There were times where even wiretapping was controversial and you make it sound like metadata is so innocent as well as easy to prevent by a single user. Surprise surprise - it is not - in modern times, in developed world not using modern communication devices has serious consequences to one's ability to live normal life. If you consider this and the fact that there is really no other way to use such devices as not to leave a trail in the hands of the operators of the infrastructure used for those communications that left the trail, then you realize that there is not much that a person can do if courts just ignore the fact that gathering such data is a massive violation of people's freedoms.
As for the second thing - I think DEA or alike agencies elsewhere may actually have a role to play in our societies - there are chemicals that are outright killers and even weed is not something that I would like to see in a schools and alike. This said the grown people can do whatever they want with themselves and the state has (should have) as little authority over this as over sex life that is - as long as all are informed and consenting adults then there is no crime.

You are right about general idiocy of security policy in that school. Yet that is hugely irrelevant to the case - the boy broke the law which may indicate that the pupils in that school were not taught about vital issues concerning security and privacy and how serious such offenses may be. If they did maybe the pwd would not be that easy to see, it would not be that easy to guess and possibly if such privacy importance courses were done in every school the criminals from NSA would be serving their time in prison. Well I guess I exaggerated about how far we could go still blaming the teacher or the school for bad security policies is just, as said, not the point.

The way I see it today is that most of people in (broadly meant) IT are not those geniuses that do get it but normal guys, working 8-16 5d/week who can hardly do basic stuff. This did not make the situation in projects better - it is just bad in different sort of ways but I actually do not give a fuck.
There is only one thing that I cannot stand and that is piss poor management. Maybe we should start investing in communication skills and philosophy? I mean when I look at average manager from the positions having budget decision authority upwards or a politician at above local level I see wankers, psychopaths and incompetent but arrogant asshats. Projects can take a bit longer if people of lesser statute will do the stuff so in principle there is no major lack of engineers but there is a major lack of intelligent well meaning people up in the regions where decisions are made. Nobody is talking about that so either it is deemed impossible to fix or they just urgently want everybody to look elsewhere for the reasons why things go wrong.

What does it mean to have a life? For some big part of it is to communicate with some friends and family over whatever means are available. There are also people that do not need constant updates. I actually prefer to go out with some and if nobody is available then I go alone. I reached the stage in my life where I understand well enough what was meant by shadows on the walls of the cave. I also understood that with most I can talk about 'normal' things as anything more complex will confuse them. Not because I am better it is just that I am too different (and I am not even that much different). Some appreciate it most not. I deleted my FB account long time ago and created a new one which is void of any data and dormant. I still did not fly an airplane into the mountain - the guy that did had FB account.
Most of us have some sort of media presence if not for social then for professional reasons. So be it. People that judge others (negatively?) on basis of not having FB account (or some other mildly useful shit) are just another proof that there is not much more parting humans from birds than feathers and nails.
We may scold FB users but we all are here on a social media site doing so. In any case a chieftain from HR tribe needing my FB account to judge if I am suitable for a cohding job? Really? Why not to axe his head off directly?

Depending on the model you chose this may differ but I am sure if you chose proper units (libraries of congress/Manhattans etc) you can arrive at 42.

Those technically ignorant are the ones having passive and active election rights and they are in majority, This means nothing has much changed except now NSA has to claim their programs are beneficial so that the colossal amount of money spent on them does not look like a incompetence or outright corruption.

me apology. Shocked to see it too.

There is plenty of CEOs out there that could be president of US or some other country (not that they would notice anyway).

Till we have effective replacement organs growing technology we still could use some replacement organs grown naturally. Besides especially poor people are of interest to security agencies and as state run operations are usually not very efficient one can outsource that spying and localizing to private sector, it is win-win.

I recall there have been conditions to telecom service availability in continental northern Europe before - the providers had to provide a service in defined areas within certain time limits or face fines. It worked quite well actually. Sometimes regulation helps customers. In places where free market is worshiped the result of avoiding general regulations (communism!!! tyranny!!!) are a mess of less general regulations often conflicting and lacking in other places. I guess I am a commie or?
The funny thing is - I lived in a country that worships the American way and there I was waiting for a land line in my appartament 10y - when I left the country I still did not have one. I guess it is the same with ISPs today. Not sure if this is me or maybe there is indeed a pattern but judging on the constant flow of complaints from the land of the free there seems to be a problem there or?

It is not watered down but adjusted to reality in which kids will grow into workers that need to have basic skills in operating a computer and nowadays some idea that there are issues with security esp. when you get a mail from a widowed old lady from Nigeria needing a means of investing millions in charity etc.
This is not watered down stuff but basics on which if you want to you can build more. Assuming there are still cohding jobs in 20y from now there will be courses doing just that for a minority exactly as today.

As for cohding again - not sure what the fuss is all about - the companies I worked for so far had always a mix of workers from different backgrounds which more or less resembled the society in which they lived. It was similar in every country and company I worked for with exception of one sorry place in Germany where there was not a single local engineer. I also hear from my colleagues in US hat where they are there is indeed skewed racial balance among workers - almost no whites for instance: 3 whites in 100 of workers mostly of East Asia, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladesh origins. One may of course claim this means I have contact people with low pay companies in US. That may be but they still work in IT. So where is the racial problem Obama is addressing then?

I doubt that this is true actually. I base that on the fact that stupidity was with us as long as we have ever been. We still succeeded because we were plenty and were adapting (which is to say - we were adaptable for the events that were like Toba explosion etc). The intelligence played a role but it is not always the exacting brain of a scientist that saved the day in narrow points like the one suspected when said Toba went booom. This is the nature's way - sent quazillions out for only one or two to succeed. Fittness is needed and luck too. OC it helps to have more skills but that is sometimes a burden too - ask any engineer who was so good in his work that he was kept with perks etc at one place for say 20y and then fired when his skills were not needed anymore - how many of them did recover from that to the previously enjoyed level of prosperity. I am sure for some it worked for most esp. if they crossed 50yoa it would be unlikely event. Which again is not all that bad. They are replaced by newer generation and that is good so. That is the life perpetuating itself so to say. When one reached certain level of maturity one sees that the best what one can have is the life or Big Lebowsky.

That parent post is marked troll (23.03.2015 0910cet) is a sign that there are a lots of idiots around. It should be marked funny at least if not insightful. It is for instance not uncommon to see grownup educated people having problems with basic application of counting to their small business. Yet they can count and know all the rules. Maybe this is just them or maybe some broader view at what the actual skills can be used for could help. The again there will always be pupils that would be terrible bored by this low level - story oriented approach as focused training on key subjects is much better at studying foundations of say nuclear physics or microbiology. Yet there is nothing stopping both methods being applied where they are best. Topic like approach to some and focused course for some other. TFA seems to depict the situation where only topics are used which I doubt is working for all areas of science and technology and for all pupils. OTOH we probably need much more communication and negotiation skilled people as we move from producing things into servicing things.
In my professional life I would actually enjoy more software specialists with social, planning and communication skills but instead I have either socially inept geniuses or morons that know nothing but know how to network themselves out of trouble and layoffs. I guess that is another story.

So far they have better results then most developed countries. Can that be said of US?

I may be mistaken but basic counting is part of math. At least in Europe it is, not sure how that looks like in the land of the free tho.