Dion - "Abraham, Martin & John" (1968)

The Birth of Skynet?

A fascinating turn of events in the efforts to stop or slow down Iran's efforts to create a nuclear bomb. Without firing a single shot.

Over the past two years, according to intelligence and military experts familiar with its operations, Dimona has taken on a new, equally secret role — as a critical testing ground in a joint American and Israeli effort to undermine Iran’s efforts to make a bomb of its own.

Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms.

So it appears the worm was partially successful, in at least delaying Iran enriching enough uranium to have the ingredients to make a bomb.

In recent days, the retiring chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton separately announced that they believed Iran’s efforts had been set back by several years. Mrs. Clinton cited American-led sanctions, which have hurt Iran’s ability to buy components and do business around the world.

While I am glad it worked to delay Iran's nuclear capability, it doesn't take a computer genius to wonder about the long term effects on global computer networks as we march wildly into the digital age. This was the first such weapon, and it is a weapon, albeit with ones and zeroes in a virtual world. But that virtual world is more and more running the real world, and such things could, and likely will be used for more evil design.

The attacks were not fully successful: Some parts of Iran’s operations ground to a halt, while others survived, according to the reports of international nuclear inspectors. Nor is it clear the attacks are over: Some experts who have examined the code believe it contains the seeds for yet more versions and assaults.

“It’s like a playbook,” said Ralph Langner, an independent computer security expert in Hamburg, Germany, who was among the first to decode Stuxnet. “Anyone who looks at it carefully can build something like it.” Mr. Langner is among the experts who expressed fear that the attack had legitimized a new form of industrial warfare, one to which the United States is also highly vulnerable.

Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts Official Video

The Other Party

Democrats are “the other” party in this country and always start out the gate behind the republicans. Americans much prefer, the idea of having republicans run the government. And when they turn that idea into reality, and vote the GOP into power, then another reality takes up competition with “that ideal” as the leading faces that look mostly like there faces, faces that have studied the magic words the majority wants to hear to complete the fantasy. A fantasy that quickly turns into a governing nightmare, that becomes real when the well scrubbed populace realize somebody is stealing from them, in all sorts of creative ways.

And it is not by accident, that seemingly, and accurately, the only times democrats have the opportunity to get elected and gain power, is when the patriotic republican fantasy turns everything to shit via the round peg in square hole approach of conservative ideology deployed to govern a liberal democracy. And during the confusion, the hucksters and charlatans make off with the loot for their plutocrat employers, and when the dust settles, Barrack Obama gets elected president, and Nancy Pelosi makes Speaker of the Peoples House and the country cries for help from that “other party”.

For awhile, and sometimes a short while, like with the 2010 election, when patience runs thin once more with that “other party” and the worried minds of the average voter opens itself to the old lies and memes, and eyes turn to that “other party” with it’s faces of color and lack of magic words, and doubts of trust make a return, and the cycle of reconnection to the familiar begins all over again.

The good news is, this is slowly but surely changing in this country, and the election of Obama proves that. But it is in fits and spurts, and the clock is ticking.

Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas all, and a Happy New Year.

Van Morrison - Sometimes we cry - live with Chris Farlowe

"more" Wikileaks

As I have always maintained, I am full square for leakers and publishers to bring to light of day, government lawbreaking and general malfeasance regardless of the source. And in any case would likely become an urban guerrilla if the government were to take punitive or other coercive methods against our news providers to prevent them from publishing the Assange Files.

But I have no time for anyone leaking classified info for the sole general purpose that they don’t like the US and want to harm it in any way they can. And I believe that the government can request any time they want, that Amazon, a private company to consider the situation and decide to not publish these ill gotten files. It happens all the time, even for serious and substantial leaks, the government requesting news folks to not publish this or that material, and new papers make their own judgments in the cause of public service, versus malicious intent, and sometimes do not publish classified materials.

The point is, there is a line where stealing and publishing such material serves the public good, or it does not and causes, or could case malicious harm.