Pardon me? Did a professional speechwriter write that? Or did you outsource it to a starry-eyed runner-up in the Miss America pageant? Whether or not any nation "should try" to dominate another, they certainly "can," and do so with effortless ease all over the planet and throughout human history.
Forget the first part: That's just his usual narcissistic "But enough about me, let's talk about what the world thinks of me" shtick. But the second is dangerous in its cowardly evasiveness. For better or worse, we are defined by our differences - and if Mr. Obama didn't understand that when he was at the podium addressing a room filled with representatives of Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Venezuela and other unlovely polities, the TV audience certainly did when Col. Gadhafi took to the podium immediately afterward. They're both heads of state of sovereign nations. But if you're on an Indian Ocean island when the next tsunami hits, try calling Libya instead of the United States and see where it gets you.
This isn't a quirk of fate. The global reach that enables America and a handful of others to get to a devastated backwater on the other side of the planet and save lives and restore the water supply isn't a happy accident but something that derives explicitly from our political systems, economic liberty, traditions of scientific and cultural innovation, and a general understanding that societies advance when their people are able to fulfill their potential in freedom. In other words, America and Libya are defined by their differences.
What happens when you pretend those differences don't exist? Well, you end up with the distinctively flavored ice cream I mentioned at the beginning. By declining to distinguish between the foreign minister of Slovenia and the foreign minister of, say, Sudan, you normalize not merely the goofier ad libs of a Col. Gadhafi but far darker pathologies. The day after the president of the United States addressed the U.N. General Assembly, the prime minister of Israel took to the podium and held up a copy of the minutes of the Wannsee Conference at which German officials planned the "Final Solution" to their Jewish problem. This is the pathetic state to which the United Nations has been reduced after six decades: The Jew-hatred of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others is so routine that a sane man has to stand up in the global parliament and attempt to demonstrate to lunatics that the Holocaust actually happened.
One sympathizes with Benjamin Netanyahu, but he's missing the point. Mr. Ahmadinejad & Co. aren't Holocaust deniers because of the dearth of historical documentation. They deny it because they can and because it suits their own interests to do so and because in the regimes they represent, the state lies to its people as a matter of course and to such a degree that there is no longer an objective reality - only a self-constructed one. In Libya and Syria and far too many "nations," truth is simply what the thug in the presidential palace declares it to be. But don't worry, Mr. Obama assures them, we're not "defined by our differences." Hey, that's great, isn't it? Yet, if you can no longer distinguish between the truth and a lie, why be surprised that the lie metastasizes and becomes, if not yet quite respectable, at least semirespectable and acceptable in polite society?
Some Western nations walked out of Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech: Canada was first; Austria stuck around; America left somewhere in between. "It is disappointing that Mr. Ahmadinejad has once again chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric," huffed U.S. spokesman Mark Kornblau.
Oh, come off it, you ludicrous poseur. Mr. Obama's position is that he's anxious to hold talks "without preconditions" with his Iranian colleague. How can you do that if you're going to flounce out like a big drama queen at the first itsy-bitsy pro-forma judenhass?
Although he affects a president-of-the-world manner, I don't think Mr. Obama cares much about foreign affairs one way or the other. He has a huge transformative domestic agenda designed to leave this country looking much closer to the average Continental social democracy. His principal interest in the rest of the planet is that he doesn't need some nut job nuking Cleveland before he's finished reducing it to a moribund socialist swamp. So, like many European nations, when it comes to the global scene, Mr. Obama has attitudes rather than policies. If you're on the receiving end - like Israel, Poland, Honduras - it's not pleasant, and it's going to get worse.
It was striking to hear Col. Gadhafi and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez profess their admiration for Mr. Obama, call him "our son" and declare their fond hope that he remain president for life. The Chinese and Russians are more circumspect in public but laughing their heads off in private. As for the saner members of the United Nations, many Europeans still think they have the American president they've always wanted: They would agree with John Bolton's indictment - that this was a post-American speech by a post-American president - but mean it as high praise. As the contours of the post-American world emerge, they will have plenty of time to reconsider their enthusiasm.


In my earlier article, (February 2008), I looked at the problem and some of the solutions of working at height.
Avoid working at heights if at all possible!
If all the above fails, use a ladder or 'hop up' (if the work is low risk and of short duration not requiring both hands at any time to complete the activity).
As this is a continuation of an earlier piece, I will briefly summarise the key facts concerning the dangers of working at height for those who perhaps missed it and to refresh others.
In most countries, falls from heights account for around 50% of all fatal accidents with half of those being in construction and related activities, with the majority falling from between 2 and 3 metres. Strangely, the figure for over 2 metres has halved in recent times. Incidentally, the number of occurrences where major injuries are sustained, due to falls from heights, is in the order of 75 times more than those that result in death.
You do not have to be a health and safety specialist to see the varying standards that operate within the UAE and wider GCC. Just drive past any construction site and observe the 'goings on' and you will see everything from excellent planning and controls to the downright stupidity of workers walking on steel at great heights with little or no regard for their own, or anyone else's, welfare.
However, do we really believe that such practices are a result of their own wish to be hurt or even die? No! If we are honest, we have to admit, firstly to ourselves, then to our peers, that the average and typical reader of this article is probably in some way culpable for such sights. Shudders go through me when I ask why things are being done in a particular, usually unsafe way, and I hear 'But that's how we always do it'!
In order to illustrate what can be achieved, and still be productive and profitable, in this article, I have assumed that there is no alternative to working at height.
As an example, I will use the activity of curtain walling. This is a very dangerous activity, which by using simple, but very effective methods, can be made a lot safer.
As I am sure you are aware, the activity of glass curtain walling requires us to hoist a frame holding heavy-duty glass, sometimes of several tonnes, into place, usually at great height. Until recently, this work required us to have an exposed and usually, unguarded edge against which we positioned the heavy frame, with the resultant risk of falls to the workers.
However, with some strategic planning, forethought and very importantly, the will to change at all levels within the organisation – from top to bottom – we can conduct this work in a very safe and yet productive manner. Safety does not have to cost money, rather, it can save money. By way of example, a study was conducted across all industries by UK Government health and safety enforcing officers – the Health & Safety Executive, HSE, and 6 cooperating companies. The companies were given criteria against which to report and asked to cost the events themselves – so the figures are quite realistic. The study found, that for every one Dirham, Riyal or Dollar lost that we know about we lose between 8 and 36 that we are not aware of (lost productivity, down time, idle workers, etc).
In fact, the same study showed that in construction, for example, the losses on the average contract added up to around 8.5% of contract value! You can do the maths yourself for your own company.
Of course there is an excellent argument for providing good quality personal protective equipment (PPE), for working at height in the form fall prevention and arrest devices. However, I am certain we will all agree, it is far more effective and sensible to use our best endeavours to ensure that we design out hazards, making a safe place of work, rather than rely on workers to use PPE.
Whereas there are many excellent PPE providers around the world, operating to the highest standards of production, we have to accept that there is one weak link in using PPE as our last line of defence – the worker! We have all seen excellent companies provide state-of the- art PPE, only to fail in accident prevention due to non-compliance by staff in the use of such equipment. If we look carefully at photo 3 (left), we will see the workers to the left of the picture, working correctly, using their fall prevention and arrest equipment (usually harnesses and inertia reel type to allow movement).
However, as in all good photographs, there is one person determined to 'do it his way'. If we look to the bottom right of photo 3, we will see a worker working at an unprotected edge, with no PPE being used.
This perfectly illustrates one of the problems with this approach. An additional area of concern is the problem of restricting access to the area where edge protection is deliberately removed, as part of the system of work, and preventing access by unauthorised workers until the glass is in place to cover such gaps. All it takes is someone to take a 'short cut' through the area and they are potentially in mortal danger.
If you do decide to use personal protective equipment, harnesses, fall arrest/restraint/prevention etc., please consider the competence of the expected user in wearing/using such PPE. A recent survey on one of our client sites revealed that 18 out of 20 regular harness wearers could not correctly adjust their harness to ensure that, should they need it, it would protect them from any injury due to the fall and the use of the harness.
During a recent large construction project, I was privileged to see several trades using a range of fall arrest/prevention equipment, including the trusty 'all use' harness and lanyards with and without fall arrest mechanisms within them.
"You must use a harness and lanyard when working at height, it will protect you should you fall and, in order to prevent injury due to shock resulting from sudden deceleration, you must use this lanyard with a fall arrest device built in.
"If working below 3 metres then a fall arrest block mounted above head height should be used, or a physical safety barrier should be used. A nonshock absorbing lanyard should NEVER be used when any amount of fall is possible. They are RESTRAINT ONLY.
Put yourself in their position, especially on a fast moving site where the same worker may 'technically' have to change their lanyard 6 or even 10 times a day, dependant upon where they are working and what they are doing. Also remember that 50% of all FATAL accidents resulting form falls are from 2 metres or less!
The obvious outcome will be either total confusion, with incorrect lanyards being used, or the worker either not bothering as it's 'too difficult' or resorting to using the same one all the time.
Then consider the job of the poor supervisor, who has to monitor such workers. Potentially, they would be in total confusion as the workers migrate around the site doing their work!
Secondly, please consider provision of suitable quality, and sufficient numbers of, anchor points for the area of work, which will allow the required range of movement. I frequently see workers clipping on to inappropriate anchor points, risking failure of the anchor and in several cases, potential collapse of the platform they are working on.
All good PPE providers will be able to suggest suitable anchor design and/or systems and also provide training for your staff in competent use of any PPE that they provide.
So, overall, although we can't completely do away with PPE as our solution, we must really think of it as a last resort.
Opposite, we will see the second, and safer, approach of providing edge protection throughout the activity, which is not only safer, but also saves time erecting edge protection in the first place, then removing it during the glass wailing installation, and potentially re-erecting it if the expected production rate is not achieved. Additionally, with the revised and safer method of work suggested, fewer workers are required to achieve far greater production levels, making the job not only safer, but also far more efficient.
Consider this as well. If we take into account the whole activity of glazing the building, the savings in manpower, time and potential damage to equipment/product alone, we will see massive savings. Couple this with the massive reduction in the likelihood for injury to workers and others, by edge protection being in place all the time, then perhaps you can see why I am such an enthusiast of the method illustrated.
If we examine construction sites that come in on time and budget, with few, if any snagging/rectification jobs and high customer satisfaction levels, we will see that they are fundamentally well organised and well-run sites. Of course, the reverse is also true – as I'm sure we all know!
The above method only really works, if we are able to plan everything well in advance, including space to work and store materials and, of course, to order our materials and specialised plant to arrive on time, removing the temptation that we might try and start the job before everything is ready.
As we can see here, the fact that we have safe access, both internally by use of the semi permanent edge protection and externally using platform hoists, we create a safe and productive working environment.
As you can see from the above very brief description of works and photographs, we can create magnificent looking and exciting buildings, with imaginative designs and do it safely, with planning, thought and competent workers.


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70-year-old plays his last football game after six decades on the pitch
November 27, 2021Written by Linda M. Diaz
SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (WPVI) – "As long as you can keep doing something you love to do, age doesn't really matter," said Michael Lyons.
Lyons, 70, first picked up a soccer ball in 1960. His father had just moved the family from Havertown, Pa. To Paris, France, to pursue a business opportunity. There, the 10-year-old boy discovered the sport thanks to his European friends and classmates.
"When I came back here to the United States in 1963, football was not yet very popular," he said. "So I had to wait for them to create a varsity team in 1967 and 68."
The new Cardinal O'Hara High School started with club sports and made its way onto the college scene. Lyons earned his letter jacket as one of the first football athletes in school history.
After graduation, Lyon continued to play in the leagues. Over the years he recalled and started participating in pickup games every Sunday. And he still looked forward to Cardinal O'Hara's annual Alumni Reunion game.
"As I see it, the average age is around 24 or 25, so I have a few years on these guys," he joked. "They joke with the guys in their forties and call them grandpa, so I don't know what they call me behind my back. Crazy, maybe!"
But according to former participants, nothing is crazy to come back to see their very united community.
"It shows how much O'Hara is like family and they always want to come back and play here," said Martin Meenan, who graduated in 2019 as the soccer team captain.
Cardinal O'Hara's staff are delighted to see his classmates reunite, but also hope that more young athletes will join the ranks of their various athletic programs.
"We actually have this brand new, refurbished turf which is a big draw in my opinion," said Boys Varsity Soccer head coach Chris Rodzewich. "So these guys here today have a really, you know, a good opportunity to come back with some old friends to play on this."
As one of those old friends, Michael Lyons says this year's game was bittersweet.
"Starting to feel a bit of my age in my joints, I thought it would be appropriate for me to play my last game at O'Hara," he said. "And so after today I'm going to hang up my crampons."
Lyons credits Cardinal O'Hara with the place where his dreams began. In addition to a life filled with football, he also has a professional acting career, which began on stage at Delaware County High School. Lyon too published a book of her accomplishments and looks forward to continuing to pass life lessons on to her seven grandchildren.
"If you are passionate about something and love it, just keep going until you can't do it anymore," said Michael Lyons.
To learn more about athletics at Cardinal O'Hara High School, visit their website.
RELATED: 40 Years of Friendly Football Tradition Continues
'Amazing College Football Game': SLU Football Team Wins at Duke, Reaches Quarter-Finals | SLU Billikens
Grace Bamber of Chesterton named Times 2021 Women's Football Player of the Year | NWI Preps Girls Football

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


KILLER WHALES UP-CLOSE TOUR: For more than 50 years, SeaWorld's killer whales have touched the hearts and inspired millions of people to conserve our ocean habitats. Now, those who want to meet these majestic marine mammals up close and personal are in for a special treat, as SeaWorld San Diego unveils its new Killer Whales Up-Close Tour! During this exclusive encounter, guests are just feet away from killer whales, while animal behaviorists—commonly known as trainers—guide them through an experience, which may include providing enrichment for the whales or giving them cues for trained behaviors. While showcasing the world-class care and attention SeaWorld's pod receives daily, SeaWorld's behaviorists also share personal, intriguing stories and facts about the whales. For more information visit: www.SeaWorldSanDiego.com (click on Things to Do, then Exclusive Experiences and Killer Whales Up-Close Tour).
UNWRAP SAN DIEGO'S PREMIER CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION: SeaWorld's holiday traditions return with a new breathtaking live nativity musical featuring more than 30 carols, storytelling puppets and live animals—camels, a donkey, doves, sheep and llamas. O Wondrous Night, The Greatest Story Never Told tells the Christmas story from a different point of view: through the eyes of animals. This stage show is part of SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration, Nov. 18, 2017 through Jan. 6, 2018. The most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, returns this holiday season. SeaWorld San Diego is the only theme park on the West Coast where people can meet this lovable character. Park guests can also cozy up at Santa's Christmas Village and enjoy story time with Mrs. Claus, share their wish list and take pictures with Santa and encounter real reindeer. Seasonal favorites that have made SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration a family holiday tradition will be back: Dolphin Island Christmas and Clyde & Seamore's Christmas Special animal shows, along more than a million holiday lights, hundreds of Christmas trees and 5,000 feet of garland. Plus, the lights of SeaWorld's 320-foot Skytower Tree of Lights, Southern California's largest Christmas tree, will dance in sync with classic holiday songs. For more information visit: www.SeaWorldSanDiego.com.
TIME TO LIGHT THE SEAWORLD CHRISTMAS TREE: On Thursday evening, Nov. 16, youngsters ages 7 through 18 from Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County will participate in the heartwarming annual tradition of illuminating the park's 40-foot Happiest Christmas Tree at Rudolph's Christmastown with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and his friends. SeaWorld San Diego is an official community partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters, which provides children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better.
SAVE WITH SEAWORLD'S SOCAL ANNUAL PASS: SeaWorld San Diego has quite the unmatched theme park deal—the all-new SoCal Annual Pass. For just $99.99, this pass is only $10 more than the cost of a single-day admission. The pass' value extends beyond its price, with 12 months of unlimited admission, free parking, two free guest tickets valid for select dates and discounts on in-park purchases. That is more than $400 in annual value. The annual pass can now be purchased for less than $100 and there are no blackout dates. SeaWorld is also offering the annual pass on easy payments of less than $9 a month through the park's EZPay program with no down payment. Plus, a visit to SeaWorld helps support animal rescue programs with millions of dollars in donations and in-kind services to conservation projects around the world. Visiting animals at SeaWorld supports efforts to save them in the wild. For more information visit: www.SeaWorldSanDiego.com.
Photos and videos are available upon request. For more information, please contact SeaWorld Public Relations at (619) 226-3929, or visit the online Media Room at www.SeaWorldSanDiego.com.


Segway riders will soon be whizzing through the trails of Thetford Forest in the dark as part of a series of special after hour openings.
Go Ape is opening up its trails across the country for twilight events and at its Norfolk base in the UK's largest man made lowland forest that will involve two-wheel adventures after dark.
The sessions, on selected dates between October 26 and November 11, will involve a brief and training session, before heading out on the heavy duty all-terrain Segways.
Groups of riders will navigate their way through the forest paths and trails with only a head torch and the night sky for light.


Visitation: Visitation with family present will be Friday from 5-7 p.m. at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton.
Service: Celebration of life services will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 3 at Canton United Methodist Church Canton, SD with burial to follow at Forest Hill Cemetery.
Visitation: Visitation will be from 3-8 p.m., with family present from 5-8 p.m. at Anderson - Jones- Corcoran Funeral Chapel in Harrisburg, SD. A prayer service will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Service: Funeral services will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 25 at the River of Life Church in Canton, SD with burial to follow in the Larchwood Cemetery.
Visitation: Visitation will be Tuesday from 2-8 PM at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton, with family present from 6:30-8 PM.
Service: Funeral services will be at 11 AM Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Canton United Methodist Church.
Visitation: Visitation will be Friday from 2 – 8 PM at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton, with family present from 6 – 8 PM.
Service: Funeral services will be at 2 PM Saturday, Feb. 18, at Canton Lutheran Church, with burial at Forest Hill Cemetery near Canton.
Visitation: Visitation will be Wednesday from 2-8 p.m., with family present from 6-8 p.m., at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton.
Service: Funeral Services will begin at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, February 16 at Grand Valley Lutheran Church.


With Valentines Day approaching I decided to do a post about the things I love. Here are my top 14 to go with the theme of Febuary 14th. Oh how the list could go on and on.
1. I love Jesus with my whole heart. I love the truth of His word and faithfulness.
2. I love my amazing husband who has been my sweet heart for almost 9 years now.
3. I love our two little children.
4. I love all of our family and friends.
5. I love our dog. Oh how I miss him.
6. I love how my kids call me Mommy.
7. I love worshipping our God through music.
8. I love church and bible studies.
9. I love white mochas.
10. I love eating healthy organic foods.
11. I love boots and pretty accessories.
14. I love this life I have been blessed with.
Okay I may have cheated a bit by adding some "ands" but hey my heart is overflowing with Love.
Ryden is currently doing preschool here at home, it is what worked best for us with the move and only having one car for the past five months. Right now we are using a program my mother in law passed on to us; Bob Jones University. He watches his school on a DVD series and follows along with their curriculum. On there he has two different teachers and I help him with their instructions through out the activities. It seems to be working well for now but today we switched things up a little. Ryden got a kick out of calling me "Teacher" and Violet was able to do everything with us.
Here is how our day went. First we discussed the calendar; what month it is, what day today is, and the date. Following that we sang a song "the days of the week." Next we talked about what season it is right now which lead us into our craft of the day; making snowflakes. I kind of just went on from there, math, reading, letters, science, and then closing with our daily bible story. Im wanting to base this week around space so today I tried to incorporate the moon into most of his studies. I took some pictures along the way.
This next activity was Math matching. He had to match the numeral, the word, and the correct amount of dots. I just introduced this game so the pile of cards were in order for him so he could learn to recognize it first. After a while I will mix up the pile a bit more and then ask him to match them correctly on his own.
More math and colors. I asked him to build towers with by matching the colors. After he built the towers he was asked to put them in order from shortest to tallest, starting with the one, two, three and so on.
Good night moon is the book we read today during story time even though he knows this book by heart. The reason I choose this book is because it displays different phases of the moon which lead us into our next activity.
We did this fun little activity with newmans oreos. It may have been a tad over his head but it was still fun discussing and creating the different phases of the moon. Honestly I think they really enjoyed the eating of the cookies the most.
The letter M was our letter of the day. We talked about how the word moon starts with the letter "M" and then he practiced tracing the upper and lower case M.
That was the better part of our school day with a little house work, laundry, eating and playing in mix. Hope you had a blessed day as well.
The weather has been nice here in Colorado the past two Saturdays so we took advantage and made our way out into the sunshine. We loaded up the dirt-bike, kids, and lunches and headed to the track. I really enjoy being in the fresh air, letting my children run and play in the dirt, and watching my husband ride one of his favorite toys. Soon we are hoping to get Ryden on a little pw 50 dirt-bike and Violet and I will continue to cheer them on from the sidelines.
Those little, red, itching spots known as the chicken pox can be quite an annoyance for our little ones. My son handled them quite well but our little girl was a bit more uncomfortable. In order to soothe her pain I have researched some natural home remedies. Here are a few we did.
First get out some oatmeal. Some resources say to cook it first and others say its fine to use uncooked.
Next place the oatmeal into a cloth bag or old sock, tie a knot on the top to keep the oatmeal contained.
Put it into the bath water and then squeeze out the milky water from the bag pouring over child's spots. This helps soothe, dry up, and heal the spots.
After taking you child out of the bath be sure to lather them up with some good coconut oil. This too will help with scaring and healing. We do this already after our daily baths. If you are not using it for cooking as well you should start. It has tons of great benefits.
The final thing we did was get out into the sunshine with little or no clothes depending on the temperature, in our own backyard of course. Sunshine helps kill the virus and gives us our daily vitamin D.
Lastly find fun crafts and projects to do since you will be home for at least two weeks. We have been making Valentines and doing fun science projects!
Sneak Peak at a pretty creation.
As I take a walk down memory lane I re-visit the age of five to twelve and remember being involved in a girl scout troop. At the end of every meeting we would gather together holding hands in a circle and sing the song " make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the others gold." Oh how that song still remains true today about 20 plus years later.
Here is to a season of new "gold" friendships while staying connected with my old "silver" friendships far away.


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Weekly Cybersecurity
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Defense policy bill nudges U.S. toward more aggressive cyber posture
By TIM STARKS
With help from Eric Geller and Martin Matishak
DEFENSE BILL GOES BIG ON CYBER — The final defense policy bill unveiled Monday would overhaul U.S. cyber defense policies, putting the country on a more aggressive footing against digital adversaries. The compromise fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5515), hammered out by House and Senate lawmakers, features several modified proposals from the upper chamber draft, such as setting the nation's first cyber warfare policy, affirming the authority of the Defense secretary to conduct clandestine military activities and operations in cyberspace, and authorizing the president to direct U.S. Cyber Command to take steps to counter Russia, China, Iran and North Korea in cyberspace.
The negotiated measure also includes a provision to establish a "Cyberspace Solarium Commission" — a 13-member panel to develop a strategic approach to protecting and defending U.S. interests online — and a pilot program authorizing the Defense Department to provide technical experts to the Homeland Security Department to boost cooperation to protect critical infrastructure, according to a Democratic summary of the policy roadmap. It also requires DoD to notify lawmakers of cybersecurity breaches and loss of information from approved defense contractors, a response to the recent incident where Chinese hackers stole troves of data about the country's submarine efforts from a contractor.
The measure additionally mandates that the Pentagon chief notify lawmakers in the event of a data breach that exposes the personal information of service members and create a pilot program within the Defense Digital Service to identify new ways to evaluate cyber vulnerabilities in DOD's critical infrastructure. The policy blueprint would also put Cyber Command in charge of defending the military's information network. The House is expected to vote on the final bill some time this week.
HAPPY TUESDAY and welcome to Morning Cybersecurity! "I'm not eating anything with a broken yolk." Send your thoughts, feedback and especially tips to [email protected], and be sure to follow @POLITICOPro and @MorningCybersec. Full team info below.
PUTTING THE RISK IN CONTEXT — State and local officials will emphasize at a House Oversight hearing today that while they're taking the election security threat seriously, they're confident that there's little chance of dramatically influencing the results of the 2018 midterms. "From a cybersecurity standpoint, we are most acutely concerned with 'social engineering' hacking attempts, which include phishing and baiting attempts through email" prior to the election, according to prepared testimony from Weber County, Utah, clerk/auditor Ricky Hatch, speaking on behalf of the National Association of Counties. "Most hacks are unsuccessful and crude attempts, akin to a burglar driving down a street looking for open windows or jiggling the locks, but it only takes one breach to cause significant problems." Like Hatch, the representative of the National Association of Secretaries of State will point out that key systems aren't connected to the internet. "If our protections to our voter registration system are breached, we can address that and the vote count is not impacted," New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver's prepared remarks read. "If our protections election night reporting website are breached, we can address that and the vote count is not impacted." The bigger concern is voter confidence, she will say.
Republicans' goals for the hearing — which will also feature testimony from top DHS cybersecurity and infrastructure protection official Chris Krebs and Election Assistance Commission Chairman Thomas Hicks similar to their recent Hill appearances — are to assess election security preparedness across all levels of government, and to see what can be done before the 2018 elections to safeguard them. Democrats plan to lob a few protests, a Democratic committee staffer told MC. Among them: Republicans should have invited the director of national intelligence to testify, given his warnings about ongoing Russian interference; the GOP should back additional election security funds after rejecting them last week; and Republicans need to aid Democrats' requests to DHS for more information on the alleged 2016 Russian attacks.
CDM LEGISLATION UP TO BAT — The House Homeland Security Committee today marks up legislation (H.R. 6443) that would enshrine DHS's Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program in law and require that it keep pace with technological advancements that would aid the program's goal of strengthening federal agencies' digital defenses. Rep. John Ratcliffe, the bill's sponsor, will argue at the markup that the legislation is necessary after a recent government report that most federal agencies are at risk of failing their cybersecurity program. "It is DHS's CDM program that will help federal agencies and the whole of the federal government understand the threats they face, and the risks vulnerabilities pose in real-time," his prepared opening remarks read.
Rep. Jim Langevin plans to offer an amendment to the bill to reflect his concerns that the original four-phased plan for implementing CDM might no longer be the best approach. "Many of the tools and services available under Phase 3 and Phase 4 would both be useful in agencies now, and it remains unclear to me why the Department would not aim to implement them in parallel," he said in a statement emailed to MC. "My amendment will require DHS to address these important questions in its strategy and implementation plan required under the bill."
LIFE, AND PEN-TESTING, FINDS A WAY — Penetration testers continue to slip into systems like they're Swiss cheese, according to a new report from the security firm Rapid7, which offers pen-testing services. The company said its employees successfully exploited a digital flaw in 84 percent of attempts, while its success rate for abusing a "network misconfiguration" was just slightly lower, at 80 percent. "The environments where software vulnerabilities were encountered grew significantly" from the previous survey period to the current one, Rapid7 said in its report, which is based on 268 pen-testing "engagements" conducted between last September and mid-June.
The three most common configuration errors that opened the door for pen-testers were "service misconfiguration," password reuse, and accounts holding unnecessarily elevated privileges. Meanwhile, the most popular password lengths are eight, 10, and nine digits, respectively, according to Rapid7's database of compromised credentials. Eight-digit passwords are far and away the most popular, accounting for 46 percent of the database.
"It is practically inevitable that an experienced penetration tester will uncover at least one vulnerability or misconfiguration and use it to their advantage," the company said in its report. "However, this should not cause IT, security, and development teams to lose heart; there are strategies available to help minimize the impact of a breach, both simulated by a penetration tester or caused by a real threat actor."
MORE INFO SURFACES ON GRID ATTACKS — "Hackers working for Russia claimed 'hundreds of victims' last year in a giant and long-running campaign that put them inside the control rooms of U.S. electric utilities where they could have caused blackouts, federal officials said," The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. "They said the campaign likely is continuing." The hackers "broke into supposedly secure, 'air-gapped' or isolated networks owned by utilities with relative ease by first penetrating the networks of key vendors who had trusted relationships with the power companies."
TAX FRAUD — The IRS could be doing more to prevent identity theft, according to a watchdog report out Monday. The Government Accountability Office made 11 recommendations for the IRS to follow to help ensure people are who they say they are online and elsewhere. Most notably, GAO suggests the service should follow the latest NIST guidelines on cybersecurity and direct its Identity Assurance Office to help develop a plan for implementing changes to its online authentication programs consistent with NIST.
LET ME SEE SOME I.D. — DHS on Monday awarded a $200,000 grant to a Canadian company that will design a system to authenticate smart devices and prevent them from being hijacked for cyberattacks. Plurilock Security Solutions Inc. will develop the system based on its existing BioTracker identity management platform. DHS's goal is "to prevent spoofing of [internet of things devices] that can involve unfriendly actors pretending to be smart devices to launch attacks, access and steal user information, spread malware or bypass security," according to an agency statement. DHS said BioTracker would suit this mission well because it "uses behavioral and contextual data from users to authenticate the identity of [a smart device] to protect it" from threats like DDoS attacks and botnets. Plurilock's grant is the latest from the DHS Science & Technology Directorate's Silicon Valley Innovation Program. It is the second non-American company to receive a SVIP grant.
RECENTLY ON PRO CYBERSECURITY — Twenty-one state attorneys general urged Congress to take action on election security. … National security adviser John Bolton will meet with his Russian counterpart next month. … Here's how U.S. spies can figure out what President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed. … Secretary of State Mike Pompeo turned down an invitation to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about Trump's interactions with Russian and European leaders, citing a scheduling conflict, but will testify on the same subject before the Senate Foreign Relations panel.
REPORT WATCH
— A survey of chief executive officers revealed that 72 percent admitted that they took intellectual property from a former employer, but 78 percent agree that IP is the most valuable asset their companies have. The survey, by data security company Code42, also found that the CEOs were fairly cavalier with protecting their work: 93 percent said they keep copies of their work on a personal device, 63 percent confessed to clicking on a link they should've have or didn't mean to and 59 percent said they downloaded software without knowing if it was approved by company security. Separately, the survey findings include the opinions and impressions of chief information security officers on a range of data security questions as well.
TWEET OF THE DAY — It's the money laundering that makes it so secure.
QUICK BYTES
— Technology allowing private messaging secrecy is increasingly coming into conflict with transparency laws. Associated Press
— Here's how some threat intelligence companies wrestle with public attribution of which nations are behind cyber threats. CyberScoop
— Former White House cyber coordinator Rob Joyce picked up another NSA assignment, serving as the chief liaison to the U.K. CNN
— Experts discuss the evolution of DHS's Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program. FCW
— Google says physical security keys have ended successful phishing of its employees. Krebs on Security
— "Someone Uploaded What Look to Be Apple's Internal iPhone Repair Videos." Motherboard
— There was some drama at the HOPE hacker conference. Motherboard
— Some cyber experts expect Russia to get more aggressive now that the World Cup is done. Express
— Montenegro is joining NATO's cyber defense center. Balkan Insight
That's all for today. "There is a God."
Stay in touch with the whole team: Mike Farrell ([email protected], @mikebfarrell); Eric Geller ([email protected], @ericgeller); Martin Matishak ([email protected], @martinmatishak) and Tim Starks ([email protected], @timstarks).
Heidi Vogt @HeidiVogt
Eric Geller @ericgeller
Martin Matishak @martinmatishak
About The Author : Tim Starks
Tim Starks has written about cybersecurity since 2003, when he began at Congressional Quarterly as a homeland security reporter. While at CQ Roll Call, he mainly covered intelligence, but he also had stretches as a foreign policy reporter and defense reporter. In 2009, he won the National Press Club's Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism.
He left CQ Roll Call in March of 2015. Before coming to Politico he spent several months freelancing, writing for the Economist, the New Republic, Foreign Policy, Vice, Bloomberg and the Guardian.
He grew up in Evansville, Ind. and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in print journalism. His first full-time reporting job was covering city hall for the Evansville Press, the former afternoon daily. He was a Pulliam Fellow at the Indianapolis Star, and participated in the Politics and Journalism Semester at the chain of newspapers anchored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He also was the Statehouse Bureau Chief at the Evansville Courier & Press and established the Washington bureau of the New York Sun. Some of his other freelance work has been for the Chicago Tribune, Glamour, Deutsche Welle, Ring and BookForum.
He is the founder of The Queensberry Rules, dubbed an "indispensable boxing blog" by the Wall Street Journal. He's also fond of fantasy basketball and real-life basketball — he is from Indiana, after all — and gets way too bent out of shape over people rooting against the home team or not walking on the right side of the sidewalk.
Weekly Cybersecurity - POLITICO Archive
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text:
Q: How to Click movement in unity and stop if there is Collider? so I have an issue about movement click on unity it's about when I click of course the player will be moving to the position I clicked but, I don't want if I clicked on the wall and another button the player will be on the last mouse I clicked, I already add some collider but the player just bypass the collider so collider doesn't have any effect
the explanation
and this the script
[Header("Tweak")]
[SerializeField] Transform target;
Vector2 targetPos;
public float speed = 5f;

// Start is called before the first frame update
void Start()
{
    targetPos = transform.position;
}

// Update is called once per frame
void Update()
{
    Move();
}

public void Move()
{
    if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
    {
        targetPos = (Vector2)Camera.main.ScreenToWorldPoint(Input.mousePosition);
        if ((targetPos.x >= transform.position.x))
        {
            transform.localScale = new Vector2(.5f, .5f);
        }
        else
        {
            transform.localScale = new Vector2(-.5f, .5f);
        }
        target.position = targetPos;
    }
    if ((Vector2)transform.position != targetPos)
    {
        transform.position = Vector2.MoveTowards(transform.position, targetPos, speed * Time.deltaTime);
    }
}

A: You can do this using Raycast
if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
     {
         Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
         RaycastHit hitInfo;
         if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hitInfo))
         {
             if (hitInfo.collider.gameObject.tag == "Wall")
             {
                 Debug.Log("tag");
                 //You can do what ever you want here.
             }
         }
     }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I have a 3 bedroom property in South Shields (134 Belloc Avenue, South Shields, NE34 9HR) which has been wrecked by the tenant. There is a large amount of damage (probably £25K) and it isn't worth doing the repairs to the property as the option price I have on the property in addition to the property is more than the property is worth. In addition a potential insurance quote won't cover the cost.
Therefore I need to get a council contact or a Housing Association contact to lease the property for something like 5 years (my option has 11 years remaining). I need a scheme where the council or Housing Association take over the property, do the repairs and then pay a much smaller rent than the standard rate to recoup their repairs investment. I have done a similar scheme in Oldham and Blackburn recently so I know they exist. There is a focus from councils to get property back into use and quite a lot of these types of schemes are popping up.
If you have any contact details for a scheme like this in South Shields could you please let me know?
I appreciate your post relating to this property was posted a long time ago , I am a local investor and just wondering if you would be interested in selling this propery?


In the previous track we talked about 5 urban legends or myths you might consider reviewing with your client concerning their beliefs about abuse.
In this track... we will explore reframing these beliefs; the use of the three concepts of recognize and remember, RET, and BAD Questions.
How invested is your client in viewing a situation from the point of view of myths created by their "Great Catch?" We will look at how the power invested in the "Great Catch" enables him to "Reconstruct Reality," which erodes your client's Self-Image through Blame.
In a session, have you found the introduction of the topic of "the control a partner exhibits over another" can be a difficult one to discuss? During these sessions I have found the receiver of the abuse realizes the negative impact that their Great Catch relationship is having on them.
As you know, many clients blame themselves for their situation. They buy into their partner's script, that her defects are the root of all evil and the cause of his or "their problems a couple." What makes your abused client stay in a relationship that is controlling and abusive? What role does blame play in whether or not she stays? What do you think?
As you already know, the eroding of self-image is a primary factor in the creation and perpetuating of an abusive relationship. This destruction is achieved mostly through blaming the individual being abused. This blaming, in turn, creates a chain reaction, in which she feels responsible for the abuse. A chain reaction occurs when she feels responsibility for the abuse. This feeling of responsibility for the abuse makes her feel compelled to stay in the relationship.
Here's an example of this blaming chain reaction which goes from feeling responsible to resulting in feeling compelled to stay. Rhonda, a 41-year-old schoolteacher with 2 children, expressed that in her 20 years of marriage, Jeffrey often made her feel like she was a bad wife who couldn't do anything for herself.
Rhonda burst into tears after two sessions, "Jeffrey knows how to really push my buttons, in a big way. He always makes me feel at fault for all of our problems! Even if I did everything perfectly, he still manages to find something wrong. He yells at me and says 'If you didn't make such crappy food I would feel motivated to go to work more.' But even if I make the best meal, he'll turn around and then accuse me of making meals that are too good so that he gains weight and feels too lazy to go to work. I feel like a complete failure. I hate myself."
Jeffery's a really great guy."
by blaming. Jeffery's blaming is eroding Rhonda's self-esteem.
What would be your next step with Rhonda in this session? Here's what I did. I decided to Reconstruct the Reality of Rhonda's self blame based upon her narrative and explore the meaning that it held for her.
I Reconstructed the Reality of Rhonda's self blame by using a 2 R method of questioning, which encouraged her ability to construct her truth independent of Jeffrey's version of the truth.
I have found, by helping the client to discover a new narrative as they recognize and remember the abuse, it often introduces her to opportunities for making new choices. Here's how I helped Rhonda develop this new narrative using the 2 R's of recognize and remember. The purpose was to reverse the erosion of her self-esteem caused by Jeffrey's reconstruction of reality.
I stated to Rhonda, "Have you ever thought about your relationship with Jeffrey from the point of view of who's in control? It sounds like Jeffrey constructs the story, or his version of reality was pretty much have accepted by you. Is that right?" After Rhonda remembered specific situations this seemed to fit. I could see she was beginning to emotionally buy-into, or connect with and recognize this as a line of reasoning that seemed to fit and be true for her. Ask yourself are the 2 R's of recognize and remember a concept I might introduce into my next training session with my Rhonda?
Technique two to reframe client beliefs, in addition to the two R's remember and recognize, is RET.
I find borrowing from Albert Ellis' Rational-Emotive Therapy, RET, approach here beneficial. I encouraged Rhonda, as I had Ellis' RET basics in mind, to make a distinction between what is an objective fact versus what was her subjective interpretation of her and Jeffrey's behavior. I stated in so many words, "It sounds like you and Jeffrey have created an environment where Jeffrey's negative behavior is either justified or it is tolerated by you. By justifying and tolerating, this allows your relationship to continue as it has."
The tricky part here, for me is, while saying this to Rhonda, in my RET work with her I felt I needed to steer her away from self-blame, but in addition steer her away from making Jeffrey out to be the total scapegoat.
#1 Helping Rhonda to become aware that by justifying and tolerating Jeffrey's behavior she was perpetuating the problem.
#2 in the triangle was to, at the same time, steer her away from self blame, which she was an expert at. Sound familiar with some your clients?
#3 in the triangle, I had to walk, therapeutically was to steer her away from externalizing the problem and making Jeffrey the total bad guy and scapegoat.
In addition to the 2R's of remember and recognize and Ellis' RET concepts of objective fact versus subjective interpretations was the use of the B-A-D questions reframing Rhonda's beliefs.
I used the following three questions, over the period of several sessions, to help Rhonda walk this three sided triangular therapeutic tightrope BAD stands for the key words bear, acceptable, and deserve.
#1. The B stands for bear. I asked Rhonda, "Do you think that you can bear this type of treatment for the rest of your life?"
#2. The A stands for acceptable. I asked Rhonda, "You stated earlier, Jeffery is not behaving the way that a man in love with you and committed to his wife behaves. Is that acceptable to you?"
#3. The D stands for deserve. I then stated, "You stated there have been good times between the two of you, but that's not what I'm hearing about. You sound unhappy. Do you think you deserve happiness?"
I gave Rhonda the opportunity to come to her own conclusions as each BAD question was explored over a series of sessions.
Notice, I phrased these questions so that the focus was not on Jeffrey's behavior but rather on Rhonda's responses, and on Rhonda's choices that she made based on her perception of the reality of the situation. Rhonda realized that she was spending more energy than she wanted to be anticipating Jeffrey's needs. She began speaking up to establish boundaries regarding his angry outburst. Rhonda finally insisted firmly that Jeffery get help.
Rhonda explained at the end of one of our final sessions, "
Nothing raises my feelings about myself like my successes. Maybe it's just a small thing, but I now feel proud to be a teacher, and see that feeling lazy because I don't take a second job is not how I feel anymore. This was Jeffery's version of the truth. I feel the cure for my horrible feeling of powerlessness is to be aware of my power in my relationship with Jeffrey."
In order to facilitate your client's awareness of the power he or she has lost or holds in a relationship, in the next two tracks we will talk about how to increase your client's awareness of rationalizations they have for staying in their relationship.
To reconstruct the reality of self-blame experienced by your client, what are the key words to use to recall the B-A-D questions in a session with a client?


Hunt Club is a neighborhood with expansive green space and charming colonial style homes. Hunt Club is served by the Avon Lake City School District. Below you'll find all available Hunt Club homes for sale updated throughout the day from the MLS. You can also browse other Avon Lake neighborhoods or view all homes for sale in Avon Lake.


text:
Lapajne is a Slovenian language surname.  Notable people with this surname include:

Beno Lapajne, Slovenian  handball player
Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director, producer, writer, editor and production designer
Lidija Benedetič-Lapajne, Slovenian athlete
Sonja Lapajne-Oblak, Slovenian architect, civil engineer and Slovenia's first female urban planner. Partisan fighter during the Second World War, survived incarceration in Ravensbruck concentration camp.

References

Slovene-language surnames

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The question is whether black can capture the seven white stones at the bottom in a ladder by playing a.
As this is a ladder problem, the solution contains relatively few branches. But since it is meant to be done all in your head, the problem is still quite hard. Nakayama showed a problem like this one to Takemiya once who looked at it for a few seconds(!) only and solved it.