TOR is sometimes as fast as the real thing - those German relays are awesome, in particular. Setting up a relay also provides additional privacy for the user.

However, I strongly doubt that any speed-up you might have noticed is due to the Iran users. Even if they were to set up relays - and they aren't really in a position to do so, in their particular situation - the outgoing traffic in Iran is choked and deep-packet inspected, hence slow.

Every "revolution" in Eastern Europe took place with considerable (albeit covert) Western support. It wasn't open military intervention, but to claim the regime changes in Eastern Europe and especially Romania happened with no external help, as some might interpret your words, is shortsighted.

OTOH I don't think a military intervention is the way to go in countries like Iran. Any attempt to help, in the slightest manner, would be used against the West.Watch the MEMRI videos on YouTube - these guys claimed that Soros was working with Bush to destroy them (!!!).

The one smart PR move that renegade countries like Iran, Zimbabwe or North Korea don't ever make is hosting other renegades, from the other side of the pond (like tpb or tvb). They'd score a major coup by showing that there are excesses and abuses perpetrated by their critics as well, and rather than having to perform the filtering and censorship themselves, they'd be forcing the West to do it for them, allowing themselves to be painted as the good guys.

The opinion of the Harvard Prof who thinks that the huge damages awarded for copyright infringement are unconstitutional has been reported here. Is a law really necessary to sue a self-described copyright holder? Isn't there some sort of quid pro quo in effect?

For instance, if WMG gets my video banned on YouTube even though it's not using its IP, shouldn't I be able to receive the kind of damages they get if I were to download their music without paying for it? Rather than wait for the law to happen, shouldn't someone (like a moneyed individutal + EFF) take a big IP bully to court?

Vita-Mix.com, who have been making high-performance mixers with polycarbonate containers forever, deny any such adverse effects and encourage their customers to "mix" as long as it takes to make hot soups (that is, starting with a cold mixture, keep mixing until the liquid is hot). Rubbermaid, OTOH, has had on their website an interview with a Johns Hopkins University scientist who states that heated or boiling liquids will accelerate BPA extraction (quite obvious, if you think about it).

I think each national toilet could exert far more inspiration and productivity, depending on the national portrait hung above it. For instance, if the American one were to make use of Dick Cheney's winning smile, everybody would want to use it, causing an unequal distribution of resources. If, OTOH, Stalin were to preside over the Russian act of defecation, the weight might somehow get balanced, restoring a normal consumption of fuel.

I do not recall registering with this registry. However, I am 100% sure I started to get these phone calls ("hello, this is your captain speaking") ever since I registered with cruisemates.com

As far as I can tell, they are a front for collecting this kind of information.