Obama's Nobel. Is anyone really surprised?

Neal sums it up nicely:

PEACE PRIZE?

So ... you want to know what is going on here? I mean, come on! Barack Obama, president for what, nine months now? And he gets the Nobel Peace Prize?

Hopefully you weren't all that surprised.

Let's work through this thing. First - you have to come up with a definition of "peace." There's a Nobel Prize for physics; one for medicine too. In virtually every culture and every country in the world you define "physics" and "medicine" pretty much the same way. Not so for "peace." During the post World-War II the Soviet Union defined "peace' as "an absence of opposition to world Communism." As long as nobody was challenging their communist expansionism they felt we were all at peace. Let some country; The United States for instance, challenge their plans for world domination and ... no more peace.

For me any definition of "peace" must have a component dedicated to freedom. You can, after all, live a life of peace in a jail cell, so long as there isn't someone there to stir things up. You're not free, but peace reigns.

Now ... to Obama and the Peace Prize. I take you back again to that Pew Research poll conducted in Europe last year. Almost 60% of Europeans who responded to the poll wanted America to be less powerful in world affairs. That's not an uncommon sentiment - right up until the time some other country is threatening to kick some international tail.

So ... along comes the Nobel committee. Can we reasonably assume that this committee reflects much of the European attitude? I mean, they're not exactly headquartered in Boise. They look at the nominations before them, and there's PrezBO! Now what has Obama done in the past nine or so months? Why, he's given the Euro-weenies just exactly what they wanted! Now we have a United States with a weaker presence in world affairs! Russia and China are striving for military domination. Obama backs off the American promise of a shield against Iran's missiles for Eastern Europe. Then we have the Arab states reportedly working to replace the dollar as the petroleum trading currency. Today there are suggestions that Obama is just going to declare that the Taliban are too entrenched in Afghanistan for us to possibly prevail there - a prelude to a cut and run. Does any of this sound like a projection of strength? Of course not. America is projecting feel-good, hopey-changey weakness at every turn.

This was a message to Obama. Europe likes your style. You're giving us exactly what we wanted --- what we asked for. You're weakening the United States; for us, the key to peace.

Oh ... and don't forget the slap in the face for George Bush. Bush is in office for eight years. He responds strongly to the attacks from terrorist Muslims. He frees iraq from a ruthless dictator and his rapist sons. He projects American strength .. and Europe hates him for it. So ... the Nobel committee comes along and delivers a slapdown.

For those who define peace as an living free of threats to your natural right to be free ... this just isn't your day, is it?

Well ... at least this will give Newsweek a reason to put Obama on the cover again.

The Peace Prize is funded by European arms manufacturers. Mabye they figure a weak America will be good for their business. No American "peace through strength" to get in their way.


Also see:

"Nobel observers shocked by unexpected choice"
     

An ... "interactive" Mural. Is it Art? Is it politics?

Is it somewhat educational? Is it kinda creepy? You decide:

One Nation Under God

My vote goes to all four. From a purely artistic viewpoint, I enjoy it. It has a classic style, and the artist seems to have put a lot of... "love" into it. Is that the word? I think it is.

Politically, well... it represents the views of a shrinking demographic in America. I understand the sentiments well enough, but increasingly its... a shrinking demographic. One could endlessly discuss the many political aspects presented here.

Educationally... well. I suppose you could call it an introduction to some figures of history. It certainly could evoke some questions and discussions.

I'd love to hear how the Art Nun would describe this painting. How would she suss out the psychology of it? How would she describe it? The End of the White Christian American World? The end of the American Constitution? The End of the World, period? It certainly seems like the end of someone's world. And Satan behind the movie producer... well I suppose if ya gotta put him somewhere... anyway, creepy. Just in time for Halloween?

Andrew Sullivan had a comment about the Jesus in this painting:

Amending The Christianist Tableau

[...] What if Jesus were portrayed as, you know, Jewish, rather than as some Deutsche Christen linebacker? [...]

He gives a sample of a more realistic rendition, then suggests that it "wouldn't work". Follow the link and see. Would it work? I think not. Hence, for me, part of the creepy factor.

