The point, as I understand it, is that even if these specific vehicles cannot be scaled up to have orbital capabilities (and I think they may well be), they WILL serve as stepping stones to vehicles that WILL have full orbital capabilities. With their suborbital "toys," these firms are building up the knowledge, skills, and technical infrastructure necessary for a real spacegoing capability.

Having multiple private space ventures is the best way for the US to stay in the space game. Why stay in the space game? Because the winners will be the dominant players in the planet's future. The more space-capable players we have, the better off we'll be.

"It also renews the expiring parts of the Patriot Act through 2019."

No. let that fucking thing die. The PATRIOT ACT and those that support it are enemies of the american people.

If that 10 years is maintenance free as in I don't have to do anything to it He will win big.
The biggest problem with off grid solar+wind installs is that caring for the battery bank is outside of the abilities of 80% of the population. If musk can make an off grid solar/wind install a zero effort/ zero care system where the drooling masses don't have to do anything.....

That will get the adoption rates way up, if the payback is within 5 years.

Right there. Psychology is as much a science as Astrology and Tarot cards. It's all based on what the observer thinks is normal.

The CEO deserves all the cookies! He is being generous in giving the Tea Party guy a chance to look at the cookie.

All hail the holy CEO's .... for they are our salvation!

"Corporations don't hold guns to their customer's heads."

AS in a physical gun? no not yet. But they hold financial guns to peoples' heads all the time. and many times try to do financial assassinations.

Why kill a person when you can make them suffer for the rest of their lives financially.

Yep, and Carnegie was a horrific evil man.

the things he did to people makes the worlds most notorious criminals seem like saints.

All it takes is time for a honest person to turn into a bought and paid for Politician.

And that is the solution. TAX Intellectual Property.

Sony bitches about $200 million lost in piracy? Let the IRS tax them on their new made up bullshit number. Suddenly IP "losses" go to sane levels.

I want IP taxed at 15% of the value claimed, and any claim in court asking for more due to piracy, is charged RETROACTIVELY by the IRS.

Certain items are classified as "dual use" for US export control laws because they have 2 major use classifications - military and non-military. The only way to ensure that goods sold for non-military purposes are not later used for military purposes is by monitoring and controlling.

We all know how effective the US's monitor and control systems worked in Iran.

The Surface to Air missiles are programmed via a web interface using Active X controls written in Visual Basic 6.

Companies like Dematic have been doing that for decades. Welcome to the 1990's FETCH!

Not freak weather, that is tropospheric ducting. It actually happens a lot more often than you think.

Check target. my local one has them $80 on the clearance table in the electronics section.

They started to backpedal on promises before the end of the crowdfunding, it is overpriced for what it was, and they had severe quality issues. 4 controllers with very little use in 1 year... Xbox controllers abused to hell work fine 4 years later. Yeah, it's dead, nobody cares, they cant even sell them in the clearance bin at Target.