There has been much debate about the recent South African that obtained refugee status in Canada. He claimed that his life was at risk because he was white, and that the government was doing nothing to protect him. I am not going to go into my opinion of this lazy, lying bugger, but will rather let the cartoon do the talking.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.
The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama on Friday that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.
Mr. Obama, officials said, will announce the creation of a White House office — reporting to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council — that will coordinate a multibillion-dollar effort to restrict access to government computers and protect systems that run the stock exchanges, clear global banking transactions and manage the air traffic control system.
White House officials say Mr. Obama has not yet been formally presented with the Pentagon plan. They said he would not discuss it Friday when he announced the creation of a White House office responsible for coordinating private-sector and government defenses against the thousands of cyberattacks mounted against the United States — largely by hackers but sometimes by foreign governments — every day.
But he is expected to sign a classified order in coming weeks that will create the military cybercommand, officials said. It is a recognition that the United States already has a growing number of computer weapons in its arsenal and must prepare strategies for their use — as a deterrent or alongside conventional weapons — in a wide variety of possible future conflicts.
The White House office will be run by a “cyberczar,” but because the position will not have direct access to the president, some experts said it was not high-level enough to end a series of bureaucratic wars that have broken out as billions of dollars have suddenly been allocated to protect against the computer threats. Read more...(942 words, estimated 3:46 mins reading time)
So by now I am sure that you have heard the brilliant interview that Floyd Shivambu did with Redi Direko the other day? If not, then you better head on over and take a listen!
But things get even better! Floyd has a blog! Not only that, but he has released a statement on that blog regarding his thoughts on the interview. Priceless.
I don’t want to spoil it by quoting anything from his blog, so just go on over by clicking here.
I know this is a bit late. I had to down to post, but forget, and have only just remembered to post it! News24 reported this with regards to the auction:
“The Julius Malema puppet has been auctioned off for R100 000, Nando’s said on Thursday.
The puppet which starred in the fast food chain’s recent TV advert and became a “celebrity overnight” was sold to Ryan Lotter from Johannesburg.
It was auctioned for a charity group that funds, among other things, courses in woodwork, the subject Malema notoriously scored a GG for in matric.
“We are very sad to see Julius go because we have become very fond of him and has become a highlight in the office.
“We did however offer him one last Nando’s lunch and he’s always invited to Nando’s anytime,” Nando’s brand manager Lara Easthorpe said in a statement.
According to a report on Independent Online, Lotter said he was considering giving his new puppet to Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille who Malema recently called a “racist little girl”.”
That is a healthy amount of money for a puppet used in one ad! Julius really is famous now. ;) If you want to get the low down on the entire story click here.
A bill requiring French ISPs to disconnect people who are caught downloading or sharing illegal content three times has been given approval by Senate. The controversial legislation will mean that illegal file-sharers will receive a warning through email first, then through a letter, and on the third offence, will face disconnection, according to an article by TorrentFreak.
The bill attempts to reduce online piracy by deterring users from illegally file-sharing, and was supported by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Users who are disconnected may have to continue paying for their internet for the duration that they are disconnected, which can be up to a year.
The bill has faced a lot of heat from groups concerned that the new system will wrongly punish people, particularly if their computers are hijacked by hackers or malware. According to an article by the BBC, the legislation is “dangerous, useless, inefficient, and very risky for us citizens”, according to socialist parliamentarian Patrick Bloche.
However, John Kennedy, chairman of the IFPI, stated that the bill was “an effective and proportionate way of tackling online copyright infringement and migrating users to the wide variety of legal music services in France”. The law was passed by Senate with 189 votes for, and 14 against.
I got sent this in an email and I think it is absolutely brilliant. Not so much the fact that is ripping off Zuma, but it seems everyone is taking a dig at Malema. Check it out and let me know what you think below!
The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association has threatened to render the Western Cape ungovernable if its Premier Helen Zille continues “insulting” newly-elected President Jacob Zuma.
“Should Helen Zille not refrain from this anti-African and racist behaviour, we are not going to hesitate, but craft and launch a political programme aimed at rendering the Western Cape ungovernable,” MKMVA chairperson Kebby Maphatsoe said in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Maphatsoe said this was not intended to send the wrong message to the world, but that veterans could not sit back while Zille cast disdain on Zuma’s cultural preferences.
He was reacting to Zille’s comment that Zuma put his wives at risk of Aids as he had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman.
The MKMVA’s deputy secretary Ramatuku Maphutha said the association would mobilise soldiers in the Western Cape to go to Zille’s office sometime next week if she did not retract her statement.
“They are always ready [the soldiers]. It’s either she [Zille] vacates the office, or co-operates. We are prepared to sleep there if need be until we get an impressive response,” said Ramatuku.
The veterans congratulated all elected public representatives in the provincial legislatures and parliament, particularly Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and her deputy Thabang Makwetla. – Sapa
Helen Zille today at 15:18 released this statement, as well as letter, through her Facebook fan page.
I have had a number of queries around the background of the stand-off between me and the ANC.
The issue started when various spokespersons of the ANC-tripartite alliance accused me of sexism. I wrote the following letter in reply. The Sowetan pulled out one sentence to pursue their established agenda. This got the whole controversy going.
I therefore enclose the full letter below, so that you can judge it for yourself, in context.
“Helen Zille
Leader of the Democratic Alliance
Letter to the Editor of the Argus. From Helen Zille
Minister Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, whose party, the ANC, has just dropped a woman from the Deputy President position, has a nerve to attack me over the gender composition of the DA and ID Western Cape Provincial Cabinet (Cape Argus 11 May 2009).
The ANC, in all its 90 years of existence, has never elected (or deployed)a woman as its leader. The DA has done so within the first ten years of its existence. In fact, until recently, both the DA’s national leader and Parliamentary leader were women.
The ANC’s alliance partners, the SACP and COSATU, are also led by men. And, more significantly, the ANC’s leader, Jacob Zuma, is a self-confessed womanizer with deeply sexist views, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman. Even after this the ANC women’s league strongly endorsed his Presidential campaign. Their professions of support for women’s rights ring hollow indeed against this background.
While some of the ANC’s senior women achieved their positions on merit, others are well known “quota appointments”. The ANC can therefore pretend to be serious about women’s rights, while actually patronizing women who want to be recognized for their ability. Read more...(585 words, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)
