U.S. said to be target of massive cyber-espionage campaign

tucsonsentinel.com

The Volokh Conspiracy sends us this disturbing post:
Once again, Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post has broken a cybersecurity story:
The two events are tied together by something Steve Chabinsky said during the panel discussion: We’re used to the idea that cybersecurity is an arms race, with defense chasing offense and vice versa, and that the US and its adversaries are constantly trying to counter the other’s tactics.  What we haven’t absorbed is how quickly proliferation occurs.  
Once a nation has found a tool that overtops America’s national security defenses, the tool will only work for a while.  Eventually its thrust will be parried by the Defense Department. At that point, the code isn’t good for its original purpose, but it’s still plenty good for breaking into private networks, and it will keep working until a good defensive tactic has spread across the entire Internet.

Here is the story referred to above:
washingtonpost.com  "A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report.
"The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate the computer systems of American businesses and institutions to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain."

 

Disabled Marine rifles at inauguration signal shift in administration policy

Dishonoring the Corps; Marines in inaugural parade had bolts removed from their rifles
"“The bolts have been removed from the rifles rendering them unable to fire a round,” the post stated. “Apparently Obama’s Secret Service doesn’t trust the USMC. Simply searching each guy to make sure he didn’t have a live round hidden on him wasn’t enough, they had to make sure the guns were inoperable." Visible in photo, right and below.

This examiner article tells us this is a new thing  "Wondering if this may be an inauguration policy of long standing that transcends administrations, Gun Rights Examiner made a cursory search and found something even more curious. In the 2009 Inaugural Parade, the United States Navy marched with rifles that had not been so disabled (see 1:24 into that video plus the final slide)." The article continues:

This raises the question of why the administration felt it necessary to make this change now, particularly with concerns being raised about military involvement in domestic affairs, litmus tests on top brass willingness to fire on American citizens alleged by a heretofore prominent and credible Nobel Prize nominee, a "terrorism" policy that allows for assassinating Americans without due process, rising concerns over deployment of domestic drones, and publicized opposition among many in the USMC to presidential policies such as women in combat, as well as having been the most resistant military branch to ending “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

 

'So God Made A Liberal'

CNS News  Continuing the trend of merciless mocking of liberals from yesterday, SooperMexican has produced a top-notch parody of Dodge's widely acclaimed Super Bowl ad featuring the voice of the late Paul Harvey delivering a commentary called "So God Made A Farmer."

 

"I literally laughed out loud at this video.

"That makes two incredible videos mocking the left in two days. Let's hope this trend continues." 

Dr. Ben Carson confronts Obama and Biden publicly over ObamaCare (Sunday morning update just added)

UPDATE from the Wall Street Journal: Ben Carson for President
"The Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon may not be politically correct, but he's closer to correct than we've heard in years."

PowerLine Blog  "Watching the video, I also couldn’t help but wonder what Obama was thinking. My guess is he was thinking: this is a dangerous guy. At a key point in Dr. Carson’s speech, Obama appears to check his Blackberry — just so you might not think he was overly impressed."

Kerry Yawns his Way Through Prayer Breakfast

 

This is no lightweight individual that is speaking to Obama. Learn more about Doctor Carson here: 

 

"Gifted Hands - the Ben Carson Story "; His surgery separates conjoined twins

 

Penn State University TV special: Ben Carson: An Extraordinary Life - Conversations from Penn State  Get to know this remarkable individual before you begin reading stories from the left about what a bad man he is.

 

Ambush at Hilton Hollow  "...Forced to sit at the dais and suck it up while a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins Medical School, Dr. Benjamin Carson, debunked the concept of Obamacare as well as pointing out the president's seeming indifference to the national debt, Obama did his best to smile but he simply could not suppress that droned-out expression, the one, you know, that kills.

"Obama's first frown comes a few minutes into the talk when Dr. Carson uses the term, PC, for politically correct, in his discussion of how difficult it is to speak these days without offending someone's too-tender sensibilities."

Byron York: With public focused on jobs, Washington fights other fights

Washington Examiner  "So what is Washington doing amid these deep economic anxieties? Working on a bipartisan plan that would begin with the mass, immediate legalization of illegal immigrants, before any border security or enforcement measures.
"That those two facts exist simultaneously -- deep fears about the economy and a political fixation on immigration reform -- is just one illustration of a disconnect between national political leaders and the people who elected them."
I suggest that Obama would rather lead a revolution than to actually govern anything.

http://www.cagle.com/news/obama-second-term/#.URZi3DbnbIU

Nestoring

Kerby Anderson  "Have you ever heard of the verb “nestoring? I had never heard about it until Jonah Goldberg wrote a column about it. The word comes from Dr. John Nestor, who even has an entry in Wikipedia about him and the reason someone coined the term to describe him.

"Back in the 1980s, transit officials in Washington tried to figure out why they were having traffic problems on the Beltway. It turns out that Dr. Nestor would get in the left lane and set his cruise control to 55 mph. This forced cars behind him to merge right and create a bottleneck. He would not move to the right for drivers behind him. He asked: “Why should I inconvenience myself for someone who wants to speed?”

"He became a somewhat of a celebrity when he wrote a letter to the Washington Post explaining what he was doing on the highway and why. The newspaper received lots of angry letters to the editor in response and led to the coining of the term “nestoring.”

"Dr. Nestor was also a regulator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While he was in the cardio-renal-pulmonary unit, he approved no new drugs. None, he reasoned, were worth the risk. That was his philosophy. If you don’t approve of any drugs, then you are guaranteed that no harmful drugs will go out on the market. Of course, you also will be keeping back drugs that could be beneficial, even life-saving, to the general public.

"This was the philosophy of John Nestor, which came to be known by the verb “nestoring.” Don’t take any risks. Keep a firm conformity to laws, standards, and regulations regardless of the larger consequences.

"We see so many examples of “nestoring” today in government regulations that strive to make the world 100 percent safe. That is impossible in a fallen world. There will always be risk and we will have to weigh them against the benefits.  Unfortunately, people who believe in “nestoring” seem to be missing what we used to call common sense"

Krauthammer : Call Obama’s sequester bluff

Charles Krauthammer  "For the first time since Election Day, President Obama is on the defensive. That’s because on March 1, automatic spending cuts (“sequestration”) go into effect — $1.2 trillion over 10 years, half from domestic (discretionary) programs, half from defense.
"The idea had been proposed and promoted by the White House during the July 2011 debt-ceiling negotiations. The political calculation was that such draconian defense cuts would drive the GOP to offer concessions.

      

"It backfired. The Republicans have offered no concessions. Obama’s bluff is being called and he’s the desperate party. He abhors the domestic cuts. And as commander in chief he must worry about indiscriminate Pentagon cuts that his own defense secretary calls catastrophic."

Obama vs. the Facts on Polarization

Seth Mandel  "As the authors write, this is consistent with past surveys as well. Obama likes to pretend that he is dealing with unfair and unprecedented opposition and that his antagonists are rewriting the rules unilaterally as the game progresses. Such self-pity is unworthy of the office, but it’s also flat wrong."

Obamacare, the Sandwich and the Wagon

Watchdogwire  "Dinesh D’Souza and Michael Shermer in debate at Oregon State University. Questions from the student body regarding Universal Health Care / ObamaCare. The answers were quite well presented and the student body seemed to agree." 

One of a series of debates that they take on the road much like Lincoln-Douglas or William Buckley-Gore Vidal.

 

Hat tip to Tommy Collins, Richardson, TX

Cop-killing serial killer a TEA- Partier! Oops...wait! What? Nothing here, folks, let's move on...

The Blame-Righty Mob Falls Silent  "An alleged murderer has singled out prominent lefties for praise."

 "Question: What will this rabid Blame Righty mob do now that an alleged triple-murderer has singled out prominent lefties in the media and Hollywood for fawning praise as part of his crazed manifesto advocating cop-killing?
"Answer: Evade, deflect, ignore, and whitewash."

Piers Morgan serves hypocrisy piping hot and delicious  Says he:

The LA cop-killer murder spree has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with deranged criminality. I hope they catch him asap.

