Sarah Palin isn’t in this election to change anything in Washington, she is in this race to win. This is nothing more than a contest to her. Her competitive spirit is dictating that she not back down (an unthinkable act contrary to her very nature) and do whatever it takes to win. To her, the end justifies the means. This is a selfish and dangerous gamble when the very welfare of Americans hang in the balance.
Irrespective of the fact that this nation will not benefit from having her in any leadership role, she simply lies and abuses the power of her office to get what she wants. We have been witness to this type of behavior from both George W Bush and Dick Cheney. We don’t want any more of it.
How can we as a nation, suffering from the immorality of an illegal and unjust war and crippled as the result of policies of an unethical leadership, hope to regain the respect that comes from being a world leader?
How can we expect to reverse this administrations overt (and covert) attempts to weaken our basic constitutional freedoms if we don’t exercise our right to speak out against these injustices?
How can we ever have any hope of reclaiming our dignity under ‘new’ leadership that will only give us more of the same?
When will we again be able to hold our heads up and be proud to be American after our leaders have authorized torture, condoned kidnapping, instituted secret prisons, authorized warrantless surveillance on fellow Americans, and shielded high ranking government officials from investigation into suspected crimes?
We can start by demanding that McCain/Palin be banished into obscurity for the divisive, unashamed, crass and cynical actions they have taken against the American people.
The current state of the republican party has degenerated into an unethical, immoral, propaganda generating, smear machine designed more for character assassination than solidifying itself as a viable platform of positive change. Change this country desperately needs.
Sarah Palins choice as vice presidential candidate has accelerated the decline of the republican party platform.
John McCain, who I believe is a decent person, has made a grave error in judgment in allowing his campaign to take this disastrous and hateful course. Perhaps blinded by the prize, he has done himself and his country a grave disservice. As a result of his choice the world now sees him as selling out his principles for his party.
Sarah Palin, the time has come to put the country first and bow out in an attempt to restore some dignity to the once proud institution of voting for political office.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Data Breaches, What Options Does the Consumer Have?
I have written about this before but it is always scary when the topic rears its ugly head.
The Identity Theft Resource Center, of San Diego, found that this year's data breach tally has easily eclipsed 2007's 446 incidents. At an average of 57 caches of consumer data reported lost or stolen each month, U.S. organizations are on track to divulge at least 680 breaches by the end of 2008.
About 80 percent of the breaches involved digital records, while the remainder stemmed from the loss, theft or exposure of paper-based records. A description of each incident is available in the Identity Theft Resource Center 's 2008 Breach List.
Some 30 million records on consumers have been exposed so far this year. But experts say that figure almost certainly masks a much larger problem, as there is currently no federal requirement for organizations that experience a data breach or loss to acknowledge precisely how many consumers nationwide may have been affected.
Some states require entities to alert consumers of a data breach, but this is, in most cases, pretty useless. I personally have been notified on three occasions (by my credit card company and a hospital and the VA) of my data being ‘lost’ and each time the date of the letter was 6-8 months after the fact. How does notification help in these cases? As usual the law was not written well enough to actually protect the consumer. Entities should be forced to notify consumers in a more timely manner, for example, within one week of a data breach in order for us to be aware that our personal information has been compromised.
If only these companies protected my information as if it were their own.
Most of us make some attempt to protect our data while on our own home computer, but when it becomes necessary to give out our personal information we have to trust that the entity we give it to will protect it. Instead we find we are becoming more and more vulnerable to whatever level of seriousness corporations extend to preventing a data breach. Sometimes, their own employees misuse our data, either through negligence or downright theft.
In other cases, the company that we are forced to trust with our data hands that data over to a contractor, without our knowledge, which increases our vulnerability.
How many of us would be notified of a data breach if it were not for state law forcing the notification? It is understandable that these companies and our government would not want consumers to lose faith in their ability to properly care for your personal information, but this is exactly the type of information we need be informed of about these entities. If they are not forthright enough to tell us of problems on their own without the threat of penalty, then why should we trust them with any other transaction? Because we have to.
