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I've been doing Federal contracting for years and I've never heard of them. Are they part of the General Services Administration?

The GSA Vehicle Reimbursement Rates are useful for this discussion.
If use of privately owned automobile is authorized or if no Government-furnished automobile is available = $0.584/mi (total operating cost)
If Government-furnished automobile is available = $0.18 (variable cost - mostly fuel)

So by this measure the premise that an occasional driver finds Uber Driving a good deal, and an every day driver could be loosing his shirt is not unreasonable. Their cost structure is completely different.

http://code.gov/

http://18f.gsa.gov/

This is what doesn't seem to enter into the discussions about basic income and national minimum wage laws. Perhaps I'm just reading the stoopid versions in the popular press, but it seems clear that proposals like a national (US) $15 minimum wage simply can't fly with cost of living disparities like this, without significant tailoring. A 'basic' income of $17K doesn't take you very far in Si Valley (or my adopted homeland of Portland, for that matter). At the very least, you'd need some kind of market basket tables similar to this, and even then note the terrific disparity between the two neighboring counties, with the obvious gaming of that system that the differences might promote.

From: https://18f.gsa.gov/2014/11/26...

Security and open source

"System security should not depend on the secrecy of the implementation or its components."
-- Guide to General Server Security, National Institute of Standards and Technology

A codebase is a terrible secret.

Because a codebase is so large, it cannot easily be changed. Furthermore, it must be known, or at least knowable, to the large number of people who work on it, so it cannot be kept secret very easily. This is represented at the bottom of figures two and three. Therefore "security through obscurity" is a terrible idea when it comes to a codebase. In most cases your system will consist of code which you reuse as well as code that your write yourself. Therefore both of these types of code should be open.

Of course, your system will have secrets in most cases -- keys, passwords, and the like -- but you should assume they have been discovered and change them often. We call these secrets a "red thread", because, like a red thread in a white handkerchief, they should be as vivid and thin as possible. By making them thin, such as a single password, you make them very easy to change and keep secret. Although these secrets are tiny, they must be managed carefully and conscientiously. We believe this concept is so important that we have placed it on our reusable version of the Wardley-Duncan map linked to above.

There are risks of defects and complexity associated with using open source modules indiscriminately. There are also security vulnerabilities to any system, either through negligence or by the intention of a bad actor. The key to preventing this is code review.

You must make sure that each component you use is code reviewed. In practice this means either that you must use very popular projects whose code is looked at by a large number of people on a regular basis, or you must use small projects which your team can code review itself. In practice, the criteria for making this decision for reused components is similar to the rules of thumb that we have already laid down for managing risk.However, you may need to adjust these rules of thumb based on how often you plan to update the component.

For example, a small component which is very stable need not be updated at all. If it is small and you can code review it or pay a team to code review it, then you may use it. On the other hand if the project has frequent updates, your team will have to decide how to manage these updates. A large project may have both stable and experimental branches. In general your team will want to update as frequently as the major number of the branch. If the project is very active and many people are looking at it, this does not represent a security risk. If however a project is changing rapidly and producing many releases and your team does not have the resources to ensure that each new release is code reviewed and you do not trust the community to do so, then you probably should not use that component.

With an open source component, it is at least possible to understand how much code review it is receiving.We know of no way to do this for closed source code kept as a secret.A firm which is asked to maintain the security of the code that it has written is placed in a conflict of interest. It isn't in its short-term interest to spend resources on this code review, and it is not in its short-term interest to admit defects.

Security of your own code

Make all your code open and examinable from the start. Moreover, it is best to encourage as many people to look at it, because the more people who seriously review the code the more likely a security flaw is to be found. Programmers will code more securely when their code is in the public's eye from the beginning.

Code that you write or contract to have written should be open source from the start, because it relieves you of the terrible risk and burden of maintaining the secrecy of the codebase. This means not only that it is published under an open source license as explained in our open source policy, but that it is published in a modern source code control system.

You do realize the Federal Government requires you to have a valid, Government issued picture ID to simply enter a Federal building? The requirement to have ID is already pretty strong, and I think every State has a "free ID card" program for those who cannot afford the $20-$30 every 4-5 years for an ID card.

I trust people to spend income that they have earned. I don't trust them to spend income that someone else earned.

There are all kinds of strings attached to assistance programs like SNAP (for example, can't spend that benefit on Jack Daniels). Do you really want to remove that restriction?

When I travel while working government contracts, my per-diem allowance is so generous that I can always stay at four-star hotels. My coworkers and I could choose to stay at two-star hotels, and save the taxpayers a buttload of money, but we don't. We are spending income that someone else earned! This is an example of where an additional string should be attached.

Government and the technical augmentation or automation thereof is a fascinating source of ideas and issues, philosophical and economic. But the OP's choice of a term like "Big Government" seeks to attract only lightweight libertarians and nattering neocons who are blissfully transfixed by antiseptic fantasies like meritocracy and Big Bad Bureaucracy.

Why discuss flamebait? Let's ask a better question.

Can AI/tech improve or replace government? Can it help us to focus better on issues rather than politics? Might tech help us to make concrete measurable progress toward achieving specific goals, improve administative efficiency, and minimize the role of gov't in our lives? Yes, I'm convinced that it can, and I'd love to discuss it. But the OP's simplistic article won't inspire that level of discourse here and now.

For a better start on this topic, I recommend:

"Automating Easy Government Solutions with Machine Learning"
https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/11/18...

"Why Government Managers Need to Know About Machine Learning"
http://datasmart.ash.harvard.e...

"How can government make the most of machine learning systems and avoid the pitfalls?"
http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/h...

"White House to probe role of AI in government"
https://fcw.com/articles/2016/...

The vast majority of government purchases are off the shelf commercial products bought at wholesale prices from the GSA Schedule. The statement that the government "always costs orders of magnitude more" is blatantly false.

Look into existing federal (GSA/DoD) and state level programs which provide surplus technology to schools. These programs aren't just for getting military-grade hardware to rural police forces, they can actually be used for the benefit of the public as well. For added bonus, create/participate in a student-run club which discovers, writes, and submits grant requests for student/school needs like this.
To get you started:
GSA Eligibility Info: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/cont...
Find your State Agencies for Surplus Properties: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/cont...
DoD Defense Logistics Agency: http://www.dispositionservices...

Look into existing federal (GSA/DoD) and state level programs which provide surplus technology to schools. These programs aren't just for getting military-grade hardware to rural police forces, they can actually be used for the benefit of the public as well. For added bonus, create/participate in a student-run club which discovers, writes, and submits grant requests for student/school needs like this.
To get you started:
GSA Eligibility Info: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/cont...
Find your State Agencies for Surplus Properties: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/cont...
DoD Defense Logistics Agency: http://www.dispositionservices...

You keep proving my point.

Repeating the same falsehood over and over again doesn't actually make it true you know.

The State Department cannot locate them. That does not mean Ms. Clinton did not turn them over.

Remember the old days when we mailed a check to a bank to pay the monthly mortgage or credit card statement? Ever have one 'get lost in the mail' or somehow not get it into their hands before the due date through no fault of your own? Do you recall what happens? Usually late charges as it was your responsibility (not theirs) to make sure that your payment arrived on time. Same actually can be seen in the terms & conditions of many online banks & payment systems today.

What does this have to do with Hillary? It was HER responsibility to turn over all documents, not that of the State Department to make sure they gather it all. It's why usually when on the way out of federal service you sign an OF-109, certifying under penalty of perjury that amongst other things:

1. I have surrendered to responsible officials all classified or administratively controlled documents and material with which I was charged or which I had in my possession, and I am not retaining in my possession, custody, or control, documents or material containing classified or administratively controlled information furnished to me during the course of such employment or developed as a consequence thereof, including any diaries, memorandums of conversation, or other documents of a personal nature that contain classified or administratively controlled information.

2. I have surrendered to responsible officials all unclassified documents and papers relating to the official business of the Government acquired by me while in the employ of the Department or USIA.

Such terms would seem to apply to even the SoS right? Oddly enough, (despite it being the norm).

Even without signing the document, the requirements to turn over all official documents still exists, the paperwork is just a reminder with a legal threat attach to drive the point home.

Coupled with the fact that certain documents which are known to have been created and/or received during her time in office which do not appear to be part of what she handed over to State upon her departure, we have really only 4 options:

1. She did not turn over the missing document
2. Somehow the documents became permanently lost during delivery
3. Somehow the documents became permanently lost after delivery
4. Somehow the documents became temporarily lost after delivery and will turn up eventually... say in a different box.

You seem to be pushing for #4 as a possible reason as to why the documents are not currently discoverable, yet as time goes on we will know if that is true or not (once the rest of the emails have been examined)... while certainly possible, given other false statements (only used one device, never sent/received classified information, etc), we have a pattern of dishonesty emerge that while it doesn't prove #1, does start to make it a more likely scenario, doubly so when this isn't the first time documents she was required to turn over mysteriously disappeared (though in the 90's case, reappeared)..

There is a reason federal employees use federal email systems and not personal ones, that way the burden on the employee to archive all documentation is far far less. By opting for her own system she made compliance that much harder, and legally any failure to comply is on her... hence the investigations.

Clearly you have a belief of what happened and are trying to make reality fit that belief. Good luc

Getting the .gov and .mil TLDs into the HSTS preload list would be amazing. I helped get ~20 .gov second-level domains into the HSTS preload list in February, and mentioned getting .gov into the preload list at the end:

https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/02/09...

The .gov TLD is a challenge, though, as it is used by state and local governments and other public services, like libraries, utility companies, etc. There are over 5,300 in total, and only ~1,350 of them are federal government.

https://18f.gsa.gov/2014/12/18...

Getting the .gov and .mil TLDs into the HSTS preload list would be amazing. I helped get ~20 .gov second-level domains into the HSTS preload list in February, and mentioned getting .gov into the preload list at the end:

https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/02/09...

The .gov TLD is a challenge, though, as it is used by state and local governments and other public services, like libraries, utility companies, etc. There are over 5,300 in total, and only ~1,350 of them are federal government.

https://18f.gsa.gov/2014/12/18...

Fetishes are not listed in an SF86. Arrests and convictions are, but those are also public record. You are likely thinking of a lifestyle polygraph. SF86s are not lists of confessions.

I would still say that your overall statement of "extraordinarily sensitive" applies, however. Earlier addresses, tons of contacts to vouch for the person, etc. It's not just the subject of an SF86 who has personal info in their, it's the other people in their lives who have agreed to be interviewed and such as well.

Note that adultery is not generally illegal, nor is it something that would appear on an SF86.

This form is on the web:
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/form...

That's called a fixed price contract. There are millions of them on the GSA Schedule.

FWIW, just because the NSA does something doesn't mean every other government employee or agency approves or is culturally aligned with that attitude. This effort represents a genuine push by a self-selected group that is privacy-conscious, interested in doing the technically right thing, and for the first time in a position within the government to actually start making the Right Thing reality. Interested in joining us?

https://www.whitehouse.gov/usd...
https://18f.gsa.gov/

If there are specific concerns you have with the memo as it applies to the federal agencies it's talking about, we'd love to get your feedback on how we can achieve these goals while minimizing the issues you allude to.

https://github.com/WhiteHouse/...

This isn't about mandating HTTPS everywhere outside of government, and those agency sites that might perform worse due to losing intermediate caches can always implement the policy using existing CDNs to try and get the content as close to the user as possible.

Is there something about what the memo proposes that looks to be obsolete soon? We're trying to get ahead of the curve here, because it does take time to change things in the government. We'd love to better understand your "when the government gets involved" concerns.

Do you think you might be interested in participating in things like this on a more ongoing basis?

https://18f.gsa.gov/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/usd...

Yes.

Join us:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/usd...
https://18f.gsa.gov/

Clueless defense contractors are numerous. But since the core of the US government purchasing is Open Source First, there is little hope of Microsoft regaining any serious hold in that market.

Dude, the whole "never get fired for buying Microsoft" thing is over. I work on large government contracts for a living now, and ever since Oracle's GSA contract was canceled, we can't expand fast enough to convert people over to PostgreSQL on Linux. The whole US government is Open Source First now, following the OS stack adoption of most fast growing companies today. It's only the tired old companies who still trot out their old Microsoft servers for everything, and who wants to work for them?

The Microsoft FUD anecdotes had a good run, but we're already at the point where innovative companies consider their software part of the same legacy mess as Cobol.

Some ideas; Do check this link http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/0... Contribute to open source projects when you don't have work https://guides.github.com/acti... Freelance through the elance or other coder for hire type sites https://www.elance.com/ Start your own IT support company/freelance/contract/game development, whatever your strongest skills are https://www.sba.gov/ Get your company registered as a state/federal contractor and bid http://www.procure.ohio.gov/pr... http://www.gsa.gov/portal/cate...

