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.

Wonder how much extra radiation, or extra groping he has endured. 29 years of travel is 1508 weeks. 6000 trips divided by 1508 weeks is 3.9 trips/week lets round that to 4. figure they started using the backscatter machine in the last 2 years thats about 416 trips through the machine, or maybe 416 gropes. Lets say he took gropes. at my local massage parlor i would pay about 30 - 50 bucks to be felt up so i figure he saved himself about 12k in handling charges.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but if you have garbage in a public place can't the cops search and confiscate without a warrant because its no longer your property? doesn't the same apply here? what about people that dumpster dive? are they stealing? Maybe they are if you are paying a trash company, and its their trash bin, maybe you are technically trespassing. I just don't know. Anyway, i feel that if a cop can take my garbage than a citizen can take my garbage.

i fly twice a week. At RDU they are practically mandatory. i always opt out and ask to be groped but i see a lot of business travelers using them. I've always wondered why people that fly like me would ever want to go through that machine. it just seems silly. I much prefer to have the dude feel me up, heck i even moan a little just to encourage them.

question wasn't whether i could get it into walmart. question was what did it qualify as, porn or video game.

saw a comment about porn being restricted from minors. It got me thinking. What if i developed a video game that used real actors, but it was like Leisure Suit Larry. you basically guided the male protagonist through the game and you got extra points by having sex. But, its not animated. its like the dragon lair game where its filmed and you then pick the scene you want to go to. is that a game, or is it porn. if i sold it as a video game would it be protected speech and a kid could buy it. i see a whole market opening up for EB games. /s by the way, i'm trademarking/copyrighting/patenting/monetizing this idea by way of this post. if anyone tries to do this please not my lawyers will be contacting you. /s

I have NO intention of using ebooks until I have the right to share my ebooks with my friends, like I do with my printed books, and the ability to sell old books I no longer need, like I do with my current books. Oh yeah, I want the right to make the equivalent of "photo copies" of certain pages, like I do with tech books. When I have all that, then I will support ebooks. Until then they can bugger off.