Telling It Like It Is

Cyber 9/11 is coming-will you be ready?

Originally posted on: http://brennerbrief.com/cyber-911-is-coming/

 

Anyone who has read the news lately must have noticed how many instances of hacking and cyber-intrusions are being reported. The U.S. government seems to be among the most vulnerable and the Chinese are usually the presumed perpetrator. But for every intrusion that makes the headlines, tens of thousands go unreported, or, in a few cases, thwarted by prevention systems.

The problem is so severe and so pervasive that a coordinated attack similar to 9/11 is virtually inevitable. The question is not if, but when a cyber 9/11 is coming? The answer, based on the acceleration of the type and number of illicit cyber-intrusions is sooner rather than later—maybe much sooner! 

For readers who have not followed this new kind of global threat and crime wave, a little background information will be helpful in understanding it. Around the year 2000, the computer world was obsessing about potential problems of the “Y2K conversion.” (Computer programs/calendars had used only a two-digit year–1995 was shown simply as 95, but when the year 2000 was coming, that little shortcut would create chaos because computers weren’t able to know what 00 meant.) Systems all over the world had to be reprogrammed to protect them against this. This was the time frame when the trouble started.

During this era, hackers developed worm viruses which, once introduced into computers, could burrow into programs and hide until activated by sending code to them over whatever network they were attached to. ..Code Red was one of the first such pieces of malware. Then came NIMDA (Admin spelled backward, since it took control of the System Administration function–a big problem–control of virtually everything on that computer.)( These were both suspected to originate in China’s new and growing “hacker university.” Hard proof was scant but everything found pointed to the Chinese.

Millions of user computers were infected, some turned into “zombies” that would follow hackers’ instructions, working in concert to launch widespread intrusions. In still other cases these intrusions left behind “back doors” in systems through which they could re-enter later. At other times a “Trojan Horse” form of deception was used, hiding the malware in a seemingly harmless or friendly program.

Finally, and to this day, human error—”phishing/social engineering” (a sort of spoken or emailed “con” that persuades a naive or busy person to give up the critical information), yielded many of the best points of Cyber-intrusion. Disgruntled former employees were a rich source of such damaging information. To date, efforts to limit the disruptions caused by cyber intrusions have cost companies and the government billions of (unreported) dollars and created massive risks due to secret information leaked or stolen.

These attacks couldn’t be stopped because hackers and their programs (malware) are devilishly hard to backtrack and pin down.  Methods of deception have continuously been ahead of those trying to stop the attacks. Anti-virus programs and other intrusion blocking systems look for familiar segments of code in the computer programs that are typical of an intrusion/virus/worm. Now these viruses can be changed slightly to avoid detection, over and over. Many could morph automatically to a new fragment of code when a defensive attempt to stop them was detected. Now, even anti-virus is far less effective.

The Conficker worm virus was suspected of infecting tens, and maybe hundreds of millions of computers and programs–and it too was traced to Chinese origins. Before readers conclude that China is the only large-scale hacker,  there are scores of others. Countries like Russia have been hacking systems for a long time. It shut down all systems in Estonia a few years back. Recent attacks have been more varied, including one on the French government. Before Ukraine began fighting for its independence, it was a hacker haven.

Many hackers form loose associations to attack targets such as large companies, celebrities, or even supposedly secure government systems. Anonymous is one such well-known group, but only one of many. Crowdsourcing can form an alliance for a hack and then disband. Tracking perpetrators is difficult or impossible. Many believe the USA and Israel collaborated to plant the specialized Stuxnet virus into Siemens controls that operated Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, causing huge, disruptive damage.

The stories are endless, including hacks of the U.S. Army battlefield control, the White House, the Secretary of Defense, the IRS, and many more–unpublicized for obvious reasons. Recently one of the first widespread smartphone hacks afflicted hundreds of millions of phones running Google’s Android operating system! A common form of hacking disruption (used on financial companies and banks) is the DDoS attack, where incoming traffic originating from many different sources—potentially hundreds of thousands or more— floods the victim system. This effectively makes it impossible to stop the attack simply by blocking a single IP address; plus, it is very difficult to distinguish legitimate user traffic from attack traffic when spread across so many points of origin. The only solution is to shutdown the system, cleanse it and reboot, making the disruptive attack as success.