1. NBC Stars Admired By Alleged L.A. Killer Falsely Linked Palin to Tucson Killings  "Currently there's a murder spree unfolding in and around the city of Los Angeles. The suspect, Chris Dorner, is a fired Los Angeles police officer who reportedly left a manifesto behind. In it, he expresses his admiration for many members of the elite media, including some of NBC's highest profile stars."

2. CNN Stars Admired by L.A. Murder Suspect Falsely Linked Palin to Tucson Killings   "Here's Wolf Blitzer and two other CNN analysts discussing the possibility that Palin's rhetoric might have inspired Loughner to commit violence -- even as they claim there's no evidence:"...

Bozell, Hannity Discuss How Media Are Ignoring Left-wing Inspiration of Cop Killer Dorner

Every loony impressed with his own fame seems to have a manifesto. Well, here's Dorner's.   Video and transcript, but you have to sit through a commercial to watch the video.

I will conduct DA operations to destroy, exploit and seize designated targets. If unsuccessful or unable to meet objectives in these initial small-scale offensive actions, I will reassess my BDA and re-attack until objectives are met. I have nothing to lose. My personal casualty means nothing. Just alike AAF’s, ACM’s, and AIF’s, you can not prevail against an enemy combatant who has no fear of death. An enemy who embraces death is a lose, lose situation for their enemy combatants.

 

Why Does the Media Go Easy on Barack Obama?

The Atlantic    "Allegations of liberal media bias are almost constant in the conservative press, but their intensity has increased since President Obama and Hillary Clinton appeared together on 60 Minutes, where interviewer Steve Kroft posed "softball" questions that were almost comically obsequious. "Mr. Kroft, as embarrassing as his interview was, is merely symptomatic of a larger phenomenon: the unprecedented swooning and cheerleading by the press for Barack Obama," Peter Wehner wrote in Commentary, echoing an argument voiced by many on the right. He posits that the rise of conservative media outlets like Fox News may have triggered a liberal backlash."

Mr. Obama, what WERE you doing the night of the Benghazi attack after you punched out for the day?

Dereliction of Duty: Obama Did Nothing to Save American Lives in Benghazi--and Lied About It

"Nothing. That is what President Barack Obama did on the night of September 11, 2012, as terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and killed four Americans, among them Ambassador Christopher Stevens. President Obama’s inaction was revealed in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday by outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey."

Panetta: Obama not present on Night of Benghazi Attack  Apparently he only voted "present" on the issue.
"When asked if Obama at least called to check in as the attack unfolded Panetta said "No."
"When asked if anyone from the White House called that night, Panetta said "No."
"According to Panetta, the President trusted that the Sec. of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS) Chairman General Martin Dempsey were aware of what military assets were and weren't near Benghazi, so he left it "up to us." "

To digress a bit; That all sounds strangely like this incident:

"Could Obama’s presidency be the most ill conceived in modern times?  What kind of President leaves the people’s business in the middle of a press conference because his wife is waiting on him?

These next from Lucianne:

The Twisted Truth on Obama's Benghazi Response  "In a semi-rational world, no government could withstand the exposure of such inhumanity, not to mention such a total failure to carry out its primary duty -- namely, to protect its citizens against foreign aggression.  In our current, thoroughly irrational world, there remains little doubt that Obama will emerge unscathed from Panetta's testimony, just as Hillary Clinton will remain untarnished after openly declaring, during her own belated testimony, that the clock has run out on any attempt to unravel the administration's web of lies about Benghazi, since "What difference -- at this point -- does it make?"  Read more:

The Weekly Standard reports that Obama did not call or communicate in anyway with the defense secretary that night. "There were no calls about what was going on in Benghazi. He never called to check-in."

The Washington Times reports:  "Administration critics suggest Mrs. Rice was given talking points by the White House as part of an effort to “cover up” what had actually occurred in Benghazi, since the attack came just as Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign was touting the president’s success in “decimating” the leadership of al Qaeda.
"But committee Chairman Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, tried to steer proceedings away from those insinuations."

http://www.cagle.com/tag/benghazi-embassy/#.URUpBzbnbIU