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They told me if I voted for John McCain we would see press freedoms abridged around the world to cover up US Government lawlessness. And they were right!

They told me if I voted for John McCain that government abuse would become so common that it would eventually come to be seen as inevitable. And they were right!

They told me if I voted for John McCain we would see this kind of escalating government abuse. And they were right!

Note that Michelle Catalano herself did not say this was JTTF or FBI. That was apparently asserted by The Guardian or The Atlantic writing about the incident. Michelle's own writeup simply refers to men with guns and badges, and does not specify who they were with. (BTW, Michelle Catalano is a moderately prominent blogger and writer whose writings certainly remove her from the likely terrorist suspects, if any of these badge-carrying morons had bothered to actually Google anything for themselves before showing up to harass free citizens.)

Here is what Michelle herself had to say about the incident, the most chilling part is at the end:

This is where we are at. Where you have no expectation of privacy. Where trying to learn how to cook some lentils could possibly land you on a watch list. Where you have to watch every little thing you do because someone else is watching every little thing you do.

All I know is if I’m going to buy a pressure cooker in the near future, I’m not doing it online.

All of a sudden, Glenn Beck's ranting about the Cloward-Piven-Ayers "collapse the system" strategy doesn't sound so far-fetched. We know now that we have far more to fear from our own government than we do from any terrorist group, even the bloodthirsty suicidal Islamic ones. (FWIW, no Islamic terrorist has ever tried to humiliate me by groping my junk as painfully as possible, but the TSA has. It's time to face the fact that the entire Dept of Homeland Defense was an insanely bad idea and disband it back into its constituent agencies, at pre-9/11 staffing levels. Hell, DHS couldn't even stop the Boston bombing after the Russians *told* us these guys were bombtastic Muslims, so why on earth should we accept any loss of freedom at all to these totalitarian goons?)

They told me if I voted for John McCain we would see this kind of escalating government abuse. And they were right!

We should have H1B Visas for lawyers and politicians. It would be amazing how quickly the program would be shut down then.

I doubt you could do anything about politicians. The legal profession is heading for trouble. It is getting harder and harder for lawyers for find a good job coming out of law school (with that massive debt), law school enrollments are dropping, law schools are laying off faculty. There are a lot of things feeding into that, including over selling of law degrees, computer and web based legal services, and off-shore legal work. Off shore accounting work is also increasing with the usual implications for accountants.

Law firms send case work overseas to boost efficiency - September 25, 2005

Guess which jobs are going abroad - February 25, 2004

If a tax preparer gets you an unexpected refund this year, you may have an accountant in India to thank. That's because accounting firms are joining the outsourcing trend established years ago by cost-conscious American manufacturers. In fact, companies in a number of unexpected industries are now sending work overseas. From scientific lab analysis to medical billing, the service-sector workforce has gone global. CPA firms are just one example. In the 2002 tax year, accounting firms sent some 25,000 tax returns to be completed by accountants in India. This year, that number is expected to quadruple. -- more

Australia is seeing a similar trend.

Get used to it: sending jobs overseas is the way of the future

Trayvon Martin was a violent, racist sociopath, eh? Sounds like you're the one constructing a narrative separate from the facts.

There is certainly plenty to know.

Saturday Night Card Game (Would Zimmerman case have been filed if “creepy ass cracker” comment known?)

Trayvon Martin’s Involvement In Local Burglaries Covered Up By Media, School, Police, Prosecutors
Has State Opened Door to Defense Introducing Martin Fight Video?
Zimmerman judge excludes Trayvon Martin fighting, social media and marijuana use
Trayvon Martin was suspended three times from school

Noted Forensic Pathologist Says Zimmerman Story “Consistent” with Evidence, As Defense Case Nears End

Racial politics supported by State power come down on George Zimmerman
In Audio Recording, Department of Justice Official Urges Protesters to Seek ‘Justice’ for Trayvon Martin

1. Evidence about Martin's background would help the jury assess his character and might speak to his motivation. It looks like they were barely able to get in the results of the toxicology report that showed Martin still had traces of marijuana in his blood.
2. Zimmerman wasn't aggressive in getting out of his car. If he had closed the distance and attacked Martin, that would be aggression, assault. Martin was the one that attacked Zimmerman. He was on top of him throwing MMA style punches when he was shot.
3. "Stand your ground" was never a part of the case, ever. It was part of inflamed commentary. Zimmerman didn't attack Martin.

