
Obama scares the hell out of everybody with cybersecurity op-ed - coconuts2314
http://thedc.com/MzjTuc
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crazygringo
Ridiculous linkbait headline. Why not just link to the op-ed in question?

[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044433090457753...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444330904577535492693044650.html?KEYWORDS=Obama+cybersecurity)

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ibejoeb
Well the first paragraph of the op-ed is:

"Last month I convened an emergency meeting of my cabinet and top homeland
security, intelligence and defense officials. Across the country trains had
derailed, including one carrying industrial chemicals that exploded into a
toxic cloud. Water treatment plants in several states had shut down,
contaminating drinking water and causing Americans to fall ill."

It's a sensationalist piece all around.

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mtgx
I find it quite interesting how everytime we're talking about giving more
power to the Government, they all seem to get along so well, and they're only
arguing about how much power they should get - just more, or _a lot_ more?

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tptacek
See:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3896492>

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SoftwareMaven
"Be afraid! (You are so much easier to control that way.)"

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the continual push to always have something
to be deathly afraid of that the government will protect you from is straining
my credulity. An organized conspiracy (ala the "New World Order")? Unlikely.
Enough politicians making enough power grabs to simulate that? Apparently.

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wwwtyro
Is there room for decentralization of utilities to address these issues? Solar
for electricity, ambient moisture condensation for water, etc? Is the future
of utilities centralized or decentralized?

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va_coder
slightly offtopic: The user id - coconuts2314 - looks like a bot. Look at all
the submissions and only one lame comment. Shouldn't the HN spam algorithms
detect this?

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tptacek
There are a bunch of these. I don't think 'pg cares.

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pg
We ban them when we notice them. It's on my todo list to write some code to do
it automatically, but my todo list is long.

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tptacek
Good to know. I thought this might have been a place where you figured the
voting system sorts it out in the end.

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rsanchez1
Interesting that this op-ed comes out after his executive order giving him
control over telecommunication systems during a national emergency made the
rounds around the blogosphere.

