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Comment Re:How about ignoring it? (Score 1) 484

9th & 10th Amendments. Unless it's a power granted to the Federal Government, or reserved by a State, it's a right retained by the people.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled that even the most tenuous, indirect link to interstate commerce creates Federal jurisdiction, which means only those rights specifically enumerated are actually protected in their eyes.

Comment Re: Are they really that scared? (Score 1) 461

Once they invest in a type of generation facility, they have a vested interest in protecting the fuel source for that generation facility. Sure, a power company may not care which generation source is cheapest when they start building, but once they've built they care very much about maintaining their profit margins.

Comment Re:Why does my tiny town in Iowa ... (Score 1) 191

You're not going to win a high-speed chase driving an MRAP. As officers don't receive training in how to properly operate them, they're actually more likely to injure themselves by rolling one over than to ever have a legitimate law enforcement use for one.

MRAPs are expensive, they chew up roads, and they roll over at the drop of a hat. They are useful for one thing: protecting the occupants from explosive devices.

I actually have never heard of a case of someone throwing pipe bombs at police in pursuit. I would be quite interested in reading more about the incident.

Comment Re:Anything sold to the police should be sold... (Score 1) 191

No shit. The pictures from Ferguson make anyone with the slightest modicum of weapons training cringe. A cop pointing a firearm anywhere other than at the ground unless actually making a high-risk search or arrest (or at the range, or other such circumstances for the pedant mouth-breathers) should be grounds for immediate dismissal, along with a lifetime ban from law enforcement employment.

Comment Re:Anything sold to the police should be sold... (Score 1) 191

The "Us vs. Them" mentality is certainly going to make policing less safe as they start crossing lines with the wrong people. Riots like Ferguson are the perfect cover to start taking long-range shots with very high caliber weapons at police, with zero fear of being discovered. Places that focus on community policing rarely have to worry about police being targeted. Why? Because they act like decent human beings, and there isn't a culture of egotistical men-children who think stroking automatic weapons purchased with money they stole from someone using civil asset forfeiture makes them God's gift to whoever the fuck they think they should be God's gift to.

The number of cops killed in the line of duty is a rounding error when it comes to dangerous professions. They're not heroes. They don't "deserve" special status. They joined up, they agreed to the pay and the risk. People dislike the police because the police clearly believe they are above the law. The explosion of personal video recording devices is just now making it clear how out-of-control they are.

Comment Re:Why only to police? (Score 1) 191

Indeed. People also seem to gloss over the fact that the statement "the right of the people" is an absolute, independent clause. It stands on its own, regardless of any prefatory or explanatory clauses that might depend on it. All other independent clauses relating to grants of power to the government have been read and ruled that way. They are not subsumed or limited by any prefatory statement regarding the reason for their inclusion. If the 2nd Amendment is to be so limited, then so should every power in the Articles where a prefatory statement or dependent clause is attached.

Also, "the right of the people" should be read the same way in every other Amendment. If that happened, peoples' heads would explode.

Comment Re:Why not strong passwords? (Score 1) 321

Being allowed to put that default functionality into an appliance is not within the purview of the programmers. That would absolutely have to be okayed by people higher on the food chain. Most companies won't do things like that because it increases support calls by users who want to just plug something into the wall and have it work.

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