When I travel internationally, they want to know if I'm carrying food, plants or animals, if I've been near a farm or similar in the last 3 months, etc. Even some states in my country have no-transit zones for food and fruit to limit the spread of noxious plants and animals.

These shoes may require an internationally recognisable "live-bioplasm!" warning badge so Customs people can confiscate and destroy them!

Wow, you are such an American!

Check every component in the box and you'll find brands like Antec, Seagate, Gigabyte that have FCC and UL/CSA certification.

Since you're such an expert on the law, I'm sure you'll be able to link me to the relevant article that prohibits piece-built computers from be used in American workplaces.

Finally, pull your head out of your nether regions. US law is applicable to about 4% of the world's population. The rest of us only care about it when it runs around turkey slapping things.

Wow, you sure have been drinking from Ballmer's private stash of kool aid, haven't you?

What exactly is an "illegal computer" in the context of your baseless accusation?

Each of these computers was purchased from a reputable no-name vendor who has been operating from the same premises for over 10 years. Each of these computers has fully licenced software from top to bottom. Each computer is 2/3 the cost of a brand name PC, is just as reliable, is not pre-loaded with two dozen useless "helper" apps and comes with a 3 year warranty instead of the 12mth warranty that the brands want you to pay.

As far as this small business CTO is concerned, they're a good investment.

Then you're in an environment where you're only buying brand name computers. About half the computers in my office of 25 staff were purchased pre-built from the local no-name computer shop using standard hobbyist materials. No S/N.

How would children in Colorado, North Dakota or California have differing requirements for education? Surely all kids should have equal access to quality education?

Relocating your family across county or state lines in order to be in a better school district is not always an option. And if you happen to get offered a fantastic job in a particular city that has a crappy school system, I wouldn't care to have to choose between the perfect job and my kids' education.

Also I've never understood the concept of "parental rights". By bringing another human being into the world you impose responsibilities on yourself; you do not grant yourself rights. It is not your right as a parent to fill your child's head with your own particular ideology; it's your responsibility to ensure they receive the necessary training to get a foothold on life and be able to make informed decisions.

> The problem is that some people don't trust parents as much as they trust the government...

There's a very good reason for that. The government is a gestalt body that draws on the experience of hundreds of millions of people over some 5000+ years of recorded civilization. The average parent draws on what their parents taught them and does whatever the media and the mother's club tell them to do.

Shall we look to the Kansas BoE that removed the requirement for the teaching of evolution? Or perhaps to the teacher that gave detention to a child for handing out copies of Linux and lambasted the distro authors with such vitriol as can only be fuelled by ignorance? What about Fred Phelps? He's just a honest, American dad trying to do the best for his kids and the neighbourhood. So's the guy that named his children Adolf Hitler and Aryan Nation. Josef Fritzl was just another everyman doing the best he could, too.

Of course I've picked a few extreme examples there. I know that the majority of parents are not like that but my point is that people are just people; individually they're prone to strange viewpoints and poor decisions. As a group it can take a while to get a consensus but eventually a result turns up that we can, more or less, all agree upon.

I feel that education is one of those things that should be to a high and national if not global standard. The education system in Australia is generally considered pretty good (I think) but I was truly humbled when I met a French girl who told me about how all high school kids were taught languages, culture and philosophy, not just reading, writing and arithmetic.

How many car and pedestrian accidents are caused by people texting while trying to do something else?
Do we really wanna see sexting incidents in the fox hole?

Agreed. Journalists say "oh but we don't have time to check our sources". They should be legally required to do so.

Can't back up your printed claims? We have some nice accommodation lined up for you.

I believe that most people who will be influenced by this kind of report are NOT in a position to methodically evaluate the test methodology. They are people who watch Survivor, Big Brother, YourCountryHere Idol and idolize Oprah. They do not have the experience or skills for critical analysis of marketing spin. So when Microsoft (or McDonalds or the US Govt or Buy n Large) claim research that shows their product is superior to others, the reader gets one claim stuck in their head and it is repeated as fact*.

Of course that's a sweeping generalisation; there are many who do think critically (it's possible that some critical thinkers watch big brother but I expect the number is small) but it makes my point.

*Which incidentally, is why I think we should teach critical thinking at all levels of school, not just leave it until university.

The Board of Registrars would also prefer if staff refrained from:
* sodomising unconscious patients
* urinating in the stairwells
* using quadriplegics in electric wheelchairs for hallway races

Another reason to not use MSN messenger :)

Which is pretty much the angle I was coming from.

There will always be people that take drugs just as there will always be people that pay money for sex and people that are prepared to sell sex.

By legalising and regulating the drugs that are currently illegal, we can dramatically reduce the number of accidental deaths due to overdose and drug related crime. Also the drugs can be taxed which will offset the cost of regulating it and we get to save a stupid amount of dollars that are currently being ineffectively on the global war on drugs.

Finally... 30,000 people killed in one Mexican province due to cartel activity and a 20 year old girl is now the chief of police because no one else will take the job. Please tell me we can do better than this.

I have no idea. I've never bought del Monte fruit.
But I have seen packets of food that have a warning label that says "Caution: Contents will be hot after heating" and on a packet of peanuts, "Caution: Contains Nuts".

And this is exactly why I'm not a federal judge! The point about bacterial infection/pressure is a good one that I had not considered.

I actually understood what he'd done, even if my words seemed more critical.

Still, regardless of what's a "common remedy", I would not award damages to someone who'd used a method other than prescribed to open a can who had then suffered in some way as a result.

Sad but true.

My point exactly. He tried to open the bottle in a manner other than prescibed by the manufacturer and when it went wrong he's blamed someone else.

If I trip over when I'm walking down the street due to an uneven pavement, I pick myself up and keep on walking. I don't immediately start looking for someone to sue!

If someone idiot had left a cable draped across the walkway then that's a different story.