GM posted quarterly losses for over two years. Ditto Chrysler. Ditto Ford (though a little farther back than GM and Chrysler's current bankruptcy issues). Every year -- every day, even, companies lose money. That does not let them stop complying with local, state, and federal laws.

Unfortunately, this particular law doesn't seem to be as clear as others...

I disagree with your first statement. Need I remind everyone that General Motors operated at a loss from 3Q2007 until 1Q2010 (that's two and a half years). By the above logic, that makes it clear that GM isn't aiming to recoup its own costs or make a profit, and hence is not a business.

Or, I could go take a look at GM's corporate bylaws and incorporation statements on their investor relations web site (find it under gm.com). The only statement I can see there is "The nature of the business or purposes to be conducted or promoted is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of Delaware." Hmm... nothing there about making a profit. Is it just ASSUMED that the intent of a corporation is to make money? That's contrary to the accepted definition of a corporation, as "an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members." Hmm... nothing there about making a profit either...

So, while I agree that a $300 business license seems over-priced based on the profit that this blogger has made, I can't see how you could arbitrarily decide who is a business and who isn't. Please clarify.

What you actually need to compare is a normalized failure rate -- incidents per 1,000 units shipped, for example. Also, if you really want to compare apples (uh, Apples, that is) to oranges, you want to specify their time in service as well. Industry standards for this type of warranty are typically expressed as PPM (parts failed per million units shipped) or c/1000 (complaints per thousand units shipped). Also, these are normally measured at 3 months in service (3MIS) or one year in service (12MIS) -- which is important when tracking the progression of a problem. Saludos, Steve

No such thing as a 3rd-party vendor's fault. Apple engineers are responsible for integrating the hardware and software they select for a system to work together, not Seagate, or NVIDIA, or anyone else. End of Discussion. If Seagate made an unauthorized change, Apple can hammer them for it, but APPLE is the one that needs to answer to the end customers and any regulators (FCC or whomever...). Saludos...

That's the case specifically for the F-22, for which foreign military sales are prohibited by law. The F-35 was intended from day one for foreign military sales, with international particiapation (i.e., funding contributions) from the UK, Canada, Australia, and maybe 10 other countries...).

It depends on how you schedule yourself. I spent three years as an expat and averaged 80+ hours per week... No problem to be present in the office from before breakfast until dinner, but dinner and evening time with my family was mandatory - then back in the tank for 5~6 hours after the kids went to bed. Bottom line -- I left for work at 5:30am, got home at 6:00pm, then back in from 9:30 until 2:00am. Catch up with a full night of sleep Saturday and Sunday. Much easier to do with a supportive spouse. Of course, if I had done it when I was 25 instead of 35, I probably would have been fine without the catch-up sleep on the weekends... Saludos, Steve (no longer in Mexico)