Apple Just Blocked Hackers From Taking Advantage of This Serious Security
Flaw
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The latest Mac security update patches a nasty Screen Sharing vulnerability.
4 hours ago
My Obama disappointments as his first year draws to an end.
12/22/2009
Labels:
democrat,
obama,
personal stories,
politics
A: Health Care reform - um, I suppose the bill that looks like it will land on the president's desk in a couple weeks will at least do away with pre-existing conditions, lifetime insurance payout limits and other barbaric insurance industry practices but it seems to be falling far short of what many wanted. You yourself may not agree with the so called "public option" but 60-70% consistently polled as supporting that option, yest it has been excluded from the bill along with several other, much needed reforms. If the existing insurance industry does not face new competition of some kind it will continue to drain the pockets of average Americans in order to fill the CEO s and other up[per management of the insurance companies with obscenely undeserved bonuses. Who has ever done 500 million dollars of work in a single year? Certainly not the paper shufflers at the top of the heap, rather, they pocket these obscene bonuses (in addition to their normal salaries) year after year no matter whether their companies have turned a profit or have had to be bailed out due to poor management. How is this fair? How is this in the spirit of the Christ the Republican party so often invokes, yet who was also the Christ who drove the money changers out of the Temple and told the rich that it is harder for them to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle? Sorry Barrack, but i think you need to sack up a little and be more willing to play the hardball that former President Bush played when he was able to ram innumerable questionable "reforms" through congress and all without your "super majority" in both houses of Congress. :(
B: Iraq and Afghanistan - I do understand that you made it clear during the Presidential debates prior to your election that you
would withdraw troops from Iraq after 18 months of becoming President and that you would transfer some of the resources from Iraq to Afghanistan, however, the 18 month deadline draws near, and based on your poor performance delivering on health care and gay rights, which i will cover shortly, I have begun to brace myself for the 18 month Iraqi deadline to come and go without significant action. Please feel free to redeem yourself and prove me wrong. What I would now like, is a withdrawal deadline for Afghanistan as well please? Don't be the Kennedy or the Johnson to today's Vietnam.
C: The Homos - I voted Republican in a Presidential election once: 1996, Bob Dole. I did so because I wanted to send a protest vote to Clinton who also came into office with a long list of to-do's and quickly failed to produce on many of them. Health care reform? Fail. Clinton's promises to end the military's prohibition on gay recruits? Fail. Clinton's classic "slick willy" move was to change the military's policy from "witch hunt and expel" to "don't ask. don't tell." There are several problems with don't ask don't tell (DADT). Of primary relevance at this time are the numerous expulsions of otherwise exemplary soldiers, during time of war, who's specialties are in short supply, for the simple reason that they were discovered to be interested in members of their own sex. A secondary concern is that "don't tell" is the exact opposite of "free speech," which is among the very first, and therefore, one would assume, the most important of Constitutionally protected rights? So far President Obama has not delivered on his promise to end DADT, a change which, unlike his clearly stated stance against gay marriage, he did insure his gay constituents he would implement. He is in a particularly strong position to do this since, in his position as Commander in Chief of the United States Military does not require him to consult Congress on this matter. He could eliminate this anachronistic relic of puritanism with a single signature on an executive order. That is exactly how the ban on black and white troops was overturned, an executive order in a time of war. The precedent is there, use it?
D: well, this is basically not a disappointment YET, but I do hope that the economy turns around before the 2012 Presidential elections or I may have to face another nail-biter between him and Sarah Palin, or perhaps some worse example of political competence that the Republican party manages to dig out of the woodwork. Oh well, those are things I had hoped a President Obama would deliver on; one (health care reform) seems to have turned out to be a half assed crumbs from the table sort of compromise, the second awaits any action whatsoever, and the third has seen action but I am only willing to wait so long before signs of economic change begin to become apparent or I will be tempted to throw in the towel on that core issue of Obama's Presidential campaign as well.
I don't want to be politically apathetic, but come on people, how many sad sack, wimpy compromised administrations can a good progressive endure before he starts to give up his last remaining hopes for American political progress?
High afghan soldiers not a good sign for US withdrawal
The U.S. marines training the Afghan army come across as consistently frustrated by how unfocused, and often high, many of the Afghans are. They complain repeatedly of soldiers coming to training without a lot of their gear, including their helmets.
One U.S. Marine summed up the situation succinctly by saying: "Ultimately, it effects their ability to protect their nation and get Afghanistan on its feet."
