By Michelle Malkin -
Borrowed from Michelle Malkin - Thank you
More horrible news from the southern border. One of the officers who put his life on the line to protect our security and sovereignty has been shot and killed.
Four suspects are in custody.
USA Today reports:
A Border Patrol agent was shot and killed Tuesday night near Rio Rico after encountering several suspects, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Agent Brian Terry was killed just 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, north of Nogales. Four suspects are in custody and one is being pursued, according to a press release from Customs and Border Protection.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats continue to push the pro-amnesty DREAM Act and security-undermining environmental land grabs.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Computer Virus Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program By Two Years
By YAAKOV KATZ
Borrowed from Jerusalem Post - Thank you
Top German computer consultant tells 'Post' virus was as effective as military strike, a huge success; expert speculates IDF creator of virus.
The Stuxnet virus, which has attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and which Israel is suspected of creating, has set back the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program by two years, a top German computer consultant who was one of the first experts to analyze the program’s code told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“It will take two years for Iran to get back on track,” Langer said in a telephone interview from his office in Hamburg, Germany. “This was nearly as effective as a military strike, but even better since there are no fatalities and no full-blown war. From a military perspective, this was a huge success.”
Langer spoke to the Post amid news reports that the virus was still infecting Iran’s computer systems at its main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and its reactor at Bushehr.
Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, said that Iran had suspended work at its nuclear-field production facilities, likely a result of the Stuxnet virus.
According to Langer, Iran’s best move would be to throw out all of the computers that have been infected by the worm, which he said was the most “advanced and aggressive malware in history.” But, he said, even once all of the computers were thrown out, Iran would have to ensure that computers used by outside contractors were also clean of Stuxnet.
“It is extremely difficult to clean up installations from Stuxnet, and we know that Iran is no good in IT [information technology] security, and they are just beginning to learn what this all means,” he said. “Just to get their systems running again they have to get rid of the virus, and this will take time, and then they need to replace the equipment, and they have to rebuild the centrifuges at Natanz and possibly buy a new turbine for Bushehr.”
Widespread speculation has named Israel’s Military Intelligence Unit 8200, known for its advanced Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities, as the possible creator of the software, as well as the United States.
Langer said that in his opinion at least two countries – possibly Israel and the United States – were behind Stuxnet.
Israel has traditionally declined comment on its suspected involvement in the Stuxnet virus, but senior IDF officers recently confirmed that Iran had encountered significant technological difficulties with its centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility.
“We can say that it must have taken several years to develop, and we arrived at this conclusion through code analysis, since the code on the control systems is 15,000 lines of code, and this is a huge amount,” Langer said.
“This piece of evidence led us to conclude that this is not by a hacker,” he continued. “It had to be a country, and we can also conclude that even one nation-state would not have been able to do this on its own.”
Eric Byres, a computer security expert who runs a website called Tofino Security, which provides solutions for industrial companies with Stuxnet-related problems, told the Post on Tuesday that the number of Iranians visiting his site had jumped tremendously in recent weeks – a likely indication that the virus is still causing great disarray at Iranian nuclear facilities.
“What caught our attention was that last year we maybe had one or two people from Iran trying to access the secure areas on our site,” Byres said. “Iran was never on the map for us, and all of a sudden we are now getting massive numbers of people going to our website, and people who we can identify as being from Iran.”
Byres said that some people openly identified themselves as Iranian when asking for permission to log onto his website, while others were impersonating employees of industries with which he frequently works.
“There are a large number of people trying to access the secure areas directly from Iran and other people who are putting together fake identities,” he said. “We are talking about hundreds. It could be people who are curious about what is going on, but we are such a specialized site that it would only make sense that these are people who are involved in control systems.”
Borrowed from Jerusalem Post - Thank you
Top German computer consultant tells 'Post' virus was as effective as military strike, a huge success; expert speculates IDF creator of virus.
The Stuxnet virus, which has attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and which Israel is suspected of creating, has set back the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program by two years, a top German computer consultant who was one of the first experts to analyze the program’s code told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“It will take two years for Iran to get back on track,” Langer said in a telephone interview from his office in Hamburg, Germany. “This was nearly as effective as a military strike, but even better since there are no fatalities and no full-blown war. From a military perspective, this was a huge success.”
Langer spoke to the Post amid news reports that the virus was still infecting Iran’s computer systems at its main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and its reactor at Bushehr.
Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, said that Iran had suspended work at its nuclear-field production facilities, likely a result of the Stuxnet virus.
According to Langer, Iran’s best move would be to throw out all of the computers that have been infected by the worm, which he said was the most “advanced and aggressive malware in history.” But, he said, even once all of the computers were thrown out, Iran would have to ensure that computers used by outside contractors were also clean of Stuxnet.
“It is extremely difficult to clean up installations from Stuxnet, and we know that Iran is no good in IT [information technology] security, and they are just beginning to learn what this all means,” he said. “Just to get their systems running again they have to get rid of the virus, and this will take time, and then they need to replace the equipment, and they have to rebuild the centrifuges at Natanz and possibly buy a new turbine for Bushehr.”
Widespread speculation has named Israel’s Military Intelligence Unit 8200, known for its advanced Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities, as the possible creator of the software, as well as the United States.
Langer said that in his opinion at least two countries – possibly Israel and the United States – were behind Stuxnet.
Israel has traditionally declined comment on its suspected involvement in the Stuxnet virus, but senior IDF officers recently confirmed that Iran had encountered significant technological difficulties with its centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility.
“We can say that it must have taken several years to develop, and we arrived at this conclusion through code analysis, since the code on the control systems is 15,000 lines of code, and this is a huge amount,” Langer said.
“This piece of evidence led us to conclude that this is not by a hacker,” he continued. “It had to be a country, and we can also conclude that even one nation-state would not have been able to do this on its own.”
Eric Byres, a computer security expert who runs a website called Tofino Security, which provides solutions for industrial companies with Stuxnet-related problems, told the Post on Tuesday that the number of Iranians visiting his site had jumped tremendously in recent weeks – a likely indication that the virus is still causing great disarray at Iranian nuclear facilities.
“What caught our attention was that last year we maybe had one or two people from Iran trying to access the secure areas on our site,” Byres said. “Iran was never on the map for us, and all of a sudden we are now getting massive numbers of people going to our website, and people who we can identify as being from Iran.”
Byres said that some people openly identified themselves as Iranian when asking for permission to log onto his website, while others were impersonating employees of industries with which he frequently works.
“There are a large number of people trying to access the secure areas directly from Iran and other people who are putting together fake identities,” he said. “We are talking about hundreds. It could be people who are curious about what is going on, but we are such a specialized site that it would only make sense that these are people who are involved in control systems.”
Monday, December 13, 2010
General Says Islam is America's Greatest Threat - Former Delta Force Leader Speaks Out
Borrowed by Gannett - Thank you
OWEGO -- Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin's first words to an audience of about 300 on Friday set the tone for the three-part lecture on current events and military history he will give this weekend at the Owego Treadway Inn.
"Do we have any Muslims in here?" he asked. "Who's in here to cause trouble?"
Boykin's talk on Friday was the first of his three-part discussion, "America and the Greatest Threat of our Time." His lecture will continue with the second and third installments today at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the Owego Treadway Inn.
"I believe today we face as great a threat as we faced in 1776," Boykin said. "The situation in America is much far more serious than most Americans realize, and there's no longer any excuse for not knowing."
That threat, he said, is Islam.
"You need to remember one thing from tonight's presentation," Boykin told the audience. "Their objective is to replace our Constitution with Sharia Law."
Boykin spent 36 years in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant general in 2007. He was the U.S. undersecretary of defense for intelligence during part of the George W. Bush administration.
Boykin also was an original member of the Army's elite special operations unit, Delta Force. He either commanded or served on Delta Force missions in Iran, Grenada, Columbia and Somalia.
He was the Army's mission commander during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, depicted in the movie "Black Hawk Down."
He said his experiences on these missions have led him to believe that Islam poses a threat to America.
"You need to understand that this is a war of ideology -- it's not a war of Islam versus Christianity," Boykin said. "This is a war of Islam against everybody that is not submitted to Allah. Now because most of the world is Christian, it falls out that most of the people who are under persecution, or the targets of Islam, are Christians."
Boykin said the way to solve what he considers the greatest threat of our times is to change the religious belief of Muslims.
"I have no resentment, no animosity towards them because I know that they're living under a hall of darkness," Boykin said, "and I know that the ultimate resolution to this is to take the gospel to them, to bring light to them."
We Freed Kuwait So They Can Act Like Nazi's
Borrowed from The Associated Press - Thank you
Kuwait shuts down al-Jazeera for covering opposition protest meeting
The Arabic TV station is barred from Kuwait after broadcasting footage of a meeting protesting about a government crackdown
Saad al-Saedi, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Kuwait, at the network's offices before the authorities shut the station down. Photograph: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images
Kuwait has shut the offices of al-Jazeera in the country and withdrawn its accreditation after it broadcast news of an opposition National Assembly member in defiance of government warnings. The network, whose headquarters is in Qatar, says Kuwait accused it of meddling in the country's internal affairs. Its reporters are also barred from working in the country. Kuwait said the move was its response to al-Jazeera's defiance of warnings not to cover recent political developments in the country. Last week it broadcast footage of police beating opposition assembly members and their supporters at a meeting to discuss a government crackdown on freedoms. The station says it will continue to cover news in Kuwait.
We're Back - Judge - Obama-Care Unconstitutional
By Matthew Boyle - The Daily Caller - Thank you
A federal judge in Virginia has determined that the part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul that requires all Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson deemed that part of the law unconstitutional in the first part of what is sure to be a case that will end up in the Supreme Court. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli led the fight in his state.
Hudson said the part of the law that requires individuals to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional because it “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.”
A district court in Florida is expected to hear oral arguments on Thursday for a 21-state lawsuit that also challenges the law’s requirements for individuals. The Florida case is expected to end up in the Supreme Court as well.
On October 7, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that the health care reform was constitutional. The judge agreed with the Obama administrations assertions that people who don’t need health insurance should be required to purchase it to make sure the pool of insured persons was a balance between healthy people and sick people, allowing companies to better comply with the new regulations.
Obama's Losing Support; Romney Would Beat Him
By Steven Thomma
Borrowed from McClatchy Newspapers Thank you
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of his presidency, so low that he'd lose the White House to Republican Mitt Romney if the election were held today, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.
The biggest reason for Obama's fall: a sharp drop in approval among Democrats and liberals, apparently unhappy with his moves toward the center since he led the party to landslide losses in November's midterm elections. At the same time, he's gained nothing among independents.
"He's having the worst of both worlds right now," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York, which conducted the national survey.
"As he moves to the center, he's not picking up support among independents and he's having some fall-off among his base. If his strategy is to gain independents and keep the Democrats in tow, it isn't working so far."