Christianity certainly did influence the creation of the American Constitution. The interactive mural makes for some good discussion points. Different parts of it bother me, for a variety of reasons. On the whole, I have to say it makes me uncomfortable, but then, it's meant to; and strangely, that's part of what I enjoy about it. So ultimately, I won't knock the whole thing, but neither am I going to buy the whole store.

It is what it is. It will mean more to some people than others.
     

Two Intentional Lunar Crashes on Friday

An artist's rendering shows the LCROSS spacecraft, left, separating from its Centaur rocket.

NASA set to crash on the moon -- twice

(CNN) -- Two U.S. spacecraft are set to crash on the moon Friday. On purpose. And we're all invited to watch.

NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite is scheduled to drop its Centaur upper-stage rocket on the lunar surface at 7:31 a.m. ET.

NASA hopes the impact will kick up enough dust to help the LCROSS probe find the presence of water in the moon's soil. Four minutes later, the LCROSS will follow through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before crashing into the Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole.

The LCROSS is carrying spectrometers, near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. These instruments will help NASA scientists analyze the plume of dust -- more than 250 metric tons' worth -- for water vapor. [...]

The dust plumes will be visible with midsize or larger backyard telescopes. Read the whole thing for more details.

I expect the results of this mission's findings will have a major impact on whether or not NASA will continue to plan for a manned mission to the moon. If the moon can be proved to contain water (ice crystals) then a return to the moon, to set up a permanent base, would be more viable, if we didn't have to bring all the water necessary to establish a moon base. Lunar ice would save us money, a factor that NASA is having to consider more and more, as some politicians clamor for it's budget to be cut and used for "social" programs instead.


Also see:

Is a Big Shake Up going to happen at NASA?

NASA's Mission to the Moon may be Scrapped
     

Airport congestion and delays: don't I know it

I don't know that the economy is improving, but I could relate to the rest of it:
Study: Flight delays to get worse as economy improves

(CNN) -- Percy von Lipinski figures he flies about 100,000 miles a year. He knows he's going to see a healthy share of flight delays regardless of where he goes.

But he especially anticipates them at the larger airports, such as Chicago's O'Hare International -- "You can't possibly put that many planes there and not have a delay," he said -- and New York's John F. Kennedy International. So when he has a choice between two connecting cities, he said he'll generally choose the smaller one.

Delays at the larger airports, he said, are compounded by other hassles such as longer distances between terminals.

"There's wear and tear on your travel psyche -- which bus you need, which terminal you should be at," said von Lipinski, a 54-year-old Vancouver, British Columbia, resident who owns businesses around the globe. "By the time you get to your destination, you're bound to come up frazzled." [...]

Well that certainly describes my experience last month when I traveled back east to visit family. I had a stop over in Chicago. I took a night flight in, and was supposed to fly out early that morning. But the airport was fogged in until noon, by which time there was a huge backlog of delays. I overheard one passenger, who lived in Chicago, say that the fog had been like that for the past several days, and often is at this time of year.

Then on my flight back, I had to change planes in Philadelphia. The flight was delayed, so when it arrived in San Francisco, I had only twenty minutes to find the gate of my connecting flight there.

The gate number was not on my ticket. The airline told me to go to another terminal to find out which gate the flight was leaving from. They didn't tell me that the terminal was far away. They just said "follow the signs".

To do that, I had to leave the homeland security barrier, walk a long distance through another terminal, and then, go outside and walk a long way past another terminal that was empty, and closed for construction. Not another person to be seen anywhere, it was creepy. By this time I was running. I get to the next terminal, only to find there are two long hallways I have to run down before I get to the actual terminal.

By now I am wheezing. I get to the homeland security checkpoint, and can hardly speak, but have to try to explain that my flight is leaving. To their credit they put me at the head of the line so I could get through quickly, but they couldn't tell me where my flight was departing from.

By now I'm running around the terminal carrying my shoes, because my flight leaves in 8 minutes. None of the monitors listed the flight, there was no United Airlines help desk in sight, and nobody could tell me where I could find one.

I missed the flight. I never did find out which gate it was leaving from.

To make a long story short, all the flights leaving for my destination had left for the day, and all the flights for the next day were fully booked. So they booked me on a flight that evening to Portland OR, where I could catch a flight to my destination the following morning. They said I should ask U.S. Air for a hotel voucher, since it was their flight that arrived late, causing me to miss my connection.

