If it wasn't for the TSA, and their tireless efforts to protect us, it would have been a horrible year for air safety. /s

build a new island off the coast? why should the Saudis have all the fun doing that.

if the content shows up on a test, and they choose the wrong answer, they fail. i don't see the issue. as an adult i can believe what i want to believe. When i take vendor certification tests the tests are always biased for the product. it doesn't mean i believe all the great and wonderful things they are saying, i just have to know what answer they want me to put. I really don't see an issue with someone walking out of a lecture, for any reason. in the end they are paying for an education if they miss a point and fail a test its their decision to spend more money or pick a different school.

Italy put a media mogul in charge of the country and look what happened to them. We are basically doing the same thing here in the US. by allowing corporations to write our laws we are going down the path of italy. i fully expect the US to implode within my lifetime.

i did 10 years army. made E-6, then warrant. got out after 10. debated on staying in since i could retire at 20. I looked at the benefits i'd get and compared that to my loss of wages over the next 10 years and i determined it was actually better for me to get out. I went from making 30-45k/year to making over 300k/year as a civilian. so, i dont' see how its questionable to NOT do 20 years. its all about ROI. sometimes its there, sometimes its not. If i was a grunt, then staying in is probably pretty good since my odds of a high paying job on the outside are bit more slim. intel/linguists, electronic specialists, or computer/network specialists have a much better chance of hitting the payday lottery. some specialties like nursing may actually pay better IN the military. you are correct about transitioning to government contractor or government employee on the way out. Its relatively easy to get picked up as a contractor (at least it was for me) and its a great opportunity to finish up grad school, or get your first degree. I chose to finish grad school then went on to bigger/better things. i hire almost exclusively ex-military. and all of them now make over 80k/year with a couple making over 200k/year (after leaving me and moving on to Cisco and VMWare with their newly acquired skills). one other point i want to make. If the military is drawing down do you really think all of those contractor jobs are going to survive? i think more than a few companies are going to feel the pinch.

so, would we get in trouble if we started attaching random boxes to police cars, and politicians cars? i'm just curious. i must say, i'm getting fed up with all of this warrantless tracking going on. I'm setting up a website where we can track government officials, and their families. post pictures, and detail their daily outings. track them day and night. i think its time they learned what it feels like to be hunted.

the end of this will happen when a large country, say China, says screw IP and Patents. IP and Patents help companies in the US and Europe stay on top but since a lot of Chinese companies are government owned whats the incentive for enforcement. I would bet that as soon as China can say "screw you" to patents, they will.

this won't matter too much longer now that we are going to implement "first to file" patents. previous art be damned. if i file, then its mine. so..... tell me your best ideas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_to_file_and_first_to_invent

I think you were being redundant. you said monkeys AND lawyers.

i wasn't talking about cancer in general, i was talking about cancer caused by the machines. Two completely different emotional factors. A familial response will almost always be warm, responsive and positive (uplifting). A response to the government giving me cancer will almost always be negative. the negativity can cause protests against the source of negativity, just look at occupy wall street. Thats the impact i was talking about. When analyzing the situation the same initial stimulus (cancer) can illicit very different responses depending on the catalyst. Cancer that can be determined to be natural we think of as just bad luck or some other benign reasoning. But, cancer that we determine to be caused by an external force we fight against. Look at tobacco. People went after the companies like they were Satan and his/her hordes (i've always pictured satan as a woman, normally my ex-wife). Any external catalyst we will, and have, fought against. And thats the impact i was talking about. and it would be worst with a lingering death. Humans tend to build their anger slowly over time until it reaches a boiling point. And with some cancers you have quite a lot of time to get your mad on. So, are you telling me the Occupy Wall Street, and various other protests haven't had an impact? Emotional and Financial? How about the riots in LA after the Rodney King beating? Or the Million Man March in DC? All it takes is an external catalyst. Had Rodney King gotten his ass beat by a transvestite prostitute instead of a cop there wouldn't have been a march (unless the transvestite prostitute was also a cop).

i would argue that 100 cancer victims/year is worst than 100 cancer deaths/year. when i was in the army i was taught that injuring a an enemy soldier was better than killing an enemy soldier. The injury takes out the 1, but it also takes out the support personnel and an abundance of resources. So i could almost argue the terrorists are using that playbook, and they are doing a better job. they have the US government doing the injury. That injury then causes a downward spiral of emotions for the immediate family which impacts their life/job. It also consumes medical resources that now can't go towards other needy individuals. in many cases it will bankrupt individuals and the debt may be passed onto their children, again demoralizing. If you think about it, its a pretty good plan. Not that i actually think it was a plan, but if it was thats someone playing the real slow game. Does that make our government the Terrorists?

They could get a collective of patents and control what devices get created, then sue anyone that deviates from that. Effectively controlling what you can buy. If apple/microsoft has their way Android will be so expensive that its not cost effective to develop it thus limiting smart phones to one type. iPHONE.

They don't need their own armies. they have the FBI, state and local police, and secret service on their payroll as it is.

my burkha trumps your mask

its the same amount, regardless of who you are, but its a higher percentage of income for the poor as opposed to the middle class or higher. i'm a typical Upper Middle Class Tech dude. when i want to buy a 60 inch LCD, i do it. do you think i even worry about tax? on the other hand, my father makes next to nothing so even if he could scrape together the money for a TV, the sales tax, of several hundred dollars, would be a pretty significant hurdle, and has to be taken into account when making the purchase. And, since its not reflected in the price it may come as a shock. when added to the bill. I've always thought some of the taxes we pay are silly. trying traveling, and renting a car.... in Dallas. you will pay 40-50/day for the car, and 40-50/day in taxes. its insane.