The poll was taken from Dec. 2 through Wednesday, as the president proposed a two-year freeze on federal civilian workers' pay and cut a deal with congressional Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts — even those for the wealthy, which he'd opposed.
Overall, just 42 percent of registered voters approve of how he's doing his job, while 50 percent disapprove.
Obama's standing among Democrats dropped from a month ago, with his approval rating falling to 74 percent from 83 percent, and his disapproval rating almost doubling, from 11 percent to 21 percent.
Among liberals, his approval rating dropped from 78 percent to 69 percent and his disapproval rating jumped from 14 percent to 22 percent.
His position among independents remained virtually the same, with 39 percent approving and 52 percent disapproving. A month ago, it was 38-54.
The president's continued failure to rally independents could ruin his bid for re-election. A hypothetical 2012 matchup showed him getting the support of 44 percent of registered voters and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, getting 46 percent.
Obama now is running slightly ahead of Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, drawing 47 percent to Huckabee's 43 percent.
Both results were within the poll's 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
He'd easily defeat Republican former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, however. He'd get 52 percent of registered voters and she'd get 40 percent, if the election were held today.
The key in each matchup is independents.
Romney had the best advantage over the president among independents, preferred by 47-39 percent. Independents break for Obama over Huckabee by 42-40 percent. Palin fares much worse among independents. They favor the president over her by 52-35 percent.
"In head-to-head matchups, it's the independents who seem to be shaping the early discussion," Miringoff said. "We have a lot of polarization. And the middle is in its classic position of being the swing vote."
There was one sign that Obama's effort to "triangulate" by centering himself against both parties on the tax cuts issue may work; he ripped Republicans for favoring the rich and the Democrats for criticizing his deal to go along.
The poll found that voters are inclined to blame congressional Democrats and Republicans more than the president if the deal to extend tax reductions falls apart and taxes go up on Jan. 1.
On issues, registered voters lean in another direction, with 47 percent saying the top priority for the new Congress should be to cut the federal budget deficit and 22 percent saying it should be to cut taxes. Another 28 percent said that maintaining services and benefits should be the top priority.
They also think the people at WikiLeaks who revealed classified U.S. cables should be prosecuted rather than protected by the First Amendment, by 59-31 percent.
Borrowed from McClatchy Newspapers Thank you
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of his presidency, so low that he'd lose the White House to Republican Mitt Romney if the election were held today, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.
The biggest reason for Obama's fall: a sharp drop in approval among Democrats and liberals, apparently unhappy with his moves toward the center since he led the party to landslide losses in November's midterm elections. At the same time, he's gained nothing among independents.
"He's having the worst of both worlds right now," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York, which conducted the national survey.
"As he moves to the center, he's not picking up support among independents and he's having some fall-off among his base. If his strategy is to gain independents and keep the Democrats in tow, it isn't working so far."
The poll was taken from Dec. 2 through Wednesday, as the president proposed a two-year freeze on federal civilian workers' pay and cut a deal with congressional Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts — even those for the wealthy, which he'd opposed.
Overall, just 42 percent of registered voters approve of how he's doing his job, while 50 percent disapprove.
Obama's standing among Democrats dropped from a month ago, with his approval rating falling to 74 percent from 83 percent, and his disapproval rating almost doubling, from 11 percent to 21 percent.
Among liberals, his approval rating dropped from 78 percent to 69 percent and his disapproval rating jumped from 14 percent to 22 percent.
His position among independents remained virtually the same, with 39 percent approving and 52 percent disapproving. A month ago, it was 38-54.
The president's continued failure to rally independents could ruin his bid for re-election. A hypothetical 2012 matchup showed him getting the support of 44 percent of registered voters and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, getting 46 percent.
Obama now is running slightly ahead of Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, drawing 47 percent to Huckabee's 43 percent.
Both results were within the poll's 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
He'd easily defeat Republican former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, however. He'd get 52 percent of registered voters and she'd get 40 percent, if the election were held today.
The key in each matchup is independents.
Romney had the best advantage over the president among independents, preferred by 47-39 percent. Independents break for Obama over Huckabee by 42-40 percent. Palin fares much worse among independents. They favor the president over her by 52-35 percent.
"In head-to-head matchups, it's the independents who seem to be shaping the early discussion," Miringoff said. "We have a lot of polarization. And the middle is in its classic position of being the swing vote."
There was one sign that Obama's effort to "triangulate" by centering himself against both parties on the tax cuts issue may work; he ripped Republicans for favoring the rich and the Democrats for criticizing his deal to go along.
The poll found that voters are inclined to blame congressional Democrats and Republicans more than the president if the deal to extend tax reductions falls apart and taxes go up on Jan. 1.
On issues, registered voters lean in another direction, with 47 percent saying the top priority for the new Congress should be to cut the federal budget deficit and 22 percent saying it should be to cut taxes. Another 28 percent said that maintaining services and benefits should be the top priority.
They also think the people at WikiLeaks who revealed classified U.S. cables should be prosecuted rather than protected by the First Amendment, by 59-31 percent.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Obama Disrespected John Boehner
By JAKE SHERMAN
Borrowed from Politico - Thank you
John Boehner thinks President Barack Obama is engaging, smart and brilliant but also remains smarted by the president accusing him of taking taxpayers hostage to secure a tax break for the rich.
In an interview with Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” for broadcast Sunday night on CBS, Boehner said Obama showed him “disrespect” by calling him a hostage-taker.
“Excuse me, Mr. President I thought the election was over,” Boehner said, according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO. “You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”
The relationship between the president and the incoming House speaker was set to be the focal point of the Sunday night piece, the most recent foray by Boehner into prime-time news.
Their most recent example of working together bore fruits for the GOP. The deal Republicans secured on the Bush-era tax cuts, which also extend unemployment insurance, has the GOP giddy. Boehner said he found “common ground” with Democrats, but said he rejects using the word “compromise.”
Boehner’s kind words about the president also come with a caveat: the two see the world very differently.
“I think he's engaging,” Boehner said in the taped piece. “Certainly smart. Brilliant. But— you know, we come from different backgrounds. And I think our view of the economy— is also very different.”
Another place they may find common-ground: the golf course. The two are avid players, except Boehner is said to be a prolific golfer, while Obama may be closer to a duffer. The pair have spoken about playing golf several times, but it has never happened. The Ohio Republican is holding out hope.
“Listen, playing golf with someone is a great way to get to know someone,” Boehner said. “You start trying to hit that little white ball, you can’t be somebody that you’re not, because all of you shows up."
Hillary You're So Smart - Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: Sara A. Carter - National security correspondent
"Undersecretary Burns visited Damascus on February 17 and stressed U.S. concerns about weapons transfers to Hezbollah directly with Syrian President Bashar Asad, who bluntly stated that he knew of no new weapons systems going to Hezbollah," the cable written this past February states. "In light of disturbing and weighty evidence to the contrary -- that Syria currently provides Hezbollah with advanced ballistic missiles and other weaponry -- we want France, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar to make a renewed push to echo our concerns with Syria. ..." the cable said.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2010/12/hezbollah-received-ballistic-missiles-syria-clinton-warned#ixzz17vPPnt00
They're Here! - Russian Missiles Delivered to Venezuela - Are You Listening?
Borrowed from Washington Post - Thank you
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -
Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez's stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons.
The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia's pro-American government or Mexican drug cartels, concerns expressed in U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and first reported in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
It had been unclear how many of the Russian SA-24 missiles were delivered to Venezuela, though the transfer itself was not secret. Chavez showed off a few dozen at a military parade in April 2009, saying they could "deter whatever aerial aggression against our country." A high-level Russian delegation told American officials in Washington in July of that year that 100 of the missiles had been delivered in the first quarter of 2009.
Then earlier this year, Russia reported to the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms, which records the transnational sale of weaponry, that the deal totaled 1,800 missiles.
The U.N. registry did not reveal the model of the delivered weaponry. But the American commander for military forces in Latin America, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, publicly expressed concern this year that Venezuela was purchasing as many as 2,400 of the missiles, also called the IGLA-S.
Matt Schroeder, a missile expert at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said the missiles are among the most sophisticated in the world and can down aircraft from 19,000 feet.
"It's the largest recorded transfer in the U.N. arms registry database in five years, at least. There's no state in Latin America of greater concern regarding leakage that has purchased so many missiles," he said, referring to reports of Venezuelan arms flowing to Colombian guerrillas.
The database also shows that from 2006 through 2008, Russia delivered to Venezuela 472 missiles and launching mechanisms, 44 attack helicopters and 24 combat aircraft, purchases funded by Venezuelan oil sales.
WikiLeaks - Clinton Worried About Mexican Drug Cartels Acquiring Russian-Venezuelan Missiles
The United States is worried about the possibility of Mexican drug cartels acquiring advanced Russian anti-aircraft missiles through Venezuela, according to a leaked cable.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised concerns to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that announced sales of advanced anti-aircraft arms to Venezuela -- including the Igla-S (SA-24) MANPADS, Russia’s most advanced and considered one of the most lethal portable air defense systems ever made -- could make their way into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, according to the released cable.
The U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The cable cites lax security of arms in Venezuela and their links with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The leftist guerilla group is suspected of having ties to drug cartels.
In the cable, sent Feb.14, 2009, the U.S. government asked its embassy to negotiate with Russia for the holding back of the sale of anti-aircraft equipment to Venezuela.
Confessions of a Teen-Age Drug Killer"In light of Venezuela’s relationship with the FARC, corruption within the Venezuelan military, and our assessment that Venezuela’s stockpile and security management practices do not meet international standards, we are concerned there is a significant risk that these weapons could be diverted to the FARC," the cables read.
"Further," it continues, "we fear that should these sophisticated systems fall into the hands of the FARC, they could possibly be sold or traded to drug organizations, including those in Mexico, which are actively seeking to acquire powerful and highly sophisticated weapons for use against government forces."
Bomb Attack in Sweden Last Night - The Cartoon Jihad Never Ends
When I last wrote in May about Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilk, targeted by the Religion of Perpetual Outrage for drawing Mohammed as a dog, I reminded you:
Remember: The Religion of Perpetual Outrage hates all infidels. The targeting of Mohammed cartoonists is a lingering pretext to demonstrate that centuries-old, Koran-inspired hatred. If it isn’t cartoons, it’s always something else. From fresco rage to book rage to film rage to beauty pageant rage to Koran-dropping rage to cartoon rage to Pope rage, to ceramic Mohammed bobbleheads, it never ends.
They never forget and they never forgive. Which is why we must never submit.
They’re at it again. Cartoon jihadists hit Stockholm yesterday in a suicide bombing. Two innocent bystanders were injured; the jihadist died of stomach wounds. All for the pretextual crime of “insulting” Islam.
