Sleepless in Midland

Crestview, FL, police given authorization to stop drivers who aren't breaking law

A friend once told about a DPS officer friend of hers who on occasion would pull over a car and thank the driver for driving safely. Sounded like it was well intended but also a good way to get some innocent person's blood pressure elevated.

Anyway, along comes this link found at Liberty Pen, specifically, Police Announce Program to Illegally Stop People for ‘SAFE Driving’ & Facebook Owns Them:

Crestview, FL — In an unprecedented violation of the right of citizens to be free from unlawful search and seizure, the Crestview Police Department in Florida has announced a most insidious program. Driving safely is now a reason for cops to pull you over—under the guise that you’ll be “offered free pizza.”

Maybe that road is paved with good intentions. But it seems awfully intrusive. Furthermore, it could serve as an excuse to pull over someone overheard on an illegal wiretap. "No probable cause needed, your honor, just wanted to reward that safe driver, but he acted nervous and so I searched his vehicle."

------

3:45 PM 2/27/2018

Paying for highways: Toll roads or gas tax

The government should be smaller and do less. However, some things do need upkeep, and highways are a good example.

President Trump has suggested a gasoline tax of as much as $0.25 per gallon. Texas residents already pay a hefty gasoline tax, and an added two bits to every gallon will be felt. But if we have to have it, it needs to be fair. And it must have a sunset provision. If not it will be permanent, continue to grow, and the money will end up being spent of other things.

Proponents of toll roads, like Robert P. Murphy, in A Gas Tax Hike Is the Wrong Way to Fund Highways, make a strong libertarian case. And they might work if there's a way to pay the toll without having to stop at a toll booth.

Dwight Eisenhower got us off to a good start with the U.S. highway system, much of which is still in place, paid by taxpayer money. So if the infrastructure really needs a gigantic shot in the arm and legislators are unwilling to cut spending somewhere else, then maybe these two options are the only ones left.

------

1:56 PM 2/26/2018

Presidential sheets -- radio ad makes the claim

There's a radio commercial for Boll and Branch in which the announcer says the company's sheets are used by three presidents. Whether that's a reason to buy is debatable since the sheets are quite expensive, and those former presidents probably got them free.

I can imagine what the fine print in the sales contract must have said: "Seller retains the right to use buyer's former profession for advertising purposes without disclosing the buyer's name."

It's not too hard to find out who those presidents are. It's the two Bushes and Bill Clinton. Here's where that info came from: These are the sheets 3 living US Presidents sleep on — here’s why you’ll want to sleep on them too.

We are left to wonder whether Hillary Clinton slept on them.  If so, maybe they could say "three presidents and a wanna-be."

------

12:17 PM 2/25/2018

Like the rodeo bull distracted by the clown, progressive ire was easily redirected to gun control

Once the bull bucks off the rider, he is hell bent on goring that cowboy. But then a clown appears, and suddenly the bull redirects he energy toward the clown. That seems to be what happened to all those progressives who were hell bent on defacing Confederate monuments not too long ago.

The shooting in Florida really got their attention. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," was the mantra made famous by Rahm Emanuel. And they immediately shifted targets. The NRA suddenly became the scapegoat. And they charged like a rodeo bull.

How easily manipulated they must be. It will be a while before we learn whether any of the deep pocket lefties helped finance this reinvigorated movement. But it will not be a big surprise to learn they've invested in it. At least one writer is already speculating.

Meanwhile, the NRA didn't do anything to facilitate the killings. But that doesn't matter much to progressives. It's too tempting a target. Saul Alinsky would approve.

------

12:48 PM 2/24/2018

Uh oh, don't let the SJWs see this monument to Confederate soldiers

This is off the beaten path, i.e., not on the interstate, so the social justice warriors of the metropolitan areas will probably not see it. So maybe it won't get defaced like a lot of other monuments that honored Confederate soldiers did.

 

But something else caught their attention, and that movement seems to have stalled.

------

2:44 PM 2/23/2018

Why isn't Mella McEwen getting wider coverage beyond Midland Reporter Telegram?

The morning paper -- online at MRT.com -- employs a very good reporter in the field of energy production. Here's an example of her good reporting: ‘Frac hits’ growing issue as infill drilling, frac stages rise. That's an article about how some new wells are being drilled so close to existing wells that they tap into the frac fluid that was injected into the nearby well. Maybe that should have been common sense, but it was news to me.