In order to make purchases online we must send personal information over supposedly secure networks. When we make purchases at brick and mortar stores with credit cards we must have faith that those transactions are forwarded to our credit card company and the stores headquarters over secured lines. Plus, we have the added vulnerability of exposing our credit card numbers to store clerks. Some of these concerns are being addressed to remove the clerk from the equation but once our information is sent through those desktop data collection devices, what guarantee do we have that the information is not intercepted?
We are asked to have a lot of faith in whoever we give our information to and we are being told that there are more data breaches almost every day.
There are many data encryption routines that can protect data, but many companies don’t want to take the extra time involved to encrypt and de-encrypt to access the data. Therefore we, the consumers, lose.
Can we sue entities for losing our data? It is becoming increasingly apparent that suit brought against these entities is going nowhere. The main road block to getting a judge to hear such a case is the extent to how much harm is actually done to the person whose data was ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’. Plus, how do you prove the data was either ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’? As a result, the consumer is left to worry about when their data will be used by unscrupulous persons and will then be faced with having to suffer whatever damage is done.
In a world that is increasingly going digital, coupled with corporations farming out work to contractors and sub-contractors, the risk to our personal data is increasing. Human error and greed accounts for the vast majority of these data breaches and until we can take the human element out of the data stream we will always be at risk.
As an additional threat, Homeland Security and the FBI have been pursuing the creation of databases containing extensive data on every person in the U.S. The prospect of accessing this ‘mother lode’ of personal data must has hackers salivating.
The Identity Theft Resource Center, of San Diego, found that this year's data breach tally has easily eclipsed 2007's 446 incidents. At an average of 57 caches of consumer data reported lost or stolen each month, U.S. organizations are on track to divulge at least 680 breaches by the end of 2008.
About 80 percent of the breaches involved digital records, while the remainder stemmed from the loss, theft or exposure of paper-based records. A description of each incident is available in the Identity Theft Resource Center 's 2008 Breach List.
Some 30 million records on consumers have been exposed so far this year. But experts say that figure almost certainly masks a much larger problem, as there is currently no federal requirement for organizations that experience a data breach or loss to acknowledge precisely how many consumers nationwide may have been affected.
Some states require entities to alert consumers of a data breach, but this is, in most cases, pretty useless. I personally have been notified on three occasions (by my credit card company and a hospital and the VA) of my data being ‘lost’ and each time the date of the letter was 6-8 months after the fact. How does notification help in these cases? As usual the law was not written well enough to actually protect the consumer. Entities should be forced to notify consumers in a more timely manner, for example, within one week of a data breach in order for us to be aware that our personal information has been compromised.
If only these companies protected my information as if it were their own.
Most of us make some attempt to protect our data while on our own home computer, but when it becomes necessary to give out our personal information we have to trust that the entity we give it to will protect it. Instead we find we are becoming more and more vulnerable to whatever level of seriousness corporations extend to preventing a data breach. Sometimes, their own employees misuse our data, either through negligence or downright theft.
In other cases, the company that we are forced to trust with our data hands that data over to a contractor, without our knowledge, which increases our vulnerability.
How many of us would be notified of a data breach if it were not for state law forcing the notification? It is understandable that these companies and our government would not want consumers to lose faith in their ability to properly care for your personal information, but this is exactly the type of information we need be informed of about these entities. If they are not forthright enough to tell us of problems on their own without the threat of penalty, then why should we trust them with any other transaction? Because we have to.
In order to make purchases online we must send personal information over supposedly secure networks. When we make purchases at brick and mortar stores with credit cards we must have faith that those transactions are forwarded to our credit card company and the stores headquarters over secured lines. Plus, we have the added vulnerability of exposing our credit card numbers to store clerks. Some of these concerns are being addressed to remove the clerk from the equation but once our information is sent through those desktop data collection devices, what guarantee do we have that the information is not intercepted?
We are asked to have a lot of faith in whoever we give our information to and we are being told that there are more data breaches almost every day.
There are many data encryption routines that can protect data, but many companies don’t want to take the extra time involved to encrypt and de-encrypt to access the data. Therefore we, the consumers, lose.
