The following will be a massive oversimplification of the complex laws and court cases over the 20th century trying to grapple with what, quite frankly, is a fairly modern issue. Not the AI aspect, but that of CSAM and how it intersects with American civil liberties (is the First Amendment).

In the USA, the freedom of speech is very broad, save for very specific, already-established exceptions. These include “imminent threats/fighting words”, obscenity (not the same as the dictionary definition), defamation (false statements that tarnish one’s character, and the cause or result of crimes. Whole courses could be taught on just the exceptions to the First Amendment and its contours.

Actual CSAM is exempt from freedom of speech because – among other reasons articulated by courts – it can only be produced through abuse of a child, which is a crime. Simulated CSAM, however, has to meet the obscenity standard, which the Supreme Court articulated as:

The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and © whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Every word of those guidelines has been deeply analyzed for the 50 years of its existence, and until a better set of guidelines are issued, that’s the best guidestar we have. Which is to say, if a lawyer can craft an argument within those parameters, the scenario you’ve described could indeed be recognized as a crime.

But a small caution: please be very careful when asking to carve exceptions into free speech. As a civil right, it’s something which must be jealously guarded, by citizens, lawmakers, and courts. These things are complex precisely because they’re trying to avoid criminalizing thoughts and ideas, while also enabling a society to function.

Thinking about this some more: is this legit? I’m not from the UK, and have only heard of Thames Valley Police from watching Endeavour on PBS. Do the police just email entire neighborhoods when they need leads?

the use of … e-bikes is currently illegal on a public road or areas set aside for pedestrians (which includes pavements, cycle lanes and foot paths).

The UK Highway Code would disagree: https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules . And I’m not even going to discuss the insanity that a “cycle lane” could possibly be considered an “area set aside for pedestrians”.

This looks kinda hazardous for pedestrians. Did they take a cue from modern SUVs?

In American English, “corrupt” can refer to both the crime of corruption (eg quid pro quo deals with public officials) as well as seemingly abuses of discretion. For example, a city engineer has some amount of discretion when designing a new street, whether to dedicate more public space to automobiles or to restrict the space to become more like a public plaza, ie a living street with places to sit, eat, shop, and take in the air.

By objective professional standards, either approach could be appropriate if properly justified. But public sentiment could result in that engineer being called “corrupt” because they’re giving less favor toward automobiles, for example. That is, “corrupt” is an epithet to voice one’s displeasure at a discretionary decision. Also see sports umpires, who face similar (or worse) vitriol.

I think a price can absolutely be affixed to the half afternoon I spent to drill eight of these plates to my satisfaction. And at some point, it’d be easier to buy high-quality metric plates from the start (at double the price).

But what’s priceless is turning a daydream into reality, after some rough sketches and not finding anyone else that’s done the same. These are also sort-of a talking piece when I show off my homegym during house parties.

Yeah, my whole homegym is a strange mix of equipment melded with DIY stuff I’ve put together to meet my – admittedly particular – needs. I expect that hole saw to also be useful when I start making accessories out of metal, which will be a new frontier for me.

My limited experience with provider bills is that even two months “late”, none have ever referred the bill to collections. Nor did they ever charge the “late” fees that their bills had threatened. I’ve never come across a provider that demanded a credit card on file – and chargebacks would ensue if they did run the card without notifying me – but my experience certainly won’t be a consistent across the country.

I’m not sure what you mean about the part involving tax evasion, but broadly speaking: if a card is going to be held on file – whether for a rental car or something else – debit cards are not advisable. Also, my cursory understanding is that HSA cards should only be used for point of sale transactions, since apparently it could sometimes be declined for card-number-entered transactions.

This entire answer is mostly conjecture, but I think you’d have to be looking for the e-scooter that has the largest battery pack in that price range. Of course, such a pack would add weight and possibly bulk to the scooter. A quick search on Amazon showed this scooter, a Segway NineBot ES4 listed for $480.

Your GoTrax has a 36V 5.2A battery pack, which works out to be 187 Wh. The ES4 has double the capacity, at 374 Wh. If the GoTrax could only muster 4 miles, then the ES4 should be double that.

