We really want a guy who owes the Mob 200K in gambling debts being leaned on to turn over top-secret information to erase his gambling debts. It's pretty easy for someone with an addiction like that to snowball from handing out a floor-plan to an office containing harmless stuff to handing over access codes or whatever. One of the things about being in a position where you're entrusted with the safety and lives of your countrymen is that no one should be able to have leverage over you. It's one thing if someone threatens to kill your family if you don't give them XYZ information - you can go to the appropriate agency for protection or whatever needs to be done and it will get handled, no matter how high and hard it needs to be escalated.

It's entirely different if it's over gambling debts. Especially if you've caved before. Your career is over and you might go to prison. Some people, especially the kind that are gambling addicts, simply cannot see the long-term ramifications or can justify damn near anything to themselves. That makes them extremely dangerous in any position that has the word "nuclear" and "commander" in it's title.

...Sunday morning to give a shit what RMS has to say, despite my immense respect for him and his beard. But I think his point can be beautifully illustrated by the Self-Destructing Cookie plugin going off every second blowing away another cookie from some website or the other called "ip2info.org" that I don't recall telling that it could set cookies (and I blew away my mozilla/firefox $HOME config dirs last night and set up everything fresh, so I know exactly what sites I've been to in the past 9 hours), so someone's slipping it to me in the side.

If there's a way to fuck consumers, it will be used. That's why I'm a gun-toting, free-speech-expressing citizen who knows what habeus corpus is along with a bunch of other Latin terms I'm too tired to list right now. And I think my fellow citizen Mr. Stallman has a damn good point nearly every time he opens his mouth. The other times, it's at least funny...

I'd say it's more of a mentality. My experience w/ police in the UK is that they aren't as foaming-at-the-mouth brutal and out-to-arrest-everyone-in-sight as the US - not by a long shot. So the average UK citizen/serf sees the coppers as a relatively benign force (historically speaking, I think that's going to be changing radically soon), and thus the CCTV surveillance is acceptable because it helps the cops "protect" them. When in reality you're already half-way to a full-on version of 1984 (an unarmed, fairly docile population under surveillance).

I'm not 100% sure if I'm spot-on w/ this evaluation, as I'm not a UK citizen and I've spent a grand total of maybe 8-9 months in-country (most of which was only in London and the surrounding area) and I was busy working, drinking, and getting all the the wonderful sexual benefits of being a "wild", tattooed Texan (which carries major weight w/ UK women, there's some sort of bad-boy attraction there despite the fact that I'm also a computer geek and an artist [writing and visual arts - painting/collages/etc.] as well as a guy who carries at least five weapons at any time, will fight at the drop of a hat, and is covered in tattoos and scars [everything from about 20 stab wounds and 2 bullet holes to some serious burn marks and a lot of facial scars [I have some fairly impressive scars from soldiering, fighting, and similar violent activities] that have healed well w/ my roguish good looks - or so I've been told - to give me more of that bad-boy mix that women love]; I've noticed that the ratio of women attracted to "bad boy" looks and attitudes are inversely proportionate to the availability of said bad boys...in Texas I'm a fairly average guy for my outside-of-work subculture, whereas in Europe I'm considered to be extremely hardcore and can generally pick up a "bird" at any pub without even really trying).

But I know that if you gave everyone in the UK a gun today, half of them would put it in a closet and forget about it, and the other 50 percent would either use it appropriately (home and self defence) or go get in trouble (even my relatively mild co-workers from the UK go absolutely buck-wild when given a gun; I've brought along some handguns and assault rifles on camping trips into national parks, and once handed a firearm, said individuals would generally empty the entire clip in the general direction of the targets we'd set up, not hit a damn thing, and I'd practically have to pry the gun out of their hands to show them basic things like gun safety, how to aim and shoot properly, etc.).

Nope. The contractors that deployed the red-light cameras were too cheap and stupid to think of something that simple. I've been using things like traffic lights and construction barricades as target practice and for controlled demolition since I was about 14. Never been caught once.

