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Allowing unlimited password attempts on the cloud service was an inexcusable oversight on Apple's part. Most of the rest of your list, though, is stale wankery.

The IRS is an unbelievably bloated agency.

I call BS. Do you have any evidence of bloat at the IRS? The Boston Globe has reported that the IRS is not "up to the basics of its job." The IRS makes billions of dollars in fraudulent payments "because it lacks the ability to check whether many returns are accurate before refunds are mailed." The IRS relies on tax preparers to file accurate returns. Guess what, they often screw up. The agency is "so short-staffed it cannot answer nearly 40 percent of phone calls, and it has failed to meet its own 45-day deadline to respond to millions of letters per year from taxpayers." Etc.

On Point Radio had a show about the IRS 11 months ago. Listen and learn: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/0...

lol.. There is no municipalities rights in the US constitution that is supposed to limit what the feds can do.

Well, kinda there is. The 10th amendment expressly reserves for the states any powers not specifically specified by the Constitution to the Fed. On the other hand, your local municipality only has powers as outlined by your state constitution. Typically, any city is completely subordinate to whatever state it happens to be in, but states, and therefore cities, have rights over the Feds unless the Constitution specifically says otherwise (most often, by virtue of the commerce clause).

With municipal broadband, however, things get really twisted. It's not the Feds who are trampling on local efforts to set up public broadband... the states are doing the trampling, perhaps because the states are easier and cheaper for big telecom to lobby, and the Feds are trying to use the authority of the FCC to preempt the power of the states to squash what local authorities want to do within their community. Follow?

Lots of the successful municipal internet projects grew out from local municipalities that already own and run their own electric grid. Since they already own the poles and other conduits for carrying cables, along with trucks and technicians and other infrastructure for supporting them, running fiber is easy. But this makes Big Telecomm upset. Competition takes money out of their pockets. So, they lobby the states to restrict it.

So, in this case, the Fed is a city's or county's best friend, because its state wants to shut down what the citizens wanted to do for themselves. Either the FCC comes to the rescue, or the city has to go it alone in the state capitol against a very very wealthy powerful lobby whose money can easily make the difference between winning and losing in a state election. Suck it up. Sometimes, the Feds are the only friends you've got... if they have the authority, that is, and if big lobby has anything to say about it, they don't.

Also in practice, the less-than-1% of the US in Alaska/HI can be ignored, leaving us with 4 time zones with more than 99% of the population.

You're correct, but only for a while. The people of Massachusetts are thinking of switching to the Atlantic time zone, so the US might span 5 time zones pretty soon.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/...
http://www.bostonglobe.com/ide...

It applies to lots of things. In this instance here someone filed a fake claim of child abuse.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/met...

Translation:

It's too much for me to actually research this issue, so I will make some shit up about how the prior poster is clearly batshit for pointing out that there are whole classifications of asteroid that are nearly completely pure metal, and that the composition of these objects ranges from 15% iron-nickel alloy to near 100% iron-nickel alloy.

Instead I will focus on how the OP stated that there are asteroids made of solid cold, and focus on how battshit that is! Nevermind that even really old USGS circulars cite the average gold content of meteorites between .0003 PPM and 8.74PPM, with the average gold concentration of earth's crust being between .001 PPM and .006 PPM , which indicates that careful candidate screening would produce far richer old ores than can be obtained here on earth! That's not important! HE'S A SPACE NUTTER!

He's such a nutter! Hoo boy! See everybody, See me shout it from the rooftop? He's a NUTTER, A NUTTER!

I said it, and said it again, that makes it true! TRUE I SAID! TRUE!

Oh gawd, it's wierd again! The KING space nutter! AND HE'S BRINGING SCIENCE IN ON THIS! OMG! SUPER SPACE NUTTER! SPAAAACE NUUTTTER! (Did I get enough vapid spittle in that?)

Seriously AC- YOU are the one who sounds like the true believer. No amount of plausibility study will ever dislodge your diehard faith that humans will never get off this rock, and because of your faith, you want to sabotage others that lack your convictions, all so you can (Maybe, sorta) get something that you want that is at best equally improbable (A happy future leisure-society utopia, from your own admission) and at worst delusionally impossible (Since you hand-wave away all the consequences of your proposal as being solvable by mystery science, even when real scientists outright say that this is not possible, and that expecting science and technology to just whisk it away is not being realistic, and then have the gall to claim being a realist.)

