S773 - Cyber Security Act of 2009 – Bill would give President the power to shut down the Internet

There is a bill gradually moving through the Congress (S-773 Cybersecurity Act of 2009) that would dramatically increase the government’s control over every aspect of Internet. The bill introduced in the US Senate by Senators Rockefeller, Snowe and Nelson is currently in front of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The problem is that in the current form the bill’s vague language grants far reaching and broad based authority to the President or even his designee to exert a chokehold type control over the private sector in the name of cyber security. The President or even his designee could at their discretion designate any private business as a “critical infrastructure information system or network” (from banks to airlines to utilities to universities to the media) and then subject these private businesses to rigorous and strict government controls.

Critics argue that such controls would infringe upon civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. These controls would also have a chilling effect on private research and development. Internet would be stifled as it would lose the free and open source type intellectual creativity that has been the engine that made the current rate of technological progress possible.

Under the provisions of this bill, The Secretary of Commerce shall provide assistance for the creation and support of Regional Cybersecurity Centers for the promotion and implementation of cybersecurity standards. The purpose of these Centers would be to enhance the cybersecurity of small and medium sized businesses in United States through the transfer of cybersecurity standards, processes, technology, and techniques developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to these Centers and, through them, to small- and medium-sized companies throughout the United States. In other words, these government controls would eventually extend all the way down to the small businesses.

The bill stipulates that the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish a research program to develop cybersecurity metrics, benchmarks and standards. The Institute shall establish standard computer-readable language for completely specifying the configuration of software on computer systems widely used in the Federal Government, by government contractors and grantees, and in private sector owned critical infrastructure information systems and networks.

The bill requires that the Institute shall establish standard configurations consisting of security settings for operating system software and software utilities widely used in the Federal Government, by government contractors and grantees, and in private sector owned critical infrastructure information systems and networks. (The government is going to DICTATE these standards to the private sector and then enforce compliance to these mandated standards).

Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish measurable and auditable cybersecurity standards for all Federal Government, government contractor, or grantee critical infrastructure information systems and networks. The Institute shall also enforce compliance with the standards developed by the Institute by software manufacturers, distributors, and vendors; and shall require each Federal agency, and each operator of an information system or network designated by the President as a critical infrastructure information system or network, periodically to demonstrate compliance with the standards.

Beginning 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any individual to engage in business in the United States, or to be employed in the United States, as a provider of cybersecurity services to any Federal agency or an information system or network designated by the President or the President’s designee as a critical infrastructure information system or network, who is not licensed and certified under the program.

If enacted, this Act would authorize the President to develop a cyber security plan that would encompass all aspects of national security, including the participation of the private sector, including critical infrastructure operators and managers.

It would give him the authority to declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network. Because of the interconnectivity of Internet networks, such moves would effectively shut the global Internet down.

The President could even designate any agency to be responsible for coordinating the response and restoration of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network affected by a cybersecurity emergency declaration.

The problem is that the bill does not clearly define what would constitute such a cyber security emergency and thus leaves this determination solely at the discretion of the President or even his designee.

The President may order the disconnection of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks in the interest of national security. The President may delegate original classification authority to the appropriate Federal officials for the purposes of improving the Nation’s cybersecurity posture.

What is even more alarming is that the President or his designee, the Congress and other government agencies will closely monitor and control the education in American colleges and universities.

Within one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall submit to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology a report on the state of secure coding education in America’s colleges and universities for each school that received National Science Foundation funding in excess of $1,000,000 during fiscal year 2008. The report shall include details such as the number of students who earned undergraduate degrees in computer science or in each other program where graduates have a substantial probability of being engaged in software design or development after graduation, the percentage of those students who completed substantive secure coding education or improvement programs during their undergraduate experience to be in compliance with government controls, descriptions of the length and content of the education and improvement programs, and a measure of the effectiveness of those programs in enabling the students to master secure coding and design.

Pay attention to the deliberately wide-open language in this bill. In the name of cyber security, this is such a wide net about to be cast that would not leave any college student safe from government surveillance, scrutiny and control.

If we Americans allow this kind of power grab to go through unchecked in the name of national and cyber security, we might as well go ahead and more appropriately rename the Times Square as Tiananmen Square.

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With the global economy in recession, there are many homeowners that are in financial trouble. But there is hope. Through the United States Government’s Making Home Affordable Program funds are available for up to 9 million homeowners to refinance or modify their loans to a payment that may be more affordable. There are two elements to this government program - Home Affordable Refinance Program and Home Affordable Modifications Program.

