The Georgetown Voice ? Phone sex can get you off, but it can't get ...

As Valentine?s Day passes and we begin to round off another year, those of us in long-distance relationships find our hearts? desires once again called into question.

The typical long-distance college relationship is stereotyped by a faithful freshman staying true to his or her high school sweetheart of many years. While this is accurate in many cases, it certainly should not be used to belittle the situation. Distance dating is painful, confusing, and difficult. We come to college in the middle of a strong and healthy relationship, willing to give it a chance, not wanting to give up on something that works perfectly well. We live with our hearts in two places, unsure of what the right direction is. If families that go through military deployments and hard career commutes can cope, why can?t we?

It?s common knowledge some long-distance relationships last and some do not. It is admittedly easy to stand against them. It can be argued that college is our one time to be free, without commitments. This is when it is OK to be a little selfish, to dabble in different ideologies and experiences. No one wants to be stuck with their heart and mind somewhere else while something extraordinary is around them. No one wants to be in a semi-relationship, unable to even see each other, doomed to be lacking a very important factor during the best time of their life.

But still there are factors that cannot be ignored. Love is what it is. If you are in it, you can?t control it. That special someone is important to you, you love them, and there is nothing inherent within your relationship that means it does not work and you should not be together. You work wonderfully as a couple. If you give up on this, are you giving up on something that some people never get to experience? What if they?re ?the one?? There is nothing wrong with wanting to hear his/her voice during that weekly call. There is nothing wrong with being in love during college. We wonder if it?s worse to have one foot on campus and one where our significant other is, straddling the miles in-between, or to be miserably mourning your loss by yourself in a completely foreign environment. Perhaps a decision is postponed because of the fear of making the wrong choice.

I honestly cannot say which answer is correct. I have tried to present the good and bad of long-distance relationships, but I don?t think there is a right answer. It is up to the couple, and I don?t see how someone can feasibly force their emotions in one direction, essentially obliging themselves to stop loving someone. In my experience, a sincere phone call was enough for me until we could see each other over breaks. It was worth it for me, but not for my significant other. I put everything I could in it, but it simply wasn?t what he wanted. We dated up until the beginning of my sophomore year at Georgetown and still, I think it could have worked.

As hopeless as it sounds, it really just seems to be that there are no right answers. I cannot truly comprehend someone else?s emotions in the matter. My suggestion to those of us Hoyas still tangled in this dilemma is to do what makes you happy. If it works, just let it be. Some of us aren?t cut out for it and some are, as testified by those of us who make it.

We hear almost everywhere that love is enough, that their physical presence should not be the most important. I am one of those believers, but not everyone is. I maintain that if you are in this conflicting situation, it is simply your misfortune to be in it. Maybe it seems tough-hearted, but I believe it?s just something to be beared. It is what it is; get over it.

The choice doesn?t have to exist. I had two conflicting blessings occurring at once, but that doesn?t mean one had to be chosen over the other. That?s just life?it?s never ideal or fair. Why do we expect it to be in this period of our lives, in college? I came into college in the middle of a love story, and maybe that?s just my misfortune that it took place when it did. I simply could not force myself to stop liking someone or end something that was worth it, incredible.

Take time to enjoy college, but that does not necessitate that you end everything. If that person fits well with you, you should not feel compelled to strike them off just because of a little distance. Love is more powerful. And if college freedom is chosen over your relationship, know that that does not mean it is over forever. To revisit my first question, I think we college students can do it, too. There is no comprehensive reason why we cannot; I believe that powerfully in love. But, I will say that not everyone experiences college or long-distance love the same way.

Source: http://georgetownvoice.com/2013/02/20/phone-sex-can-get-you-off-but-it-can%E2%80%99t-get-you-in/

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Access Is as Access Does

President Obama is giving interviews to eight local TV news reporters to highlight the effect of the sequester on their cities, again snubbing the poor White House correspondents who are routinely denied access to the president, as Politico vividly chronicled earlier this week. And what are these lucky local news reporters doing with their precious access? Tweeting about Bo, the dog.

