Like a conquering field marshal Obama mesmerized the Germans. The undertone of the crowd was not to cheer America but to make an anti-American statement. It is a statement of condescension. 67 percent of Germans want Barrack Obama to become the next US president, a recent opinion poll said.
Obama gave them what they wanted to hear:
"If we're honest... we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart and forgotten our shared destiny."
What destiny do we share with the Germans?
You can hear the voice of Michelle Obama in this sentiment:
"In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common."
"In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future...
"But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together." he added.
"As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya."
The Germans always believed in the great man concept that can ride in on a horse and has more often than not led them to hell rather than through Valgrind to Valhalla. They seem not to have changed:
"Obama stands for a new era in politics," some bystander said. "He is someone who can change the world."
I wonder how many American voters will resent the German's choice for the US President?
PARIS (AP) — France's military will slash 54,000 service jobs and close dozens of air, army and other bases in an overhaul meant to slim down the defense sector at home but make it easier and faster to deploy troops abroad, the prime minister announced Thursday.
ReplyDeleteWith some 10,000 troops from Afghanistan to Lebanon, including under NATO and U.N. auspices, France is a major contributor to international peacekeeping and other operations.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the restructuring will save billions of euros (dollars) and allow for a smaller, more agile military. Like other European countries, France is grappling with aging military equipment, budget constraints and threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and Internet-based crime.
"It's our responsibility to make these choices," Fillon told reporters at a Paris news conference. "We have to have a military that's best suited to our needs, to the threats, and at the same time ... our public finances."
The overhaul grew out of a recent top-to-bottom review of defense posture of this nuclear-armed country. In unveiling the white paper last month, President Nicolas Sarkozy laid out his vision for a leaner, smarter and more high-tech 21st-century military. He also made the case for closer French cooperation with NATO.
The total French military force today, including gendarmes, is believed to include about 350,000 service members. Fillon did not say how the 54,000 service members would removed from France's forces or what, if anything, would be done to help them find new jobs.
Fillon said that 83 sites are to be closed starting in 2009, slashing the cost of maintaining the small bases scattered throughout the country.
Most of the French military's budget — 60% — is spent on maintaining troops and sites, while 40% is used for operations, Fillon said.
The French military will concentrate most of its remaining troops at 85-90 beefed-up defense bases by 2014, Fillon said.
Fillon defended the site closures and troop downsizing, saying all the units slated for closure are "ones that are no longer adapted to today's threats."
"Everyone understands that we don't need as many ... tanks when we're not facing the threat of an invasion," he said. "We need more means of intelligence gathering, operative mobility, lighter and more reactive forces."
Under the plan, France aims to be able to deploy as many as 30,000 troops abroad at one time. France currently has more than 10,000 troops in peacekeeping operations in places such as Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Chad.
The restructuring plan garnered wide criticism even before it was officially announced.
Officials in towns slated to lose their sites have insisted the plan will be disastrous for local economies and have pledged to fight the closures.
Fillon said he understood people's fears and promised $503 million in aid to the most affected regions, many in the depressed northeast of the country. He also said measures would be taken to encourage investment in the hit regions.
A spokesman for the opposition Socialists called the plan "draconian" and said budgetary constraints — and not changing security needs — had motivated the restructuring.
Uncertainty still surrounds the fate of a joint German-French brigade formed in 1989 and made up of 2,500 troops from each country, which some fear could be scrapped in the defense overhaul.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed for its preservation, calling it "a nucleus of a European security and defense policy."
But Fillon gave her no guarantees, saying Thursday that the French government is "in reflection" about its future. Defense Minister Herve Morin said the brigade dates from an era when France-German reconciliation was paramount.
"We have largely passed this stage," he said.
Not to many, duece.
ReplyDeleteThre were more than a few US flags being waved by that crowd. Did not see a single Hammer and Sickle
As I mentioned in the last thread ...
but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.
Now the world will watch and remember what we do here -
as opposed to
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
The similarities struck me. That Obama, he's got the gift of gab, wonder who wrote the speech?
Germantown, PA.
ReplyDeleteWe have that in common.
The Hessians
Total sent was 30,067 from 1776 to 1782; 12,562 did not return... 7,754 dead and 4,808 remained in America... as well
The US military occupying Germany for 60 years, along with Germany being trish's son's birthplace. There is that common bond.
Two of my cousins, that were born in the US, of an international marriage, a soldier from the US and a blushing bride from Germany.
