Friday, March 25, 2005

Polls Show Drop for Bush's Job Approval (AP). AP - President Bush's job approval slipped into the mid 40s in national polls released this week as he lost some support among men and other groups of core supporters. [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] So high?  I would have thought low 30s at best. 2:21:16 PM    comment []

It's been years since most Americans could say they're paying more for a cup of coffee, a hotel room, or a pair of walking shoes. But now, the price of coffee is up as much as 10 cents a cup, the hotel room will cost an extra $6 a night, and a popular pair of walking shoes from France runs about $20 more than last year. [Yahoo News] OK, brace yourself - this is a solvable problem.  It is a very easy thing to fix.  Tell your representative to STOP SPENDING MONEY.  It might also be a good time to stop raiding social security, cut the deficit and raise taxes.  Since none of this is likely to happen, I suggest buying Euros. 12:37:37 PM    comment []

Bloggers narrowly dodge federal crackdown. Political bloggers and other online commentators narrowly avoid a sweeping set of Internet regulations. [CNET News.com] So does this mean picking on a political candidate would have been illegal?  Isn't that illegal? 7:26:35 AM    comment []

A CAPPS by Any Other Name. Much is riding on a report about the Secure Flight passenger-screening system that the Government Accountability Office is expected to release next week. Critics hope it will identify significant faults with the system. By Kim Zetter. [Wired News] I know it is not just me that does not understand how the government can justify this system.  After all, if a United States Senator can not only get blocked from travel by having a name on the list and then not be able to get off of it, what chance does a normal individual have? The system is not flawed.  It is broken to the point of redesign.  Unfortunately, the only organization that does not understand this is the government, where broken systems are routine. 7:23:12 AM    comment []

A cyber con game. A new report got sent to the president but no matter: Nothing serious ever gets done to fix the cyber-security mess, says CNET News.com's Charles Cooper. [CNET News.com] Cyber security.  As pointed out in the article, except for a few nerds, this stuff at best bores people silly and at worst is seen as an impediment to getting their job done.  Even as a security professional, I find it cumbersome at times and I not only see the need, I understand the need for it. Over the last four years or so, we have seen a serious tail off in IT spending at all levels.  Most people are content to let the systems continue as they are, functioning in a maintenance mode, ignoring any issues, holes, or other failings in their infrastructure.  Kind of like the electrical industry... 7:15:10 AM    comment []

Terrorism Ruled Out in Oil Refinery Blast (AP). AP - FBI agents have ruled out terrorism, but federal regulators estimate it will take them months to determine what caused an oil refinery explosion that killed 15 and injured more than 100. [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] Based on what I have read, this is no surprise.  This is a factory that produces a highly explosive product.  A bad spark at the right time and boom, no more factory.  What I find interesting is that there are not more explosions like this.  What I find frightening is that this factory was responsible for producing 3% of the US gasoline supply.  Can you say $3 a gallon? 7:07:32 AM    comment []

Terri Schiavo Shows Signs of Dehydration (AP). AP - As Terri Schiavo's health waned, her parents pushed on to restore the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube after the nation's highest court and judges in Florida defeated their latest legal appeals. [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] This is absolutely heart wrenching.  We are watching thousands, if not millions of tax dollars being wasted as the government (and I use the term loosely) attempt to circumvent the system yet again.  The United States Congress weighted in AND LOST.  The US Supreme Court refused to hear the case (again - that makes 6 for those who have lost count).  The judges in Florida are going to need a long vacation when this is over, not to mention the law enforcement officers that are standing around waiting for the one nut to get through the perimeter.  For all intents, Terri Schiavo died ten years ago, except her brain forgot to tell her body. One thing that this does thrust forward.  What have we learned?   We have more technology in the world today than we did even ten years ago.  We can keep the human body functioning (you will not I do not say alive) for almost eternity.  At what point do you say enough is enough.  Where are the religious on this?  This is not life - this is an artifice.  If the human body cannot function with out mechanics, it is truly alive?  We have proven we can replace almost every organ and continue functioning, but without the brain, are we alive? For all the benefits of science, is this one we truly want to continue? 7:04:50 AM    comment []

Feds tells companies: Report those intrusions. Law enforcement officials are encouraging corporate officers to report network intrusions, since they could help solve a series of cyberattacks, according to FBI and Secret Service agents who spoke this week at an information security conference. [Computerworld News] This is one of those Catch-22 issues.  Companies do not report because of fear of hits to the stock and consumer confidence, because it might open the door to yet more attacks and because it makes them generally look bad.  On the other side, law enforcement needs to put some of these script kiddies in prison for a few years and maybe the systems will get back to being used as they were meant to be used.  I certainly do not expect reporting to increase. 6:54:26 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 David Lane.