Objective C is a superset of C; therefore, every C program should also be a valid Objective C program. You might need an Objective C shim to access libraries for IO and whatnot, but you could write the core of your app in plain old procedural C if you wanted.

You fail-over to another controller, obviously.

prosecute the phoebus cartel to the fullest extent of the law

According to T (other) FA, that ended in 1939. It was mentioned for historical reference.

Well that's stupid; it discriminates against people using sign language!

Nah, "throwback" is better than regular, so it would have to be gigabit ethernet.

However, if that device is encrypted and the vendor has no way of decrypting it, it's up to you, the accused to provide the decryption key. By "forgetting" the key, you're placing yourself beyond the law.

Yeah, just like how you're "placing yourself beyond the law" if they get a warrant to search your 100-acre farm and you refuse to tell them where the bodies are buried.

Oh wait, that's not how it works at all!

Not to mention, they're called search warrants for a reason: it gives them the right to look for the information, but doesn't require that you actively help them find it. If you were required to tell them where to dig for the bodies -- or what your encryption key is -- then they'd call them "find" warrants instead!

Provided "a friend's house" or a room that you can afford to sub-let is near work. I've read anecdotal evidence on Slashdot that not all workplaces are in such a location.

If you can't afford to live near work, then that job is unsustainable. If you're that desperate, beg on a street corner until you can afford to take a cheap bus to North Dakota and work in the oil fields.

How is this practical in a thunderstorm or on snow-covered roads?

People at the earlyretirementextreme.com and mrmoneymustache.com forums manage it.

Besides, we're talking about a desperate situation here. "Practical" is not the issue. It's "possible," and that's enough.

Without credit, how do you buy a roof to keep over your head?

You crash at a friend's house, or sub-let a room.

So how do you commute to and from work without a car?

You live near work and walk (or ride a bike).

Except that some percentage of that increased value is going to pay for the devices being installed, and their management.

That's not as big a cost as you think. You see, these kinds of car dealers that specialize in bad-credit buyers expect to repossess the cars eventually. They don't make their money from buying a car and selling it once at a higher price; they make their money from selling, repossessing, and re-selling the same car over and over again, while collecting usurious interest payments in the intervals between sale and repossession. All these devices do is make the cycle more efficient (and thus more profitable) by shortening the time between the first non-payment and the repossession.

It probably is an 8 year old car. The monthly payment is so high because A) the buyer paid a hugely inflated price, B) it's probably got an incredibly high interest rate, and C) it might even have leftover debt from the previous car (that probably also got repossessed*) rolled in.

Remember, places that prey^W specialize on bad-credit buyers are not really car dealers; they're loan sharks that incidentally let you borrow a car. Here's their business model:

1. "Sell" car to bad-credit buyer at an inflated price (because such buyers have no bargaining power), financed with a huge interest rate.
2. Collect mostly-interest payments (and remember, interest on a balance inflated thousands of dollars higher than what the car should have cost) for however long the buyer can scrounge up the money.
3. When the buyer defaults, repossess.
4. "Sell" the same car again to the next sucker, rinse, and repeat.

(* Is it possible to still owe money on a car after it's been repossessed? I don't know, but it's certainly possible to claim to a bad-credit car buyer that they do.)

So, blame your politicians and your corporations for this mess. The rest of us have been for decades now.

Haven't you been blaming your own politicians and your own politicians for going along with it? I'll assume you have.

Clearly, however, complaining to your own politicians and corporations hasn't done you any good. And now you know how the American public feels, since complaining to our politicians and corporations hasn't done us any good either!

That's a good idea. Another idea would be that the ACLU (or similar organization) could create a "whistleblower stipend fund" so that whistleblowers could be taken care of whether they could find a job or not.

Exactly! Why should I give up my nice house in Atlanta (not to mention my friends and family) for the "privilege" of living in some overpriced hovel in California? After adjusting for cost-of-living, I'm paid better than I would be at a comparable job there.

This whole globalization thing was [the American political and corporate elite's] idea, and has been championed as economic policy for a very long time now -- so that corporations can maximize profits.

I find it terribly amusing that suddenly [the American general public] are going "Yarg! But what about our jobs?".

Once you clarify what you're talking about, I don't see anything funny about it.