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lil_dispaches commented on Mullvad VPN now accepts Monero payments   mullvad.net/en/blog/2022/... · Posted by u/rvz
throwaway82652 · 4 years ago
Even if you aren't a criminal, the fact is that privacy tools of this nature are explicitly relying on having enough volume of criminals and other illicit users to provide cover for you. This is what they're designed to do, the designers of these systems will openly admit to it. You can make your own judgement on whether you're ok with that, but it doesn't help to deny what's actually happening.
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
When only criminals care about privacy, privacy becomes criminal?
lil_dispaches commented on Ask HN: Could the fertilizer shortage be caused by weapons manufacturing?    · Posted by u/lil_dispaches
PaulHoule · 4 years ago
Here's what I found:

  The global production of nitrogen fertilizer amounted to some 117.5 million
  metric tons in 2018. China was by far the country with the largest 
  production, with an output of 28.9 million metric tons of nutrient. It was
  followed by the United States and India, with 13.6 and 13.3 million 
  metric tons produced, respectively. 
According to IBISWorld the fertilizer business in the US gets $19.3B in revenue a year, explosives are just $2.3B. I can't imagine that any of the top three countries (China, US and India) have diverted fertilizer production to explosives yet.

I think so far both Russia and Ukraine have been fighting based on stocks that are already manufactured. For instance Russia has about 2,000 S-300 missile launchers and they probably have at least 10x that number of missiles. (Part of the untold story of the cold war is that the Soviets were driven crazy by the threat of the U-2, SR-71, B-52, B-1, B-2, ... and said "no way" and spent more money than they had on air defense.)

Similarly they have been working through large stocks of artillery shells, rockets, etc.

lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
Explosives are surely up in revenue now (double, triple?) and the world is using about every drop of production for both (as with every supply chain).

So, a +/- of $3B is a 16% shock to the fertilizer market. That is plus one year of explosives, but if you are going to war, you might need several years, all at once (pow). We are talking about future prices in the grand scheme.

That is in gross, too, we don't know specific chemical or supply bottlenecks: one kink in ammonia might not mean much except for fertilizer production; if ammonia is produced via hydrocarbon extraction, then fertilizer is not only dependent on energy prices, but competing directly with wartime energy supply.

lil_dispaches commented on Ask HN: Could the fertilizer shortage be caused by weapons manufacturing?    · Posted by u/lil_dispaches
eimrine · 4 years ago
Ammonium Nitrate can make a big boom but I don't think that all boomable chemicals are being made from the same ingredients.
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
AFAIK, without going nuclear, the biggest booms come from organic chemistry.
lil_dispaches commented on Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be   nationalgeographic.com/ma... · Posted by u/DogOfTheGaps
gregwebs · 4 years ago
This article mentions that regenerative agriculture as the solution. There is a lot of concern now about the potential for a global food shortage at the end of this year because of rising fertilizer prices (leading to less planting). Regenerative agriculture can help solve this as well by focusing on restoring the biome of the soil, thereby harnessing nitrogen from the air and minerals from the soil.
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
Why are fertilizer prices rising? Could it be that fertilizer is the same stuff as gunpowder?
lil_dispaches commented on New links found between musical training and cognitive ability   neurosciencenews.com/musi... · Posted by u/lxm
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
Why is this world so backwards? Humans have musical ability, and cognition requires training (that's opposite of OP).

You don't train on music, you train on technique (and practice music, or play).

You were not born with the innate "cognitive ability" to know what these symbols mean, you must train yourself to recognize them, read them in many configurations, iow stay training or go dumb.

The link OP found is the same link between spending extra on education and the expected outcome.

lil_dispaches commented on It Will Be Years Before Raytheon Can Build New Stinger Missiles   defenseone.com/business/2... · Posted by u/Ambolia
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
I really hope that the U.S. sending these weapons to Ukraine is a clearance on outmoded military technology, not a strategic failure.
lil_dispaches commented on How destructive are nuclear weapons really?   navalgazing.net/Nuclear-W... · Posted by u/mikestew
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
If this isn't misinformation, I don't know what is.
lil_dispaches commented on Chinese inmates had hearts or lungs removed during executions, study says   businessinsider.co.za/dea... · Posted by u/Vaslo
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
Lungs? Do they have a buyer in Wuhan?
lil_dispaches commented on Heresy   paulgraham.com/heresy.htm... · Posted by u/prtkgpt
lil_dispaches · 4 years ago
What is the name for people who call you a heretic? This forum is full of them.

u/lil_dispaches

KarmaCake day54December 2, 2021View Original