srogerscat

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• Commented on "The next big thing"
  Heeromoles, excellent read on why Dune took off. You left one thing out, I think. The film "Lawrence of Arabia" was a huge help, had lots of coattails. Enough so that Dune was accused of being a rip-off. Greg Tiney,...
• Commented on Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire
  Charlie, Paranoid? The USA? Given what happened, paranoia may require new parameters. I doubt that any other government in the world views the events in question with any equanimity. "It t happened to them, it can happen to us."...
• Commented on Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire
  Paws4thot, Indeed. But there is perfect and then there is good. And I glumly think that the EU may be in better long-term shape than the USA....
• Commented on Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire
  Paws4thot, To be sure. but simply forcing certain people to look at the issue rather than allowing them to shelter in the hermetic bubble echo chamber is often considered a spirited defense of the euro, it seems....
• Commented on Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire
  cath3ik at 320, When assorted people make pronouncements of the impending collapse of the Uu to me, i remind them that the Euro was valued one to one with the dollar when it was introduced, and suggest they take a...
• Commented on Trust Me (I'm a kettle)
  Dave P at 15, You know, Harry Palmer (Michael caine) is not a bad model for Bob Howard....
• Commented on The revolution will not be hand-stitched
  El, Volume is enormously important when camping! The size of an overload is awkward to handle in and of itself....
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Gravelbely22, There is a joker in the Russia Stands Alone deck, one that few talk about. It is not in Great Britain's interest that a single power dominate Europe. At what point does GB start selling raw materials - at...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  I second Heteromeles' recommendation of DOWNFALL BY Richard b. fRankj. it is a very good read, and his account of the attempted coup against the Japanese Emperor, well, not only gripping, but it really is a news flask to many...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Attributed to both Dudley Moore and Peter Cook: "American Politics? Very simple. You have the Republicans - the equivalent of our Conservative party, and then you have the Democrats, the counterpart of our Conservative party."...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Raven268, OK, I agree that the statistical method is bugus - what the hell is a "neighborhood" in this context? -, But the thing is, the poor just do not have the education the US military seeks in recruits. The...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Raven268, The problem I have with your analysis is this: 11 out of every hundred recruits come from the poorest fifth of neighborhoods. 25 out of every hundred come from the richest fifth of neighborhoods, so more than twice as...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Ah, Raven268.... Cowboy Wally's statistics refer to quintiles. Each is one fifth of the population, so the population sample sizes are, in fact, the same. We can get into the definition of neighborhood, but it seems to me that since...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Vulch, Way back when moons ago at an Origins convention I had the privilege of talking with commercial wargame designers John Prados and Mark Herman about their experiences with the Pentagon. Both assured me - in separate conversations - that...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  some interesting stuff about the impact of actual real life veterans in upper echelons of Government where US foreign policy is concerned. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/11/11/does-it-matter-that-so-few-congressmen-are-veterans/ Tidbits Andrew Sullivan highlighted from that page: — On issues that concern the use of force and...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  Nick, wrote: "Haha, oh no! Whatever would have happened if you'd been able to defend a cold pile of rocks on the other side of the world? It might have been a small inconvenience for the 500,000 locals, I admit,...
• Commented on Catching a Blighty
  The lessons of WWI? Different people drew different conclusions. I saw a documentary a few months ago abut WWI that concluded with the words: "War can effect change. War can fulfill ambitions. War can work. That was the true terrible...
• Commented on Spook Century
  anonemouse, What impact does slavery have? For starters, the way the conservatives are dealing with a black president. The history of US Slavery impacts every single god damn thing, both foreign and domestic that the US government does. I am...
• Commented on Spook Century
  I'm still trying to grok the idea that what happened before 1945 is irrelevant to the modern world. By that logic, the instiution of slavery in the USA is irrelevant to the modern world. THAT IS DAFT....
• Commented on Spook Century
  Cahth3ik, WWII and prior events are irrelevant to the modern world? Jesus Holy Christ. I was tempted to dub thee troll, but on reflection, I don't think you are thinking that carefully about what you typed. The Muslim Brotherhood et...
• Commented on Spook Century
  A comment attributed to, I believe, Jerry Pournelle: "The Bush administration seems determined to convert the American Republic to an Empire. Given that all empires are fated to fall, must they be so incompetent at it? Pournelle's conservative credentials are...
• Commented on Spook Century
  El, There are always tipping points. My mother, a moderately conservative, Southern Baptist (well actual Cooperative Baptist Fellowship now) woman, Long long time member of the Women's Missionary Union...will not under any circumstances support the republicans in the state of...