Black Ops in Cyberspace

Cybersecurity is something that occasionally hits the news. We tend to think it's a geeky teenager stealing a credit card account on-line or hacking a bank account, but it's a much larger than that. Bill Whittle on PJTV hosts an enlightening panel discussion on how the national security of the United States is at stake and nobody is doing anything about it. The first part I was aware of but I had always assumed that in the black part of government a CTU or similar agency was hard at work countering China and Russia's massive penetration of U.S. governmental and private secrets. Apparently not true.

Consider the U.S. selling advanced weapons to Taiwan, which just happened, and the Chinese shutting down the Bonneville power grid intermittently over the course of a week. The Federal Reserve Bank for the West in in San Francisco, not to mention Boeing, Microsoft, other huge financial institutions pretty much quit functioning. Bank accounts can't be accessed, the internet is gone, other critical services are intermittent at best. Our government wouldn't admit it because it would show its impotence in the face of such an attack. The Chinese wouldn't say anything - they wouldn't need to. In the meantime the rest of us would have our lives utterly disrupted and it could take months to put things back together. And this would be just a mild taste of what could be done.

We have always tended to prepare to fight the last war. Maybe we should get serious this time about anticipating the next one.


www.pjtv.com/video/National_Security_Review_With_Bill_Whittle/Wake-Up_Crash%3A_Why_A_Cyber_Pearl_Harbor_Might_Help_Us_Before_It%E2%80%99s_Too_Late_/3158/

My Health, My Choice

Not a bad slogan for healthcare, eh? Well, it expressed the sentiments of the Premier of Newfoundland/Labrador defending his decision to come to the U.S. for his own heart surgery after being told by his Canadian doctors that they would have to crack his chest to fix the problem. A cardiac surgeon at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center said that wasn't necessary at all and went in under his arm with a minimally invasive procedure and took care of business. He was roasted by the Canadian press on his return and made all the obligatory noises about the "fine" healthcare in Canada, but he gave himself away when he said:

" 'This was my heart, my choice and my health,' Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla. 'I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics.'"

No, like most politicians, including those currently pumping healthcare "reform" in Washington, D.C. at the moment, they get the best care and leave the droppings for us poor huddled masses. 85% of Americans think they are getting quality healthcare. How about we leave it that way and let the Canadians figure out ways to get around their system?

www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h0QC7bditrEb3wYz_6_b-gsGGDxA

Genoa Reprised

Since I posted on Five Guys' hamburgers the other day, it is only fair to go high end this time. A long time ago in a place far, far away (actually Portland's east side) we had one of the best meals I have ever had at Genoa. Northern Italian cuisine is its specialty and it did it superbly over a leisurely 7-course meal that took the better part of an evening. Alas, it was pricey and became a casualty of the changed economic times last year. But wait - zut alors! - a new, slimmed down Genoa has just reopened with only 5-course meals that are about 30% cheaper than the older iteration. It remains a "special occasion" place but one that will definitely impress if you take your inamorata.

www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2010/02/restaurant_review_genoas_new_g.html

Netherlands May Buck Islamic Trend

Mark Steyn wrote a very interesting book a few years ago (America Alone) positing that Europe would become Eurabia by 2020 or so. This was largely due to extremely low birthrates in European countries except for Muslim immigrants whose birthrates were off the charts.

There is a growing reaction against this trend in several European countries, including France, Germany and The Netherlands. Some of it is frankly fascist but not all. Geert Wilders in The Netherlands may be elected prime minister despite the attempts of opponents to paint him as another ho-hum fascist. In fact, he is anti-racist, pro-Israel, and an economic libertarian. If elected, Wilders may become the face of a newly assertive Europe that refuses to continue the march to Eurabia. As the article below says, buckle up - it could be an interesting ride.


Geert Wilders Gets His Chance

Posted using ShareThis

National Columnist Loves Measures 66-67

...for promoting economic development in other states!

townhall.com/columnists/PaulGreenberg/2010/02/22/go_west,_industry_hunters

You Will Obey Me!

Bill Maher has been getting my goat recently. From "Americans are not very bright..." (Larry King) to "I like the troops in the same way Michael Vick likes his dogs," Maher is an arrogant little ... well, I"ll let you finish the sentence. www.pjtv.com/video/Trifecta/The_Cold-Blooded_Reptilian_Left/3108/ What is interesting is that Maher is only the Hollywood end of a much broader political phenomena.

