Very true!

I think the bigger thing is that a significant percentage of the population is more concerned with fitting in with their tribe than they are with thinking critically. Furthmore, a good percentage of those people are only minimally capable of thinking critically about a situation. Those people have the same vote I do. Well, not exactly. I live in a so called purple state of divided government, aka a swing state. Still, on the state level the percentages are similar. When people are able to blatantly lie and transmit that lie over and over with effective anonymity to influence the easily influence with zero negative consequences we get the government we have today.

We get a government which no longer represents the people, but instead enacts laws and polices favoring those who give them the most money. The saddest thing is that the voting public is entirely capable of putting an end to it. Well....we would be if so many of us were not so selfish, apathetic, gullible, and/or just down right dumb. It is no coincidence public education is attacked by the republicans. However, the democrats don't do themselves any favors with how the public school systems are run in our biggest cities either.

Is age verification done via credit card? Is it done by a state ID? A social security number? If it is a credit card, then I don't see the problem. If it is done by social security number or state ID than it becomes just another way to track what adults do online.

A government of the corporation, and for the cooperation. Corporations are people too, my friend. It is just that some people are more equal that others. Citizen United has made sure of that.

Illinois is certainly blessed with the right geography and access to plenty of water, but they also take advantage of that. They lead the nation by for with nuclear technology used for electricity. And it isn't close. If they were they own country they we

France 67.3%
Slovakia60.6%
Illinois (clearly a state, not a country; roughly 12,000 MW) 53%

No other country beside France and Slovakia generate 50% or more of its power with nuclear energy. Illinois 12,000 MW puts would put it in 9th place if it were a country. Just below Ukraine (since the war) and Canada with a fraction of both those countries populations. Illinois also allows private companies to burn coals to sell the power to other states. So their energy policy isn't perfect though.

Need as much carbon free power we can get.

This is must have been what was really going on with Testuo in Akira.

And here I was thinking that congress has the power of the purse. Where is Trump going to get this $17.5 Billion? Is it going to be with his illegal funny money $250 bills?

And anything that could be done by AI should be done by AI?

If we lived in a society with free housing, food, and healthcare. That would be one thing. If the overlords passed the lower production costs on to the consumer, that would be another. Instead we are likely to reach a point where the majority of people are unemployed and destitute; and business only make products for other businesses and the wealthy. Because they are the only ones who can afford to buy anything. Inevitably that is how you get violent revolutions. Except in this case it will be people fighting the robots while the rich hide away in their fortified terrestrial, deep sea, and space compounds.

"Because by 2050 nuclear is going to be completely irrelevant and look like an even worse economic deal than it is today."

How do you figure? Fusion reactors seem to always be 5-10 years away. Battery tech could theoretically improve and come down in cost enough to make it truly viable as type of base load power when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. We could finally come up with a viable way to viable generate electricity from the ocean while also not killing what lives in there.
But all of those things are "if's". Nuclear fission is a reliable and proven technology that exists today. And one thing Canada certainly has lots and lots of open space far from people, fault lines, and possible tsunamis.

Yes we should have solar, wind, and batteries. But we should also have carbon free nuclear power.

If adults can lose minutes at a time and forget why they pulled out their phone because of social media, then image how much of stronger effect it has on kids. It doesn't take a psychologist to come to the conclusion it's probably not healthy for kids.

Within reason, adults can do whatever they want. We also have laws saying they have to be 21 to drink and own hand guns. They have to be 16 to 18 to get a driver's license. Kids can't even get into an R rated movie...legally. Yet many parents have no probably letting their kids doom scroll on social media and YouTube. And have access to the open internet. It may not be as bad as smoking and drinking, but it is clearly mostly a waste of time to stare at an endless feed of short videos, photos, memes, and short paragraphs curated by an algorithm designed keep you watching as many ads as possible. That would be true even if it wasn't radicalizing people.

Social media is just as obviously a net negative as smoking cigarettes to anyone who partakes. Just like smoking, that doesn't mean there are not positives too. But on balance we all know how we use it the most its is at best is a waste of time with a potential of lots of negative consequences. It is right to have laws designed to keep kids off these platforms. I mean, heavy forbid they have to have a text chain, and instant messaging group, actually call someone, or see their friends in person.

It depends on the child. Raised in nearly identical environments one of our kids is solidly average student who doesn’t work well in groups, but is intelligent and athletic. They have a twice weekly tutor to make sure he stays on top of his school work. And often needs to be encouraged to engage in tasks. But give him something they are interested in and they eagerly learn everything about it we have to remind them there are in fact other things in the world as well.

The other is top of their class, works well in groups and is reasonably athletic (plays team sports), but has to work very hard to keep up with their peers athletically. Does not need a tutor and is self motivated.

We let both of them watch tv and play video games. But it is time limited. Neither has a smartphone. The one that likes to watch dumb YouTube shorts is the one who does well in school and is self motivated. Our kid that struggles to care about school hates YouTube and tells his brother he is rotting his brain watching that garbage. So go figure.

Yes I think modern tech has contributed to short attention spans. But I rotted my brain on bad cartoons, comic books, video games, and, clandestinely watched R rated movies as child and I turned out fine. I also had free run of the neighborhood, read long novels before the age of ten, and played a lot of sports too. I think the trick is to convince kids that discomfort and struggle is part of the learning process, not a sign of failure and that something isn’t worth doing. “We do this BECAUSE it is hard”. What many kids are suffering from today is a lack of mental and emotional resilience.

I’m not giving away my battery’s charge cycles. Though maybe some people may want to, I wouldn’t even sell them. The battery is one of the most expensive parts of the car. Why on earth would someone want their battery to wear out sooner?

Internet phone numbers account for the majority of scammers. Burners are used by the poor, international travelers, and those engaged in crime. As long as VOIP exists spam bots, spoofed numbers, and scammers will continue to ply their trade. Of course there are also countless legitimate reasons for a VOIP number as well.

Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Kentucky are commonwealths. Vermont and Delaware call themselves both commonwealths and states in their constitutions. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are commonwealths of a different sorts as well.

It would have to be a whole lot more than $1000 a month in government/oligarch cheese. Social security pays far more than that. And with no more workers, there is no more SS fund. And let’s be honest, SS payout amounts right now would not support most Americans’ current lifestyles.

If robots and computers are going to do most of the work in 10-20 years, then what do the owners of the robots and computers need the rest of us for? Among the 10 to 100 million or so people world wide who will own everything they even have a robust gene pool. If we don’t want to return to a world completely controlled by warlords of a ruling class ushering a techno dark age for the majority of humanity; we need strong democracies to stand up to forthcoming woulbe techno fascists. We cannot rely on benevolent dictator. A Union of people is the only thing that can keep them in check. That is why the Citizen United ruling is such a threat.