All that sweat and bother to spend even MORE money? Hell, we could have elected Barrett for that!
...Now that the committee has finished writing the budget and it heads
first to the Assembly, and then the Senate, for passage, it turns out
that Nygren’s committee actually grew state appropriations more than the Governor proposed....
...When calculating spending by state government agencies, the Republican-controlled JFC hiked spending by $1.9 billion....
Oh, Vos and Nygren will have a song-and-dance about "bond reductions" which is a smoke-and-mirrors variant.
Whatever. Kinda reminds you of Cryin' John and Ryan, who can't possibly DE-fund ObozoCare. Maybe Nygren and Vos are thinking of their next office....
Friday, June 14, 2013
The War Party's New Pal: AlQuaeda
Kristol, Peter King, John McCain (and his sister Lindsey) and Obama are all ready to assist the Syrian "rebels."
Meantime, the Syrian "rebels" pledge fealty to AlQuaeda.
That's the same AlQuaeda which no longer existed before Benghazi, right?
The same AlQuaeda which engineered 9-11, right?
Meantime, the Syrian "rebels" pledge fealty to AlQuaeda.
That's the same AlQuaeda which no longer existed before Benghazi, right?
The same AlQuaeda which engineered 9-11, right?
Rubio Descends Into Madness
Since it's in pixels it must be true.
Marco Rubio told Sean Hannity yesterday that he had wanted border security before amnesty, but now thinks we need amnesty first so, in paying the government for their amnesty, we can use the illegal aliens’ to pay for securing the border....
Looks like a pilot for a TV comedy series, actually.
Marco Rubio told Sean Hannity yesterday that he had wanted border security before amnesty, but now thinks we need amnesty first so, in paying the government for their amnesty, we can use the illegal aliens’ to pay for securing the border....
Looks like a pilot for a TV comedy series, actually.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Schneier on PRISM (2005)
The PRISM program (or whatever NSA calls it today, if they admit it), has a problem: it won't work. Not even for $80Bn/year.
...Data mining is like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are 900 million credit cards in circulation in the United States. According to the FTC September 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report, about 1 percent (10 million) cards are stolen and fraudulently used each year.
When it comes to terrorism, however, trillions of connections exist between people and events -- things that the data-mining system will have to "look at" -- and very few plots. This rarity makes even accurate identification systems useless.
Let's look at some numbers. We'll be optimistic -- we'll assume the system has a one in 100 false-positive rate (99 percent accurate), and a one in 1,000 false-negative rate (99.9 percent accurate). Assume 1 trillion possible indicators to sift through: that's about 10 events -- e-mails, phone calls, purchases, web destinations, whatever -- per person in the United States per day. Also assume that 10 of them are actually terrorists plotting.
This unrealistically accurate system will generate 1 billion false alarms for every real terrorist plot it uncovers. Every day of every year, the police will have to investigate 27 million potential plots in order to find the one real terrorist plot per month. Raise that false-positive accuracy to an absurd 99.9999 percent and you're still chasing 2,750 false alarms per day -- but that will inevitably raise your false negatives, and you're going to miss some of those 10 real plots.
This isn't anything new. In statistics, it's called the "base rate fallacy," and it applies in other domains as well. For example, even highly accurate medical tests are useless as diagnostic tools if the incidence of the disease is rare in the general population. Terrorist attacks are also rare, any "test" is going to result in an endless stream of false alarms.
This is exactly the sort of thing we saw with the NSA's eavesdropping program: the New York Times reported that the computers spat out thousands of tips per month. Every one of them turned out to be a false alarm....
And guess what? IT DOESN'T WORK!! See Ft. Hood, the ShoeBomber, Boston, and Mumbai hotel.
But the Political/Ruling Class is happy to spend $80Bn/year to continue failing.
...Data mining is like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are 900 million credit cards in circulation in the United States. According to the FTC September 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report, about 1 percent (10 million) cards are stolen and fraudulently used each year.
When it comes to terrorism, however, trillions of connections exist between people and events -- things that the data-mining system will have to "look at" -- and very few plots. This rarity makes even accurate identification systems useless.
Let's look at some numbers. We'll be optimistic -- we'll assume the system has a one in 100 false-positive rate (99 percent accurate), and a one in 1,000 false-negative rate (99.9 percent accurate). Assume 1 trillion possible indicators to sift through: that's about 10 events -- e-mails, phone calls, purchases, web destinations, whatever -- per person in the United States per day. Also assume that 10 of them are actually terrorists plotting.