The Weekly Standard has an interesting article about how the Left is coming undone and blaming - the American people! In a word, we don't know what's good for us. Consider some of these gems cited in the article:

"In a blog post titled “Too Dumb to Thrive,” Time magazine’s Joe Klein cuts to the chase: 'It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you’re a nation of dodos.'"

"...Kurt Andersen in New York magazine. 'American democracy has gotten way too democratic.' The 'thoughtful, educated, well-off, well-regarded gentlemen' who designed our Constitution 'wanted a government run by an American elite like themselves.' But the 'populist impulse' abroad in the land today has scared legislators into obeying the people’s demands.'"

"In 2008, in Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman dreamed of America becoming “China for a day” so that he could impose his environmental agenda on a truculent populace. In a 2009 New York Times column, Friedman wrote that a dictatorship, 'when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today,' has 'great advantages' over democratic systems."
(Ed. note - see my 9/14/09 post)

www.weeklystandard.com/articles/blame-americans-first

Are you getting the picture? The liberal elite know better than the "masses" and therefore the people should shut up and do what they are told for their own good. Interesting approach. Let's see, as I recall kings have tried it, dictators, mullahs, etc. How has elitist government fared historically?

The founders of this country knew perfectly well how it had fared without even having yet met Hitler, Mao or Stalin, and they designed a limited form of government with checks and balances on power to prevent it from happening here. It isn't really the American people that the Left is against - it is the very idea of America itself as a society where government is restrained to allow the individual the opportunity to flourish that they hate. The totalitarian impulse originates in the idea that "I (or we) am better!" and this explains why it is always arrogant, and when it does not get its way becomes nasty and ultimately ruthless. We are now in the "nasty" stage.

The American people are far from dumb and recent elections demonstrate their common sense - a quality almost entirely missing from the Bill Mahers of the world. I'm placing my bet with the people. As William F. Buckley once famously said, "I'd rather be governed by the first thousand names in the Boston phonebook than the Harvard faculty." I agree.

Saints at Work

Here is the story of a young pro-life woman, 21-year old Leah Winandy, who was standing vigil outside an abortion clinic when she had a knife suddenly held to her throat for trying to convince a pregnant woman not to abort her baby. The nice part of the story is that the expectant mother did not go through with it and decided to keep the child. Criminal charges were brought against the mother for assault but she received probation rather than the indicated prison sentence because of Winandy's agreement to the lenient sentence. Winandy said: “I forgive Mechelle for what she did; I do forgive her because God has given me forgiveness in my heart for her.”

I am glad that we did not have a believer martyred for Christ, but she was certainly willing to go there. Equally important, she was willing to forgive. I am sure that God smiled here.


www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/160551/publisher_ID/36/

The Best Hamburgers. Period.

Last year we had our first Five Guys' hamburgers in Baltimore. Unbelievable! These are the Platonic ideals of what a hamburger should be. Later in the year, Five Guys opened in Beaverton and West Linn and we made the pilgrimage several times. No more. Five Guys is coming to Salem. I can't eat hamburgers like I could as a teenager, but I will fast for days ahead of time if need be to enjoy one of these. Crank up the Lipitor all of you who are burdened and heavy laden and get thee out to Five Guys and experience what a hamburger should taste like.

pqasb.pqarchiver.com/statesmanjournal/access/1963522261.html?FMT=ABS&date=Feb+16%2C+2010

I Prefer Tacos

When the going gets tough, the tough get going - after cats. Italian Chef Beppe Bigazzi instructed viewers on how to prepare a delicious cat casserole. He thinks cat tastes better than chicken or rabbit and I'm inclined to agree, although I prefer cat tacos and their enticing blend of spices which make the dish magical. We certainly have an overpopulation of cats and the Humane Society no longer has the resources to handle the problem by itself, so dig in amigos! Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article7029058.ece

Greece Dances Around Its Big Budget Deficits

Greece is getting hammered by the bigger players in the European Union to get its deficits down with budget cuts and new taxes. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100215/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis The crisis is affecting the euro and Germany, France and others will probably have to bail Greece out to protect it. Currently, Greece's national debt is 161% of its GDP. www.cnbc.com/id/30308959?slide=6 How do the burgeoning deficits of the United States compare?

Congress just raised the debt ceiling to $14.9 trillion. www1.voanews.com/english/news/economy-and-business/Obama-Raises-Debt-Ceiling-84297252.html This is 98.1% of the U.S. GDP. www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article12759.html If the Obama revenue projections are accurate the percentage will stay around this level. My opinion is that there are a lot of very optimistic assumptions built into the revenue forecasts and the actual deficits will rise well above the GDP level, but we will see. Conclusion: the U.S. is not yet the basket case that Greece is, but it's definitely moving in that direction.

Real Change in the 5th Congressional District

The beauty of democracy is that we always have an opportunity to bring about real change by electing quality candidates to office. Politics isn't perfect - you will never agree 100% with someone - but finding a candidate much closer to your core beliefs is usually do-able. You have to get involved, though. How, you ask? The short answer - money and time.

Salem sits in the 5th Congressional District and is currently represented by a first term Democrat, Kurt Schrader. Mr. Schrader is a veterinarian, a former Clackamas County planning commissioner, and a doctrinaire liberal who has pretty much voted for everything the Obama Administration and Nancy Pelosi have wanted. It's time to send him back to his veterinary practice. He is vulnerable because the 5th District is historically more moderate than Portland, he's a first-termer and a staunch Obama-Pelosi liberal at a time when there is much of the same angst here as in the rest of the country over what is happening in D.C.

There are two Republican candidates lined up against him: Scott Bruun and Fred Thompson. I have included information about both below. Both are from the private sector and know something about business. Both seem like decent people. It's unfortunate that they are both running in the primary because it diverts their time and resources from targeting Schrader.

My best judgment is that Bruun is more electable. He is younger, has more political experience and frankly shows better on television and video. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink says that people make up their minds in the first 5 seconds as to whether they like something. This includes politicians, so to be a viable candidate you have to get past this first threshold. Scott Brown did it in Massachusetts. Voters decided they liked him because of his looks and demeanor and then as they got to know him, they decided he was a regular guy and could be trusted to represent them. The Oregon City/Milwaukie area is the big voter treasure trove in the 5th District followed by Salem. Bruun will probably appeal to suburban voters in these areas for the same reasons as Brown, at least on the initial "blink." Whether he has Brown's touch to follow up and seal the the deal remains to be seen.

We get what we deserve if we don't work to make things better. It won't be perfect, but better is possible. Start supporting a candidate now with dollars and get ready to work for him this summer by telling friends, going door-to-door, etc. Our forefathers took on the British Empire; we can certainly take on the SEIU and the Big Government crowd.

www.joinscott.com/

www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=506

www.fredthompsonforcongress.com/about/

We've Turned the Corner on the Economy

Really? Not so much in Salem.

blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch/2010/02/nar_salem_home_prices_down_11.html

BlackBerry Takes One for Owner

Okay all you iPhone users out there, let's see your iPhone do this!

crackberry.com/woman-saved-bullet-stopping-blackberry

Less Bang for the Buck

My 1/22/10 post discussed an article by Daniel Henninger who made the interesting point that even as government budgets go up and up, government services are coming down because so much is being spent on personnel and benefits. Here is an excellent local example that validates his point:

"TriMet is proposing to cut four bus lines, reduce service on dozens of routes and level a 5-cent fare increase to help fill an expected $27 million shortfall for the budget year starting July 1.

The agency blamed an expected $15 million drop in payroll tax revenues -- which fund 55 percent of its operating budget -- due to continuing high unemployment. In addition, passenger revenues are expected to fall by $8 million, said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen.

But Hansen said other expenses, including a $4 million cost-of-living increase for unionized employees and a projected $63.6 million in health care premiums for TriMet employees and retirees, are also driving the shortfall."

www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/02/trimet_proposes_cutting_servic.html

Did you catch the cost item that I helpfully bolded to highlight its outlandishness? If you recall my 7/9/09 post, Tri Met pays 100% of its employees' premiums, even for families, and is one of the expensive health insurance plans in the country, covering even boob jobs. To all you yokels who use public transit - too bad for you - we need to spend our money on what really counts, feathering our own nest!