So basically all the parasites that have been ruining the U.S. (except for hardcore left-wingers - the U.K. seemed to have a lot of those; NOTE : I'm somewhere in the middle, as I'm fine w/ gays, think people should be able to do almost anything in their bedrooms, pro-choice, and pretty much any other pro-freedom part of the left-wing agenda - on the other hand, I hate the hypocritical welfare state [I've been through a bout w/ a vascular disease that made me unable to work for almost a year, and I couldn't get a damn bit of help from the state or federal government, yet watched them processing a nearly endless stream of welfare baby-mommas and other Black who supposedly can't work yet have no problem procreating; I've seen the same thing w/ a close friend who fought for medical treatment - he was epileptic and had really bad shoulders which prevented him from doing manual labor, which was the only kind of work he could get as an ex-con...after 7+ years of trying to get the funding for the operation to his shoulders and medicine for his epilepsy, he was finally awarded a victory in court. His prize? A 300$ bi-weekly check and no medical assistance whatsoever. And the Federal agents after him wonder why he went back to cooking meth...], think that a trained and armed citizen is the only way you can guarantee freedom, and generally oppose big business, big government, and all aspects of Big Brother) have migrated over to the UK as well? Well, time for yall to start finding out about the BS that we American citizens put up with on a regular basis.

That sounded vindictive, and it wasn't meant that way (I'd rather no one had to put up with that kind of crap). But I also think that it's appropriate that a lot of the countries that have been bashing "gun nuts", "survivalists", and other so-called "paranoid elements" of American society get a taste of what we have to deal with. After a few years of people picketing abortion clinics (and shooting/stabbing people that work there), hiring based not on skills, education, or performance but rather on race and quotas, and a new generation of kids unwilling to learn or do anything other than bounce in and out of prison and on and off the dole, you'll start to understand the how and why of people like me who are seriously ticked off at the current state of affairs.

NY sucks, just admit it. I loved NYC when I was a kid - drugs, violence, urban chaos. Then they got all nit-picky and I simultaneously grew up. Now I hate NY, damn near all of it. And flying anywhere North of the Mason-Dixon is a damn nightmare. I've gotten stuck out in several major urban cities by airlines that either overbooked or couldn't coordinate connecting flights. The fact that this has never happened in my hometown, which has a huge airport run by morons, amazes me, but it's true. Also, the TSA security is that much worse up North as well. But then again, only in Texas do many airlines have to actually maintain a separate lane for people checking guns and explosives. I guess that gives a sense of perspective to the average TSA goon.

And while I couldn't agree more about the U.S. losing it's Constitutionally-granted rights (not privileges, but rights), one thing about the UK that has always creeped me out? CCTV. They tried traffic monitoring lights in Houston, and I know that I was one of many people using a high-powered pellet rifle to blow the things out (I don't have a front license plate, so good luck finding me after I blow out the camera at 2am and then run the light) until the program got discontinued due to mismanagement and funding problems. Meanwhile, the UK has by-and-large accepted surveillance of every move they make and everything they say in public. Creepy as hell.

The last time I was working in the UK, I was assigned a small house as my temporary residence. Where I did not have cable TV, yet at almost any time of the day I could find a nude or semi-nude figure of either sex doing something (generally streaking). My coworkers took 4 hour "pub lunches". I spent the nights pub-crawling with them (until I started wandering into the more "dangerous" parts of town to drink and pick up women - to someone from Houston, London doesn't have a ghetto). I generally woke up mildly hungover next to a woman somewhere between 18 and 36 who may or may not have been rescued from a freak show (depending on how much I'd drank). After kicking her out with taxi fair and a half-hearted promise to call, I stumbled over to the nearby Underground station and got a breakfast and cup of tea that, between the two, clogged my arteries to the point of failure and then rocketed everything back into place.

