Are the questions about what "practical" value the LHC and
other particle accelerators have.

Clearly everything has to be of immediate, direct benefit to
people or why do it at all, right? Hey, public, you got the
World Wide Web thanks to CERN, so shaddap!

How about the search for a better understanding of what is
going on in the Cosmos - you know, just pure knowing.

People say they don't want to be treated like idiots. Well,
then stop acting like one and stop freaking out about something
you clearly do not understand (I am yelling at the general
populace, please note). The energies of the LHC are impressive,
but they still pale in comparison to what the Universe has done
to create black holes, etc.

Do you really think that scientists want to build something that
will wipe them out? They want that Nobel Prize on their resume
too much for that to happen.

Here's hoping to the LHC - and don't read about how big the
Super Conducting Supercollider (SSC) would have been and
what it might have been able to find by now.