There are many ties that bind.
"There are many ties that bind."
ReplyDeleteLol. Not if you're black.
Obama speechwriters:
ReplyDeleteJon Favreau
Adam Frankel
Ben Rhodes
The German ladies seemed to fancy the Black soldiers, during my short stint in Germany, granted it was only a few weeks that I was there.
ReplyDeleteRead something on that subject in the past few days, lost in the ether, now.
DR: The German ladies seemed to fancy the Black soldiers, during my short stint in Germany, granted it was only a few weeks that I was there.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you ever saw Madelyn Khan as Lili von Schtupp in Blazing Saddles. If I was on my own computer I'd look it up on YouTube. Funny stuff.
Aha. Do they meet on base, or are your black soldiers allowed to venture into town?
ReplyDeleteOh, they ventured into town, though I'm sure that a lot met in the NCO Clubs, on base.
ReplyDeleteTrue to form, not many of the soldiers went anywhere alone, traveling in small packs, usually.
Was that way in Germany, Korea and Panama. Never could understand that behaviour, myself. I usually traveled alone, or with just a another buddy.
Obama--president of the world. I have such a dislike for angry and hateful Michelle, I could only watch the first minute or two of the previous clip of her speaking to her future constituents....
ReplyDeleteMaybe wishful thinking, but I feel a political death by a million small cuts.
ReplyDeleteJust for you, Ms T
ReplyDeleteIt's Twoo! It's Twoo!
Damned Germans will believe the silliest sort of shit, won't they?
ReplyDeleteGag Reflex: I could only watch the first minute or two of the previous clip of her speaking to her future constituents....
ReplyDeleteYour gag reflex must be more tolerant than mine, I can't listen to ten seconds of her. And that's true when I'm on the Belmont Club too.
Here's a Jewish guy (that I can't stand) who's never going to vote for a democrat again.
ReplyDelete---
Goebbels must have had an easy time with the Germans, is all I can say. Stick 'em together in a crowd and all thought goes away. Thoughtless blond broads cheering their guts out. Hysteria. Putty, in the hands of a master. Bricks in the hands of a master builder. Morons.
The hall itself has 540 doors, so wide that 800 warriors could walk through side-by-side.
ReplyDelete540 x 800 = 432,000
Indeed even the Book of Genesis may carry her secretly throughout, in the mathematics of the destiny of the People of God--as a comparison of the matched schedules of the Babylonian ten kings and Hebrew ten patriarchs appears to suggest. There is, at first glance, of course, considerable difference between the sums of years given by Berossos and the Bible--respecively, 432,000 and 1656. However, as a distinguished Jewish scholar of the last century, the "Nestor of Assyriology," Julius Oppert, pointed out in a fascinating paper on "The Dates of Genesis" both sums contain 72 as a factor: 432,000 divided by 72 = 6000, and 1656 divided by 72 = 23; so that the relationship is of 6000 to 23. (It will be remembered that 72 is the number of years it takes for the precession to advance one degree.) Furthermore, in the Jewish calendar one year is reckoned as 365 days, which in 23 years, plus the 5 leap year days contained in such a period, amounts to 8400 days, or 1200 seven day weeks; and the latter sum multiplied by 72, to find the number of Jewish seven day weeks in 1656 (23 x 72) years, yields 86,400 (1200 x 72). Whereas, on the other hand, in the Babylonian calendar the year was composed of 72 five day weeks; so that, if now--following a practice normal to calculations of this kind--we count each Babylonian year as one day, and then reckon the number of Babylonian five day weeks in 432,000 days, the result is again 86,400 (432,000 divided by 5). But 86,400 = 86,400 -- Q.E.D. Clearly, a point by point correspondence of calendric systems is here implied; and since a mathematical order is antithetic to a doctrine of free will, one can only wonder by what transcendent thought the two theologies were reconciled.
J. Campbell
They used to bury the king, queen, the whole damned court, there in Mesopotamia, when, 'time was up'. This is not a doctrine of free will. The Bible contains an idea of free will. Yet, buried there in Genesis, is the older idea.
One wonders how the warriors in Valhalla came by this esoteric doctrine of the mathematical order found in the skies.
okay, so let's review. Germany wants him elected, Alliwantisatwinkie in Iran wants him elected, Hugo Boss Chavez wants him elected, I bet Bin Laden wants him elected....so why would any voting U. S. citizen, including Rufus, vote for him?
