Support your local TSA (or not)

Got these courtesy of talk show host Neal Boortz. Check 'em out -- they're a real hoot.

Remember, though: No laughing in the airport pat-down line. No levity whatsoever. (I found this last part out the hard way while boarding from Kona Airport, but that was too long ago to go into.)

###

Majority of mortgages are underwater in Vegas, other growth areas

Where are people losing their butts on their mortgages these days?

I found this in USA TODAY, and it shows that a tick more than 71 percent of the mortgages in Clark County, Nevada, are underwater. That means more is owed on the house than what the house is actually worth.

Clark County, where you'll find places like Las Vegas and Laughlin, has also been one of the highest-growth areas of the country for at least the past decade.

Here is a partial list of counties where home buyers might do well to just junk the mortgage, take whatever lumps they get on their credit ratings, and walk away with what's left of their posteriors:

Rank County State Mortgages under water 1 Clark Nev. 71.1% 2 Osceola Fla. 66.5% 3 Merced Calif. 63.1% 4 St Lucie Fla. 62.4% 5 San Joaquin Calif. 59.6% 6 Stanislaus Calif. 57.5% 7 Clayton Ga. 56.1% 8 Orange Fla. 56.1% 9 Solano Calif. 55.6% 10 Maricopa Ariz. 54.4% 11 Washoe Nev. 53.3% 12 Pinal Ariz. 52.6% 13 Flagler Fla. 52.5% 14 Pasco Fla. 51.5% 15 Riverside Calif. 50.5%

Interesting mix. A whole lot of Florida. Several counties in California -- including Riverside County, where I grew up. Several Arizona counties, particularly around the population centers -- Maricopa County is basically Phoenix.

And unless I'm mistaken, nearly every one of these counties has experienced off-the-charts population growth for about the past three decades. The Inland Empire, which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, was THE high-growth capital in the nation before the Las Vegas metro area took over.

Coincidence? Forget it. There ain't no such animal, you should know that.

Data on millions of Facebook users available online

Talk about hanging your business out on the street:

BBC News - Details of 100m Facebook users collected and published

Here's an excerpt from the BBC story:

Personal details of 100m Facebook users have been collected and published on the net by a security consultant ... Ron Bowes used a piece of code to scan Facebook profiles, collecting data not hidden by the user's privacy settings ... the list, which has been shared as a downloadable file, contains the URL of every searchable Facebook user's profile, their name and unique ID ... Mr Bowes said he published the data to highlight privacy issues, but Facebook said it was already public information ... the file has spread rapidly across the net.

Seems you can go to one of those fire sharing sites (like Pirate Bay), grab the file, and see a whole bunch of people you know on it. Maybe including yourself.

Facebook says your info will not be shared if you "hide" it in the privacy settings. However, one criticism of FB (legion, for there are many) is that those privacy setting are not the default ones and it takes an advanced degree in engineering to figure out those settings.

And, in truth, so many Facebook users are not the most computer-savvy or security-conscious people in the world. In fact, Facebook is designed so the person can use it once he masters the art of finding the computer power switch.

Or something.

Once you get the idea of running a computer and going on line, the Internet can make a lot of jobs easier. And if you're a Big Brother government type, a stalker, or some other kind of creepazoid, Facebook may have made your job/hobby even easier.

###

Mark your calendar: Asteroid strike on agenda in 2182

H'mmm ... from the look of things, what I write today will make absolutely no difference to anybody in about 172 years.

Good to know. I guess I can stir things up without worry.

FOXNews.com - Scientist Warns Massive Asteroid Could Hit Earth in 2182

###

From room-to-rent ad: Guess who gets the benefits?

I ran across this ad in Craigslist today, and it gives me an idea of what this world is coming to:

Male Musician with 2 bedroom apartment looking for female musician roomate with benefits ... someone who is a light drinker and 420 friendly ... no hard drugs and I will be able to find out if you do use them ... your cost would be $500 per month which includes electric, water, sattlelite tv and internet ... I keep a clean apartment and you must do the same ... You MUST have verifiable employment ... I have young children that visit me ... you will have access to pa system and recording gear ...

I'm totally serious. This is a real ad. I edited it some to get rid of the obviously identifiable details -- partly because I know a lot of musicians in this neck of the woods, many of them know me, and I don't feel like getting death threats right now.

