Yes. Yes they do. They're that clueless.

Off-topic but just to present a counterpoise -- My property was purchased for 5 figures in 1998, prior to the real estate bubble in 2007, it was appraised at 6 figures (exactly twice the original price), If I had sold it at this point, the story would have ended. However, after 2008 it was worth 1 and a half times the price. Further, to complicate matters, a real estate developer opened up a new street and houses right at my fence-line. Now the new tenents of the new houses could look right into my back yard from their rear windows. Property value was now 1 and a quarter the original price (just a grand past 6 figures).

I had to work away from the property for a while and hired a person to look after the property. He had to move his brother in to watch it for the better part of 24/7 as the local heroin addicts were stealing copper and everything else that they could to support their stupidity and obsession with getting as much heroin in their veins as was humanly possible. While the property was unwatched over a week-end, the drug abusers stripped out all the copper pipes, destroyed the heat exchanger and took as much electrical wiring as was possible.

It's in a good neighborhood, I can't say as much for my "neighbors" however.

The property is now valued at the price of the greatly diminished lot value: 18000 dollars. I lost 70000 plus interest, electricity, water, sewage, maintenance and theft.

And before you say "You should have sold it in 2007!", I say "My mother didn't raise any psychics. Let's see you do better."

Jenny, Jenny now who can I turn to?

As the product requires less and less physical storage (IE: CD, DVD and etc.), We will see the Music and Movie industries attempting to charge us by the byte and not for the media that carries it. I can see why they are going after anyone who shares their product over the Internet as it's a medium and not their Intellectual Property.

Want to listen to the radio? That will be $xx.xx per minute. Your radio will report how long you've been listening and where you've been listening and what you've been listening to. How will you know what station to listen to? By each station allowing you to listen to them for a few minutes and "tease" you into listening to them for a fee.

The Internet is bringing on big changes in the way that we amuse ourselves. If we can put all of our entertainment choices on a mobile removable media device after directly downloading it from the net, how will the entertainment companies be able to charge us multiple times for it?

This is the endgame of all endgames. The entertainment industry has seen the future as far back as the introduction of MP3. You no longer have to go into a brick and mortar building to purchase a physical medium that holds their product while they hold the "copyright" to the product itself.

I can't wait for the proliferation of microphones in public places to catch you whistling a popular tune and charge you a royalty fee for it. ;-)

/sarcasm on
I think that was a TV show from the 50's to the 60's about a kid called Theodore that was nicknamed "Beiber". Something like "Leave it to Beiber", eh? /sarcasm off

Mod this person up! The music business is all about price models and cost per unit. Nowhere is there any genuine concern for the consumer's tastes, likes or desires. This is a market powered by dollar bottom line and not artistry in any way, shape or form.

When was the last big superstar group? Bon Jovi, wasn't it? They rode around in a frickin' jumbo jet, fer chissakes! And when their music lost favor, where were they then? Right now I'm listening to Duke Ellington and am amazed at the variety of style that that man could come up with in his head and on a train with just a pencil and a blank scored sheet of music. No way in hell would the music conglomerates even think of signing on such talent in this day and age!

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

The NSA has been tasked with the domestic spying on America's own citizens by executive order. While I don't understand how said agency can decipher all the communications that criss-cross American territory on top of all the data that goes through satellites, cable, fiber to foreign destinations on top of all that, is beyond me.

http://insidecharmcity.com/2007/06/25/nsa-power-supply-problems-continue/

Perhaps, this explains all the recent power hits we've been experiencing here in MD lately...

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

Umm, err... Yes, sodium cooled reactors are perfectly safe. Just look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant.

Perfectly safe, using liquid metal...

(Yeah, I'm cherry picking here but I really hate the fact that I had to dig deep to find that there are several incidents around the world concerning liquid metal cooled nuclear power plants and the fact that the mainstream "green" media chooses to ignore them.)

Perhaps some kind and statistical person here would crunch the numbers and show the statistics of liquid metal vs water cooled reactors as far as incidents go? I'm thinking that the 1959 incident at SSFL introduced more rads than the 3 mile island incident of the 70's as an example.

I must disagree. The ability to squelch the internet is but a stepping stone for fascist oppression and has a definite appeal for the Security Theater that is DHS.

Those who would give up essential liberty -- yadada yadada yadada...

Please do NOT get me started on Maryland/Virginia drivers! They all suck -- the exhaust that you're putting out. It must make them feel superior or something (I really don't know). With 4 lanes of available freeway, they just (MUST!) have to pull in front of you despite the fact that there's miles of nothing behind you. After that, they hit the brakes every 15 feet while they get high on the exhaust fumes of the driver that WAS in front of you. Add that to the "I'm getting off on this exit and I have to slow down to 35 MPH in order to do so" mentality and I really wonder why there isn't more fatalities via violent means on I-95...

http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/ATC/german_cross.gif

Should they ban the plus sign then?

Aloha Oe,
Aloha Oe,
E ke onaona noho ika lipo
A fond embrace,
a hoi ae au,
Until we meet again.

Just let the warm beaches and waves wash over your body as your freedoms slowly drift out to sea...

Will we ever be able to get past the bullsh*t and take back our freedoms? Writ of Habeas Corpus ring any bells? No? It's been missing since the Bush Jr. occupancy...

slmgr -rearm

Pardon my humor:

General "Buck" Turgidson: Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!

Replace "mineshaft" with "cyber". Violla! A new cold war with lots of funding! Such a deal!