Thank the government? You should be furious! I mean, think of all the children who could have been saved by the vaccine attempts drug companies tried and failed to create. Who cares if it turns your eyeballs into slush and your intestines catch fire - the drug showed so much promise! All these clinical trials and testing, for what? Verifiable drugs that don't kill those people it tries to save?

We need to get rid of all these government imposed hoops, and let companies sell drugs and test on humans the moment they have a prototype of any vaccine, serum, or medication they develop. It's especially important in cases such as AIDS, where current drugs are only effective at stalling the progression of the disease for what, 20, 30, 40 years? So many people could resume the life they are already living by testing a cure with the negligible risk of a 99% mortality rate. What faster way is there to get a product on the market or saving our loved ones?

China's economy is wholly dependent on our economy. The minute we stop importing from the Chinese, their economy will tank. The workers of China will revolt from loss of work, while the US will have a huge demand for increased production, creating huge job opportunities. Yes, stuff will get more expensive for a little while, but our economy will be easier to fix than theirs, since our demand for goods would increase demand for workers to produce the goods, while their surplus supply of workers will push wages down, skyrocket unemployment, and generally destroy their GDP. With that many unemployed workers, the country would likely collapse.

The only problem then will be the massive debt that we owe them. However, with more goods being generated nationally and more services moving that money around within our country, our GDP will jump significantly, and will most likely help pay off some of the debt. We can only hope that China won't look to World War III to "save" them from their own great depression at that time, especially given our extremely hostile economic tactics that would put them in that situation.

Yeah, I primarily use my Learjet as a backup in case my civic breaks down too.

It's indicative of his willingness to stay on top of issues relevant to this nation. Take ex-Senator Ted Stevens, for instance. He was incredibly uninformed about technology and how it impacted our culture; as a result, he promoted some truly terrible legislation that no competent, informed person would consider. Would you put him at the head of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation knowing full well that he couldn't tell the difference between a cable modem and a brick?

Now we have a president that is informed on the benefits of open source software and net neutrality; I'd argue that's hugely indicative of his potential to promote sane legislation. Given the fact that he's been charged with enforcing the nation's laws, knowing the technological turf he'll be playing on is pretty important to leading. I'd say that's pretty damn well relevant.

Why the indignant rage over a free, amazing service? I've only heard one ad over the course of ~10 hours listening, and while the "are you still listening?" dialog is rather annoying, it is trivial compared to what I receive from them. If you truly dislike what they have become, why not try donating and getting a premium account? They don't offer ads, and the dialog pops up once every five hours, rather than every half hour.

On second thought, everyone should donate; that's the only way to get around the ads. After all, they exist so the company can stay afloat, while handing out free music to anyone who cares and is willing to be inconvenienced for five seconds of every half hour. By leaving them, you force them to find new ways to generate revenue, which results in more ad time, etc.

I plan on donating to them for listening, and I'd urge anyone who uses it to do the same.