There are private companies that have this down pat. A friend of mine is a sysadmin for a company that "records the call for quality assurance" for clients ranging from banks to the DOD. Many, many terabytes of data acquired yearly. They accurately transcribe all calls to get CC info, health data, etc. They also analyse the calls for stress, etc. to judge the call center performance.

It's pretty un-nerving what they can do and this is just one company with home grown, or at least home modified software. I have no problem assuming that the government has this or better.

Only at big family dinners! BTW, our church has no antipathy to divorce either, just recommends trying to work things out when possible, but no stigma.

Thanks. We of course told our kids to NEVER do something that risky!

One took our advice, lived together for a couple of years and appears to have a great marriage. We're watching to see how the other one does.

My wife and I dated for about 3 weeks and decided to marry. We had about 10 attendees, mostly stunned relatives present. We had a total combined cash pile of $14.00. The wedding cost maybe $50, her small town family church was either free or really cheap and her father paid the bill. We never had a honeymoon (See the $14 point above!). We both are really into our religion, so I suppose that matches.

That was 36 years ago.

PornoTube

Thanks Obama

She's probably just fine with the *state* peeping into your (not her) business. That's the very definition of a self labeled "progressive". Guns, drones, private (no tax man involved) monetary interactions between people, healthcare, retirement, etc.

These things are the bailiwick of the state only. You're too stupid to be allowed to make these decisions.

In the same way that light isn't light if no one sees it? I disagree.

Not that easy. I worked for a company that did just that. Air gapped completely. We sneaker netted the web orders, etc. back and forth between the internal system and the outside world. Huge pain in the ass, but secure.

When we had to be certified as PCI compliant by our auditors, they wouldn't. Said that the air gap was a security risk! Made us connect and go through the hoops with more firewalls, et al., to be certified so we could stay in business.

I will NEVER believe that they are more secure now than before. We checked the sneakernet data for SQL injection, ran AV, limited removable media to a few trusted and audited employees and so forth. But in the end, we had to get that PCI cert or our bank would refuse to do business with us.

Saying that the victim had a role in the incident isn't precisely "blaming the victim". Our attention and/or inattention during our activities play a role in the outcomes. It's true that no one deserves to be taken advantage of by some bastard, but it's childish to cry that no one should ever be at risk for carelessness either. Doesn't work with power tools, rock climbing or as any adult knows, interaction with other people.

No kidding. Who needs an earthquake when the power goes out at -30f.

Having said that, I moved here from the South some 25 years ago. I don't think I've had a power loss in the winter here.

We had them all the time from winter ice storms down South. I've lost power up here in the summer time many times from an hour to a week once in south Minneapolis. But thank God/Whoever, never in the winter.

When your country becomes the largest military force on Earth, then YOU can dictate measurement units.

Until then, neener, neener!

Good point. I'm at an age where my friends are dying every year or so. As someone who has had to "close up shop" for some of them, it's a royal bitch to do when their online life can't be accessed. Stopping the mail, shutting down the online business, etc.

"Oh, they should have prepared for that in advance, as soon as they knew they were going to die". Yeah, well, perhaps in some fantasy world. No, the survivors clean up in real life.

To be sure, "Communism" is the perfect example of something that doesn't scale. Works OK for my family (sort of) but starts to become unworkable with two families.

Totally wrecks everything at scales larger than that. Astonishing idiocy to try and apply to a country.

Wrong about a few things. Health care isn't a Communist benefit. Oh, you mean forcing everyone to buy Obamacare. Not a "benefit".

Wrong again on a couple of levels.

1. You may be too young to remember, but places like the USSR, East Germany and Cuba kill(ed) people trying to leave, not come in. And..

2. I know a border guard currently on duty. He is constantly told not to engage illegals and to stay away from specific parts of the border at certain times. And they spend a LOT of money and time giving health care, etc. to the illegals they catch

Not remotely similar to the referenced "border fences".