What's truly pathetic is I can't get it from Time Warner Cable on our dedicated fiber (not DOCSIS) connection, despite their claims that it's available to DIA customers. They have been dragging their feet now for eight or nine months, professing that we're the first business in our whole area (~250,000 people) to ask for it, so they don't actually have any experience getting it to us.

That's either complete bullshit (we have one of the largest universities in NYS here, along with major defense contractors and even a Fortune 100) to stonewall my request, or it's actually true and a sad reflection on our complete lack of progress on this issue.

If that's your argument just use the Windows firewall. It's completely free.

The rest of the West doesn't stop it either. It may be unique to the United States (+ South Korea and the Philippines, incidentally) in the non-religious context, but if you want to mutilate your son elsewhere in the West the authorities won't do anything to stop you. There were rumblings about Germany doing something to end the practice, but that's politically tricky to say the least, given their history with a certain frequently prosecuted group that happens to practice circumcision.....

I love how society gets worked up about FGM but thinks it's okay to mutilate young boys by the millions. And don't give me any shit about how it's not the same thing, because even if I bought the BS put out there by the pro-circumcision crowd, it'd still be the equivalent of elective cosmetic surgery on people too young to give informed consent. Of course, it's not really, you're chopping off functional body parts.

Facebook leaving the web could be a good thing, our generation's version of Eternal September would finally come to an end. :P

That's what firewalls are for.

Let me guess, you're one of those that thinks the breaking of end-to-end communications (NAT) is an acceptable substitute for a firewall?

*shrug*, in New York State they have six months for all felony charges except murder, where they have a year. It takes time for both sides (defense and prosecution) to prepare their cases. 70 days seems reasonable to me, particularly in the case of someone (like the subject of TFA) who isn't being held pending trial.

The relevant law is here. In most cases they have 70 days to bring you to trial after the information is filed/indictment is handed down. When it takes longer than that it's usually because the defendant is the one requesting the delay.

25-30 is considered overweight, not obese. It used to be that <27.5 was considered normal but the standards were redefined in the late 90s.

If TFA is to be believed, his craft wouldn't meet the requirements of an ultralight aircraft:

From TFA: According to court documents, Hughes rented a car and towed his gyrocopter from Florida to an airfield in Gettysburg, Pa. He chose the location for its proximity to the Capitol -- about an hour away and reachable on the aircraft's 10-gallon fuel tank -- and the fact that it was an uncontrolled airport, according to a criminal complaint.

You do realize the link you offered lists about twenty things that he did wrong? Here's the big one:

The banishment is part of his conditions of release and will expire whenever the criminal case is concluded. Nothing to see there. As far as "YEARS," well, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines don't have a specific section for this offense, so it falls under the other felony offenses section, which says that 18 U.S. Code 3553 is controlling.

Assuming he has no criminal record, my educated guess would be he stands a decent chance of doing no time. If he gets a prison sentence it will be 366 days, which is SOP is the Federal system because it gives the defendant a chance to earn early release. He'll also be required to forfeit the gyro-copter and any other property used in the commission of the offense, pay court costs, and possibly a fine.

You've got a lot of faith in Uncle Sam if you think the left hand (whomever reads info@barackobama.com) talks to the right hand (FAA, NORAD, USSS, and a few other agencies in the alphabet soup)

Heck, it's not even a Government address, it's BHO's campaign organization's address.

It's not a "ban" per say, it's a condition of his release pending trial. No different than the Judge telling you that you can't leave your house except for work, must submit to drug testing, or the myriad other requirements that are imposed on people who don't get pre-trial confinement. The alternative to accepting the conditions of release is to go to jail and sit there for a few months while the wheels of justice grind forward.