I agree with you, but you're arguing with an AC who has a mindset that works very, very well in the sort of tribal environment in which our species evolved. Arguing with evolution may be satisfying, but it's rarely rewarding.

His voters didn't vote for George Bush.

The MPAA most likely doesn't care about winning - they just want to get the case to proceed to discovery. Hood doesn't care about winning, because he will claim that the tort case he should file is too complex for the small staff of the state AG's office to try. He will then put the case in the hands of a big-time plaintiff's attorney, who will probably be able to find something in all that discovered material to force a big payout. The settlement will be reached, and the AG will have gotten 20% in the hands of someone who will undoubtedly hire him on after he leaves office.

That is exactly what happened with the last guy in that office.

At least they have the decency to go dormant when the temperature drops below 70 or so. Cf. Minnesota or Wisconsin.

The AG is a Democrat.

The AG is a Democrat, and he is attempting to repeat the extraordinarily profitable strategy used by one of his predecessors to enrich friends and allies at the expense of a large business - in that case, the tobacco industry, here Google. He was funded by plaintiff's attorneys eager for a cut of a large settlement check, and elected by people who like to sue those with more money than themselves.

There are places in Mississippi that functioned as tort mills for a long time, although most of them are not populated with people who look like him.

Yes. If you could replace any of them with a lower-cost alternative that worked as well, or that saved you more than the cost differential, you would.

The people employed at that storefront to provide physical security for the goods might be necessary to enable the profit-making portions of the business to operate, but that doesn't mean they aren't a cost center.

They have to use it to report your income to the IRS so that you can be properly credited for your Social Security earnings and taxes withheld on your behalf. I'm all in favor of eliminating withholding and forcing everyone in the country to pay quarterly estimated taxes, but we all know that isn't going to happen.

One reason I saw mentioned for why Americans tended to be more skeptical of global climate change than Europeans is that the warming happened at different times of year (it's been years since I saw this, so the pattern may no longer hold, and may not have been valid in the first place, fwiw). Europe tended to see more warming in summer, and the lower percentage of homes with air conditioning meant that this was perceived as a worsening of the climate. OTOH, North America warmed more during winter, leading to a perception that the climate was becoming milder.

You don't really "bounce off the atmosphere" if you miss your angle. What happens is that you don't lose enough speed to deorbit. From low Earth orbit, you'll hit the atmosphere again after one more go around the big blue marble.

The problem with Apollo was that the command module had nothing like the supplies of consumables that would be needed for another spin around the Earth, and it was moving substantially faster than LEO speeds - it wouldn't be reentering in another ninety minutes. And the Apollo CM had a slightly asymmetric distribution of mass, allowing it to generate lift and steer itself (Apollo 11 extended its reentry path to avoid storms, e.g.).

In SF last year, I found Uber Black to be about 10% more expensive than regular cabs. They also let you book regular cabs for a small fee (about $2). Services vary by location, of course.

The premium is small (~10%) for Uber Black and nonexistent for UberX. If you only take short rides, the minimum charges would get you, but the improvement in the experience is well worth it to me.

Can't speak to the early days of Uber, but I took it in SF last year and the surge pricing was very much apparent before you booked the ride. You can even get estimates prior to booking. Never went over the high end of the estimate. Drivers all seemed happy with the service as well - we asked. And they mostly spoke flawless English. That was Uber Black, the higher tier of service, but it ended up costing maybe 10% more than a regular cab on average. You did pay more at rush hour, but on the other hand, you got a car in ten minutes instead of waiting for an hour at a taxi stand.

How can you be sure that the taxi company (or any other business you patronize) properly pays its employees and taxes? You can't.

If you're worried about skills, require a commercial driver's license. Problem solved.