Lately I've been working through a medical issue that requires me to severely restrict my fat intake. I just ate a sandwich and decided to include some Doritos type spicy chips on the side. A luxury, if you can call it that, I haven't had in a while.

I about did a Homer Simpson drooling arrrrr with my first taste. Without question the pleasure centers of my brain were firing with a wow, this tastes great kind of thing.

It wasn't that long ago I was eating freely - maybe a few months. But in that short time limiting my fatty food intake I can definitely tell the difference. Before that I would eat a side of chips and hardly notice. Now? Big difference. I can see what the article is saying. I've tried to quit smoking before and upon failure my first return cigarette had a similar effect. It's more than the chips just tasted good. It was more like satisfying an itch I didn't know I had type of a pleasure satisfaction thing.

-[d]-

That's where I stopped reading. I just spent two days fixing panicked friends PCs after they installed Tuesday's updates and their systems wouldn't boot. Granted they were rooted... but the OS I run, I can click, surf - whatever and never be, how do they say it, pwned.

I don't want a phone that for the sake of walking on to a subway station platform is hacked by the kid standing next to me.

-[d]-

tl;dr: Stumbled upon or unsolicited - fine. Active investigation targeted request - search warrant.

What I'm told (IANAL) is they don't need a search warrant if they walk into a hardware store and ask to see all the receipts for January 12th - so long as the business owner says "sure - here you go..." So, 99% of officers responded that they would like to login and search a site's entire database from their desk. Duh, oh course they want it. Who wouldn't?

In other news 99% of the employees I polled in my office would like to have unfettered access to our payroll system.

I would like to see the rules of evidence tightened to exclude data requested in this manner whether by a generic FAX up to and including a sticky note with the suspects name on it. If police stumble upon evidence in the course of their duties or information is offered to them unsolicited that's one thing. But if they're actively requesting information about a particular suspect - my opinion is it should require a search warrant that's fully vetted by the courts stipulating the search parameters.

This has always been a sticking point with investigators. They want full access to anything and everything at their discretion with zero oversight. No surprise when polled that's what they want. It's my opinion the state should not be able to buy a subscription to a private company like LexisNexis and be able to use that information. Not without a search warrant.

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What's scary is you're probably right. My best bet is the military silver/copper thread anti-bacterial briefs. I haven't found them yet on the commercial market. There is talk of coatings like this for "active wear" sports gear within the next few years. Although you may be correct - plausible denial on my part will help plus if these products become wide spread all the better.

Your tone read as fear. And perhaps you're right. I'll be inconvenienced. It's one thing to post "they're going to far" and another to actually do something about it. I'm not a lamb willing to go to this slaughter without a fight. Besides I like screwing with the "man". Before my last flight I handled a pack of firecrackers from the previous Fourth of July, then proceeded to pack my carry-on. Funny that even though I and the handles of my carry-on were wiped - I passed inspection.

tl;dr: I'm easily bored. And no, I do not take this theater seriously.

-[d]-

I see a possibility of couple solutions maybe more. On Amazon if you search for "Intimo Men's Liquid Metallic Boxers" I won't put a link as who knows what's in mine (Browser ID, etc.). These or something similar must do something to screw with the backscatter making it useless. Wasn't there military underwear with silver/copper threads or something that kills bacteria?

I travel once every five years or so I won't be able to try these any time soon. But I'm going to search around for something like these have them handy and try them when I do. I won't know if they work until I get scanned and then pulled over after for questioning. If/when I do I'll let the world know the results so everybody else can do the same thing. I believe there must be a simple way with a products like these to give the bird to the government and demand our privacy.

With all the metal it may be tough to get through security but if the wand starts screaming a pat down should solve it. If they're after my junk I don't want some guy in another room - I have the right to look them in the eye and see their look of envy.

-[d]-

All my posts to chill re the Christmas Firecracker incident had attached Ad Hominem attacks from small terrified men. This isn't going away. Statistics don't phase them. Facts just get in the way. They're terrified and nothing is going to help except the comfort of a huge Government blanket of "protection".

Never mind it doesn't exist, is ineffectual and can't be done. These people are not meant to live in a free society. Don't want a free society and are winning because the government is all too pleased to accommodate them. We, Liberals, Progressives, Libertarians {whatever} - all the flavors of people who cherish personal freedoms are screwed. The government wants to listen to this minority of frightened people - and together they have already changed what the USA was all about.