Meanwhile, let's take a look at the ad, running it through the bravo sierra translator:

Roommate with benefits: Guess.

420 friendly: Doesn't mind the occasional left-handed cigarette. Like, every half hour. This may be required for said benefits.

I will be able to find out if you use them: Creepazoid. Stalker in training. Next question?

$500 per month: Keeping in mind this is an apartment. Also known as being screwed twice.

Young children that visit me: Just what they need to see, Dad passing around a left-handed cigarette and collecting the aforementioned benefits. Horrendously maladjusted already, and they will likely grow up to be just like Dad. New roommate gets to babysit while Dad goes out and does what he does. During visits the young children will sleep in one of the two bedrooms, meaning the applicant gets to sleep ... guess again.

Access to a PA system and recording gear: You know this isn't free. See: Benefits.

If this cat actually gets takers, he will really be dipping in the shallow end of the gene pool.

###

It's all about people

I tell you, I don't know why I get in these moods sometimes ...

###

Mystery Senate nominee Alvin Greene swears he's serious; few agree

Just when you thought a little sanity had finally entered South Carolina politics, well, forget it!

Welcome to the political world, South Carolina style.


On Tuesday, some guy named Alvin Greene won the Democratic primary for United States Senate, to go against conservative Jim Demint.


Alvin who?


That's what the Democrats are wondering. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn called for an investigation into the campaign. Party leaders are calling for Greene to step aside and let a real candidate run. Some party officials have even questioned his mental state. Greene, however, is saying he'll continue his run.

It's pretty obvious that South Carolina Democrats had a mass rectal-cranial inversion when they went to the voting booths this time around. 


By all accounts the 32-year-old Greene is an unemployed veteran, and no one is sure where he was able to pony up the $10,400 filing fee.


On top of that, Greene was arrested last November for felony obscenity, which he chooses not to comment on. But none of this stuff came up until after his nomination.


He beat out former legislator Victor Rawl for the nomination, with 59 percent of the vote. Besides his background, Rawl has a campaign war chest of $186,000 while Greene doesn't have a pot to pee in.


"60 percent (of the vote) is not luck," Greene told MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann. "It's a decisive win."


Interesting, considering he really didn't campaign. No one knew who he was. There was no indication he did any traveling. there is an "unofficial" website for him, which he says is not an authoritative campaign site. There was also a Twitter account for him, but he said that was not his either. It has since been taken down; a wise move considering he has far fewer followers than even my modest 635.


And Democrats are saying Greene is nothing but a Republican plant, a tomato can set up to run against top target DeMint. But Greene says that isn't so.


"I have always been a Democrat, and I will always be a Democrat."


His chief campaign pitch is the need for jobs. That's a natural one for Greene, as he also needs a job.


You absolutely must check out this interview with Olbermann. It's a real hoot. Folks on Twitter are calling it "the most WTF interview ever" (I'm not gonna explain what that means). Greene sounds out of it, uncomfortable, inarticulate in the interview, even with Olbermann's softball questions.


According to Mother Jones Magazine, Greene is on intimate terms with these WTF moments:


"Greene insists that he paid the $10,400 filing fee and all other campaign expenses from his own personal funds. 'It was 100 percent out of my pocket. I'm self-managed. It's hard work, and just getting my message to supporters. I funded my campaign 100 percent out of my pocket and self-managed,' said Greene, who sounded anxious and unprepared to speak to the public. But despite his lack of election funds, Greene claims to have criss-crossed the state during his campaign—though he declined to specify any of the towns or places he visited or say how much money he spent while on the road. 'It wasn't much, I mean, just, it was—it wasn't much. Not much, I mean, it wasn't much, he said, when asked how much of his own money he spent in the primary. Greene frequently spoke in rapid-fire, fragmentary sentences, repeating certain phrases or interrupting himself multiple times during the same sentence while he searched for the right words. But he was emphatic about certain aspects of his candidacy, insisting that details about his campaign organization, for instance, weren't relevant. 'I'm not concentrating on how I was elected -- it's history. I'm the Democratic nominee -- we need to get talking about America back to work, what's going on, in America.' 


Has anybody figured out what he said yet? If so, please email me a translation.


Imagine how he'd do in a real debate, or in a conversation with a real reporter, providing there are any of those left. He'd be chopped up into cat food.


Not that this seems to make any difference with South Carolina Democrats. They voted for a name and a face, with no other information.


