"But to say that this is a non-lethal weapon seems a bit disingenuous"

Why are the moral implications of this weapon more dire than those of any other weapon?

The big problem with this idea in the US is that it is so enormously cheaper to grow the food outside the city (not even far from it) where land costs and employee pay are considerably less.

"World War II was one of the first truly global wars"

Well, this is going to take a while to answer.

Well, as for the heart attacks and strokes, Middle Earth was a pre-industrial society, so I expect most people lived short, miserable, squalid lives.

I don't know.

I was expecting something more impressive than a variation of the Teacher's Voice from the old Peanuts cartoons.

Bush merely followed FDR's blueprints.

No, they were not peace-loving, and more than we are.

FDR did both those things. He paved the way for Bush's much smaller imitation of his actions.

You are making the mistake of assuming what you like is what everyone likes, in the face of data that suggest otherwise.

Do you actually know anything about FDR beyond what they taught you in 3rd grade?

Because he broadly abused Presidential power and often overstepped it's bounds.

Not trusting giant corporations is fine, although they can almost always be trusted to try and improve their profits, and are thus pretty predictable.

P.S. - many of my friends do the same thing - maybe it's a nutty "New England" thing, or at least for people of a certain age?

It's a nutty "old guy" thing.

I've lived all sorts of places, and the suburbs you describe are not the sum of all suburbs.

BIG OIL doesn't have to quash this (even if you believe that crap).

Sure they do.