> No, the form specifically asks in question 29.7:

That is from the SF86 form which is for people getting a security clearance. She was not getting a security clearance, she was a director in the department of undergraduate studies. That is not a national security position.

Here is a table of National Stock Numbers: http://www.gsa.gov/dg/NSN_DATA...

If anyone is interested, I can import both spreadsheets into a PostgreSQL database, join by the NSNs, and post a dump/query/something.

That's quite possibly the funniest thing I've read in some time. Bravo!

It's a pretty famous quote... and i work across the street from the Dirksen building.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/13123-gao-35-of-federal-contract-dollars-went-to-minority-owned-businesses

http://www.fedmarket.com/contractors/Minority%252dOwned-Business-Contracting

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/186661

In a nutshell at least 5% of a contract must be awarded by quota. It is certainly out in the open, there are entire government programs devoted to helping make sure this happens.

Guess what? Most federal employees don't get paid monthly.

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/145871/fileName/payroll-calendar-2013

See those 3 red circles every other Wednesday in October?

Yeah, you're wrong.

You might start with looking at FEDRAMP complaint providers found here: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/131931 I would imagine that those listed providers also have FISMA certification so you'll be able to determine if the categorization of the data you are trying to protect is met by the provider. ITAR categorized data must be stored in CONUS and I believe AWS Government Community Cloud and the USDA National Information Technology Center offered by United States Department of Agriculture supports CONUS only storage. I believe Google Apps for Government does as well. But the key thing is to ensure the FiSMA cert matches the categorization of your data.

You could continue to pull out statistics, yes, but you should look and think a bit about what you already found.

For example, the cost per passenger-mile -- in 2002 -- listed in the VTPI white paper (your link [8]) ranged from $0.57 to $2.78 for public transit. Even after a decade of particularly steep fuel-cost increases, the 2012 GSA reimbursement rate for privately owned vehicles is still less than that: $0.555 per mile. (The GSA reimbursement rate is intended to cover wear and tear, gas, and maintenance costs for a typical car, so I would say it is a close equivalent to cost per passenger-mile of public transit. It was $0.365/mile in 2002.) If public transit spends much less money than private vehicle owners, it is primarily because it carries an even smaller fraction of the total traffic!

It is probably just as well that you did not delve into the costs of road maintenance: Small cars, even in large numbers, do not contribute all that much to annual maintenance needs; weather damage (e.g. potholes that develop over winter) and truck traffic are bigger drivers of those costs.

Calling Shenanigans here.

Car: 363 miles, 7+ hours each way with no traffic jams (good luck!)

363 mi x $0.555 per mile = $201.47. Double that to get back home.

You don't have to show up at the train 2 hours ahead of time, so I don't really understand your 8hrs + 2hrs estimate. (You do have to get to the train station, but, you also have to get to the freeway.)

If I have the choice of spending, basically, two days driving or save $150 and spend two days working on my laptop / reading / watching a movie / sleeping / grabbing a drink in the cafe car, I'd take the train every time. I find driving tedious and boring and I think that anyone who actually prefers it to anything else must have watched way too many car commercials.

From the GSA Schedules FAQ @ http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?faq=yes&pageTypeId=17112&contentId=8106&contentType=GSA_OVERVIEW#3

How do I know I am getting the best price?

GSA's goal is to be the best value supplier of choice.

GSA Schedule contracts are negotiated with the intent of achieving the contractors' "most favored customer" pricing/discounts under similar conditions. In order to ensure that they receive the best value at the lowest overall cost when using GSA Schedule contracts, agencies are encouraged and empowered to seek price reductions, not only for orders over the maximum order threshold or when establishing Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), but also when circumstances warrant (see FAR 8.405-4).

It doesnt exactly say that the vendors are *bound* to offer them the lowest cost. Only that the negotiations are made such that they reach the lowest price. Big difference.

Using the GSA POV Mileage Reimbursement Rate of $0.55 / mile and including my parking fees, it costs me $16 / day to drive to work. On the other hand, I could bike+train to work for $2 / day plus whatever maintenance is required on my bike which is less than $50 / year. Even though I only work four days a week that's a savings of $2412 / year (counting $50 / year bike maints). If I worked five days a week and had a longer commute with more normal parking fees that number would obviously be significantly higher.