Race had nothing to do with the case. It was simple self-defense. Martin attacked Zimmerman by surprise, started beating his head against the curb, and was on top of his throwing MMA type punches. Zimmerman's life was in immediate peril, but he was able to pull his gun and shoot Martin. To the extent that race played a part, it was generally working against Zimmerman in that many commentators soft pedaled, concealed, or ignored derogatory information about Martin, as well as exculpatory information about Zimmerman. NBC doctored audio to make Zimmerman appear racist. The media kept referring to Zimmerman as white, when he is Hispanic with a black grandfather (or maybe great-grandfather). Despite the fact that pictures of the grown Martin were available, including ones showing some more troubling aspects of his life, the media kept showing pictures of him when he was much younger and innocent appearing. The media downplayed Martin's troubled history, and participation in fight club type activity, and his interest in martial arts. It goes on, and on, and on. Probably because of Zimmerman's name, the media was out for a lynching of what they thought was a white guy that had killed a young black man. They often got things wrong, and stirred the pot. Even the US Justice department engaged in some troubling behavior.

In Audio Recording, Department of Justice Official Urges Protesters to Seek ‘Justice’ for Trayvon Martin

Based on your flavor of your questions I have the sense that you may have gotten most of the commentary on this case from a particular slice of the web that hasn't always provided good information on this. My suggestion is that you do some reading at this site Legal Insurrection. It has some interesting and informed commentary, by actual lawyers, on the case. Fair warning - you may not like what you read, but it is likely to be much more legally accurate and closer to the truth than what it sounds like you have been reading. The truth doesn't always taste good when it doesn't fit our expectations.

I agree with you that he should sue, and win.

The charges filed against Zimmerman, and that the trial went forward on, was 2nd degree murder. The prosecutor only added manslaughter at the last minute after the judge wouldn't let him add 3rd degree murder (due to "child abuse") as a change, just days before the case wen to the jury.

The case against Zimmerman is weak at best, and certainly appears to be politically motivated. That doesn't mean he won't be convicted though. The site Legal Insurrection has some interesting and informed commentary, by actual lawyers!

Racial politics supported by State power come down on George Zimmerman
In Audio Recording, Department of Justice Official Urges Protesters to Seek ‘Justice’ for Trayvon Martin
Branco Cartoon – Fanning the Flames ---> example ---> George Zimmerman Sues NBC Over Edited 911 Tape

I hope he does sue, and that he wins. It may be an uphill battle though. Prosecutors have tremendous discretion in how they conduct cases, and enormous protection under the law, although it looks to me like this is well over the line. Besides suing, he should consider bringing a complaint before the Bar. Not turning over possible exculpatory evidence would seem to be an ethics violation.

I can't say this is surprising though since the prosecution appears to be motivated more my politics than the actual legal situation.

In Audio Recording, Department of Justice Official Urges Protesters to Seek ‘Justice’ for Trayvon Martin
Branco Cartoon – Fanning the Flames
Racial politics supported by State power come down on George Zimmerman

The one who wants to limit peoples civil rights and thinks you can't get pregnant from rape?

Your civil rights aren't worth very much, if you are too poor to enjoy them — and we are steadily getting poorer on the Nobel Prize Winner's watch. And there is no denying that — there are more Americans receiving government's food assistance today, than there are working the private sector.

Oh, and the civil rights — whatever they are worth — are deteriorating even faster on his watch too: TSA is ever more inquisitive, the people Bush used to merely detain are now simply killed. Hunting for a sole teenager with one pistol, the government locked down the entire town and the literal jackboots were throwing people out of their houses at gunpoint.

So, you chose "civil rights" over prosperity and are quickly losing both. I would've laughed at you, if your choice did not affect me as well...

‘Bingo’: Iowahawk sums up the jobs report in one tweet about Taco Bell

David Burge @iowahawkblog

Unemployment report in a nutshell: the Taco Bell that had 30 40 hour workers now has 40 30 hour workers.

Behind the Dismal Jobs Numbers: The ‘New’ Economy Takes Shape

Another way to look at this is that corporations will cut costs wherever possible, including not offering benefits at all if they're not forced (one way or another) to do so.

Part time workers need health care too and this is just one more example of how companies really don't give a shit about their employees.

‘Bingo’: Iowahawk sums up the jobs report in one tweet about Taco Bell

David Burge @iowahawkblog

Unemployment report in a nutshell: the Taco Bell that had 30 40 hour workers now has 40 30 hour workers.

Behind the Dismal Jobs Numbers: The ‘New’ Economy Takes Shape

So this is a rather informal one.

It's a coup, but rather a strange one. The people want Morsi gone, the military is moving against him and then handing off power to the people.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/03/egypt-morsi-protests-army-deadline/2485355/

Here's a summary of the situation from the point of view of one of the protesters.

Why President Morsi is in Trouble:
A youth leader of the June 30th demonstrations gives us an insider's view of why ordinary Egyptians are in revolt.

http://pjmedia.com/blog/why-president-morsi-is-in-trouble/?singlepage=true

I regret to inform you that you don't know what you are talking about.

