Here's the deal.

It's expensive to stay on high alert all the time. All those extra guards, guns, maintenance, etc. That costs money. Up here, after 9/11, we maintained high alert at the bases for a couple of years, then decided to go back to more-or-less before. Not quite; back in 2000 I could walk onto the base only flashing my ID, and once I did show a post-it that said PASS on it. As it stands now, I do require an actual valid pass to get onto the base. However, the security on the base itself is lower than that of my local YMCA. (The base passes are easy to forge and don't get scanned or recorded; the gym requires an active membership and records your entry times.)

What I'm getting at here is that when you're on guard duty at the War Memorial, you're there to be a meet-and-greet kind of soldier. The only shooting you're expecting is some selfies with the kilted guy (meaning you) and maybe a couple of shots at the bar after work. You're not guarding anything. It's a public sculpture that's maybe 50 feet per side. There's literally nothing there to defend. (I've been there a few times; years ago for work I stayed at the Lord Elgin and worked in the next-door building, housing some PW stuff.)

Now, here's the other thing. Bullets. You have to track the shit out of them. If you gave the guards at the War Memorial live ammo, it would be a complete clusterfuck. If you're giving someone ammo, you're expecting them to get shot at, right? Which really means they should be wearing armour as well, not the ceremonial dress uniform (which only offers protection against thrown bullets) So you've got to get them armour, bullets, and a real gun, plus track all that stuff from day to day. What if the gun got dropped and discharged? What if you stopped for a picture and someone took your gun or cut themselves on the bayonet? What if the magazine fell out and the ammo sprayed all over the ground? Now the person guarding is presenting the image of a drunkard scrambling around for their car keys in the dark.

Weird scenarios, but all significantly more likely than a schizophrenic walking up to you and shooting you in the back in cold blood on a boring Hump Day morning.

And hey, the US drones don't have a problem with stairs. They just level the building.

Huh, I missed a meeting. What's the new tech?

I'm imagining this conversation as the same guy talking to himself, since both are AC...

So what does that make Saint's Row IV?

I literally don't know the password to my phone. I know of it, and how to type it in, but even at gunpoint / threat of contempt, I couldn't tell you what it is.

Come on, I still use Netscape.

One of my buddies is buying a Leaf.

The problem is this: once you test drive an electric car, you're done with shitty ICE forever. Nothing has better torque, better acceleration... and that's what the gold ol' 'murkin cahs are sold as, muscle.

Put them up against something electric, and these so-called "Muscle cars" are just saggy old curlbros trying to get big arms to draw attention away from their massive beer bellies.

Give him a break, he's using IE and this is as fast as he can post.

Meh, I live in Canada, future home of 250,000 km of tropical coastline.

What's your retirement plan? I've invested all my RRSPs (like a 401k) into scuba gear and sunblock.

Dive Nanasvik!

Thank you, I wasn't sure what they meant by the imminent threat.

We had the same ruling up here in Canada, although you do have to lock your phone with a password. It requires a specific type of warrant, not a general warrant.

No fucking kidding. I wouldn't trust the client when I did FUCKING HOBBY GAME PROGRAMMING in my spare weekend time.

And that was to check that someone's magic sword wasn't bothering other players.

Fuckin' hacks.

That's why your whisky is crap.

I agree. A more sensible solution would be to mandate that the infringing website be changed to say "the GW1000 product relies on technology stolen from Equustek . To buy the original product, visit Equustek " Make them put up a link to the original product.

Order that the defendants pay for the hosting for 100 years or whatever.

Finally, bar the defendants from working together and/or working on similar technology.

I'm not sure what the judge's problem is though. What you carry out in your brain is yours to keep in Canada.

In the book, it's not just that Han shoots first.

(Yes, there's a book.)

It's that every single person in the bar except Greedo knew that it was a Bad Idea to let Han get his hands under the table. They even started moving out of the blast zone, smirking.

Han's a tough motherfucker, and Greedo was fucked the moment he signed on for credits. He's a survivor, and the only reason Luke and Obi-Wan lived is because Han is one of the only pilots to enter hyperspace with his shields on. (Costing excess fuel and a minor environmental problem.)

Look at the ambush with Vader at Bespin -- Han doesn't shoot a look at Leia, no one-liners, neither a "you asshole!" to Lando nor a "it's a trap!", he just pulls out his blaster and starts blasting. Every shot is dead center, and it costs Vader something like FOUR force points to survive the attack.