This unrealistically accurate system will generate 1 billion false alarms for every real terrorist plot it uncovers. Every day of every year, the police will have to investigate 27 million potential plots in order to find the one real terrorist plot per month. Raise that false-positive accuracy to an absurd 99.9999 percent and you're still chasing 2,750 false alarms per day -- but that will inevitably raise your false negatives, and you're going to miss some of those 10 real plots.
This isn't anything new. In statistics, it's called the "base rate fallacy," and it applies in other domains as well. For example, even highly accurate medical tests are useless as diagnostic tools if the incidence of the disease is rare in the general population. Terrorist attacks are also rare, any "test" is going to result in an endless stream of false alarms.
This is exactly the sort of thing we saw with the NSA's eavesdropping program: the New York Times reported that the computers spat out thousands of tips per month. Every one of them turned out to be a false alarm....
And guess what? IT DOESN'T WORK!! See Ft. Hood, the ShoeBomber, Boston, and Mumbai hotel.
But the Political/Ruling Class is happy to spend $80Bn/year to continue failing.
"El Foldo" Boehner, Again
Boehner does his prize-winning El Foldo. Will the "conservative" Sensenbrenner do what Boehner tells him again? Will WannaBeePresident Ryan soak the taxpayer with this farm runoff?
Forget about the subsidies for a moment. The real problem with this pile of manure is that it combines the Food Stamp program with the farm subsidies, conflating two streams of effluent into one settling pond. And El Foldo Boehner, after conference committee, will give the remaining few taxpayers the worst of both sides.
But none dare call it manure.
Forget about the subsidies for a moment. The real problem with this pile of manure is that it combines the Food Stamp program with the farm subsidies, conflating two streams of effluent into one settling pond. And El Foldo Boehner, after conference committee, will give the remaining few taxpayers the worst of both sides.
But none dare call it manure.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The SWAG Method at EPA
Most of you know what the acronym stands for. If you don't, find someone who does.
Here's the EPA version.
The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $38 a metric ton in 2015 from $23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops. …
... Even supporters questioned the way the administration slipped the policy out without first opening it for public comment. The change was buried in an afternoon announcement on May 31 about efficiency standards for microwave ovens, a rule not seen as groundbreaking.
“This is a very strange way to make policy about something this important,” Frank Ackerman, an economist at Tufts University who published a book about the economics of global warming, said in an interview. --Bloomberg quoted at HotAir
That's about a 60% increase, with no justification attached, and no public hearings.
"Whaddya want the Cost/Ton to be, hey?"
"I dunno.......let's make it $38.00. It's Friday go-home time."
Here's the EPA version.
The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $38 a metric ton in 2015 from $23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops. …
... Even supporters questioned the way the administration slipped the policy out without first opening it for public comment. The change was buried in an afternoon announcement on May 31 about efficiency standards for microwave ovens, a rule not seen as groundbreaking.
“This is a very strange way to make policy about something this important,” Frank Ackerman, an economist at Tufts University who published a book about the economics of global warming, said in an interview. --Bloomberg quoted at HotAir
That's about a 60% increase, with no justification attached, and no public hearings.
"Whaddya want the Cost/Ton to be, hey?"
"I dunno.......let's make it $38.00. It's Friday go-home time."
The NSA: Federal Criminals?
In the Obozo Regime, criminals dominate the offices. Now comes MikeD at Grim's place to put the finger on the NSA, too.
...The NSA may not, by its own charter, perform Communications Intelligence operations upon the United States or its citizens. It's target, and mission, is COMINT ops on foreign targets.
Now, I am certain the Administration will claim that the actual targets of this program are foreign terrorists. However, the one overriding law that the NSA must follow is the United States Signals Intelligence Directive (or USSID) 18. I would draw your attention specifically to the unredacted portions of Sections 4 and 5, which specifically deal with how communications collected from sources known to be US citizens are to be handled. I won't quote directly (you can read it all there) but in short, they can't. They are forbidden by federal law from collecting, processing and disseminating Signals Intelligence gathered from US Citizens.
And I don't really care how the Administration spins it, this meta-data collection and processing, especially as laid out in everything we've seen, is in direct contravention of USSID 18. And that makes it a federal crime.
Bonus question: What is the meaning ofis? "collect"?
...The NSA may not, by its own charter, perform Communications Intelligence operations upon the United States or its citizens. It's target, and mission, is COMINT ops on foreign targets.
Now, I am certain the Administration will claim that the actual targets of this program are foreign terrorists. However, the one overriding law that the NSA must follow is the United States Signals Intelligence Directive (or USSID) 18. I would draw your attention specifically to the unredacted portions of Sections 4 and 5, which specifically deal with how communications collected from sources known to be US citizens are to be handled. I won't quote directly (you can read it all there) but in short, they can't. They are forbidden by federal law from collecting, processing and disseminating Signals Intelligence gathered from US Citizens.
