If the NSA does not want the hassle of whistleblowers, then it should simply follow the law.

If we are going to seed other planets with DNA (for reasons of ego or whatever), we should do so relatively quickly before we ruin our own planet.

I'm "retired" now, but I used perl for many years to implement projects, some of which were complex. It never ceased to amaze me how bug-free perl was (compared to VB, for sure!) in spite of its complexity and power. How did you do it?

Hey, if it is considered reasonable to believe in a grey-bearded guy in the sky who controls everything, why can't Elon believe we are living in a video game?

You hit the nail on the head, sorry to say. As you implied, the masses are lazy. Less lazy folks might consider transitioning to encrypted mail, such as Hushmail (hushmail.com). That would keep the NSA busy.

That should teach a geek to not to stray from covering up government wrongs. Well, maybe at least, he will win the Nobel Prize.

I have lived mostly in the country in the western states. In my experience, while T-Mobile can be cost-effective, T-Mobile sometimes has connectivity problems (especially with data) in the sparsely populated areas; but T-Mobile has a good reputation in cities. Also, take care with T-Mobile because it uses less-standard data frequencies. Therefore, I prefer the pay-as-you-go carriers like StraightTalk, Tracphone, or Net10 (which are all part of the same corporation). These use the AT&T GMS system (and also CDMA is available), providing reliable voice, SMS, and data, but generally do not allow roaming. On my Galaxy Note, I ended up with the StraightTalk $50/month plan (unlimited voice and SMS, and actually 2GB data), which has been reliable, if an overkill for me.

Sometimes it is best to eliminate the cause of a problem. Quit emitting excessive CO2 into the air.

Judges are usually [amoral] elite attorneys whose decisions get worse with time. In general, justice has a better chance of being served by voting against incumbants.