So go ahead, demonize me some more. Hurl more poorly structured ad hominems my way. Repeating a lie a thousand times does not make it true-- Maybe if you keep huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf, and laughing like a hyena on nitrous oxide, you will eventually have a cerebreal embolism and spare us all the misery of your continued postings.

If this is mental illness then what did he have exactly? What's your basis of diagnosis? What should've been done instead?

Mental illness is a great catch all for anyone who's trying to uphold the status quo and not willing to see the problems facing culture.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/met...

Is this also mental illness too?

They are actively considering whether to regulate EHRs. https://www.bostonglobe.com/ne...

An example involving a chef. Granted, the chef got sued, not the restaurant.


For variety, here's an example involving a hairstylist.

This focus on Lois Lerner is a republican red herring. The real scandal at the IRS is the billions in fraudulent return payouts they make every year. The Republican-led congress has cut the IRS budget by a $billion, but it's a net loss when one factors in the loss due to the fraudulent return payouts (identity theft) and the reduced take from collections (about $8 billion). Read the article at the Boston Globe website. The IRS budget cut increased the deficit.

While I don't agree with Rick Perry on everything, the budget in Texas is just fine. Could there be changes? Yes, but there is no perfect economy in this nation and at some point you have to question governments that would much rather practice bureaucratic wealth re-distribution in the name of social progressiveness. That becomes collective thought where initiative dies. All that gets you is bigger government and more people wanting a hand out. Large, wealthy corporations don't deserve hand-outs and that's what needs to be curtailed but at the same time don't just use that as an argument to start spreading the wealth disproportionately on areas where we really don't need the investment, big government. Big government equates to a lot of fuckwads who have nothing better to do all day than fuck with people. Look at Massachusetts and the Justina Pelletier case! A bunch of fucking retarded social workers and hospitals getting in the middle of parental rights where no cause for parental right termination has been proven.

No, it isn't just the parents. The referring physician has some things to say, and the Boston Globe reports that BCH has a string of highly contentious cases in which children were taken away. I think a key question is why didn't BCH have the doctor on staff that had previously treated her see her, since that was the reason she was referred to BCH? You might think that would be useful before saying the whole problem is in her head. The way this travesty is working out it is the state and BCH that is engaged in medical child abuse. Surely it can't be better when the state does it.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

BCH has been involved in a string of highly contentious cases in which children were taken from their parents. In this case the child had been referred to a doctor at BCH that had previous treated the child and it appears that doctor was never seen and had no say before the new diagnosis of a psychological problem was used to take the child. Doesn't that strike you as more than a little odd? The referring physician at Tufts that had seen her and referred her was cut out completely, and she was his patient. Yet another oddity. Your theory regarding a "*spurious*" report doesn't really seem to describe the situation. It looks more like someone had a pet theory and applied it to this case, resulting in disaster for the family and improper treatment for the girl who is reported to be going down hill. The hactivists are wrong, but BCH and DFS haven't covered themselves in glory in this case either.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

I know! Who would have though that actually reading the articles would impart so much information, including information about the activities of actual doctors! It's almost like magic.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

... as the chief of metabolism at Tufts Medical Center* sat in his cluttered third-floor office in Chinatown last April, his frustration began to boil over. Two months earlier, Korson had sent a 14-year-old patient, Justina Pelletier, to Boston Children’s Hospital to see a former colleague of his who had previously treated the girl for gastrointestinal problems. But things had rapidly gotten off track.

In short order, a team of different Children’s doctors had disputed Korson’s working diagnosis of mitochondrial disease for Justina and accused her parents of medical child abuse. This paved the way for the state child protection agency to intervene and strip the parents of custody on an emergency basis. From there, Justina, against her strong objections, was moved into the hospital’s locked psychiatric ward. Children’s and the state had ignored Korson’s requests to be included in a roundtable meeting to discuss Justina’s care.
 

Well, no doubt BCH has "top men" working on the case.

