Because We Can!

If President Obama needs a campaign slogan for his assumed 2012 bid for re-election, let me suggest, “Because We Can!“

Why do I suggest this?  Do you really have to ask? This president, more than any other, has pushed more combined regulations, requirements, taxes, and debt on the American people.  Why?  Because We Can!

In an unprecedented move, President Obama appointed Dr. Donald Berwick as the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  He did this in a recess appointment.  Now, recess appointments are not uncommon.  I believe every president in recent history has made them.  The unprecedented part here is that Berwick’s nomination wasn’t even discussed or debated while the Senate was in session.  Nobody there had a chance to voice either support or objection to this man who is a lover of the British rationed health care system.  Why did Obama do it (obviously with Democrat Senate support)? Because We Can!

While we’re on health care, let’s talk about controlling yours.  The NY Times reports that there are new rules (read that “requirements”) for physicians and hospitals to keep and eventually share your records electronically.  The government will pay them up to $27 Billion to convert.  If it’s such a good idea and will reduce health care costs all around why have they not already converted on their own initiative?  However, more important, why impose these rules at all? Because We Can!

I will write a separate article on why this is dangerous at another time.   This blog entry is just an overview.

In my opinion BP has acted very irresponsible with regard to our oil and our environment.  They recklessly drilled without the proper safety procedures and inspections such as those imposed by Great Britain after their North Sea Piper Alpha disaster back in 1988 where 167 people died.  On an economic level, I can’t blame BP for taking the shortcuts; on the human and environmental level, however, I can and do.  The US government doesn’t require these enhanced procedures, regardless of how much they protect life and the environment.  Why does BP (and others, to be fair to BP) ignore them?  They take a cue from President Obama.  Because We Can!

The Gulf disaster struck.  Lives were lost.  The environment is being crippled.  Oil is being lost.  Yet Obama waited two months to talk to BP execs.  This president who criticized you-know-who for delaying after Katrina wasted no time hitting the golf course while tons of oil gushed from an out of control hole in the sea bottom, thus wasting potential energy, and polluting fishing beds and the environment in general.  Why?  Because We Can!

Obama’s “untiring” leadership on this actual crisis consisted of three vacations and untold numbers of golf outings while the fishing industry was being devastated, tourism virtually halted in most Gulf Shore areas, and oil production stopped.  He’d rather pick on Arizona who wants to stop terrorists from crossing its border (more on this below).  Why?  Because We Can!

Obama’s big achievement?  Put a failed moratorium on all drilling because of one bad player.  That’s like grounding all cargo transportation because one ship sinks.  There are players playing by the rules.  Why penalize everyone?  Because We Can!

One player has already pulled out of the Gulf and is on its way to Egypt due to this moratorium.  I do give Obama credit for his tenacity.  If at first you don’t succeed (or even if at second, when the moratorium is struck down on appeal), try, try again with another moratorium.  Obama’s actions will kill our quest for energy independence.  Why?  Because We Can!

I find it interesting, if not ironic, that this liberal president bucked liberals by declaring that he was opening up areas for oil exploration and drilling only to then declare a moratorium on drilling.  That’s just a side observation.

Arizona passed a law giving its law enforcement officers the authority to assist the US government agents in enforcing federal immigration laws.  It’s not racial profiling which the US Attorney General implies it might be.  It’s not supplanting the US government’s responsibility.  Arizona says that if the US government can’t supply the manpower to enforce the laws, the state will help nab illegals.  Obama wants to stop them from stopping illegal aliens, not just the illegal landscapers but the smuggled terrorists as well.  Why? Because We Can!

Obama plans new financial regulation that is already working its way through Congress.  This is on top of the reforms that Congress already passed in the past year or so.  There is even talk of more bailouts for failed friends of the Democrat-controlled Congress and President.  Why? Because We Can!

Bailouts don’t work.  All they do is reward stupidity and failure.  If some company is “too big to fail”, then split it up so it can divest itself of the failing parts.  Don’t give the leaders money to award themselves bonuses.

Obama won’t secure our border from terrorists.  Obama won’t take reasonable measures to make health care affordable short of taking over the entire industry.  He won’t implement and enforce reasonable safety measures but instead he will stop the oil industry in its tracks.  He won’t stop spending but rather supports even more giveaway programs.

How far down the road to economic destruction will he take us before he turns around (if he’ll turn around at all)?  Why does he do this?  Because he can.

Even Newer Money

So, we now have a new design for the $100 dollar bill.  Why?  Because the older ones were too easy to counterfeit.  Interesting.  I thought the (now) old bills were designed that way to prevent counterfeiting.

Counterfeiting, like terrorism, is a game of leap frog or catch-up for the government.  The counterfeiters can steal your currency so you build countermeasures.  They circumvent those countermeasures and you come up with others.

The same is true for terrorism.  You have security measures and terrorists find ways to circumvent them.  You come up with ways to stop them and they find new ways.

Will this work?  Sure, that is, until the crooks find a way to put a bell in an inkwell and put in 3-D security ribbon.  Don’t worry.  More “security” will soon be needed.

