America's failure to reach consensus with foreign powers on what constitutes an act of war in cyber space presents the danger of an inadvertent war. Expert opinion is split on the question of whether cyber attacks can ever reach the level of an act of war. Bruce Schneier recently pooh-poohed web defacement as a truly unserious national security threat. Richard Clarke has been a tireless advocate for the flip side of the argument, namely that cyber attacks are a completely new type of threat to national security that require new policy and new capabilities.

The focus of most reporting on cyber attacks and cyber security in military circles continues to distract the debate away from campaign level cyber attacks. Rather than discussing what a skilled nation-state adversary would do with currently available, known cyber attack strategies, coverage tends to focus on battlefield applications of information technology.

"With UK dentistry the most expensive in Europe, it pays to shop around for a good value private health insurance policy for dental health, especially for those on a lower income who often find themselves bearing the brunt of the dental crisis." That's the advice of Brian Mulreanny, the managing director of the health insurance firm Essential Healthcare.

Political parties, like people, have a life span, but unlike people they are driven by their relevance. Political parties which are no longer relevant cease to exist. The Republican Party is a perfect example; its central core values of low taxes, small government and less regulation have been proven false and the Republicans have been exposed for what they are, the party of the rich, the party of less taxes for the rich, and the party of less opportunity for the poor. They are the party of less and the party of nothing.

The European Space Agency has an interesting news release about some new mapping data from its Venus Express spacecraft: "Venus Express has charted the first map of Venus' southern hemisphere at infrared wavelengths. The new map hints that our neighbouring world may once have been more Earth-like, with a plate tectonics system and an ocean of water."

The United States places last among 19 countries when it comes to deaths that could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care, according to new research supported by The Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February issue of Health Affairs.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the President's nominee for the Supreme Court seat being vacated by the retiring Justice David Souter, is a diabetic. Apparently that fact should disqualify her from the court in the eyes of one San Diego area doctor, who wrote a letter to the San Diego Union Tribune

Ever think of starting up a small-scale Internet radio station on Live365 or a similar service? Well, you can forget about that now. Soundexchange, the "digital performance rights enforcement" wing of the RIAA, has inked a deal with major web radio providers (mainly the music discovery service Pandora) that will make it harder for existing companies to stay afloat and essentially kills off the entire world of web indie radio.

Health care reform is all the rage in Washington these days, and the most significant focus is on the 45 million uninsured in America. But how many of those 45 million could actually afford health insurance -- that is, if they thought it was a priority or found it to be a necessity?

The New York Times is carrying an op-ed piece by Robert Cringely on Google's newly-announced Chrome OS. He sees the announcement of the Chrome OS as a weapon aimed at Microsoft, but one that is not necessarily intended or expected to be a commercial success.

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