A View of the NSA’s Online Monitoring from an Information Security Professional

1 comment

Since the NSA’s extensive domestic and international monitoring was revealed by Edward Snowden via The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald in June 2013, much ink (or many pixels, as the case may be) has been spilled discussing whether or not the NSA has gone too far, whether the programs are unconstitutional, and a variety of other issues.

One view that I have not yet seen is that of someone on the front lines of information security, who deals with many of the threats that the NSA has been monitoring on a fairly regular basis.

Someone like me. Continue reading →

French Football Clubs Will Strike To Protest Supertax

Soccer BallFrench football (meaning soccer to the Americans) clubs are going on strike to protest the 75% tax on those earning over 1 million euros annually. Ligue 1 and 2 clubs have announced that matches have been cancelled for the last weekend in November.

The two-year tax is meant to be a temporary measure as France deals with an economic crises. Originally meant to apply to households, the French constitutional counsel held that the tax as then written was unconstitutional. Lawmakers rewrote the law so that the tax would be on employers instead. Continue reading →

Chicago Alderman Proposes $25 Annual Bike Tax

bikerChicago Alderman Pat Dowell has proposed a plan that bicyclists in the city should pay a $25 annual bike registration fee as a way to raise revenue for the city. Ms. Dowell is hoping this would be an alternative to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed cable television tax hike. She also thinks that all cyclists should be required to take a “rules of the road” safety class. The safety part I can get behind, the tax? Not so much.

As the fee is proposed as just a way of increasing revenue for the city of Chicago and does not directly benefit transportation let alone cycling, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Even Emanuel doesn’t think so. Continue reading →