In both, there are only a few things you can do.  One is to give up trying to get ahead.  Accept that you can’t stay ahead for long and just manage the situation.  Another way is to do what we do now and that it to get ahead of “the bad guys” even if it’s just for a short while.

The third way, which I believe is coming, is to come with up what we will be told is an absolutely foolproof ways to stop counterfeiters and terrorists in their tracks.  The solution: track every bill as it passes through the economic system and track every person coming into, out of, or traveling through the country.

Scan the person and scan the bill.  If that person is not supposed to have that bill, notify the authorities.  The side benefit to government is that it can also kill the underground economy, but that wasn’t being taxed so to the wonks it will be a good thing.

It will be easy.  Walk into an ObamaCare clinic and you will be scanned as you walk through the door and will know who you are.  Then they’ll scan your money to make sure it is really yours.  Finally, they’ll put you on a waiting list for whatever it is you need.

But why have bills in the first place?  If they scan you, they have access to your bank account or credit card.  Let’s get rid of this germ-laden money once and for all.

It will require that every person get some kind of chip or scan-able mark, but isn’t that a small price to pay for economic an physical security?  Oh, and it will also protect the borders as illegal aliens either won’t have a chip or won’t have the right mark that is known to the system.

It’s easy.  Give up some freedom and liberty for a little security and before you know it, we’ll have none.
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These are Exciting Times

Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in all sorts of places, economic and political chaos, allowing biometric chips (ostensibly for health care), and the list goes on.  It almost sounds apocalyptic, and that’s just the commercials on TV.

Seriously, though, is everything caused by Man-Made Global Warming?  Not only the earthquakes but the recent volcano in Iceland are blamed on Global Warming.

Speaking of Iceland, I find it strange.  That tiny country declared bankruptcy a short while ago.  People fled to the Scandinavian countries and now the volcanic ash is following them.  Ah, but Global Warming must be a tough master.  Think of all the heat, CO2, and sulfur compounds per capita and per square mile that Iceland produces.  Per person they’re responsible (if people are responsible for their countries geothermal activity) they have to generate more heat into the atmosphere than anywhere else.  Now with their glaciers melting (due to the volcanoes and hot springs, I must add), they’re almost single-handedly flooding the earth!  Can’t they get a break?

On another front, every day there are new revelations about what’s included in our recent health care bill and what it can mean to us lowly taxpayers.  We now have provisions for putting microchips in people.  Apparently a Health Identity Card is insufficient.

On one level it makes sense.  If you have an embeddable RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) microchip implanted in your arm it will be difficult for someone to impersonate you and they will know which body is yours.  Efficiency is improved and fraud is reduced.

The chip would be used to validate your pharmaceutical purchases as well.  Every pharmacy would have the scanners, but so would every grocery store that has a pharmacy.  It’s a small step to go from scanning you just for your drugs to scanning you for everything.  After all, you can and do buy medicines with your food items, and they’ll need to make sure that the cough syrup you bought won’t interfere with the medications you take.  I don’t think this is a big stretch and it’s all in the name of public safety and health.

Next step?  Well, if the government is running your health care, they’ll want to make sure you don’t overdo your cholesterol or alcohol levels, and then there are tobacco products.  How can they “advise” you of your health decisions if they don’t know everything about your eating and personal habits.  It’s all in the name of efficiency, you know.

Step by step.  Intrusion by intrusion.  You’re too stupid to take care of yourself so the government will do it for you.  Just don’t move to Iceland or you could be killed by a volcano.

What does it Profit a Man

… To gain the whole world but to lose his soul?  Jesus asked that question.  However, to bring it into a more secular setting, let me ask the question, “What does it profit a person to gain the world but lose his (or her) identity?”

Identity theft is reported, if the commercials are to be believed, the fastest growing crime in the US, if not in the whole world.  Each year scores of thousands of people report their identity being stolen.  Is this just fear mongering?  I don’t think so and the statistics seem to bear it out. It boggles the imagination to think how many people have had their identities stolen but don’t know it.  Yet.

Sadly, the onus is on us to protect ourselves.  Government cannot protect us.  Locks on our doors don’t stop the thieves who really want to break in.  They only give us a sense of security.  HIPAA does not stop someone from stealing your medical information; it only slows down the dissemination of that information.  No thief will ever say, “I’d better not steal that.  There is a law against taking it.”

Locks, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, the TSA, computer passwords, Stalinism or mega-socialism, and all the other technological, physical, political and legal so-called protections are only as good as the society that enforces them.  So what can you do?

It is your responsibility to take care of yourself.  RFID or microchips can’t do it for you.  The banking systems won’t protect you unless they are forced to do so.  Big money has been spent to stop Congress and state legislatures from passing strong consumer protection regarding telebanking, telemarketing, and the overly free flow of your information.

What can you do?  I’m do not portray myself to be a security expert but this is what I think everyone should be doing.

First, shred everything.  If it was mailed to you or given to you and it has your name, address, phone number, or anything else that can be linked to you, shred it.  I’m not talking about just bank statements or credit card bills.  This includes junk mail, electric or phone bills, and especially the mail that offers you a pre-approved credit card.  Someone can find that at the dump and you have a new credit card in your name but not in your possession.

