In VA-35, Both Campaigns Predict Tight Race

The race to replace 35th District Delegate and Democratic Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon is within a 2-point margin – or at least it was two weeks ago, according to polls conducted for Republican candidate Jim Hyland.

Hyland’s margin, described by his campaign manager Kevin Conroy as “within the margin of error,” reflects a tightening of the race since a July benchmark poll, when pollsters Barry Zeplowitz and Bill Lee of TelOpinion Research indicated in a confidential memo posted on Hyland’s website that Hyland held a 7-point lead 43 percent to 36 percent lead, with 21 percent undecided. The memo did not indicate the size of the sample or whether “likely voter” filters were used.

Read more at Collins on Politics

TechAmerica Praises Obama’s Cyber Czar

By Rachel St. Amant- Talk Radio News Service

TechAmerica held a media briefing in which they announced their collaboration with the government on the 60 day cyber security project which will create cyber security office.

The association of leading technology companies came out in support of President Barack Obama’s plan to tie public and private institutions together in the hopes of enhancing cyber security.

“The President came out and visibly made his commitment to this effort,” said Enrique Salem, CEO of Symantec.

President Obama said “We need to develop new standards for the cyber-security that protects our most important infrastructures, from electrical grids to sewage systems, from air traffic control to our markets."

John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, said “The national security and economic health of the United States depend on the security, stability and integrity of our nation's cyberspace, both in the public and private sectors."

“We clearly articulated what the risk are, what the threats are,” Salem said.

Phil Dunkelberger, CEO of PGP Corporation agreed, saying “I thought it was important that he (President Obama) linked cyber security to the future of the U.S.”

TechAmerica also affirmed its satisfaction for the new cyber security office regarding the security it will provide to small businesses and individuals.

Dunkelberger argued that “Those (security) rights should be encouraged and that is what the government does.”

On the new collaboration between the public and the private sectors Harriet Pearson said “The relationship that the administration is building is going to be key.”

Despite the efforts of the previous administration to address this topic, TechAmerica seems more enthusiastic about Obama’s plan.

Phil Bond said “ What makes it a fundamental shift is the personal commitment taken by the president”, adding that “He is putting a lot of chips on the table, politically.”

However, Salem warned that “I think its important that we do not let it get caught up in the bureaucracy.”

Climate Crisis: Al Gore says that the time for action is now.

“We need a transformation in public policy thinking to embrace the reality of what science is telling us, accept its implications, and then act in accordance with the full scope and urgency of the problem,” said senator John F. Kerry at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. The committee met to hear testimony from Al Gore concerning what America should be doing to address the climate crisis.

Kerry said, “Some may argue that we cannot afford to address this issue in the midst of an economic crisis. They have it fundamentally wrong. This is a moment of enormous opportunity for new technology, new jobs, and the greening of our economy. We can’t afford not to act.” Senator Kerry stressed the importance of America taking a stance on caring for the environment with a new administration that will finally be supportive of these efforts.

Former Vice-President Al Gore said that “We have arrived at a moment of decision. Our home-Earth- is in grave danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, of course, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.” Gore expressed concern that people seem to think that the planet and our way of life has to be a choice, when in fact, “solutions to the climate crisis are the very same solutions that will address our economic and national security crisis as well.”

by Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service