Fair enough. Another poster had suggested shipping the EVs without the batteries, but I had pointed out that doesn't somehow avoid the need to ship the batteries so it's probably not worth it. As it stands, we don't know exactly how this particular fire started in the first place. Shipping EV batteries with low charge might make them less likely to spontaneously combust due to some defect, but certainly is not going to stop them from burning from an external source.

How is there "no real viable way we could afford that in the US" when other countries can afford it? Very clearly it's affordable given the number of countries currently using such systems.

Don't many of these socialized medicine countries also have tax rates for most people WELL north of 50%?

That's gonna be a key sticking point in the US, no one here will tolerate their taxes going up that much for the Feds....and don't forget that would be in addition to state and local taxes.

I'm quite happy with my insurance coverage and medical coverage I have....I recently had surgery, and it was done in a timely manner, and even my ER return for a PE that was a post surgical problem..was caught and treated. It didn't cost me that much outta pocket....and I was happy to have had the treatment and life saving care.

Granted, anecdotal story by one....but still, I've not experienced the nightmares others seem to be pushing as the common US narrative .....

Only funny in the large discussion of the ripe story? Sad.

Don't look at me. I want a belly warmer version. Basically a portable diagnostic bed out of TOS, but with extra pockets for spare batteries.

But my better idea from decades ago was a medical diary website to collect all the firsthand data... Only problem is that people would have to start telling the truth to themselves. (Okay, not the only problem, but the funniest one.)

Only mention of shark in the discussion? And no mention of electrocution?

Slashdot can't find the funny no more.

Wouldn't you really rather have a WordStar?

Version 3 was probably the best before the cruft set in.

Obesity is probably going to become rare in the next 10 years, now we have really effective medication for it. The biggest step change will be when the patents expire and generic versions become available for a small fraction of the price they want today.

The many potential side effects scare me off of the GLP-1 meds.....I mean, spontaneous irreversible blindness comes to mind.

I'd rather be fat that risk that.

Will several hundred dollar wrist watches be bought for everyone? My wife has a galaxy watch and it only took four years for the battery to wear out and hold less than a day of charge Not only is the battery replacement part $150 on its own, but there is no one within hours of me that can replace it. --

You might look into the Apple Watch series....my; first one I think version 2 worked for quite a long time...my currentl Apple Watch Ultra 2 is now about 2+ years old, going strong with multi-days on a charge....and it is easy to get a battery swap if you need at an Apple Store whether you have one near you or ship it to them.

I've been MORE than happy with their electronic watch offerings....and customer service.

Single payer healthcare.

The problem is....there's no real viable way we could afford that in the US.

i mean currently we cannot afford the single payer systems we DO currently have : Medicare, Medicaid and the VA system.....

How would you propose to fund such a system as you propose? We'd have to have basic tax rates on everyone well over 50% I'd estimate...likely higher and I don't think that would fly well here in the US.

What are your suggestions?

Hell, every new car on the market has TPMS now

What is TPMS? New term for me...

There's enough energy in a typical tank of gasoline to melt all of the steel in the car it comes in, so that's not especially alarming. Of course, in the typical ICE gas fire, a large amount of the heat from the burning gasoline doesn't end up going into the car body itself, but into the air in various ways. Not to mention that the steel is usually more likely to burn than to melt. In burning, fiery wreck terms I would say that EV is generally a better bet than ICE.

Of course, you can practically ship an ICE with no gas in the tank. Obviously not so easy for an EV. The really interesting question here is more a question of how the fire started. Was it a spontaneously combusting EV or EV battery, or did the fire start some other way and just spread to the EVs? It's possible we'll find out, but probably only if they had good video surveillance.

That plan doesn't really seem logical unless there's some specific reason to believe that the batteries are more at risk in the cars than out of them. Otherwise, the loss is going to be just as great if a shipload of EV batteries burns as if a shipload of full EVs burns. Maybe if the batteries were not such a significant part of the cost of the vehicle it would be different. When you consider amortized risk over time, the plan you're suggesting seems more expensive. A better fire suppression system (probably one that continuously dumps large amounts of seawater on any car that catches fire so that the fire eventually burns out without spreading) might be more cost effective. Don't forget, this is international shipping. Big cargo carriers, for example, are known for leaving port intentionally overloaded with the expectation that a certain percentage of the cargo containers will just fall overboard. It's all about bean counting.

As it is, for decades I heard about nothing else but the cheap fuel in the US compared to the rest of the world... and that's gone REALLY quiet for the last few years

I wonder why it went quiet......gas prices are still quite low over here....especially compared to the rest of the world .

Good joke, though the story could have generated more.

as usual

Good FP perspective and it reminds me of an old academic article about the potentially infinite lifespan of "Internet" data. The premise of the paper was that the marginal cost of storage is low but the immediate cost of evaluating data for deletion is high. The kernel of the problem is that the future remains unknowable, so it is quite difficult (and therefore expensive) to decide that a certain piece of data will not become valuable in the future, even if it looks to be completely worthless now. (Have I rung any bells? Probably CACM around 2005? Or earlier in an IEEE magazine.)

Putting the onus for the retention decisions regarding personal data on the person does sound like a reasonable approach. Then my data will automatically disappear and die after I die and stop paying for its existence. I could go into the philosophic turf of personal value, but mostly my reaction is that "Microsoft is being evil". Again and of course. This is a kind of pressure marketing that offends me. Targeting the people who are satisfied with Windows 10 the same way Microsoft targeted the users AKA victims of earlier satisfactory OSes in the Windows series. Yeah, I'm using Windows 11 on new machines, Linux on a a couple, and I have a boat anchor Chromebook, but I spend a lot of time on Android (studying a foreign language by reading books).

Me? I think Microsoft has mostly avoided marketing its products fairly and squarely. Mostly to seek and defend monopoly profits--but that seems to be the dominant business model these days. Part of a general trend that has destroyed the in-store shopping experience and which is now making online shopping hellacious. It's all about manipulating the customers to maximize profits and nothing about providing best values for real needs. And my data? My data only represents my achievement of obscurity as I glide towards quiet oblivion... (Your data and you, too.)

Here's a funny websearch for you: Ask about the most and least manipulative online shopping sites. The answer should surprise you--by not mentioning Amazon, the biggest player of such games. If your results resemble mine, then the negative side features Chinese websites, but a number of the worst abuses (of manipulative applied psychology) reminded me of my attempts to shop with Rakuten. The countdown timer trick in particular.