I'd also like to point out that these modern 'underpowered' 40mpg compacts that have been flying off the lots have more power on average than the V6s of the 90s that everyone thought were gutsy. YOU DO NOT NEED 300HP TO BE SAFE ON THE ROAD. Yet another example of libertarian ideologues blinding themselves to reality and stretching to find ANY way to defend their ridiculous and harmful religion.

The fact remains that you are vastly, immensely more likely to survive an accident in a tiny little Smart than you would in a giant 72 buick skylark. Better design and better materials goes a long further than more weight. I'd also wonder if they accounted for the reduced numbers of deaths from the reduced air pollution that comes with increased CAFE standards and the fact that you would in reality not be significantly more likely to die in a modern compact than you would a V8-powered muscle car weighing 600 extra pounds or some top-heavy roll-happy SUV monstrosity weighing 1000 extra lbs in most accidents. Did they also account for the fact that increased CAFE standards have led to more efficient full-sized vehicles more than they've led to a proliferation of lightweight subcompacts? Because it's pretty clear that the increased sales of subcompacts has had more to do with their low price in this economy than any meaningful gas savings over their larger brethren in the compact class. At this point MOST car manufacturers offer a 40mpg 'compact' car that's actually larger than your average mid-90s midsize family sedan, with many more amenities and a much nicer interior, to boot.

Seriously, that game is exactly the game we all remembered, except better, and with epicly fun co-op.

They are ABSOLUTELY just as fascist and evil as we make them out to be. You can pooh-pooh it all you like, but you're just deluding yourself to excuse your inaction. And besides, we don't hate cops, we just hate the ones that trample our rights, like the ones that serve no-knock warrants for minor drug crimes, and the ones that don't bother with warrants, and the ones that taze you for a 'bad attitude', and the ones that shoot first and ask questions later, and the ones that threaten and harass citizen journalists, and the ones that beat protesters exercising their democratic rights, and the ones that kick people out of their homes when they get a letter from the bank, and the ones that target the poor for harassment, and the ones that dress up like SS officers for fun, and the ones that hate minorities, and the ones that escape corruption charges out of police solidarity, and the ones that tamper with evidence, and the ones that think they should not be held accountable for their actions. Really, it's just the 95% majority of cops that we hate. The rest are awesome, and bravo for standing up to a culture of pure, unmitigated evil.

It seems a WEE bit premature to be worrying about lost revenue because of efficiency gains, such that you need a way to tax all those free-loading enviro-geeks. Maybe wait until electric cars hit 1% of the market at least, before building taxes in such a way that you discourage their use... I mean really, if we want to have any chance of maintaining our way of life whatsoever, given our critical mis-steps of the past 40 years and the emerging energy crisis popularly known as peak oil, we've got to move to electric and plug-in hybrid cars almost immediately, and we are YEARS behind schedule on that, meaning massive economic suffering in the decades to come. And that's aside from the sheer stupidity of having a 700 pound motorcycle pay the same per-mile cost as a 3700 pound passenger car and a 37,000 pound truck. Gas taxes are the only fair way to have a use tax for highways, while simultaneously aiding the efficiency improvements so desperately needed if America is to remain economically viable. All the bureaucracy is already in place, we just raise the $.17 a gallon to $.50 a gallon or whatever, and then we can have all the roads and bridges we need. And really, if you begrudge $.17 out of $4 going towards building the roads you're using, you're already an asshole, it wouldn't be any different if the tax were twice as much. High efficiency vehicles, bicycle and public transit use are what we need to be encouraging. Making those who have the basic sense of decency and intelligence to make the right decisions about their personal transportation pay for highways at a level that's fundamentally disproportionate to the actual wear and tear their lightweight vehicles cause is ridiculous.

Why would you want to tax vehicle miles instead of gas used? Taxing gas promotes fuel efficiency AND carpooling, public transit, living closer to work, etc. It amounts to the same thing, yet I get the distinct feeling the ONLY reason this proposal is being floated is because an actual gas tax is seen as politically untenable, despite being more effective, less onerous (would you rather an extra $5 each time you fill up or pay $250 at the end of the year?), and proven to be effective in dozens of other nations with vastly more efficient vehicles than are popular here. One more example of Democrats crippling themselves for sake of appeasing a 'political reality' that is at odds with doing what is necessary to preserve our nation's economy in the face of perpetually rising oil prices. Of course, that assumes that the Democrats actually cared about anything but securing enough corporate donations to win re-election.

It's called PUBLIC SCHOOL. Helping to make sure disadvantaged children have at least some opportunity to rise above their station in life since 1852. Yet another fine example of socialism's infinite superiority to unchecked capitalism. When run properly, (and it isn't), public education's improvement to the overall workforce's productivity and flexibility improves the general economy far more than it costs, a fact also true of higher education. Paying for your own higher education is a huge drain on the economy, and as a policy it is retained only because of corruption. The same is true of private health insurance.
'What incentive will there be to care for your own children if the state will provide a child's basic needs?' To paraphrase Barney Frank, what planet do you live on? Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? Who asks a question like that?
I do not propose equality for all Americans. The liberal socialism implied by social works like public health care, education, and infrastructure does not suggest equality for all. It is not Marxism, it is not communism. It merely reflects the obvious fact that it is only when all members of a society have equal opportunity to achieve wealth in a capitalistic system will that system achieve maximum economic and social growth. In economic terms, free markets' ability to achieve greater results through competition are limited by the barriers to entry for that market. When it is so much easier for the child of a wealthy person to start a business or achieve success than the child of a poor person, the winner in the market is no longer decided on their individual merits. In this sense, a 'free market' economy rapidly becomes anti-competitive, insular, corrupt and ineffective.
This is basic shit. Wake the fuck up and get your head out of your emotional, fearful, brainwashed ass.

Satellite is completely unacceptable for any real net junkie, especially gamers. The ping is even higher than with dial-up. Man, I played FPS games over dial-up for a few years-- it's not so terrible as all that if you've got a good phone line. And of course, if you're out in the boonies you probably don't have a great phone line. My tip is this: get yourself a nice desktop replacement laptop like a Macbook Pro or some such, and mooch off some free hotspot in town. You'll spend about the same, and have a kickass lappy in the bargain. Might help you to prioritize some things differently. Find some roommates and get an apartment. Unless your parents are letting you stay for free, it's the way to go, even if you wind up spending three times as much on rent. I had a guy come in to my work yesterday straight out of A Confederacy of Dunces, a huge fat man nearly in his 40s and living with his elderly mother, trying to return the guitar amp he'd bought because he couldn't get a good sound out of it with his inexperienced hands. Man, move out of your parents' house! Don't be that guy. Noone really cares (except any potential girlfriend) if you're living with your parents when you're 25, but something happens when you turn 30 and you won't have much in the way of friends or life. Suicide might become your only option. Get out there, get a job, make some money. If you can't get a job consider the idea that perhaps there's some aspect of your personality or attitude that is poorly suited to the hard realities of the working world, and endeavor to change those aspects. It's not that hard once you get started. I spent the last 7 years of my life not working (fortunately I did not have to live with my parents) and surfing the internet 10-16 hours a day, and I gotta tell you-- it's not that hard to work and make money and live on your own. It might not be the comforts you're adjusted to, but it's totally reasonable, and socially rewarding. Speaking of which I gotta go to work to pay for my rent. Yes, it is a worthy tradeoff, and it does make your life more enjoyable to make it. Quit making excuses for yourself and go do it. The video games will still be there after work.