If he was just a scientist, it would be forgotten over time. His position, however, is essentially a politician. He makes budgets, and acts as the face of the team. When it is shown that mistakes happen under him, budgets may get trimmed. Bad for the team & the leader usually goes.

I'm not so sure it's naïveté on the part of the US. After having my son go thru high school, and in the 12th grade, completing a homework assignment with the following 2 questions: "What is an astronomer" & "What is a geologist", I start to wonder if America really wants an educated populous. I really think they do NOT want an educated, overseas nation in the midst of all that oil. Keep 'em simple, and oil corps will have an easier job. Give them a basic education, sure, but make it harder to get a higher education, and any country will become dependent on foreign help. I don't believe the commanders on the ground think that way, but from what I've seen, no one in the US chain of command would think to save a university. It doesn't serve their immediate interests and no one that would want to save them would/could speak up.

Since there is government backing to some point, this is no longer science-fiction, but something that will happen in the near future. I'm looking forward to it.

Soldier on the ground painting the target. Drone overhead shooting. Done all the time, but with larger weapons. This is a man-killer, not a building killer.

Everything the courts do is considered legal. The laws were written that way.

One of today's problems is that everything you do and think is illegal. Laws are written constantly that remove our rights. In my state 600 new laws were passed, and the only ones I know about were printed on the 3rd page of the newspaper on Jan 1. Even then, it wasn't the full text, just a summary. Many of the laws are not enforced until Justice wants to make sure you don't get away. Then everything gets thrown at you. Remember Al Capone, who, even though he did so many wrong things to society, was finally nailed for tax evasion.

Close, but for a few nit-picky points. In a typical, western-styled democracy, you elect a representative that mostly agrees with you and your opinions. He then crafts bills and votes based on his viewpoints, but does not typically ask for input from the populous. Those that do give him/her their opinions are usually on the fringe until the people are guided (like the 15 minutes SOPA had last week) by a larger force. You never really tell your rep what to do.

I used to live in Los Angeles, not known for it's seeing. I saw almost nothing with the naked eye. But with my 8 inch SCT I could see so MUCH more! There is so much more light you can capture when your eye is 8 inches (or more) in diameter.

Yes. Go thru airport security, then before going thru the machines, turn around and try to walk out.