THE TRADE OFF

Depending on the time of day, my one way commute can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 120 minutes (averaging closer to 35) by car and the longer it is the more potential damage my car may endure. If I bike+train my commute is between 55 and 65 minutes depending on how hard I try. So the car is consistantly twice as fast, doesn't require a change of cloths, and I can haul a bunch of crap with me if necessary. On the bike I get my daily workout (twice a day) simply by going to work. In the car I don't have to put up with smelly people, other than myself. On the bike I am more in tune with my town and the things happening around me (this is a good thing!). In the car I don't get rained on.

So it costs me about fourteen dollars per day for convenience. Frankly I don't think it's worth it, but I'm lazy in my old age. I drive when it's less than beautiful outside or I'm running late (most days) and I bike when it seems effortless.

Additionally >>>

I live in Vancouver, Washington, which is a suburb of Portland, Oregon. The train I ride is the Portland Tri-Met. Unfortunately Vancouver isn't one of the 3 metros that Tri-Met services. The nearest train stop to my house is 8 miles away. If the tracks simply crossed the river my daily bike+train commutes would go up ten fold. Who knows - maybe someday.

The Website was not disabled. Rather, the web-based compromise began redirecting users to malicious websites.

It is interesting to read that the 'compromise' was achieved through eAuthentication, a ubiquitous federal application serving multiple agencies.

It seems like the attack could have been more harmful than this apparently relative ineffectual inconvenience.

Hopefully government workers aren't watching TV when they're at work.

Some government employees have to watch the public service announcements and training videos that the government produces. I'd bet that most US residents who watch TV can recall a commercial for the Federal Citizen Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado.

Yes, imaginary..

Not mentioned in a bunch of places such as the over a dozen times in Presidential Transition Act of 1963: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=24780

Sure usually you don't hear it used often, but usually you don't have an generational economic crisis in motion and the sitting President twiddling his thumbs.

http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?programId=8951&channelId=-14501&ooid=18177&contentId=12854&pageTypeId=8199&contentType=GSA_BASIC&programPage=%2Fep%2Fprogram%2FgsaBasic.jsp&P=XAE

At the cabinet level, we need a visionary.

The justification for not releasing the names of Cheney's Energy Policy group members was that the Administration didn't think they had to, even though the FACA has been on the books since 1972. However the court ruled that they did in April 2004, so we expect those names any day now.

This is pretty much completely off topic at this point, and I'm not trying to get into a pissing match or anything...My energy bill averages around ~$50-60 a month, and I know that the price per kwh here is lower than CA. Probably the result of running several desktops with CRTs all the time. Cable/phone/ISP cost about the same. The only thing that I can remember being cheaper when I lived in San Diego was the wine (purchased at a grocery store, with one of no less than 30 of the club cards I had to carry for every store, of course). Even McDonald's prices were jacked up 30%!

There's always going to be exceptions to the rule, but either way you cut it if you're comparing dollar amounts across states you're going to have to use some sort of exchange rate. All you have to do is look at the Per Diem rates to get an idea of just how much cheaper it is. A dollar in MN just goes further than a dollar in CA.

My original:

The generics are manufacturing companies that focus on low costs, but the drugs aren't as effective (don't need to be, just 80% similar or something stupid). Unfortunately, except for targeted drugs, where the brand making company can supply the entire generic market as well, the generic market is filled with crappy knock offs...Generics open the drugs up to the masses, which is good, but don't prevent wealthy people from getting better medicine that works correctly if willing to pay the premium.

I've never heard this before - do you happen to know of any studies about this? The FDA should be shutting down factories if this is true. You're not referring to imported internet-sold drugs, right?

http://www.propertydisposal.gsa.gov/Property/Propf orSale/ShowProperty.ASP?PropertyID=1273

thnx memepool!
http://memepool.com/Date/259/

It was actually mandated back in 1975 that the US needs to convert to the metric system, check out http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/usmetric/m etric.htm Quote: Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 "to coordinate and plan the increasing use of the metric system in the United States." but it all fell apart since there where no deadline and all based onm voluntary conversion.

If you were truly a juvenile when you were arrested those records are sealed... unless you were also arrested after turning 18 or were charged as an adult when under 18 (which they usual reserve for repeat repeat repeat violators or serious felony). Juvenile records also get expunged (in FL) after age 24 if you don't get adult convictions. I know a lot of people who have minor adolescent misbehavior on their records who are employed even by defense contractors with a security clearance. The key is not lying/omitting it on your SF-86 and being truthful with the investigator. They only ask "ever" on the felony, explosives/firearms, and drugs; then they ask "In the last 7 years have you been arrested.... (Leave out traffic fines of less than $150)"

That says that if 8 years ago when you were 16 you got convicted of criminal mischief for egging the school it isn't relevant.