Let’s go back to why a Cyber 9/11 is coming and it seems so inevitable. The knowhow is out there. Hackers are everywhere. Rogue nations like North Korea, and militant groups like ISIS and the Syrian Army are now using Cyber-intrusions as part of their attacks. Russia is an active source of hacking intrusions, often with malicious intent. The Chinese hack everything, often it is not to do mischief, but rather to steal information of every kind—from plans for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter to the OPM personnel data for millions of U.S. government employees.

It is inevitable the someone, some group, some country or rogue state will create the coordinated attack— the cyber 9/11—the one that brings many critical U.S. computer-based systems down all at one time. Just like the unforgettable picture of the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the third target (It hit the Pentagon but many believed it was w intended to hit the U.S. Capitol building.)

[Disclaimer. John Mariotti’s novel THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY describes such a coordinated attack. Richard Clarke’s book CYBERWAR describes in far more detail how such attacks are mounted and executed.]

The Power Grid, the Internet, all phones–cell and landline, radio & TV (including cable & streaming), Wall Street/banking/finance, Air Traffic Control, and GPS satellites upon which virtually all civilian AND military systems rely, are all readily accessible targets for a Cyber 9/11 coordinated attack. 

The only questions are, who, when, and how will the attack come. Cyber 9/11 is coming! Will anyone in the USA really be ready for it. I fear NOT!

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THE ENTERPRISE--A WORLD OF HURT, BUT A PATH FORWARD

 

A BIG WEEK FOR OBAMA

No matter what I think of this president, he had a big week this week. Three of the initiatives he favored passed (or were not overturned by the Supreme Court--SCOTUS): TPA, Gay Marriage, and Obamacare Exchange ruling.

1) The Trade Promotion Authority bill passed because Republicans knew it was the right thing to do to stimulate the lagging US economy. Democrats (except for Obama who wanted the authority to make Fast Track trade deals) took their usual wrongheaded approach and opposed their sitting president (they don't like him anyway), trying to artificially protect US jobs and help trade unions.

2) Gay Marriage was OK'd by SCOTUS, making uniform treatment of Gay "marriages" a national standard. Not a bad idea--I just wish they wouldn't pollute the word "marriage" like this. Marriage will always be, in my mind, a man and a woman (think Adam and Eve), with the ability to procreate and bear children. That doesn't mean gays can't be good parents; it just means that the single gender parent couple lacks one of the two dominant genes that determine the best parents.

3) SCOTUS ignored the specific use of the English language in Obamacare, regarding "state" (vs. Federal) insurance exchanges. As little doubt as there was to the actual words, SCOTUS chose to interpret that controversial law inaccurately, but in keeping with the drafters hopes. So much for Judicial oversight. It's dead.

 

However, while the president "orates" about his wins, the world around him, and the USA continue down a slippery slope that he and his policies (or lack thereof) have created and are perpetuating. What follows is a stern assessment and a warning to all Americans.

 

IS THE NEW NORMAL A SLOW GROWTH ECONOMY AND CONTINUALLY A GOVERNMENT & LEADER WHO LIES TO US?

Summer is here. The more some things change, the more they stay the same. We live in this critically ill but still great country, which is being run by a mixture of mad scientists, witch doctors and congenital liars--led by the inept US president, Barack Hussein Obama and his minions--in spite of the best efforts of a Congress and Supreme Court to rein them in. Obama's successor-in-=waiting, the enigmatic Hillary Rodham Clinton has proven her chops as a liar befitting the Obama tradition.  There is no memory she cannot recall in a way that fits her needs--if not the facts. Unless it is one that embarrasses her, then she cannot recall it at all, and/or it is buried in her deleted/illegal private emails. And millions of people want this woman as president! Are you kidding me?  "Figures don't lie, but liars figure."

 

The latest government "big lie" is the disclosure of the hacking of the government's OPM (Office of Personnel Management) data files. Actually two big databases were hacked: employees (4mm), and everyone who ever applied for a security clearance, and references for those applicants (over 10mm). Nobody really knows (or at least is lying about) exactly how many identities were compromised. Of course, under Obama's reign, these two were carefully disclosed separately--as if they were two different events--about a week apart, even though the FBI knew and told OPM at almost the same exact time. 

 

(More on this in next edition: Cyber-911 Coming Soon?)

