Soft War: Attack Of The Geeks

The cyber slap attack continues, Iran gets "Thunderstruck." Now that the Obama White House has spilled the beans on the U.S. clandestine cyber sniping program on Iran's nuclear program. It should be no surprise that the program continues to harass the scientists at Iran’s Natanz and Fordo nuclear enrichment facilities. The Iraian News agency FARS is reporting that their nuclear program  has been attacked recently by a virus they are calling “Duqu”. FARS reports that the “Duqu” malwere has both elements of the “Stuxnet” and “Flame” viruses that were unleashed on them previously. 


Iran's Minister of Communication and Information Technology Reza Taqipour who was the official speaking publicly disclosed that their geeks have “thwarted” the recent attack and an other official warned that America will have its “teeth knocked out” if the attacks continue.

"It seems there is a close relation to the Stuxnet and Duqu targeted attacks," the statement said, adding that the malware's "propagation methods, complexity level, precise targeting and superb functionality" were reminiscent of the Stuxnet and Duqu cyber threats to which Iran had also fallen victim. 
Stuxnet was designed to damage Iran's nuclear sites, specially Natanz uranium enrichment facility. Duqu, like Flame, was apparently built for espionage but shared characteristics with Stuxnet. 

The new worm has targeted the "automation network" at the Natanz and Fordo facilities and has shut them down. The Internet security site F-Secure Security Labs reported that a scientist from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. Sent them an email stating that a virus has taken over the computer network and is blaring the song “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.


F-Secure is a Finnish maker of security and cloud software and said that while it was unable to verify the details of the attack described, it had confirmed that the scientist who reported them was sending and receiving the e-mails from within Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.


Iran's nuclear program and oil facilities have been the target of repeated cyber attacks and apparently it is getting old in Tehran because they have issued ultimatums. Iran's Foreign Ministry said in May that these cyber attacks were launched by hostile governments as part of a broader "soft war" then in June the White House admitted to it!


Iran accuses the U.S. and Israel of trying to sabotage its technological progress with financial sanctions, oil and gas embargoes and cyber attacks. Both countries say Iran's nuclear activities may have military intent, an allegation that Iran denies. However Iran does admit to using their enrichment facilities to produce fuel rods for nuclear submarines and surface warships that they have yet to acquire or build.


The Iranian scientist reached out to F Secure with this email. 


Over the weekend, I received a series of emails from Iran. They were sent by a scientist working at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). 
He wrote:

A translation of the email by F Secure

I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom. According to the email our cyber experts sent to our teams, they believe a hacker tool Metasploit was used. The hackers had access to our VPN. The automation network and Siemens hardware were attacked and shut down. I only know very little about these cyber issues as I am scientist not a computer expert. 
There was also some music playing randomly on several of the workstations during the middle of the night with the volume maxed out. I believe it was playing 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC.

Comment from F Secure
I'm not sure what to think about this. We can't confirm any of the details. However, we can confirm that the researcher was sending and receiving emails from within the AEOI.


Mikko


Comments in reference to the Iranian email post very interesting

Invasion of the Bible Snatchers

Faster than speeding bullshit. More powerful than a loco motive. Able to leap from Indonesia to Occidental in a single bound. Look up in the sky, it's a solar panel,... it's a windmill,...NO  it's, A Left wing, it's...Barry Soetoroman Yes it's Soetoroman, strange visitor from Kenya, who came to Washington with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal congressmen and who became President. Soetoroman, who can change the course of mighty capitalism, bend the truth in his bare hands, and who disguised as Barack Obama, mild-mannered orator for a great military superpower, fights a never-ending battle for untruths, social justice and the Muslim way! 


Fortunately for the American people we have Wonder Woman, aka Micheal Bachmann. The honorable congresswoman from Minnesota has taken on the persona of front-woman in the fight for truth, justice and the American way. Mrs. “B” has gone on the attack and has placed the Obama Administration directly in the cross-hairs. The congresswoman has shined the light on the White House and the close associations the Obama Administration has with the Muslim Brotherhood. These associations have been criticized by bloggers for some time but it has taken a louder voice, the voice of a political leader for the American media establishment to sit up and take notice. Those in the blogosphere must be frustrated by the lack of viral-ness that their stories have garnered regarding the infiltration of the Muslim menace into the halls of Washington political power. Mrs. “B” along with other lawmakers have authored letters to several government agencies asking questions regarding the overt cozy-ness of the Obama Administration with the Muslim Brotherhood.


