Yeah, that seems fair in your case. I don't completely agree with all your points (for example 9°F(-13°C) is still bike-able with the right kit (Oulu, Finland gets below -30°C, and a lot of people still bike) but snow can be a problem if there's a lack of maintenance) but overall I agree and I think you're already on the path to being car-lite, which is great if that's all you can do.
n2burns
joined 2 years ago
While it might not be possible with the current built environment, 9mi (~15km because I'm Canadian) is a doable bike commute. Even at a very casual pace, it can be done in 1hr.
Also, there's no reason your home address or your wife's work location can't change. AAA says the "Average Annual Cost of New Car Ownership is $9,282". That means if your wife found a job where they could walk/bike, their net earnings could be ~$9K and you'd still be ahead. Or, if you moved close enough to her work that she doesn't need a car, you could put $750/mo extra towards housing and still be ahead.
Again, it's possible none of these options work for you, but they are options.
Welcome!
I like a lot of the answers you’ve been getting so far, but I also wanted to add my 2¢.
I’ve been using Linux 2005. I’ve done some distrohopping in my time, but have I also settled into Linux Mint (Cinnamon). My system says it was installed in 2019, but I think I’ve been pretty much exclusively on Mint since ~2015/2016 after #! stopped being developed.
IMHO, you don’t have to do much customizing. I will never insult someone who wants more security but unless you’re running a server directly exposed to the web, I think the defaults and keeping your install up to date is enough. For the most part, privacy has to do more with the individual apps you run and once again comes down to personal preference.
Linux Mint is relatively lean, so optimization isn’t really necessary (I know some people will exclaim they can get a leaner setup by building up from a minimal install, and while they’re technically correct, I have no complaints with LM on a 12yo Thinkpad x201).
As for a “modern” UI, I’m not sure what exactly you’re looking for. I know on Reddit there were a bunch of distrohopping subs and other subs to share your desktop setup/customizations. Those were a good source of inspiration for me. I don’t know if there are some communities like that on lemmy. Personally, I just use the Mint-L-Dark theme, change my background, and use Conky. You can change the theme, use Desklets and Applets, or even use an alternative dock. However, I would recommend if you want to do much more than that, you should just try to another distro that’s designed with the DE, customizations you want. While you can run KDE/Gnome/etc on Linux Mint, the experience can be a bit rough. If, after trying out multiple distros, you find none quite fit your needs, you can choose the one that is closest and customize from there. Or, you can install a minimal/server build and work up from there (though that can also be painful, since you’re almost making your own distro).
This is obviously a somewhat different situation, but I’d remind you that lots of doctors made a lot of money by unnecessarily prescribing Oxycontin that the spiraled into the opioid crisis.
Some doctors made a lot of money. Most believed what they were told and prescribed medication they thought would help their patients.
I feel like this article should probably at least note that we're talking about "The National Bank of Canada which is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada", not "The Bank of Canada which is a Crown Corporation and Canada's Central Bank".
It matters because if the Houthis are a non-sovereign entity, then POTUS can order an attack under prior congressional approvals. However, if they are a Sovereign State, then attacking them would be an act of war, requiring congressional approval.
Thank you for providing a good example! I'm really not sure what the status of Taiwan's Sovereignty would be, but it's definitely something to think about.
That doesn't answer my question either. I wasn't the one who brought up sovereignty, it was the article. It seems to ridiculous to say, this is “A Breach of Yemeni Sovereignty” but no one seems to able to assert the Houthis have sovereignty to start with.
Your analogy falls flat because while powerful cartels are rarely looking to supplant state control. Instead they seek state complicity which is a different thing altogether.
Okay, what about IS? Did they have Sovereignty?
If the US doesn’t want to recognize the sovereignty of the Ansar Allah led Yemeni government then the US concept of sovereignty is effectively meaningless.
If you/anyone else thinks sovereignty is meaningless, that's fine but it's not what I asked about. My original question was how is this "A breach of sovereignty"? You don't seem to be arguing why it is a breach of sovereignty.
That's not really an answer to my question. "Control" does not get you sovereignty, and neither does "representing the people". It comes down to governance and international recognition. Mexican cartels control large areas of the country, but no one is arguing they have sovereignty. Similarly, there are many repressive regimes in the world that do not represent their people, but they maintain their sovereignty.
This didn't force any elected officials to comply with the law. As much as I dislike Trump and hope he goes to jail for his actual crimes, not releasing his taxes is not against the law.