"Are you aware that I have not broken any laws?"

"But people in the USA can download your copy. We're taking you down, pirate."

"So you're saying that Canadian citizens living in Canada are subject to USA law?"

"Oh, yes, we'd like that very much."

Careful what you do here--Disney could pretty much order the invasion of Canada.

Speaking of which, do private security companies operate across borders? Could Disney Security invade Canada? I'm sure that logistically they could... but would they? I'd rather not bet against them.

That sounds likely--but does it still hold when you normalise for seriousness of the accidents? Higher speeds ought to be much more injurious/deadly...?

But this is the INSURANCE COMPANY charging you for INSURANCE. They don't care which is more efficient for fuel use, only which is likely to cause more accidents (of course, bigger engines are likely to cause more accidents than smaller ones... but that's why different cars have different premiums). Yes, this could have a positive effect on the environment, but it's also worth remembering that that's a side-effect in a for-profit insurance company.

If you want to penalise people for polluting, then increase the tax on gasoline. This really isn't rocket science.

One more reason to get on a bike. If you're not going to be going 100km/h anyway, you may as well do something that won't slow you down, won't cost you money, won't cause congestion or pollution, lets you park wherever you want, keeps you healthy...

Since Pandora plays music based on user recommendations and a presumably good (and improving) similarity metric rather than advertising, this should work out well for the arts. Private labels and performers are just as likely to be played as the Evil Empire's stuff. Indeed, Pandora can drop the big players anytime their contract becomes onerous, as the music genome will have good coverage of the popular genres.

I'm in better shape than I've ever been because I carefully chose to live and work in locations with a good bike route between them. Yes, sometimes it's difficult--much like most high-reward endeavours. Sometimes it's an uphill battle against the fat, lazy slobs who for some inexplicable reason don't want you biking to work. But the trouble is worth it. Trust me.

This is America, where violating the Constitution is illegal. Stop, or we'll say "stop" again!

Just make thinking about sex illegal, period. Otherwise you're just encouraging the godless masturbating perverts. Think of the children!

Yes! Throw them into Orodruin!

Seriously, I'd like to open a discussion on the similarities between cars and the One Ring. Or will nobody except bike commuters even understand what I'm talking about?

Apparently fantasising about obviously sexually mature women with young faces is statutory rape. Or perhaps it's ok as long as you don't leave any evidence? Remember, kids: if you're gonna watch anime, wear a tinfoil hat!

It would be pretty close to an admission of guilt if our legal system worked properly... and we all had unlimited free time...

If the contract that gives our government the authority to govern is ignored, then isn't that grounds for ignoring the laws illegally imposed? Of course, this means civil war... *sigh*

Great point, but I'm a little confused about this "the country as a whole" idea. A country isn't a whole--it's a small part of the world. If you do well at the expense of another country, you cause great problems further down the line.

It also seems to me that bringing in foreign workers for the cream of our workforce could be a useful way to encourage our own education system to get off its ass, but this will only work if politicians and the general public see what's happening and see that the solution isn't to close our borders or reduce the number of H1-Bs, but to see whether we can actually compete like honest capitalists.

Why is this bad? We also "free them from oppression" for free, and "bring them American culture" for free and "educate them on intellectual property law" for free. Since we are the world police, why shouldn't we do something that might actually benefit them--for free? I think it will ultimately help us in the end since the USA isn't a closed system, but even if it helps others and not us, is it a bad thing? What happened to pride in your country's generosity and nobility? Are we all so coldhearted that helping others is treasonous?

Unknown. If it would have bothered me, why? Innate or cultural? (Freudians need not reply.) And if I'd been bothered, would I have been scarred, or would it have bothered me in the same way that having to do homework bothered me? Would I have fewer sexual hangups now?

I have friends who know perfectly well just what kinds of sex their parents enjoy; they seem more well-balanced than average but I don't know if there's a causal relationship buried in there somewhere...

This is a funny question, but also insightful. That is--will the patent examiners who approved this one be fired for incompetence? This ruling means nothing unless it successfully pushes for accountability. Treat ninja as a proxy for some form of punishment, and answer me this: who is the guilty party, exactly? What will be done to them?