That's because none of us are actually thinking of communists, but of totalitarians. Regardless, the issue is not one of profit motive but of competence and solid regulation.

Yes. As Cecil Adams once said, "It would be of great comfort to me if the Teeming Millions could learn to think rationally about such things."

I'm not so good at climbing, myself, so I think I'll just revert to the caveman lifestyle.

"I'm afraid that time has come and gone my friend." -- Professor Rapson, "The Day After Tomorrow"

So long as that vise is remotely-operated via a magic packet transmitted over the Internet.

If I have to worry about my private information being spread around at any moment, they should have to worry about their privates being spread around as well ... at any moment.

You are being generous. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions ... but you get there faster if there are no good intentions.

That's probably true, As Far As Anyone Can Tell.

It does not matter if they are "written down" (e.g., codified into law) or not, if the people themselves aren't actively involved in policing their government and its policies. That's ultimately is what this is about: Americans need to start becoming political again, start paying attention, and make our politicians pay for what they've done.

That's not a troll, it's true (as well as being funny) because you never know when one of those thirteen-year-olds will turn out to be a 57-year-old FBI agent.

Oh, you have a wife. I'm sorry.

Actually, it was a PET scan.

Yes, I take a similar approach when I travel now, given the insanity at the airports, especially since TSA employees seem to take a liking to my Thinkpad (it gets pulled aside so they can paw through my laptop bag every damn time.) Probably it's because I have a few tools in it, I don't know. Anyway, all they'll ever see is fresh re-image of the OS with a few applications, and none of my work files. When I get where I'm going, I download whatever I need, and when I'm finished I upload any new files and then wipe the machine again. They're more than welcome to power up my computer or image the drive. They're not going to find anything I don't want them to find. That's mostly stuff that I do for work, source code and so forth, that I would be irresponsible to not take some steps to protect. Like you say, it's none of the government's business, and they have always maintained demonstrably poor security.

Yes, but the platters are spinning so fast your access time is dramatically reduced.

Yes, and given the energy release of a hurricane there will be no problem with power for your high-velocity cloud storage system.

Personally, I think the government should broadcast a simple numeric code to make these warnings easy to understand. For example, the code for "complete devastation event" might be 2012.

Well, yes and no. You're right: at some level it is a matter of trust. Scientists are point-blank not supposed to trust each other, but the end result of the process is supposed to be something that the rest of us can trust.

However, I disagree that your typical "lay person" is fundamentally incapable of distinguishing between what many would themselves agree is irrational, versus that which does have some degree of scientific validation. Especially in the age of the global network where such information, of varying levels of sophistication, is readily available to any who want it. No-one expects non-scientists to run experiments and submit them for peer-review, but there is something to be said for having at least a basic understanding of how science is performed. Evidence of the lack of that understanding presents itself all the time: hell, this ridiculous misuse of the term "scientific theory" just torques me into a pretzel.

This issue is more a matter of whether ordinary citizens can be bothered to make the distinction, to make the effort to learn what science, the scientific method, and applied science mean to their daily lives. Schools are supposed to teach that, and in my day they did, but in today's United States of America they have been falling flat on their faces in that regard.

My early years in school were in the sixties, and the change between then, and now, is substantial (and was painful to watch.) As a child, I and my classmates were taken on regular field trips to laboratories, scientific institutions and manufacturing plants of all kinds, were encouraged to speak to real scientists and engineers. We ended up with a very clear understanding of how progress is made and how the fruits of scientific research improved our standard of living. I firmly believe that had those excellent educational policies continued throughout the anti-science period of the seventies and onward, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

One, when I was 21 (and no cell phone, they didn't have cell phones then.) Another when I was forty-something: a delivery-van bolted out of an alleyway and broadsided me.

Near accidents? All the time ... but then again I'm on the expressway at rush hour twice a day. And most of those near-misses are with people who have a cell phone jammed into their ears. It's like navigating a moving minefield.

The reality is, cell phone use while driving should be avoided. Just as eating, fondling your girlfriends breasts, twiddling with your car radio, and any number of other distracting activities should also be avoided while behind the wheel. The human brain point-blank does not multitask well: the problem is that many people's brains think that they do. Numerous studies have shown that they're wrong.

And I believe you meant "right of way." Interestingly, in the U.S. we all have a Constitutionally-protect right to travel, so we all have right-of-way ... it's just that under certain circumstances we can be required to temporarily grant the right-of-way to others. That's about the only way a traffic control system could work.