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Here's one mechanism we can hold them responsible through- local currencies. Don't let a business trade in your currency unless ALL of it's C-level executives have a certificate of being free from mental illness. Let them have the dollar, let each city start printing it's own money and supporting it's own local economy, with that money being no good anywhere else.

Chicken and egg problem there. Where's the pebcak? Both in the lack of ability of voters to keep out the psychopaths, and the insistence of stockholders to keep hiring psychopaths.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/10/corporate_political_psychopath.html

What you say may be true. I work for a startup that started in Santa Clara CA. This is their world headquarters. They have many manufacturing plants world wide. The bean counters decide where it is good to build plants based on the people and the economy. If California were so great, you would expect plenty of new plants to take advantage of the opportunity and resources there.

In reality there are NO new plants in California and resulting jobs for California. This does not mean they are not expanding and building new plants. They have been having record quarters lately with quarters over 20 Billion in revenue.

So where are the manufacturing plants that are recently built or are being built?
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1011245/intel-fab-israel
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/intels_new_hillsboro_factory_w.html
http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2011/02/18/intel-to-invest-more-than-5-billion-to-build-new-factory-in-arizona
http://semimd.com/blog/2011/09/13/intel-mum-about-capex-ireland-fab-plans/

The headquarters is here.
2200 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95054-1549

What have they recently built in California?
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/company-overview/intel-museum.html

California has published their rated for doing business in California. Businesses shop for places that are business friendly.

California may have great opportunities, but for many the pasture is greener elsewhere.

This is only one example. There are many more.

Another article said that the money represents the gross revenues in ad buys from the Canadian pharmacies, plus the earnings generated from illegal sales of drugs to American consumers.

Heh, Xerox is busy slitting its own throat too just now.

600 permanent staff in the USA, UK and the Netherlands just now, and maybe lots more next year if HCL manages to "deliver."

The "Christmas tree bomber" incident in Oregon is a really piss poor example to use since it was the suspects own father who turned the suspect over to the FBI who decided that they would use him as a patsy and provide him with the support and materials needed. Now granted they provided defective materials and incompentent support but they just kept stringing the suspect along instead of stopping it there. They then arrested the suspect with his defective bomb, provided by the US government, and wow now we have some great PR since he had a bomb and was going to a public event. Same thing with "Operation Fast and Furious" but that one appears to have failed miserably.

well, color ME surprised!

How about if I color you uninformed instead?

You have no right to private communications with foreign powers or organizations aimed at attacking or overthrowing the government of the United States, particularly if they have declared war on the US.

yeah, the government assigns itself a lot of self-importance and overrides the rights and will of the people.

The will of the American people is to not be blown up at Christmas tree lightings and other public functions by terrorists. They are OK with spying on terrorists communicating with Al Qaeda. The Constitution is OK with that. I'm not sure you're "hip" to any of that.

Please tell me you are not on a dim witted personal crusade to ensure the right of terrorists to conspire and communicate in secret with their overseas masters as they plan and prepare to kill Americans?

Willamette Valley gets earthquakes, they had a good one during spring break '93.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/major_quake_would_cost_lives_1.html

There's an article here that talks about it a little bit.
You both say it's not because of lack of demand and the grid can't handle the excess power. Excess power would be power not in demand right? The problem is too much snow melting, meaning too much water, meaning the dam's turbines are spinning too much and creating too much electricity.

During off-peak hours this spring, the dams have been generating more power than customers in the region need.

This would be lack of demand. Whether it comes from surges due to snow melt off or people using less electricity it is still excess and not in demand.
The article also states that BPA refuses to pay negative prices to have California generators shut down and purchase the excess energy.

Obama outlined his goals Monday, outlining a push that he developed with the help of his Jobs and Competitiveness Council. That presidential commission has 26 members, including CEOs at several tech firms: Paul Otellini, the CEO of Intel; Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox; John Doerr, the venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; and Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook. The chairman of the Jobs and Competitiveness Council is Jeffrey Immelt, who is chairman and CEO of GE.

