The Ash Twins Blog

Eben Moglen on why free software matters:

Free software is, in fact, far more secure than proprietary software, for the same reason that it has fewer defects of other, non-security kinds. First, the entire user community is able to read the code and locate problems through static analysis; problems are unearthed as people learn about the programs for their own purposes. And when problems are recognized, through any means, they can be fixed by the first person who discovers them. So fixes are quicker to attain, and can be vetted, in turn, by thousands of users around the world immediately.

News from last week is relevant to the previous post: The Senate passed the 2009 war spending bill:

The measure would permit $612.5 billion in spending for military programs in 2009, including $70 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why is the $700 billion wall-street bailout a national scandal while an astonishing $612 billion passes unnoticed into the abyss of the military-industrial complex?

James Cypher writes about the present-day iron triangle:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Militarization_America/Iron_Triangle.html

Excerpt:

Looking ahead, the RMA’s fantastic weaponry-and its enormous costs-are only just beginning to emerge. Northrup Grumman, General Atomics, and Boeing are speeding robot airplanes into production. Other contractors are developing thermal imaging sensors to “see” targets through night, distance, fog, and even rock formations. The Navy is promoting a new destroyer-class warship, the DD-21, loaded with cruise missiles and guns capable of hitting targets 100 miles inland. Known as the “stealth bomber for the ocean,” the DD-21 is estimated to cost $24 billion. Cost overruns of 300% are common, however, so there’s no telling what taxpayers will ultimately pay.

Paul Rosberg discusses authoritarian psychology:  http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/3/1/10446/24377.

An excerpt:

Altemeyer explains that “right-wing’” means a “psychological sense of submitting to perceived authorities in one’s life,” and is not identified with a specific political ideology.  In the Soviet Union, “right-wing” meant a sense of submitting to communist authorities, and Altemeyer presented research showing this was so.  This is what his RWA (right-wing authoritarianism) scale measured. It is obviously related to the perpetuation of hierarchy, and the use of force to impose “order.”