Disqus - Latest Comments for Snake_Oil_Baron

Re: Iran and Saudi edge closer to direct military confrontation

Snake_Oil_Baron — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 22:05:25 -0000

The Obama has allowed massive arms sales to KSA while "releasing" vast sums of money to Iran. Both nations have militaries which are suited to--yet vulnerable from--a first strike attack meaning the first to directly attack the other could be more likely to win a war.

If Trump gets in his fondness for Putin could further alienate the Saudis and at the very least leave them feeling even more alone against Iran with time running out as sanctions on Iran are lifted.

If Clinton wins her hatred of Putin will make Iran worry that they will further arm the Saudis and with Iran's fertility declining faster than KSA they will worry about running out of time also.

Neither side wants an all out war but both sides know one is coming and doesn't want to lose because they hesitated too long. Best that can be hoped for is that:
1) war happens before both sides get more than a handful of nukes
2) war destabilizes the autocratic regimes and they get replaced with something less tyrannical or at least with less power to be tyrannical.

Re: Student Who Shut Down University Of Chicago Because He Threatened To Kill ‘White Devils’ Is Released To His Mom | Weasel Zippers

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:31:59 -0000

"Why did he pick the University of Chicago? I don’t know. It’s silly,” Rutherford said.

So very silly. He's a silly lad, that fella.

Re: Study: More Than Two-Thirds of Patients on Anti-Depressants Not Depressed

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 02:41:20 -0000

Men kill themselves five times more often than women but are far less often treated for depression. Somehow this means that women are victimized by the mental health field. Okay.

Re: How Many Euro-Jihadists Are Really in Syria?

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sat, 16 May 2015 00:15:54 -0000

Any guesses as to what percentage die there? Would the more zealous ones be more likely to die either because they accept suicide missions or because they fight harder and stay longer?

Re: Every UFO Sighting Since 1933, Mapped

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 22:26:24 -0000

There's a spot on the northern border of Manitoba, Canada where a UFO seems to be there constantly, never moving. Someone get up there with a decent camera. 😆

Re: Bill de Blasio Wants Right Racial Makeup- No Whites

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:36:18 -0000

If the only white people I knew were Democrats I probably wouldn't want any whites working for me either.

Re: Scaling and testing geoengineering

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 16:45:16 -0000

People aren't going to be happy until we're all riding tauntauns.

Re: Japan in 4th recession in 6 years and Europe on the brink of a 3rd recession

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 13:15:51 -0000

We know what policies damage economies but we enact them anyway--again and again--because people are determined to believe that they are "compassionate", represent "social justice" and because they can't accept that we don't have the power and omniscience to centrally dictate what markets should do.

Then when the damage causes hardship we find convenient targets to point our fingers at: Jews, foreigners, "overly" successful entrepreneurs/corporations. Then we double down on our efforts at "compassion" and "social justice" and things get worse. Only during brief periods when things get so bad that we lack the money and consensus to implement our bad ideas do we have short periods of growth.

Re: DARPA Jetpack developed at Arizona State to help every soldier run 4 minute miles but currently provides 5-12% assist

Snake_Oil_Baron — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 14:12:06 -0000

I think I'd be on the sharks' side. They're less rape-y than dolphins.

Re: NASA Cannae Drive and EMDrive propellantless propulsion were not the result of a thermal error

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:36:03 -0000

So if you get stuck behind a slow accelerating ship you can honk your radio space-horn and yell:
"Hey buddy, can you let me get this thing out of 1.05 g cavity?"

Re: Blazing Cat Fur: Well Integrated Canadian Muslims Held U.S. journalists Theo Curtis, Matt Schrier Hostage

Snake_Oil_Baron — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 23:26:37 -0000

"Sources say the Canadians, whose identities aren't known by CBC..."

*Allegedly* aren't known by the CBC.

Re: SENS Rejuvenation Biotechnology- Economic Impact of an Aging Population on the Healthcare System

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:12:19 -0000

If I spend part of my time unemployed and the other part paying high taxes for other people's shiny new organs the social contract is going to wear pretty thin pretty quickly. Especially since political corruption will ensure that the well connected qualify for the more expensive procedures and regulations will ban the unconnected from seeking treatment outside the official system.

By way of example, people in charge of our lives looked at the wait time for MRIs and the possibility of private clinics and what did they fathom? They saw there was a need which the state could not meet and that the private sector could alleviate by siphoning off people willing to pay a bit more for better availability and saw that this would shorten the wait time for the state system--helping EVERYONE. So since it was a complete win-win deal, they tried to ban it. Well, not *complete* win-win. People who benefit from state controlled shortages, monopolies and a large class of unemployed and distracted voters would have lost out. They don't like losing out.