Ursula Burns is, at this very moment, preparing to outsource most of her company's Engineering to an Indian company, HCL, to leverage the scale of their talent pool whilst cutting the Engineering budget.

America has plenty of Engineers, just not the kind who would be delighted to work for only $10k a year.

When all that expertise has gone to India, you can bet your bottom dollar that costs will be cut again and the Americans will be let go.

Why would the justice dept want to hide who it is asking records from.

If they are in the right.. well.. why hide it.

Because surveillance operations and investigations are usually most effective when they're secret so the subjects of the investigation / surveillance don't change their incriminating behavior, or try to destroy evidence?

Really, is this not obvious? Why don't football players call the play in the open when they line up so the other team can hear? "Left end run on three -- hut - hut - hut - Oh! That had to hurt!"

Revealing investigations and surveillance operations means effectively no more sting operations. That means, guys like this won't be buying their "explosives" from the FBI, but will find someone else who will provide the real thing... much to practically everyone's regret.

FBI thwarts terrorist bombing attempt at Portland holiday tree lighting, authorities say - November 26, 2010

A Corvallis man, thinking he was going to ignite a bomb, drove a van to the corner of the square at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue and attempted to detonate it.

However, the supposed explosive was a dummy that FBI operatives supplied to him, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed Friday night by U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a Somali-born U.S. citizen, was arrested at 5:42 p.m., 18 minutes before the tree lighting was to occur, on an accusation of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Nuclear engineers, most of them, have been supporting a deadly industry which will inevitable harm people. It is good that some are willing to step up and take responsibility, but it is much more like cleaning up a mess they have contributed to than the heroism of soldiers.

*cough* *cough* *splutter*

As a former Nuclear Engineer, turned code monkey, let me call you an ignorant bigot.

Nuclear Engineers and Scientists know very well how to design safe nuclear power plants. What we end up having to live with are the cost-downs and idiocies after the bean-counters and politicians take charge. "Have you got anything cheaper?"

Not that I'm bitter and twisted, but my current job is heading to India because of bean-counters...

See here, here and here.

The Western World doesn't do Engineering any more.

If he doesn't make it all the way to the Seattle area, he could stop in the Portland Oregon area and visit my cool employer instead. Even Obama has stopped by for a tour. Much more to his liking is the nearby Open Source Labs.
http://osuosl.org/
Info on Obama's visit to my employer
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/02/intel_obama_continue_difficult.html

I'm sure we could arrange a tour. I don't think I can get you into the clean FAB. Sorry.

At least we can count on both the Republicans and Democrats to stop their partisan bickering for a moment, and reach across the isle in solidarity to screw the American public over.

Because nothing tells the American public that they've been "screwed" like:

Not having hundreds of passenger jets shot out of the sky by surface to air missiles
Oddly enough, this is also covered under a new law passed after 9/11 - shall we start the bitching about that too? Oooh, those Feds! Oooh... %()*#)($% Bush!!

(Reuters) - A California man who was the first person indicted under a law passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks that bans importing missiles able to shoot down airplanes, was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison.

Not having Talib Islam blow up a federal court with a one ton tuck bomb
Not having Farooque Ahmed bomb the subway
Not having Ferid "Yousef” Imam set off his Improvised Explosive Device
Disrupting Nadeem Akhtar's plan to illegally export nuclear processing equipment to..... Pakistan.
Interrupting the violent Jihad plots of “JihadJane" and company..... very interesting.
Preventing Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari from using a large Improvised Explosive Device
Jailing Zachary Adam Chesser for threats against South Park and attempting to support al Shabaab
Convicting Russell Defreitas and coconspirator Abdul Kadir for a plot to blow up JFK Airport

Hmmmm... only back to mid Feb 2011....and this probably isn't everything..... lets skip back to November 2010.

Not getting blown up at a Christmas tree lighting by Mohamed Osman Mohamud

Imagine how "cheated" the American public feels without all those explosions going off?

By the way.... I'll let you in on a little secret... OK, two secrets.

First, for those that crave them, terrorist attacks are kind of like potato chips.... it seldom stops with just one.

