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Comment Talk about an opportunity.... (Score 1) 213

to take out an entire class of people in one shot. A fully automated car that shows up and ferries people around. A car which is naturally heavily computer reliant, as well as potentially prone to being hacked. And a system which would see the majority, if not all, politicians/lawyers/CEOs/board members/movie stars shuffled around in these. 1 Malicious hack later, and you've got a serious issue...

Comment Re:obvious errors in the rebuttal (Score 1) 117

The war on oil continues to throw about the claim that fossil fuels are subsidized. Nobody ever challenges them on how they determine a subsidy. The fact is, the fossil fuel industry doesn't receive ANY subsidies. It's all a slight rephrasing of the truth that allows them to get away with making this claim. Basically, when an oil company spends money on new research and development, they are allowed to deduct the costs of this research and development from their earnings. Thus, if they spend 1 billion dollars on R&D, then 1 billion dollars is deducted from their earnings, which leads to a reduction in taxes owed. At the 35% tax rate, that means $350 million in taxes that aren't assessed to that oil company. This is then claimed as a subsidy of $350 million dollars!

Comment Re: USA needs a comprehensive and coherent energy (Score 2) 117

Anyone with half a brain in their head can compare the energy density of oil (41.9MJ/Kg) versus Uranium (570,000MJ/Kg) versus any and every other energy source available and conclude pretty easily that atomic energy is where we should be focusing our efforts. Given the fact that we already have the technology working, why would we be wasting so much time, effort, and money for alternative sources?

Comment Re:very understandable (Score 1) 784

And it's stupid people like you that keep allowing Communism to be experimented with. And never are any of the lessons learned! Communism doesn't work, because there are some really tough jobs, and some really shitty jobs, but they all need to be performed. But in a communist setup, where everyone's take from the system is equal, it means nobody wants to do the tough work or the shitty work, since there's no incentive. So the state has to force people to do those jobs. And that's why communism will never work.

Comment Re:Sounds like a problem... (Score 1) 507

First off, stop looking at "profit motive" as a bad thing. If the company doesn't make a profit, the many people employed by the company can't get paid. Profit needs to exist in order for things to continue. Would you go to your job every day if all it did was cover your costs of staying alive and left you with no extra money? Second, insurance is a gamble, both for the buyer and the seller. There's no guarantee the insurance you buy is going to completely cover you for everything. There's also no guarantee that the insurance company will collect enough premiums to cover all claims. Some years profits are big, some years they're small, and some years they suffer losses. Making the insurance a "government solution" isn't going to change any of this. There are still a bunch of employees who expect a nice paycheck at the end of the week. And there is still no guarantee that premiums will cover all claims. However, there is a big difference between a private company and a government department. Private companies need to run the business efficiently, because should they screw up, they're all out of a job. A government department, however, doesn't face this worry. This is why government bureaucracies become bloated and inefficient over time. Look at Canada's health system, where the average wait time from initial referral to actual treatment performed by a specialist is well over 20 weeks. http://blogs.canoe.ca/davidakin/health/our-embarrassing-health-care-wait-times/#.Um6B9aRk1Uk.twitter And because it's a "universal" health care system, there's no accountability in terms of costs versus services delivered.

Comment Re:Deep down.. (Score 1) 610

I think the reason people aren't making a big deal about it is twofold: First, they're not being informed as to why a government agency snooping their emails and contacts is a bad thing. People aren't making the connection between the IRS harassing specific groups and the NSA knowing everyone's sphere of influence. Second, the MSM downplays or ignores the story so it's not registering as something to be seriously concerned about.

Comment Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... (Score 1) 106

I really don't understand what you're going on about. There are plenty of laptops available already that allow you to put in a SIM card. Telephony software? There's plenty of solutions already available. And cameras have been integrated into laptops long before Android was released. What on earth can Android support that a traditional PC (Windows or Linux) can't?

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