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME--BADLY MANAGED ENTITIES ULTIMATELY FAIL BADLY
In retail, Sears/Kmart's demise continues unabated. It is such a large entity, that  Eddie Lampert's financial engineering continues to pull out cash and sustain the failing retailer, albeit on life support. Behemoth GE returns to its roots in making things instead of being a financial company, while it ponders bailing out of failing CT due to high tax burdens. The blue states and cities continue to devolve into disaster. First Detroit, then Chicago, now Baltimore, with a procession lined up to follow. American cities like these and a host of others have proven conclusively that Democratic control from top to bottom is a social and economic disaster. For some inexplicable reason, too many Americans are either unable or unwilling to see/accept this evidence. States like IL suffer from the burden of dominant Democratic cities like Chicago. Tax increases to fund these follies are driving employers out of IL, CT and other states. After decades of solely Democratic elected officials, these cities are the best living proof of the Dems failed ideas and policies.  "Those who fail to learn from history 's lessons are doomed to repeat the mistakes."

 

AMERICAN ICONIC COMPANIES STRUGGLE TO FIND PROFITABLE GROWTH--OR ANY GROWTH AT ALL--BUT COMPLEXITY STILL GROWS

I warned of this in The Complexity Crisis  (2008). Now it is happening. American icons--Walmart, McDonald's, Coke, P & G, IBM and a long list of legendary companies are stuck on plateaus of flat sales and disappointing earnings. P & G has at least decided to manage complexity (finally) cutting 100 of its brands (over half of them) to focus on the important ones. McDonald's continues to wander in the darkness, losing sales and trying to recover by doing more of the same-old, same-old. A 1/3 pound Prime burger? Where was that in 2004? Extend breakfast hours--a winner for the chain. Slash the drive though menu, so it can be read from fifteen feet away, and has many fewer selections, so customers don't take so long to order. This will speed service and reduce costs and simplify the cooking system complexity. I also wrote Roadmap to Profitable Growth to address these problems. But then these insular big companies think they already know everything, so why would they imagine they might be wrong or misinformed? Einstein said, "We cannot fix todays problems by thinking the way we thought when they were created."

 

IF TALK WERE ECONOMIC GROWTH, BARACK OBAMA WOULD HAVE PULLED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY OUT OF ITS MALAISE
But talk is cheap, and adds nothing but more obfuscation, and prevarication to the already overflowing Obama video library. Obama's non-recovery continues on unabated--at 2% growth plus or minus an up or down quarter. His big government overreach, regulatory stifling of the private sector and socialistic, imperial executive orders will be argued in courts for months or years. His cabinet departments should be renamed: the Injustice department; Health & Human Disservices; Homeland Insecurity; Veterans Antagonism, the Environmental Penalization Agency, and so on. Then there is John Kerry, the millionaire Secretary of State, who bumbles around our enemies, bowing and scraping to get any kind of deal (and no respect). Whether Barack Obama wins or loses in the many court challenges to his imperialistic reign, the damage he has done to the USA is huge, and long lasting. A recent concerning development is the attempt to legislate higher minimum wages than low-skill workers are worth. Then he'll wonder why the economy isn't recovering and companies are replacing yet more American jobs with technology/automation. "Beware the unintended consequences of ill-informed decisions."

THE FREE ENTERPRISE MARKET WILL PROVE OBAMA'S INCOMPETENCE (Unless Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged comes to pass.)
The free market is a relentless truth-teller, and will simply avoid hiring overpriced help. Watch for more and more technology replacing overpriced, underperforming workers, in spite of the new laws. (Those who have never read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged would be wise to do so--or if you don't want to read 1000pp., get one of the "summaries.")

CONSUMERS WILL SPEND A BIT MORE--IF GAS PRICES STAY DOWN
Consumers are spending a bit more, but typically working two jobs, or one part-time job (30 hrs./week due to Obamacare rules) to get by. Employment is up, but heavily low wage jobs. It's possible that natural cycles will create some real growth, but now there are not enough qualified workers in the US to staff the technically more demanding jobs that are created when work is repatriated from Asia or Latin America. GDP growth is slightly up (to 2%) after an abysmal 1Q (0%). Some economic recovery is predictable, despite (or rather in spite of) the oppressive government bureaucracy. 