Can we sue entities for losing our data? It is becoming increasingly apparent that suit brought against these entities is going nowhere. The main road block to getting a judge to hear such a case is the extent to how much harm is actually done to the person whose data was ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’. Plus, how do you prove the data was either ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’? As a result, the consumer is left to worry about when their data will be used by unscrupulous persons and will then be faced with having to suffer whatever damage is done.
In a world that is increasingly going digital, coupled with corporations farming out work to contractors and sub-contractors, the risk to our personal data is increasing. Human error and greed accounts for the vast majority of these data breaches and until we can take the human element out of the data stream we will always be at risk.
As an additional threat, Homeland Security and the FBI have been pursuing the creation of databases containing extensive data on every person in the U.S. The prospect of accessing this ‘mother lode’ of personal data must has hackers salivating.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Enough Attacks, Show Us What You Got
Voters want straight answers. We don’t want to stand by watching the mud fly while waiting for substance. We are tired of witnessing our potential presidential leaders behave as lame backstreet bullies trying their best to convince us that their opponent will be worse for this country than they will be.
Voting is supposed to be based on choosing the best candidate for the job based on that candidates qualifications, not on the other person’s lack thereof. We are tired of choosing the lesser of two evils. Character assassination is beneath grown mature adults. This stuff has no place in the realm of ethical politics or adulthood. Throwing dirt and mud at each other trying to convince us, the voting public, that the other person is somehow evil serves only to lessen the attackers image. The voting public can make the decision on our own as to whether or not one of the candidates lied, or is acting unethically, is abusing our trust, or is avoiding questions. We are intelligent enough to see these diversionary tactics for ourselves.
As we grow older, in our daily interactions with people, we learn to pick up clues as to a person’s character. These sometimes subtle clues warn us to be wary of a certain individual. The more lies, cover-up attempts, and mis-direction a person engages in the more we are convinced that the person cannot be trusted. Likewise, if one candidate spends an inordinate amount of energy attacking the other candidate, then we become convinced that the attacker does not believe in himself. When a person looses faith in himself, that person becomes very dangerous, because he will stoop to any level to get what he wants. These are life’s lessons. These clues, collectively, are called ‘gut instinct’ and we ignore these instincts at our own peril.
The republican party is choosing to increase its attacks on Obama’s character by rehashing old associations. They have decided to do this because they see their popularity in the polls fading. The country has been made aware of Obama’s past acquaintances. Just as we have been made aware of his educational achievements. Our ‘gut-instinct’ tells us that Obama is not so weak-minded as to be swayed by these arguably ill-advised friendships.
The backgrounds of McCain and Obama could not be more dissimilar. McCain comes from a life of privilege where his road to adulthood was paved with well-heeled connections. Obama comes from a broken home, where his road to adulthood was on the ‘other side of the tracks’, where there is a far greater chance of running with the ‘wrong’ crowd.
John McCain was guaranteed access to higher education and, as is often the case with privileged kids, nearly threw it away. He graduated 894 out of 899 from the U.S. Naval Academy (his father and grandfather were both U.S. Navy admirals). Barack Obama had insurmountable odds against him of even finishing high school, and yet reached the pinnacle of a higher education by graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and becoming the first black man to become president of the Harvard Law Review. Which outcome defines the better character?
Because of these two very different backgrounds, I believe Obama has met a much broader spectrum of personalities, and this greater diversity can only lead to a better understanding of people.
The republican party leaders realize that their party has been severely damaged by the policies and lies instituted by the Bush/Cheney team, and are therefore attempting to paint McCain/Palin as ‘mavericks’, still members of the republican party but not the same as Bush/Cheney.
Again, we the people are intelligent enough to see through this smoke screen and see that these two are exactly like Bush/Cheney in enough ways that we know nothing will change if these two get elected.
McCain’s continued attacks on Obama shows a lack of faith in what he himself stands for. Palin’s ‘folksiness’ shows a general lack of understanding about what is going on, let alone what to do about it. The team itself is an act of desperation to hold onto the republicans waning political power.
Obama’s defensive attacks against McCain’s policies are born of trying to defend against the republican party’s attempts to undermine his policies.
