Because we want this coin to be useful also for retail merchants- we want to build a coin that people actually use from time to time in the day to day purchases (not just online ones).  Sure, it's not credit card speeds, but it should work in many applications.

Can you provide some actual evidence to fork susceptibility with a coin with a POS component with a 15 second block time, rather than just accusations?

If you can not provide any evidence, I would request that you kindly remove your post.