Never trust an economist, until you've checked his math. Even then, you don't trust him. You've got to understand economics so well that you can recognize his base assumptions from his math, or you're still not qualified to check his math.

Remember the collapse from the housing bubble burst? Who predicted that? Precious few men and women knew it was coming, and damned near none had any idea how bad it could be.

I participated in a discussion three years before it burst. My take then was, "I don't know how bad it can be, but it sure as hell won't be pretty!" I'm not even an economist, but I knew the shit would hit the fan. All those experts are either complete, utter fools - or they were outright lying to all of us!

CISPA was authored by corporations, for the purpose of reigning in "pirates" and the like. Every "rights holder" in the world will become partners with the government, and search out any of us who don't comply with every draconian rule they can think up.

CISPA is most definitely unconstitutional.

I get most of my books from qbittorrent. I didn't realize they might have a resell value. A lot of my other books come from Kindle Cloud. I knew that I could loan a book out, but I had no idea that I could "resell" it.

This is why I like dead tree books. I can do with it what I want. Hell, I can even shred it, roll it, and smoke it if I want.

Good point. I remember the '60's, and the radio jingles. I was just a kid then, but some of the jingles would stick in my head. Talked to someone who knew about such things, and he told me that even if it pissed me off, the advertisers thought it was a "GOOD THING" when those jingles stuck.

Now, today, I don't see advertising. I know that advertising doesn't influence me. I just don't see it.

When I need or want something, I get online, and start researching. I find a hundred products that claim to do what I need, so I narrow it down some. Compare some specs, and decide which of the specs really feel right to me. Is precision more important, or durability? Do I need tensile strength, abrasion resistance, or what do I need? Find some products with the specs I can live with. Finally, look at the prices. HOLY SHITE!! Reject the highest priced 25% right off the bat. Compare the specs again. Hell, those cheap things barely squeak in to the acceptability picture. I'm usually left with a half dozen or less products to choose from - at this point it's a matter of deciding whether to take the high or low end of the price spectrum.

Research pays off. When I finally get my stuff, it actually works for whatever I need. And, I usually got it for about 60% of whatever my workmates found their substandard items for.

And, you've glossed over the point that GOVERNMENT is the problem.

When the administration changed, was there a major upheaval, accompanied by a massive change of personnel at NSA? I don't remember any such thing. Had you been employed at the NSA, it would have been a pretty smooth transition. Old business would have become new business. Same old same old - just continue with the routine.

It really is best to have a mix of young and old. Youngsters come up with the new ideas, older people kick those ideas around, turn them upside down, examine them for flaws, toss them back to the kids. The kids then modify, improve, or even flush the idea down the toilet.

I've never had a job in which youth and experience weren't both valuable.

The manager who dismisses either youth, or experience, is setting himself up for failure.

Why, exactly, do you think it alright to make this issue partisan? Did the Obama administration pass the Patriot Act? Did the Obama administration create the secret courts? Which surveillance laws, exactly, did Obama have passed?

The fact of the matter is, GOVERNMENT is out of control. Two administrations, one led by each of the major parties, has abused the system, and encroached on the rights of American citizens. The first administration oversaw the enactment of these unjust laws, the second administration is merely pushing the boundaries of those laws.

The problem is GOVERNMENT, the problem is not a specific administration.

Let us address the real problem, and let's stop using Obama as the boogeyman. The real boogeymen are the DNC and the GOP.

Why? Why do I need a reason? Why do you care?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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Okay - sometimes malware does unexpected things. I lose the VM that I'm running. Is that privilege escalation going to give it control of VirtualBox, and then the host system?

I suppose it's possible, but curiosity causes me to take chances now and then.

Besides - the boxes that I play on aren't critical. I wouldn't do this kind of stupid shit on a production machine, after all.

I suppose there is some point to that observation . . .

I presume that you have never outrun a cop, nor would you even think about trying. FYI - few cop cars can exceed 160. Some can, but not many. Of those that can, none of them can corner and accelerate like a motorcycle can.

On the Pennsylvania turnpike, on a bright sunny day after a rainy night, bright bright greens all around, a dark green car sitting on the side ahead. Look at the speedo - not quite 100. What to do? Roll on the throttle! For the barest instant, look down, and see two huge blue eyes opened wide, staring at you - framed in Pennsylvania State Police green uniform, and Smokey the Bear hat.

It's not as big an adrenaline rush as doing Mach 2 in a jet fighter, but it's as good as most mortals ever experience.

No, I don't know how fast I was going - Smokey never caught up to tell me!

Yes, indeed, SOME bikers advocate that shit. If you should visit the various biker's forums, however, you will quickly find that older drives, as well as more experienced drivers tend to argue against it. Young and/or inexperienced drivers tend to argue for it. That isn't a strict rule, but it's good enough for a rule of thumb.

I will note, that you can find riders who have owned bikes for thirty or even fifty years, and are STILL "inexperienced". The bike comes out on sunny weekends to be washed and polished, they might ride to dinner two or three times a year, and maybe make one poker run with the guys. I've seen plenty of ten year old bikes that only had 2 or 3 thousand miles on them. These riders are "inexperienced" in my book.

Your thinking is good - and statistics bear out the idea that visibility saves lives, while loud pipes do not.

I'm part of a school of thought, though, that actually doesn't WANT to be seen. I ride dark colored machines, I wear a black textile armored jacket, and I wore a black and gray helmet for a long time. (Speed and Strength, 1100 I think it was) The kid gave me his hand-me-down HJC which is red - kiind of a dark red, but still red.

I'll refer you to David Hough, and his books on "Mastering the Ride", where he does a fair job of presenting both schools of thought.

I'll mention that old myth about "make eye contact" specifically. The driver of an auto, or the rider of a bike both go where their eyes are pointing. Really, seriously, I don't WANT the driver of that oncoming vehicle to be looking at me!! I want him to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him, and just IGNORE ME!! And, I'll do my part, by keeping the rubber side down, and somewhere out of his lane. (don't ask where the shiny side is though - sometimes it is down pretty far too!)

The data is there. No, loud pipes don't save lives. In the US, the Hurt report, and in Europe, the MAIDS report came to very similar conclusions, on that and more. The two reports had differences, that are pretty easy to find if you're interested, but overall, their conclusions agreed on most major points. And, the loud pipes thing has no statistics to back it up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

The schools of thought in Europe and the US merge and diverge, and criss-cross each other - a rider who rides well on either continent is likely to have no trouble adjusting to the other. Squids, on the other hand, are going to go squish on either continent. All of that said, there really ARE some differences that a rider must keep in mind.

Some of you people can turn anything into a penis envy match. Gun control advocates are like that too. They see a weapon, and they think "PENIS!" What sad lives some of you live . . .

No amount of noise is going to make a bike safer. The noise FOLLOWS you, it doesn't precede you. The guy 200 yards behind you on the interstate hears you, the guy 200 yards ahead of you doesn't hear a thing. I don't give a damn that they guy behind me can hear me - he is no threat to me. That guy ahead though, could be a problem.

Noise generator - what a waste of energy.