ReplyDelete"The coverage really does seems fair, to me,"
ReplyDelete---
Big Deal:
Up seems like down to me.
Spring seems like Fall, to me.
ReplyDeleteOn a spiritual note:
ReplyDeleteYing seems like Yang, to me.
Just as in Portland, the massive crowd attended two free concert appearances prior to the Messiah's arrival.
ReplyDeleteI have great faith the fair coverage will make this apparent to all throughout this land.
not
So why would any voting U. S. citizen, including Rufus, vote for him?
ReplyDeleteFooled me once, wont get fooled again. Anyone yet see the documentary Who Killed The Electric Car?
Chris Chris Matthews:
ReplyDeleteObama's Berlin Speech Had 'Thrill Factor'
Barack Obama is still giving Chris Matthews thrills. On Thursday night's "Hardball," before throwing to an Obama clip, Matthews gave the following rave review, on his July 24 show, to the Illinois senator's speech in Germany:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: What, what do you make of this? Let's take another bite here because it was quite a speech. You have to judge for yourself but the speech had its thrill factor, certainly once again.
---
The ever fair coverage will no doubt play up that the Messiah
CANCELED HIS TWO APPOINTMENTS TO SEE THE TROOPS WHILE IN GERMANY,
even as he extended his stay by a few hours,
AND WORKED OUT IN THE GYM OF A POSH HOTEL.
The press is going to beat that mercifully,
bet on it.
Will the Messiah give us free electricity?
ReplyDelete...after he stops the rise in the sea level.
ReplyDelete"Will the Messiah give us free electricity?"
ReplyDeleteHe could, Doug. And very easily. 3 years of oil will buy you 30 years of free electricity.
Plus having $700 billion a year in your pocket to invest in America, as opposed to it going to 7 star hotels in Dubai and Saudia.
ReplyDeleteCompeting optics Cheering Germans or American military
ReplyDeleteUpdate
Snubbing wounded soldiers
Update Touring Berlin instead
Update
It is-is not a campaign event
Well, this gets better.
According to Jake Tapper, , the problem wasn’t scheduling at all:
Obama noted that in a break from his whirlwind schedule, “we’ve got some down time tonight. What are you guys gonna do in Berlin? Huh? Huh? You guys got any big. plans? …I’ve never been to Berlin, so…I would love to tour around a little bit.”
Obama canceled a previously-planned stop to visit thousands of American service personnel, including troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan being treated at Landstuhl, so he could hold a political rally for Germans and go shopping in Berlin. Now that’s a nice set of priorities for a man who wants to become Commander in Chief.
Update III:
The spin on this has gotten so bad that T. Boone Pickens might want Team Obama in his new wind farm.
First, from Jake Tapper, the O-Team says a visit to Landstuhl would have been “inappropriate” for a campaign trip:
“During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Senator Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops.
For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice.
The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.”
And CBS
gets the opposite story:
“Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world,” Obama said precluding the buzz that his speech today is a campaign rally.
So which is it?
A campaign event or not a campaign event?
The Messiah will have Pigs fly for us Mat!
ReplyDeleteVote Obama!
I don't know why I'm posting any of this:
ReplyDeleteWhen we know the fair treatment the MSM will give it,
What's the Point?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting Jon Favreau will end up w/the Dolphins.
ReplyDeleteCertainly not back with the Pack.
Boo, hoo, hoo.
""As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.""
ReplyDeleteThe Moron as Demagogue.
"The Moron as Demagogue."
ReplyDeleteI'm not so convinced Obama will be all that different than Bush.
"2,300 Ecstasy pills, 9,000 fake Viagra pills seized in TA hairdressing salon"
ReplyDeleteZohan!
DOSSIER:
ReplyDeleteNAME: ZOHAN DVIR
IS ALSO: THE ZOHAN
IS ALSO, ALSO: SCRAPPY COCO
OCCUPATION: SOLDIER, MATKAL/COUNTER-TERRORIST/HAIRDRESSER
IS: THE BEST
LIKES POONTACHAT: YES
WEAKNESSES: NONE, HUMMUS
Simply put: Obama looks reaaaal fine when compared to Dubya, especially from across the pond.
ReplyDeleteThat is what Team Maverick has been promoting, mat.
ReplyDeleteThat Obama is just a typical politico, no worries.
