A Year and a Half of President Obama - Deroy Murdock - National Review Online

As the Obama administration marks 18 months in power today, no one should be terribly surprised that it is the hardest-Left U.S. government since that of FDR. For those who paid attention, Obama’s hyperliberal U.S. Senate record pierced like a dive light through the squid ink of Hope and Change that Obama squirted at anyone who demanded programmatic specifics. (At 95.5 percent in 2007, according to the National Journal, Obama was the Senate’s No. 1 Left-liberal.)

However, after Obama’s nearly flawless campaign (rattled by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s racist rants, but little else), the big surprise one and a half years after Obama’s momentous and truly moving inauguration is the staggering incompetence of his government. Like some Americans, I expected a nanny-state, socialist agenda from Obama & Co. However, I thought that at least they would manage things smoothly and professionally, in somewhat refreshing contrast to the general ineptitude of the detached, tongue-tied Bush-Rove years. Instead, what America and the world have witnessed is an extravaganza of frequent gaffes, blunders, and catastrophes...

Russian Spies and Strategic Intelligence | STRATFOR

Good summary of how Russian spying works for anyone puzzled by recent headlines.

http://bit.ly/cTtg0u

Paul H. Rubin: Why Is the Gulf Cleanup So Slow? - WSJ.com

First, the Environmental Protection Agency can relax restrictions on the amount of oil in discharged water, currently limited to 15 parts per million. In normal times, this rule sensibly controls the amount of pollution that can be added to relatively clean ocean water. But this is not a normal time.

Various skimmers and tankers (some of them very large) are available that could eliminate most of the oil from seawater, discharging the mostly clean water while storing the oil onboard. While this would clean vast amounts of water efficiently, the EPA is unwilling to grant a temporary waiver of its regulations.

Spy vs Spy

Buzz by Mac Beach from Google Reader

I spent 20 minutes doing a pretty good blog post as a Google Reader post. Rather than just repeat the whole thing here I'll point to it (click title) for posterior posterity. They say they keep Buzz and GReader stuff forever, but who knows. At least I can export my blog.

Related link

Test Posting with GoogleCL

This is a test 1 2 3

State Department Anxious About Possible Leak of Cables to Wikileaks | Threat Level | Wired.com

The State Department and personnel at U.S. embassies around the world are reportedly waiting anxiously to find out if an Army intelligence analyst was telling the truth when he boasted that he had supplied 260,000 classified State Department diplomatic cables to the whistleblower site Wikileaks.

If Wikileaks has the secret documents and publishes them, the leak could not only expose damaging information about U.S. foreign policy and national security issues, but also expose embarrassing information about backroom diplomatic deals and U.S. attitudes toward foreign leaders — such as the opinions of U.S. ambassadors about the honesty, integrity, and strength and longevity of those leaders.

Apple's Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed

Apple has suffered another embarrassment. A security breach has exposed iPad owners including dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians. They—and every other buyer of the wireless-enabled tablet—could be vulnerable to spam marketing and malicious hacking.

The breach, which comes just weeks after an Apple employee lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, exposed the most exclusive email list on the planet, a collection of early-adopter iPad 3G subscribers that includes thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media, from New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson to Diane Sawyer of ABC News to film mogul Harvey Weinstein to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It even appears that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's information was compromised.

Sayonara, iPhone: Why I'm Switching to Android - Newsweek

Yes, Apple still has a larger installed base. I was a little shocked recently when an Apple spokesbot responded to the news of Android's outselling iPhone OS by reciting the old chestnut about Apple's having more phones out there.

I was shocked because it's a familiar line, one that I've heard countless times in my 20-plus years covering technology. But I've only ever heard it from companies that are doomed and in total denial about it.

FT.com / Technology - Google ditches Windows on security concerns

FT.com / Technology - Google ditches Windows on security concerns:

"Google is phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns, according to several Google employees.

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally."

I, Cringely » Blog Archive » Let’s Get Small - Cringely on technology

I, Cringely » Blog Archive » Let’s Get Small - Cringely on technology

Cringely bets Facebook will ultimately fail. He has some interesting reasons too.

China pins food-security hopes on humble potato

China pins food-security hopes on humble potato

The challenge of feeding a growing nation on a shrinking supply of arable land while confronting severe water shortages has long been a major concern here. China has to feed one-fifth of the world's population on one-tenth of its arable land, and the nation's expanding cities are consuming farmland at breakneck speed. China estimates that by 2030, when its population is expected to level off at roughly 1.5 billion, it will need to produce an additional 100 million tons of food each year.

The John Batchelor Show :: Conflict IPhones - De-Brief

The John Batchelor Show :: Conflict IPhones - De-Brief

In Africa, the diamonds form the abusive fields are known as "blood diamonds" or "conflict diamonds" and are treated as taboo in Europe. Will our mobiles be known as a Conflict IPhones?

Peggy Noonan: He Was Supposed to Be Competent - WSJ.com

Peggy Noonan: He Was Supposed to Be Competent - WSJ.com
I wonder if the president knows what a disaster this is not only for him but for his political assumptions. His philosophy is that it is appropriate for the federal government to occupy a more burly, significant and powerful place in America—confronting its problems of need, injustice, inequality. But in a way, and inevitably, this is always boiled down to a promise: "Trust us here in Washington, we will prove worthy of your trust." Then the oil spill came and government could not do the job, could not meet need, in fact seemed faraway and incapable: "We pay so much for the government and it can't cap an undersea oil well!"

Acer, Sony Rev E-Reader Race - WSJ.com

Acer, Sony Rev E-Reader Race - WSJ.com

Acer Inc. unveiled its first e-reader and touchscreen tablet computer, as the world's No. 2 personal computer maker seeks to bolster its presence in the increasingly competitive market for consumer gadgets.