1998, there is your problem. This is not the 1998 internet and as such it is easy to say this nearly 20 year old evaluation no longer applies.

How so?

It is still a network of networks of computers, all hooked in as peers.

It is using pretty much the same basic protocols as before.

Sure, content and HTML and such have changed a bit over the years, but it is at heart still the same internet as it was before.

Just because people try to do commerce over it, doesn't mean that is what it was invented to be used for and shouldn't cater to it.

If you want something different...then start it.

It is and should always be at heart...a network of networks where everyone that hooks to it, is a peer.

They can't do anything without finding a new way to tack a fucking fee on things.

The average person can't manage their own healthcare.

Even so..when did it become the Fed govt.'s responsibility to protect the stupid from themselves?

You are correct - my statements contradict each other. I believe that you get the idea though.

As for the Paks playing us for fools - most Arabs, Persians, Asians, and Pacific Islanders do that readily. We do have a few small spheres of genuine influence, like S. Korea and Japan. The rest of our influence is largely bought with $$$$$ - and when the $$$$$ dries up, there will be no more influence.

"And if a country like Pakistan has a serious extremist problem, then action like that is justified."

When you make a statement like that, it becomes very obvious that you have little idea how extreme the problems are in Pakistan.

Let me make it as clear as I possibly can. The supposed "government" of Pakistan controls less than half of the country. Government troops aren't safe anywhere within the country. They can only move openly in little more than half the country - that is, within the portions they actually control, along with some border regions, and areas where the village chieftains view the government with favor. Elsewhere, within the borders of "Pakistan", the troops only move stealthily, or by air, or in force.

Pakistan is more lawless than Mexico, by an order of magnitude.

The northern areas are controlled by tribal chiefs and by the Taliban.

Now, you tell ME how serious the situation in Pakistan is.

Next, you can tell me what the chances are that the government is going to EFFECTIVELY enforce their edicts regarding these cellphones.

You do remember that Osama bin Laden was killed, living a life of relative luxury, inside the borders of Pakistan?

1) History repeats itself, while at the same time, technology enables the actors to take things to a higher level. The Stasi would have LOVED to have the tools available to today's NSA. That is where we are headed, worldwide, if people don't stand up and put a stop to it. Yes - control. If/when they find a way to read your thoughts, they're going to do it. And, I'm not trying to guess what "certain people" are thinking - I'm TELLING you what government and the alphabet soup agencies intend.

2) You've forgotten about CISPA? In effect, ALL the pickpockets will be gathered into one big network, where they can SHARE all the data they gather on you. Target, Walgreen's, WalMart, Dollar General, the hospital, your county assessor, your bank, Amazon - they'll ALL share data with the government, and the government will share it right back to them. The pickpockets will indeed be working for the government.

I strongly disagree. Constant government surveillance indicates that you are only free so long as government approves of your words and actions. Ultimately, government surveillance intends to monitor your very thoughts. Witness the number of not-so-bright people who have been convicted after having done a search for "how to dispose of my dead wife's body" or similar. Refuse to give up your password? Go directly to jail, do not pass "Go", do not collect $200. Encryption? Ditto - give us the keys or spend eternity plus life in the dungeons.

In short - police have no intention of doing police work, or detective work any more. They want all the evidence collected in advance, and they want you to hang yourself for them.

A free man is free to confront the footpad who follows him into an alley with evil intentions. In this modern day "free world", you are required to cooperate with the footpads and pickpockets, because they all work for government.

Really? I suppose that the definition of "freedom" that you grew up with includes a phrase like "submit to government surveillance"?

You can see how it would significantly hamper terrorists and criminals?

Maybe you're totally clueless about Mexico, and the fact that the cartels have built huge empires off of "illicit" goods. In effect, we have funded those cartels, so that they are more powerful than government. And, the cartels aren't hampered by human rights considerations, either.

You may look forward to a new Pakistani industry booming in the near future, with "terrorists" and "criminals" helping the common man to bypass these ridiculous regulations.

I read a lot on the web, but I prefer, even if I have to print it out...to have dead tree copies where I can highlight, make notes, doodle...etc.

I found that way back in my school days, that in my notebooks taking notes or even marking things in books....with doodles, or this or that, when I had to take a test, I could often close my eyes, and picture in my head turning to the pages with the information, I could "see" my pictures and writings, and that helped me to find and recall information.

I can't well do that on a computer screen. Well, at least the last time I used a marker, it quickly got messy and when I changed pages, well, the marks didn't make sense on the screen anymore.

:)

Sure, it is easier to keep information more up to date on we webpage for documentation, but its not guarantee, and then with some sites, links into links into links into links....you drill down so much that you can't hardly find your way back to where you want to be when you started, and it wastes time which with a book, I could check the index, get other info and come back to the page I dog eared pretty quickly.

I like it for pleasure reading too. I can do some ebooks and have and it is convenient. I like a dead tree book, but it isn't as big a deal to me as it is for things I need to recall and reference on a regular basis.

I guess that explains the piles on my desks.

Thank, Obama!

You know, I used to warn people against the Govt being so involved with our healthcare. I likened it to putting the DMV in charge of you if you got the flu. The long wait times, the surly and non-helpful govt employees there staring more at the clock than worried about you getting new plates.

But hell, I will at least admit the DMV does tend to get its mailings out on time and in proper fashion.

I know its a pipe dream, but I wish we could move the govt (especially the Feds) back more to their constitutionally mandated responsibilities. At the very least, my dealing with them could and should pretty much only be once a year.

1. Tell me how much tax to pay (simplify this).

2. Leave me the fuck alone.

I'd be 101% supportive of my federal overlords if they could just get to this point in their interactions with me. I'll be fine on my own to haggle and negotiate for my jobs, and my bill rates. I'l be happy to manage my own health care, and know what is important to save for (retirement, routine health needs, medical insurance for catastrophic needs, etc).

I seriously don't need you to play nanny state with me, I don't need you to suck up so much of my money and waste it.

I don't need you spying on me.

Anyways sad to see Canada go the way of big brother. Canada is like the Bush administration ... except he never left office.

It isn't like obama is any better than bush on this and many other aspects of life these days, in fact, it seems to just be getting worse.

It isn't just TVs, Microsoft's xBox Kinect, Amazon Echo, GM's Onstar, Chevrolet's MyLink and PDRs, Google's Waze, and Hello's Sense

Hmm...well, good for me, I don't have or use any of these potential privacy leeches.

But for that matter, I don't do FB or twitter either, I just haven't seen the need for these things and I can't tell that it has negatively impacted my life to this point. I'm not a luddite by any stretch of the imagination, but I just don't see the privacy / convenience equation to be worth it to me to use these tools.

If I do get a newer Corvette, I will be disabling the ONStar since it now seems it is not an option but always installed. I'll first be figuring how to disable and destroy it. I don't need that for my automobile enjoyment. I especially don't need anything monitoring my speeds.

:)

We're losing our freedoms and rights here pretty badly, but nothing quite yet as bad as this sound like in CA.