Ban e-cigarettes in public everywhere! NYC has the right idea. And business owners should also ban their use in offices! More research is needed before permitting their general use. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/19/...

So Target disclosed that criminals somehow accessed credit/debit card information for as many as 40 million of its Black Friday retail customers. Alright, it's settled. We gotta go back to a cash-only society. But seriously, if you shopped in a brick-and-mortar Target store in between November 27 and December 1, double-check your transaction history. This is the the kind of thing that justifies having a positive brand image. The press coverage of it has been relatively light, but we wonder how such a breach would be reported if it were to happen to more divisive brands like Walmart.

Wind Energy Vs Eagle Kills We need a balanced approach between development of wind farms and protection of eagles. And by balanced we mean the number of “acceptable” kills must be independently monitored. Federal officials announced on Dec 6, 2013 that some wind power companies will be allowed to kill and injure bald and golden eagles for up to 30 years without penalty. The regulations include restrictions where the permits will be reevaluated every five years and could be suspended if companies are not meeting requirements. However the government is relying almost exclusively on self-reporting by for-profit companies. Are they serious? If this is the best Obama can do what can we expect when a conservative is in office?

I think it may be time to surf the internet in privacy mode. "Today, an FBI agent can open an intrusive investigation with no reason to suspect criminal activity, and any resulting information can be kept for 20-30 years, even if it has no relationship to the investigation. Similarly, the FBI keeps so-called "suspicious activity reports" that are determined to have no relevance to terrorism – but may reflect Americans' constitutionally protected speech or other activities – for 30 years in a widely-accessible database."

We believe >iranians want to peacefully coexist with us, despite the rhetoric and actions of their government in recent history. We only want the same, so we are cautiously optimistic about the recent developments. However, until we understand what has brought about this change, we will remain guarded and skeptical.

We cannot wait for the return of Homeland and are curious to see if the show will touch upon privacy issues that have recently come to light in America.

New or a rehash of the same old ? I'm hoping for something fresh and it just launched today. I will give it a week of steady watching, but some suspect it to be a more polished version of CNN... Al Jazeera English had an bias - but it's always nice to see an outside America or more critical perspective. This show will be funded by money from outside the US, but made by those who reside in the US. I hope a beneficial combination for those who are able to subscribe to this channel. They started off on a bad foot though, banning content basically from the other Al Jazeera networks around the world... america.aljazeera.com

There is no question that child abductions are tragic, and that Amber Alert phone notifications (part of the national Emergency Alerts System) are a great idea. But the implementation of this notification program is terrible! iPhone users were jolted awake several times last night by their phone's "Alarm" ringtone, which is designed to sound like a 1950s military base under threat of imminent attack. On iPhones, the Amber Alert system uses this specific ringtone at full volume, even when in Silent Mode or Do Not Disturb is activated. Unless a tsunami is about to wash Los Angeles into the ocean, common sense tells us that particular sound is not necessary or appropriate, especially since it can be triggered in the middle of the night while people are sleeping. It's an all-or-nothing design, where the only option one has is to opt-out entirely. Given the ringtone choice, it wouldn't be surprising if many people did opt out. The poor decision to use this particular ringtone is a lesson in the importance of getting the details right.

Apparently local law enforcement agencies use privileged data to trigger investigations. They then conspire to cover this up by fabricating a fake basis for the investigation. It's frustrating to think that the people that actually carry out these procedures daily believe they are doing it for the greater good. Their conception of liberty is so misguided and far from historical perspective, they don't realize they're destroying exactly what makes this country great. But capitalism has made convenience the dominant pillar of our culture. Corporations take care of our dreams, religions take care of our fears, and politicians take care of the dissent.

We the >americans-for-liberty believe that the NSA wiretapping program should be much more limited in scope, and that Snowden should not be prosecuted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfUi5C7WdrA

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