Posts by Zach Bagnall
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Thoroughly enjoyed From Zero. I hope it gets a good airing and finds the ear of policy makers one way or another.
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What's the interaction like between e-bikes and traditional bikes in the lanes?
When I was cycling in London last year you'd see the odd one, maybe once a week so no big deal, but they had a trial period with motorbikes allowed in the bus lanes along with bicycles which was pretty contentious due to the speed differential.
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Hard News: From Zero: Drugs and popular culture, in reply to Rich Lock,
Yep, it's both legal and illegal still (a very American situation) though for all intents and purposes, the state law is what counts - unless the Feds adopt a policy of prosecuting in all states which seems unlikely. Anyway, my point was laws like this seem to get changed when people have the opportunity to vote with a binding result. It'll be interesting if it gathers momentum when Canada changes their law next year.
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Dumb question: what efforts have been made to put marijuana legalisation to referendum? It seems like the progress on reform in many states in the US came out of binding propositions where voters dictated change rather than waiting for elected leaders to be a bit bold. I never would have thought the US with their war-on-drugs would make it legal before Australasia or Europe, but here we are.
Enjoying the series so far!
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Trying not to think about the Supreme Court appointments. The case that made same-sex marriage legal across the US was a 5-4 decision. Replacing Scalia with another hard liner is a given, but if two more of the elderly liberal-leaning judges are succeeded by conservative appointees under Trump.. that would make the Court a conservative, regressive institution for decades. Hard to imagine any more leaps forward in such an environment.
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Well my state tipped blue, but managed to defeat a ballot proposal for universal healthcare funded by state taxes. I'm sure the thousands of vulnerable residents who are about to lose access to healthcare when the ACA is repealed will be pleased.
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The tax thing stood out to me too. Immediately opens the door to questions of why he thinks not funding schools, roads, police etc is "smart"?
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FT comments are bizarre sometimes. These people are paid up subscribers.
The obvious fear is that a temperamentally unstable president Trump would lash out in a crisis.
There was a story recently from someone present at a security briefing with Trump where he asked three times "Why can't we use nukes?".
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Hard News: Trump's Dummkopfs, in reply to Ewan Morris,
And further from the Guardian, this piece from David Eggers, who attended a Trump rally, makes it more difficult to write off all Trump supporters as stupid and bigoted.
Thanks, I missed that. Eggers is fantastic.
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Guardian hosted a couple of good pieces recently:
Meet Trump's Hispanic Supporters
and especially this:
How the ‘Great Paradox’ of American politics holds the secret to Trump’s success (audio version) -- on what drives people with every reason to vote against Trump to support him instead. Wondered where this one was going at first, but it winds up with a fairly strong thesis.