The morning paper relies heavily on the Houston Chronicle for energy news. Both papers are owned by the Hearst corporation. So here's the question: Shouldn't it be the other way around, i.e., shouldn't the Houston Chronicle be using MRT's articles?

Well, we are out here in flyover country, even for other Texans. So I guess we are easy to ignore.

------

1:03 PM 2/22/2018

Russian curler caught doping

Many an arm chair athlete has probably thought the one winter Olympic event he/she could compete in would be curling. Brings to mind a joke a comedian once made on a late show: "I could compete in the Olympics. "Which event would that be?" "It's the one with the broom."

But here's something that really does raise a chuckle: A Russian curler tested positive for doping. See Russian Curler's 'B' Sample Confirms Doping Result; Bronze Medal In Jeopardy. The sport must be harder than it looks.

Meanwhile, speaking of drugs. Here's a point of view that will get drowned out by the media flood of anti-gun activists: Guns and school shootings: The dirty and deadly big secret. The "secret" exposed is the commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs for unruly young boys. Now there's a doping case that should bear some scrutiny.

------

9:00 AM 2/21/2018

Would a better name encourage more Americans to eat crickets?

There's an interesting, common sense, article explaining the importance of giving foods appealing names for marketing purposes: Why Picky Eaters Are Partial to Calamari and Not Squid.

It reminded me of a "Shark Tank" episode that reran recently in which an entrepreneur was peddling an interest in his cricket protein bar company. He bought his crickets from a cricket ranch which raised them for fish bait. Not surprisingly, most of the sharks couldn't get past the YECCH factor.

Mark Cuban was interested, though, and he ended up buying 15% of the company for $50,000. Chapul Update – See What Happened After Shark Tank.

A friend and I sampled some chocolate coated crickets when we were teens. And as I recall, they weren't that bad, although adding enough chocolate and sugar can make practically anything edible.

In any event, as of this writing, Amazon seems to have sold out of the bars, however, they are being offered at Chapul.com at a price of four for $13 plus shipping.

They're betting that "Chapul" is the right name to pull in customers. Well, it's better than "ground up fish bait."

------

12:40 PM 2/20/2018

Party propositions on the 2018 Texas primary ballot

It's always interesting to peruse the propositions put on the ballots by the party bigs. The propositions have no force and are more like push polls. Be that as it may, here are the propositions on the Texas ballot:

Republican ballot propositions can be found on the generic ballot for Midland County, Texas here. They are easier to access at TexasGOP.org. Here they are in reliable HTML:

1.) Texas should replace the property tax system with an appropriate consumption tax equivalent. YES or NO

2.) No governmental entity should ever construct or fund construction of toll roads without voter approval. YES or NO

3.) Republicans in the Texas House should select their Speaker nominee by secret ballot in a binding caucus without Democrat influence. YES or NO

4.) Texas should require employers to screen new hires through the free E-Verify system to protect jobs for legal workers. YES or NO

5.) Texas families should be empowered to choose from public, private, charter, or homeschool options for their children’s education, using tax credits or exemptions without government constraints or intrusion. YES or NO

6.) Texas should protect the privacy and safety of women and children in spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers in all Texas schools and government buildings. YES or NO

7.) I believe abortion should be abolished in Texas. YES or NO

8.) Vote fraud should be a felony in Texas to help ensure fair elections. YES or NO

9.) Texas demands that Congress completely repeal Obamacare. YES or NO

10.) To slow the growth of property taxes, yearly revenue increases should be capped at 4%, with increases in excess of 4% requiring voter approval. YES or NO

11.) Tax dollars should not be used to fund the building of stadiums for professional or semi-professional sports teams. YES or NO

The wording in number 7 makes it pretty clear it's only your opinion.

Let's move on to the Democrat ballot. The local generic ballot can be found here. But as above, they are easier to read at TXDemocrats.org.

Prop #1 Right to a 21st Century Public Education -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to quality public education from pre-k to 12th grade, and affordable college and career training without the burden of crushing student loan debt?

Prop #2 Student Loan Debt -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to refinance student loan debt with the Federal Reserve at a 0% interest rate, as relief for the crushing burden of debt and an investment in the next generation of Americans?