Justina’s hospitalization is the most extreme of a handful of unusually contentious cases over the last 18 months involving Children’s Hospital and the Department of Children and Families.

*Cough * cough*.

* Maybe you've heard of them.

I know! Who would have though that actually reading the articles would impart so much information, including information about the activities of actual doctors! It's almost like magic.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

... as the chief of metabolism at Tufts Medical Center* sat in his cluttered third-floor office in Chinatown last April, his frustration began to boil over. Two months earlier, Korson had sent a 14-year-old patient, Justina Pelletier, to Boston Children’s Hospital to see a former colleague of his who had previously treated the girl for gastrointestinal problems. But things had rapidly gotten off track.

In short order, a team of different Children’s doctors had disputed Korson’s working diagnosis of mitochondrial disease for Justina and accused her parents of medical child abuse. This paved the way for the state child protection agency to intervene and strip the parents of custody on an emergency basis. From there, Justina, against her strong objections, was moved into the hospital’s locked psychiatric ward. Children’s and the state had ignored Korson’s requests to be included in a roundtable meeting to discuss Justina’s care.
 

Well, no doubt BCH has "top men" working on the case.

Justina’s hospitalization is the most extreme of a handful of unusually contentious cases over the last 18 months involving Children’s Hospital and the Department of Children and Families.

*Cough * cough*.

* Maybe you've heard of them.

No! What is going on at Boston Childre's is in no way reasonable. Please read the ABC News story. Does this seem "psychosomatic" to you?

Justina's ordeal began in 2010, when she had severe cramps because of a stomach blockage, according to her father. Doctors at Connecticut Children's Hospital unsuccessfully tried to "flush" her lower intestinal tract and subsequently did exploratory surgery, he said. Doctors found a congenital band, about 20 inches of cartilage wrapped around her colon and removed that and the girl's appendix, he said.

In 2011, when her condition did not improve, he said doctors referred Justina to Dr. Alejandro F. Flores, a gastroenterologist at Tufts.

Does referral to a gastroenterologist seem "unreasonable" for a problems of the bowel and stomach??

You don't suppose that the problem could be with Boston Children's? You might want to read this too:

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

The abuse here is by Boston Children's in the form of an ultimatum: abandon the treatment plan from an expert in the medical area where your daughter has been experiencing problems, as proven by surgery, for our treatment plan that says it is all in your daughter's head or we will use state power to seize control of your child.

Its great you have a theory, but two sisters having the same genetic disease wouldn't be shocking. If you read the ABC news story above you'll see that there is meaningful medical history there that can't be faked. You're assuming that the chief of metabolism at Tufts medical center is wrong, and that Boston Children's diagnosis, for which there is no diagnostic test, is right. And then there is the fact that Boston Children's apparently has a history of these sort of "contentious" actions as noted in the story below.

Frustration on all fronts in struggle over child’s future

> Finland teaches whole word and is considered the best public education in the world.

O RLY?

More likely best non-Asian public education.

If you compare it to a similar sized US State like Massachusetts, not even that.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/met...

Many larger countries than Finland have much more diverse populations. Take similar sized samples and you will rapidly find that Finland is not that outstanding.

I realize it may seem like Microsoft has the IRS over a barrel, but keep in mind that the US Government does have a bit of negotiating power on prices due to its sheer size and the common use of large comprehensive contracts. I'm sure they aren't paying the average price for support.

Analysts noted earlier this year that Microsoft had dramatically raised prices for Custom Support, which previously had been capped at $200,000 per customer for the first year. Instead, Microsoft negotiates each contract separately, asking for an average of $200 per PC for the first year of Custom Support.

Emphasis mine.

So they are paying $30 million to migrate to Windows 7. According to the article they have 58,000 PCs left to upgrade. That's $517.24 per machine. Licenses for Windows 7 Ultimate and Pro seem to be between $150 and $200 a pop on GSA Advantage. Throw in some CALs, software assurance, or other essential software, and it is probably leaving less than the $200 per machine average for the Custom Support.

Should they have dragged their feet this long to upgrade? Of course not. But I wonder if something set them back.

