So I was going to make a joke about how somebody should "appropriately deal with" Senator Burr, but then decided against it because the jackbooted thugs at the FBI (or whatever) might not be amused.

Let this just be one more example of the damage the so-called "Patriot Act" has done to our formerly-free society.

Meanwhile a diesel Fiat Panda had been getting 70+ mpg for like 20 years.

Yeah, but that's a Fiat. Nobody wants that!

We have a few reasonably-efficient cars like that here, by the way, such as the VW Golf 1.9L TDI. They're not popular because they have less-than-stellar reputations for reliability, and the reliable Japanese brands don't sell Diesels here.

Also to sell vettes and other crap.

Actually, Corvettes get pretty decent fuel economy (almost 30 MPG highway), especially now that they've got cylinder deactivation. Between the low weight, low aerodynamic drag, and tall gearing, they've got almost all the right characteristics of an economy car. The only thing holding them back is the huge, sticky tires.

This drug is two amphetamine salts mixed together.

Yeah, and table salt (NaCl) and cyanide (NaCN) are just two kinds of sodium salts. That doesn't mean they affect the body the same way, though!

Besides, dosage matters (a lot!), and the dosage of Adderall used medicinally is way, way lower than the typical recreational dosage of meth, according to Wikipedia.

My main issue is he's too anti-government, and wants to cut into the Department of Education, and is way too "pro-life".

I find myself wondering how much of his "pro-life" schtick is genuine, and how much is pandering in hopes of winning the primary. This is one instance where I hope it's pandering.

he was offered a 6 month sentence if he would plead guilty.

Oh yes, that's how it works today in Amerika! "We don't give a shit what you did, but YOU MUST BE GUILTY." All you fascists get a sexual thrill from that all-important admission of guilt. You just love how, once somebody gets in your clutches, you can fuck up their entire life by disenfranchising them, disarming them, and eliminating the possibility of them ever getting a decent job. And it's "only a six month sentence." Six months, my ass!

Six months is just as unjust as a goddamn death sentence when you've DONE NOTHING WRONG!

LOL! You think I'm a right-wing nutjob? That's weird; I more often get accused of being exactly the opposite. In reality, I'm a moderate anti-authoritarian, and want both government and corporations to GTFO of my business.

Besides, you're a dumbass, since you apparently fail to understand that negligence is a completely separate, irrelevant issue that's already covered by existing laws. I would already be liable if I modified my car to be unsafe, and computers don't change that!

Go re-read that last sentence, and let it sink in. Then read it again. Got it? Good! Now you'll realize that the stunt these automakers are trying to pull has nothing whatsoever to do with actual safety, and everything to do with them trying to assert control over their customers' property, so that they can restrict customer choice and increase their own power and profits. Nothing more, nothing less.

No, there isn't a difference. You vastly underestimate the ability of an idiot to screw up a mechanical system. I mean, OK, a literal brick would be deliberate, but that was hyperbole. Something like an improperly-tensioned throttle cable or an improperly-bled brake system, on the other hand, is very likely to happen by accident.

The point is, claiming that "on a computer!!!" makes working on a car more dangerous is as bunk as claiming "on a computer!" makes an invention suddenly new again, or that "on a computer!" turns (e.g.) fraud into some kind of new and different crime.

Auto mechanics has always required knowledge, skill, and personal responsibility, and nothing has changed!

Sorry, you are wrong. You can be free or not. You can't guarantee safety, regardless of your degree of freedom.

Good point! I stand corrected. Let me amend my statement:

We have two choices: we can be free, or we can throw away our freedom pointlessly.

The ECU (engine control unity) has nothing to do with the infotainment unit.

That's what you think. In reality, in modern cars they're both hooked to a CAN bus with no security whatsoever, so misbehavior by the infotainment unit actually could plausibly screw up the ECU. Besides, even if they weren't automakers would use that as an excuse and un-technical bureaucrats wouldn't know the difference.

Sorry but I dont want to be driving down the road with some backyard genius who has "tweaked" their ECU and ABS in such a way as it disables the breaks and locks the throttle open.

Well then you'd better fucking quit driving, because any backyard genius has always been able to do that with a fucking brick on the pedal (or under it, as applicable)!

What part of "correct" did you not understand? I may not be able to stop my country from fucking up, but I don't have to like it!

Who the fuck cares?! I can make up ridiculous "what if" scenarios all day long that would seem to justify making every goddamn thing illegal until all that's left is to lock yourself in a padded room with a straight jacket on. But that's stupid, because you'd be acting completely disproportionately to the risk.

And that's what you're doing here too. So fucking what if the modded ECU might cause a fire? So might spilling some gasoline when you fill the car up! So might a short in the wiring! So might a stuck brake caliper! So might crashing into something! There's bunches of different things that could "possibly" go wrong, but they're all perfectly acceptable risks and ECU tuning is no different. Maybe the manufacturer might get blamed for something that was the vehicle owner's fault. Or maybe the owner will get blamed for a crash that was actually caused by a manufacturing defect. Sometimes life isn't fair. Boo fucking hoo; deal with it!

But that's all beside the point, because modding an ECU sure as HELL isn't dangerous enough to justify destroying the concept of ownership of property and replacing it with corporate serfdom, which is what this evil abortion of a policy would do!

You have no clue. On many cars -- especially the increasingly-common turbocharged ones -- ECU tuning is the first, best-bang-for-the-buck, easiest* mod you do.

(* "Easy" in the sense that you pay a tuner who's already broken the DRM and correctly modified the boost map, so all you have to do yourself is plug the ECU-flashing tool into the ODB II port.)

BULLSHIT. This is about using computers -- via copyright -- as the excuse to subjugate vehicle owner's actual property rights to manufacturers Imaginary Property rights, using "safety!" as the emotional red herring that they hope will distract people enough to let them get away with it.

The manufacturers want exactly one thing: post-purchase control, so that they can restrict vehicle owner choice and freeze out independent mechanics. They want to be able to say "oh, you want to pair your new phone with the infotainment system? Sure, that'll be "only" $1000, and no, you're not allowed to hack it yourself or get a cheaper third party to do it. It's all because of 'safety,' not profit -- we swear!"

Then there are the special cute things that can go wrong, like an injector that sticks open instead of pulsing properly. That will turn it into a blowtorch that will burn right through the top of the piston.

Don't forget engine runaways caused by oil leaks in the turbo!

Of course, isn't that all just part of the fun of owning a TDI?