Second, NSA cares if somebody in the US is in direct communication with members of terrorist organizations. That's terrorist organizations that are trying to kill people, not illegal mp3 downloaders, Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich voters, members of the people's pop tart party, or gold fish fetishists.

As to civil liberties, the fact that these were published tells me we are probably in pretty good shape overall.

Environmentalists have a bad name because the industries that are doing all the damage find character assassination easier than actually cleaning up their mess.

Rigggght.... It's all a big conspiracy against environmentalists perpetrated by the big bad corporations. Environmentalists have never done anything to damage their own character

Oregon does not have sales tax. They do have an inventory tax. The inventory tax is not only on your product, but on your furnishings and equipment. States to provide incentives to attract businesses. A couple of the largest businesses in the state are Nike and Intel. Nike distributes shoes mostly made overseas. Their inventory is relatively low and their inventory value is relatively low.

On the other hand, Intel does manufacturing in Oregon as well as a good portion of R & D. If Intel was taxed at the same rate for inventory as Nike, they would not be in Oregon at all. The equipment for manufacturing IC's is several million dollars each. Intel negotiates with Oregon for a break on the inventory tax and brings to the table the rates they pay on other locations such as New Mexico, Ireland, Israel, etc. Oregon is well aware if they didn't offer this incentive, Intel would no longer be in Oregon.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/10/oregon_intel_inside.html

Oregon is well aware that Intel contributes way more to the state of Oregon than Nike. Trying to "Tax them fairly" will result in the loss of Intel in Oregon. Intel is by no means getting no taxes. Intel contributes heavily to the local infrastructure and education.

It sounds to me like Texas has attracted Amazon with a temporary deal and it has expired. Amazon has not been able to extend the deal. Now the party is over.

Amazon may owe Texas a quarter billion dollars, but this is the last year. They are not remaining as Texas expected them to.
Texas expected they were too big to fail. Surprise..

Portland, Oregonhas a better idea.

Snap a photo of the problem and the app sends it, with GPS info, etc, to the appropriate city department. Good for potholes, dead street lights, trash in the bike lane, etc.

But I am thinking that all taxi cabs, delivery trucks, and city vehicles maybe should be required to have a GPS with accelerometer constantly reporting to a central database. This would be a great way to monitor traffic conditions, useful in dispatching emergency vehicles, planning improvements, and finding out which donut shops the police prefer. Do it so John Q Public could opt in if he wanted to, but no need to require that.

Last city I lived in with alot of police shootings of civilian non suspects was Portland Oregon.

Where we have things like the police shooting unarmed people in the back.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/11/family_of_aaron_campbell_files.html

"Campbell, 25, was shot in an apartment parking lot in North Portland. Police had been called to the scene on a report of a suicidal man who was armed. Campbell came out of the apartment with his hands behind his head, walking backward toward police, witnesses said. Police, who said he ignored commands to put his hands up, hit him with six beanbag rounds. Frashour then hit him in the back, firing the fatal shot with his AR-15 rifle. The officer said he saw Campbell reaching with both hands toward the back waistband of his pants and thought he might be reaching for a gun."

But I'm sure to you everyone is a "perp".

Are you kidding? IBM bought a frickin mortgage servicer, and they're probably gonna be liable for "paperwork irregularities" sooner or later..

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/ibm_finds_servicing_mortgages.html

(One of the company's founders was convicted of fraud, yet IBM bought them from Bank of America)

Smells like Palmisiano BS if you ask me..

This is a common error in considering taxes. Take for examples Nike and Intel. They both get Taxed in Oregon on property that not only includes the land but the equipment inside.

Nike makes shoes overseas and has just an inventory of shoes in the USA. Intel has a couple FABS. Each piece of fab equipment is a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Without a tax break, (they still pay huge taxes, check their finance statement) they would not have any fabs in the USA. Along with the fabs the jobs would be lost. Along with the lost jobs would be lost income taxes.

Instead of exporting chips, the US would be importing them from China, Vietnam, Israel, etc like most other goods.

Intel does have the option to close in the USA.

It was only due to a tax break are they investing about 6 Billion on the new fab in Oregon.

