Hacker News Reader

amiga_500on NSA Owns Everything (2015)

I would agree that he had high standards, but he was mostly unhappy with some rank-and-file who were coerced into joining up, so I can hardly blame them. Other factions were not part of the whole at that point, so there was no back-stabbing there, to begin with.

Would he have been happy if he found out one of his immediate reports had been helping the French to get gunpowder in for a cut? Analogous to the wholesale tax dodging today.

Seems today "it's just business", back then he'd have been hung. Yes life back then wasn't all knights in shining armor, but now, good god.

Even if people didn't always comply to the code, there was a code and that code wasn't "every man for himself". They would have regarded that as insanity.

BTW I might read the Hamilton one next, I imagine it's Chernow you are reading, he has an engaging writing style.

amiga_500on NSA Owns Everything (2015)

That corruption index is an absolute joke.

The UK is massively corrupt. Guess what? They made it legal. Problem solved, let the money laundering and arms sales flow.

Using their measures is the opposite of individualism. This is the USA, a thin cloak of individualism that directs unthinking behaviour. Individuals seeking their own gain without really understanding the currents they swim in, which allows them to believe they are acting within a reasonable framework. Doubtless I'll be told there is no absolute truth and that it's not for me to say, which is also part of the same framework that allows clearly immoral behaviour to proceed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/roberto-savi...

amiga_500on NSA Owns Everything (2015)

I think he understated it, and your "wrong" is too strong. The main point is people had to actually step up, and when Snowden did this, we had some truth for a bit.

amiga_500on Mitochondria may hold keys to anxiety and mental health

Thanks, made my heart sink but makes sense :-/

amiga_500on Mitochondria may hold keys to anxiety and mental health

Why supplements instead of dietary, if you don't mind sharing?

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

You are ranked 27th.

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

> Discrimination based on race and ethnicity

That's "won" is it? You've gone backwards compared to most countries, even if you did write some of it down on a piece of paper.

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

I agree on the perception part.

amiga_500on The Most Counterintuitive Recession Ever

Private banks create money and that is being pulled back faster than the central bank can try to inject it.

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

I'm expecting you guys to give up on this, just like all the other stuff. Downvote away, but you've lost so many rights since the 1960s, with barely a peep.

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

Mass protests are only about the bad cop bit. You guys have given up everything. Conditions are far below what Europeans would accept. Better late than never, but very late.

It's damaging to other countries, for example in the UK emploers are always trying to lower standards to align with new USA lows.

Downvote patriots, instead of fixing your country.

amiga_500on Fed announces details of new interbank service to support instant payments

I just cannot understand how you guys accept bad cops, bad healthcare, bad employment rights, bad social mobility, bad education and bad banks, but apparently national id is where you draw the line. Why didn't you draw the line before all this other stuff that is far behind much of Europe?

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can't reply directly to the GDP comment as some cry baby has flagged my post and then a free speech loving mod has shadow-banned me with "you're submitting too fast".

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GDP comparison in $$ terms is a really uninformative comparison. Even between states inside the USA it doesn't work due to different land costs.

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social mobility: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-social-mobility-...

USA: 27th. Like the UK, the place you were supposed to break free from - anyone can make it!

amiga_500on Atlassian tells employees they can work from home forever

Open office is the second to last act of desperation.

Hot desking is your CEO standing up and saying "I got nothing" when asked how to increase profitability.

amiga_500on Coronavirus: Iran cover-up of deaths revealed by data leak

There is the whole dumbing down thing, sure. But the main issue is that the BBC is ultimately state TV.

The UK establishment have influence on the stuff that really, really matters. Corbyn is a great example. The BBC accumulate political capital on smaller stuff that is unbiased, then spend that to keep people who want systemic change that impacts vested interests.

amiga_500on Coronavirus: Iran cover-up of deaths revealed by data leak

You cannot trust the BBC on the big stuff where the UK has policy interests.

amiga_500on Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

Usa system isn't reformative

amiga_500on Why Credit Card Fraud Is Still a Thing

Ah yes, my mistake!

amiga_500on Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable company

"To avoid misunderstandings, while FMC models reflect the fact that banks face no technical limits to expanding their balance sheets instantaneously and by large amounts, they also reflect the fact that banks face economic limits. However, the latter do not include physical limits such as the availability of sufficient savings. Rather, the most important limits are their own and their customers’ potentially volatile expectations regarding future profitability and solvency"

amiga_500on Why Credit Card Fraud Is Still a Thing

I don't think this is correct, because competition hasn't created a better outcome.

amiga_500on Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

2 more convictions than the great financial crash!

amiga_500on Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable company

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2018/banks-are...

Banks are constrained by demand, they can create credit at will.

amiga_500on Air travel’s sudden collapse will reshape a trillion-dollar industry

Yes, I agree. You have a fence that needs painting, paint, a brush, and a guy who is about to spend the day watching daytime TV.

Yet we are told, no!, do not pay this man, we can't afford it. We cannot get that day back when the sun sets.

Economics has let us down very, very badly.

amiga_500on Air travel’s sudden collapse will reshape a trillion-dollar industry

If you borrow to invest for the future by adding value, you grow. Everyone seems delighted to borrow ever more against existing housing stock, which creates nothing.

amiga_500on U.S. Economy Contracted at Record Rate Last Quarter

Give me just a little more time, and our love will surely grow. Election delay!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-us-canada-53597975

amiga_500on Del.icio.us

I absolutely loved this when I found it. Delicious was just such a great place to find cool, esoteric stuff.

I love any sites with lists on it made by regular people. Rateyourmusic is the same. Find a band you love, find out who else has an album on their list, get digging.

Same with Delicious. I was gutted when it shut.

amiga_500on What if carbon removal becomes the new Big Oil?

Not to the same degree. Including the externalities in the cost would make sure those who pollute more pay more.

amiga_500on What if carbon removal becomes the new Big Oil?

Everyone is forced to pay for it because polluters created the problem.

amiga_500on What if carbon removal becomes the new Big Oil?

Fossil fues are subsidized because the users don't pay the true cost.

amiga_500on Banks are slow to increase rates on savings accounts, but quick to reduce them

Huge congratulations on that, it's good to set standards. Perhaps you might consider making them a bit higher?

amiga_500on Banks are slow to increase rates on savings accounts, but quick to reduce them

Sorry I'm not American so I'm not obsessed with the idea that the state cannot maintain something. Your banking sector sucks compared to Europe.