Five at 8 - 4/9/09

WHAT'S ON TODAY?

Midmorning - In the first hour, Kerri Miller asks, "Has America moved to the left?" A wild guess based on the November election results: Yes. In the second hour, mystery author Walter Mosley.

Midday -- The second crest of the Red River in Fargo. MPR's Dan Gunderson will be the guest and there'll be an appearance by one of the most intriguing people in the upper Midwest -- Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker. One of the best quips I heard when I was in Moorhead a few weeks ago was, "When Walaker says 'no,' it doesn't mean, 'let's talks about it.'"

Here's the flood forecast as of 7AM.

As near as I can tell, the forecast is running about a half-foot higher than it was yesterday. But the actual river level today is still going down.

Talk of the Nation -- Neal Conan decodes Robert Gates' defense budget, which gives me an excuse to slap some Daily Show stuff here.

In the second hour, they'll talk about gay marriage.

All Things Considered - Say, what happens to Worldperks after all evidence that Northwest Airlines ever existed is extinguished? Marty Moylan has the answer.
The folks in Washington will also look at Frank Zappa's legacy, tightly controlled -- it says here -- by his widow and child. And David Was has recommendations for what music to play while you're doing your taxes. See, that's why they call it All Things Considered.

DON'T MISS

Professor Tim Nelson's explanation of why it's hard to forecast flooding in the Red River. If I pass this course, I'm hoping to take Fargo Mayor Walaker's class, "How to use gut feel and experience to correctly predict a flood crest."

Comments (2)

What else is on today?

I like today's Art Hounds, which will replay during All Things Considered; the local "fa so la" group that I'm part of got a visit (a. k. a. Sacred Harp)

Posted by fasolamatt | April 9, 2009 8:13 AM

The story about the present "attack" is lacking primary sources from what I've read on the security sites lately. This post on Wired's blog ThreatLevel sums that up nicely, tongue firmly in-cheek.

That said, many, many people in IT security have understood for awhile that the utilities level of security could be better. Many of these systems are old ,and I'm not talking "third generation ipod" old, I mean tape deck or even reel-to-reel old. That technology still works--that's why it's still in place--but the infrastructure has been changing in the last few years. These systems, which used to be totally isolated behind a fairly strong perimeter, now are being connected to LANs and WANs, routable over long distances and able to access the internet. That's like a clean room connected to a hospital's quarantine ventilation system.

Thankfully news like this, paired with increased attention to the protection of critical national infrastructure, are increasing the visibility and awareness of this situation. In time, geeks like me will reduce some of that threat, leaving room for us to find another!

Posted by John T. Hoffoss | April 10, 2009 8:55 AM