And I don't really care how the Administration spins it, this meta-data collection and processing, especially as laid out in everything we've seen, is in direct contravention of USSID 18. And that makes it a federal crime.
Bonus question: What is the meaning of
PRISM "Misses"
Besides the Ft Hood terrorist, the Boston terrorists, and the Flying Terrorist, NSA's "PRISM" seems to have missed something else:
The agency also has a counterspy team that looks at NSA employees — and contractors? — in hopes of anticipating who might be ready to leak. Evidently they missed the Ron-Paul-donating loner who’d apparently been in contact with Glenn Greenwald for months before he skipped town.
That from a longer essay asking exactly how Snowden could have obtained the info he disseminated.
In a way, it's reassuring that the NSA appears to be a bunch of bumbling idiots. With $80Bn of your dollars.
The agency also has a counterspy team that looks at NSA employees — and contractors? — in hopes of anticipating who might be ready to leak. Evidently they missed the Ron-Paul-donating loner who’d apparently been in contact with Glenn Greenwald for months before he skipped town.
That from a longer essay asking exactly how Snowden could have obtained the info he disseminated.
In a way, it's reassuring that the NSA appears to be a bunch of bumbling idiots. With $80Bn of your dollars.
The Cops vs. the Citizens
Noted by Sykes & Co:
Beginning today, the 2013 Fighting Forward Labor and Working Class Summit will
begin four days of panel discussions and presentations on class
warfare, labor history, organizing, recounting of events like the
Wisconsin labor uprising and Occupy Wall Street.
Attendees
will get to choose to attend panels on "Transitional Steps to a
Socialist Future," "Changing U.S. Capitalism," "Possibilities and
Limitations of the Electoral Process," "The Wisconsin Struggle,"
"Building a Genuine Left Wing in the Union," "Historical and
International Perspectives on Occupy," and much much more....
Among others (like the Wobblies (!!!)), sponsors include the Wisconsin Professional Policemen's Association.
Remember that the next time you get a ticket for failing to signal a turn, jaywalking, or not wearing your seatbelt--all occasions for collecting your DNA, too, according to the Supreme Court.
Pat Caddell on PRISM: A Warning
The first time I ever saw Pat Caddell was when he was working for Jimmuh Carter. Remember that as you read this.
...if the PRISM program and all the rest of the government’s surveillance programs were so good and necessary, then why didn’t the feds catch the Tsarnaev brothers, who earlier this year blew up the Boston Marathon? Or Major Hassan, the 2009 Fort Hood mass-murderer? Or the “underwear bomber,” also from 2009, who nearly succeeded in blowing up the passenger jet flying into Detroit?
(In fact, there is no documented evidence that PRISM has prevented ANY terrorist attacks.)
...if and when everything is revealed about PRISM and all the rest, it’s likely that we will learn of important and inculpating connections between the National Security Agency (NSA), on the one hand, and many civilian agencies, on the other.
I am not just referring to Eric Holder’s Justice Department; I am also referring to the gleefully gushing leakers and win-at-any-cost politicos in the White House. And oh yes, let’s not forget the Obama administration’s partisan allies at the IRS, as well as the Obamacare overseers at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Moreover, since we know that the IRS was eagerly willing to share secret tax information with favored private groups, we shouldn’t be surprised, in the end, to learn that NSA/PRISM material ended up in the hands of Obama friends and allies outside of the government.
Yes. Where the Old Stasi worked from the bottom up, the Neue Stasi works from the top down. Bonus: we get to pay for the Neue Stasi with our tax dollars!!
...as far as the American people are concerned, this domestic spying is a big deal. Yet revealingly, to the political class--that is, our leaders in Washington DC--it’s not such a big deal. And there we see the central cleft in our politics today: the widening gap between the government and the governed. According to pollster Scott Rasmussen, the American people oppose the US government’s secret collection of phone records by a whopping 59:26 margin.
The DC crowd--including Lightbulb Rogers of the House Intel Committee--absolutely love this program. Are you surprised? (By the way, is there any intelligence present at the meetings of the Senate and House "Intel" committees?)
...we must know this for sure: One way or another, a revolution is coming.
I've become acquainted with a pleasant Lefty who, in his own words, is 'heavily involved in politics' at the State and local levels. (His wife is connected to MoveOn.) He advised me that he's 'heard talk of a revolution' recently. Interesting, because of the circles he travels in.
