The New Cold War

I have a concern. Perhaps what concerns me greater still is no one else in the media seems to share my concern. I think we're on the verge of a new cold war. But this time, things will be different. This cold war is a financial cold war. Specifically speaking, I'm afraid of cold war with North Korea. And not because it's been covered in CNN, Newsweek, the BBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, or any other media organization. This concern stems from an unlikely place: Slashdot.org. Slashdot, for those of you who are unaware, is a forum that people can post News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters. What has concerned me recently is North Korea's hacker college, and recent discovery of vulnerabililties in Australian network security. The original article, found here, sparked the idea in me that we do have a vulnerability and weakness in this nation that can't be addressed on a physical realm. So long as the internet exists (and thank God it does!), we forever have cut down a wall and placed a door for our enemies to walk in and take whatever they want. Fortunately, we have locks for doors, and some of them are stronger than others. But, locks can be picked.. especially over time... And the lock pickers are getting better and better about picking the locks. While our own government employs 50 times the number of lock pickers, it's entirely conceivable that the N. Korean government will eventually catch up with our ability. So, with a whole new ballgame of international espionage on the horizon, could American businesses with a much smaller security budget that our government become targets for North Korea to steal industry and trade secrets to beat us to the punch at creating products we develop? The simple answer is, yes... it could. Such a scenario could cause havoc, especially for small and medium sized businesses in this country. Competition with Asia is becoming more and more intense, and with the ability to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate to get the job done cheaper, faster, and more efficiently, it could make a mortal economic enemy the likes which make even Japan shudder. With this influx of computer viruses, and daily security updates to Windows, and battles with spyware, malicious software is becoming a greater threat to our economic well being. Sadly, in the interests to protect itself from piracy, Microsoft doesn't make it's security patches available for bootleg versions of it's operating systems: a fact that has lead to over 50% of the worlds spam being spawned from unpatched Windows machines in China. With frivilous lawsuits going on every day in the US over software patent rights to the tune of multibillion dollar settlements, we've taken our eye off the ball in preventing what really matters to protect our economic future: internet security. And the longer we ignore the growing threat in the East, the greater the chance of a new cold war, an economical cold war, looms on the horizon. Oracle was right in stating The Internet Changes Everything. The rules have changed. And we need to be equipped to play the new game.

On a less serious note, I'm quite upset that I missed the 3rd and final debate last night. I had it set to record, digitally, however it never started. I did, however, catch the last two minutes of it, just in time to see the closing debates, and the muted screaming between Bush and Kerry when the debate was over... I wonder what they were all upset about. Anyhow, I had a pleasant evening last night, catching up on the last three Smallville episodes while snuggling in bed. My drive into work was a bit gloomy, but man have the fall colors come out. It's beautiful! :-)

My horoscope today seems particularly appropriate, given the above theory. Mysteries, conspiracy theories and intense conversations will keep you quite busy -- and quite deeply involved with a certain person you've been wondering about. Try to stay objective.

Anyhow, I don't feel much like writing a book today, so I think I'll end it here. For now, peace to everyone. 19 days and counting. VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!! :-)

Peace.

The Tale of Three Happy Birthdays and Two Tragic Deaths...

Let me first start today's blog out on a rather positive note. A HUGE happy goes out to my mother, my aunt, and my best friend. My aunt and mother celebrated birthdays of, inappropriate to say cause their female, 29 years on October 8th. Yes, that means my mother is only 6 years older than me. And, yes, I'm lying. The other goes out to my best friend, who after settling into his spectacularly beautiful new house, had a birthday on October 10th. I wish them the best in their new endeavor.

I don't believe I have yet written about my new meds. Shame on me for failing to let anyone know, even though it's been several weeks. It seems that the HIV strain I was infected with came with a genetic mutation that causes me to be resistant to Sustiva, one of the meds I happened to be prescribed. The mutation, coldly called k101e, means that I should avoid the NNRTI(1) class of HAART(2) meds. So, I promptly stopped Sustiva, to be replaced with two new Protease Inhibitors(3) called Reyataz and Norvir. The good news is, I actually have no side effects with the new meds, and I can take them all at once. The bad news is, Norvir needs to be refridgerated, and as such, I take my meds in the morning now. So, I'm actually happier overall with the new regimin, even if it means a minor headache of keeping them in the fridge.