In their mind, Al Qaida is fighting on behalf of, and to reestablish, the Islamic Caliphate government that was dissolved in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman empire. The nonsense about "never been chosen to represent a nation of people" would make the silly claim that any modern insurgency to overthrow a government by violent means isn't really a war.

The "War on Terror" is symbolic language, just like the "War on Fascism" in WW2. It is ridiculous that supposedly educated people can't figure that out. The Authorization for Use of Military Force makes it clear who the US is fighting again, and that it is at war. It is well settled law that such an authorization is legally equivalent to a declaration of war.

You can tell al Qaida and the Taliban are not ordinary criminals since they actually ran the country of Afghanistan, and have been trying to overthrow several others. The 9/11 attack is the only time that the self-defense provision of the NATO treaty has been invoked following an attack. NATO aircraft flew over American cities to protect them. The Taliban and al Qaida use heavy weapons and have been organized at the brigade level. They are regularly engaged by the US Air Force which is targeting them with missiles and dropping large bombs upon them. This isn't a problem with traffic stops gone bad, or a gang of bank robbers, or even the Crips and the Bloods.

Bin Laden was an utter failure. He made the classic mistake of dictators and would-be dictators in attacking the United States. The additional cost of the war is a pittance in the total federal budget. His organization is very badly damaged. There has been little if any genuine loss of real freedom, and modest impositions on privacy. The true threats in terms of spending come from the enormous growth in social welfare programs, and the damaged economy which is exacerbated by the current administrations over-regulation.

You've got things almost entirely wrong. It doesn't help that you get your news and views from fringe sites. Maybe you should try a few different ones.

National Review
The Weekly Standard
PJ Media

I suspect that the USSR was never so different from the way we were then as the propagandists would have us believe. Rigged elections? Media that didn't inform the public what was going on? Warfare and bullying as a way of achieving the top dog's "national" goals?

The Russians, to their great credit, have made the old Soviet archives available to varying degrees over time. (Sometime more open, sometimes less open.) Although it was known before, the record has become ever clearer. Stalin, who lived into the 1950s, was a monster of epic proportions. After Stalin died, the Soviet state continued to be a police state, even if it relaxed somewhat at first, and more gradually over time. But it was, from start to finish, a totalitarian regime. It simply transformed from extremely oppressive and genocidal to not genocidal but still highly oppressive.

If you want to prove that there was no difference between the Soviet Union and the United States you will need to find tens of millions of bodies of ordinary Americans in mass graves in the United States of people killed by bullet or starvation and overwork in prison camps run by an American secret police that you will have to identify. Many people are misinformed on this matter. The media seldom carries stories on the Soviet Union any more. Although the lack of media reporting contributes to people being uninformed today, some of it is due to parts of the media establishment itself that tolerated reporters that were toadies to dictators, such as (the should be infamous) Walter Duranty: New York Times Concealed Ukrainian Genocide

It's understandable that the media seldom covers the Soviet Union any more since it is history, not news, and the Soviet Union has been gone for 22 years now. Although the lack of coverage about the behavior of the former Soviet Union might explain why people are uninformed, it doesn't explain why communism still holds an attraction for so man people. For that you have to understand that the human mind processes some things better than others, and some things badly. Communism is effectively a mind trap - the theory sounds so beautiful to many people that it must be true, but in practice it has always led to oppression, often bloody at that. And please spare me the "no true communist state has ever existed" routine. Dozens of nations have tried. It can't be done, but people will keep trying because the ideas won't die despite a century of bloody failure and misery in so many countries. There are still communists in America today. Communist parties and associated movements used to take their guidance from Moscow. Many leftists supported them, but never realized their fate should the communists come to power. ( Leftists Will be Shot in the U.S. When Marxists come to power- KGB Agent Yuri Bezmenov ) Communism can't succeed because it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature and self-labeled scientific theories that are nonsense.

Here some resources if you want to know more (focusing mainly on the Soviet Union):

The Soviet Story (2008) Section in Soviet Story on the Soviet inflicted Ukrainian holocaust (only about 5 minutes in)
A Portrait of Stalin: Secret Police

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

Does OSX Mavericks come with a Sarah Palin or a Tom Cruise doll?

Just so long as they don't include a Grumpy Old Man McCain doll.

SEEN ON FACEBOOK:

The United States doesn't really have a left-wing party.

