Totally, even when going into Switzerland or Poland, they have a quick look at your ID and let you pass. Random inspections and searches do happen, but even then it's not a very tense thing. I admittedly don't know what it's like to get into the UK nowadays, though, seeing how they developed a very similar paranoia to the US.

Frankly, what's going on there at the US/Canada border reminds me of the old FRG/GDR borders, or at least the Pre-Schengen-Agreement Germany/Czech Republic or Austria/Hungary... borders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement

What the hell, you guys have been neighbors all the time, you speak the same language, you are both developed countries; and all of the sudden the border security just climbs and climbs and climbs...? What reasons are there?

Scary, to say the least.

Getting out of your car when pulled over or at the border seems like such a big deal in the US, it sure as hell doesn't in most European countries.

It has always baffled me that it is that way in the US (I'm from Germany). My sister was once yelled at - at gun point! - to get back in the car when she got pulled over near Detroit for speeding once.

Whenever I get pulled over (rarely, so far mostly routine inspections, and one 10km/h speeding ticket), my first instinct is to actually get out of the car because it's impolite in my eyes not to. I had my car and baggage searched at the Czech border once and we were of course standing around the car while the officers were looking through our bags, glove compartment, etc.

I suppose I need to keep my instincts suppressed on my upcoming trips to the US, though I don't plan on getting pulled over in the first place. :)

Decent in-ear Phones do not emit a lot of sound, but block most incoming noise.

I use them every day. The best models are unfortunately at times so efficient that it requires people to tap your shoulder to actually get your attention when you're really focused.

Man, I hate that. :-/

This is an illusion! Don't believe it; it doesn't get one particular fact right: the rich do not pay taxes proportionally to their income as the lower middle class does.

MOST of a country's tax revenue comes from the broad masses; in fact, there are many millionaires paying *fewer* dollars TOTAL in taxes than most middle class citizens.

Tax tricks and loopholes tend to get more useful the more assets you have to calculate against each other.

Stardock - www.stardock.com, and www.impulsedriven.net - offer their games DRM-Free and electronically distributed.

THQ strips the copy protection from their games after a couple of patches, or releases them without one alltogether. (Examples: Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander)