I think I've identified our fundamental sticking point.

You believe that rolling back regulations, cutting back taxes, and scrutinizing companies less encourages competition. I think that it's not so simple.

For beer, yes. It's obviously worked, and even Cuomo is fighting for less regulation of ciders and wines in order to bring jobs to the finger lakes region. For simple commodities, deregulation (to a point of public safety) is very often a good thing.

But here's where we have a difference of opinion. Firms hate having to compete. They would much prefer to own the market and face no competition. So a firm that is sufficiently successful will undercut, buy out, and manipulate the market to cut out competition. It's natural. That has to happen in an unregulated free market. Part of competition is success and failure, and the ones who succeed are, by definition, gaining more control of the marketplace. They use this control of the marketplace to take part in anti-competitive practices and shut out new or smaller businesses. Look at Disney, Comcast, Cargill, Microsoft... Proof of that line of thinking is in the pudding. So, in my view, deregulation is anti-competitive in most cases.

If you can stand John Oliver's forced humor, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00wQYmvfhn4

Now here is a bit of circular logic that my point includes: When corporations get large enough, they are able to lobby government in order to put up legal barriers to entry for new businesses, and use governmental power to cement their positions and grow even more powerful. That's what happened with craft beer, and that's why deregulating works for that industry. Getting rid of nonsensical regulations that only serve one corporation's anti-competitive interests is not the partisan issue that we are discussing. It's incredibly obvious that these regulations should be thrown out.

But libertarianism doesn't solve the root of that issue. It prevents the regulations from legally cementing a monopoly, but it doesn't do anything to solve the other levers they have to stifle competition. It doesn't prevent them from bringing frivolous lawsuits against smaller competitors in an attempt to bury them under legal costs that the competition can't absorb. It doesn't prevent them from undercutting the price of their competition for just long enough to bankrupt the smaller, less adaptable firm. It doesn't prevent them from hiring out all of a rival firm's employees for just long enough to destroy that firm, then having a round of layoffs. It doesn't prevent massive corporate buy-outs that put an entire industry into the hands of a few different companies, many of which have the same people on their boards. These are the kind of anti-competitive actions that firms would love to be able to do, and that libertarianism cannot cope with. Making it harder or impossible for firms to do things like this are the types of regulations that I support - I don't have a blanket love of regulation for its own sake, just like you don't love all deregulation for its own sake.

To me, this isn't even a discussion anymore than arguing what color the sky is. A cursory overview of history shows that we regulated ourselves into prosperity. One of the best books I've read on it is called American Amnesia and I'd recommend at least reading the description. Don't forget that the most libertarian time in our nation's history was called the Guilded Age for a very good reason. Libertarianism gave us the roaring twenties just as much as it gave us the great depression. Government spending and regulations brought us out of that depression and we remember the fifties so fondly because of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Libertarian systems have failed before (for the reasons that I've outlined here) and there is no reason to think that it will be any different if we give it another try.

So back to the high-minded idealism of both of our arguments and getting out of the weeds of healthcare, etc... That is why I believe that libertarianism (even at its best) is an inherently flawed philosophy.

> FWIW, I was born and raised in Rochester, learned to drive literally in the snow, and have never had snows, always all seasons. The most important things are knowing the limits of your car and yourself, keeping an appropriate speed, and being able to correct if things start to go south.

Don't listen to this poster. You can know the limits of your car and yourself, trundle along at 5 MPH, and generally do everything perfectly, but none of this will help when some other idiot careens into you going 30 MPH in foot-deep snow on all-seasons because "they literally learned how to drive in the snow!"

GET THE SNOW TIRES

My snow-driving anxiety levels went down by orders of magnitude when I bought my Jeep Patriot (with 4x4, naturally) and Blizzak snow tires to put on them. I literally went from being a nervous wreck whenever a snowflake appeared in the sky to "Meh, better text my boss and tell him I'll be a little late to work because it's snowing again. Hm, do I want to play it safe and take the thruway or have some fun on the back roads..."

GET THE SNOW TIRES

edit: And if you've got a truck or SUV, for the love of FSM, invest in a telescoping rotating snow brush (example) to clear the snow off the top of the vehicle (as required by law, but also because you don't want to cause an accident for the people behind you who suddenly get whiteout'd from the snow billowing off the top of your car).

Your insurance company didn't come to inspect either after you bought the house? Maybe my insurance company is weird that it did come and inspect.

Anyways, it's going to be quite expensive. I haven't paid someone to do it, but I have gotten rid of old knob and tube (not being use) and replaced it with proper modern stuff.

What is the power coming into your house like? You have a breaker panel, fuse panel, or what?

If you are the DIY'er type, I would hire someone to install a breaker panel and move all your current circuits to that (I'm assuming you've got fuses). Make sure he installs a breaker panel with enough spaces you can fit all your proposed circuits in. Form there, just pick a room/circuit and re-wire it and then add that to the panel. It's not all that hard, just time consuming. Also, as long as you have half a brain about how electricity works, test wires to make sure they aren't hot (you flipped the breaker already, right?) it's kinda hard to hurt yourself.