That is a mistaken idea commonly held by people without a strong understanding of the American political system and politics. The US does in fact have a full political spectrum from left to right, including real, honest to Lenin and Marx Communists , and Communist Party. (More than one, actually.) It even includes people who have been willing to go the Stalin or Pol Pot route (see below after reading the rest of this). The difference is that people in the United States generally won't vote for Communists if they understand that is who is running for office. That is why many on the hard left camouflage themselves by rhetorically moving to the center and refer to themselves as progressives, or some other label, to merge into the larger body of the moderate left. If they make it into government, they are forced to govern by incrementalism using ordinary political means since they gain office by votes, not by revolution.

When Emeritus Isn't Automatic

"I intend to vote against conferring the honorific title of our university to a man whose body of work includes a book dedicated in part to the man who murdered my father, Robert F. Kennedy. There can be no place in a democracy to celebrate political assassinations or to honor those who do so."

Who is BILL AYERS? (This page has link to download the Prarie Fire political manifesto referenced below.)

William Ayers says Weather Underground, Boston bombings not same

William Ayers' forgotten communist manifesto: Prairie Fire

We are a guerrilla organization. We are communist women and men, underground in the United States for more than four years. . . .

...We need a revolutionary communist party in order to lead the struggle, give coherence and direction to the fight, seize power and build a new society.

And more....

The Weather Underground openly discussed exterminating 25 million Americans who refused to be "re-educated" into communism...

... I bought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. We, we become responsible, then, for administrating, you know, 250 million people.

And there was no answers. No one had given any thought to economics; how are you going to clothe and feed these people.

The only thing that I could get, was that they expected that the Cubans and the North Vietnamese and Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States.

They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counter-revolution. And they felt that this counter-revolution could best be guarded against by creating and establishing re-education centers in the southwest, where we would take all the people who needed to be re-educated into the new way of thinking and teach them... how things were going to be.

I asked, well, what's going to happen to those people that we can't re-educate; that are die-hard capitalists. And the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated. And when I pursued this further, they estimated that they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these re-education centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill. 25 million people.

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees from Columbia and other well known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 2

Sarah, She Wolf of the GOP

Left? the US doesn't have a left. it has a right and far right.

That is a mistaken idea commonly held by people without a strong understanding of the American political system and politics. The US does in fact have a full political spectrum from left to right, including real, honest to Lenin and Marx Communists , and Communist Party. (More than one, actually.) It even includes people who have been willing to go the Stalin or Pol Pot route (see below after reading the rest of this). The difference is that people in the United States generally won't vote for Communists if they understand that is who is running for office. That is why many on the hard left camouflage themselves by rhetorically moving to the center and refer to themselves as progressives, or some other label, to merge into the larger body of the moderate left. If they make it into government, they are forced to govern by incrementalism using ordinary political means since they gain office by votes, not by revolution.

William Ayers' forgotten communist manifesto: Prairie Fire

We are a guerrilla organization. We are communist women and men, underground in the United States for more than four years. . . .

...We need a revolutionary communist party in order to lead the struggle, give coherence and direction to the fight, seize power and build a new society.

And more....

The Weather Underground openly discussed exterminating 25 million Americans who refused to be "re-educated" into communism...

... I bought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. We, we become responsible, then, for administrating, you know, 250 million people.

And there was no answers. No one had given any thought to economics; how are you going to clothe and feed these people.

The only thing that I could get, was that they expected that the Cubans and the North Vietnamese and Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States.

They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counter-revolution. And they felt that this counter-revolution could best be guarded against by creating and establishing re-education centers in the southwest, where we would take all the people who needed to be re-educated into the new way of thinking and teach them... how things were going to be.

I asked, well, what's going to happen to those people that we can't re-educate; that are die-hard capitalists. And the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated. And when I pursued this further, they estimated that they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these re-education centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill. 25 million people.

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees from Columbia and other well known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people.

Who is BILL AYERS?

William Ayers says Weather Underground, Boston bombings not same

President Obama said he was committed to being the most transparent Administration in history. It seems to be coming true, but not in the way votes expected. But it is true, the administration is becoming increasing transparent.

The EPA’s Secret Email Accounts

Most Transparent Administration Evah is Riddled with Secret Email Addresses

More secret email accounts for Obama’s EPA chief?

So, this can be added to the growing list of administration scandals fighting for public attention: Benghazi, IRS suppression of conservative political groups, IRS suppression of orthodox religious groups, IRS suppression of adoption, IRS seizure of health records, exploding costs for healthcare reform, ....

I guess it must be morning wherever the press has been on vacation the last couple of years.

I'm afraid you don't really understand politics in the US, it isn't like Germany, the UK, or Sweden. Party discipline isn't really practiced in the same way. American parties still have different ideological wings, although they are withered compared to what they were 30-40 years ago.

There certainly are hard leftists in the US, including real honest-to-Marx-and-Lenin communists. The difference is that in the US, there is very little support for them for elected office if the voters understand that is who is running. As a result, those on the far left rhetorically camouflage themselves with more moderate labels to merge with the established moderate left.

