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Judging from the statute, it could very well be charged as 1st degree murder. If the actual target (who was not shot) was underage, or there was even one child on the premises, they could also go for 2nd degree murder as the swatting would have an inherent child endangerment component.

First question:

The most terrifying thing anyone can hear is "I am from the government and I am here to help you." The reason is because government tries to paint with a very wide "one size fits all" brush that can deal a terrible amount of collateral damage. I am not saying that government regulation is bad, I am saying it is every bit as mixed a bag as is that for unions.

Perhaps you would like a name, and place then? Perhaps a news report?

Local news reports of the initial complaint:

http://www.kake.com/mobi?storyid=1369501

http://www.kake.com/mobi?storyid=1345467

Is it data now?

First question:

The most terrifying thing anyone can hear is "I am from the government and I am here to help you." The reason is because government tries to paint with a very wide "one size fits all" brush that can deal a terrible amount of collateral damage. I am not saying that government regulation is bad, I am saying it is every bit as mixed a bag as is that for unions.

Perhaps you would like a name, and place then? Perhaps a news report?

Local news reports of the initial complaint:

http://www.kake.com/mobi?storyid=1369501

http://www.kake.com/mobi?storyid=1345467

Is it data now?

I fear the high speed rails will be deployed on the east and west, and those of us in "fly over" country will be left out in the cold.

Which is a shame, because in many ways the middle of the country is where high speed rail could really shine: the trains could get up to speed and stay there for a significant length of time.

However, a few random points:

1) France has a total of 1000 miles of high speed track. The Southwest Chief runs from Chicago to LA - about 2000 miles. That's just ONE of Amtrak's routes.
2) In Europe, they have auto-trains: put your car on, go, take your car off, drive. The only place this happens in the US is on the east coast, on one run. Again: were it possible to put your car on in New York, pull your car off in Flagstaff, and drive up to the Grand Canyon, I think it would be much more attractive to many people.
3) Were autotrain runs more common in the US, then driving an electric car with limited range wouldn't be the deal-breaker for long trips it is now: again, put the car in in NY, off in Flagstaff, with a fully charged battery courtesy of the train's power.
4) There is a great push on just to restore old-style rail service in the middle of the country: see the Heartland Flyer extension effort.

I routinely travel long distances: Wichita to Los Angeles for example. I'd love to be able to put my car on the train, roll overnight, and be able to make the trip in a day rather than two. I'd love to be able to hop on the train for my business trips to Kansas City and Austin. The idea that Americans won't take the train doesn't square with how many ride it now, when Amtrak seems to go out of their way to make it unattractive. Over 4000 people used the Amtrak station in Hutchison KS last year, and that is a little station in a town of about 40,000 people - the station isn't even manned, and the train gets there at 4 in the morning.

No, rail COULD work in the US - it's just that no big company will make $$$$ from it, so no CongressCritters are motivated to do anything about it.

but sometimes a person will pull into the left lane and either maintain the same speed as the right lane (two-lane scenario, for simplification), or so minimally faster that it will take several miles before they pass the car on their right.

Just so you know, this is illegal in Kansas, as of July 1st. They will be issuing warnings for a year, and then start ticketing.

Addendum to law needed... going into the left lane to make room for people merging onto the highway. Right now it says you have to be passing or merging off the highway. If the left lane is clear, it is good driving etiquette (IMHO) to move into the left lane when passing on-ramps to make room for traffic merging on the highway, this law would make that illegal.

Just so you know, this is illegal in Kansas, as of July 1st. They will be issuing warnings for a year, and then start ticketing.

My prediction is that there will be 1 ticket for this issued for every 1000 speeding tickets issued because of radar (or other devices that require no real work on the part of the police).

Seriously, I've seen many cops completely ignore drivers pulling incredibly stupid moves in order to pull someone over doing 5mph over the limit, and all simply because with the radar the cop doesn't need to put himself on the line to testify. Any "reckless driving" sort of ticket requires the cop to really explain why it was unsafe, and even then it will likely be reduced to something a lot less serious when it is contested.

And, in the case of this law, the cop would have to be driving along with the offender for at least a half-mile while they were blocking someone. Then, when it goes to court, the driver will say something like "I was going to pass, but slowed down because I was afraid the cop was going to ticket me for speeding".

but sometimes a person will pull into the left lane and either maintain the same speed as the right lane (two-lane scenario, for simplification), or so minimally faster that it will take several miles before they pass the car on their right.

Just so you know, this is illegal in Kansas, as of July 1st. They will be issuing warnings for a year, and then start ticketing.

I know of at least one station that has already done this KLBY when the went fully-digital back in August. I'm sure there were others who did it even sooner. They cut the analog feed and are serving only the DTV feed to their area viewers. Of the 1629 stations in 211 markets who have informed NAB that they are broadcasting in digital, I'm sure more than a few of them are exclusively DTV.

As an added bonus, the paper seems to ignore the fact that it's damn hard to get the right-of-ways required to build Transmission, let alone this goofy-just-for-wind transmission system.

Consider this story about wind farm projects in trouble because the Transmission they need is only justifiable if a base-load Coal plant is built nearby.

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

Answer: Could not have turned out better. Could, in fact have turned out worse.

The original article states "..a man walked into a classroom, and tried to grab a girl sitting close to the door. The girl screamed, and school employees chased the man out of the building. "

Instead of employees being near the girl, close to the door, suppose they had been in the office, monitoring the sensors?

Perhaps you also don't realize that school districts are legally responsible for each and every child from the time they get to school until the time they are sent or taken home. The minors are essentially in the custody of the school district for the duration of the day. If I was responsible for hundreds or thousands of minors and I answered to their parents I would certainly want to do everything in my power to ensure that they are where they're supposed to be and not our fucking around off-campus.

I was a student at one point and time too. If my district had implemented this type of tracking policy when I was a student I would have hated it too. I would have fought it tooth and toenail. I'm not a child anymore, though. Hindsight really is 20/20. Being tracked and being kept more on the straight and narrow would have probably been a good thing for me and my classmates. We got away with a lot; too much. Someone could have seriously been hurt, or worse. In retrospect I would have welcomed the tracking when I was a minor. I think every single door should be monitored and logged. No one should get in or out without a log entry being made. I'm not so sure about bathrooms but I'm sure that the school administration have their reasons. I think every classroom door should also be monitored and logged. I think the students shouldn't be the only occupants of the structure to be tracked. I believe all faculty and staff should be monitored as well, that includes teaching staff, administrative staff, and facilities staff. No one should be without tracking. I also include on my list any and all visitors. This would be a major boon for school districts. One could prove after an accusation that no the janitor didn't break into bitchy student ABC's locker and steal her CD player. That janitor was on the other side of the building cleaning in the kitchen. Accusations like that happen all too often. A tracking system like this could greatly help put an end to problems such as these.

That's my $0.02. I don't see it as a bad thing at all. I think the many major benefits more than outweigh the lack of negatives I haven't been able to think of. It's something that should happen IMHO.