HT: Sipsey
...if the PRISM program and all the rest of the government’s surveillance programs were so good and necessary, then why didn’t the feds catch the Tsarnaev brothers, who earlier this year blew up the Boston Marathon? Or Major Hassan, the 2009 Fort Hood mass-murderer? Or the “underwear bomber,” also from 2009, who nearly succeeded in blowing up the passenger jet flying into Detroit?
(In fact, there is no documented evidence that PRISM has prevented ANY terrorist attacks.)
...if and when everything is revealed about PRISM and all the rest, it’s likely that we will learn of important and inculpating connections between the National Security Agency (NSA), on the one hand, and many civilian agencies, on the other.
I am not just referring to Eric Holder’s Justice Department; I am also referring to the gleefully gushing leakers and win-at-any-cost politicos in the White House. And oh yes, let’s not forget the Obama administration’s partisan allies at the IRS, as well as the Obamacare overseers at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Moreover, since we know that the IRS was eagerly willing to share secret tax information with favored private groups, we shouldn’t be surprised, in the end, to learn that NSA/PRISM material ended up in the hands of Obama friends and allies outside of the government.
Yes. Where the Old Stasi worked from the bottom up, the Neue Stasi works from the top down. Bonus: we get to pay for the Neue Stasi with our tax dollars!!
...as far as the American people are concerned, this domestic spying is a big deal. Yet revealingly, to the political class--that is, our leaders in Washington DC--it’s not such a big deal. And there we see the central cleft in our politics today: the widening gap between the government and the governed. According to pollster Scott Rasmussen, the American people oppose the US government’s secret collection of phone records by a whopping 59:26 margin.
The DC crowd--including Lightbulb Rogers of the House Intel Committee--absolutely love this program. Are you surprised? (By the way, is there any intelligence present at the meetings of the Senate and House "Intel" committees?)
...we must know this for sure: One way or another, a revolution is coming.
I've become acquainted with a pleasant Lefty who, in his own words, is 'heavily involved in politics' at the State and local levels. (His wife is connected to MoveOn.) He advised me that he's 'heard talk of a revolution' recently. Interesting, because of the circles he travels in.
HT: Sipsey
Schumer & Rubio vs. US Workers
The Chamber of Commerce, Big Ag, and SEIU assembled this bill, along with the usual LaRaza suspects. It was very secretive work for a good reason: they don't want you to know what's in it.
Under the existing Senate immigration bill, immigrants who have been in the United States illegally can obtain a provisional legal status after paying fines and meeting certain preconditions. But this population would have to wait at least 13 years to be able to obtain full citizenship, and it isn’t until then that they could qualify for government benefits such as Obamacare.
The problem arises when this rule interacts with another provision of Obamacare – the employer mandate. Starting in January, businesses with 50 or more employees who don’t offer workers health insurance that the federal government deems acceptable must pay a penalty if at least one of their workers obtains insurance on a new government-run exchange....
So?
This means if the immigration bill becomes law, some employers could effectively face incentives of hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire newly legalized immigrants over American citizens, because the immigrant workers would not qualify for Obamacare benefits.
In the past, the signs read "IRISH NEED NOT APPLY."
Under the existing Senate immigration bill, immigrants who have been in the United States illegally can obtain a provisional legal status after paying fines and meeting certain preconditions. But this population would have to wait at least 13 years to be able to obtain full citizenship, and it isn’t until then that they could qualify for government benefits such as Obamacare.
The problem arises when this rule interacts with another provision of Obamacare – the employer mandate. Starting in January, businesses with 50 or more employees who don’t offer workers health insurance that the federal government deems acceptable must pay a penalty if at least one of their workers obtains insurance on a new government-run exchange....
So?
This means if the immigration bill becomes law, some employers could effectively face incentives of hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire newly legalized immigrants over American citizens, because the immigrant workers would not qualify for Obamacare benefits.
In the past, the signs read "IRISH NEED NOT APPLY."
Now it's "US CITIZENS NEED NOT APPLY."
What Your ObozoCare Will Cover
Yah, you'll have to pay for this, one way or another:
According to the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who led the Planned Parenthood cheering section as Kansas's governor, is taking her allegiance to new heights with the ObamaCare law. In an April letter to insurers, Sebelius issued a regulation ordering companies to cover Planned Parenthood clinics in their state exchange packages. Planned Parenthood, which she deems as an "essential community provider," is part of the long list of local organizations that insurers are required to partner with. (Others, Bedard says, include lesbian and gay centers, family planning clinics, and "holistic" centers.)