…An editor at the Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra, Dan Skeppe, said the agency had received an e-mail minutes before the blasts; it was also addressed to Sweden’s security police, and included a sound recording addressed to “Sweden and the Swedish people.” Mr. Skeppe said the recording cited Swedish “silence” over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad drawn by the artist Lars Vilks, criticized Sweden’s 500-soldier military contingent in northern Afghanistan and threatened attacks on Swedes.
“Now, your children — daughters and sisters — will die like our brothers and sisters and children die,” it continued. “Our actions will speak for themselves. As long as you do not end your war against Islam and the insult against the prophet and your stupid support for that pig Vilks.”
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt tweeted: “Most worrying attempt at terrorist attack in crowded part of central Stockholm. Failed – but could have been truly catastrophic..”
WikiLeaks - Venezuela-Iran Nuclear Link Pure Bullshit
Borrowed from JTA - Thank you
Nuclear physicist quoted as saying Venezuela unable technologically to help Teheran develop atomic bomb.
CARACAS (JTA) --Rumors that Venezuela is helping Iran develop a nuclear bomb were ridiculed in a new cache of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
“A plain-spoken nuclear physicist [said] that those spreading rumors that Venezuela is helping third countries (i.e. Iran) develop atomic bombs are full of (expletive)... . Venezuela is currently unable to provide such assistance particularly as the Chavez administration “does not trust scientists.”
It has been speculated in the past that Iran’s interest in developing close ties with Venezuela is centered on its nuclear ambitions and desire to exploit Venezuela’s untapped uranium deposits. Last year, press reports citing an Israeli Military Foreign Affairs Ministry document claimed that Bolivia and Venezuela were supplying uranium to Iran.
The cable also noted that the country’s deteriorated scientific infrastructure, by its own admission, is not capable at present of determining whether or not uranium concentrations are high enough to exploit.
“...Even if the Venezuelan government used all Cuban scientists, exploring the commercially viable uranium deposits in Venezuela would require a large task-force and news of such an effort would leak quickly,” said the cable, dated June 2009.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have met nearly a dozen times and signed billions of dollars worth of economic agreements. Chavez has called Iran a “brother nation” to Venezuela.
Rumors of a nuclear partnership between the two allies “may burnish [Venezuela’s] revolutionary credentials” but have little basis in reality, the cable concluded.
The cable also scorned a nuclear cooperation agreement signed last year between Venezuela and Russia, in which Venezuela announced it would spend billions to buy nuclear fuel plants from Russia, as “political theater.”
“The agreement between Venezuela and Russia on nuclear cooperation has no real substance.”
Nuclear physicist quoted as saying Venezuela unable technologically to help Teheran develop atomic bomb.
CARACAS (JTA) --Rumors that Venezuela is helping Iran develop a nuclear bomb were ridiculed in a new cache of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
“A plain-spoken nuclear physicist [said] that those spreading rumors that Venezuela is helping third countries (i.e. Iran) develop atomic bombs are full of (expletive)... . Venezuela is currently unable to provide such assistance particularly as the Chavez administration “does not trust scientists.”
It has been speculated in the past that Iran’s interest in developing close ties with Venezuela is centered on its nuclear ambitions and desire to exploit Venezuela’s untapped uranium deposits. Last year, press reports citing an Israeli Military Foreign Affairs Ministry document claimed that Bolivia and Venezuela were supplying uranium to Iran.
The cable also noted that the country’s deteriorated scientific infrastructure, by its own admission, is not capable at present of determining whether or not uranium concentrations are high enough to exploit.
“...Even if the Venezuelan government used all Cuban scientists, exploring the commercially viable uranium deposits in Venezuela would require a large task-force and news of such an effort would leak quickly,” said the cable, dated June 2009.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have met nearly a dozen times and signed billions of dollars worth of economic agreements. Chavez has called Iran a “brother nation” to Venezuela.
Rumors of a nuclear partnership between the two allies “may burnish [Venezuela’s] revolutionary credentials” but have little basis in reality, the cable concluded.
The cable also scorned a nuclear cooperation agreement signed last year between Venezuela and Russia, in which Venezuela announced it would spend billions to buy nuclear fuel plants from Russia, as “political theater.”
“The agreement between Venezuela and Russia on nuclear cooperation has no real substance.”
Secret Elite Rules Derivative Trading - What, There's Gambling Going on Here!
The controversial, multitrillion-dollar corner of Wall Street known as the derivatives market is run by a nine-member cabal that meets in secret and hides the identities of its members, according to The New York Times. The men come from giant banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs and fight to keep other banks out of the market and information about prices and fees secret. They also exert powerful control over derivative clearinghouses, where many of the financial products will be traded after the financial reform law Congress passed earlier this year. But Republican lawmakers who receive campaign cash from the banks plan to fight the implementation of the law, thus allowing the elite group to stifle disclosure and competition. The Justice Department's antitrust division is investigating derivatives, and says the market looks like the Nasdaq of the 1990s. "When you limit participation in the governance of an entity to a few like-minded institutions or individuals who have an interest in keeping competitors out, you have the potential for bad things to happen. It’s antitrust 101," said Robert Litan, who led the Justice Department's Nasdaq investigation.
Iranian Missile Sites in Venezuela Pointing Right At You - Wake Up America
Outraged at lack of action by Obama Administration, Mack renews calls for Venezuela to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism
WASHINGTON – In a letter to his colleagues late yesterday, Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14), the Ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, renewed his calls for Venezuela to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism after news reports surfaced that Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil.
According to the November 25th edition of the German daily, Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Venezuelan missile officers. The article states that the previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly-operated military base in Venezuela and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles. If proven factual, this would be just the latest example of an increasingly dangerous partnership between Iran and Venezuela.
Mack said:
“What further proof does this Administration need that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is a dangerous threat to the freedom, stability and security of the entire hemisphere?
“Chavez has given aid and support to internationally-recognized terrorist organizations like the FARC, is collaborating closely with Iran in the gasoline and banking industries, and continues to trample on the rights and freedoms of the Venezuelan people. And now he is allowing Iran to place missiles on Venezuelan soil.
“Every day we allow Chavez to move closer to fulfilling his promises to Iran brings an enhanced degree of insecurity to the American people.”
Adding insult to the American people was the President’s recent joke on November 21st that he would divert Air Force One to Venezuela to see his buddy Hugo Chavez on his way home from Europe.
“With the Obama Administration’s eye off the ball, the new Congress will have no choice but to work diligently to bring to light the detrimental failures of the Administration’s policies and stress the need to designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Mack concluded.
WASHINGTON – In a letter to his colleagues late yesterday, Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14), the Ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, renewed his calls for Venezuela to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism after news reports surfaced that Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil.
According to the November 25th edition of the German daily, Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Venezuelan missile officers. The article states that the previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly-operated military base in Venezuela and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles. If proven factual, this would be just the latest example of an increasingly dangerous partnership between Iran and Venezuela.
Mack said:
“What further proof does this Administration need that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is a dangerous threat to the freedom, stability and security of the entire hemisphere?
“Chavez has given aid and support to internationally-recognized terrorist organizations like the FARC, is collaborating closely with Iran in the gasoline and banking industries, and continues to trample on the rights and freedoms of the Venezuelan people. And now he is allowing Iran to place missiles on Venezuelan soil.
“Every day we allow Chavez to move closer to fulfilling his promises to Iran brings an enhanced degree of insecurity to the American people.”
Adding insult to the American people was the President’s recent joke on November 21st that he would divert Air Force One to Venezuela to see his buddy Hugo Chavez on his way home from Europe.
“With the Obama Administration’s eye off the ball, the new Congress will have no choice but to work diligently to bring to light the detrimental failures of the Administration’s policies and stress the need to designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Mack concluded.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Word “Fuck” Was Shouted Twice in Our Congress Last Night – Have You Had Enough?
The outrageous conduct of our congress has hit a new low with the dropping of the f-word by two of its liberal lefties leading many in America to think, who needs this crap, hang them all at dawn. Of course the right was quiet and pious as a church mouse while, they from the left hung themselves for all America to see. They hated the tax compromise the President and GOP cooked up and showed it on the floor of the congress. The American people have had it with the conduct and leadership of the left and it will be a cold day in hell before they’re given control again by the American people. They blew it big time, and besides frightening everyone in the country, they’ve now sent our children and grandchildren so far into debt they may never be able to pay it back.
That was last night, and as the rage simmered overnight the President attempted to rally his only wild card of support in this national debate, William Jefferson Clinton, the country's first and only honorary white black-man. In a press conference orchestrated by Obama, Bill took to the podium and began endorsing the President's compromise. For what seemed like hours the former President went on and on about how wonderful this new compromise would be and how the far left needed to get on board. Well, as Bill was speaking Barry slipped out the side door of the White House press room and headed over to the gym for some hoops with Arne Duncan his six-foot-six Secretary of Education who has every American child in his cross-hairs for brainwashing.
Needless to say, our President continues to act as though this job of his is part time and leaves the real work to underlings who frankly could care less. Another two years of this cluster-f**k won’t be soon enough to dump this inexperienced and clueless Chief Executive, if the country lasts that long.
Who is Minimizing Christianity in a Predominately Christian America and Why?
By Nicholas Contompasis
How did you feel when our President announced to the world that “America is not a Christian nation?” How did you feel watching our very own President renouncing and minimizing your religion? How did you feel seeing your President acting like a whore on the world stage by hiking his skirt up and inviting the world in for a roll in the sack for their vote? How did the American identity get away from us so fast and so easily? Well, I think I have some answers for you, which may shock you.
Much of our self-conception is derived from the feedback we receive on a daily basis from the people around us, similar to looking into a mirror. I know you’ve heard this analogy before and it makes perfect sense in describing a nation’s perception of itself, also. The mirror we all as a nation constantly look into is our vast monolithic media that stretches around the globe informing and misinforming peoples and nations. We found this out this past week from the Middle East, where they see Western media as a direct threat to their customs and traditions. This threat undermines social mores and nationalistic feelings by the peoples that living within the borders of each nation.
Now, that’s the broad perspective of what this article is about. Let’s home in on America and Christianity specifically. Why is it that Christianity, which is followed by an overwhelming majority in America, is always under attack? There are statically seven Christian voices for every one shouting down the religion. So, why then is the one voice always heard over the rest? The reason may shock you and may even anger you, but after years of observing our media in America I see a pattern of minimizing Christianity. This minimizing seems to be in all areas of mass media from movies to the printed word and now the internet.
You should look at mass media as a water spigot that allows what you see and hear to flow into your home and mind. Who controls that spigot has the ultimate control over what you’re thinking and how you decide things that affect your life and your country. Now, this control has been used for years by tyrannical governments, and is still used by governments today. Some say that our very own government is attempting to control that spigot which has brought out many to protest such an action.
Unfortunately, many of our youth only see what has happened in our media over the past ten or twenty years, not long enough to make a judgment call on change. But, we older and wiser folk see the change and possibly the motive.