Re: Artificial Photosynthesis for Splitting Water Reaches One-Volt Milestone

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:35:55 -0000

If they can get hydrogen generation that is competitive with that which is made using fossil fuels the application of merit won't be using hydrogen as fuel or to generate electricity in fuel cells but in making hydrogen available for new and existing chemical/industrial purposes without being dependant on refineries and related supply chains. Leave more of the fossil fuels for actual fuels, while using less of it to produce and move hydrogen around to it's potential customers.

Re: Controversial Sealand Skull Still Raises Many Questions - Is It Of Extraterrestrial Origin? MessageToEagle.com

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 03:48:39 -0000

I didn't get past this:
"At first it was assumed the skull belonged to a horse, but later examination revealed this was not the case."

It doesn't say who assumed it was a horse though the sentence comes after quoting "scientists." No scientist or sane human would have seen even a large portion of the skull and assumed it to be a horse. The only reason I could see for including the claim that anyone assumed it to be a horse would be to make the supposed scientists look like the stereotypical, closed-minded half-wits that they are always portrayed as in movies just--before they are proven wrong about everything and the movie monster eats them.

Experts say it looks fake but fairly well done for a sculptor--just a few glaring mistakes like making the eye sockets being too dark because that's what people assume eye sockets are like.

Horse. Pfft!

Re: Artificial Intelligence reaching tipping point?

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 13:52:14 -0000

We must not aim for "human level" intelligence. We have enough flaming morons. We must seek superhuman level intelligence and build many of them so they aren't driven insane from having no one but us to talk to all the time.

Re: Common Core Project Convinced KidsThat Holocaust Didn't Happen

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 15:31:55 -0000

"The school district has promised the Holocaust denial project will not be repeated."

Just like the administrator claimed none of the students doubted or denied the Holocaust. Nazis have this tendency to lie. It's one of the things they get a lot of practice at.

Re: A Pile of Mammals Smaller Than a Single Canyon Is Destroying the Planet

Snake_Oil_Baron — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 14:41:40 -0000

Don't knock what you haven't tried.

Re: A roadmap to colonizing Venus - making concrete, plastics, water, fuel and cooking food

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:07:19 -0000

I would wager that some nice cloaking technology for modular and nomadic submarine craft/habitats would kickstart some drug/human-trafficking industries and supporting manufacturing spin-offs to start a few colonies. I bet there are lots of people who would like to be able to swim or paddle away from shore in one country and swim/paddle back to shore in a different part of the world without bothering with passports & visas etc. (or pick up some counterfeit ones in the submarine gift store.)

A company could have a quasi-legit business of offshore, subsea tourism (casinos, resorts) and manufacturing while feeding tech and skilled labor on the sly to even more profitable--but less legally tolerated--businesses on and below the waves.

Re: Freedom for Syria: Page #9 24 June 2014 to current

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 01:39:02 -0000

At this point... Plan B consists of champaign and balloons. Maybe some plot to trick Quebec into taking Ottawa, Toronto and us eastern provinces with them.

Re: Playing with the emotions of 700,000 Facebook users and is Legal because Advertising and Movies play with your emotions all the time

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:15:00 -0000

If some action is legal (or can be made legal) and fun for the actor while undesirable for the acted upon, it must be done. Mandatory. Any attempt by the acted upon to resist or complain must be squelched. Even gods obey this rule.

Re: Lerner fights back

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:17:42 -0000

“It’s a little brazen to think she did this on purpose.”

Yes. That's what is brazen. Nothing else. Just that.

Twerp.

Re: Lerner fights back

Snake_Oil_Baron — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:14:19 -0000

Off topic: The Fifth Amendment is meant to protect one's civil rights, not one's job, right? How about making continued employment in government contingent on never having invoked the Fifth? You would still have the legal right to the protection it of it but it would be a de facto admission that you are not transparent and accountable enough for government work (which is saying--*A FREAKIN' LOT!!!*)

Re: Terence Corcoran: Feminist mythtique in the boardroom

Snake_Oil_Baron — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 15:25:23 -0000

Too bad that feminists and allied ideologies don't understand that by embracing pseudoscience to advantage women they perpetuate the stereotype of women being irrational and emotionally swayed (more so than humans in general).

Re: Blazing Cat Fur: Revealed: The CIA's secret plan for a heat-sensitive Bin Laden doll whose face melted into a demon

Snake_Oil_Baron — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 20:07:16 -0000

It's Darth Maul! His hipster years.

Re: Nanoparticles Anchored to Graphene and Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Foam for Supercapacitors

Snake_Oil_Baron — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 14:38:28 -0000

Maybe we could send some folks out to look for ruthenium asteroids (preferably people who we don't want hanging around earth). I'm sure we could find someone willing to take the platinum and copper 'waste products'.

More seriously, it makes me wonder about how many elements act as limiting factors for technologies becoming economical. How many process-Xs are out their which no one bothers to develop because they would require uneconomical amounts of element-Y. It certainly would make some sort of inexpensive (and bulk scale) nuclear alchemy qualify as a miracle and a half. Somebody put that on their to-do list.