It's hardly a secret at this point that Christopher Reeves died yesterday. In fact, unless you've been sleeping in a coma, or under a rock the last two days, you would have seen it on every station on TV and every newspaper in the nation. The strange thing is, they seem to think he only had two photos ever taken: one of him in superman, the other of him in a wheel chair last week. Nevertheless, his career really did include more than being Superman and invalid. One of the more moving romances ever filmed, Somewhere in Time, are among his credits, as well as after his spinal cord injury, directing a powerful film about a man coming home to die of AIDS called, In the Gloaming. I remember when the film came out, after recommendation by my good friend Molly, watching it with my mother. We cried our eyes out and held eachother tightly. Given how different times are now versus 1998, I certainly hope that such AIDS traggedies will only be a memory, rather than reality for each of us infected to face. The other tragic death is one to be remembered, rather than one that happend recently.

Today marks the 6th year since Matthew Shepard's death after the brutal beating which brought to life the push for a federal hate crimes bill. Shame on us, that 6 years later, none exists. While much has changed, at least as much is for the good as the bad. Violence against gays is up. But perceived tolerance is up too. Massachusettes has gay marraige, but many states have sought constitutional amendments in response to it, to prevent it. I still don't understand why people hate us so. The bible itself barely talks about homosexuality. In fact, while one passage calls it an abomination to "lie with mankind as if womankind," evidence exists of love between men. 1st Samuel 18 states: "AND it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants." There are other examples, but I don't want to delve into a religious discussion here, I guess. The point being, the bible teaches people about how to love and respect one another. Jesus is famous for saying "Let he among you without sin cast the first stone." Heck, there are countless passages in the bible that reflect the same moral code. Why, then, do we live in a "Christian" society that doesn't follow Christian values? And when has punishment been a permissible means of murdering someone else? (Part of the reason I'm against Capital Punishment...) How do we draw lines in the sand and decide the fates of others, when it is written that He shall judge us? And, furthermore... Those are Christian idealogies. What happened to religious freedom in this nation? The hypocrasy is astounding! Whatever our differences, people need not feel threatened by other people. Fear only breeds hate. Hate only breeds violence. And violence, no matter what religion, is wrong.

In the news today, it seems that the RIAA had it's first defeat over some anti-piracy scare tactics it had been employing. And, since we've talked so much about religion today, it seems the Supreme Court has taken up a hearing on the placement of the ten commandments on goverment property. Meanwhile, in the far east, the nation with the world's highest suicide rate, Japan, mourns the loss of 9 lives in a 'suicide pact.' Meanwhile, India copes with an HIV outbreak in Manipur. While US media reports a sucessful first Afgan election (a proposition that would prop up Bush), Al Jazeera reports that UN officials are investigating allegations of fraud related to the election. On to the election, the media spin will certainly make anyone dizzy. Notorius Fox News reports that Bush leads Kerry in the electoral collage, yet CNN Gallup polls show Kerry in the lead (barely). Meanwhile, everyone and their mother is waiting to find out what October Suprise will be revealed. Democrats, including Theresa Heinz-Kerry suggest that Osama might suddenly appear captured. It could very well be, since reports suggest that US is torturing 11 Al Queda members, according to the BBC and Globe and Mail. So much for the "liberal" media, as television networks plan to smear Kerry on the eve before the election. Probably in response to the little talked about film, Going Upriver, a documentary on John Kerry's term of service in the military. Meanwhile, the EU has lifted weapons sanctions on Libya, which is bound to spawn questions at the next presidential debate. Meanwhile, Maryland former governor is calling for the revalation of all HIV positive persons identities, a move that frankly scares the shit out of me. If this came to pass, and did so in other states, this could VASTLY increase discrimination and hate. My job could be at stake.

Anyhow, that's all for today.. I'm late! What else is new. Take care everyone, and look for a new blog Thursday. :-)

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(1)NNRTI - Non-nucleocide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor - Class of Anti-HIV drugs. NNRTIs block HIV's infection of new cells. Reverse transcriptase is a part of HIV required to make new virus and infect more cells. NNRTIs stop the reverse transcriptase from working properly. In early clinical trials of these kinds of drugs, it was found that HIV developed resistance in as few as two to seven weeks when the drugs were used alone. The drugs are now being tested in combination with other drugs in an effort to prevent resistance and limit side effects seen with the nucleoside analogs.
(2)HAART - Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy - Commonly referred to as a drug "cocktail," HAART medications are a class of potent anti-HIV medications that work in combination with other HAART meds to provide long-standing treatment against the disease.
(3)Protease Inhibitors - The biggest news and the greatest benefits to people with HIV came when protease inhibitors (PIs) were discovered and made into anti-HIV treatments. When people started taking them in combination with other drugs, the number of people who became ill from opportunistic infections, or died from AIDS, dropped by about 70%.