And kudos to Trump for finally pulling us out of Afghanistan and Syria. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day... The same to Congress for putting their collective feet down on the US/Saudi war crimes spree in Yemen. I hope that 2019 ushers in a new era of military restraint in the US, where the US minds its own business in exchange for being left alone.
As far as domestic terrorism, the solution is not to be stinking cowards and just accept some level of danger. There were many more domestic terrorist incidents in the 1960s through 80s (remember the Weather Underground), yet no one turned a fun night into a police state because of it.
Authoritarian apologists like you are the ones making America suck since 9/11. 9/11 didn't happen because we "allowed the Taliban to exist." First of all, we gave them a haven in the first place by meddling in Afghanistan in the 1980s. We should have let the Soviets have the place, not funded Islamic fundie assholes.
Secondly, the Taliban was successful in gaining support because there were a lot of people angry at US meddling in the Middle East. It was also funded by the Saudis, whose state was under US protection. We created the monster through our continuous meddling!
As far as living under rules from Beijing, the US (or at least the Americas) can exist as an autarky, and we have enough nuclear weapons to discourage a Chinese invasion of the Americas. So, meddling or no meddling, it's very unlikely that the Chinese could dictate terms to us.
I'm just not a coward and remember when the world had a sense of humor -- in the 1970s, someone stretched a tightrope between the Twin Towers and walked on it for a while. He was given a slap on the hand and most people appreciated the stunt rather than freaking out about it. If not being for a perfectly safe, sterile society makes me a psychopathic idiot, I wear that badge with pride.
Traffic was only fucked up because the cops chose to stop it -- if he was ignored and allowed to do his thing, traffic wouldn't have been affected much.
Mass shootings are sufficiently rare that they're not worth inconveniencing anyone to protect against. Besides, this bullshit started in the 90s, long before they were a major worry. Over the long term, restrictions on buying guns should be increased to 1990s levels, but for now, non-response is the best response. Sometimes, QUALITY of life is more important than perfect safety.
As far as being a global power, there's no value in it if it makes us less safe and makes government more intrusive in our own country. Far better to be a second-tier country which is free internally than one that has to compromise internal freedom for the ability to meddle in places abroad where it's not wanted. If having more internal freedom means not doing business with Muslim nations at all, that's OK too.
I hope that Trump's withdrawal from Afghanistan and Syria is a good first step to a policy of isolationism. Sometimes, the best way to win is not to play at all.
How fuckin' thin does a phone have to be? The problem is not a few mm of thickness these days; it's that phone makers are making the phone too wide and tall to fit in a pocket. Thickness is just an excuse used by marketing droids to remove features.
Not everyone has an Alexa or other latest spygizmo in their home. Some of us just want to be able to listen via a $5 pair of headphones bought at any pharmacy the world over while still being able to charge our phone.
There is an alternative to penning people in like cattle -- leave the entire area open and only control entry and exit. Same deal as paid concerts in Central Park or similar events.
As far as people wanting to bomb us -- wouldn't it be cheaper to just give the "terrorists" what they want? Is constant meddling in the Middle East really worth our freedom within the US? Sometimes, isolationism is really the best option...
So basically, small businesses are able to do what Apple, Google, and a bunch of other mega-corps do every day. Sorry, I'm not going to get too worked up about it.
Stop thinking yourself as a citizen or patriotism, start thinking of yourself as a human being. Why should any intelligent person feel a moral obligation to obey a system that they're a part of by mere accident of birth? Fear of consequences is one thing, but there's no MORAL obligation to obey evil laws.
If Apple and Google can pay next to no taxes, why the fuck should I hold mom-and-pop businesses to a higher standard. Yeah, I'm more than OK with the occasional fraud of that type. As long as the super-rich get away scot-free, why should everyone else suffer?
Yet Germany, Italy, and many East/Central European countries remain cash-heavy. Why? Because they value their privacy and experienced the consequences of a heavily controlled society. The UK's problem is that it's bought and paid for by American banking interests.
Hell of a lot harder to track than card usage -- nothing is 100% foolproof, but anything that introduces friction into the system makes it more costly to track things.
Uber is a shit company -- their endgame is not to be a transportation company, but a "Big Data" company; selling their users' travel information to the highest bidder (the latter are their true "customers").
Slashdot Mirror
And kudos to Trump for finally pulling us out of Afghanistan and Syria. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day... The same to Congress for putting their collective feet down on the US/Saudi war crimes spree in Yemen. I hope that 2019 ushers in a new era of military restraint in the US, where the US minds its own business in exchange for being left alone.
As far as domestic terrorism, the solution is not to be stinking cowards and just accept some level of danger. There were many more domestic terrorist incidents in the 1960s through 80s (remember the Weather Underground), yet no one turned a fun night into a police state because of it.
