My friend Bernard at ACSOL remembered that I’m retired after making a career in Information Technology. He sent a link to a ‘how to rob your employer’ tutorial by Vauhini Vara in yesterday’s WSJ.

The column provides specific instructions on how to steal employee time, CPU cycles, bandwidth, HDD space, proprietary information, and more. Her ideas are a little repulsive for my senses (I’ll explain below) but let me first admit that Ms. Vara is stationed in San Francisco, home of Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein, so she may feel that slurping from the corporate trough is her solemn duty. She’s also quiet young, so a heavy dose of moral naiveté may be in play as well.

Here’s a snippet of how they view corporate theft on the Left Coast.

Ten Things Your IT Department Won’t Tell You

Admit it: For many of us, our work computer is a home away from home.

It seems only fair, since our home computer is typically an office away from the office. So in between typing up reports and poring over spreadsheets, we use our office PCs to keep up with our lives. We do birthday shopping, check out funny clips on YouTube and catch up with friends by email or instant message.

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There’s only one problem with what we’re doing: Our employers sometimes don’t like it. Partly, they want us to work while we’re at work. And partly, they’re afraid that what we’re doing compromises the company’s computer network — putting the company at risk in a host of ways. So they’ve asked their information-technology departments to block us from bringing our home to work.

End of story? Not so fast. To find out whether it’s possible to get around the IT departments, we asked Web experts for some advice. Specifically, we asked them to find the top 10 secrets our IT departments don’t want us to know. How to surf to blocked sites without leaving any traces, for instance, or carry on instant-message chats without having to download software.

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Why are those seemly petty acts perplexing and injurious to my sensibilities? Well, frankly Ms. Vara’s article is amusing to some extent but, in my humble opinion, she goes beyond the pale to describe real ways to steal. Her schemes strike a bad chord on two levels:

1.) She describes, and obviously condones, organized and premeditated larceny.

2.) She gives the impression that offenders can cover their tracks and not be caught, which is a flagrant lie notwithstanding her references to “experts” who fed her such superficial claptrap. Such conduct could easily result in people being fired, or even being prosecuted, and that’s very disturbing to me.

Ms. Vara achieved one thing with her article: If, for any reason, you’re maintaining a list of IT “experts,” and if she is properly relating their advice, go to your list immediately and strike off all the names Ms. Vara relied on to teach users how to hide browsing and illicit program execution. If such IT-lites were on my payroll, I’d fire them immediately because they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

There’s not enough space here — and neither am I inclined — to explain the deficiencies of Ms. Vara’s sources but I’ll leave a few hints.

I) There’s no way to use a computer to view Web sites without downloading the data to be viewed into your computer, FIRST. Every smidgen of info must travel the downlink into the user’s machine. YOU CANNOT USE OR VIEW INFO AT A REMOTE SITE.

II) A worthy IT department would never rely on the O/S (Windows, Mac, Unix, Linux, etc.) in the user’s machine to capture data and metadata needed by IT sleuths to monitor user activity. Ms. Vara’s suggestions for thieves to erase their wayward tracks are silly. Once the info has traveled the downlink (see “1.”) into the user’s machine, all sorts of secret programs planted beneath the O/S by capable IT dicks can store and save every scrap of outlawed data. AND that saved data can be protected so that ordinary means cannot be used to overwrite, delete or erase it.

“I” and “II” are gross over-simplifications of what’s possible. Don’t even get me started on how user monitoring can be done on the fly by wireless remote.

My alternative to Ms. Vara’s instructions on how to cheat or do great harm to your employer: Don’t do that.

Democrat control of North Carolina’s legislature began at the end of the Civil War and has continued without interruption ever since. And even after debacles like the case below, the people still trust those good old boys.

ex-N.C. House speaker admits giving cash

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black, already serving a federal prison sentence, admitted in state court Tuesday that he gave $10,000 to a former lawmaker whose vote helped him remain in power.

Black made the admission as he appeared for sentencing on state charges of bribery and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors have said Black gave former GOP state Rep. Michael Decker thousands of dollars to switch political parties in 2003, including money Decker got after casting the deciding vote in the speaker’s election.

“I believe it was after he had voted,” Black said. “I don’t know exactly where I got that cash. I have always had cash on hand.”

{…}

No wonder they stay in power. Republicans are available, cheap.

2 S.C. kids left in car later found dead

HANAHAN, S.C. (AP) — Two young children who had been left in a hot car while their mother was at work were later found dead, their bodies wrapped in trash bags under an apartment sink, authorities said Tuesday.

Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday to determine what killed 1-year-old Triniti Campbell and her 4-year-old brother, Shawn Campbell Jr., Berkeley County Deputy Coroner George Oliver said.

The children’s mother, Sametta Heyward, had taken them to work Monday in downtown Charleston and left them in her car all day as the temperature outside rose to 88 degrees, Oliver said.

The mother was taken to a hospital after she made comments about hurting herself, said police Lt. Michael Fowler.

“The mother was distraught,” Fowler said. “The detectives will be busy following up on her whereabouts and those of the children over the last two days or so.”

Police didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking additional comment Tuesday.

Hanahan is about 15 miles north of Charleston[, South Carolina.]

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William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 — July 30, 2007) was head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and under him the 49ers won Super Bowl championships in 1981, 1984 and 1988.

Walsh served as 49ers head coach for 10 years and during his tenure he and his coaching staff perfected the style of play known popularly as the West Coast offense.

In today’s WSJ John Fund writes about the rampant voter fraud problem I’ve complained about for years.

