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Sunday, September 6, 2015

Governor McAuliffe Signs Executive Directive to Strengthen Cybersecurity Protocol

~ Executive Directive would expand cyber-related risk management activities ~

RICHMOND – Today Governor McAuliffe signed Executive Directive 6 to strengthen the Commonwealth’s cybersecurity measures in order to protect personal information and sensitive data through the expansion of cyber-related risk management activities.

“A key ingredient to building a new Virginia economy is a solid cyber infrastructure,” said Governor McAuliffe. “That is why it’s vital that the Commonwealth take the proper precautions to protect and safeguard the information entrusted to our care. I am proud to sign this Directive, which initiates enhanced risk management processes that will increase our ability to mitigate the ever increasing flow of cyber threats.”

The Directive requires the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to provide an updated inventory of all data and computer systems while recommending strategies to strengthen and modernize agencies’ cyber security profiles.

“Cybersecurity is a responsibility shared by every level of government,” said Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson. “These risk mitigation steps will allow the Commonwealth to take a more strategic approach to securing our systems and data.”

The full Executive Directive is below:

Executive Directive 6 (2015)

EXPANDING CYBER-RELATED RISK MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Importance of the Initiative

One of the primary responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia is to protect and safeguard citizen data. In light of ever-increasing cybersecurity attacks on personal information, sensitive data, and systems, I am committed to expanding our cyber-related risk management activities and strengthening our ability to protect the information entrusted to our care.

I am directing the Secretaries of Technology and Finance and the Commonwealth’s Chief Information Officer to take the necessary steps to complete a review of all Commonwealth of Virginia systems and associated data in the following manner:

The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) shall provide an updated inventory of all data and computer systems to the Governor’s Office by October 15, 2015. The inventory shall include but not be limited to:
1. Determination of sensitivity and criticality of systems and data
2. Risk prioritization and scope of systems and data, and
3. Development of a risk-based approach to enhance protection of systems and data

The Secretary of Technology and VITA shall recommend strategies to strengthen and modernize agencies’ cyber-security profiles by October 15, 2015, including:
1. Completion of security audits,
2. Development of risk mitigation and resilience plans, and
3. Plans for remediation with completion dates.

VITA shall provide a status report on the execution of the strategies, along with associated plans and actions, to the Governor and the Secretaries of Technology and Finance by October 1, 2016.

These risk-mitigation steps to strengthen our sensitive systems and data cannot be effectively and accurately completed without the cooperation of each executive branch agency. For this reason, I am directing each executive branch agency to assist VITA by providing all requested information required to complete this inventory in a timely manner.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Herbs: Plantain

Broadleaf Plantain Deutsch: Breitwegerich (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The plantain: a common broadleaf "weed" that we should eat, not kill. This perennial vegetable is free for the picking...
Posted by GMO Free USA on Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Rand Paul: "Audit The Federal Reserve".

Official portrait of United States Senator (R-KY). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rand Paul wants to to "audit the Fed and restore transparency and fiscal sanity to our nation’s checkbook."
Posted by Rand Paul 2016 on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Of course the GOP establishment backs Jeb.
Posted by Rand Paul 2016 on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Are The Shofars Sounding?

People are drawing connections between the sounds and Revelations 8:2 which says, “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” Those trumpets are said to herald the beginning of the end times.

Source: http://www.glennbeck.com/2015/05/18/some-people-are-saying-these-trumpets-are-a-sign-of-the-end-times/?utm_source=glennbeck&utm_medium=contentcopy_link

From Glenn Beck website. Not normally a fan of Glenn Beck, but found this video rather interesting as well as disturbing. You can read more on this at the Glenn Beck website linked above.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Mark Warner On "On Demand" Work Force

Friends,

I wanted to let you know about a significant issue I’ve started to focus on: the big shifts occurring in the workplace and among the workforce as more and more people work “on-demand” in what’s called the "sharing economy".

Whether by economic necessity or by choice, as many as one-third of American workers now piece together several on-demand opportunities to make a living. And with continuous advances in technology, that number continues to grow, especially as the Millennial generation enters the workforce.

Today, online platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit and Etsy can provide easy-to-use digital platforms to match supply and demand for goods and services. These innovations are changing the traditional employee-employer dynamic.

The sharing or on-demand economy, where people are contract or freelance workers, provides exciting opportunities in terms of freedom and flexibility in hours and work-life balance. But many of these on-demand jobs do not provide traditional safety net protections for workers: unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation for injuries, or pension and retirement planning.

Yet Washington has mostly remained on the sidelines as the U.S. economy, its workforce and the work place, have undergone perhaps the most dramatic transformation in decades. As policymakers, we have a role to play with this tremendous shift.

Earlier this month, I delivered a speech about the potential impacts of generational and technological changes on the American economy. My recent op-ed in the Washington Postexplored some ways that policymakers might begin to address these challenges.

Finally, as I work to find solutions to make this sharing or on-demand economy work better for more people, I’d like to hear from you. If you are working in this on-demand economy, tell us your story: Is it working for you? Could it work better? What are the advantages of this type of work? Do you see any downsides?

Please email your thoughts to: projects@warner.senate.gov.

Thank you,

Mark R. Warner

Sunday, June 21, 2015

A Whirlwind of Events

The past several months have been a whirlwind of spectacular events all around the Hampton Roads and surrounding areas. Above is a picture taken Friday evening, June 7th, 2015 of the L'Hermione in Yorktown. It was the maiden voyage from France to the United States and Yorktown was the first stop.

L Hermione at Yorktown, Virginia 2015 from Chuck Thompson

We scanned in the brochure that was given away at the event as well as a copy of the boarding pass. Take a look to learn more about the L Hermione.

We spend 4 days in Yorktown taking pictures of all the events and shows going on. We took over 3,000 pictures and some HD video that we still need to process and get up. The above is some art we created from the event.

The weekend before that was the Hampton Blackbeard Pirate Festival. 3 days of non stop entertainment. We only went on Sunday for a few hours but still managed over 700 photos from the event. We have them up on Google + and Flickr.

If you are a history buff, the events are non stop fun. Pirates are the most fun to work with when it comes to photography. Many of them are real hams. Above is a few of the folks from the Motley Tones. The female is Ring Tone pictured above and in the background purposely messing up the photo is Flintz Tone. I love those names. They have real character. You can visit their website at
http://motleytones.com/

The weekend before that was several great events for history buffs. Civil war reenactments in Yorktown and American Revolution reenactments in Gloucester at the Courthouse Circle.

We managed over 1,500 photos between these two events. Talking about a lot of shooting.

And a few weeks prior to these was a Pirate invasion in Yorktown.

At this one we only created about 300 photos total. We were there more for the enjoyment of the event than to shoot anything. But I just can't resist taking a bunch of pictures anyway.

Virginia is graced with a host of incredible places to visit and events to attend throughout the entire year. For us, we love history so that is usually where you will find us the most. We make a lot of friends at these events and share our works as much as possible.

And then there is always the fun of taking pictures where ever you are. Events or not.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

The Original 13th Amendment To The Bill of Rights: 1840

A study of history can turn up some very big surprises. Not in favor of present conditions is one we just recently came across. We just found in a book written and published back in 1840 and known as the "American Citizens Manual", and comes from the Library of Congress, so it is an official document of the United States, some very disturbing evidence that history has in fact been tampered with and against the people no less.

The book has a number of facts that are not in the least common knowledge today. In fact, the Bill of Rights is not even called the Bill of Rights but instead, Amendments to the Constitution. The first 12 amendments are the same as we read them today, however, in 1840, there was in fact a 13th amendment. It is not the same as we have today. What is that amendment?

1840: XIII- If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honor, or shall without the consent of Congress, accept or retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them or either of them.

Today we are told that the 13th Amendment that we all commonly know reads as follows and came about in 1865.

1865 XIII - Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Interesting. These two amendments that both claim to be the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, also know as the Bill of Rights, are not even close. So it would seem that we have two 13th Amendments to the Bill of rights. What happened to the original on listed in a book published in 1840?

American Citizens Manual- 1840, Real Law from Chuck Thompson

Take a look at page 28 of the book ported in here to see the original 13th Amendment as stated in this article above. On the way to that page, note that the book is an official Library of Congress documented book. Our so called present 13th Amendment to the Bill of rights was proposed to the legislatures of the several States by the Thirty-eighth Congress, on the 31st day of January, 1865 and was declared, in a proclamation of the Secretary of State, dated the 18th of December, 1865, to have been ratified by the legislatures of twenty-seven of the thirty-six States.

Abraham Lincoln was still the President of the United Stated when this began in January 31st, 1865. He was not assassinated until April 15th, 1865. (Anyone notice anything peculiar about that date?) The official end of the Civil War was April 9th, 1865. 11 of the 36 states of the Union were not a part of the Union at that time. There were 11 Confederate states leaving only 25 states left in the Union when this new 13th amendment was started.

Now this is where it continues to get even more interesting. Virginia, on February, 9th, 1865, a Confederate State, somehow managed to ratify this new 13th Amendment with the Union? That is what our United States government tells us today. And no one questions this? Really? Yes really.

(Citation: - The Constitution of the United States of America - 108th Congress, 1st session, Document number 108-95. United States Government Printing Office Washington: 2003. ISBN 0-16-05-1424-X)

What would be the purpose of getting rid of the original 13th Amendment and replacing it with a new one? Well, you have to know and understand your history. Both the Confederate States and the Union States received financing for their war efforts from foreign countries. A violation of the original 13th Amendment and a very serious problem for all politicians and government employees at so many levels. Everyone involved was now guilty of crimes against the United States. If the original 13th Amendment were made to disappear, then, no harm, no foul. Everyone walks away without issues. With the original 13th Amendment still in place, even Lincoln was a criminal guilty of treason against his own country who would have lost his citizenship and would have needed to be hung for treason against the country.

It is not at all in the interest of any politician anywhere for the original 13th amendment to ever come back as they are all guilty of treason for accepting any foreign present, money, office, title and so forth. Contributions to campaigns from foreign nations to say the likes of the Clinton's from China? Even our Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe would need to be hung for treason with all the work he does with China. This marked the beginning of the end of the United States that so many try and fight for. It is the full justification of treason against ones own country.

You will never see this in any past history book or present ones for that matter. Few have ever put it together. Even fewer understand it. This article will not be popular either even though it exposes the information. Not enough people will ever see this to make any difference and many will be thankful for that. History you were never meant to know.

This is not what any of them ever fought for.

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Sunday, September 6, 2015

Governor McAuliffe Signs Executive Directive to Strengthen Cybersecurity Protocol