Shoot, if voters are that stupid, they deserve whatever candidate they get.


Meanwhile, it looks like it's gonna be fun times in good ol' South Kackilacky this November.

###

Oakland pot shop meets organized labor -- yeah, man.

DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse any products or organizations mentioned in this piece. Forget that.  

Remember those old "Look For The Union Label" commercials? The song was real popular in the early 1980s, urging people to a) buy American and b) buy something that was made by union hands:

Now, I can't hear that song any more without giggling. Now, workers at a medical marijuana dispensary got their invitations to join Local #5 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).

I got this from Big Government:

Unions: Getting The Munchies After Smoking A Bowl: "

Over at Forbes I recently wrote about the union plan to organize your neighborhood fast food joint, which could turn the process of ordering a Number 3 with Coke into a culinary trip to the DMV. Well, maybe now we know why: they have been laying the groundwork to organize the entire food chain, as it were, since they have organized a pot shop in Oakland. Now you can Super Size it and smoke a spliff without ever crossing a picket line.

Now let's get back to the commercial. Notice how grim the narrator looks? She sure looks like she does not want to be there. That's OK, other union members will be glad to hook her up, though some of the singers look like they'd smoked a little too much.

Just sayin'.

###

Does Facebook need its own anti-malware service?

I got this from ReadWriteWeb, and am running it in its entirety. It's interesting, even though the writers were too kind to Facebook. This, by the way, was a sponsored post--meaning it's pretty suspect. My comments are interjected below.

Does Facebook Need Its Own Anti-Malware Service?: "

Does Facebook need to run its own anti-virus and anti-malware security system? That's a question that may need to be addressed in the near future as the now almost 500 million users on the social networking service are facing regular attacks from rogue applications, phishing attempts and other sorts of hacks, not to mention the onslaught of viral, but often completely inaccurate reposted status messages that spread around the network like modern-day chain letters. These messages warn users about some supposed threat occurring on site, but are often either misguided or out-and-out lies.

Out and out lies, my butt. I spent about an hour chasing down something that a) sent random weird messages to my Facebook friends and b) was identified as malware by several excellent sources. This missive smacks of spin control to me.

Is it time for Facebook to step in and do more to protect its network and its users from threats like these?

Rogue Facebook Apps Top Rogue Anti-Spyware During Busy Weekend

The latest threat to make the rounds on Facebook is a rogue application dubbed 'Distracting Beach Babes.' The app compromised the security of thousands of users' accounts by way of status messages that appear to be from friends. But when the users click through on the tantalizing link, they're asked to give an application permission to run. The app then tells users they must update their 'FLV player' before they can see the video. Those that attempt to do so are sent off-site to another page where malware is installed on their computer.

This is hardly the first rogue application to take advantage of Facebook's automated app approval systems. In fact, only days ago, a similar attack was underway. This one was a link to what was purportedly the 'sexiest video ever!' (Those hackers sure know how to entice, don't they?)

Shoot, this wasn't even the first attack involving the FLV player. If y'all haven't read the sordid tale yet, do so. 

This particular application led to a very busy weekend for anti-virus firms, indicating a major push by rogue Facebook apps, says AVG's chief research officer, Roger Thompson. Via the AVG website, Thompson reported that from midnight to 9 a.m. on May 15, its anti-malware software blocked more than 30,000 rogue Facebook applications, more than three times the rate of rogue anti-spyware.

In other words, the new anti-malware wave won't be coming from email, IM or other random websites users are tricked into visiting. It will come from your Facebook friends... or so it will seem.

Thompson acknowledged that Facebook's security team was 'very responsive' in identifying and removing these sorts of rogue applications, but Facebook's by-default viral nature allowed them to spread rapidly and affect large numbers of users before the apps could be removed. 'This attack was actually stunning in terms of scale,' he said.

"Very responsive?" I'll bite. This issue came to my attention May 2. If they were "very responsive," this would be a dead issue and no more needs to be said or written. 

Oh. I forgot. It was a different video this time. That'll throw 'em every time. Silly me.