REGULATION AND WELFARE UNDER OBAMA WILL CONTINUE TO SMOTHER THE FREE ENTERPRISE, WEALTH PRODUCING SECTOR
Domestic policy is typically what is to be expected under a liberal Democratic welfare "nanny-state." Take from wealth creators and give to the unmotivated, unfortunate, lazy and/or disenfranchised--who will then spend much of the welfare on "less than wise" purchases. Then call that "fairness" and count it as "growth!" Obama never has, never will know how to create jobs that produce wealth. All he does is create more government jobs that cost the country (taxpayers-wealth producers) money and burden them with stifling regulations (and those bureaucrats will work together to protect their job security).

 

DEMOGRAPHICS ARE DESTINY AND THEY ARE DECIDEDLY SCARY NOW AND IN THE FUTURE

More people taking and fewer people putting in--that's the simple explanation of the problem. As developed economies age more and more people are drawing on entitlements (or in the case of the USA, Welfare in myriad forms) and fewer people are working than any time in the past 50 years. Demographic issues also impact many developed countries, not the least of which is the USA. It takes 2.1 births to replace a family and hold population steady. Most of Europe (Russia is one of the worse) are below 1.5. Japan is equally troubled. As the population ages, fewer working age people need to support programs (entitlements in the USA) for the masses of older workers.  Even MIllennials, who outnumber Baby Boomers struggle with this because of their lower income jobs/earnings.

 

FOREIGN POLICY--WHAT'S THAT? REACTING TO WORLD EVENTS RANDOMLY, AND THEN SPEECHIFYING TO OBSCURE THE LACK OF POLICY

Foreign policy is equally awful. Acting like he's doing something, Obama's policies are slow to develop, unclear, ineffective, misdirected and or just plain stupid. There is no clear direction except to do little, talk a lot, betray allies and sympathize with (mostly) Muslim enemies. European countries, when they are not so wrapped up in their own economic disasters (PIIGS countries failing: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland & Greece), realize that Obama can neither be trusted nor relied upon--for anything except platitudes, lies and obfuscation.

What are we to do? Simple (not easy): Replace the elected leaders who have created this mess. To do that, we must educate or inform the masses who believe he lies of Obama and Hillary that government can--and must--take care of everyone using "someone else's money!" 

SOCIALISM DOESN'T WORK; NEVER HAS, NEVER WILL--(EXCEPT LIBERAL EDUCATORS MISINFORM OUR YOUTH THAT IT'S GREAT)
That has never worked; and it won't work now! History proves it over and over, unless presented by the revisionist teachings of liberal teachers in American schools. FYI. Two of the largest liberal concentrations are in media and education--both comfortable, powerful places where many underachievers make their careers. These are not the thought leaders America needs. Both are far too influential; yet both must be dealt with. Educators must be measured by results, not tenure, and monitored for wrong-headed teaching. School boards cannot simply be filled with bodies; they must be filled by responsible parents who will stand up and reject the wrong behavior. Weak teachers simply must be weeded out; strong ones must be rewarded and encouraged. We need something more than Common Core: a housecleaning of misguided teachers who are "reprogramming" America's youth with wrong information.

 

NEWS IS NO LONGER NEWS, IT IS NEWS WRAPPED IN OPINION AND BIASED SPIN

The media presents a different problem. Its influence is too great because the public is too apathetic, disinterested or worse--lack the ability to think and discern the truth from nonsensical reporting.  Unfortunately, polarization of electronic media is almost complete. Radio & TV stations are almost all clearly left or right leaning. Neutral, unbiased reporting has become rare. Talking heads dominate, and usually there is one of each persuasion--but in the end the one favoring editorial slant of the broadcast or cable station dominates. Cleaning out pretenders like Brian Williams and hypocrites like George Stephanopolis is just a start. Favoring journalists like George Will, who often tries to carve out the middle ground and find the truth in it makes sense. Publications like the NYTimes are damaging with its liberal left bias, but so also are radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh with his conservative right bias. FOX leans right. CNN leans left. MSNBC is the Democratic party's liberal cable propaganda station. ABC, NBC, and CBS also lean left too much--largely because about 80-90% of journalists are liberals. There is little or no "quality assurance certification" for journalists--just an editor who is similarly biased. Some Internet blogs, columns and newsletters try to walk a more newsworthy line (Drudge)…but those are rare and hard to find. Human nature is to gravitate toward information sources that match their preconceived ideas--and that is a huge problem.