This same phenomena has appeared at the Federal level but in a way so big that it is easy to miss the forest for the trees. The U.S. has already canceled the F-22 stealth fighter program because it was "too expensive" despite the fact that it kept us a full generation ahead of any other country in the world, assuring air supremacy when we needed it. Now the Obama Administration has canceled the manned space program and for the first time since 1961 we will have no ability to put men in space, even in low-earth orbit never mind the moon. The space shuttle has flown its last mission and we now have to rely on the Russians to ferry our people up to the international space station. The new rockets, spacecraft, etc. that were being developed to take over the chore have been junked - too expensive. Charles Krauthammer makes the trenchant point:

"Obama's NASA budget perfectly captures the difference in spirit between Kennedy's liberalism and Obama's. Kennedy's was an expansive, bold, outward-looking summons. Obama's is a constricted inward-looking call to retreat.

Fifty years ago, Kennedy opened the New Frontier. Obama has just shut it."

townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2010/02/12/closing_the_new_frontier

It's not just the New Frontier that is closing, it's the American way of life as most of us have known it. More bucks;less bang, too bad for you.

Texas Hold 'Em

Rep. Charlie Wilson (D - Texas) died today. If you haven't seen the Tom Hanks movie about him, Charlie Wilson's War, you should. Although he was a rascal of the first order, he was also an American above all else and was instrumental in changing American foreign policy towards Afghanistan, arming the nationals and eventually sending the Soviets packing. He represented a time when there was a bipartisan American foreign policy and folks on both sides of the aisle recognized that The U.S. has vital national interests that must be looked after. Would that could happen today. RIP Charlie - you will be missed.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100211/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_wilson

Pledge of Allegiance

The proper protocols for saluting the American flag and during the Pledge of Allegiance or playing of the National Anthem are set out below. Apparently if you are Commander-in-Chief you get to make the rules. This picture was taken at the memorial service for the soldiers slain at Ft. Hood.

The Salute To salute, all persons come to attention. Those in uniform give the appropriate formal salute. Citizens not in uniform salute by placing their right hand over the heart and men with head cover should remove it and hold it to left shoulder, hand over the heart. Members of organizations in formation salute upon command of the person in charge.

www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

Please Deposit Coins Before...

I never cease to marvel at how the airline industry treats its customers. Grocery stores are a low margin business, but they don't charge for using a cart. Restaurants don't have a napkin charge. Airlines (except Southwest), however, have now raised their checked baggage charge to $25 each way for the first bag. American Airlines has now upped the ante even further by charging $8 for a pillow and blanket. www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10678188/1/amrs-8-blanket-bungle-firing-line.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA What's next? You don't want to know.

Measures 66 & 67 Fallout - Part Deux

We did it! We're #1 in the country in new unemployment claim filings!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o4wpLRJSvk

Who?

It's half time at Super Bowl XLIV and The Who are performing. They first came together in 1964 - that's 46 years ago. They were a good band, but c'mon! One of them was screaming during the set and it was a herniated disc at L4-L5 that locked up, but the fans loved it. I'm pretty sure the drummer also left midway through too, but he was back before the big finale. Nothing that Flomax couldn't handle, but the miserable British healthcare system probably won't pay for it. Oh well, I guess the NFL had to choose between a wardrobe malfunction a la Janet Jackson or the possibility of a full blown coronary in front of a worldwide audience and they brought it off. Stunning. Rock on, dudes; rock on!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat ...

Mark Steyn accurately says that the key product the Democrats are selling is American decline, so he has penned a long article looking at the pros and cons. On the pro side, he describes how the U.S. can act like the Europeans:

"...in the geopolitical sense it can be marvelously liberating. You still go to all the best parties and have a seat at the top table – Britain and France are members of the UN Security Council and the G7 and every other group that counts – and even better, when the check comes, you’re not the one stuck with the tab. You can preen and pose on the world stage secure in the knowledge that nobody expects you to do anything about it: It’s no surprise to find the post-great powers of Europe are the noisiest promoters of every fashionable nostrum from the iniquities of the Zionist Entity to the perils of “climate change”. The European Union has attitudes rather than policies. A couple of years back, Bret Stephens, then editor of The Jerusalem Post, opened his mail to find a copy of something called "Conclusions of the European Council", a summary of the work done during the six months of Ireland’s “Euro-presidency”. A braver man than I, he read it, at least as far as Item 80:

“The European Council expresses its deep concern at the recent events in the Eastern Congo, which could jeopardise the transition process."

And that and a couple Euros will get you a café au lait. The EU is free to flaunt its “concern” – whoops, “deep concern” - over events in the Eastern Congo precisely because nobody in the Eastern Congo or anywhere else expects Europe to do a thing about it. The Continent increasingly resembles those insulated celebrities being shuttled around town from one humanitarian gala to another – like Barbra Streisand and Leonardo Di Caprio jetting in to join Barack Obama and Al Gore in bemoaning Joe Sixpack’s carbon footprint.

