astebbin

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31.
by astebbin 9y ago
Glaringly, the NYT omits the scope of these new Chinese tariffs (on $3 billion in goods [0]), which in comparison to the $60 billion in tariffs recently imposed on China would seem to present Trump with quite a victory. [0] http:/&#x2
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by astebbin 9y ago
>My impression is that Trump is pushing tariffs in order to increase nationalism through conflict That’s not my impression. I perceive the tariffs as a response to the yawning trade deficit between China and the U.S., as well as China’s
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by astebbin 9y ago
COBRA is a good option to retain your insurance for many months after leaving an employer, during which time you can (for now) pick a new lower-priced provider from your state’s Obamacare exchange.
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by astebbin 9y ago
Wouldn't the "Berlin Wall episode" pertain more to the former East Germany, whose GDP per capita today is several times that of Russia's? All in all, reunification and the fall of Communism has been very good for East Ge
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by astebbin 9y ago
Not loading for me. Cached on the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20180318140130/https://www.fhi.o... EDIT: Hrm, guess it only cached the abstract.
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by astebbin 9y ago
>an improvement in human welfare Was this generally the outcome of the Roman Empire's collapse? Intuitively, I would expect breakdowns in law and order and the collapse of complex supply chain systems (particularly food delivery) to
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by astebbin 9y ago
Not OP, but I live without adblock. In Chrome, I disable Javascript on all sites by default. Rarely do I need to unblock a new site. I have a paid subscription to the Washington Post (which grants access to articles, but doesn't actual
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by astebbin 9y ago
To 99.99% of people, a rocket to Mars is as about useful a 10,000-year clock. That's not to say both aren't commendable efforts, technological steps forward for humankind, and inspirations to many.
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by astebbin 9y ago
> Failure to detect smoke Incorrect. If you examine the announcement you linked, the issue was a failure to alarm when smoke was detected (below UL's must-alarm threshold, above which the Protect ALWAYS alarmed) due to false detecti
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by astebbin 9y ago
To play devil’s advocate for a moment: children are often coached by parents in cases like this. Remember “balloon boy,” who hid in the garage per his dad’s instruction so the family could get their 15 minutes of fame? That said, kids like
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by astebbin 9y ago
I honestly can't tell if this comment is satire. If it's not, please point to the racism. The study makes no moral judgement as to whether it's better to have a bigger parietal lobe vs. visual cortex. Do you think the study&#
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by astebbin 9y ago
IANA biologist. That said, if by "inherent" you mean primarily genetically determined, I'd say that explanation seems most likely given the evidence.
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by astebbin 9y ago
It's uncomfortable to consider, but there is strong evidence to suggest that the brains of Australian aboriginal people differ in significant ways from their Caucasian bretheren. One study found the aboriginal visual cortex to be signi
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by astebbin 9y ago
To me, this suggests the value of professional food critics as well-known sources of... well maybe not truth, but at least honest opinion. It's easy to fake a crowd. It's a lot harder to impersonate a well-known individual's
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by astebbin 9y ago
Unlike the 18th-century USA, China is party to numerous international treaties and conventions [0] which obligate it to honor certain IP protections. Their enforcement record to date has been spotty at best, with many [1] allegations [2] of
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by astebbin 9y ago
Many Americans (myself included) believe most DACA recipients deserve citizenship, as they were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents while still very young through no fault of their own. DACA recipients often consider themselves A
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by astebbin 9y ago
From your strong reaction, Trump’s political career to date has been effective indeed! Ebola (for example) is extremely effective. That doesn’t mean you have to like it, or want it anywhere near the White House.
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by astebbin 9y ago
Maybe the Romans were on to something ;) Check out this BBC article about countries without an elected government (the functional ones rely on the civil service): http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42570823
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by astebbin 9y ago
I think you’ve taken more from my original comment than was given. I don’t think electing a competent President is at odds with a desire for Congress to better assert its Constitutional authority.
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by astebbin 9y ago
Not be too pedantic, but if you can’t get elected, you can’t be effective. By that measure, Trump was more effective than every other Presidential candidate, Hillary in particular. He is now President, and she is an unemployed politician. I
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by astebbin 9y ago
I don’t think you’re entirely wrong, but you could have said all that about Donald Trump in 2016. We live in strange times.
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by astebbin 9y ago
EDIT: misread “customers” as “employees.” As a satisfied longtime Amazon customer, I really couldn’t disagree with you more. In contrast to the current President, Jeff is a stable and effective leader with broad popular appeal, a good head
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by astebbin 9y ago
I would love to see Jeff Bezos run for President in 2020. The trust he has built in the Amazon brand, the value he has placed upon investigative journalism and the survival of the free press, his deep knowledge of and interest in technology
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by astebbin 9y ago
In the U.S., participation with these agencies is entirely optional. My understanding is that they offer access to government locales, equipment, and consultants in exchange for a positive portrayal. This would seem to me a fair trade, and
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by astebbin 9y ago
> I wonder which country don't censor movies? The USA, for one. The MPAA does rate movies, and most theater chains choose not to run movies rated to contain extreme violence or sexuality, but anyone can privately film and distribute
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by astebbin 9y ago
This is much, much more than a credit score, and it is disingenuous to claim otherwise. FTA: “Friends matter, too. The fifth category is interpersonal relationships. What does their choice of online friends and their interactions say about
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by astebbin 9y ago
Despite the truth of your historical timeline, 'WannaCry' does neatly fit the profile of Room 39, a department of the North Korean government which raises foreign currency through cybercrime and other criminal activities [0][1]. T
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by astebbin 9y ago
I think you've taken more from the original comment than was given. Only you have compared Communist China to Nazi Germany on the basis of foreign policy, so that line of argument is irrelevant. Historians criticize IBM for helping the
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by astebbin 9y ago
If that is what you believe, I would encourage you to check out these two books on the subject [0][1]. Both are engrossing reads, and paint a damning picture of the regime from different perspectives. I have taken a strong amateur interest
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by astebbin 9y ago
Your logic is not sound. North Korea was recently described as a worse human rights abuser than Nazi Germany, by a Holocaust survivor no less [0]. In spite of this commonly-held perception, no country has declared war on them, for many of t

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