Cyber Security and the Role of Government

Last night I was listening to the Herman Cain show in the car and someone came on to talk about S. 773, a bill intended to increase cyber-security.  Today, I was linked by Aaron Gardner (h/t) to this Cnet article about the bill.

The article details the history of the bill, from its original form to its redraft, along with some of its more interesting features.  Among these are:

• the president can declare a “cyber security emergency” relating to non-governmental computer networks,
• Federal certification for cyber security professionals,
• requirements that certain critical networks be managed by people with that license,
• implementation of a “comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy” within six months.

From the article:

A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president’s power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.

Filed under: Government, media, socialism, centralization, communications, coordination, CSIA, internet, security, TIAA

Why does this surprise you?

Something surprises me. It surprises me in that it surprises other people. You see increasingly, women and minorities are taking to entrepreneurship, starting their own small business. This has been trending for years, but is becoming more and more common as the years pass by.

My question is, why does this surprise anyone? Success with your own business, be it a restaurant or convenience store or website, is the surest method to social mobility and economic security. Historically, women and minorities were (or at least, were perceived to be) relatively immobile in terms of their economic and social status. With the increasing realization that this needn’t be so, It should surprise no one that women and minorities are starting more and more businesses.

Further, it is far more common for people who are middle- and upper-middle class to start their own businesses. As women on their own and minority individuals and families have expanded into the realm of middle-class America, it should be again no surprise that their ranks are increasing among entrepreneurs.

Add to this the ease with which a person can set up a basic retail website and the increased profitability of niche marketing, it’s no wonder that minority and gender niches are being filled. From the founding of BET and Lifetime television to Women’s Health Magazine and myriad websites devoted to women and minority issues and targeted products, women and minorities founding businesses and websites only makes sense.

It’s good news, to be sure, but it’s hardly surprising.

Cross posted at Fred’s News.

Filed under: economics, business, economics, entrepreneurship, minorities, women

Dude.

Seriously. Dude.

I don’t care what you thought of the original.

This looks just COOL.

Filed under: entertainment, media, dude, movie trailer, tron

I will not miss him, but I will not scorn him

Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy died last night from cancer. Mr. Kennedy was a long-standing member of the United States Senate and a powerful voice for his particular political viewpoint.

Reportedly, a majority of the members of Congress found him to be an honorable if not agreeable man. Sponsor and co-sponsor of historic legislative measures, Senator Kennedy will long be remembered for his resonating Massachusetts treble-tenor and staunch defense of his political positions.

I will not miss Senator Kennedy. I disagree with his political positions and much of his personal behavior. I respect him in that he achieved. I feel for his family.

That is all.

Filed under: Government, congress, death, Kennedy, memorial, senator

Immigration and education

Newsweek published an article awhile back.  It is a “perspective” article, more an essay, from the point of view of an illegal alien.

Oh, I’m sorry, did I not use the politically correct term “Undocumented,” as the article’s author did?  Please pardon me as I show no remorse over my lapse in progressive judgement.  Actually, don’t.  There’s nothing to pardon.

While well intentioned, I am certain, this article shows the complete disregard for the rule of law by illegal aliens and their children.”K. Gonzalez” writes that she is no longer able to attend the University of California at Berkeley due to a lack of funds, and laments in a roundabout way that her illegal status prevents her from accessing some forms of assistance.

Clearly, “K. Gonzalez” is a hard-working person.  She worked hard at her education and got grades good enough to get into Berkeley.  That’s wonderful.  What she hasn’t shown is any regard for the law.  She is an illegal alien.  Now, she was brought here by her parents when she was just an infant.  There are existing legal methods available to her where she could become a legal resident, even a citizen of the United States.

Filed under: economics, Government, immigration, education, immigration, reform

How the Wheel Was Invented

Author’s note: This was originally published at RedState in February, 2009.  Its high acclaim there prompted me to post it here as I expand this blog.

I was asked if the wheel was invented out of necessity, or if someone demanded it first?

Not content to simply answer the question, I wrote a story about it.  When I published this story in a public forum, the usual suspects started asking the usual questions:

“Was this invention Ogg and Thag’s property?”

Since someone tried to use this as a chance to attack the idea of personal property, I have updated the story a bit as a lesson on government.

It’s kinda’ long, so get a glass of milk and some cookies.

Enjoy!

* * * * *

Ogg and Thag had just killed a smallish mastodon somewhere in central Asia, near modern-day Astana, Kazakhstan, just a few yards from the A343 highway. Knowing their tribe was starving and that winter was fast approaching, they understood they’d have to get the mastodon back to their camp as soon as possible

“I say, good fellow,” Thag queried Ogg, “However will we get all this tender flesh back to our social cooperative? The beast trampled Ook and Gork, and it is many miles. By the time winter returns, we’ll surely have frozen to death.”

“I know not, my good man,” Ogg replied. “If we go to obtain help first, the scavengers will surely have picked it clean before we return.”

Thag sighed. “We’d best get to dragging this monstrous creature back, or there will have been no point in killing the poor thing.”

