Burning Questions

Is this sexist? The subject: parking lots.

Is the tide finally start to shift against the Kardashians?

Is it time to revive Chicken and Dumpling?

Would you ever want to go to the world's most expensive restaurant?

Where should we put all those dangerous prisoners currently being held at Guantanamo Bay?

How do you feel like subsidizing electric car owners through increases in your power bill?

Can we finally stop blaming bears for the world's ills (but don't forget us!)?

Do you think this looks delicious?

Is it maybe time to stop apologizing?

Responses:

1. It's like the 15th-best story I've ever read about Chick-fil-A, but still better than any story I've ready about any other large restaurant chain.

2. This approach requires a fair amount of trust, and the need to build trust is a fundamental obstacle in human relations all the time. Think dating, meeting new people, etc. This is why we have a song-and-dance ritual. If people were generally more trustworthy and honest, though... that would change everything. I do like the attitude, though.

3. "Below are seven lottery stories that prove winning the lottery can be a blessing, not a curse!" The fact that they found seven non-horrible stories out of thousands of lottery winners proves that just as much as the fact that there are thousands of lottery winners out of millions and millions of participants proves that the lottery is a good investment. Also, for the people who gave the money to future generations, we have no idea whether that is a good outcome because being born into money has its own pitfalls. Also, the second story is definitely a bad outcome.

4. I don't really have any thoughts on any of this except that I still don't like gangsta rap.

R2R:

2. Much of the outrage is around hunting lions generally, not just illegally hunting them. Some people want any hunting of lions to be illegal, and while I have no opinion about the nature and scope of specific hunting regulations, I note that the article cited some early overreactions already. I am not the biggest fan of hunting for sport, but we as a society seem to be short on viable ideas for preserving animal habitats and short on funds for the few viable ideas there are.

3. By my rough calculations, the new plan would cost $110/month, while our current plan (once we drop the international plan and go back up to 6 GB) would cost $160/month. Assuming that we stick with iPhone and you get the base model while I get the slightly larger HD one, the 24-month cost of the old plan is $4,338 while the 24-month cost of the new plan is $4,038. (Note: I did not remember whether the 6-GB plan under the More Everything Plan was $60 or $70, but the internet seems to think it's $70. If we use $60, though, then the 24-month cost of the old plan drops to $4098, which is still more expensive than the new plan by $60.)

I think there is a $20/month fee for the remainder of your plan for switching to the new plan for the life of your current contract, but even if they charged us $20 per phone (at least until December), our new bill would still be $10 cheaper per month and would drop by $20/month each time a contract expired.

We should obviously verify all of this before switching.

R2R2R:

5. I just wonder whether combining the various goals currently served by college (i.e. vocational learning, liberal arts learning, personal growth, learning to be an adult, etc.) into one kind of institution is beneficial to students or these goals. Maybe the solution is grade schools that do a better job of educating, so that smarter kids are joining the workforce after graduating from high school. And if you still want to go to college because you enjoy learning, then colleges can focus on those kinds of students. Perhaps that in turn would allow students to attain some of the educational benefits of graduate school earlier (because colleges would be more focused) and reduce the demand for graduate degrees. It's just a thought.

B