I have watched with interest David's contribution to this and other forums over the last 2/3 years or so.
David - I think your first mistake was the title - bit of a red rag to a bull!!!
However I read the thread as pertaining to careers that could be undertaken by wannabees whilst they awaited either sponsorship or saved up enough money to go the self sponsored route.
Given the situation post the 11th Sept I think that there will be a dearth of jobs and definitely of sponsorships.
The topic is more relevant than ever and warrants a decent reply rather than the knee jerk response from those who should know better.
Reminds me of posts, a long time ago now by David, in respect of doing A levels, a degree or not, and also what type of degree was appropriate. People said " do anything - it doesnt matter etc" " if you must do a degree needlework was as valid as Engineering etc"
I propose that the people who said that should eat some humble pie now the world situation has changed - dont you