tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post6983503382099207562..comments2024-03-28T04:58:13.341-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Weaknesses in the fabric of our republic: Infrastructure investment vs finance-wizard parasitesDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1170954259330613922016-09-22T13:45:34.499-07:002016-09-22T13:45:34.499-07:00Great discussion!
onward
onwardGreat discussion!<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88405617187255370372016-09-22T13:39:59.262-07:002016-09-22T13:39:59.262-07:00Tacitus2:
I think increasing strength might be di...Tacitus2:<br /><i><br />I think increasing strength might be difficult. So many systems involved. Strong muscles but not strong tendons or bones, well you can see the issue there.<br /></i><br /><br />I was a teenager when the old "Six Million Dollar Man" tv show was popular. I loved the show, but even then, I could "feel" that something was wrong when Steve would use his bionic arm to lift a car off of the ground. Like, wouldn't it do something bad to his spine and hips?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16398877582824451462016-09-22T13:27:33.249-07:002016-09-22T13:27:33.249-07:00Rob
Start here for nanotech;
http://www.foresight...Rob<br />Start here for nanotech;<br /><br />http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/<br /><br />and Bob Freitas book <br />Nanomedicine basic capabilities<br />https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=157059645X/foresightinstituA/<br /><br />You can get some fun stuff like<br /> video tattoos as your interface with your internal nanobots, hold your breath for a hour, very enhanced immune system, <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />occam's comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49560738541905274372016-09-22T13:16:20.924-07:002016-09-22T13:16:20.924-07:00raito we really need some expanded terminology. A...raito we really need some expanded terminology. A person with $20M in net assets is “rich” in most old-fashioned ways. Certainly richer than me! Two homes and serenity vs any needs, forever. Fine. <br /><br />But limited ability to cheat in ways that might eliminate competition. That wealth range still spends a fair amount, meaning they are not usually rentier sinks that hoard and crush money velocity. Sure, they are above “upper middle class” but they are part of the “lower upper class” who must drive their own cars and juggle schedules for themselves when the nanny takes a holiday.<br /><br />Look, I ain’t pitying them! But any powerful man who has had world-affecting powers who winds up in that range after 30 years has probably been pretty honest about it. <br /><br />An asshole possibly? Wrong to have suckled up to ‘neoloiberalism” in the 1990s? Sure. That’s a different matter. As is him being right, now, to revert back to Keynsian-Smithian liberalism.<br /><br />INFRASTRUCTURE. I am fine with swinging out emphasis away from highways! CA’s battle to get high speed rail is like LA’s desperate fight to get metro subways and trains… the right wingers fought it hard and now we know life would be impossible without it.<br /><br />But we cannot turn our backs on the highways and let them decay.<br /><br />===<br />Tacitus, squint and look 50 years from now. The very notion that there would NOT be high speed rail or tube transit up between SoCal and the Bay area is simply absurd. The question for sane folks is how? I am willing to listen to arguments that normal, world class high speed rail is obsolete! Maybe we should leapfrog the rest of the world! As Africa is leapfrogging copper wires.<br /><br />But to do nothing? Baloney. The most important aspect of CA’s HSR system is lining up the rights of way.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79124025711847531622016-09-22T13:16:00.358-07:002016-09-22T13:16:00.358-07:00Deuxglass… by your way of viewing things, I do not...Deuxglass… by your way of viewing things, I do not call Locumranch a “troll.” He’s… odd and grouchy and once in a while tips into troll-level speech meriting a warning. Don’t forget, we also have Treebeard! And occasional actual troll visitors. Still, I am amazed that - with my personality - I haven’t drawn in the real article here. I think… well… real trolls find long paragraphs intimidating!<br /><br />His most recent, re Obamacare was… dazzling. Maybe 40% right!<br />==David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9831958104168306292016-09-22T13:15:46.556-07:002016-09-22T13:15:46.556-07:00hadend’s contribution about Chubais was genuinely ...hadend’s contribution about Chubais was genuinely cogent and interesting. See? That’s what happens when you control your temper.<br /><br />donzel, your unwillingness to consider that US & Western oligarchs would funnel money to Russian ones UNDER the table is utterly naive.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70431559533000814362016-09-22T13:12:32.954-07:002016-09-22T13:12:32.954-07:00Robert,
