Screaming Libertine

Posts Tagged ‘government fail’

President Obama’s pick to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raises a few red flags. If confirmed by the Senate, Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will drive motorists over the cliff with regulation.

The nation’s traffic-safety czar has broad powers to control the roads and road-going habits of Americans. Mr. Hurley has a history of pushing laws that harass millions of law-abiding citizens to ensnare a few lawbreakers. He supports returning the 55 mph speed limit to our highways as well as roadblocks and random pullovers to make sure drivers aren’t doing anything wrong. This methodology is based on a presumption of guilt - not innocence - of the average driver who is doing nothing wrong.

This kind of appointment is truly disturbing. This is a guy who has spent years preaching reactionary policies. MADD supported the DUI conviction of a woman riding a horse, for fuck’s sake. I’ve often said we’d be better off riding horses again, since no matter how drunk you get…your horse will not run into another horse…or a tree…or anything else for that matter.

Drunk driving kills a lot of people and it’s always a tragedy. That fact does not mean that Orwellian enforcement tactics and the abuse of actual responsible citizens is justified.

I strongly suggest reading the original article at the Washington Times.

In addition to files relating to the aircraft, hackers gained entry into the Air Force’s air traffic control systems, according to the officials. Once they got in, the Internet hackers were able to see such information as the locations of U.S. military aircraft in flight.

Last week news came out indicating that the government would like to take control of private network security (because nothing could possibly go wrong there). This week we’ve got news that Lockheed Martin got hacked and hackers got access to a bunch of technical data regarding the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The military has big plans for this particular plane, and is planning to deploy it in various versions to all branches of service.

The hackers got into “a major contractor” (presumably Lockheed Martin, as they were getting pressed for details), and “the information could be used to make the plane easier to fight or defend against.” A few lines later it seems that “the officials insisted that none of the information accessed was highly sensitive data.” It seems to me that information that makes the plane easier to kill would be sensitive data…silly me.

I’d like to see the government secure their own networks prior to having them tell my NOC how to operate. The fact that hackers could get into Lockheed and from there directly into military air traffic control is a pretty hefty breach.

Original Article at CNN

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is protesting what it says is a whopper of an insult.

An advertisement for Burger King’s Texican Whopper burger that has run in Europe shows a small wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag. The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavors.

Still no word on out the out-of-control drug cartels. Everyone knows the best herb is home-grown anyway.

Original Article