Some refrences, sure
Oregon's new fab; http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/intels_new_hillsboro_factory_w.html

China's new research facility; http://www.intel.com/cd/corporate/icrc/apac/eng/170371.htm

Jobs in Vietnam; http://www.intel.com/jobs/vietnam/sites/hochiminhcity.htm

You can look up the rest yourself instead of stating corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes.

Here is what the Govener of Oregon says about the lack of taxes paid by Intel;
"The jobs a company like Intel produces and the revenues that they produce, pay for school teachers in Coos Bay and they pay for social services in Roseburg, so this is really a statewide importance, not just a local one," said John Southgate, Hillsboro Economic Development Director.

So much for not contributing to the state's infrastructure. That is a straw man argument. Intel invests heavily in education.

She didn't make $2000. The original story is here. The $2000 came after the incident, when a radio station volunteered to sponsor her and registered her properly. The inspectors came "about 20 minutes" after she set up shop. I doubt she sold 4,000 cups in that time.

Oregon. (key words: this month)
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/girl_at_the_center_of_lemonade.html

FTFA:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/portland_lemonade_stand_runs_i.html
"Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland.... The two (mother and daughter) live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her daughter would get few customers if she set up her stand at home... they drove up last Thursday with a friend and her daughter. They loaded a wheelbarrow that Julie steered to the corner of Northeast 26th and Alberta"

I'm all for kids selling lemonade on their lawn or neighborhood street corner, but I do not agree with parents driving their children to public fairs to sell lemonade.

Interesting how the farmers are not the ones against Monsanto.

Except there are many farmers who oppose Monsanto, or visa versa.

1. Monsanto versus Farmers.
2. Monsanto's Harvest of Fear
3. Haitian Farmers Fight Back Against Monsanto
4. Nelson Farm - A Fight Against A Giant -- Monsanto Sues North Dakota Farmer Over Biotech Crop Dispute
5. Goliath and David: Monsanto's Legal Battles against Farmers
6. Monsanto vs. US Farmers [pdf]
7. Oregon farmers caught up in Monsanto suit over engineered alfalfa
8. Agricultural Giant Battles Small Farmers
9. Could Monsanto Be Responsible for One Indian Farmer's Death Every Thirty Minutes?
10. Monsanto watch: Targeting American farmers with lawyers, fear and money
11. 1. Falcon

The jury held that the law required the company to do so.

The jury found, that saws without such devices are defective. I agree, that this is nonsense, but most people cheered, when an automaker was crucified for not making their gas tank safer. GM did not break any law, but were found responsible for the deaths anyway.

The saws weren't defective before the device was invented, but they are now — according to the jury...

There is a much worse example of this problem, one that actually involves the (Executive) Government — I am talking about building codes, which get tightened every year. An unelected government official can force you to rebuild your house "to code" whenever you ask them for a building permit. But we don't read about that outrage in newspapers...

...good trusted people and pillars of the community would certainly never consciously entertain inappropriate sexual thoughts.

Riiiight.... it never happens

Microsoft is based in Seattle. We tend to be quite liberal and supportive of civil rights out here. Hell, I had two jobs with two lesbian managers in a row -- in IT! How often does that happen?

Microsoft learned about this the hard way in 2005: Originally opposed to a gay rights bill in Washington state, they quickly changed position.

Said Balmer at the time:

"After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda," Ballmer wrote. Ballmer said he did not want to "rehash the events" that led to the company taking a position of neutrality. But he did say the company was implementing changes to make sure the mistakes were not repeated.

I read that as "our employees [probably smart, talented, and many quite senior in the company] threw a fucking fit over our ignorance."

True to their word, in 2009 Microsoft donated $100k to support partnership rights in Washington.

I agree with other commenters that this is a civil rights issue, and seriously doubt Microsoft will screw the pooch on gay rights ever again.

You get care on a par with most everyone else.

