Female genital mutilation (FGM) is not an Islamic custom. It is an African custom. In the areas where it occurs, it is practiced by both muslims and non-muslims, and was widely practiced before the Islamic era. Most muslims live in Asia, not Africa, and do not practice FGM. The practice is not mentioned in either the Bible or the Koran, nearly all Islamic scholars agree that there is nothing "Islamic" about it, and it is illegal in most Islamic countries.

We don't have to "demand", we can negotiate instead. Arms reductions benefit everyone. By building up our arsenals were are behaving like we are in a prisoner's dilemma. But the prisoner's dilemma should only apply when the prisoners are separated, and cannot negotiate an agreement to their mutual benefit. We are under no such constraints.

We are using China's buildup to justify our own buildup, and they are then using our buildup to justify theirs. That benefits no one outsite the MICs (which both countries have).

Why not? Human knowledge is expanded by trying new stuff.

Yes. Worrying about this experiment causing grey goo is about as silly as worrying that someone tinkering with their motorcycle might accidentally cause it to escape and survive in the wild.

On the other hand, I could be wrong.

By attacking America on 9/11, Al Qaeda hoped to lure America into a foolish overreaction that would alienate the West from the Islamic world, weaken America's will, and help spread Al Qaeda's message of extremism and violence. Few people helped them achieve these goals more than Dick Cheney did. So why would they want to kill him?

Except that people don't agree on what the requirements are. Your requirements are not the same as mine. Even people that share requirements may not agree on what is the best solution. Your proposal will likely lead to this.

They have revealed that high speed long distance travel was not common before it was possible. Who would have guessed?

This is exactly how the system currently works. But the key point you are missing is that the HFTers are the exchange. The exchange is operated by the members, which are the HFTers.

If HFT was outlawed, old fashioned cigar smoking brokers would presumably come back, and they would charge fat fees, just like they used to. But the world would continue to turn. I am not saying that HFTers are necessary, just that they are beneficial.

The "flash crash" was NOT caused by HFT. It was caused by "programmed trading" which existed long before HFT, and, in fact, existed long before computers.

No. They are solving problems inherent in markets. By increasing transaction speed, they are reducing risk, resulting in lower transaction costs.

Before HFT, spread were wide, and brokers owned big yachts. Today the old brokers are bankrupt, and instead most of the money goes to the investor, and some money goes into system research and salaries for the researchers. This is a big improvement. Most of the people wishing for the "good ole days" of the trading pits, are not old enough to actually remember them.

It is bad for brokerages, that now have lower profits. It is good for everyone that invests in stocks, either directly or indirectly, which includes nearly everyone with a pension fund or even an insurance policy.

The exchanges are made up of their members. The members are brokerages that execute trades on behalf of their clients. You, as an individual, cannot log into the NYSE computer and execute your trade anymore than you could have walked into the pit during the old paper-based days. So why can't you trade with a "member" instead of a HFTer? Because the members are the HFTers. For all practical purposes, the HFTers are the exchange.

The flash crash was not caused by HFT. In fact, the SEC investigation determined that most active HFTers were trading against the decline, thus making the crash less severe. One of the SEC recommendations was to find a way to keep more HFTers active during big swings because they help to keep the markets stable.

You can! There are plenty of brokers out there that would be happy to charge you extra. Or you could just flush your surplus money down the toilet for the same end effect.

Let's turn the question around: What do you hope to gain by passing yet more laws that prohibit consenting adults from engaging in transactions that you think should be banned because you don't understand them?

Actually, they are middle men that lower the price of the commodity. You should look at the history of transaction costs before and after the adoption of HFT. The have fallen dramatically. If they didn't offer better prices, why would anyone trade with them?

You have a weird mental model of how stock markets work. They have always relied on middle men to execute the trades. The only difference today, is that the HFTers are far more efficient.