 

If this is the situation, what can we do, anyway? Are we doomed to continued gridlock and the decline of America as a country and a society? Near term--YES! Longer term NO! We are doomed only if the hard-working, patriotic and intelligent American people cave-in and let the nonsense continue. What must we do?

Fight on! Don't give up! Stand up and speak up and defend/support what we know is right and true--at least as best we can discern.

 

The free enterprise system has overcome obstacle after obstacle. Business people are smart, tenacious, and can find ways to win that bureaucrats never imagined. Innovate. Delight customers. Move fast and blast through resistance. Work together passionately and unselfishly. This has worked for decades (or centuries). The old adage "What comes around, goes around," is true. The only problem is how long it takes for the idiots and their plans to implode, and go down in flames!

 

Take the fight to the eyes, ears and campaign $upport accounts of members of Congress, and of state legislatures. Take the fight to the ballot box, but first find candidates whose beliefs and integrity you can trust and then support them…vocally and financially. Communicate with them; meet with them; find our why they vote the way they vote on issues and share your views with them. They get precious little positive, constructive communication from constituents. (Mostly they get people with a single issue or a single gripe, or that want something from them.)

 

America has a history of cycling through these ups and downs. It has just never had a president who was so inept, so misguided and so downright dishonest before. (Although the highly regarded FDR had many of the same flaws.)

 

THINK, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. LISTEN TO BOTH SIDES. UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES. THEN BECOME A MINI-ACTIVIST. ENGAGE YOUR ELECTED LEADERS AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND BELIEVE THEY SHOULD BE DOING. LISTEN TO WHAT THEY TELL YOU.(MOSTLY, THE GOOD ONES ARE TRYING HARD AND ARE FRUSTRATED TOO.)

 

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET AMERICA BACK ON TRACK.

 

BEST, JOHN

 

 

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PLEASE USE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]

 

See my commentary at http://www.brennerbrief.com/author/johnmariotti/ and 

http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/ and http://www.mariotti.net 

 

 

 

THE ENTERPRISE--ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT'S COMING?

 

 

YES, CYBER-THREATS AGAIN…MORE AND WORSE THAN EVER

I could make this a recurring theme. The news media is full of it.  The latest hacks have been health insurers, where a treasure of personal data was stolen. Latest estimates were a million people's information was stolen in just one hacking incident. If you don't have a solid identity theft protection program, get one. And it might be wise to ask the three major credit rating services, to either freeze or restrict your account. 

They each have web addresses.

• Equifax, 1-800-685-1111, Fraud Hotline: 1-888-766-0008
• Experian, 1-888-397-3742, Fraud Hotline: 1-888-397-3742
• TransUnion, 1-800-916-8800, Fraud Hotline: 1-800-680-7289

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THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL HAVE A BIG OBAMA-MESS TO CLEAN UP

This could take the rest of the week to finish. Barack Obama's misguided, foolish, stupid, ill-informed policies have set America back half a century. He has fixed little and harmed much. Government is too big by several orders of magnitude and too powerful by more than that. The only way to rein it in is one step…one department or agency…one cabinet position at a time. Clean house.  Period. The American government has become like a huge cancer that is eating the spirit of America away from the inside-out. It's time to elect people who get that and are willing to take Draconian steps to fix it, to rein in the government, to shrink it, and limit it.  And that means tens of thousands of Civil Service bureaucrats must go too. Some things Barack Obama and his minions have done can never be fixed--long term damage to our country, its economy, how dysfunctional its government has become, and harm to America's reputation/relationships around the world. That is simply tragic.

 

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THE CLINTON APPROACH TO ALTERING THE FACTS AND THE TRUTH

If you tell a lie often enough and get it publicized in the media broadly enough, it often becomes accepted as the truth. That is a Clinton specialty (Obama does it well too.)  If you break a rule or a law often enough and sort of grudgingly admit you wish you hadn't (gotten caught doing it), then after that, it's OK that you broke the rule or the law and you can keep doing it, over and over. This is a Clintonian specialty, which Barack Obama learned and elevated to new heights. Of one thing you can be sure: for every Clintonian scheme and transgression you hear about, there are many more you will never know existed. They are that good at hiding their lies, misbehaviors and criminal deeds.