That day counter at Maverick's website, counting the number of days since Obama last visited Iraq, is missing. Now they want you to believe it was inappropriate for him to have gone.
While the RNC played radio commercials in US towns, named "Berlin" and Maverick went to a German restuarant.
I thought the hundreds of US flags being waved in Berlin, Germany was a nice touch.
Phil Gramm was right, those Mavericks, they're an expert bunch when it comes to whiners.
doug is mad about what Obama did not do, not what he did do, or say.
ReplyDeleteThere is just no pleasing that Hawaiian.
Why didn't Maverick wait around, in Colombia, and meet with Ingrid Betancourt, that'd have gotten him some positive press.
ReplyDeleteBut he was off to Mexico City, instead.
Missed opportunities abound in his campaign. If it were not for the malaise gripping Maverick's campaign, doug would not seem to be such a whiner.
"That is what Team Maverick has been promoting, mat."
ReplyDeleteI don't think so, dRat.
nukes = fuel cells = indefinite delay tactic
Did I read the Castro Brothers are rooting for Obama too?
ReplyDelete---
HONOLULU -- Federal officials said they netted 43 illegal aliens in an immigration raid on O`ahu.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officers executed search warrants over the weekend at the Oasis Apartments complex in Waipahu.
Agents said the aliens were employed by a company called The Farms which does agricultural work. The 43 men were all citizens of Mexico.
Obama was talking up solar and wind. But I don't believe him. I think they're all bought whores of big oil. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteBo makes the statement "walls must come down"
ReplyDeletethen talks of all the world's terrorism bali, jordan, spain london & New York...
Bombing Jews in Israel is kosher however...
what a fucktard
words mean something,
ReplyDeleteand the LACK of words say something too...
Just having LEFT Israel and seeing 1st had the results of thousands of rockets, having just left the holocaust memorial and arriving in GERMANY the site of the creation of the modern holocaust he showed a true lack of courage...
he lack of words CONDEMNING Jew hatred speaks loudly...
After all that sucking up to the Hispanics They Are Shafting McCain
ReplyDeleteServes him right too. Doug was right, if somebody would run on really solving this problem he'd be President.
Sure it has, mat, by promoting the Obama flip-flops on a variety of issues, they are playing that he is just a normal politico, not an agent of dhange.
ReplyDeleteIt could work, but I tend to doubt it.
Look at the editorial that Maverick wrote and the NYTimes would not run. The NYPost did run it.
It is all Obama and his errors, though Maverick does seem to misrepresent Mr Maliki's position.
The best part of the piece is where Maverick tells US that General McCaffrey was right, in Mar07, and Team43 still has not addressed those equipment challenges facing the Iraqi Security Forces.
The Iraqi air force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications and other complex functions needed to support frontline troops.
No one favors a permanent US presence, as Sen. Obama charges. We've already seen a partial withdrawal with the departure of five "surge" brigades, and more can take place as the security situation improves.
I guess 100 years in not considered permanent by a 72 year old. Seems like more than a lifetime, to me.
The Walls must come down, wi"o".
ReplyDeleteWondered if anyone else would pick up on that.
That news swings New Mexico & Colorado into the Blue column, fer sur, bob.
ReplyDelete103 days to go
bo is a nut....
ReplyDeletemaybe he should run for EU's president
From Bob's media source:
ReplyDeleteThe biggest oil guzzler? The Pentagon
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/12001.html
.
.
For years, some lawmakers have been pressing the Pentagon to go greener, and they're hoping today's soaring prices will inject some urgency into the Defense Department's efforts.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who formed a Defense Energy Working Group, seized on the issue in 2004 after learning that the Army's Stryker combat vehicles got only 5 miles per gallon of gas.
He cited national security as another reason to conserve fuel.
"Here is our current defense posture," Israel said. "We are borrowing money from China to fund our defense budgets to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to fund our military to protect us from China and the Persian Gulf. It is an insidious vulnerability."
Defense Department officials know there is a problem, Israel said, but they also are well aware that it can't be fixed overnight. Israel once pressed Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England to conduct a national competition for an energy-efficient naval propulsion system. England sent back a picture drawn by schoolchildren in crayon — of a boat with oars.
That's not to say there's been no progress. The Air Force claims to be a leader in energy efficiency — despite the fact that it buys enough jet fuel to match 10 percent of the domestic market.
Now, Assistant Air Force Secretary William C. Anderson is trying to turn that consumption into an advantage by working with the nation's two largest commercial airlines to create a market for alternative jet fuel.
