If alternative medicine worked then it would not be alternative medicine. It would just be, you know, medicine.

20 years was the minimum which is why he was asking for the minimum -- so he could have his old age as his middle age was going to be spent in the penitentiary. US justice (or just us) is hardly logical and attempting to apply logic to it will not help you one bit. Judges have discretion but only above the minimums (they can sometimes find the defendant guilty of lesser charges, that is rare, and sentences will be lighter) and the top is the limit -- life in this case but I expect something like 35 years after they appeal the sentencing. He has already been turned down for a new trial. He will almost certainly get to appeal the sentencing phase given the inclusion of hearsay and the judge admitting to using that evidence when considering the penalty. Another thing that Americans seem to miss... You go to prison AS punishment, you do not go to prison FOR punishment. The punishment is your loss of freedom.

Not even remotely true. There are many brilliant people incarcerated. They are just immoral - except for the innocent ones... See, a criminal has to be lucky EVERY time. The police only have to be lucky once. The statistics are heavily weighted in the State's favor.

No, it is Swissotel Watergate Hotel, the participants are Congress.

In Federal court if you get on the train you are a part of the "conspiracy to commit..." for everything. If I go buy an eight ball on your behalf and happen to be part of a Federal sting then I am just as culpable for the 8 ounces the dealers had in the house as I am for the mere eight ball I picked up for you. Gram or pound, you are in for the whole ride not just for your small amount. Fair? Nope. Reality? Yup...

Damn you! I read It's Friday Night. It made me think of Sam Cooke - Another Saturday Night... So off to YouTube, half hour gone, and here I am back but I do not notice the missing time easily... "Another Saturday night and I aint got nobody, I got some money 'cause I just got paid. How I wish I had someone to talk to, I'm in an awful way." i bet I have the earworm for a couple of days.

A weekly prescription in the UK (citation was called for)? I am going to the UK baby! I get Suboxone (buprenorphine) by the ton - I am prescribed 32mg per day which is insane but... I had a rather long love affair with extracting Fentanyl from the mylar patches (easier to regulate the amount than the gel type) and the needle. It was a lovely time. I heard what was killing people (Fentanyl being used as a dope cut) so I went and found some Fentanyl... I bought in bulk (100 to 500 patches) so the price was fantastic. It truly was an enlightening time and I am retired with enough money to cover it so I planned on doing it forever - until I noticed I was 110 pounds and stopping on my own threw me into a long hallucination where I thought I was actually in a rehab but I was at home with vomit in a bunch of buckets and I smelled like ass. Fentanyl is about 80 times stronger than heroin. It is measured in the microgram. It is also very deadly if you are not opiate tolerant and/or try to do a lot of it. For harm reduction sake start small and then work up. You can do another shot, you can not undo a shot. You probably will not be able to self-administer Narcan.

So...

I recently hit a rehab... I am doing a long-term program as soon as I can find one that allows me to bring my own computer and has openings. This I should probably post AC but, I did it - I typed it, I own it and am responsible for it.

Yes I am still pro legalization of drugs, all drugs. I hold that position even if the only outcome is the decreased spending in the War on Drugs.

The reason it took so long to get marijuana legalized is because we all kept forgetting where we put the petition.

This... I am a proponent of legalization of all drugs. Anybody that wants drugs can already get them (that is why we have a "drug problem"). Their being illicit makes them attractive to some. Legalization takes away the criminal aspect of drugs themselves which makes the price more reasonable. Nobody is just going to go out and start shooting heroin because it is legal - those who are going to do so are already doing so. The war on drugs is being won - it is being won by the junkies!

Go team Junkie!

I did not check but I recall someone posting that CNN has disable their comments section entirely.

These shills, as you call them, can still be pro US government... They are just pro government like it is intended to be - one that is open, honorable, and follows the constitution with ethically sound judgments. A dissenting opinion is probably the most intense form of patriotism. I realize that probably does not fit your narrative but it is true. I am very patriotic but I feel very strongly about the inferior service it has provided in the past forty years.

Wires like these (even for my business - an OC3 in new construction) go and stay fully underground coming up through a chase in the basement/floor, it could be cut inside but that is why internal security of your data is important. If the hospital is doing this they have IT there all the time - and security. It is unlikely (not impossible) that they will have an issue with anything you are worried about. They also use disparate connections with failover built in I suspect.

Stop putting so many people in prison?

I blame Digital. They had no business selling themselves, whores... Really, they should not have sold their dirty, sexy, selves...

Boston Dynamics came out of MIT IIRC. I would not be totally surprised if they had something to do with it and it just was not mentioned in the summary. I, of course, did not RTFA. That is against the rules.