Well, I would like to see it that way, too. But for now, the EU just isn't there yet. It's more of an international free trade zone than a United States of Europe.

Right. People who were convinced of the moon landing being a hoax will certainly see and accept the truth now without further question or delay. I am utterly convinced of that. Because they're all rational people who will definitely be convinced by a computer animation, where photographic, videographic and…

Well, we'll get there eventually (unless the nationalists win). But it's a long process - despite its small size, Europe is fairly diverse and you can't just throw all the money into one pot and call it a fiscal union. Especially since the EU and the Euro-Group are different entities.

Well, Bavarian independence would certainly make German politics easier/more rational. In general, though, I'd much prefer a united Europe to even more nationalism.

Well, with that approach to an answer you'd probably have to say that McDonald's sells the best burgers...

Oh come on, he's not even the best character from Futurama. In fact ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.

That it does. Still far less of a problem than common crime, though.

Kind of, at least. We've become better at avoiding it. But throwing diseased cadavers into enemy territory was definitely a thing a one time, and quite cost effective, too.

Well, domestic terrorism hardly counts as a foreign threat, does it?

so stupid no one would do them, like weaponized pathogens.

I doubt it, too. Yet prove of impossibility is really, really hard. So for now we would have to settle for "pretty sure".

And then there are all the other things we assume about ASIs for no reason. Why would one care at all about how humans conduct their lives?

Well, on the one hand, Nukes are not important in current wars, they were always (after WWII, obviously) there do prevent future wars. And despite all the world going up in flames right now, they kind of do it (to large scale, symmetric wars, at least).

Well, if people know what kind of sex the characters have, they should also know what they eat. ASoIaF is not just a tale of intrigue, war and magic, it's also pretty much Big Brother in a pseudo-medieval setting.

There are many unbroken codes. That's pretty much what any kind of consumer cryptography relies on. Doesn't mean they can't be broken. Besides, OTPs (when properly used) can't be broken despite the cipher being known. Kryptos for now relies on the cipher being unknown (see also: Kerckhoffs' principle).

And after all, Russia gave similar guarantees. So that totally worked out....

Why would you want to give them up? Hasn't Ukraine conclusively shown that it is a bad idea to let go nuclear deterrence for guarantees of territorial integrity and such nonsense? In twenty years, you'll have English tanks in your highlands.

All just smoke and mirrors. Well, and lenses. But the smoke (and/or dust) is what really makes it look cool.

Can't say I've had a cellphone hallucination - there rarely are catastrophic consequences to me missing a call. I do have that black cat thing a lot though, having two of those (and several others). However, I don't think that's a hallucination as it's not a perception without an outside stimulus but a distorted yet…

I could have needed a skill like that. Rarely wear headphones anymore, though.