Global Affairs

Movie: Local Hero

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:50:38 +0000

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/

Does anyone here remember this 1983 movie about Scotland? I saw it back in 1983, and will watch it again for the first time tonight on PBS. It's a wonderful movie, and the beautiful beach scenes are from the little village of Morar on the west coast, where one line of my Scottish ancestors (mother's side) came from. The interiors of a couple of pubs or inns were filmed near Arisaig, the next village to Morar, and where my father's line came from. The village that's in the film was in Aberdeenshire, as would be expected for a movie involving North Sea oil.

Obama steps in it

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:28:22 +0000

And not a peep from the MSM. Of course not, they're complicit in the liberal's attempt to denounce religion.

On January 20th, the Obama Administration announced it's intention to force Catholic organizations and schools to pay for health insurance that covers sterilization, contraceptives and abortions.

Whatever was he thinking? I can think of few things that will galvanize the voting public, and that would be a government attempt to regulate how a religious organization conducts its own business.

Quote

Obama's decision also reflects a certain view of liberalism. Classical liberalism was concerned with the freedom to hold and practice beliefs at odds with a public consensus. Modern liberalism uses the power of the state to impose liberal values on institutions it regards as backward. It is the difference between pluralism and anti-clericalism.

The administration's ultimate motivation is uncertain. Has it adopted a radical secularism out of conviction, or is it cynically appealing to radical secularists? In either case, the war on religion is now formally declared.

If there's anything that will make him a one term blunder, he just did it.

Wonder Dog[s] (and people)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:56:49 +0000

Another awesome read, this time from NYT Magazine.

http://asheki.com/?p=22

One thing I want to mention is that it's not just dogs but special people that are true angels.

Cyber security now the number one domestic security issue

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:12:08 +0000

With the recent news regarding Symantec and today's news about VeriSign, it's high time that cyber security not only became a high security issue, it needs legislation that finally puts some teeth into tracking down and locking away anyone who perpetrates a cyber attack on any system located in the US. Person involved not a US citizen? Give some serious thought to other means of mitigating cyber attacks.

Quote

Today, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that he believes "the cyber threat will equal or surpass the threat from counter terrorism in the foreseeable future."

He elaborated on the breadth of the threat, saying "there is very little we do in this day and age that is not on or somehow associated with the internet. The theft of intellectual property, the theft of research and development, the theft of the plans and programs of a corporation for the future, of all which are vulnerable to being exploited by attackers."

Spot on. And Director Mueller is also calling for legislation that allows quick sharing and reporting of such attacks. It's no longer a case of "IF" you're attacked. It's now a case of "WHEN". There's an entire subset of individuals who feel the Internet is their playground and in their twisted logic, feel what they're doing is perfectly acceptable. It is NOT acceptable, and the sooner these individuals are hunted down and dealt with, the better.

Regardless of the security put into place, there will always be a way to get around it. And while most think that straight on, brute force hacking is the major concern, it isn't. Social engineering is the biggest weak link in any security program. All an attacker needs to do is shotgun an attachment to multiple recipients within a corporation. Someone will open it. Once the payload is installed on the user's machine, you're in.

It's time countries got tough on cyber security. No more "hire him because he's that good". No more slaps on the wrist. It's time to start locking these fucktards up with absolutely no hope of seeing the light of day for years. And if you can't put 'em in jail, perhaps the disappearance of a few will give the rest pause for thought.

The Internet isn't the same beast it was back in the 90s. It's evolved into something that even Tim Berners-Lee most likely didn't contemplate back in the day. Unfortunately, security didn't evolve with it and it's always been a game of catch up. This needs to change. Now.

Too Crazy to Execute

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:01:59 +0000

Not your usual boilerplate or stereotypical story on the subject.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/02/10302815-too-crazy-to-kill-lawyers-try-to-stop-execution-of-inmate-they-say-is-mentally-ill