Here is a great book.
http://smile.amazon.com/Wiring-House-5th-Pros/dp/162710674X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463502073&sr=1-1&keywords=wiring+a+house+rex+cauldwell

Cable locks keep honest people honest. Consider something like this or this.

I got a pair of Sorel "Snow Sneakers" and think they're pretty awesome:

http://www.amazon.com/Sorel-Mens-Chesterman-Holiday-Chukka/dp/B0037267NM/ref=pd_sbs_shoe_4

I'm not saying there aren't benefits to extracurricular activities, but it's an objective fact that the US ranks below many other industrialized nations in academic achievement. An analysis of these other country's school systems shows they place greater emphasis on academic rigor and less emphasis on athletics. Texas' "Friday Night Lights" culture is an extreme example of this. These small Texan towns live for football, kids and parents alike, with academics being secondary.

If you want to learn more about the educaitonal cultural differences between US and other high-performing countries I recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Kids-World-They-That/dp/145165443X

Tryon Bike

Join their wrench club & buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1934030597

Ask lots of questions (bike people are nice folks) and try to become self sufficient with basic repairs because it's all pretty simple and walking home sucks!

hey thanks for the advice i took into consideration what you suggested and ended with this stuff,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170694956256?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190381853105?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

and maybe this?

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Ultimate-Polish-16-oz/dp/B004HCOE8Q/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_text_y

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G17216-Ultimate-Compound/dp/B001O7PNNM/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_text_y

https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/B0006IU7JK

https://smile.amazon.com/Pirate-Skull-Crossbones-Flag-Polyester/dp/B000G2TO86/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500100958&sr=8-2&keywords=jolly+roger+flag

https://www.amazon.com/IMUSA-I522-28-Cuban-Wood-Stick/dp/B0018E6OKC/ref=zg_bs_2245507011_100?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6KDJKKJ53JT3YR0PAPR2


its a cuban wood stick!

You need to identify them to determine if they're honey bees or not. They're probably not. If they're honey bees than you shouldn't kill them to get rid of them since they're the bizzomb and they help pollinate Rochester and make sweet, sweet honey.

If they are honey bees, which is unlikely, then there are people who will take them off of your hands to join their bee legion, and there shouldn't be a cost to this. I'm not a bee-talking-dude but I usually notice that honey bees are small, slightly furry, and incredibly chill. This one time a drone high-fived me and said 'zzzzup'.

If they're wasps/hornets/etc then they need to die and you need need to destroy them with great vengeance.

Since they're inside your house and you don't have direct access to their next you really can't use a spray, unless you want to sit outside all day acting like some of anti-air battery smoking those devils from the sky.

You have two options:
Get this sweet powder from amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Drione-Insecticide-Carpenter-Bedbugs-Control/dp/B003PO2C9A/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1412040708&sr=8-8&keywords=bee+powder) , I had a problem just like you and I huff and puffed this white powder right into the crack and for the next few hours the bees on the outside refused to come home and i never saw a bee leave the nest.

Your other option is to get a wet dry vac, spray the insecticide that you buy from lowes/home depot by emptying a bottle or two into the wet/dry vac, tape the hose right next to the entrance of the nest and let that sucker rip for a few hours. I never did this, but I know someone who did and they said it worked, but they literally left that machine on for 8 hours.

if you're on the west side you can borrow my batch of that stuff, i have a bunch of it left. If you're on the east side well then why don't you get your top hat on and go down to trader joes to buy some artisanal Pyrethrin :)

One does not invalidate the other.

Yes drunk driving is awful and should be punished harshly.

But that doesn't mean someone wearing all black crossing the middle of the road at 10pm is completely not at fault. Personal responsibility is a thing. When I go for a run I have a reflective vest. They cost $7.00

Do I look a little silly? Yes. You know what looks even worse? My brains on the pavement.

Home schooling it its! Sucks I still have to pay school taxes though.

For all you jellyfish vaccine pushing tardtards I recommend you read some of the following informative materials:

• Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and The Forgotten History
  
  
• Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines--The Truth Behind a Tragedy
  
  
• Vaccine Epidemic: How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health, and Our Children

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-08-25/how-slavery-hurt-the-u-s-economy

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2017/04/24/why-slavery-wasnt-just-a-monstrous-evil-it-was-also-bad-economics/#39dc8b2312a1

This is the book the previous link cites: The Poverty of Slavery: How Unfree Labor Pollutes the Economy

https://www.econlib.org/archives/2014/09/ending_slavery.html

You will no doubt dismiss these articles because you have been dishonest heretofore. You should apologize for that, btw. It's pretty shitty what you've done here.

Lastly, freer people are more prosperous.

Take care.