Saturday, June 13, 2015

Social Security Numbers and Identity Theft

When the original Social Security law was passed in 1933, it was solely and entirely for the purpose of providing a system by means of which individuals could be taxed and the money used solely for retirement benefits.   When Medicare became law much later, the same number was used as the funds for Medicare were also fixed and earmarked for the benefit of individual taxpayers.  There was much opposition to the use of this number as some sort of national identification number, and as a result, up until 1975 each Social Security card carried the words "Not for identification".  The card had no biometric information or photograph since it was not to be used for identification.

The following quote spells out what the government did with their own regulation:
"In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2). The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent agency of the United States government. Although its primary purpose is to track individuals for Social Security purposes,[1] the Social Security number has become a de facto national identification number for taxation and other purposes.[2] (The above quote is from Wikipedia).

With the increasing use of electronic storage and communication, the SSN has become more and more vulnerable to identity theft.  We have to begin assuming that if data is online, it is ultimately available to anyone willing to expend the time and effort.  Note that whatever encryption is used, it is breakable.  Therefore, by its misuse of the SSN for identification purposes, the federal government  has exposed us to the ever-increasing risks of identity theft.

It seems absolutely clear that a different system of identification must be used, and developed for use NOW.  If it's encoded, it's breakable.  The only unbreakable code system (at least for the present) would be a biometric system.  We need to replace SSNs with fingerprints and/or retinal scans and/or facial recognition.  Fingerprint scanners are cheap and can be placed on every computerc, ATM, and terminal in the world.  Every bank (who of course now use SSNs for identification) should require such biometric data.

Organizations, whether private or governmental, should be held liable for any damage caused by their use of encoding/breakable systems.  There is no reason to continue a system basically flawed and vulnerable, when it can easily be replaced.  Perhaps we should be thinking about what remedies could be taken to improve the system immediately, especially if the government is reluctant to act.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Privacy

I find myself puzzled (more than usually) over the issue of telephone privacy, specifically the monitoring by NSA of telephone calls and emails.  Why would anybody care if NSA has monitored such communications?  The real issue is: who has access to this information?  I don't really care if the NSA knows my phone and email messages.  There's nothing there of any real importance to the government.

I guess the NSA cares about the violation of their own privacy by Edward Snowden.  In my opinion he did the right thing.  I'm in favor of more transparency in government, generally.  In this case letting terrorist groups know we were listening for them might prompt them  to take more precautions, and that's not a good thing tactically.  But  the issue that has been raised is our so-called right to privacy. Few have objected to the exposure of our intelligence-gathering techniques and how that might in the long run endanger us. 

To me the privacy issue is absurd.  I might object if non-governmental groups or individuals had access to bank information or business conferences.  If I had a girlfriend I would probably not want my wife to know.  Actually, I would certainly not want her to know.  But why would the government give a damn?  Who cares what they know about me?  The IRS already knows a lot more about me than I want them to, so closing that door is more than a little late. What could the NSA possibly find out from my emails and phone calls that would be remotely harmful to me?  I'm missing something here.

Clearly if I were doing something illegal like money-laundering or drug sales I would object to anybody knowing anything.  But I certainly don't care if NSA stops criminal activity. More power to them.  If I were President (see  6/9 blog) I would encourage them to listen more.  There's nothing in the Constitution about privacy, other than a rather distant interpretation of the section on search-and-seizure.  Clearly we don't want governmental authorities going through our closets.  And certainly we object to the authorities using information they have gained to harass and intimidate US citizens without due cause.

But limited search, such as the NSA looking specifically for evidence about terrorist activities, seems unobjectionable.  They're not looking for "everything/anything"\, they are looking for something specific. How are innocent individuals being harmed by this activity?

I don't object. I have nothing to hide (evidence of a relatively uninteresting life).  What am I missing here?


Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Libertarian Party Invites Me To Run

True, they didn't say for what, nor  even  how fast.  And they added that they would appreciate a contribution, and I have this hunch that my running for something, say President or even World Emperor, would be contingent on the contribution amount.  President would be enough for me.  I'm a simple man.

Well, I'm not interested in politics, really.  The company you have to keep is pretty distasteful.  But I am interested in total, nearly unbridled power.  I am confident that I could use such power wisely and remain uncorrupted, or at least uncorrupted for, say, six months. After that I should be watched closely. At my age, how much longer could I last, anyway?

So I've given some thought to my platform, and I will welcome comments, which for the most part I intend to ignore.  Still,  crowd-sourcing sometimes is surprisingly effective.  The first 5 items have to do with Congress:

One:  All Congressmen (and Congresswomen) will have their current ridiculous life-time pensions reduced and the term on their pensions will be limited to the number of years they were in Congress.  Four years in office, four years pension.  That's a better deal than they deserve.

Two:  All Congresspeople will have Medicare ONLY.  They don't get a special deal.  If they want more insurance they can pay for it, same as we do.

Three:  Congress is not allowed to set their own salaries and benefits.  It seems unreasonable to allow the pigs to vote on how much goes into their trough.  A Citizen's Committee, appointed by me, will make recommendations for any salary or benefit changes, and I will put the recommendations on the internet and allow all American citizens to vote for them.

Four:  Amendments to bills will be limited to amendments that relate to the content of the bill.  No more adding the costs of their driveways to the National Parks budget.  This will cause  some major changes in the way Congress does business; it will specifically affect pork-barrel legislation.  Each bill will have to be voted on based entirely on its specific merits.  This alone should cut down the budget and the time to decide on it.

Five:  If campaign promises are broken, the Congressperson may be expelled by vote of his district.

