It's a long and sordid tale, where those in power vehemently refuse to help Mexico build anything resembling a modern society. The reasons are numerous, but it mostly boils down to cheap labor.

Simply put: if Mexicans were allowed to come across legally, employers would have to pay them minimum wage. And if Mexico wasn't so shitty (especially the border towns) people wouldn't be leaving in droves.

If we really wanted to solve the whole immigration problem, securing the border isn't the proper answer. Notice the lack of emergency situation at the US's northern border, despite the lack of a fence to keep out the hockey-lovers (or to keep us Statesfolk out of Canada). Take the proposed Mexico fence budget (however much that is) and pour it into getting Mexico's infrastructure up to snuff. Spend some money weeding out corrupt policemen. Work some real campaign reform (lord knows we can't do it here.) Build some roads and hospitals. Help bring Mexico up to the same standards of living as the rest of the first world, and the immigration problem will solve itself.

cuz we broke.

Payday loans aren't intended to circumvent the normal processing period between banks. They're intended to bridge the gap between rent is due today, and I don't get paid till Friday.

Which is all good in theory... until the parliament/congress becomes more interesting with infighting and navel gazing than actually improving the country.

When was the last time that congress worked for the genuine benefit of the country, without a primary focus on how it will affect their reelection numbers?

The system, as it currently stands, is broken. Beyond broken. And if it takes an unconstitutional tyrant to get us back on the proper track, so be it. Perhaps a smidgen of anarchy is necessary to remind us why we chose order

If I uploaded your consciousness without your body, would you still consider it "you?" What if I could do it without destroying your body? If I could take a snapshot of your brain and upload a virtual copy of you into a game for my amusement, are you affected in any way?

They know they'll get caught, but still do it for two reasons: money and addictions.

The people run the site and sell the drugs for the money.

The people use the site and buy drugs because they're addicted, and no legal recourse exists

Anecdotal, but: Our last two hires were picked up through this type of recruiting, and both are terrible

They're both nice guys, sure. Great for a chat over lunch or coffee, persistent in getting someone's attention and small talk ... but absolute garbage as sysadmins, the thing we're actually paying them to do.

Doesn't change the fact that the amount of sunlight present in your evening is dictated by your work, not by the time you wake up.

The sticking point is work. Any random Joe working 9 - 5 is going to get off work at 5, regardless of when he woke up.

I wonder how much money the government would save if they worked with banks to "give" (temporarily loan) some of the empty, foreclosed houses out to homeless people. We've got a bunch of people without houses, and a bunch of houses without people. Seems kind of obvious to me.

Provide shelter with a few basic stipulations. No illegal activity (e.g. drugs) and general upkeep on the house. Provide them with brooms, simple green and such. "You clean it up and fix a leaky faucet or two, and the house is yours for a year." (or something like that) I bet a lot of homeless people would get real handy real fast.

A roof over your heads and a steady mailing address certainly make it a lot easier to find some kind of job, if only temporary. Having access to a shower might help as well.

I trust that the community at large will always be one step ahead of youtube.

If they make ads harder to block, people will write better software to block the new ads. Currently ABP is a one stop shop, but if I had to install a separate "YouTube Adblock" extension, I certainly would.

Or just stop using youtube. There are much better things in life than staring blankly at the screen.

Na. Dota is always just a single character per player.

Did you ever play WarCraft 3? Remember the hero units that would level up and progress with you? DOTA is basically *only* those. You pick one hero (the list has expanded to ridiculous levels) and fight in 5v5 with other people, in a top-down isometric view that can be moved independently of your character (exactly like Starcraft or non-MMO Warcraft) instead of the over-the-shoulder camera that moves with you in MMOs