Hail HYDRA.

It's all the documentation on the system. Because it's not just enough to say "yes, we've secured it", we have to write it down.

It's all paper trails, man.

There are days that I can rarely work up empathy for real people.

Coincidentally, those are the days that I have to drive on the 405. I wonder if there is a connection?

My degree is in Computer Engineering, with some Master's work in Comp Sci...

And these days I mostly work system accreditation. That is, certifying that a given system is secure. I do relatively little of the tech work, but push a lot of paper.

Er, not really. I mean, economical fusion power would be nice, but considering that in 2013, the U.S. used 368 million gallons of gasoline a day.... well, unless we're converting all cars over to Mr. Fusion units....

Is there some reason that you cannot spell liberal correctly?

Is it completely a coincidence that Wikipedia is doing another fundraising drive right now?

From THHGTTG:

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Early 70s through early 2000s. And I said family of six. Four kids, two adults.

Okay, the whole "would finally pay some taxes" is bullshit.

Taxes are taken out of paychecks, regardless of how much or how little you make. You might get a hefty chunk of it back when you file your taxes, but you didn't get that money when you got handed your paycheck.

Also, sales tax, car tax, various municipal taxes... again, the whole "the poor don't pay taxes" argument is bullshit. (No, I'm not saying they should pay more.)

$75/hour? Really?

I mean, I wouldn't turn it down, but that's $150,000 a year. (before taxes, and assuming a 40-hour work week, 50 weeks a year)

I don't think my parents made that between them, and they had a family of six. It's not exactly reasonable to call that a 'living wage'. (For the record, the 2014 poverty line for a family of four is $23,850.)

Also, does anyone else have a problem with Jenny McCarthy telling mothers not to get their kids vaccinated, and then turning around and hawking e-cigarettes in commercials?

It would be an invasion of privacy, sure. I mean, if this were any other sort of medical records, we probably wouldn't care at all. I mean, if anyone proposed a national registry of "broke their leg skiing" or "genetically predisposed to be an alcoholic", we wouldn't be having this conversation.

On the other hand, there are so many idiots (compared to, say, 15 years ago) out there refusing to vaccinate their kids because they are listening to idiot celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, that something should be done to protect people who cannot get vaccinated (like very young children).

I don't know. It's one of those things where I don't think there is a simple answer that would work.

The accord which removed all of the nukes from Ukraine was a brokered deal. In return, Russia agreed not to mess with the territorial integrity of Ukraine. (We can see how well that worked.) But considering that leaving the nukes in Ukraine would have only made it a major problem for Ukraine, Russia, NATO, etc., it was a good call to make at the time.

All you had to do was trust that Russia would abide by the terms of the accord, which, to be honest, they did, for 18 years.

Have you tried Googling for that information? :)