I don't really disagree, I just think that the grandparent doesn't get to have an opinion if he can't even be bothered to work out that this isn't a US-based discussion.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

We are talking about the UK, which has a 3/4-party system, none of which are called Republicans or Democrats.

Fair enough, you choice. There are lots of people though who will be willing to fund something *just for the joy of seeing it happen*. Not everything in life has to be an 'investment' to get a return. Sometimes, you take a punt on an unknown on the gamble that they are not going to scam you. Recently I got a Radian time-lapse motion photography thing delivered from a Kickstarter. It's a product that didn't exist and now does, and I'm pleased to have helped it happen. I believed in the people who wanted to create it and they didn't let me down.

If it had failed I'd have been annoyed, of course, but that's the risk. My reward is a (pretty good) product cheaper and earlier than anyone else can get.

Not everything is about making money.

So your point is 'we' are to blame because we voted them into office when we had a choice to vote for someone else... who you also admit would have done the same thing...

Nice logic there.

Whereas I see your point about 'right' can't be absolute, this isn't exactly a discussion that's new. There are many other countries in the world (eg Canada, most European) that have already had this discussion and set a national service that actually helps people, while excluding artificial extension of life or cosmetic surgery that goes beyond the norm. (eg in the NHS, plastic surgery isn't carried out for vanity reasons, but it is provided for health reasons, eg injury)

So have the discussion, because the existing system is callous, ruled by profit seeking insurance companies, and leaves many people suffering.

Complaining about other people's privacy in a post that's anonymous? Nice...

You're right. "I don't have Facebook" has taken over from the "I don't even have a TV" as the cry of the superior elitist.

Because http://xkcd.com/1200/

Don't you care about your personal security?

Software isn't maths, software is a machine! Saying software is maths is saying that everything that exists is in some form applied maths, which is true, but utterly unhelpful.

Well I agree that the system is broken in various ways, but the point of the patent system is to make money off things that you aren't involved in. To allow & encourage people to publish their inventions in return for a cut whenever someone uses that invention. It is supposed to encourage invention, by allowing a monopoly to the first person to do something. They are not supposed to have to make a working product, just to publish their idea so that someone else might.

Now whether that's a good idea anymore is another discussion, but what you describe is what patents are designed to do.

Are you deliberately being stupid? It's a constitutional convention, that the head of state states what parliament intends to do. It's historic, and nobody (except you) believes that she actually came up with the policies.

*Ohh*... I see. You're judging 30 million women and a culture based on your one experience. Good job!

This is an often-heard trivialisation of the problem. Amazon currently provide *no* customer service, and you still shop there... Customer service with real people who know about their products costs money, and couple that Amazon don't provide this with their reduced costs advantage of taxation, economies-of-scale, lack of shop rent, and local retailers really don't stand a chance.

Physical retailers might not be doing the best job that they can, but saying that it's entirely their fault and completely within their control to fix is ludicrous.

The standard way for multinationals to do business in foreign countries is to set up a subsidiary in that country. Operating like this means *everyone in their store* has to operate under US tax.

About 6 months ago at a reasonably major London Android convention which B&N heavily sponsored, they had a workshop on why their app store was better for your app (more women, higher average price paid). They then ruined their argument by taking us through the registration process which required a US tax number before it would let you publish anything. At that point the room guffawed and a few people (including me) walked out to go see something more interesting and less insulting.

Hint: if you're trying to woo developers to your niche product, don't require them to have to register on another country's tax system.