u/cynar

Steam have an impressive reputation of not trying to just bend their customers over and screw them over raw. Them remembering not only lube, but to wine and dine us first also helps.

You still get screwed (for your money) but it's a far more pleasant experience.

For most governments it's enlightened self interest. Completely screwing over their population for short term gain is akin to cutting off your feet to save money on shoes.

The seller thinks the value is net negative to them. The buyer thinks it still has a potential positive value. Both would agree to just hand it over.

Unfortunately, UK law does not allow that. Consideration must go both ways. The simplest way is to sell for the minimum reasonable amount. $1 is traditional in the US. In the UK it is £1. The other commenters link has a good writeup on the practice.

They broke from "everything is a pound" years ago. They also still do a really bad job making it clear what is no longer a pound.

You're likely picking up on her autism. Most aspies put on a (mental) mask to interact with others. For most it's intended to be inoffensive and keep you in the background. Greta's is focused on her goal. She would likely prefer you hated her, but knew about her causes, than be likeable, but forgettable.

As for harmless, that's part of the image. She's as harmless as a friendly bull. It will happily get scratches behind the ears, but still walk straight through the wooden fence to let the cows roam free.

You've got some catching up to do then.


Pink is countries the UK has invaded. Purple is everyone else.

Just to play devil's advocate. There was recently an unverified report that some inverters contained an undocumented cellular modem. If true, it could, in theory, allow for remote modification or control, even when fully "offline" as far as the client was concerned. Basically a mobile phone based back door.

The solution is better verification, rather than bans however. Grid scale devices should have the hardware randomly audited. The software should also be audited and check summed. This would be burdensome at domestic levels, but seems reasonable at grid levels.

Was lunch included?

According to a friend in the industry, it's basically a non issue. Things like this are not uncommon, and wouldn't have even made the news, without what happened in Spain.

The national grid was less designed and more accreted. There are a lot of parts that are sub-optimal, but we are stuck with them due to the cost of replacement. They are therefore very hot on containing, and learning from any failure that happens.

Idiot teen is an explanation, not a dismissal. Nowhere did I say to ignore it. My point is that there is a gradient of both crimes and intents. If there is no matching gradient in legal response, then it can lead to injustice.

An idiotic crime will often need fairly minor corrections. A malicious crime requires FAR more of a response. Treating all crimes as malicious ends up diluting the view on truly malicious crimes. It can also drive individuals into the very situation you want to move them away from.

Context matters a lot. However, in general, it's a far lower crime than many in that category. Critically, it's not of the level to be desirable to destroy their future over. The punishment should be enough to deter and correct, but not more.

Many/most of us have been idiotic teens before. Society's goal should be to correct and improve. Not go in with sledgehammers aimed at skulls. In many cases, the embarrassment alone would be enough to do the job. The law just needs to drive that point home.

It would limit watering down the register with 'minor' offenses. It would also help avoid trapping an idiot teen in a negative spiral, due to a stupid drunken mistake 10 years previously.

Fyi, I'm not actually American myself. I agree with you otherwise however.

Both are brainwashed, just in different ways. Republicans are wired for fear. Democrats are wired for passivity.

The republican version is a lot more dangerous, but the democrat version is a lot more insidious.

The prison sentence kicks in after appeals have been made. 2 years, plus 2 suspended.

It's also not unknown/uncommon for people to be let free for a few days. It lets them put their affairs in order, before serving their time. It tends to be applied to those with a very low flight risk however, with significant affairs, so mainly the rich.

The British managed that, though we are more than happy to share with our European cousins.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Shrapnel

He invented the idea of an explosion powered guillotine blade. Perfect for a rocket warhead.

Didn't Putin recently make noise over America annexing Greenland? He would be happy with splitting it between them, however.

Fighting America would be as much posturing as fighting, with most fighting being an insurgency type fight. Russia is more likely to be blunt about it, but also more viable to repel. Particularly if the rest of NATO is willing to respond to it.

In fairness, the only thing many people will lack is water. It's not an exclusive stash, but in addition to what's in your cupboards.

You can get 10L or 25L quite cheaply. 1 should do per person, maybe with an extra for cooking. Or just grab some big bottles of water.

A hand cranked flashlight, candles and lighter are all a must anyhow, for a power cut. It might also be worth having a cheap camping stove tucked away.

Food wise. It's just a big bag of pasta or rice, along with some cans/jars to make it pleasant to eat. Throw in some hiking snack bars and you're sorted.

As a UK citizen, we know there's a difference between the government and the people. You definitely have a serious problem, but you've not been abandoned. We have issues with Trump and his cronies, not the people of America.

We might be a bit stumped on what we can actually do to help, but you're not alone.

I've maintained a basic stock for a while now. I suspected people would panic buy with COVID. I stocked up well before, and so dodged most of it. I've kept an extra buffer since.