Right now, multiple US Senators are pushing bills through Congress aimed at dismantling encryption and free speech online. The EARN IT Act and the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act are terrible, Orwellian bills designed to give the Federal Government the ability to break and bypass all encryption on the internet and scan every message and data transfer online. The bills may sound technical and esoteric – they’re designed to – but they undermine the basic concepts of secure internet communications that so many people rely on all the time without even knowing it. …

Well that’s embarrassing: According to recent reporting from the Washington Post, the 2017 “Vault 7” leaks of classified CIA information and offensive hacking tools was the result of “woefully lax” security procedures. The theft of top-secret computer hacking tools from the CIA in 2016 was the result of a workplace culture in which the agency’s elite computer hackers “prioritized building cyber weapons at the expense of securing their own systems,” according to an internal report prepared for then-director Mike Pompeo as well as his deputy, Gina Haspel, now the director. …

Father’s Day last year I was wandering around the local antique mall and came across an 11-foot long board of what turned out to be mahogany. 2 inches thick and about a foot wide. It was unfinished, ugly and grey with age, had some spots, screw holes, and watermarks on it. Looked like its previous life had been a barn shelf or something… which seems a waste for mahogany, but who knows. …

Admiral Mike Mullen, 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has a strong response to President Trump’s recent “trip” to St. John’s Church across from the White House. The President’s surprise photo op in front of the church involved Military Police using riot gear to clear a path through an otherwise peaceful crowd protesting racial injustice across our nation. Even the pastor and church staff didn’t know and were displaced by the event. …

Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It’s particularly poignant during this time of COVID-19 with its economic impacts, job insecurity, and so many peple out of work. These prayers are from the Divine Office this morning: Intercessions Father of all mankind, do not forget what your hands have made, grant that all who work may have secure employment and a fitting standard of living. …