Walker's refusal to establish a state exchange looks better every day, although the babykiller regime's order will, de facto, fund Planned Barrenhood nationally.
So let's ask Levin's question again: who has done more damage to the USA? Obozo, or Snowden?
According to the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who led the Planned Parenthood cheering section as Kansas's governor, is taking her allegiance to new heights with the ObamaCare law. In an April letter to insurers, Sebelius issued a regulation ordering companies to cover Planned Parenthood clinics in their state exchange packages. Planned Parenthood, which she deems as an "essential community provider," is part of the long list of local organizations that insurers are required to partner with. (Others, Bedard says, include lesbian and gay centers, family planning clinics, and "holistic" centers.)
Walker's refusal to establish a state exchange looks better every day, although the babykiller regime's order will, de facto, fund Planned Barrenhood nationally.
So let's ask Levin's question again: who has done more damage to the USA? Obozo, or Snowden?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Levin: "Who Has Done More Damage to the USA?"
Good question, Mark.
Snowden or Obozo? Who has damaged this country more?
Refined further: who has done more damage to national security? Obozo or Snowden?
H,mmmmmmm?
Snowden or Obozo? Who has damaged this country more?
Refined further: who has done more damage to national security? Obozo or Snowden?
H,mmmmmmm?
Rubio's Immigration Formula: Cheaper Is Better
We've mentioned--often--that the current immigration scheme for "STEM" (best and brightest) types is not good.
Rubio's bill will make it worse. It is very disappointing that Sen. RoJo hasn't moved to repair these problems. But if RoJo believes that "cheaper is better", then Rubio's bill is just right for him.
The dazzling innovative power of the tech industry is one of the few remaining American comparative advantages. Unfortunately, Congress is on the verge of squandering that precious national strength.
U.S. dominance in technology has been due to our cultural flair for innovation, good old Yankee ingenuity. Yet, as currently structured, the H-1B work visa and employer-sponsored green-card programs are bringing in workers who tend to be of lesser talent than their American peers. Worse, they are indirectly displacing Americans. The result is a net reduction in the country's talent level.
Matloff goes on to PROVE that the "high-tech" industry lies about patents and R&D differences (US natives are a lot better at both); and that--actually--immigrants generally graduate from LESS selective colleges than US natives (one result of the 1990 immigration "reform.")
A 1989 internal National Science Foundation report forecast that the H-1B program, then in the proposal stage, would result in a flood of foreign students into U.S. doctoral programs. The report stated that this would cause wages to stagnate, driving American science, technology, engineering, and math students into finance and law--exactly what did occur.
Those who do stay in STEM then have financial disincentives against pursuing graduate work. A 2007 Urban Institute study found that we are producing far more STEM graduates at the bachelor's level than the economy needs, but that too few get advanced degrees. A Ph.D. student must forego an industry-level salary for about five years, only to find at the end that the wage premium accruing to a doctorate--held down by the large foreign influx--doesn't make up for that loss in lifetime earnings.
The impact of the foreign-student and H-1B programs has been to displace American students from STEM fields. Since the average quality of the foreign students is lower than that of the Americans, the result is a net loss of quality in our STEM workforce.
What this bill is REALLY all about is cheaper STEM labor. That's what the Rubio Act will get us.
Next time RoJo sends a fund appeal, send him $1.00. Cheaper is better, ya'know.
Rubio's bill will make it worse. It is very disappointing that Sen. RoJo hasn't moved to repair these problems. But if RoJo believes that "cheaper is better", then Rubio's bill is just right for him.
The dazzling innovative power of the tech industry is one of the few remaining American comparative advantages. Unfortunately, Congress is on the verge of squandering that precious national strength.
U.S. dominance in technology has been due to our cultural flair for innovation, good old Yankee ingenuity. Yet, as currently structured, the H-1B work visa and employer-sponsored green-card programs are bringing in workers who tend to be of lesser talent than their American peers. Worse, they are indirectly displacing Americans. The result is a net reduction in the country's talent level.
Matloff goes on to PROVE that the "high-tech" industry lies about patents and R&D differences (US natives are a lot better at both); and that--actually--immigrants generally graduate from LESS selective colleges than US natives (one result of the 1990 immigration "reform.")
A 1989 internal National Science Foundation report forecast that the H-1B program, then in the proposal stage, would result in a flood of foreign students into U.S. doctoral programs. The report stated that this would cause wages to stagnate, driving American science, technology, engineering, and math students into finance and law--exactly what did occur.