The snot-nosed nambe-pambe RINOs and Dems that have referenced the letters authored by Mrs "B" have recently in the media commented and have done so blindly.  Without reading and by commenting on various inquiries within the letters that she has made with the vairous Inspectors General is just nonsensical. 


Speaker of the House John Boehner said during his Thursday briefing that he hadn't seen the letters Mrs “B” and four other conservative lawmakers sent to the Inspectors General of the five federal agencies warning that the Muslim Brotherhood may be infiltrating the U.S. government. The Speaker was asked about the question raised in the letter regarding the vetting process of Hillary Clinton's top aid Huma Abedin 

"From everything that I do know of [Abedin], she has a sterling character and I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous," he said.

Senator John McCain stood up in front of congress and lied about the content of the letters Mrs “B” has authored and have posted on her website. The senator began his statements by proclaiming that Huma Abedin is a “friend” of his. Therefor his opinions maybe some what bias. 

“Recently it has been alleged that Huma Abedin a Muslim American is part of a nefarious plot to harm the United States by unduly influencing American foreign policy at the department of state in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist causes. On June 13th 5 members of congress wrote to the deputy inspector general of the Department Of State demanding that he begin an investigation into the possibility that Huma Abedin and other American officials are using their influence to promote the cause of the Muslim brotherhood within the U.S. Government. The information used to support these serious allegations is based on a report, The Muslim Brotherhood in America which is produced by The Center For Security Policy.”

Mr. Mc then offered his opinion that the report is “scurrilous” 


Well Mr Mc hear is what the letter actually says. 

“For example according to The Muslim Brotherhood: The enemy from Within,” a product of The Center for Security Policy (www.muslimbrotherhoodinamerica.com), .The departments deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin has three family members- her late farther, her mother and her brother- connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and / or organizations. Her position offers her routine access to the secretary and to policy-makeing.”  

In light of all the favorable opportunities offered by the Obama Administration to the Muslim Brotherhood hear at home and abroad it seams completely logical to ask the question. Has Huma Abedin been completely vetted? If she has then lets see her file. If not, then ask why not, then kick her ass to the curb. It may be safe to say that any person that has associations with a group or organization that has known links to terrorism should be disqualified from holding a job within the federal government. Take for example the janitor that cleans your office Senator McCain. Would you be happy to know that a person who has links to a extreme Islamist group has keys to your office so they can gain access unsupervised in the middle of the night to empty your wast basket and sweep the floor. Would that be acceptable to you? 

It is a fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is actively working world wide to increase their acceptance within western societies and wipe out any form of religion other than Islam. Conversion to Islam and the eradication of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc world wide is the goal, that includes atheists and nonbelievers as well. 


The infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood in America did not start with the federal government but with society in general. It has been subtle and creeping but it has been relentless until the 911 attack. In the aftermath of 911 the brotherhood stepped up their effort of Islamatisation in the U.S. by offering up the idea of Muslims being a peaceful loving people. Using the Chinese principal of sweet and sour the Brotherhoods proxies like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has tried to sweeten the idea of Muslim acceptance within the U. S.. However for most Americans there is not enough sugar in the world to get the taste of 911 out of our mouths. 


Up-until the advent of the Arab Spring movement the Muslim Brotherhood was illegal in most Middle Eastern / North African (MENA) countries simply because these countries with the exception of Israel are/or were kingdoms or dictatorships. Just like the Mafia in Italy the Brotherhood flourished in an underground manor subverting the countries governments by winning the harts and minds of the repressed citizens as sort of a unofficial welfare organization. The harts and minds concept has worked so well in the MENA countries for the Brothers that they were able to take control over the populations once the tipping point of the Arab Spring fell in their favor. 

Right now in Egypt the Brotherhood is in civilian control and advancing the idea of Shariah law and all the benefits that come along with it. Benefits like stoning women to death, cutting off the hands of petty thieves, decapitating nonbelievers and burning bibles. Coptic Christians are now being extorted with a practice called “jizya” they call it a tax that all nonbelievers are required to pay according to the Koran. The Brotherhood justifies the burning of churches and the beating and killing of Coptics due to the fact that they refuse to pay the jizya. If that is not insane enough these screwballs are calling for the Spinx and the Pyramids at Giza to be destroyed or covered with wax. Someone needs to tell these Islamist idiots that wax melts in the dessert and that Egypt's entire tourist industry revolves around the Pyramids and that they are one of the seven wonders of the world. Maybe the Islamists will want to back-fill the Suez Canal next!


