tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post2592711406870149390..comments2024-03-28T23:39:08.616-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The Pecker solution. Plus debt, growth, and the top excuse offered by Wall Street parasites.David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33330910755866002302019-02-13T10:50:14.845-08:002019-02-13T10:50:14.845-08:00I have no idea what fantasy universe this is from:...I have no idea what fantasy universe this is from: " to kill the "Wall Street parasites".<br />That "parasites" that made USA that powerful as it is now???<br /><br />Neither assertion is even remotely true.<br /><br />But yes, fewr words. more efficient. And readable.<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27199046657986941822019-02-13T10:39:30.764-08:002019-02-13T10:39:30.764-08:00...yet to demonstrate a better grasp of reality.
......yet to demonstrate a better grasp of reality.<br /><br />And will not demonstrate.<br />Thinking in advance -- it's not homo sapiens's strong point. %PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38910019415351294762019-02-13T10:29:26.794-08:002019-02-13T10:29:26.794-08:00@jim,
(And if this sounds snarky, it's not me...@jim,<br /><br />(And if this sounds snarky, it's not meant that way)<br /><br />That sounds like something Hari Seldon could have written at the opening of the <i>Foundation</i> series.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50916412866807305582019-02-13T10:00:56.361-08:002019-02-13T10:00:56.361-08:00David has posted about Tim Morgan's blog Surpl...David has posted about Tim Morgan's blog Surplus Energy Economics a couple of times.<br /><br />Tim has a new post up and this is the conclusion:<br /><br />"deception.<br /><br />Crunch point<br /><br />The harsh reality is that we’ve built systems – financial, economic, social and political – which can only function when prosperity is growing. These systems can survive recessions, or even depressions, presupposing that neither is unduly protracted, and is followed by a return to growth. When – as now – that doesn’t happen, the promises that we made to ourselves in order to weather the bad times rapidly become incapable of being honoured.<br /><br />Ultimately, any financial system is a set of promises, and functions only if those promises can be kept.<br /><br />It has to be glaringly obvious, too, that the historic cushion of growing prosperity has enabled us to indulge in luxuries that are now becoming unaffordable. The term “luxuries” doesn’t refer to trinkets like gadgets, expensive holidays and the two- or three-car family. Rather, it refers to assumptions and practices that can no longer be afforded.<br /><br />High on this list lies the indulgence of ideological extremism in economic organisation. If there was ever a time when society could afford either the fanaticism of “nationalising everything”, or the contrary fanaticism of “privatising everything”, that time passed at least two decades ago. What is required now is the pragmatism which surely leads to the “horses for courses” preference for a mixed economy, in which both the state and private enterprise concentrate on what each does best.<br /><br />Other luxuries that we can no longer afford include massive gaps between the poorest and the wealthiest. This was an affordable luxury when everyone was getting a little more prosperous with each passing year. When your own circumstances are improving, it’s not difficult to accept the extreme wealth of your neighbour – but this tolerance will dissolve very quickly indeed when exposed to the solvent of generally deteriorating prosperity.<br /><br />This, through its direct link to political insurgency (aka “populism”), brings us back to the immediate situation. Public dissatisfaction has thus far been fueled by discontents likely to be dwarfed by anger yet to come, as inflated asset prices explode and the reality of deteriorating prosperity can no longer be disguised. The Chinese economy, which has accounted for 36% of all global growth since 2008, is now deteriorating markedly, the inevitable fate of any system founded on truly reckless rates of borrowing. “Growth” of 6-7% ceases to impress when you have to borrow about 25% of GDP each year to make it happen.<br /><br />Few Western economies are in much better condition, yet politicians continue to promise “growth”, and remain in ignorance about the trends that are making such promises an absurdity. Perhaps the greatest risk of all is that lessons not learned in 2008 will be no better understood in the next (and much larger) crisis described here as GFC II."<br /><br /><br /><br />Stir the pensions reality into that mix and the result is an inflammable cocktail. We may know that current incumbencies cannot adapt to the new realities, but the insurgents have yet to demonstrate a better grasp of reality."<br />jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75128433180790654172019-02-13T07:54:09.399-08:002019-02-13T07:54:09.399-08:00The Cosmic Schmuck Principle holds that if you don...<i>The Cosmic Schmuck Principle holds that if you don't wake up, once a month at least, and realize you have recently been acting like a Cosmic Schmuck again, then you will probably go on acting like a Cosmic Schmuck forever; but if you do, occasionally, recognize your Cosmic Schmuckiness, you might begin to become a little less Schmucky than the general human average at this primitive stage of terrestrial evolution. - p. 21, Natural Law: Or Don't Put A Rubber On Your Willy</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72510303203593583582019-02-13T06:45:19.431-08:002019-02-13T06:45:19.431-08:00Truth Is In the Eye of the Beholder %)<a href="https://personalityhacker.com/truth-is-in-eye-of-beholder/" rel="nofollow">Truth Is In the Eye of the Beholder</a> %)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1159767608763331042019-02-13T06:36:59.751-08:002019-02-13T06:36:59.751-08:00@Paul Revile,