President Obama, who is clearly a man of the left, gained office by regular election, not revolution or coup. As such he is limited to working within the system, and there is very little appetite in the US for open socialism, beyond a point, or communism. So, even if he is, hypothetically speaking, a man of the hard left, many of America's institutions and values are center/center-right. US institutions can't be decreed away, but must be incrementally voted away, and regulated away, until more substantial change is possible.

I have little doubt President Obama means well, and is doing what he thinks is in the best interests of the US. I just don't believe he is correct in his belief.

Maybe you've heard of Bill Ayers, someone that helped Barack Obama on this way politically? Here is some information you might find interesting from his days in the Weather Underground.

William Ayers' forgotten communist manifesto: Prairie Fire

Undercover agent Larry Grathwohl, who had infiltrated and joined the Weather Underground, described their post-revolution governing plans for the United States in this video taken from the 1982 documentary "No Place to Hide." The Weather Underground openly discussed exterminating 25 million Americans who refused to be "re-educated" into communism.

Here's a transcript of his interview:

I bought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. We, we become responsible, then, for administrating, you know, 250 million people.

And there was no answers. No one had given any thought to economics; how are you going to clothe and feed these people.

The only thing that I could get, was that they expected that the Cubans and the North Vietnamese and Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States.

They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counter-revolution. And they felt that this counter-revolution could best be guarded against by creating and establishing re-education centers in the southwest, where we would take all the people who needed to be re-educated into the new way of thinking and teach them... how things were going to be.

I asked, well, what's going to happen to those people that we can't re-educate; that are die-hard capitalists. And the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated. And when I pursued this further, they estimated that they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these re-education centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill. 25 million people.

The US doesn't merely have a hard left, it has a hard left that would fit right into a Stalinist or Pol Pot regime.

First link should be: SEIU drops mask, goes full commie

The overall murder rate in the US is 2-3x that of Canada, and even greater than the rest of the "western" first-world democracies (Western Europe, Japan, Australia). The difference in firearm-related murders, of course, much higher.

I’m Glad That I Don’t Have Canadian Murder Rates Where I Live

The way more "violent crime" argument is apple and oranges. What the UK counts as violent crime is much different than what the US does.

England has worse crime rate than the US, says Civitas study

American Thinker should be renamed American Cherrypicker. Anyone who finds that site compelling is seriously lacking in the critical thinking department.

Some people are simply more critical of thinking that doesn't match their own.

What do you think?

Witness in Trayvon Martin Case Lied. Will It Even Go To Trial?

And the number of people 'saved' id dwarfed by the number of people killed.

Sorry, but no. Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens

Add to that, no one else saw these 'robbers'. SO you have an old guy who fired two shots and claims there was 5 armed people that fled.

I call bull crap.

And I call Jack - as in, "You don't know...."

But here is one for you, can you figure out why that sort of thing might not be reported?

The drift I see is that most of the articles there have no proof there where other people being shot at.

Knock yourself out: Stories That Happened In TX

I'll save you the suspense - you aren't getting it. The site exists to collect reports of defensive gun use by citizens. This phenomenon is claimed to not exist by some people, probably like you. Guns do more than protect people from other people with guns. They protect 80 year old men confronted by gangs, 89 year old women from home invaders, women fighting off multiple rapists, and enable a boy to save his family from kidnapping and sexual assault. This sort of thing happens regularly, but is often unreported. If you ban guns, then everyone is at the mercy of the strong and vicious. Things don't get nicer if you ban guns, you simply get more innocent victims. In fact, gun crime can increase. But then violent crime in much of Europe, including the UK, and Australia occurs at a much higher rate than in the United States anyway. The United States does have a higher murder rate than much of Europe, but there is some subtlety in that. European Americans commit murder at rates similar to other Europeans. Where do the rest come from? And no, the United States murder rate is not among the worst in the world, its actually in the middle overall, and much lower in many place in the US. Guns are a useful tool, make for pleasant sport, but they not magic as you seem to believe. I think you have a number of unexamined assumptions that aren't true.

You know who else is in favor of gun control? One of the suspects (Ok, I'll grant an alternate reading is that he really like cheese). After all, it creates even more of a "target rich environment" when you can be sure those you intend to slaughter cannot resist.

Meanwhile, everyone else in Boston today would all be better of if they were armed, as there is an armed suspect on the loose. The houses that aren't are just potential safe houses for him.

Having a gun for self protection is like wearing a seatbelt. 99% of the time it's totally pointless. But when you need it, you REALLY need it. Further gun control is like trying to place rules around who can wear a seatbelt and when they are allowed to wear it. Just stupid.