They aren't finished revoking our freedoms through the absence of common sense and have a long way to go. Because what they're looking for doesn't exist and can't be achieved. Already it's the State law in the majority that we must respond to "Papers Please" - as in my state Georgia failure to produce means jail.

The terrorists won. They already won a long time ago. This "continued fight" isn't. We're experiencing the clean-up.

Yepper, Ad hominem. You're consistent. Call a device that went off, sounded like and did as much damage and was described by witnesses as a firecracker - a firecracker and that's a gotcha.

You people are predictable if not entertaining if nothing else. You wouldn't be listening to these points of view anyway had I called this unknown device a thingamabob, or, maybe you would. I suspect you would understand thingamabob. "wink and a gotcha".

-[d]-

Trust me, you will have lost them way before you even got to the statistics. Not once in your argument did you include a straw-Man, ad hominem or an appeal to probability. As such, you wouldn't come close to achieving your goal of the inevitable blank stare.

The way this works is you'd be interrupted and and thrown an Ad Hominem. Followed by a wink and a "Gotcha". (Been here - tried this).

Wise. You're right. No matter where you start or what direction it takes - this flow chart leads to the same end box - "they aren't worth taking seriously". So, I might as quit wasting time following the links when I know where it will lead. Thank you.

little wanker? LoL, sorry to burst your bubble there pal... But, that's for different thread.

Look, maybe it was - just what it was. A couple chemicals that when mixed together generated enough heat to cause severe damage to the individual stupid enough to try this stunt. In fact, that's all it was. In fact, that's all it did. A minor blip resulting in some idiot who's now calling himself Mrs. {whatever}.

If this is the best they can do... I have zero need to watch 24/7 Faux News coverage imagining all the things it "could have been" rather than what it really was. A minor blip on the radar of my day. The nuculr (sic) spin was already covered by Faux news as a "possibility". Their spin? Not this time but it's coming... Oh, and they added to keep watching for future developments, LoL.

Gaud, this country is soooo brain dead. Again, why is it you people always post as cowards? Nevermind. That's one of those questions that answers itself :)

Thank you, no. I'll wait for the Daily News version where John Stewart can summarize their hilarity in 6 minutes or less.

BTW: Why are you people always cowards posting anonymously? Nevermind. The question answered itself :)

I went to a smoking lounge at an airport pulled out my Bic lighter and lit up. Another passenger fiddling with matches asked "How did you get that past security?" ..."In my pocket". How much metal does a Bic lighter have anyway? Apparently not enough to set off the alarms... Anyway, I digress.

Maybe the sky isn't falling and it wasn't thermite. Maybe it was just something simple that could cause a fire easily put out with fire extinguishers. You know, like what really happened.

You know, like maybe it wasn't a thermonuclear device - which will probably come next in the what it "could" be catagory. Maybe instead it was what it was. Something that caused a small fire limited to emasculating the person it was strapped to? Maybe it did exactly what it was designed to do?

I know, how silly of me. It was really a nucular (that's how they say it, right?) device that we, God thank you, was saved from by the miraculous heroics of another passenger. His book will be available within four months. We are lucky to be alive! But next time... we'll probably all perish.

-[d]-

Yep, you are right; I am wrong. I guess thats what they get for ignoring the "Made in China" label of quality.

The "hero" pulled a flaming object from his pants and tossed it asside...
The passenger identified as Nigerian named Abdul Mudallad - now known as Mrs. Mudallad...

My family and I are at odds. My favorite story is watching a grandmother get shaken down at the airport. Knitting needles handled like they were weapons, the hand-held scanner sounding like a horse cat in heat scowling at her huge coat buttons and costume jewelry. I was appalled.

I can hear my family now. I was wrong. AN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE son, - a bomb! I can also already hear myself - ...But it was a firecracker, you know a firecracker? That even if you hold on to it, it only hurts the one holding it? You know... TNT measured in micro-grams?

But my best arguments weren't enough before this incident, they certainly won't be enough now. They'll probably be demanding all civil rights now be suspended "for our safety". ...I can't even imagine what Faux News is doing with this one. They must be have a hayday.

It was a friggin firecracker for Christ's sake.

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