Cool. I didn't understand you, TBH, and I was just letting is slide as something stupid. But, now I see what happened - - - I browse everything. Sometimes those AC's write something worth reading, but you gotta wade through a lot of crap to get anything "good". And, TBH, I shouldn't have fed the troll to whom I replied.

Most advertising is offensive. That has been understood by the advertising industry since it's infancy. If you want to watch a movie, you "pay" by watching our advertising. If you want to read some online content, you "pay" by allowing us to use your bandwidth to serve offensive content. You'll get to the content that you wanted to see, as soon as you've finished wasting a minute or more of your time watching our offensive content. You've got to pay, or you don't get your content.

I've about decided to remove CNN from among my news feeds, for that reason. I want the news, I don't want to watch the drivel force fed to my computer by their stupid assed scripts. About one or two more annoying ads is all it will take, then their best click bait won't lure me in anymore.

Soooooo - the only "costs" you recognize are financial? That leaves me wondering just what kind of person you are. Among other things, you must be very shallow.

The internet isn't free. Taxpayers, like myeslf, have paid for much of it. Paying customers of ISP's, like myself, have paid for much more of it. Basically, all of us sitting on our asses in front of a computer screen have PAID FOR the internet.

Google Scholar and the like? There has been a lot of discussion about academic papers. Taxpayers, like myself, have paid for a great deal of that content. Virtually every research project in the nation has qualified for grants - taxpayer money. Many, if not most, research projects, wouldn't exist without those grants. We've PAID FOR that content. If we aren't whole owners, then taxpayers certainly have an interest in that content.

So, in effect, we have entire industries, capitalizing on the taxpayer's property.

Let us rephrase your question - When DID corporate America expecting free reign over America's property become acceptable?

Oh - the employer? Many of them DO expect you to work for free. Have you been keeping up with current events? Let's take Mickey D's. They take a decent worker, who is making one hell of a lot of money for Mickey's. He is much more profitable than the average dickweed, so they offer him/her a deal. "How would you like to be a manager trainee? In a few years, you can become a manager yourself!" Sounds good, huh? Except, the trainee actually gets a salary based on minimum wage for 40 hours per week - then is required to work 60 to 80 hours. Mickey's isn't alone, either. It's common practice around this nation to exploit more profitable employees in this manner.

Paperwork. Ever been told that you've got to clock out, but you've got to complete paperwork afterward? It happens.

Bosses everywhere will take advantage of you, if you aren't assertive.

First aid. Everyone uses it at some point, eventually. Yet, almost no one ever bothers to learn it. I spent the time and money, went to class at the University of Maine, Machias, to learn how to save lives. I did my ER hours at the Down East Medical Center, Bangor. I've never earned a dime with that knowledge. One might say it was a total waste of time and effort, for that reason.

But, the subject is coding, right? Computer skills that amount to more than "Learning the Microsoft Way". I agree with Cook (this time - the man does run at the mouth a lot). You can't go wrong by learning some computer skills. If for no other reason, it could save a kid's life one day. The poor frazzled IT guy who is trying to help the poor young fool to fix his computer will be far less tempted to shoot the ignorant shit if he can carry on an intelligent conversation.

Ideally, the kid won't ever have to call the IT guy, because he's smart enough to fix all the obvious problems, as well as most of the less obvious. He'll know enough to start by brewing a pot of coffee, pour a cup of that coffee, and place it in the cup holder provided on the front of the computer.

The schools are already busy teaching kids to be wimpy little fucks, and know-nothings. They don't need to be teaching "humanities" IMO. No, I don't want to swing the pendulum to far the other direction either. We don't need to turn kids into gangstas. How about something right down the middle. Teach boys to be boys, which includes a little rough and tumble, skinned knees, playing with knives, and other "boy" things. There's nothing wrong with encouraging little girls to pursue traditionally "masculine" goals, like sports, STEM, etc, but FFS stop emasculating little boys.

WTF are you trying to say? Is GPL the worst, or not? If not the worst, then what is worse? Never mind, you're just another fuckweed grousing about open source.

I don't pay for my desktop OS. I don't pay for my laptop OS. I don't pay for my phone OS. I don't pay any major carrier's price for my phone service - the resellers offer the same services, at about 80% discount.

