Dc0de has joined what we have started referring to as "the club." People we know who have received legal threats for saying true things in a public place. This seems to happen a lot to computer security people.

In the United States, you're supposed to have a right to freedom of speech. This isn't just a matter of what the law technically says or means. As Rattle has pointed out before, freedom of speech is a core value in our society. It is a value that transcends what the law merely requires, providing a model for how a mature society addresses all sorts of conflicts: The appropriate way to respond to critics is within the realm of ideas and not within the realm of coersion.

People who use the legal system to squash critics instead of appropriately addressing their criticism in print are operating in a manner that is out of sync with the core values of this nation. I hold this sort of behavior in very poor esteem.

However, this happens all the time, so a more fundamental fix is required. The legal system should not allow itself to be used by wealthy parties as a weapon to coerce people who do not have the resources to defend themselves. This is fundamentally unjust. The legal system must be reformed.

For a smart analysis of these issues see this paper about two other members of "the club," Billy and Virgil.

dc0de wrote:
Part of the presentation includes a slide that shows the Insider Attack Variables, including, Corporate environment and culture. Since the IDR's previous incident was caused by someone not performing their due diligence on 50 fraudulent companies, thereby allowing these companies to freely PURCHASE data from the IDR and commit fraud, I used their loss as an example...

The company that I work for now is terminating me, and claiming that I have to sign the IDR's document, (that they negotiated as part of their settlement), and of course, another document, forbidding me to speak about this issue.

RE: Telling the Truth hurts...

There is a lively debate going on within MemeStreams on Illegal Immigration. First, thank you. One of the oft criticisms of MemeStreams is that its dominated by liberal perspectives. There is no architechtural reason for this. MemeStreams is supposed to be a place where people from different perspectives debate issues. Its not supposed to be dominated by one side of the fence. I'm glad to see an array of perspectives being offered in this debate, on an issue that is most near and dear to conservative hearts.

Having said all of that, I'm going to weigh in, and I'm going to say a bunch of stuff that is apt to make some of you angry. This is a touchy issue. Be prepared.

I'm a legal immigrant and a naturalized citizen of the U.S.. Most legal immigrants hate illegal immigrants. I don't. There are three things that separate my perspective on this from most people.

1. I think the Berlin wall was a great scar across the face of Europe, and a symbol of our collective primitiveness. I don't like governments drawing lines in the sand and shooting people who try to cross them. I don't like other walls for similar reasons. I think the wall in Isreal represents a great failure to communicate. I think a wall in the southern states would reflect poorly on America. Its an authoritarian reaction rooted in fear. To me it represents weakness rather than strength.

2. I think many Americans feel a sense of entitlement to the greatness of America. They wrap up our country's accomplishments, sprinkle on a bunch of stuff we didn't accomplish, pin it on their chest, and claim personal responsibility for it. They beleive that they are personally great because they are Americans and America is great. They don't want to share their oyster with others.

My grandfathers faught in World War II. I'm simultaneously proud of their accomplishments, grateful for their sacrifices, and in awe of their bravery. But I didn't do this, and I don't deserve any of their glory. The freedom they helped secure was not just for Canadians, but for the entire world. Its a freedom I still get to experience living now in America, and a freedom that my present countrymen's grandparents also faught for. But that freedom is not a privledge or an entitlement. It is not a property that we may own or that we may deny to others. It is a debt we owe to them, which we can only repay through our own accomplishments.

I don't feel personally responsible for anything that I didn't personally accomplish. The idea that other people can become Americans or live in America doesn't bother me. I don't think it makes them any better than if they weren't Americans. In part, perhaps, because I don't think Americans are inherently better than anyone else. Americans aren't great because America is a great country. It works the other way around. America is a great country because there are many great Americans. I tend to judge other people on their own merit rather than on the co... [ Read More (0.8k in body) ]

FOXNews.com - Immigrants Stage a Patriotic Protest

Two Atlanta-area men in federal custody as part of a terrorism probe discussed possible locations for a U.S. attack, including military bases and oil refineries, according court documents unsealed Friday.

The U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta on Thursday unsealed an indictment against Georgia Tech student Syed Ahmed, 21.

Ehsanul Sadequee, 19, was arrested this week in Bangladesh and handed over to the FBI. He is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on a charge of making false statements during an interview with an FBI agent.