The drugs par asks "Since the age of 16 or in the last 7 years, whichever is shorter..."

This is reasonable given the information that may be available to people who have to complete that form.

Here's a link to the SF-86:
http://contacts.gsa.gov/webforms.nsf/0/67959D7F54B 5826E85256A7200447F47/$file/sf86.pdf

Makes perfect sense to me. Simple supply and demand. It's in OPEC's and the Oil Industries interest to create an artificial supply issue. Demand keeps going up and a simple way to increase profits is to create a scare about the supply. Hence peak oil and oil production issues.

Just a minor nitpick about the tone used by the parent. I don't know twifosp's actual position (twifosp, correct me if what I'm saying is unfair to you), but the portion I've quoted implies disdain towards the oil industry for not seeking to deplete the resource as fast as possible.

Here's a made-up analogy. Let's say that you discovered that your blood is worth $8/pint, and you decided to sell a pint every 64 days, because we know it's safe to give a pint every 7 weeks (source: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/blood-do nor/bloddonr.htm). But for the sake of argument, let's suppose someone offered you $1/ounce if you sell one ounce per day. Would you take them up on that offer? It sounds good: twice the money per ounce and 8x the money per day. However, the the blood donation guidelines imply that a typical human has the ability to make less than 0.3 ounces of blood per day, and you'll die if you lose somewhere around about 3-4 pints of blood. You do the math.

The point of my analogy is to illustrate the fallacy of increased production on a system that is beyond its recharge capacity. Yes, you could sell an ounce of blood per day for a few weeks, but doing so means a definite end of production date, so there is nothing artificial about the scarcity of the commodity. What if they offered you $2/ounce for 2 ounces/day? etc. The oil industry knows there is a limit. It doesn't really make sense to increase production just to satisfy current demand if it means depleting your resource to fast and killing off your livelihood, especially if there are no other investments that would pay off as well over the long term.

We know that our current rate of consumption exceeds the world's recharge rate (by a factor that's arguably in the neighborhood of thousands to millions); therefore, it is a mathematical certainty that there exists some definite limit at current consumption rates. How close we are to that limit is up for debate, but it does not change the fact that the date is "near" on a geologic scale.

Under a new federal law - the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act - it's illegal for anyone to:

use false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or documents to get customer information from a financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.

use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to get customer information from a financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.

ask another person to get someone else's customer information using false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or using false, fictitious or fraudulent documents or forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents.

Here's another government website about "pretexting", dated 2001, so we know the "word" has been around awhile. They also put quotes around "identity theft".

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/pretextin g/pretexting.htm

If this breaks the page, it won't be by much. If you are modding - read it all, okay?

I'll be forty-five come April Fool's Day and I can hear it quite well despite severe tinnitus (concussion from a car accident twelve years ago), tv playing, and a noisy ceiling fan. My eyes, however, have hit the 40-year marker and I do have to use reading glasses. The doc said I used them too much by learning to read when I was two.

There's something which might be worth sharing in return and there's nothing noxious about it...i.e.directly. My parents had a sizeable piece of property and Japanese beetles were a problem (they owned a lot of trees which which the landscaper didn't recommend using anything noxious because there were dozens of trees, not to mention he had a pretty green approach to things. His recommendation was to use Japanese beetle traps. (The nasty part is when the bags are full you use twisty-ties or some other method to close off the bag and toss them into the trash - after a day or two, they'd start to smell like rotting meat.)

The cool part about whatever brand they were using at the time is the lure. (or lures, if you want to consider both genders) For the most part, you couldn't really smell the pheromone strip(s) unless yyou had them pretty close to your nose and they were very pleasant. (I think you can guess where this is going) Carefully positioned on a porch, inside a car whose windows are occasionally left with any type of opening, a house window (minus screen) left open, etc. If the beetles are around (I'm guessing the forces of nature could cause this to be easily measured in hundreds of yards), you could cause an invasion of some type. Whether the mosquito nuisance would have an effect is an exercise left to the reader.

About fifteen years ago, we had a neighbor problem who claimed our dogs were causing all sorts of problems. We finally resolved it before the zoning board (her loss). Unfortunately, she died before everything had a chance to cool down (2-3 years) with us and they were after someone else - this was a hobby of hers. Lots of time, nothing [else] to do. I learned from a "life of crime" in college (a book in and of itself) it was better to do something in return while the griddle was hot (with someone else) as most people aren't snipers (one event and they're done) and they figure if it's not the current situation, they don't know which of their previous opponents it is, particularly if you're somewhere in the middle). I had a long list of things waiting for her, things I knew worked from college as well as other things which were on permanent mental filing. But alas, she just sneaked off in the middle of the night.

Now, for the mature side:

You can start by sending a 3rd party representing your position, but without betraying who you are - he probably knows, if he's doing it to annoy you. If the message is to pound sand, find out what the local ordinances are with regard to noise...and monitor his nocturnal schedule. If you can shorten his sleep cycles considerably - you mentioned there were a number of you, so you aren't going to go 1::1 in a test of endurance, you can wear him down. Be nice about it. Schedule some [very early, but legal] "Early Bird" breakfast picnics (with appropriate audio entertainment, especially if it's from his era (you are being benevolent, right?) whose timing is appropriate for your locale and send him an invitation (literally) occasionally. If problems ensue, you can provide a copy and show you were trying to be a good neighbor by inviting him. Got a friend he's never seen before? Have them get him up at oh-dark-00 and ring his bell until he answers and ask for directions to find one of you.

Big tip: the best way to beat the system is to play by the system. There are always exceptions or conflicts which create opportunities for leverage.

Slashbots' general ignorance of the actual law is certainly not new. The law specifically allows closed meetings, and I may be missing something, but do not actually see any mention of the requirement of a 15-day notice of closed meetings in the act itself.

As near as I can tell, this means that somewhere there is a guy named "Homeland Security Okay", and these Closed Proceedings belong to him.

But speaking seriously:

The 1972 law generally requires such groups to meet in open sessions, make written meeting materials publicly available, and deliver a 15-day notice of any decision to close a meeting to the public. The last is a particular point of concern for Homeland Security officials, who anticipate that private emergency meetings may need to be scheduled on short notice.

The private sector, fearing that sensitive data will get to the wrong hands, has continued to resist sharing important information with the feds, the Department of Homeland Security said, citing government auditors' findings from late 2003.

Making the meetings public would amount to "giving our nation's enemies information they could use to most effectively attack a particular infrastructure and cause cascading consequences across multiple infrastructures," another departmental advisory council warned in August.

Is this not a valid reason for a group charged with advising on issues dealing with critical public infrastructure?

Also, please note that ANY meetings under FACA can already be closed, but a 15-day notice must be given of such closure. The end result, since 1972, is still that the meeting is closed.

The issue here is that the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council may decide it needs to have an emergency meeting, AND that it should be closed, but can't wait 15 days to hold the meeting. The waiting period would seem designed to discourage federal agencies from routinely closing meetings without an announcement period that presumably may allow for recourse, official or otherwise, if such a closure is improper. However, the importance of a critical infrastructure advisory board holding an emergency meeting trumps the waiting period. Remember: being able to hold a closed meeting is NOT new; the only new element is not having to give a 15-day public notice that such a meeting will be closed.

I'd encourage everyone to actually read the article. Of course, if you think nothing should ever be secret and think this is part of another conservative/Republican plot, then you probably won't agree with any reasoning for keeping such critical meetings secret, and/or not having to wait 15 days to hold such meetings.

If the US Government wants breathalysers, they can hire some engineers to design them

Ahhh, irrational idealism. I remember it well. I also remember how stupid I was when I used to think things like this. The government can't get anything like this accomplished, you'll find that out some day.

Name some recent effort by the US government to provide information to the public on such a detailed level

Again, your youth is showing. Take a trip to your local state or US representative's office. You'll see hundreds of publications on all sorts of things including things that you're naming. Or if you're feeling a little lazy just go to the web site of the General Services Administration. There you can order all kinds of free publications.

It's OK. Everyone that's young thinks they know everything and that everyone and everything else is stupid. Then most people grow up and actually accomplish things and see how difficult doing great things is. Then they realize that they're not as smart and other people and institutions aren't as dumb as they thought. The problem people are the ones that don't grow up though and never realize this. I hope you aren't one of those.

The united states should be on the metric system by 1985 a the latest!
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/usmetric/m etric.htm