I've seen this story about Russia giving us warnings about the Boston bomber floating around elsewhere recently, why is this news now? We knew this back in 2013.

Despite the misspelling, the FBI interviewed him and determined he was no threat (unlike his friend who they interviewed after the bombing, and shot to death during the interview).

So what would it have mattered if airport security searched him after one of his trips to Russia? It's almost certain he wasn't carrying anything that would have got him arrested.

As one of the great monsters of history, rehabilitating Stalin is an important bit of symbolism and tone. If Austria and Germany were to one day declare that they were reuniting in an act of self-determination by the German people, and then started making public pronouncements about the many great achievements of Der Führer, wouldn't that be cause for concern? Stalin killed far more than Der Führer.

Putin’s long game? Meet the Eurasian Union

Definatly not true.

Really? The trend has been downward for a number of years for everyone below the age of 55, a much as 59% for teens. For those older than 55 there is an upward trend, but overall the trend is down. http://www.bostonglobe.com/bus... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12... http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/...

Any designer who tried to argue with me that their page *needed* to be 1920 pixels wide would get a long-winded diatribe about mobile devices and responsive design. It's fine if your page stops growing at 1920 pixels, but you can't expect a tablet or mobile user to fit in 1920 pixels. If your solution is "let them pinch and zoom" then you're going to lose mobile users who are a fast growing segment. Instead, your site should use CSS Media Queries to reconfigure the page depending on the size of the user's display. If done properly, you can resize the browser from desktop size to mobile size and see the transition take place. (Try it with The Boston Globe's website.)

Thanks to CSS3's media queries, no site should need a "mobile version." You design one site and have it modify itself based on the browser's size. A good example of this is the Boston Globe's site. Go to the site in Chrome or FireFox (not IE) in a large, but not maximized browser. Now slowly resize the browser, making it smaller and smaller. As you do, the site will reconfigure itself from full-fledged desktop site to small-screen mobile site (with quite a few steps in between).

The benefit of this is, of course, that you don't need to maintain two or three different sites. You maintain one site and modify it to suit different sized browsers. Compare this to a mobile site which needs to redirect users to a different URL and often needs a completely separate development effort.

> When was the last time you heard of a police officer sent to prison for brutality?

It happens fairly frequently. Here is one recent case:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/23/former-officer-gets-month-prison-sentence-brutality-case/GqLq7DbwPRf1dDRPHN8LzK/story.html

The Ars T "story" is simply a re-hash of this (from the Boston Globe):

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/14/boston-police-suspend-use-high-tech-licence-plate-readers-amid-privacy-concerns/B2hy9UIzC7KzebnGyQ0JNM/story.html

Joining in the fun stories to support the claim, our local transit police used a cardboard officer to deter bike theft: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/08/14/cardboard-cop-prompts-real-drop-crime/twoZrFoyg1qrPQCVLtnF8K/story.html

When I was a kid anything bought via phone or mail was "allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery". Only with Amazon did this finally change to 2 or 3 days.

How much of this is Amazon and how much of this is UPS and FedEx modernizing their services with the advent of newer technology? Amazon doesn't actually deliver anything, though they've made great strides in minimizing the time spent preparing the order. They certainly have a symbiotic relationship with shippers and the two have worked together to streamline the process, but a good bit of that 4-6 weeks was spent in transit, and eliminating much of that time is none of Amazon's doing.

AmazonFresh is one of their new direct delivery programs and growth of these programs is likely why Amazon became in favor of sales taxes for online purposes. They'll now have a physical presence in many states, so won't be able to duck local taxes. From the Boston Globe: 'A Massachusetts distribution center could allow Amazon to offer same-day delivery in New England, something it has been rolling out in other parts of the country, according to retail analysts.' The sales tax for Amazon purchases starts in November here. Even more strategically important, it adds a barrier to entry for anyone else looking to get into online retailing.

As for the 4-6 weeks, that was due in part to many of these catalog operations not having significant inventory in stock, they'd place their own order after receiving customer orders. For the ones that did have inventory in stock, sitting on your money made them interest, so the longer they took, the more 'free' money they made.

We look forward to you sharing your "evidence", thanks.

I tend to ignore people who can't be bothered to use google on their own, and instead ask for everything to be handed to them...

