Tag Archives: Security

GOP Debate On CNN, with Questions by American Enterprise Institute & Heritage Foundation

GOP Candidates, 2011, Courtesy CBS News

Follow LJF97 on Twitter Tweet At the conclusion of the GOP debate, Wolf Blitzer thanked CNN‘s partners, the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. This partnership explains the framing of the debate on energy as “Burn Baby Burn” or “Drill Baby Drill.”

No questions were asked on the potential for renewable energy technologies, such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydro. Nor were questions asked on climate change or on the pollution and cleanup costs from coal, oil, gas, or nuclear.

Energy policy and climate are linked, and could be addressed in one question:

This summer people in Texas experienced an extended drought and 100 days in which the temperature was over 100 degrees (CBS). Is this normal? Is this the ‘new normal?’ If this is triggered by burning so much carbon based fuel in the last 200 years that we have elevated the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide from about 260 parts per million in 1800 to about 390 ppm today (350.org), and we have burned mountains of coal, lakes of oil and gas, is it prudent to continue to burn coal, oil, and gas, or should we embark on a plan to transition to non-fossil-carbon sources of energy, such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, etc? And if so, how quickly?

This could also be asked in a national security context:

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, identified energy and climate change among the constraints which, in his words, “could place the United States at a strategic turning point…. Glaciers are melting at a faster rate, causing water supplies to diminish in Asia. Rising sea levels could lead to a mass migration and displacement similar to what we saw in Pakistan’s floods last year.  And other shifts could reduce the arable land needed to feed a growing population in Africa, for example. Scarcity of water, food and space could create not only a humanitarian crisis but create conditions that could lead to failed states, instability and, potentially, radicalization.” (NRDC / WWF) What does this mean for the USA in the next 4 to 8 years and what should the President do about it?
Continue reading →

Wired.com: Security Experts demonstrates flaw in Medeco “high-security” locks

Illustration by Tetsuta Nagato for Wired.com

Illustration by Tetsuta Nagato for Wired.com

Charles Graeber has an excellent pieces(s) in the print and on-line versions of Wired

The gist of this is that Medeco cylinders – which are by all accounts harder to pick than standard lock cylinders – are, given the right technique, vulnerable to picking/bypass in under a minute. Since they’re used in sensitive installations – the White House, DOD, and place likes people’s houses where they’re worried about protecting family and property and paying a premium for it – this is important.

For responders trying to get through doors to aid or evacuate persons inside – and are likely to use more vigorous methods too noisy or destructive for burglars – this may not mean much.

For those charges with protecting houses or installations, it may mean that the money spent on Medeco cylinders is wasted – not to mention the 300 – 400% premiums on having additional keys made.

Via Wired

(and the current print issue on the  stands),