If you believe all that, you have a lot of growing up to do.

Can we have a discussion on here EVER, without some partisan inundating us with irrelevant linkspam nonsense?

Considering that her claim of being docked for damage would indicate a violation of federal law-- and she's a friggin' federal government employee-- either she's a rube, or you are. The only disciplinary deductions allowed are for safety violations.

Besides, a malfunctioning switch is not "damage", it's failure from normal wear and tear. They don't last forever. If the doors don't open or the wheels on the train have to be replaced, is that taken out of their paychecks, too?

I'm not really anti-union (except for white-collar government employees), but the Amtrak union has really proved themselves to be total asshats during this issue. They opposed the automatic speed controls, because they preferred that another dues-paying engineer be in the cab. I'm sure that doubling the engineer payroll won't have any impact on the budget at all. Now they oppose the cameras, saying they won't improve safety because they only increase accountability, and mumble mumble. Yeah, and cameras in banks and stores don't keep employees from stealing, either. Accountability is what keeps people from failing at their job. Barring a medical emergency, a camera will cover every scenario of human failure. Obviously, the speed controls are what we need and if the GOVERNMENT WHO MANDATED THEM made sure the GOVERNMENT AGENCY INSTALLED THEM we wouldn't be talking about this.

That's not how Mad Libs looked when I was a kid. We usually came up with something like:

The system has been shut down while BUTTS investigate and FART, and they're notifying BOOGERS whose information was accessed.

Make a new law, if you get hacked, you have to pay the person whos data you lost $100,000.

Yeah, that will work really well with the government. Hey, we got hacked 100 times last year. In totally unrelated news, income taxes are going up and we just hired 1,000 new IRS employees because, obviously, those people need more help.

Everyone sue the IRS! That'll teach them! Oh wait, you can't. Tough luck, buddy. Just keep trusting your government though-- because you really have no choice.

Indeed, although I can see why most american would fear this business model, because it sounds oh-so-much like some weird form of communism applied to automotive.

In no way does "gravitating with their dollars" sound like communism. Quite the opposite.

Sounds like a great idea until they take up residence in your house.

They normally huddle in trees. But the eaves and soffits of your house are much better for huddling in to stay warm, because besides being cozy and secluded, they naturally collect heat during the day. It is a very annoying process to exclude the bats without killing them once they're moved in, and once they're out you have to immediately seal every opening over 1/4 inch in diameter or they'll come back. Yes, that small.

Since a lot of your folks are too young to remember...

The watch Jobs is wearing appears to be an LED digital watch. Because LED displays drained the battery a lot quicker than LCD watches (which came later), you had to press a button to see the time. In retrospect, this is kind of a feature, because when the display was off the face was completely dark and mysterious. It was like Darth Vader's watch.

The Qur'an instructs believers to go to war against Jews and Christians.

The Bible records the history of wars.

There's a difference between recording a violent history, and instructions to commit violent acts.

The Qur'an has no order to love your neighbor, to treat others as one would wish to be treated, or to not resist an evil man. The Qur'an's plan for peace is to obtain it by force.

Starfleet HQ is in San Fran.

So basically, it's Arlington, VA if you compare it to the USA.

Slashdot is dying. Or maybe I'm just dying. Maybe both. We're all dying.

Not until Netcraft confirms it.

I have enough Karma for a bonus, but curiously, the checkbox no longer works and has not for a few years. I post at +1 whether it is checked or not.

There should be no jobs that don't allow for the worker to be self-sufficient.

How about minors? Do they need to be self-sufficient?