Daily Archives: December 20, 2014

Staples: Breach may have affected 1.16 million customers’ cards

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Staples believes that point-of-sale systems at 115 Staples locations were infected with malware that thieves may have used to steal customers’ names, payment card numbers, expiration dates and card verification codes, Staples said on Friday. At all but two of those stores, the malware would have had access to customer data for purchases made between August 10 and September 16 of this year. At the remaining two stores, the malware was active from July 20 through September 16

via Staples: Breach may have affected 1.16 million customers' cards – Fortune.

The end of Democracy in NL

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The Netherlands is now officially moving towards becoming a banana republic. Foreign media hasn’t really seemed to catch on to this, but there’s a very important cabinets crisis happening in the Netherlands at the moment. A translated version for English people: An incredibly stupid law* was stopped in the senate by 3 brave PvdA** senators led by Guusje ter Horst (who’s husband is a doctor) who actually stood up for their priciples. Upon hearing this apparently surprise result, the VVD minister who submitted the law stamped her little feet and threatened to resign. Of course, that would have made the VVD leave their coalition with the PvdA, bringing the whole parliamant down and forcing re-elections on two parties that are doing badly in the polls (I wonder why?). Yes, Dutch politics is not only that petty, but also that silly.

Now the majority parliament, consisting of the PvdA and the VVD*** seems to have found a way to push the law through anyway if the law is resubmitted and stopped in the senate again. They will use something called an AMvB, which translates to a general directive.

If they do this, then what is the point of the senate at all? Or the whole democratic process. Shameful that Diederik Samson and Mark Rutte, the NL heads of the left and right parties and their cronies are both taking down the rule of law and democratic process together.

Fortunately the minority parties (called a constructive minority because they will every so often support the coalition in the senate) are having none of it and will hopefully stop something like this from going through somehow.

* allowing insurance companies to determine which health organisations their clients could use and be reimbursed for. The net effect of this is to give insurance companies huge leverage in a market they already have too much power in. They can determine prices, treatments or threaten (small and large) hospitals (eg) with no more customers.

** Partij van de Arbeid is a bit like the UK labour party. It is left leaning.

*** VVD is like the UK conservatives or US republicans – a very right leaning party

Dutch Summary in NRC