Sheer power? I think you'll find the Model S is superior to an ICE in this respect. Batteries have come of age, and the acceleration, especially at low speeds, crushes all or nearly all ICE vehicles.

It's arguably worse when you have someone with that mastery but little or no work experience to back it up. They're too smart to realize that they know nothing and too proud to ask for help. I know because I was that kid once and only now, looking back, do I fully appreciate how green I really was. If I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice it would be this: do not be so proud that you overlook the experience of another, even one whom you consider less capable than yourself, because a career in this business is far too short to learn everything by repeating the mistakes of those who went before you, many of whom were no doubt smarter than you.

Anything you'd rather not be compromised, yes. The smart phone is useful enough as a data storage, transfer and communication device that can run arbitrary programs for utilitarian reasons or perhaps entertainment. As for social media, will the world end if you don't access Facebook on your phone? I realize that it might be difficult for some people to understand, but not everyone cares or cares equally about social media.

Maybe you shouldn't be putting your important private stuff on your phone?

Entitlements are a big part of the problem in this country. Even if you taxed everyone earning more than 100K at 100 percent you still wouldn't have enough to pay for all that has been promised to everyone currently living. Any discussion which fails to acknowledge the central role of entitlements in the budget and tax problems of the nation is doomed to produce no useful insights into what is needed to solve these problems. The problem with the fixation on a "fair share", as decided by the progressives of course, is that it's a big part of what got us into the present mess. The rich people that you so despise are much better able to hire lobbyists to construct complex schemes in the tax laws, tax attorneys to parse the codes and exploit them and wealth management advisors to help them structure their affairs so as to minimize the taxes that they do pay. All of this is tremendously wasteful to our economy with billions of dollars spent and tens of thousand of bright young minds engaged not in scientific research or improving business efficiency in the productive parts of the economy, but helping those who are best able to game the hopelessly complex tax system. How much waste will you tolerate in your quest to hunt down the white whale of "fair shares" cut from the hides of the rich? Instead, how about this tax system: Income is income, regardless of source, of which everyone pays 20% with an exemption for every taxpayer of 100% up to the federal poverty level for their household. No other deductions, credits or exemptions allowed. So for example if the federal poverty level for a family of 4 is say 30K then the first 30K of every taxpayer's income, regardless of how high or low it is, would be exempt from tax but after that it would be 20% on everything after that. Of course we would want to combine this program with entitlement cuts and many other cuts to our bloated federal budget, but this new simplified tax system would be a good start.

Can you honestly say that you're satisfied with how taxes are collected and spent in this country? While I acknowledge that some taxes are necessary to fund basic and necessary functions of government, what we have now is a complete disaster; both wasteful and inefficient. Even after taxes have been collected we have a government that tries to do too much, does most of it poorly and spends way too much doing it. In my opinion we receive very poor value for those monies and yeah it makes me angry. If you're not dissatisfied with this state of affairs then you're either not paying attention or your standards are very low. Given your coarse language and snarky remarks, it's probably a mixture of both, hmmm?

Private property is maintained. The commons is not. If you dislike crumbling things then privatize them and you will see how well maintained they can be when a private owner is there to look after them.

Says the progressive handing me their invoice for no services rendered.

Basic grammar not withstanding, I think that it has something to do with the fact that the right answers in economics are often subtle and counter intuitive while the easy and obvious answers, which are the sort frequently offered by the left, are both seductive and wrong in ways that are subtle and not immediately obvious until the failure becomes painful in the extreme, as it has for example in Venezuela today. So to answer your question, it takes a sharp mind and a keen understanding of both economics and history to make a proper defense of free enterprise and individual liberty against the progressive polemics offered by the left in defense of dependency and redistribution as the path to prosperity. Clearly, not everyone who takes up that mantle is equal to the task.

It's fashionable because it's largely true. Detroit followed the advice of left wing Democrats and progressives religiously for decades, even as other areas which were also affected by NAFTA and globalization adapted and reinvented themselves into new industries while diversifying their economic bases. Detroit stubbornly refused to do either of these things, instead proudly asserting their God given liberal right to a standard of living which they could no longer afford and expecting somebody else to pay for it. Well, now the crows have come home to roost in Detroit and I don't feel sorry for them one bit. Detroit will be an abject lesson in what it means to live within your means and the folly of expecting others to pay for your stubbornness and extravagance.

Why is it that whenever progressives talk about the price of something I'm the one who gets handed the bill for their profligate ways?

Excellent - interaction with the audience is the key here, otherwise you may as well see any number of course videos online.

I remember I think a previous Slashdot story, where the students were encouraged to read the presentation first (Word/Powerpoint whatever), and then in the lecture hall, the idea was to discuss and Q+A the professor. A far better use of time - more interesting and productive.

It was probably for the best. Just curious though, did the Democratic party actually give you any support or was it one of those non-competitive districts where a Democrat hasn't won in decades? There are plenty of districts like that all over the United States where either the Democratic or Republican party is happy to let local candidates who are halfway presentable run on the off chance that one of them might actually win, but they rarely put any serious resources into those races other than offering advice on how to respond to questions along party lines and moral support.

Short of being self employed, there's no guarantee of that. Hell, even if you are self employed there's no guarantee of that.

Is there an electronic currency like bitcoin, but which is much less private and traceable? This way we have the convenience of electronic transfer and the safety of normal cash.