Those who do stay in STEM then have financial disincentives against pursuing graduate work. A 2007 Urban Institute study found that we are producing far more STEM graduates at the bachelor's level than the economy needs, but that too few get advanced degrees. A Ph.D. student must forego an industry-level salary for about five years, only to find at the end that the wage premium accruing to a doctorate--held down by the large foreign influx--doesn't make up for that loss in lifetime earnings.
The impact of the foreign-student and H-1B programs has been to displace American students from STEM fields. Since the average quality of the foreign students is lower than that of the Americans, the result is a net loss of quality in our STEM workforce.
What this bill is REALLY all about is cheaper STEM labor. That's what the Rubio Act will get us.
Next time RoJo sends a fund appeal, send him $1.00. Cheaper is better, ya'know.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Say WHAT, Sen. RoJo?
Senator Johnson tells us that the Immigration Act 'needs a few tweaks' to gain House acceptance.
Yesterday, it seemed as though he hadn't read the bill (or worse.)
Today, it's worse:
“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.” AOSHQ quoting HotAir
There's no excuse for RoJo's koombaya any more.
Yesterday, it seemed as though he hadn't read the bill (or worse.)
Today, it's worse:
“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.” AOSHQ quoting HotAir
There's no excuse for RoJo's koombaya any more.
Describing "Total Security"
This Englishman gets it.
...Fox News’s Kirsten Powers certainly seems to think that such widespread data mining is acceptable, asking critics on Twitter last week: “how r they supposed to know who to target before the data is mined to find suspicious activity? it has to be ‘blanket’ initially.”
This is an utterly terrifying suggestion, a principle that could be applied to almost anything in any place and at any time. Are we routinely to obtain warrants in order to search each and every house in a city so that we might know which house warrants even more thorough scrutiny? I rather think not. And yet if it is acceptable for the state to apply a single search-and-seize permission slip to hundreds of millions of people on the off chance that something might turn up, why not, say, to all the homes in Dearborn, Michigan?...
Why not? Why doesn't the (R) majority in the Wisconsin legislature simply issue a warrant covering all the residences in Dane County, given the proclivities of that region?
...When I entered into arrangements with American Express, Google, and AT&T, I took a calculated risk with my privacy. I took that risk with American Express, not with the federal government; with Google, not with President Obama; and with AT&T, not the national-security services. Are we to presume now that all private agreements implicitly involve the state? And if so, where is the limiting principle? If I am to expect that private information I keep on a server run by a private company will be routinely accessed by the government without my knowledge, then why would I not also expect that private belongings I keep in a storage unit run by a private company will be routinely accessed without my knowledge? At what point did it become assumed in free countries that relationships between free citizens and free businesses were not sacrosanct?...
Umnnnhhh....those businesses are not "free." They are wholly dependent on the license of the Gummint to operate, silly. They're cooperating because the gun is to their heads, too.
And contra the vacuous "nothing to see here" blather from Krauthammer (etc.), here's a dose of reality:
...After analyzing 1.5 million cellphone users over the course of 15 months, the researchers found they could uniquely identify 95 percent of cellphone users based on just four data points — that is, just four instances of where they were and what hour of the day it was just four times in one year. With just two data points, they could identify more than half of the users. And the researchers suggested that the study may underestimate how easy it is....
You may call Snowden a traitor if you like. Obama certainly will. But if NSA can hire such a person, why can't they (or IRS, or EPA, or DHS) hire a lesser-grade voyeur? One who has a certain dislike for you, or your spouse, or your children, or your political beliefs, and who can make your life Hell?
Oh, wait: they already DID so.
Hmmmm?
...Fox News’s Kirsten Powers certainly seems to think that such widespread data mining is acceptable, asking critics on Twitter last week: “how r they supposed to know who to target before the data is mined to find suspicious activity? it has to be ‘blanket’ initially.”
This is an utterly terrifying suggestion, a principle that could be applied to almost anything in any place and at any time. Are we routinely to obtain warrants in order to search each and every house in a city so that we might know which house warrants even more thorough scrutiny? I rather think not. And yet if it is acceptable for the state to apply a single search-and-seize permission slip to hundreds of millions of people on the off chance that something might turn up, why not, say, to all the homes in Dearborn, Michigan?...
Why not? Why doesn't the (R) majority in the Wisconsin legislature simply issue a warrant covering all the residences in Dane County, given the proclivities of that region?
...When I entered into arrangements with American Express, Google, and AT&T, I took a calculated risk with my privacy. I took that risk with American Express, not with the federal government; with Google, not with President Obama; and with AT&T, not the national-security services. Are we to presume now that all private agreements implicitly involve the state? And if so, where is the limiting principle? If I am to expect that private information I keep on a server run by a private company will be routinely accessed by the government without my knowledge, then why would I not also expect that private belongings I keep in a storage unit run by a private company will be routinely accessed without my knowledge? At what point did it become assumed in free countries that relationships between free citizens and free businesses were not sacrosanct?...