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Isn't this just terrible? Those reporters who actually have the chance to ask Obama tough questions are so obviously awed by the grandeur of the White House and the status that comes with it! Except, to be fair, we should look at what the White House press corps does with its access. The reporters outcry came when they were not allowed to interview Obama while he was golfing with Tiger Woods.?"It's not about golf," White House Correspondents Association president Ed Henry told?Politico's Dylan Byers.?It's about a picture of a golf game! As Henry said just a couple sentences earlier: "All we're asking for is a brief exception, quick access, a quick photo-op on the 18th green."?

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Politico's?Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen reported, "The president has shut down interviews with many of the White House reporters who know the most and ask the toughest questions." In not giving an interview to major newspaper reporters in years, Obama is avoiding "the reporters who are often most likely to ask tough, unpredictable questions." But as Slate's Dave Weigel pointed out, the White House press corps doesn't always ask great questions. Most questions, Wiegel writes, fit into three categories:?"How will you pass this?" "How do you respond to this?" and "Remember when you said this?" Allen asked George W. Bush about baseball and?American Idol in 2008.

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Even the reporter known for having the most presidential access of anyone, Bob Woodward, sometimes has trouble turning that access into timely reportage.?The New York Times topic page for Bob Woodward notes that he wrote four books about Bush's presidency, and "The first of those books wrote about Mr. Bush in glowing terms; the last treated him savagely. Critics say Mr. Woodward's works reflect his perceptions of who's on top at a given moment more than any deep analysis."?The "critics" the anonymous author refers to is Jill Abramson, who is now executive editor of the Times. In a September 2008 review of War Within, Abramson made this exact critique, noting, ?"Cynics will say that Woodward waited until the last book to fully criticize the president and his closest advisers because he no longer needs access to them."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/access-access-does-202940737.html

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Happy Birthday, Alan Rickman! An Appreciation Of Awesome

On February 21, 67 years ago, a man was born. This man was actor, an actor who could find the perfect way to deliver a line, even if it took twice the normal amount of time to recite it. An actor with a voice that would inspire a legion of imitations and launch thousands of [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/21/alan-rickman-birthday/

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Domenici acknowledges having son outside marriage

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Former Sen. Pete Domenici disclosed that he fathered a secret child in the 1970s with the 24-year-old daughter of one of his Senate colleagues ? a startling revelation for a politician with a reputation as an upstanding family man.

Domenici and Michelle Laxalt sent statements to the Albuquerque Journal that announced the relationship for the first time and identified their son as Nevada attorney Adam Paul Laxalt. They said they decided to go public with their decades-old secret because they believed someone was about to release the information in an attempt to smear Domenici.

"I deeply regret this and am very sorry for my behavior," Domenici, 80, said in his statement. "I hope New Mexicans will view that my accomplishments for my beloved state outweigh my personal transgression."

Domenici was the longest-serving senator in New Mexico history when he retired following the 2008 election after six terms. He was known for his unflagging support of the state's national laboratories and military installations, and he became a power broker for his work on the federal budget and energy policy.

Domenici voted for the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in 1998 after his affair with Monica Lewinsky, but his floor statement focused on the fact that Clinton had lied under oath, noting that the trial "has never been about the President's private sex acts, as tawdry as they have been."

But in the same speech, he cited the value of "truthfulness" and how it's the first pillar of good character.

Reached at his home in Washington on Wednesday, Domenici said he had nothing more to say. Domenici and his wife have been married more than 50 years and have eight children.

The scandal has all the elements of an inside-the-Beltway soap opera.

Michelle Laxalt is the daughter of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, himself a significant political figure in the 1970s and '80s as he served as Nevada governor and two terms in the Senate alongside Domenici.