After which I'd go into work for 10 hours. On smoke breaks, I could enjoy the nude girls from the Sun or whatever that had been pasted all over the smoking area. The only time anyone looked at me funny is if I mentioned my firearms collection back home.

How did the British go from a relatively hard-drinking, smoking, swearing, fucking, nude, fighting-in-pubs, generally relaxed culture (I actually had a cop ask me nicely to throw up in a trash can once - in the U.S. I'd have at least spent the night in jail, possibly been in a fight and gotten tasered about four to eight times [it would help if I stayed down, I suppose]) to this? It just doesn't make sense from my experience...

Not being able to separate the satire from the actual statements in my post is the product of a product of incest, certainly. And since you're not smart enough to figure it out on your own, I just called you inbred because you couldn't figure out that what I said was mostly satire.

What you said is mostly reactionary, politically correct, left-wing bullshit. Save it for a cardboard sign somewhere. Or write it in your employee locker McDonald's. And it's sort of funny to hear semi-reasonable, rationally expressed statements like "Cultural isolation is the rejection of additional information" (which looks intelligent at a glance, until you consider that every culture on the globe grew in isolation until it met other cultures, then continued to grow as it learned from and traded ideas with other cultures, and only began to stagnate when said culture allowed itself to be subsumed or diluted by other cultures) with outright racist BS like "White people are an illness." (really...how did you arrive at this rational, logical, and factual conclusion, Malcolm?).

Fuck you, you ignorant piece of shit. What are you - English or some Hispanic border-jumper? Because you've just insulted the heritage of I'd guess about 70% of American citizens. And if you're going to insult Blacks, I suggest you spell it right. I might not get along with many of them, but it just makes the rest of people that are pro-White, racialist, and trying to accomplish good things for their race look bad when idiots like you start spouting off misspelled, moronic bullshit about the people that our social system has put us (by manipulative methods, I might add) in direct competition for resources with.

Of course, it says a lot about the quality of /. that this anonymous moron's post was modded down less times than my original one. Or that this idiot attacked White people and started spouting out left-wing slogans you could hear at any event promoting multiculturalism and the downfall of the White race, while completely ignoring the fact that (if taken completely at face value) my satirical statement insults just as many rich, White, privileged people who take advantage of their fellow citizens by abusing some artificially obtained or created position of importance (politicians and middle-management types, mostly) as it does poor, helpless, victimized Blacks who are starving to death and too hungry to wok because someone hid their food stamps under their work boots.

The only thing I'm directly, uncompromisingly against no matter the case or cause is ignorance. And you, fucktard, fit the bill perfectly.

And so was mine...mostly - I don't like Rosanne Barr and I'm a pro-freedom, pro-White libertarian who thinks the First, Second, Fourth, And Fifth Amendments (as well as the rest of the document) are the most outstandingly simple ways of expressing fundamental liberties that no one should be able to take away without a fight, but I wasn't seriously suggesting we eat anyone or advocating hatred or anything of the nature. The fact that some idiots have taken it out of context reveals that (a) they take themselves and the world too seriously (b) and they don't know what satire is, let alone good satire.

Agreed. And I refuse to eat at Burger King because I've seen how that "fresh, char-broiled patty" or whatever started it's life. No thanks...when I'm poor I don't have the money for meat, when I'm flush I eat the good stuff.

Of course, while we're on the topic of alternative sources of meat, let's think again about A Modest Proposal. Except I'm not suggesting we eat the Irish - I'm part-Irish, we eat potatoes, plus we're more likely to kill you than vice-versa. But think about all those infants put up for adoption, or abused by being forced to walk around shopping malls behind 500+ lb. welfare mothers in mu-mus who somehow miraculously manage to drive Cadillac Escalades and clothe those children in brand-name sports clothing that costs hundred of dollars. Think of all the waste there, and of the health of the mothers. They could probably walk faster, get some exercise, perhaps even get out of the rat-race lifestyle of collecting welfare and having eight baby-daddies that they stash illegal narcotics for (when said daddies' aren't in prison) that forces them to buy Escalades and two-hundred dollar Nikes. Their lives would be improved, and they would no longer need to fear pregnancy when sleeping with the guy around who has the most gold chains. Or we could expedite matters and use that 500 pounds of previously useless meat as fit.

