Congratulations on your restraint. You, sir or madam, are the modern version of an ascetic hermit. Consider writing (promoting) a guide book on how you manage it. My self-congratulatory pride in 'still' using an iPhone X is crumbling... and will fail if the new one has an optical zoom.

I don't disagree. "Dysfunctional industry" is partly caused by financial 'wizardry' (slight of hand). Very short-term investment decisions are part of the problem, maybe the biggest part. Not so long ago, investors were mostly long-term and US industries would plan for generations. But mutual funds (whose owners don't care where they are invested) and corporate raiders focused on extracting 'value' (cash) immediately, often by overloading companies with debt, have produced a few individual winners and many community losers. To be clear, mutual funds can be good, depending on their mission and governance, but it's also a good idea to hold some stocks of companies in which you believe.

Your sig...
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it -Sinclair Lewis
...is perfect for Kennedy, whose whole shtick, the appeal of vague conspiracies to the victimized, is based on stupidity. He is a know-nothing, either intentionally (for-profit) or else native ignorance.

yeah, no. His tactic of 'peddling sympathy' is bankrupt with all but the most blind. He was able to patch up his finances with infusions of other people's money but that is running out and even the most ardent money launderers cannot squeeze cash from the ruble. Multiple indictments in various jurisdictions will keep him busy with court appearances where he will have to STFU and listen, not the most flattering pose for his admirers. The argument for blocking his placement on ballots is made by established *conservative* legal professors, based on an 'originalist' interpretation of the Constitution favored by the right-wing of the SCOTUS. He is a dead man pouting, his fate is political, legal, and financial death by a thousand cuts....

The Biden administration is executing an important shift in trade/market policy, turning away from large 'free trade' agreements that usually led to US job losses and towards more focused, targeted agreements and managed investments. The investments amount to just a tiny part of the US economy but, as with other key industries (space, defense, biotech), potentially critical. Keeping the ill-considered and abruptly imposed tariffs from the former 'administration', for now, provides some leverage that might be tuned up, down, broadened or narrowed. Most economists are free-traders but many would accept such tuning as helpful and probably politically astute.

Parking on the level doesn't actually "prevent any chance of the vehicle moving" [spokesperson] during updates but it does greatly reduce the chances of gravity being the prime mover.

Seems reasonable. And the constraint is easily satisfied, not like they require a proprietary tool.

If you've ever delved into iDrive (bimmer's onboard computer interface), which is 'extremely detailed' (arguably obsessively so, and labyrinthian), you might be more surprised that there isn't an override....you sure about that? ;-)

"rushed out" (after tens of thousands of participants were tested)
"fake" (providing 96% protection against the then-prevalent strains)

The evidence (all public) is irrefutable that the RNA vaccines from Moderna and BioNTech (Pfizer) are the most thoroughly-tested and effective medications EVER. That is my belief as an immunologist with over 40 years of experience in basic science and zero connection financially with either product. The Omicron variant is extremely interesting from an evolutionary perspective and is obviously a serious challenge to our public health but not insurmountable.

Really "sane"?

Or "same" (i.e., blockchain)? If a typo, most probably, not the most reassuring. But hype leaves no time for proofreading or reflection.

Yes, contra-rotating neutralizes torque because one set of blades is rotating opposite another set. Neutralization is necessary for a helicopter else it would spin opposite the main rotor direction. Most helicopters use a tail rotor and some use an offset counter-rotating blade (two axes). Maybe NASA avoided both those options for space or weight. That does not address the concern about disrupted air flow and presumably inefficiency caused by contra-rotating blades (one axis).

Very cool thanks for the link. I'm no expert (but) it seems contra-rotating propellers (same axis) must be inefficient, even if they are optimal for this application. The second set of contra-rotating blades encounter a very turbulent airstream, surely making it harder to establish laminar flow and generate lift. It seems that offset blades (counter-rotating, different axes) would be more efficient. Opinions, expert and otherwise?

Oh I believe it. You had me at "highly educated people..." (snarkasm).

The growing popularity of the shut-in lifestyle will certainly ease our transition to life aboard the starship we will need to escape our ruined earth. (WALL-E reference.)

The Swiss?. They are all about letting their corporations do whatever dirty work they want so long as they do it outside their country. Pollution flushed down the Rhein? Fine. Contamination sent over the border into Italy? No problem. Con 3rd world mothers into buying Nestle 'milk'? Bravo and encore! Secure the wealth of arms traders, drug pushers, human traffickers, tyrants, dictators...deal!

Yes! Just a whiff of common sense would reduce the "Defense" department budget by 50%. We spend more than nearly the rest of the world COMBINED and some of them, so far at least, are our friends and allies.

"He had to tell the system four times to turn the lights off before it got dark."
And *that* time he he called Jarvis by its nickname, "Alexa".