Kay Bailey Supports an Internet Kill Switch?

I wrote to Sen. Hutchison to ask her position on the "Cyber Security" bill that is in Congress now. I think this reply means she supports it:

"Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding cybersecurity legislation. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, I am committed to improving the security of America’s information infrastructure, and to ensuring that consumers continue to benefit from innovations in technology. The Internet is a valuable tool that facilitates business, education, and recreation for millions of Americans. In 2009, an estimated 198 million Americans had access to the Internet at home or work. Unfortunately, as the nation has become more dependent on digital systems and networks, our vulnerability to cyber attacks has increased. With the new Cyber Command headquartered at Lackland Air Force Base and the cutting-edge research being done at our universities, Texas is in the forefront of America’s effort to meet the cyber challenge.

The Senate has made progress on cybersecurity. On March 24, 2010 the Commerce Committee held an executive session on S. 773, the Cybersecurity Act of 2010, sponsored by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Among other things, this bill would require the government and the owners of critical infrastructure (such as power plant operators) to implement risk management measures and industry best practices to combat cyber threats. The bill would also require the training and certification of cybersecurity workers; clarify the President’s ability to declare cyber emergencies; support research and development; and promote cybersecurity education. During the Committee’s consideration of the bill, I successfully offered several amendments, including changes to improve public-private collaboration on emergency response plans and limit the bill’s mandatory requirements to truly critical infrastructure.

I support efforts to protect the United States from the growing cyber threats against our nation. However, we also need to carefully consider the connection between new government mandates, such as the training and certification requirements of S. 773, and anticipated security gains. I have been particularly concerned about the potential cost to small and mid-sized businesses under these obligations. I hope that the views of affected stakeholders and other relevant Committees will continue to be incorporated into any legislation dealing with cybersecurity.

S. 773 was not considered by the full Senate prior to adjournment of the 111th Congress. Should this legislation be reintroduced in the 112th Congress, you may be assured I will keep your views in mind.

I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue that is important to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as this mailbox is only for the delivery of outbound messages, and is not monitored for replies. Due to the volume of mail Senator Hutchison receives, she requests that all email messages be sent through the contact form found on her website at http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm .

If you would like more information about issues pending before the Senate, please visit the Senator's website at http://hutchison.senate.gov . You will find articles, floor statements, and press releases, along with her weekly column and monthly television show on current events. You can also sign up to receive Senator Hutchison's weekly e-newsletter.

Thank you. "

Obligatory September Post

I didn't want to let September slip by without posting SOMETHING.

I'm back at work, post-myocardial infarction, and I've completed my ECP therapy (it's weird - you can google it).

October will be a busy month, what with us moving into the new house and selling the old house. Hopefully, I'll have a little time to blog, and happier topics about which to write.

Lastly, I accidently saw "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" and laughed my ass off. Someone should have told me! And I've been a White Castle fan for about 30 yrs so the premise of the movie is completely believable.

Until next time, if we're interpreting the Mayan calendar correctly.

Big S Ranch

So THAT'S What a Heart Attack Feels Like

My week's schedule was "overtaken by events" on Wednesday morning when I had what the doctors are calling a "massive heart attack". The short version is that I left the hospital this morning, with no complications and full recovery in sight.

Wednesday started normally. I got to the office at 7:30 am. I was the first one in, so I turned on the lights and started coffee. At 9:00 am I went into the CEO's office for a conference call with Europe, which ran until about 10:00.

Around 10:15 I left the office to go to the offices of one of our members. We were having a 4-hour "pre-meeting meeting" to review some PIDX presentations.

I parked my truck and began walking across the lot to the door when I broke out in a cold sweat. By the time I got to the front desk, my chest was burning so I sat down. A co-worker who was attending the same meeting signed me in and got my vistor badge. After a couple of minutes we went up to the meeting.

I asked the guy hosting the meeting if they had any antiacid, thinking the burn was an ulcer. The antiacid didn't help and the pain got worse, so we went back to the lobby. The company policy was to call an ambulance for anyone complaining of chest pain. The ambulance showed up in about 10 minutes.

I ended up at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital 10 minutes later. After a quick look in Emergency, they rolled me up to Cath Lab #4, where Dr. Chang performed an angioplasty on my left main coronary artery and inserted a stent to keep it open. The pain went away immediately.

After a couple of days of observation, I'm home again. My heart attack was caused by a 100% blockage of the left main artery. Luckily, my other arteries are clean or I would have likely dropped dead from this type of blockage. I have about 40% damage to my heart, but the doctor thinks most or all of that will come back, since they got to me so quickly.

The two pics below show a "before" and "after" view. Notice that you don't seen any arteries in the white circle of the top pic. That's due to the blockage stopping the bloodflow. The 2nd pic, taken after the stent was installed, shows what the bloodflow is supposed to look like.

All in all, I would have rather gone to the meeting.

Big S Ranch

Because You TOTALLY Want To See Me on "Mad Men"

So I did it.
I submitted my photo to the Mad Men Casting Call contest sponsored by Banana Republic.
The winner gets a walk-on appearance on an episode of Mad Men, the best TV show EVER.