Mrs. “B” has a right, no, an obligation to ask these questions and to alert the American people that Soetoroman and his fellow henchman are actively supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. By the White House releasing $1.5 billion to the Egyptians at this point is subverting the nations security, moral beliefs and the nations constitutional principals. What is confusing is that the United States Government is complicate in these activities. Since 1776 the USG has taken on the responsibility of protecting the citizenry from all enemies both foreign and domestic. They have taken this responsibility seriously and have done an excellent job of it. So what has gone wrong, why is it that the government fails to recognize that we are at war with an ideology not a country? The day we witnessed Attorney General Eric Holder refuse to say the words Radical Islamist extremism, it hit like a flash of lightning from out of the blue, the government is involved and they support the radical Muslim agenda for political purposes. The so-called grand jihad is a key stepping stone or a tool in the world wide socialists attempt to wipe out capitalism and Christians, Jews, the Bible and the Torah will be nothing more than collateral damage.

Americans Involved in Bulgarian Bombing

It is unclear whether the dead bomber was an American or a Swed or an Iranian but the Bulgarian police, FBI' CIA and the Moussed are all looking for an American named David Jepson. It is beveled that Jepson was instrumental in the bombing and could have been the person on airport surveillance video recorded shortly before the blast took place.


The suicide bomber, who killed six Israelis and a local bus driver in Bulgaria's Burgas airport  received guidance by an accomplice based in the other major coastal city of Varna, media reports say. The presumed accomplice, who is believed to be a US citizen named David Jepson, was captured on CCTV footage at Varna airport at the end of June, according to unconfirmed information. The American reportedly spent a few nights at a hotel near the Festival Congress Center in downtown Varna, but investigators find it impossible to track him down after the day of the terror attack in Burgas. Police suspect the American is still in Bulgaria's territory.


CCTV footage released earlier from the attack at Burgas airport had shown a white person with long hair. That person fits the description of and could have been Mehdi Ghezali a Swedish man with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the US’s Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He was released to Swedish custody in 2004, and the Swedish government did not press charges. He was also reportedly among 12 foreigners captured trying to cross into Afghanistan in 2009.”


A survivor that witnessed the attack said that a dark-skinned man with short brown hair and an Arabic accent came aboard the bus and he appeared to be wearing a wig. This man has yet to be identified but according to the Israelis he is possibly a Iranian national working with Hezbollah in Lebanon. 


The FBI and the CIA are working with Bulgarian investigators and are tying to ID the bomber though Fingerprint and DNA evidence taken from the dead bomber's body. One of the investigators relieved that three or four field operatives could be involved, one could possibility be a woman and that one or more of them could still be at large within Bulgaria. The man hunt is underway for the American David Jepson who they clime could have entered the country through one of the EU's border crossings that is a free flowing cross border post leaving entries and exits undocumented.

The reason why the multinational spook force is looking for this man is because they found his passport or some other kind of identification. The tactics of any spy agency are deception and deflection, Iran;s Quds force is no exception, and the Quds international intelligence force  has infiltrated all western countries to some extent. However in their attempt to cover and deflect their involvement in the Bulgarian bombing the Iranians may have made a fundamental error. David Jepson could possibility be the dead perpetrator on the bus, or one of the accomplices on the run, or he could be in a grave in Arizona. David Jepson with a birth date of 09/16/1971 and a death date of 06/16/1995 is buried in grave  VB_C_2_55_14 at the Arizona Vine Bluff Cemetery. The drivers license found at the crime seine was a poorly executed forgery and the passport found was also forged. both documents are of U S origin.


Hezbollah operating out of mosques in the the U S is involved in various criminal activities that include cocaine sales,  identity theft, transnational weapons and human trafficking to and from Mexico and money laundering through various types of business ventures. The proceeds from their criminal enterprises goes directly to accounts that fund terrorism around the globe. Regardless of weather David is dead or alive Americans are involved in this acts of terror. The documents found in Bulgaria are a trial that leads right back to U S shores and there is no doubt that Hezbollah’s network of recruiting and financing through mosques are involved. There is just to many connections to deny the fact that Iranian influence in the United States is propagating violence around the globe, The next attack could be at the Olympics in London or at a baseball game in Detroit. 

