John F

So you blame previous presidents for continuing to stay there but you blame Biden for leaving. I suppose in some universe that makes sense.

Simon, the fact that you cannot prove that the Easter bunny exists nor prove that it doesn’t exist does not make both statements worth taking equally or less seriously. The 99.999999999999999999999% likelihood that the Easter Bunny (as with God) does not exist is the only important argument. That we cannot 100% prove anything does not exist is a…[Read more]

Although there is overwhelming evidence that the New Testament is an accurate and trustworthy historical document

Oh my God I totally busted a gut laughing at this claim in one of the articles. LAUGH MY ASS OFF! There is evidence that a small (and VERY small) number of the historical claims are accurate. The rest is only as likely to be true as…[Read more]

Hahaha. Yeah I saw another one, absolute off the wall insanity. “Drown Your Sorrows!” Hilarious and very creative story about four guys who own a bar and their original adventures. My friend laughed the whole way through and the audience went wild.

I’m going to see a Sherlock Holmes play on the weekend that has had very good reviews. I’m looking…[Read more]

Indeed Reg. I cannot believe I could get a Ralph Lauren dress shirt with the price tag still on for £10. When the shops first re-opened, they where giving away months of over-donations for £1. Do you have a place called TJMax in Ireland? A fabulous outlet store.

The second-hand clothing article is not the slightest bit surprising. That is the m…[Read more]

Unseen and Robert are both correct. You can certainly make more informed choices in the market which will give you a higher chance of success. Having said that…it is still massively luck dependent and people seriously underestimate the risks involved. Nicolas Taleb does a great analysis of this in his book Black Swan where he shows that, yes,…[Read more]

I’ve actually been extremely impressed with the Scottish socialised health care. When I lived in London 20 years ago the NHS in London was I would say A- at the time (definitely nothing to really complain about though you did have to wait a couple weeks to see a doctor for a non-emergency).

Here I’ve had rapid stellar treatment, my medicine is…[Read more]

Yeah indeed I would call that a low-level black swan event. That is harsh unseen!

The luck/success video is stuff I have been saying for a few years now. Nicolas Taleb talked about it extensively in his book “Black Swan” over a decade ago (it should be required university reading in my opinion). Basically some talent and a lot of hard work is a must for a lot of success, but luck is an ENORMOUS ingredient in success and anyone…[Read more]

Unseen, a central tenet of Marxism is class struggle leading to violent revolution. It also infers collectivisation and a state run economy.  What you are talking about is not Marxism but a mixed approach applying some socialist concepts. But Marxism? No. You cannot call modern-European-style-mixed-systems Marxist. That’s why in nearly every…[Read more]

The US does indeed offer the most advanced and comprehensive services in the World for a small minority of people who can afford it. It is unlikely that any American user here would have unfettered access to such healthcare without having to lose their house in extra costs. So yeah, you are, sort of….technically right this time…though mostly…[Read more]

In Fact some countries semi-privatise healthcare. For example in the UK and most of Canada some services like physiotherapy have a limited government service with a waiting list, less convenient locations and fewer specialised services mostly for free. Or you can pay for private services (pricey) which can be covered by supplemental insurance. In…[Read more]

A few industries should absolutely be government owned in most cases:

Utilities like energy production, water, gas and potentially petrochemicals for small countries. Public transportation including rail (privatisation of rail in the UK has been an unmitigated horrific disaster).

Some countries have been very successful at starting up companies…[Read more]

I am not a Marxist because a Marxist state does not allow something that I believe is absolutely fundamental to any healthy society: the ability to get rid of a bad government. As far as I know…the only system that can guarantee getting rid of a bad government is a healthy and well functioning democracy. No other system I know of can. Not being…[Read more]