Authoritarian apologists like you are the ones making America suck since 9/11. 9/11 didn't happen because we "allowed the Taliban to exist." First of all, we gave them a haven in the first place by meddling in Afghanistan in the 1980s. We should have let the Soviets have the place, not funded Islamic fundie assholes.
Secondly, the Taliban was successful in gaining support because there were a lot of people angry at US meddling in the Middle East. It was also funded by the Saudis, whose state was under US protection. We created the monster through our continuous meddling!
As far as living under rules from Beijing, the US (or at least the Americas) can exist as an autarky, and we have enough nuclear weapons to discourage a Chinese invasion of the Americas. So, meddling or no meddling, it's very unlikely that the Chinese could dictate terms to us.
I'm just not a coward and remember when the world had a sense of humor -- in the 1970s, someone stretched a tightrope between the Twin Towers and walked on it for a while. He was given a slap on the hand and most people appreciated the stunt rather than freaking out about it. If not being for a perfectly safe, sterile society makes me a psychopathic idiot, I wear that badge with pride.
Certain PARANOIA about followers of a certain religion, rather. The number of actual terrorist attacks has been so low as to be a minor issue.
Why is it worse than launching a model airplane or model balloon as a prank?
Traffic was only fucked up because the cops chose to stop it -- if he was ignored and allowed to do his thing, traffic wouldn't have been affected much.
Mass shootings are sufficiently rare that they're not worth inconveniencing anyone to protect against. Besides, this bullshit started in the 90s, long before they were a major worry. Over the long term, restrictions on buying guns should be increased to 1990s levels, but for now, non-response is the best response. Sometimes, QUALITY of life is more important than perfect safety.
As far as being a global power, there's no value in it if it makes us less safe and makes government more intrusive in our own country. Far better to be a second-tier country which is free internally than one that has to compromise internal freedom for the ability to meddle in places abroad where it's not wanted. If having more internal freedom means not doing business with Muslim nations at all, that's OK too.
I hope that Trump's withdrawal from Afghanistan and Syria is a good first step to a policy of isolationism. Sometimes, the best way to win is not to play at all.
Why not embrace the ethos of the hacker and prankster rather than being a grouchy old authoritarian?
Satan has a backlog of work orders and still needs to forge a steel muzzle for the other one.
American cops would have probably shot him off the tower to keep him from committing suicide.
How fuckin' thin does a phone have to be? The problem is not a few mm of thickness these days; it's that phone makers are making the phone too wide and tall to fit in a pocket. Thickness is just an excuse used by marketing droids to remove features.
Not everyone has an Alexa or other latest spygizmo in their home. Some of us just want to be able to listen via a $5 pair of headphones bought at any pharmacy the world over while still being able to charge our phone.
There is an alternative to penning people in like cattle -- leave the entire area open and only control entry and exit. Same deal as paid concerts in Central Park or similar events.
As far as people wanting to bomb us -- wouldn't it be cheaper to just give the "terrorists" what they want? Is constant meddling in the Middle East really worth our freedom within the US? Sometimes, isolationism is really the best option...
I'm closer to an anarchist than a Soviet-style authoritarian, actually.
So basically, small businesses are able to do what Apple, Google, and a bunch of other mega-corps do every day. Sorry, I'm not going to get too worked up about it.
As far as peer pressure, acquire new friends. Preferably from countries (Latin America, Eastern Europe) where cash economies are the norm.
Stop thinking yourself as a citizen or patriotism, start thinking of yourself as a human being. Why should any intelligent person feel a moral obligation to obey a system that they're a part of by mere accident of birth? Fear of consequences is one thing, but there's no MORAL obligation to obey evil laws.
One of the few decent humans in US politics today. (And at least spell her name correctly, guy.)
Burner Gmail -- Dont.spam.me.you.effing.asshole@gmail.com
If Apple and Google can pay next to no taxes, why the fuck should I hold mom-and-pop businesses to a higher standard. Yeah, I'm more than OK with the occasional fraud of that type. As long as the super-rich get away scot-free, why should everyone else suffer?
How do you buy a smartphone if your phone died, then?
Easy to do with 2nd-tier brands like MetroPCS -- they're pretty much set up to accept any form of payment for prepaid.
I've seen an "imprinter" in use as recently as a few years ago.
Yet Germany, Italy, and many East/Central European countries remain cash-heavy. Why? Because they value their privacy and experienced the consequences of a heavily controlled society. The UK's problem is that it's bought and paid for by American banking interests.
Hell of a lot harder to track than card usage -- nothing is 100% foolproof, but anything that introduces friction into the system makes it more costly to track things.
Uber is a shit company -- their endgame is not to be a transportation company, but a "Big Data" company; selling their users' travel information to the highest bidder (the latter are their true "customers").