Java will never, ever replace c++

Of course not.

  Because there will always be a need for stuff that "really compiles" rather than "compiles with respect to
  the JVM" for both performance, and reliability issues.

Compile-time optimizations are great and GC kills caches and locality, but there are run-time optimizations too to balance that argument.

  In my personal opinion, Java is a fad for children. However, that may be a bit harsh.

Yes, too harsh and not rational. I dislike languages that imposed themselves by hundreds of millions of advertisement and lobbying instead of having programmers freely choose.

  <the car and teenagers rant>

Sorry, no. The equivalent of the teenagers in programming actually dislike Java and are into more dynamic languages, like Python, Ruby, and even Javascript.

  not as "easy to program"

It is amazing how easier it is nowadays to program in C++ with the latest template libraries (STL and Boost.)

  <the pointer rant>

C++ is distancing itself from the low level C-style pointers (well, assembly-style for the purists.) You need them less now. It is kind of tricky to avoid leaks but if you memorize a dozen patterns you are safe.