So, uh... the gas prices

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Oh fuck off with this, everybody's sick of your pro-Putin propaganda. Outdated propaganda at that, since he himself admitted long ago that NATO was not the cause for the invasion, nor would the invasion stop if Ukraine permanently ceased all attempts to join it. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian lives matter in the least to a man that demented, they're just playthings.

We've also already established that the rise in price of natural resources has very little to do with the war. Russia isn't nearly as important as you or Putin would like to believe it is in that regard, and this just further stresses the importance of nations becoming energy independent.

"Just give the mentally unstable imperialist tyrant exactly what he wants and everything will work out fine, promise."

It´s not pro-Putin propaganda. Has nothing to do with one man. Difficult to grasp for a Disney audience, but Putin can lose an election. And there are many different factions in Russia, even within the right-wing. Some (e.g. those who like Dugin) support the war. Some oppose it. There would have been no war without American involvement. Prior to the war, Russia expressed their red line. It was ignored. The start had everything to do with NATO. Now it is more complicated.
Tyrant nations get what they want. I would not support bombing the American troops in Syria (who occupy 1/3 of the country!) even though it would be legal under international law. I prefer to avoid nuclear war. That´s just how selfish I am. Tyrant nations have more say than the Fiji islands or Andorra. That´s the real world.

 

[FAST6191]

Oh don't I know it... Obama still had an entire YEAR left in his last term do do something about the housing crisis in 2008, and he didn't do a damn thing.and of course, things just got worse from there. Why won't anybody put rent caps on landlords? This shit is the #1 reason why we're struggling so hard right now.

Do rent caps work?

We have decades of data now from New York rent controls (functionally the same thing) and it usually sees minimal services (including the real fun stuff like rent controlled parts of the building not able to access services the non rent controlled parts have), minimal repair, minimal new stock generated*, more recently anything they can given over to being a quasi hotel with the air B&B and its ilk, . Now there is also a massive debt bubble in New York as well as pumped up prices get used as collateral for further loans

*ye boring and basic supply-demand curve says if free market is ignored (granted building codes in New York, which are some of the strictest in the world and it is still a dirty shithole, say anything but free market. Though I would probably look at San Francisco for the real fun there, not that the single family homes suburban US model adopted basically everywhere after world war 2 does well** and that is also coming to a head about now) then supply will drop (or at least not grow with need) as that limits their losses.

**I think it was most telling that architects when given the chance don't live in such things and instead in more old school European approaches but that is probably a different discussion on the failures of that model of home building (or perhaps not and instead a deeper discussion).

Likewise what could be accomplished in that year even if he had the balls and political power (president = figurehead for most purposes)? The seeds were sown long before then with deregulation of the market and fraud that came with that.

I do also have to note plenty of landlords are not big faceless mega corps (that also form grandma's pension fund but eh on that) but people that inherited a house, moved in with a partner, built a little place as their investment and then use the proceeds of that to fund their income, retirement or such like. Granted I am not the biggest fan of real estate as a driver of an economy (it does nothing, it just sits there adding no value) but limited supply (also a problem) and food-water-shelter and all that means it has a place in the game.

It is all a very nice feel good thing to say this sort of thing and even attempt it but practical realities where it gets tried and

 

[City]

What, the government? As in... The USA government? That third world country with their rightwing politics and their nutcases that make said rightwings seem like lefties? Fat chance. News outlets have an allergy towards socialism, and as a result the people as well. So no... Don't expect the government to do something they're fundamentally against doing.

Sorry... Guess they've got to move to a more civilized country.

M8 this isn't reddit where shitting on the USA in every thread will grant you le updoots and leddit gold. Russia is right next to Europe and many countries rely on Russia's natural gas. Who the fuck cares about a country that has currently zero issues with this, since it's on the other side of the world? Are you so self-centered that you forgot that other countries exist? FFS.

 

[Jayro]

Do rent caps work?

We have decades of data now from New York rent controls (functionally the same thing) and it usually sees minimal services (including the real fun stuff like rent controlled parts of the building not able to access services the non rent controlled parts have), minimal repair, minimal new stock generated*, more recently anything they can given over to being a quasi hotel with the air B&B and its ilk, . Now there is also a massive debt bubble in New York as well as pumped up prices get used as collateral for further loans

*ye boring and basic supply-demand curve says if free market is ignored (granted building codes in New York, which are some of the strictest in the world and it is still a dirty shithole, say anything but free market. Though I would probably look at San Francisco for the real fun there, not that the single family homes suburban US model adopted basically everywhere after world war 2 does well** and that is also coming to a head about now) then supply will drop (or at least not grow with need) as that limits their losses.

