The US is sufficiently unstable that I would be very hesitant to invest large sums of money there. I realize that server farms built largely to service the AI bubble need LOTS of power. But even if the demand isn't a bubble, do you really want to be investing in a country which is making an enemy of pretty much all of the rest of the world?

I think America is on very shaky ground now, and may not be nearly as far from "failed state" status as many people imagine it is.

While treating "Republicans" as a politically homogeneous block is probably reasonably fair and accurate, assuming that the same is true of Democrats may lead you far astray.

The Dems who elected Abdul El-Sayed, Zoran Mamdani, and other progressives are an entirely different beast than diet MAGA AIPAC cucktards like Hakeem Schumer and Chuck Jeffries. And no, that swapping of surnames was not a mistake.

Most of today's up-and-coming Democrats have no patience with the kind of shit described in TFS.

I can only assume that you're talking about the United States in 2026, because that's where the bulk of this irresponsible "move fast and break things" horseplay is occurring.

If my assumption is correct, then you're a lot more optimistic about the American administration's sanity and stability than the majority of the world is. I might go so far as to say "unreasonably and naively optimistic".

The Japanese government could simply sell off ALL of their US debt, flood the market, and tank the US economy. Even the chucklefucks in the current administration would be too busy trying to hold shit together to be posting AI slop on social media.

By doing that they would probably nuke their own economy; but it's already heading in that direction anyway, and pulling the rug out from under America might be short-term pain for long-term gain.

I have this great idea for a new TV show. The premise is simple. Just toss a conservative cuck into the ring with a couple of grannies with umbrellas, and spend about five minutes filming him getting the living shit beat out of him. Wouldn't it be great, every night you can turn on your TV and watch some loathsome parasite like Donald Trump or Stephen Miller getting a Main Street Enucleation? If that's not a hit, I don't know what is!

That ship sailed long ago, and Trump was making dirty money off his presidency hand-over-fist long before this latest grift.

Oops! I somehow missed haruchai's prior comment saying pretty much what I just said. My bad.

The fact that this needed to be said tells us everything we need to know about corporate culture and managerial incompetence at Microsoft.

But so many billionaires like to move fast and break things - not a good characteristic for speed bumps.

I think billionaires are better suited to being the tips of warheads - especially now that the US Army's stock has been so badly depleted in the war against Iraq.

You seem rather oblivious to how the rest of the world feels about the USA these days. I guess your mainstream media hasn't done much reporting on the brain drain - medical professionals, scientists, researchers, and the like - moving to other countries.

If even American-born talent is fleeing the country, why would you imagine that foreign talent would be eager to move to the US?

Thanks - I remembered from high school that at least one of the noble gases had been made into at least one compound, but wasn't sure which one. I assumed - incorrectly, as you pointed out - that all of the noble gases could be made to form compounds.

Or maybe they use it to raise the pitch of their voices. I imagine that sentient beings which evolved at 5G might have deep, rumbling voices...

What would be REALLY exciting - over and above finding intelligent extraterrestrial non-human life - is discovering that they could metabolize helium.

I hear that semen is high in protein. Coincidence? I think not!

I mostly agree with you. But it has not been my experience that "printing is easy via CUPS".

Setting up a printer connected directly to your computer is often fairly easy if the printer is a popular one. Setting up a less popular printer, or a printer on your LAN - wired or wireless - can be a real shitshow.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a GUI suck. But I have been using Linux for going on two decades now, and the fact that setting up a printer causes me grief does not bode well for the average Windows user migrating to Linux.

The perceived need for local software is almost gone. When an internet connection is unavailable or undesirable for some reason, you may be sorry you gave up the autonomy which local software provides...