Be careful with your checks.  You have to have your routing and account numbers on the check (the numbers on the bottom) but if anyone has them, they can issue a bank draft against your account and take what’s there.  You have to have your name and address on your checks, but you don’t need and should not have your driver’s license number or phone number on it.  Let the clerk hand write that information if it’s demanded.  A single lost or stolen check, even if it’s a voided check, can cause your identity to be stolen in no time flat.  The same is true for bank deposit slips pre-printed with your account and personal information.

Be wary of your waiter or waitress taking way too long to run your credit card.  They could be copying the information from the card for a phone or internet purchase of their own.  The same is true of a store clerk who for some reason has to go in the back room with your card.

Monitor your credit card activity.  You can do this on-line in most places and for Pete’s sake, get your credit report annually and review it.  Federal law requires them to give it to you once a year for free.  Some states require them to provide free copies more often.

Speaking of on-line, never, never, never enter any personal information or password on an insecure web site.  Web security is far from perfect but it’s better than no security.  You know you’re on a secure site if the URL starts with HTTPS and not just HTTP.

Never click on a link in an e-mail.  Type it into your web browser.  Web page writers can make you think you’re going to one site when they really are sending you to another site. Try this. Click on this link that says you are going to http://www.google.com.  I’ll bet you didn’t end up at Google.

Never go to any site that supposedly “verifies” your identity or asks you blatant questions about you or your account number, or wants to validate your password.  Most are foreign sites set up only for the purpose of stealing information about you.  If it looks like it came from the bank, it probably didn’t.  Call them and verify it.

Don’t use trivial passwords or use the same password between sites.  Once someone guesses your password, they have access to all your accounts.

Lastly, and this is the last one only because this is starting to get long, beware putting in too much information about you into social networking sites.  If you talk about your first girlfriend or boyfriend, guess what?  Isn’t the name of your first girlfriend or boyfriend one of the “security” questions you bank has asked you so it can verify that you really are the one wanting to transfer that money out of your account?  Personal profiles not only let your friends know more about you but your impersonator as well.

Technology is morally neutral and any technology created by a human can be subverted by another human. Even if we put microchips in ourselves and our children, someone can steal our information.

We live in a dangerous world and the only one who is vitally interested in your personal security is you. Be wise and stay safe.

He’s a Chip off the Old … Chip?

One of my life’s maxims is that technology is morally neutral.  The same drugs that can help manage pain and nausea can kill you if taken in high doses.  Is it the drug’s fault?  No.  The same auto that takes you to the store can kill a group of people if rammed into a crowd.  Is it the car’s fault? No.

The same GPS that lets your friends find you through a social networking site allows your significant other to track your every movement.  The same anti-theft system that allows On-Star to disable your auto if it is stolen is the same system that allows the authorities to disable your car even if they mistake you for someone else.

The same RFID or other chip technology that gives you VIP access to your favorite night spot also can track you as you walk or drive around town.

A while back I posted a blog entry that focused on the chipping of our children.  I did speak of the benefits of this microchip technology and there are many, from health care to finding lost children to finding your lost car to tracking goods as they pass through our ports and travel to their destinations.   The problem, as I and so many others see it, is that for this technology to be used for good, you must have inherently good people using it.

When medical records were kept in your doctor’s office, you only had to worry about someone blabbing or breaking in and stealing them (remember Watergate?)  Now, they’re kept on untold numbers of laptop computers and databases .  We even see commercials showing us how wonderful it is if all of your information is in one place and available any time and anywhere for doctors to use.  The problem is that these laptops get lost or stolen, and the databases get hacked.

What people pushing this technology gloss over  is that your private information is available for anyone who can access it, whether legally or illegally and most systems have grossly inadequate security.  HIPAA restricts how your doctor can use the data but it has absolutely no affect on anyone who steals your medical files or steals your identity and then requests your information while impersonating you.  All they need is enough information to convince the person is that they are you, and there are more than enough public databases available free on the Internet that they’d only need one or two more facts about you and they are, for all intents and purposes, you.

How can your identity be stolen?  That’s fodder for another blog entry.  Unfortunately it’s all too easy for people to get their hands on your information.

Any technology created by a human can be subverted or cracked by another human.  Even the new “Chip and Pin” technology that puts microchips in your credit cards and requires you to type a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to use the card can be bypassed.  The BBC did an expose on this.  The sad thing is that the companies that push the technology simply said, “Yes, we know about those vulnerabilities.  You’ve not told us anything we don’t already know (but are unwilling to do anything about.)”  Will they do something?  Only if forced to do so by law or public backlash.

We have to be very careful about how we let technology into our lives.  All too often we accept it and then are forced into damage control when the problems hit us.

“Trust me.  I’m sure it works,” is not a good policy when adopting new technology that has the potential of ruining people’s lives.

What scares me the most is the thought of with what we will replace these chip on cards and PINs when we realize the technology just won’t work.