So before leaving San Francisco, I went to the desk for U.S. Air, where an angel named "Rachel" got me a voucher for a nice room at the Ramada Inn in Portland. She was so nice, and treated me like a first-class passenger. I was very grateful.

In the end, all the airlines involved did right by me. But it sure was a stressful ordeal. I'm glad I didn't collapse from all that running around. If I ever fly again, I'm going to wear slip-on shoes, without shoe laces, so I won't have to run after planes in my socks. ;-)
     

Windows 7: what you can expect

Here is a favorable review, from a reviewer who hated Windows Vista:

Windows 7 Review: Why I Like Windows 7

After nearly eight-years, Windows XP had grown as comfortable as an old car. Just as I’d forgotten about the growing number of dings on my car’s bumper, I’d forgotten how many third-party tools I’d used to prop up Windows XP. After adding CD and DVD burners, search programs, Firefox, three media players and a host of other tools, my Start menu’s three columns reached the far edge of my desktop.

That’s why running Windows 7 for the past seven months brought back the excitement of driving a new car. And for the first time, my once trusted Windows XP began looking like a car that needed much more than a paint job.

It’s partially my own fault. Like many others, I skipped Windows Vista. And Vista, for all its faults, provided a strong, secure base. Unfortunately, Microsoft ruined Vista’s improvements by adding overly aggressive security, thick layers of meandering menus, and a sense of being designed by a huge committee.

Windows 7 strips away that ugliness to create something that’s light yet strong, useful yet still playful. Windows 7 grabs me in a lot of ways Windows XP no longer does:

[...]

How does he like Windows 7? Read as he counts the ways. He does list some annoyances at the end though, but overall, it seems favorable and looks promising. At the very least, a considerable improvement over Vista.

And for those who want something else altogether, the next Ubuntu release is looking very promising.


Also see:

Windows 7 to Usher in Profitless Prosperity
     

What does conservatism really stand for today, other than opposition to President Obama?

Brain-dead Conservatives

"The heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism," Ronald Reagan said on many occasions, including a speech at Vanderbilt University when I was an undergraduate.

I'm not so sure. But at least the conservatism of Sen. Robert Taft, Sen. Barry Goldwater, and Reagan stood for a limited constitutional government in opposition to the federal aggrandizement of the New Deal and the Great Society. Back in the FDR-JFK-LBJ years, conservatives even stood for congressional government and against the imperial presidency.

But what does conservatism stand for today, other than opposition to President Obama? President Bush expanded entitlements, increased federal spending by more than a trillion dollars, federalized education, launched "nation-building" projects in two far-flung regions, and accumulated more power in the White House than any previous president.

Yet the masses assembled at the Conservative Political Action Conference chanted "Four More Years!" at him in the eighth year of his reign. Is that really a record that conservatives wanted more of? [...]

Ouch! The last Republican Administration pre-paved the way for much of what the current Democrat Administration is doing now. The truth hurts sometimes.

Read the whole thing, to see how we got where we are, and what we could conceivably do about it now. There is still hope, if conservatives can learn to be flexible where they need to be flexible, in our Brave New World.
     

Democrats are deliberately withholding the transparency in government that was promised

Congressional leaders fight against posting bills online

[...] At town hall meetings across the country this past summer, the main topic was health care, but there was a strong undercurrent of anger over the way Congress rushed through passage of the stimulus, global warming and bank bailout bills without seeming to understand the consequences. The stimulus bill, for example, was 1,100 pages long and made available to Congress and the public just 13 hours before lawmakers voted on it. The bill has failed to provide the promised help to the job market, and there was outrage when it was discovered that the legislation included an amendment allowing American International Group, a bailout recipient, to give out millions in employee bonuses.

"If someone had a chance to look at the bill, they would have found that out," said Lisa Rosenberg, who lobbies Congress on behalf of the Sunlight Foundation to bring more transparency to government.

The foundation has begun an effort to get Congress to post bills online, for all to see, 72 hours before lawmakers vote on them.

"It would give the public a chance to really digest and understand what is in the bill," Rosenberg said, "and communicate whether that is a good or a bad thing while there is still time to fix it."

