On the CyberWar Today & the Breach at the US Office of Personnel Management

The debacle at Sony continues to reverberate around the World.      This is a more disturbing Development just reported on NextGov:

GovExec Breaking News    December 18, 2014     OPM Alerts Feds of Second Background Check Breach // Nextgov Staff The Office of Personnel Management is alerting more than 48,000 federal employees their personal information may have been exposed following a breach at KeyPoint Government Solutions, which conducts background investigations of federal employees seeking security clearances. The total number of employees affected is 48,439 according to an OPM email notification obtained by Nextgov. Read the full story at Nextgov The old saying is ever so true:  You have either been hacked--or if you have not been hacked, you have probably been hacked anyway.     It is a war that seems to have no end.

Notations on Our World: On Another Challenging 24 Hours w/#Cuba, #Pakistan & #Israel

It has been a challenging 24 hours in our World.    As the World was witness to the grief of the families of the victims of carnage in Pakistan, The Nation of Pakistan laid out an indictment of the Nation of Pakistan in the starkest terms--no one was spared and it was released earlier by us in Twitter:

For Our Children: Powerful Editorial in Pak Daily👏👏👏👏 will #Pakistan listen? http://t.co/7wb1OE64ez
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) December 17, 2014

As Pakistan's Prime Minister was indicted, the one indictment that was particuarly striking was on the Opposition Leader Imran Khan.   His party is in power in the province in which this carnage occurred Although Pakistan's Prime Minister has vowed to eradicate the terrorists, Pakistan and the World will be watching because so far the Taliban seems to hold all the cards.  In one of the recent broadcasts as the world broadcasters deliberated the aftermath, Al Jazeera had a Pakistani analysts who said one key thing that is ever so poignant:   Such men are not Pakistanis--and they should only be referred to as the Taliban or TTP.    What is tragic is how Children were targeted as they were.    These merchants of death came out with another statement with images of the killers stating that they had planned to only target the "senior students".      We will continue to assess this on an on-going basis.

This week also has seen some good news.   Cuba and the United States are to resume diplomatic relations after 50 years:

Some good news 👏👏🎉😁💥 as US & #Cuba, in Breakthough, Resume Diplomatic Relations, via @nytimes http://t.co/QAteCsGJQw
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) December 17, 2014

What was striking is the moves that #POTUS has taken--whether it was the release of the Americans Held in North Korea and the negotiations with Cuba that began in 2013 that culminated in the simultaneous announcements by President Obama and the Cuban President, Raul Castro.     Cuban American Politicians such as Senator Marco Rubio were out in full force on US Cable Channels noting how the actions of President Obama was contrary to American Values and how the Castro rule will be sustained.  But Raul has realized that business as usual is not going work.   It may well have begun with the handshake between Raul Castro and Barack Obama while attending Madiba's Funeral in South Africa last year:

The President at the time noted that it was simple politeness--but it apparently broke the ice.   The reports we've reviewed has also underscored the role the Vatican--in particular Pope Francis--played in the rapprochement that also resulted in the swapping of the Cuban Five for US Spies who were imprisoned in Cuba while releasing an American who was also imprisoned and returned to the United States.  

As we have been on this "Whirlwind" here in #Outsiders, we have also been assessing the latest out of Israel.  Israel is facing major headwinds on the Diplomatic Front as Parliaments throughout the European Union are calling for Palestine's recognition.     This is as the election campaign has gotten under way and the latest statistic is a stark reminder of the reality of life in Israel today:

This is quite an indictment of #Netanyahu as #Israel 2013 poverty reports notes 1.6 million are poor: http://t.co/8rFKFWykOQ
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) December 17, 2014

This is about 20 percent of Israel's population.      It will be interesting how the parties in power (and especially the leader of the Goverment) explains this to the Israeli Public.     

Never a dull moment in our World....

A Mid-Week Musical Interlude to Enjoy: Caravan - Roman Street

Onward w/the "Caravan" :-)