The FBI affidavit also says agents found two CD-ROMs in the lining of Sadequee's suitcase when he was leaving the United States. One disc contained pornography and the other was encrypted with a code the FBI was unable to crack, according to the affidavit.

I think its interesting that they were flat out arrested in the usual way instead of under an enemy combatant designation or some other habeas loophole. One is an American citizen. Not guilty pleas are also very interesting. That would not be possible under an "alternative" detention strategy.

CNN.com - FBI: Georgia men talked of U.S. terror plan

Much of their analysis strikes us as solid -- but the rebellion is problematic nonetheless. It threatens the essential democratic principle of military subordination to civilian control -- the more so because a couple of the officers claim they are speaking for some still on active duty.

If they are successful in forcing Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation, they will set an ugly precedent. Will future defense secretaries have to worry about potential rebellions by their brass, and will they start to choose commanders according to calculations of political loyalty?

At the same time, David Broder says:

Seeing these senior officers take this public stand is unprecedented; even in Vietnam, with all the misgivings among the fighting men, we saw no such open defiance.

Rumsfeld and President Bush insist that the manpower and strategy have been exactly what the commanders in the field thought best, but now general after general is speaking out to challenge that claim. The situation cries out for serious congressional oversight and examination; hearings are needed as soon as Congress returns. These charges have to be answered convincingly -- or Rumsfeld has to go.

The Generals' Revolt

Acidus wrote:
According to Wikipedia:

-85% enriched is considered "weapons grade" and is the minimum purity of the uranium in the US's arsenal.
-20% will create a usable bomb
-3% to 5% is what a light weight nuclear reactor will use. This is most common reactor and what Iran claims it wants to build.
-While the uranium could be placed in a dirty bomb, this would not be the best use. Since dirty bombs simply spread radioactive material, isotopes like Strontium-90 are more effective than Uranium-235

Some useful perspective you won't get from the press...

RE: Iran enriched Uranium to 3.5%

"The question of how economics is taught in France, both at the bottom and at the top of the educational pyramid, is at the heart of the current crisis," said Jean-Pierre Boisivon, director of the Enterprise Institute, a company-financed institute that sponsors the internship program for economics teachers that Scache took part in.

This is the most intelligent analysis of the protests in France that I've seen thus far. The students are doing exactly what they have been taught to do.

Economics, French-style - Europe - International Herald Tribune

A motorist drove through a crowd of students blocking the road in protest of the government’s new youth jobs law Friday, injuring seven people. Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to pull out the driver before police intervened.

I watched the cops haul the car away on a flatbed. Protesting today was light and peaceful. Mostly just kids beating on drums.

TorontoSun.com - World - France protest turns violent

"I don't think there should be a St Patrick's Day," anti-immigrant
television celebrity Lou Dobbs announced yesterday. Speaking to National
Council of La Raza president Janet Murguia on the topic of immigration
reform, the CNN personality continued, "I don't care who you are. I think we
should be celebrating what's common in this country."

To call this a Maoist sentiment would be a compliment.

Both commenter and commentee are, technically, conservatives.

This country is full of partisan commentators who play the straw man game. "I found one person on the other side of the fence who said something that is wrong. This is what those people actually think! Ergo, everyone on that side of the fence is "crazy."" This message is pounded in over, and over, and over, and over for years, until the hapless listeners are completely unable to view the "other side" as anything but crazy, and they are also completely immunized against critical thought. As they are used to criticism only coming from the "other side" they assume that anyone who criticises anything on their side must be on the other side, and as everyone on the other side is crazy, there is no point in listening to the criticism.

This is how they control you. The first step is to stop calling yourself a liberal and or conservative. Just stop.

Partisanship is stupid.

Reason: Bush Presidency Dies at Border: How the administration lost control of the immigration debate

Russia's Federal Security Service closes down Pravda.Ru's Russian version over Danish caricatures.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Pravada's Main Web Page Closed Down by Russian Security Service:

So, my bosses boss walks into my lab today and asks if we have a contingency plan in the event of an outbreak of avian flu. I'm not kidding. I told him we didn't have an IP over Avian Carrier network, so we were probably fine. Turns out he wasn't kidding either. We have gotten requests about this from, um... certain customers... Just a little ray of sunshine to brighten up your day!

Executives are starting to confront the real chance of panicked workers, supply disruptions, and economic upheaval.

Avian Flu: Business Thinks The Unthinkable