RichardBonham

I am going to operate under the following assumptions:
-the current global trend towards authoritarian governments will continue and become more prevalent
-balkanization will be the new norm: an atlas will show more numerous and smaller countries
-climate change (extreme heat, extreme humidity and sea level rise) will make large regions functionally unfit for human habitation by reasons of lethal heat and/or humidity, loss of coastal access, lack of potable water and/or loss of sustainable agriculture.
-we’ll be well into the technological curve for AI and robotics. We’ll have gone past the early stage where people over-estimate technological capabilities and far into the later stages where people will under-estimate technological capabilities
-if cash is still legal, it will be useless for all legitimate transactions because no institution wants it. If it still exists, it will only be useful for peer-to-peer illegitimate transactions: crime, drugs and sex.
-whatever is bad now will be worse

So: social taboos that exist today that will not be taboo in 100 years?
-slavery: we already see slavery in all but name in the form of privatized prisons and wage-slavery (work a soul-killing minimum wage job, or die/be homeless). What if the cost of being able to emigrate from a country or region that is uninhabitable is slavery, whether real or de facto? It’s the cheapest form of labor.
-murder: being deemed outlaw will make a comeback. An outlaw is outside the protection of the law, so killing an outlaw is not a crime.
-extortion: governments and government proxies (militias, death squads, religious sects) will exercise sanctioned extortion
-hoarding: if you are living in an unstable balkan state or are an unpopular minority in one, hoarding will not be pathologic
-civilian ownership of firearms
-racism and nationalism; best way to keep out undesirable climate refugees is to de-humanize them
-corporations being into every piece of the pie: a logical extension of the trend to privatization or “wanting government to be run like a business” is the replacement of nation-states by corporations or zaibatsu-like alliances of multiple corporations

I happen to enjoy cooking, so I put effort into making meals on the weekends and I make enough to be able to eat them as leftovers midweek. Lots of meals taste better after a night or two in the fridge.

Trump’s behavior has always modeled organized crime. Insisting on loyalty above all, surrounded himself with lawyers, commingling funds, grabbing people’s mobile phones to use without leaving a record of the call on his own number, operating only through family…

IIRC there’s some urban legend on the subject of weirdest job interview questions.

The Question: “Can you fight?”

The employer: Waffle House

Varies quite a bit. Looking at the past week:
Homemade sourdough toast, sausages, grapes
bagels with cream cheese and lox
hash browns with fried egg and homemade Hollandaise sauce
Carribean-style coconut-rice porridge with mangoes and limes

Old friends and their kids are coming to visit for about half a week. Haven’t seen them for a few years. No big plans: just hang out and catch up.

By dollar amount this year, it would seem to be home repairs, medical care and entertaining.

I never thought I’d find myself rooting for Zuckerberg.

And 7% of subreddits are scabs?!