... that pig sure is pretty in lipstick.

Except those "highly accurate" crystals are not so highly accurate. Their frequency changes with temperature and as the crystals and other components in the circuitry age. The value of using the power line as a reference is not that it is all that accurate in the short term, it's that it is highly accurate over long periods because it is continually adjusted to be so.

Yes, your battery-backed-up clock will keep time while the power is off, but keep that clock running on battery for a month or so and you will find it inexorably drifts off the right time. You'll end up periodically having to adjust the clock manually. That's not the case if you sync to the power line -- for now, at least.

Not to worry... NYC still has schoolyards

There are plenty of jobs in this world where diligent effort will go unnoticed but screw-ups will be cause for major ass-reaming. Most any job in financial services falls into that category, for example. If you motivation for employment is to be petted, get a job as a dog.

That's such pre-9/11 thinking.

"Hey, Houston! I just cut the cheese!"

A ban need not be universal, or even effective, to qualify as censorship. It is their store and their choice, but it is still censorship.

Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men

Tax them. Apparently, that's the only government activity that's objectionable.

Yes, but what fun would it be to make that the headline?