The crash was near Grawn, well away from the areas that are nice to live in. Last time I was there Grawn had more trailers than stick-built homes. Migrating waterfowl love the corn fields and small lakes in that area.

The point is why do we "need" so many pilots when the only countries we reasonably need to protect against are Mexico and Canada?

Not in the US, we're at least a decade behind the curve and our sclerotic military procurement system looks to keep us there.

Iran is a major user of drones, which is why they control the Straight of Hormuz and have destroyed most of the US bases in the region. They took out a billion dollar radar installation with a drone that costs the price of a used BMW to build.

Except there's no reason for them to go into combat, unless you actually think Mexico or Canada are going to invade.

Waterfowl are beginning migration there this time of year, cornfields and small lakes near Grawn draw clouds of them. (Grew up near there.) There are no safe altitudes around there this time of year. Of course Texas Guardsmen wouldn't know that.

Do keep in mind that the "70%" number includes people who are living together as a couple but not bothering to get married, many of whom stay together for a lifetime.

It would be good if it could locate lava tubes as well. Unlike lava tubes on Earth those on the Moon and Mars are sometimes kilometers wide and can run for hundreds of kilometers. if the interior of a section could be sealed it would create a huge habitat for minimal investment.

It's rather rapidly becoming "worth the pain" since 2022. In 2021 over 95% of international trade was conducted using the USD, in 2025 it was just over 70% and this year will be lower. Just the CIPS and mBridge are replacing SWIFT, and after only two years A7 is already handling tens of billions of dollars in exchanges every month. Combine that with Bessant's panic at failure of recent Treasury sales and the upcoming sell-offs of Treasury bonds as the Gulf States try to stay financially afloat and we're looking at a whole new financial paradigm coming up.

Just tell the US to look in a mirror...

I had to show it to Fatherland Security at SeaTac Airport before an international flight. That was it, one time. I did see restaurants with signs that said a vax card was required, but I never saw anyone checking.

You should have seen SlashDot around the turn of the century. People could actually have a decent debate (but, oh the flame wars! They outshone the sun!) Folks from NASA, CERN, the FSF, and GrokLaw were regular posters, Stallman and occasionally Torvalds would stop by.

Now if a post is longer than a sound bite people will just skip it.

Or you're disagreeing with with any of the candidates who could possibly win. The presidential candidates of both major parties not only approved of a genocide, but both were committed to use our tax dollars to fund and arm it. I couldn't vote for either one.

Worked there for nine years, sometimes with people who had two- or three-digit employee IDs. In all their time at the company it had never sold customer data. YMMV

Ship From Vendor - they'll give the vendor your delivery name and address, kind of necessary
Payment Processing - they'll give the payment processor your name and credit card number, again kind of necessary
Alexa and Ring Emergency Response - They'll give the police your name, address and emergency type, rather necessary as well
Etc.

They don't sell your data. Ever.