As stated in a previous comment, I don't have an issue if adequate notice is given and if obtaining said ID is not unreasonably burdensome.

As for GOP gerrymandering - here's a sample: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/republicans-gerrymandering-house-representatives-election-chart

Dems do it too but last time around, the GOP did it bigger, badder, better. Canada has had an arm's-length agency for administering elections since 1920.
Proprotional representation can, I believe, mitigate gerrymandering to some extent.

Here are some noteworthy gerrymanders with lessons and embarrasments for both sides:
http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2010/11/11/the-top-ten-most-gerrymandered-congressional-districts-in-the-united-states/?singlepage=true

Glenn Reynolds just posted his essay Due Process when Everything is a Crime relating in part to the Aaron Swartz case.

Cases like the Aaron Swartz prosecution are a direct result of the huge, intrusive, abusive government we have. Unfortunately most Slashdotters seem to support this government and want to make it even larger and more involved in everyone's daily lives. Will Slashdot learn anything from Aaron Swartz's death? Or are we still just a few more government programs away from living in a utopia -- this time for sure?

Protip: War and Defense isn't the only idiotic spending.

You want to know where the money is being burned? Corruption and Crony Capitalism.

This can happen with War and Defense (particularly if a senator wants to bring home the bacon to his state with increased spending on an army base or a defense contractor), but also with regular business and with things all people expect goverment to have a hand in (police, the courts, schools/colleges, public infrastructure). Lobbyists and others work out a system to help someone get re-elected (via donations and the like), and then rake in the money when a new rule or regulation, one their company or group is well-equipped to handle (and their smaller competitors aren't). Then, when the elections are over and people leave office/government, they take their knowledge and contacts and become lobbyists, themselves.

As a wise man once said, "When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislatures." Also, ever notice how most senators, governors, mayors, and especially non-elected government officials tend to become millionaires after they have their cushy jobs?

Heck, you could probably find a good chunk of change in tax revenues with a 50% surcharge on income above and beyond government pay after leaving a federal job. One way to deal with the lobbyists and the incestuous monetary log-rolling that goes on.

The geek is not always going to like what he finds out there.

In related news, the city of San Francisco, a mere 40 miles from Silicon Valley, is considering a ban on public nudity in reaction to the infamous (minimally pixilated, but still may be NSFW) San Francisco naked protests.

San Francisco's Congressional representative, Nancy Pelosi, has made no comment.

Fear?

And yet you can blithely say that, posting logged in to your account, with full knowledge that your IP address and user agent string are being logged, and yet still have no fear that the US government will ever come hunting you down for your disparaging remarks.

Spoken like someone who's never tried confronting an American politician or candidate with an opinion they don't care for, in person.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didnâ(TM)t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.

Most people would agree that nothing happens in isolation. But in context, that quote sounds just as bad as it does out of context. He's clearly not talking about bridges at that point, but about the business. And why would someone claim that a business owner didn't create a business merely because they didn't create all of the infrastructure that the business uses?

There's only one reason to make such a speech. To rationalize higher taxes on business owners. The thing he misses is that his intended target, that business owner also helped pay for all that stuff he talks about, probably with an unusually large contribution. They paid for the roads and bridges, they definitely paid for their business, perhaps the internet, and definitely for the government. They built that just as much as anyone else. It is insulting for Obama to pretend otherwise.

And all that infrastructure you mention? That business paid its share. What's going on is that the governments, not just the federal, but also state and local have a lot more than just infrastructure in them. I doubt all that you mention costs more than a tenth of the combined budgets, IMHO the rest is entitlements and waste (and I have a very general definition of waste). If you want to pay for infrastructure, then everyone is paying a good rate. If you want to pay for all the social programs, the cost plus contracts, and the vast, built in waste to every government activity, then you need to tax someone more.

It's grotesquely insulting to play the "you didn't build that" card when the real problem is irresponsible spending by society and politicians such as Obama.

While I agree substantially with your premise, I disagree with your comparison of Amtrak vs. airlines. The airlines are subsidized to the tune of $3700 per empty seat on their commuter flights. This is a HUGE subsidy from the US government, and its impact on airline prices cannot be underestimated.

Quick summary:
http://pjmedia.com/blog/how-we-pay-3700-per-passenger-to-subsidize-airline-tickets/

Pick a different example and I think we're on the same page :)

E.g. What's happening to Obama at the moment.

Could be that someone wants us to think that Black Chamber is implementing SCORPION STARE. Or it could just be trials. Regardless, someone is apparently worried about CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN.

Call me a troll, but with 30 years education I'm just telling you what I've seen and heard.

