Code crackers break 923-bit encryption record | Security & Privacy - CNET News

Code crackers break 923-bit encryption record | Security & Privacy - CNET News: "pairing-based cryptography of this length was fragile"

"breaking the 923-bit encryption, which is 278-digits, would have been impossible using previous "public key" cryptography; but using pairing-based cryptography, scientists were able to apply identity-based encryption, keyword searchable encryption, and functional encryption."

A Trap for Small Businesses | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Trap for Small Businesses | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Last month, the feds swooped down on a successful Maryland dairy business, South Mountain Creamery, seizing $70,000 in its bank accounts and formally charging its owners, Randy and Karen Sowers, with the offense of bank "structuring.""

"The feds charged last month that Randy Sowers had been arranging bank deposits so as not to put in more than $10,000 at once, a threshold that triggers the requirement to file paperwork with the feds. There was no allegation that Mr. Sowers was engaged in tax evasion or other underlying illegality, aside from seeking to avoid large deposits."

Property Means Preservation - Doug French - Mises Daily

Property Means Preservation - Doug French - Mises Daily: "Private game reserves do all they can to ward off poachers. After all, rhinos, as members of the Big Five, are rare and expensive to replace. But at government-owned Kruger National Park, four park employees were recently arrested for being accomplices in a rhino-poaching operation."

The Current Wisdom: No Climate-Related Acceleration in Sea Level Rise | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Daily Commentary

The Current Wisdom: No Climate-Related Acceleration in Sea Level Rise | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Daily Commentary: "the rate of increase in the ocean’s heat content—which raises sea level—has recently slowed."

Mechanical failure reportedly sends JetBlue flight careening through skies | Fox News

Mechanical failure reportedly sends JetBlue flight careening through skies | Fox News: "The plane was loaded with five hours' worth of fuel. Because the A320 is incapable of dumping excess fuel, the pilots circled the area south of the Vegas Strip until they’d burned enough to allow the crippled plane to land safely."

Spending Lies Run into Facts | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Spending Lies Run into Facts | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Every president who has run for office since at least Richard Nixon, including even Mr. Obama, has promised to cut government spending when campaigning. And most members of Congress make the same pledge when running for office. Once they’re in office, their behavior almost always changes."

"President Reagan managed, with a partially Democratic Congress, to reduce spending during his last six years, after an increase in his first two years. And President Clinton, with the new Newt Gingrich Republican Congress, was even more successful in cutting spending during his last six years."

When the government is split between parties, spending is lowest.

Christians retaliate after three more churches bombed in Nigeria - CSMonitor.com

Christians retaliate after three more churches bombed in Nigeria - CSMonitor.com: "Speaking by phone, Mr. Zakka said the Christian community had been very patient, "but retaliation is the only solution for now because the government fails to address the insurgency caused by the terrorists.""

What about just defense?

The Harm in Hate-Speech Laws - David Gordon - Mises Daily

The Harm in Hate-Speech Laws - David Gordon - Mises Daily: "you do not own your reputation, since this consists of the ideas other people have of you, and you cannot own other people's thoughts."

Trim Nuclear Fat from the Pentagon Budget | Benjamin H. Friedman and Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary

Trim Nuclear Fat from the Pentagon Budget | Benjamin H. Friedman and Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Even by the most merciless arithmetic, this triple threat is unnecessary. Congress should take the advice of experts like former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright and decommission either the bomber or ICBM leg while cutting the forces in the remaining two legs, leaving a deployed warhead total under 500."

"Monumental leaps in our ability to precisely aim conventional and nuclear weapons have greatly reduced the number and size of the weapons we need to threaten enemies. And the U.S. military's vast advantage over all rivals makes it even less plausible that we will ever be desperate enough to resort to a nuclear strike."

"The peace among rich states increasingly seems to depend on factors beyond mutual terror. Only poor, threatened states now develop nuclear weapons for security."

D.C. Wants a Bite at the Apple | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary

D.C. Wants a Bite at the Apple | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary: "For more than a decade, Microsoft went about its business, developing software, selling it to customers and — legally — making money.

Washington politicians and journalists sneered at the company’s naiveté. A congressional aide said, “They don’t want to play the D.C. game, that’s clear, and they’ve gotten away with it so far. The problem is, in the long run they won’t be able to.”

A major antitrust case and a few other inquiries later, Microsoft got the message. They now play the game."