The Judge isn't the trier of fact in our legal system, that's the role of the Petit Jury, but why bother to actually learn how it works when you can just spread FUD?

Where do you live that speeding is a misdemeanor? And which phone keeps a second by second record of your movements, even if you're actively using the GPS for navigation?

It's not illegal to know people who deal weed, nor is the simple possession thereof a particularly serious matter in most of the United States. Where I live it will cost you less than the aforementioned speeding ticket, no more than a $100 fine, speeding tickets start at $150 + $85 court surcharge.

This is FUD; have you actually read any legal statues regarding child pornography? Here's the Federal statute, 18 U.S. Code 2252 - Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors, emphasis mine:

(a) Any person who —
(1) knowingly transports or ships using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means including by computer or mails, any visual depiction, if—
(A)the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B)such visual depiction is of such conduct;

(There are also other sections that cover simple possession, rather than distribution, but they use the same two pronged definition from (A) and (B) above, so I've omitted them here for the sake of brevity.)

Here's New York State's statute, Penal Law Article 263:

S 263.11 Possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child.
A person is guilty of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child when, knowing the character and content thereof, he knowingly has in his possession or control, or knowingly accesses with intent to view, any obscene performance which includes sexual conduct by a child less than sixteen years of age.

Definition from that same chapter:

"Sexual conduct" means actual or simulated sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals.

1) Why do teachers always rank as an all important metric? There are good teachers and bad teachers.. even lousy teachers, there's nothing that special about their profession compared to many others. They are not beneficent deities, shaping our future via our children

Yes. Yes, they are. I would argue that there are three groups of people who make the most difference in a child's future: their parents, their friends, and their teachers. If we spent more money on assuring only good teachers are in our schools, we'd be in better shape. $80K is a good salary, but it's not like that across the board.

Different strains of pot have different effects. Sativa blends are usually more of an intellectual high, indica blends tend to give the mellow "do nothing" couchlock high. In my experience smoking a sativa blend will make mundane tasks more tolerable (one can actually be more productive whilst stoned) and occasionally provides problem solving inspiration for more complicated tasks.

The AC said it better than I ever could.

You should actually research the matter rather than parroting poorly informed talking points. The 3/5th's clause was a compromise between the Northern States that wanted slaves to count for nothing (thereby eroding the political power of the slave holding states and presumably leading to a quicker demise for the institution of slavery) and the Southern States that wanted them counted at 100%. Had the North gotten its way it's quite probable that the Civil War and ultimate emancipation of the slaves would have occurred a generation sooner than happened in our timeline.

Huh??? I own an M1 Garand, total length 43.5 inches. It would take little more than dexterity to use it to end my own life. Presumably most people that intend to commit suicide have toes, right?

Gosh, if only there was a way to have let your Mom know that it was the two of you instead of a would-be rapist. Perhaps you could have yelled out "HI MOM, WE'RE HOME EARLY!" as you entered the house. Nah, that couldn't possibly work. It's a damn good thing for you she wasn't armed or you'd be dead now. I have the same fear every time I come home early, but thankfully my girlfriend has evolved some pretty neat biological features like eardrums that reduce the likelihood of this happening....

That's because you're calling the White House switchboard. Try the Country Club next time and you'll probably catch him. :)

The Civil War there has been ongoing for a little over three years. The American Revolutionary War took eight years to fully resolve itself. The Syrian Government only controls about 20% of the country if this map is any indication, so that would seem to dispel your notion that you can't effectively fight the police state.

The Syrian Government is doomed in the long term; it's basically a battle of attrition at this point and the cold mathematical reality is that al-Assad's followers have less males of military age than his opponents. Barring decisive intervention from the outside he is doomed; I leave it to the reader to decide if this is a good thing or not...

Such people generally use stolen firearms or (more rarely) legally purchased firearms via straw buyers (i.e., Here's $1,500, buy this $1,000 firearm for me and pocket the change)

Criminals don't need to build their own firearms when there are sufficient numbers of stolen ones in circulation.

It did no such thing, it simply reserved such matters to the States, per the 10th Amendment. The 14th and 19th Amendments changed that of course. The 14th was actually intended by its drafters to be interpreted more broadly than it has been, in theory it should have immediately applied the Bill of Rights against the States (including the 2nd Amendment) but SCOTUS neutered it and it has instead taken the better part of a century and a half to get most of the Bill of Rights applied against the States.

Incidentally, the established process of amending the Constitution (Article V) is available for gun control proponents to take advantage of if they think they can actually win a debate on the merits of the issue. All you need to do is convince 2/3rd's of Congress and 3/4ths of the State Legislatures to sign off on a repeal or amendment of the 2nd Amendment. Best of luck with that. :)

It isn't how much we make, it's where we can make it and who can afford it. If something like this can be applied to areas where food is scarce to come by (by any method), good for all of us.

In no particular order:

* The person who is fit/healthy is less likely to end up unable to wipe his own ass in a retirement home.
* Fit and healthy people get more attention from the opposite sex.
* Exercise is a natural anti-depressant.
* Exercise boosts libido.
* You'll sleep better.
* You can eat more.

Of course there are no promises. You could be in the best shape of your life and get hit by a bus tomorrow. Such is life.

I'd searched on what kind of income it takes to afford a $40K+ car. There was a BMW forum asking the same question. Many of the replies were what you'd expect. Doctors, lawyers, investment bankers -- people who simply make not $100,000 per year, but hundreds of thousands if not millions per year. And then there were those who simply prioritize differently -- they rent their home for cheap (under $1000/month), have a moderate income ($50-$60K), and want a nice car and feel like they can pay the $800/month for the lease or loan. I'm with you though -- the Tesla Model S is sweet, but way beyond what I'd pay for a car unless I was making $20K/month or more. That's a lot more than you need, of course, but I'm not so excited about any automobile to blow $70-$100K on it.

The Model 3, should it ever arrive, at a predicted pricepoint of $35K-$50K...that's a possibility. Given that it's electric, I'd consider saving up. Otherwise I might look at the Audi S3.