The Bank of England was only vulnerable because it was trying to manipulate its currency. They were trying to prop up the pound at a higher value than what the free market thought it was worth. In a free market, attempting to keep the price of something at an artificially high level results in one of two outcomes: (1) you wind up owning all of that something, or (2) you run out of money and take a massive loss when the price of that something falls back to its free market value.

Normally this doesn't happen with currencies because market participants know that currencies are backed by governments. Very few people are willing to get into a pissing contest with a government bank. But Soros was able to bring enough firepower to the fight to force outcome (2).

What Soros did is actually exactly what we should expect, and even welcome, from a free market. The people of England weren't screwed by Soros, they were screwed by a government that tried to play games with their currency and lost.

While I understand the aversion to elderly organs, I think your perspective might change if you were actually in the market for replacement parts. Nobody wants organs from an old person, but some people out there may need them. If your liver is failing, the docs give you a month to live, and the only compatible liver available is from a 60-year-old who died of a heart attack, are you really going say no?

A man is only as faithful as his options. - Chris Rock

I don't believe Rock is correct for all men, but it's certainly true for bucket number 3. Basically, the difference between buckets #2 and #3 is the amount of effort one is willing to put into cheating, and the level of plausible deniability one needs to rationalize it. Type 2s will make opportunities to cheat, while type 3s will just take advantage of opportunities that arise. Thus the Type 3s are only as faithful as their options. Which, in my book, isn't really being faithful.

Yes, and no. Yes, in that there are a whole lot of people out there that who really believe that such things "just happen". No, in that the people who need to be told that there's a broad danger zone that you have to travel through before you cross the line into cheating are also the people who are least likely to listen.

You're absolutely correct in that relationships can only get dangerous if you let them. I've seen this far too many times. I tried to counsel a friend who was able to rationalize all kinds of behavior as long as he wasn't actually cheating. He walked right up to the line and when he took that last step, he claimed it "just happened".

Can you provide an example of this? Because this hasn't been my experience.

No, it's not that simple. Not unless you get everything right and there's nothing to contradict your fabricated version of events.

It works for real alibis because your status updates point to independent sources that can corroborate your story. The updates alone aren't any more useful than you just saying "I wasn't there, I was at this bar." Your fake alibi doesn't have any information that you couldn't fabricate on your own. If you can think up this scenario, then law enforcement can as well.

When you give your alibi, the police now have two conflicting versions of events. One of them has to be false, so they'll go looking for supporting evidence. Odds are there are people who are in your pictures who weren't at the bar when the crimes were being committed. If there's independent confirmation of their whereabouts, then the cops know your pictures are bogus. Just one example: if the bartender in your pictures wasn't working when you claim the pictures were taken, your alibi is toast.

So, instead of giving them fissile material that they could potentially build into a bomb, you cut out all of the middlemen and just give them a fully functioning bomb?

This is what I find really worrisome. As a regulatory body, the SEC is kind of a joke. The bankers can and do get away with almost anything. For GS to exclude the US from the Facebook offering, this has to be a screwjob of such magnitude that even the SEC would have to act.

And if it happens later, then you're doing it even wronger.

Yeah, I hate American Airlines. The final straw for me was when I was checking baggage, and it took longer than getting a new car registration.

Then it struck me: I was waiting in line wishing that American Airlines could be as quick, competent, and customer friendly as my local DMV office.

I haven't flown with them since.

Are there any Tea Party candidates who aren't running as Republicans? This isn't rhetorical, I'm genuinely curious. As far as I'm aware, the Tea Party isn't an actual political party. It's just a marketing tool for a certain segment of the Republican Party. Supporting them only reaffirms the two-party system.

Thank you, that was very helpful. Can you tell me what the German word for "Whoosh" is?

Government spending as a percentage of GDP.

But who in politics today is actually in favor of small government? A lot of politicians pay lip service to the idea of small government, but none of them actually do anything about it. The government continues to grow.

It's been a very long time since I've heard that phrase used as a compliment. More often it's code for "He's got a huge stick up his ass," or sometimes "He's a recovering alcoholic."