Umnnnhhh....those businesses are not "free." They are wholly dependent on the license of the Gummint to operate, silly. They're cooperating because the gun is to their heads, too.
And contra the vacuous "nothing to see here" blather from Krauthammer (etc.), here's a dose of reality:
...After analyzing 1.5 million cellphone users over the course of 15 months, the researchers found they could uniquely identify 95 percent of cellphone users based on just four data points — that is, just four instances of where they were and what hour of the day it was just four times in one year. With just two data points, they could identify more than half of the users. And the researchers suggested that the study may underestimate how easy it is....
You may call Snowden a traitor if you like. Obama certainly will. But if NSA can hire such a person, why can't they (or IRS, or EPA, or DHS) hire a lesser-grade voyeur? One who has a certain dislike for you, or your spouse, or your children, or your political beliefs, and who can make your life Hell?
Oh, wait: they already DID so.
Hmmmm?
Another Look at Turkey
If your education about Turkey comes mainly from the MSM, you're not educated.
It is a difficult set of problems for Turkey, and there are no sure
answers except that the Western media effluvia and daily
warnings-cum-“helpful thoughts” from the White House do no good....
As usual, Obozo is not really promoting US interests.
There's a lot more in that essay. Read it.
...Erdogan fears a vast regional war
between Sunnis and Shia Muslims, egged on by the West and by the same
Arab states that bankroll Al Qaeda, and the Israelis. Sunni Turkey has a
large minority of Alawites who are Shia co-religionists to the Syrian
regime. It also has anti-Turkish problems with foreign Sunni Kurds. It
aspires to closer integration with Europe, remains the toughest army in
NATO and its most reliable partner, and it tends overwhelmingly to
support America. Moreover, ignoring the bigots from Tennessee to
Tel-Aviv who say that all Muslims are equally backward and vicious, the
recently urbanised Turks who crave more social conservatism are not our
enemies: many, it seems from my visits, are too busy buying Western-made
machines and trying to export furniture and dried fruit to America and
Europe.
As usual, Obozo is not really promoting US interests.
There's a lot more in that essay. Read it.
Sunday, June 09, 2013
RoJo Kinda Likes the Immigration Bill. Why?
Senator RoJo thinks the Immigration Bill only needs a couple of tweaks to pass both the House and the Senate.
Apparently Senator RoJo hasn't read the bill. Kaus (via PowerLine) sheds some light on the weasel-wording, deception, and flimflammery of the bill.
We don't know who is 'advising' Sen. RoJo on this bill, but he should shitcan the bozos.
Apparently Senator RoJo hasn't read the bill. Kaus (via PowerLine) sheds some light on the weasel-wording, deception, and flimflammery of the bill.
“Multiple triggers” — Legalization is immediate. DHS just has to write border “plan.” The most any “triggers” can possibly do is delay green cards and citizenship.
“90% effectiveness” — If not reached, triggers only toothless commission
“Pay back taxes” — Only if already “assessed” by IRS (unlikely). Newly legalized may instead get refunds.
“Learn English” — Only need to sign up for English class.
“Clean record” — Allows two free misdemeanors. Additional misdemeanors (including assaults) can be waived by DHS.
No “public charge.” Must earn 125% of poverty line — They’re going to deport people who earn only 124% or less? Ha.
“Pay a fine” — Can be waived by DHS.
“Back of the line” — Get to wait out the line while living in the U.S (unlike suckers trying to come here legally).
Border fence — Leaves it up to DHS, which decided not to complete fence in first place.
“Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy” — Only has to be “substantially” operational–whatever that means, as defined by DHS–before green cards are issued. (Legalization has already happened, remember? )
“E-verify” employment checks — Replaces E-Verify with new system. Requires only that this system be “implemented” (30%? 70%? Who knows?). Subject to lawsuit. If still in court after 10 years, never mind!
Entry-exit system for visas — Has been required since 1996. DHS must only be “using” a system before green cards can be issued. (Using in 10% of airports? 50%? Again, who knows?)That doesn't address the "STEM-workers" provisions, which are just as deceptive and weasel-worded. The STEM-worker section has another major flaw: even more American kids will not bother to pursue STEM-related careers. Why should they go into $zillions of debt to take jobs paying less than Mickey D's?
We don't know who is 'advising' Sen. RoJo on this bill, but he should shitcan the bozos.
