As an Englishman, the IRA were fairly critical to the political results. They kept the UK government from running roughshod over the Irish political parties.

The IRA proved they were willing to cross critical lines (bombs aimed at large scale civilian damage on English soil etc). They also demonstrated restraint. They often provided warnings ahead of time. They focused on disruption not casualties. The underlying threat was clear however. If you (UK government) escalate too far, it’s simple to switch from a bomb aimed at destroying a high street of shops, to one aimed at killing a high street of Christmas shoppers.

The end result was that Irish politics stayed in the public eye, and the government took the safer path of negotiating in good faith. No-one was particularly happy with the results, but no-one was excessively unhappy with them either. Often the best you can hope for.

In short, the credible threat is required to keep all parties honest. Most smart governments will see an escalating trail of protests as part of that. Unfortunately, the current US leadership doesn’t seem that smart.

I’m not going to knock her putting them to good use! It’s done well by her so far. 👍

Some places do electricity costs in 30 minute periods. If you know cost will spike when everyone gets home, and the sun sets, then running early makes sense. Other times, holding off for an hour might be more useful.

Just most sources of power. Photovoltaic, wind and hydro aren’t steam based.

Be careful with the taking average mindset. It’s a default human one, and it’s being abused. A lot of media outlets (particularly American right wing) are mouthpieces for the same few groups or people.

Instead, try and look at their biases. Do they have a reason to mislead you. What akin do they have in a particular game. E.g. the BBC is still fairly unbiased on a lot of world news. They are far less unbiased on middle eastern politics now.

It’s an annoyingly complex problem to solve, on the fly.

The issue is that it’s become harder and harder to simply exist in a public space, without it costing money. It’s doubly difficult for isolated men. You can’t make new friends without being somewhere to meet people.

Even when you have some money, it can be hard. I help with a charity geared towards this. I’ve met multiple, otherwise decent, men that found themselves isolated. They could go a week or more without seeing another person in the flesh.

Interestingly, English does have a “reference” accent. “Queens English”.

Back in the days of the British empire, the aristocracy had a serious problem. When they traveled, the local population were difficult to understand, they all had accents. To solve this, the hired help were taught not just English but a clear “accentless” English. This meant the rich could go anywhere in the empire and not have to decode the local’s butchering of English.

While it’s used a lot less now, it was only a few decades back that the BBC stopped requiring it for news broadcasts. It’s the “classic” British accent you see on TV shows.

This works 98% of the time. When it doesn’t, oh boy! You’re in for an “interesting” conversation!

Use at your own risk!

Both my wife’s and my stuffed teddies have now been retired. They now sit, cuddled together, overlooking the bedroom. On a shelf, in pride of place. Their tour of service done, but not forgotten.

They are the largest polluter primarily because we outsourced our polluting manufacturing to them. The politics of that part are a separate issue, but the results need to be factored in. A lot of Chinese pollution is western pollution, outsourced.

They also appear to actually have a coherent plan that seems on track. Could it be a lot better? Of course! It’s still a lot better than a lot of the world is doing.

Please show me somewhere making large scale improvements that aren’t built upon China’s right now.

Edit to add.

Unfortunately, my standards really are that low. The fact that China is still the only large country/group hitting them says more about the rest of the world.

It likely jams their brains. Accepting a sudden change of plans is a skill. They rarely have to practice it. When it happens they either want to understand it (and so ask a lot of questions). Or they want to make it go away, and so try and bully you into accepting.

You sometimes see a similar thing in dating. Women almost never have to deal with direct rejection. Most are smart enough to take it gracefully, but a few get wildly inappropriate and aggressive about it. Men are on the other side of it. More used to being rejected, and so better at rolling with the punches. You still get a few that react badly however.

Could china be doing more? Yes. Are they doing considerably better than everyone else? Also yes.

Currently china is leading the charge on renewable energy. They are installing more than any developed country, by most measures. They are also flooding the market with solar panels etc. The mass solar adoption happening worldwide is powered by China.

It’s also worth noting they are leading the way in fusion research. I believe they have started/about to start construction of the first viable fusion reactor.

China has a lot of problems, but complaining they should be doing even more on renewables is hypocritical from almost all other countries.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

As an aspie, we still flirt. We just (sometimes) flirt differently.

Data rot is a serious problem.

I suspect that our time period will end up as an information dark age to future historians.

I can’t see it as anything but white and gold. However, other photos clearly show it is black and blue.

Interestingly, if I’m scrolling past, my brain will sometimes perceive it as black and blue for a fraction of a second. I can normally flip optical illusions at will. This one jams me in the wrong viewing mode.

Oh, they are working on fixing that. Our public transport was “privatised” a few decades back. It’s a shadow of what it used to be. A few places have improved, but it’s often local efforts.

Walkability is a godsend however. Interestingly, Milton Keynes proves you can have the best of both worlds. It has a robust road network. However, the red routes mean you can get most places with minimal road crossings. Either on food, bike, or e-scooter.

Just did the conversation. UK is roughly $7.50 per gallon (£1.42/liter). I’ve seen it up near $10 in some places.

The 2 go hand in hand. The peaceful element provides cover and public cause support for the more militant elements. They also make it harder to concentrate forces to deal with them.

In turn, the militant add teeth to the peaceful element.

An intelligent government acts early, before the militant elements can come to bear. But for best results both (technically all 3, including political) are required.

Another good example are the Irish troubles. The IRA, while prominent, couldn’t “win”. The marches, and Sinn Fein did.

I saw a talk on the subject about a year back. It was discussing tokamak reactors, from an engineer working on them. The small ones can’t sustain a break even state, but they are affected by the inverse square law to a larger degree. I believe China is about to start/has started construction on a power station sized test reactor.

The pellet sort are a different type. They have different pros and cons.

Some companies are still trying.

I’ve got a ulefone 27T. It’s the phone equivalent of a tank. It also includes thermal and night vision, and underwater video modes. I would also give it good odds of surviving being used as a self defence weapon.

Downside is it’s a relatively unknown Chinese brand.