A similar effort is under way in Congress. Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Greg Walden, R-Ore., are circulating a petition among House lawmakers that would force a vote on the 72-hour rule.

Nearly every Republican has signed on, but the Democratic leadership is unwilling to cede control over when bills are brought to the floor for votes and are discouraging their rank and file from signing the petition. Senate Democrats voted down a similar measure last week for the health care bill. [...]

Where is the transparency that was promised? What a pack of liars.

To be fair, the article also points out that Republican's, when they held a majority, did a similar thing with the Patriot Act. How dare ANY of our politicians withhold transparency from us?
     

Democrats to slash Medicare?

How is this going to make things better?

The 'kill granny' bill

AS the health-reform bills move through Congress, the prognosis for Medicare pa tients gets worse and worse.

The Senate Finance Committee bill (generally called the Baucus bill, after Chairman Max Baucus) robs the elderly to cover the uninsured -- like snatching purses from little old ladies. The House bills already cut future funding for Medicare by $500 billion over the next decade. The Baucus bill would slash a similar amount, just when 30 percent more people enter the program as baby boomers turn 65.

The Baucus bill also puts new limits on what doctors can do for patients in Medicare:

* A "race to the bottom" provision (p. 102 of the revised chairman's mark) would take effect each year for the next five years. The provision penalizes doctors who end up in the 90th percentile or above on the cost of what they use to treat their patients, compared with national averages. The intent is to force down the cost of care, year by year. Yet this blunt instrument can't determine which care is actually wasteful -- it will punish doctors for treating high cost patients with complex conditions. Inevitably, it will lower the quality of care.

* Even more devastating is the amendment Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) got inserted into the bill (revised chairman's mark, pp. 102-3). It gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to define quality, cost-effective care for each medical condition and penalize doctors who spend more on their patients.

The law establishing Medicare in 1965 barred the federal government from interfering in doctors' treatment decisions. Slowly, Medicare regulations have begun unraveling that protection. Now the Cantwell amendment finishes the job.

This is the most extreme change to Medicare ever. Dr. David McKalip, a Florida neurosurgeon and a board member of the Florida Medical Association, predicts: "The only doctors left in Medicare will be those willing to ration care and practice cookbook medicine." [...]

Is this the "Change we can believe in?".
     

The demise of the dollar as oil trading currency

The demise of the dollar
In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

[...]

The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power – along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to interfere in the international financial system – which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states.

Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the Middle East. [...]

Read the whole thing, to see what this transition away from the US dollar is going to mean. What's next, dumping US dollars as a reserve currency, which would devalue our money even further? It would help bring about exactly what many countries have wanted: a weaker America. Or even worse.

I have to wonder if some people in our government would like to see our currency ruined, so they can switch it over for... something else? I've read that George Soros favors the creation of a Global Currency.


Related Links:

The Devaluing of American Currency Continues

Is Obama compounding Bush's mistakes?
     

Is Peggy Noonan prophetic?

Have a look at this. K-Lo at NRO interviewed Peggy in November 2008. K-Lo asks Peggy what she thinks the aftermath of the election will be for the Republican Party. Peggy predicts. How accurate was she? You be the judge:

Grace Will Lead Me Home?
Looking toward the future — conservative and otherwise.

[...]
Lopez: I tend to think there will be a serious revisiting of our founding principles — both 1776 and 1955 (the year National Review was founded) — after this election, whatever happens. Agree or disagree?

Noonan: You may remember we first spoke of this last spring, in Rome? The first wave will be . . . well, it will be as ugly as the past month. Uglier, as those with some responsibility for the past seven years turn their finger not on themselves but on others. (I happen to think careerism has become an unseen force in much of the fighting. Conservatism didn’t used to be a career, it was a sailing against the wind, a pushing back against the age that is pushing you, and it was often lonely, individual, painful. It has been for me.) The second wave will be more important, a real surveying and rethinking. A going back to the texts, Burke to Kirk, but also a deeper attempt to apply conservative principles and insights to reality as it is on the ground. For it must be applied to the reality as it is on the ground, to the facts, or it will not be conservative. Burke respected reality so much his enemies said he worshiped a thing just because it was. So yes, there will be seminars and symposia, and activists will have epiphanies on the Amtrak Acela while delayed at Wilmington. But here’s the most important wave. What I have been reminding people in speeches lately is America is not made in Washington. America is made in America. So this is step three, and will happen concurrently and for a long time with step two: look to the states and the counties. Briefly: I don’t believe in political saviors — I don’t think life is as a rule that dramatic, clear cut, resolved, or necessarily heroic. But what is happening in the states, and who is leading in and rising in the states, is going to yield up the leaders of the future. The great story of the next few years, and maybe longer than a few, will be what is happening there, and what is happening in the American culture. The McCain-Palin moment will pass; America will continue. Conservatives have to stop looking to Washington, it cannot solve our lives. And it’s not a very conservative impulse, to always be looking at and to the federal establishment.


