Thursday, October 6, 2022

News updates

The human mind is usually comfortable with incompatible beliefs
The NYT writes
Like many other conservative residents of storm-battered southwest Florida, Pamela Swartz has long been leery of government spending. But as she stood among the smashed boats, gutted homes and overwhelming loss left by Hurricane Ian, Ms. Swartz said that federal aid could not come soon enough.

“This is their time to step in,” said Ms. Swartz, whose garage in Fort Myers Beach had been flooded by Ian’s devastating storm surge. She was already frustrated after trying to file a federal storm claim. “This is what we pay our taxes for.”  
“Our governor is the greatest,” said Jay Kimble, a maintenance worker on Fort Myers Beach who lost everything. “I know he’s going to do everything he can to get us back on our feet. I’m not a Biden fan at all.”
Most conservatives like these two routinely vote for Republican politicians who routinely try to reduce taxes and domestic spending. That includes spending for disaster relief. Taxes are great when they are needed for themselves, but horrible socialist tyranny and treason when tax dollars go elsewhere. One could call it hypocrisy. But whatever one calls it, the typical human mind is usually quite comfortable with it. It does not have to make sense. It just has to feel right and good.


From the milquetoast rule of law files: The first time an executive 
has been prosecuted for bad behavior after a computer hack??
In 2016, while the Federal Trade Commission was investigating Uber over an earlier breach of its online systems, Mr. Sullivan learned of a new breach that affected the Uber accounts of more than 57 million riders and drivers.

The jury found Mr. Sullivan guilty on one count of obstructing the F.T.C.’s investigation and one count of misprision, or acting to conceal a felony from authorities.

The case — believed to be the first time a company executive faced criminal prosecution over a hack — could change how security professionals handle data breaches.
This is only the first time? Corporations have been hiding huge hacks from everyone for decades. Once again, the exceptionally holey (full of holes) Swiss cheese that is the rule of law, has reared its ugly head and nailed a corporate elite. This nudges the track record up to nailing white collar crooks to about 1 in 10 million from about 1 in 20 million. Good job! The rule of law is working as intended. The elites remain secure in their homes and beds.

Clearly, this will change how corporate security professionals handle data breaches. They will up their plausible deniability game and find a low level employee to take the fall. The janitor did it!!


Election truth denial and what to do about it
A majority of Republican nominees on the ballot this November for the House, Senate and key statewide offices — 299 in all — have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Candidates who have challenged or refused to accept Joe Biden’s victory are running in every region of the country and in nearly every state. Republican voters in four states nominated election deniers in all federal and statewide races The Post examined.

Although some are running in heavily Democratic areas and are expected to lose, most of the election deniers nominated are likely to win: Of the nearly 300 on the ballot, 174 are running for safely Republican seats. Another 51 will appear on the ballot in tightly contested races.
Yet the greatest single measure to protect U.S. democracy lies in Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced his support last week for the Electoral Count Reform Act, which would make it harder for conspiracy theorists to hijack the electoral process and overturn a legitimate vote. It is an essential response to the wave of election deniers likely to take office next year — and, as such, it is the most important legislation federal lawmakers will have considered in recent years.
Time will tell if democracy can be defended or if it will fall. Most Republicans in congress will oppose trying to defend democracy and elections. Even McConnell's claimed support is probably just insincere window dressing.

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