Not taking sides on whether the GP is being hurtful, or the submitter really is in that much pain, but I feel there is a certain point where scientifically we should be able to say "no, you're just being a hypochondriac".

That a very unscientific use of hypochondriac and it drips with contempt, which is a form of prejudice, which is a form of irrationality.

People's ability to sense traverses a wide range, and people at the extreme edge of that range are in no way hypochondriacs, rather their discomfort can be very real. And understanding that difference is not only considerate, it can be profitable. Example: ring tones most old people can't hear due to loss of high frequency hearing capability.

I'm getting older, 45, and I can hear those tones. In fact I've always been highly sensitive to high frequencies, and one of the things I always hated about CRTs was the whine they make. It gave me headaches so when LCDs came along, I got one early on -- I think I paid $600 for it, but it was such a sweet relief, that it worth it to me. Now, I'm lucky in that I don't notice any flickering, and I'm relieved of the suffering CRTs caused me, but it sounds like other people have the opposite problem. Someone who decides to not be contemptuous, is going to make some decent money, maybe a lot of money, selling them solutions for what is a very real problem for them.

Holy shit -- that's actually worth watching. Very clever, very amusing.

Apparently, Crawford was an industrial engineer for GE and a KKK member -- which just makes it all that much weirder that they'd try to sell it to Jewish organizations.

http://news.yahoo.com/york-men-accused-plotting-build-radiation-weapon-204445880.html

Nice spin there about the FISA court reviewing itself for compliance with the Constitution. You know he is talking about higher court review. Very sly of you.

Fox: I never harm chickens in the henhouse.
Hen: Let's ask Farmer John for an independent review or your activities.
Fox: No need to go to John, I reviewed my actions, and I never harmed chickens in the henhouse ... *burp, spits out chicken down*

About 20% of the US population would be totally and rightfully pissed about such a situation. Another 30-40% wouldn't care. And the rest would be drooling to get on that jury so they could convict and throw away the key.

If you want to know what the FISA Rubber Court is about:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/19/fisa-court-oversight-process-secrecy

Your NDA is a civil contract. Technically, the only consequence you should face is monetary (maybe injunctive if they could get around the 1st Amendment). Though in the modern world, who knows. Soon as the Feds make breaking a contract a crime, we can reopen the debtors' prisons. Imagine the profit potential for the prison industry. Won't that be great. /sarcasm

A guy from the Wayback Machine had these estimates: $27m/year in equipment, $2m/yr in electricity (CA price), 5000sqft of space to store all phone communications for a year.

http://blog.archive.org/2013/06/15/cost-to-store-all-us-phonecalls-made-in-a-year-in-cloud-storage-so-it-could-be-datamined/

That facility should be good for 20 years worth of calls.

How times change. And to think that the US Government once prosecuted WWII Japanese Officers over the war crime of waterboarding. We executed some of those convicted, and others spent a long time in prison. Cheney and his ilk though(*), they profit from the chest thumping book sales.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/yes-inational-reviewi-we_b_191153.html

(*) I include those who excuse such War Crimes, such as Obama, in that "ilk"

Spying on foreign leaders! What will they think of next.

This line is beyond tiresome. Are you too stupid to understand the difference between assuming and knowing?

Assumer: Gov't spies on allies!
Listener: GTFO foil hatter.

Knower1: Gov't spies on allies!
Knower2: We should think about whether we really want to do this.

That's part of the problem with massive caches of data -- it's hard to secure. So, setting aside all the potential evils that will absolutely certainly occur because of politicians and career bureaucrats having the data, throw in the random security breach by insiders, contractors, script kiddies, whatever.

It is beyond retarded to trust the government with this data.

I'm OK with an emergency channel that can't be turned off provided it comes with a V:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oWs_voUPkk

On one hand you have the public backlash if/when an attack succeeds due to inadequate intelligence gathering.

I don't know about this. Take 9/11 for example -- did GWB get voted out? Did he have his power limited? Did Congress refuse to let him do whatever wars he wanted?

No. He was re-elected. He expanded executive power. And even Democrats like Clinton were not reading the Intelligence Estimate calling into question GWB's push for Iraq and falling all over themselves to start a pointless war. All those private contractors profited handsomely. The revolving door between cabinet posts and VP of this or that is lubed up and spinning.

So, perhaps the opposite is true. Perhaps an attack results not in backlash, but in uplift for these DC fuckwads.