Firefighting can at times qualify as a natural monopoly, depends on things like population density. It has absolutely nothing to do with the idea that firefighting should be provided as a free government service.

Health care as a whole, however, is definitely NOT a natural monopoly. It's possible that, in certain markets, certain services might be, depends on the marginal economics of the business (driven by factors such as density for ambulance services or services requiring extremely costly imagine equipment).

It's extremely unlikely, on the other hand, that the market for primary care physicians is a natural monopoly (since the entry costs for a new provider are very low, removing one of the most important prerequisite for a natural monopoly).

Might want to read this piece (although I'm afraid it's full of analysis and rather short on ranting):
http://www.mckinsey.com/insigh...

I'm a huge fan of the ACA, and I'm glad SCOTUS upheld it. If you're going to support it, though, you should actually have some understanding of how the system it's attempting to reform works, particularly since, even in countries with single payer (like the UK's NHS), there are many competing providers.

Aha, got it. No worries, and I agree with you, if Google were removing links to legal speech, I'd be very concerned as well.

Maybe where you are - I've never seen a single story of a taxi driver in NYC using a firearm. Then again, we have reasonable gun laws.

This has nothing to do with surge pricing.

If you live somewhere with very little traffic, so the best route between A and B is (a) always the same route, and (b) takes the same time, then Uber's estimates can be very consistent.

In my case, however, the same trip between two points (my home and the airport) has (without any impact of surge pricing) been anywhere between $28 and $46 over the past three weeks, depending on route taken and traffic.

Also, Uber doesn't offer price forecasts in the app, you have to go to their website to do that. You can also get a price forecast for taxis in most markets (try taxifarefinder.com).

Look, I like Uber, and it's great, and I use it much more than taxis, but if you're using it because you think you're getting an upfront fixed price, you could be in for a rude shock at some point.

Or, you could just walk up to somebody at a stoplight on in a parking lot and put a gun in their face. No need to set up an elaborate system with buying a prepaid credit card (assuming they even work with Uber), creating a fake email address, getting a burner smartphone and activating it, etc. etc.

Firefighting is ALSO not a natural monopoly. If it were, then there would have been a single firefighting company in every city, without any government intervention. The continued existence of multiple competing firefighting companies shows that it wasn't a natural monopoly. "Natural monopoly" and "service the government should provide" aren't synonyms.

That said, no point trying to have a conversation with an irrational ranter like you. Quite apart from your use of the term "retard."

By "largest information gate keeper in the modern world," who do you mean? Last I checked, Google wasn't blocking websites that feature the Confederate Battle Flag, nor was Apple deleting pictures of it from people's laptops or iPhones.

You should probably take your own medicines, since "natural monopoly" doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. If it did, no city would have more than one hospital.

Uber can estimate before the ride, but the price you actually pay is based on how long it actually takes, and how far you actually travel. I've taken Uber several dozen times on the same trip (home to and from airport), and the fare has been between slightly and substantially different every time, depending on route taken and traffic.

Apples and oranges. People rob taxi drivers because you can just get into the taxi, and they carry cash. Uber drivers are picking up people who have registered with Uber and provided a valid credit card. Now, sure, you could register, give a throwaway email address, create, fund, and provide a throwaway credit card, and then try to rob an Uber driver who might not have a single dollar on them. That implies a criminal who at the same time (a) engages in some reasonably sophisticated planning, and (b) decides to go after a very low-yield target.

"I like the convenience of knowing how much my ride will cost beforehand."

How does this work? Every place I've used Uber, it's been like a taxi, the fare is a combination of distance and time.

The Rainbow flag "offends" you? Once LGBT groups go beyond their current "agenda" calling for crazy things like equal rights, and start a 150+ year long tradition of murder, rape, and oppression of straight people, then your "offense" at the Rainbow flag will be roughly as justified as the "offense" the Confederate Battle Flag causes.

Yes, Dylann Roof is actually a secret agent of the Illuminati, and allied with the Trilateral Commission. Those nine people he murdered because of their race aren't actually dead, they're actually living on a very nice farm, upstate. They like the place, and their neighbors, the people who "died" on Flight 93, have brought over several nice casseroles to welcome them to the area.

By that logic, the Neue Wache (closest thing Germany has to a memorial to its WWII dead) should have a Swastika banner flying above it.

Countless Wehrmacht soldiers fought and died honorably in WWII. That doesn't change the fact that the cause for which they fought (whether or not they truly believed in it) was reprehensible and depraved. We can remember soldiers who died fighting for the Confederacy without in any way honoring or respecting the cause for which they fought.

Out of curiosity, what makes you believe that the TPP would be in any way a violation of the Constitution?