One should ask who then controls our media water spigot and why do they? Is it one person, or are there many? Why is Christianity being attacked and not say, Judaism or Hinduism? These are many questions that I’m sure you’ve asked yourselves but probably got distracted by babies crying or bill paying. Yet, the questions are still there and seem bigger and bigger every day as the majority of our media seems to be influencing us politically to the left away from our core values. Those core values are based in our religion, Christianity, and are now under a full frontal attack from our very own government and President.
It should be noted that the government and President's motives in controlling the media are different from those that actually control the water spigot. For the President seeks power and his control over you, the seemingly dumb mindless media junkies of our country. The people that actually controls our media does it for self preservation, after being nearly exterminated for simply being who they are. This group of people is not atheist, Christian, Muslim nor Buddhist. With this vast control they practice their own form of Net Neutrality and Fairness Doctrine all in one and have been doing it for years, if you haven’t noticed. Even though a minority of less then two percent they equalize their existence of a group seven times greater.
So, the next time you read, view or hear an anti-Christian symbol, comment, gesture or even the absence of a positive Christian symbol or comment you’ll now have a good idea who is controlling the spigot. This is the minimizing of Christianity in a predominately Christian America by a very small minority who can be seen and read daily on everything from a TV, to a laptop computer, cell phone and iPad.
How did you feel when our President announced to the world that “America is not a Christian nation?” How did you feel watching our very own President renouncing and minimizing your religion? How did you feel seeing your President acting like a whore on the world stage by hiking his skirt up and inviting the world in for a roll in the sack for their vote? How did the American identity get away from us so fast and so easily? Well, I think I have some answers for you, which may shock you.
Much of our self-conception is derived from the feedback we receive on a daily basis from the people around us, similar to looking into a mirror. I know you’ve heard this analogy before and it makes perfect sense in describing a nation’s perception of itself, also. The mirror we all as a nation constantly look into is our vast monolithic media that stretches around the globe informing and misinforming peoples and nations. We found this out this past week from the Middle East, where they see Western media as a direct threat to their customs and traditions. This threat undermines social mores and nationalistic feelings by the peoples that living within the borders of each nation.
Now, that’s the broad perspective of what this article is about. Let’s home in on America and Christianity specifically. Why is it that Christianity, which is followed by an overwhelming majority in America, is always under attack? There are statically seven Christian voices for every one shouting down the religion. So, why then is the one voice always heard over the rest? The reason may shock you and may even anger you, but after years of observing our media in America I see a pattern of minimizing Christianity. This minimizing seems to be in all areas of mass media from movies to the printed word and now the internet.
You should look at mass media as a water spigot that allows what you see and hear to flow into your home and mind. Who controls that spigot has the ultimate control over what you’re thinking and how you decide things that affect your life and your country. Now, this control has been used for years by tyrannical governments, and is still used by governments today. Some say that our very own government is attempting to control that spigot which has brought out many to protest such an action.
Unfortunately, many of our youth only see what has happened in our media over the past ten or twenty years, not long enough to make a judgment call on change. But, we older and wiser folk see the change and possibly the motive.
One should ask who then controls our media water spigot and why do they? Is it one person, or are there many? Why is Christianity being attacked and not say, Judaism or Hinduism? These are many questions that I’m sure you’ve asked yourselves but probably got distracted by babies crying or bill paying. Yet, the questions are still there and seem bigger and bigger every day as the majority of our media seems to be influencing us politically to the left away from our core values. Those core values are based in our religion, Christianity, and are now under a full frontal attack from our very own government and President.
It should be noted that the government and President's motives in controlling the media are different from those that actually control the water spigot. For the President seeks power and his control over you, the seemingly dumb mindless media junkies of our country. The people that actually controls our media does it for self preservation, after being nearly exterminated for simply being who they are. This group of people is not atheist, Christian, Muslim nor Buddhist. With this vast control they practice their own form of Net Neutrality and Fairness Doctrine all in one and have been doing it for years, if you haven’t noticed. Even though a minority of less then two percent they equalize their existence of a group seven times greater.
So, the next time you read, view or hear an anti-Christian symbol, comment, gesture or even the absence of a positive Christian symbol or comment you’ll now have a good idea who is controlling the spigot. This is the minimizing of Christianity in a predominately Christian America by a very small minority who can be seen and read daily on everything from a TV, to a laptop computer, cell phone and iPad.
How the Sick Hollywood Anti-Christian Anti-American Socialist's Never-ending Godless Attacks on Christmas Justify Their Actions
By AWR Hawkins
Borrowed from Big Hollywood - Thank you
Recently, the LA Times carried a column in which Steven Zeitchik tied the absence of new Christmas films to a lack of interest on the part of filmgoers. To bolster his point, he referenced “a sack full” of Christmas movies that came out in 2006 and drew lackluster audiences at best. The examples he provided included Danny DeVito’s comedy, “Deck the Halls,” and a horror movie, “Black Christmas.” (If these are the kind of examples on which he’s going to rest his case, he might as well cite 2005’s disastrous “Dukes of Hazard” as proof that movies marketed toward good ol’ boys are dead and gone too.)
It simply makes no sense to uncover low audience figures for films that ought never have been made and then use those figures to argue that making Christmas films is not business-smart.
Earth to Zeitchik: The audience for Christmas movies is alive and well, the problem is that Hollywood has essentially said bah humbug to the idea of making one. When they do make them, we go.
Do you need proof? Consider Christmas movies that have debuted since the awful 2006 season Zeitchik cited: 2007’s “Fred Claus” made $72 million domestically, 2008’s “Four Christmases” made $120 million domestically (another $44 million overseas), and 2009’s “Christmas Carol” made $137 million domestically (another $187 million worldwide).
And perhaps an even stronger indicator that there’s an ongoing audience for Christmas movies is the fact that “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” air multiple times every Christmas season. (Would television stations be carrying these same two movies time and again every Christmas were they not popular enough to attract advertisers, and thereby make money?)
It seems Zeitchik’s piece was really nothing more than a strained attempt to provide cover for Hollywood producers who are not in the mood to do a new film about Scrooge, because they’re too busy being a Grinch themselves.
While I concur that we don’t need any more Christmas horror films Mr Zeitchik, I cannot accept the bogus line that Hollywood has stopped making Christmas films because “Americans would rather come to theaters to see stories about pretty much anything other than Christmas.” And trying to convince Americans that there’s any truthfulness in that claim will prove about as hard as trying to keep Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrill), from singing in the Gimbel department store’s North Pole display:
“Buddy: I’m singing. I’m in a store, and I’m siiiiiingiiiiing! I’m in a store, and I’m siiiiiingiiiiing!
Gimbel’s Manager: HEY! There’s no singin’ in the North Pole!
Buddy: Yes there is!
Gimbel’s Manager: [There] is not!
Buddy: We sing all the time!
Gimbel’s Manager: [There] is not
Buddy: Especially when we build toys!”
We love Christmas as much as Buddy the Elf did, Mr. Zeitchik: Always have, always will.
So Hollywood producers can hiss at the idea of Christmas films all they want and journalistic flacks can reach back four whole years to cover for them when the more recent past doesn’t fit their left-wing narrative, but in the meantime we’ll be watching “Fred Claus,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and “A Christmas Carol.” (Of course we’ll be watching “Elf” too.)
Borrowed from Big Hollywood - Thank you
Recently, the LA Times carried a column in which Steven Zeitchik tied the absence of new Christmas films to a lack of interest on the part of filmgoers. To bolster his point, he referenced “a sack full” of Christmas movies that came out in 2006 and drew lackluster audiences at best. The examples he provided included Danny DeVito’s comedy, “Deck the Halls,” and a horror movie, “Black Christmas.” (If these are the kind of examples on which he’s going to rest his case, he might as well cite 2005’s disastrous “Dukes of Hazard” as proof that movies marketed toward good ol’ boys are dead and gone too.)
It simply makes no sense to uncover low audience figures for films that ought never have been made and then use those figures to argue that making Christmas films is not business-smart.
Earth to Zeitchik: The audience for Christmas movies is alive and well, the problem is that Hollywood has essentially said bah humbug to the idea of making one. When they do make them, we go.
Do you need proof? Consider Christmas movies that have debuted since the awful 2006 season Zeitchik cited: 2007’s “Fred Claus” made $72 million domestically, 2008’s “Four Christmases” made $120 million domestically (another $44 million overseas), and 2009’s “Christmas Carol” made $137 million domestically (another $187 million worldwide).
And perhaps an even stronger indicator that there’s an ongoing audience for Christmas movies is the fact that “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” air multiple times every Christmas season. (Would television stations be carrying these same two movies time and again every Christmas were they not popular enough to attract advertisers, and thereby make money?)
It seems Zeitchik’s piece was really nothing more than a strained attempt to provide cover for Hollywood producers who are not in the mood to do a new film about Scrooge, because they’re too busy being a Grinch themselves.
While I concur that we don’t need any more Christmas horror films Mr Zeitchik, I cannot accept the bogus line that Hollywood has stopped making Christmas films because “Americans would rather come to theaters to see stories about pretty much anything other than Christmas.” And trying to convince Americans that there’s any truthfulness in that claim will prove about as hard as trying to keep Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrill), from singing in the Gimbel department store’s North Pole display:
“Buddy: I’m singing. I’m in a store, and I’m siiiiiingiiiiing! I’m in a store, and I’m siiiiiingiiiiing!
Gimbel’s Manager: HEY! There’s no singin’ in the North Pole!
Buddy: Yes there is!
Gimbel’s Manager: [There] is not!
Buddy: We sing all the time!
Gimbel’s Manager: [There] is not
Buddy: Especially when we build toys!”
We love Christmas as much as Buddy the Elf did, Mr. Zeitchik: Always have, always will.
So Hollywood producers can hiss at the idea of Christmas films all they want and journalistic flacks can reach back four whole years to cover for them when the more recent past doesn’t fit their left-wing narrative, but in the meantime we’ll be watching “Fred Claus,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and “A Christmas Carol.” (Of course we’ll be watching “Elf” too.)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Majority of Americans Say They Were Better Off During the Bush Years
Borrowed from the New York Daily News - Thank you
Americans believe President Obama has delivered on his message of change. Unfortunately, the change is for the worse, according to a new poll.
More than 50% asked say they are worse off today than they were two years ago when the country's economic meltdown was in full swing. Just 35% say they are better off in the poll conducted by Bloomberg.
Also, 66% said the country was headed in the wrong direction.
Democrats are split, with 48% saying the U.S. is on the wrong track. More than 80% of Republicans feel the same way.
Not surprisingly, 50% of the respondents said unemployment and jobs were the most pressing issue facing the nation.
The unemployment rate is at 9.8% compared to 7.4% in December 2008.
A quarter of those asked blamed the country's trillion-dollar deficit and spending as the most alarming issue facing the U.S.
