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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: July 10th, 2023

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  • Those aren’t e-bikes by any legal definition, they just look like e-bikes because they have some technically functional pedals.

    E-bikes are categorized into three primary groups based on factors such as motor power, availability of pedal and/or throttle assist and maximum speeds. Familiarizing yourself with the e-bike class allows you to anticipate its performance characteristics. Depending on the class, certain areas may permit riding a Class 1 e-bike while prohibiting the use of a Class 3 e-bike for instance. These regulations vary across states with many states having their own e-bike classifications or lack thereof. California, for example, has legislation specifying three e-bike classes. There are generally accepted definitions for e-bike classes, and we provide an overview of these standard classifications below.

    Class 1

    A Class 1 e-bike, also known as a pedelec, relies on pedaling to propel forward. It features pedal assist but lacks throttle assist, limiting its speed to a maximum of 20 miles per hour. In most cases, Class 1 e-bikes are permitted in the same areas as traditional bicycles such as bike paths and bike lanes. However, the specific regulations governing their usage depend on local government ordinances.

    Class 2

    Class 2 e-bikes offer both pedal assist and throttle assist, allowing them to move forward even without pedaling. Generally, Class 2 e-bikes are not designed to exceed 20 mph. Many jurisdictions allow the use of Class 2 e-bikes on conventional bike paths and lanes.

    Class 3

    Class 3 e-bikes are slightly faster, reaching speeds of up to 28 mph. They often come equipped with a speedometer, which may be required in certain states like California. Class 3 e-bikes are typically permitted on roads and designated bike-only shoulder lanes. However, due to their higher power output, they are generally not allowed on standard bike lanes, paths or trails.

    https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/carbapps/ebikeincentives/e-bike-basics/index.html






  • Absolutely, we still have 3.6 million births per year, but the problem is teens and young adults. From the ages 15-19 the fertility rate is down 7% and it’s down 70% over the last two decades, meaning we’re telling people that are young not to have babies, to wait until they’re in a more stable life situation till they’re more financially secure, maybe they haven’t found the right partner.

    To your point, by the way, you said before we came on the air something really really important: which is we also have the technology to say “okay wait, you’re still going to have a healthy child, you’re still going to be fine because we can support pregnancies much better than we ever have before.”

    Of course I want to add to that some downsides: there’s a higher obesity rate that interferes with fertility, there’s a risk of poly cystic ovary and endometriosis, there are more overall medical problems and diets are worse and then we’re talking about all the chemicals in the environment, ultra-processed foods; you might want to have a kid, but maybe as you get older you might not be able to.

    My wife by the way, when she was 36 years old was going to have our second kid and I said to her obstetrician “She must be your oldest patient,” he said “She’s my youngest patient.”

    Dana, people are having kids in their 30s now, not their 20s. And again, that’s leading to one thing I want to point out: the replacement rate is down to 1.56. Meaning every couple is having on average 1.56 children in the United States. We need 2 or above to keep the population at the same amount.

    Maybe you watched a different interview than the one linked, he sounds like he belongs on Fox.




  • Yeah, let JK Rowling do the entertaining, it was kind of her job.

    In February 2023, Rowling participated in the podcast The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, hosted by former Westboro Baptist Church member Megan Phelps-Roper and produced by Bari Weiss’s The Free Press. The show purported to add more nuance to the controversy surrounding Rowling, but in practice it mostly served as another pulpit for the author. Part of the draw was that Rowling gave a forthright interview on her beliefs about trans people for the first time. “I believe, absolutely, that there is something dangerous about this movement and that it must be challenged,” she said.

    She then compared trans people to Death Eaters, the evil collective in the Harry Potter books that are often read as a Nazi analogue. “Some of you have not understood the books. The Death Eaters claimed, ‘We have been made to live in secret, and now is our time, and any who stand in our way must be destroyed. If you disagree with us, you must die,’” Rowling said. “They demonized and dehumanized those who were not like them.”

    “I am fighting what I see as a powerful, insidious, misogynistic movement that has gained huge purchase in very influential areas of society,” Rowling continued. “I do not see this particular movement as either benign or powerless, so I’m afraid I stand with the women who are fighting to be heard against threats of loss of livelihood and threats to their safety.”

    https://www.thecut.com/2025/06/heres-what-j-k-rowling-has-really-said-about-trans-people.html

    We can all laugh at the pure fiction she invents, and quietly ignore how the money we give her affects the world around us.