Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site • Hacker News Board

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#91

Post by dijit » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #68

anovikov wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider myself a liberal, and i agree with the point that college is net detrimental to society. It makes people waste their best years, teaches them mainly, useless stuff, barely breaks even in terms of lifetime earnings, and makes people bitter because they feel they are not valued by society the way they believe they should. This world needs a lot more new plumbers than new liberal arts majors. It is the societ…

I can find a competent plumber trivially. Hiring white collar jobs are much harder, especially specialized tech work. I think the anti-college popularity ties directly to the incredible cost of it in the USA, not that its necessarily a bad thing.

> I can find a competent plumber trivially.

I kinda doubt this. My mother wanted me to learn plumbing or to become an electrician because they were always in much more demand than supply and can effectively determine their own rates.

Most are self-employed. (UK).

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#92

Post by refracture » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

So what's the lesson here? Never report a critical security problem and hope a nefarious person or group doesn't find it later?

I realize this guy is just at it for political reasons.. but I don't think it can be overstated how much of a negative all of this is on society. Even if this reporter never gets convicted of anything it could leave trauma that will make others second guess 'doing the right thing'.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#93

Post by scoopertrooper » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

anovikov wrote: post #62

abvdasker wrote: post #47

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

I consider myself a liberal, and i agree with the point that college is net detrimental to society. It makes people waste their best years, teaches them mainly, useless stuff, barely breaks even in terms of lifetime earnings, and makes people bitter because they feel they are not valued by society the way they believe they should. This world needs a lot more new plumbers than new liberal arts majors. It is the societ…

I found college had a net positive effect on me. It gave me a great deal of discipline and the helped me develop important critical thinking skills. Though I did a mix of STEM and economics, I can't vouch for other degrees.

Regardless, I disagree that it's a waste of a person's best years. Most work is some variation of drudgery, I think it's great young adults get to spend a few years learning about interesting topics and making new friends.

It'd be nice if America could do that and not saddle these youngsters with crippling debt (as other countries manage to do), but I wouldn't say that feature of the American education system invalidates the basic concept.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#94

Post by perihelions » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

tragictrash wrote: post #14

Isn't this defamation? Would the reporter in question have a case against the Governor here? IANAL, would love an explanation of how I'm wrong by someone more knowledgeable.

Probably no, because all the important alleged facts appear to be public. Expressing opinions (including wrong ones) is not defamatory in the US, and an inference based on disclosed, public facts is an opinion.

"X broke the law" isn't a fact in this narrow sense; rather it's an inference drawn from a set of facts.

e.g. (Volokh) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/201...

/not-a-lawyer

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#95

Post by xvector » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

Is it childish to want the next person who finds a vulnerability to exploit it to cause as much destruction as possible, and then blame it on Parson?

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#96

Post by bko » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

abvdasker wrote: post #47

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

There's a difference between being critical of higher ed and being anti-intellectual / anti-science.

A lot of the skepticism of higher ed is precisely because they have not been doing a good job teaching science and critical thinking.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#97

Post by HeckFeck » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

Acutulus wrote: post #7

I find the article title kind of curious, given that it states Parson has "doubled down" which suggests that the video the article references is an active effort on Parson's part. It then goes on to state that the video was produced by a PAC Parson created but doesn't give direct input to. Comes off as unnecessarily inflammatory to me I suppose. Having said that, this situation in particular really tests my willingne…

His strong stance will deter all 'hackers' and like scoundrel from touching any government website! When would-be data breachers see how he treats anyone trying to be his friend, they'll dare not make an enemy of him.

This Governor has the DOMINANCE!

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#98

Post by panzagl » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

otterley wrote: post #69

anovikov wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider myself a liberal, and i agree with the point that college is net detrimental to society. It makes people waste their best years, teaches them mainly, useless stuff, barely breaks even in terms of lifetime earnings, and makes people bitter because they feel they are not valued by society the way they believe they should. This world needs a lot more new plumbers than new liberal arts majors. It is the societ…

I largely agree with the sentiment that we need more plumbers than liberal arts graduates. One answer, though, is "why not be both?" Post-secondary education, regardless of the specific major a student chooses, does provide a significant benefit to society: especially in the early years, it teaches students how to think critically. Perhaps this skill could be taught earlier during secondary education, but at least in…

> And this skill is incredibly important for becoming an informed member of the electorate who can separate truth from bullshit.

Which is why both sides either denigrate college or treat it as some sort of tech jobs training.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#99

Post by sillysaurusx » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

abvdasker wrote: post #47

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

Please don't make this a partisan issue. I live in Missouri. I've voted for Republicans in the past. You're alienating people like me from being on your side.

It doesn't matter that you're probably right. It comes across as you posting this to make yourself feel good, and holy moly the sense of superiority from your camp needs a chill pill.

Parson is evil. I'll be doing my duty as a citizen and trying to vote him out of office. But none of this was anti-science, nor did it have anything to do with COVID, and you've brought up both.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#100

Post by jfrunyon » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

otterley wrote: post #69

anovikov wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider myself a liberal, and i agree with the point that college is net detrimental to society. It makes people waste their best years, teaches them mainly, useless stuff, barely breaks even in terms of lifetime earnings, and makes people bitter because they feel they are not valued by society the way they believe they should. This world needs a lot more new plumbers than new liberal arts majors. It is the societ…

I largely agree with the sentiment that we need more plumbers than liberal arts graduates. One answer, though, is "why not be both?" Post-secondary education, regardless of the specific major a student chooses, does provide a significant benefit to society: especially in the early years, it teaches students how to think critically. Perhaps this skill could be taught earlier during secondary education, but at least in…

It absolutely is taught in secondary education in the US. Heck, it's taught during elementary education. But you can't teach someone something unless they're willing to learn it. Post-secondary education doesn't help that.