On the hot button topic of tax cuts, 33% want them extended for Americans earning less than $250,000 a year. A poll released Wednesday by Gallup suggested the opposite, with 66% in favor of giving all Americans the tax break.
"After looking at all the politicians and all the policies, they're not geared toward Americans. They're geared toward the corporations," Ken Cmar, a 45-year-old from Florida, told the Bloomberg poll.
"It's that trickle-down economic thing and I'm at the wrong end," he said.
The poll, conducted by the Iowa-based company Selzer & Co., surveyed 1,000 people and has a margin of error of 3.1%.
Taliban Bombings Hit Record High in November – 1,500 - Are They Trying to Tell Us Something?
Borrowed from Wired
By Spencer Ackerman
The bad news first: insurgents in Afghanistan have constructed more homemade bombs in the past six months than at any time during the nine-year-long war. But those bombs are killing and injuring fewer U.S. and allied forces. Most attempts at blowing up U.S. troops just fail.
According to new figures provided to Danger Room by the Pentagon’s anti-improvised explosive device task force, known as JIEDDO, the Taliban and its allies built 1507 homemade bombs just in November 2010 alone, an all-time high. That’s nearly 100 more than the 1415 they made the previous month — the reigning IED record in Afghanistan. July, August and September all saw monthly bomb totals of between 1374 and 1391; all of which were higher than June’s 1314. And their geographic distribution follows the pattern of violence in the war: 75 percent of them occurred in the southern provinces like Helmand and Kandahar where most of the surge troops are. The surge clearly hasn’t been able to stop the growth in the bomb rate.
But JIEDDO considers those figures to conceal a greater success. Most of the bombs didn’t do any damage. November’s high-water mark killed 24 U.S., NATO and Afghan troops and wounded 301 others. But in June, when there were almost 200 fewer bombings, 52 troops died and 297 were wounded.
Read more here http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/taliban-bombs-hit-new-high-1500-in-november-alone/?utm_source=co2hog
America - Open Your Eyes – Before You Lose Your Country, Freedom and Religions
By Nicholas Contompasis
This picture pretty well sums up the state of our country doesn’t it? A picture of a violent bogus religion patting down the forgiving peaceful religion of “turn the other cheek” should make every America sick to their stomachs. To think, that the reason why America is being put through these humiliating searches is because of the religion of the one doing the patting down screams of an insane policy that is both ludicrous and destructive. It also sends a huge message, to the religion that wants to overtake and dominate our way of life, that we are just that, ludicrous and self-destructive because of our inability to see the enemy even when they’re standing in front of us.
America, if you wait too long this now small minority of a tail will be wagging the dog. So….., what will you do then? Exterminate them, as they become more successful at blowing up tree lighting ceremonies and small cafes around the country? Won’t it be just a little too late? Won’t it?
The Line in the Sand - The Unfair UnAmerican Double Taxation of Estates
Borrowed from The Hill - Thank you
By Russell Berman
A provision in President Obama’s tax proposal to reinstate the estate tax next year is dividing some conservative groups, throwing another wrinkle into the contentious debate.
The proposal has enraged Democrats, who believe the estate tax should be significantly higher than Obama agreed to, but a parallel debate has erupted among conservatives, who have long pushed for the estate tax — which they refer to as the “death tax” — to be abolished completely.
The estate tax for 2010 is set at zero, but, under current law, will revert to 55 percent for individuals worth more than $1 million if Congress doesn’t act before the end of the year.
The Obama plan, a compromise struck with Senate Republicans, would set the estate tax in 2011 at 35 percent with exemptions beginning at $5 million for individuals and $10 million for families.
Read more here http://bit.ly/eBJeQo
By Russell Berman
A provision in President Obama’s tax proposal to reinstate the estate tax next year is dividing some conservative groups, throwing another wrinkle into the contentious debate.
The proposal has enraged Democrats, who believe the estate tax should be significantly higher than Obama agreed to, but a parallel debate has erupted among conservatives, who have long pushed for the estate tax — which they refer to as the “death tax” — to be abolished completely.
The estate tax for 2010 is set at zero, but, under current law, will revert to 55 percent for individuals worth more than $1 million if Congress doesn’t act before the end of the year.
The Obama plan, a compromise struck with Senate Republicans, would set the estate tax in 2011 at 35 percent with exemptions beginning at $5 million for individuals and $10 million for families.
Read more here http://bit.ly/eBJeQo
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in 'Operation Payback
Borrowed from ABC News - Thank you
The website and personal credit card information of former Gov. Sarah Palin were cyber-attacked today by Wikileaks supporters, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate tells ABC News in an email.
Hackers in London that the Palin team believe to be affiliated with “Operation Payback” – a group of supporters of Julian Assange and Wikileaks – have tried to shut down SarahPac and have disrupted Sarah and Todd Palin’s personal credit card accounts, SarahPAC aide Rebecca Mansour said.
“No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics,” Palin emailed ABC News. “This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts.”
Palin has criticized Wikileaks founder Assange, writing on Facebook that his “past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?...Assange is not a 'journalist' any more than the 'editor' of al-Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a 'journalist.’ He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."
Activist Gregg Housh told the New York Times "that 1,500 people were on online forums and chatrooms including Anonops.net, mounting mass and repeated 'denial of service' attacks on sites that have moved against Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks in recent days."
A cached page from Anonops.net shows Palin's site as a suggested target.
Read more here http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/12/exclusive-palin-under-cyber-attack-from-wikileaks-supporters-in-operation-payback.html
The website and personal credit card information of former Gov. Sarah Palin were cyber-attacked today by Wikileaks supporters, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate tells ABC News in an email.
Hackers in London that the Palin team believe to be affiliated with “Operation Payback” – a group of supporters of Julian Assange and Wikileaks – have tried to shut down SarahPac and have disrupted Sarah and Todd Palin’s personal credit card accounts, SarahPAC aide Rebecca Mansour said.
“No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics,” Palin emailed ABC News. “This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts.”
Palin has criticized Wikileaks founder Assange, writing on Facebook that his “past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?...Assange is not a 'journalist' any more than the 'editor' of al-Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a 'journalist.’ He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."
Activist Gregg Housh told the New York Times "that 1,500 people were on online forums and chatrooms including Anonops.net, mounting mass and repeated 'denial of service' attacks on sites that have moved against Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks in recent days."
A cached page from Anonops.net shows Palin's site as a suggested target.
Read more here http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/12/exclusive-palin-under-cyber-attack-from-wikileaks-supporters-in-operation-payback.html
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Last Word - Your Taxes Are Going Up January 1st - But There Is Hope
The Republican rank-in-file in Congress is not interested in seeing President Obama or his fellow Democrats re-elected in 2012. With a hoard of Tea Party led Republicans about to take their seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, current congressmen are feeling the ripples of the New American Revolution. There will be no prisoners and there will be no compromises.
In the past two days as the President and the leaders of the GOP announced a compromise over the Bush Tax Cuts, the reactions from conservative Republicans was deafening and from the Tea Party was down-right heart stopping. Without going into the details of the compromise it could be said that most from the right were saying “Why compromise?” Frankly, they’re right and should be angry at this same old Washington bullshit. Do they forget already how Obama-Care was passed just a year ago?
I don’t think they have, and I think the leaders are far better political strategists than this inexperienced President that’s been left alone since most of his advisors have exited. This just may be one of the biggest checkmates in American politics.
This is how I see it. By the GOP cornering the President into a compromise without a seal of approval by his lefty congress, the GOP has forced him into alienating them from the process. Yes, he is acting in good faith and expediting the process by cutting a deal with the GOP, but by doing so he has violated a golden rule in politics and it’s simply because of his inexperience. What’s amazing, well not so amazing after observing him for the past two years, is that he really thinks he knows what the hell he’s doing. That’s troubling on so many levels that I haven’t the time nor the energy to expand this article far beyond the dimensions of “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.” Nevertheless, I’ll abbreviate and get to the point.
The Bush Tax Cuts will expire on December 31st and on January 1st 2011 everyone’s taxes will go up because both pressures from the Right and the Left will kill any attempt to extend them. But, there is hope and that hope comes from the new congress that takes office in January led by the Tea Party movement. After a month of less take home pay, due to more taxes and increased health insurance premiums for every American, Obama and his Democrat Party will be on everyone’s shit-list. It will be a hole that the Democrat Party will need ten years to crawl out of if then. The entire fiasco will be blamed on them since they controlled both Houses and the White House. Shame on you, Democrat Party. You could have helped Americans during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but you didn’t, you raised their taxes.
The good news is that the GOP led house will introduce a bill reinstalling the Bush tax cuts and making them retroactive to January 1st forcing the President to sign it or be called the biggest idiot American politics has ever seen. This will leave the Tea Party led GOP heroes and it will seal the fate of our self-centered egotistical man-child of a President along with his fellow Democrats in 2012.
That’s right it was a trap and the man-child President fell into it. But what’s troubling, there’s that word again, if we can checkmate him so easily what are the Russians, Chinese, Iranians and North Koreans doing, playing titling winks? Don’t think so.
Sarah Palin’s Enemies List – Don’t Worry Sarah – I’ve Got Your Back!
By Nicholas Contompasis
This is a list of individuals and organizations that have been gunning for Sarah Palin as she positions herself as either a candidate for President or spiritual conservative voice of direction, in 2012. Imagine this mother of five being surrounded by these seventy foes, all hell bent on taking her down simply because she represents your values. So, I say get your swords folks our girl needs your help.
1. David Letterman
2. Wall Street Journal/Sudeep Reddy3. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R)
4. Levi Johnston
5. Shannyn Moore
6. Katie Couric
7. Nicolle Wallace
8. Steve Schmidt
9. Kate Gosselin
10. The Fed/Ben Bernanke
Scandal - Wondering Why So Many People Are On Food Stamps? - Colleges Directing Students to Welfare
Borrowed from the great Daily Caller - Thank you
Many American colleges and universities are steering their students toward a new source of “financial aid”: food stamps.
In Oregon, for instance, both Portland State and Pacific University encourage their students to apply for food stamps. “Many students are surprised to learn that they may be eligible for Food Stamps,” explains Portland State’s website.
This may be a little surprising given that food stamps were created to help struggling poor people, not heavily-subsidized and frequently-idle college kids. But have no fear, assures, Portland State: “Being a college student is hard work! Not just academically, but financially too.”
Far from framing the decision to apply for food stamps as a last resort, the university’s website makes taking government handouts sound like a moral imperative. “As tuition increases, many students struggle to make ends meet,” the site explains. “Sometimes grants and loans don’t stretch far enough and students are forced to work low-paying jobs. For some, this still is not enough to get by. Having to choose between buying groceries or a $125 textbook is a tough decision that many students have been forced to make at some point in their college careers. As if taking a full class load wasn’t stressful enough!”
