Offworld mining? Have you really thought out the cost to do THAT?

I think the administration should just admit that it wants to kill any mission that involves Man leaving the upper atmosphere and be done with it.

This line of thinking got us a President with zero experience of any useful kind. He had no experience running any kind of large organization be it public, private or military. Part of a year going through the motions of being a Congressman does not count. We are seeing the result of that.

Both major parties (not one, both) need to set aside their posturing and pontificating for the benefit of their fringe constituencies. This country has serious problems. We need a frank discussion of the solutions followed by non-partisan action. Let's put an end to any activity that only benefits a small portion of the citizenship. Halt useless Congressional activity that only serves political parties and their patronage. The time for such nonsense is long over. Let's get to work.

Our country was founded on the ideal of "No taxation without representation". It appears that somewhere along the line something flipped to where we have "Representation without taxation" for a hell of a chunk of our population.

And yet, if you live in DC you ARE taxed without representation. Better yet, despite the fact that there is a mayor and a city council, members of congress seem to have no qualms about interfering in DC's financial and other affairs. The residents of DC deserve the same rights as the citizens of any other state. Puerto Rico is in the same position.

How would you determine "relative impact to standard of living"?

Until that's defined, I have to side with "same percentage". Someone show me what's fair about progressive tax rates anyway. You're always left at the whim of some politician to determine what your "fair share" is. Establish what constitutes "taxable" (from among income, investments returns, assorted gains, etc) and apply a flat tax rate. In addition, the combined tax rates of Federal, State and Local should not exceed the share left for the individual.

FTA: The group was angered after reading an interview Barr gave with the Financial Times regarding his plans to give a presentation at the Security B-Sides conference in San Francisco earlier this year that promised to divulge the identities of Anonymous's leadership.

I wasn't aware that Anonymous attacked HBGary after Barr threatened to out their leadership. I guess it's okay for them to put others at risk, but they're not willing to have themselves at risk.

What if there were a class action lawsuit against lawyers for charging outrageous rates to do something which can be accomplished by a individual following a script or template? Better yet, how about a class action against "Slip and Fall" lawyers for filing unnecessary cases and seeking exorbitant settlements leading to artificially high malpractice insurance, overly cautious doctors, and an inflated cost for healthcare?

Never mind them. The concert promoters are going to use this so that you're forced to pay their rates for media content.

"In fact, Revere’s own account of the ride in a 1798 letter seems to back up Palin’s claim. Revere describes how after his capture by British officers, he warned them “there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time for I had alarmed the Country all the way up."

Boston Herald

Perhaps you should go back and study American history. You've only been paying attention to half the story. Revere warned the colonists, but when captured by the British he also warned them that the colonists were ready to face them.

Boston Herald

In Montana? As in "we're only marginally larger that the CITY of San Jose, CA"? Montana, where the density at 6.8 people per square mile puts it 48th out of 50 states? The entire population of the state is just shy of 1 Million. What large, trained, work capable population are you dreaming of?

Lets see... I believe the point offered by the parent would be:

GMO protesters are to farmers as
Those who occupied the US Embassy in Tehran are to students

Parent was insinuating that the protesters in both cases were not what they seemed. Is the point clear now?

So now we're considering passive eugenics for wild species. How is that any more acceptable that eugenics applied to humans?

If we don't take care of nature, one day nature won't be there to take care of us.

What was the last thing from M$ that was going to eat Apple's lunch? That's right, the Zune! How's that working out for them?

Check out Pricewatch. They have reasonable prices ($70 - 80) for Win 7. That's for a full install, not an upgrade.

Thank you for talking sense.

Prepare to be shunned.