The Emergency Room is the only access to the medical system for those without insurance (some 45 million people). ER is the most expensive place to receive care (e.g. $75 aspirin). The uninsured statistics get marginal attention in the corporate press, for obvious reasons, but you can find them:

• All people are at risk for traumatic accidents, but the uninsured are twice as likely to die (if you can believe Harvard).
• One new study by Oregon State University's Sheryl Thorburn found that pregnant Oregon women with annual incomes below $50,000 were three times more likely than other pregnant women to report getting worse treatment at the doctor because of their insurance.
• A new American Cancer Society study published in the journal Lancet looked at 3.7 million cancer patients - the largest study of its kind - and found that uninsured and underinsured patients are twice as likely to learn about their cancer in its late stages of cancer as people who have private insurance.
• Getting treated in an emergency room is 3-4 times more expensive than a trip to the doctor’s office, according to the California Health care Foundation.

Billing is up to each doctor, to each hospital, to each billing service (collection department), sometimes even to each collection agent. Some write off bills far more willingly than others. Some never let go, and your credit report reflects these choices.

Try a thought experiment: you have 3 new clients with broken computers. Client 1 is well off and will pay you $120 per hour, plus parts, no questions. Client 2 can afford a $60 repair. Client 3 has no money, but needs their computer operational. Which one gets most of your attention, has priority? Sure every analogy is flawed, and a broken computer does not equal a sick person and the difference in consequences are huge (and give me credit for not using a car analogy). Still, how much difference is there between your ethics and a doctor's?

Right, this guy attempted self-immolation as a protest, and it was all over the national news for days. There's no need to pull off something spectacular to get noticed in this country.

</sarcasm>

A better article is available here.

But the big question is, are the GPS companies liable for this? There will no doubt be deaths due to GPS routing people on inappropriate roads. And there will no doubt be lawsuits that the GPS companies knew roads were inappropriate but didn't remove them from their database.

This notion of subsidizing lifestyles is really annoying. If you want cheap fast broadband move to civilization. If you want clean air and open spaces move to the country

US agricultural exports are worth $98 billion. Imports $77 billion. Adavatage US. Value of U.S. Ag Exports To Rise in FY 2010 vs FY 2009

The US produces 10 billion pounds of apples each year. 1.3 billion in New York state alone. The geek tends to forget how much of the US is still rural. Northwest apple harvest strong, but with some hitches

If you live in a city like New York or Los Angeles, you import everything.

Food. Water. Power. Wood. Metal. Stone. Paper. Leather. Fabrics.

The list is endless.

There is no free lunch. No Wall-E and no Eve. No matter duplicator. No too-cheap-to-meter fusion power.

You need men in the fields. Men in the mines and in the forests.

You need trains. Trucks. Pipelines. The high tension line.

You need to keep the supplies coming in. which means that you have to make it worthwhile for people to continue to live and work "in the sticks."

Oregon is definitely not on the list of best places to bring or start a company despite their lack of sales tax. Unless you are a "green company" then they'll just hand you 40 million dollars to start a manufacturing facility because that's how they work. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/sanyo_solar_plant_opens_with_o.html

How do microwave ovens work if they don't "shake up the molecules"?

I'll use wi-fi all day and you can sit next to some cobalt 58 and we'll see what person's molecules get "shaken up" more.

And will you sit there when you have a directed-energy weapon aimed at you and turned on? The Active Denial System is a weapon that directs, get this, microwaves to cause pain. So if they are so safe why not stay there? Why did the military spend so much on them?

Man, I live in Edmonton now and every so often when I'm waiting at a stoplight or pass my third McDonalds in five minutes I think. "City life." This is followed quickly by "I'm living in a city." and a smile. Sometimes I even giggle. It'll be a cold day in Hell before I go back to the boonies.

And can you survive on your own there? On your own, growing your own food and such, not buying what you need? Now it may not bother you but personally while I left the boonies physically I won't leave it mentally. I leave in a large city and metro area, downtown Minneapolis is 15 minutes bike ride, yet I still garden. I love to cook and can what I grow, though unfortunately my garden didn't produce much. Talking with others, they've had or seen the same think. This summer there hasn't been much rain and while places like Portland, OR, set record highs it has been cool in the Twin Cities.

