthouse. Its not the joke you are getting (going to be) arrested for, its not the absurdity, its not the freedom of speech you are exercising. Its also not racist or whatever...it is just not the context for jokes.

Second,

The <carrier-device> for the "timepiece" is straight out of a B movie. see, eg

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+gun+briefcase+look...

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+a+bomb+in+a+breifc...

001skyon YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders

Implicit trust is how to decode 'white privledge' quickly. Point being that it is something to take for granted, unless you have to establish it (or pay for the privledge). But it is very necessary in tech where alot happens by way of informal networking & referrals and lots of heuristic social screening comes into play (buy necessity, not malice). So those who have implicit trust are at a huge advantage (or at least an even playing field). And those that don't are on the ooposite end of that (battling uphill, etc).

001skyon Young people on antidepressants more likely to commit violent crime

Link to original article.

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/jou...

there is a section on 'data', of which here is one sample

The data submitted by GlaxoSmithKline on paroxetine for review by the Committee on Safety of Medicines Expert Working Group are described as a complete set of data from all placebo-controlled trials of this drug [5]. The use of this dataset thus involves no selection by the authors, and any selection bias there might have been on the part of the company seems unlikely to have increased the size of the problem. Data from placebo-controlled trials of sertraline in children are also presented, as these also offer a complete dataset, so minimising any selection bias.