> Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act is known as the Jones Act and deals with cabotage (coastwise trade). It requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on ships that have been constructed in the United States and that fly the U.S. flag, are owned by U.S. citizens, and are crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents

Where can authors sell books without such obnoxious and saboteurial obfuscation as intentionally using custom incompatible fonts that fail with screen readers?

Does Amazon intentionally stop users from reading books they've purchased aloud with TTS because they want you to buy the audiobook copy too?

Tapes reveal Enron's secret role in California's power blackouts https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/feb/05/enron.usnew...

> the energy corporation Enron shut down at least one power plant on false pretences, deliberately aggravating California's crippling 2001 blackouts with the aim of raising prices.

Rolling blackout : USA : CA 2000-2001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_blackout

Enron scandal: 2001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal

Why did global oil prices change so much post 2003?

2000s energy crisis / disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_energy_crisis

> End of the crisis:

> By the beginning of September 2008, prices had fallen to $110. OPEC [...]

World oil market chronology from 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oil_market_chronology_fr...

> From the mid-1980s to September 2003: under $25/barrel.

  1998: $10
  2004: $40-$60. A series of events led the price to
  2005: $60
  2006: $75
  2007: $60-$99
  2008: $141.75

How did costs change over that time given efficiency growth year over year

Renewables are more lucrative with higher gas prices.

High gas prices typically lead to consumer price inflation and then prices never go back down.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47332367

Points: 3

# Comments: 2

> As soon as he gets out, he's going to fight in my casinos

> And often, borrowers can't pay back the loan right away. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that nearly 1 in 4 payday loans are re-borrowed nine times or more, while Pew found it generally takes borrowers roughly five months to pay off the loans — and costs them an average of $520 in finance charges. That's on top of the amount of the original loan.

500 + 520 = 1020

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47292565

Points: 4

# Comments: 1

Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130 Billion in Tariffs https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/judge-orders-government-...

How would that work with something like the WH Press Secretary who has refused to give back some $350K in campaign donations (though currently FEC can't prosecute any campaign finance violations because they don't have a quorum because Trump has not nominated and confirmed enough FEC commissioners.)

Damien (South Park) - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_(South_Park) :

> The majority of South Park's residents bet on Satan to win the match due to his enormous size and muscular physique, but Satan ultimately throws the fight and reveals he bet on Jesus, thus winning everybody's money.

Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_v._National_Collegiate_... :

> State of New Jersey, represented by Governor [Chris Christie], sought to have the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) overturned to allow state-sponsored sports betting.

How does Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association affect or affirm states' rights on cannabis regulation and legalization?

Wasn't Christie against Medicalization and Legalization?

IMO it's less fun to see scared gamblers at sporting events.

A quote from the film "Two for the Money":

"See, most gamblers, when they go to gamble, they go to win. When we go to gamble, we go to lose."

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47291406

Points: 353

# Comments: 134

> Does Fusion produce radioactive nuclear waste the same way fission does?

> Nuclear fission power plants have the disadvantage of generating unstable nuclei; some of these are radioactive for millions of years. Fusion on the other hand does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. A fusion reactor produces helium, which is an inert gas. It also produces and consumes tritium within the plant in a closed circuit. Tritium is radioactive (a beta emitter) but its half life is short. It is only used in low amounts so, unlike long-lived radioactive nuclei, it cannot produce any serious danger.

> The activation of the reactor’s structural material by intense neutron fluxes is another issue. This strongly depends on what solution for blanket and other structures has been adopted, and its reduction is an important challenge for future fusion experiments.