Whoops, accidentally modded that up. Gambling is not mandatory, and what people do with their money is their business.

Oh, yeah. The predictable smugness of Europeans, who like to tout how safe their systems are while buying horse meat that was advertised as hamburger.

"In the long term, though, he explains that autonomous driving is the lucrative field of the future, one that promises to be much more profitable than the traditional automotive industry..."

So, is this telling us that these cars will be significantly overpriced? Or is it that they'll break down more frequently?

So, you're telling me that this "analog notebook" requires a lot of tech support? Your marketing department certainly has a top-notch way of describing your customers as idiots or your products as wildly defective. ("Why not both?")

The reason fiat currency exists is so that the issuer can make a profit by devaluing the currency. See also "inflation".

...are probably good at flipping burgers and pulling the fries when the bell goes "ding".

"which may explain why younger people seem to be more sensitive to caffeine's powers."

Ehhh... in my experience, this is completely wrong. It's older people who may have to avoid caffeine entirely or stop ingesting it at least four hours before bedtime. Perhaps I've just had unusual experiences but, ...

When was this? In the shows I remember, the only thing worse than the "special effects" was the plots.

Big manufacturers have certainly been eager to go all-in on "AI" tech but, it is inherently unreliable. This isn't always a problem but, companies seem far too eager to rely on the output of software that produces results that only have the appearance of meaning.

At a time when Americans have elected a crowd of wild-eyed nonsense jabberers, maybe this makes sense. I still feel that there's an excellent chance of this being a weird marketing bubble that will suddenly collapse catestrophically. That goes for both "AI" and the nutbag politicians.

"Dependence". Look, maaan. The little red squiggly that your browser inserts under your words means that they aren't words. It isn't that difficult to understand your spelling checker.

Your argument that every country should be self-sufficient is woefully shortsighted. Let's continue with your notion and suggest that every state should be self-sufficient, for why should Maine have to depend on North Carolina? But, let's not stop there. I mean, your community in Bangor can surely not rely on products from Fairfield. And all this relies on community, which is notoriously chaotic and irresponsible!

So, let's insist that every family must be able to provide for all of its own needs without any reliance on others. Wait! Every individual! You can by no means trust anyone other than yourself.

Now, get cracking. It's time to weed the fields, feed the chickens, shear the sheep, haul water, harvest some trees, and continue the search for good clay and iron ore. If you get sick, you're weak! Go ahead and die.

At least, in your glorious self-sufficient paradise, you will have no need for money.

Demonize random nations and their evil goods in order to encourage profits by your own big businesses? This never actually works, although that never stops people from trying. But, wouldn't you prefer that your own citizens suffer higher prices for the benefit of your own country's moguls?

Pennies are British. America's never had any. I get that some of you are still wistful about leaving the former British Empire but, hey! Wake up and smell the coffee, and don't call it "tea", 'cause it isn't.

Didn't Google used to have a search engine? What happened to that?

This sounds like the prophesies of Douglas Adams, with "Genuine People Personalities(tm)" ("sounds awful!" ["it is"]) and the note about "first against the wall when the Revolution came".

I take it that you've never run your own business, and have only worked for immense, drab conglomerates that make you think of them as faceless blobs that owe you a job.

Employees are expensive, often unreliable, and frequently batshit crazy. Of course you want to replace them if possible. This may turn out to be impractical.

It certainly isn't happening due to "AI", which is cheap, often unreliable, and frequently batshit crazy. The only bright side about it is, it won't steal from the workplace. It may decide to order 500,000,000 paper clips... but, placing the blame on AI means that managers can dodge responsibility, and after all... managers are expensive, often unreliable, and frequently batshit crazy. They enjoy dodging responsibility as much as you do.

Are you arguing that ketchup is a fruit?