To the republican party leaders, I say, we don’t want you to take us by the hand like children and have you tell us that Obama is a bad person that cannot be trusted. When you try to manipulate us to see the world through your paranoid and distrustful eyes, and ignore our ability to see these things for ourselves, you not only subtract from your own credibility, you disrespect us. That is a fatal mistake.
Please, Senator McCain, if you have it in you, grow up, stop the lame attempts at humor, stop the character assassination, own up to your record of flip-flopping on the issues. Show us the respect we deserve, and allow us to form our own opinion concerning Obama’s character. Instead of constantly telling us why we should not vote for him, convince us why we should vote for you.
Voting is supposed to be based on choosing the best candidate for the job based on that candidates qualifications, not on the other person’s lack thereof. We are tired of choosing the lesser of two evils. Character assassination is beneath grown mature adults. This stuff has no place in the realm of ethical politics or adulthood. Throwing dirt and mud at each other trying to convince us, the voting public, that the other person is somehow evil serves only to lessen the attackers image. The voting public can make the decision on our own as to whether or not one of the candidates lied, or is acting unethically, is abusing our trust, or is avoiding questions. We are intelligent enough to see these diversionary tactics for ourselves.
As we grow older, in our daily interactions with people, we learn to pick up clues as to a person’s character. These sometimes subtle clues warn us to be wary of a certain individual. The more lies, cover-up attempts, and mis-direction a person engages in the more we are convinced that the person cannot be trusted. Likewise, if one candidate spends an inordinate amount of energy attacking the other candidate, then we become convinced that the attacker does not believe in himself. When a person looses faith in himself, that person becomes very dangerous, because he will stoop to any level to get what he wants. These are life’s lessons. These clues, collectively, are called ‘gut instinct’ and we ignore these instincts at our own peril.
The republican party is choosing to increase its attacks on Obama’s character by rehashing old associations. They have decided to do this because they see their popularity in the polls fading. The country has been made aware of Obama’s past acquaintances. Just as we have been made aware of his educational achievements. Our ‘gut-instinct’ tells us that Obama is not so weak-minded as to be swayed by these arguably ill-advised friendships.
The backgrounds of McCain and Obama could not be more dissimilar. McCain comes from a life of privilege where his road to adulthood was paved with well-heeled connections. Obama comes from a broken home, where his road to adulthood was on the ‘other side of the tracks’, where there is a far greater chance of running with the ‘wrong’ crowd.
John McCain was guaranteed access to higher education and, as is often the case with privileged kids, nearly threw it away. He graduated 894 out of 899 from the U.S. Naval Academy (his father and grandfather were both U.S. Navy admirals). Barack Obama had insurmountable odds against him of even finishing high school, and yet reached the pinnacle of a higher education by graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and becoming the first black man to become president of the Harvard Law Review. Which outcome defines the better character?
Because of these two very different backgrounds, I believe Obama has met a much broader spectrum of personalities, and this greater diversity can only lead to a better understanding of people.
The republican party leaders realize that their party has been severely damaged by the policies and lies instituted by the Bush/Cheney team, and are therefore attempting to paint McCain/Palin as ‘mavericks’, still members of the republican party but not the same as Bush/Cheney.
Again, we the people are intelligent enough to see through this smoke screen and see that these two are exactly like Bush/Cheney in enough ways that we know nothing will change if these two get elected.
McCain’s continued attacks on Obama shows a lack of faith in what he himself stands for. Palin’s ‘folksiness’ shows a general lack of understanding about what is going on, let alone what to do about it. The team itself is an act of desperation to hold onto the republicans waning political power.
Obama’s defensive attacks against McCain’s policies are born of trying to defend against the republican party’s attempts to undermine his policies.
To the republican party leaders, I say, we don’t want you to take us by the hand like children and have you tell us that Obama is a bad person that cannot be trusted. When you try to manipulate us to see the world through your paranoid and distrustful eyes, and ignore our ability to see these things for ourselves, you not only subtract from your own credibility, you disrespect us. That is a fatal mistake.
