Where I live I must have a firearms licence to be allowed to retain my air rifle that I've had since I was a kid.

(Different country, different times -> different laws.)

Starflight (released in the 80s) did something similar. The DRM key was a coloured A3 sized star map (paper poster) of the stars in the game. No colour photocopiers in those days, so photocopying didn't work so well. (I tried.)

Each time you took off, you had to consult the star map, and if you got it wrong, then as you traveled through space you'd eventually be stopped by alien spaceships that looked remarkably like police cars. If you failed their test, then they'd blast you to smithereens, as they were unbeatable.

Actually, Starflight and Starflight 2 are games that I'd really like to see modern remakes of.

You mean triffids that are easier to spot at night time?

You might be right. What search words should I use?

;)

Yes: In organised religions the aim is to maintain a membership base and fear is a good way to prevent people from leaving.

No: In non-organised religions there is no such aim. Instead the aim is to find purpose in life. One is expected and encouraged to challenge the religion by questioning everything about it.

Examples of non-organised religions (actually more like spiritual beliefs) are Buddhism, Shamanism, Gnosticism...

The guy with the gun might shoot you in the head before making his getaway ...for the same reasons.

I would rather face off against a guy with a melee weapon than a guy with a gun, because then at least I stand a chance to retaliate (successful or not), simply because it's somewhat harder to dodge/parry a bullet than a melee weapon.

Also, robberies generally rely on surprise, and no robber will allow you to pull your own weapon, so carrying any kind of weapon for self defence is pointless once the robbery is taking place.

That said, I understand what another poster wrote about him showcasing the futility in gun control (or control in general).

http://www.neurosky.com/

But perhaps another 5000+ places for gifted kids wouldn't be a bad idea. (Though it might be somewhat expensive.)

Or... it may be an instinct, that evolved to reduce inbreeding, that causes one to feel disgust at the thought of breeding with a close relative.

One can override ones instinctual behaviour, but instinctual feelings aren't based on intelligence and so are not affected by logic.

Even older adages are: "Ignorance is bliss." and "Knowledge is power."

If only we had that choice. Unfortunately we don't get actual knowledge in the news. Which, as you say, leaves only the 1st option as a viable alternative.

But maybe (tinfoil hat here) that is intentional. Less knowledge to the plebs, means less power to the plebs.

Don't americans understand english TV series without american subtitles or amercian speech?

Also, the longer we wait, the more powerful weapons they have time to accumulate. If the war had been fought fifteen years ago, then they wouldn't have been a nuclear threat. Now they are. Perhaps NK now feels that it has accumumlated enough that it might actually be ready to fight the war that it has been preparing for for so long, and it's once again testing and taunting its "enemies".

Because economics will pick what's more profitable, and that's not necessarily what's safer and cleaner.

The electric grid disperses energy, but it doesn't store it until the night time.

...that would actually meet our current demands over the course of a typical day night cycle.