My Daddy the Pimp

After a long Arab spring an Egyptian summer has bloomed and love is in the air. Men from all over the Middle East are in search of the woman of their dreams. Yes the sweet smell of love is in the air and the men follow their nose right to Egypt. The farther of the unsuspecting bride submits his name and contact information along with his daughters photo and short bio to a marriage broker in a country like Dubai, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. The broker in-turn adds the  girls information to his data base for his customers perusal. When a customer finds a girl he likes he pays a contact fee to the broker. The customer then directly approaches the young girls farther with an offer to marry his daughter for a specified time period. The offer always includes money but could also involve a job for his son or a refrigerator for the family home.


With the details ironed out the groom travels to his bride's family home to finalize the transaction and the girl is handed over by her farther in front of a judge to sign a Mot’aa or Misyar marriage contract. These contracts are valid for a predetermined period of time after which they can be renewed or allowed to expire. The newly weds in most cases have a significant age difference with the bride being between the age of 15 to 20 and the groom being of middle-age. When the man who is often married to another woman is in the last days of his sex vacation and the marriage contract is about to expire he has two choices. The first is to take his underage bride back to his home and give her to his wife as a house slave. Or just leave her at the side of the road on his way to the airport. The latter is most common because Egyptian law prohibits foreign men to permanently marry women 10 years their junior so leaving the country is complicated by obtaining fraudulent documentation. 


The injustice to the jilted young girl is just beginning. Returning to her family, often times pregnant she is now branded with the scarlet letter of an unwed mother with an unwanted baby. The girl in most cases abandons her baby and turns to a life of prostitution never being able to escape the grips of poverty in the shanty town that she lives in. 

Slums of Cairo

Egypt has so many social and economic problems that must be addressed now that the country has a new president. But will this new political structure actually make a difference. Will President Mohamed Morsi and his so called Freedom And Justice Party aka the Muslim Brotherhood try and tackle any of the problems facing Egyptian society or will the poverty continue to fester. 


Sectary of State Hillary Clinton has spent the last three and a half years globetrotting and proselytizing about human trafficking, woman’s rights and religious freedom. The history of the MB shows that none of these issues have been front and center in their agenda. And now with the group in a politically strong position and able to make a difference in Egyptian society many contend that the status quo will continue as it did before the advent of the Arab Spring. Of course there is the Coptic church burnings and crimes against Christians, The genital mutilation of young girls and the condoned flesh peddling of adolescent women must be curtailed to give President Morsi legitimate standing on the world stage. 


In April President Barack Obama not only released $1.5 billion dollars in aid to Egypt and had MB leaders in the White House. Clearly the Obama Administration has promoted the MB and probably hand picked Mohamed Morsi as their presidential candidate. For the administration not to add any restrictions on this aid is ridiculous, for one thing the war on woman must stop in Egypt. Second the security in the Sinai peninsula must be maintained and the Camp David Accords must stay intact, third military hardware must be monitored by a U.S. contingent, forth civilian police forces must be re-vetted and redeployed for the tranquility of the citizenry and upholding the rights of all citizens including Christians and Jews. Also the current military rank and file as well as the upper echelon must divest their commercial interests or leave the military. These issues and many others need to be addressed and time-lines need to be attached to any existing or future financial aid. But the current administration has not addressed these issues and Mrs. Clinton's silence has been defining. 

Syria; The Shit Storm Cometh

Daoud Rajha

Top government officials in Syria are scattering like cockroaches and the Free Syrian army turned on the light switch with two well placed bombs that were remotely detonated. The explosive devices were smuggled into a top level security meeting by hiding one in a box of chocolates and the other in a flower arrangement. According to a FSA officer the attack had been in the planing stages for months.


 A report out of Syria said that President Bashar al Assad was injured in the bombing of the three story building that houses the defense ministry. President al Assad is nowhere to be found and one report said that the presidential plane took off from Damascus military airport for the city of Latakia. 


The port city of Latakia is host to several Iranian war ships and weapons depots. al Assad clearly is looking to Iran for retaliatory help and safe haven now that his government is falling to pieces. Asma al Assad the dictators wife has fled the country for Russia presumably after looting the treasury of cash. 


Mass defections among the military are rampant and widespread throughout the country. In the aftermath of the explosion that took out the governments top henchmen. Syrian TV confirmed the deaths of Defense Minister Daoud Rajha,a former general that advised Halfass al Assad the current dictators daddy, Gen Hassan Turkmani, a deputy president and head of the crisis cell, deputy defense minister Assef Shawkat referred to as "the second president" and the husband of the dictator's sister. With Shawkat's death the country's security apparatus is severely crippled.   


Also wounded were Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar and Maj. Gen. Hisham Ikhtiar, who heads the National Security Department. State TV said both were in stable condition.