Through the Home Affordable Refinance Program, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow the refinancing of mortgage loans that they own or that they placed in mortgage backed securities.

Home Affordable Modifications program offers help to borrowers who are struggling to keep their loans current or who are already behind on their mortgage payments even if the loan is not owned or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

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Unemployment Insurance Benefits Program

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U.S. death toll hits monthly high in Afghanistan

An American service member died in a bomb blast in Afghanistan on Friday, raising the monthly death toll to 45 and making August 2009 the deadliest month of the eight-year war for U.S. forces.

In total, US Defence Department figures show that 801 US service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001. The pace of casualties is picking up - at least 300 coalition soldiers have lost their lives since the beginning of the year 2009, up from 294 in 2008.

Every time a young American soldier returns from Afghanistan in a body bag, Former President Bush and Vice President Cheney have to look at themselves in the mirror and answer one simple question: Why did they not finish the job in 2001 when the Taliban were on the run and there was no place for them to hide, not even in the mountains of Tora Bora.

Instead of going into Afghanistan with the overwhelming force that was the hallmark of American military strategy in the first Gulf war, Bush and Cheney relied on special forces and B-52s miles up in the air to drive the Taliban out of Kabul. Soon thereafter, most of the American military resources were hastily diverted to Iraq to fulfill some kind of neo-conservative agenda, leaving the war in Afghanistan to fester like an old wound due to lack of proper attention.

While the American military was bogged down in Iraq for several years, the Taliban found time to regroup, claim new territory in both Afghanistan (and across the border in Pakistan) and emerge as a deadlier and more formidable foe than it ever was before.

US President Obama’s administration has made the Afghanistan war a higher priority but the allocation of resources has not picked up sufficiently enough to make a meaningful difference. The war in Afghanistan can not be won through half measures and divided attention – ask Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the British commanding general in Afghanistan who last year conceded that "We're not going to win this war!"

09.09.09 09:09:09:09 - An abundance of Nine

There is a unique alignment of the number 9 about to happen - on the ninth day of the ninth month of the year 2009 AD at the ninth one hundredth past the ninth second past the ninth minute of the ninth hour. The sum of these numbers consistently stays 11 – at whatever resolution of unit of time one may decide to stop.

Year = 2009 = 2 + 9 = 11
Year & Month = 2009 + 09 = 2018 = 2+1+8 = 11
Year & Month & Day = 2009 + 09 +09 = 2027 = 2 + 2 + 7 = 11
Year & Month & Day & Hours = 2009 + 09 + 09 + 09 = 2036 = 2 + 3 + 6 = 11
Year & Month & Day & Hours & Minutes = 2009 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 = 2045 = 2 + 4 + 5 = 11
Year & Month & Day & Hours & Minutes & Seconds = 2009 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 = 2054 = 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
Year & Month & Day & Hours & Minutes & Seconds & Hundredth of Second = 2009 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 + 09 = 2063 = 2 + 6 + 3 = 11

The number 11 is a Master number. Master numbers are the only exception to rule of reducing to the single digit. The master numbers 11 and 22 are intensified versions of the single digit number they replace (2 and 4). These numbers suggest a potential for a high degree of learning and/or achievement very often in a more stressful environment. In many individuals, the master numbers operate at a much more tangible or practical level, becoming essentially the same as the single digit parallel.

While some may dismiss this occurrence as a mere coincidence of a man made calendar, this unique alignment of number 9 holds deep meaning for others. For occult calculations, the numbers 7 and 9 are considered the most important of all.

In the Christian Bible, that mysterious text in Revelation, Chapter XIII. Verse 18: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is 666." This strange text has stumped even the best of Christian theologians for centuries. If you add 666 together, you get 18 and 1 plus 8 gives you the figure 9. The hidden meaning of this number is one of the greatest secrets of occultism. Theologians may put forth explanations but no one really knows the true meaning!

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush to be released

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, an Iraqi journalist jailed for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will reportedly be released on 14 September 2009. His sentence was reduced for good behavior. Mr. Zeidi’s act of defiance and protest in December 2008 during Bush’s farewell visit to Iraq earned him instant recognition around the globe. His civil disobedience gave a voice to those who opposed the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq. It was an act of civil disobedience because it was within the bounds of a civil reaction - a proportional response to what he thought President Bush’s policies had done to Iraq.

President Bush was not injured in the incident but he was forced to duck for cover as the journalist shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Mr. Zeidi did not elaborate at that moment whether he meant only the Iraqi widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq or if he was also protesting the deaths of thousands of Americans who lost their lives in Iraq as well.