Ahh... don't you just love smell of a fresh straw-man in the morning.

My thoughts exactly. Even helicopters and VTOL airplanes spend as little time as possible hovering or in straight vertical motion, both because of how fast it burns fuel and because most (all?) aircraft are more stable when moving horizontally.

Having a wing capable of providing enough lift for an unpowered decent and landing would also make the parachute the last resort that it should be. With the current configuration, the only solution for running out of fuel in flight is deploying the chute. While the landing may be survivable it looked likely to break a few bones.

Yet some how it can figure out how to get from Tokyo to LA.

Well, it was the one time I really needed to get that dialer app, but thanks to poor service I had to dig the damned DHD out by hand.

It'll all be part of the new Abbottabad Pavilion at Epcot Center. Osama bin Laden will be executed twice Sunday-Thursday, 4 times Friday-Saturday. Following the assault reenactment, dead Osama and Seal Team Six will take pictures and watch porn with the kids.

IANAL(imey), so I'm having trouble understanding why the UK law bans the use of biscuits. /girds loins/

I love a good +2, Troll.

It's standard etiquette, at least in civilized countries.

Under that system Edison would have patented the idea of a light bulb, waited around for some other sucker to figure out how to actually make one, then sued for any profits a few years later.

And that, boys and girls, is why you always leave one step unspecified.

So grandma will finally get to see The Google.

We do. What do you think all of the post-its are for?

That whole waterfall thing's been killing us. We finally adopted Agile practices. Our first sprint is nearing completion. You can expect your microwaves to start burning your popcorn shortly.

-Scrum Master
  Cyberdyne Systems

Yes, I know, it's FDNY. Guess I've been away for too long.

Mortgage/insurance based enforcement is just one possibility. As for enforcement it depends on how you define government, for example many deeds require you to be subject to the oversight of a home owner's association. Is that a government? No, not quite, but it's close. The primary difference is that you're bound by contract (i.e. the deed) rather than by law. What kind of government enforcement, if any, is appropriate varies depending on what particular externality you're talking about.