You're the fucking truck

LOL, yep. I caught it after I posted it. You managed to correct me faster than I could. :)

Yeah, of course I fucked up being Internet Corrections Guy. Perc is TETRAchloroethylene, which is yet another mildly toxic solvent which gets used everywhere.

You're thinking of trichloroETHANE, aka Perc. TFA is about trichloroETHYLENE, aka Trike. Both are mildly toxic, widely-used solvents, but Trike is also carcinogenic.

Others can't successfully compete with an abusive monopoly. That's the point of antitrust law.

That only works if the companies get caught at least 33% of the time. The fines have to be huge to be a deterrent.

I suggest https://www.time.gov/ as a reliable source. NIST takes it seriously, and loading it directly means you don't have to wonder if something in your source chain has lost sync.

Microbeads are added as an exfoliating agent to cosmetics and personal care products, such as soap, facial scrub and toothpastes.[13] They may be added to over-the-counter drugs to make them easier to swallow.[14] In biomedical and health science research microbeads are used in microscopy techniques, fluid visualization, fluid flow analysis and process troubleshooting.[15][16]

Sphericity and particle size uniformity create a ball-bearing effect in creams and lotions, resulting in a silky texture and spreadability. Smoothness and roundness can provide lubrication. Colored microspheres add visual appeal to cosmetic products.[17]

-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Fighting for someone else usually doesn't work out well. The troops don't take it seriously, popular opinion turns sour, the victory conditions start to blur, and the eventual withdrawal leaves a mess and no one is happy. See: Vietnam, Iraq II, etc.

Supplying materiel to the locals who are actually motivated to save their country works pretty well, especially with all the fancy toys the US developed during the cold war which are designed to make the most of every soldier.

The solution to leaving stuff behind is to supply them what they need when they need it, instead of giving them everything up front. I think that's been going pretty well so far... Lots of Javelins and Stingers for rapid response, then some artillery, then gradually more of the big toys as they get trained up on how to use them effectively and demonstrate that they can do responsibly.

Only if it works. Trump might take the money and run (for office).

I doubt "keeping costs down" is the real reason. Cost control is simple: pay $whatever per good screen delivered. Now it's the supplier's job to optimize their process to do so as cheaply as possible.

More likely they want to track that the "defects" are actually being trashed instead of being sold to third party repair shops.

They inconvenienced someone in power.

My experience living on the coast is the salt spray eats everything exposed on the outside. Wheel wells rust out. Any scratch in the paint will rust. But it doesn't get deep inside. Up above the frame is sheltered enough from the wind that it wasn't a problem. On an EV I would expect the bottom of the battery box to corrode, but as long as it doesn't rust through, the interior should be fine.

The alternative is to price the externalities into fossil fuels with taxes, and that's much less popular.

He's a computer scientist, and likely enjoys what he does. He now has the privilege of doing it as a hobby instead of as a job.

If I had $90 billion I'd still want to spend a chunk of my time hacking away at computers... possibly in between trips to my south pacific island.