Unless they're all working for the same few companies... I worked at Microsoft for several years, and my group was easily 50% H1B workers, and probably closer to 60-70% in reality. So, when we're talking about local statistics and the local effect of companies hiring, we need to look at the local H1B population for relevance. H1Bs might make up a tiny percentage of the national population, but at the local level it's a very significant percentage, especially in Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland and parts of Seattle.

I suspect this isn't so bad for American men as the OP lets on. Consider the effect of H1Bs on these numbers... I live in Seattle; all the large tech companies here (and even a lot of the smaller ones) hire a disproportionate number of H1B holders, most from India. Most Indians aren't after American women, they either come here with a wife already, or their family back in India arranges a marriage, they fly home for a few weeks and come back married.

I know plenty of single girls, and I've never had a problem finding a date. It does require leaving work at work and going out to places where other single people congregate, and it helps to not be a total jackass, but I don't think we're really anywhere near as unbalanced as this would lead one to believe.

Enlightened employers are also incredibly rare. I'm fortunate enough to work for one, however... we just moved to a new space, and have had the HVAC people out quite a few times to get everything working and balanced to where we're all pretty comfortable. On average I'd say we're in the 72-76 range.

It sure as hell did on my first bike...

Perhaps it's you who ought to learn to drive... The textbook response to a stuck accelerator is:

1) Shift to neutral (or simply push in clutch)
2) If you have the ability to kill engine without locking steering, do so.
3) Coast to shoulder of roadway or other clear area, then shut off car if not already done.

The only reason many people have started to move #2 to the #3 spot is because so many people lack the presence of mind in an emergency to not lock their steering.

Accidental and unexpected loss of power can happen for any number of reasons, and frequently does. It's a situation that EVERY driver should be prepared for, and in fact should practice for. I would love to see it as a standard part of driver testing, in fact; come to freeway speed (60+mph) on a closed course and kill engine power. Driver must be able to navigate and stop safely with no power assistance.

I realize this will probably never actually be a part of driver testing, but the ignition switch is far from being the only, or even the most frequent, cause of a loss of power while driving. I firmly believe any driver who wrecks because they weren't able to handle this situation should permanently lose their license and receive a citation for reckless driving, as well as criminal charges if they cause injury to another driver.

"If you can't do that, you shouldn't be driving" could work, the only reason it doesn't is because we enforce the wrong things in our driving laws. Instead of a focus on actually removing unsafe drivers from our roadways (or teaching them how to drive), we focus on speed laws because they're easier to enforce (and make money from). Excessive speed can be unsafe, but there are many situations where exceeding the speed limit is not unsafe, and a few where it may actually be the safest option. At the same time, in most places "following too closely" citations are almost never given, despite that being far more dangerous than speeding while maintaining a safe following distance.

False - there are indeed times when I want to kill my engine while driving, and times I've intentionally done so. I'm perfectly capable of steering a vehicle without power assistance, even though it's a pain in the ass (I've done it with a Blue Bird All American RE when the engine died on a freeway- not fun, but possible). In the case of a runaway engine, I'd rather kill the engine than pop it into neutral and risk blowing the engine when it over-revs. Rev limiters can't be relied upon to prevent engine damage, and your statement about brakes being more than adequate to overcome the engine is false for many (but certainly not all) vehicles. I've had to move a bus with the brakes fully applied - with a high torque diesel engine, it's very much possible. In my car, I could shift to 5th and jump on the brakes and most likely be able to stall the engine, sure - but I'd rather just shut off the engine, pull onto the shoulder and stop gracefully, and I don't need power anything to do that.

How about the ability to turn to "off" to stop an engine affected by a stuck accelerator? Until the start button has a toggle or push button next to it to stop the engine, I don't want one anywhere near my car. And, when I say a button to stop the car, I mean a real kill switch that will ground out the ignition coil(s) or shut off the fuel pump or something similar, or for a diesel shut a fuel solenoid so the engine WILL die.

If I lose power steering or braking I just have to steer or brake harder - ok, it sucks, but if you can't do that you shouldn't be driving. But then, I'm a firm believer that somewhere around 30% of the people on the road should have their licenses taken because they're either physically or mentally unfit to be in control of a vehicle.

RIght... still sounding a lot like Dow Constantine.

For those who don't know or care enough to look it up, he's the County Executive in King County, WA (contains Seattle, Redmond, and a whole lot of places that aren't Seattle or Redmond). He was recently pushing for higher sales tax and $60/vehicle annual license fee increase to continue subsidizing the ridiculously cheap bus routes that mostly serve Seattle and Redmond. Also a fan of toll roads (upwards of $5 to cross a bridge) and other shenanigans.

The biggest reasons I hate it are 1) The "real name" policy and 2) The fact I'm basically forced to use it if I want to use any of the Goog's other services as a signed-in user (YouTube, gmail, etc.).

The fact that I think it's utterly pointless shite is besides the point - I think the same of Twitter but don't wish it death. I don't have any need or want to interact with it, therefore its existence doesn't bother me. The Goog on the other hand has other things unrelated to G+ which I /do/ wish to use, without being forced to use G+. Hence, I wish death to G+.

HTH.

'd like to charge you $100 per mile to drive on my roads.

Who are you, Dow Constantine?

Can it die now?

I expect by the time I die, McDonald's workers in the US will be able to become millionaires pretty quickly. Zimbabwe is full of millionaires, if you're talking Zim dollars. Of course, they burn their currency in the street to stay warm because it's cheaper than newspaper.

To be fair, give me an M1 Garand and I can empty a couple clips in 2 minutes. Same with my SKS. On my AR, each mag will hold 3 clips of ammo, so I guess I could go through 3 clips without ever changing the mag. But, most of my ammo wasn't shipped that way and I'm sure as heck not gonna waste my time reloading the clips I have. Those little clip-to-mag adapters are annoying to deal with, usually easier to just load the single rounds.

I wonder if the clips work better in cold climates, where people are more likely to be wearing cumbersome gloves?

And Steve Ballmer retired.