Indeed. Space is no longer about how much money contractors can bilk out of the US government. It's about vast wealth being created in orbit. For SpaceX, those huge Starlink v3s are as important as the rocket: 10 years from now, using wires for client internet connectivity will be a quaint thing geeks go on about, but no one else actually uses. Musk is going to ruin the market for telecoms and cable operations, globally.

"protect public safety" from what? Low voltage coax or fiber? WTF are these people on about?

If that's their argument, you know it's bullshit.

Oh kay. Found yer problem!

Trump's FCC is likely right on this one. That is, if you actually want anything built-out. Whatever the sclerotic hippy boomers in MN don't want is almost certainly the best policy.

I'm in a similar situation. A-10s ripping around a low level. Soon there will be F-15EXs

War planes crash. They aren't intended to have stellar safety records.

The only thing the gulf is aligned against is low oil prices, and the US squabbling with Iran is better than anything they might have hoped for. All the Gulf states are perfectly happy to continue being spectators and losing the occasional airport hanger or pipeline to a flying pipe bomb from Iran/Yemen, as long as that means $100+/bbl oil.

Trump sought out the biggest, wettest pile of shit on this entire planet and jumped into it with both feet.

It's possible this might change some minds about government data collection of financial activity.

It would be great if we all someday learned that PITT data analysis was actually based on de-anonymized CFPB data, which constitutes the singular largest and most granular financial surveillance program the US government operates, and perhaps put a large moral panic sized dent in the "consumer protection" narrative.

Sure. Why not? The grifters bumming around the UN live in paradise; all the soluble problems they might otherwise suffer in life have been solved. So they pick at these scabs, having little or nothing better to do: once you've finished doling out the annual climate bucks budget to the official climate narrative writers, what relevance does the UN have on this Earth, aside from the periodic condemnations of Israel?

10/10
Well trained. Carry on!

So Trigger
much words
Wow

Clinical TDS. Living in your head, rent free.

A few too many bong hits? Bet it took ten minutes to write that.

FirstEnergy stole >$500 million by applying a surcharge to rate payers for smart meters, dumped the money into a general fund and spent it on other stuff, including some bribes of Ohio politicians, and colluded with the PUC to alter audit records to cover it all up. The former Ohio house speaker is in prison over it right now. Another politician died before trial; supposedly a suicide...

And no, we're not talking about different hardware. The same rampant corruption is endemic throughout the entire industry for all such procurement. The contractors, utilities, PUCs and politicians are all feeding at this trough.

You can provide an anecdote of your personal experience in one case. I, however, can tell you about the half billion dollar scam of FirstEnergy (Ohio), or what's gone on in Oregon, California, Michigan and others. The cases PUC scams around "smart grid" equipment are legion. Some of them are exposed. Many are entirely suppressed when the more competent criminals ensure the auditors are (willingly) prevented from noticing.

You are exhibiting insufficient cynicism. The people responsible are highly competent.

Their competence is discreetly handling the acquisition of COTS hardware at DOD prices from politically connected contractors. The contractors pocket the massive margins and fund the designated campaigns. These are the real priorities. Not whatever silly security concerns plebs like you have.

Any given tech nerd could do better at a fraction of the cost. But that wouldn't fund the mcmansions and range rovers and boats.

Don't forget the Terafab in Grimes TX.

Looking at the decision, it really makes a lot of sense. The coast of Louisiana has been a nexus of transport in the US since before it became the US. Obviously, there is the Gulf of America (hehe) plus the Mississippi river. That led to a convergence of several interstate roads. Plus, there is ample barely drained low value land with sparse population, and no risk that it will see a bunch of sub/exburbs sprout up in the foreseeable future. The state government, similar to the other gulf states, isn't bat-shit crazy commie adjacent, so that's another plus.

If they can get it built before POTUS is (D) again, they can pencil whip all the federal endangered species pressure group bullshit.

Hurricanes are a thing though. Obviously that will interfere with operations from time to time.

Angry inch Californian watching the cool shit not happen in California anymore.