Rogue Apps, Phishing, Scams and More

Other recent Facebook-related malware attacks have included fake Facebook password reset emails, the seemingly never-ending spread of the Koobface worm, the 'stalk my profile' scam (a rogue app with 25 variations, claiming it could tell you who visited your profile), the rogue 'like' app (which borrows the infamous like icon), and many others. Other unpatched attack vectors pop up everyday, like this security hole which researcher Joey Tyson (a.k.a theharmonyguy) describes as a 'dream situation for phishing.' This vulnerability is especially troubling as it enables a hacker to present a convincing Facebook login page that actually contains the term 'facebook.com' within its URL. (See it action here. Can you tell that's not the real Facebook.com?)

The situation has gotten so bad that users, in an attempt to be helpful, end up spreading around messages about various threats. Unfortunately, the threats they report are often false or are simply harmless bugs that Facebook is fixing, adding to the confusion. Case in point is the warning that anyone who received 'tons of friend suggestions' was infected with a virus. The reality, ironically, involved a widespread misunderstanding of the actual Facebook friend suggestion feature. The situation is so out of control that people are now spreading jokes poking fun at the trend itself.

See my above comment. If this was a bug Facebook was fixing, this would not be an issue. Next question ...?

Facebook's Security Efforts to Date

For what it's worth, earlier this year, Facebook implemented virus-scanning for the PCs of compromised users after they had fallen victim to an attack. The company also runs its own Security Page, which serves as a warning system of sorts. The page now has over 1.8 million fans (or in the new lingo, 'people who like this'). But on a network of nearly 500 million, this is the equivalent of a drop in the bucket. And it may not be enough to combat this ever-growing threat.

Ohh, yeah. Online virus scanning of the end user's computer. There are a few services that offer this; you will see their ads popping up every once in a while. Unfortunately, these are the kind of "services" that ad a whole different breed of malware to your computer. I'll pass on that.

And Facebook implementing this virus scanning? The way they totally don't give a rip about user security, I'd pass on that too. And if you have half a brain, you'll likewise pass.

Sophos security researcher Graham Cluley recently pondered this same question, asking, 'Isn't it time that Facebook set up an early warning system on their network, through which they can alert their... users about breaking threats as they happen?' The impact of such a feature could be dramatic, he explains. 'Imagine just how many people could have been protected if a simple message had appeared on all users' screens warning them of the outbreak.'

Whether an early warning system is actually needed is debatable. Another option would be for Facebook to more closely monitor the applications submitted to its platform. As the New York Times recently reported, 'Facebook's automated system for application developers leaves a door open to the creation and distribution of abusive applications,' even if the apps' ability to spread is short-lived.

But apps that only live for a few hours can still have thousands of victims. Maybe it's time for Facebook to make sure they never get to live at all?

Image credits in original article: Facebook; Sophos

Bottom line: Facebook has not earned my trust. There's no way on this earth I'd trust them to do anything with my computer. I won't even let them wipe the dust off my screen. And now this?

###

Obama's got Woody Allen's vote ... for dictator

Do people actually pay attention to these Hollyweird types?

This is from Fox:

Woody: Obama for 'Dictator':

... director says President Obama should be given dictatorial powers for 'a few years', GOP should 'get out of his way' ...

Let's see. Woody Allen? THE Woody Allen? Does he still have credibility?

But then, let's get inside the head of your average voter. Credibility means nothing. It's star power, baby. Which is why folks actually pay mind to what Barbra Streisand and Woody Harreslson -- and Woody Allen -- have to say. That's why they keep voting for California's action-figure-turned-Governator. 

###

Obama officially P.O'd in wake of spill

From the Associated Press:

Obama pledges permit review, end to cozy oil links

(AP): 

AP - Declaring himself as angry as the rest of the nation, President Barack Obama assailed oil drillers and his own administration Friday as he ordered extra scrutiny of drilling permits to head off any repeat of the sickening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Engineers worked desperately to stop the leak that's belching out at least 210,000 gallons of crude a day ...

OK. I don't understand something.

PrezBo sat on his thumb for how many days after the spill started, did nothing, and now he's ticked? 

God forbid a real emergency -- a 9/11 type, for example -- should happen while he's on the golf course. If that should happen, nothing will get done until he's finished putting.

###

'Duck And Cover' brings back some memories

Remember this?



I think I saw this in my kindergarten class. Rather a tense time, what with Khruschev and Castro feeling their oats.

Anyway, I was doing my usual manic Google thing, and uncovered this. I think it was originally done in 1951, and became a schoolhouse staple until the 1980s.

I forgot the turtle had a name. It's Bert.

Thought I'd share this little piece of nostalgia with you. Enjoy.