Are you reading the same article I ...@Paul Revile,<br /><br />Are you reading the same article I am?<br /><i><br />...<br /><br />The Senate Intelligence Committee has been conducting the sole bipartisan inquiry. The committee has sifted through some 300,000 documents, investigators tell NBC News, including classified intelligence shedding light on how the Russians communicated about their covert operation to interfere in the 2016 election.<br /><br />U.S. intelligence agencies assess that the operation began as an effort to sow chaos and morphed into a plan to help Trump win. It included the hacking and leaking of embarrassing Democratic emails and the use of bots, trolls and fake accounts on social media to boost Trump, criticize Democrat Hillary Clinton and exacerbate political differences.<br /><br />Predictably, Burr's comments led Trump to tweet that he had been fully vindicated, which is not the case.<br /><br />"Senator Richard Burr, The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, just announced that after almost two years, more than two hundred interviews, and thousands of documents, they have found NO COLLUSION BETWEEN TRUMP AND RUSSIA!" Trump tweeted Sunday. "Is anybody really surprised by this?"<br /><br />Democratic Senate investigators say it may take them six or seven months to write their final report once they are done with witness interviews. They say they have uncovered facts yet to be made public, and that they hope to make Americans more fully aware of the extent to which the Russians manipulated the U.S. presidential election with the help of some Trump officials, witting or unwitting.<br /><br />...<br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22285005740017154472019-02-13T03:52:06.608-08:002019-02-13T03:52:06.608-08:00Previous comment removed the name for some reason,...Previous comment removed the name for some reason, sorry.Paul Revilenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17521564043857670792019-02-13T03:50:44.876-08:002019-02-13T03:50:44.876-08:00I remember stating at the outset that the prognost...I remember stating at the outset that the prognosticators were wrong.<br /><br />http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2016/11/we-are-in-it-all-right-but-figuratively.html<br /><br />More than two wasted years later the circus is finally leaving town, as I predicted:<br /><br />https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-has-uncovered-no-direct-evidence-conspiracy-between-trump-campaign-n970536?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma<br /><br />Although at least Trump is onboard with regime change for oil. From Iraq to Syria was never enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48711829971424900702019-02-13T03:04:41.549-08:002019-02-13T03:04:41.549-08:00>> Alfred Differ said...
Thank you Alfred. ...>> Alfred Differ said...<br /><br />Thank you Alfred. You are worthy opponent. Here. (hope I'm too)<br /><br />(reply was lost, so this new one I'll try without heavy quoting)<br /><br />THEY have ICBMs. So, it's impossible to ignore them. For a sane one.<br /><br />And it was not you who defeated em. They/we (USSR/RFia) lost because of internal disbalances and mismanagment. I know.<br />And Putin thinks he know and have fixed all errors. And know how, and free to (mis)use all YOUR strongpoints/vulnerabilities.<br />Poisonous mix.<br />And there is China to boot.<br /><br />Name-calling its Double-Edged sword, no, more like Ring of Power. Makes one feel invulnerable and powerful. But...<br />Well, who am I to deny him his little "preci... pleasure"? I don't care. As far as it not related to Ukraine.<br /><br />That T-cell response looks auto-immune. Take for example this post missive -- to kill the "Wall Street parasites".<br />That "parasites" that made USA that powerful as it is now???<br /><br /><br />Electronics are on the far side of s-curve already. What's new one?<br />My concern is. Free markets doesn't care about morality.<br />So. New tech could be used as weapon and/or mind-control.<br />And there'd be WW3. That one, after which, as Einstein said "...fourth will be with pebbles".<br /><br />PS How this my terse style to you? Non-wordy. Could it be maybe better?Porohobotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75326157737126226602019-02-12T16:51:41.371-08:002019-02-12T16:51:41.371-08:00Porohobot,