Lopez: When people have been reading you for years, they sometimes think they know you too well. And feel betrayed when you don’t say what they might. And think they can read your unspoken motives. Just to clear the air here, when you sit down at your computer to write a column, what are you thinking? What is your goal? Who are you seeking to please? [...]

Peggy has a lot of interesting things to say, about McCain, Palin, Reagan, about criticizing Bush; about conservatism as defined by her, and about who she writes for. And if she is prophetic, then her comment at the beginning of the interview, about the old lady in the wheelchair and the stairs... yikes.
     

Whole Foods and "Conscious Capitalism"

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods:

The Conscience of a Capitalist
The Whole Foods founder talks about his Journal health-care op-ed that spawned a boycott, how he deals with unions, and why he thinks CEOs are overpaid.

[...] "Before I started my business, my political philosophy was that business is evil and government is good. I think I just breathed it in with the culture. Businesses, they're selfish because they're trying to make money."

At age 25, John Mackey was mugged by reality. "Once you start meeting a payroll you have a little different attitude about those things." This insight explains why he thinks it's a shame that so few elected officials have ever run a business. "Most are lawyers," he says, which is why Washington treats companies like cash dispensers.

Mr. Mackey's latest crusade involves traveling to college campuses across the country, trying to persuade young people that business, profits and capitalism aren't forces of evil. He calls his concept "conscious capitalism."

What is that? "It means that business has the potential to have a deeper purpose. I mean, Whole Foods has a deeper purpose," he says, now sounding very much like a philosopher. "Most of the companies I most admire in the world I think have a deeper purpose." He continues, "I've met a lot of successful entrepreneurs. They all started their businesses not to maximize shareholder value or money but because they were pursuing a dream."

Mr. Mackey tells me he is trying to save capitalism: "I think that business has a noble purpose. It's not that there's anything wrong with making money. It's one of the important things that business contributes to society. But it's not the sole reason that businesses exist."

What does he mean by a "noble purpose"? "It means that just like every other profession, business serves society. They produce goods and services that make people's lives better. Doctors heal the sick. Teachers educate people. Architects design buildings. Lawyers promote justice. Whole Foods puts food on people's tables and we improve people's health."

Then he adds: "And we provide jobs. And we provide capital through profits that spur improvements in the world. And we're good citizens in our communities, and we take our citizenship very seriously at Whole Foods." [...]

Mackey's "conscious capitalism" doesn't sound very different from "enlighten self-interest". Whatever it's called, I like it. It has a proven track record in the real world, and it's sustainable. We need more people like John Mackey.


Also see:

Were unions behind Whole Foods boycott?

Enlightened, affordable healthcare, that works

     

California continues to screw itself

Like a man with one foot screwed to the floor, it goes around and around in circles, unable to accomplish anything, unable to help itself:

Will California become America's first failed state?

[...] California, which has been a natural target for immigration throughout its history, is losing people. Between 2004 and 2008, half a million residents upped sticks and headed elsewhere. By 2010, California could lose a congressman because its population will have fallen so much – an astonishing prospect for a state that is currently the biggest single political entity in America. Neighbouring Nevada has launched a mocking campaign to entice businesses away, portraying Californian politicians as monkeys, and with a tag-line jingle that runs: "Kiss your assets goodbye!" You know you have a problem when Nevada – famed for nothing more than Las Vegas, casinos and desert – is laughing at you.

