HappyRobot

We disagree with how we want our taxes spent. As long as the government is paying into it, I'm not convinced you would feel any differently if it was a charity or not.

> It uses a threat of violence to siphon whatever money Congress deems appropriate away from Americans, and redirects it to whatever the executive dictates. That is not a charity.

There is no violence. Congress put aside money for USAID and organizations and other groups write grants for ways to distribute that money. Someone has to read and vet these proposals and unfortunately they are paid.

Hey, it would be great for charity to be administered for free, but personally I'm not convinced that there are enough people with free time to donate to make that work. We don't expect social workers, doctors in clinics, counselors, or numerous other aid recipients to work for free so why expect the same from the administrators?

They may not be more noble, but they're a necessary part for the people you describe as nobel. Charities, non-profits, and USAID workers, are there to distribute funds, do research, and audit the economic benefit of funds they are given. If a nobel person is volunteering instead of donating, it still takes individuals to coordinate and request help. If people working for non profits, charities, and aid groups quit to make money to donate, it would be harder to be nobel because there's no one who can distribute and act on the funding.

Are musicians/bands seeing success on Patreon? Are they releasing music monthly or just using it to communicate and receive recurring support?

I try to support bands I follow as much as possible (buying merch, streaming their music, and going to shows). However the jump to a recurring subscription is a hurdle. Bands seem to still be in the record -> tour -> hiatus cycle and I imagine that needs to change if they're releasing music over the year.

I can't speak to food, but 50% markup is a good rule of thumb for manufactured goods in department stores. It's a big markup, but that markup pays for distribution to individual stores, storage costs, payment processing, and all the labor to stock and provide retail assistance. In addition, the stores also need to make a profit with whatever is left over. The question with Apple is how much of that markup actually goes to labor and distribution and how much is just for profit.

That potato burrito was fantastic! I wouldn't recognize that place by name, but I still remember how good that burrito was.

Kaimuki has had some great places come and go. Years ago there was a Japanese restaurant (called Restaurant Ko or Izakaya Restaurant Ko) that had a fantastic Kaiseki style menu. It was one of the best Japanese meals I've ever had.

Adding to this, Rosberg took advantage of the "win as a team" culture to win his championship. He fought a psychological war with Hamilton where the team refused to take sides. It was the only way to beat Hamilton.

Mercedes had to protect themselves from this and made the smart choice in choosing Bottas as he was well known for a calm and team focused demeanor. With Bottas, Mercedes could further build the team around Hamilton without causing issues between the drivers.

It would've been really interesting to see the team structure if Rosberg returned in 2017. Mercedes dodged a bullet by getting Bottas at the right time.

I believe other teams do copy this, but not in driver pairings. A different F1 example are the pit crews. There's no time or space for blame if a pit stop is messed up. In the first season, Haas has pit stop issues twice in the same race. It wasn't the mechanics that were blamed, but the team principal took it upon himself to diffuse the scenario as the team's failing. This is likely similar across all the team as any doubt or the hesitation for the mechanics would only risk additional mistakes.

Drivers will always be pitted against their teammate though. F1 is technically a team sport, but the real judgement for the drivers is how well they compare against their teammate. Each driver wants to win, that's why they compete.