The Air Force is also pursuing public-private partnerships that draw on its market clout as a huge consumer to push development of small nuclear reactors and coal-to-liquid fuel plants.
And it touts its success at harvesting solar energy with photovoltaic panels at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas.
But while the Pentagon has done a lot to advance the cause of alternative energies, Israel and others say it should use its huge size to become a transformational force in the energy market — as NASA did when it popularized Velcro.
"The Defense Department has been a driver of a lot of technological innovations — look at the Internet," said Sarah Wilhoite, a legislative representative for Earthjustice. "If someone has the funds to do it, I would think it would be the Defense Department."
The first step, Israel suggested, is turning the Pentagon into a giant laboratory to develop new fuels and energy-efficient products that could be transferred to the commercial market.
"The biggest stumbling block on this is it's not the most fascinating issue — at least it wasn't until oil hit $140 a barrel," Israel said.
"Sure it has, mat, by promoting the Obama flip-flops on a variety of issues, they are playing that he is just a normal politico, not an agent of dhange."
ReplyDeleteObama's flip flops are his own. If these flip flops weren't there, there'd be nothing to promote. That said, I'd never trust a Muslim, no matter what. So these flip flops are an irrelevancy to me.
It was well known 16 months ago that the Iraqi needed their own air support, makes one wonder why Maverick was not championing supplying the aircraft to the Iraqi. He knows, better than most, how important aircraft are in a modern battlefield.
ReplyDeleteGuess that is why he held up those Boeing air refueling tankers, prefering AirBus equipment for the US Air Force instead.
Didn't work out for Mav, though, Boeing got to bid on the deal.
McCain sent two letters in 2006 urging the Defense Department to make sure the bidding proposals guaranteed competition between Boeing and Airbus. Months later, Airbus's parent company retained the firm of a McCain campaign adviser to lobby for the tanker deal.
McCain on Wednesday called the GAO decision "unfortunate for the taxpayers," saying Air Force officials "need to go back and redo the contracting process and...hopefully they will get it right."
Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Sen. Barack Obama, D- Ill., lauded the GAO decision and called for a "fair and transparent" rebidding of the contract.
Maverick and his lobbiest friends, oh, what a tangled web he weaves.
Doug: Just as in Portland, the massive crowd attended two free concert appearances prior to the Messiah's arrival.
ReplyDeleteNot to be outdone by BO's speech in Germany, McCain gave his speech at Schmidt's Sausage and Fudge Haus, accompanied not by a rock band but by some really loud windchimes. This isn't John's week.
Ms. T wrote:
ReplyDelete"This isn't John's week."
Master of the understatement.
Closer to home--
ReplyDeleteWolves Kill Six Hunting Dogs In Attack Near Kamiah
AP--A family of hound hunters is mourning the deaths of six of their dogs that were killed by wolves on Sunday.
won't quote the whole thing, but down went Mickey, age 7, ("Mickey dog is almost a legend in this area," Schilling said. "Just a heck of an animal.") Whiskey, Vic, 2 year old Locksa, a six month unnamed puppy, and, finally, Dora died on the way to the vet.
Out in our tree the bear, but don't shoot him season. Walker hound dogs.
"If you want to get a pretty correct count on what's in the woods you should contact the houndsmen of Idaho. They know. Every winter it gets worse and worse. There are days you see 20 wolf tracks and only one elk track," Schilling said.
Dogs were chasing to tree a bear, met up with a pack of wolves, got wiped out. Not even the radio collars, which are set to broadcast when the unusual occurs, could save 'em.
The wolves are out of control, and some ass fed judge just nixed the upcoming hunting season on the wolves. The elk, as we all predicted, are taking it on the chin. Rumor is the enviros are trying to reduce the elk numbers to stop all hunting.
Fish and Game says there are some 800 wolves in Idaho. It's way way more than that. A neighbor saw some out around my place, 6 1/2 miles from Moscow.
Sooner or later some little kid is going to be walking along, and get eaten.
Shoot, shovel, shut up.
Follow Up On Sam's Edgar Mitchell Alien Disclosure Project see Edgar on video here
ReplyDeleteThe real threat is all around us, and Obama doesn't have a clue....
ReplyDeleteJail the San Francisco Supervisors Let this 3 time arrested Salvadoran hang around the city, and he guns three people down over a traffic incident.