Falcon

Funny...I found references to where a cyclist bashed in the window to a metro bus....though....this http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/war_between_bikes_and_cars_not.html#more seems to indicate there isn't any war going on between cyclists and drivers. Just the same....

The parents know that they've been background checked.

So has this woman A confessed serial child molester, she is seeking a new teaching certificate, and will probably get it. Of course, informing her students that the is a child molester would be a violation of HER rights, so the probably can't even do that.

Again, Huh? For the most part, Washington pretty liberal in religious terms, but the few religious conservatives we have are not silent. Just ask MS about their good friend Rev Hutcherson and his famous anti-gay MS boycots.

I can't address the religious aspect very well, but I say that WA is silently and surprisingly socially conservative. Seattle - which has plenty of gays, vegans, and other typically liberal types - also has a long history of banning or putting onerous restrictions on teen dances. That's right: Seattle is a big city version of the town in Footloose.

That sort of attitude pervades much of the city, including bizarre rules about booze. You can't even step into a liquor store (which are all state-run) with an out-of-state driver's license, much less buy booze with one. Strip clubs can't serve booze, and the city politicians have long banned or tried to effectively kill off strip clubs unlike neighboring Portland OR.

I love Seattle but the long history of social conservatism, corrupt politicians, and racism are major faults I hope it overcomes at some point. I have had people tell me the social conservatism comes from the religious background of the city, but I don't really know the whys of it. I just know that's how Seattle is, and it can be difficult to pick up on given that the city superficially seems very liberal.

Well, we were warned...

ZOMBIES AHEAD!

I don't mean to belittle your suffering; deep inside I believe that anyone that commits a sexual assault should be killed as quickly as possible in order to make certain they do not cause anyone to suffer. However, I submit that you are handling your assault much better than Mr. Nikolai, committed suicide based on a single 7-year old girls report of inappropriate touching and no physical evidence. I don't think those accused of touching little girls fare very well in prison and I'm sure they have a short life expectancy, regardless of whether the allegations are true or not. I'm not even saying Mr. Nikolai didn't deserve his fate; I'm just saying it is very difficult to strike a balance between always believing the victim and giving too much power to those few unbalanced individuals who would deliberately make false allegations in order to seek twisted vengeance against somebody who has slighted them. Everybody suffers, and everybody feels the psychological scars of injustice for years. I sincerely wish you all the best in healing the pain that was inflicted on you.

Actually, the practical experience with direct democracy (for example from Switzerland) says the exact opposite.

Yes and no.

Wrong; it's just "yes."

Switzerland, clearly yes, their practical direct democracy works well. However for the "mother of all direct democracies" you have to look at the ancient Greek city-states, Athens being the prime example. Direct democracy in Athens resulted in the legalized slaughter and enslavement of many Athenian enemies.

No, Athenians voted for severe military action against actual enemies, not as a result of their democratic form of government, and for comparison, not because of an incompetent Executive Office of the republic, so blinded by ideology and paternal disappointment that even a source named "curveball" was called "credible" and "slam-dunk" when it said what he wanted to hear. The invasion of Iraq for the petro-military complex could only happen in a dictatorship, or a secretive republic subverted by an Executive who never had any intention to stick to his promised "non-interventionist foreign policy," ie, a totalitarian republic such as immediately preceded the fall of the Roman Empire. Representative DeFazio was denied access to information he has the legal right to review, just not to share, by virtue of his membership on the House Homeland Security Committee. I think a respectably active republic would be sufficient to prevent this particular abuse by the White House of the privilege of classifying some information as crucial state secrets, but certainly the legal grey area in which the White House is maneuvering would never stand a chance in a direct democracy, nor would the invasion of a foreign power on a false pretext. Obviously, the invasion of Afghanistan on a true pretext had popular as well as Legislative and Executive support, so there is no reason to believe that legitimate self-defense would be impeded by more direct democracy.

being a jealous curmudgeonly skeptic, i have to ask: what are the careers of his parents?

Intel engineers.

i tend to observe suspicious correlations between kids that win science fairs and kids with parents that are scientists or engineers.

I wish all smart kids could have the mentors this kid has.

Falcon

His parents are probably professional solar panel engineers or something like that.