Michelle Laxalt became a prominent lobbyist, Republican activist and television commentator after the affair. She said in the statement that she chose to raise her son as a single parent and that the two agreed that it would be a private matter.

"One night's mistake led to pregnancy more than 30 years ago," she said.

Laxalt's prominence in national politics occasionally put her in an odd position of publicly discussing the integrity of the man who is the father of her child.

In 2008, Domenici was reprimanded by the Senate ethics committee for his involvement in a scandal over the Bush administration's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

At the time, Laxalt defended Domenici's integrity on CNN, calling him an honorable man who was supporting "no fewer than eight children."

The website for Adam Laxalt's law firm said he is a former U.S. Navy officer and lawyer who served in Iraq. He also worked for then-Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and as a special assistant to an undersecretary of state, according to the website.

Domenici is the latest in a long line of politicians who were forced to reveal secret children, from one-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards to former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just last week, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee acknowledged that he's the father of a 24-year-old woman after the two were seen communicating on Twitter during the State of the Union address.

Earlier this month, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and his family's black maid died in South Carolina. Essie Mae Washington-Williams didn't come forward and identify him as her father until after his death at age 100 in 2003.

Domenici said he was sorry that he caused hurt and disappointment for his wife and other family members. He said he disclosed the situation to his family several months ago.

"I have apologized as best as I can to my wife, and we have worked together to strengthen our relationship," Domenici said.

Domenici told the Journal his son participated in the drafting of his statement, but it was unclear if the two had a prior relationship.

The Laxalts did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

In New Mexico, political leaders said they were surprised, but they doubted the revelation would negatively impact the Domenici legacy.

"It is going to make his legacy a little bit more colorful because he is not exactly the kind of guy you expect that from," said Maurilio Vigil, a political science professor emeritus at Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M.

"It is surprising because he was always an upstanding type of fellow, a family man, and that was his image."

Edward Lujan, former chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said he had heard rumors about the child years ago, but "I didn't pay much attention. I didn't care. Those kinds of things honestly are between the families and has nothing to do with how he did his job."

"I don't think there was anything hypocritical about anything," Lujan said. "I admire him as much today as I did yesterday and the day before."

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez said her "thoughts and prayers are with the family.

"It's a difficult time," she said, "but Sen. Domenici's work is a very separate and distinct issue. I think he's done great things for the state and I don't think anyone will ever forget the hard work and all that he brought to New Mexico."

Others weren't as strong in their defense of Domenici and sizing up how the revelations would affect this legacy.

"I'll leave that for historians and other people to judge," said former Gov. Toney Anaya, a Democrat who ran a close race against Domenici in 1978.

___

Associated Press writer Russell Contreras contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/domenici-acknowledges-having-son-outside-marriage-135116005.html

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Video: CEO Braces for Sequester

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US ready to strike back on China cyberattacks

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is poised to spell out specific trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

According to officials familiar with the plans, the White House is eyeing fines, penalties and other trade restrictions as initial, more-aggressive steps the U.S. would take in response to what top officials say has been an unrelenting campaign of cyberstealing linked to the Chinese government. The new strategy is to be released Wednesday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the threatened action.

The White House plans come after a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm released a torrent of details Monday that tied a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. After analyzing breaches that compromised more than 140 companies, Mandiant has concluded that they can be linked People's Liberation Army's Unit 61398.

Military experts believe the unit is part of the People's Liberation Army's cyber-command, which is under the direct authority of the General Staff Department, China's version of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As such, its activities would be likely to be authorized at the highest levels of China's military.

The release of Mandiant's report, complete with details on three of the alleged hackers and photographs of one of the military unit's buildings in Shanghai, makes public what U.S. authorities have said less publicly for years. But it also increases the pressure on the U.S. to take more forceful action against the Chinese for what experts say has been years of systematic espionage.

