Not anymore.
Far too many sites (/. included) have or use a CDN for content.
And they will fetch at least half a dozen scripts for bookmarking/sharing with facebook/linkedin/tumblr/twitter/pinterest/googlehangouts/etc
Then, they'll try and fetch a non-zero number of tracking/website monitoring scripts.

Ghostery says http://slashdot.org/images/njs.gif is a 1x1 pixel tracker for WebTrends.

That's a nice statement of "scope," to bad it completely ignores reality.
Government (in most states) sets the prices for utilities.
Government sets build out requirements for utilities.
Government prevents discrimination in the offering of services.
Government requires handicap accessibility in public accommodations.
Government prevents excessive interest rates being charged on loans.
I could go on.

Government has a legitimate interest in deciding who gets to do business with whom and at what price.
Unless you want to abandon all the existing protections of the law, you might want to redefine what you consider to be the appropriate scope of government regulation.

What makes you think Parliament will go along with the Prime Minister's promises?

And how is that any different than what Scotland would experience if they used the Euro?

The UK parties have promised vague and unnamed considerable additional powers for Scotland in the event of a 'no' vote.
The UK Government saw the early polls, thought "well, this will never happen," and then didn't give it a second thought.
The vague, last minute promises reflect a screaming lack of contingency planning.

I mean, this vote has been years in the making and AFAICT, the UK Government never seriously sat down and negotiated "considerable additional powers" in an attempt to head off the vote.

David Cameron says he has no regrets over handling of Scottish referendum
16 Sep 2014

The sun is setting in the British Empire's back yard.

1. Did you read the report?
2. [Citation Needed]

With that logic, we should go to war with our ally Saudi Arabia as well.
Saudi nationals have flown more planes into buildings than ISIS.
The Saudi Government has beheaded more people than ISIS.
(Though ISIS seems to be trying to catch up)

The language of dehumanization is ugly.
I'm glad that Western governments have abandoned it as a propaganda tool.
I can only hope that some of the less evolved citizens of the West will abandon it as well.

You should read what he said again.

He didn't say that the NSA abides by the law, only that no court has judged them as acting illegally.

The NSA's warrantless wiretapping was nakedly illegal and unconstitutional, but so far (AFAIK) no Judge has taken a case to its conclusion.
And Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to retroactively shield the telecom companies for their participation.
The NSA has even admitted to "overcollection" under the 2008 law, but the details are classified, so no one can claim standing to sue.

The NSA knows they've repeatedly broken the law; what's impressive is the rearguard action they've maintained to prevent & delay legal action.

Why would you need permission to blackhole a route?
The problem is adding good routes, not dropping bad ones.

That's not even remotely true.
The US has, for most of its history, levied taxes for the explicit purpose of paying for wars.
The Federal Government didn't exist during the Revolution, so the individual states raised taxes.
I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of pre-20th century war taxes, because they were on things like slaves, carriages, sugar, and whiskey.

Just remember, every dollar you spend for something you don't need, is a dollar spent to help the Axis
To pay for the Korean War, Congress heaped taxes on top of the already high WWII rates.
President Johnson cut domestic spending and created surtaxes specifically to pay for Vietnam.
AFAIK, George W. Bush was the first President to categorically refuse to raise any taxes to pay for his wars.

You're making several wildly inappropriate assumptions:

1. Despite being the size of Minnesota, Japan has the world's third largest GDP
2. Japan has a very high population density
3. Many Americans in low density rural States don't have water and gas, they have wells and a wood stove.
4. Japan and America (and each individual State) have completely different regulatory environments and philosophies. No shit we have different outcomes.

The difference between QoS and AT&T's proposal, is that QoS gives ALL video traffic the same special treatment.
AT&T wants companies to pay them for special treatment on a 1-to-1 basis.

It's a bad idea and they are bad people for suggesting it.

http://xkcd.com/1321/

And with a clever bit of licensing, will be co-marketed alongside the inspirational and dramatic family comedy: We Bought a Tauntaun Zoo

Highlights of the early 70s include the USA abandoning the gold peg, the CIA overthrowing the government of Chile, the Vietnam War showing itself a failure, the oil crisis, Pol Pot killing millions in Cambodia, African countries overthrowing their leaders, etc etc etc.

The 70s were a dark and stormy time.
And don't forget that the Cuban Missile crisis, despite happening the previous decade, had a serious effect on the US psyche.