stephanos

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• Commented on The coming storm
  The following is my lay understanding. Late last year, a German constitutional court ruling threw the government's financial planning into disarray and meant that the government suddenly had to find ways to save a lot of money as soon as...
• Commented on The coming storm
  You wrote: "In regards to elections, there are three vital state (land) elections in Germany: Saxony, Brandenburg, and Turingen." I'd like to give some background for interested readers. Germany is often seen from the outside as a haven of sensible,...
• Commented on London Bridge
  Oil heating is quite common in (at least my part of) rural Germany, too. How to heat your home is a vexed question when you have old-stock housing and limited space. We bought a house in the centre of a...
• Commented on Roe v Wade v Sanity
  Moderators, I hope this doesn't count as "bible babble" - if it does, please delete... What is known as the Old Testament was written mostly in Ancient Hebrew (and some in Aramaic). The New Testament was written in Ancient Greek...
• Commented on Obligatory Hugo eligibility post
  The 2021 publication I'm most proud of appeared at the start of the year. It's on vocational calling and its impact on families. Thanks to my co-author's institution it's available in open-access format. DOI: 10.1177/0950017020980986 I also wrote a chapter...
• Commented on Obligatory Hugo eligibility post
  "Turgid" is putting it kindly. Part of the problem - in the social sciences, at least - is that reviewers often seem to treat clear and accessible writing as a sign of incompetence/low quality....
• Commented on Brief commercial interlude
  @Torp (#21) My copy of Invisible Sun took 10 days to reach me in Germany. Customs had stickered the package, but I too didn't have to pay any extra charges. However, I'm not counting on the same happy result this...
• Commented on A death in the Firm
  @Charlie Apologies - I didn't see your hint while I was writing my response to whitroth. Please delete as appropriate....
• Commented on A death in the Firm
  @whitroth. You write, "You're surprised about oil heating?" Not at all surprised. I live in a village just outside a small town in Germany. Enough places around here have oil heating that there are a couple of local companies selling...
• Commented on A death in the Firm
  @gasdive (529) You write: I'm sorry he's gone. All that experience and memory just turned into rotting meat. Such a waste. Like watching the Louvre burn down. This reminds me of the saying, "En Afrique, quand un vieillard meurt, c’est...
• Commented on Submarine coming through!
  YOU WROTE (Germany: nope, if you want German citizenship you must renounce any previous...). ... RESPONSE It's a bit more complicated. I am not a lawyer, but I do have some first-hand experience. First there is an exception for first-generation...
• Commented on Brexit! Means! Brexit!
  Greg, I'm well aware of the way the regional vote went. Partition and the accompanying displacement of people is always a bastard. London could petition to become a satellite of the north....
• Commented on Brexit! Means! Brexit!
  Ah, I see you got there before me with your 'rule from Dublin' idea....
• Commented on Brexit! Means! Brexit!
  The Brexit is clear evidence of a prolonged psychotic episode at the national level. It seems fair to say that the UK is now a danger to itself and possibly others. If this were a person, there would be a...
• Commented on Happy 21st Century!
  On the issue of Bitcoin, libertarians and the alt-right, you may be interested in a short book by David Golumbia, titled, "The politics of Bitcoin: Software as right-wing extremism." It's a quick read and, despite occasional repetitiveness, quite well written....
• Commented on Catching Up
  Yes, obviously. And we all like it when trucks bring stuff to the shops so that we have enough food to eat. My point isn't that roads are bad or that we shouldn't have them. There are clear benefits to...
• Commented on Catching Up
  But road users don't exist in isolation. Driving has costs for society and the wider environment, which are not reflected in the price paid by motorists, even once they have paid existing taxes. The costs of transport are related to:...
• Commented on A reminder
  Fletcher Christian, you echo many people's scepticism of lobbying when you write "Make lobbying within government buildings illegal. Long stretch in jail ..." . This is a small point in the context of this thread, but I think it makes...
• Commented on Facts of Life and Death
  Bad faith and bribes are different. I am not an expert in the intricacies of the EU treaty, so I'm not entirely confident in my response. However, as you asked... My feeling is that "bad faith" is untouchable, as national...
• Commented on Facts of Life and Death
  (OK, the system doesn’t like me making lots of individual posts, so here goes in one post after all) HOW EUROPE SEES THE UK Some insight from Germany, which others have pointed out is a major player in this. I...
• Commented on Facts of Life and Death
  I’m coming late to this party, but I wanted to make a few comments on the original topic and ensuing posts related to the Brexit. I’m going to make one post per comment, rather than posting one very long comment...
• Commented on The Evil Business Plan of Evil (and misery for all)
  There has been an on-topic sub-theme here about moving away from cash, with some people essentially saying that it couldn't happen. As a piece of data for your consideration, I give you... Denmark! Some retailers are to be given the...
• Commented on Default Option
  I can add two data points to support Ian's (comment #3) scepticism about Syriza's 'radical left' credentials: My niece - who lives in Greece, is intelligent and politically aware, and comes from a left-of-centre background - told me last week...
• Commented on Berlin trip
  There is a 50:50 chance that I will need to be in Berlin later this month and will stay there overnight on 20 November. If that happens, then I would very much like to come to the Kaffeeklatsch. Is there...
• Commented on The referendum question
  Yes, I know about the Britain/Brittany connection. I was riffing off the UK comedy show, "Little Britain" to suggest something diminished. @ 155, ArmchairDesigner More seriously, I have no real notion of how an independent Scotland would/could overcome the veto...
• Commented on The referendum question
  Thank you for a very interesting and engaging post, Charlie. I fully agree with one of your central points - that smaller political entities are generally a good thing, provided they're not too small. There's probably a golden mean, and...
• Commented on Customer Satisfaction Survey
  I'm pleased to have a chance to provide feedback. The 2012 model was far from user-friendly, and my experience was mixed at best. Having said that, it has definitely been a premium product compared with the utter awfulness of the...