Please, Senator McCain, if you have it in you, grow up, stop the lame attempts at humor, stop the character assassination, own up to your record of flip-flopping on the issues. Show us the respect we deserve, and allow us to form our own opinion concerning Obama’s character. Instead of constantly telling us why we should not vote for him, convince us why we should vote for you.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sarah Palin: Maverick American or Snow Job?
The typical American does not keep abreast of current events until it affects them directly, such as a natural disaster, or a gas shortage, or a tax increase. For whatever reason. Maybe they feel that after struggling all day to make ends meet they want to shut reality out and numb their minds with the cultural wasteland that is television. Maybe they feel their opinion doesn’t amount to much on the local, national or international stage, so why bother? Maybe they simply just don’t have the time or don’t want to make the time. How many people actually pick up a newspaper or news magazine to learn details of current events? How many people actually seek out political blogs or websites to learn about what their representatives are doing in Congress? Aside from the previously mentioned major events, more often than not it is the ‘sensational’ that captures the attention, such as, the school bus crash that killed all children onboard, or the bridge collapse that killed x number of people, or the maniac that decided to kill a bunch of people before killing himself.
We expect our elected officials to be well versed concerning their sphere of influence. We trust them to maintain a level of understanding in these matters in order to do their job effectively. Likewise, the American public should keep ourselves well enough informed in these same matters so that we can hold politicians to account for their occasional bonehead decision and to give proper recognition when they make the right choices. Since the media is the conduit through which the public learns details of events and individuals running for public office we expect the media to dig deep into these matters and to present their findings in an unbiased presentation so that the public can make informed decisions concerning how to proceed.
When it comes to learning about who is running for public office, we want to know everything about our candidates. When a candidate throws up a curtain to shroud his/her past, the American public becomes suspicious. This is what is happening with Sarah Palin. Her unwillingness to participate in investigations and her attempt to embellish her past accomplishments are smoke screens designed to hide the real Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin is part of that group of individuals who do not keep up with current events, international or national. Katie Couric recently asked her what periodicals she reads in order to keep up to date on world and national events. Palin did not answer the question. She employed her usual smoke screen and took off on a tangent, several, in fact. Despite repeated attempts by Ms. Couric, Palin would not answer the question. She didn’t want to answer the question because she doesn’t keep herself informed. To not keep abreast of current events is unforgivable for a candidate for national public office. The fact that she tried to hide this fact proves she places herself above this nation’s needs.
It is the media’s job to bring this type of selfish and disingenuous character to light so the public can see that the candidate is a fraud. Once we see Sarah Palin is a fraud we then see that the republican party is a fraud by association and McCain’s refusal to drop his running mate proves that neither of these people put the nation first. To them, winning is the only thing that matters.
We have only to listen to Palin speak to see that she has no tangible recognition of what dangers this nation faces. In another recent interview with Katie Couric, Palin makes this fact very clear. When asked her thoughts on whether the economy would be better served by giving the bailout money directly to the people rather than to Wall Street, she fumbled. We cannot deny that this current economic situation is a complex topic, but it was clearly too ‘hardball’ for Palin. Her convoluted and rambling answer, full of republican talking points, clearly showed that Palin does not have the ability to formulate a coherent and educated response, and is more focused on towing the party line, and requires cue cards even to pull this off. Given the fact that she is vying for Vice President and “just a heartbeat away” from President of the United States, she is a pitiful choice for this position.
For someone who is being dressed-up and sold to the American public as being a maverick, Sarah Palin looks and sounds like every other run-of-the-mill American not suited to hold public office. She delivers one-liners and personal jabs that seems to appeal to the sarcastic and competitive side of many Americans, but there is no substance.
Being able to relate to the every day American has its merits, but when a person aspires to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world and faces the deepest and most profound problems we face today, I personally don’t want some run-of-the-mill, sarcastic person off the street who relies on populism instead of policy and parrots the party mantra as my leader.
The American people deserves a leader with ethics, someone with the leadership skills to bring people together instead of cleaning house of all who oppose, someone with an understanding of foreign affairs well beyond believing that living in close proximity of a foreign country is a qualification, someone who has a grasp of domestic issues outside of what books should be made available in the local library, someone who can answer straight forward questions with straight forward meaningful and insightful answers without trying to misdirect the issue.
