The White House’s cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt is getting attention for his effort to make U.S. cybersecurity strategy more “transparent,” by posting summaries of the 12 principles driving the approach. That sketch of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative’s framework is, as of yesterday afternoon, posted on the National Security Council’s Web site. Included are things […]
Nancy Scola
Nancy Scola is a writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in Science Progress, Politics Magazine, AlterNet, and the Columbia Journalism Review.
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Colorado’s Udall Backs a Public Option Revival.
There’s certainly been disagreement on the left over whether it makes good strategic sense to reinsert the public option back into the health-care debate at this point in the process. But it’s smart to separate that debate from the remarkable success that the grassroots push orchestrated by Democracy for America, Credo, and the Progressive Change […]
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Compensation for Black Farmers.
After decades of discrimination, litigation, and negotiating, it looks today like an agreement has been reached on compensation to black farmers. This is one of those times that government works that Paul Waldman wisely counsels us to celebrate. So, a few words of praise for the real progress made by President Obama’s negotiation of the […]
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Securing Cyberspace.
Yesterday, the Bipartisan Policy Center ran a “cyber attack” exercise designed to demonstrate what it would look like if cell phone networks were attacked, Internet resources were damaged, and portions of the U.S. electrical grid brought low. Former White House officials and national security experts like Michael Chertoff and John Negroponte participated. A few points: […]
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Google Everywhere
Google Buzz raised hackles over privacy concerns, but it should also make us consider how omnipresent Google is becoming.
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Internet Anti-Americanism.
Authorities in Iran have reportedly decided to ban the internal use of Gmail, seemingly inspired by the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and supposedly in favor of an e-mail service rooted within Iran, not Mountain View, California — though presumably that home-grown IranMail is going to come complete with a “Surveille This” widget. This […]
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Voting Rights of the Once-Incarcerated.
It was encouraging to see the Domestic Policy Council’s It was encouraging to see the Domestic Policy Council’s Heather Higginbottom say in a White House chat last week that the Obama administration is supportive of a federal law restoring ex-felons’ voting rights. The messy patchwork of laws we currently have for the once-incarcerated is one […]
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On Google and NSA.
What upset my stomach this morning wasn’t so much the news that Google What upset my stomach this morning wasn’t so much the news that Google had partnered with the National Security Administration as it was that Google seems to have felt threatened enough by cyberattacks to do it. Google cherishes its reputation as one […]
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Obama’s Internet Plan: Also Non-Bolshevik.
In a more perfect world, Barack Obama‘s command of the nuances of tech policy would rival his grasp of health-care policy. But this world ain’t perfect, and we’re stuck with a president who strongly backs net neutrality principles but is occasionally clumsy on the details. We can wish he didn’t do that, for the very […]
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James Rucker’s Making Sense.
Color of Change’s James Rucker has an important post on his efforts thus far to make sense of the Congressional Black Caucus’ entrenched opposition to net neutrality. The arguments Rucker has been hearing on his visits to Capitol Hill repeat themselves, running along the lines that if telecom companies aren’t able to use a portion […]