I think increasing strength might be diff...Robert,<br /><br />I think increasing strength might be difficult. So many systems involved. Strong muscles but not strong tendons or bones, well you can see the issue there.<br />Vision, sure. It would even be feasible to extend beyond our customary spectra. I don't think I would want enhanced hearing.....those folks down the block with a penchant for bad Heavy Metal music are bad enough already.<br />It would probably be possible to build in better tolerance of heat and cold. Maybe shorter reaction times. I would think getting by on less sleep or alternatively being able to reduce metabolic rate to tolerate hibernation could be done.<br /><br />Biochemically much of this stuff already exists in the natural world. <br />As to flying, laser beam eyes, sorry, Laws of Physics will still be rigorously enforced.<br /><br />TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72653090086522274222016-09-22T13:00:48.485-07:002016-09-22T13:00:48.485-07:00Off on a brief aside. I've been having fun ind...Off on a brief aside. I've been having fun indulging in thoughts of how technology could create "superheroes" (in the case of the story-world I'm crafting, to deal with an interdimensional invasion by creatures made of what is essentially solid shadow).<br /><br />Given what we do know of technological innovations and research into nanotechnology and the like, what abilities do you think could be granted through nanotechnology and biotechnology?<br /><br />The biotech could probably allow such things as improved vision (better night vision for one), improved hearing and smell, perhaps improved reflexes, and the like. And of course the Genies could be discriminated against because their abilities bred true and some folk will find any reason to discriminate.<br /><br />What might nanotechnology allow? Could it help improve strength? Maybe increase the toughness of muscles, tendons, and bones so that muscles can be used to a fuller extent? What abilities do you think could be enacted by nanotechnological engineering of the body to become more efficient?<br /><br />And what about actual cybernetics? What directions do you see cybernetics going in? What could be done that seems at the edge of science fiction but in fact is within the realm of what could actually be done?<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91759178609079523482016-09-22T12:45:59.893-07:002016-09-22T12:45:59.893-07:00(continued)
Highway 210 runs east/west through do...(continued)<br /><br />Highway 210 runs east/west through downtown Brainerd. In the hierarchical road system, it is the top of the pyramid and would be classified in most places as a "major arterial". It is designed as a STROAD (a street/road hybrid), attempting to apply highway design standards to what otherwise would be an urban street. In doing so, it has dramatically transformed the land use pattern of the area.<br /><br />The picture below highlights two blocks that front the highway corridor. The one on the left, which we've labeled "old and blighted", is a block that has retained its traditional development pattern. To the right we have identified the "shiny and new" area, the block that has recently been transformed to an auto-oriented development style, to the glee of city officials and local economic development advocates. In between is a hybrid of the two; part traditional and part auto-oriented.<br /><br />The old and blighted area is a collection of run down, marginal establishments. There are two liquor stores, a pawn shop, a barber shop, a bankruptcy attorney, a campaign headquarters, a retail establishment, a cafe and a vacant building. This is not a desirable area. If the adjacent highway didn't already ensure decline, local "improvements" have degraded what little pedestrian connectivity may have existed to the adjacent areas. None of it that remains is easy, natural or inviting. In the community's eyes, this is an area that is waiting to redevelop, to transform itself fully into an auto-oriented pattern. That transformation has begun; note that the very westerly building, which is a liquor store, has turned two lots into a parking lot.<br /><br />By contrast, the shiny and new area contains only one business, that being a new Taco John's drive through fast food restaurant. The modern facility contains two drive-through lanes, good access to the adjacent streets and all the parking that would ever be needed. They've done on-site stormwater retention (the environmentalists applaud) and modern signage. It meets all of the city's design and zoning codes. The restaurant replaced some buildings that were, themselves, part of an evolution from the original, traditional development to the auto-oriented. With the new Taco John's, the transformation is complete.<br />occams comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19221599300647181022016-09-22T12:44:00.329-07:002016-09-22T12:44:00.329-07:00This is a article from Strongtowns.org