And imagine the change in lifestyle for the American people. No more farm subsidies, and the insurance companies could make a killing off a child's birth. The entire food industry would be revolutionized, except for possibly Church's, where "White meat or dark?" brings an added charge for White meat. Maybe it would change to "White meat or Darkie?", but that's about it. And consider the amount of time spent hunting whales or manufacturing synthetic oils. No more - use the body's natural fats.

So consider it my friends - we might be able to fix the economy right there. If not, too bad the president is so skinny. However, his wife, her friends, and most of Congress could all stand to lose some weight. Maybe all of it, eh?

In all seriousness, we should take all the long-term welfare recipients and their children, politicians (Democrats especially), illegal aliens, and MBA-touting middle management fuckers and their fat wives and kids, turn them loose in the woods, and sell passes good for N number of kills to hunter's clubs. It's the ultimate solution for the people who put us in this mess anyway (throw in the Bush family as well...they're already pickled anyways, and wouldn't feel or fear a thing with all the cocaine). And since most people who are hunters are working or middle class, it would be a very appropriate turn-around.

But this grown meat thing sounds promising once we run out of useless fat people. Lookout, Rosanne! Can't buy or lie your way our of this one. Ahem. As I was saying, this grown meat bit sounds quite good once we've exhausted the means at hand. After all, what we would eat? Animals? What did they ever do to us?

You're mostly on target, except for one little thing :

Are you living in the same world I am? The same one where people who profess strong beliefs step over homeless people on a daily basis, where materialism and consumerism are the new opiate of the masses, and Kitty Genovese getting stabbed to death was a passing interest? While rats might have a strong moral/social instinct, human beings do not. I should know...I've raised many rats, and I've been a member of the human race for quite a while. Rats are caring, social animals - human beings are more concerned about whether being a witness might get their ass in a sling (or even just inconvenience them) than whether they're doing right or wrong.

And no, I don't have a study to back it up. But I've seen a lot, all over the world, and most people will steal, cheat, and kill if given the chance to get away with it. The only thing stopping them is that they don't have the guts. They don't want to get their hands dirty, even for the best of causes. Deeply spiritual people seem to be the exception to this, in my experience.

Well, part of that reason is because religion is a valid force in the penal system. You declare yourself atheist, and you get no special privileges to go with that. Call yourself Jewish, and you get different food. Call yourself Christian, non-denominational, and you get to go to any church group you want (a welcome reprieve from long boring hours of doing nothing but reading and pumping iron). Declare yourself Catholic in a very Baptist area, and you'll eventually get to see a priest. Etcetera.

Of course, looking at life in prison or possible execution is a very sobering thing. Makes you reconsider all sorts of things, and when you budge enough that you pray at least for the people you'll be leaving behind, and then you walk free a week later (when you had two murder charges, organized crime, arson, aggravated assault w/ a deadly weapon, aggravated robbery, a pistol case, a dope case, and even a hate crime charge thrown in for shits and giggles), one starts to realize that there actually is something to this whole God and prayer thing.

True story (replace s/([Yy]ou|one)/I/g and that happened in 2006, no shit). Turned my 18 years of non-belief (rabid non-belief, I might add - a quick way to get me to spit on you was to say anything religious) right around on it's head. Been seeing things that are beyond coincidence ever since. YMMV, do as thou wilt still is the whole of the law, but I know what I believe and what I'm doing.

