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Cute chemistry-derived terms are cute! Cis-trans isomerism I don't see why we can't have new terms that reflect more modern views and understanding of gender. You can just call boys and girls boys and girls when you aren't trying to distinguish between cis- and trans- (which should be most of the time). If you are trying to distinguish, it helps to be specific.

Your community potentially lost many good people today due to the hate and venom of tris's post. 1. 2. 3. Hateful language like this is toxic to your community, and needs to be remedied lest everything is lost. I think the hate displayed in #1 alone should result in banning. If nothing is done your community will continue to hemorrage good people until there is nothing left.

diaperliz, I have to ask, how are Google Buzz and Street View examples of Google ignoring the public's best interest? I fail to see how Google acted intentionally against everyone's best interests with either product, rather than accidentally and apologetically in the case of any offenses.

From a networking standpoint, the issue is this: 1. The cable companies have promised you a certain speed of download / upload on the fundamental assumption that 98% of the time you won't be using all of that capacity (bandwidth). You share your bandwidth with your neighbors. Historically this hasn't been a problem. If someone is just looking at internet pages or sending email, 1-2% of the time they are using their bandwidth, 98-99% of the time they are idle - reading the page, writing a message, etc. A pretty low capacity / bandwidth cable can support a fair amount of people if you go on the assumption of 98-99% idle time. 2. This assumption is increasingly proving to be incorrect with the rise of streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and to a lesser extent peer-to-peer applications like Bittorrent. To watch a streaming video, or use Bittorrent, there is an almost constant downloading / uploading occurring for a given stretch of time. This becomes a problem if multiple users are using such services at the same time. As a result, service quality suffers, contractual download / upload rate obligations are not met. Cable companies cannot support this new usage without significant infrastructure investment, and they are balking at having to pay for the improvements from traditional revenue streams. "Why don't we charge these streaming services for their usage, and use the extra income to pay for improvements?", some of the cable companies respond. FCC wants to get involved in a business they have traditionally not been involved in, but perhaps have jurisdiction over. Other non-networking issues: Cable companies run traditional services that compete with streaming video services. Does streaming video service throttling or toll-charging involve a possible conflict of interest? Cable companies operate as virtual monopolies on high-speed internet in certain markets. How are customers ensured that they are paying a fair price for the provided infrastructure in such cases?

My objection to the enhanced security measures is that they are invasive and undignified. I think it's ridiculous that we can't get on a plane now in the US without someone taking a naked picture of us, our wives, and our children, and / or touching our genitals. We're already herded up like cattle to go through the security lines and then made to remove jackets and shoes (because some random guy put a bomb in a shoe once, and wasn't even successful in his plot). I think a line has to be drawn somewhere. The underwear bomber incident from which these security measures followed, boarded on a plane outside the US, so they wouldn't of even been caught. Even if they had boarded a US local flight, someone correct me I'm wrong, but backscatter machines actually have a low probability of detecting thin layers of explosives close to the body of the type that that person was wearing ( at least I think I read that, but I can't find the source right now ). Do you feel it's the governments place to be our parents or our prison wardens, to treat us like suspects so that we have the illusion that we are safe from dying in a 1 in a million terrorist attack? If only the government was so concerned with some of the actual leading causes of premature death in this country, like heart disease and motor vehicle accidents. Your personal chances of dying in a terrorist attack are historically very low, and this is before the TSA enacted their new invasive security measures. It's also important to be mindful of any slow changes in the way the government treats us as citizens. Police states can be born slowly as well as quickly, and even though our Constitution and three branches of government are great, they provide us no magical protection from the forces and dangers that have affected other countries throughout history. Governments can grow out of control, and we are not especially immune from this. I'm not saying there should be no security, but lets first determine what measures actually make us significantly safer vs. what measures make us 0.1% safer but degrade our quality of life in this country. I don't think the TSA should be in the position to just enact whatever new security measures it wants behind closed doors without public discussion and comment first. And please, even if you are comfortable giving up your own privacy because you've got nothing to hide and you actually don't mind the government touching your body, please respect and actually support that there are other people here that are embarrassed and even degraded and humiliated by it. Maybe its no big deal for you to filmed naked or touched, but what about someone that's been sexually abused, or someone who has anatomical features they are embarrassed about, or people with colostomy bags or other medical appliances, artificial limbs, etc. If the government were to enact a policy that made you uncomfortable and embarrassed, even if others don't feel the same way, you would want others to be supportive and listen and respect your concerns too. Personally I think flying boycotts are the only way we can get a change to policy now. I feel that the TSA doesn't care and isn't listening to the public's concerns about the new measures; but if the airlines were to speak up, if their business had been badly affected, they would force someone in the government to listen.

You are a great hero Faerie. I am so thankful that there are brave and generous people like you in the community. You uplift us all and inspire us to greater things!

I was wondering if anyone here had any advice on which is the best city to live in if you are ab/dl/little? Where have those of you who are in the community decided to settle? I am living in central florida temporarily, but I haven't been able to meet anyone here and would really like to go somewhere where there are a lot more people like me. Thanks!