Not hard, but does it actually make sense to do so? Serious question, since I don't read the reports in question, but if they're so standardized it would seem like it would be easier for everyone involved to just stick with a tabular format of some sort, rather than trying to translate it into a "written" report.

You don't have to be "cynical" to expect the government to act in the government's own best interest. The idea that one piece of government will keep another piece in check rather than colluding together to expand power is an unrealistic pipe dream. Honestly we've had over two hundred years of real world experimental evidence demonstrating that checks and balances DON'T WORK. They never did, and never will. The only realistic check on government power is secession.

In most of other countries in the world there generally is an even tighter association between companies from those countries and their spy agencies(FIS's). The US (and maybe the FVEY countries, I am not sure there) is somewhat unique in that there is basically no real provisions for economic espionage (defined as spying aimed to obtain trade secrets (generally not of military application) and passing those on to the local companies (saving massive amounts in R&D money/time)). And because of that relationship there is often services offered back from those companies to those FIS's. Who needs a court when you are just helping out an organization that has saved you millions of dollars over time (and patriotism is also a factor in that decision as well)? I think you are very naive if you think that this is a uniquely American (or a RUS, CHN, IRN) issue. It is very nuanced and occurs behind closed doors that you will almost never get a glipse of.

Color me suprised. Not. In all fairness I want all the other countries spy agencies to release a list of countries they spy in (in particular the national intelligence services of China, Russia, France, England, Germany and Israel). I bet you it would be a pretty similiar list.....

I've got a better idea: how about not requiring me to pay for somebody else's elective health care, regardless of whether it's for contraception or not, and regardless of what my religious beliefs (if any) are?

"And really, if you're going to start blaming the automobile for every bad thing that's happened in the 20th" Fuck off with your straw man arguments.

"Did we have wars before the automobile? Yes? Then you have no case. Utterly silly."

I didn't say ALL wars were about oil, FFS.
What did I actually say?

"Hundreds of billions in wars to secure access to automobile fuel."

Mass transit subsidies are more obvious, but private transport is massively subsidised by the government and community. Roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, etc, etc. Hundreds of billions is spent on road infrastructure. (Some overlap here, but the great proportion is used by private cars.)
Hundreds of billions on health costs -- car accidents, air pollution.
Hundreds of billions in wars to secure access to automobile fuel.

If all the costs of private urban road transport were added up, maybe we could see which forms of transport really cost more.

If anyone wants to download a bootleg Kindle edition, you can easily find them online very shortly after publication
(And many books with no official ebook edition have homemade versions of varying quality as well.)

Most Kindle books are 500kB or so, less than a hi res scan of a page.

So this scan/print/sign/register/download method is much more work than what you can already do now.

After going through customs a couple times, I'm pretty sure the US government considers them to be the same thing.

If the price is right, of course they will. Just because you're a lazy bastard doesn't mean everyone is.

It's kind of amusing that your link starts with the assertion: "America is the name of a whole continent."

Which is, of course, incorrect. There is no continent called America.