As always, the only way for an investigator to catch a cyber criminal is to learn their tricks. “To truly understand malware they have to use it. To understand hacking they have to do it,” Haagman said. (full story)
So, since the ‘only way’ to catch a cyber criminal is to learn their tricks, does that mean that the only way to catch a murderer is to kill people? Tread lightly, Mr. Haagman.
Pack cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, and small, pre-cut veggies that are easy to eat while driving. “The key to healthy dashboard dining is to focus on foods that provide a big nutritional punch with few calories from sugar and fat,” Terry Egan, nutrition specialist with University Outreach and Extension in Springfield, Mo., told AP. (full story)
Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the key to healthy ‘dashboard dining’ to NOT EAT WHILE DRIVING? If your major concern is being healthy, putting yourself at risk by eating (even healthy foods) while driving shouldn’t even be in your sphere of comprehension. Chill out. Sit down and eat. This is something I’ve noticed that Americans are incredibly bad at. You know how long it takes me to sit down at Starbucks, enjoy my scone and coffee (or tea in recent times) and read the editorials and comics? Ten minutes. And if you don’t have ten minutes to spare in your day to relax and enjoy yourself, you need to re-evaluate your priorities. No wonder so many people are stressed beyond belief. America needs a really big chill pill.
“The global security agenda promoted by the U.S. administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle,” Amnesty head Irene Khan said, launching its annual report. (full story)
Um, Ms. Khan, you seem to have missed the point. The US global security agenda is not bereft of principle — the whole problem is that it’s entirely based on principle. It’s based on a principle that looks really good on paper, sounds really good in theory, and works really well … in the election booths. However, it doesn’t translate well to the global stage in an era when the rest of the world is championing collaboration. Listen — pre-emption is a good strategy when there are defined targets and defined enemies and the rules of Just War can be followed to the letter. Pre-emption would have been a wonderful policy for the US during the second world war. However, leveraging the military as it exists now is not the best of plans to fight, as Jessica Stern puts it, a protean enemy. No, I’m not so arrogant as to think I can do better in a new type of war than the current administration, and I believe there are very few people out there who could. Bush will bomb the living daylights out of anyone that screams ‘down with America’ and Kerry will stand up and talk about something that doesn’t make sense while doing the same. But that’s enough rant on that.. back to the news:
“Violating rights at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses has damaged justice and freedom, and made the world a more dangerous place.” (Ibid.)
Yep, you guessed it, this is more of Ms. Khan’s work. It’s people like her that keep me from donating to or working with groups like Amnesty International. She’s complaining about US treatment of the ‘war on terror’ (dumb phrase, but what the heck). But perhaps Ms. Khan has failed to realize that her statement could also describe the actions of … you guessed it … terrorists. How do random terrorist attacks not violate basic human rights of everyone else? Listen — let’s think about al-Qaeda for a while. I can thing of a few thousand people who had their most basic human right violated in the middle of September a few years ago. I can think of countless Israeli citizens and other peaceful folk across Europe and Asia that were killed simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Walking down the street, doesn’t one have a basic expectation that their life won’t be taken by someone who believes differently than they do? Al-Qaeda doesn’t think so, so how can someone complain about US tactics in this global skirmish? Next, let’s take a look at abuses under the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Mix religious fundamentalism and nuclear weapons, and you have a problem on your hands. (yes, ANY religious fundamentalism… though I have yet to meet a fundamentalist Taoist or Agnostic)
What entirely too many people here fail to realize is that Islam saved the world. Huh? What? Oh, yeah.. look at the Dark Ages. If the powerful Islamic empire hadn’t been around, Europe wouldn’t have been able to bring itself into the Renaissance nearly as quickly. For those dark centuries, the Islamic empire was a bastion of learning and knowledge. Look it up.
The abuses in the Muslim world happened chiefly under the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, not in general society. The US is at least trying to do the world a favor, even if it doesn’t quite know how to do it. Much of Europe is sort of sitting back, in good European fashion, and watching while the big guy and the scores of little guys duke it out. I’m not quite sure the threat of terror can be quashed, given its distributed and individual nature, but it’s a global issue being addressed by a few nations, while the others sit back and hope it gets taken care of. So kindly shut up, Ms. Khan… let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Oooh, how biblical. Speaking of which:
The Bible says God has given men and women different roles, Drollinger said. “Man’s is, primarily, to be a breadwinner, and women’s is to be at home nurturing their children. I’m all for the female legislators serving our great state with all of their giftedness, in due time,” Drollinger said. “If they have children at home, they need to share those gifts with their children. Then after that, as Ecclesiastes says, there is a season that they can serve in the Legislature.”
Capitol Ministries’ Bible study classes once met in the governor’s suite of offices, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told Drollinger to move when Drollinger referred to Roman Catholicism as a false religion. Schwarzenegger and his wife are Catholic. (full story)
OK, number one, why was a bible study class meeting INSIDE the Capitol? and number two… well, I just thought that was funny. Fundamentalist preachers are fun to listen to, they make so much comedy without even realizing it.
And, on a lighter note, a search on stock image and photo supplier Corbis for ‘cold rolled’ returns photos of OJ Simpson and Nancy Reagan. Go figure.
