Politics

Politics

There are 1,056 posts filed in Politics (this is page 30 of 106).

‘Homebrew’ email servers: Genius as well as sneaky? :: WRAL.com

No, it’s not always a room filled with wires and glowing blue lights. It’s probably not even the size of your furnace. The personal email server used by Hillary Rodham Clinton during her time as secretary of state was probably about the size of your office desktop computer and could have been tucked quietly in a corner somewhere.

She’s come a long way since 1997, when Clinton’s staff bought the then-first lady a copy of the book "E-Mail for Dummies."

Setting up your own email server is something only the geekiest of tech geeks do because of the serious hassles involved, including spending every waking hour fending off spam. Like brewing your own beer, it’s typically done just for fun — a way to challenge your smarts and fill the time. It also appeals to those who fear the government is sniffing around and could compel companies like Google or Yahoo to release customer data.

via 'Homebrew' email servers: Genius as well as sneaky? :: WRAL.com.

Historic moment: Saudi Arabia sees End of Oil Age coming and opens valves on the carbon bubble – EnergyPost.eu

This is a fascinating read about the oil market that took me a while to really get, but it finally makes sense.

Tl;dr The Saudis are selling all the oil they can now because they’re worried that oil is quickly becoming obsolete. They’d rather sell at a drastic discount than be left with oceans of oil but no buyers.

Most analysts believe Saudi Arabia refuses to cut production because it wants to shake out its higher-cost competitors or because it wants to punish Iran and Russia. There may be some truth in those theories, writes Elias Hinckley, strategic advisor and head of the energy practice with international law firm Sullivan and Worcester, but they miss the deeper motivation of the Saudis. Saudi Arabia, he says, sees the end of the Oil Age on the horizon and understands that a great deal of global fossil fuel reserves will have to stay underground to avoid catastrophic global warming. “That’s why it has opened the valves on the carbon asset bubble.”

via Historic moment: Saudi Arabia sees End of Oil Age coming and opens valves on the carbon bubble – EnergyPost.eu.

Separate And Unequal: Gen. Petraeus Facing Mild Wrist Slap For Leaking Eight Books Full Of Classified Info To His Mistress

Can’t wait to see Ed Snowden offered the same sweet deal. I’m sure that will happen, right?

The administration still wants to punish whistleblowers and leakers, but only if it can do it with logic borrowed from Animal Farm. When it comes to prosecution, some leakers are more equal than others.

John Kiriakou — who exposed a single CIA operative’s name while exposing its waterboarding tactics — spent more time in jail than former CIA director Leon Panetta, who has spent (at last count) a grand total of 0 days locked up for leaking tons of classified info to Zero Dark Thirty’s screenwriter, Mark Boal.

Of course, some leaks just aren’t leaks, at least not according to the government. Kiriakou’s were wrong. Panetta’s were right. And Kiriakou spent three years in prison for a lesser "crime."

via Techdirt..

Clinton ran own computer system for her official emails :: WRAL.com

Hillz got mad skillz, running her own mailserver. Who knew she was a 7337 hacX0R?

The computer server that transmitted and received Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emails — on a private account she used exclusively for official business when she was secretary of state — traced back to an Internet service registered to her family’s home in Chappaqua, New York, according to Internet records reviewed by The Associated Press.

The highly unusual practice of a Cabinet-level official physically running her own email would have given Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, impressive control over limiting access to her message archives. It also would distinguish Clinton’s secretive email practices as far more sophisticated than some politicians, including Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin, who were caught conducting official business using free email services operated by Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc.

via Clinton ran own computer system for her official emails :: WRAL.com.

Reporters on the CIA take

The story of Ken Dilanian playing footsie with the CIA brought to mind a comment I heard a few years back from someone in a position to know who insisted that news anchor Ted Koppel was a paid CIA asset. That was quite an extraordinary claim but I did not follow up and I could not find much evidence on the web to back it up.

It is not, however, a new phenomenon. Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein wrote a lengthy story about improper CIA involvement with the media. Wikipedia describes “Operation Mockinbgird” as a CIA plan to influence media and speaks of it in the past tense, though there is no indication that the operation has ended. Perhaps it hasn’t.

RALEIGH: Senate plan would cut NC gas tax | State Politics | NewsObserver.com

Our state legislature is considering cutting our state gasoline tax when we should be doubling it. How unfortunate.

Also, I’m not happy with Bruce Sieceloff’s story about it as he doesn’t explain why our state’s gasoline tax is so high. North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the country, bigger than Texas and even California. That’s why North Carolina’s gas taxes are higher than neighboring states. Shame on you, Bruce, for failing to mention this fact.

