Roy
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Commented on Quantum of Nightmares: spoiler time!
Is it general knowledge in the UK that “Fabian Everyman”, the Prime Minister, really the Black Pharaoh Nyarlathotep, or is it restricted to need-to-know? And is Brenda still titular monarch or has His Dark Majesty usurped her?...
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Commented on Invisible Sun: signed copies and author events
I’m so looking forward to this one: the whole series has been my favourite of yours. Thank you!...
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Commented on So you say you want a revolution
Point of information. My understanding[1] is that the ordure could hit the air movement device as early as tomorrow (well today now for Charlie and the other cispondians on this blog) because while the bonfire of international law clauses were...
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Commented on Books I Will Not Write #8: The Year of the Conspiracy
A simple majority in the House is not enough for a contingent election. In that situation, each state delegation has one vote each, and there has to be an absolute majority of states, so at least 26, voting for the...
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Commented on Dead plots
It'll be interesting to see if Starlink and similar satellite broadband services can deliver their promised high bandwidth and low latency. I recently read a novel (Devolution by Max Brooks) where an eco-community near Mt Rainier gets cut off by...
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Commented on Yet another novel I will no longer write
Commonplace at farmers’ markets here in the NYC tri-state, and I’ve occasionally seen them in Stop’n’Shop, along with crumpets....
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Commented on COVID-19
Spammer ahoy! @1226 [[ a mass dump - I'm surprised it was Herpes cures and not Trump Virus cures - mod ]]...
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Commented on COVID-19
It's William after Speaker-to-Plants, then Wills and Kate's sprogs then Harry and his offspring. Only then does Andrew get a look in....
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Commented on COVID-19
The Saudis have already banned foreign pilgrims from entering the country to vidit the holy sites....
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Commented on COVID-19
Trump is famously germaphobic so ironically may turn out to be one of the more enthusiastic adopters of enhanced hand-washing....
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Commented on COVID-19
Iran’s going to be the interesting one to watch. Rumours are that there is a high infection rate in the upper echelons of government care of the deputy health minister....
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Commented on So you think you can be a reality TV producer
Thanks Charlie, glad to hear it's still on track, and thank you for persevering with it: I'd not blame you for dumping it under the circumstances. Dunno if you want to ask your publishers why Amazon is cancelling pre-orders in...
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Commented on So you think you can be a reality TV producer
Charlie, I just received a cancellation notice from Amazon US for my pre-order of Invisible Sun. Does this mean it's on hold indefinitely? I can't fault you if it is, of course! It's clear you've been through a grueling time...
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Commented on Introducing Dead Lies Dreaming
Bozo only renounced his US citizenship after he got landed with a Capital Gains Tax bill from the IRS, and I think that was after his first stint as an MP. The UK doesn’t care about dual citizenship so there...
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Commented on Normal service will be resumed eventually
Deepest sympathies Charlie. it does change a person, losing both parents. It won’t get easier over time but you will have more perspective about their and your lives. Best wishes....
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Commented on Whoops Apocalypse!
The Royal Mail was privatized. The Post Office network remains publicly owned....
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Commented on Whoops Apocalypse!
Whoops Apcalypse was a favourite of my teenage years. So much good writing. I particularly fondly remember the scene with the new Labour government re-reading their first cabinet minutes from the back of a cigarette packet (nationalize everything and massively...
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Commented on Deaths and Deadlines
My sympathies to you Charlie. I hope your mum can stay with you for as long as she can, and I hope she’s getting good care, peace and comfort....
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Commented on Do my Homework
I agree that the Culture only works if the human population has genofixed itself to make itself more sociable and eliminate narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies. That said, we do know that Minds and drones are given a "random factor" to...
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Commented on Dread of Heinleinism
Things today are perhaps slightly better, but not much. Back in the day, I worked with a USAF colonel who had been a tageteer for SAC, and he said that the mantra regarding civilian targets was "neither target nor avoid."...
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Commented on Dread of Heinleinism
Count me as another liberal fan of Starship Troopers. I read it as a thought experiment about how in a democracy do you ensure that voters have a "stake" in society and won't wreck things by voting for panem et...
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Commented on Sitrep
Trains aren't going to be running without electricity over much of the (electrified) network. Or any of it if the power to the signals and telecoms goes down!...
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Commented on That sinking feeling
Malta and Cypus too....
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Commented on That sinking feeling
Adjustable-rate mortgages are standard in the UK, although many are fixed for the first couple of years. I couldn't believe it isn't usually the case here in the US when we bought our house. "You mean the monthly repayments never...
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Commented on That sinking feeling
Hell, I said part of the problem was that we backed the wrong set of authoritarian monarchs. A Middle-East where the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz survived and conquered the Saudi Nejd, rather that vice versa, would I suspect be rather...
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Commented on That sinking feeling
Except that the human rights defeats for May were from the European Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Human rRights. Both of these come under the umbrella of the Council of Europe and have sweet FA...
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Commented on That sinking feeling
I, too, agree that Charlie’s scenario is unlikely to occur, Most likely some sort of fudged, cobbled-together deal is going to be achieved. It quite likely will be at the 11th hour, and it may well be just be a...
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Commented on Holding Pattern
What the others said. Do whatever you need to get yourself through. We'll all be waiting for your work whenever and however you chose to deliver it!...
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Commented on The Pivot
One of the more mindboggling things about the US is the number of police services. As best I can make out there are over 15 *thousand* of the blighters. Tell me (Brit in the US) about it! Where I live...
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Commented on Happy 21st Century!
Eck, Driving With A Black Passenger. Must. Use. Preview....