This matters, too. Much has been made globally of the problems of Ireland and Iceland. Yet California dwarfs both. It is the eighth largest economy in the world, with a population of 37 million. If it was an independent country it would be in the G8. And if it were a company, it would likely be declared bankrupt.

[...]

Michael Levine is a Hollywood mover and shaker, shaping PR for a stable of A-list clients that once included Michael Jackson. Levine arrived in California 32 years ago. "The concept of the Californian dream was a certain quality of life," he says. "It was experimentalism and creativity. California was a utopia."

Levine arrived at the end of the state's golden age, at a time when the dream seemed to have been transformed into reality. The 1950s and 60s had been boom-time in the American economy; jobs had been plentiful and development rapid. Unburdened by environmental concerns, Californian developers built vast suburbs beneath perpetually blue skies. Entire cities sprang from the desert, and orchards were paved over into playgrounds and shopping malls.

"They came here, they educated their kids, they had a pool and a house. That was the opportunity for a pretty broad section of society," says Joel Kotkin, an urbanist at Chapman University, in Orange County. This was what attracted immigrants in their millions, flocking to industries – especially defence and aviation – that seemed to promise jobs for life. But the newcomers were mistaken. Levine, among millions of others, does not think California is a utopia now. "California is going to take decades to fix," he says.

So where did it all wrong? [...]

I lived in California for 23 years. I'll tell you where it went wrong. Too many Californians want to "Have their cake, and eat it too". They want a "Utopia" where everyone gets goods and services, but nobody has to pay for it.

I've posted about this before:

Harsh Truth About California. And Our Nation?

Californian's keep voting for entitlements and benefits without providing the money to pay for them. And this is where it has gotten them.

If we, as a Nation, continue to follow California's example, as we seem to be doing, we can expect a similar result for our country, even worse if it leads to a currency collapse. California today is a warning for our tomorrow. Will we heed that warning in time?

     

What does internet vulnerability mean for US?

Internet 'biggest threat' to the US

[...] The internet, said former national intelligence director Michael McConnell, "is the soft underbelly" of the US today. Speaking recently at a new cybersecurity exhibit at the International Spy Museum in Washington, McConnell said the internet has "introduced a level of vulnerability that is unprecedented".

The Pentagon's computer systems are probed 360 million times a day, and one prominent power company has acknowledged that its networks see up to 70,000 scans a day, according to cybersecurity expert James Lewis.

[...]

The exhibit at the Spy Museum - Weapons of Mass Disruption - tries to bring that threat to life.

A network of neon lights zigzags across the ceiling. Along the walls computer screens light up with harrowing headlines outlining the country's digital dependence. Drinking water, sewer systems, phone lines, banks, air traffic, government systems, all depend on the electric grid, and losing them for weeks would plunge the country into the 1800s.

Suddenly, the lights go out and the room is plunged into silent darkness.

Seconds later as the sound system crackles, a video ticks off a pretend crisis: no food, no water, system shutdown.

That faux threat has become a prime concern for the government, but fully protecting the grid and other critical computer systems are problems still waiting a solution.

Federal agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, are pouring more money into hiring computer experts and protecting their networks.

But there are persistent questions about how to ensure internet traffic is safe without violating personal privacy. [...]

Read the whole thing for details. The power grid and many other systems are tied into, and relying on, the internet. Systems that never used to be, systems that got along fine without the internet before. But as they become increasingly reliant on the web, it presents a growing vulnerability. People may not take the threat seriously enough, until they experience the danger first-hand.
     

In the MSM: Where have all our Elders gone?

Here is a very thoughtful piece by Peggy Noonan:

Keeping America Safe From the Ranters
As the Elders of the media die, who'll replace them?

When William Safire died the other day, we lost one of the Elders of journalism and the argumentative arts. We've been losing a lot of them lately: Walter Cronkite, Bob Novak, Don Hewitt, Irving Kristol. "The stars seem to be going out one by one," said Howard Stringer at Cronkite's memorial.

[...]

Who are the Elders? They set the standards. They hand down the lore. They're the oldest and wisest. By proceeding through the world each day with dignity and humanity, they show the young what it is that should be emulated. They're the tribal chieftains. This role has probably existed since caveman days, because people need guidance and encouragement, they need to be heartened by examples of endurance. They need to be inspired.

