How are they allowed to collect driving data without the owner's knowledge and agreement ?

It was not entirely clear. South West Terminal should have sought confirmation of Chris Achter's intent or meaning. This would have avoided the whole brouhaha. I will occasional send an email saying something like "For the avoidance of doubt xxxx".

However if SWT stood to gain by the sale (or the agent get a lot of commission) then they will see it as to their benefit to assume that it means "yes".

Yesterday I saw a mother with a 2 y/old in a push chair. The mother was talking on her 'phone, the child had a tablet - so not only not talking but not looking at the real world around him/her. I fear for the child's cognitive abilities in the future.

You clearly do not understand the history of this, the real causes go back a century, much earlier than 7 October. You also need to understand more than one side of the narrative, Parallel Histories is a good resource for starting your education.

I fail to see why people want to buy it in the first place. Yes: there is a certain value in rarity ... but so what, are people just betting that some mugs in the future will be willing to spend even more real currency on it and that they will be able to cash out ?

Maybe I just have the wrong mindset - I have never been interesting in gambling.

Ah, but did you know that that was much used in Private Eye ?

I am reminded of some graffiti that I saw in a pub toilet in England "all the beer in this pub has been passed by the management".

Hmmm: I wonder if the use of English is understandable in the USA or elsewhere.

I am a Brit. I was in my 40s before I heard "pissed" meaning angry but when I was younger I went to pubs and got pissed.

The Atlantic is wider than you think.

How much will space grown drugs cost ? Who will be able to afford them ? Are they really that much better than stuff grown on Earth ?

as I do not like finger marks on them. I mainly use Linux at the command line so a touch screen would not be much use anyway. I can touch type, maybe I could be identified from the way in which I hit keys.

of a DNA based storage system could really be something interesting!

If you have paid for annual membership then they should not be allowed to change the terms until after renewal time. However there is prolly some clause buried deep in the T&Cs agreement that allows them to do almost anything -- that is part of the trouble with these "agreements" they are entirely one sided.

or would meiosis be a better description ?

What is Bill Gates' percentage share holding of Microsoft these days ?