**I think it was most telling that architects when given the chance don't live in such things and instead in more old school European approaches but that is probably a different discussion on the failures of that model of home building (or perhaps not and instead a deeper discussion).

Likewise what could be accomplished in that year even if he had the balls and political power (president = figurehead for most purposes)? The seeds were sown long before then with deregulation of the market and fraud that came with that.

I do also have to note plenty of landlords are not big faceless mega corps (that also form grandma's pension fund but eh on that) but people that inherited a house, moved in with a partner, built a little place as their investment and then use the proceeds of that to fund their income, retirement or such like. Granted I am not the biggest fan of real estate as a driver of an economy (it does nothing, it just sits there adding no value) but limited supply (also a problem) and food-water-shelter and all that means it has a place in the game.

It is all a very nice feel good thing to say this sort of thing and even attempt it but practical realities where it gets tried and

I'm not a fan of paying someone else's mortgage through exploitation of the housing market.

 

[FAST6191]

I'm not a fan of paying someone else's mortgage through exploitation of the housing market.

Depending upon how you work it then you don't have to, at least not have to view it that way.

Between house moves, upkeep (even more so if you don't plan on getting DIY skills, or have to do permits/qualifications to change a socket, never mind if you have a wife that keeps up with the Jones' thus redoing kitchen/bathroom every few years), insurance, taxes and moving costs (particularly if you fall for the nonsense that is starter homes) the mortgage payment vs rent + extra that would be mortgage payment into boring and basic safe investments (think index funds boring and safe) then the rent aspect can come out ahead of things, with the added perks of being able to readily chase jobs, drop off the grid for a few months and travel, have a cushion, and more still if you go in for even basic levels of minimalism. Harder to get that working in ridiculous places like New York, San Francisco, LA, Seattle and certain parts of Texas but such things are probably best experienced as a tourist if you are inclined to go in for that.

I was skirting around it last time as we are further away from gas (be it petrol or natural) prices even if there are concerns in that (the style of design increases costs there, and all but ensures cars are a requirement for all rather than a nice perk) but might as well go now
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa

Between stuff like that, lack of supply (usually a fault of overly burdensome restrictions, though they might try to sell it to you along the lines of safety and being a filthy hippy that does not know maths/heat transfer, plus old people aka the only people that vote like safety and their garden views, not to mention the generally theoretical richness* that comes from house price increases, which means they block everything which might tread on that), overly high taxes in many instances (some places are better than others) and the push for skills in the workforce (which means STEM degree, accounting, skills related to those or get lost in the modern world, plus ridiculousness in education costs for some of those in the US which I would say again is the result of over meddling by the government** plus workforce doubling because women joining in various capacities) that speaks far more to the lack of affordability of housing and related aspects of rent.

*unless you are going to go squat in a tent for your retirement then a rising tide lifts all ships. Though as long as housing prices outpace inflation or indeed even the markets then those loaning money (which also pull more than a few puppet strings) are also ahead on things so will similarly block things where they can (see also why big businesses are often the ones pushing for minimum wage increases).

**it is not a coincidence the cost of tuition scales give or take a minor risk bonus (not everybody will default thus you can assume better than worst case scenario) with the minimum rates the government guarantees will be repaid in loans.

 

[Xzi]

It´s not pro-Putin propaganda. Has nothing to do with one man. Difficult to grasp for a Disney audience, but Putin can lose an election.

Lmao who do you think you're fooling? Putin declared himself god-emperor of Russia about a decade ago now, and every election since has been transparently fraudulent. The leader of his opposition was poisoned multiple times before being thrown in jail (presumably for life) on bogus charges.

There would have been no war without American involvement.

Horse shit. The invasion is and always has been about attempting to seize Ukraine's resources/geographical position, and therefore it was always inevitable.

Tyrant nations get what they want.

Clearly not, or there would be no international resistance to Putin's imperialist actions. If in the modern day, superpowers got to invade and annex whichever countries they want, America would've annexed Russia for its oil decades ago.

 

[tabzer]

"America is so great, because it doesn't fake democracy. "

-JFK

 

[TraderPatTX]

Funny, because it is the Republicans that are blocking gas bills meant for lowering cost.

Funny, because Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants shut down drilling leases on public lands on his first day in office.

OTOH, there are no serious gas bills in Congress right now. If there were, they would have included it in the Increase Inflation Act.