ReplyDeleteOh, Bob.
ReplyDeleteStarving bears eat Russian guards
July 25, 2008
MOSCOW: Bad weather is thwarting efforts to rescue a group of mine workers trapped by hungry bears in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka.
The bears have already eaten two of the workers.
The bears - apparently starving - killed the men on July 17, it was reported in Russia. As many as 30 bears have surrounded a platinum mine. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.
About 400 geologists and miners are refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed because of poor weather, it was reported.
Kamchatka, 12,000 kilometres east of Moscow on Russia's Pacific coast, is one of the world's last great natural wilderness areas. The remote volcanic peninsula is home to the rare Steller's sea eagle, puffins, and brown bears that roam its geysers and snow-covered collapsed volcanoes.
Kamchatka's 12,000-strong bear population is the largest in Eurasia. Recently, however, the bears have faced unprecedented ecological pressures.
Not to be outdone by BO's speech in Germany, McCain gave his speech at Schmidt's Sausage and Fudge Haus, accompanied not by a rock band but by some really loud windchimes. This isn't John's week.
ReplyDeleteMe thinks to many people are seeking a reason why old John aint doing so good..
BO is great at LOOKING good..
But as we speak, many of his obamamanics are angry that he now has moved right of bush on many issues...
why not allow the process to work...
I bet those tired, bitter working class americans were not moved by his speech
Russian Bear Eats Russians
ReplyDeleteTime to cling to our religions and our guns, says I.
ReplyDeleteWolves, bears, MS-13, inflamed Germans, undocumented aliens, real aliens....
Hackers get hold of critical Internet flaw
ReplyDeleteJuly 25, 2008 - 9:34AM
Internet security researchers on Thursday warned that hackers have caught on to a "critical" flaw that lets them control traffic on the Internet.
An elite squad of computer industry engineers that labored in secret to solve the problem released a software "patch" two weeks ago and sought to keep details of the vulnerability hidden at least a month to give people time to protect computers from attacks.
"We are in a lot of trouble," said IOActive security specialist Dan Kaminsky, who stumbled upon the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability about six months ago and reached out to industry giants to collaborate on a solution.
"This attack is very good. This attack is being weaponized out in the field. Everyone needs to patch, please," Kaminsky said. "This is a big deal."
DNS is used by every computer that links to the Internet and works similar to a telephone system routing calls to proper numbers, in this case the online numerical addresses of websites.
The vulnerability allows "cache poisoning" attacks that tinker with data stored in computer memory caches that relay Internet traffic to its destination.
Attackers could use the vulnerability to route Internet users wherever the hackers wanted, no matter what website address is typed into a web browser.
The threat is greatest for business computers handling online traffic or hosting websites, according to security researchers.
The flaw is a boon for "phishing" cons that involve leading people to imitation web pages of businesses such as bank or credit card companies to trick them into disclosing account numbers, passwords and other information.
"I was not intentionally seeking to cause anything that could break the Internet," Kaminsky said Thursday during a conference call with peers and media. "It's a little weird to talk about it out loud."
Kaminsky built a web page, www.doxpara.com, where people can find out whether their computers have the DNS vulnerability. As of Thursday, slightly more than half the computers tested at the website still needed to be patched.
"People are spending tens of thousands of hours getting this patch out the door," Kaminsky said.
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership, is among the chorus urging people to quickly protect computers linked to the Internet.
"Just like you should wear a seat belt going down the road to be safe in a car accident, the same applies here," said Jerry Dixon, a former director of cyber security at the US Department of Homeland Security.
"The patch is your seat belt. The exploit is out there and you definitely need to take precautions. Now is not the time to keep waiting."
Two "exploits," software snippets that take advantage of the vulnerability, have been unleashed on the Internet in the past 24 hours, Securosis analyst Rich Mogul said during the conference call.
"The threat is there," Mogul said.
"Mickey dog is almost a legend in this area," Schilling said. "Just a heck of an animal."
ReplyDeleteMickey Dog, aka, Wolf Meal
I feel you, dawg.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the Wyoming thing. Telling another state how to manage its business - including its wolves - is a delicate matter.
ReplyDeleteBut Wyoming leaders have failed to write an acceptable wolf plan, and they are dragging their neighbors down with them. Wyoming should have received an unmistakably blunt message from Molloy.
A little prodding from Idaho and Montana probably wouldn't hurt.