So Ogg and Thag began dragging their kill back to camp, struggling to pull its bulk over the hills and through the forests. Soon, they were exhausted but they kept pulling, knowing they must feed their family.

Soon, they saw a series of felled trees they had cut down some days before in order to make the spears.

“I say, Thag!” Ogg stated, “but we must change our course or move those terrible boughs blocking our path!”

“Oh, let us just go through them, Ogg,” replied Thag. It will take too long to find a new path through the forest, and if we move the logs, we’ll not wish to start dragging this beast again. The trunks are not overly thick, and they are close enough together that it won’t take long once the creature is on top of them.”

“Very well,” sighed Ogg, and they began pulling the beast over the fallen tree trunks.

Filed under: economics, Government, socialism, economics, taxes, wealth envy

Pay Czar Feinberg Revokes the Constitution

H/T to Michelle Malkin.

Reuters is reporting that Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama Adminstrations “Pay Czar” will be reviewing compensation contracts for company officials and may “claw back” much of what has been or will be paid.

Particularly concerning is this, from the second page of the article:

Feinberg said the law requires him to take market forces into account, but also to consider performance and past deals between a company and an employee.

“The statute provides these guideposts, but the statute ultimately says I have discretion to decide what it is that these people should make and that my determination will be final,” Feinberg said.

Filed under: economics, Government, socialism, compensation, ex post facto, feinberg, TARP

Of Tribes and Nations

I’m watching “The Colony,” a show on the Discovery Channel that claims to be an experiment about survival following an “apocalyptic” pandemic.  I had originally scoffed at the idea, but the show is an enthralling window into greater society.   The “stars” of this show are ordinary people with varying backgrounds who are forced to survive together in the abandoned warehouse district of Los Angeles.  Each has skills that are an asset to the team, including carpentry, water filtration, gardening, electircal engineering, and self-defense.

On day 2 of the “experiment,” the group faces a mock attack from “marauders” who are supposedly trying to steal resources from their compound.  While I don’t have a direct quote, one of the colony’s members states something along the lines of, “I understand what they are doing.  They’re trying to survive, just like me.  But they’re trying to survive by taking what I have to survive.”

This kind of scenario, the need for basic survival and the protection of scarce survival resources, is almost certainly what brought about the first institutions of government.  Hunter-gatherer tribes selecting leaders to better organize individuals and more easily deal with marauders who would take those resources.  In other words, the first governments were instituted to protect our stuff from people who would take it by force.

In order to do this, the government (that is, the tribal leaders) had to spend less time hunting and/or gathering, and more time planning and organizing.  That meant everybody else had to give up a small piece of their work and the resources they gathered to provide for the organizers and defenders.  A tribe of perhaps 30 people could possibly support five dedicated organizer-defenders, one of those being the chief organizer-defender, depending on the available resources.

Filed under: economics, Government, socialism, taxes, collectivism, discovery channel, individualism, the colony, tyranny

Lies, Damn Lies and Public Relations

I wish I hadn’t been driving to work this morning (Thursday 8/13) when I heard this on the radio.  That’s because I could not write down any names, including the individual making the claim or the PAC/think tank where he’s now working, “Democracy” somethingorother.  Fortunately, I was able to find a similar story from UPI.

Former Public Relations executive at CIGNA Wendell Potter, who now works for the Center for Media and Democracy, is claiming he saw the insurance industry’s fingerprints all over the protests at the Democrat town halls.  He says that this is just like 1993, and that the talking points are the same.  The protesters are lying or have been mislead, spewing falsehoods.

Actually, that sounds an awful lot like Democrat talking points.

Filed under: health care, insurance, media, health care, healthcare, insurance, media, public relations

Intriguing Candidate Watch: Marco Rubio

A couple weeks back, I had the good fortune to meet Marco Rubio, Republican candidate for Senate in Florida for the 2010 mid-term election.  Rubio is challenging Florida’s moderate Republican governor Charlie Christ in the primary for that nomination.

Unfortunately, I don’t live in Florida so I cannot vote for him.

I was impressed by Rubio’s speech at the RedState gathering in Atlanta.  I don’t match up with him perfectly on the issues, but in no way did Rubio strike me a wishy-washy, vote-by-the-polls conservative.  The most impressive part was that he made his speech without ever looking down at notes and with no teleprompter: Every statement he made was from his head and his heart.

My RedState friend, Dave_in_Fla, was also impressed by Rubio and created the following video:

Marco’s Story from David Thompson on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, WordPress will embed YouTube content relatively easily, but has problems with Vimeo. I’ll work on finding a way to embed this content.

Rubio is the son of Cuban exiles who escaped to the United States from Cuba following the communist revolution there.  He seems to understand, better than most, what a powerful central government can do to freedom and liberty.  Even more than that, he seems to understand the incredible opportunity that the United States offers to those who live here.  After all, he is the son of immigrant exiles and is vying for a seat in the most important legislative body in the nation (and by extension, the world).

Rubio impresses me right now, and I think he’ll be an important person to watch over the next ten years.

Filed under: elections, Government, elections, florida, marco rubio, primaries