We are in a generational shift in the media, and new Elders are rising. They're running the networks and newspapers, they own the Web sites, they anchor the shows. What is their job?

It's to do what the Elders have always done, but now more than ever.

[...]

A few days ago, I was sent a link to a screed by MSNBC's left-wing anchorman Ed Schultz, in which he explained opposition to the president's health-care reform. "The Republicans lie. They want to see you dead. They'd rather make money off your dead corpse. They kind of like it when that woman has cancer and they don't have anything for us." Next, a link to the syndicated show of right-wing radio talker Alex Jones, on the subject of the U.S. military, whose security efforts at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh show them to be agents and lackeys of the New World Order. "They are complete enemies of America. . . . Our military's been taken over. . . . This is the end of our country." Later, "They'd love to kill 10,000 Americans," and, "The republic is falling right now."

This, increasingly, is the sound of our political conversation.

It is not new to call this kind of thing destructive, though it is. It is a daily agitating barrage that coarsens and inflames. It tears the national fabric. But it could wind up doing worse than that.

Democracy cannot healthily endure without free and unfettered debate. It's our job to watch, critique and question, and, being us, to do it in colorful terms.

But knowing where the line is, matters. Seeing clearly the lay of the land, knowing the facts of the country and your countrymen, matters.

Which gets us back to Safire and Cronkite and Novak and the rest. They knew where the line was. They were tough guys who got in big fights, but they had a sense of responsibility towards the country, and towards its culture. They, actually, were protective toward it. They made mistakes, but they were solid. [...]

It's worth reading the whole thing. We sure DO need some elders in the media.

I think the far Left, in it's desire to destroy the status quo, have coarsened and polarized political debate as part of their plan to destabilize the existing order. Some on the Right are now buying into it, and playing tit-for-tat. It's a trap set by the Left, that should be resisted.


This November 2008 interview with Peggy Noonan is also interesting:

Grace Will Lead Me Home?
Looking toward the future — conservative and otherwise.

     

A Sobering Story for a Sunday

Commentary: The sunflower boy's smile

[...] "He had always told us he wanted to grow up to be a Marine," his mother said. "Then he said he wanted to be a doctor. So we told him he could be a Marine doctor." [...]

A story of tragedy, and kindness.
     

Linux optimized for Netbooks

Maximum PC Primer: Lightweight Netbook Computing with Linux

[...] Linux is an ideal choice for netbooks for multiple reasons in addition to CPU architecture. Netbooks generally have lower specs than most full-size notebooks (not to mention desktops) so they are ideal for lightweight applications like web browsing, document preparation, etc. Linux does these tasks very well without the bloat that Windows systems have to deal with from anti-malware utilities. This primer will help you set up and optimize Linux for your netbook. [...]

The article takes a look at some Linux distributions that have been optimized for the netbook market, with screenshots.
     

In Iran, admitting to being a rape victim can be "social suicide"

I had blogged about this in August:

Dissidents are being raped in Iran's Prisons

Now it's being reported by CNN:

2 Iranian dissidents say they were raped in captivity

Editor's Note: Be aware that the following story contains graphic accounts of rapes. CNN does not normally identify alleged rape victims but did so in this dispatch with the permission of the alleged victims.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Two Iranians who were caught up in the waves of arrests that followed the disputed presidential elections in June have accused their captors of raping them.

By telling his story, Ibrahim Sharifi says, he "committed social suicide so this incident wouldn't happen to others."

An Iranian man and a woman made the allegations in separate interviews with CNN. Both said they fled to Turkey from Iran after claiming to have been threatened by Iranian security services. While CNN does not normally use the names of alleged rape victims, their names are included here with their permission.

CNN could not independently confirm their accounts. But the testimony of one of the alleged rape victims, Ibrahim Sharifi, was revealed last month by a prominent Iranian opposition leader who claimed to have gathered at least four accounts of sexual assault this summer in Iranian prisons. Sharifi's allegations were also included in a report published last week by two Western human rights organizations investigating reports of abuse in Iranian prisons. [...]

In many Muslim countries, it seems like rape victims are treated more like criminals than victims. The reluctance of victims to come forward makes it that much easier for the crimes to be committed.
     

