I hate that argument, and I don't think it's correct. It should be: "They’re going to drive either way so why not [force them to have car insurance so you're not screwed when they crash into you]."

You might be right for home solar. But generally, we are not too far north. Some of the biggest commercial solar plants are being built in Canada - much further north than MA.

The amount of sunlight is only part of the equation. The more north you are, the higher your winter energy demands are, and also the energy itself tends to cost more up north. With higher prices and higher demand, it makes financial sense to wildly over-spec a solar installation.

>You either are or you are not a threat or flight risk, finances should play no role in that.

Eh, life is not so binary. Most people are somewhere in the gray area between flight risk and not.

Again, I agree that cash bail doesn't work anymore today. Also, it's effectively become a privatization bail enforcement, which is sick on it's own.

We have better ways today.

Cash bail would make more sense if the bail amount was proportional to one's net worth. The theory or history behind cash bail is that it's a deposit to ensure you show up for your trial. Forcing someone to put up substantial amount of money that they would lose if they don't show up was a good way to ensure people could continue working while awaiting trial but also show up for trial back when 80% of the population were farmers, before the invention of airplanes, and before massive income inequality. Today, it makes no sense because for some people the bail amount is trivial and for others it's insurmountable, and the ease of skipping town makes it all irrelevant.

Stupid question - did you open up that air purifier you bought and actually check the filter? They come with the filter shrink-wrapped in plastic and tons of people never look, so they run it with the plastic still over the filter.