Python is great, don't get me wrong (7 years, 5 of which as a paid Python/C++ developer) but production tasks are better served by faster/more resource efficient frameworks. The biggest mistake I made was getting too attached to a single language. Now I use Node, Go, Lua... I used to argue that Python was what everyone should learn with, but I'm not sure that is true anymore.
That will just kill liquidity and bias the market further towards larger agents. EU is going to shit anyways, so I'm all for it. Fug Capitalism. Viva 99%. (sarcasm intended)
It would also kill liquidity, which means next time we go into a recession and you hit the panic button on your 401k, I won't have a resting bid to catch you.
The problem isn't HFT, but rather dumb investors (like your pension fund) and bad vehicles (like leveraged ETFs and volatility-linked equity). Getting a good price is about subtle presentation of intent. If you're not willing to be subtle, you get what you deserve. Generally, pension funds choose the path of least intelligence and actually believe the sell side.
As for individual investors, if you don't know the difference between a market order and a limit order, you shouldn't be allowed to trade. Better yet, exchanges shouldn't allow market orders.
Soros wants the Tobin tax too... that alone should be a big red flag. The general public seems to think that regulations are written by "the people". Bullshit. They're written for "the people" by GS, JPM, etc... corporate lawyers will craft whatever implementation we get stuck with. Caveat trado!
Perhaps it could also be argued that she doesn't use it because she understands it too well... Come on, you think that new NSA station in Utah is limited to foreign surveillance?!
I'm not going to debate absolutes, but it is patently obvious that Android is relatively more open than iOS or Windoze by such an immense margin that your statement seems, well... asinine. Could it be better? Yes, absolutely. But, given the BS business model that Microsoft has always had (which is really the same for Apple, though they are better at marketing), Android is a hippie commune by comparison.