No, his parents are engineers at Intel. And as TFA I linked to says he has other engineers as well as professors mentoring him.

Falcon

Daddy wanted press, so he had little Billy say he came up with it.

Daddy, and Mommy, is an Engineer with Intel.

Falcon

In skimming TFA I didn't see anything about the kid's patent.

His parents are engineers at Intel. Besides them he has other engineers and professors who mentor him.

Falcon

How do people that young get access to tools to build these things?

Both of his parents are engineers at Intel. And he has some mentors "including a California engineer, professors at Portland State University and the University of California-Berkeley".

Falcon

Here's your socialized medicine in action.

Oregon says: "We won't pay for your cancer drugs, but have you considered assisted suicide? We'll pay for that."

How could anyone describe something like that as evil?

With a population of just over 3,190, this vibrant, progressive community offers a quality of life that is rare today. I don't think they know what the common usage of the word progressive is. Isn't that part of the 4th district of Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings? I thought that my mom was the only progressive in the dryside, and she lives in Yakima, the Palm Beach of Washington. Hell hole? Just because the nearest towns are Sulphur, Curry, Mesa and Cactus.

Strangely enough - I live here too... and you may want to re-read the link you posted, because it doesn't support your charge very well. I'm not 100% familiar with the case, but Sibling covered my own thoughts on the matter... somewhere the whole story is missing, big-time.

I've had dealings and encounters with the police in Beaverton, Hillsboro, Aloha (towns sound familiar? they should)... and I can say with certainty that they've been --to a man-- courteous, kind, and just wanting to do their job and get home. I don't doubt that there are bad cops in there somewhere, but I have yet to come up against one. Haven't come across any in Tigard, but I suspect that unless there's some sort of space-time shift sitting somewhere on Scholl's Ferry Rd. that one has to pass through, they're liable to be decent as well.

Of course, I grew up in deepest, darkest Ozark-bound Arkansas (in the Northwest corner of the state). I learned up-front as a kid (think "1970's") that every sentence I spoke to a policeman had damned well better include the word "sir" or "ma'am" in it, at least if I wanted to avoid physical pain. Now things have changed for the better there over time (not 100% perfect, just vastly better), but I can tell you right now that if you treat a cop like you were conducting any courteous business transaction, you keep out of trouble 99 times of 100.

--

Incidentally, I have zero problems with oversight. Each town has committees and Internal Affairs offices that provide this. They also stand a good chance of having a citizens' action group that will happily pester city councilcritters and the Mayor about anything egregious. Take some time and look around - there is oversight aplenty without having to harass, persecute, and possibly endanger; you just have to know where to look.

/P

You know what? Fuck undercover cops. The idea that my tax dollars go towards tricking people into doing illegal activities annoys me to no end. This website has far more potential for good than bad. Hell, I am a clean looking law biding white male, and I have been arrested and lied to by police. Just last week I had three rifles pointed at me by overzealous police. A friend of mine from Kenya who has never committed a crime in his life gets thrown down on the street with guns pointed at his head about once a month. How the fuck is that fair, or even legal?

I should mention that I live in Portland, Oregon. We have one of the lowest crime rates in the country. Whenever there is a story of a shooting on the news, it is most likely a police officer shooting an unarmed man. A few years back, police tasered a man to death while he was still in his car with his seatbelt on. The excuse that the police gave was that it looked like he was putting drugs in his mouth.

A couple summers ago, in the neighborhood I grew up in (A peaceful lower middle class suburban neighbourhood, I never heard of a crime anywhere in the area the entire 18 years I lived there), a woman called the police saying that her 18 year old son was suicidal, and he needed help. When the police arrived, three officers shot him a total of 8 times in the back.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/2008/01/previous_stories_and_the_tort.html

These police officers are all back on duty doing their regular routines after murdering all of these people. These are the people that are protecting and serving me. This is why we need services like this.

All those links and the summary doesn't mention Dave Eggers, the author, and founder of 826 Valencia, as well as McSweeneys.

Also, that group once did a Pirate supply store.

They were subsequently sued by the RIAA.