And when you put it like that, what’s the downside?"

The downside is that Europe has been able to get away with this because the U.S. has done the heavy lifting around the world since 1945 and if we are in decline, then who will take our place and make sure that things don't get out of hand? The envelope please - NOBODY! While we get in touch with our inner self and become more "civilized" the uncivilized punk nations of the world will be getting nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and making their political statements by killing civilians in greater numbers in the civilized world generating, no doubt, "deep concern" from the U.S. and its European friends, at least momentarily while they put down their wine and hors oeuvres. Tsk, tsk. Steyn also quotes the British historian Arnold Toynbee who said: "Civilizations die from suicide, not murder." He's right. Lovely sunset - pass the wine, s'il vous plait.

www.steynonline.com/content/view/2882/26/

Obama Budget Knifes Charities

The new budget proposed by the Obama Administration reduces the charitable deduction for couples making more than $250,000/year. www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2010/02/02/breaking-down-obamas-budget.html The problem for non-profits is that people in this income level give over 50% of all charitable contributions. townhall.com/columnists/NathanTabor/2010/02/04/an_american_charity_slump Not only will churches be hit, but Harvard, the Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, art museums, and any number of other high profile non-profits. For this reason I expect that it will not pass, but it does illustrate the ideological bias of this Administration, e.g. - the Government should be and do everything.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the United States from other nations has been a vibrant volunteer/non-profit sector which has done an incalculable amount of good over the years. De Tocqueville wrote about it in his early travels around America. Anyone with a sense of history and an understanding and appreciation for the heart of this country would know this. But then that's the problem, isn't it?

Not Very Attractive Curves

Here is the big picture on Federal spending as a percentage of GDP from 1960 to present. Note the steady climb of non-defense spending and it's rocket-like ascent in the current budget. In terms of the impact on the private sector, it's like trying to play a baseball game with every player carrying a 200-pounder on their back. Keep it up and there won't be a private sector to feed the beast.

www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/02/01/five-decades-of-federal-spending/

South of the Border Down Bejing Way?

Oregon's foggy and cool winter weather always gets me in the mood for some sun about this time of year, so let's head south of the border and see what has transpired since I last posted on events there.

On 7/1/09 I expressed my consternation at U.S. policy in Honduras for backing a Hugo Chavez wannabe, Manuel Zelaya, who was in the early stages of making himself El Maximo Jefe. His own party backed his ouster, as did the Legislature in general, and finally the Honduran Supreme Court. The Obama Administration cut off aid and demanded that Zelaya be reinstalled as El Presidente despite the fact that Zelaya's own vice president took over as a caretaker president and promised to leave once elections were held in November, 2009. And what happened?

Elections were held, a new President was sworn in as promised, Zelaya took off for the Dominican Republic, and Honduras went bankrupt. insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/february/02/centam-10020202.htm The U.S. has just restarted aid. What a foreign policy triumph for the Obama Administration! And those triumphs are continuing in Central and South America where we - well actually China (China?) - are having further success.

The Chinese have been very busy south of the border for some time. www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/america_bipartisan_latin_folly_diCkLLgXX4fOab8SlhHxeP
Why? Oil is one answer - think Hugo Chavez and Venezuela as one of the bigger oil producing states in the world and China one of the biggest oil consuming nations. But did you know a Chinese company that is well connected to the Chinese Army also runs the Panama Canal? archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/2/6/172958.shtml Perhaps China just wants to protect its trade routes to the U.S., which is reasonable, but why is it entrenching itself at other key shipping choke points around the world like the Straits of Hormuz that handles much of the Middle East oil being exported and the Straits of Malacca where all the oil to Asia passes? themengesproject.blogspot.com/2008/10/chinas-control-of-panama-canal.html Admiral Moorer thinks that they may be setting themselves up to bottle up our Navy and the world flow of oil in the event of a major crisis. Blackmail anyone? I have always admired the long view that the Chinese take when setting up strategy - they think in decades. As an American, however, I strongly believe that we need to understand what China is up to up to and counter with policies that are in our national interest. Not ending up on the same side in Honduras with China's boy Hugo would be a small start at easing him off the South American stage and taking some of China's influence with him.