###

Whether we like it or not, Obama shows his hand

Another Obama-ism, at a recent Nuclear Security Summit:

That key sentence again:

"Whether we like it or not, we remain a military superpower."

Whether we like it or not? Pray tell, what does our alleged president mean here?

Personal footnote: I used to think he was just overmatched, in over his head, just a community organizer thrown into a job he is not qualified for. But with statements like this, it looks more and more like he has an agenda. A plan. And it's one that turns us into one of those European nations that's going down the drain. The more I think about it, the more it looks like he wants to castrate America.

Enough of that. With that off my chest, here's the deal:

If you happen to be one of those folks who doesn't like it, I just have one thing to say:

"Delta is ready when you are."

Please. Go away. Get your slack butt out of this country and quit bugging me. OK?

(Gee, what's so hard about that?)

###

Some reading while waiting to see what happens next

Today's required reading:

The Federalist Papers, by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. Download from Project Gutenberg. A series of essays on what the Constitution is all about. Whatever it is, it's not the way PrezBo or Nancy Pelosi see it.

Democracy In America, by Alexis DeTocqueville. Download Volume 1 and Volume 2 from Project Gutenberg.

It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis. Download from ? -- h'mm, good luck free downloads from the United States, imagine that. But try the Australian Gutenberg site and Books @ Adelaide, another Aussie site. Well worth the search, though. It's a fictional work, from the 1930s, about the United States going totalitarian. Total fiction, but based on a true story. And it happened a year from now.

###

Unemployment and Bunning's TS card: More than the money

Talk that the federal government may not afford paying out more unemployment benefits may leave me in a financial pickle, but more importantly it leaves me with one of those thorny moral dilemmas.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R, KY) is staging a one-man blockade to shut down any expansion of unemployment benefits. Later, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) joined him on this, saying the federal government needs to figure out a way to pay for additional benefits first.

"Congress just passed the so-called pay-go legislation which is supposed to require that we find offsets or other savings if we are going to spend money," Kyl said. "So what's the first thing we do? We exempt this bill from it."

Bunning, the baseball Hall Of Famer, laid what older military veterans may call a "T.S. card" on a $10 billion Senate plan to extend unemployment benefits. (Those who didn't hear Bunning's actual comments will probably still get the drift without a lot of explanation.)

While the Senate bill stalls, there's the spectre that benefits may terminate this month for more than 1.1 million former workers. At least, that's what the Democrats are saying, and most of those cats in the halls of Congress are real good at dealing out the exaggerated numbers and scare tactics.

Meanwhile, I will find out fairly quickly what happens next. I get inside information on this kind of news in my mailbox every week. See, with the exception of whatever writing income I scratch out, I've been living on unemployment. And hating it.

While some folks can carve a whole lifestyle out of waiting for that gummint check, I'm not one of those. It goes against everything I believe, everything that's important to me. Plus, it doesn't mesh with my personal style. I'm an action type, and not having a regular job leaves me all jacked up and no place to go. In short, it turns me into Beelzebub.

To be honest, I'm not sure where this unemployment compensation comes from. Well, I kind of do. It's funny money, surgically removed from working people and business owners or, failing that, printed up as needed by the federal government.

OK, here's the moral dilemma. Those who know me through this space have probably figured by now that I'm not big on government assistance. Shoot, I'm not big on government anything. I'd rather have a battery acid enema than deal with all these civil service types. A friend suggested I might consider trying for food stamps. I politely told her no, and the politeness was only because she's such a dear friend. But I'm not hurting. I can do great things with beans, rice, and hamburger. Even with my most expensive grocery item (premium coffee) my food bill is practically zip.

But you see what's going on. I'm writing about these conservative/libertarian principles, and I try to live in a manner that's at least somewhat consistent with what I write. My views have not changed, and don't expect me to start pounding a share-the-wealth message any time soon. I don't roll that way.

See the dilemma here? While some may suggest I just get what I can, shut up, and hang my convictions, I'm just not that type of person.

Strategy time, from my personal notes: I'm still looking for work, but have widened my options. Part time would be wonderful; in fact that's the best scenario I can think of. It was less than two months ago that I started freelance writing in earnest, so I'm just scratching the surface there. Right now, as long as it's legal I don't really care what the part time job is; it's not like I'm going to be married to it or anything. I have three (or four, depending on how you count them) paid writing gigs going on right now, and already at this early stage they amount to half a paycheck. A part-time gig, paying about what I'm making now in unemployment, would be gravy.

