Maybe so, but there is still a stigma attached to minivans. They say, "I now live a boring suburban lifestyle". A friend of mine said as much when he bought his Honda Odyssey. He loves the Odyssey, but he knew he was no longer cool. And, to be fair, once he and his wife had kids they became just as staid and boring as their minivan suggested.

It's cool; they're happy with their lives and love their kids and home life. But it reminded me of why I'm still single and childless. That life is unattractive to me.

This is my view. I believe that AGW is real, but I am not taking any extra measure to save energy in light of that understanding. It won't make a difference if I change my lifestyle. Society has to change its lifestyle. I support green energy initiatives and try to vote for people who seem to get it. I'm willing to pay more for energy if need be. But I'm driving my car just as much as I would otherwise. I'd love to drive an electric car, but mostly for the torque not the efficiency. My electric bill is already about $35 a month, so there is probably little to reduce there.

What we really need is for the powers that be to give up their dreams of petroleum riches and start society on the path to clean, sustainable energy. But a new energy economy is uncertain, while the oil, gas and coal in the ground are known quantities. Those reserves represent potential profit to the energy industry, and they want that money. So they baffle people with bullshit to keep the money train running, putting us all at risk. AGW is an issue that can't wait for oil to get expensive enough, or solar to get cheap enough. Therefore it is not a problem capitalism can solve. But capitalism is what runs the world; maybe over a cliff.

Hmm, what to make of this one? Trolling? Naive? Paid shill? Pure sarcasm? It can be hard to tell these days!

And, as implied here, once we go cashless they've got us by the balls. People might not appreciate the value of easy, anonymous transactions until they're gone. Who are "they" you ask? Insert your favorite power structure. There is utility in being able to conduct private business without the need for any middle-man or money transfer service.

Remember what happened with Wikileaks donations and the credit card companies, when the latter started denying payment services for the former? Cash enables the average person to pay for or support things without permission. That's important if you want an empowered citizenry. I'll keep using cash, thanks.

We can certainly agree on that.

Getting people used to invasive authority?

What is the literal, non-interpreted meaning of "unusual punishment" or "unreasonable search"?

Good point! However, it is not being reported that way. It's being reported like Syrian and Yemeni terrorists (it's spreading!) have found a new way to be diabolical, so the TSA has stepped up security, so you'd better be careful and not run afoul of the TSA. That detail about it only being from certain countries is not being conveyed in the reporting I've seen.

Facebook's ability to do that is right there in the EULA. Yes, I actually read Facebook's EULA. Anything you post on the site is yours, but they enjoy the right to use it in any way they like while it's there. So this journalist agreed to let them do that when she signed up. She likely didn't know that, because who actually reads EULA's, right? It's one more reason I'm not on Facebook.

I'm not sure where you got my hope for my country to sabotage itself. That was not my intent. My point was that the reasons given publicly for our foreign policy actions are almost never the actual reasons. They are feel-good reasons that are designed to get the population to support the mission, even though they are lies.

I would love to have some influence on my country's foreign policy. However, foreign policy is deliberately insulated from the democratic process; always has been. So I can protest or write my congressman, but that's about it. And I would not expect much in the way of results from either action. The alternative would be to move to Washington DC and try to get directly involved. But I don't have the motivation to reorient my life like that. So I am left with trying to warn people on the Internet to not believe the reasons given the next time we go to war to liberate some population from some dictator that we supported up until he started doing things we didn't like.

It's already a real show. It's called Ridiculousness and it's on MTV.

Though I hate to admit it, I actually enjoy that show. But I realized a while back that it is essentially "Ow, My Balls". That knocked my self-regard down a peg.