All technology rests in eliminating human effort. We have now hit the tipping point where entire industries will be replaced with new technologies. Drones building walls is just the tip of an iceberg larger than our entire planet. 3D printing is about to take over manufacturing as well as the construction industry. Your next car may be entirely built by a 3D printer with bots used to assemble parts made by the printers. Considering that a Colt 1911A was recently printed in appropriate metals and is fully functional printing a car engine should be a breeze.
                        I am aware that the unwashed will scream out to stop these job ending tools. But in fact our entire social and legal system faces a total rewrite. Imagine one guy in your neighborhood printing bicycles and handing them out for free or for only the cost of the powders used in the printing. The first totally printed bicycle has already been demonstrated. Everything from a pair of shoes to a fishing reel could flow from these machines. Even ideas such as import and export could be severely crushed by these new techs. This is already rapidly occurring.

The German people deserve credit for what they get right. For some reason the Germans have always seemed able to unite and take on massive projects more quickly than other nations. And I suspect their technology will be first rate in this new adventure.
                          Now imagine how easily most of the US can do the same. We are drowning in sunlight over a great portion of our nation. The potential of states like Florida and Texas to gather sunlight is remarkable. Most days we wish we had a little less solar light here. And we have plenty of wind and tidal energy as well. But unlike Germany we are a people at war with ourselves and our institutions and we simply can not push forward at all compared to Germany. Common resources such as wind, solar and tide seem to be shunned while things that cripple common resources are highly sought after here.

Frankly many people might want to rethink their longevity attitudes. Old age is simply not that pleasant and the older one gets the rougher things get. I'm not so certain that striving to live to 93 is a better notion than hoping you keel over at 80 or even 70. Now suppose that the trans fat limitations really knock the heck out of heart and arterial diseases. What will be the effect. A wonderful dose of Parkinson's disease, a thrilling slide into dementia, or maybe a really ugly dose of cancer are going to take you anyway. In the meanwhile you will suffer from things like arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, gout and every other torture that nature can provide.
                  All in all I suspect that most people would be better off to enjoy their hamburger and fried pork chops and not give a hoot about trans fats. Better yet go back to cooking with lard and using real butter. It tastes better and one way or another we all die anyway.

I would not be shocked at all to think that Tesla has so many enemies that the very lives of the owners and managers of the company are at risk of murder. Big industries do not like to fail and Tesla has such a superior product that there is almost no reason to buy any other brand. Not only are the Detroit based companies upset but the gas and oil industries don't love Tesla one little bit. Then to top it off there are tons of dealers that hate Tesla and on top of that conventional garages and mechanics will all lose work due to the success of Tesla.

So you've had a good week slinging crack and fencing stolen goods. Yet with a good facial recognition and card tracking tool it is clear that your spending clearly does not match your reported income. And here come the cops. Or maybe you just hate paying that child support and always whine to the judge that you just don't have the money but that darned software has kept track of the alcohol you purchase and even the tips for the private dancers in the strip club are on the judges desk.
                  It is clear to me that criminals may have to rethink their career choices and actually work for their money. Even politicians may have trouble with their little schemes.

I imagine the suffering from this storm will be severe and can only hope that the help was mobilized before the storm struck. These storm victims are going to need everything to survive. Food, housing and medical care as well as tools and livestock to start over could save countless lives. Imagine a storm that severe striking Miami or New York.

The very nature of the net is such that no nation should be allowed to demand anything at all concerning content. France is a fine nation but the notion that they can have any voice in that which is displayed world wide is absurd. Obviously different groups of people have vastly different morals and beliefs. What the net does is give everyone the ability to be offended half out of their minds. What may be considered a savage crime in one place or an act of perversion in another place is perfectly acceptable in other places. Frankly I do not want any nation having any ability to censor the net. It is up to all of us to step up to the plate and be willing to be shocked, mortified, enraged or degraded in order to maintain freedom. Free people should not vote to restrain the freedom of others.

Dark matter and dark energy so far are inscrutable. It is hard to know if we will ever be able to really do anything with dark matter or dark energy. But to suggest we should not fund research for these and many other items is foolish. Since we do not know what may come from such research it is ultra important that we do not create a situation where a less than friendly nation just might find some really powerful ways to harness these items. In other words not knowing the potential of such research is the very urgent reason to do the research.

As our ability to crush enemies improves and automation displaces war fighters you can bet that we can shrink our military and still be stronger than any enemy. Drone ships are on the way down the pipe. Imagine an aircraft carrier that carries only drones. No humans on board with all that goes with supporting humans leaves a lot more room for high tech weaponry. And drone aircraft also can be much smaller as they function without humans on board. Just as technology is making it much harder to support oneself through crime we are also reaching a point where war fighters will be obsolete.

Ghandi and Dr. King would tell you that peaceful protestors who break no laws often go to jail. You know, a cop whacks you over the head with a night stick, knocking you unconscious and then arrests you for sleeping on the sidewalk. Freedom to peacefully protest no longer exists in the US.

You forgot Reagan. His outrageous and illegal actions directed people like North. Worse yet he put the stupid trickle down economics in play which almost destroyed our nation.
                      And if you want to feel near suicidal despair simply dwell on the fact the large numbers of the US population actually consider him a wonderful leader to this day. And we actually have large numbers of people who think there is some value or legitimacy to right wing doctrines.
                      Sometimes when I see the starving and dying people of Ethiopia sitting in the dirt, waiting for grim death, without a clue as to what the world is like I think of them almost as the voting public in the US. Clueless, impaired by primitive beliefs and habits, and doomed just the way the generations before them were doomed. If we can not substantially increase the educational level of our public we are in huge trouble.

So you are saying the US actually has an economy! I'm not convinced that the US has ever had an economy at all. It seems more like some mumbo jumbo stew of community prejudices multiplied by incidents and accidents whose overall goal is to get people to work for free. The shocking part is that the US economy so rarely falls apart.

I suspect that with the types of devices using computer chips and software and the proliferation of OSs it is a risky bet to put money into the computer or electronic device industry. We can see this in the smart phone segment where companies jockey for position without knowing if a brand or new enterprise might suddenly sweep up the market. Although risk might yield a lot of earnings second guessing the computer industry is just far too difficult.

I think this case needs to be appealed in the federal courts. When a person is hired there exists some form of contract with the employer. When an employee is fired that contract ends. So if they told him or implied that he was no longer their employee I see no problem with him not responding in any way, leaving the building and immediately flying to a remote Pacific island leaving no address or way to contact him at all.
                  We do not know the details but was the request for passwords made after he was terminated? Was it made during the termination? Was it made before termination was made in any way? Worse yet what kind of idiots are in charge of this company? What if the man had stroked out and died suddenly? Is there any proof that they asked him to continuously keep them advised of passwords?
                  Maybe this fellow has a suit he can press against the former employer.

Snowden is a hero and needs no clemency. It is one thing for a government to spy upon people but it is quite another to pretend not to spy on the public. If the government had simply announced a need to study the public electronically and with other means as well many of us would care less. But a government based upon lies makes us all wonder if the government is not an enemy.
                  As far as turning information into other government agencies that would be useless. The Warren Commission's laughable look at the JFK assassination ruins the notion of trusted governmental inquiries.