COMMENTS ―
► ALERT: Facebook Scam
► Facebook Scam
► Car Burglar's Big Clue
► Cyberwar: North Korea
► Obama's Books a Security Risk
► Higher Taxes
► U.S. Deficit

► 9 July 2009 ― ["Washington U.S. Eyes N. Korea in Cyber Attack," Tampa Bay Times, July 9, 2009, p. 14] "U.S. authorities on Wednesday were focusing on North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack on government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned that the complexities of the Internet make it difficult to identify the attackers quickly. The attack that stretched on for days over the holiday weekend targeted dozens of government and private sites, and underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such assaults. While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the attack, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption."

► 10 July 2009 ― A. J. Liebling said, "Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” But today, with the Internet's personal web pages and social networks (like Facebook) and cell phones, everyone can be an author. Politicians at play are most often discovered now by private persons who blog about it, share cell phone photos or just plain post comments. God, I love this country.

► 10 July 2009 ― ALERT: There is an email going around that warns that Facebook is over-crowded, and wants you to send the message to 15 of your friends. It warns that all people who do not forward the message will deleted from Facebook. It is a SCAM designed to get you to click on the link so that malicious software can attempt to attack your system and anyone to whom you send the email. This is REAL, please, pay attention. One of my friends pointed out that Snopes.com points out that "Email Tracking" emails, which is what this threat email is based upon, are a hoax. Yes, but this one is different in that it asks you to click on a link. (Bad guys read Snopes, too.) There is some discussion that this email may have been an extension of the N. Korean Denial of Service attacks last weekend. I only know that you MUST be alert.

► 10 July 2009 ― Greetings from Flori-DUH. “Police: Car Burglar Left a Big Clue,” Tampa Bay Times, 10 July 2009, p. 7 Dade City – While swiping bottles of rum and vodka on July 2 from a car in the parking lot of Premier Health Care, a car burglar left his cell phone behind — with his picture on the screen, Dade City police say. The car’s owner found the phone, turned it on, and saw the photo of Dustin Sabo, 20, who was arrested."  And he votes.

► 12 July 2009 ― "Obama's Books a Security Threat," Tampa Bay Times, 10 July 2009, p. 15 The U.S.'s most secure prison rejected inmate's request to read President Obama's Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, serving 30-years, requested 2 books, but prison officials, citing guidance from the FBI, determined passages in both books contain material "potentially detrimental to national security."  "The inmates are running the asylum."

► 12 July 2009 ― According to George F. Will (“Higher Taxes, Anyone?” July 12, 2009): “Partly because of changes endorsed by presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, approximately 60% of taxpayers now pay either no income tax (43%) or less than 5% of their income.” Doesn't that make you feel like you're doing your fair share?

► 14 July 2009 ― According to the Associate Press, the “U.S. Deficit Is $1.1 Trillion." What's more frightening is the final paragraph: “Spending has risen to address the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and jobless rate of 9.5 percent. Congress approved a $700 billion financial bailout and $787 billion economic stimulus package. There is talk among some administration officials of a second stimulus round.”  What a wonderful gift we have bequeathed to our grandchildren.