During the vice presidential debate this coming Thursday, we will finally see the real Sarah Palin, raw and without cue cards. Rest assured, she will be highly coached, but we will have irrefutable proof that Sarah Palin is not the maverick she has been purported to be. We will see, once and for all, that Sarah Palin is way out of her league. Unfortunately, her ability to connect with the audience on a personal level will serve her and the Republican party in overshadowing substance in favor of leading her followers around like the sheep they have become.
We expect our elected officials to be well versed concerning their sphere of influence. We trust them to maintain a level of understanding in these matters in order to do their job effectively. Likewise, the American public should keep ourselves well enough informed in these same matters so that we can hold politicians to account for their occasional bonehead decision and to give proper recognition when they make the right choices. Since the media is the conduit through which the public learns details of events and individuals running for public office we expect the media to dig deep into these matters and to present their findings in an unbiased presentation so that the public can make informed decisions concerning how to proceed.
When it comes to learning about who is running for public office, we want to know everything about our candidates. When a candidate throws up a curtain to shroud his/her past, the American public becomes suspicious. This is what is happening with Sarah Palin. Her unwillingness to participate in investigations and her attempt to embellish her past accomplishments are smoke screens designed to hide the real Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin is part of that group of individuals who do not keep up with current events, international or national. Katie Couric recently asked her what periodicals she reads in order to keep up to date on world and national events. Palin did not answer the question. She employed her usual smoke screen and took off on a tangent, several, in fact. Despite repeated attempts by Ms. Couric, Palin would not answer the question. She didn’t want to answer the question because she doesn’t keep herself informed. To not keep abreast of current events is unforgivable for a candidate for national public office. The fact that she tried to hide this fact proves she places herself above this nation’s needs.
It is the media’s job to bring this type of selfish and disingenuous character to light so the public can see that the candidate is a fraud. Once we see Sarah Palin is a fraud we then see that the republican party is a fraud by association and McCain’s refusal to drop his running mate proves that neither of these people put the nation first. To them, winning is the only thing that matters.
We have only to listen to Palin speak to see that she has no tangible recognition of what dangers this nation faces. In another recent interview with Katie Couric, Palin makes this fact very clear. When asked her thoughts on whether the economy would be better served by giving the bailout money directly to the people rather than to Wall Street, she fumbled. We cannot deny that this current economic situation is a complex topic, but it was clearly too ‘hardball’ for Palin. Her convoluted and rambling answer, full of republican talking points, clearly showed that Palin does not have the ability to formulate a coherent and educated response, and is more focused on towing the party line, and requires cue cards even to pull this off. Given the fact that she is vying for Vice President and “just a heartbeat away” from President of the United States, she is a pitiful choice for this position.
For someone who is being dressed-up and sold to the American public as being a maverick, Sarah Palin looks and sounds like every other run-of-the-mill American not suited to hold public office. She delivers one-liners and personal jabs that seems to appeal to the sarcastic and competitive side of many Americans, but there is no substance.
Being able to relate to the every day American has its merits, but when a person aspires to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world and faces the deepest and most profound problems we face today, I personally don’t want some run-of-the-mill, sarcastic person off the street who relies on populism instead of policy and parrots the party mantra as my leader.
The American people deserves a leader with ethics, someone with the leadership skills to bring people together instead of cleaning house of all who oppose, someone with an understanding of foreign affairs well beyond believing that living in close proximity of a foreign country is a qualification, someone who has a grasp of domestic issues outside of what books should be made available in the local library, someone who can answer straight forward questions with straight forward meaningful and insightful answers without trying to misdirect the issue.
During the vice presidential debate this coming Thursday, we will finally see the real Sarah Palin, raw and without cue cards. Rest assured, she will be highly coached, but we will have irrefutable proof that Sarah Palin is not the maverick she has been purported to be. We will see, once and for all, that Sarah Palin is way out of her league. Unfortunately, her ability to connect with the audience on a personal level will serve her and the Republican party in overshadowing substance in favor of leading her followers around like the sheep they have become.
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