If you think that's a bit bloodchillingly draconian of me, here, have a reason why:

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@cstross
Draco was comparatively mild, IIRC.
The ape you're aping was the guy who lined the Appian Way thusly, with Spartacus' army. About 80 BCE. And I forget his name.

With modern medical attention, how long could we make a crucifixion last, before unconsciousness?

[randomoxen@hachyderm.io]

@cstross

I've been told that there are more billionaires than chess GMs.

Also there are more panda bears than GMs.

You are more likely to be a panda than a GM.

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@cstross @HighlandLawyer @gnoll110

You'd need some mechanism to jiggle the weight of the billionaire on their bonds, as people try to get around them as annoying impediments obstructing their progress.
You don't want them to miss the experience. Or the point.

Would it be sufficient to stir the leopards in the face-eating Room 101 cage?

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@cstross @feorag @Uilebheist

Ivanka. "Daddy's girl"
Special treatment for her.

[avi@fedi.aviflax.dev]

@cstross relevant thread from
@solar_chase — https://mastodon.green/@solar_chase/117511690007452299

[cadbury_moose@wandering.shop]

@HollieK72

Argh! Moose noticed that when seeing all the notifications... and is somewhat embarrassed as a result. Now corrected.

Many thanks for the "heads up". 3:O)>

[bluedot@left-bank.net]

@cstross

Seems like a good starting point for the negotiations on a #WealthTax.

[lcwander@fediscience.org]

@gnoll110 @cstross so Wikipedia says 3428 billionaires, every 2m and on both sides, we need less than 1km

[trurl@mastodon.sdf.org]

@cstross draconian? Only if you'd suggested crucifying people.

[jarjan@mederland.nl]

@WellsiteGeo
Definitely! We can have a 3rd option: Rescind your wealth AND be impaled.
I'm fine with that
@cstross

[holliek72@mastodonapp.uk]

@Cadbury_Moose It's one of those typos ... 🫢

[benhm3@mastodon.social]

@cstross

Just another Strossian Fix: shocking at first, highly workable in retrospect.

[phosphenes@mastodon.social]

@gnoll110 @cstross

I really want a loophole for Selena Gomez.

[highlandlawyer@mastodon.social]

@WellsiteGeo @cstross @gnoll110
Being civilised & merciful, long stakes would be used; this has the advantage that after a suitable period of public display, the seasoned meat can be hung horizontally on stands in carnivore habitats (for example a leopard enclosure) like giant kebabs for consumption

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@HighlandLawyer @cstross @gnoll110

Face-eating is best done live (face AND leopard). As Voltaire put it, "pour encourager les autres".

[weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz]

@cstross

By the measure of the Gini coefficient, the US is now MORE unequal than the Gilded Age (plot from CEPR, below).

According to a paper by classical scholars, the US is even more unequal than the Roman empire.

https://www.someweekendreading.blog/market-revealed-preferences/

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@HighlandLawyer @cstross @gnoll110

Hang on.
"Seasoned"
As in, "dried"?
On Princes St?

OK, it is in Reekie, on the east coast. But still, it's also in Scotland.
They'd need fairly wide umbrellas.
On which the seagulls will then nest.
Denying the, uh, "fresh meat" a restful sleep for most of April through into July. (I lived in a flat-roof top floor flat for 3 years ; trust me on this.)

It's a minor design feature, not a bug.

[bigtittybimbo@autonomous.zone]

@weekend_editor @cstross the UK is more unfair than the Victorian era, a time where people were eating sawdust and dying in workhouses. According to this chart that is.

[medeavanamonde@beige.party]

@weekend_editor @cstross

It definitely feels this way.

The Empire Never Ended

[ginnikin@wandering.shop]

@cstross I love this plan, but where's the guillotine?