Hacker News: benmw333

New comment by benmw333 in "US special forces soldier arrested after allegedly winning $400k on Maduro raid"

benmw333 — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 05:13:00 +0000

Hey hey now - the occasional $200? $250? fine is devastating enough on our selfless, dedicated, public servants!

New comment by benmw333 in "Flock CEO calls Deflock a “terrorist organization” (2025) [video]"

benmw333 — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:13:50 +0000

I dislike this person and company. That is putting it mildly.

New comment by benmw333 in "Is America's jobs market nearing a cliff?"

benmw333 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 03:09:29 +0000

bf related, I bought: 1) trail mix 2) licorice 3) books on diy house / carpentry

not bf related but happened this week: 1) cv axles for my car ~500 and will install myself

i am employed and just make it into 6 figures $110k, which apparently is poverty level now if you have a few dependents. i consider myself fortunate.

New comment by benmw333 in "Using AI to negotiate a $195k hospital bill down to $33k"

benmw333 — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:11:03 +0000

A few of the sentences don't make sense to me. Who is "they" and "their" in the last two paragraphs?

New comment by benmw333 in "US High school students' scores fall in reading and math"

benmw333 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:21:41 +0000

How is America destroyed if people own their labor (money) and where they invest it?

New comment by benmw333 in "US High school students' scores fall in reading and math"

benmw333 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:20:02 +0000

What characteristics of the teachers and/or student body made the private school experience better?

New comment by benmw333 in "US High school students' scores fall in reading and math"

benmw333 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:18:22 +0000

That is good to hear. In which subjects? Did that carry out throughout your entire life so far? Or did one particular subject end up taking more of your time, and if so, do you attribute that to specific characteristics of those who mentored you? Do you know if those mentors were elevated over time in their organizations?

New comment by benmw333 in "US High school students' scores fall in reading and math"

benmw333 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:16:44 +0000

Yes, I'm serious.

You make the mistake of thinking I am one of few, when I am one of many.

New comment by benmw333 in "US High school students' scores fall in reading and math"

benmw333 — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:59:43 +0000

When I think of all my teachers I had throughout K-12 public school, not one of them stands out as having meaningfully impacted my life.

In fact I would argue many of them were a net negative to my learning achievements (or lack thereof).

So yeah, defund public schools as much as possible. That will get my vote.

New comment by benmw333 in "California AG to OpenAI: Harm to Children Will Not Be Tolerated"

benmw333 — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:57:37 +0000

lol Rob Bonta has morals now eh? that's rich.

New comment by benmw333 in "Can Universal Basic Income Transform Society?"

benmw333 — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 13:15:56 +0000

Why do you want to control the lives of others?

New comment by benmw333 in "US Supreme Court Justices get lavish gifts; Raise bar for bribery prosecutions"

benmw333 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 16:03:35 +0000

It is everyone in politics. Right left center up and down.

New comment by benmw333 in "Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees"

benmw333 — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 22:39:44 +0000

I keep reading all this "we" stuff...

New comment by benmw333 in "Twitter's new Tor onion service"

benmw333 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 16:27:35 +0000

New comment by benmw333 in "Making the dislike count private across YouTube"

benmw333 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 18:48:12 +0000

I chuckled - but so very true.

New comment by benmw333 in "Making the dislike count private across YouTube"

benmw333 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 18:47:01 +0000

It goes both ways - right? For Likes/Dislikes. Regardless, I think this is strictly a big business move - in response to perceived cultural movement.

New comment by benmw333 in "Making the dislike count private across YouTube"

benmw333 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 18:09:51 +0000

I think my above question was just answered here. I think YouTube is more aligned with the cultural movement of "positive things only" and only with certain ideas, i.e. COVID vaccine. I think it is a smart business idea for them.

New comment by benmw333 in "Making the dislike count private across YouTube"

benmw333 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 18:06:50 +0000

Genuine question - why are you "sick of it" - what does a large amount of downvotes actually "do" and why would that make you "sick"

New comment by benmw333 in "Self directed IRAs under attack in proposed tax bill"

benmw333 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:21:47 +0000

Democracy is tyranny. Voting is for children. Contractual representation is an acceptable solution.

New comment by benmw333 in "Self directed IRAs under attack in proposed tax bill"

benmw333 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:20:39 +0000

"Social contract" is the cry of the authoritarian. You do not speak for me. No other person does, unless I hire them. An acceptable solution would be contractual representation.