Prop #3 Right to Healthcare -- Should everyone in Texas have a right to healthcare, guaranteed by a universal, quality Medicare-for-all system?

Prop #4 Right to Economic Security -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to economic security, where all workers have earned paid family and sick leave and a living wage that respects their hard work?

Prop #5 National Jobs Program -- Should the Democratic Party promote a national jobs program, with high wage and labor standards, to replace crumbling infrastructure and rebuild hurricane damaged areas, paid for with local, state, and federal bonds financed through the Federal Reserve at low interest with long term maturities?

Prop #6 Right to Clean Air, Safe Water, and a Healthy Environment -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment?

Prop #7 Right to Dignity & Respect -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to a life of dignity and respect, free from discrimination and harassment anywhere, including businesses and public facilities, no matter how they identify, the color of their skin, who they love, socioeconomic status, or from where they come?

Prop #8 Right to Housing -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to affordable and accessible housing and modern utilities including high speed internet, free from any form of discrimination?

Prop #9 Right to Vote -- Should every eligible Texan have the right to vote, made easier by automatic voter registration, the option to vote by mail, a state election holiday, and no corporate campaign influence, foreign interference, or illegal gerrymandering?

Prop #10 Right to a Fair Criminal Justice System -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to a fair criminal justice system that treats people equally and puts an end to the mass incarceration of young people of color for minor offenses?

Prop #11 Immigrant Rights -- Should there be a just and fair comprehensive immigration reform solution that includes an earned path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants and their children, keeps families together, protects DREAMers, and provides workforce solutions for businesses?

Prop #12 Right to Fair Taxation -- Should everyone in Texas have the right to a fair tax system, where all interests (business, corporations, and individuals) pay their share, so that state government meets its obligations?

There you have it. Go vote for the props you want, although that doesn't mean you'll get anything from it.

------

2:24 PM 2/19/2018

So if Christianity is a mental illness why do transgenders get a pass

Saturday morning I caught an interview with Vice President Pence in which he responded to the suggestion on an ABC TV show that Christianity was evidence of a mental illness: "That's just plain wrong."

But it's a little bit ironic that those same armchair shrinks who believe Christians are mentally ill probably don't think twice about a guy who thinks he's a woman born in a man's body or a woman who thinks she's a man born in a woman's body. But when a person who hates the political opposition with too much passion it clouds the thinking -- could that be temporary insanity?

Just saying.

------

12:56 PM 2/18/2018

MSM, please stop giving killers the fame they seek

Those who study mass murderers tell us that one of the reasons the killers did what they did was to become famous. Just as a vandal who can't produce anything might have a sense of accomplishment by destroying someone else's work, an easy way to achieve fame is to commit some horrific crime. A loser will probably not be able to make a mark by doing something productive.

The media seems obsessed with events like the killing in Florida recently. There was non-stop coverage along with what must be obligatory -- full background, identity, and photo of the killer. Fame.

We can blame the main stream media for encouraging such behavior.

But here's one that falls on the Cook County, Illinois, jailer who released the video showing the scene described in Cook Co. jail inmates clap for suspect in cop’s fatal shooting. Way to go, jailer. Now any loser who wants to be a jailhouse hero knows how.

------

2:11 PM 2/17/2018

Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events -- CRASE

After the non-stop coverage of the active shooter situation in Florida, civilians are no doubt hungry for advice on how best to keep from being one of the victims, should they ever be in such a situation.

There's a course being taught called Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE). Police departments across the nation are putting them on for citizens in their jurisdictions. And there are a few videos online where computer uses can watch a class. Here are two, one from Arundel, Maine and one from Fort Worth, Texas. They are both about an hour long and similar but for the local cop stories told by the instructors.

A PDF of the video aids can be found here. Here's an outline of the salient points:

Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events

The background science of how people behave in high stress events
Denial
Deliberation
Decisive Moment

--------------

Stage one, Denial --
•Don’t Deny
•Hear Gunshots
•Go straight to deliberation

Stage two, Deliberation --
•Calm yourself
•Combat breathing
•Shift your emotion
•Mental Scripting

Stage three, Decisive Moment --
Avoid
• maintain Situational Awareness
•Leave ASAP
•Know your exits including Secondary Exits
•Call 911
Deny the shooter access
•Lock the door
•Lights out
•Out of sight
•Barricade
–Heavier = Better
–More = Better
–Doorstops = Better
•Outward opening
–Ropes
–Tactical Cinch
Defend
•Positioning
•Grab the gun
•Fight

