Bollox America

So did you enjoy your solo trip to see the 'temples' of Thailand?

US Government workers with a lust for money and sex could be potential insider threats to the government, according to the Obama administration.

The Obama administration has quietly implemented the Insider Threat Program to force federal employees to report their co-workers if they identify signs that they might harm the government's interests from within.

The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive warns on its website:

Insiders who seek to harm U.S. security interests normally are either long-term plants or they are people who have been lured to betray their nation for ideological reasons, a lust for money or sex, or through blackmail.

The administration's Insider Threat Program requires federal employees to report indicators of insider threat behavior among their own colleagues, in order to defend against potential spies and security leaks.

Obama created the program by executive order in October 2011. The program triggers investigations into federal employee conduct both in the office and online, where computer network monitoring systems patrol for suspicious user behavior.

The program requires federal workers to pay close attention to their colleagues' lifestyle patterns --- with odd working hours or unexplained travel indicators of suspicious activity.

Maine beer festival organizers are calling for changes in the laws that restrict their events after a shortage of volunteers as required by the state marred an international beer event in Portland over the weekend.

Entry to the Saturday evening session of The Festival, a Shelton Brothers event that drew brewers from around the world, was reportedly delayed for at least a half hour because not enough volunteers showed up to pour beer samples. For some bizarre reason the beer companies are not allowed to serve their own beer.

Festival organizer Dan Shelton criticized the state law restricting brewers from pouring their own samples during festivals, a regulation he blamed for unnecessarily driving up his need for volunteer pourers. He said he needed to have 80-plus volunteers, one at each booth, and wasn't sure how many he was short by when organizers realized they needed to scramble to add more:

This is not just us complaining. The brewers really wanted to serve their beers to the customers, and it really bothered them. That's how they create a personal connection with people, and that's what they came here for.

He also bristled about the fact that state regulators insisted that his festival censor beer labels from a Danish brewer that included an expletive.

Shelton also argued against a Maine law capping the amount of beer festival-goers can consume over a four-hour stretch at 48 ounces (2.5 UK pints). The minute limit is monitored by banning cash sales and using a ticketing system with restrictions on ticket issuing.