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Thursday, September 02, 2004 |
DOD reveals viral infection, by Bob Brewin, Federal Computer Week.
A virus infected two computers managed by the
Army Space and Missile Defense Command operating on the Defense
Department's classified Internet recently, according to Lt. Gen Larry
Dodgen, head of the command.
Dodgen, speaking here at the Army Director of Information Management
(DOIM) conference said two computers in the Space and Missile Defense
command connected to the DOD Secret Internet Protocol Router Network
(SIPRNET) were infected because they did not have any virus
protection.
The breach of security, Dodgen said, illustrated the need for
diligence, diligence, diligence when it comes to information
security and assurance - although he described his initial reaction to
the incident as, Who are we going to shoot?
William Congo, a spokesman for the Huntsville, Ala.-based Space and
Missile Defense Command said the two computers were located at a
facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. The viruses were detected quickly
and the two computers were then isolated from the SIPRNET, Congo
added. The incident occurred "within the past month" and officials are
still investigating the matter to determine how the infection occurred
and prevent future occurrences, he said.
Other Army officials also underscored the need for better information
security. Despite years of emphasis, the Army still does a poor job of
protecting its information systems, said Lt. Gen Steve Boutelle, the
Army's chief information officer, in a speech here. How many accounts
still have no password? Boutelle asked.
But, he added, that will change now that information assurance is a
commander's responsibility, not just the job of the Army's IT
establishment.
10:43:18 AM 
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Holding a Bakesale for the Deficit at the Reagan Prayer Breakfast.
In 1984, for Reagan's second coronation, we took Ladies Against Women to Dallas, Texas, and the highlight was our bake sale for the deficit, held outside the Thursday morning Ronald Reagan prayer breakfast at the local stadium.  This photo of Virginia Cholesterol and Mrs. T. Bill Banks was taken by one of the people we contacted and connected with in Dallas, "Rev. Ivan Stang" of the church of the subgenius. We attemped to sell dingdongs to the conservatives for $7 billion or more each, and some of them smiled until we told them the prices. We repeatedly sprayed the twinkies with lysol "to ensure shelf-life." (Later in our stage show we took to making twinkies "from scratch" out of coolwhip and packaged sponge cake, and so the lysol became emblematic of artifciality and additives. Interesting to see that we included it even when we bought our twinkies and hoho's pre-fab.) Even with "Ban the Poor" signs, thrift store clothes and pink Ladyfesto handouts, some of them needed to hear a series of our gags before they realized we were not on their side. It was a bizarre performance context, with an audience of two reporters, trying not to laugh, and taping the interactions, with dozens of unwitting conservative delegates as extras in the scene. Looking at events like that as protest or theater, I have to honestly admit that without the coverage -- the witness by our pal with the camera and the several reporters who happened upon us -- it would have been self-indulgent ritual. Perhaps satisfying to my fellow lady in the scene and to myself in a surreal way, but not political, satirical, though-provoking or useful. Satire has to have an audience with an awareness of irony, outrage and absurdity. My long-considered theory is that without that, with only the performer (or author) knowing it is meant to be humorous, it's only a practical joke, not anything that can inform or illuminate. We were very lucky to strike a chord with many media people who passed along our best quips, and to be able to perform our stage shows for audiences who got the jokes. I think those two contexts made it the street, stage and media performances worth it. I also think that traditional media is in many ways unable to cover demonstations as they once could. From the Dallas Morning News, 8-24-1984, not online:
The ladies... have been in Dallas since Saturday, staging elaborate put-ons to counter Republican events. On Monday, they held a "Real Republican Fashion Show" on the sidewalk in front of the Fairmont Hotel, where, inside, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum was doing the same. On Tuesday, they held a "Platform Pep Rally," saying they agree wholeheatedly with the GOP's stand against the Equal Rights Amendment ("Suffering, not suffrage"). [Ladies Against Women (Behind & Beyond!)]
6:51:11 AM
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Photos capture decay, hope in small Missouri town. The scenario may be familiar to students from small towns in Missouri and Illinois. What was once an idyllic farm community has become a place where no one wants to be. One grocery chain takes the business of all the other stores, and all the young people flee to a large city. [The Journal]
6:25:46 AM
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Chomsky's Olof Palme Lecture at Oxford: "Doctrines and Visions: Who is to Run the World and How?".