"If the Chinese government flew planes into our airspace, our planes would escort them away. If it happened two, three or four times, the president would be on the phone and there would be threats of retaliation," said former FBI executive assistant director Shawn Henry. "This is happening thousands of times a day. There needs to be some definition of where the red line is and what the repercussions would be."

Henry, now president of the security firm CrowdStrike, said that rather than tell companies to increase their cybersecurity the government needs to focus more on how to deter the hackers and the nations that are backing them.

James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that in the past year the White House has been taking a serious look at responding to China, adding that "this will be the year they will put more pressure on, even while realizing it will be hard for the Chinese to change. There's not an on-off switch."

The Chinese government, meanwhile, has denied involvement in the cyber-attacks tracked by Mandiant. Instead, the Foreign Ministry said that China, too, is a victim of hacking, some of it traced to the U.S. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei cited a report by an agency under the Ministry of Information Technology and Industry that said in 2012 alone that foreign hackers used viruses and other malicious software to seize control of 1,400 computers in China and 38,000 websites.

"Among the above attacks, those from the U.S. numbered the most," Hong said at a daily media briefing, lodging the most specific allegations the Chinese government has made about foreign hacking.

Cybersecurity experts say U.S. authorities do not conduct similar attacks or steal data from Chinese companies, but acknowledge that intelligence agencies routinely spy on other countries.

China is clearly a target of interest, said Lewis, noting that the U.S. would be interested in Beijing's military policies, such as any plans for action against Taiwan or Japan.

In its report, Mandiant said it traced the hacking back to a neighborhood in the outskirts of Shanghai that includes a white 12-story office building run by the PLA's Unit 61398.

Mandiant said there are only two viable conclusions about the involvement of the Chinese military in the cyberattacks: Either Unit 61398 is responsible for the persistent attacks or they are being done by a secret organization of Chinese speakers with direct access to the Shanghai telecommunications infrastructure who are engaged in a multi-year espionage campaign being run right outside the military unit's gates.

"In a state that rigorously monitors Internet use, it is highly unlikely that the Chinese government is unaware of an attack group that operates from the Pudong New Area of Shanghai," the Mandiant report said, concluding that the only way the group could function is with the "full knowledge and cooperation" of the Beijing government.

The unit "has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations," Mandiant wrote. A terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes. The new iPhone 5, for example, has 16 gigabytes of space, while the more expensive iPads have as much as 64 gigabytes of space. The U.S. Library of Congress' 2006-2010 Twitter archive of about 170 billion tweets totals 133.2 terabytes.

"At some point we do have to call the Chinese out on this," said Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush and now chairman of the Chertoff Group, a global security firm. "Simply rolling over and averting our eyes, I don't think is a long-term strategy."

Richard Bejtlich, the chief security officer at Mandiant, said the company decided to make its report public in part to help send a message to both the Chinese and U.S. governments.

"At the government level, I see this as a tool that they can use to have discussions with the Chinese, with allies, with others who are concerned about this problem and have an open dialogue without having to worry about sensitivities around disclosing classified information," Bejtlich said. "This problem is overclassified."

He said the release of an unclassified report that provides detailed evidence will allow authorities to have an open discussion about what to do.

Mandiant's report is filled with high-tech details and juicy nuggets that led to its conclusion, including the code names of some of the hackers, like Ugly Gorilla, Dota and SuperHard, and that Dota appears to be a fan of Harry Potter because references to the book and movie character appear as answers to his computer security questions.

The White House would not comment on the report expected Wednesday.

"We have repeatedly raised our concerns at the highest levels about cybertheft with senior Chinese officials, including in the military, and we will continue to do so," said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council. "The United States and China are among the world's largest cyber actors, and it is vital that we continue a sustained, meaningful dialogue and work together to develop an understanding of acceptable behavior in cyberspace."

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen, Gillian Wong, Charles Hutzler and Joe McDonald contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-ready-strike-back-china-cyberattacks-224303045--finance.html

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