But enough about Congress, though I would consider a movement to make corruption and graft in office a capital offense, to be  carried out publically by firing squad or beheading.  And don't give me any crap about "cruel and unusual punishment".  The jihadists do it, so it must be ok.  The remaining items are about general policy.

Six:  I will have line-item veto on any bills.  This is probably the single most important item in my program.  Congress has used its ability to tie personal crap to otherwise good bills we MUST pass, so that they can bribe each other with public funds.  In particular this will apply to the Budget.

Seven:  Budget items that I regard as superfluous, excessive, or ill-advised will be vetoed by me.  However, I may call a national internet vote on certain less-necessary but valuable issues, such as NPR.  We can only afford what we can afford.  Some good things will have to be put off until later. And bear in mind that much of our military costs are actually spent  IN the US, which keeps a lot of people employed, able to afford marijuana and stay quietly off the streets.

Eight:  I will consider re-establishing a tariff on goods produced outside the US and brought in.  The intention is to keep more money inside the US and stop sending it to other countries.  I will demand a revocation of NAFTA. It's nice to help Nike find cheap labor that helps the abysmally poor people in other countries, but I would rather help our own poor, at least to the extent they are willing to work.

Nine.  No more sending our forces overseas except to defend us.  The exception might be that if the UN votes for military sanctions, AND if all the other countries in the UN agree to send their own troops, I could be persuaded.  But I'm tired of us being the playground guard for the rest of the world.  All they have to do to be fine with me is to stop trying to kill us.  I really don't care if they want to kill each other in the name of whatever primitive religious beliefs they have, as long as they don't try it with us.

Personal pledges by me:  I will be absolutely honest.  I will say what I mean and mean what I say. (This has already limited my social desirability).   At my age I am immune to personal bribes or seductions by interns.  I already have more than I need, so I am not corruptible. I haven't done anything that could be used to blackmail me. I will ask for popular vote of confidence via internet on a regular basis concerning issues affecting the general welfare.  I have no intentions of going to church or praying to or for  anything and I have no intentions of stopping others from such forms of activity. So if you want to be religious, you won't get a problem from me.  Unless you give me one.

Since I am pretty much immune to the usual political influences (see above),  a number of  people will want me dead.  You can easily guess which group or combination of houses would be behind an assassination, although they will probably hire a middle-Easterner so it will look like a terrorist plot. 

After six months I think my term should be renewable by popular vote (internet style).  We could call for a vote of confidence/no confidence every 3 months thereafter.  I'm a honest and honorable sort of person, but who knows how that much power might affect me?  It's never safe to allow that kind of power to remain in one person's hands without time/term limits. Except for me.

Also a qualification:  while sitting on my porch and drinking my coffee, I was accidentally sprayed with a shrubbery-spray intended to kill fungus and insects.  At this point, I should be fungus and bug-free for the near future, which not only is a plus but puts me ahead of the other candidates.

So I'm open to suggestions.  Any thoughts or additions?


Friday, June 05, 2015

Heaven and Hell: Seating preferences

While driving to work I accidentally tuned in to a radio evangelist, extolling the beauties and general  wonderfulness of heaven.  It was beautiful beyond imagining, he said.  Streets were of gold, he said.  Didn't say anything about park benches, I noted, or bowling alleys or fishing or libraries. 

Then he went on to  list the activities available  on the Heaven cruise.  A lot of singing was involved,  and some playing of justly obscure musical instruments.  He described this singing with such gusto that you would think he loved it all, and spent all his spare time practicing hymns and lyre-playing.  I am willing to bet as much money as you wish that he never in his life laid a hand (or anything else) on a lyre. And I don't care how many hymns they have:  over an infinite period of time they are bound to get monotonous.

My first thought was, I don't want to go there.  If I weren't already dead at that time, the boredom would surely kill  me, but not nearly as quickly as one might wish.  I would guess that the number of people who actually want to go to that Heaven for.... wait for it.... eternity, might be a smaller  number than you think.  As Mark Twain said (and I paraphrase) we have populated and decorated Heaven with all the things we least like. And it goes on, the evangelist said, without end. 

I had a lot of trouble believing that he could feel as enthusiastic as he wanted to feel.

I found myself thinking that there must be an alternative, and so  there is. Hell!  Now, I grant you there is a lot of talk about sulfur and blazes and lakes of fire and the like, but I ask you, and try to be honest, would you not prefer that to an eternity of harp-accompanied hymn-singing?

I think I would apply for the Hell cruise, if I could also request being assigned to some useful duties.  I don't mind starting with  a broom.  Somebody's got to pick up the trash and stoke the fiery furnaces.  And there are a lot of troubled people down there, not only your every-day villains but a lot of folk who have no idea where they are, much less why they are there.

Well, you might see where this is going.  Being a psychologist/psychotherapist (not one of those psychologists that make people fill out forms and stare at obscene ink-blots) it occurred to me that I might be able to help some of those people.  We'll have  plenty of time on our hands, and we'll need something to do to take our minds off of the eternal unbearable torment assigned to us by God.  Incidentally, doesn't the amount of misery and torment seem a little excessive for having doubts or saying bad words about ... you know who?

Anyway, maybe I could work with some seriously disturbed people, a lot like I do already, only famous.  I can imagine using cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques on Hitler or even Vlad The Impaler.  Assuming they are there, of course.  Maybe I could hold some evening courses in how to come to terms with and accept one's lot with grace.  In the rest of my time, which should be pretty much infinite, I could clean up with a broom and a dustpan.  Or maybe a pickup truck, and they're bound to have those in Hell.

I wonder if  there is a union for cleaners down there?  I bet I could get some people to join up.   Once we have a union going, we can do as much for Hell as the unions have done for America.  And once we get  some political power, who knows where that might take us.  But I think it best to stop with that line of thought.  God knows who's reading over my shoulder.