Priority of Work
•Stop the Killing
•Stop the Dying
•Evacuate the Area

When the Police Arrive
•Follow commands
•Show your palms
•Do not move

Medical
•EMS Delay
•People Need Help
•Seek training

Plan ahead
•Risk Assessment
•Work with local police

Personnel Issues
•Expect mental trauma
•Develop a critical incident stress management plan

Schools
•No curriculum/one answer fits all!
–“It depends”
•Accountability
–Next to impossible
–Kids are smart
•Practice!
–Regular and at odd times
•Situational awareness
–Strategize

One important point the officer who conducted the class I attended said was that when police arrive at an active shooter situation -- I'm paraphrasing here -- it's not like in the TV shows where the cops have a standoff with shooter demanding that he drop the gun. They will shoot anyone holding a gun. Citizens who are armed and innocent should keep that in mind when deliberating about whether to try to be a hero.

------

1:31 PM 2/16/2018

So are we back on the gun control issue again?

The triggering event was the massacre in Parkland, Florida, the other day. Listen to the callers on the C-Span's Washington Journal's open line and hear Democrats calling for gun control again. It's a knee jerk reaction. Democrats have used scapegoats for so long it's ingrained. And gun owners or guns themselves are the scapegoats again.

The problem with the idea of banning guns is that there are millions of guns owned by citizens already. Ban them and a huge black market will develop for those guns. It happened in Chicago. And it probably has happened in every jurisdiction that has attempted to ban guns.

Gun controllers' efforts should be directed at Mars. A colony there would be the only place where where there could be no guns, at least until one gets smuggled in.

Meanwhile, it's trite but true: outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns.

------

6:23 AM 2/15/2018

media misuse by enemies -- DNI warning

The recent gushing from the Democrat media complex about the North Korean charm offensive at the Olympics was an eye opener. If only those reporters hadn't fallen so easily for it.

Maybe they are still obsessed with the Russia collusion narrative. If so, they should read the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community. See excerpt below:

Russia and Influence Campaigns

Influence operations, especially through cyber means, will remain a significant threat to US interests as they are low-cost, relatively low-risk, and deniable ways to retaliate against adversaries, to shape foreign perceptions, and to influence populations. Russia probably will be the most capable and aggressive source of this threat in 2018, although many countries and some no nonstate actors are exploring ways to use influence operations, both domestically and abroad.

We assess that the Russian intelligence services will continue their efforts to disseminate false information via Russian state-controlled media and covert online personas about US activities to encourage anti-US political views. Moscow seeks to create wedges that reduce trust and confidence in democratic processes, degrade democratization efforts, weaken US partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions, encourage anti-US political views, and counter efforts to bring Ukraine and other former Soviet states into European institutions.

- Foreign elections are critical inflection points that offer opportunities for Russia to advance its interests both overtly and covertly. The 2018 US mid-term elections are a potential target for Russian influence operations.

- At a minimum, we expect Russia to continue using propaganda, social media, false-flag personas, sympathetic spokes people, and other means of influence to try to exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States.

Democrats and their media friends are trying hard to "exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States," too. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish them from our enemies.

Meanwhile, when it comes to influencing elections, AmericanThinker.com asks this: Who will influence the 2018 elections more: Russia or Mexico? The made there is that the Russians had minimal influence on our election in 2016, but illegal immigrants from South of the border who voted had a sizable presence in the election.

------

9:49 AM 2/14/2018

Advertisers walk a tight rope to avoid breaking Olympic rules

This is probably helpful info for advertisers. Found at Adweek.com: A One-Stop Guide to the Perplexing World of Olympics Marketing. There are specific rules applying to athletes, official sponsor brands, and brands that are not official Olympic sponsors but still have standing relationships with athletes participating in the games (“non-official sponsors”).

They all have to be careful what they say, for example, that last category -- non-official sponsors -- cannot "use terms that even suggest the Olympics, depending on context, including:"

Victory
Games
Medal
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Pyeongchang.

Dang. That seems restrictive. But advertisers are probably pretty adept at walking the tight rope to grab the gold, er uh, brass ring.

------

1:56 PM 2/13/2018

Police Chief wants driving simulators for officers -- how about one for citizens?

