"No, they have gone to absurd lengths to avoid civilian casualties."

It's telling you consider an attempt to avoid killing people might be deemed 'absurd'.

The United Nations seem to disagree with you.

Britbox is my favourite, for 1970s, 1980s British sci-fi.

A doctor provides a service and charges a fee.

A merchant buys widgets at a low price and sells them at a higher prices; makes a profit.

I don’t think there’s a problem with the former, within reason. The latter case is less noble, perhaps, but if it’s providing a service (importing goods from overseas, say) it’s still a win-win for both side# of the trade.

However, it’s easier to screw people on the way to making a profit than it is to charging an overblown fee for a service. There’s no great skill in buy-low sell-high. An overcharging doctor still has to graduate medical school first.

What’s my point? We all need to earn a wage to live. Don’t blame the people getting up each day to earn a wage by providing a service. Blame those who are trying to make a buck by gross profiteering.

Okian Warrior, I'm going to ask you for comment in twelve weeks' time...

Happy birthday Slashdot!
It's been a wild ride and I'd like to think the pace of change will decrease, but I doubt it.
Strap in for the next 20! See you in 2037!

^imaginary friend^perpetual motion device

Maybe you've got a point. Next time someone suggests believing in their imaginary friend I'll try really hard not to laugh out loud.

I haven't investigated all green curtains, but once you've looked behind the first there is no need.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE GREEN CURTAIN.

+1

"The traders count milliseconds", that's three orders of magnitude out. Single-digit microseconds are considered significant in low-latency algo trading. A useful ballpark figure is one microsecond is roughly 300 metres at lightspeed in vacuum (practically no different to the speed in air) but signal propagation in copper and glass is roughly two thirds of that - about 200 metres.

I agree, and reading your post resulted in me signing up to EFF for $25 a month.

I commute by train and have a fairly low tolerance threshold for other people's inane chatter and noise pollution from crappy headphones. In a bid to stay out of prison for assault I invested in a pair of Etymotic earphones. IMHO they're arguably the best you can buy when it comes to sound isolation (as opposed to noise cancellation) and sound reproduction. They come with lots of different tips - you can even have custom tips made which are moulded to your ear canals. Expensive, yes. But they really work. Without any music they're like a good pair of earplugs, which as you say still lets through the occasional raised voice. Listen to some quiet, neutral music, though (as mentioned by others, try white noise, nature sounds or gentle ambient stuff) and they really do feel like an isolation tank for your head. You have my sincere sympathy - I too have suffered the chronic stress of other people's noise. If you can get the cash together, try these things out. They have greatly improved my quality of life. Good luck. http://www.etymotic.com/

Reconsider your right to bear arms in the 21st Century.

I believe it's called a Hammer outside the engineering community.

Posts such as this give me just a tiny bit of hope that Humanity isn't headed for the dumpster.