> The last I checked, no cash was being given away to oil companies.

I am guessing you don't check often or you check in the wrong places (like Faux News).

Energy subsidies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies#Allocation_of_subsidies_in_the_United_States

As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Subsidies
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/04bptax.html?pagewanted=all

These subsidies have been the subject of frequent battles in the lame US Congress.

Either way please read up on this crap and go crawl back under your rock.

Name one thing that other governments do that the US government hasn't already done. There is nothing. Torture? Check Indefinite detention of innocent people? Check Spying on own citizens? Check Lavish support and benefits for corporations at the expense of ordinary people? Check Americans need to get off their hypocritical high horse of "freedom", "liberty", "justice" and all that crap. They are no better than any of the dictatorships out there.

> The bill prohibits employers from demanding user names and passwords from employees and job applicants.

Now all an employer has to do is "suggest" that you "voluntarily" give up your Facebook password, but that your refusal will not have any impact on their hiring decision. And by a strange coincidence, no one who refuses will get hired.

Business as usual in the Land of Unfettered Capitalism

Air Conditioning the Military Costs More Than NASA's entire Budget: http://gizmodo.com/5813257/air-conditioning-our-military-costs-more-than-nasas-entire-budget
That says a lot about this country and where it's headed. It has no problem cooling troops in a war that has no purpose and no end, even when "we are broke!". But funding anything that might be remotely useful? Forget it!

> money that cannot be counterfeited

Really? I expected a little better than that from IEEE Spectrum. That statement made me realize the article is not even worth reading.

All you guys upset about this, please relax - for now.

As long as there is a Democrat in the White House, Utah's Republican legislature will not allow this to happen.

Now if a Republican gets in to the White House, you can sit back and watch as they fall over themselves justifying this.

That's right, why can't we trust an organization that polices itself?

Remember Pat Tillman? Or the admission just a couple of days ago that "oh yeah, we did kill those pregnant women in Afghanistan after all".

Trust these guys? Why?

> I saw people in a van aiding and abetting a member of an armed group

So helping someone that is injured and dying is "aiding and abetting" an armed group.

You are one sick person....among many similar Americans.

I don't know which shop the OP bought his NAS from, but....

Take a look at the reviews posted on compusa.com and circuitcity.com (both seem to be run by the same company now). I don't trust them anymore. It's hard to find a product with less then 4 stars. Often the same products are reviewed less favorably on sites like Newegg.

You could save the online bills to your computer. Many of them are available as PDFs. But, yes, it requires a certain discipline on your part rather than just having them show up in the mail.

I also agree with other posters that companies don't generally do this to go "green", but to make a buck. That is why T-Mobile's plan sounds more offensive.

Yes, I find it interesting that Americans get all fired up about privacy when a camera catches them running a red light - fired up enough to call their lawmakers and cause a 117-3 vote to ban the evil "privacy-invading" cameras.

But when their own government spies on their phone calls and emails with no warrant or cause, the response is a yawn and "Well, I have nothing to hide so why should I worry?".... Which begs the question: what are you hiding in your car then?

Seriously, look at your virulent response to red light cameras and the relatively quiet ease with which you have let your government spies get away with breaking the law.