Another Ed Markey moment

Am I missing something here? The guy is forging boarding passes or at least providing the tools for others to do it and he was not arrested? Hackers use pointing out weakness in businesses as a pretext to do something that should be or is illegal just because they consider it fun. Maybe we should all go make or buy fake ID's just to "prove" the government should make it harder for us to do it. Maybe we should commit loan fraud to "prove" banking regulations need to be changed. Maybe we should try to steal cable/satellite TV to "prove" those companies need to become better at defeating those hackers. (Hackers actually do that one for that reason.) Sorry, I am not dumb enough to buy the alleged noble intentions of the hackers. I don't think they are donating to charities and volunteering in soup kitchens and hacking all in their spare time to try to make the world a better place. I think they just like to cause problems and make themselves into martyrs of causes they don't give a rat's ass about to justify it. If you really do need to make a point, write a letter to your congressman, or to your newspaper, or write a book, or make a website, or post to forums, or whatever. You don't need to break the law to prove others can too.

He created a tool that CAN create fake boarding passes, to point out the weakness in the system. There is nothing illegal in creating tools, it's how people USE them. Even RIAA's poster children like Kazaa have legitimate uses.

I agree that hackers that perform illegal acts should be punished, but this one is less clear-cut.

I gathered that. That is why I qualified statements with "should be...illegal" and "at least provided the tools for others to do it." I don't have the laws in front of me so I don't know if there is anything they could nail him with, but I would imagine there are some general ones they could at least try to press charges with if they wanted. However, even if he technically avoided breaking the law, I still consider him a trouble maker and not some type of hero trying to save everyone.

^Even so, doesn't it make MORE sense (for the rest of us) to get Soghoian to help in creating a more SECURE system for the future....

Punish him possibly for posting his info to the web instead of notifying the TSA directly...maybe. But I'd honestly feel safer if those in charge were willing to (get this) ADMIT their shortcomings and give good effort toward a better tomorrow than to "play the CYA game to avoid taking responsibility" (which really IS the most stable part of the entire bureaucracy)....

The system is a joke though, we've known it for years, and no one has done anything about it. So while the TSA is banning shampoo, bad guys can still forge documents to get on airplanes. Markey should be thanking the guy and calling up Homeland Security and asking them what they're doing about it.

I agree that I though McCain was the savior of the Republican Party, and he should have been the 2000 election should've been him versus Bradley. He has in the mean time been a little too good ol' boy for my tastes, and I worry now that 2008 could be another lesser of two evils thing. You wonder why people are so disenchanted and voting Austrian movie stars into governor's mansions.

Cthulhu in '08. Why settle for a lesser evil?

(Old joke, but sadly getting MORE relevent instead of less as time goes on)

*Applauds Greg*

I've been getting the feeling Cthulhu may be a write-in all over the country.

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2Hostyl said:Are we doomed to have an idiot for president in perpetuity?

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"Representative" government.... ;)

I really hate to get into political threads because nothing ruins friendships worse than political discussions. Let me preface my comments by saying that I am pretty conservative. On some social issues like gay marriage and stuff I lean more liberal, but for the most part I agree with the conservative side of things.

The biggest problem I see is that the parties have way too much influence on who is nominated for office (especially for president). The current primary system (which was designed for a world where politicians could not communicate with the entire country at one time) encourage the nomination of the most extreme candidates of their party. George Bush is one of the most extreme conservatives that the party has nominated. The fact that he nominated Cheney for VP tells me that the party made the decision, not him.

On the other side of the aisle, Kerry was one of the biggest tree hugging liberals they could find to run. Same thing with Gore. At least Clinton was somewhat more middle of the road.

