Slashdot Mirror
Europe Begins Noise Mapping Effort
Makarand writes "The European continent has begun its fight against noise pollution by initiating a
program
to map noise levels for cities in the European Union with more than 250,000 people.
As placing microphones on every building in London or Paris to measure noise
was not practical, data on the amount of traffic carried by roads and the noise levels was fed into computers to generate a model of noise levels across the city. The model's accuracy was verified by taking readings with microphones at 100 points in the city and was found to be accurate on average to within 1 decibel.
The noise maps will allow planning to insulate the public from noise by directing traffic away from residential areas and making funds available to sound-proof thin walled homes."
i heard the other day that london had the most hidden cameras in the world. is not being video taped good enough? i guess now they feel they need to get a 100.0 surround sound speaker system going too.
"one where some remenants of socialism still remain. Why shouldn't our tax money be used to improve their standard of living?""
Because socialism is all about improving the standard of living for government elites.
"The "ill concieved government program" is helping improve the country's housing stock. Eventually all houses will be well sound proofed and you've improved everyone's standard of living. What's wrong with that?"
What is wrong with it is that the government meddling ends up pricing the houses higher and higher. You end up with reduced housing stock, and perhaps homelessness.
"Ayn Rand is just as bad a Karl Marx."
Rand is no where near as bad as Marx. Rand inspires people to be merely selfish. Marx inspires them to go out and kill tens of millions of people.
"person buying the sub-standard house might not be able to afford a better one? "
If there was lower taxation and less needless regulation, the person would be better able to afford a better house.
I agree... too many political motives. Here's my $.02
People live in NYC (or any other big city) made a conscious decision to do so. Why should I pay to make their lives more quiet? I didn't contribute to the problem. Why should I pay for the solution?
You want to live there, fine, you pay for it. Put a toll on the roads, whatever, but don't ask me to pay for it. If enough people don't like it, they'll move, and the problem will be solved. If enough people choose to pay an increased toll, you can have your soundproofing.
National defense is another matter. We all need national defense, we all should pay for it.
To ask me to subsidize your decision to live in a noisy city is extremely arrogant. I'm NOT going to allow my tax money to be spent so you can live without consequence.
If you really want socialism, move to France or Sweden, and let us know how much happier you are after you're gone.
Thanks for sharing.
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