No, I'm not about to pay for updates for my phone's OS. There are enough alternatives to avoid paying for either the OS or it's updates. Cyanogen mod hasn't started charging for access to it's servers, have they?

I might be willing to pay an extra dollar to my carrier, if they BLOCK all those updates, advertising, malware, etc. Might be willing, I say.

The question that I responded to asked "what kind of moron" - remember?

A smarter individual might go out and purchase a weapon openly and legally, knowing that he is going to dispose of the weapon anyway. Or - he may not.

Not every mercenary or assassin is really stupid, nor are all of them really bright. And, there remains an underground market for weapons in various states of legality, modification, and repair.

Now, if I desperately needed an untraceable weapon, I believe that I would consider burglarizing a pawn shop. Or, I would find some chump to do the strawman thing, so that my weapon appeared to be legal, until I could destroy it.

Different strokes for different folks, you know?

The kind of moron who feels the need to purchase an untraceable weapon will pay a premium for some POS that can't be tied to him. Serial number ground away? Good - rifling half shot out? Not a problem. The fancy woodwork needs to go - and I prefer blued steel to any shiny shit. Black anodizing is alright - specially if it's aged. The weapon isn't for show, it's for a mission.

Not paranoid at all - it sounds realistic to me. And, all of us with European blood have similar stories. Most people today have forgotten the many armies that swept back and forth over Europe throughout history. They believe that it can't happen again. And, they believe that it can't happen here. Politics. It's always about politics - some royalty, or someone who thinks that they should be royal, finds some "cause" with which to recruit some crazies, and off we go into yet another war.

"If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him." -Richlieu

You need not break a law for law enforcement to get interested in you. Nor do you need to break a law for those who are politically motivated to get interested in you. Have you ever attended a rally to either support, or to defeat, a nominee? Are you not associated with any kind of activists? Not even to the "6th degree"?

I have my secrets, and they stay secret, because I don't share them with anyone. I don't make confessions to clergy, the wife, the kids, coworkers, and certainly not to Facebook, or any of the other social media. And, I damned sure won't permit any shadowy corporation in on my secrets, if at all possible. If they get my secrets, they're going to have work a hell of a lot harder than installing crapware on my computer along with some subscription.

Most people have secrets. Some of those secrets aren't really very important, but as you point out, learning those secrets gives a people power over that person, in most cases. Pretty much all men and women are sexual creatures, who learned by experimentation. Most of them would be devastated to have the details of their early explorations made public. Probably not you, and almost certainly not me, but most people would be. We've ALL done embarrassing things, at some point in our lives.

Those profiles can't be used for political purposes? They can't be used for "police" purposes? In short, the "powers that be" should be able to track you under any circumstances? And, you don't believe that there are any potential injustices to worry about?

Let us try to get a grip on reality here. Knowledge is power. Information is a tool with which to wield power. You are giving away power over yourself. And, you gain NOTHING in return.

Which is kinda funny in a way. Females have been trying to gain power over their lives for many decades now. Here, we have a female saying BFD when it is pointed out that corporations and government alike are seeking ever more power over you.

Filed in the "Things that make you go "HMMMMM"" folder.

When half the population is carrying a gun, the criminal generally chooses NOT to pull a weapon, or to resort to violence of any kind. Criminals don't go looking for fair fights, or even odds.

Every_single_day there are stories published about people being murdered with guns in Chicago. If you were keeping up with current events, you wouldn't have to ask for proof of that.

http://mic.com/articles/127842...

http://chicagoist.com/2013/01/...

http://america.aljazeera.com/w...

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chic...

Now, presuming that those links satisfy your need for a citation - let me ask something. Can you point to any instance of prohibition in this country that has worked? Prohibition of alcohol and Chicago added up to an Al Capone. Prohibition of cannabis and Chicago adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis trade, annually. Prohibition of firearms and Chicago adds up to thousands of dead people, annually.

Get rid of stupid damned laws, and let the people sort it out. A law abiding citizen will seldom use his weapon in an unacceptable manner. A crook will often use his weapon inappropriately. Sooner or later, the crook will meet a law abiding citizen who is armed, willing and able to put the crook in his grave. Eventually, all but the very stupidest people will figure out that a life of crime always results in being shot.

Dump the stupid laws. Chicago is incapable of enforcing any kind of prohibition - so give the guns to law abiding people!