Normally, Saturday is an "off" day for the Raven, when we pen something thoughtful and introspective. But we did that yesterday, so it's back into the grinder for more punishment. Don't know if you're feeling it, but from here, the Net is slow today, making me wonder whether there's some kind of assault in progress on the servers.

That's not entirely unlikely, according to CERT, whose report, titled, "More Net Attacks Loom," outlines the problem we're facing with undefended PCs out there that are infected with various bots that can be awakened to carry out DDoS interruptions.

At the heart of this new trend, according to security experts, are poor security practices. But more important is the mistaken belief by corporate IT that once crises such as those caused by Code Red or SQL Slammer die down, the trouble's over. In fact, after an initial flurry of advisories, warnings and patches, there are often months or years of sustained infections and residual DDoS attacks, Lindner said.

The Dolphins of War

Did you know that the average grunt in the U.S. army is earning about the same salary as a crossing guard? That seems like a poor remunerative scale for people facing tanks, mortars, and RPGs.

The base pay of a private with one year of service is $15,480 a year, according to Department of Defense military pay rates. That's slightly more than the $14,144 pocketed by child-care workers and movie ushers, and the $15,080 earned by crossing guards in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Remember that 1973 George C. Scott thriller Day of the Dolphin? Turns out that it wasn't science fiction, and we're employing these guys to locate underwater mines.

They may soon be joined by California sea lions trained to locate and snare enemy divers who are then reeled in by U.S. forces. A "platoon" of sea lions has been in Bahrain for two months and could see action soon, a Navy spokesman said.

Cough up that Quarter

That's our advice to beach-going picnickers in Australia, based on this story, titled: Topless woman attacks picnic. It's pretty much the usual. A Vietman vet and his family were out for a day in the sun near Darwin when they were approached by beggars cadging for spare change. He told 'em to "go away." Big mistake.

"A woman in her mid-30s was the worst. She disappeared behind a toilet block and then reappeared, topless, brandishing a huge knife. She came straight at me, calling me all sorts of names and said she was going to kill me.

"I had to pick up the fold-up table to protect myself. She slammed the knife into it. My wife was terrified."

What It's Like

Here's the story of Sgt. Mark N. Redmond, who's with the 3rd Infantry Division, and who had to take the bridge at Kifl, a village on the Euphrates River about 75 miles south of Baghdad.

"They just came up to us," he said, describing irregular Iraqi militiamen who began fighting as soon as Troop C crossed the two-lane bridge over the Euphrates. "It seemed to me they were trying to test us, but it was suicide."

That's Nice

Over at Columbia University in New York, we've got an educational problem. Professor Nicholas De Genova was speaking at a five-hour anti-war forum and railed against our prospects in Iraq:

"The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military," said De Genova, an assistant professor of anthropology and Latino studies.

De Genova also asserted that Americans who call themselves "patriots" are white supremacists.

More Raven later this evening.

1:06:50 PM