The legislature has moved twice over the past decade to put an upper limit on rising gas tax rates. But in 2009, a tax ceiling that had been enacted two years earlier was converted to a floor to close a gap in the DOT budget. Without that action in 2009, the tax rate would have dropped from 29.9 to 27.9 cents.

North Carolina’s gas tax is one of the highest in the nation. The highway use tax collected at the time of car sales, another major source of road money, is lower in North Carolina than in neighboring states.

via RALEIGH: Senate plan would cut NC gas tax | State Politics | NewsObserver.com.

Update: As I noted then, the N&O’s editorial board mentioned this back in May 2012:

“There’s a good reason why our gas tax is so hefty. State government here, due to a policy with roots in the Depression, bears a much greater share of local road expenses than in most states. North Carolina ranks second only to Texas in miles of state-maintained roadways. This policy serves to lighten the load on county governments and is reflected in their relatively low tax rates.”

I feel it is only fair that when our state’s high gas tax is mentioned, our state’s gigantic, state-owned highway system should be mentioned, too.

Brian Williams and lies about Iraq

Brian_Williams
There’s a lot being made about NBC News anchor Brian Williams having claimed he was in a helicopter in Iraq that made an emergency landing after being hit by enemy fire. I give Williams a pass. He had made a living telling other people’s stories, stories he did not write. After reading thousands of these over the years, it must become difficult keeping straight what one did and what one only read or saw. It does not diminish my perception of Williams if his helicopter wasn’t hit as he claimed. In the heat of it all it becomes difficult to piece together what’s what.

As the photo above attests, it would be a shame if Williams were the only one punished for lying about Iraq. There are presidents, vice-presidents, cabinet officials, – and, yes, news media – that buried everyone under lie upon lie about Iraq. Williams’s faux pas is tame by comparison.

Hanging Brian Williams out to dry for Iraq lies is like making Martha Stewart the fall guy for insider trading. The worst offenders get away.

Dean Smith passes away

Dean Smith speaks with Erskine Bowles

Dean Smith speaks with Erskine Bowles

Dean Smith, legendary basketball coach of the team I love to beat (the Tar Heels), passed away last night at the age of 83. Though I’m a Wolfpack fan, I had a lot of respect for Coach Smith. You knew when your team beat his it was something special because he always had his teams prepared.

I was fortunate to stand behind him at the Kerry-Edwards rally at N.C. State on July 10, 2004. It was unbearably hot and he was sweating through his dress shirt. I asked him if the heat bothered him and he smiled and said it was actually his bad knees that bothered him. We were on risers with no seats and at that moment I wanted to flag down and organizer and demand a seat be provided to Coach Smith.

Google Fiber and an FCC decision could give more people cheaper access to the Internet | News Feature | Indy Week

Indyweek talked with Erica Swanson, head of Google Fiber’s Community Impact programs, about bringing broadband to all income levels.

The bad news about Google Fiber coming to seven cities in the Triangle is that the high-speed Internet service won’t be installed in your neighborhood by the next season of House of Cards.

The good news is that Google Fiber says it will seek out traditionally underserved communities—low-income, minority, non-English speaking areas, where some residents don’t have home Internet at all.

About 60 million people in the U.S. don’t have Internet at home, according to the Pew Research Center. In cities, that number is 1 in 4. For some, a computer and a connection are too expensive; others say they don’t need it—the Internet has no place in their lives.

That might change, hinging on Google’s expansion plans, along with a pending decision by the FCC, that could give more people cheaper access to the Internet.

"Affordable connectivity, that’s the piece we can address," says Erica Swanson, Google’s head of Community Impact Programs.

via Google Fiber and an FCC decision could give more people cheaper access to the Internet | News Feature | Indy Week.

R-Line envy

R-Line-BikeOnBus
Speaking of transit, I see that the marketing director for Cameron Village is trying to drum up support for diverting the R-Line buses from the original mission of serving downtown Raleigh. I’m all for improved transportation around Cameron Village because trying to drive anywhere around there is a nightmare. That said, I’m not sure extending the R-Line is the answer.

The R-Line buses came about through a joint effort of the Raleigh Transit Authority, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA), and the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB). All three groups helped make the R-Line possible. Cameron Village is not part of DRA and I don’t see that they do much with the GRCVB. Is the shopping center proposing to help pay for this extended service the way these other groups have? If so, I haven’t heard it. It would be great to get everything for free, but someone has to pick up the tab.

Cameron Village already has city bus service (two routes, 12 and 16). It makes sense to improve this existing service and leave the R-Line to do what it’s been doing: giving visitors an easy way to get around downtown Raleigh. That’s why downtown businesses subsidize it.