 

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SHOULD OUTRAGE LEAD TO MILITARY INTERVENTION?

Several excellent articles have recently appeared in which the total confusion in the Middle East is explained…sort of. The problem is that people keep changing sides, and it's hard to know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  Yes, ISIS is the bad guys--the worst of them.  Yes, Assad in Syria is probably a bad guy.  However, when religious and cultural disputes like the centuries old Shiite vs. Sunni conflicts and idiotic government leaders like Al Maliki undo billions of dollars and years of US efforts to help the Iraqi people…it is time to wonder when we simply wince at the horrible acts, feel outrage, but hold back…and MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, don't jump in to fix things, because sometimes "fixing them" makes them worse, not better.

 

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THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY…CHANGES CONSTANTLY…

Americans are clueless to the true cultural dynamics of the region with its sects, cults, tribes, divided loyalties and centuries of conditioning by brutal dictators. When intruders like America remove dictatorial country leaders like Saddam, Quaddafi, Mubarack, et. al, a power vacuum results and the chaos that ensures makes it nearly impossible to figure out who to side with and who to fight against. Weapons sent to allies suddenly appear in the hands of enemies or terrorists.  The Taliban will need to figure out how to deal with ISIS in Afghanistan soon, and that will surely be informative. Obama has learned one thing.  Don't draw red lines. They change as often as the shifting desert sands.  

 

THE HAWKISH PERSPECTIVE…ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT

America should look out for America's priorities, and protect Americans …and the USA with a horrible vengeance… Horrible brutality will exist as long as horribly brutal humans exist.  We can't stop it all.  We can, however, send an unforgettable message. (The last time was in Japan--at Hiroshima!)

 

A single incidence of the USA bombing an area of such obvious and proven evil into total devastation might send a clear enough message. Choosing the area to obliterate is a dicey choice. There will always be innocents who suffer or die.  The key is to make sure the message is loud, clear, and understood.  If America is attacked, here or there, we will send all the Civil Libertarians home and "let the dogs loose" to wreak vengeance so dramatic, that our message is sent--loud and clear: NO MORE--never again! 

 

AND---Don't nation build. Don't rebuild the devastated area. Leave it as a start reminder and a symbol of what happens….when someone crosses/attacks America. 

 

(Tell the bleeding heart liberals/media to simply shut up or go live over there with the terrorists and evildoers.  The only outrage should be reserved for attacks on America. AND…Don't ever trade known terrorists for a single disgusting deserter—not ever again.)

 

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THIS ARTICLE IS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO READERS

Everyone has doubts about which kind of OTC pain reliever works best for what…and which have risks…and so forth. Fortunately, the May 12 WSJ had this fine article making it much clearer…  Of course a newspaper article doesn't replace a doctor's opinion/knowledge but in these days of overworked docs, who are hard to reach, this will come in very handy. Check it out.

 

 

Download Advil vs. Tylenol. Which to Use, and When - WSJ

 

 

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THE ORACLE OF OMAHA WEIGHS IN ON INCOME INEQUALITY AND THE DEMAND FOR A HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE

 

BETTER THAN RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE  BY 

WARREN BUFFETT  

May 21, 2015 7:12 p.m. ET

[NOTE: PARTS HAVE BEEN OMITTED WHERE  …  APPEARS]

The American Dream promises that a combination of education, hard work and good behavior can move any citizen from humble beginnings to at least reasonable success. And for many, that promise has been fulfilled. At the extreme, we have the Forbes 400, most of whom did not come from privileged backgrounds. Recently, however, the economic rewards flowing to people with specialized talents have grown dramatically faster than those going to equally decent men and women possessing more commonplace skills. …

Meanwhile, a huge number of their fellow citizens have been living the American Nightmare—behaving well and working hard but barely getting by. … No conspiracy lies behind this depressing fact: The poor are most definitely not poor because the rich are rich. Nor are the rich undeserving. Most of them have contributed brilliant innovations or managerial expertise to America’s well-being. We all live far better because of Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Sam Walton and the like.

Instead, this widening gap is an inevitable consequence of an advanced market-based economy. Think back to the agrarian America of only 200 years ago. Most jobs could then be ably performed by most people. In a world where only primitive machinery and animals were available to aid farmers, the difference in productivity between the most talented among them and those with ordinary skills was modest. Many other jobs of that time could also be carried out by almost any willing worker. True, some laborers would outdo others in intelligence or hustle, but the market value of their output would not differ much from that of the less talented. 