I see 2008 being another election where the most extreme candidates on each side of the aisle get nominated. Good candidates with more middle of the road ideals will not get nominated like Guliani or Obama. Heck, even Hillary isn't looking too bad (although, I wonder how much her aisle crossing right now is really just for show)

Republicans and Democrats right now cannot work together. The Republicans tried to impeach Clinton. The Democrats are going to try and impeach Bush if they win in a week. Most Americans lean towards the middle of the road and it is those Americans that the polititians in this country need to cater to.

As for Markey (got to keep this on topic), he is a nitwit. He is trying to capture headlines and nothing more. He really doesnt give a flying f whether or not the coaster industry is safe. He probably doesnt care if the TSA is doing their job either. He wants headlines. In a world where Democrats are trying to outdo Republicans and Republicans are trying to outdo Democrats, that's all you get. Grandstanding for headlines.

At this point, I would welcome having a former Super Bowl MVP govern our state. The ironic thing is, at a time when people supposedly hate the image of the politician, the big rap on Swann is that he doesn't campaign like a politican and will probably lose.

I'm not fond of either major party right now, but the one thing I'll have to give Republicans is, love them or hate them, you know how they'll stand on an issue. The Democrats on the other hand always seem to be re-tooling their message for whatever crowd they're speaking in front of that day.

I got a flyer from Rendell (democrat governor) saying he should be re-elected because more than 100,000 jobs were created in PA during his first term. Next day I get a flyer from Casey (democrat senate challenger) saying we should vote for him because PA lost more than 100,000 jobs in the past four years. So who's telling the truth? But more importantly, how many people are going to bother checking?

My strategy this year is if there's an "I" next to the name, I'm not voting for them.

And chances are, the governor's office had little to do with it either way!

Speaking of the election, you all have Senator John Kerry to thank for helping the Republicans to keep their majority in Congress.

~Rob Willi

Why, because Americans are too stupid to overlook a sound bite taken out of context?

^ Isn't that what 99.5 percent of campaign advertising is anyway-- sound bites taken out of context?

Kerry's comment was WAY to easy to be taken the way it was, no matter what he meant. Then to claim it was a "botched joke--" no one will ever mistake John Kerry for Jim Carrey or Jack Benny. This time he stepped in it THEN put his foot in his mouth.

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Lord Gonchar said:

Let the individual decide. The owners of these businesses can go smoking, non-smoking or both and the patron can decide which kind of establishment they'd like to visit.

Don't force everyone's hand.

(I do suspect the hand is forced because if we were given a choice, we'd all see that the smoking thing isn't nearly the issue for many people that we're being told it is...but that's just my sick world view. )

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I've got to agree. If so many people were vehemently against going to restaurants and having smokers there, why are restaurants that still offer smoking sections still busy?

Trust me, if people start patronizing only non-smoking establishments, the others will follow suit pretty damn quickly.

You don't need a law when you can vote with your wallet.

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2 Hostyl said:

I *was* a huge McCain supporter. But he's sold his soul to the devil...

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I'll jump on the bandwagon here, too. He sold out in a big way. It's very dissapointing in a man that so many had so much respect for.

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someone said:

Something about primary elections, and how they suck.

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The thing that gets me is that candidates drop out of races after only NH and IA vote. WTF? CA, NY, PA, even the electorally-challenged FL never get a chance. By the time their primaries are held, there's usually only one candidate left. All 50 states should be at the same time.

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Jeff said:
Why, because Americans are too stupid to overlook a sound bite taken out of context?

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Sad but true and that's pretty much it. The dumb Americans (the swing voters) are going to decide who gets elected. You have your hardcore conservatives and liberals out there, but you need the people in the middle to decide.

Seeing that there are quite a few citizens that have served our country, they play a role in voting too. Are you expecting military vets going out in droves to vote for someone associated with that party with that mentality? Have you seen what all the other Democrats running for office are doing? They certainly aren't begging Kerry to do anymore speeches for them.

Bush may say some stupid things, and there's a few things I don't agree with him doing while in office. But I'm sorry, Kerry is a flat out idiot and always has been and this time it might cost the Democrats winning control of Congress.