Hopefully the winner won't have to sleep with Matt Weiner to get the gig.

About 1200 entries so far, and contest goes until August 11. So, the odds are against me.
You can help by going here EVERY DAY and giving me 5 stars:

http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/photos/view/1347/sort:Photo.created

And you KNOW they will be so impressed with my as-of-yet-untapped acting skills that my walk-on role will become permanent. You just KNOW it. Because it happens every day.

You knew me before I was famous,
Big S Ranch

We Are Family

[Today is Connor's 9th Birthday. Thought I'd better get last weekend put to rest before the party starts this weekend.. Big S Ranch.]

Thanks to my brother Richard, we had a family reunion in Independence, Missouri, over the 4th of July weekend. It had been years, decades, since we'd had such a reunion.

As my brother so eloquently put it, it was good to get the family together without having a dead body slabbed out on the table. (We usually see each other only at funerals, it seems).

Attendance was good. We had folks from 5 different states show up (Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas). Mostly, it was my mom's family and my Uncle Bob's family who made it. It was such a good time, we're planning to do it again next year. It will give us 12 months to "guilt" the no-shows into attending!

And, as a bonus, we're building our family e-mail and Facebook lists so we can keep in closer touch. None of us are getting any younger, and we need to get the kids and grandkids together so they know what a cool family they're part of.

We took quite a few photos. I thought about doing a TMZ-type "Memba Them - All Growed Up" bit, but realized I'd have to include my own, so I just let that thought go.


For those of you who couldn't make it this year (and you know who you are!), expect twelve long months of guilt and shame to be heaped on you from the rest of us. Redemption can only be achieved by attending NEXT year's reunion.


Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Stukes - Todd shindig:


This should be our reunion theme pic! Katie is Speak No Evil, Susan is See No Evil, and Patricia is Hear No Evil. Just monkeying around!

That's me in the middle, with my cousins Katie and Rob. Rob and Patricia drove in from Bowling Green, KY. Katie and Dave have been back from San Diego for a few years now.

The next generations. Richard's boy Alex, my son Connor, and Jameson's little guy Kyle (my grandson!)



L to R: Tommy's wife, Jenny; cousin Rob; brother Richard; nephew Tommy; me; son Jameson. Quite the motley crew.

Nephew Tommy and his wife, Jenny. Mr & Mrs Big S Ranch seated. We're old. Give us a break.

And finally... me with Aunt Tootie. Aunt Tootie is Aunt Phyllis' sister. Aunt Phyllis was my Uncle Bob's wife. Uncle Bob was my mom's little brother.

Enjoy your family, even if they're not as cool as mine :)

Big S Ranch

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry

Another blog post from Mexico City.


This was supposed to be a quick trip - fly down Wednesday morning, fly home Thursday afternoon. That changed before I even checked into the hotel.


In our Wednesday meeting with SAT, the Mexican tax authority, it was decided that I would stay for an SAT technical workshop on the construction of facturas electrónicas, the XML tax documents that will be implemented with our PEMEX e-commerce integration.



Unfortunately, that workshop ran until 7pm tonight, so I'm flying home tomorrow (Saturday) on the 6:50 am flight. That also means I have to leave the hotel at 5 am. This will be a short post.


In a nutshell, the trip has been fine. I didn't learn much new in the workshop, but I confirmed what I thought I knew. And the meeting was in far south Mexico City, a part of town I'd not seen before. So I've got that going for me.


That really pointy peak way far away in the middle of this picture? That is a dormant volcano. With my luck, I don't need to be getting close to that sucker.



This was lunch today, just before the workshop. An American eating lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Mexico is just... wrong.

Well, time to catch a couple of zzzz's before it is time to leave for the airport. 5:00 am will be here soon.

Maybe the next post will NOT be from Mexico City.
Big S Ranch

La Venganza de Moctezuma

My latest trip to Mexico City is one that I won't forget.

The trip itself went well. I was able to schedule the necessary meetings with the necessary people. I accomplished, from a business perspective, everything I wanted to accomplish.

There were some minor inconveniences:

• Upon arrival at the Benito Juarez Airport, I had to complete a short 'health form' in immigration. This is part of the H1N1 flu containment.
• On my way back home, I had my temperature scanned before I was allowed to board the plan.
• In between, the hotel was running about 1/3 staff, will all the restaurants closed, so we were forced to seek sustenance outside of the hotel.

Eating outside the hotel made my trip memorable for a couple of reasons.

The entire Memorial Day weekend, I suffered from that old ailment known as Montezuma's Revenge. After two years and 20+ trips to Mexico, it was my first encounter with the great Montezuma. It was brutal.

I'm not sure where I picked up the bug, but it could have been at the Sanborn's restaurant.

Or it could have been this other restaurant which gave me the second reason to remember this trip. My Mexican associates introduced me to escamoles. These are ant eggs, cooked in butter, that you eat on a tortilla as an appetizer. They were extremely good, but may also be responsible for my Memorial Day malady.

In any event, I better heal up quickly because I have to go back to Mexico City next week. At least now I have a good excuse to drink beer with dinner. And no mas escamoles.

Until next time, Montezuma willing,

Big S Ranch