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Comment Re:A Herring? (Score 1) 159

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." As you said, privacy is not listed in the Constitution or it's amendments thus it is a power left in the hands of the States and/or the people. The Federal Government has no authority doing unwarranted searches on everyone in a giant dragnet to capture data under such poorly defined concepts such as "Terrorism".

Comment Re:A Herring? (Score 1) 159

When most of the population (both US and World) collectively say, "That is an ridiculous and unreasonable abuse of power!!!!" I am fairly sure it is covered by the fourth amendment.

Simply put, if they want to search a citizen's property (digital or physical), then they need to get a warrant for that specific search. Otherwise, you end up with entrapment and a bunch of other abuses because law enforcement officers operate under the assumption that everyone is guilty of something, we just need to find it.

Comment Re:Proud? (Score 1) 1233

Dear Not-quite-so Educated Citizen:

From the Encyclopedia Britianica:

"Although many of the Founding Fathers acknowledged that slavery violated the core American Revolutionary ideal of liberty, their simultaneous commitment to private property rights, principles of limited government, and intersectional harmony prevented them from making a bold move against slavery. The considerable investment of Southern Founders in slave-based staple agriculture, combined with their deep-seated racial prejudice, posed additional obstacles to emancipation."

"When the last remaining Founders died in the 1830s, they left behind an ambiguous legacy with regard to slavery. They had succeeded in gradually abolishing slavery in the Northern states and Northwestern territories but permitted its rapid expansion in the South and Southwest. Although they eventually enacted a federal ban on the importation of foreign slaves in 1808, the enslaved population continued to expand through natural reproduction, while the growing internal domestic slave trade led to an increase in the tragic breakup of enslaved families."

The issue wasn't that they necessarily liked or supported slavery, it was they wildly disagreed how to solve it or if it was a federal issue to be solved. Some advocated releasing the slaves (like Washington), others colonization elsewhere in the belief the races couldn't co-exist (like Jefferson), and others saw no problem (those of South Carolina and Georgia). So the simple thing we can take from it was that it was just as complex an issue then as it was when the Civil War broke out.

Yours,
Someone with 5 minutes to consult an encyclopedia.

Comment Re:Justified? That depends... (Score 1) 259

As an owner of a Nikon Camera who had to send their equipment in for repairs to their repair center, the experience was horrible. 3 months without the camera and a cost that almost was the price of replacing the body itself. Had we not been already invested a lot into the glass for it, I would have told them where to deposit the camera I sent them.

Comment Re:Wow (Score 1) 456

Because it is much easier to have all the tech news from multiple sites show up in a stream that is more interactive as Twitter, but can be isolated easy from friends and family. It is also nice I can just put in a search term and see the public trends on the topic, or just see what others are talking about.

People make the mistake of seeing G+ as Facebook, but it is not. It is more like a blending of Facebook and Twitter.

Comment Re:I Give Up (Score 1) 489

The Civil War was about many things, slavery was one of them. The south did not like that Congress ruled that any new territories had to be slave free and the potential loss of influence that would bring about. The south was also angry that the Federal government was unfairly taxing them to fund projects in other parts of the country. There also was the issue of State's rights versus Federal government, did the Federal government have the right to abolish slavery in the sovereign territory? Did the federal government have the right to unfairly tax some states?

Yeah, the "Cival" War was an extremely complex issue. However, the victor authors the history books.

Comment Re:Wind, solar (Score 2) 1205

The Chinese also don't have a bunch of environmentalist nutjobs that block and hold up every initiative they have to save their pet environmental subject or piece of dirt. So when they say they are going to convert 100 square miles to a giant wind farm, it happens. Here, we would be stuck in the court systems arguing for years over bird migration paths and displaced trees squirrels.

Or on the other side of the equation there are no super rich people in China that sue to block wind farms located miles off the coast because it blocks their view. While here, we have armies of lawyers suing to stop progress because someone believes they can see over the horizon.

Comment Re:Same as school exercise (Score 1) 304

You are correct those can be barriers/limitations, especially if you are not willing to adapt to those barriers/limitations. To my knowledge places like Schwan's still do home delivery of a multitude of fruits/vegetables, meats, and complete meals. And before you protest, Schwan's can be ordered online, by phone, or just by having a sales person stop by, and they deliver by truck, freezer bag, or UPS. Along those lines, most people can invest and should into not only a refrigerator but a small stand up freezer (most larger cities have used appliance stores and even new a freezer is only about $150 or about the cost of the smartphone you just had to have).

Instead of going out for food, let the food come to you. Another option instead of buying your groceries daily/weekly, plan ahead and buy bi-weekly or monthly. Buying in bulk (with coupons) saves money and reduces the overall time that you need for shopping so that you can reasonably plan (babysitting, taxi, friend to help, etc.). In fact, the savings brought by planning ahead and buying/preparing your own food vs. McDonald's will help pay for the items above. Invest in freezer containers and have a meal preparation day (ie. cook and then freeze the food to be reheated when the week is busy), and learn that it is okay to eat the same thing for a few days.

I agree it is not easy to be a single parent in a low income situation. However, planning and making good use of what time you do have can go a long way to take some of the pressure off your back. If you can find time to watch television, then you have time that you could be doing some of the above. I know it's not fair, but the question is, "What are you willing to sacrifice so your children can have a better future?"

But I also agree with something another poster said. Our public schools/society fail to teach us what should be considered basic life skills. No one should walk away from school not knowing basic homemaking (cooking and cleaning), budgeting (balancing a checkbook and living within your means), and basic mechanical skills (car care/maintenance, home care/maintenance). And these are lessons that should start early in education.

Comment Re:Seems reasonable.. (Score 1) 1271

When we gave our son the first round of vaccines required by the state of TN, he reacted badly to them including a rash and just all around not being himself (our son is naturally an easy going child versus his high-energy sister). We were concerned and we spoke to our doctor regarding the symptoms. Despite feeling uncertain, we let them give the next round of vaccines. The reaction was worse, including needing to use an anti-histamine to counter the side effects. We didn't know it was a allergic reaction specifically (we were starting to wonder if it could be, we had discovered our son was sensitive to wheat, dairy, and soy at this point) but we were concerned.

When we voiced that concern to the doctor again, we were informed of the policy regarding vaccinations (if your child is not vaccinated on our time-table, you must find another physician). This was the stance they held until our son ended up in the ER after coming into contact with eggs and broke out in hives and started swelling (his ears swelled to double their normal size). Even then the nurse on call treated us as if we were idiots when we initially called regarding the reaction, and spent more time criticizing us for what we did versus helping us respond correctly to the situation.

It was only after all this nightmare, that his doctor finally suggested they would make an exception to the policy and that was only to delay the next round of vaccines until we could consult an allergist (which will happen in a few weeks). But had my son not had to go to the ER, we would still be facing a doctor's office that refused to listen to reasonably concerned parents.

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