Jig's Old Saws

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Crumbums & Fatcats

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The State of the Internet Operating System

Health Care Reform

Information Assurance as a Service and Abstracting Complexity "Away"

2010-03-30T22:21:00.004-04:00

We are once again approaching the point at which the Faustian bargain will be made: simply use our facilities, and the complexity will go away. And much as happened during the 1980s, there is more than one company making that promise. We're entering a modern version of "the Great Game", the rivalry to control the narrow passes to the promised future of computing.

In the world of Information Assurance, there is a strong desire from application and service developers to "abstract away" the complexities of security. Think of this in terms of Security-as-a-Service or an Information Assurance Framework in the cloud. This can be accomplished for difficult security functions, such as handling X.509 certificates using Server-based Certificate Validation Protocol (SCVP) and PKI Resource Query Protocol (PRQP). The complexity is "removed" from the relying party to the trusted Validation Authority. Given the difficulty and risk associated with different certificate validation implementations by relying parties (some implemented more securely than others), this abstraction of complexity "away" from relying parties to a trusted Validation Authority run by an "expert" has advantages. The security experts create and control the security context in which applications will work.

It also means that the relying parties have made a "Faustian bargain" with the security experts that take "on the pain of managing complexity" and end up "with a powerful lock-in."

The Employment Situation in Perspective 2005-2010

2010-03-28T12:02:00.002-04:00

Budget Planner – Mint.com

Misery Index by Congressional Majority

2010-03-22T20:47:00.004-04:00

The US Misery Index - 1948 to 2009

The Next "Credit Crisis"

2010-03-11T23:09:00.002-05:00

Preliminary Analysis of the President’s Budget

Under the President’s budget, the cumulative deficit over the 2011–2020 period would equal $9.8 trillion (5.2 percent of GDP), $3.8 trillion more than the cumulative deficit projected in the baseline.

Previous:
Budget Deficits for Dummies
Deficit Schmeficit ...
Crunching Numbers with Different Results

Mocking the Punditsphere

2010-02-06T00:50:00.002-05:00

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Blogs Must Be Crazy

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The Arithmetic Of Failure

Health Care Crisis

I'm shocked, SHOCKED!, to learn the punditblogs use over-the-top rhetoric when describing the pundustry (or punditsphere). Thank goodness Stewart has rounded up the usual suspects!

Predictive Intelligence

2010-01-03T22:42:00.004-05:00

The Fortune-Teller's Credibility

2005:

Iraq's a lost cause? Ask the real experts

When it comes to the future of Iraq, there is a deep disconnect between those who have firsthand knowledge of the situation—Iraqis and U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq—and those whose impressions are shaped by doomsday press coverage and the imperatives of domestic politics.

2006:

Is Iraq a Lost Cause?

Allow me to juxtapose the doom and gloom assessment of the New York Times with a different perspective.

Iraq is a lost cause. It's just a matter of arithmetic: given the violence of the environment, with ethnic groups and rival militias at each other's throats, American forces there are large enough to suffer terrible losses, but far too small to stabilize the country.

2007:

The Chris Matthews Show
Transcript
May 13, 2007

Ms. TUCKER: Chris, look for a revolt from active duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with this surge into '08. We've already heard from retired generals, but my Atlanta Journal-Constitution colleague Jay Bookman has lots of sources among currently serving military officers who don't want to fall by the wayside like the generals in Vietnam did, kept pushing a war that they knew was lost.

MATTHEWS: So on duty, in uniform, they will criticize?

Ms. TUCKER: Absolutely.

MATTHEWS: Whoa, that's something.

The Road Home

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

2010:

Meanwhile, Back In Iraq

Related:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer awarded $75,000 to investigate media’s role in war

Deficit Schmeficit ...

2009-12-09T07:03:00.001-05:00

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

American Idle

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Health Care Crisis

Soldiers' Angels Conducts 4th Annual Online Valour-IT Fundraising Competition

2009-10-28T07:42:00.002-04:00

PR Newswire: "This project changes lives," says Soldiers' Angels founder Patti Patton-Bader. "Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again. Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports! And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope. It's just amazing what this project does!"

The Marines are giving the Army a run for donations! Hoorah!! If you want to donate through the Combined Federal Campaign, Soldiers' Angels is CFC #25131.

I also recommend Carren's testimonial, "Once again, Chuck was able to blog. This is a post he wrote just before Project Valour-IT kicked off in 2005."

Please also consider stopping by Soldiers' Angels and Adopting a Soldier.

Valour-IT Army Team ... It's On!

2009-10-27T00:51:00.006-04:00

The Army Team is off to a good start, but the jarheads have moved quickly to take the lead! If you haven't already, click on the Army thermometer (or join the Army Team) and get those donations "Rolling Along"!

via Wolf at Blackfive: "Team Army would like to raise $250,000 dollars in order to help 250 wounded get the software they need and the laptop required. The VALOUR-IT goal is over a million dollars to help over 1,000 wounded- with this kind of purchasing power we can get discounts that afford more software and more hardware." Follow #TeamArmy and #ValourIT on Twitter!

Valour-IT Update

2009-10-25T12:01:00.010-04:00

Valour-IT 2009 Fundraising Competition starts Monday, October 26, and continues to November 11, so hurry up and join the Army Team!

Anybody can join the Army Team (and DONATE!) because the only eligibility requirement is the knowledge that the Army Team is the BEST team, with the BEST bloggers, who raised the MOST money in 2007 and 2008, and are going to three-peat this year!

Budget Deficits for Dummies

2009-10-20T21:40:00.001-04:00

Or how I learned to stop worrying and love $1.4 trillion

via ReasonTV

The Deconstruction of American Journalism

2009-10-20T17:34:00.002-04:00

If government subsidizes newspapers, can we bring back the news council?

Ever notice that "accountability journalism" never means holding journalists accountable?

Previous:
An Anthology of Journalism's Decline

Milblogs Lining Up for Valour-IT

2009-10-18T18:35:00.005-04:00

It's time to fire up this old blog to promote this year's Valour-IT competition!

The Army Team has been on a roll (see 2007 and 2008), but we need to pick up the pace for 2009.

BLACKFIVE is sponsoring the Army Team, Greyhawk is providing air support, USNI has naval ops, and VC is coordinating leathernecks.

I plan on updates in the coming weeks with further instructions, but for now:

1. Join the Army Team, and
2. Prepare to donate frequently and generously!

Jon Stewart: Heal or No Heal

2009-06-21T14:12:00.000-04:00

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Heal or No Heal

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