Agree in spirit, but if one vendor breaching one contract means you're instantly and irreparably out of business overnight... You second-source it or do it in-house!

No court order in the world can un-burn a dollar.

Then we're going to need a lot more funnels to refill all those toothpaste tubes.

If you removed every foreign-made product from a typical Walmart, you'd basically be left with a steel-frame building stripped to the beams.

If you replaced every one of those products with an American version - You'd have Niemann Marcus plus Erewhon, with some products simply not available at any price (short of bespoke).

"its suggested commission gives it fair compensation for the App Store platform."

Which is a pretty bold claim given this is specifically targeting devs/publishers who don't want to use their walled garden but have no choice if they want an audience of more than a few dozen hardcore geeks.

Never mind "under that approach, the fee would be zero" - Under that approach, the fee should be negative! People are actively trying to work around Apple's lock-in. I can't speak for everyone, but I usually don't go out of my way to avoid beer and BJs.

College GPAs are just meaningless and it's time we just forget about them.

That GPA is what gets you in the door, over other applicants on those first jobs...

Hell, when I think about it....if "I" were a child today, and my parents raised me like they did back in the day....they'd be under the jail, with child protective services taking me away LONG ago....

No cell phones...and during the summers starting when I was a teenager....my mom started work again....so I'd be home alone all day, running around the neighborhood with my friends, playing all day.

We rode bikes and skateboards miles....played in the woods near our subdivision that hadnt' been developed yet....built forts, built skateboard ramps (the local house constructions "donated materials").....neighborhood pool, etc.

When I was very young, I had to call home about every 2 hours from a friends house....but other than that, I'd leave at sunrise and my folks generally didn't see me again till dusk and dinner, where we all ate together.

I got a job at 16yrs....I've been working ever since. With a little help, early graduation, I bought my own car my senior year in high school....a '78 280Z....fun!!

But yeah, no supervision was how we grew up, my friends and I are all older adults now, many with kids....we got into trouble and mischief, sure, but nothing that stopped the world and we learned how to deal with people and the world.

I can't remember the last time I witnessed a hospital demonstrating general competence

Where do you live where it is so bad there?

Unfortunately in the past 2 years...ive had to make a number of visits to the ER and one major surgrery....and I could NOT be happier with the doctors, nurses and general staff of the hospitals I've been too....

And my insurance covered most of all of it...didn't put me in the poor house like so many seem to claim will happen in the US if you get some much as a hang nail....this is private medicine I'm talking about with me, not VA.

My 16 year old daughter just got advice from her Pediatrician on how to get into Medical School - go to a small college where the Profs know you and you can convince them to inflate your grades, there is too much competition in big schools and no room to influence your grades outside your work So basically, try to cheat a little. Thanks Doc.

Well, being female, gives her an advantage for Med School....AND if she's a minority female, that really helps mover her closer to the top of the list....

It's only one semester, and a semester of the least important material of their university time.

Err...where did you go to school where 1st semester/year wasn't important stuff?

I was in all the weed out classes....chemistry, calculus 1...etc....

Hell I didn't get any "easy" classes like sociology or one English reading classes (sci fi books) till like I was a Junior or maybe senior.....

"In order to salve the mental health of freshman student..."

JFC...are you fscking KIDDING ME?

Is this just the next natural progression from everyone getting a participationi trophy in grade schools?

Why is it today's kids are so mentally deficient in ways that all other generations till the past decade haven't been troubled with??

Look, not everyone is cut out for college ....and those early classes, are weed out classes like others have said...at least they used to be.

Stress is a real part of REAL LIFE and this is a good time to learn these lessons.

Learn them early if they aren't college material....and let them get out before racking up massive debt in a degree that won't pay shit in the end.

I read the other day where incoming freshman these days, I think in the 5%-8% range had to take remedial math?!?! Our 1-12 schools aren't preparing them.....

If we keep lowering the standards....we're not helping anyone, we're hurting all them in the long run.

Let's re-think educations....some kids SHOULD be left behind for higher education, but that doesnt' mean we don't teach them some real skills where they can earn a living and contribute to society.

But for God's sake, let's quit coddling these little fuckers...they're going soft in ways that never even occurred to previous generations....

Key difference: You're paying a lot of money for that useless first semester.

I would be supremely pissed to fork over $40k just to get a "pass" in Freshman-101.

If U-M is doing the now-common waste of a first semester packed with "Freshman 101" bullshit, I would agree with you.

If students are taking real classes, then no, I'd call that the second most important semester (with only the very last one mattering more). Why? Because that's when half the incoming class realizes they are wildly unprepared for college and either pursues an exciting career in fast food, or for those only slightly overwhelmed, switches to a 2-year structured a lot more like an advanced version of highschool.

Not everyone should be going to college, that is the real problem here. There's nothing new under the sun, dumb kids exist and they become dumb adults.

The entire concept of national borders is stupid. It plays the human race against each other as a lottery of where you born, as if there isn't enough inequality in the world.
Oh you're one of those "magic soil" retards. If you don't believe in national borders, then you don't believe in Nations, which raises several questions including how do you feel large groups of people should govern themselves, and how does one interact with said government?
Sincerely: "an immigrant" (just one of those lucky enough to have a shade of skin colour to be welcomed in western countries).
Again why do you think those Western Countries are desirable? It's b/c of a history that includes the formation of nation-states with, wait for it ... borders!

One of the requirements to become a US Citizen is you have to show some proficiency in American English.

Other countries have an official language, we need to make it official here.

We want people coming into the US to assimilate and the greatest tools for that is common language.

You rarely go to other countries and hear commercials in different languages ......certainly the signage for streets, etc is not in multiple languages...etc.

There is nothing bigoted about expecting someone trying to live in your country to speak the common language ....

The USA doesn't have an official language.

We need to fix that...other countries have official languages.....why not us?