Agent0090

Agent0090

  • Commented on Shrinking the world
    Sounds about right. Here in the US around the same time one of my ancestors made his living rafting logs from Louisville to New Orleans and then walking back. Roughly 900 miles, did it 2-3 times per year. We have...
  • Commented on Abolish the monarchy!
    He already thinks he is....
  • Commented on Abolish the monarchy!
    How about a one-year monarchy to be decided by some kind of Eurovision style talent contest? Recognize the pomp and silliness for what it is....
  • Commented on Dead plots
    Not sure if this an answer to the question, but Iain M. Banks Culture novels still work really well-begin with a nonironic utopia and then go places where people have chosen something else and interrogate why that choice was made....
  • Commented on Media Piracy and Unpronounceable Names
    Looked at "Source" for Bitcoin energy consumption. Holy crap....
  • Commented on The Nakamoto Variations
    WINNER....
  • Commented on What can possibly go wrong?
    " . . . it'll probably be available to rent as a cloud service running on obsolescent bitcoin-mining GPU racks in China by the end of next week." (sigh.) Yes, probably....
  • Commented on A bright and shiny hell
    Yes, it's actually virtually impossible for the average person to remain anonymous if law enforcement cares enough to devote a lot of resources to the case. Remember, they may well be monitoring the person you're calling on a regular basis....
  • Commented on A bright and shiny hell
    Regrettably becoming more and more true for Androids as well. You can still find some with removable batteries, but they are a fading minority of devices....
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    Just for fun I opened the reator.com app on my phone yesterday and looked in the Houston area. Multiple listings that had been updated in the last 24 hours. They know what's coming. (And good luck.)...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    Bond rates are a huge driver of insurance premiums. And hey, they were right. A big one was coming soon....
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    The article is correct. This had been announced a while ago and had the bad fortune to have gone into effect just before Harvey. However, it only controls infrastructure (i.e public) development, not private construction. In the U.S. flood control...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    Already in progress thanks to the foreclosure crisis. Will accelerate in SE Texas. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/the-next-slum/306653/ http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/08/01/suburban_poverty_it_s_becoming_more_concentrated.html https://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/it-has-begun-suburbs-are-turning-slums.html http://grist.org/cities/the-great-inversion-cities-are-the-new-suburbs-suburbs-the-new-cities/ https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/2/24/suburban-decline...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    Re: #6: Yes, there is already a huge market shipping used cars form the U.S. to Africa. Go to any car auction for car totaled by an insurer and you'll see most are sold in lots for shipment overseas. FIL...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    This is the most likely scenario for any significant changes. Homeowners in Florida and on the Gulf coast already have a hard time finding and/or affording homeowners insurance. (After Katrina, friends of ours on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    Oh look, a piece on American dysfunction. I regret to inform our gracious host that this will probably not have the significant long-term consequences that it might appear to at first glance. Several reasons: Insurance: Understand that in the U.S....
  • Commented on Crying fire in a crowded theatre for pleasure and profit
    In the U.S., a large portion of conservative fundraising basically operates on this principle. Fearmongering about guns/gays/atheists/environmentalists leads directly to requests for PAC donations, and then to sales pitches to buy gold, home schooling materials, and survivalist equipment. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/super-pac-scams-114581_full.html?print...
  • Commented on Catching Up
    I've wondered about the possibility of a second referendum, too. It seems like there is real and widespread regret over the results of the first one, and that might just be what it would take to get the EU to...
  • Commented on Catching Up
    Some thoughts from this side of the Atlantic: No Russian interference? How refreshing. I infer from this that they assumed May would win handily, and that she was their preferred candidate. UK conservatives just had their own Mitt Romney moment...
  • Commented on Rejection Letter
    Too bad. I guess you'll be moving on to that political thriller where the American president is a billionaire real estate developer who is secretly compromised by the Russians....
  • Commented on The sudden eruption of news
    No, I've missed that. It certainly would be interesting to watch them allocate blame if they walk it back. (We've recently gone through a similar excercise here in the U.S. with "repealing" the ACA.)...
  • Commented on The sudden eruption of news
    "Does no-one else think this sums up a good reason to be suspicious of the EU?" Yes, though there have been other reasons as well. (Namely the ringer they've put Greece through.)...
  • Commented on The sudden eruption of news
    Yes, that's correct. Once the Article 50 notice has been filed, the default option is that a the end of two years the UK is out with nothing to show for it. Any other outcome (including "oops we're sorry please...
  • Commented on Popcorn Time
    Also, that's not how it works from a procedural standpoint. Once the UK files the Article 50 notice to leave, a two-year clock starts ticking. If there's a deal in those two years (and I believe all of the remaining...
  • Commented on The End of the British nuclear deterrent?
    Agree with that analysis. Further, w/ regard to Host's (understandable) doubts about the existence of rational adults, I would point to all of the Trump=Russia leaks coming out. Those are really significant leaks that, should they continue, will soon reach...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    You're right, that number (I've seen anywhere from $45-$70/b) is the number at which SA has an overall budget deficit, not just the pure cost of extraction. SA's main problem is that it has used oil$$ to stave off political...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Found it (and it was better than I had recalled): "In the future, readers will not go in search of books to read. Feral books will stalk readers, sneak into their ebook libraries, and leap out to ambush them. Readers...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Regarding all of the analytics work, it reminds me of a OGH's prediction (sorry, can't put my finger on it for a link, but I think it was in one of his state-of-publishing pieces) that one day soon books would...
  • Commented on Things Can Only Get Better! (Part 1)
    Modern equivalent is medical workers. They all have their own strong preferences for footwear and clothing because of long shifts and physical nature of the job. (Veterinarian wife prefers Danskos-sturdy and come in a variety of cutesy designs. Not cheap.)...
  • Commented on Empire Games sneak peek
    Done, Happy January 17th for me. I couldn't get into the Family Trade books (not into knights and princesses), but the new series in a modern timeline seems just about right. Also, I never realized that "May you live interesting...
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