An autopilot that gives up control without the driver/pilot having situational awareness is worse in emergencies than no autopilot. They breed complacency in the driver/pilot, who cannot flip into effective engagement instantly.

"social justice is, in fact, something we should strive for, and I'm in favor of that part of the pledge of allegiance saying "with liberty and justice for all""

The trouble is that "social justice" might be "social", but it sure ain't "justice".

Excellent point.

I look forward to the day when one doesn't need to post such comments anonymously.

So crunching some numbers. Hard math ahead, watch out: So one spends 2 decades in school. Works for 5 decades. Is on pension for 5 more decades. So one's productive for less than half of one's whole life, and during that time one must support oneself and another unproductive person (young or old).

cygwin's updater does indeed talk to a server in the troubled data center

hey, it's up again

See also the vidstab filter for ffmpeg - open source goodness that does about as well: https://github.com/georgmartiu...

Canada's so kawaii!

As if a feminist working at an employment agency could possibly know what people do the "same work" as other people. Heck, two people being given offers for the exact same job are unlikely to do the same work, once they are there.

"If you do that, watch how basically overnight, lenders will start scrutinizing borrowers more"

That sounds good, except if that lender is a government that is eager to purchase the loyalty of a young voter.

"I did join together with my neighbors to purchase the property. It's called being a citizen and paying taxes."

You and your neighbours paid nowhere near enough in taxes to purchase control rights over that property. You are party to making countless others pay taxes too, and subordinate their personal preferences, in order to "purchase" your beach view.

"without making any contribution to productivity"

But without the compulsion of government, this can't really happen. Most middlemen do in fact make a productivity contribution. In this case it's pretty clear: it's an auction / pseudo-credit-rating type system that brings value to the landlord. Enabling finding a rental property even at landlords with such high standards bring value to the renters too.

"rent-seeking" usually refers to entities that benefit from government mandates. This is not the case here.

"You deserve it!"

What a dumb punchline. No, you don't "deserve" it (success). Go pursue it, but no one owes it to you.

You slew not just one straw man but a whole field of them. Bravo!