Lets put aside your current government's respect for it's own constitution. As a person from the country that rates #3 on the world freedom index I really have no wish to emulate what you in the #15 rated country do. Then again it looks worse if you compare our democracy ratings where we're #2 and the USA is #28.

But hey you do win on the number of guns, so I guess you can continue to be proud of that.

The sad part is he probably believes that is true.

Yea, you really see it with the former US allies response to the new Iran war. It is basically the USA started this war, but we are not getting dragged into your shit any more. Good luck with whatever it was you were hoping to achieve but don't act surprise when we are not rushing to help you.

I'm guessing you don't have a clue just how bizarre such a statement sounds to most people in civilized countries outside the USA.

I used to travel to the USA often and all those things you mentioned did worry me, but I still went there. I was really careful about where and when I went places if I was not with a local. Basically it was ok to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

However my concerns have increased with recent changes to the point I simply no longer want to risk travel to there anymore. Firstly the elected leader is basically a reflection what the country's population aspires to be. When you then realise that at-least half the people you meet there thought that a person of trump's character was not only ok but he was the best choice to represent them, then you suddenly worry about the character of the people over there. Then there was the entry paperwork. Coming from a trusted country free of visa requirements the ESTA process used to be annoying. Now it has demands about social media, phone numbers and contracts making it a major invasive fishing expedition. Who know what will trigger negative outcomes? I'm not the gambling type, so no more USA travel for me.

What's the problem with trash talking a country? You may not like it but that is just an option, not a threat, so should not be a basis for refusing entry. Now if they had posted threats, or calls for violence, then fine, send them back home.

Yes, it is clearly an act of war, but the during their war they have engaged in many acts of terrorism. You can't call targeted bombing of maternity hospitals and kindergartens acts of war, they are acts of terrorism pure and simple, that the Russians have undertaken as part of their war.

WTF? Do you know how forums work.

Let's keep this simple. You suggested Global Entry was a solution for non-USA travelers. I looked into it a few years back when I was traveling to the USA several times a year. I forget what the gotcha was but I passed on the idea at the time. The core problem is a USA citizen has a virtually unconditional right of entry, the rest of us have zero rights to enter and the current administration is really pushing that point home as hard as they can.

The difference is you presumably don't have to provide access to your last 5 years of social media. I assume the backend systems then automatically scan your posts for any expressed a negative option of trump etc and then flags you to be pulled out of the Global Entry line for further 'checks'. Yea, that is a hard no from me, I have been to the USA and there is nothing there worth the risk.

I'm also an old Gen X from New Zealand who used to travel the USA regularly. Before the whole ESTA process was annoying but now with the new social media checks it is totally over the top. I'm not the gambling type so last year when it became clear how hostile the current USA government is to pretty much everyone I cancelled my planned trip CES and went to Japan instead. I was pleased at how low hassle Japan was compared with flying the USA and I was pleased to find it was less expensive too. Yesterday I booked flights for a trip to Japan again this year.

Quite frankly I doubt I will ever travel to the USA again as I think my age and ability to travel will catch with me before the USA returns to being a normal member of the international community again.

Yeah, open the bonnet on a modern ICEV and often is a sea of plastic and plumbing. Modern cars have have got horribly over complicated. I was hoping BEVs could bring back simpler cars and that is definitely the case where people have done home conversions, but commercial offering do feel way more complicated than they need be. Some of the BEV conversions of classic VW Beatles look really clean and simple. I do want to check out the details of the new BYD Atto 1 and see how much unneeded tech there is in it given it sells cheaper that most ICEVs here and still has reasonable specs.

My old 2015 Suzuki Jimny is as about as simple as a modern ICEV gets. I would love it if they did a BEV version that retains the simple is best thinking, but I'm not holding my breath on that happening.

Anyone remember that 2011 Justin Bieber & Ozzy Osbourne Super Bowl commercial? https://www.youtube.com/watch?....

Yea, I'm doing some product development with a Qualcomm chip. It is pretty horrible experience with everything being closed behind walls and the software development only working on Windows. Since I don't have any Windows machines I have been able to keep out of the software side for their processors so far, but it looks like I will be pulled into that soon and I am not looking forward to it.

The faster phone cellular connections are seeing the same effect as PC CPU improvements. The move from 2.5G to 3G was like the move from single to dual core, well worth the investment in upgrading. The move from 3G to 4G was like the move from dual core to quad core, noticeable and worth investing in when it was time was right. The move from 4G to 5G was the meh point for consumers, just like the move to more than 4 core CPU for PCs. Consumers saw no need to upgrade until their current device was failing. Qualcomm can hype 6G all they like but it won't drive new sales by promising performance improvements that buyers see no need for.

Also I wonder how long it will be before marketing people realise that add the words 'AI' to everything is hurting their sales with an increasing number of potential buyers.

Well I do like the live traffic information for updated routing and to listen to streaming music, but the tech for that has existed for many years now. Honestly if I lost access to both it wouldn't be the end of the world. Of course the claim 5G would be need for self driving cars was 100% bullshit. Any car that need any generation of cellular connectivity for self driving should not be allowed on the road. Hell even my Tesla gets it's self driving updates only via WiFi when parked in the garage because even Tesla will not pay for cellular data for that.

I understand your "I don't want annoying me, tracking me or limiting me on how/where I want to drive" and how hard that is to avoid. Maybe one company will break from the pack and make that a selling point, but honestly when you follow the money I see that as unlikely. Right now Aptera seems to be the most open company when it comes to vehicle tech, but it remains to be seen if that attitude will carry through to the point when they are actually selling vehicles.