Just Not Right

Everyone one on the Boston jury was pro-capital punishment so it is not surprising that Tsarnaev got the death penalty.  It was not going to come out any other way.

I guess I never will understand how any rational person can think that killing someone you have in custody makes any moral  or logical sense. Put in its simplest form it is just revenge and not much beyond cold blooded murder. We make a big deal about our legal rituals and all that claptrap but when you get down to the nitty gritty we are still pretty primitive.

As I have said many times here, I don't believe in capitol punishment under any circumstances. Not for this young man or for anyone else. There is not a valid argument for why more death is the right thing to do.

No Surprise

It's absolutely no surprise to me that virtually everything on the Internet is subject to capture and analysis by the good folks at NSA. They've had the capability of one sort of another since electronic communication began and they have kept up with the growth  of technology and 'social media' and all that. That's what they do. Never forget that if they can do it they will.

However, you should keep in mind that just the 'metadata' alone (calling number, called number, etc) for just the telephone side is probably on the order of 10 - 12 terabits per day and even with very sophisticated data mining there is no way they can look at more than a tiny fraction of it. Then again, if you pop up on a target list then you can pretty much guarantee you're entire life will be captured. Bank transactions, email, blog posts, Facebook, Twitter, all of it. If you happen to use cloud storage, as I do, for Quicken and PC Backup then they've got that too.

Remember when you gave Google your cell number for 'emergency contact'
or when you gave Bank of America your cell for verification of account changes?
Did you give your doctor your cell number for emergency contact? How about your employer?
Isn't it convenient to be able to use Google or Facebook accounts to log into other apps?

On the positive side the mind numbing volume of data probably means that if a given piece of data doesn't trip some alert it is probably lost forever. If it does meet the search or mining trigger then it probably means that it is stored, if not forever then a very long time.

Big Brother of 1984 fame was a piker in comparison.

Mixed Emotions

Waking up to the news that Bin Laden has been killed leaves me with mixed emotions. On the one hand I guess it ends one long trial and will provide some closure to people. On the other I can't help but feel that killing him will just provide the terrorists with a martyr and rallying symbol. I suppose we'll just have to see how it all plays out. I am sure, however, that well hear from the Retardlican fringe that this is just another lie from the Kenyan Muslim who is turning America into a Socialist country and/or if he is really dead then why didn't we bring the body back to put on display.

Anyhow, I have a day off and the weather is good so I intend to spend it in the garden. Maybe I can get the rest of the planting done and my water line to the garden repaired. I was saddened to discover a young king snake entrapped and dead in the netting I covered the okra with when I toured the garden last night after work. Either choked or died from too much heat. I'll have to give it a proper burial this morning first thing if an owl or some other predator left it for me to dispose of. King snakes a good to have around as they keep less desirable snakes like copperheads, moccasins and rattlers away. Maybe its momma is still around.

Good breakfast (eggs scrambled this time Steve) so I am fueled and ready to go.

Wear Nice Underwear

You need to start paying more attention to your underwear

Giving Transportation Security Administration agents a peek under your clothes may soon be a practice that goes well beyond airport checkpoints. Newly uncovered documents show that as early as 2006, the Department of Homeland Security has been planning pilot programs to deploy mobile scanning units that can be set up at public events and in train stations, along with mobile x-ray vans capable of scanning pedestrians on city streets.

The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on Wednesday published documents it obtained from the Department of Homeland Security showing that from 2006 to 2008 the agency planned a study of of new anti-terrorism technologies that EPIC believes raise serious privacy concerns. The projects range from what the DHS describes as “a walk through x-ray screening system that could be deployed at entrances to special events or other points of interest” to “covert inspection of moving subjects” employing the same backscatter imaging technology currently used in American airports.

Money For Nothing and Your Chicks Aren't Free

With apologies to Dire Straits.

I read in the paper this morning that the 'virtual' fence thing along the Mexican border has sucked up a billion dollars or so and proven itself completely useless. The administration and DHS are going to announce 'Oh it's just money' and cancel the whole thing. A lot of contractors made some big bucks, billed some mighty profitable hours so that's OK and some folks in the DHA have a guaranteed job when they are finished feeding at the government trough.

It got me to thinking about this whole DHS thing and TSA. Probably because I was also remembering about the pilot who refused to go through the full body scan at Memphis the other day and the airport shakedown of the Dalai Lama. The thing is I am having trouble remembering any actual thwarting of a terrorist attack or hijacking by all this additional cost and hassle precipitated on us by the DHS/TSA since 9/11. We have paid out billions of dollars but I sure can't remember or see what we have gotten for it other than more hassles. Some events have been prevented but the ones I remember where discovered or thwarted after the perp was on the plane and well on the way. Have they caught anyone with a bomb yet? They have stopped a few people with guns but they weren't hijackers as far as I can remember.

Can someone explain to me what we have gotten from the new TSA bureaucracy other than a big pain in the ass and a huge, huge bill. I might be wrong but I don't feel like we are getting such a good deal.

Not Too Bright

I am not making fun of the attempt at a terrorist bombing of Times Square in New York on Saturday night. If it has been successful a lot of people would have been injured and we should all be glad the 'bomber' is evidently as dumb as a box of hammers.

Granted there was potential for explosion and fire with respect to the propane cylinders and gasoline but whoever put this mess together obviously can't read, use the internet or think.

1. Using firecrackers to set off a fire doesn't work. There is very little actual explosive and thus very little actual 'fire' even in the most powerful commercial firecracker. He would have been better off with a pack of matches and a burning cigarette. More time to run and a sure fire ignition.

2. Garden fertilizer is not explosive. Even if it has a little ammonium nitrate mixed in. Pure ammonium nitrate is explosive if mixed with fuel oil (diesel fuel or home heating oil) while packed tightly in a confined space and ignited with an industrial blasting cap. Oklahoma City is good evidence of that but it takes a lot of ammonium nitrate to get a significant blast.

3. Causing a BBQ grill type propane tank to explode is virtually impossible. There is a reason you don't read reports of them exploding in the news. They are very well engineered. When they are heated they have a pressure relief valve that releases pressure before they can explode. You can throw one in a fire and it will soon vent gas in a great 'poof' but it won't explode.

4. A vehicle's VIN (vehicle identification number) is marked in a few more places on a vehicle than the little metal strip in the window. The engine, transmission and drive shaft are just a few.  This is done to hinder auto thieves who strip stolen cars for parts. The VIN on the trans axle was how they traced the van used in the bombing of the World Trade Center so many years ago. I am sure the New York police have traced the vehicle's owner by now.

This dude went to a lot of trouble for nothing...and if he thought he wouldn't be caught on camera in a place like Times Square then he didn't do a lot of research or reconnoiter. Let's all be thankful we had an incompetent boob this time. Chances are we won't be so lucky if there is a next time.