No, we're Americans, but that fact was established by the Treaty of Paris instead.

Exactly, which is why GMOs, like antibiotics, should be used very judiciously, not strewn about all over the place!

That depends on what the "new economic opportunities in an area for certain kinds of people" actually are. If we're talking about gentrification in Silicon Valley because of high programmer salaries then that's probably OK. If we're talking about gentrification in South Africa because of apartheid then that's not OK. Gentrification in historically-black neighborhoods in US cities is somewhere between, and the degree to which it's OK depends on how much of the difference in affluence can be attributed to the lingering effects of segregation.

Every instance of NSA surveillance that affects even a single person within the borders of the United States is illegitimate and illegal (specifically, a violation of the Fourth Amendment).

California's rolling blackouts were caused by Enron manipulating the deregulated market, not lack of generation capacity.

1. 1. Offer sub-prime mortgages to people, enticing them to buy houses they can't afford them long term. Profit.
2. 2. Repackage the bad parts of the debt and sell it off to chumps (like the retirement plans of the mortgagees from step #1). Profit again.
3. 3. Foreclose on the mortgagees when they stop being able to pay. Profit a third time.
4. 4. Use the huge losses on paper (because the foreclosed houses are now worth less) to get a gigantic bailout from the government. Profit a fourth time.
5. 5. Incorporate an REIT and buy up almost all of those houses at below-market value. Profit a fifth time.
6. 6. Rent them back out (at inflated "post-recovery" market rates) to the same poor chumps whose life savings you stole in steps #2 and #3. Profit a sixth time, and again and again, and then profit some more!

Unlike so many Slashdot business plans, this one requires no ellipses.

Screw the computer stuff; I'm excited to hear about this new technology that lets gigantic cargo ships sail to Wyoming!

They had a perfect opportunity to use a bottle inside a paper bag as their project logo, but no, they had to use a stupid yellow square instead!

Or would you claim that the video game industry is itself unacceptably narrow?

Yes, it is.

I certainly don't recommend going into that industry, but if you insist, you could try Atlanta. Georgia has a tax credit that's caused some companies to locate here. They're not making AAA games and they're startups that'll fail in a year or so, but at least you can get experience in a city with reasonable rent.

(I know this because my wife worked in that industry as an artist for several years, at a series of startups. She got laid off once a year, on average. When the tax credit expired the work dried up and she switched to graphic design. Even though the tax credit was renewed, she hasn't been able to find another gaming industry job.)

The point is that it's a problem when people who were born and raised in an area can't buy there

This can happen due to

1. land monopolists/collusioninsts, and

Of course, that point #1 is in fact what's happening. First the investor class made a bunch of money off mortgage-backed securities, then when the bubble burst they got bailed out by the government while normal people lost their homes to foreclosure, then they formed REITs and bought up all the devalued homes, and now they're making tons more money renting them back to their victims.

We both know damn well you had no interest whatsoever in a "quality argument." If you had, I would have given you one.

The problem with this logic is that "read-only" access still implies that the unprivileged system can poke the privileged one and cause it to do something.

No, "read-only" implies exactly the opposite of that. The privileged system (ECU) should be sending exactly the same signals to the interface whether the non-privileged system (infotainment) is connected to it or not. The ECU shouldn't be able to even know the difference.

The part were they get less biodiesel from the crop than they use to get the crop

Oh, the part that's a lie? Got it.

let's be realist: is it your daily commuter, or is it your weekend fun car?

Until last week, it was my daily commuter (60 mile round trip). The only reason it isn't now is that I just started a new job that's close enough to commute by bicycle. The thing may be 25 years old, but it's only got 85K miles on it and is in great condition (except for the fact that it has a tape deck, pop-up headlights and only one airbag, you'd think it was brand new).

I admit, it's also my fun car since I use it for autocross, too.

FYI, before I bought the Miata, I'd been doing the same commute for years in my 1996 pickup truck with 215K miles on the odometer. My wife is now using it for her 50 mile round trip daily commute. That's actually more impressive, since the truck is much more worn-out than the Miata even though it's newer.

My newest car, a 1998 VW, is currently partially-disassembled because the transmission broke. Clearly, age isn't everything.

Is it also a "pre-electronics" car? Do you expect it to last as long as you?

It's got electronic fuel injection, but it's pre-ODBII. I don't expect any individual part on the car to last forever, but certainly I expect it to be repairable (or even upgradable) indefinitely as long as the chassis doesn't rust out.

Good luck with that, since the industry is going the opposite direction

Fuck the industry! I refuse to buy any new car because of this. (And I'm not just saying that: my new (to me) daily driver is a 1990 Miata. If it weren't for this bullshit, I'd have a pre-order in for a 2016 one right now.)