Cyber Monday, The White House Mess

CyberWorld: The worldwide ransomware attack could get worse today as people return to their offices and open their computers, according to cyber security experts. Many office workers, particularly in Asia, had logged off their office computers Friday before the WannaCry ransomware struck with full force. The program freezes a computer system’s information and demands payment to release it. So far most of the attack has occurred outside the United States.

The program puts a popup window on the screen, demanding a $300 payment in bitcoin, and a threat that the ransom will increase if not paid.

A 22-year-old British researcher has been credited with finding the “kill switch” for the malware, but it’s expected that a more secure version might be released.

The Kimchi Krisis: North Korea says the missile it tested over the weekend is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It flew 430 miles and landed closer to the coast of Russia than it did to Japan. It is their first successful launch after a string of failures.

The missile was fired at a steep angle, reaching an altitude of 1300 miles. That suggests that if it had been fired at a flatter trajectory it might have a range of 2500 miles.

The White House Mess: After a rough week, the Trump administration offered no representatives to put up a defense on the Sunday talk shows, giving free reign to critics in broadcast and print.

On CNN, former director of national intelligence James Clapper said President Trump is a threat to democracy.  “I think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally — and that’s the big news here, is the Russian interference in our election system,” Clapper said. “I think as well our institutions are under assault internally.”

When he was asked, “Internally, from the president?” Clapper said, “Exactly.”

South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham said Trump must be careful about who he appoints to replace the fired FBI Director James Comey. “The president has a chance to clean up the mess he mostly created,” Graham said, adding, “I have no evidence that the president colluded with the Russians at all … but we don’t know all the evidence yet.”

In The Washington Post, Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe calls for Trump to be impeached.  Tribe says Trump committed a crime asking Comey whether the president was under investigation, demanding his personal loyalty, and then firing Comey when he didn’t grant it. “To say that this does not in itself rise to the level of ‘obstruction of justice’ is to empty that concept of all meaning,” Tribe wrote.

He goes on, “Now the country is faced with a president whose conduct strongly suggests that he poses a danger to our system of government.”

Mummy’s Day: Archaeologists in Egypt say they discovered 17 intact mummies in an ancient burial site. They say the site may contain as many as 32 mummies from Egypt’s Greco-Roman period, which began when Alexander the Great conquered the country in 332 BC.

Retired: The NY Yankees retired Derek Jeter’s No. 2 yesterday in a ceremony at Monument Park. The slugging shortstop played his entire 20-year career with the Yankees.

“There isn’t a player that I would trade places with that is playing now or ever,” Jeter said in a brief speech. “And the reason why I say that is because I got to play for a first-class organization in front of the greatest fans in professional sports.

The Obit Page: The durable character actor Powers Boothe, who appeared in recent years in “Nashville,” “Hatfield and McCoys” and “Deadwood,” has died at 68. He played the cult leader Jim Jones in “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” in 1980.

Dull Sword: The $300 million “King Arthur” hit theaters over the weekend as a $300 million flop, taking in only $14.7 million in North America. Warner Bros. was hoping it would become a franchise with hunky Charlie Hunnam pulling the sword out of the stone for many sequels to come. Excalibur seems to have lost its magic.

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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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