We're talking about half a century of gun control laws and increasing crime rates. There's no single link to ALL that information.

There's a few quick ones:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/02/21/disarming-the-myths-promoted-by-the-gun-control-lobby/2/

http://people.duke.edu/~gnsmith/articles/myths.htm (See #10)

http://www.liveandlocalenc.com/proof-gun-control-increases-crime/

http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig7/lemieux1.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/22/do-strict-gun-laws-really-stop-gun-crime/

http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp#right-to-carry

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/weekinreview/29liptak.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/02/04/gun-crimes-increase-massachusetts-despite-tough-gun-laws/XjlDQLZlUDvsf3KS8PqyGK/story.html

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2010/06/25/stossel-argues-gun-control-increases-crime-i-was-once-clueless-senator-schumer

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/02/17/the-nation-toughest-gun-control-law-made-massachusetts-less-safe/3845k7xHzkwTrBWy4KpkEM/story.html

Since Snowden bypassed security and deleted logs, your claim is false.

And further down in the article you cited:

but as Validity CTO Sebastian Taveau points out, that's like saying your ATM PIN doesn't protect you from thieves at the ATM threatening to break your kneecaps with a crowbar if you don't withdraw money and hand it over. "How many people do you see limping away from cashpoints?" he asks.

Too many.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/24/southie/T3pRIehmw8M271WbFDEThI/story.html

During the last moments of her life, Amy E. Lord was led on a terrifying journey, from the South Boston street where the 24-year-old was kidnapped to a series of ATMs where she was forced to withdraw money, to Stony Brook Reservation where her brutally stabbed body was discovered by a passing cyclist early Tuesday morning.

--
BMO

Until there is a Libertarian candidate, who is remotely viable, picking Republicans is what Libertarians ought to be doing. Because Republicans are far less wrong on economy. And economic freedom is required for prosperity...

The opposite is literally true. I don't personally vote economic issues (there's nothing wrong with doing so), but if I were to, voting Republican would not be an optimal choice.

On contrast, if an ultra-Conservative "RethugliKKKan" wins elections and, horrors, manages to outlaw abortions... Guess what? I'll still be able to afford my daughter's trip to Canada, should she ever want the procedure.

You seem to primarily vote your wallet, and you also have a liberal position on at least one social issue, or, at least, you're not crazy about the Republican platform position on that issue (please correct me if I read you wrong). Again, nothing wrong with that, but holding a Republican preference with what you've shared of your political views seems... decidedly strange. I'd honestly be interested in how you arrived at the preference you have.

...the deterioration of our economy...

What deterioration? Now, I'll be the first to admit that we're not exactly seeing Clinton-era growth, but we are seeing steady, albeit slow, improvement. Again, literally the opposite of deterioration.

Surely it has that low circulation because it's about Boston? (I've not heard of it before -- I've just looked at the website: http://www.bostonglobe.com/ -- and almost all of it's about Boston or Massachusetts). 1.5M out of 6.6M (Massachusetts) isn't so bad.

An example of a newspaper with an "extreme left" viewpoint is The News Line (wiki link so you can see the scanned front page, the website probably isn't very interesting if you're not British). I picked up a copy on a train a while back, and was surprised to read about "Leningrad" in one of the main articles. If supporting immigration as a source of cheap labour (as the Boston Globe seems to) is "extreme left", what do you call a newspaper that calls St Petersburg "Leningrad"?

It focuses on the view of a small portion of inner city liberals and ignores the rest of the nation

Then maybe it's liberal, which is not the same as "extreme left".

Here's an extreme left American newspaper: http://www.revcom.us/revolution/current-en.html

A lot of the danger in these systems is not how they are used right now, it is how they might be used by someone we haven't even identified yet who's running the show in 5 or 10 or 50 years.

