Is an anti-sanctions system really needed now? Iran can demand their toll in rubles, yuan, or a BRICS currency (if it ever materialises), and anyone who wants to trade in Middle Eastern oil will have to break sanctions. Russia can do the same for its oil.

expanding non-SWIFT cross-border payment networks

Now this would be very useful.

This is a variation of a very old philosophy called legalism. They didn’t have HDI and GDP in those days, but the idea was that you should judge civil servants and government policies based on objective results rather than morality. It worked when there was a strong and relatively neutral emperor / chancellor to make and enforce those judgements impartially. In the modern day, Singapore might be an example of this. But the problem is that you still need a strong and relatively neutral institution to make and enforce judgements fairly.

I don’t think they’re talking about p hacking. P hacking is when the statistician keeps adjusting the test to get a significant result. What they meant is probably Goodhart’s Law.

In my country it is legal to abort just because you don’t want the kid, but illegal to abort for a certain specific reason (the parents not wanting a girl). This is because people might abort daughters if they are poor and think that girls are less likely to get jobs.

I feel that the Down’s Syndrome case is similar. There are people with Down’s Syndrome who lead happy lives, and genetically ‘normal’ people who lead miserable lives. So of course a mother has the right to abort a foetus. But I fear that if we normalise aborting children on genetic grounds, that could lead to eugenics.

The government doesn’t care about ordinary people. They won’t take any action until Reliance’s fuel sales get affected.

If they got to him before he died, why couldn’t they pull him out?

they can only do two things now: full scorched earth or capitulate

Why? Dragging this out only helps Iran. Every day the US oil reserves fall further, and Iran makes more missiles and drones and tunnels, and the Gulf States get angrier with Trump for messing up their economies.

Iran doesn’t even have to do tit-for-tat attacks or stop every single tanker. They just have to hit enough ships that no one wants to risk crossing without their permission, and prevent the US from returning to and repairing its bases. Both of which they have shown themselves capable of doing.

Missiles and drones can only fly so far before they run out of fuel. The US is half-way across the world from Iran.

Where do you think our electronics, machinery and alloys come from?

if they continue to follow the rules and be reliable, more of the world will be willing to expand relations with China, protecting them from the US or anybody else acting unfairly

I feel that this is true to an extent. If you are a government in Africa or a company in Singapore, will you prefer to do business with the guys who have a track record of keeping their word, or the guy who changes his mind every second day?

Besides, if China openly flouts the blockade, how sure are you that Trump won’t start WW3? Better to just deny any new weapons and wait for the old ones to rust.

Psychopath

It’s like the old Russian joke about slapping Gorbachev, but on a global scale.

They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty much carrying the world on green technology. Also they give non-predatory loans to African countries so they can escape the IMF & Co.

We’re safe as long as no waves hit them. Or particles, for that matter.

Map credits: OpenStreetMap contributors

Map credits: OpenStreetMap contributors

Pixels are in the ‘just below flagship’ price range, so I would compare them with cheaper flagships or high-end midrangers rather than budget phones.

They also don’t have the advantages of budget phones such as headphone ports, expandable storage and FM radio.

Work gives free time?

an Android or LineageOS device

You need to decide whether you’re okay with Android, or want to be able to also run LineageOS. The latter will reduce your options to devices that can be rooted and have their bootloader unlocked - so Xiaomi, Motorola, Nothing, Google and Fairphone - and that too only some models (the ones for which a LineageOS ROM has been developed).

at least 6GB of RAM

Any midrange and even many budget phones have 6GB RAM nowadays.

capable of running without Google Apps

Do you just want to not use Google Apps, or do you want to completely remove them from your phone? Again, the latter will need rooting and bootloader unlocking.

compact enough for portability open to a tablet

Tablets are not very portable.

performance is key

Probably avoid Google Pixels then. They use Tensor chips, which have poor performance.

USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode

Which devices have this, and which don’t, is very arbitrary. You’ll have to check for each model.

Price looks competitive, but we’ll need to see the specs. Considering the price of ram and storage nowadays, I don’t have high hopes.