Plea accepted.
I thought I had gone far enough beyond believability on that one.
It says a lot about the state we're in, when even at that level it can be taken seriously.

It's similar to saying nukes are a proof that you can make nuclear reactors.
It's kinda wrong, but it points out that once you know a way to release a massive amount of energy, the next step is to find a confinement to release it in a controlled and safe manner.

We know, at the fundamental level, that we have the math, techniques and materials to initiate the release of energy. There is no indication that we can't contain and channel it with current or future techniques.

Whoosh!

At last check, the sun was still working.
Did you systematically disprove the theories used to underpin the construction of ITER, before you so vehemently claim that it won't pay off?

That's a dumb comment for the 2014 US, because it's like money equaling free speech.
You are free to spend up to $10k to be above the law, in the same way that you are free to spend millions to get your favorite congressman elected.

Don't blame the rich for doing something advantageous, blame the idiotic "little people" for not participating too.
Thanks to living in the Land Of The Free, they are allowed to!

National Spying agency...

They do provide the right companies with expertise on security for securing important technology, and justifying compliance to said recommendation for sale of sensitive products. I don't know how many of the 40000 employees do that, but that's one "Security" feature that they _do_ offer.

I'm so glad you're smarter than all the scientists working on it.

On the other hand, how does $3.9B over 6 years compare to the annual cost of securing US fossil energy sources?

Jest if you want, but the "One $company" slogan has been used by my last two employers and at least 4 companies I worked with.
While it somewhat makes sense in the case of recent mergers, it's mainly just one of the recent CEO buzzwords.
We know that most CEOs are sheep who just follow groupthink to be safe ("everybody else agrees it's the right thing now")
Wouldn't you, if you had that much at stake?

but I can't find how to mod TFS as troll.
Glad the comments are unanimous so far...

Actually, the people with enough disposable cash to use in-flight internet are the most likely to have an impact if they protest being spied on.

At least one was eager to find out "how to light my wet shoe/underwear bomb"
The problem is that he first needed the answer to "how do I fend off a hundred angry passengers?", which is harder to type than he expected.

Let me elevate the question: why do we need yet another programming language? (insert oblig XKCD here)

Outside of not being on anyone's resume but necessary for that next job (with 10 years experience, of course), what is the benefit of F# ?

Stats are formal that the average person with a degree makes a lot more than the average without. It's still true, even if the numbers have been changing.

And when HR is sorting through 20+ (or 2000) resumes for a position, failing the "BS required, MS preferred" is the easiest and most lawyer-free way to send yours to the recycle bin.

How did you finance your startup? Can you still afford to finish college? The bankers prefer to lend money to people with a real degree...

YMMV, but the odds are against you. It's just gambling the rest of your life.

Fine, I'll just go buy N wrenches.

I'm not convinced the weapons manufacturers agree with your simplistic view of their design and qual processes.