On its website, Odessa College in Texas describes food stamps as a form of “financial assistance.” Bellingham Technical College in Washington State walks its students through the process of applying for food stamps step-by-step.
In Iowa, Des Moines State University lists food stamps information on its financial aid page, while Iowa State University recommends that students struggling with food costs go on the dole.
Read more here http://ht.ly/3lcOS
Monday, December 6, 2010
If You're a Women - You Better Read This New Survey on Those Crazy Muslims
By Meris Lutz
Reporting from Beirut — A majority of Muslims around the world welcome a significant role for Islam in their countries' political life, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center, but have mixed feelings toward militant religious groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to the survey, majorities in Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Nigeria would favor changing current laws to allow stoning as a punishment for adultery, hand amputation for theft and death for those who convert from Islam to another religion. About 85% of Pakistani Muslims said they would support a law segregating men and women in the workplace.
Muslims in Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria and Jordan were among the most enthusiastic, with more than three-quarters of poll respondents in those countries reporting positive views of Islam's influence in politics: either that Islam had a large role in politics, and that was a good thing, or that it played a small role, and that was bad.
Read more here
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-1206-muslim-poll-20101206,0,252922.story
See If Your Job is on Obama's Job Kill List
By BEN LIEBERMAN
Borrowed from the New York Post - Thank you
For all his talk of job creation, President Obama has targeted many occupations for extinction. Using un elected bureaucrats to implement a host of job-killing measures, his administration is generating piles of pink slips:
Oil: Even before the BP spill, Obama's Interior Department had cracked down on domestic drilling. In 2009, regulators allowed less than $1 billion in new oil and natural gas leases on federally controlled areas -- both onshore and offshore -- compared to $10 billion under President George W. Bush the year before.
Then, in response to the Gulf spill in April, Obama slowed down things even further, with a moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. That proved so unpopular that the administration officially ended it -- but it remains in force unofficially, as regulators bottle up drilling permits with red tape and delays, keeping workers idle. Most recently, Obama regulators placed the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts off limits to drilling.
Furious flotilla: Fisherman lined up their boats off Martha's Vineyard last summer to protest job-killing regulations.
Factories: Rising regulatory burdens, energy prices and health-care costs -- Obama has left no stone unturned in making American manufacturing globally less competitive and in forcing jobs overseas.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_jobs_hates_oXIsAxVOBCZmFNzSlF6uJJ
WikiLeaks - C.I.A. Spies on Climate Change Heads
Borrowed from New American - Thank you
A series of secret U.S. diplomatic cables released in recent days by the whistle-blower group WikiLeaks shows the American and European governments used monetary incentives, threats, and even espionage to advance their “climate” agenda at the COP15 global-warming summit in Copenhagen last year and beyond.
Only a fraction of the more than 250,000 cables have been released so far, and just a few of those were related to the “climate” negotiations last year. But even what little has come out thus far — analysts are calling it the “tip of the iceberg” — is raising eyebrows and generating more anti-U.S. sentiment around the globe. And the revelations certainly won’t help the COP16 “climate change” negotiations in Cancun right now, either.
It turns out that, at the behest of the Central Intelligence Agency and the American “intelligence” apparatus, the U.S. State Department sent out secret diplomatic cables seeking intelligence on United Nations bosses, foreign officials, and others. News reports claimed such an operation — basically using diplomats with immunity as spies — could be considered a violation of international law.
Read more here
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/foreign-policy/5398-wikileaks-reveals-us-a-eu-climate-bullying-bribery-espionage
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Please America - Watch This Video and Promise This Won't Happen To America
This could explain why President Obama got his Noble Prize alarmingly fast.
Because of WikiLeaks U.S. Embassies Are In Peril Around the World
By Guy Adams and Kim Sengupta
Battered by a scandal which seems to provide a fresh wave of embarrassment with each passing day, the US government is being forced to undertake a major reshuffle of the embassy staff, military personnel and intelligence operatives whose work has been laid bare by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
The Obama administration was yesterday facing a crisis in its diplomatic service, amid growing evidence that the ongoing publication of a tranche of supposedly-confidential communiqués will make normal work difficult, if not dangerous, for important State Department employees across the world.
A mere 1,100 of the roughly 250,000 secret documents obtained by the website have so far been published, leading to fears that the unhelpful revelations will continue for months to come, destabilizing US relations with almost all of its key allies and inflaming tensions with already-hostile governments in the Middle East and beyond. "In the short run, we're almost out of business," a senior US diplomat told the Reuters news agency, saying it could take five years to rebuild trust. "It is really, really bad. I cannot exaggerate it. In all honesty, nobody wants to talk to us ... Some people still have to, particularly (in) government but ... they are already asking us things like, 'Are you going to write about this?'"
Read more here http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/us-forced-to-shake-up-embassies-around-the-world-after-wikileaks-revelations-2152167.html
Who Killed - Khalifa bin Abdulla bin Hassan bin Ali al-Thani? – That’s Right Khalifa bin Abdulla bin Hassan bin Ali al-Thani?
The victim was identified as Khalifa bin Abdulla bin Hassan bin Ali al-Thani, said Sadoun al-Shalan, a member of the Anbar provincial council.
Thani's car rolled over in the desert south of the village of Nukhaib, about 200 km southwest of Anbar's capital, Ramadi.
"He was driving a GMC, hunting for prey when he hit some sort of a bump and the car started to roll over," Shalan said.
Thani was taken to hospital in Ramadi but had internal bleeding and was dead on arrival, Shalan said.
And if you believe this story, I've got some swampland in Florida I'd like to sell yeah!
WikiLeaks - Is Selling Stolen U.S. Government Information
One of the early members and co-founders of the tight-knit, secretive WikiLeaks operation charged today that the website and its co-founder, Julian Assange, sold intelligence information the site had obtained.
John Young, whose name was listed as the public face of WikiLeaks in the site's original domain registration, also alleged that the website is a lucrative business.
Young said he left the site in 2007 due to concerns over its finances and that WikiLeaks was engaged in the selling of documents.
Read more here
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=236345
If You Don’t Think We’re In Trouble Take a Look at This Chart
This chart says that it will take another 60 months for our unemployment rate to recover. That's five years from now - 2016. Can you wait that long? Will you and your family last that long?
By Nicholas Contompasis
This chart is a historic tracker that shows how many months it took our unemployment to recover from a recession. There are several recessions listed and represented by different colors as a line graph. The one long big black line is our current recession-depression. The bottom of the graph is months. The longer the unemplyment line reaching to the top line the more months it took our economy to recover. As you can see the black line is much deeper than the rest and is taking much longer to recover. One could say that the black line is not moving up at all and that this unemployment level could continue for many years to come. Any president that doesn’t address our economy and its unemployment rate is a fool and a buffoon who will not last long in office.
A Big Wow - State Department Tells College Students Talking About WikiLeaks Could Endanger Their Future - WOW - WOW
By Staff
Talking about WikiLeaks on Facebook or Twitter could endanger your job prospects, a State Department official warned students at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs this week.
An email from SIPA's Office of Career Services went out Tuesday afternoon with a caution from the official, an alumnus of the school. Students who will be applying for jobs in the federal government could jeopardize their prospects by posting links to WikiLeaks online, or even by discussing the leaked documents on social networking sites, the official was quoted as saying.
"[The alumnus] recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter," the Office of Career Services advised students. "Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government."
Read more here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/04/state-department-to-colum_n_792059.html
WikiLeaks - Again - Saudi Arabia a Cash Mechine for Muslim Terrorists
Borrowed from The Guardian - Thank you
By Declan Walsh
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba – but the Saudi government is reluctant to stem the flow of money, according to Hillary Clinton.
"More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups," says a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state. Her memo urged US diplomats to redouble their efforts to stop Gulf money reaching extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide," she said.
Three other Arab countries are listed as sources of militant money: Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The cables highlight an often ignored factor in the Pakistani and Afghan conflicts: that the violence is partly bankrolled by rich, conservative donors across the Arabian Sea whose governments do little to stop them.
Read more here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding
By Declan Walsh
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba – but the Saudi government is reluctant to stem the flow of money, according to Hillary Clinton.
"More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups," says a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state. Her memo urged US diplomats to redouble their efforts to stop Gulf money reaching extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide," she said.
Three other Arab countries are listed as sources of militant money: Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The cables highlight an often ignored factor in the Pakistani and Afghan conflicts: that the violence is partly bankrolled by rich, conservative donors across the Arabian Sea whose governments do little to stop them.
Read more here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding
Muslim Terrorist Kills Eight in Italy - I Bet You Didn't Hear About This One - Right?
Borrowed from the BBC - Thank you
Italian police have arrested a man after his car ploughed into a group of cyclists, killing eight of them.
The driver was overtaking on a two-lane road near Lamezia Terme in the southern region of Calabria when he hit the oncoming cyclists, officials said.
Four people were also injured in the collision, including the driver, who is a Moroccan national.
He is being held under police guard in hospital on suspicion of manslaughter, according to the Ansa news agency.
A police spokesman, who declined to give his name, told the Associated Press news agency that the driver had tested positive for marijuana.
Visibility and driving conditions were reportedly good at the time.
Ansa said the group of Sunday-morning cyclists was affiliated with a gym in Lamezia Terme.
Italian police have arrested a man after his car ploughed into a group of cyclists, killing eight of them.
The driver was overtaking on a two-lane road near Lamezia Terme in the southern region of Calabria when he hit the oncoming cyclists, officials said.
Four people were also injured in the collision, including the driver, who is a Moroccan national.
He is being held under police guard in hospital on suspicion of manslaughter, according to the Ansa news agency.
A police spokesman, who declined to give his name, told the Associated Press news agency that the driver had tested positive for marijuana.
Visibility and driving conditions were reportedly good at the time.
Ansa said the group of Sunday-morning cyclists was affiliated with a gym in Lamezia Terme.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
WikiLeaks – Obama and the Anti-American Gay Left
By Nicholas Contompasis
"Pfc. Manning is gay and there is some speculation the military's policy banning openly serving gays served as his motivation for leaking classified documents” – per Fox News November 29, 2010 - http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/29/who-pfc-bradley-manning.
Pfc. Bradley Manning is the gay man who downloaded hundreds of thousands of communiqués off military computers and handed them over to Julian Assange who represents WikiLeaks, the Internet site that hosts this stolen information for the world to see. At this point Pfc. Manning is under arrest and awaiting military trial in the D.C. area.
The obvious reaction of the government’s hesitation to abolishing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” needs no explanation since, if one angry gay soldier can do this much damage, what would thousands do? To go further, what other gay soldier is waiting in the tall grass to reveal additional military and diplomatic secrets that they’ve stolen? Time will tell.