Plan Set Back Delisting
Just how many tired, bitter US voters do you think there are?
ReplyDeleteHow is Maverick going to rally them, against the energetic and enthusiastic Obamaoids?
TANSTAAFL
ReplyDeleteHow is Maverick going to rally them, against the energetic and enthusiastic Obamaoids?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is embedded in the question, dRat. :)
Then there's the Wyoming thing. Telling another state how to manage its business - including its wolves - is a delicate matter.
ReplyDeleteThat's Dick "Shooter" Cheney's home turf. Next January he's going on a very extended hunting sabbatical, and that can't be good for plans to restore the wolf population.
"So we're going to be campaigning across the heartland of America and talking about the issues that are challenging America today"
ReplyDeleteMav
Not sure if you guys caught this, or not but I just heard from a friend that while Obama is in Europe, McCain will be addressing the cities of Berlin and Paris, USA.
ReplyDeleteAh, I see Rat caught it.
ReplyDeletedesert rat said...
ReplyDeleteJust how many tired, bitter US voters do you think there are?
How is Maverick going to rally them, against the energetic and enthusiastic Obamaoids?
I predict that gays, kids and blacks will not turn out to vote in record numbers...............
US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has told crowds in Berlin that the US and Europe have drifted apart and it is time for them to come together again.
ReplyDelete...
"While the 20th Century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history," Mr Obama said.
...
Mr Obama addressed many issues in his speech:
* He said it was time to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it", arguing that Islamic extremism could be defeated just as communism had been in its time
Europe Ties
200k...
ReplyDeleteRousing the masses...
Visions of the anti-Christ...
Will be fun to see the reaction to these two oldies but goodies @ BC.
ReplyDelete(w Minor changes, like "adviser" for "despiser")
---
Richard Clarke, Michael Schuere, and John O'neill knew plenty about where and what bin Laden and Al Queda were up to.
Despite Clarke running around screaming just that, neither the Clinton nor Bush Admins were interested in distracting themselves from whatever they thought more important.
---
Not too hard to confirm that scenario with a quick read of Clark's memo to National Security Despiser, Dr Condi Rice written in January 2001.
---
Washington, D.C., February 10, 2005 - The National Security Archive today posted the widely-debated, but previously unavailable, Washington, D.C., February 10, 2005 - The National Security Archive today posted the widely-debated, but previously unavailable, January 25, 2001, memo from counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke to national security advisor Condoleezza Rice
- the first terrorism strategy paper of the Bush administration.
The document was central to debates in the 9/11 hearings over the Bush administration's policies and actions on terrorism before September 11, 2001. Clarke's memo requests an immediate meeting of the National Security Council's Principals Committee to discuss broad strategies for combating al-Qaeda by giving counterterrorism aid to the Northern Alliance and Uzbekistan, expanding the counterterrorism budget and responding to the U.S.S. Cole attack. Despite Clarke's request, there was no Principals Committee meeting on al-Qaeda until September 4, 2001.
The January 25, 2001, memo, recently released to the National Security Archive by the National Security Council, bears a declassification stamp of April 7, 2004, one day prior to Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission on April 8, 2004. Responding to claims that she ignored the al-Qaeda threat before September 11,
Rice stated in a March 22, 2004 Washington Post op-ed,
"No al Qaeda plan was turned over to the new administration."
Tenet tries to shift the blame. Don't buy it.
ReplyDeleteMichael F. Scheuer,
Our CIC has proven over and over to be a man who smoothes over and covers up failures in his administration, instead of addressing them.
(He even does the same thing for the CLINTON admin, et al!)
There will be Hell to pay.
(what has already been paid is enormous)
"In "State of Denial," Woodward paints a heroic portrait of the CIA chief warning national security adviser Condoleezza Rice of pending al-Qaeda strikes during the summer of 2001, only to have his warnings ignored.
Tenet was indeed worried during the so-called summer of threat, but one wonders why he did not summon the political courage earlier to accuse Rice of negligence, most notably during his testimony under oath before the 9/11 commission.
"I was talking to the national security adviser and the president and the vice president every day," Tenet told the commission during a nationally televised hearing on March 24, 2004.
"I certainly didn't get a sense that anybody was not paying attention to what I was doing and what I was briefing and what my concerns were and what we were trying to do."
Now a "frustrated" Tenet writes that he held an urgent meeting with Rice on July 10, 2001, to try to get "the full attention of the administration" and "finally get us on track." He can't have it both ways."
