Maybe stop hiring based on whether people use or used drugs?
In the tech world drug users, particularly of hallucinogens, probably make up the top 10%.
Yeah, honestly this shit is why I have avoided government jobs. I’m not really a drug user… just don’t like idea that I need to disclose the exact date and time of every time I ever did use one. Also, the pay sucks. So, the options are jump through hoops and have the government audit your personal life, or don’t and get paid more for that decision.
Republicans hate the government and government workers though, so they don’t even care that this policy costs the US Government talent.
How in the world is someone supposed to remember each and every time they smoked a bowl?? Shit I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday, and I don’t really smoke much anymore.
Thats not something they ask. It’s “have you used these drugs, in this time frame” Yes is a no go. But they do ask you to recount every job you have ever held, who your friends were each year and where you lived your whole life.
“I need more money, cheers.”
I know a lot of people interested in infosec, but none of them want to be cops/feds.
Removing those draconic entry requirements would be a start.
I understand that the US is likely vulnerable to cyber attack, but is a widespread attack by China likely in the immediate future?
I mean, let’s say China does disable infrastructure, banking, etc in a coordinated and widespread attack. But then what? An attack on that scale is an act of war, and I doubt China would be willing to follow up with military action at this time.
Perhaps this is more of a preventive MAD type strategy? Essentially a warning to the US to not mess with China, or else these are the consequences.
Do you know anything about cyber security or are just passionate because you get to talk about war. If China were to coordinate an widespread attack, do you think it is as simple as the attack will come straight from the computer in the CCP headquarters and you go in to save the day?
Do you have any idea of how many outdated, unsecured, vulnerable devices (most of them made in China) could be used around the world just to have a plausible deniability. Ever heard of phishing? It could have come from your friend’s email and you could be the one that’s spreading the worm. And it would take months to trace it back to China. These are not script kiddies you see on the movies.
Start Air gaping critical infrastructure from the internet instead of dreaming about hypothetical wars.
I think a lot of American planners expect the next war to be against China more than Russia, most likely as part of efforts to reclaim Taiwan militarily. Whether that actually happens or not, China seems to be trying to build a military that can win against the U.S., either by matching strengths or some more asymmetric means. I think I saw a story recently that China was constructing mockups of American navy ships in a desert that seem to be for war gaming, as an example.
Had a long talk with a very intelligent, young, Navy SIGINT guy last New Years. He’s been out there, intercepting and working on signal intelligence. Basically said, “China is the enemy, and they’re far more able and serious than you think. Can’t say much more, take it or leave it.”
China is still mostly poor and rural. For all of their economic expansion things are still basic there for most people.
If 75% of China’s population is poor and rural, that other 25% is still higher than USA’s population, which also includes poor and rural people.
Idk if Taiwan would be worth the war, at least not more than supplying Ukraine who’s fighting Russia, which has done way more damage to our country recently. We need to catch up on our local chip manufacturing capabilities fast first, though.
I can’t blame China for wanting Taiwan back. Imagine if we had a civil war and a foreign military invaded and occupied Alaska during a war just before it. Then at the end of the war one side fled to Alaska and declared it independant but we couldn’t retake it because we were so debilitated from the civil war and the war before it. Now a foreign government steps in and says you can’t retake your territory because they said so. I’d be pissed too.
But what do the residents of Alaska have to say? Are they doing fine? Would they be doing better if they were back under US?
Well the Japanese took Taiwan from China and then the nationalists fled China and took it over during the handover. No one asked the Chinese natives originally there if they wanted to separate from China.
We fought a civil war to keep the nation together.
No one asked the Chinese natives originally there if they wanted to separate from China.
Ok, but has anyone asked them anything now?
IMO it wasn’t a good reason to fight a civil war. Fighting to force the south to end slavery was a good reason. Or because the south attacked the north because what it really wanted was to force the north to obey their laws about returning slaves rather than just secede and do their separate thing.
But the whole “you belong to us, like it or not” attitude is just imperialistic evil whether done by the USA or China. Or Russia or Israel.
Like if Texas seceded, the only military intervention I’d agree with is one that ensures those who don’t want to be a part of separatist Texas have free passage out and support for areas that want to secede from the independent Texas (and both of those are under the assumption that Texas is gonna Texas and try to oppress/put down those people instead of let them do their thing). And there would probably need to be some kind of treaty that figures out how to handle the federal stuff in Texas and it would be incredibly complicated, but I don’t think “it’s complicated” is a good justification to civil war them into staying because it’s already there.
Given trade, it doesn’t seem to be in their best interest to cripple the US.
Let us face squarely the paradox that the world which goes to war is a world, usually genuinely desiring peace. War is the outcome, not mainly of evil intentions, but on the whole of good intentions which miscarry or are frustrated. It is made not usually by evil men knowing themselves to be wrong, but is the outcome of policies pursued by good men usually passionately convinced that they are right.
—Norman Angell, author of The Great Illusion
