I never got chickenpox as a child. My doctor at the time even had me tested, thinking I had gotten it so mildly that nobody noticed. My brother was in the same boat. We both got vaccinated as adults (I was in my early/mid 20's at the time). I thought about the whole shingles thing, but decided the risk of getting chicken pox as an adult was high enough that I wanted the protection. It was my sister-in-law's pregnancy that led to me getting vaccinated since I figured the child could be an additional vector for me (and I was frequently travelling overseas at the time, so that added to the risk). I don't regret it. They also have a shingles vaccine these days, so I'll probably make sure to get that at some point.

I'll agree with that. I still don't think "abolish the government" is the answer, though. Right now the American people are getting exactly the government they "want". They complain (and rightly so), but they also keep voting for the same people who are following the will of their corporate overlords, and without the corporate overlords money, they won't be able to run the ads to convince people (who get 99% of their news from commercials) to vote for them. I'm not sure how we orchestrate such a change, and nobody has been able to do it so far (though that would be an interesting discussion to have).

So how do you imagine we "abolish the US government" without harming the people? It's easy to point out the "bad", "evil", (and the favorite of the anarchist/libertarian sort) "facist" things the US governemnt does while ignoring the massive good it has done. Of course, if looking through a very narrow lens helps suport your cause, I guess you're free to do that, and somehow get positive mod points for it. Guess you brought friends, eh? Just remember, the evil government is what is allowing you to post negatively about it. Try the same in any of many more oppressive countries out there.

Or we could save a ton of money AND save the trouble of finding the right drug cocktail by eliminating the death penalty. It's not like it's a deterrent to crime.

I'm fairly certain he's making a somewhat racist joke regarding eye shape.

How could consumers possibly face "less choice" than they do now?! I moved about three months ago and my ONLY choice for wired internet (and cable, for that matter) is Comcast. For two and a half of those months, I had no service and was fighting with Comcast. It sure would have been nice if there WERE another choice. It's also not like I'm living in the middle of nowhere - this is in the DC Metro! This is not a rare thing, at all. Where I moved from I at least had two choices (AT&T and a local Cable / internet company), but that's still not much choice.

Regulation can only help at this point, because it will give consumers a leg to stand on when dealing with these people. I suggest anyone who thinks we DON'T need regulation should try dealing with Comcast customer support for a month, then get back to me.

Oh yes, because violent crime is something I worry about on a daily basis. I know zero people in my family that have been victims of violent crime. ZERO. I have not been the victim of violent crime, and I have spent many a day and night in Detroit (concerts, bar visits, driving through, etc) which is a city known for it's crime (though I feel like it's overblown quite a bit unless you're counting gun nuts who shoot strangers for being on their front porch).

People who feel the need to carry a gun at all times to "protect themselves" need a few lessons in risk management and statistics. I'm certain if you live in the U.S., you don't have any sort of tiger-attack insurance, nor do you take medication to keep you from getting malaria, because those are simply not things you need to protect yourself from. The chances of either of those things happening in the US are so small as to be something you don't need to worry about. The same goes for violent crime. Pick your friends well, don't hang out in high-crime areas waving around wads of cash, and don't go into ethnic neighborhoods different from yours and scream racial slurs and I think you'll be fine.

Exactly.

I don't have a degree ("some college" only), and I've done well as a Linux admin. I've worked for large tech companies, automotive suppliers, market research firms, a state university, and I'm now back to a private firm that focuses on I.T. security. The only times no degree has ever been an "issue" has been when applying for a job at an Ivy League school (who wanted a degree for the senior position but would still hire a non-degreed person for a non-senior position - I passed), and for a large trading company that I think I'm glad I don't work for. I recently changed jobs and I was given a solid salary for the metro area I moved to, and they gave me relocation money (and this isn't even some crazy vally tech firm).

At a previous job, the I.T. Director had no degree and did a good job. There are plenty of people without degrees in higher-level positions than helpdesk or tier one support.

While you would clearly be getting volunteers for the start of this task, there is an ethical dillema as far as future generations. Just because parents / grandparents / great-grandparents were totally OK living their entire lives in what would be a fairly finite space, it doesn't mean some members of a future generation wouldn't consider it torture. I guess it might be hard for me to see things from their eyes since they would be born into it, but I'm thinking that after I got to learn some history and see some videos / pictures of Earth, I'd be pretty unhappy stuck on a spaceship forever. I wonder how many would refuse to breed and do the same to their offspring (which would screw up the "diversity", or decide to turn back, or just go stark-raving-mad and murder someone or everyone (destroy the ship), and then your genetic diversity is REALLY screwed.

There are still needless calories in Gatorade. Less than your typical non-diet soda, but far more than water. It can be a rough switch at first so some of those extremely low calorie water flavor items (be them powder or liquid) can be a good alternative to plain water.

Way back in high school the army recruiter spotted me working in the computer lab and tried to talk me into joining up. He told me the toughest it ever got for the computer techs was working shifts and sleeping on a cot in a hallway, and even that was rare. THEN he found out I had asthma and told me I wouldn't make it through basic, and even if they re-instated the draft I wouldn't be going anywhere. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have joined, anyhow. Just not the type of life I was looking for.

I'm sure Wilford Brimley will be along at any minute to help out our diabeetus-stricken cows.