Appeal to authority is neither a fallacy nor proof. It is rhetoric. It proves nothing, and disproves nothing.

For example, your authorities debunk “long term health of the earth and her inhabitants it’s (sic) a necessity.” My authorities, like William Catton or Meadows, et. al. would say otherwise. Invoking them doesn’t prove my perspective. It does prove there is much debate about the subject.

In such instances, defining metrics and showing your work, as the math teachers say, is the best way forward.

The article in question, for example, relies on hype like ‘670,000, a level never previously recorded since national statistics began in 1899.’ Level of what? Percentage of population? Actual number of people? Compared to how many? With the priviso, for example that ‘The expected figure, … excludes children born to foreign residents”. How many of those? I suspect not many, but it’s necessary to know.

What the article could have stated are actual metrics such as replacement rate, which in Japan is 1.20. South Korean is considerably lower, at 0.72-0.74. We could use words like ‘cliff’ I guess, but I prefer numbers, and I would encourage their use in articles such as this.

Not sure if ‘brought up and debunked by experts’ is the best argument out there. For example, ‘population inertia’ would cover only one lifespan, not centuries. That is to say, whatever the population is now, it could be 10 people to 100 billion people within 100 years. This is not discounting cultural and psychological factors, but if we’re talking human behaviour, that’s literally everything.

Secondly, the population decline is hardly a cliff. It is decreasing in some countries like Japan, but when added into the global picture, we’re not even at neutral. We’re still growing.

You are absolutely right that a larger aging population is something that must be addressed. However, if increased population pressure leads to a tipping point, like a shift in the AMOC or immigration pressure from hotter areas to cooler areas, our current treatment of old people doesn’t fill me with confidence. I think in a crisis, we would sacrifice them anyway. We would write some sympathetic think pieces about it though.

I’m nothing if not a moviegoer. Most people Die Hard and Christmas Story. Me? Brazil and Tango & Cash (also released Xmas day). So definitely wrong associations …

Seeing a special screening of Brazil in 1984, when no one was sure it was even going to get released.

I was driving home from the East Coast, saw the ad for the screening in LA (way pre-internet). Now, I could have continued home and seen my family or … who am I kidding? My family was terrible!

I said my car broke down and couldn’t find a mechanic because … it was Christmas! Maybe that’s not what you’re looking for, but definitely my favourite.

It’s a shame (and maybe shameful) they couldn’t use the frozen assets. I found this from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, but didn’t want overpost the story.

“Some €210 billion of Russian assets are frozen in Europe, most of them in the Belgian financial clearing house Euroclear. Belgium had objected to the loan plan, calling it legally risky and warning that it could harm Euroclear’s business.”

Think it’s important to see what influence banks have on highly political decisions.

Link to Sydney Herald article, similiar reporting.

Honestly, thanks, I’ll look into that. I think though this is more what’s available on the auto-routes, but I never heard of this one.

There’s a few companies that have ‘universal’ cards (that work in about half the stations), but they charge around €1 just to plug in, and because I have a PHEV, it pretty much makes it cheaper to use gas. Which I really try to avoid.

I would love to hear more about this. I’ve tried so many times.

Sadly, metal hot make food hot is not the only factor. It’s also the speed and responsiveness of the pan. If you have the money, look into 3-ply pans, stainless bottom (for induction, but works with everything), aluminum interior (for eveness of heat throughout the pan) and stainless interior/cooking surface. I’ve had some of my pans for 40 years and they look brand new. They’re just as easy to clean as non-stick, if you use wooden utensils for a quick scrape before cleaning. All-clad is probably the best brand, I bought some recently, and they are just as good as the old ones I have, very rare these days. They can be found on eBay and craigslist used, and the used are just as good (have a few of those as well).

I love my cast iron pans, especially for searing and tortillas, but for sauces and risottos, 3-ply is a great option. It’s really about the responsiveness.

Last thing, ceramisised cast-iron (like Le Creuset) is terrific for deep frying.

I have to chime in here, as it’s a subject close to my heart. The old Pyrex measuring cups don’t do this. I went out of my way to buy some on eBay. I can’t imagine why they redesigned like this, but there’s a lot of things I can’t imagine.