It talks ab...This is a article from Strongtowns.org<br />It talks about traditional development patterns vs auto centered development in a small town in Minnesota. I like the StrongTowns movement it focuses on local issues in a way that can really bring conservatives and liberals together.<br /><br /> <br /><br />In the United States we've proceeded for sixty years with reconfiguring our public spaces to accommodate the automobile. The built in assumption of this approach, especially when it comes to commercial property, is that the more cars driving by the better. What we've overlooked in our haste to "modernize" is the lower return on investment we get from this approach, even under ideal conditions. Today we need the humility to acknowledge that our ancestors -- who built in the traditional style -- may have known what they were doing after all.<br /><br />occam's comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76382294077340666932016-09-22T12:22:42.704-07:002016-09-22T12:22:42.704-07:00In other stories, Elibazeth Warren has the best ta...In other stories, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhkX74D10M" rel="nofollow">Elibazeth Warren</a> has the best take I've seen so far on the problem in the banking industry:<br /><br />"...Mr. Stumpf, if one of your tellers took a handful of twenty dollar bills out of the cash drawer, they would probably be looking at criminal charges for theft. They could end up in prison. But you squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers so you could drive up the value of your stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your own pocket. And when it all blew up, you kept your job, you kept your multi-million dollar bonuses, and you went on television to blame thousands of $12 an hour employees who were just trying to make your own cross-sell quotas that made you rich."<br /><br />Bear in mind, Stumpf is a 'mere' lightweight among the wealthy set - less than a billion dollars to his name (before this mess occurred). A real oligarch has even more extensive mechanisms to attain power and wealth.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45917358011042262402016-09-22T12:06:17.669-07:002016-09-22T12:06:17.669-07:00Donzelion,
A handful of well-positioned Russians ...Donzelion,<br /><i> A handful of well-positioned Russians were able to engage in rather simple commodity arbitrage to buy up commodities in Russia sold at fixed prices, sell them on global markets at going rates, and then pocket the change to take over valuable enterprises for pennies on the ruble</i>.<br /><br />That indeed is the Russian way. It was wishful thinking on our part that they would naturally turn to open democracy as some sort of natural state, just like it was naive of us to expect something out of the Tiennamen protests. Today's oligarchs are the same people who sat near the top of the bloated Soviet hierarchy. If some American money did end up in their system, it did not influence the outcome one whit.<br /><br />For the Russian people to turn to democracy would take slow growth a la South Korea, or epic, frightful change and maybe occupation, like Japan. I don't see the former happening in the foreseeable future, and the latter of course not at all.<br />Jeff B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85455409974112999302016-09-22T11:58:15.158-07:002016-09-22T11:58:15.158-07:00I loved the rail systems in Europe, both subway an...I loved the rail systems in Europe, both subway and topside lines- clean and efficient, and economical. There was talk a few years back of a high speed line connecting Pittsburgh w. Philadelphia (and hence the entire East Coast), but it was shot down by lawmakers from the non-urban reaches of the state. Who knows? I've not seen a cost analysis or projection, but such a line seems like common sense to me- turn an eight hour car trip or an almost-as-long-due-to-airport-security flight into a couple quiet hours on a train. <br /><br />And it would have been able to be the start of a western extension, through Cleveland/Columbus to Chicago and beyond, at least to St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Now I'll be lucky to see that in my lifetime.<br /><br />Why've we lost our vision?Jeff B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84575303980522977372016-09-22T11:51:16.446-07:002016-09-22T11:51:16.446-07:00Hadend - USAID does not typically make loans or gr...Hadend - USAID does not typically make loans or grants to individuals, or to private for-profit companies, absent extremely explicit budget allocations that delineate every last coffee mug they can purchase using government funds. This is one of the strictest and tightest controlled budgets operated by the federal government because it is always the easiest target for political opponents.<br /><br />If they did, and you had evidence of them doing so, then you've neglected to bring a claim in which you could receive 3x the amount that was fraudulently transferred.