Visualize an overlay graphic that positioned the job requirements of that day atop the skills of the early American labor force. Those two elements of employment would have lined up reasonably well. Not today. A comparable overlay would leave much of the labor force unmatched to the universe of attractive jobs. That mismatch is neither the fault of the market system nor the fault of the disadvantaged individuals. It is simply a consequence of an economic engine that constantly requires more high-order talents while reducing the need for commodity-like tasks.

The remedy usually proposed for this mismatch is education. … even with the finest educational system in the world, a significant portion of the population will continue, in a nation of great abundance, to earn no more than a bare subsistence.

To see why that is true, imagine we lived in a sports-based economy. In such a marketplace, I would be a flop. You could supply me with the world’s best instruction, and I could endlessly strive to improve my skills. But, alas, on the gridiron or basketball court I would never command even a minimum wage. The brutal truth is that an advanced economic system, whether it be geared to physical or mental skills, will leave a great many people behind.

In my mind, the country’s economic policies should have two main objectives. First, we should wish, in our rich society, for every person who is willing to work to receive income that will provide him or her a decent lifestyle. Second, any plan to do that should not distort our market system, the key element required for growth and prosperity.

That second goal crumbles in the face of any plan to sizably increase the minimum wage. I may wish to have all jobs pay at least $15 an hour. But that minimum would almost certainly reduce employment in a major way, crushing many workers possessing only basic skills. Smaller increases, though obviously welcome, will still leave many hardworking Americans mired in poverty. 

The better answer is a major and carefully crafted expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which currently goes to millions of low-income workers. Payments to eligible workers diminish as their earnings increase. But there is no disincentive effect: A gain in wages always produces a gain in overall income. The process is simple: You file a tax return, and the government sends you a check…. 

The existing EITC needs much improvement. Fraud is a big problem; penalties for it should be stiffened. There should be widespread publicity that workers can receive free and convenient filing help. An annual payment is now the rule; monthly installments would make more sense, since they would discourage people from taking out loans while waiting for their refunds to come through. Dollar amounts should be increased, particularly for those earning the least.

There is no perfect system, and some people, of course, are unable or unwilling to work. But the goal of the EITC—a livable income for everyone who works—is both appropriate and achievable for a great and prosperous nation. Let’s replace the American Nightmare with an American Promise: America will deliver a decent life for anyone willing to work.

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THE NY TIMES SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE WORRIED ABOUT RUBIO VS. CLINTON

 

Download A Hillary Clinton Match-Up With Marco Rubio Is a Scary Thought for Democrats - NYTimes.com

 

 

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I LIKE PEGGY NOONAN'S TAKE ON THINGS…AND SHE CALLS OUT HOW WELL MARCO RUBIO DID--with an exception or two.

 

Sure, she has a few issues with the nuances of his "third pillar," but she resoundingly agreed with his first two pillars and only nibbled around the edges of the third one's flaws. [NOTE: Bold face type in the excerpts from her column were for added emphasis.

 

Marco Rubio’s Problematic Pillar

His foreign-policy doctrine starts well but ends up a bit too starry-eyed.

By 

PEGGY NOONAN 

May 14, 2015 7:23 p.m. ET

Hillary Clinton continues her silent glide toward the White House. The Republican candidates make themselves available almost every day, get pressed, grilled and occasionally cuffed around. Since announcing a month ago Mrs. Clinton has not had a single news conference or formal interview. NPR’s Tamara Keith counted 13 questions to which she has responded in that time. The answers include “I’m having a great time,” “It is fabulous” in Iowa, she wants to be “the champion of Americans,” and “I want to hear people.” Wednesday she embarked on a listening tour of Manhattan billionaires. This is not just a dynamic of the campaign of 2016, it is a scandal of 2016. Democratic operatives think candidates don’t lose support for stiffing the press. I don’t know. Campaigns, like candidates, get reputations. This is less like a campaign than a silent movie with mad organ music. 

Marco Rubio, at the Council on Foreign Relations, this week unveiled what his aides call the Rubio Doctrine. Good for him: Candidates ought to be putting their stands into documents that can be inspected and pondered. His foreign-policy vision consists in three “pillars”: American strength, protection of the American business position in a global economy, and moral clarity regarding America’s core values.