If your post reflects 30 years of education, you didn't get your money's worth. That is just pitiful. But your rant about Sarah Palin makes sense in light of this:

Sarah, She Wolf of the GOP

Yes, stunning.
Chris 'I Lost On Jeopardy!' Matthews: 'Palin's Briefing Papers Have the Weight of a Comic Book'

Actually, I've pretty much only have seen the vitriol spewing forth with idiocy from the usual race baiting crowd. Most reasonable, thinking people have remained silent on the issue, waiting for the wheels to turn.

Sorry, but in the USA you don't have left and right. You have right and further-right. (On a world scale, anyway.)

Americans are often derided for their perceived or actual ignorance about the world, but this time it looks like the shoe is on the other foot. The United States does indeed have a genuine left, including hard core dedicated Communist movements. The difference is that in the United States most people tend towards the center to center right. They tend to shy away from the extremes so popular in Europe and other places.

Internationalist Socialists - AKA: Communists
Nationalist Socialists - AKA Nazis - far weaker than they were 60-70 years ago.
Fusion: American Nazi Party Endorses Occupy Wall Street‘s ’Courage,‘
Naked protests

Shying away from Communism is the smart and right thing to do . . . if you value your life.
Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

Sorry, but in the USA you don't have left and right. You have right and further-right. (On a world scale, anyway.)

Americans are often derided for their perceived or actual ignorance about the world, but this time it looks like the shoe is on the other foot. The United States does indeed have a genuine left, including hard core dedicated Communist movements. The difference is that in the United States most people tend towards the center to center right. They tend to shy away from the extremes so popular in Europe and other places.

Internationalist Socialists - AKA: Communists
Nationalist Socialists - AKA Nazis - far weaker than they were 60-70 years ago.
Fusion: American Nazi Party Endorses Occupy Wall Street‘s ’Courage,‘
Naked protests

Shying away from Communism is the smart and right thing to do . . . if you value your life.
Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

If only the guy who shot another person without witnesses would have been actually *investigated*, instead of letting him walk entirely on his own testimony...

In short, you don't know what you are talking about, in pretty much any regard. Well done.

NOT BREAKING NEWS on Zimmerman being bloodi

Trayvon Martin Shooter Told Cops Teenager Went For His Gun (Also, watch video)

In addition, an eyewitness, 13-year-old Austin Brown, told police he saw a man fitting Zimmerman's description lying on the grass moaning and crying for help just seconds before he heard the gunshot that killed Martin.

Would coudl possibly go wrong with enough people having your level in insight?

KillZimmerman’ Twitter advocates violence against Martin’s killer
How Many Crimes Did the New Black Panthers Commit in Florida?

When New Black Panther Mikhail Muhammad called for the mobilization of a 10,000-strong black male mob to capture George Zimmerman, we glimpsed into the depths of racial depravity of the organization. “An eye for an eye,” Muhammad threatened. A cash bounty for Zimmerman, “dead or alive,” provided a nasty incentive for thugs across the land.

Paper: Spike Lee tweeted incorrect George Zimmerman address, possibly putting Sanford woman in danger

Inconvenient narratives in the Martin case

Civil rights leaders condemn Sharpton's call for escalated civil disobedience

Sad

It's a wonder that civilization withstands your level of insight as it appears to be all too common.

What we consider "right" in Europe would fit the center of the US, while our "left" simply doesn't exist on the US radar

I think you underestimate Americans.

SEIU drops mask, goes full commie

Arab Spring protest in S.F.: unexpected twist ending

San Francisco’s naked protest and the ethics of public nudity

The United States does have a real left, just like Europe. The far left has been less successful in gaining and holding office than in Europe. That may change as the American center/center-left has been losing the ability to identify and interest in rejecting the far left. America doesn't have the same sort of far right issue that Euope has due to the center/center-rights rejection of the far right fringe since the 50's. America's main political parties have also historically been big-tents, political parties with liberal and conservative wings. The Democrats have mostly driven out their moderates and conservatives and are keeping more of the fringe that used to be rejected. The Republicans still have moderates and the occasional liberal.

What we consider "right" in Europe would fit the center of the US, while our "left" simply doesn't exist on the US radar

I think you underestimate Americans.

SEIU drops mask, goes full commie

Arab Spring protest in S.F.: unexpected twist ending

San Francisco’s naked protest and the ethics of public nudity

The United States does have a real left, just like Europe. The far left has been less successful in gaining and holding office than in Europe. That may change as the American center/center-left has been losing the ability to identify and interest in rejecting the far left. America doesn't have the same sort of far right issue that Euope has due to the center/center-rights rejection of the far right fringe since the 50's. America's main political parties have also historically been big-tents, political parties with liberal and conservative wings. The Democrats have mostly driven out their moderates and conservatives and are keeping more of the fringe that used to be rejected. The Republicans still have moderates and the occasional liberal.

