Noel Maurer

Noel Maurer

  • Commented on Same bullshit, new tin
    We bought CamelBacks in 2002; fortunately, nobody yelled at us for buying our own equipment. That said, the Hellfighters are a NYARNG unit, and the Guard tends to be a little more relaxed about everything in general compared to the...
  • Commented on Same bullshit, new tin
    Greetings! It's been a while. Back at Fort Benning we got a lot of training about what do to in the event of a tactical nuclear strike. That sounds stupid, but it really wasn't. Tactical nuclear weapons are really only...
  • Commented on Invisible Sun: Themes and Nightmares
    You can have super-secret website-reading button-pushing spreadsheet-driving code-monkeys, and you can have perfectly open James Bond types. And vice versa. I remember when I was up for a security clearance back in '02 and I kept getting incredulous calls from...
  • Commented on Countdown to Crazy
    This isn't a useful way to think about politics. Flip the script. There are plenty of rich libertarian financiers who are genuinely horrified by the "socialists" who control Trenton and Albany. They certainly don't like the taxes. But most of...
  • Commented on Countdown to Crazy
    This misreads Texas politics. The written constitution of Texas, like many states, gives the Lt. Governor the right to preside over the state Senate. The unwritten constitution of Texas gives the Lt. Governor the right to appoint all committees, assign...
  • Commented on Countdown to Crazy
    Sadly, that's not completely clear. The GOP has lost much of the Latino vote since the days of GWB. The unexpected thing is that most of that loss happened well before 2016. The way Trump has said the quiet part...
  • Commented on Countdown to Crazy
    It depends. If the Democrats remove the filibuster for new state admissions at the beginning of this Congress, then it will be easy. Otherwise, it will be impossible. Admitting Puerto Rico may hit some additional roadblocks. While the preponderance of...
  • Commented on "It'll all be over by Christmas"
    Yes, and it's been used quite often. You need two-thirds in the lower house and a majority in the Senate. The President is then provisionally removed from office pending trial, after which he or she will be permanently removed or...
  • Commented on "It'll all be over by Christmas"
    Since this is a British blog, I cannot resist pointing out that the new (left-wing) Argentine government is handling the pandemic with astonishing skill and rapidity. The whole country went into an extreme quarantine immediately and all stops have been...
  • Commented on Someone please cancel 2019 already?
    I can't say for sure what carbon path we'd be on had Al Gore won in 2000, mostly because I don't think he could have gotten a serious bill through Congress. That would have to wait for the following McCain...
  • Commented on Someone please cancel 2019 already?
    Here's some hope and some fear from the United States. The good news is that democratic politics is working the way it is supposed to. I spend a lot of time back in Brooklyn, where the Democratic Socialists have been...
  • Commented on The crazy years
    Returning to the original post: Charlie, have you read The Unwinding, by George Packer? I recommend it, but I particularly recommend reading it as if it were a science fiction novel published in 1968. Or 1984 or 2001, for that...
  • Commented on Crib Notes: Empire Games
    Speaking as a professional economic historian, can you tell me the source of this claim? "Also, don't forget that California gold helped pay for the Union win over the Confederacy." It's wrong but it's not a wrong idea that I...
  • Commented on Houston: what are the long-term consequences?
    What he said. I'll add that unlike New Orleans, Houston is a growing economic area. Many of the people in New Orleans were still there either from the sunk cost fallacy or because they could not pay the fixed cost...
  • Commented on Radio silence
    Charlie, do we have your approval to turn this into a thread about recent American events? It makes poetic sense that a post about the Laundry series would turn in that direction --- now that I'm caught up --- but...
  • Commented on Traveller RPG, Firefly, Dumarest, Vatta's War... are they all "Star Punk"?
    Greg! Don't be a jerk! WaPo does great work and deserves your money for a subscription. I subscribed to the Guardian to help keep your democracy alive, so give a little back to help ours. And not just because if...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    "COULD 2" = CO2. Bloody smartphone. BTW, I do empirical social science for a living. I know, recourse to authority ain't worth squat, but you can at least assume I know the literature....
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    Hmm. You clearly haven't considered all the arguments, given the use of the word "correlation" and your citation of a blog post by the authors from 2005. We're in global-warming denialism here, which I find interesting. I can wrap my...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    Man, it's hard to edit comments written on an iPhone. That really doesn't sound like a native English speaker, does it? Apologies....
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    Yes, commonly, and in New York City, greater Boston, and the District of Columbia. But never phrased that way and never with any sense that it was more than honest curiosity. That exact phrasing, though, sounds kinda weird. I can...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    (Head desk) See above, please. The link actually discusses southern California in depth. It ain't happening and shows no sign of happening....
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    No. As a native Spanglish speaker myself, I can tell you that is not how it works. You're confusing code-mixing for hybridization. And you're assuming the two gentlemen were native-born. There is no sign of English grammar morphing, nor of...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    No. No. No. NO. NO, GODDAMMIT! I hate the way Donohue and Levitt popularized their work with the heat of a burning sun. They were wrong, they know they were wrong ... but once the idea was out there it...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    I can't say that I fully understand what you an Ioan are debating. There seems to be a little confusion, though, so let me chime in. (1) Portuguese is much closer to Spanish than Catalan. Or anything, really. Portuguese speakers...
  • Commented on Some notes on the worst-case scenario
    Nitpick: The WTO doesn't deal with expropriation. It does (contrary to popular belief) deal with energy trade, but only in the broadest terms (MFN and the like). All sorts of things are legal in energy that wouldn't be in other...
  • Commented on Some notes on the worst-case scenario
    Tangentially, I'd like to point out that Charlie and yourself are in radical disagreement about the energy endgame. I'm a bit surprised that the difference is rarely acknowledged. The prompt for this observation is the electro-tanks; I'd be shocked if...
  • Commented on Some notes on the worst-case scenario
    First, a modest proposal for solving the Brexit dilemma. Second, a more serious point. There Is No Cabal. Seriously, there is no cabal. Everything with the Trump administration is right out there in the open. What you see is what...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Very postmodern. Nice attempt to shut up criticism with reference to irrelevant personal experience. We could duel this one out. I can remember at least four ... two in front of me ... no, no, let's not. We don't have...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Yes, Steve, it would be. Calling for his death is unacceptable. Pretending that you are not calling for his death is weaselly and disgusting. You do not seem to have changed....
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Charlie, the following is a quote from the post you're replying to: "Oh, well, there's an upside -- I'm still hoping that when that mob gives Jean-Claude Junker what he deserves someone uploads the video to YouTube." With all due...
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