They do mention a compromised domain controller, which suggests (though doesn't guarantee) Windows.

They also mention DOT, which I believe is heavily into Windows.

In the late 1980s I know there was some UNIX/X11 development going on for ATC in Germany, but I never heard whether it went big time in Europe, much less in the USA.

There are some references on the net from 2007 or so that the FAA was switching from Win to Lin, but I'm not sure what systems those were, or if it really happened. They could easily run a mix of UNIX, Linux, Windows and others on the back end, and mostly Windows on the front end.

Finally, the ATC systems probably run RTOS or a real-time UNIX.

There have been several games that have been released to "reflect on the nature of the human condition" or words that mean the same thing. AFAIK, none of them went anywhere to speak of.

...States are allowed to regulate even if there isn't a constitutional bar to an action.

In fact, all powers not specifically delegated to the Constitution are reserved for the states. Which means that if the courts rule it isn't covered by the Constitution, each state can ignore it or pass its own law[s] on the subject.

This can lead to widely different laws, which isn't necessarily bad-- it means (in theory) that each group of people had different beliefs about what the law should be.

How does "some researchers believe" equate to "clearly demonstrated"? I think whoever wrote that blurb has experienced brain shrinkage!

Not just political intrusion. We need to send all those returning soldiers somewhere, too!

"Microsoft joined 200 companies who signed a letter complaining that the proposed tax changes would put them at a disadvantage with their rivals..."

Um, just what non-US rivals is Microsoft worried about here?

I found it mildly amusing (or maybe scary) that at post time, there were more myspace friends than anything else.

The next comment had the Smoking Gun link. I think these folk did an excellent job, and I don't see what anyone could have gotten legitimately offended or upset about in this book. It's not gory. They don't have people leaping to their deaths, or being decapitated, or burned alive ("No, Johnny, the flame about his head should have more blue in it").

At what age do you think kids stop coloring? I agree that they might stop at age 4 if you us ethe TV set as a babysitter, or have them addicted to high tech games by then. But a lot of kids, even today, color at least til 7 or 8, and many later than that. And a six year old understands a lot more than most people give them credit for.

I never suggested the book was to "teach kids about 9/11". But it is a disaster, and it could happen again. Beyond that, it's a disaster that profoundly affects them whether they yet realize it or not.

I've raised two kids, and spent an awful lot of time with kids of all ages, from all walks of life. I know kids. This isn't going to traumatize them.

Beyond that, we survived a tornado which tore our house up good while we were at home. I promise you that tornados showed up in the majority of pictures, stories (spoken, written, etc) and whatnot our kids were involved with for quite some time.

I haven't seen the book, only the cover. But it seems very promising. Pulling it, however, seems to be a kneejerk response to kneejerk responses by a small group of people. If you can point me to a link with the full book I'll be happy to re-evaluate in lihgt of fuller data.

It isn't the government's place to do what?

But given the level of ignorance and PCness in this country, not at all surprising. Games and coloring books are two ways kids learn, remember and process things. I recall growing up with coloring books that depicted, for instance, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nazis, etc. It didn't turn me into a hateful monster or give me terrible dreams; it helped me learn, remember and understand. I've talked to several friends about this (I have friends across most spectrums you can come up with) and they reached the same conclusion.

We've become absurdly over-sensitive as a nation.

... is still broken. It just means we are more overdue to fix it than most people realize.

But, since it's mostly lawyers who would hav eto fix it, and it funds lots of lawyers...

... and we won't close the borders!

We've found that anything that smells like humans (hair, pee, etc) keeps the deer away from our plants. Peeing around the flowers is one thing, but we're not so keen on that around the veggies. So this could help there.

Just so they scrub it for head lice!

I'm sorry, but this is public information. If you want it to be private, you keep it private. If Jane and Joe Average can access the information it's not private.

How it gets used is another matter, but...

If I'm at a party and keep my ears open and hear a reliable source say "Fred has been recruiting people to go around at night and kill all the blacks people in the town", I'm not going to hire Fred. Now if they note that Fred got drunk a lot in college, that doesn't really matter to me, unless he was too drunk to go to classes and cheated his way through. I don't see checking out facebook or myspace as any different.

We're getting farther and farther away from freedom and equality, all in the name of Freedom and Equality. It's like Dave Barry says, when someone tells you they're doing something "for the People" it's usually not the people at large who win.