Tag Archives: rights

Double Standards

Posted on by
Reply

A Twitter representative illustrates.

Notice that. Even after the moderator’s clarification of Ostrovsky’s question, Twitter considers Iran’s head mullah Khamenei routinely calling for the destruction of Israel entirely acceptable “for conversation,” but Trump’s often rude remarks on Twitter worthy of warnings if not outright censorship and removal.

But @Jack doesn’t want to impact politics or political speech. And @Jack is an honorable man; so are they all, all of Twitter honorable men.

Aside: Arsen Ostrovsky is, among other things, Executive Director of The Israeli-Jewish Congress, an Israeli-based NGO.

Internet Security

Posted on by
1

There is a move afoot—and it’s making significant progress—to develop and deploy a quantum computing Internet.

A group led by the US Department of Energy and the University of Chicago plans to develop a nationwide quantum internet that could be functional in about a decade and with the potential to securely transmit sensitive information related to national security and financial services.
“What we’re moving forward on is building out quantum networks [to] someday…turn into a full second internet, a parallel internet to the digital internet,” said Paul Dabbar, the Energy Department’s Under Secretary for Science.

That would be terrific if it actually comes to fruition. Especially this part:

“Literally anything that would be transmitted encrypted today would be suitable for the quantum internet in the future,” Mr [JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Managing Director, Head of Research and Engineering, Marco] Pistoia said in an email.

Of course, that includes the personal and business correspondence of US citizens.

A problem I have with such a development, though, is this:

“A quantum network, because of physics, is by definition completely secure,” Mr Dabbar said.

No. A quantum network is not the network to end all networks. Such a network is not because of physics…by definition completely secure.

A quantum network is completely secure because of physics as we understand physics today. Security is, and always will be, an arms race between the cryptographers and their evolutions on the one hand, and the hackers and their evolutions on the other.

The biggest threat to security is just this sort of complacency.

There are other problems, and they are not unique to quantum networks, either. One such is a basic denial of service attack, where the hacker doesn’t care a single bit about encryption—at least not directly—but only in denying user access to the network or any node on it. The motive for that denial may be petty vandalism, “protest,” extortion—give me that document you’ve got encrypted on your quantum subnet (so much for quantum encryption)—to any number of other not yet imagined reasons.

Another is the phishing expedition wherein an employee is suckered into taking some action that grants the hacker access to the network.

Then there’s that personal communication secrecy—a citizen’s wish to keep his private communications private, including from the prying eyes of Government. Quantum network use would extend the tension between a citizen’s right to keep private things private and Government’s often entirely legitimate, even urgent, need to know. That, though, is just part of the noise of republican democracy.

By all means, develop and deploy the quantum Internet; it would be a huge step forward in data protection. Sooner is better.

But don’t be complacent about its security. And don’t let up on the need to protect against other forms of attack.

Foolishness

Posted on by
Reply

The United Teachers Los Angeles union put out a paper earlier this month, and among the union’s claims is this one”

Police violence is a leading cause of death and trauma for Black people, and is a serious public health and moral issue.

Wow.

There are thousands of blacks killed or traumatized and families traumatized by other blacks every year. Police violence causes more black deaths and trauma than that?

Thousands of black babies murdered in the womb every year. Police violence causes more black deaths and trauma than that?

The UTLA is insulting the intelligence of all of us with this…foolishness. The UTLA is especially demonstrating its soft bigotry of low expectations with this insult to the intelligence of blacks.

The UTLA doesn’t care a fig about the welfare of blacks or of black children or of any of our children or of any of us. The union just wants money.

Full stop.

Canceling

Posted on by
Reply

It’s really gone too far—as if the first occurrence hadn’t already taken the false piety too far.

ESPN suspended NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski a day after a profane email from him to Senator Josh Hawley [R, MO] was leaked to social media, according to multiple reports.
Outkick and the New York Post both reported that the basketball reporter was suspended. The newspaper reported he was suspended without pay. It was unclear how long the suspension is for.

Wojnarowski’s offense was the end of an exchange wherein Hawley had criticized the NBA’s timidity and hypocrisy regarding “pre-approved, social justice slogans” on jerseys after “censoring support” for law enforcement and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. Wojnarowski’s response was a two-word crudity.

Then he publicly apologized.

Wojnarowski plainly screwed up, badly. But he apologized, and did so without hiding his apology under a bushel. Now it’s time—or it should be—to see whether he’s actually changing his behavior, correcting it.

Insufficient, though, and we got yet another overreaction by the Left’s Kancel Kulture, this time by a cowardly corporate manager, the Timid One in charge of ESPN.

Plainly, the Left does not believe in second chances. The Left does not believe in rehabilitation. The Left does not believe in the possibility of redemption.

Every error—as defined by the Left—must be a capital crime.

Free Speech, Free Assembly

Posted on by
Reply

Here is how two clauses of our Constitution’s First Amendment will be enforced under a Progressive-Democrat administration.

Officials in the city of Houston, Texas have cancelled the state’s Republican convention. On Wednesday, Democrat Mayor Sylvester Turner announced he has instructed the city’s convention center to cancel the event.

Today I instructed the Houston First Corporation to exercise its right contractually in cancelling the State’s Republican Convention that was set to take place next week at GRB. #COVID19
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) July 8, 2020

It was supposed to be held there next week, but Turner claimed it would’ve posed a “clear and present” danger.

Notice: the Progressive-Democrat mayor carefully waited until virtually the last minute to block the Texas Republican Party’s convention. By waiting until so late in the game, Turner has made it exceedingly difficult if not impossible for the party and its members to exercise their free assembly rights and free speech rights, except on a schedule acceptable to the Progressive-Democrats. Which Turner has carefully omitted to lay out.