Cheech

With a 94 Katana that administers random electric shocks and requires it's own tool van, I'd venture to say the same amount you'd get if you didn't have a bike.

And this is why... (Tyler, I'm not hating on you at all, I'm just using this as an example. I'd have done the same damn thing. ) As someone who works with the public in a position of power, do you believe you can effect better social change by engaging the public in a conversation where you talk to them like they are intelligent people, present your case in a way that's easy for them to understand, listen to their issues and attempt to reconcile them with respect and dignity, or do you throw the most polarizing, shocking thing you can at them (usually in an incredibly hokey fashion) in an attempt to scare them all into instant submission, and the ones that don't submit are immediately arrested or punished by administrators that allow no human margin for error or don't account (or care) for exigent circumstances?

But they are mature enough to be considered legal adults by the state and live on their own, can enter into legal contracts, can vote for elected officials who they believe represent their interests, and voluntarily enlist of their own free will so they can fight and die for their country?

I'm just going to stop you right here. For someone who put up as his airport security protocol knowledge that you fly "at least once a year with family", you know fuck-all about the current security system. You can either print out your boarding passes online or get them at the gate. Once you're in the airport, you still need to check-in with the gate agent so she can print off your checked luggage tags and, oh yeah, CHECK YOUR ID. This ID check is to make sure you match the name on the boarding pass, which has already been checked with the no-fly lists and has cleared you for flight. If you were going to be flagged in the system, you would have done so already. Right before you get to the TSA checkpoint, you show your ID to the TSA guy. The only thing the TSA person does when you show them your ID is duplicate the same thing the gate agent did except the TSA guy has no access to the no-fly, no access to any information that may be useful to screeners to handle you if you have special needs that have been previously documented (like implants that mean you can't go through the scanner), none of that. He stares at your ID for 30 seconds to make it look like he's giving it a CSI examination, lays down some chicken scratch scrawl on your boarding pass, and waves you through. This is a COMPLETE waste of time, and I'm willing to bet was the entire crux of this man's argument. I'm not willing to say that showing ID isn't necessary for flights, but I'm damn well willing to say showing your ID to the TSA guy is.

i thought the catch-all rationalization was "zombie apocalypse". I have a hard time figuring out who's still joking and who's taking it seriously anymore.

alas, I can't rep you again. you're far too generous, I have it at 5/10. Marked improvement, but still a long way to go.

Oh no no no. 10/10 is a picture perfect subtle troll, you are nowhere near. Oh wait, am I to understand you're actually serious? Then this statement should speak for itself: The TSA has not, in the entire history of its organization, directly stopped a terrorist attack. Zero. No fuzzy math, no extrapolations. Not one. Every time there was a thwarted attempt, the assholes got through the checkpoints (even though they departed from outside the US, the passengers get secondary screening before they get into the gate boarding area from people trained in TSA protocol. Yes, you do have to take off your shoes) and in the end was stopped by the PASSENGERS. As a police officer, do you stop and frisk every person you pull over? If not, why not? There's tons of documented instances where cops are attacked during traffic stops, why wouldn't you simply put everyone you encounter during your shift or on a stop through a security screening to ensure they don't pose a threat to you? jbot has, in his usual eloquent self, covered all the other bases.

I'm calling shenanigans. No one can possibly be that completely stupid.

just saw this on reddit this morning. good stuff.

... or trying to keep a mean streak from running up my slow ass...

Oh, I can't resist... This is a logical response, Tyler, however it's pretty well assumed that the TSA budget under DHS is damn near unlimited seeing as they are completley reactionary, and as a result has to "react" to any "perceived" threat immediately which results in buying a bunch of shit it doesn't need as fast as it can. Here goes: The two most important and most effective security changes since 2001 are 1) securing and reinforcing the cockpit door (planes can't be co-opted or used as missiles to kill other innocents, the only at-risk people are the passengers) and 2) the passengers understanding that if they are in fact presented with a threat, that they are in mortal danger and need to defend themselves at all costs. Just look at the last few "foiled" plots, the underwear asshole, the shoe dickhead, the Middle Eastern guy who "took too long in the bathroom, he must be plotting". Everything that leads up to getting on the plane is just weeding out the big stuff, the guy with sticks of dynamite wired to a ticking clock, the guy trying to bring on .50AE hand cannon, stuff like that. So, now that the preamble is done... Magnetometers and x-ray machines are fine since they are non-invasive. Wanding is fine when it's necessary because it's non-invasive and treats people like humans instead of peanut butter jars that the TSA has to get their hands all up in. Fire the guy at the front that shines the light on your ID and provides a scrawl on your boarding pass that I'm sure is a closely guarded national security secret, and don't replace him. ID checks are done at the check-in already, and the 9/11 people had authentic ID's anyway, so this does absolutely fuck-all. Only prohibited items are things that go boom or anything that goes bzzzzz (tasers, stun guns, anything that puts out a high electric shock that could be used to screw up the plane's wiring) Blades are fine due to point 2 above, once the asshole(s) out themselves the passengers are going to take them down. You aren't talking about a group of highly trained ninja assassins here, you're talking about people with spurious "military" training in a tent somewhere in Pakistan. The people are going to take them down, and they will be armed with their own blades (and for those proponents of OC or CCW, this is just another extension of that) for that eventuality. Level playing field. Everyone from the baggage people to the guys on the tarmac gets background checked and goes through the same security protocol as passengers do. Pilots/flight attendants, same thing. Since we're lightening the standards a bit, this shouldn't be a big deal. No-fly lists are replaced by watch lists, and pruned regularly. Watch lists are only updated by intel agencies, this eliminates the problem of a well-connected screener getting your name on it just because they are having a bad day. If your name is on the watch list, you get the prize of having a air marshal on your flight. No air marshal available, then you don't fly. On the list in error? Plead your case to a impartial judge in closed session (since I'm assuming the evidence would be classified).

4/10. Needs to be a little more obscure. You can do better.

being a bit of a douche isn't against the law. Photography of a public area isn't against the law. Refusing an unlawful order isn't against the law either. Sure, you might get arrested (unlawfully, it could be argued) for it, but I suppose we should all just sit back and take it up the ass, eh?

Yep, I don't recall Giant Eagle selling TVP... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textured_vegetable_protein

Something this big doesn't go away on it's own, there needs to be little victories that establish precedent bit by bit until the entire thing is knocked down.

It really all depends on who's planning it. Length can vary depending on the route, some are short little putters and some are mini-marathons. Usually (generalization ahead) poker runs are planned with cruisers in mind, so they are used to going a little longer than the majority of sportbike riders. At least one stop is usually planned, at the ones I've been on there was a mid-ride regroup at a gas station. It's not a race, so if you have to stop and take care of something on your own it's not a big deal.

You drastically underestimate the oil companies and their vested interest in keeping the market share they have. When your profits are 7.5 billion per QUARTER, you have enough money to bury anything you want. One of the only entities as powerful as the oil comglomerate is Big Food, hence the massive corn subsidies and the wholesale burning of 30% of our corn supply. World starvation? Fuck that, I want to save .03 a gallon on gas.

I needed a good laugh.

Bingo. See also - Moller Skycar, algae fuel

Better hope the Komen Foundation doesn't find out about this...

i've got to agree with this. I can't eat it anymore.

I've had kangaroo, and that shit's not even close. Kangaroo kebobs are fucking awesome.

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Internet DNS's take about 24 hours to completely change. You should be good by tomorrow evening.