The Beacon fiasco gives a good outline of what future conflicts over the Internet will look like. Whether a system is opt-in or opt-out has an enormous influence on how people use it. He who controls the “default option” — the way a program runs if you don’t modify it — writes the rules.

We used to live in a world where if someone secretly followed you from store to store, recording your purchases, it would be considered impolite and even weird. Today, such an option can be redefined as “default” behavior. The question is: Why would it be? The price in reputation for overturning this part of the social contract is bound to be prohibitively high.

For the owners of social-networking sites, it may be a price worth paying.

Well?

Intimate Shopping

There's what a politician believes, and how a politician believes. As I get older I put increasing weight on the latter. As a protest vote, Ron Paul seems fine, but hearing him or reading about him just makes me depressed. A good rule of thumb is not to get too excited about any candidate whose actual election would make the Dow lose thousands of points.

The monetary economics of Ron Paul

A Texan man in his 70s shoots and kills thieves at his neighbor's house. Is it legal?

The Castle Doctrine allows law-abiding citizens attacked in their own homes (their "castles") to respond with force, even deadly force, to protect themselves — though the law varies from state to state. Self-defense laws are back in the spotlight after two recent cases in which intruders were shot and killed by homeowners.

Castle Doctrine: In Defense of Self-Defense

The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran appears to rely heavily on notes from a discussion between Iranian military officials involved in that country's nuclear weapons development program. What if, instead of such easily manipulated documentary evidence, the CIA's National Clandestine Service had been able to recruit a spy at the highest reaches of the Iranian government, someone who could just tell us what the country's nuclear capabilities and plans were?

It wouldn't have made any difference.

With Spies Like These . . .

Organizational Transformation: Implementing Chief Operating Officer/Chief Management Officer Positions in Federal Agencies, by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. GAO-08-322T, December 13.

Organizational Transformation: Implementing Chief Operating Officer/Chief Management Officer Positions in Federal Agencies

Foreign spies and the theft of military and industrial secrets were real threats during the 1930s as the United States faced the impending war. The nation's lack of security on those fronts was also a problem. Enter J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Raymond J. Batvinis, former FBI special agent, presents an early history of the FBI in a lecture at the Library of Congress.

Batvinis discussed his new book, "The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence," in a program hosted by the Center for the Book and co-sponsored by the Manuscript Division, which Batvinis consulted extensively in his research about the FBI's response to the world crises of the 1930s and 1940s.

Batvinis also draws on newly declassified documents and interviews with former FBI agents in his reconstruction and analysis of how the FBI, before World War II, grew from a small law enforcement unit into America's first organized counterespionage and counterintelligence service.

The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence

Informed that in one 24-hour period his Internet-savvy supporters had raised more than $4 million for his campaign — and in so doing had greatly raised the profile of his candidacy in the news media’s eyes — Ron Paul said, “It’s kind of sad, but the money is what has given us credibility, not the authenticity of the ideas.”

And by authenticity, he means his own.

Money for Something

The United States must scrap the current structure of the State Department and radically reshape its foreign assistance, trade and diplomatic programs to create a super-size (1,2,3,4) international affairs agency to meet overseas challenges.

Some thoughts:

Attendant: More anything?
Jerry: More everything!

Is more what we really need?

In my opinion not.

But ... more is what Congress is ready to support and fund, ... and more is what we are going to get.

The federal government is on a “burning platform,” and the status quo way of doing business is unacceptable ...

Current Fiscal Policy Is Unsustainable: we cannot simply grow our way out of this problem. Tough choices will be required.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.

Mrs. Clinton said that making personal attacks on Mr Obama was going to be "fun".

Foreign Affairs Panel Calls For Overhaul of State Dept.

11) This is not a bailout.
10) The Paulson mortgage plan does not violate any contracts.
9) There will be no lawsuits from investors (other than lawsuits that would have happened anyway).
8) These are not teaser rates.
7) The plan is voluntary - not a mandate - and this is not government regulation.
6) The plan targets homeowners with weak credit who owe more than their house is worth.
5) This is an industry / investor plan. This is about helping the investors.
4) The savings for the investors will be small.
3) Recidivism will be high.
2) For the Home Builders: Nothing.
1) The purpose of the plan is to publicize that lenders will modify loans.

The goal of this plan is get homeowners to pick up the phone.

Eleven things to know about the Freeze

The collection and analysis of OSINT information will be ultimately judged by its contribution to the overall intelligence effort. Collecting information from open sources is generally less expensive and less risky than collection from other intelligence sources. The use of OSINT may result not only in monetary savings but also in less risk than utilizing sensitive technical and human sources. OSINT can also provide insights into the types of developments that may not be on the priority list for other systems or may not be susceptible to collection through other intelligence approaches — innovative applications of new technologies, shifts in popular attitudes, emergence of new political and religious movements, growing popular discontent, disillusionment with leadership, etc. Supporters of OSINT maintain that the future contribution of the Intelligence Community will be enhanced by its ability to provide detailed information and incisive analyses of such developments. This report will be updated as new information becomes available.

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress