And yet, anyone who drives on a tollway already does this. In fact, it is what the government is going to have to do. Big energy won't take kindly to direct taxation more than they already are and as everyone switches from gas to electric (and that will likely happen barring a better handling of other alternative tech), the government will lose out on the gas tax (because no one but truckers, trains, boats, and airplanes will use the stuff--and there's far fewer of these than of passenger SUVs). They've already started this in Dallas with a new expansion project for one of the main freeways turning the HOV lanes into a $.75 / mile tollway (variable on traffic, no max after 6 mos.--and this is extreme considering the other tollways in the area currently charge ~$.14/mile).

How can the government do anything else given the "rube goldberg tax" scenario otherwise?

I am all for someone starting in on buildings designed so well that they don't need maintenance very often. As a point towards the possibility of this goal, it was only in the last few years that they've had to start blocking vehicular access through the aqueduct in Segovia, Spain--pollution and vibration from vehicular traffic was damaging it. It carried water up into the modern age but had sections destroyed in the Napoleonic wars. I'm sure it had some maintenance, but we could do with more designs like that which allow for something to last with largely original material and no mortar for nearly 1800 years.

Try all across the South / South East and much of central america (not in the link): http://www.ajtmh.org/content/vol78/issue6/images/large/962fig1.jpeg

The main risk is actually for those who have (1) eaten armadillo, (2) lived in Mexico proper, and (3) also eaten rabbit from Mexico. Why are these three connected? I have no idea, but http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/full/78/6/962 offers more info.

Washing off the tire would be a good idea because the bacteria survives well, particularly in soil/sand/etc. If you run over the armadillo and then park in your garage, there's a good chance the little m. leprae are going to still be alive. Washing the tire off won't remove that possibility entirely, but it will get rid of most of them, reducing your risk significantly. And even if they do have a cure, I'd hate to have symptoms (irreversible) before they realized the need for treatment.

More importantly, this is fairly old news: Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Yes, but the extant damage it has caused is not easily cured. They are just now getting into nerve transplantation and even then, it doesn't always take. Artificial nerves, as we saw earlier this week, are developing nicely, but we are still a long way off from practical usage.

No, it has to be flavored with something to make it taste awful--otherwise it wouldn't be effective at deluding people into thinking it was real. High levels of alcohol in the water might be part of the scam.

What they don't know, won't hurt the rest of us. I'm all for more effective treatment of DUI issues (as long as doctors are a little more clear when prescribing extra strength cough syrup that it isn't just recommended that you don't drive when on it... it's illegal to drive when on it).

They break down doors because they feel that knocking would increase risk of harm to the arresting officers or of flight of the suspect. They do not simply break down doors for fun. If the police came to my house and suspected I had a meth lab or something else dangerous, I would hope they'd come crashing in--but if they had the building surrounded and knew I would come quietly (and I would... why risk harm to home or property while whatever I might be charged with was sorted out and I was shown to be wrongly suspected--as I would be... no sense breaking the law in a country where all the laws I come up against are fairly reasonable), they would likely knock.

Wouldn't it be traceable? Couldn't we determine if a bot put the pics (or whatever) on someone's computer versus the user himself/herself? I had a friend who had the misfortune of being a Muslim around 2001 in the US (they had a great deal of difficulty in the community and still do to a certain extent). His computer was a zombie and the FBI took him in for a fairly lengthy interview... and also looked into his computer. Was he involved in doing "bad things"--no, but they were quickly able to determine that.

Preventing infection is also good--posting cautionary notes to a user's desktop when they've shared read/write access to all for their entire drive, etc.

Surely not in the favor of a free and open internet though--and honestly, back before Google filtered search results (or when their image sorting game first started), some of the results were... disturbing... to say the least. I would be all for increasing penalties on whoever films/photographs such things (death would not be too much I don't think). Should the individual home owner be protected from what other people do with their internet if they leave it open? Yes. We need to focus on the source of the problem, but given how widespread it surely is (or why would there apparently be taskforces breaking down doors), this may be difficult.

Ah, but as the GP notes, it is far better to stick the cost on the supply chain rather than the government--after all, if the government bails the bank out, eventually the investment bank pays (through loans, etc.).

I would think being able to do math in multiple based would he a great way to be prepared to meet any other advanced culture. More importantly, using whatever system your home culture has always used is helpful when you don't have a ruler/scale/etc. around. As an example, I can tell by sight roughly what a foot is--based on previous measurement, I also know that the length of one section of my pinky is one inch exactly. This is helpful when doing around the house projects. My cousin, who grew up in Spain, has exactly the opposite tendency--she thinks in metric. Both systems, as you note, are useful in certain settings, but resistance to change should also be expected simply because both systems can work quite well if you know your home culture's system well.

The word "anonymously" is important in affirming the gpp.

The GPP is right in noting that "any iphone user" could confirm that you have to agree to each app having your location. Only a few apps get around this and are usually removed from the app store as soon as Apple is informed. They are very tight with their user information--consider the ad information and subscriber data issue that has been hacking off publishers of magazines. Yes, Apple is gathering data. Yes, they share it with the world. No, they don't tell everyone exactly where you (individually) are at any given moment without your permission--a little popup comes up and asks if the app in question can have your user data (or... if you keep reading their terms of use, with appropriate requests from government).