National Insecurity Cards

This is quite an old article on AlterNet from my favourite security consultant, Bruce Schneier. In it he argues very persuasively that ID cards make us less rather than more secure. At the core of his argument is the principle that security measures should be evaluated not based on how they work, but on how they fail. Well worth a read, if you value your safety and liberty.

BusinessWeek Best of the Web

A useful list of sites (via Jack Schofield at the Guardian)

LJK Setright

LJK Setright was the most original contributor to motoring journalism over the past 40 years. In Car magazine through its heyday in the '70s I used to turn to his column first. I would always learn something, and I would always enjoy the read, even if I didn't always agree with his position on, say, environmentalism. Highly individual, and a private person to the end, I think it is unlikely that we will see anyone write like he did again. He leaves a treasure trove of books to remember him by - a little searching at Amazon will prove very rewarding. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if he had directed his intellect towards some of the issues we find in software development.

Moral Hazard?

In the New Yorker article, "THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH - The bad idea behind our failed health-care system.", Malcolm Gladwell sheds some light on how The USA manages to be the wealthiest country in the world and yet allow a huge proportion of its population to live with third world standards of healthcare. I found it shocking reading, and a grim warning to us in the UK of what we have to lose. The article doesn't address the financial aspects of the issue, but it seems likely that the cost incurred by society due to the endemic ill health and suffering would outweigh the saving in taxes.

Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19

Just a reminder - next Monday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Possibly even more pointless than trying to get 2000 petes in one place, Talk Like a Pirate Day is in its eleventh year, but it didn't become an international event until Dave Barry gave it wider publicity in 2002. The site has plenty of help and advice if you are a beginner at talking like a pirate, and less desirably but inevitably there are now some merchandising opportunities as well.

An unnecessary gathering of people called Peter!

The current record for the largest number of people of the same name gathered together is held by the Mohammeds from Dubai. As a Pete myself, I wholeheartedly support Pete's attempt to bring the record back to Britain. If you are a Pete, register and make plans to be there next year for the largest gathering of Petes in history.

Survival of the fittest?

More from the BBC on whether Katrina will shock America into rejecting the Social Darwinism that has been so influential in shaping its policies for over a hundred years. As the article states, the Americans are basically a kindly people so I find it hard to believe that they can turn their backs once again, yet I fear that they are too well practised at seeing only what they want to see, and hearing only what they want to hear. I hope to be proven wrong, as the passing of peak oil will make the world an increasingly uncomfortable place, and we will all need to learn to be more interdependent and less independent.

Touched by His Noodly Appendage

Have you been touched? Read Bobby Henderson's Open Letter to the Kansas School Board and be saved! Since I discovered this my life has been turned around and I feel like there is a reason for living again.

24FightingChickens

I was disappointed when Rob Redmond took his wonderful Karate site, 24 Fighting Chickens, offline last year. Rob had been very active online, and had annoyed a lot of people by applying logic and common sense to the learning of Karate. I found nearly all of his writing to be very enlightening, and I was quite happy to agree to disagree with the (very) few bits that I either didn't get or actually thought were wrong. The site is now back on line, although most of the original content is absent. He's now running it as a Karate blog, although he has switched off the ability to comment. Still worth a read.

The Dark Side

America is the world's richest country, but that wealth is very unevenly distributed. When Katrina struck, the glossy veneer was stripped off, and the rest of the world could see the reality behind the glitz. It wasn't pretty. America sustains much of its wealth on the backs of illegal immigrants or poor blacks who live and work in third world poverty. These were the people who suffered in New Orleans, who will suffer for years to come. The state won't look after them once the eyes of the world turn away again. This lack of compassion, this exploitation, is justified by the American Dream in which everyone has the potential to rise up from poverty and become a millionaire. Yet social mobility in the USA is very low, because this underclass has little education and hence little opportunity. With my liberal European outlook I would find it hard to live in America, knowing what underpinned my prosperity.

But just when I was feeling all smug in my comfortable anti-Americanism, I found that the UK keeps the US company at the bottom of the social mobility scale. My experience suggests that our divide is less racial and more class based, but I don't suppose that that is any comfort to those who suffer from it.

The Ex-Blogging Officer

Well, while I was away, Chris Locke seems to have got himself separated from his gig as CBO for Highbeam Research. I thought he was doing a pretty good job, and I don't know the circumstances of their parting, but Chris has been asking for donations to pay the rent. He's kind of like the Stonehenge of the internet, so he should be worth preserving. Please give generously.

He's still working on a new book, and there's a blog site for that too. Even stranger than usual, I have to admit I find this one quite heavy going, and I don't really have the time to try and get it all straight in my head. YMMV, and it is at least worth having a look.

It's been so long...

Can't believe it has been so long since my last post. Well, summer's nearly gone so I guess I'd better get writing again.