Security Fail

We now have two insecure databases, in which evrybody has an entry.  And both of them are wide open to hackers, crackers, and worms like Stuxnet.  All thanks to Obamacare for putting our lives on line for anyone to read. 
   Healthcare.gov is the first problem area.  Its security problems have been getting some attention from the newsies.  As well it should.  It's running on Windows,( everything runs on Windows) and anytime you connect Windows to the public internet, the knowledgeable hacker knows about 50 secret ways to take the Windows machine over completely, load and execute his own code, and force the victim Windows machine to do anything he likes.  Such as send all its data back over the internet to the hacker.  The only defense is to use the strongest possible encryption and even that isn't fool proof. 
   The second problem area is "digital medical records".  Obamacare is forcing all doctors to put all their patient's medical records on line.  Used to be, your medical records were kept in a file folder in a cabinet in the doctor's office.  Short of burglary, they were secure.  And it would take a very savvy burglar to find them, and a small truck to haul them all away. 
   Obamacare demands all the medical records be digitized and stored on line for everyone in the hospital to see.  This is supposed to be a cost cutting measure.  But, on line means hackers can get to it, and they don't need that small truck to haul them away. 
   Less than scrupulous employers will take a peek at the medical records of any prospective new hire.  Should that new hire have an preexisting condition, or treatment for drugs, alcohol, or mental health problems,  he can kiss that job goodbye.  In practice,  this guy will be unemployable.  Privacy means the ability to keep bad things in your past secret, to start over, and press on.  Now that we have Obamacare and on line medical records, forget about privacy.  

Minimum wage, a bad idea

Lefties and unions are pushing for $15 minimum wage for flipping burgers at McD's. Right now McD's pays $7 or $8.  They think it will raise the living standards of McD's workers.  I think it will get them all laid off.
As a society we have a LOT of young, untrained, not very productive people who need a job.  Since they aren't very productive, employers cannot afford to pay them much.  Double the pay and the employers will say, " I have to pay these guys more than they bring in, I'd be ahead if I laid them off .  I can automate, outsource, or reduce service to my customers and make more money."  Net result, no jobs for the workers just entering the job market. 
   There is no requirement for entry level jobs to pay enough to raise a family on.  Entry level workers are un married, probably living at home, still in school.  After they have been filling an entry level job for a bit, they can get promoted, find a better job, move to boom areas, or something.  Flipping burgers is fine for high school students, but you cannot plan on flipping burgers all your life.  You gotta make something of yourself. 
   So, bottom line, boosting minimum wage cuts off entry level jobs, throws people out of work.
   That first job is important to anyone's career.  The first job will get you a recommendation when you apply for the next job.  As a hiring manager I always checked a guy's references.  If his last boss said good things about him, he was hired.  Very important to have a last boss, and for him to think well of you.  Which means we need entry level jobs, to give the new job seekers some experience and some references.  Cut off the entry level jobs by hiking the minimum wage and it gets harder and meaner for the vast majority.

Conspiracy theories of History

One of them that's been going around since 1941, the Pearl Harbor disaster was caused by treason in the American government.  The government knew the Japanese air raid was coming a failed to warn the Pearl Harbor commanders.  Roosevelt's numerous enemies have accused him of conspiring to bring the US into WWII by setting up the Pacific fleet.
    I don't buy this.  Roosevelt wanted to intervene in WWII and was prevented from doing so by a powerful isolationist movement.  But, Roosevelt wanted to use the fleet to do the intervention.  The idea that he would sacrifice the fleet he looked to do the intervention, merely to silence domestic political opponents is absurd. 
   Pearl Harbor happened because US commanders thought Pearl was so far away from Japan as to be immune to Japanese action.  They just could not imagine getting hit at Pearl.  Even though the Royal Navy had pulled off a very similar air strike on the Italians at Taranto just a few months before. 
   Pearl even ignored a radar warning.  The US Army had a working radar station on Hawaii.  It picked up the incoming  Japanese strike 180 miles out.  The Army radar operators telephoned a warning to fleet headquarters but the junior officer of the day ignored it.  If  fleet HQ had had it's act together, this was enough warning to scramble aircraft and call for battle stations, get the guns manned and the ammunition broken out of locked storage. 
   Pacific Fleet also ignored a report from a picket destroyer that had detected, depth charged, and sunk a submarine lurking right off Pearl, in a restricted zone,  where no submarines had any business being.  To ignore both a submarine warning and a radar warning the same morning takes a remarkable degree of stupidity. 

Sonic is a Hedgehog

Just noticed this evening, Chevy has renamed their lowest end car from Avio  to Sonic.  Note to Mary Barra.  Sonic is a Hedgehog.  Any kid knows that.  It's as bad as when Chevy named a car Beretta years ago.  Everyone knows Beretta is an Italian handgun. 
    Picking a car name is an important part of marketing it.  So far Chevy has been screwing it up.  Volt is a unit of electricity, not a hybrid car.  Cruze is a height challenged movie star. 

Blood will get them gun control

NHPR was doing a piece on last year's Newtown massacre this morning.  Just what I never wanted to hear.  It certainly isn't news, everybody on earth heard about it.  They interviewed a couple whose daughter had been killed.  I didn't need this, I know all I want to know about the misery and suffering that comes from the loss of a child.  So does any parent.   I'm sure the interview didn't help the bereaved couple either.
  So why do they run a piece that conveys no information and makes listeners feel sick to their stomachs?
  Is it to drum up political support for gun control measures?
  If so, shame on them.
 

Would you see either of these movies?

Oscar nominations  are piling up for "12 years a Slave" and "American Hustle".  The Oscar people may like them, but I cannot imagine myself paying admission, or even Netflixing, either of these movies. 

Cannon gets some snow.

We got four inches, biggest snowfall this winter, yesterday and last night.  Nice light fluffy powder, the best kind.  And no wind to speak of, so it will stay on the trails and not get blown into the woods.  It's a good start, four inches of natural snow is as good as days of snow blowing, so we ought to have a few more trails open.