I agree on both points. That is why there needs to be good oversight by Congress, the executive branch, and the courts (when they are involved). Frankly I would like to see if Congressional oversight could be strengthened somehow, perhaps through the GAO - Government Accountability Office. It is regrettable, but radical Islamist violence and terrorism will be with us a long time. After 9/11 it was observed that based on historical examples this sort of problem can last decades, 20, 30, 50 years.* The American people need to be protected, both from terrorism ( which resulted in 71,803 people killed, wounded, or kidnapped in 2007), and from potential overreach or abuse from intelligence agencies. It is a delicate act governing intelligence agencies - they must be kept accountable to Congress, the President, and the Courts, but not needlessly hampered in a manner that cripples their effectiveness.

...several prominent US politicians including a man who ran for President stated publicly and unambiguously that the surviving suspect should be treated as an enemy combatant and thus excluded from the normal rules of due process.

That should be understood for what it is in essence - advocacy, and posturing, but not decision making. The Executive branch has the power, the say over how he will be treated for prosecution under existing law. Since it appears that the two brothers, and the rumored sleeper cell possibly connected to them, were linked to terrorists in Dagestan, it could open up prosecution under the Law of War in a military commission as a legal matter. As a policy matter, terrorists captured within the territory of the United States have generally been routed through the criminal justice system. Terrorists captured outside the United States have been subject to being sent to Guantanamo, although I seem to recall that several have been brought into the criminal justice system as well.

And if I may adjust your language - what happened in Boston wasn't a tragedy, it was an atrocity. It was a deliberate attack with the intent of killing and maiming innocent civilians enjoying a sporting event with an international reputation, following, and participation.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

I think that was a good post you made.

*And with the ease of travel and international communications today, combined with the unrest in so many Muslim nations, it could easily last longer. Al Qaida's goals are very long term, so they are planning for the long haul.

For purposes of criminal law, the bomb was legally a weapon of mass destruction. The effect of the bomb qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction for purposes of discussion.

Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

There are two contexts in which "Weapon of Mass Destruction" is used. In military usage it refers to nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons. Criminal code usage is a superset of military definition, plus "destructive devices." Basically, explosive or incendiary devices with more than 1/4 oz payload. The charges are in-line with current criminal law practice.

Now now, don't confuse Senator Obama with President Obama. They're entirely different people...

(I'm not sure to what extent I'm joking...)

In a sense they are. It's easy to make big sweeping claims when you're uninformed about the threats out there, on unfamiliar legal ground, and not the one responsible for national security. One election takes care of the question of who is responsible. A couple of daily presidential intelligence briefings will start to take care of the uninformed part. Some briefings by the Justice and Defense departments on the Law of War and national security law will firm up the legal ground. The world is going to start looking different at this point.

When you're President of the United States, you own whatever happens on your watch. President Obama already owns at least two successful terrorist attacks, and two attempted attacks, ignoring the ones that were intercepted. He probably doesn't want to own any more. It's bad for the party at the polls, bad for his record as president, and bad for America, let alone the victims. Also note that he hasn't asked Congress to rescind the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed after 9/11, and legally the same as a declaration of war.

If you're responsible and assumed that there were no terrorist threats before becoming informed, you might have a change of view as well. And if he hadn't, or wavers in the future, and that results in more successful terrorist attacks, the Congress would likely become a Republican congress within an election or two, and at that point they would help the President along.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

Just a few weekly arrest reports from the FBI during President Obama's term:

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

I still don't really see you making any counterarguments or providing any new facts. Its pretty much all personal attack. So I'll give you one more attempt. Where do I go wrong below? Where is the hyperbole, the straw men? The blinding fear? I understand that injecting actual facts on this subject is unpopular with many people.

Terrorists exist. They've conducted attacks in the past. They'll continue to attempt attacks in the future. A significant part of the reason the number of successful attacks has been limited is due to hard work by the security services, good intelligence, and civic minded people. Crippling the intelligence agencies is a bad idea. In the past, people that stole large amounts of classified documents from the intelligence agencies, fled the country, and took refuge in a communist country where they began making the documents available to America's adversaries have been considered and called spies and traitors. Below is a list of a few attacks and arrests of terrorists.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

1.Tampa: Florida Resident Charged with Plotting to Bomb Locations in Tampa

A 25-year-old resident of Pinellas Park, Florida was charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack locations in Tampa with a vehicle bomb, assault rifle, and other explosives.

I know little that you couldn't, but apparently much that you don't. And that is sad, really. But you aren't alone. So, here is what I'm talking about to help you along.

