lobby interests paying serious money, versus potential voters that don't/hardly contribute. this will be raised again and again until the funding goes away. It's not that I'm cynical, and these guys are assholes, but more like HFT games the system; those who are paying for results are making things happen over those of us who merely protest.

"let the government own the backbone"...anyone know of any toll roads that removed the tolls when the superhighway / bridge was paid for?

a human touches a machine interface and is known by their fingerprint. how would a robot be uniquely indentified by humans?

the same people who sing in the rain?

to the extent that some of us read (as the only person in a restaurant reading a book while eating dinner), there will be devices which allow you to carry your library around while travelling. The others in the world will be watching video, looking up things, etc in a more general purpose device. I wonder if there is a co-relation between those who are content to read (and form their own images) and those who are content to have silences in their life (to contemplate, to think) ?

In a way, to (pretend to) hold voting on privacy changes is a new method for companies to move their customers at a pace that the majority are willing to accept. call it social mass manipulation, but it might be the wave of our future.

now you have to charm your PC to sleep? will the "spell checker" let me know when I'm getting low on pixie dust?

"vastly increased destruction of property and life as a result of monster-sized hail storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and increased insect populations" Actually, here in Vancouver, I'm looking forward to watching disaster movies while eating my crunchy ice cream (made from insects)

Clearly, PETAA don't want anyone downloading pigeons...