In the article I published last Sunday before the release of the WikiLeaks State Department dump http://shutking.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-hasnt-our-government-stopped.html titled “Why Hasn’t Our Government Stopped WikiLeaks? Does Obama Hate America That Much?” I correctly predicted that Hillary Clinton would be the target and it would be the end of her political career. Subsequently, my prediction was proven correct since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton abruptly announced yesterday that she will no longer hold public office after her State Department job with the Obama Administration. Thus, Obama’s well timed leaks have destroyed his one viable opponent for a second term.
What is troubling with this development is that my theory that I laid out in my article connecting President Obama to WikiLeaks is proving correct. Furthermore, in recent days Fox News and other news agencies have quietly revealed that the one man at the center of these leaks is a far left gay activist seeking to destroy his country in a bitchy tantrum, because he isn’t getting his way.
This new development solidifies my belief that there is a connection between Pfc. Manning, WikiLeaks and White House operatives from the far left who are hellbent along with the President to destroy this country's standing in the world.
For all of you out there who are confused by this new, and I repeat new, phenomena called WikiLeaks, let me simplify it for you. Look at the use of WikiLeaks as the Left’s outlet of its rage over the successes of the Tea Party. Like little children who now know they have gone as far as they will ever go, they are now attempting, with the help of our President, to blow up our system through divulging the secrets that hold our country together. Yes, I hear you, you could be right, someone does need a spanking.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Meet the Most Dangerous Man in Cyberspace: The American Face of Wikileaks
Borrowed from Rolling Stone - Thank you
American hacker Jacob Appelbaum fights repressive regimes around the world. Now he's on the run from his own government
Blockfinder informs Appelbaum that there are 12,284 IP addresses allocated to Burma, all of them distributed by government-run Internet-service providers. In Burma, as in many countries outside the United States, Internet access runs through the state. Appelbaum taps some keys and attempts to connect to every computer system in Burma. Only 118 of them respond. "That means almost every network in Burma is blocked from the outside world," he says. "All but 118 of them."
These 118 unfiltered computer systems could only belong to organizations and people to whom the government grants unfettered Internet access: trusted politicians, the upper echelons of state-run corporations, intelligence agencies.
"Now this," Appelbaum says, "is the good part."
He selects one of the 118 networks at random and tries to enter it. A window pops up asking for a password. Appelbaum throws back his head and screams with laughter — a gleeful, almost manic trill. The network runs on a router made by Cisco Systems and is riddled with vulnerabilities. Hacking into it will be trivial.
It's impossible to know what's on the other side of the password. The prime minister's personal e-mail account? The network server of the secret police? The military junta's central command? Whatever it is, it could soon be at Appelbaum's fingertips.
So will he do it?
Read more here http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/17389/238944?RS_show_page=1
American hacker Jacob Appelbaum fights repressive regimes around the world. Now he's on the run from his own government
Blockfinder informs Appelbaum that there are 12,284 IP addresses allocated to Burma, all of them distributed by government-run Internet-service providers. In Burma, as in many countries outside the United States, Internet access runs through the state. Appelbaum taps some keys and attempts to connect to every computer system in Burma. Only 118 of them respond. "That means almost every network in Burma is blocked from the outside world," he says. "All but 118 of them."
These 118 unfiltered computer systems could only belong to organizations and people to whom the government grants unfettered Internet access: trusted politicians, the upper echelons of state-run corporations, intelligence agencies.
"Now this," Appelbaum says, "is the good part."
He selects one of the 118 networks at random and tries to enter it. A window pops up asking for a password. Appelbaum throws back his head and screams with laughter — a gleeful, almost manic trill. The network runs on a router made by Cisco Systems and is riddled with vulnerabilities. Hacking into it will be trivial.
It's impossible to know what's on the other side of the password. The prime minister's personal e-mail account? The network server of the secret police? The military junta's central command? Whatever it is, it could soon be at Appelbaum's fingertips.
So will he do it?
Read more here http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/17389/238944?RS_show_page=1
Obama – “I’d Rather Be Here in Afghanistan with You” – Bullshit – 6:44 A.M. Friday December 3rd 2010
By Nicholas Contompasis
Now the Eagle: Obama – “I’d Rather Be Here in Afghanistan with Yo...: "Obama – “I’d Rather Be Here in Afghanistan with You” – Bullshit – 6:44 A.M. Friday December 3rd 2010 The bullshit was piling higher and high..."
Now the Eagle: Obama – “I’d Rather Be Here in Afghanistan with Yo...: "Obama – “I’d Rather Be Here in Afghanistan with You” – Bullshit – 6:44 A.M. Friday December 3rd 2010 The bullshit was piling higher and high..."
Economy Needs To Create 235K Jobs A Month To Return To Pre-Depression Levels By End Of Obama Second Term - If There is One
by Tyler Durden
Borrowed from Zero Hedge - Thank you
When we last ran this number, the economy needed to create 232,400 jobs per month to get to the same unemployment rate as last seen in December 2007, just before the depression started, courtesy of today's massive disappointment we can now increase the creation requirement to 235,120. As a reminder this is the number of jobs per month that need to be created between December 2010 and November 2016, or the end of Obama's now improbable second term, for jobs to recover their losses when taking into account the natural growth of the labor force of 90,000 people per month. Also, when ignoring the demographic shift, or just accounting for the absolute number in jobs without accounting for the labor force growth which is so wrong only the BLS looks at that number, the breakeven has been pushed back from June 2013 to July 2013. Economic collapse you can finally believe in. And now, with the BLS' good graces, the government can promptly pass the jobless benefits extension, which is what this whole doctored data charade is all about.
Borrowed from Zero Hedge - Thank you
When we last ran this number, the economy needed to create 232,400 jobs per month to get to the same unemployment rate as last seen in December 2007, just before the depression started, courtesy of today's massive disappointment we can now increase the creation requirement to 235,120. As a reminder this is the number of jobs per month that need to be created between December 2010 and November 2016, or the end of Obama's now improbable second term, for jobs to recover their losses when taking into account the natural growth of the labor force of 90,000 people per month. Also, when ignoring the demographic shift, or just accounting for the absolute number in jobs without accounting for the labor force growth which is so wrong only the BLS looks at that number, the breakeven has been pushed back from June 2013 to July 2013. Economic collapse you can finally believe in. And now, with the BLS' good graces, the government can promptly pass the jobless benefits extension, which is what this whole doctored data charade is all about.
US Deploys 'Game-changer' Weapon to Afghanistan
by Michael Mathes
WASHINGTON (AFP) – It looks and acts like something best left in the hands of Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo," but this latest dream weapon is real -- and the US Army sees it becoming the Taliban's worst nightmare.
The Pentagon has rolled out prototypes of its first-ever programmable "smart" grenade launcher, a shoulder-fired weapon that uses microchipped ammunition to target and kill the enemy, even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.
After years of development, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, about the size of a regular rifle, has now been deployed to US units on the battlefields of Afghanistan, where the Army expects it to be a "game-changer" in its counterinsurgency operations.
Read more here http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmilitaryweaponsafghanistan
WASHINGTON (AFP) – It looks and acts like something best left in the hands of Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo," but this latest dream weapon is real -- and the US Army sees it becoming the Taliban's worst nightmare.
The Pentagon has rolled out prototypes of its first-ever programmable "smart" grenade launcher, a shoulder-fired weapon that uses microchipped ammunition to target and kill the enemy, even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.
After years of development, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, about the size of a regular rifle, has now been deployed to US units on the battlefields of Afghanistan, where the Army expects it to be a "game-changer" in its counterinsurgency operations.
Read more here http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmilitaryweaponsafghanistan
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wikileaks Strikes Again - US Embassy Cables Say Vladimir Putin was Aware of Killing in 2006 in Poisoning of Russian KGB Spy
By Luke Harding and Tom Parfitt
Borrowed from the Guardian - Thank you
Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of his assassination as he lay dying. Photograph: Natasja Weitsz/Getty Images
The widow of Alexander Litvinenko said that leaked US diplomatic cables vindicated her long-standing claim that Vladimir Putin had authorised her husband's murder.
In secret conversations with the French, the top US diplomat Daniel Fried said it was unlikely Putin was not aware of the operation to poison Litvinenko with polonium, "given Putin's attention to detail".
Fried also dismissed the idea that rogue criminal elements were to blame. The Russians were behaving with "increasing self-confidence to the point of arrogance", he added, in a classified cable revealed yesterday.
In a statement to the Guardian today, Marina Litvinenko said the cable – written two weeks after her husband's death in November 2006 – confirmed her assertion this was a Kremlin-authorised operation.
She said: "There is some satisfaction in seeing what we have all known to be true documented so officially, and I would add brutally by being so matter of fact in its description. It brings me a little closer to achieving truth and justice for my late husband.
"For years we have been trying to get the authorities in the west to view my husband's murder as a state-sponsored crime. Now it appears they knew it all along."
Read more here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/us-embassy-cables-itvinenko-putin
Borrowed from the Guardian - Thank you
Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of his assassination as he lay dying. Photograph: Natasja Weitsz/Getty Images
The widow of Alexander Litvinenko said that leaked US diplomatic cables vindicated her long-standing claim that Vladimir Putin had authorised her husband's murder.
In secret conversations with the French, the top US diplomat Daniel Fried said it was unlikely Putin was not aware of the operation to poison Litvinenko with polonium, "given Putin's attention to detail".
Fried also dismissed the idea that rogue criminal elements were to blame. The Russians were behaving with "increasing self-confidence to the point of arrogance", he added, in a classified cable revealed yesterday.
In a statement to the Guardian today, Marina Litvinenko said the cable – written two weeks after her husband's death in November 2006 – confirmed her assertion this was a Kremlin-authorised operation.
She said: "There is some satisfaction in seeing what we have all known to be true documented so officially, and I would add brutally by being so matter of fact in its description. It brings me a little closer to achieving truth and justice for my late husband.
"For years we have been trying to get the authorities in the west to view my husband's murder as a state-sponsored crime. Now it appears they knew it all along."
Read more here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/us-embassy-cables-itvinenko-putin
Spy Games - The Big Hunt for a Russian Spy and China's $3 Billion Attack on US War on Terror - Why Hillary is in Wazickistanispan - Whatever
By Bill Gertz
Borrowed from the Washington Times - Thank you
Gen. Hwang Eui-don, chief of the General Staff of the South Korean Army (right), patrols with soldiers along the fence of the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday.
Do you think Congress will pass cuts in spending and increase taxes to help reduce the federal deficit?
The National Security Agency (NSA) is conducting a counterintelligence probe at its Fort Meade, Md., headquarters in a top-secret hunt for a Russian agent, according to a former intelligence official close to the agency.
The former official said the probe grew out of the case of 10 Russian "illegals," or deep-cover spies, who were uncovered last summer and sent back to Moscow after the defection of Col. Alexander Poteyev, a former SVR foreign intelligence officer who reportedly fled to the U.S. shortly before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited here in June.