The audio of his lecture (in different formats) is here. (There is also a transcript.)
(Thanks to reader Thomas Smith from Oxford for the pointer.)
Is there really a more extraordinary academic figure anywhere in the world today? On the one hand, he revolutionalized an entire field--linguistics--establishing himself as the preeminent 20th-century figure in the discipline, at the same time producing theories and ideas that have had major ramifications in cognate intellectual fields such as philosophy and psychology. On the other hand, he has, with uncompromising integrity, analyzed state power and its apologists, always speaking directly and concretely, and on the basis of an unwaivering moral vision of human beings and their worth. And he has continued to do so while being subjected to astonishing and relentless abuse by legions of pea brains, moral charlatans, and intellectual piddlers and tinkerers. (I omit the more obvious apologists for state terror--of course, they would attack him!) As I remarked on a previous occasion, it clearly takes great courage and fortitude to be Noam Chomsky. We are all lucky he was granted those traits along with his intellectual talent and energy.
UPDATE: This libertarian site has a nice article on Chomsky
[The Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates]
6:25:39 AM
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Dancarchy Reigns!.
I'm about to lead another sortie of dancing fools out into the streets of Manhattan, so I don't have time to provide a full report. But I want to dispatch some news from the field in media res. (Perhaps I will never be able to give you a truly descriptive report. There have been so many perfect moments already that it would take a book to contain them. I will leave this enterprise with memories that I expect to cherish forever.) After four missions, Dancing in the Streets has exceeded my fondest expectations. It was my objective, as it usually is, that we afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted, and this is what we have been doing by all appearances. We generally make the credentialed Republicans we encounter visibly nervous and spread good will and humor to most of the rest, including the police, who could well use it at the moment. People dig it when they see other people dancing in incongruous places. The most surprising people will join in, falling on the dance with a kind of hunger. . . . . Levels of engagement have increased with fine-tuning. The results vary, ranging from the Stepford husband whom we made so nervous that he walked into a plate glass window to the sweet young delegate from Oklahoma who tore off his tie and joined us for the balance of the evening. We've had many interactions with the police. They certainly weren't interested in arresting us, though they kept us moving. Several of them said wistfully they wanted to join us. In general they only interfered because they are trying to maintain as familiar a peace as they can. Major variations from standard reality worry them. But not enough to go maximum on us. We did have one of our members detained yesterday near Madison Square Garden when a Secret Service agent thought there was something suspicious about her and subjected her to a long, aggressive, and surreal interrogation. . . . . On Monday we found a deserted stretch of sidewalk across from Crobar, where the American Gas Association was hosting a "Wild Western Jamboree" and danced there for a good half hour without getting anything but dire looks from the Republicans coming out of the club. . . . . We've been taken for Republicans several times, and, and by sartorial appearance, we could easily pass. On numerous occasions, people have thought we might be born again Christians, dancing in joy for the Lord. (Now why they think born again Christians would be dancing to the likes of ZZ Top, I don't know.) . . . . One of them said that he knew we were mocking George Bush. "How are we doing that?" we asked. "By dancing," he snarled. And that, my pesky friends, is paydirt. . . . . We're going to skip the morning session. 11 am is rough on a hot day if you've been dancing hard until 2:30 am the night before. So we will have missions beginning at 5 and 10. As before, the 5 pm launch will be from the southeast corner of Bryant Park. The 10 pm foray will be from Serena, a bar beneath the Hotel Chelsea on 23rd between 7th and 8th. Be there or miss a marvelous opportunity to enjoy the human comedy in all its forms. . . . . In any case, this is such a wonderful experience that I believe I might turn it into a regular practice. I envision the dancing equivalent of Critical Mass, the bicycle action. Perhaps we could call it Critical Dance. I imagine gathering on, say, the second Friday of every month, and dancing forth in increasing numbers. If you're at all interested in joining us now, we have, as noted above, two expeditions venturing forth today, as noted above. Probably late for the 5:00 pm unless you're close to Bryant Park, but there will be another tonight and probably a couple tomorrow. (TBA) This is, as I hoped, a gas, gas, gas....
[BarlowFriendz]
6:23:05 AM
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