"It's true I voted for the $87 billion for the war... before I voted against it"

That quote didn't convice those swing voters, the real deciders of elections and Kerry's recent comment isn't going to convince those swing voters to vote for someone associated with that party as well.

A few weeks ago a buddy of mine was telling me that the Democrats are going to take over the House and Senate in this election. I said, "don't worry, they'll find a way to screw it up."

Looks like they might have.

~Rob "Who really doesn't care if the Dems take control, both parties have good ideas, except right now the GOP actually HAS ideas" Willi

Dude, Dems weren't asking Kerry for support in the first place. He's literally a loser.

The over-reaction of the media fueled by Republicans dying for any attention they can get are creating the situation. It's not going to bring the party down. No one with a brain thinks that Kerry represents the party.

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RatherGoodBear said:
At this point, I would welcome having a former Super Bowl MVP govern our state. The ironic thing is, at a time when people supposedly hate the image of the politician, the big rap on Swann is that he doesn't campaign like a politican and will probably lose.

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Actualy, the reaction to Swann's candidacy here in Pittsburgh has (at least among my friends) largely been that it's a cheap ploy by the Republican party to try to swing some of the less-loyal Pittsburgh Democrats by playing the Steelers loyalty card. Personally I hope it doesn't work -- I'm not a huge fan of Rendell, but Swann just doesn't seem to have ANY clue about anything. He may even be good someday, but he's not ready yet. (Sadly, by the time he's ready he may well be a "politician")

This is hardly anything new. One person says something in a speech, at a rally, on a show, etc. The remark might be stupid, ill-advised, out of context, ignorant, and so on. The other party than jumps all over it and makes it a much bigger deal than it really is.

This isn't a Republican tactic, it's a political tactic. It happened with Howard Dean (the yell), it happened with George Allen (the macaca), it happened with Rush Limbaugh (the Parkinson), and many, many, many more. Dumb things that were all inexcusable, but got blown up for political gain.

What Kerry said was wrong and he looked worse when he tried to make an excuse (even if the excuse was correct). The Republicans were also wrong when they used an age-old political technique to try to take advantage. I think McCain had the right idea. Make a comment saying it's dumb, then move on to more important things. Though, in the GOP defense, I suspect the making of the mountain out of a molehill is coming from the media more than anything else.

This latest spin does seem to be having at least a little bit of an effect on Democrats. There has been some distancing from the comment and now Kerry is reducing his campaign schedule.

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HeyIsntThatRob? said:

Sad but true and that's pretty much it. The dumb Americans (the swing voters) are going to decide who gets elected. You have your hardcore conservatives and liberals out there, but you need the people in the middle to decide.

{SNIP}

~Rob "Who really doesn't care if the Dems take control, both parties have good ideas, except right now the GOP actually HAS ideas" Willi

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Being one of those "swing voters" I vehemently disagree that it is "us" who are being swayed. The 'muddled middle' isnt likely to really be affected by such a comment. What is *more* likely to happen is that disillusioned republicans, who were prepared to sit on their hands this cycle are now more motivated to go to the polls. In the end though, I dont think it matters because the republicans have betrayed everything they claimed to stand for (aside from low taxes) and a large portion of their base is mad. This Kerry thing wont last long.

But Rob, I cant believe that you actually fell for the taking point that "Dems have no ideas". That's the second biggest lie that has been told the American people in the last five years. Plenty of Democrats have proffered suggestions on Iraq, the federal defict, port security, health care, etc. If you havent heard any of their ideas, you havent really been paying attention. Moreover, I'd suggest that Republicans are the ones who have no ideas. "Stay the course" (a now retired phrase) is not an idea. There has been no progess on border security, and their form of addressing the federal defict is basically to "hope and pray". What a crock!

Lata, jeremy
--who cant believe that it has come to this *jeremy* defending Democrats (the endtimes are near ;))