The free market isn't free?

"Not necessarily and only after the fact. A hotel chain has a reputation to maintain and generally they are operating as ongoing concerns. AirBnB users (both guests and renters) are under no such long term pressures."

So... AirBnB renters are just in it for one rental? I find it hard to believe that a renter would only be interested in renting their place one time and not be concerned about renting it again the next week.

  "If someone is considering a long term stay, chances are they are going to look the place over in person before any money changes hands. Not so with a short term hotel-style stay where you will be in and out in a short amount of time."

So... the people who are renting out their housing and who are living in their housing aren't concerned about health and safety of the premises? They should be able to check out the health and safety of their premises for themselves and this would also protect their short term renters.

This reminds me of a story told by some very old time IBM reps.
The Selectric typewriter was newly installed for an executive secretary. She complained that the keys were too hard to press. The full IBM support team came to investigate the complaint. They were originally flummoxed because there is no adjustment for key pressure on the typewriter. However, one of them had a brilliant idea. Inserting a screwdriver into the back of the typewriter, he turned it slowly one way then another while the secretary typed. Eventually she pronounced it "fixed".
Now that's customer service.

Wouldn't the Air BnB customer feedback system take care of hosts who were "bad actors"?
It seems the government is only concerned about the bad actors from the standpoint of violation of their tax and monopoly preservation regulations.
If a housing unit is safe for rental for the long term, it should be safe for short term guests so I doubt that there are any genuine safety concerns.

"A free market is a market system in which the prices for goods and services are set freely by consent between sellers and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. "

A couple of things here:
- meat inspection would be government interference in the market
- wouldn't paying for information cause interference in the free consent between sellers and consumers?
- buyers and sellers must each have free access to all information

Much better to have just one choice and force everyone to use it.
Easier to maintain.
Easier to patch.
Easier to harvest data.
Easier to write malware for.
Easier to infiltrate.
Easier to monitor.
For the users... not so great.

Most "modern" Android phones have USB host support and you an use a USB OTG plug for mass storage.

Or do like the Tesla does and install a 17" tablet that runs everything, uses Chrome browser, has a wireless connection and integrates with iPhone and Android.

All of the new cars I have bought in the last 15 years came with outdated technology. At least the older ones were easier to hack. On On the newer ones , it's just an expensive brick.

Most companies with half a brain have figured out how to block "comment spam".
(I'll give you one free clue: Blocking TOR has nothing to do with it.)

I think the US middle class has already "landed" in a spot where they can't earn a living wage. Now that the rest of the world has "caught up" with us living on subsistence wages, we might see some jobs returning to the US. Of course, that doesn't mean that wages will rise in the US but at least people will have an opportunity to get a job.

All we need is for white people to be at risk and the investment will be there:

http://www.theonion.com/articl...

The answer is always sharks with lasers.

I just don't understand why people keep using Windows... I understand the installed base problem but most Windows software has equivalents in other OSs and it's not that hard to learn a new OS.
I've been running Linux and Mac OS for about 10 years on various computers and never installed anti-virus and never worried about virus and never had a problem. I know these are not "perfect" but they are so much better than Windows that I just don't see why people don't switch.

I guess you didn't read the article (or the posts above) which said the delays are caused by manufacturers of structural components not delivering on time... or perhaps that doesn't fit into your ideological rant against "gummt regulation and the environmental weenies".