Damage from the Stuxnet virus has apparently set back the Iranian nuclear program by as much as two years, according to a German security expert talking to the Jerusalem Post. This makes the virus as effective as a military strike—but without loss of life or risk of full-blown war.

[...]

If the damage to the Iranian nuclear program is genuine, this makes Stuxnet something of a landmark in cyberwar history. Much has been made of the threat of computer-based attacks, but thus far they appear to have been limited to either denial-of-service attacks, website defacement, or attempts to break into systems to steal classified data.

Stuxnet is something of a different beast. This was no crude DoS attack or vandalistic defacement. It is a carefully developed, specifically targeted device, one intended to cause subtle but substantial damage to key infrastructure. While a DoS or defacement may take a few days or weeks to clear up, Stuxnet-like attacks have the potential to set back their victims by many years.

From The Law Office of David E Coombs website:

By Joe Nocera, New York Times, December 17, 2010

....It would all be pretty laughable if it didn’t have serious consequences. But it does. First, with the commission’s Republican members having now issued this public, partisan smoke signal, the final product, no matter how rigorous, will be inevitably dismissed as a Democratic document. As a result, it will have little impact and, once Bill O'Reilly has finished mocking it, will be consigned to the dustbin of history. By creating this partisan rift, the Republicans have succeeded in tarring the entire enterprise....

By Mery Mogollon and Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2010

Congress allows him to govern by decree for the next 18 months. He says it's necessary to deal with widespread flooding, but critics say it's a way to get around the new Congress, in which his party's majority is reduced.

By Floyd Norris, New York Times, December 16, 2010

Representative Ron Paul, long a dissident critic of the Federal Reserve, is about to take over as chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee with jurisdiction over the central bank..

Metro anti-terrorism teams will immediately start random inspections of passengers’ bags and packages to try to protect the rail and bus system from attack, transit officials said Thursday. [...] If people refuse, they will be barred from entering the rail station or boarding a bus with the item, Taborn said. The inspections will be conducted “indefinitely,” he said.

Taborn told Metro’s board of directors about the plan during a meeting Thursday. Metro had planned to implement random searches in 2008 during times of elevated threat levels but never conducted any. [...] Metro Interim General Manager Richard Sarles said the inspections are not a response to any specific or heightened threat.

[...]The inspections over the far-flung transit network, which has 86 rail stations and 12,000 bus stops, will be conducted by several dozen officers at most. Metro’s trains and buses carry more than 1.2 million passengers every weekday, and officials acknowledge the limitations of the plan.

[Emphasis mine]

And more, of course.

By Patricia Cohen, New York Times, December 16, 2010

A Google-backed project allows the frequency of specific words and phrases to be tracked in centuries of books, equipping the humanities with a new method of cultural analysis.

An unmanned drone crashed in somebody's back yard--in El Paso. Anyone ever see a manned drone?

GA Prison Inmate Strike Enters New Phase, Prisoners Demand Human Rights, Education, Wages For Work

The historic strike of Georgia prisoners, demanding wages for their labor, educational opportunities, adequate health care and nutrition, and better conditions is entering a new phase. Strikers remain firm in their demands for full human rights, though after several days many have emerged from their cells, if only to take hot showers and hot food. Many of these, however, are still refusing their involuntary and unpaid work assignments.