Señor Jehuda, aka "El Blogo de Liberto", is an attorney and media professional with a background in TV marketing and production, copywriting, independent filmmaking, and spontaneously speaking perfect Spanish. A proud Texan who recently escaped from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, he spends far too much time thinking about movies - especially since his job requires it. Jehuda is also a contributor at YesButHowever.com and PJ Lifestyle.
Plus this: “Cataloging people—any people—based on statistical predictive software, and then taking pre-emptive actions against them based on the results, is the wrong way to improve our society.”
Wherever he is, Phillip K. Dick is saying “I told you so”…
Reuters: Homes raided; “Al Qaeda ideology suspected”.
More, from the WSJ: WMD worries.
William Murchison: Obama’s CIA investigation blunder?
Is there a brain cell functioning properly in the Obama White House? What are these people thinking? Are they thinking? Yes, maybe. Here’s what they might be thinking: The left of the left of the left got us here. They’re mad enough at us now. We’ll throw them a little investigation, trying to explain it to moderates and conservatives — and we’ll pray it works. Nothing else seems to these days, with the health care semi-debacle as Exhibit A.
This is just nuts. These White Housers, possibly including the president whose consent to this operation was required, don’t have a clue. The game isn’t worth the candle.
Give it a read. I think Murchison is right. There is risk for the Obama White House in this CIA witchhunt. And if the Left was able to twist Ken Starr’s investigation of the Clintons’ finances into an unnecessary, “sex-obsessed”, wild goose chase, the Right should be able to paint AG Eric Holder, and Obama as fools willing to exploit political correctness at the expense of national security solely for political gain.
As for John Durham, the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation, maybe we can forget about him for now. He has what seems a strong, respectable resume; and he’s only doing his job, after all.
But we could start by asking what Eric Holder’s role was in the pardon of Puerto Rican bombers prior to Hillary’s first Senate run. And since we already know of Obama’s sympathies for extremists at home (Ayers/Wright) and abroad, all that’s left to do is to apply Alinsky’s Rule 13 to both Holder and Obama and go to town to make Obama (who is the ultimate decision-maker on this matter) stop this. If the much maligned Dick Cheney could do it, so can we. And any resulting effect in 2010 and 2012 will be a bonus.
Oh, sure. Holder and Obama are African-American, and applying Rule 13 will lead to accusations of racism and developmental disabilities against us. But these accusations will be made no matter what we do. So who cares?
The point is – Jiu-Jitsu style – to take the energy poured into attacking the CIA for pure political gain and rechannel it against the administration so that it results in an erosion of political influence. I’m not saying it will be easy to sell this to moderates and independents, but given Obama’s continuity of many a Bush policy in the intelligence and War on Terror Overseas Contingency Operation realms – and the fact that Obama’s magic has lost its power in more than one arena – Obama isn’t completely immune from political risk even among the less partisan demographics.
If we were willing to mix it up to keep government’s hands off our health care, we must be willing to prop up the CIA – leaks or not. The seeds for the next great terror attack against our country could – after all – be inadvertently planted by Obama if he continues with this approach.
UPDATE: Let’s get the ball rolling. “You wonder which side they are on”. And from the comments: “President Bush protected Americans. President Obama is protecting Terrorists.”
MORE: Related content from Bret Stephens: A real Plame-gate, minus the outrage.
ANOTHER ONE: A related tweet from Jim Treacher.
There are undoubtedly people who want to liberalize the Iranian regime. They are to be found among the professional classes in Tehran, as well as among students. Many speak English, making them accessible to the touring journalists, diplomats and intelligence people who pass through. They are the ones who can speak to Westerners, and they are the ones willing to speak to Westerners. And these people give Westerners a wildly distorted view of Iran.
WSJ: Electric grid penetrated by Chinese and Russian spies.
And here’s a military man’s take on the general cyber-attack threat.
UPDATE: Much more at Dr. Fiancee’s Culper Ring. Looks like we should have expected things to come to this. What else is new?
The NYT reports:
The City of Chicago has linked its street cameras via a CAD system to its 911 network. Well, yeah, so?
This means that, as soon as someone dials 911 to report a crime, as long as “the 911 caller is in a location within 150 feet of one of [the] surveillance cameras”, the live feed of the 911 call locale is captured from the street cameras and broadcast to the dispatch center. The dispatcher can view the live feed, then pinpoint the suspect or location based on the initial call info and direct the officer who shows up at the scene where to go and who to nab.
Now, Durham, NC has recently tested out a program where six cameras (originally 13) were linked to its 911 system. While there were some good results, the overall ratings were reportedly less than satisfactory because of an outdoor wireless system and bandwidth issues.
However, this technology “was paid for with a $6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.” and “has been in use since a trial run in December.”
Let’s see how this plays out.
What’s especially interesting (pay attention, those of you who have issues with your Big Brother):
In addition to the city’s camera network…the new system can also connect to cameras at private sites like tourist attractions, office buildings and university campuses.
Twenty private companies have agreed to take part in the program…and 17 more are expected to be added soon. Citing security concerns, the city would not say how many cameras were in the system.
Cross-posted at culpering355.wordpress.com.