Yoo, the NSA, Conditionals, and Spy v. Spy v. Spy
John Yoo (who is a bit controversial) defends what the NSA has admitted to doing with phone calls; the piece is loaded with conditionals, as you'll note. It also leaves room for the possibility for far worse skulduggery than has been imagined.
[The GWB and Obama] programs, however, seek to use communications coming into the United States from a known terrorist abroad to identify an al-Qaeda network within the country.
The program does not represent a violation of the Constitution because the Fourth Amendment does not protect dialed phone numbers, in contrast to the content of the communications, because individuals lose privacy over those numbers when they are given to the phone company. The Constitution protects the content of the communications, whether it be a phone call, e-mail, or old-fashioned letter. And Congress approved a change to the FISA statute to allow such collection, and a court of federal judges approved it.
Yoo acknowledges that there may be a problem with Obozo's email intercepts.
The revelation of broad e-mail surveillance is more troubling, but it is because we don’t know the program’s scope. If the program only intercepts the content of e-mails for foreigners abroad, as is being reported, there is no constitutional violation.
(Highlights are mine.)
Yoo doesn't address the search-function monitoring at all, nor does he mention that England can (and does) spy on any US citizen and turn over its findings to the NSA--or Eric Holder. No Constitutional problem there!!
The guy can add 2+2 pretty well, however:
...unfortunately, the program will be questioned because of the Obama administration’s serious mistakes on its IRS investigations into conservative groups and Justice Department surveillance of journalists to stop leaks. The Obama administration’s destruction of the American people’s trust in their government’s ability to run its core tax and law-enforcement functions will harm our government’s ability to carry out its duty to protect the nation....
Hmmmm.
We know that this President has little use for America, other than as a source of funding for his lifestyle and for his favorite Middle Eastern pals, not to mention thinly-disguised communist-front "community organizer" groups. He certainly doesn't give a rip about border security.
So.
If the revelation "will harm our government's ability...to protect the nation" is he really unhappy that the NSA work has been revealed?
Think about that for a while.
HT: PowerLine
[The GWB and Obama] programs, however, seek to use communications coming into the United States from a known terrorist abroad to identify an al-Qaeda network within the country.
The program does not represent a violation of the Constitution because the Fourth Amendment does not protect dialed phone numbers, in contrast to the content of the communications, because individuals lose privacy over those numbers when they are given to the phone company. The Constitution protects the content of the communications, whether it be a phone call, e-mail, or old-fashioned letter. And Congress approved a change to the FISA statute to allow such collection, and a court of federal judges approved it.
Yoo acknowledges that there may be a problem with Obozo's email intercepts.
The revelation of broad e-mail surveillance is more troubling, but it is because we don’t know the program’s scope. If the program only intercepts the content of e-mails for foreigners abroad, as is being reported, there is no constitutional violation.
(Highlights are mine.)
Yoo doesn't address the search-function monitoring at all, nor does he mention that England can (and does) spy on any US citizen and turn over its findings to the NSA--or Eric Holder. No Constitutional problem there!!
The guy can add 2+2 pretty well, however:
...unfortunately, the program will be questioned because of the Obama administration’s serious mistakes on its IRS investigations into conservative groups and Justice Department surveillance of journalists to stop leaks. The Obama administration’s destruction of the American people’s trust in their government’s ability to run its core tax and law-enforcement functions will harm our government’s ability to carry out its duty to protect the nation....
Hmmmm.
We know that this President has little use for America, other than as a source of funding for his lifestyle and for his favorite Middle Eastern pals, not to mention thinly-disguised communist-front "community organizer" groups. He certainly doesn't give a rip about border security.
So.
If the revelation "will harm our government's ability...to protect the nation" is he really unhappy that the NSA work has been revealed?
Think about that for a while.
HT: PowerLine
The Efficacy of CA. Gun Laws? Zero
This one fellow blew a number of holes through "gun law" theory.
...A law enforcement source
with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that the gunman
had suffered mental health issues. A few years ago, he was hospitalized
for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according
to the official.
It's not clear whether
the state government or his family committed him for treatment or
whether he committed himself. It's also unclear under what circumstances
he was released....--Cramer quoting CNN
Cramer goes on:
California has had an assault weapon ban since 1989 (the year the shooter was born) and on transfers of high-capacity magazines since 2000 (when the shooter was eleven years old). It has required all firearms transfers to be done through a background check
since 1991 (when the shooter was two) and it appears that the shooter
had been committed at some point -- which is one of the things the
California background check includes.
So what we really need is more gun laws!!
HT: Arms/Law
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