Col. Poteyev is believed to be the source who disclosed the U.S.-based agent network.
NSA counterintelligence officials suspect that members of the illegals network were used by Russia's SVR spy agency to communicate with one or more agents inside the agency, which conducts electronic intelligence gathering and code-breaking.
One sign that the probe is fairly advanced is that FBI counterintelligence agents are involved in the search.
"They are looking for one or more Russian spies that NSA is convinced reside at Fort Meade and possibly other DoD intel offices, like DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency]," the former official said. "NSA is convinced that at least one is at NSA."
Read much much more here http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/1/inside-the-ring-843880610/?page=1
Borrowed from the Washington Times - Thank you
Gen. Hwang Eui-don, chief of the General Staff of the South Korean Army (right), patrols with soldiers along the fence of the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday.
Do you think Congress will pass cuts in spending and increase taxes to help reduce the federal deficit?
The National Security Agency (NSA) is conducting a counterintelligence probe at its Fort Meade, Md., headquarters in a top-secret hunt for a Russian agent, according to a former intelligence official close to the agency.
The former official said the probe grew out of the case of 10 Russian "illegals," or deep-cover spies, who were uncovered last summer and sent back to Moscow after the defection of Col. Alexander Poteyev, a former SVR foreign intelligence officer who reportedly fled to the U.S. shortly before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited here in June.
Col. Poteyev is believed to be the source who disclosed the U.S.-based agent network.
NSA counterintelligence officials suspect that members of the illegals network were used by Russia's SVR spy agency to communicate with one or more agents inside the agency, which conducts electronic intelligence gathering and code-breaking.
One sign that the probe is fairly advanced is that FBI counterintelligence agents are involved in the search.
"They are looking for one or more Russian spies that NSA is convinced reside at Fort Meade and possibly other DoD intel offices, like DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency]," the former official said. "NSA is convinced that at least one is at NSA."
Read much much more here http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/1/inside-the-ring-843880610/?page=1
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Update - Are Iranian Hit Teams in America Now and Killing Jews?
By Nicholas Contompasis
Based on two recent highly publicized apparent Jewish assassinations in the United States, Iranian hit teams may be operating in our country. Last month’s killings of both Ronni Chasen of Hollywood, California and Russell Sneiderman of Atlanta, Georgia, have authorities scratching their heads as to why and who destroyed these two wonderful people. Neither had any known enemies, and both budding careers were taken down in professional hit man style leaving grieving relatives and friends asking why?
These random hits according to published reports seem to have similar characteristics that no one publicly has reported, up to now. In America when someone is bumped off for no apparent reason, that’s unusual. To go further, when two are taken down in the same professional style one must ask, what’s going on? Both of these people were from completely different industries and from opposite sides of the country. The industries they worked in have little or no history of violence which has fueled even more theories of these two tragedies.
Assassinations of high level politicians went out of style after “The Decade of Assassination,” the ‘60s. There was so much killing of Presidents and world leaders that it was apparent they called a truce and agreed not to bump each other off. That truce has held up even to today. Unfortunately, the truce left the rest of us as available targets to make a point or example.
It’s no secret that assassination is alive and well in Iran. Over the past two years Iran has experienced many assassinations of high level diplomats and scientists, preferably nuclear of course. Iran is of course pointing their finger at the U.S. and Israel for these assassinations. This leads one to speculate, if we are knocking off their guys what’s to stop them from doing the same over here, thus the connection to random assassinations in the U.S.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran is now under great pressure from both the world and from his own government over his nuclear program which is now being decimated by computer worms and assassinations of top level nuclear officials. This is today’s headline which illustrates his problems and explains why he would reciprocate on the West for his problems.
Hit men are a dime a dozen in Iran and in America, for them to send over hundreds would be easy, possible and probable. Remember Iranian hit men can hire American hit men to do their dirty work. The ease with which this could occur should scare every American and we should all be on watch for the nuances of hits around the country that make no sense.
Are Iranian hit teams in America and killing? I think so!
Update December 1, 2010 8:00 P.M. P.S.T.
Man fatally shoots self in Hollywood as cops serve search warrant in slaying of publicist Ronni Chasen http://lat.ms/hpKblR
New Update - Per Twitter just an hour after the suicide a neighbor said the man that killed himself was a three times loser who said he would never go back to jail alive. It was said that he was getting $10,000 soon.
Per crazy Randy Quaid movie star - They have since applied for refugee status on the grounds that they fear for their lives in the United States as numerous actors have died under mysterious circumstances committed by the "Hollywood star whackers".
Maybe he's not as crazy as he sounds.
New Update - December 6, 2010 - It looks like the guy that committed suicide wasn't the shooter. So my theory still holds. New Details in the Murder Case of Ronnie Chasen http://goo.gl/fb/SMRdD
Based on two recent highly publicized apparent Jewish assassinations in the United States, Iranian hit teams may be operating in our country. Last month’s killings of both Ronni Chasen of Hollywood, California and Russell Sneiderman of Atlanta, Georgia, have authorities scratching their heads as to why and who destroyed these two wonderful people. Neither had any known enemies, and both budding careers were taken down in professional hit man style leaving grieving relatives and friends asking why?
These random hits according to published reports seem to have similar characteristics that no one publicly has reported, up to now. In America when someone is bumped off for no apparent reason, that’s unusual. To go further, when two are taken down in the same professional style one must ask, what’s going on? Both of these people were from completely different industries and from opposite sides of the country. The industries they worked in have little or no history of violence which has fueled even more theories of these two tragedies.
Assassinations of high level politicians went out of style after “The Decade of Assassination,” the ‘60s. There was so much killing of Presidents and world leaders that it was apparent they called a truce and agreed not to bump each other off. That truce has held up even to today. Unfortunately, the truce left the rest of us as available targets to make a point or example.
It’s no secret that assassination is alive and well in Iran. Over the past two years Iran has experienced many assassinations of high level diplomats and scientists, preferably nuclear of course. Iran is of course pointing their finger at the U.S. and Israel for these assassinations. This leads one to speculate, if we are knocking off their guys what’s to stop them from doing the same over here, thus the connection to random assassinations in the U.S.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran is now under great pressure from both the world and from his own government over his nuclear program which is now being decimated by computer worms and assassinations of top level nuclear officials. This is today’s headline which illustrates his problems and explains why he would reciprocate on the West for his problems.
- “TEHRAN - A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist was killed Monday and a second was seriously wounded in nearly simultaneous car bomb attacks in the Iranian capital, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.
- The explosions, which occurred near Shahid Beheshti University, were the latest in a string of recent assassination attempts in which five doctors and professors have been killed in Tehran.
- Iranian authorities blamed agents of Israel and the United States for the killings, saying they want to cause chaos in the country. But leading figures in Iran's opposition movement accused the government of plotting the attacks to spread fear in the capital, where many oppose the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”
Hit men are a dime a dozen in Iran and in America, for them to send over hundreds would be easy, possible and probable. Remember Iranian hit men can hire American hit men to do their dirty work. The ease with which this could occur should scare every American and we should all be on watch for the nuances of hits around the country that make no sense.
Are Iranian hit teams in America and killing? I think so!
Update December 1, 2010 8:00 P.M. P.S.T.
Man fatally shoots self in Hollywood as cops serve search warrant in slaying of publicist Ronni Chasen http://lat.ms/hpKblR
New Update - Per Twitter just an hour after the suicide a neighbor said the man that killed himself was a three times loser who said he would never go back to jail alive. It was said that he was getting $10,000 soon.
Per crazy Randy Quaid movie star - They have since applied for refugee status on the grounds that they fear for their lives in the United States as numerous actors have died under mysterious circumstances committed by the "Hollywood star whackers".
Maybe he's not as crazy as he sounds.
New Update - December 6, 2010 - It looks like the guy that committed suicide wasn't the shooter. So my theory still holds. New Details in the Murder Case of Ronnie Chasen http://goo.gl/fb/SMRdD
KGB - Putin Is Not Happy With Hillary Clinton - Time To Leave Hillary
The Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has condemned as "slanderous" a US cable describing him and Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, as Batman and Robin.
Speaking in a candid but frosty interview with talk show host Larry King, the Russian prime minister dismissed suggestions that his tandem style of leadership with protégé Medvedev resembled the uneven power share between the two comic characters.
"The truth of the matter is, this is about our interaction, which is an important factor of the domestic policies in this country," he said. "But to be honest with you, we didn't suspect that this would be done with such arrogance, with such a push and, you know, being so unethically done."
Several messages between US embassies and the state department released by WikiLeaks this week have included salty characterisations of Russia's leaders.
Read more here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-row-putin-reaction-batman-robin
So You Wanted to Know Where the Federal Reserve Spent Your $3 Trillion - Well Today We Find Out - Will This Piss You Off? It Should
by Tyler Durden on 12/01/2010 09:03 -0500
One part of Mark Pittman's legacy is about to come to fruition. At noon today, the Fed will provide an information dump identifying recipients of $3.3 trillion in emergency aid which it dispensed as per its interpretation of its mandate following the Lehman collapse. From Bloomberg: "The data will probably show the magnitude of central bank support to companies including Bank of America Corp. and General Electric Co. after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. spurred a surge in private borrowing costs. Lawmakers demanded disclosure after the Fed approved aid dwarfing the federal government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program." Not all data will be available, however: all important discount window information will not be included as part of this package: "Congress excluded one Fed program from disclosure, the discount window, which is the subject of a 2008 lawsuit filed by Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News, against the central bank. A group of banks is appealing to the Supreme Court over lower-court decisions ordering the Fed to identify loan recipients. The program peaked at $110.7 billion in October 2008." Since today’s information relates to aid from Dec. 1, 2007, through July 21, 2010, there will be enough information to satisfy the most detail-oriented forensic reverse engineers. Read more here http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-announce-details-33-trillion-bank-bailout-package-noon
One part of Mark Pittman's legacy is about to come to fruition. At noon today, the Fed will provide an information dump identifying recipients of $3.3 trillion in emergency aid which it dispensed as per its interpretation of its mandate following the Lehman collapse. From Bloomberg: "The data will probably show the magnitude of central bank support to companies including Bank of America Corp. and General Electric Co. after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. spurred a surge in private borrowing costs. Lawmakers demanded disclosure after the Fed approved aid dwarfing the federal government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program." Not all data will be available, however: all important discount window information will not be included as part of this package: "Congress excluded one Fed program from disclosure, the discount window, which is the subject of a 2008 lawsuit filed by Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News, against the central bank. A group of banks is appealing to the Supreme Court over lower-court decisions ordering the Fed to identify loan recipients. The program peaked at $110.7 billion in October 2008." Since today’s information relates to aid from Dec. 1, 2007, through July 21, 2010, there will be enough information to satisfy the most detail-oriented forensic reverse engineers. Read more here http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-announce-details-33-trillion-bank-bailout-package-noon
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