But I do think there may be something wrong with your GoTrax. 187 Wh per 4 miles means an efficiency of 30 Wh/km. But scooters tend to be closer to 12 Wh/km. For reference, a class 3 ebike cruising at 45 kph (28 mph) is 48-60 Wh/km. Scooters travel so much slower, and so should be many-fold more efficient.

If we say 12 Wh/km is too optimistic for the ES4, then let’s conservatively assume it does 24 Wh/km. That would still mean it could do 10 miles, which is just within your parameters.

As an aside, regarding USA health care public policy, I think provider-issued bills need to be abolished, where the only bill that insured patients receive is a single, consolidated bill that comes from the insurance company, at the same time the EOB is sent, with plentiful payment and financing options.

Not only does this reduce patient confusion, it saves money for providers (who don’t need to follow-up on late payments), it reduces the need for providers to issue refunds, and patients benefit because it’s a single bill at the end. The only downside – maybe – is that forgiveness of a medical expense must file paperwork with the insurance company, to be reflected on the consolidated bill. But this would still be a massive improvement.

Or, instead, maybe just go the full shilling and have a national, single-payer, universal health care system. Baby steps or big leaps; take your pick.

Most (all?) health insurance companies in USA have clauses in their agreements with in-network providers (ie doctors, hospitals, pharmacists) to permit a covered patient to first receive the Explanation Of Benefits (EOB) document from the insurance company first, before having to pay a provider. In fact, waiting for the EOB is highly advisable, because paying a provider’s bill in-full and then later having to obtain a refund because the insurer paid out is akin to pulling teeth (that is, painful and difficult).

The EOB also shows which claims the provider actually filed with the insurance company, which if full-and-complete means you should not expect to make any further payments for services received.

To be clear, the EOB also includes any amount which the covered patient is known to have paid at the time of service. For example, most in-network doctor’s offices will charge the insurance policy’s copay on-the-spot before seeing the doctor, since this is a known, fixed amount and insurance will pay the doctor some sort of negotiated remainder.

You should verify the EOB reflects any copays you’ve already paid, and that the costs have accrued toward whichever deductible applies to you – more than one deductible can be at play.

To answer your question directly, I would not start any negotiation until you have the EOB in hand, because otherwise you are negotiating blind: you won’t know which claims have been filed, and you won’t know how much insurance has agreed to already pay.

I will be frank: that product listing does not immediately inspire confidence: typos, images unnecessarily and confusingly mirrored, missing relevant specifications (eg crank length), and a reference to “electronic brakes”.

However, with what is available, based upon the previous discussion, this does seem to meet your needs. Poor marketing materials will not invalidate this ebike if it ends up working out for you. I do think you were wise to avoid a non-removable 8 kg (18 lbs) battery, since you were aiming for multiple battery modularity.

I will say that at this price range, and with no UL/cUL markings, I would take reasonable precautions while charging the batteries, such as only charging while someone is awake and nearby. I’m not suggesting a 10 meter exclusion zone or anything alarmist like that, but reports do suggest it’s the charging phase where any defects will expose themselves.

With all that said, welcome to the ebike club! You’ve leveled up, with more places to see and visit, at your own pace and on your own schedule. The world – or at least, greater Vancouver – is your oyster. Let us know how things go, both good and bad, about this ebike and your journeys, whether just a work commute or an epic outdoor adventure.

The colors remind me of the flag of Maryland. Not a bad thing though.

I like this. I also think another valid composition would be to allow attribution of the same part of the UK flag to multiple countries. This would only really add a few more percent to Northern Ireland, sharing part of the center with England’s flag. It would also push the sum of all flags beyond 100%.

But hey, isn’t the UK supposed to be greater than the sum of its parts? Poor Wales though.

Would a folding ebike fit the bill? Something small enough that you could lug it indoors if need be, but also with large enough (20-inch?) tires to not bottom-out on potholes? You’d get the benefit of being seated during the ride, many have removable batteries, and if the bus’s bike rack is full, you can fold it and carry on.

As a rule, I don’t ride e-scooters, as they’re fairly nerfed by California law, in addition to the troubled state of bike lanes near me. So I would steer you – pun intended – toward an ebike. Around me, I see a lot of people on Lectric ebikes, so I assume they’re at least decently competent. Of course, British Columbia is a fair bit different than Northern California.