Attacks against Americans that were attempted and not intercepted, or completed (this excludes war zones):

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

2001 9/11 attacks - 2,973 dead. Two skyscraper towers destroyed, heavy damage to Pentagon.
Estimated damage to US economy: ~ $100,000,000,000.

2000 Photo: USS Cole - Video USS Cole - 17 dead, 39 wounded, major damage to US Navy destroyer

1998 Bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya - 224 dead, est. 4,000 wounded, both embassies heavily damaged

1996 Bin Laden's Fatwa - Text of the fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi

Small, limited sample, of other terrorism arrests and trials in the US:

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

1.Tampa: Florida Resident Charged with Plotting to Bomb Locations in Tampa

A

Bullshit: charities are an example of failure in action all too often. They enrich others while only claiming to help.

You are presuming (a) that there will always be enough charitable giving to go around (not the case, (b) that it will be directed efficiently and not embezzled (yet it is, (c) that there will not be a significant free-rider problem with those capable of contributing not doing so (and yet there always is).

"The gun of government tyranny", you rail about. I wonder what happens when you lose your job and need help. I for one do not trust the bible-fuckers of the christian charities to treat me fairly.

How about Massachusetts? Or Louis Cuff? Or the octomom? Or these two?

I'd like to have an in-depth audit of this Congressman's finances... and I'd put significant money on the line that he owns stock, options, or has received significant contributions from companies like Safe Gun Technology

When Googling which district he was in, I found something even better: his campaign was funded by criminals. I guess criminals would want law-abiding citizens to be forced to use guns that don't work.

It isn't thought crime that is the concern, but rather "ball bearing" crime.

This is what happens when you catch them before they attack.

Bomb plot: Life sentence for Irfan Naseer, ringleader of Birmingham men planning wave of UK suicide attacks

This is what happens when you don't.

Madrid Train Station Blasts Kill 190
Bali bombing remembered 10 years on
London Attacks
Investigation of Boston Marathon bombings continues

I would think this is easy to understand.

Although the new technology may have an impact, it appears unlikely there will be significantly more restrictive gun control laws passed at the Federal level in the US. The public and the facts are against it overall. In various states, such as New York, Colorado, and California, there have been a number of new, highly restrictive laws passed, that at least in some cases are unpopular, are opposed by the police, and are unlikely to survive challenges in court. The brilliant governor in New York managed to get a law passed that outlawed even police weapons - New York is in the best of hands although California is a contender as well.

The idea that ordinary citizens can't protect themselves with guns is ridiculous.

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

What about the murder rate?

Murder by Numbers

Gun control's general effect on crime?

Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control
Crime soared with Mass. gun law
England has worse crime rate than the US, says Civitas study

Self-Defense: An Endangered Right

The withdrawal of a basic right of Englishmen is having dire consequences in Great Britain, and should serve as an object lesson for Americans. Today, in the name of public safety, the British government has practically eliminated the citizens’ right to self-defense. That did not happen all at once. The people were weaned from their fundamental right to protect themselves through a series of policies implemented over some 80 years. Those include the strictest gun regulations of any democracy, legislation that makes it illegal for individuals to carry any article that could be used for personal protection, and restrictive limits on the use of force in self-defense. . . .

Political support for more restrictive nation gun control measures in the US has fallen.

USA Today: Support for gun control bill falls below 50%
During a manhunt, 69 percent of voters want a gun
NRA Has 54% Favorable Image in U.S
Dems push gun control agenda in DC, but not in battleground states

You want science, I can't supply that. I can only show the empirical evidence. Not one city can show a decline in crime in general, or violent crime specifically, as a result of passing gun control laws or ordinances. Not one. Various cities and states do, however, have statistics that violent crime decreased, along with crime in general, after relaxing gun control laws.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/02/17/the-nation-toughest-gun-control-law-made-massachusetts-less-safe/3845k7xHzkwTrBWy4KpkEM/story.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/24/states-crime-rates-show-scant-linkage-to-gun-laws/?page=all

http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt1Zy_ASNyA "I think that's just an invitation to somebody with a gun!"

