AMA: Crispy Bacon Edition

[Bacon King]

hi I like attention so ask me questions thx

[Bacon King]

Favorite books?

My favorite books are the entirety of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, but besides that here are some other books I love, in no particular order:

Game Change and Double Down because it's pretty much obligatory to love those if you post here

Robert Massie's Dreadnought and Castles of Steel are both amazing because "early 20th century navies" are one of the random obsessively excessively specific interests of mine

A Time to Kill by John Grisham was my favorite book in high school - I was a huge fan of Grisham's works in general. I now realize how repetitive most of his works are but I still love his first book.

Also as an aside I've read Atlas Shrugged and it was actually a great book before it started getting obnoxious and political. The book would be so great if it got rid of the libertarian drivel and was just about a lady train executive going about her life and running the railroad, chain smoking cigarettes, having freaky sex

Thank You for Smoking and Catch 22 were both pretty funny

[Bacon King]

what is your opinion of a box full of dill pickles?

pickles are the worst of God's creations. HB (Horrible Box)

[Bacon King]

Are hot dogs sandwiches?

yes when you think about it they're just really tiny subs

[Bacon King]

Favorite ASOIAF book?

Winds of Winter

I've been hyping it up so much for years as the wait grows longer and longer and if I believe hard enough maybe it will actually come out one day

[Bacon King]

Why the occasional aversion to capitalization?

it's an affectation that is (used to be?) used by forum poster Walter Mitty that I adopted because I feel that it accurately conveys a casual/informal tone - when I do it I feel that it's the best way to accurately convey the mood/intent of what i'm trying to say and it's also why I typically drop the closing punctuation of short replies I make

[Bacon King]

Should state governments be required, as 49 of them are, to balance their budget every year? And what ramifications do you think this has or should have?

I believe in reasonable and responsible budgeting (e.g. no huge piles of debt like the Federal government has) but I strongly disagree with state-level balanced budget requirements. Counter-cyclical deficit spending is a very important fiscal policy tool and if it's not allowed, then states have a much more difficult time attempting to mitigate the effects of economic recessions.

Raising government spending levels (and temporarily allowing a deficit) can provide some much-needed economic stimulus in a poorly performing economy. Ideally, the accrued debt will be payed off once the pace of economic growth picks up,

[Bacon King]

If you are still where you were three years ago, you will be in the area where the moon will eclipse 98.5% of the sun on Aug 21. You have to go at least to Carnesville, Royston, or Baldwin to get to 100% (and that would be a very brief 100% at the edge of totality). Do you plan to go the extra distance to catch the total eclipse?

I've moved since then but I still live in the vicinity, fortunately! I do indeed have tentative plans to take a day trip (or possibly go camping) up in the Nantahala National Forest. We'll try to be as close as possible to the line of maximum viewing time - I'm very excited!

[Bacon King]

Do you understand muon2's question?  If you do explain it to me. 

There's a total solar eclipse cutting across the country in August! I don't live quite at the spot where the sun will go entirely behind the moon but I'll be close - here is a map of travel times to the optimum viewing range!

Would you like me to help Grumps with a simple analogy?

By all means!

[Bacon King]

What is your favorite food to put bacon on?

asparagus is actually amazing wrapped in bacon, though prosciutto tastes even better (and wraps more easily!)

[Bacon King]

is georgia on your mind (ray charles)

tbh my mind feels more like Weezy's take on that riff

[Bacon King]

For clarification muon - what you're saying is that the sun will be 99% covered where I'm at right now in the NE ATL exurbs, yes? And In the vicinity of the Nantahala National Forest I will "steal home base"? Or are you saying that no matter where I am the best I'll get is 99% of an eclipse?