The first pillar should be a unifying principle for all Republicans. The world and we are safer when America is stronger, period. We must be known to the world as the possessor of the mightiest military on earth. “Weakness is the friend of danger,” he said. It is. We must spend what we must, and modernize to meet future possible challenges, he argued. We do.

The second pillar is similarly sound. Everything we have comes from what we sell and make. As a nation we must see to our economic security, including supporting free trade and fighting unfair and destructive business practices. 

The third pillar is more wobbly. Here Mr. Rubio took a pronounced neoconservative turn. He urged America to “think big,” to “advance the rights of the vulnerable” who are “persecuted.” “The American people hear their cries, see their suffering . . . and desire their freedom.” That sounds anodyne unless it’s not. Certainly our policies should not and cannot be detached from our values. But I would have liked to hear something more steely-eyed: The third pillar is not a statement but a question whose asking has served us well for more than two centuries. “What is in the interests of the American nation?” What actions or endeavors will serve to make us stronger, safer, more able to flourish in the 21st century?….

…In making his case Mr. Rubio disparaged “nation building at home.” But it is not invalid to say that America needs to become more fully what we say we believe in, and put a priority not on projecting our values militarily but reflecting them more deeply at home. It is true that the world now has less respect for us as a moral actor in the world, but it is not only because of the bad leadership of the past seven or 15 years, take your pick. It is not only because the world knows of our economic problems and the dysfunction and corruption of our governing class. The world is less impressed by us because they’ve been here. Mr. Rubio referred to globalization as a force transforming the world, but it also means a lot of the people of the world—especially the political, military and business elites—have come here to visit, and looked around. They have a sense of our public schools, our culture, our infrastructure (they take Amtrak to Washington), our Fergusons, our fear that our next generation will have it worse. They no longer see us as their fathers and grandfathers did, as the Great Example. …

I wish every candidate who rightly lauds Ronald Reagan’s candor and moral clarity would then note: “And interestingly enough, he never invaded the Warsaw Pact countries.” He used words, diplomacy and other forms of muscle to change the world. Also, is Mr. Rubio’s position really where GOP base voters are? I find them more hard-eyed than romantic.

That said, Mr. Rubio is an impressive figure in a way that isn’t captured by words like “smooth” and “articulate.” He has in his head a fact-horde, which is immediately accessible to him as he speaks. You get the impression no briefing has ever been wasted on him. And he’s quick. When Mr. Rose asked him about Raúl Castro’s comment that he likes Pope Francis so much he might rejoin the church, Mr. Rubio shot back, “That’s gonna be a pretty long confession.”

Intelligence isn’t judgment. But Mr. Rubio broke through in a new way this week. 

[HER COMMENTS ON JEB BUSH ARE TELLING…AND CRITICAL!]

Whereas Mr. Rubio was sharp, alive and in the game, Jeb Bush limped shruggingly along. I don’t understand his inability to deal with Iraq. It’s the one question he knew was coming, yet all week it seemed to take him aback. He seemed to see it as an unfair or trick question. He’s something new in politics, the defensive zealot. He can’t let go on certain controversial issues—Common Core, for instance—and is dodgy on inevitable ones. He goes from misunderstanding the question to saying he isn’t sure of the answer to let’s not make soldiers suffer by asking it to OK, I wouldn’t have gone in. He looked hunted when he said that. He deserves credit for being out there and taking every question, but he’s running for president. His views on Iraq tell us something about his foreign-policy predispositions and assumptions. I know he didn’t want to hurt the feelings of his brother, but I don’t care about the feelings of his brother. I know he didn’t want to bring discomfort to his family, but this is not about his family. This is about what is a wise foreign policy for America. It’s about what you’d do as president. 

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THE DARWIN AWARDS FOR THIS YEAR

The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, originating in Usenet newsgroup discussions circa 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool via death or sterilization by their own actions.

 

The top award and honorable mention "winners":
1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.
 
And now, the honorable mentions:-

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for three days

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15.  [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

 

Remember.... They walk among us, they can reproduce, and they vote!! (Probably Democratic too!)

 

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I THINK THAT IS PLENTY FOR ONE EDITION.  MORE IS AWAITING ON MY DESK, FOR SUCCESSIVE ISSUES.

 

BEST, JOHN