Is there a linked article I'm missing that explains the reason for naming it the Colbert Flu? I can't tell if the intent is to mock Colbert, annoy him, or honor him. Or was "Colbert" just the first thing that came to mind?

Here's a start: death rates by age.

Uh, generally, my spelling and grammar are good? (Forgive the correction if this is one of those US/UK singular/plural differences.)

The point is that he considers such tests easy.

They changed that a decade or more ago. The theory is, since these programs and benefits are offered to everyone, they aren't considered a "bribe" to government employees. In practice, I think allowing use of these benfits still increases unnecessary travel and travel costs (due to individual loyalty to particular airlines/hotel chains which aren't always the best choice from the government standpoint).

NFSv4 was supposed to take the best of NFS and AFS and combine them, but development of it never got far, apparently.

Are you sure you're watching programming with a 16:9 ratio? If not, the black bars on the sides could be coming from the broadcaster, not your box.

You can keep your car, start the engine, idle it, and even drive around - except on public roads. The roads have all been sold to airlines and are being converted to runways.

For what little it's worth, during the 2003 blackout in the northeast US, my landline was dead while my cell phone still worked. I was disappointed, considering the ONLY thing that happened was a power failure - no storm.