There have been some high profile vehicle accidents involving police officers here in Midland, Texas, lately. And the police chief may be right to suggest the officers need more training. And a driving simulator may be the best way to create hazardous driving situations minus the hazard. The morning paper tells us about it in MPD chief requests ‘driving simulator’.

But maybe those of us out here in citizen-land need something similar. As people get older their reactions slow down. But maybe they could keep that edge with practice. I've long thought that a driving simulator might be a way for drivers to practice, and thus help to keep their skills at high level. But the only way I've been able to come up with involves the simulators sold as games for Xboxes and PlayStations.

So if the Chief is successful in getting the city to invest in a simulator, maybe by renting out time to citizens the city could recoup some of the cost as well as improve driver safety. It might be a smart move for vehicle insurance companies to contribute to such an effort.

------

11:32 AM 2/11/2018

Who will police the prosecutors?

In The Other FBI Scandal in The Future of Capitalism some shenanigans conducted by an FBI agent. And it's a reminder that they aren't all saints. It's worth a look.

But my focus is on a short quote found there from Attorney General Robert H. Jackson in a speech 78 years ago. Some search engine sleuthing revealed the speech here: THE FEDERAL PROSECUTOR. There AG Jackson describes the powers a prosecutor has and sometimes abuses. Here's an excerpt:

If the prosecutor is obliged to choose his cases, it follows that he can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor: that he will pick people that he thinks he should, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted. With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor ,stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone.

In such a case, it is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it, it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him. It is in this realm ­in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass, or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense, that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies. It is here that law enforcement becomes personal, and the real crime be­comes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself.

Scary stuff. But he ends the speech on a positive note, to wit:

The qualities of a good prosecutor are as elusive and as impossible to define as those which mark a gentleman. And those who need to be told would not understand it anyway. A sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection against the abuse of power, and the citizen's safety lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.

If only they all would seek "truth and not victims."

------

3:42 PM 2/9/2018

Stockton California to test Universal Basic Income

I say "go for it!" Test the hell out of it, but be fair, and report the results honestly.

The original idea for universal basic income was that it would save money by doing away with welfare and other entitlements. This article about it doesn't really spell out how it will be implemented, other than it that the amount would be $500 per month and it would involve "Several-dozen families." But we'll get details eventually. Post-bankruptcy California city tests ‘universal’ income for residents.

If implemented correctly, i.e., in the manner proposed by Charles Murray, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, housing subsidies, welfare for single women and every other kind of welfare and social-services program would be replaced by the UBI. In the Stockton experiment, the UBI will likely be in addition to all that.

Nevertheless, the only way to know whether the one proposed in Stockton will accomplish anything is to test it on a small scale and wait for results.

------

9:15 AM 2/8/2018

From J. Edgar Hoover to James Comey -- things haven't changed all that much

I was searching for the famous memo from J. Edgar Hoover signed by Robert Kennedy authorizing surveillance on Martin Luther King, Jr. and found it at this CBSNews.com site: FBI director on privacy, electronic surveillance. Comey really pumped himself up. See the following excerpt:

James Comey: I believe that Americans should be deeply skeptical of government power. You cannot trust people in power. The founders knew that. That's why they divided power among three branches, to set interest against interest.

Scott Pelley: With regard to privacy and civil liberties, what guarantee are you willing to give to the American people?

James Comey: The promise I've tried to honor my entire career, that the rule of law and the design of the founders, right, the oversight of courts and the oversight of Congress will be at the heart of what the FBI does. The way you'd want it to be.

Sounds good, but it it's just noise.

James Comey claimed to have the Hoover memo on his desk as a reminder of what not to do. That interview was back in 2014 when Comey was comfortable as FBI Director under the Obama administration. In the interview he recounted his heroism during the Bush administration when as deputy attorney general he threatened to resign rather than allow the reauthorization of warrantless surveillance targeting foreign terrorists. Huh. I wonder what changed since then.

If there was a lesson he learned from Hoover, it was to follow the law when it's convenient. And so to obtain surveillance authority on members of the Trump team, they sought legitimacy from the FISA court. But to get the court order they had to fudge a bit with evidence. That's when they hauled out that phony Christopher Steele dossier.

Would J. Edgar Hoover have approved? Hoover would probably have kept it to himself to show to Trump when he was at his weakest.

