Gorth

I was about to crack some bad joke about China not being able to afford it, already owning 1.1 trillion dollars of US debt (bonds). But then I realised, that is only a drop in the ocean when it comes to US debt (more than 30 trillion dollars iirc.). While checking the numbers, I ran into an interesting list of countries with the least debt. A surprising list, that if anything, convinced me, debt free does not equal a good place to live. http://poweredbyorange.com/10-countries-with-the-lowest-debt-available/ Unless you really fancy migrating to Afghanistan, Russia, Botswana, Congo, UAE etc.

It even got approved

That made me think of the scene from The Holy Grail (Monty Python), where the peasants wants to burn "a witch", despite having no clue how identify a witch.

Back when I was young and stupid (I'm no longer young), I replaced a blown fuse with rolled up alufoil. Absolutely mindblowingly stupid. But that's what you you do in a rural area at 2am and no replacement fuses and convenience stores open (and a fridge with food you can't afford to replace when you're a student) Edit: A friendly neighbour gave me a spare fuse the morning after to replace it.

How about a "Transformer" house? Origami in action! The amazing homes that build themselves https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30318261

Need more Rammstein....

Somebody in South Dakota is not happy with their governments response to the outbreak... Probably going to end in some heavy handed crackdown, as these aren't some alt-right gun toting morons of the kind that Trump seems to favour. Actually, they seem way too intelligent to be Trump supporters. The Cheyenne River and the Oglala Sioux have put up road blocks and checkpoints. -- The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, Harold Frazier, issued a statement in response to the governor on Friday, saying: "We will not apologise for being an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty and death." "You continuing to interfere in our efforts to do what science and facts dictate seriously undermine our ability to protect everyone on the reservation," he added. -- Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner says Ms Noem's decision "threatened the sovereign interest of the Oglala people". "Due to the lack of judgment in planning of preventative measures in response to the current pandemic, Covid-19, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has adopted reasonable and necessary measures to protect the health and safety of our tribal members and our other residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation," he is quoted as saying by the Argus Leader. -- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52615311

The guy didn't really want to be in the plane in the first place. The plane obviously didn't want him there either Yeah, can laugh a bit at it since nobody died. Want to bet, the guy got a retirement gift to remember?

Same here. If anything, If I neglect the haircut for too long, I end up with "Microphone" hair, looking like some 70's relic. Never mind that I am some 70's relic

Make that 1.13 (thanks @Bartimaeus) I bought Borderlands 3 on a 50% off sale on Steam, but the story and the characters are so dull and uninpiring, I can't even muster indignation about how dull and uninspiring it is Tried to level up a few characters. Like at least past level 1, but it's... dull and uninspiring. I think I'll just write it off as an expensive giving in to curiosity and forget about it. Now off to kill some red shirts, green shirts and blue shirts in JA2!

Best cross-Tasman Kiwi export ever

I've played Borderlands 2 too much the last 2 years, fully expecting The Shire to be full of chain-axe wielding, mask wearing psycho midgets that must be killed with fire...

Started a fresh game of JA2 (v1.12) I tried in vain to find a version of v1.13 that would run with the GOG version on Windows 10. I could find working links for builds up to 4552 or so, but that one crashes badly. There are newer builds available I think, but the links I could find so far (including on the Bear Pit forums) are all leading to no longer existing pages Ah well, 1.12 with tons of guns and sci-fi is fun to

Everything after The Empire Strikes Back sucks

Like just about every other European country, she (or the government of which she is the head) reacted slowly (slower than France and Spain) and too cautious in the start phase. What saved Germany from outlandish mortality figures were mostly two things, the country has a younger population and a very well funded health care system, so even if the infection rate is high, the mortality rate is like what? 1.5%? Still, it leads to a game of catch up rather than nipping it in the bud with a quick and total lock down. The industrial power of Germany means, that they are now testing numbers where few other countries can keep up with.

Somebody on the internet was wrong. Had to correct it.... Serious answer, someone was obviously trying to create a story based on falsehoods. Merkel failed badly (nowhere near the disaster that is Trump mind you) and does not in any way belong in a group with Taiwan and New Zealand when it comes to successfully dealing with the Covid19 outbreak Obvious agenda is obvious

Trolling Link is useless unless you want to pay your way past the Forbes Magazine paywall anyway. Edit: Or just draw some conclusions that are worthy of the article, like they are all sceptical at best, hostile at worst towards Beijing. So, never trusting the Chinese government may be the key to success? I don't think that was what he intended though.

The first link worked fine. NYT encourages people to sub, but I don't think they enforce it (although The Guardian is normally my goto paper newpaper sites) Nothing new or surprising, as Australian news (ABC News) pretty much covered all these details as they unfolded. Like watching a car crash in slow motion, without any ability to avoid it. Nice to have it all in one place though. I don't think China is destined for any greatness to be honest. Besides, the EU will fall more and more apart over the years and I would be surprised if the US is around in 100 years time (at least in a recognizable form) Wealth inequality and debt fueled economy isn't working long term, social unrest will eventually be the end.

They did do something... arrested the whistleblower who tried to warn the world and he was dead shortly after

Right you are...

You just need to find the right script, the right cast, the right director etc... well, also happens to be one of my all time favourite movies Edit: I think both Jean Reno and Gary Oldman are underrated, although I can see why the latter gets cast as villain. He does villain good! (checkout The Fifth Element for stellar villainy)

Dun dun duhhn!

As long as it stays down there...

Spam, vikings and Finland, that's not to like in that

A mix of life experience, news from different countries and my two main sources these days on the internet are BBC and Al Jazeera. I know both are biased, each in their own way, but taking that into consideration, I do think the BBC for example covers Australian politics in a better way than Aussie media does, as they have less vested interest in being biased (if that makes any senses?). I know, locally, the Murdoch press owned media is as dirty as their flagship Fox News and the ABC here are their opposite corner of the ring counterpart. AJ often gives some interesting perspectives on how the world is viewed from angles that most bogans have no clue even existed.