Entrepreneurs and high-level economists are smart enough to know that you don't put all your eggs in one basket. But with this economy being what it is, that truth has filtered down to the average folks, those who punch a clock every day. The economy is so uncertain that if you're depending on just one income source for your daily bread, you're inviting trouble.

While some do quite nicely for themselves while waiting for that gummint cheese, I don't see how they do it.

###

Where can I find some good coffee around here?

No wonder our civilization is in the toilet -- it's because the coffee around here sucks.

This isn't personal opinion talking; I'm getting this straight from Consumer Reports. The publication, which has helped comparison shoppers for about a million years, says there are no excellent brands of coffee around this year.

From Reuters:

... after tasting 37 different blended coffees, Consumer Reports couldn't find one that measured up to its "excellent" or "very good" ratings, the publication said Tuesday ... ranking at the top of the list of 14 caffeinated blends -- earning a rating of "good" -- are the Starbucks House Blend, calculated at 26 cents per cup, and Green Mountain Signature Nantucket Blend Medium Roast, at 23 cents per cup.

It turns out arabica beans are in short supply this year, and that's the good stuff. So we're having to make do with second-rate coffee.

See, I kind of had that hunch all along. Understand, I'm one who appreciates a morning cup o'joe -- and some in the afternoon and some more in the evening -- so my tastes for the brew are pretty well developed.

For me the perfect cup is black as old crankcase oil, hot, and full-bodied. In short, I like the coffee that tastes like someone left a cigar butt in the pot.

Now hear this:

The West wasn't won on a cup of that insipid watery stuff many folks swear is coffee. I mean, you can read through it. The stuff isn't even strong enough to defend itself.

And though I occasionally like a cappuccino as a treat, let's take a look at culture. The places where the people prefer cappuccino to regular coffee are those very same nations that need the Americans to haul their chestnuts out of the fire every 50 years or so.

I'm ready for a refill. The real stuff, and pour it like you don't own it.

###

Maybe we should call him 'Max Bacchus'

What a performance! And this is one of the guys who makes your laws.

Nigerian bomber exposes Homeland Security incompetence

Nice to know that our Homeland Security system works. At least that's what department head Janet Napolitano says.

Never mind the fact that some 23 year-old guy named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got busted on a transcontinental flight trying to light up some powder in his underdrawers, powder that turned out to be a high explosive. Never mind the fact the guy was a Muslim from Nigeria with probable al-Quaeda ties, and was on the antiterrorism watch list. And was waved onto the flight without showing his passport.It seems that, as the plane approached Detroit, Abdulmutallab went to the aircraft's bathroom for approximately 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he said he had an upset stomach and pulled a blanket over himself. And waited until it was time to set things off.

The passengers on Northwest Flight 253 did a better job of flight security than the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ever could. They caught up with Abdulmutallab -- he was easy to pick out because of the flames shooting out of his pants -- and proceeded to knock the fool out of him.One of the most glaring problems with Homeland Security is that it's reactive in scope. Every time something happens, there's a new rule. After Richard Reid was busted trying to light up his shoes, the TSA started having airline passengers take off their shoes as part of the check-in drill. More prohibitions started as more threats developed, and the whole process has succeeded in turning air travel into something you mentally prepare for, like a colonoscopy (why did I use that analogy?)

Much as I like to travel, flying is not on my list of fun things to do. It's rough enough for me, being something of a control freak, knowing that I'm not the one that's driving. But getting inspected before even boarding? You've got to be kidding.

Last time I flew was in 2006, five years after 9/11. I watched as one TSA inspector daubed the contents of my one checked-in bag before pitching it onto the conveyor. I stood in line, took off my boots, took everything metal out of my pockets, dumped all of that into my hat, and answered questions about my carry-on bag. The return trip was worse; I got the wand and the secondary inspection pit while my brother and his family were cracking up (I remember telling them to don't just stand there; take some pictures). A woman in her late 70s was in the other secondary inspection pit where TSA inspectors were going over her wheel chair.

Part of this is that the inspectors are trying to be all politically correct. Rather than profile the person, they're trying to profile the object -- shoes, metal objects, shampoo, bottled water, and now blankets and laptops. On the same flight, another Nigerian created another in-flight security scare because he spent too much time in the head, so you can expect that will be more closely watched. And so it goes, especially when Homeland Security is so badly behind the curve.

