It is misleading to attribute too much credit to a single individual, even a president. There was a significant clash of social/political forces when Obama was in office. Off the top of my head I can think of the following major forces: War in Iraq & Afghanistan, Great Recession & Occupy, DREAMers, ACA, Gay marriage, Environmentalism / Inconvenient Truth, Global outsourcing & job loss, Tea Party & the rise of militant christian nationalism. That’s the landscape in which progressive policy ambitions were compromised to death to avoid total gridlock.

It’s also worth giving credit where it is due: those auto safety and emissions regulations achieved their goal… for regular cars. Unfortunately, Republicans insisted on exceptions for body-on-frame vehicles (trucks, vans, SUVs). In the years since, those types of vehicles have steadily become the most common in the US, because they are the most profitable for the auto industry.

Companies DO analyze what you say to smart speakers, but only after you have said “ok google, siri, alexa, etc.” (or if they mistake something like “ok to go” as “ok google”). I am not aware of a single reputable source claiming smart speakers are always listening.

The reality is that analyzing a constant stream of audio is way less efficient and accurate than simply profiling users based on information such as internet usage, purchase history, political leanings, etc. If you’re interested in online privacy device fingerprinting is a fascinating topic to start understanding how companies can determine exactly who you are based solely on information about your device. Then they use web tracking to determine what your interests are, who you associate with, how you spend your time, what your beliefs are, how you can be influenced, etc.

Your smart speaker isn’t constantly listening because it doesn’t need to. There are far easier ways to build a more accurate profile on you.

Ever since Signal removed SMS capability I’ve really hoped to see SMS added to the FOSS fork Molly.

You've listed a lot of good reasons why open-source for business isn't used more frequently, and they're all consistent with my experience as well. Are you familiar with any consulting companies / vendors who DO advocate open-source solutions?

I've been considering starting a FOSS MSP / FOSS B2B consulting firm, but I've consistently come to the same conclusion that the tech industry and business culture here are almost innoculated against open-source. If you know any firms that DO recommend open-source solutions I'd love to check them out.

It is supposedly a personal moral failing every time someone drives too old, too tired, or too impaired, but if trains, busses, & walking were the default ways to get around then this chronic societal problem would diminish dramatically. For the vast majority of US citizens busses, trains, walking, biking, etc are not viable options because US infrastructure & city planning overwhelmingly neglects everything but the automobile.

Incompetent driving is rooted in systemic failures, not personal moral ones.

I haven’t played in over a year, but I really spent some hours in Veloren the last time I picked it up!

Police spend most of their time on routine traffic stops, and routine traffic stops could be eliminated by transit and walkable infrastructure. It’s almost like it’s a racket…

All too often I think the discussion misses the fact that there is no alternative to driving for the vast majority of US citizens. Busses, trains, walking, biking, etc are not viable options because US infrastructure & city planning overwhelmingly neglects everything but the automobile.

It is supposedly a personal moral failing every time someone drives too old, too tired, or too impaired, but if trains, busses, & walking were the default ways to get around then this chronic societal problem would diminish dramatically. Incompetent driving is rooted in systemic failures, not personal moral ones.

As everyone else has confirmed - the title is incorrect, medical debt absolutely can be sent to collections

What OP likely misunderstood is the practice of validating a debt - this is not a loophole to get out of paying your debts, this is a basic legal protection to prevent malicious collection agencies from fraudulently pursuing invalid debts. When you get a bill in the mail from a collections agency you can request that the agency validate the debt, and they will have to formally provide the following information before you are required to repay the debt:

• [collection agency’s] name and mailing address
• the name of the creditor you owe it to
• how much money you owe, written out to include interest, fees, payments, and credits
• what to do if you don’t think it’s your debt
• your debt collection rights, including your right to get information about the original creditor if you ask for it within 30 days of getting validation information from the collector

A collector has to give you “validation information” about the debt either when they first communicate with you or within five days of the first contact. The collector has to include the following

Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Advice - Debt collection FAQ