Murder, theft, rape are BEHAVIORS. These are actual morally wrong acts. You have to make certain actions illegal for a basic functioning society. Yet the idea of making the possession of certain things illegal is relatively a new concept. The idea here is that the illegal item is so strongly correlated with an illegal ACTION, that possession implies action. That is why cocaine is illegal. If you possess it, you're guaranteed to be using or selling it, and not simply keeping it safe one day for controlled pain relieving purposes for when SHTF.

Gun control is very different. Unlike cocaine, there is NOT a strong correlation that simply possessing a firearm implies murder. Note, I said murder not kill. Murder is wrong, killing is not necessarily so. Yes a gun's true purpose is to kill. Most people own a gun for self defense, to kill in self defense. Killing in self defense is morally and legally justified. Its justified just like being able to work and earn a living - its far more messier and gruesome, but your right to defend yourself is not less than your right to work and earn a living - both are for the purpose of the pursuit of one's happiness, or life.

I have to admit I'm a bit divided on this. On the one hand, I do believe she was probably intentionally being obtuse and refusing to comply. On the other hand, tasering for every mildly difficult or confrontational situation is ridiculous.

I think every time an officer uses a taser on someone, the officer should receive a taser shot 2x - just to make him evaluate whether the taser is really necessary in a situation.

A virus is pure intangible idea/algorithm/concept/instruction? Granted its been a few years since I took biology, but I'm pretty sure all viruses have some sort of outer layer/covering, with their "software" encoded using RNA inside. That's pretty cut and dry hardware and software to me...

A virus is not lethal. It is merely a vehicle, a means of reprogramming cells. Its hardware. The lethality is in the software.

Oh you mean recording an event is not perfect, therefore we should not record it? The police can STFU. Police videos is the only truly effective way to hold them accountable. Everything else gets swept under the rug until it becomes blatantly obvious and far too late. And yes, its not always perfect, but I for one want them accountable SOMEHOW, rather than business as usual. And frankly, I want to hold the department/chief responsible as well for high occurrences of bad police in their department - its a sign that THEY are turning a blind eye to problem cops. They need to weed out bad cops early and often.

What the hell does this have to do with enthusiasts? Motherboards die all the time. Why the hell do we need to buy a whole new CPU each time...ohhhhhh. I get it. We have to buy a new CPU each time. It all makes sense.

I think car manufacturers should follow suit and weld the engine and all its parts permanently onto the car. Need a new fuel injector? F you. Buy a new car.

Ballmer's law. I believe Gates was still in charge during NT4 and 2000, so those don't apply.

Windows, every other iteration. XP good, Vista bad, 7 good, 8 bad. 9 ??? They have a special knack for stumbling on something good and then massively screwing it up the next go around.

My roommate in college had a full ride from grants due to financial need. I had none. Yet he had the latest computer, a $1000 bike, while I was stuck with a mediocre machine and a $100 bike because I couldn't afford more. Maybe his life before sucked, but in college, at least financially, he was better off than me, a middle class kid.

What the hell is the justification for this? My money is stored in a "cloud" at the bank as well. Does the government own that too?

No its not semantics AT ALL. Copyright is like a platypus - it has a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver, lays eggs and is venomous. That doesn't means its a duck. Nor is it a beaver. It is its OWN DAMN ANIMAL. Copyright violation MAY involve revenue loss, yes, but it doesn't always result in revenue loss. Now, actual theft, always results in loss. Copyright has similarity to physical things, but it has characteristics entirely unique. Yet you insist on pointing to just one aspect, pound the table and insist its stealing. That's like pointing to the tail of the platypus and insist its a beaver. Its not semantics. Its stupidity.

Read your own wiki article. It states that while small arms come from the US, heavy arms, like grenades and RPGs come from within and other central American countries. What this means is that its more convenient to get small arms from the US. But plug that hole and they would just as easily get it from within and other central American countires.

Yes, countries like Mexico and Columbia are pretty safe.

Female coders are average looking, but so are their male counterparts. So apples to apples.

Frankly, a male coder most likely will only attract another female coder. What extroverted, hot blonde is going to find some nerd attractive? And no, don't give me examples of the few RICH nerds with hot chicks.

That's fine and dandy. My inability to fly like superman isn't a disability - but if something could give me that ability, I sure as hell will seek it.