Click on the thumbnail, above, to see an image of the infamous memo.

------

10:41 AM 2/7/2018

Who is smarter, men or women? Not a fair question -- they are different

Every time I visit Carpe Diem I come away in awe of Mark J. Perry's research skill and analytical ability.

Take for example, this article: Women’s voices might be scarce in economics, but they are abundant and over-represented in most academic fields and graduate school overall. There he produces some charts showing that degree recipients in 10 fields of study -- 11 if you count "other" -- the number of females outnumber males in all but four categories: business, engineering, mathematics and computer science, and physical and earth science.

But hat really doesn't answer the tease question of who is smarter, it merely tells us men's and women's brains work differently.

------

4:34 PM 2/5/2018

Did feminists appropriate man's hat for the pussy cat hat?

A few decades ago men dressed in business attire wore hats. There was one dominate style, but there were others. Anyway, I was net surfing and ran across this vintage hat marketed for men. OK, it's not identical, but it does resemble the pussy cat hat feminists have embraced.

This Jet Set Hat was found here.

Social justice warriors are hot on the trail of cultural appropriations, so this may be one they might have missed.

------

9:38 AM 2/4/2018

America's most famous undocumented unaccompanied minor immigrant - Elian Gonzalez

Fox News had a short update on Elian Gonzalez the other night. It was a fitting reminder of the partisan nature of immigration policy and how Democrats can turn around so easily.

Presently, "Dreamers" -- minor illegal immigrants -- are pressing for rights, and Democrats are on their side full bore. Ironic, isn't it? Way back then when President Bill Clinton had Gonzalez taken by gunpoint from relatives in the U.S. and shipped back to Cuba Democrats were in full support. Listen to them now and come away astonished about their new found love of illegal immigrants.

It's almost as if they are trying to capitalize on a political issue to divide the electorate.

As for what became of little Elian, here's an update from about four years ago: Elian Gonzalez: 15 years after his rescue, a quiet life.

------

1:24 PM 2/3/2018

ATM hacks -- Skimming out, Jackpotting in

It seems like only yesterday that thieves were using skimmers to hijack cash from ATM. But the tactic wore thin as more and more ATM card users became aware of it and took measures to make sure they didn't become victims.

However, the crooks have stepped up their game, and ATM manufacturers are playing catch-up. For an overview, see Jackpotting, the hacking scheme where hackers make ATMs spit out cash like slot machines, is here. Here's an excerpt:

Small-scale jackpotting attacks were reported sporadically in many countries over the next few years, according to Reuters. They finally went big time in 2016.

A gang stole $13 million from Japanese ATMs in three hours that spring, Fortune wrote. In the summer, loose cash was spotted fluttering around dozens of First Commercial Bank ATMs in Taipei, Taiwan.

First Commercial subsequently froze withdrawals at more than 1,000 ATMs, according to the BBC. A police investigation revealed masked thieves had been waiting in front of the hacked machines and carried cash away by the bag load - more than $2 million across the country.

The Government Savings Bank in Thailand was hit with a similar attack the next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. As it warned of the potential for attacks in the U.S., the FBI said the jackpotters impersonated ATM vendor employees in phishing emails to gain security access.

The Diebold Nixdorf ATM machines appear to be the most vulnerable. At the dieboldnixdorf blog we find this: Not Just Ploutus: Protection Against ATM Malware Attacks. There we see malware names such as Ploutus Ripper, Alice, Tyupkin, Green Dispenser "and a whole range of others." They can't specify how the thieves get the malware into the machine, but they offer some recommendations. Specifically, limit access to the ATM, harden the software stack, keep up with what's going on with the hardware, software and the physical machines.

The modern day Bonnies and Clydes are out there somewhere writing malware.

------

3:03 PM 2/2/2018

Reindeer over Llano

In December I blogged about the beautiful lighted Christmas display in front of the courthouse in Llano, Texas. Unfortunately, at the time I couldn't find my camera.

The other day I had the opportunity to drive by there again, and the only part of the display still there was the deer you see in the photo.

It's quite striking. Although, it may be on display this long after Christmas because it isn't necessarily a Christmas decoration. It could be a tribute to the many deer in the countryside in that region.

Whatever the purpose, that big buck makes an impression.

------

2:47 PM 2/1/2018