<br /><br />Anatoly Chubais' 'tulip farm' did receive a few hundred thousand dollars (and participants received millions, in the form of financial aid to finance fellowships at American universities, also paid for in part by the Fed - and all that money stayed here). Some of those participants may have received additional funding from other U.S. agencies; I cannot say, but cannot rule it out. Anyone who could say with certainty would know the intimate details of intelligence operations budgets, and thus probably wouldn't say.<br /><br /><i>"I say 'at the very least', because it depends how you count it."</i><br />Read through the CRS report I referred to above, then tell me which of the major line items was USAID funding, which ones persisted after 1995 - and where the money came from. You can also review the USAID budget, which has been public for decades, and see where and how they allotted the money (I did so in painstaking detail for Egypt to try to understand why U.S. democratization efforts kept failing, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in expenditure - and Egypt received far more than Russia ever did).<br /><br /><i>"[Chubais] pushed through the loans-for-shares program which gave away huge swathes of state assets in rigged auctions - that program had a huge role in establishing and entrenching the oligarchs."</i><br />I am aware of his role. Russia considered privatization schemes comparable to those used in Czechoslovakia and in Hungary - neither of which resulted in oligarchic entrenchment quite the way Russia's did. A handful of well-positioned Russians were able to engage in rather simple commodity arbitrage to buy up commodities in Russia sold at fixed prices, sell them on global markets at going rates, and then pocket the change to take over valuable enterprises for pennies on the ruble. <br /><br />None of them did so, to the extent anyone can prove, by use of U.S. public funds (but it's unclear who, if anyone, provided private funding). They wouldn't have needed to: all they needed was someone to vouch for their creditworthiness (e.g., Yeltsin), and they could do it all themselves. And if it WAS done with U.S. funds (whether private or public), the funders were pretty foolish - getting very little in exchange for their money, in a travesty that even the most salivating Republican attack dogs neglected to bite upon. How likely is that?donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16544641304993740882016-09-22T11:33:41.896-07:002016-09-22T11:33:41.896-07:00Donzelion I must admit I was actually thinking of ...Donzelion I must admit I was actually thinking of the proposed but now abandoned idea for a high speed link between Madison and Milwaukee Wisconsin. <br /><br />But in each case an honest appraisal would have to include cost to build, cost to maintain, likely ridership and cost per passenger. Oh, also the cost to dismantle it when it gets made obsolete by something else. <br /><br />Regards the merits of mass transit for the well heeled vrs the, er, poorly heeled? I certainly expect some subsidies for the first group and a larger amount for the second. The devil resides at his customary address, in the details.<br /><br />It is so hard to get believable numbers especially when many of the interested parties have vested interests in these projects.<br /><br />TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73455928712399133932016-09-22T11:29:47.198-07:002016-09-22T11:29:47.198-07:00And in other news, Idiocracy is being screened on ...And in other news, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/mike-judge-plots-idiocracy-10th-anniversary-screenings-w441355" rel="nofollow">Idiocracy</a> is being screened on October 4 in numerous select cities. Alas, the LA screening is sold out. <br /><br />I've mocked the movie (which I secretly love), but it seems apropos given some of the nonsense spouted in public (and occasionally, in public forums among folks who know better). 'Ow my balls!'donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23673541276425025752016-09-22T11:20:26.491-07:002016-09-22T11:20:26.491-07:00Donzelion, No vitriol, just saying. Favored refor...Donzelion, No vitriol, just saying. Favored reformers like Anatoly Chubais (the poster child of the reformers) received, at the very least, 100s of millions of dollars in aid money (a lot of that in the form of direct aid and loans from USAID). I say 'at the very least', because it depends how you count it. For example, IMF officials made it a condition of Russia receiving several billion dollar loans, that Chubais would personally remain in the Yeltsin government. He pushed through the loans-for-shares program which gave away huge swathes of state assets in rigged auctions - that program had a huge role in establishing and entrenching the oligarchs.<br /><br />The US didn't create the Russian oligarchs in the sense that they didn't just give them pallets of cash. They used a mixture of threats and favoritism to make sure people like Chubais would hold important political appointments and push through the desired neoliberal reforms. What the neoliberal advisors true intentions were, who honestly knows? They promoted and pushed, though it's called 'liberal', basically far-right policies that included gutting basic public services and almost entirely deregulating industry. Maybe some were True Believes and others more cynical.