---
...and now we know why W gave Tenant the Medal of Freedom, and what it says about him as a leader:
Wonder what he didn't want Normie Mineta to disclose?
Obama Global Poverty Bill Before Senate
ReplyDelete$2,500 from each of you folks, for starters.
"McCain on Wednesday called the GAO decision "unfortunate for the taxpayers," saying Air Force officials "need to go back and redo the contracting process and...hopefully they will get it right.""
ReplyDelete---
Doesn't Big John know Gates took it out of AF's hands?
Better give him a call, 'Rat:
He's YOUR Senator!
Ich bin eine Schwindler. Ja.
ReplyDeleteJed Babbin is Apoplectic:
ReplyDeleteSays the 'Bus won't even Take off and Land on many runways to be used.
Too big.
"Great for Cargo and Troops"
BS
A Tanker will be needed as a tanker.
They ignored the Specs the second time, had a corrupt deal w/Boeing the first time.
Hey al-Bob:
ReplyDeleteI learned this am on Rush that when you put in the article "eine" before it,
"Berliner" means Jelly Donut!
I'n a Jelly Donut!
ReplyDeleteA Jolly Jelly Donut!
By Golly, A Jolly Jelly Donut am I!
from Dale--
Subject: From our friend who is serving in Afghanistan
Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to "The War Zone". I wanted to share with you what happened.
He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.
As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.
So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.
I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.
If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.
In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier
Kathryn Jean Lopez on The View & Abortion
ReplyDeleteShepherd said that she met a woman during that time who said to her, “Sherri, when you get to heaven, all your babies are going to be there to say ‘Hi Mama!’”
“I knew that Jesus had forgiven me.”
Co-host Joy Behar replied how “interesting” it is that “very few people actually tell about the abortions that they have had. Because society puts a lot of shame on it.”
Whoopi Goldberg ended the segment insisting no one judge Sherri. “As long as you talked to God and you worked it out with God, who are we to say anything else?”
Can we back up a few lines here? Shame and guilt?
If abortion is but a neutral moral choice among others, what’s to be ashamed or guilty about?
Hey, Dale is that alien that passed on the bogus e-mail, ain't he?
ReplyDeleteYOU check it out this time, al-Dale!
ReplyDeleteHere's some links:
cpt jeffrey s. porter on Askville
The Tucker Family From an american soldier CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter - Google Search
The Fox starring Sandy Dennis.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ms T can find it for us.
Dale's Stock is goin down fast!
ReplyDeleteseashelly said...
I found your blog while looking for evidence of truth behind this letter. So far I can't find any proof of authenticity. I would suggest before posting things you are not sure of, maybe investigate first. It's kind of like getting an email about a virus. That once you look it up at your virus protection site, you find it's not true at all. There are videos you can watch here. http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/UnitedWeStandTogether/CBPt
Just passing things on as I'm told to do, al-Doug! What else can I do?
ReplyDeletejeez! slams forehead with palm of hand, slams forehead on desk--jeez! two in a row--it's a little like reading Granma or the NYT.
ReplyDeleteMy source has been totally, unequivocally discredited, all trust broken. I shall cease, desist.
Good ol Dale!
ReplyDeleteYou really did two head slams in a row?
ReplyDeletePoor Desk!
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, addressing a cheering crowd of 200,000 in Berlin yesterday, called for renewed worldwide cooperation to combat terrorism, global warming and poverty.
ReplyDelete...
Speaking near the site where President Ronald Reagan in 1987 called for the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall, Obama used similar imagery to call for the end of rivalries between rich and poor countries and between religious groups.
...
"This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan," he said in his 30-minute speech.
Work Globally
Well, there you have it. One wave of the magic wand and Presto! US - Europe relations restored!
ReplyDeleteOne palm slap, one head slam, al-Doug.
ReplyDelete""two in a row--refers to two bum leads in a row, al-Doug, not two head slams, want to be clear on that important point.
ReplyDeleteI think my first reaction and resentment on this speech is going to spread. This is not going to be the triumphalism being exalted by the orgasmic press.
ReplyDeleteI hope so.Krauthammer thinks Maliki did Obama a big favor, and thinks Obama will be President.
ReplyDeleteThis current crop of democrats are damned emotional fools, Lieberman excepted, Krauthammer seems to be saying.
Don't forget the Orgasmic 'Rat!
ReplyDelete