Torch troubles on the Thames

The Olympic torch just can’t get a break. After weathering demonstrations in Athens and Istanbul, the globe-trotting torch relay made it all the way to London yesterday, only to be met with a new round of protests. According to The Times, thousands of demonstrators crowded the central London relay route, and several protestors were restrained by police for attempting to grab the torch. Two were even detained for rushing the runner bearing the Olympic flame and “”attempting to put out the torch with fire extinguishers.”” More than 2,000 police were deployed along the relay route, and the torch itself is surrounded by a Chinese police escort at all times. The irony is all too clear. As the torch continues to travel through nations that protect dissent and freedom of expression, we hope protestors will continue to call attention to China’s own political shortcomings.

Phishers’ new catch

It’s easy to recognize most fraudulent e-mail messages. Whether riddled with spelling errors, WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS or proposing a business partnership in Nigeria that seems too good to be true, spam makes itself eminently obvious. That’s due to the economics of the junk-messaging world: Because it costs next to nothing to send huge volumes of spam, messages can be annoying, intrusive and stupid and still turn a profit. Yet recently, spammers have grown more sly. One of the more lucrative online rackets is “”phishing”” schemes, in which spammers impersonate banks, businesses or Web sites in order to steal personal information like account numbers and passwords. Unfortunately, the academy is the latest group to take the bait. As the Chronicle of Higher Education reported yesterday, over the past several weeks, colleges and universities across the United States – including the UA – have been targeted by a spate of phishing attempts designed to gather login information and passwords for university e-mail accounts. The attacks have come at a particularly bad time for the UA, as students revise their passwords for the new UA NetID policy. So watch your e-mail with extra care – don’t get reeled in by a phisher.

Lame ducks in a row

Russian president Vladimir Putin George W. Bush met face-to-face for the last time yesterday, ending the official friendship between the two that began when Bush “”looked the man in the eye”” and “”was able to get a sense of his soul”” back in 2001. Although the summit was awash with warm fuzzies, Bush and Putin still disagreed on several significant issues. The United States’ proposed missile defense system, which would involve building radar tracking sites in the Czech Republic as well as interceptors in Poland, was met with chilly opposition by the Russian president. While Bush attributed the disagreement to lingering Cold War paranoia, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s aimed at preventing attacks from Iran. Given the U.S.’s unilateral actions in Iraq, which were strongly opposed by Putin, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the U.S. might choose to muck around in Iran, too – and given Russia’s complicated relationship with the nation, it’s clear that Russia does not want to aid the U.S. in aggressive action toward its neighbor. Even with the unfortunate stalemate, relations between Bush and Putin seemed cordial, with Putin assuring the president that “”We have been able to see you’re a brilliant dancer.”” Hey, maybe with the extra time off the two can work it out – in the meantime, they’re leaving the diplomatic heavy lifting to their successors.