Eventually he will injure or kill someone. I hope that when he does, the victims hire me to sue him into utter financial ruination so that I can buy myself a nice new electric not-Tesla vehicle.

That’s definitely the profile of someone who tells it like it is, and doesn’t exaggerate for effect. I’m sure he’s done 40,000 miles without driving...

Also, realize that IT security is not just about the IT department.

Careful.  The boot lickers will come for you.  

And the mining is there specifically to verify transactions, so they’re really inseparable.

Cryptocurrency is a scam.

So he didn’t think it through and is now backtracking his statements.

It’s almost as if billionaires don’t have our best interests in mind and only care about money...

It’s not “now”. This kind of extortion has been going on for decades. Sometimes the cheapest/best thing to do is to pay the ransom. That’s the business model. It’s new to you, apparently. The point is to pick your targets so they don’t really have a choice. If you’re sitting at home, it’s easy to say just don’t pay…

it’s estimated that there are 200,000 - 250,000 unfilled information security jobs in the US. If you’re into it I guarantee you’ll never want for work.

it’s not like they run the pipe dry and have to wait 2 weeks for it to fill up again... There was fuel in the pipe all along, just not being pumped.

Governments and companies have been paying these ransomers for years now.

I find that trying to open the door mid-flight works very well.

This, right here.  Be civil, polite, and invisible.  Your prize:  you helped somebody have a slightly better day.

Just being human goes along way. A few years ago I had a flight attendant stumble into me while seated during a bout of turbulence. I made a joking remark about how “this should probably wait until our second date” and she burst out laughing and said she needed that kind of humor (she appeared to have been old enough…

This is my strategy. Make eye contact, smile, and say hello while boarding. Then strive to be invisible. And don’t expect your good manners to get you free shit. They’re under no obligation and your being baseline decency doesn’t earn you free stuff. 

cliffs notes:

We need to stop telling folks to bribe the Flight Attendants, as many think that bag of M&Ms gives them a right to act like an ass. Remember that they do not make the rules, and throwing a tantrum is not going to sway them to break the law and jeopardize their jobs.

dont.be.an.asshole...