\\I don't accept RFia as such a m...Porohobot,<br /><br /><i> \\I don't accept RFia as such a mirror.<br /><br />It's about how THEY are. Not how you are. %( </i><br /><br />Meh. I don’t care. They can hold up a mirror all they like, but I’m not looking at it. I don’t accept their input. I AM willing to accept the input of certain Russian individuals, but not their system of governance.<br /><br /><i> But that not an easy task.<br />That need careful planning and thorough understanding of the matters.<br />Swearing and namecalling ARE NOT enough.</i><br /><br />Of course it isn’t easy. Beating them in the 20th century wasn’t either, but that’s exactly what we did. <br /><br />You worry too much about the careful planning stuff. The US is a nation of about 400 million barbarians. We have people colluding with Russian intelligence and others plotting revenge for the 2016 election. What are we likely to do next? Most likely everything we can imagine because we have no way to prevent such things. The American People don’t plan and coordinate as one unit. We plan and coordinate and finance and act as a zillion smaller units capable of doing things our government can’t possibly do.<br /><br />When our host uses what appears to be name-calling, he’s actually signaling within the groups pointing to where attention is needed. You probably can’t see that from where you are, but I can. There is an immune system analogy that works well. He’s playing the role of a social T-cell. Those cells send messages to others that act… or not… depending on the strength of the message. Name-calling is useful in giving strength to the message. Considering our hosts’ fluency in both the language and culture, I encourage you to consider the possibility that he knows what he’s doing.<br /><br />Progressbot,<br /><br /><i>And (singular) way to become the space-faring civilization -- to develop Exponential Techs.</i><br /><br />We are already on a curve that appears exponential. Remember that such curves appear slow and flat at first, but any time series that has statements like “grows 2%/year” qualifies.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27073583511897643852019-02-12T08:10:28.413-08:002019-02-12T08:10:28.413-08:00Larry Hart said...
So, "Only the true Messiah...<i>Larry Hart said...<br />So, "Only the true Messiah would deny His divinity"?</i><br /><br />It's not about some philosophical paradoxes.<br />It's about real social dynamics.<br />Reactionaries, like Putin, like Trump -- do start using techniques that in before was used by revolutionaries.<br />Successful techniques.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40734640955212810382019-02-12T07:59:16.807-08:002019-02-12T07:59:16.807-08:00https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/opinion/bezos-t...https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/opinion/bezos-trump-pecker.html<br /><i><br />Maybe we should talk about Bezos, because it involves a lot of double entendres and it reads like the next installment in the E.L. James series. Let’s call it: “50 Shades Richer.” Billionaires! Sex! Political intrigue! Allegations of blackmail! And a storybook villain named David Pecker, which is a name worthy of a Charles Dickens character.<br /></i><br /><br />I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that Dickens characters sometimes have names like "Master Bates".Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9486971245982869832019-02-12T07:45:21.299-08:002019-02-12T07:45:21.299-08:00So, "Only the true Messiah would deny His div...So, "Only the true Messiah would deny His divinity"?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77500544722130579932019-02-12T07:42:58.433-08:002019-02-12T07:42:58.433-08:00No, I didn't. :)
Denial of Reality. Good to g...<i>No, I didn't. :)</i><br /><br /><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/our-emotional-footprint/201512/the-denial-reality" rel="nofollow">Denial of Reality.</a> Good to go!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55657096507868893742019-02-12T07:32:18.904-08:002019-02-12T07:32:18.904-08:00Anonymous:
You just destroyed ground under your f...Anonymous:<br /><i><br />You just destroyed ground under your feets. Needed to fight akin to Trump, Put_in... or Locum.<br /></i><br /><br />No, I didn't. :)<br /><br /><i><br />If you have nothing agains new rules imposed on you... why'd you even start to fight em?<br /></i><br /><br />Dave Sim once said, "Sometimes, jumping on the bandwagon is the best way to demonstrate that the wheels have already fallen off." By accepting the Republican-imposed rules and insisting that everyone (including the Republicans) live by them, we eventually force them to tacitly acknowledge that they don't believe their own arguments or live up to their own supposed ideals.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9155737516011747012019-02-12T06:49:37.882-08:002019-02-12T06:49:37.882-08:00We can't wait for NASA forever. If we're g...We can't wait for NASA forever. If we're going to compete with China, we (Canada) need to get to space right now. Thank you Bezos. Next is Musk. Allons-y.<br />https://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN1PP2MC-OCABS?_lrsc=8dcbd329-d165-4438-86d3-1494bcc2c84a<br /><br />BTW This isn't hucksterish asteroid mining - it's basic survival in the 21st century. Troglodytes can't get us to the stars.Mike Willhttp://www.scidata.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78598856223562687852019-02-12T05:36:05.276-08:002019-02-12T05:36:05.276-08:00\\It is not hypocritical to demand enforcement of ...\\It is not hypocritical to demand enforcement of the rules we're all supposed to live by just because I would have made those rules different had I the power to do so.<br /><br />You even do not know what you just did. %)<br /><br />You just destroyed ground under your feets. Needed to fight akin to Trump, Put_in... or Locum.<br /><br />If you have nothing agains new rules imposed on you... why'd you even start to fight em?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91351566217551524202019-02-12T05:18:31.416-08:002019-02-12T05:18:31.416-08:00Anonymous:
Answerd. It's not hypocrisy if it&...Anonymous:<br /><i><br />Answerd. It's not hypocrisy if it's law.<br /></i><br /><br />Well, if you're talking about what I said, it wasn't exactly that.<br /><br />When there's a fight over what the rules are going to be, and the result ends up being different--even opposite--of what I wanted them to be or fought for them to be, I can still call for myself or my own side to be treated equally under the (newly-established) rules as our opponents are. It is not hypocritical to demand enforcement of the rules we're all supposed to live by just because I would have made those rules different had I the power to do so.<br /><br />The ones who confirmed Kavanaugh but insist Fairfax must be impeached are the hypocrites. They're insisting on a different standard for the Democrat than the one they actually <b>applied</b> to the Republican.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40716310887508723912019-02-12T02:57:36.372-08:002019-02-12T02:57:36.372-08:00\\The stable genius is now issuing EOs on AI.
Mun...\\The stable genius is now issuing EOs on AI.<br /><br />Mundane task. %) We still don't know what our own *intelligence* is.<br />So it's like trying to forbid Russell's Teapot. %Pprogressbotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32965583777179700112019-02-12T01:18:54.312-08:002019-02-12T01:18:54.312-08:00Alfred Differ:
Yah. Haven't been able to brin...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />Yah. Haven't been able to bring myself to watching The Handmaid's Tale. Some stories just piss me off and I really shouldn't read or watch them. With what I've heard people saying, I decided that was one of them. <br /></i><br /><br />I was the same with the new <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>. My wife thought it was great, but I couldn't bring myself to watch it.<br /><br />The advent of the tv <i>Handmaid's Tale</i>, and <i>Man in the High Castle</i> before it moved me to read the books rather than to watch tv versions. And I had only heard of Margaret Atwood's name in relation to <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i>. I never knew how prolific a writer she is. My library has like two freakin' shelves full of her books. More than Ian Flemming. :)<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75974509432182407352019-02-12T00:15:07.461-08:002019-02-12T00:15:07.461-08:00Answerd. It's not hypocrisy if it's law.Answerd. It's not hypocrisy if it's law.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89941307653406697972019-02-12T00:07:15.151-08:002019-02-12T00:07:15.151-08:00Dosen't anyone find it mildly ironic that a lo...Dosen't anyone find it mildly ironic that a lot of people are supporting a blackmailed vitcim who is delveping surveillance techology? Spudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09747393029369049773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66191430748132296552019-02-11T23:51:37.951-08:002019-02-11T23:51:37.951-08:00\\The way to do it without destroying the world is...\\The way to do it without destroying the world is to become a space-faring civilization.<br /><br /><b>And (singular) way to become the space-faring civilization -- to develop Exponential Techs.</b>progressbotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37395506264893034002019-02-11T23:43:23.010-08:002019-02-11T23:43:23.010-08:00>> Alfred Differ said...
Here. That issues ...>> Alfred Differ said...<br /><br />Here. That issues we discussed here. Around Columbus Journey.<br /><b>It could be a good Model Example for exploration issues.</b><br />Indeed, what we see:<br />it need to be some political decisions to support and fund such endeavours,<br />need to be some carefuly thought off idea (I mean how Columbus used winds patterns),<br />technical means, even abundant ones, like that old ships,<br />etc-etc...<br /><br />that can be applied to our plans to Conquer the Space. ;)<br /><br /><br />\\I don't accept RFia as such a mirror.<br /><br />It's about how THEY are. Not how you are. %(<br /><br /><br />\\I accept them as an excellent example of a social model that must be fought across the world until it gives up it's slaves.<br />\\Beaten & castrated. No memetic offspring.<br /><br /><b>I fully simpathise with you on that.</b><br />But that not an easy task.<br />That need careful planning and thorough understanding of the matters.<br />Swearing and namecalling ARE NOT enough.<br /><br />And it will not wear off like small pox or flu... by itself.<br />We need some strong hightech medicine for it.porohobotnoreply@blogger.com