politics


A New Thought on Terrorism

Posted by markorton on December 6, 2008 in politics

An article in today’s NYTimes about cyber crime, malware, etc. suggests to me that another line of attack may be through the Internet against our utilities, telecoms, or financial institutions.
There have already been massive attacks against whole countries with successful breakdowns that lasted for hours and days. Ukraine, Lithuania, and Georgia were targets over the [...]

Biological Terrorism

Posted by markorton on December 4, 2008 in politics

No sooner did I finish the preceding posting that I discover some fat cat Federal commision has decided that my scenario is wrong.
No, it won’t be a dirty nuclear device. It will be a bio bomb.
I guess my prescience is not infallible.

Mumbai, Boston and Terrorism

Posted by markorton on December 3, 2008 in Boston, politics

The arrival by small boat of the Mumbai terrorists reminds me of a persistent fear here. A small freighter or a large one loaded with containers will pull into Conley Terminal in South Boston and shortly thereafter a dirty bomb will go off. This will spread a small cloud of nuclear materials, dust size [...]

Obama

Posted by markorton on November 5, 2008 in politics

I will not add to the comments that have flooded around the world last night and this morning. However this significant moment had to be greeted with more than silence.

Bush - the worst modern President

Posted by markorton on November 1, 2008 in politics

Since my entry this morning I have been thinking more about the Presidency and Bush. My knowledge of 19th century Presidents is a but spotty. Certainly the names Buchanan, Pierce, Johnson and Grant pop to mind as less than top of the heap.
But, for the modern era, post WW2, Bush is clearly the worst, most [...]

Pondering at the Food Coop

Posted by markorton on November 1, 2008 in politics

So, here I am having coffee and my favorite lunch, a toasted bagel with peanut butter thinking about the approaching election. Finally this will conclude what has been an overly long campaign, but one with enormous pleasures. Assuming that Obama is not just a curiosity to all those throngs at his campaign events, we will [...]

Healthcare Crisis

Posted by markorton on September 8, 2008 in health, politics

Originally written in 2005

The healthcare crisis in the US is growing in severity and yet is not the subject of any real public debate. More than 44 million Americans are without health insurance and almost 65 million will experience a lack of coverage during the year. Emergency rooms are the primary care provider of necessity. [...]

North Korea - a visit to the “Axis of Evil”

Posted by markorton on June 21, 2007 in book reviews, politics

Recently, in the context of some discussion of the Bush regime, my step-son Jonathan pointed me towards several books on Korea. He said that Bruce Cumings is simply the best author writing in English on Korea. So, a quick trip to the local library and I had this compact little book in my hands.

The book [...]

The Healthcare Crisis

Posted by markorton on February 2, 2006 in health, politics

The healthcare crisis in the US is growing in severity and yet is not the subject of any real public debate. More than 44 million Americans are without health insurance and almost 65 million will experience a lack of coverage during the year. Emergency rooms are the primary care provider of necessity. All of this [...]