Ireland votes Yes on European Union. Will the EU now move ahead with their plans?

Or will there be a setback, caused by the Czech President, and Britain's Elections next year?

Foes of EU treaty urge Czech PM not to sign it

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Opponents of the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty urged Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Saturday not to sign the charter and to stop it going into force, even though it has been approved by Irish voters.

Irish voters overwhelmingly backed the treaty at the second time of asking in a referendum on Friday. But it cannot be implemented until it has been ratified by all 27 member states, and the signatures of two EU leaders are still missing.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said before the referendum he would ratify the treaty if Ireland backed it but Czech President Vaclav Klaus has given no indication that he will sign it, despite growing pressure from other EU leaders.

"I hope Vaclav Klaus can hold out as long as possible. But it will be very difficult," Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, said.

"I expect a lot of pressure to be put on him from all sides in the EU and in the Czech Republic. We will just have to wait and see what happens."

[...]

But groups that oppose the treaty in Ireland said they hoped Klaus would hold out until Britain's parliamentary election next year, which the Conservatives are widely expected to win.

Conservative leader David Cameron has promised a referendum on the charter although Britain has already ratified it.

"I would urge the Czech president not to sign the treaty into force. If he resists, then it will give the British public, who were promised a referendum, a chance to decide once and for all," said Libertas leader Declan Ganley, who led opposition to the treaty when Irish voters rejected it in June 2008.

Coir, a prominent opponent of the treaty in Ireland's second referendum campaign, said the Czech Republic was the "next port of call in the fight against Brussels." [...]

I've posted previously about the nasty attacks on the Czech President, to bully him into submission:

Check out the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus

Now the attacks on him will probably get even worse. Poor Klaus. I hope he can hold out. It will be interesting to see if Britain can re-claim it's sovereignty with a referendum. We shall see.


Related Links:

Ireland has 2nd vote on Lisbson Treaty [with update on YES vote]

Without Opposition: the European Union

European Union: becoming openly totalitarian?
     

Indoneisa: A call for help via text messaging

Trapped Indonesian quake victim sends text message

PADANG, Indonesia — An earthquake survivor trapped in a collapsed hotel in western Indonesia sent a text message saying he and some others were alive, triggering a frantic rescue operation Saturday.

Padang's police chief said voices and claps were heard from survivors buried in the Ambacang Hotel since Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 715 people.

"We estimate there are still eight people trapped alive under Ambacang Hotel," Col. Boy Rafli Amar told reporters. "We are still trying hard to evacuate them."

He said one survivor — who had been staying in Room 338 of the hotel — sent a text message to relatives Friday, saying he and some others are still alive. The relatives then informed the authorities, he said.

As he spoke, rescuers used earth-moving equipment, backhoes and drills to try and break a passage through thick slabs of concrete of the six-story hotel. [...]

I hope they get rescued.
     

Do you think you have privacy on the internet?

Guess again. An interesting article from LinuxInsider.com:

Who's Watching You Browse?

Being on the Internet is like living in a village: Everyone knows who you are and all the details of your private life -- except that on the Internet, it's not just people you may have known all your life who know a lot about you; it's complete and utter strangers.

It's not just that those strangers may know stuff that could really make you uncomfortable, such as the fact that you perhaps posted photos of yourself stinking drunk on your Facebook More about Facebook page. More importantly, they can track the Web sites you visit and report back to someone who wants to track you, has malicious intentions or wants to sell you something.

Take, for example, a company called LeadLife, which has an app that can determine who is visiting a client's Web site, how the visitor got to the client's Web site; and which of the client's products the visitor is most interested in. LeadLife is one of many companies offering such a service. Other firms put trackers on users' browsers so they know just where the visitors go and, based on that, launch targeted marketing campaigns.

Over the years, several third-party companies offering apps that mask users' identities have sprung up. Recently, browser vendors have begun including a privacy mode in their products, but are these good enough?

And just what is privacy, anyhow? [...]

Read the rest of the article to see the many ways in which you do not have privacy on the internet, the ineffective ways privacy is guarded, and what (if anything) you can do about it.

It explains how websites I've visited freqently have built up profiles on me, and then alter the banner ads on their sites based on web browsing I've done. Yikes.

Brave New World, with such people in it.