Maybe if you have a super low cap, high fees, and they automatically close your position at a pretty conservative point. But that’d hardly be worth any broker’s time with that risk/reward, unless they are hosing the borrower with insane fees. Though if that’s the case, putting up collateral would be cheaper (even if you have to borrow it from somewhere).

You definitely do need money. No broker is going to let you short without collateral, and you’re going to be paying interest for the duration of your short position beside any fees/commission.

I definitely agree with you on basic preventative meds for pets. I think the only somewhat reasonable argument I’ve heard is that if a vet prescribes it, there’s a very high chance it’s the right dose for the animal’s size, whereas pet owners are more likely to err. However, the doses are already marked for weight ranges; it’d be hard to get that wrong if you’re not intentionally being obtuse.

Yeah, the stainless steel ones are great if you have a dishwasher. I can understand if people don’t want the upkeep of replacing filters and that black ring thing around the pump, though. And honestly the pump itself needs to be replaced every 1.5-2 years even if you clean it well.

If you are a homeowner, property transaction records are public information in the US. Plenty of data brokers collate from the numerous city/county databases for those who only know your name.

Also, every race in the elder scrolls has had a space program. The khajiit space program was literally just them standing on each other’s shoulders to reach space.

Are there any pictures of this? I can’t stop laughing at the image in my head. This is phenomenal world building.

The Planet Money episode on this was an interesting listen. If I remember correctly, after the bans he held this weird discussion group at the White House where everyone just talked over each other, and he ended it completely noncommittally.

I had a similar situation (except baseboard heat instead) and ended up with a mixed system. It’s really dependent on layout. I’d be careful with anyone who doesn’t take a good look around before giving you a recommendation, unless you have zero room for ducting for instance.

Amazon literally did this with diapers.com that led to them acquiring the company and shutting it down. I’m sure they’ve done it in hundreds of other product spaces as well.

Many monopolies form by first using a dominant market position to sell at a price no competitor can afford to match. Choice has already been removed before the “competition” folds or pulls out of the market. The consequences don’t happen overnight; you feel the squeeze before the “true” monopoly emerges. Amazon isn’t going to sell at a cheaper price once their competitors go out of business out of the kindness of their hearts.

Further, high consumer price is just one form monopoly power takes. Reduced labor power, wages, and worse working conditions are other important concerns, in addition to removing product variety and innovation incentive.

I’m sure it varies a bit by region, but that wouldn’t be a crazy price for the NE. HVAC is just expensive these days.

I’d recommend getting at least three quotes. If different companies propose different setups (e.g., all heads vs ducted vs mixed), try to get at least two quotes for each. I ended up getting six quotes due to how much they varied in both price and design. My highest and lowest quotes were more than 20k apart for a <1500 sqft space.

If you have access to a 0% financing program, don’t wait too long. Those run out quick because it’s such an amazing deal.

The people in charge of the program are getting fired, and an outside consulting firm is being hired to investigate. So, I imagine there will be a follow up later on with more details on that front.

It doesn’t inspire confidence that there wasn’t the oversight to prevent this however. These are human remains, not widgets.

I know. This is one of my major pet peeves, that even major publications seem to skip copy editing. I’ll forgive it in an independent journalist’s substack, but not much more.

The shareholders in question suing are a public employee retirement fund. I wouldn’t exactly consider retired sanitation workers and bureaucrats societal leeches, but to each their own I guess.

Frankly for short haul flights it makes sense. Would it be worth paying double or triple for a three hour flight just to get a full meal? Anyone who truly wants a taste of old time flying can get that with a first class ticket, both in terms of cost and quality.

I’m genuinely not certain if you are meaning to reply to my comments because your replies don’t actually reflect what I’ve said. It is possible to have a larger discussion about a topic from a smaller example, and it’s also possible for things to not be all or nothing. I hope you can sort whatever bee is in your bonnet.

I’m not quite sure how you’ve turned “we should have the option” into “we should buy everything foreign.” I think you’re having an argument you want to have rather than addressing the point I was making.

Great, and where local is the best choice they should do that. But nobody can seriously argue that reducing the ability of government to shop around for the best cost/quality balance is a good thing. It’s not like the only options are buy everything American or everything from China. I’d like qualified experts making that decision, not legislators.

You create bad incentives if you artificially reduce competition like this. Not every good or service will have tons of American choices, so you end up with a handful of companies who know the government has no other choice.

I feel like all this is going to do is raise government costs and line the pockets of selected contractors. We aren’t always going to be the relative best producers in cost/quality balance for every product and service.

If we’re going to subsidize any industry, it should be done directly and explicitly. Otherwise, it becomes another example of “inefficient” government that should be privatized.

I’m pretty sure this is a Demetri Martin joke.