I could not agree with your perspective more. This is the worst legislation of our generation. There have been equally bad or worse laws enacted before us, and there will in the future. But this will be our defining screw up.

You are so wrong its insulting. I dont have insurance, I have to pay my own hospital bills. If I dont pay, it goes to collections, and goes on my credit report. The only escape I have to NOT pay a medical bill, is to file for bankruptcy. FALSE: "Healthy hard working americans who insure themselves are why my bill is so high." TRUE: "We need to tax healthy hard working americans who pay their own bills so that my insurance will be cheaper. I need a triple bypass and liposuction soon" Oh and guess what? Paying my medical bills like a responsible adult (the few I have) is incredibly cheaper than paying for health insurance, no matter which way you try to calculate it. Over the course of a lifetime, its cheaper for me to invest $400 a month into a money market account, than it is to pay $600 (while my employer pays $1,300/mo) a month for health insurance. And I get better coverage than YOU DO. Health Insurance COMPANIES posting record profits are the ones leeching off this system you love so much. Guess what? You thought health insurance companies were profitable now? Just wait until every American by government mandate/tax is forced to spill 30% or more of their income into the pockets of health insurance company share holders. My advice? Buy into health insurance companies. They are about to explode with profits.

My thoughts exactly

I would have thought a ruling by a judge would be needed to render something banned from import. So the power to regulate allows government agencies the ability to make profound and legally binding decisions without need for court systems or due process? I was not aware the ITC were experts on IP.

Some things truly were better in certain ways, but for political, monopolistic, or social reasons it was abandoned. For instance, Push Reel Mowers. They cut the crass more gently (yielding a healthier lawn), they are cheaper to operate, more simple to operate, and give you more exercise. Electric cars. Before gasoline cars became mainstay, electric cars dominated roads. They are cleaner and cheaper to operate/maintain. Natural wood and stone flooring. For a long time wood and ceramic/stone tile flooring was considered "poor mans" flooring. Carpet and Vinyl was what classy people had in their homes. Now people are rediscovering the beauty and benefit of it. Timber frame and mud brick homes. Coming back into style.

No really though in all seriousness i think your onto something Zero. If we step back and look at the evidence objectively, Its easy to see that we may be dealing with the victims of either an ancient Beholder or Illithid. I think this cave definitely needs more investigation.

I also used to teach LoAC. There are two categories of combatants... Lawful combatants (defined by congress in the declaration of war, and identified by association with opposing force, and identifiable uniform markings.) Unlawful combatants (un-uniformed civilians not directly associated with the opposing force taking up arms against US or coalition forces) That leaves only Non-combatants to include civilians, medical personnel, religious leaders, etc. All of which can in a slit moment become Unlawful combatants by simply picking up and or using a weapon. Nationality does not matter, and neither does location. Problem with a war on "Terror" is that it labels anyone, citizen or not, who conspires or takes offensive action towards the federal government as a "Terrorist" and an "Enemy combatant". Yes there are still legal issues with the Federal government targeting US citizens as combatants. There is a right to due process. They would technically be considered "Traitors" and there is a federal law that dictates how traitors are investigated, arrested, and prosecuted. The maximum penalty for being a traitor is "Death". benjamindees: Why don't you do a little research for yourself if you dont understand something rather than flame on people because of your own ignorance?

I used to have a TS/SCI and I can confirm that there is no clearance above TS that is officially recognized and publicly disclosed. However, I also know that there are Special Operation groups that do not officially exist, and there are clearance levels for those groups that do not officially exist. The only reason I know this is because I have a good buddy, that no longer officially exists. All I can say on the subject is that there is no greater honor in life than there is in what they do for a nation of people who will never know what they did or the sacrifices they make. yes i fully expect everyone here to scoff and ridicule the defenders of their very own freedom, however it the larger picture it changes nothing. At the end of the day when you are warm in your bed, most of you are still just desk jockey's with inflated ego's and they are still out in the cold, doing "Anything" to complete the mission, no matter the cost.

With the progression of this technology Music is now irrelevant. In one fell swoop a machine will generate all music that every did, and ever could possibly exist. All music now exists here and now Music will no longer be a valuable commodity. Its like diamonds. The only reason music will have valuable is because of a controlled market. Here is what will happen: People dont buy music alone. Music made by a nameless, faceless machine will never sell. People buy a face, and an image with the music. The face, the look, and the social image are what most people are really buying, and mostly all they are interested in. So... There will still be fabulously rich "artists" but they are nothing more than glorified fashion models for a computer generated track. The music will be created by a machine from start to finish, and "Britney Spears" cloned "Artists" will parade around the stage passing the music off as their own. and everyone will lover her because her music is so great, and she is so beautiful, and she is sort of a bad ass kinky freaky chic, and she flashes her tit on TV.. and blah blah blah blah The process is already being done today, but by real people behind the scenes writing the music, mixing the beats, and creating the image for her/him. Now everything will be done by the machine, instantly, on demand, and all they need is a pretty boy or girl to go dance around and act stupid. In fact they could have an artist perform a brand new "original" track every single time they do a concert... they could in the middle of the show have the computer spit out a completely new song right there on demand based on how the audience is reacting to the one she is currently dancing and singing along too. Music no longer has any meaning or value. Its just sound noise

Depends on how fast the object is moving. Who is to say that a 100m wide object could not conceivably travel at 3/4 the speed of light? Even an object the size of Jupiter is small relative to the expansiveness and energy contained within just our own tiny little galaxy. Lets think objectively here. We do not only have to worry about NEO's. Massive waves of gravity fluxuation, unimaginable blasts of radiation, and self assured destruction are all significant threats to life. I have confidence we can track and mitigate NEO's within our own solar system. Anything outside that is wishful thinking at this point in our existence.