"In this economy I'd take a salary (certainty)" Bwwwaaaahaaahhaaaaaa! There is no certainty other than death.

What we really need is for people to take a basic economics course before blabbering about changing the definitions of terms. They might find that there are already widely-accepted terms for the situations they think are so neglected in the language of economics. But I do agree about the monkeys. Its possibly an improvement to my idea of appointing representatives via a random draft or lottery system instead of elections.

Have you actually ever TRIED to erase your Facebook account? Hahaha, if only it were as easy as telling them you shared your password.

"For now, both time systems would be a great thing" Well, it is now, and we have them both. The entire global aviation system runs on UTC right now, but when you land, flight attendants announce the local time. So you don't have to argue that it would be a good thing. Its already the way it is.

Have you never been outside of whatever urban shithole you live in? There's a whole world out there where people aren't crammed into little boxes, living on top of each other like a bunch of rats, and where six acres is just a nice little place to live a quiet, private life.

Wow: "Doctors apprentice--as nurses, then as apprentice doctors." Maybe on your planet. Instead of some witty, sarcastic remark, I'm just going to say this: You are completely full of shit.

Actually, the fact that so many people with Ph.D's work at universities or in research departments is that people get Ph.D's so that they can work at universities or in research departments. Its a terminal degree for people who WANT an academic life. Those who consider education as merely a means to a financial end are unlikely to ever pursue a Ph.D in the first place.

B & N and Borders killed mom and pop, and now Borders gets killed by Amazon -- and maybe even a little by mom and pop via E-Bay. Not a whole lot to cry over here.

TSA? TSA?? TSA??? Not everyone who looks in your bag is TSA, and TSA would be very unlikely to take any interest at all in the content of your laptop's hard drive. So, is it actually CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION? I have a strong suspicion that most of you who think "TSA" and "Customs" are interchangeable have never been outside of the US. Either that, or you are completely oblivious to what happens and with whom you interact as you travel. They're actually pretty easy to tell apart: CBP have firearms and normally wear dark blue uniforms. TSA do NOT carry firearms, and they wear light blue shirts.

Geez... "low-income housing folks", AKA "tax-dollar-subsidized folks" run out and by MS Office? Maybe that kind of decision-making is why they need government assistance to pay the rent.

Anyone who finds it too complicated to set up a key pair and disable password auth in ssh should not be allowed to connect anything to the Internet.

Wow, you seriously have no idea how this stuff works, do you?

I'm actually pretty happy to let nature take its course and have people drop out of my life when we no longer have any use for each other. One of the benefits of losing touch is that I don't have to give a shit when one of their kids graduates from high school or send any flowers when someone close to them dies. There are a lot of situations in life where you're only involved with people due to your shared circumstances -- college being a great example -- and once that shared circumstance ends, then you really have nothing left in common. I have cousins I don't see for years at a time, and I'm fine with that -- but my mom is pushing me to get on Facebook so that I can "stay in touch". Fuck that... I'm fine being out of touch and hard to find.

I'm just so happy that we were able to provide you the opportunity buy a house and start a business.

Curious... is that how they treat criminals in your country, too?

As for the H1 limits... I guess if I wanted to go live in your country, I could just simply go there and get a job or start a business, with no immigration paperwork, bureaucracy, or limits, right? Because your government believes in total freedom of movement for human beings and capital, without regard to national borders. Is that correct?

I don't think I can safely drive at 0.2% BAC. But I could fly a jet at 0.08%.

JP