What we consider "right" in Europe would fit the center of the US, while our "left" simply doesn't exist on the US radar

I think you underestimate Americans.

SEIU drops mask, goes full commie

Arab Spring protest in S.F.: unexpected twist ending

San Francisco’s naked protest and the ethics of public nudity

The United States does have a real left, just like Europe. The far left has been less successful in gaining and holding office than in Europe. That may change as the American center/center-left has been losing the ability to identify and interest in rejecting the far left. America doesn't have the same sort of far right issue that Euope has due to the center/center-rights rejection of the far right fringe since the 50's. America's main political parties have also historically been big-tents, political parties with liberal and conservative wings. The Democrats have mostly driven out their moderates and conservatives and are keeping more of the fringe that used to be rejected. The Republicans still have moderates and the occasional liberal.

OH NOES! IRAN THREATENS US AND UK!!!!

You should probably change the title of your post to, "Iran threatens its neighbors, Europe, the US, and some other country they want to remove from the pages of history." You didn't post anything about how convenient those the US bases in nearby countries make Iranian or Iranian backed attacks against US forces performing missions in those other countries. Also, I notice that Iranian bases and activities aren't depicted on the map - I suppose that would challenge the narrative of "poor little Iran". I will also note that this post is barely skimming the surface of Iran's activities. For instance, it doesn't cover much of anything about Iran's activities in Syria, where it is helping prop up the current regime, or Lebanon, where its proxy Hezbollah is virtually a state within a state, and armed with 50,000 rockets to attack Israel.

Gulf States on Arms Buying Binge to Counter Iran Threat

Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf monarchies are buying huge amounts of advanced arms from the United States and Europe. The weaponry is clearly aimed to counter the growing threat they see coming from Iran.

The United States alone has around $100 billion in potential sales in the pipeline right now. The biggest is a Saudi deal, initiated in 2010 and approved by Congress, totaling around $60 billion. The package includes jets, helicopters, hundreds of Harpoon anti-ship missiles, training, and logistical services. Israel, initially worried about the sale, agreed — after U.S. assurances — to support it in September

Iran Threatens To 'Freeze' Europe for Backing Sanctions - First Publish: 2/28/2010

Brigadier-General Hossein Salami of Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned Sunday that Iran has the power to cut Europe's energy supply. The warning was issued as European leaders prepared to debate sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

"Iran sits on 50 percent of the world's energy, and if it wants, Europe will spend the winter in the cold,” Salami told Iranian troops in the city of Kerman. His speech was published by the Iranian Fars news agency.

Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz oil route

Iran threatens US Navy over Gulf activity - Warns US aircraft carrier not to return to Gulf waters

Iran Threatens Two More Naval Chokepoints - In addition to the Strait of Hormuz.

Considerable attention is being given to Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large proportion of the world’s petroleum sails. The U.S Energy Information Administration estimates that “almost 17 million barrels in 2011, up from between 15.5-16.0 million bbl/d in 2009-2010,” sails past Iranian gun and missile emplacements along the coast, mine-laying ships, and Revolutionary Guard fast boats. In 2011, that amounted to “roughly 35 percent of all seaborne traded oil, or almost 20 percent of oil traded worldwide.”

Yet the recent visit of two Iranian naval vessels to the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah should draw attention to two more vital naval chokepoints—the Bab el Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal located between the northern tip of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. (See this map.) More than three million barrels of oil pass through the Bab el Mandeb every day on the way to the Suez Canal and the SUMED (Suez-Mediterranean) pipeline used by tankers that are too big to traverse the Can

This is a conference report, it's not law yet. If it passes, cyberwarefare will be subject to the same legal regime as traditional forms of warfare. If Obama or succeeding presidents fail to follow the law, Congress will have to deal with that. Since they didn't enforce the War Powers Act with regards to Obama's Libyan Adventure, It goes to show that Instapundit is right. We should only elect Republicans to the White House, because Democratic Presidents are given a free pass by the media and Congress, while Republican Presidents are held to the highest standard.

There are several reasons to oppose such a tax. First, contrary to public opinion, trade doesn't hurt anyone and is one of the few things that is near universally beneficial. People don't trade unless they want to. I oppose sales taxes and value-added taxes for the same reason.

Second, if the US taxes trade, then the trade goes elsewhere. I see this as a very crippling move against any security trading in the US. While people harp on the parasitic nature of finance and market trading, it still remains that this sector does a lot of business and brings in a lot of money for the US.

Third, it dissuades speculators. I know a lot of people, including this Tobin guy, think speculation is bad. Keep in mind that speculators are rewarded for guessing the future direction of the market and punished for guessing wrong. These people are often the first feedback on spectacularly bad business strategies and government financial policy (for example, "it tanked while he talked").