Again, rather than profiling the item, what's wrong with profiling the person instead? This bombing suspect paid cash for a one-way ticket. He didn't have his passport, or even luggage. He was Muslim. A Nigerian. His daddy, who is the former economics minister of Nigeria, said his son had been radicalized and warned authorities of this six months ago. Though he wasn't on the federal no-fly list, he was on a "terrorist identities" list of 550,000 names maintained by US authorities. What with those high explosives riding so close to his private parts, he had to have been more than a little nervous, maybe sweating something awful.

OK, right from the jump, isn't that enough red flags for you? But he made it through screening at two airports.

In light of Abdulmutallab's background and Homeland Security's capabilities, Dr. Magnus Ranstorp of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College doesn't understand how the bombing attempt could have taken place.

"On the one hand, it seems he's been on the terror watch list but not on the no-fly list," Ranstorp said. "That doesn't square because the American Department for Homeland Security has pretty stringent data-mining capability. I don't understand how he had a valid visa if he was known on the terror watch list.

One thing that can be guaranteed from this incident: Despite Homeland Security's obvious failure here, it's a lead pipe cinch the federal government will use this incident to give that department even more power over our lives. Which should put frost in the heart of every thinking American. Really, the only saving grace with that scenario is that Homeland Security is so incompetent -- or maybe that's not such a saving grace after all.

Here's a happy thought: After Reid, passengers were asked to remove their shoes. Now that Abdulmutallab was caught with exploding underdrawers, is the TSA going to ask passengers to remove their ... never mind.

But I feel better knowing the system works. Janet Napolitano said so.

###

NYT: Feds monitoring social media for protestors, tax cheats

There is plenty of misinformation floating around the Internet on those foaming-at-the-mouth sites, those that say there was no Holocaust, that 9/11 was a government conspiracy, that the feds distribute hard drugs in the ghettos to anesthetize the citizens. There's enough material online to fuel whatever conspiracy you're harboring this week.

These days, erosion of our civil liberties is a favorite subject for the purveyors of tripe. And it's a real enough issue, one that I've seen escalate ever since 9/11 and really hit breakneck speed over the past year. But many of these websites run stories on this subject, and much of what the writers tell you doesn't stand up to any real investigation. The Internet gives everyone a soapbox, and intelligence -- or sanity -- has nothing to do with it.

Up front: I don't like what the Obamas, Pelosis, or Reids are doing to the country, and I sure didn't like some of the responses to 9/11 (see: USA PATRIOT ACT) either. I don't believe the federal government has your best interests at heart. Barack Obama strikes me as a dangerous lightweight who's not far removed from the William Ayres of this world. But I don't believe he was born in Kenya, that he's a closet Muslim, or that he's the Antichrist either.

But when some of this stuff makes it in the mainstream media, it does give one pause. I took this editorial directly from the New York Times -- you know, The Gray Lady -- and am running it in its entirety here:

Twitter Tapping

"The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers and political protesters. A public interest group has filed a lawsuit to learn more about this monitoring, in the hope of starting a national discussion and modifying privacy laws as necessary for the online era.

"Law enforcement is not saying a lot about its social surveillance, but examples keep coming to light. The Wall Street Journal reported this summer that state revenue agents have been searching for tax scofflaws by mining information on MySpace and Facebook. In October, the F.B.I. searched the New York home of a man suspected of helping coordinate protests at the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh by sending out messages over Twitter.

"In some cases, the government appears to be engaged in deception. The Boston Globe recently quoted a Massachusetts district attorney as saying that some police officers were going undercover on Facebook as part of their investigations.

"Wired magazine reported last month that In-Q-Tel, an investment arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, has put money into Visible Technologies, a software company that crawls across blogs, online forums, and open networks like Twitter and YouTube to monitor what is being said.

"This month the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law sued the Department of Defense, the C.I.A. and other federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act to learn more about their use of social networking sites.

"The suit seeks to uncover what guidelines these agencies have about this activity, including information about whether agents are permitted to use fake identities or to engage in subterfuge, such as tricking people into accepting Facebook friend requests.