My complaint hasn’t been about a few illegal registrations that slipped through the cracks, although that needs serious attention like a voter ID card. The serious problem is caused by the nationwide conspiracies being carried out by national organizations to steal elections. The motor-voter law is a perfect example of a sleazy conspiracy to cheat the system, and motor-voter was mandated by congress.

The public was never informed that motivation for Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition to press for motor-voter was his knowledge that states were issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens and felons. Jesse’s scheme was (and is) to get state DVMs to help him automatically register ineligibles to vote. Once registered, the odds are that two-thirds of the felons and illegal aliens that vote will vote for Democrats.

It’s high time we raise hell and stop this crap.

Read Fund’s article to see the despicable attitude of prosecutors. Even when complaints are brought to their attention, the sorry bastards make their decisions based purely on politics, and they don’t even try to cover it up, like the scumbag A.G. in Washington state whose inaction is directly responsible for selecting the current governor.

Hey, Misha! Why should you have all the fun? If you get that security assignemnt, let me know. I have a few toys to bring along. You know supplementary persuasion is always useful in attitude adjustment projects.

And a way of life is quickly slipping away.

The reward for reading blogs is finding the gems. The prize for having quality blogs in my Blogroll of Honor is I don’t have to look far.

Today’s gift is from Bernard @ A Certain Slant of Light where he blends his considerable talent with Mark Steyn’s inimitable style to paint a powerful and gut wrenching mosaic of the convoluted mess created by our lazy apathy toward capitalist libertarians and dictatorial elitists like George Bush, Ted Kennedy, and others hell-bent on sacrificing a sacred culture for brute power and sleazy profits.

A few bleeding hearts contribute as well but the real danger we face comes primarily from human greed, and that’s the problem in a nutshell.

For 62 years we’ve examined photos of WWII and wondered…

Who IS this guy?

And who is the poor soul swooning in his arms?

Police Artist Backs Claim That Texas Man is ‘Kissing Sailor’

No one believed Glenn McDuffie when he claimed to be a smooching sailor in a famous photo 62 years ago. Today, the Texas man has enlisted the help of a police sketch artist to vouch for him.

And she has.

“His face, his nose, his eye brow shape, his hairline, his hair texture – it all lines up,” famed forensic artist Lois Gibson told FOX 26 News in Houston.

Gibson’s opinion is a strong one, considering that her work has helped Houston Police solve over 100 crimes. She has also been featured in Oprah’s magazine, People magazine, and the Guinness Book of World Records, MyFoxHouston.com reported.

“It’s time somebody told the truth about it,” McDuffie said of the classic black and white photo, a symbol of relief at the conclusion of World War II.

McDuffie’s claim would be news to several other ex-sailors who also say they’re the amorous swabbie.

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But naturally, refuses to acknowledge the exoneration.

This week I watched some of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and noticed how carefully he crafted his words to respond to questions from Chucky “the lip” Schumer and the other howling Demwits on the committee.

When the hearings recessed, Schumer and his fellow mental Demidgets gathered before the gullible cameras to declare that Gonzales had lied, committed perjury, ought to resign, ought to appoint a special prosecutor, ought to fire his assistants, and anything else the A.G. could do to help the committee’s Feeblecrats prove they’re always right.

John @ Power Line has an analysis of the Times’ garboil.

A few anti-amnesty activists thought the hard part was over when we didn’t drink the cocktail that Bush – Kennedy – McCain – Kyl – Graham – Martinez recently blended for us but by now it should be clear that the fight has just begun.

It’s an old battle. The invasion from the south began in 1965 with Ted Kenndy’s boondoggle “immigration reform” legislation. The problem created then was exacerbated in 1986 by Ted Kennedy’s boondoggle “immigration reform” legislation.

Thanks to the recent citizen’s rebellion against amnesty and open borders, Kennedy’s latest boondoggle “immigration reform” legislation has been postponed, but illegals still stream across the southern border and Bernard @ A Certain Slant of Light points out what else continues…

Mexican Consulate Will Come To You If You’re An Illegal Alien…

…to add insult to injury in a country teeming with anywhere from 12 to 20 million illegal aliens, Mexican consulates have gone “mobile” and travel in our country carte blanche and unrestricted to hand out their matricula consular cards and provide guidance to Mexican citizens here illegally on how best to leverage (should read: “exploit”)America’s broad social safety net of services.

…Mexico continues to blatantly interfere in U.S. internal affairs, particularly in U.S. immigration policy, and with veritable impunity from the Bush administration, which has long been in bed with that government. And, the crazy irony of it is is that Mexico refuses to walk the talk in terms of its own immigration policies!

I suggest reading the whole thing at ACSOL. This post is only a supplement to Bernard’s article.

To illustrate the long timeline of the invasion:
During the week of September 20, 2003, illegal immigrants organized a convoy of buses in California for a cross-country protest trip against unfair treatment by the U.S. Their demand: a general amnesty!

The Border Patrol stopped the convoy in Texas and went bus to bus asking for I.D. but the illegals refused to show any documentation. When the Border Patrol called to request authorization for arrest, Washington, D.C. ordered the agents to let the convoy continue the trip. — No one knows how many John Malvos or other terrorist were on the buses.

A year earlier:

Christian Science Monitor — CSMonitor.com
from the November 29, 2002 edition

For illegal immigrants, new mobile ID service
Thriving beneath the radar and above the law, matricula consulars boost the privileges and status of illegal Mexicans.

By Patrik Jonsson | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — At El Rincon Vaquero trading post here in West Columbia, S.C., votive candles compete with cowboy hats and jars of dark mole for shelf space. The colorful shop is a slice of Mexico in the middle of a rundown neighborhood. But one day this month, El Rincon Vaquero became, through a bit of diplomatic magic, an actual outpost of Mexico.

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