First of all I would like to express my heartfelt sadness for those who lost
friends, family and collegues to this disaster. May it be a reminder to all
Americans and other democratic countries around the world that there is a
REAL threat to freedom and capitolism, and the need for a strong military
presence is necessary, for no other reason that to be used as a deterrant
for such activity in the future. May we also not forget the loss of military
personel in the Pentagon, who by the nature of thier job put themselves at
risk everyday to defend us against these kinds of threats. While they may
not have been able to forsee this attack, who can know how many countless
attempts were foiled by our intelligence agencies. May we all stand united
behind our president and country to see us through such a horrible and
devistating tragedy. While everybody agrees that some sort of response is
warranted, let us not forget that part of the responsibility of being the
only superpower in the world carries the burden of not responding in the
same cowardly fashon. We need to have a swift and deliberate response to
this, but also be sure that those who are targeted are those who are
responsible. America has to display discipline in this kind of situatuion
not a knee jerk reaction that would reflect the acts of a 3 year old having
a tantrom.
As for mail sniffing I am in total opposition to this kind of technology to
be in use. This steps on the very fringes that makes this country free. The
thing that worries me the most is the ramifications of such systems being in
use, it could easily be turned against us if they were to fall into the
wrong hands. It "could" also lead to unwarranted harrassment for those that
are undeserving. Just as in military operations, I'm sure that if email was
used as a tool for communications to coordinate something like what happened
yesterday, I'd bet that cryptic messages were sent between parties that were
involved so that even if there were a method in place to ping on key words,
that kind of traffic would probably never be caught. I would also suspect
that even if messages were intercepted, the amount of time and resources
necessary to read them, figure out if it's real or not and then react on it
will most likely be to late.
No matter how you look at this those who are determined to do things as we
all witnessed yesterday will stop at nothing. It is very difficult to defend
against that kind of determination, especially when the idea is to take as
many lives a possible as a result.
One other note.. Gas prices here have remained stable,
1.30 for 87
1.41 for 89
1.52 for 93
May God console those in thier loss and bless this country as we deal with
this tragic course of events. Admist all this devistation and destruction is
was nice to see those out there helping each other where they can.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Lundy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 9:14 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: OT? perspective of events
My sympathies and thoughts go out to everyone directly affected by these
cowardly acts. My thoughts also go out to the millions of us indirectly
affected.
Now to bring a slightly on-topic slant to the discussions - in recent months
there has been considerable debate on Carnivore (the FBI's electronic
snooping tool). In order to increase our security, I'm sure we Americans
are going to have to give up some of our personal freedom and privacy. As
IT pro's, has anyone's opinion of Carnivore changed? I know if someone had
asked me the question on Monday, I was adamantly against Carnivore. Today,
I'm willing to accept some software "black-box" scanning my email looking
for suspicious activity.
Thoughts?
BTW - just because I am initiating a slightly on topic discussion, in no way
am I suggesting that that the other threads stop. I'm all for them. Many
of our list members are in NY and DC. Those who don't like the off topic
discussions - learn to use the delete key or setup a filter or rule.
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
