Even that incident is totally different from the UC Davis one. Main point: Those particular individuals were in a place where they had a specific right to be because it was their domicile. Orders to vacate could not be lawfully given in the first place, at least not without specific and valid reasons (they were not trespassing, they were not blocking ingress or egress, or creating any other specific hazard.) They weren't under arrest, and there wasn't a warrant for their arrest or even a judicial process through which their arrest was sought. If the police had authority to make arrests, they could have done so with the handcuffs and 45ACPs. It is exactly _because_ they didn't have this authority that got Pike upset enough to cease being a law enforcement officer and become a vigilante, disobeying orders, ignoring California law and the policies and procedures of his department, and take out his aggressions against these individuals. He treated them as though they were the same people as some group of Oakland rioters or whatever. When the lawsuits inevitably come, the university is going to have to settle them quietly because there are serious risks they face if they have to admit either that they lied about not giving orders to use force, or if they have to admit that Pike disobeyed orders. Either way, ugly.

Actually, the university spokespeople have made it quite clear that the orders were _not_ to use force, more than implying that Pike acted on his own, disobeying orders. A rogue agent. Are they lying?

No kidding. Medical users, those who use a vaporizer daily, are hard pressed to go through a couple of grams a week.

Are you saying that marijuana use was the sole destructive behavior engaged in by those people?

It's about the government saying that a plant should be eradicated. A plant with countless known medicinal and industrial uses, should be eradicated. Take recreational smoking out of the equation and see how indefensible the position becomes.

Organizing a group of people toward a common goal turns out to be a challenge in *any* human endeavor. The fact that it is possible *at all* for a video game says something about the compelling nature of that game. Even if you are paying them a wage, it's hard to keep 25 people organized.

I've noticed that my mage's single-target damage is usually the lowest compared to any other class. I attribute some of that to my gear, and some of it is because I don't have any sort of overachiever rotation.

I mothballed my druid for no other reason that not being able to play the tree form full-time. I must admit that I did level a mage to 85, just to see all the new zones and dungeons. I also have to admit that it's been fun, but there is no way I'm getting into any mode of play that requires me to deal with other players or do any kind of PvP.

The problem with mitigating "fraud and waste" is that you can't put metrics on it. You can't say "this quarter we have an initiative to drop "fraud and waste" from 14% down to 9%. You can't set an objective to have 9% "fraud and waste", measure it, pay bonuses based on meeting the goal, and issue press releases claiming your success. If it's "fraud and waste", you either have to set out to eliminate it totally (without really even being able to *define* it very well, for the same problems), or you have to look the other way.

There is a weird cross-section class that has employer-subsidized health insurance; mostly people in bureaucratic and technocratic roles for larger institutions. These people often seem unaware of how much it would cost them to insure their family if they had to seek out private insurance, if it is even possible (because it is still very common to be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.)

What I'm saying is, health insurance for your family that actually covers anything substantial probably has monthly costs higher than your mortgage. Possibly double. A lot of people don't realize this.

I'd love to get a health plan that was useful. The trouble is, even if I went for a plan (upwards of $13,200 annually) it would not cover (relatively mundane) pre-existing conditions for us, which is the lion's share of our health care costs *anyway*. I'm looking for a high-deductible plan (high being in the $30-50K range) that covers catastrophic stuff and lets me just cash-flow the costs of mundane doctor visits and prescription drugs (which comes to a LOT less than that insurance cost, even if I bought retail priced name-brand drugs, which you aren't allowed to do under those expensive plans.)

The thing that bothers me is that so many people who rail against "Obamacare" being evil or whatever, don't even have much of a foundation in the subject matter of health care costs and insurance. They seem to just want to be on a popular bandwagon. And that really bothers me a lot.

I would have told them that they were interfering with a medical emergency, and that they were free to proceed with me to the ER where they could continue the conversation with me and the rest of my emergency staff after the medical emergency has subsided. I would have followed up the incident in writing, pointing out very bluntly that the officer (by name and badge number and very specific timing) attempted to interfere with a medical professional who was responding to an emergency.

I like to say "case on point" if the case is happens to illustrate one or more particular attributes under consideration. I like to say "case en pointe" if I mean that the case is poised on its toes like a ballet dancer. I would never say "case and point", but I might find an occasion to use it, if one happens to be both a case and a point.

No, not like WoW gold. There is no legitimate currency exchange for in-game currency in WoW. There may be a black market but that's irrelevant.

Look at the Linden Dollar from Second Life. It is independently traded for real currency on an open market. The thing that jumps out at me from the Linden Exchange is that I have seen it outperform the Dow several quarters running. What's really interesting is that it has volatility that doesn't track the exchange rates between the currencies that it's traded in. So it's not uncommon to see the SLL down against the Dollar and up against the Euro even when that's upside down with respect to just the Dollar versus the Euro.

The only things that stop it from being a "real investment" is that it's tied to a game company whose future is uncertain, and that there are trading limits (US$2,500/month, probably more if you actually have a subscription to the game). I think the main point is that you can trade the currency on a legitimate exchange market and that playing or even having a paid subscription to the game is not a requirement at all.
 

Arizona allows open carry. Adults with no felony record can carry a loaded firearm openly. Until recently, Arizona required a weeks-long training course for concealed weapon permits but now that course is optional. I see people all the time with sidearms carried openly and proudly on their hip.

All I can think about is the years I carried my Nikon F to plenty of far-flung places in an army bag that I got for $5 at a surplus store. I still use a webbing strap from that kit as the shoulder strap for my Canon 20D. I've always believed that looking old and crappy and cheap gave as good security as anything else. And I'm damn sure not going anywhere with a strap that has "CANON EOS DIGITAL" emblazoned on it in bright red letters.