Ah, now I understand what you mean. Yes, the stock C80 would indeed legally be a Class 2 ebike in California, by virtue of its operable pedals, whether or not it’s actually practical to use the pedals. That the marketing material suggests the C80 is used primarily with its throttle is no different than other Class 2 ebikes which are often ridden throttle-only, as many city dwellers have come to fear.

As for the unlock to Class 3, I wonder how they do that: California’s Class 3 does not allow throttle-only operation, requiring some degree of pedal input.

The spectrum of two-wheelers in California include: bicycles, ebikes (class 1, 2, 3), scooters, mopeds (CVC 406), motor-driven cycles, and motorcycles (aka motorbikes; CVC 400)

The “moped” category, one which has almost been forgotten to the 1970s, has seen a resurgence: the now-updated law recognizes 30 mph, electric, 4 HP (3 kW) max two- or three-wheelers. These mopeds are street legal, bike lane legal, don’t have annual registration, no insurance requirement, but do need an M1/M2 license. These CVC 406 mopeds are not freeway legal, but darn if they’re not incredibly useful for in-town riding.

I could get myself an electric dirt bike and plates for it, 100% legally.

Do you have a reference for “class 3 e-scooters”? My understanding of the California Vehicle Code is that the class system only applies to bicycles with pedals, per CVC 312.5.

Whereas e-scooters – the things that Bird and Lime rent through their app – exist under CVC 407.5, which previously covered the older, gasoline-powered 50 cc types of scooters. But apparently the law has now completed written out the gas-powered ones, only mentioning electric-powered “motorized scooters”.

Strictly speaking, there isn’t a requirement in the law for e-scooters to have a speed governor, whereas ebikes must have one, either 20 mph (32 kph) or 28 mph (45 kph). Instead, riders of e-scooters are subject to a speed limit of 15 mph (25 kph), a stalwart from the days of the gas-powered scooters.

The key distinction here is that an ebike over-speeding beyond its class rating is an equipment violation, akin to an automobile without operational brake lights. But an e-scooter over-speeding beyond 15 mph is a moving violation, potentially incurring points on the rider’s driving license – if they have one – and can impact auto insurance rates, somewhat bizarrely.

I’m not saying CA law is fair to e-scooters – it’s not – but I can’t see a legal scenario where an e-scooter can overtake an ebike rider if both are operating at full legal limits.

[2,600 men and women, with an average age of 64 years old] were surveyed about their physical activity over their lifetime. As part of the study, researchers took X-ray images to evaluate signs of arthritis in their knee joints.

The study can not prove cause and effect, given it was an observational study that assessed osteoarthritis at one point in time.

Credit where it’s due, the editor has written a headline which actually comports with the merits of the study, not overstating the benefits of cycling on elderly knee arthritis. And the author takes care to do the same. The article also discusses the risks specific to elderly cyclists, and identifies the aspects of cycling which are low-impact.

Overall, an informative read.

Perez, the USTR spokesperson, said the future of tariff exclusions related to bicycles would be “addressed in the coming days.”

Although US States rarely exert much influence over US foreign policy, I would hope that the cities and states offering ebike subsidies would make the argument that instituting the tariffs for ebikes would basically be a one-directional taxpayer fund transfer to the federal coffers, simultaneously undermining the purpose of the subsidies, while also not having anywhere near the desired effect toward foreign manufacturers.

Whereas the same doesn’t really apply to electric automobiles, as the feds have their own subsidy program for those, so the burden of tariffs is shared across states and the federal government.

To be clear, this isn’t a legal argument, and the authority of the US Trade Representative to impose tariffs on e bikes is undisputed. But rather, it’s a policy and pragmatic argument, since shifting money between subdivisions of the country does zilch for foreign trade relations.

For reference, Mackinac Island (mac-eh-naw) is part of Michigan, just off the coast in Lake Huron, known for its near-total ban on automobiles. As a result, they appear to have America’s only state highway that prohibits motor vehicles (emergency vehicles excepted).

With that background laid, it is a travesty that an accommodation won’t be made without judicial intervention, limited to just her specific case. Even for an active transportation paradise like Mackinac Island, the experience for everyone else will not be meaningfully diminished just because one person has a Class 2 throttle ebike out of necessity.