Early Retirement Extreme Forums (est. 2010)

<t>The 'invasion from the north' has begun? Wow. I bet there's a real strong argument behind that. Or a pissweak definition of 'invasion'?<br/> <br/> Also, I have trouble believing that people's assessments of where to live based on climate change are quite so serious. Yeah, I know climate change is...

It sounds like you're describing an 'accumulating' fund. They're actually not available in Australia, as far as I know. All Vanguard ETFs pay out their dividends. Part of the reason being that if you are an Australian resident taxpayer you must pay taxes on the dividends anyway, even if they remain ...

I was reminded of this solar panel question last night. (Short) story time. The power blackouts continue, but I noticed the largest intersection I pass through on the way to work has had its traffic lights out for a solid week - and it doesn't seem connected to the power cuts, it's just out 24/7. I ...

Economist working among other economists here. Often journalists, and even more often politicians, paint a very simplistic picture of 'economists say', or what 'basic economics' is. To some extent that's their job (tabloid journalists) or what benefits them (politicians arguing with a certain ideolo...

There is a visa exemption , for certain circumstances. Allows for either 90 or 180 day stays.

Generally Hanoi is more popular with tourists, I think, because it has more historical sights. The weather's a bit more variable too, it almost has a winter. HCMC's great though. I really want to try living there a while. It's about the cheapest city in the world that I'm familiar with, in terms of ...

The effects of scarring from graduating into a recession are real. Presuming that you could tell when the recession was coming and had options other than looking for grad positions in industry, I'd consider them very seriously. I graduated right before the Global Financial Crisis, but fortunately Au...

You could try "human-induced."

https://www.reuters.com/article/ethiopia-electricity/corrected-ethiopia-starts-rationing-electricity-for-homes-and-industries-idUSL5N22T560 Water levels currently so low in Ethiopia's dams, due to lack of rain, that there is a production deficit of >400 MW. The country will start rationing power acr...

Ideas of African federations are common among the intellectual class and the dreamers of the continent. They've been around since the independence movements. Agenda 2063 actually has a 'united Africa', as a federation or confederation, as one of its goals. Now, implementation is of course the challe...

@Dream of Freedom: Your argument re: lower incomes also justifies action to mitigate climate change. Because people become poorer as weather patterns move further away from historical norms, invasive species move in, etc. for other climate effects. As jacob points out, of course, 'which people' is a...

Savings rate for April: 26.7%. Books read: Idoru (Gibson) - so I liked this one more than the last few of his that I read. I think it got a lot closer to Neuromancer’s feel. It’s probably due to the sense of detachment from events and depression experienced by the main character. The Emperor (Kapusc...

I bought a cheap AF kiwi brand nakiri... I was going to mention kiwi brand but wasn't sure how widespread they are throughout the world. Seriously, I doubt they're BIFL, but I've lost kiwi brand knives before wearing them out so I can't say for sure. I find them remarkably sharp and they're easy to...

You say that you would love to give them a gift. I'd say that's a good guide. Now, with that in mind, they've let you know what they want... I've given gifts from registries for very close friends before, where it's become apparent that our tastes are remarkably different. It's kind of a good lesson...

I have several knives but it's more a result of blending households, inheriting, and that the things seem not to wear out than anything mindful. I use a big chef's knife for pretty much everything. I don't see the issue for using it vs cherry tomatoes or fruit for example. DW definitely prefers a pa...

I like wearing a watch, but haven't for some time. My last nice-ish one was lost at some point while traveling. Then I got a knock-off Longines imitation as a gift, but it didn't last long before it stopped working. One reason to consider wearing a watch is that smartphones are highly effective dist...

If all of the Nile was one country, though, there'd be plenty of other issues to worry about . Even Sudan couldn't hold itself together. Trying to imagine Mediterranean Egypt and highland Ethiopia as a single country makes my head hurt.

Savings rate for March: 18.6%. Books read: A Voyage to Abyssinia (Lobo) – Really fascinating, but perhaps just because I’m living in the region. Also fascinating for the fact that it was originally written in Portuguese in the 17th century, and was then translated into French, then English, and yet ...

Yeah, it's an interesting situation. I heard for a while that there were serious fears that Egypt would actually try to bomb the site. I don't know how serious those fears were - my guess is that the Ethiopian military seriously considered it, the Egyptians, I couldn't guess. A while back the lead e...

As the forum's resident Adelaidean I have to say the sign's a mystery to me too.

Before judging the people of Adelaide, though, perhaps be mindful that a lot of people passing through the airport are actually not from the city, and maybe the sign's there for their benefit?