A union is an association of workers, and the right of free association is protected by the First Amendment. Why do you hate freedom?

There's a Metallica DVD that uses the angle feature on a couple songs, you can choose which band member to watch instead of the director making the call.

When talking about driving, and particularly about penalties, one can rarely use the phrase "in the US". It is handled at the state level and varies widely.

As far as suspensions, due to the necessity of a car in most places in the US, DMVs or courts will provide an allowance so you can drive to work, school, etc. Makes for a big loophole, doesn't really get anyone off the road, and the end result is really just more fines (these special allowances have an administrative cost, and then typically you also have to take a class, and/or carry extra insurance, etc.)

This happens to drivers of cars frequently as well, but they don't use it as an excuse for noise pollution.

The other day a guy on the phone started to slowly cross the street a couple hundred feet down the road. With normal behavior he would have made it just fine, no one would even have to slow down. But something in his conversation caused him to slow, and then stop right in my lane. I slowed to a crawl and sounded the horn. His immediate reaction was to resume walking... right into the oncoming traffic lane, without looking, where a car was only ~50' away.

He was completely oblivious to the whole thing. Never even looked up.

In NJ tired driving is illegal, defined as no sleep >24 hours. Pretty much impossible to enforce unless the driver admits it.

In Arkansas if you have not slept >24 hours and cause a fatal accident, it is negligent homicide.

Can't mix meat and milk.

I think he's just trying to dampen expectations, to avoid a Segway moment.

G-S had already been repealed in effect by the Fed, it was chipped away at for decades (much of it under Reagan, with Greenspan continuing the work as Fed Chairman) and the final straw was the Travelers-Citi merger being approved. GLB was basically fixing the law after the fact at that point.

IMO the CFMA is much more relevant.

"The search feature is definitely a boon, but I don't feel it's panacea. If you just want to browse the software on somebody's computer, or if you forgot the name of the program you want to run, the search feature is no help."

No shit. That's what "all programs" is for.

I can relate to the fears just fine. But when you get to this: "We're in a time where you become an instant "child molester" or you just disappear or your finances go all permanently wonky" you have dropped your connection with reality.

"And the law is so bad that allies of the people who passed the law are trying hard to get out from being covered by the law. There's been a series of waivers of various provisions of Obamacare that went to allies of the President and certain congresspeople. I'm sure we all appreciate the passage of laws which are supposed to be for our own good and for which the allies of the people who advocated the laws are at least partially exempt."

Like most conservative memes, there's a tiny nugget of truth below a giant pile of bullshit.

Some employers received waivers in 2010-2011. The waivers were authorized by the law only for the transition period to ensure continuity (provisions of the law phase in over a 10 year period, with the biggest chances occurring during the first 4 years). They are no longer in use.

A non-partisan review of the waivers by GAO found no impropriety.

Covers do have to pay royalties, but it's to the writer (or holder of those rights), not the original artist that recorded it.

The amount of waste generated by livestock is astounding, not to mention the inputs needed. If inventions such as this can reduce either of those (ideally both), even by just a few percent, there is most certainly a 'point'. There are many non-vegetarians interested in more sustainable production methods.

s/need/want

It's really amazing what things people will say they "need".