 

[TraderPatTX]

GTFO here with nuclear power. Haven't you learned your lesson from it already?
Yes, it's the cleanest source, with a huge caveat: only when you can safely dispose of the waste, which is as of now, impossible.

I can't fathom why, with so many freaking huge empty deserts, people haven't invested more in solar power yet, as it's pretty much the second cleanest alternate energy source, safe and pretty much limitless for the duration of the panels.

We should have ditched petrol as a power source for decades as of now.

No need to dispose of the waste if it can be recycled.

https://www.wired.com/story/recycled-nuclear-waste-will-power-a-new-reactor/

The desert is the worst place to put solar panels. The panels lose a lot of efficiency at high temperatures, not to mention deserts are naturally very dusty which require water to wash it off.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/...gher-temperatures-are-undermining-solar-power

 

[Xzi]

OTOH, there are no serious gas bills in Congress right now. If there were, they would have included it in the Increase Inflation Act.

The one introduced by Democrats was already voted down by Republicans (about a month ago IIRC). If they had included it in the Inflation Reduction Act, that also would've been voted down by Republicans. But you probably already knew that.

It's also unnecessary at this point, since the price of gasoline has been falling steadily for quite a while now.

 

[Lather]

we have no choice, make a war 3rd

 

[LainaGabranth]

This is why green energy is based because we harvest the Earth, instead of kneeling to energy companies.

 

[TraderPatTX]

The one introduced by Democrats was already voted down by Republicans (about a month ago IIRC). If they had included it in the Inflation Reduction Act, that also would've been voted down by Republicans. But you probably already knew that.

It's also unnecessary at this point, since the price of gasoline has been falling steadily for quite a while now.

And why is it falling? Because the resident is taking from the Strategic Oil Reserves which is supposed to be for the military during war time. It is a temporary measure. Gas prices will go up once we burn through this latest release.

Got any long term plans, because we used to be energy independent and now we are not for over a year now. What changed last year?

 

[Xzi]

Gas prices will go up once we burn through this latest release.

Which is asinine, because the price per barrel is the same now as it was back in the late 2000s when gas was $3.50 a gallon. We need to be transitioning to electric vehicles anyway, but still, profiteering on necessities is out of control.

Got any long term plans, because we used to be energy independent and now we are not for over a year now. What changed last year?

Lol we've never been fully energy independent, else we would've cut ties to the mass murdering Saudi royals long ago. The long term plan needs to be eliminating reliance on finite fossil fuels altogether.

 

[TraderPatTX]

Which is asinine, because the price per barrel is the same now as it was back in the late 2000s when gas was $3.50 a gallon. We need to be transitioning to electric vehicles anyway, but still, profiteering on necessities is out of control.


Lol we've never been fully energy independent, else we would've cut ties to the mass murdering Saudi royals long ago. The long term plan needs to be eliminating reliance on finite fossil fuels altogether.

Gas prices are at $3.84/gallon. Not much above the $3.50 you quoted.

https://gasprices.aaa.com/

You want to rely on even more finite rare earth minerals that require strip mining of the land using slave labor.

Not to mention, you were just complaining about the power grids in another comment and you want to put more pressure on them charging EV's. Make it make sense.

 

[Xzi]

Gas prices are at $3.84/gallon. Not much above the $3.50 you quoted.

Right, but as you pointed out, that's because strategic reserves are being released. Once that dries up corporations will go right back to gouging people just because they can.

You want to rely on even more finite rare earth minerals that require strip mining of the land using slave labor.

Slave labor is not a requirement, and it still pollutes/destabilizes a lot less land than drilling for oil/fracking.

Not to mention, you were just complaining about the power grids in another comment and you want to put more pressure on them charging EV's. Make it make sense.

I was identifying a problem without a current solution, not "complaining." Nuclear power is the best stopgap for the US in particular until we reach a breakthrough in battery technology. That said, a lot of states also have the option to go 100% renewable right now.

 

[AncientBoi]

Eat Beans guys. Just eat more beans

 

[sombrerosonic]

Eat Beans guys. Just eat more beans

Game boy advanced filled with b e a n s

 

[matthi321]

thats the price we have to pay to not let russia win in ukraine, even if thousands will die of cold in the west,that is a small price to not let russia win

 

[Xzi]

thats the price we have to pay to not let russia win in ukraine, even if thousands will die of cold in the west,that is a small price to not let russia win

As if thousands don't already die from starvation/homelessness annually. And as if Republicans have ever actually given a shit. The poor are second-class citizens in the US, same as it ever was.