Good Lord! It seems like trying to herd cats. If they do not take their own security seriously why are we? :(
a peek inside nyc's eagle gay leather bar - video - not safe for work, obviously
12/07/2009
Labels:
funny,
gay,
homosexuality,
pop culture,
sexuality,
video
official US government statement regarding America's religious foundation from 1796
12/06/2009
Labels:
church,
constitution,
history,
united states
The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion" (see below) This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams.
cookie monster duets with rammstein - video
12/04/2009
Labels:
audio,
funny,
germany,
pop culture,
video
Cave Dwelling Brothers, To Inherit Billions
Labels:
economy,
europe,
inspiration
Zsolt and Geza Peladi, two penniless brothers who had been living in a cave outside Budapest, are to inherit a $7 billion fortune from their long-lost grandmother, United Press International reports.
UPI quotes Geza as saying, "We knew our mother came from a wealthy family, but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them, and then later abandoned us."
According to the Telegraph, the brothers were contacted by charity workers. Sincetheir German grandmother had left no next-of-kin for her fortune, the vast amount of money was passed down to her next surviving relatives - the Peladi brothers and another sister who lives in America.
The brothers are hoping that the money will improve their life - and their love life. The Telegraph reports:
"If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now -- all we really had was each other -- no women would look at us living in a cave," said Geza.
"But with money, maybe we can find a partner and finally have a normal life. "
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/03/zsolt-and-geza-peladi-cav_n_378481.html
andrew sullivan - "why I can no longer support the conservative movement"
12/02/2009
Labels:
democrat,
history,
politics,
red state,
republican,
stereotype
I cannot support a movement that claims to believe in limited government but backed an unlimited domestic and foreign policy presidency that assumed illegal, extra-constitutional dictatorial powers until forced by the system to return to the rule of law.
I cannot support a movement that exploded spending and borrowing and blames its successor for the debt.
Oakeshott I cannot support a movement that so abandoned government's minimal and vital role to police markets and address natural disasters that it gave us Katrina and the financial meltdown of 2008.
I cannot support a movement that holds torture as a core value.
I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.
I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.
I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.
I cannot support a movement that sees permanent war as compatible with liberal democratic norms and limited government.
I cannot support a movement that criminalizes private behavior in the war on drugs.
I cannot support a movement that would back a vice-presidential candidate manifestly unqualified and duplicitous because of identity politics and electoral cynicism.
I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.
I cannot support a movement that does not accept evolution as a fact.
I cannot support a movement that sees climate change as a hoax and offers domestic oil exploration as the core plank of an energy policy.
I cannot support a movement that refuses ever to raise taxes, while proposing no meaningful reductions in government spending.
I cannot support a movement that refuses to distance itself from a demagogue like Rush Limbaugh or a nutjob like Glenn Beck.
I cannot support a movement that believes that the United States should be the sole global power, should sustain a permanent war machine to police the entire planet, and sees violence as the core tool for international relations.
Does this make me a "radical leftist" as Michelle Malkin would say? Emphatically not. But it sure disqualifies me from the current American right.
To paraphrase Reagan, I didn't leave the conservative movement. It left me.
And increasingly, I'm not alone
the non-surprise of the afghan surge
Labels:
democrat,
history,
military,
news,
obama,
republican,
stereotype
Who could have known that Barack Obama would double-down in Afghanistan? Only people who listened to Barack Obama:
Ending the war is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been. As Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently pointed out, we won't have sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq.
As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.
http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/12/obamas_surprising_afghanistan.php
Little Green Footballs' Charles Johnson Breaks With The Right
Labels:
democrat,
history,
military,
politics,
republican,
stereotype
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/01/little-green-footballs-ch_n_375357.html
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, a conservative-leaning political blog, officially announced his break with the right in a post on Monday evening. Johnson is co-founder of Pajamas Media, and Little Green Footballs has been named one of the top 100 most popular blogs.
Succinctly titled "Why I Parted Ways With The Right," Johnson's post argues against the fanaticism of politicians like Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Pat Buchanan as well as the conservative blogosphere
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/35243_Why_I_Parted_Ways_With_The_Right
Nazi Mystery? Twins from Brazil - video
Labels:
germany,
history,
hitler,
nazi,
science,
stereotype,
television,
video
National Geographic Channel visits a rural Brazilian town where "the 80 households in a one-square-mile area have reportedly some 38 pairs of twins. Blond, blue-eyed twins." Nat Geo then attempts to trace rumors connecting that creepy phenomenon to Nazi medical monster Joseph Mengele, who was on the lam in Brazil in the 1950s.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/4087/Overview?source=link_tw_02#tab-Overview
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