Sure, I believe in a God that both created human beings with free will and the ability to use science and other tools to better our lives, and also sent his only begotten son to die for our sins so that even the worst among us may ask forgiveness and enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Do I know what Heaven is? No. Do I think I have the right to tell you what to believe or do (as long as it isn't messing with my life)? No. So obviously I have some sorts of "magical" beliefs in my life, or I wouldn't bother praying or reading my Bible. And I've studied almost every major religion before having a serious spiritual experience (one that saved my life and completely changed the way I view the world - literally saved my life, not just "saved me from myself" or whatever...I was looking at spending the next 40-50 years in prison for something that I did do, but was taken completely out of context [it was self-defense, but race and all kinds of other bullshit was thrown into it and the DA wanted to nail my ass to the wall]).

On the other hand, I have nights like tonight, where no amount of prayer or whatever can lift my spirits or do much more than keeping me from going completely off the deep end. I just got turned down for a job that I had invested a lot of time and effort into pursuing (including a nightmarish trip across the U.S. on a shitty airline that made my life hell by completely screwing up every flight, changeover, and whatnot - and then making me pay for a hotel stay overnight, and having to find another way home from Philly because they overbooked a flight and then left me and about a dozen people stranded), my on-and-off girlfriend (who just got out of prison for a drug charge) pulled another disappearing act despite knowing that tonight is about the worst time she can just wander off to get high for a few hours and then expect me to come pick her up, and a variety of other things have my spirits so low that the only thing that's keeping me from doing something that would ultimately lead to my death (as well as quite a few other peoples') is the fact that I don't want to give any satisfaction to all those fucks in high school or my asshole family who all said that I would never amount to anything and be a complete failure. I know it has to get better as some point, since it can't really get any worse (or not by much), but the struggle to keep going is hellish right now.

So I live in a world with magical characteristics but a very realistic set of beliefs and consequences. And I'm venting. Feel free to ignore this bit of bullshit.

Speaking as someone who has lived, worked, and been imprisoned in Orleans Parish (that's New Orleans for anyone who hasn't lived in the only state that is more or less the same as when it was French, at least in terms of government), I could give a fuck about that city. The best thing they could have done is just blockade the place and require three references from people who aren't named Shaniquefa and have a job in order to be let out, and then leave the rest of those bastards to kill each other for bread crumbs and wide-screen TVs that they couldn't use anyways. As soon as it was all over (meaning all the scum that have since poisoned my city (seriously, I was living w/ my ex-wife in some apartments after Katrina, and all the "refugees" moved in and started stealing everything that wasn't bolted down - my neighbor put some frozen hamburger on a plate on his porch to defrost and it was gone 5 minutes later...they even took the paper plate!) and all the surrounding states would have been dead), just bulldoze some levees, let the bodies drain out into the gulf, and then start the cleanup. Bye-bye Chocolate City! Hello to a cleaner and safer New Orleans!

Don't speak on that place until you've eaten grits three times a day (with a lump of cold cheese in it if you were lucky), had to carry a shank everywhere you went, and all the White prisoners pooled their blankets to tie their cells shut at night (because most of the cells wouldn't shut and you can't stay awake all the time, and you can't fight back when someone holds a wet towel around your head while five of his homies beat the shit out of you and take your food or whatever else they feel like (remember, Louisiana is under the Napoleonic code, so some poor schmuck who got drunk and pissed off a cop is in there with guys who raped and killed little old ladies). I felt sorry as hell for the middle-class Whites in there. The rest of us Whites had to practically hold their hands and explain to them that they weren't going to see a judge for at least three days, they'd be lucky if they just got a fine (I got 10 days just because I was standing there while the cops jacked up my friends and searched them...to this day, I have no clue what I was charged with, I just know that not only did I have to sit out bullshit time in a hellhole [and I've done real time in Texas prisons, which are supposed to be some of the worst in the country], I also had to pay a fine or sit another 20 days just because I asked the judge what I was being charged with), there was no way they could get a bond before they saw a judge, and crying on the phone to their wife was just going to make them a mark.

Fuck that city and fuck that state.