We could have an underground vacuum tunnel and have a high speed subway. We could call it the "Subshuttle." Oh wait...

And for some of us, we've held onto things for a bunch of years before. Why not? if it's still doing what you want why upgrade for the sake of upgrading?

The 1965 film "Crack in the world" should be required viewing for those commenting in this thread.

Yes, America does love conmen - how else could the Democratic party exist?

Here's a story from Popular Mechanics from 2020 discussing this https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularmechanics.c... I'm not going to link to stuff from facebook or reddit. Most farmers don't live on the internet, and most ag stuff isn't newsworthy (after all, why have farms, there's plenty of food in the supermarket) so it's tough to find them. My guess is that Mahindra will be the real winner. I actually like their side by sides, as they look like old Land Rovers, which is cool. And they're cheaper than others.

Because we stopped colleges actually doing education. This was well underway when I was IN college in the 1980s. We pay more 'administrators' in colleges than faculty. Why is higher ed (what a laugh, for the most part, now) so expensive? Because most of the money is consumed by administrative fluff and little by education and research.

Indeed. Looking at the carts of folks who buy a bunch of ultra processed foods, my cart is almost always cheaper - and a lot more nutrient dense and a lot less procesed.

Things like school lunches are a profit center for schools. Schools don't want decent nutrition education in schools.

Well...perhaps white sugar , by definition, is ultra processed?

Yes, and no. I don't think the food desert thing is an issue, but I do think the propaganda of advertising is a huge thing. It's not hugely difficult to own a crockpot and put chicken and veg in it and then eat it when you get home from work, but we have a culture that says you should never have to do the 'drudgery of cooking' - I genuinely believe that the vast majority - more than 90 percent - of Americans would rather die than cook.

I agree that it is consumed by poor people - but I think anyone who buys food that is more than 'an ingredient' - even to things like crackers - are getting ultra processed food. Given that the middle class and up eat in restaurants about 3 meals per day - obviously not universally, as I do only a few times per year and my wife, never - but I've never encountered food in a restaurant that *isn't* ultra processed. Even the salads have a flavor that says 'chemical preservative' on them. So I think it affects all income levels.

Perhaps because of rampant antibiotic uses in agriculture there, and infection with a microbe that is antibiotic resistant before they slip through a porous border in the west?

Yes! The number of people who have flu and 'go to the doctor and get an antibiotic' is legion. Why? It's an easy way to get a patient out of the doctor's office. Then there's prophylactic antibiotics used in dentists' offices. "Oh you're going to have a root canal, take amoxicillin first' - dentist gave my wife 2 rounds, and it wasn't good. Fortunately she's okay, now.

I know, right? In my last house, I got the lightest shingles I could; they were a light grey. I believe it saved me a significant amount in cooling costs. I never saw the point of black roofs in the high desert but ... folks have to have their 'eastern style farmhouses' even in wildly different climates.

I agree. I'm sure there are SOME folks who scam, but that's true with anything. I agree about per diem being easier. Part of the problem is if you're traveling for business and eat up (say) eating at an airport, which is quite usual with layovers and what not, your meal will likely be quite expensive - so it's not an employe scamming, but instead having to pay inflated prices because of their schedule. Of course, if you're having a bottle of 40 year old scotch with your meal, that may be something different (GRIN)