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05161158946395734559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6804935019073029292016-09-22T11:10:52.999-07:002016-09-22T11:10:52.999-07:00Tacitus - if you're suggesting that instead of...Tacitus - if you're suggesting that instead of the California high-speed rail link from LA to SF, to go with a fleet of buses between the two cities, then you're missing the point. <br /><br />A high-speed train from LA to SF could deliver passengers in about as much time as it currently takes to commute from the far exurbs of LA into the inner city. It could do so in less time than it takes to fly from one city to the other (counting time to/from the airports). It would be something novel for America, but something that has worked quite impressively in Japan, France, Germany, and even China.<br /><br /><i>"...You could outfit a fleet of clean energy buses with fabulous amenities."</i><br />Indeed you could, BUT a 7-hour commute would mean that the trans-city traffic would primarily consist of 'business travelers' and tourists - not 'regular work time commuters.' Those folks are already served by airports and charter aircraft.<br /><br />Nobody recognized why broadband internet investments were 'socially useful' when they were first launched in the '80s - that came later. But infrastructure has remarkable precedent in paying for itself in unexpected ways (even if it truly annoys the folks who wanted to privatize it and turn everything into their own little toll road).<br /><br /><i>"Spots where cows grazed in the year 500 are now among the priciest real estate on earth."</i><br />The most valuable real estate in the world is technically land in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (few cows grazing in 500 CE - more sheep and goats). But absent modern infrastructure, it would lose the majority of its 'value' (sure, the religious sites would be important, but it's hard for pilgrims to finish a pilgrimage if they must carry their own water on their backs). As for London, that bridge kept on falling down, and kept getting rebuilt - London exists because infrastructure makes it viable (although originally, it existed because feudal landlords made it necessary to have some place to flee when they imposed brutal wages - and up through Victorian era, persistent cholera and other nasties rendered London a pretty nasty place to live in...cities of the past offered LOW rents compared to villages). donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18742177013412765602016-09-22T11:10:15.494-07:002016-09-22T11:10:15.494-07:00Sorry, Deuxglass. I didn't see your question b...<br /><br />Sorry, Deuxglass. I didn't see your question before the above post.<br /><br />I was in favour of Obama Care (ACA) and a single payer system, at least in the short-term, because our modern healthcare system standard is unsustainable as it has been burning it's capital (provider good will) in order to function. That is just my assessment, but I believe that 'burn-out' stats & perhaps even Tacitus agree with this.<br /><br />In practice, however, that is NOT the kind of Obama Care we received. With the death of the single payer option, we are left with a giant insurance boondoggle (wherein Big Insurance got the 'boon' and the healthcare provider/consumer got the 'doggle'), much in the same way that Medicare part D represented a giant cash gift to Big Pharma which tripled the average RX cost to the healthcare consumer.<br /><br />Look to the Canadian & British NHS if you imagine 'single payer' (as in 'Cutting out the Big Insurance middleman') as a long-term solution. It's NOT. Rather, it's just a delaying action in the face of 'Entropy always Wins'.<br /><br />Best<br />______<br />@Tacitus: I agree. We have had SOME success in our attempts to reanimate (repurpose) our dead & dying Urban Centres but, like attempting to resuscitate a deceased centenarian, it is a waste of resources, ill-advised & ultimately futile. Urban City Centre TIME OF DEATH: Now. It's called 'Triage' when we cut our losses & care for those who we can still save.<br /><br />@Donzelion: Detroit & LA no longer deserve 'infrastructure', according to the above definition, as they no longer serve the needs of INDUSTRY. Of course, you can make a good case that their continued existence is equally justified by either 'human rights' or nostalgia. Are you doing those people a favour, though, by condemning them to an impoverished existence in an economic dead zone?<br />locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13562061182437354272016-09-22T10:53:42.283-07:002016-09-22T10:53:42.283-07:00donzelion:
Try treating all your hospital sewage ...donzelion:<br /><i><br />Try treating all your hospital sewage in-house, through your own septic systems (it's doable, sometimes, but expensive).<br /></i><br /><br />There's a scene toward the end of Vonnegut's "Player Piano" where the anti-machine rebels go nuts, destroying everything willy-nilly without regard to value. "I blew up the water treatment plant. Give the country back to the <b>people</b>!"<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63285206885488984062016-09-22T10:48:02.779-07:002016-09-22T10:48:02.779-07:00Locum - "Without industry, our sainted infras...Locum - <i>"Without industry, our sainted infrastructure has NO value, social or otherwise."</i><br /><br />Try drinking water in a community with unreliable infrastructure, risking cholera and other potentially fatal diseases, and tell me how it has no value.<br /><br />Try producing 100% of your own power yourself, internally, through solar or wind or any other source (again, none of it transmitted through power lines).<br /><br />Try producing 100% of the medical goods and products in-house (no delivery through a truck using public infrastructure).<br /><br />Try posting on an internet that doesn't connect to telecommunications infrastructure.<br /><br />Try eating food that is locally produced, using rainwater exclusively (no agricultural infrastructure).<br /><br />Try treating all your hospital sewage in-house, through your own septic systems (it's doable, sometimes, but expensive).<br /><br />Try all that and then tell me that infrastructure holds no value after you've tried it. (Or, as an alternative, move somewhere for a month or six where these infrastructural components aren't present - you'll discover just how important these and many other shared systems are for a comfortable life.)donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34704090992762620622016-09-22T10:46:14.173-07:002016-09-22T10:46:14.173-07:00Deuxglass:
n defense of Locum,
Yes he is a troll...Deuxglass:<br /><i><br />n defense of Locum,<br /><br />Yes he is a troll but he is our troll and has been with us for a very long time. Sure he gets on our nerves but he is loyal to Contrary Brin in his own way and I respect that. He represents the most “contrary” part of Contrary Brin and so he does serve a function. He is a counter-point to ultra-logic. He is angry at us but at all of us and doesn’t single out some for special harassment. He doesn’t stoop to excessive back and forth snide remarks as I have seen in other forums. <br /></i><br /><br />Agreed on all counts.<br /><br /><i><br />He doesn’t overdo it and knows when to stop. <br /></i><br /><br />Sometimes. :)<br /><br /><i><br />He is a troll in control.<br /></i><br /><br />Now, there's a line that belongs in "Hamilton".<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36702058311752908762016-09-22T10:41:09.227-07:002016-09-22T10:41:09.227-07:00Jumper:
I predict some of the people predicting w...Jumper:<br /><i><br />I predict some of the people predicting will be right, and some wrong.<br /><br />I win!<br /></i><br /><br />Well, the odds be with you, but it's not a sure bet. They could all be wrong, including you.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41530367196276482552016-09-22T10:38:32.674-07:002016-09-22T10:38:32.674-07:00PaulSB:
Studies have shown that what you do in th...PaulSB:<br /><i><br />Studies have shown that what you do in the last hour before sleep has a profound impact on both the quality of your sleep and what goes into long-term memory the next morning. The more emotional, the greater the impact, but remember Negativity Bias! Anything associated with fear and/or anger will have a roughly 3x bigger impact, so do something fun. And if it can be done with minimal lighting, that's even better.<br /></i><br /><br />Hmmmm, I have to sell the wife on this one. :)<br /><i><br />Another thought. It is recommended to rebalance your serotonin levels that you take a walk outside (preferably with significant people in your life) just before sundown.<br /></i><br /><br />We already do.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14629637128687123122016-09-22T10:36:11.083-07:002016-09-22T10:36:11.083-07:00PaulSB:
Larry,
If you are still waking up in a c...PaulSB:<br /><i><br />Larry,<br /><br />If you are still waking up in a cold, Donald-inspired sweat,...<br /></i><br /><br />Tacitus2:<br /><i><br />For various posters who are sleeping poorly this week...<br /></i><br /><br />Actually, I feel much better just knowing that this is a "thing" that other people know about. Doubtless, Hillary's campaign is strategizing against Trump, with the next notable arena being Monday's debate. I panic more when it looks as if no one else notices or cares that Trump is threatening--when accepted wisdom says Hillary can coast to a landslide, but meanwhile, Trump support swells.<br /><br />I'll put this in terms of one of our host's early novels. In "Sundiver", there's an alien character named Bubbacub who looks like a cute rodent or teddy bear or something like that, and the human attitude toward him is mostly bemusement. But there's a scene where someone--the female captain if I'm remembering correctly--has a conversation with him in which it's dawning on her that "This being is <b>dangerous</b>!" That pretty much describes my observations about Trump.<br /><br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.com