And why should it be? What business does the FBI have asking law abiding citizens what they do with their money?

What law abiding citizens? We're talking about a child molester here. And one who's trying to silence his victim with money. That sounds very much like the FBI's business.

More generally, money is a form of power. Using money is wielding power. Wielding large amounts of power requires checks and balances to avoid degenerating into a tyranny. If anything, those balances are currently far too weak to prevent plutocracy.

I've already told you that the NAS calls it a "settled fact"

So? They also claimed in the 70's that global cooling was an established fact. If you want to try to refute that, fine, I'll take up the time to dig up my copy of their statement. [Jane Q. Public, 2015-06-03]

Go ahead.

The shooting-range hallway is a special, underground hallway that's only used as an emergency escape.

I have to disagree with some of your advice.

If your municipality lets you, install a septic instead of connecting to city sewer. No sewer fee. (Just get it pumped every few years).

You first tell him to minimize maintenance, and then you tell him to opt for something which requires more maintenance and is problem-prone. This makes no sense at all. Of course, some of this depends on location, but in most places I've seen, there's no sewer fee, there's only a water fee. The sewer cost is built in, and handled by the same entity, so there's no advantage in not having sewer service. Sewer service is simple and reliable; most people never have any problems (except maybe clogs, but you'd have those with septic too). Getting a septic tank cleaned is a pain, and worst of all, having a septic system means having a septic field, which can have problems, especially if there's any flooding. Finally, most places probably don't want you to have septic because they want the water back, so it can be processed and put back into the system.

Pick some trees and maybe bushes you like and put them in. Trimming every 1-10 years is easier than cutting the lawn every 3 weeks.

Bushes usually require trimming far more often than that. But avoiding lawns is a good idea if you can do it. Look up "xeriscaping". If you're going to have any lawn, try to keep the grassy area small, and use a manual reel mower to cut it; you'll get better exercise that way and generate no pollution. Use a battery-powered or corded electric weedwacker for edging/trimming. Have more wooded area, and a compost pile for kitchen waste, if you have the acreage.

Include low-voltage wiring for speakers as well as the alarm system.

This isn't 1995; why would you need wiring for speakers? That's what Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth are for. Direct wiring to speakers is mostly obsolete now (it still probably makes sense for a good stereo system, but I'm talking about situations where the speakers are remote, and not really meant for premium sound quality).

That's actually about what it costs to add HBO or Showtime to a cable subscription if you add a "premium channel package" rather than upgrading to X number of channels. That's probably the market they want right now. Why get two or three Showtime channels at $10 a month on top of a cable bill when you can get Showtime on demand without the cable bill?

It should be noted that some cable companies have on-demand options for the channels to which you subscribe.

Also, streaming apps allow you to use your cable subscription information to stream. I've got an HBO Go account at no charge because I'm a Comcast subscriber. So I use that app and cast to my Chromecast rather than actually paying Comcast for HBO because I only care about a couple of their shows.

Judging by all the teenagers I've seen with their middle-aged parents at classic rock concerts in recent years, I think your supposition is probably incorrect.

Sure, it's very difficult to find side effect rates. In fact, nobody even keeps track of them! Oh, wait, no it's not:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/va...

The risk from vaccine side effects is very carefully measured against the risk of not being vaccinated and the vaccines are approved only if the benefit very much outweighs the risk.

http://www.newscientist.com/ar...

Smallpox virus is reasonably stable when dried. There probably are graves where it still exists. We're pretty careful when opening graves, particularly old ones, though.

LOL ... I'm pretty sure audiophiles aren't running speakers PC Mag lauded for "thumping, powerful Bluetooth audio" and portable design and which were available in pink.

Not even a little.

Thankfully knowing isn't the legal standard. For criminal proceedings it's beyond reasonable doubt.

I was replying to this: There is nothing illegal about paying blackmailers

And yet, there it is ... that big, gleaming red button ... press it ...go ahead ... you know you wanna

Then he should have told the FBI the truth when they asked what the money was for. Or simply said, "I choose not to give a statement." Lying to the Feds is beyond fucking stupid. That's their "gotcha" card and it baffles me that so many seemingly intelligent people fall into such an easily avoidable trap.

There's a right to remain silent. I suggest using it....

Oh, and one really handy one:

Wherever you plan on having major collections of electronics, put at least one outlet on a dedicated circuit so everything is isolated.

My computers and my stereo each have one, and it prevents those annoying things like having your UPS come on when your laser printer starts up. They're also each next to a non-dedicated circuit for overflow for less sensitive things.

Enough plugs, and some dedicated circuits make like a LOT easier. When I did my basement we have a plug every 6 feet on the wall.

Cat6 network cables everywhere, running to your central cabling hub, possibly 2 per room.
Cable TV outlets liberally sprinkled around.
Speaker wires to multiple locations for your stereo with wall plugs for speakers.
They make in-wall HDMI plates to keep your wires tidy.
A couple of them newfangled wall plugs with built in USB charging ports.
A heat pump which does both heating and cooling.
Sound proofing for wherever your TV will go.
More plugs than you think you need, and a larger electrical panel than suggested to expand if you need to.
LED pot lights and lots of dimmers.
Under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen.

Basically anything which is hard to put in later. Infrastructure which is there is much more flexible down the road.

And, depending on your climate .. if you have duct work, make sure your damned seams are taped/seals so you're not losing all that heat/AC out gaps. There's nothing worse than realizing the air isn't getting where it needs to.