Making ethanol from the corn is more energy intensive than distillation of oil into gasoline. For every gallon of ethanol you produce, energy equivalent to more than one gallon is burned just to distill it (never mind farming, ferilization, and transportation). Distillation is done with, yup, petroleum products.

Ethanol is nowhere near cabon neutral, given the way we produce it. We'd be closer if we used cane sugar, but tarrifs are so high that it's not economically viable. That's also the work of the corn lobby.

It's possible that behavior has changed as mobility has increased.

In the past, it wasn't as easy to move stolen goods and the markets didn't exist. If you stole a tractor, a car, or someone's silverplate and jewelery, chances were good that you'd have to fence it locally. Now, I can make a quick trip to another state.

Now-a-days, there are no isolated towns in the U.S. It's unlikely that you would need to drive more than an hour or two to reach a city.

It has nothing to do with a count of generations and everything to do with possible mutation. Your statement implies that Rudyard Kipling's "How the Leopard Got Its Spots" was on to something. Hint: giraffes didnt get longer necks by stretching.

That would be Gentoo, where we even have to compile our viruses from source (but then the virus is super-optimized).

FTFA (emphasis added):

I cut my teeth in IT and made a transition to programming about a decade ago. I've found that many programmers aren't particularly well versed in IT, and vice-versa. They're two very different types of jobs.

It's OK if you volunteer the information. It's just not OK for the company to ask.

More people than ever before are seeking (and getting) education beyond high school. The best and the brightest have always gone, but colleges and universities are opening up to lower quality students - those with less education upon arrival. The institutions are simply providing an educational service to a group that needs it.

Don't get worked up over higher education hewing to its mandate, which is to provide an education to all (and possibly make some money while doing it by selling you some remedial courses to ease you along). Be happy that people aren't turning their noses up at it. It improves society for everyone.

When I did the search earlier, the results included How piracy built the U.S. publishing industry.

Let me google that for you

Lets not forget the United States itself, which used to be a capital of intellectual piracy and cheap knock-offs in the 18th and 19th centuries.

How does one determine the provenance of a widget, mineral (like oil), or foodstuff? Commodity items are difficult if not impossible to discriminate post-sale. Enforcement would be impossible for many products.

The decision in Kelo was based on eminent domain being within state jurisdiction, where the taking was allowable according to Connecticut law, instead of federal jurisdiction. While the end result was a shame and did little to expand citizens' rights, it had nothing to do with a corporate bias because it was based on law and technicalities.

Stronger marketing of trucks may have something to do with it. Light trucks are far more profitable for auto manufacturers to sell than cars. I heard a figure that some trucks represent 50% profit, whereas the average car might be 10-15%.

You're ignoring real-life. It doesn't matter if I know how to merge properly if the person in front of me doesn't. It doesn't matter if all of us know how to merge properly, if (as is the case on I-95 around Boston) there isn't a merge lane. (No, really. On an number of entrances there simply isn't one. No right shoulder either).