Seems like I like arguing.. let us go with your definition..
US has several outlying territories. US has around 800 military bases around the world. In SK and Japan (and to a large extent in Australia), US dictates the policies. The world institutions have been mostly controlled by the US without putting itself under their jurisdiction. I see one dominant center with several subordinate peripheries - in Europe, Australia, SK, Japan and the island nations of Pacific. Unlike olden days, you do not need to send people as governers directly. You only need to control the trade, defence and foreign policies.
I live in Europe / UK and I'm not aware of being in a subordinate periphery. We have cooperated with the US in opposing Russia / the USSR but I'm not aware of being in part of the US empire and you may note that now the White House has been occupied by the Kremlin and is telling Ukraine to surrender to Russia, we are telling them to sod off with that. Is the UK part of the US empire or is the US still partly part of the British Empire and how can I tell?
Also re Australia, it's a long standing military ally of the US but it still a constitutional monarchy under the British crown - I think they still have Liz on some of the bank notes. I guess military cooperation trumps head of state? It all gets confusing.
They are a tiny fringe minority that gets humiliated whenever they try to debate actual experts. Here's Mearsheimer getting smacked down in front of a live audience by the Polish foreign minister: https://youtu.be/ivcSVG5eCeQ?t=2100
I think if escaping from garrotting is something you should consider when buying a car, you are better off sitting in the backseat and let someone else drive you around :)
You have some really nice shots there, even with the rare wild dog!
Jumping on the shameless plug train here -- just a few days ago I decided to finally show some of my photography on Instagram (for those of you that still use it):
I have a deep passion for photography but had so far not put effort into an online presence. Here I intend to publish only the besties from many years of putting myself out there with mostly a fixed focal lens at 135 mm (f/1.8).
I am surprised you do not realize that cities have different civic requirements than countryside. A rolling blackout is generally done during the day with specific targets. Industrial power is shutdown, residences lose power etc..but hospitals, and civic services generally are subject to the rolling blackouts.
There seems to be general distrust of government in western society. When people in Chile seem to have no problem with the curfew, why are non-Chileans so concerned?
>"Emergency" alone does not justify curfews. Curfews are only justified if they are reasonably expected to actually affect the thing that is driving the emergency. This may well be the case with a disease, but here the emergency is simply that the infrastructure needs to be restored.
This makes no sense.. Sometimes, you treat the symptoms, sometimes you take preventive measures against the symptoms while you buy time to address the root cause.
> I am surprised you do not realize that cities have different civic requirements than countryside.
Why do you think that? Stating a difference in civic requirements does not change any of the arguments put forward. I can move around a city without electricity. And so can you.
> There seems to be general distrust of government in western society. When people in Chile seem to have no problem with the curfew, why are non-Chileans so concerned?
This may not be a popular view in the U.S. government right now, but there are good reasons to distrust governments. In fact, most societies have embedded this distrust into the government itself through interlocking powers, constitutions, rule of law, etc.. The desire for good government decisions is not unique to the people of Chile.
> Sometimes, you treat the symptoms, sometimes you take preventive measures against the symptoms while you buy time to address the root cause.
Note how vague you seem to remain about the actual benefits of a curfew. It's a pattern we see in many of the replies on this thread. I think this vagueness is probably an indicator that some commenters don't really know a good reason, but feel the need to argue in favour of a curfew.
... although I do not really understand this motivation. It's a policy decision like countless others, and I have no strong feelings one way or the other - but maybe I'm missing the emotional part.
Let me the clear.. with a countrywide blackout with no specific eta on restoration, it creates potential for crime of opportunity. We should fix the root cause, but we should also take efforts to reduce the potential by higher police presence (symptoms) and reduce the potential for the opportunity (preventive measures) by reducing the traffic to necessity. It is not an indefinite curfew, but only till the root cause is resolved.
6% after inflation? The problem with 30yr bonds is that it is effectively 2% assuming 2.5% inflation rate. Stock returns have been generally around 10% even after accounting for inflation. A good mix is critical and what is a good mix depends on the personal circumstances.
Are you trying to retire with stable cash flow, or grow your wealth?
For many, retirement is first and foremost about generating a stable income. A guaranteed lower rate of return is usually desirable over a speculative higher rate of return.
Thank you for talking about it. I am a guy and dive occasionally with a dry suit, but this is something that most people are not comfortable talking about.
Salary is not the same as paying a contractor. So, while salaries for senior engineers is 100k, as a contractor they might be charging 150K per year ($75/hr).
Which government are you talking about? Like the US banned tiktok because Israel did not like it [1]?
Let us be honest here.. China censors directly. US censors indirectly through the private companies [2] and through covert use of force [3]. If you had a pro-Russian stance in 2022 or pro-Palestine stance, you will see your content censored in very subtle ways in US.
US has several outlying territories. US has around 800 military bases around the world. In SK and Japan (and to a large extent in Australia), US dictates the policies. The world institutions have been mostly controlled by the US without putting itself under their jurisdiction. I see one dominant center with several subordinate peripheries - in Europe, Australia, SK, Japan and the island nations of Pacific. Unlike olden days, you do not need to send people as governers directly. You only need to control the trade, defence and foreign policies.
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