There is no science that I'm aware of that explains it - but it is obvious that gun control laws FAIL TO GIVE THE DESIRED RESULTS!!

This has been known for some time. The biggest energy cost associated with many food products is moving the 2-ton family SUV to and from the grocery store to move 25 pounds of merchandise. Moving a fully loaded semi isn't that expensive per unit weight.

Webvan is coming back. Amazon owns it now. Webvan was popular, but the operating costs were too high. One of Webvan's executives realized that what they needed was robots. He went on to found Kiva Systems, which makes robots for warehouse operations. Kiva robots handle fulfillment at Walgreens.com, Gap.com, Staples.com, and many other big retailers.

Amazon recently bought Kiva. Amazon's CEO is an investor in Rethink Robotics, which makes robot arms and hands. (The Kiva robots move shelf units to human pickers, where a laser pointer shows them what to pick. It looks like eliminating the human pickers is next.) Amazon is opening local warehouses in major cities. Amazon is starting to offer same-day delivery. This time it will be profitable.

Small retailers who are aware of this are very afraid.

Despite the protests of the NRA, you can buy firearms, even in Boston.

In fairness it is an impaired ability.

Crime soared with Mass. gun law

Or if you have a gun, perhaps you should be worried that you will die because of that gun (98%+ of all domestic deaths are caused by a gun in the house, not by external gun).

I'm in favor of gun control laws, but Jesus Christ that's a stupid claim to make.

Here are the real statistics for cause of death and suicide is the most common cause of firearm related death., but suicide is only the tenth most common cause of death and makes up only 2% of the most common deaths and firearm related sucides are only about half of that, so that would put them around 1%

Perhaps you meant that 98% of firearm related deaths are due to the homeowner's firearm? Once again, no. Out of the 11,078 homicides in 2010, you're claiming that 10,855 were committed with the homeowner's gun and only 223 involved a gun owned by someone else.

That is an insane claim to make and there is absolutely no evidence to back it up.

Yes. But luckily, you've got plenty of guns, which once again proved their usefulness on this occasion, by... Oh, never mind.

Snark - sometimes it makes you look edgy and clever, sometimes it just makes you look stupid.

Crime soared with Mass. gun law
Joyce Lee Malcolm: Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens

...no, no -- that's not how it's going to be "picked up".

Let's take a look:

NBC News: Particle confirmed as Higgs boson

Associated Press: Physicists say they have found a Higgs boson

Reuters: Strong signs Higgs boson has been found: CERN

Wall Street Journal: New Data Boosts Case for Higgs Boson Find

FOX News: Physicists say they have found long-sought Higgs boson

Washington Post: A closer look at the Higgs boson particle that helps explain what gives matter size and shape

Chicago Tribune: Strong signs Higgs boson has been found: CERN

Sky News: Higgs Boson: Experts Sure Of 'God Particle'

New York Daily News: Physicists say they have discovered crucial subatomic particle known as Higgs boson

Boston Globe: Physicists say they have found a Higgs boson

BBC (UK): LHC cements Higgs boson identification

BusinessWeek: Case for Higgs Boson Strengthened by New CERN Analysis

The Daily Mail (UK): Scientists say they HAVE found the 'God particle' - but admit they still aren't sure what type of Higgs boson it is

The Independent (UK): Have they found the Higgs boson at last? Cern physicists say they're confident of 'God particle' breakthrough

Telegraph (UK): Higgs boson: scientists confident they have discovered the 'God particle'

News Limited (AU): Higgs boson, the God particle, discovered by CERN

US News and World Report: Physicists Observe Higgs Boson, the Elusive 'God Particle'

None of these articles make any links to "God" other than a few -- mostly UK, not US -- sources referring to it as the so-called "God particle", but even those explain exactly what this particle is theorized to be, not anything supernatural, "proving God exists", or having anything whatever to do with God.

We've surrounded Iran with dozens of military bases, crashed their economy and currency with sanctions, illegally threatened them with military force, and committed multiple acts of war on a country over the....nuclear weapons program both the CIA and Israelis admit they don't have.

So when does Iran get to threaten the United States for being in "material breach" of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires disarmament for countries already in possession of nuclear weapons?