"Privacy law was largely created in the pre-Internet age, and new rules are needed to keep up with the ways people communicate today. Much of what occurs online, like blog posting, is intended to be an open declaration to the world, and law enforcement is within its rights to read and act on what is written. Other kinds of communication, particularly in a closed network, may come with an expectation of privacy. If government agents are joining social networks under false pretenses to spy without a court order, for example, that might be crossing a line.

"A national conversation about social networking and other forms of online privacy is long overdue. The first step toward having it is for the public to know more about what is currently being done. Making the federal government answer these reasonable Freedom of Information Act requests would be a good start."

[A version of this article appeared in print on December 13, 2009, on page WK8 of the New York edition.]

Sheesh! It makes a fella want to unplug his computer for good, stock up on weapons and concentrated food, and barricade his apartment. No matter how you dissect this editorial, it's not going to give you that warm fuzzy feeling.

Especially when you consider the source.

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Flaccid health bill turning ugly on backers?

The impossible has been achieved. The proposed new health care package (Senate version) now ticks off everyone on the left and the right.

Of course you knew from the jump that the more conservative people would bemoan the plan as backdoor Socialism. That's a given, and the proposal did separate the conservative Republicans from their middle-of-the-road kin.

But now, look at this: Many of the folks on the hard left are suggesting the whole plan should be taken off life support.

After the public option and Medicare buy-in -- subjects that warm the hearts of liberals everywhere -- were knocked off the Senate bill, Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean said the new proposal solves nothing, and urged Democrats to fight for "real reform." MSNBC commentator and unabashed liberal Keith Olbermann also slammed the now-gutted legislation. "This is not health, this is not care, this is certainly not reform," he says.

Even The Daily Kos, one of the most far-left sites in the blogosphere, started to notice the foul smell about the health care bill. From Kos himself:

... Let me say up front that my disagreement with the "support the current bill" crowd is based on policy and political considerations, but I can see how reasonable people can come to the opposite conclusion. I don't think supporters of this wreck of a bill are stupid or compromised or anything like that. I'm not like Joe Klein railing against "assorted nonsense from left-bloggers", which so reminds me of his ad hominems during the Iraq War debate. How'd that turn out, Joe? In short, there appears to be a divide between those who think the insurance industry will play nice, even with little incentive to do so, and people like me who don't ...

Erstwhile vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's name is mud in certain Democratic circles these days, after he led the charge to strike public option from the Senate bill. Media Matters, another far-left site, has been largely ignoring the health care debate over the past few weeks, except to bodyslam the Connecticut legislator. Meanwhile, ultralib filmmaker Michael Moore is calling for a boycott of Lieberman's state, a move which would be every bit as ineffectual and laughable as the NAACP's longstanding boycott of South Carolina.

About the only thing keeping the health bill alive is that Barack Obama is solidly for it. His presidency is losing its relevance very quickly, what with the mixed messages he's sending out between Afghanistan and domestic issues, and the left is starting to lose patience with him. That in itself is enough motivation for lawmakers to approve the bill, even a watered-down version. Here's how libertarian Neal Boortz puts it:

... the very validity of Obama's presidency rests on passage of this bill. To shelve ObamaCare would be tantamount to castrating Barack Obama. His presidency would be impotent. ObamaCare is Viagra for the Obama presidency. Without ObamaCare The ACORN Administration enters a period of limp dormancy ...

I like how Neal puts it, but I doubt that will be enough to salvage the bill.

My own stance on the health care plan has been on record in this space. We need to only look at the government's own track record to see why: ventures such as public education, the post office, Amtrak, Cash For Clunkers show that the Feds have the "reverse Midas touch." Everything the government touches turns to ordure. And now they want to take over health care too? Puh-leeeze!

The public is likewise unenthusiastic about the health care plan. Earlier this week Gallup said 46% of Americans generally supportive of passing a bill this year and 48% generally opposed.

Numbers from an ABC News/Washington Post poll are more revealing: 53 percent of the public see higher costs for themselves under Obamalosicare. The poll also indicates that only 37 percent say the quality of their health care would be better under the proposed changes. And a A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation nation survey from last week had similar findings, with 75 percent of people questioned saying the senate health care bill would not help their family. The poll also indicated that 85 percent of Americans think the bill, if it became law, would increase their taxes and nearly 8 in 10 say it would increase the country's budget deficit.

So now, despite efforts to get this thing wrapped up before Christmas, chances are that the health care package will roast in its own juices instead.

Let's hope so.

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