No country has any moral obligation to help any other country. It is anarchy between nations. Every government does have an obligation to its own people. If China didn't take care of their own needs before other nation's they wouldn't be a very successful government.
The only logical way forward is to ensure that your own nation is taking care of its own needs before helping others.
I have always found it interesting that if everybody focused on improving their own conditions first then helped others locally the world would be objectively better for everybody. The better you make the lives of those around you the more you can expand the reach of your goodness.
> No country has any moral obligation to help any other country. It is anarchy between nations.
You just made that up. First, what defines morality? Second, by what morality are you not obligated to help others? That is amorality, greed, evil. And empirically, countries have long felt, talked explicitly about, and acted on, sometimes at great cost, the moral need to help other countries. Leaders have long made that argument to their fellow citizens (or subjects).
The parent claim is a transparent fiction of nationalists. You can do better!
> I have always found it interesting that if everybody focused on improving their own conditions first then helped others locally the world would be objectively better for everybody.
An even more obvious fabrication with not even an attempt basis. As is often the case with this stuff, the only 'basis' is saying it like it's a fact.
The US legally switched to metric when England did. It is taught in all schools and used for international trade. But, just like in England there is a mix of imperial and metric units used domestically. If you dont travel internationally, like many Americans, there is little need to use metric. Another generation and there won't be many people left in the US that didn't at least learn metric.
It's not like England in that respect at all. Yes, there is a mix of usage in the UK but it is very limited. People use metric for everything except miles in cars, pints in pubs, and height and weight of people.
From what I have read about metrication, England required all industries to change. The US government doesn't have authority to do that and US industry wasn't going to change all their tooling at great cost if they didn't need to.
Replacing windows is actually one of the easier DIY home jobs you can do. Hell of a lot easier than building a deck that a lot of people do. They are installed after framing and meant to be removed if they break. Removing the trim inside and outside will give you access to the fasteners holding the frame in.
Usually, the hardest part is finding windows that fit and match your taste.
Finding the right size windows without having to go custom has proven to be nearly impossible. It's not a hard project but unless you are fortunate with window dimensions it is far more expensive than building a deck.
It depends on how the home was constructed. With stick frames the window frame is built to take the load from the studs above it and direct it around the window and to the studs below. It can be done but it is not an easy job. Going smaller is easy though. Just build a smaller frame inside the existing one.
What's wrong with a custom size? I replaced two small windows with triple glass ones, and just ordered the right size online. I don't think it's even possible to buy windows in a standard size (whichever that may be) here in the Netherlands. A professional glazier would order the windows from the factory just as the shop with a fancy website with a configurator did for my order.
That's true for relatively new construction, but for instance, I have a 100 year old house with stucco. Replacing my windows is a nightmare job. Whereas my back deck was a far simpler project
My home is 58 years old. last summer I had the original aluminum single-pane windows replaced with vinyl double-pane ones. I 'assisted' the installer and knew he would prob run into some settling of the window opening. I was right, there's no way I could done the replacements on my own, owing to proper tools alone.
My power company sent me an email the following December telling me my energy savings from the previous October, 2023 (that month only), for the same month in 2024, was 31%! When I called the installer and told him, he said a large part of that was prob from leakage around the old windows and the now double panes.
The windows brand is "Ply Gem Windows". They were ordered from a local lumber yard, not a national chain like Lowe's. (Prices can vary wildly depending where you live. When the same installer put in my new patio door, he steered me to Lowe's as the best price, I went in and ordered that myself.) Since my house was built in 1967, they were for that era a standard size. The installer measured all 17 windows for Ply Gem to go by. For the windows and installation, not to mention my assistance (I mostly picked up trash!) the total cost was just under $8K.
100 year old windows were designed for easy maintenance and repair.
Are the double hung windows? If they are, you can make sure to have storm windows on which effectively work as a double pane window. If this new glass were available, you could replace every pane in your window without removing a nail.
Yeah, for me my windows weren't standard sizes so had to be custom built, anyhow. At that point, you might as well get installation as well. Some stucco had to be chipped back to insert the new window but it's covered by the vinyl frame. Low-e windows are amazing though.
Same here. We removed trim inside the house and it wasnt that bad, but I was just replacing the trim— not the windows. I could see that removing the windows would be a pain the ass very quickly. And it has already been done once.
> Replacing windows is actually one of the easier DIY home jobs you can do
I think you're assuming a baseline level of competence that many don't have. I'm comfortable with electrical work and some plumbing but I wouldn't do my own window installation.
When I was in elementary school in the US in the early 90's lunch was made in the school kitchen. Every school in the district did the same. By the time I was in 7th all of the lunches were Food Service items warmed and shoved in a foil pouch at one school to drive to every other school.
It is completely my bias but to me this is the result of cronyism. A couple corporations make an enormous amount of money off shit food sold to schools. The problem is that it is way cheaper to buy prepared food and have a few people warm it than having cooks at each school.
> A couple corporations make an enormous amount of money off shit food sold to schools. The problem is that it is way cheaper to buy prepared food and have a few people warm it than having cooks at each school.
I don't get it, are the corporations making a shit ton of money or is it cheaper for the school? If both of these things are true, then it's a win-win.
I don't think it's necessarily about pre-packaged or not, just the type of food. If anything, having it outsourced would make change a lot easier. No need to install a kitchen and hire cooks, just call up the giant corporations, tell them you want apple slices instead of Takis. They would almost certainly accommodate very quickly, because you know, they're making a shit ton of money. Or others would jump in
Unfortunately I think a lot of this is demand driven. It's like the few pieces of rotting fruit in a bodega. They don't stock them because kids don't want to eat them. So I imagine supply side won't do as much as you think. But it still might be worth it because it might be better for the kids to be a little hungrier than stuffing their face with poison and they might eventually come around.
> I don't get it, are the corporations making a shit ton of money or is it cheaper for the school? If both of these things are true, then it's a win-win
It's a win for the corporation, but a loss for the children and the healthcare system. They're selling unhealthy food that causes diseases at a good profit margin.
> They would almost certainly accommodate very quickly, because you know, they're making a shit ton of money
No they wouldn't. They'd tell you apple slices will raise the price by 50 cents per student per day (or whatever) and then you're back to the school budget issue.
The US system has for decades managed agricultural subsidies to ensure massive amounts of corn and soybeans are grown and sold at low prices to food processors and as livestock feed. The outcome is that your high-fructose corn syrup drink, white bread bun made with high fructose corn syrup and hamburger from a cow that got 80% of its lifetime calories from corn is very cheap, but many fruits, vegetables and nuts are expensive. (With occasional carve-outs for things like almonds being cheaper than they should be due to water management in California, but that's a separate issue).
The centralized preparation is a lesser evil from the description. You can still cook well tasting very healthy food that was done early in the morning and then distributed, there is 0 reasons why it should be worse and no need for any bad chemistry to make it last. After all, check what first class is served in airplanes, it often looks and tastes amazing yet it was done 4-15 hours before.
The issue I think is way more fundamental - look at general US portions everywhere - at home, restaurants, school. Those ain't normal sizes for any human being to eat sustainably. How much physical effort is paired with that, also how the dinner looks like (cue - it should be lightest meal in both size and content of whole day). Kids eat what they see parents eating and whats available home. Can't expect kids of obese parent(s) to have some healthy habits. And so on
The internet attack resilience isn't meant to keep a single node online. It is to keep a communication network active even if parts are destroyed. That part works.
I have visited. My long-haired male traveling companion got homophonic slurs yelled at him in the street twice in four days. I’m sure those yelling were trying to make a good life for their families by chasing undesirables out, and I suppose it worked.
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