Although there were no statements from Assad, Syrian TV said in the hours after the attack that a decree from him named Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij as the new defense minister. Al-Freij used to be the army chief of staff.


Government troops have been deployed to all government buildings in Damascus as well as the  radio and television stations in anticipation of more attacks. The FSA is swiftly moving through the city of Damascus on their way to Qudseya the location of the Presidential Place. Government forces have been abandoning checkpoints but are retaliating against the Syrian citizens with rocket attacks. With al Assad's troops rocked back on their heals the use of bio/chem agents may soon be deployed if FSA troops lay siege to the presidential palace and continue their rampage through the city. 

Labor Unions: From 7% to 0

Bodie CA.

The gold rush that started in 1848 at Sutters Mill in California and set off a frenzy of gold fever that lead to the construction of many boom towns from Alaska to Mexico. The heydays of the gold rush lasted about 50 years and once the the gold ran out so did the people. Today these once bustling settlements are slowly being reclaimed by mother nature and are now ghost towns. We are seeing this phenomena happening again in Detroit. The black plague of bankruptcy is infecting municipalities and it is sweeping across the nation. Yes the gold has run out and we have public and private sector unions to thank for the infection. 


This week we have learned that cities and towns across the nation are being infected with the union disease, Scranton and Harrisburg in PA., San Bernardino, Stockton and Sacramento in CA., Woonsocket and Pawtucket in RI., Chicago IL. and Detroit MI. have both had their bonds downgraded to “junk bond status” by Moody's.  All of these municipalities have made big promises to their public sector union employees that are unsustainable. 

Detroit MI.

Detroit has had a double union punch in the gut, the motor city breakdown is a result of the UAW holding the big three auto makers hostage to unreasonable demands. This in turn has forced GM, Ford and Chrysler to down size by eliminating brands and relocating to many right to work states and to Mexico. With the plant closures comes layoffs, that leads to a loss of tax base by the depopulation of the city. The exodus from Detroit has forced the city to tighten its belt and cut back services. State emergency managers have taken over the cities operations and  negotiations in light of incompetence by the mayor and the city mangers. A plain has been put forth to eliminate 2500 municipal jobs, reduce salaries and cut health and pension benefits. In response union leaders have threatened to strike. In the past bus drivers and sanitation workers have walked off the job leaving the people of Detroit wading through garbage on their way to work for 17 days. Detroit has a $265 million budget deficit and $13.2 billion in long-term structural debt, the city qualified for a state takeover and a state-appointed panel in March deemed it to be in a "severe financial emergency."


A New York Times article by Mary Williams Walsh published October 12, 2010 outlines New York City;s problems with retiree health care obligations and pensions. In the article she states that the city has made promises regarding health benefits worth $62 billion and that the cities retired workers have pensions that are underfunded to the tune of $75 billion as of June 30, 2008. 


Public and private sector unions have driven up the cost of goods and services to the point of un-affordability by the same people that supply and manufacture them. The unions have become their own worst enemy by forcing higher than normal wadge and benefit packages, they have forced entire industries out of this country. Case-in-point; The garment and textile industry was a huge employer in the southeastern Massachusetts/Rhode Island region but no more. The old knitting mills of Fall River stand vacant or have been torn down in some cases converted into condominiums. The manufacture of clothing gave birth to the term “sweat shop” men and women worked their fingers to the bone with out breaks 12 hours a day and paid “piece work”. When the garment workers organized many of the conditions improved. With their new found power of collective bargaining unions forced employers for more wadges and benefits by striking and going after business owners and “Scabs” with ax handles that attempted to cross picket lines. If strikes did not work then they would burn a factory or a managers home.  Finally the factory owners had enough and one by one they went to Japan, Taiwan and India. The company that once employed 100 workers in a four story building that took up two city blocks was reduced to an office staffed by 4 or 5 people that was twice as profitable. 

Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem PA.

When it comes to police officers, fire fighters and teachers clearly we can not send their jobs oversees but something must be done, the nations security depends on it. We need to keep our public sector workers happy but we also need to keep a handle on expenses. A political and business solution must be found to repatriate jobs to grow the tax base. Surely the city of Scranton Pennsylvania would not be in a financial mess if the US steel industry did not collapse under the weight of China's government subsidized production. Then there is the coal industry being strangled by EPA regulations further strangling the region. Is Allentown, Bethlehem or Wilks-Barre next? Mismanagement and lack of foresight may have played a part in the fiscal problems these municipalities are facing but when the fingers stop being pointed we still need to solve the problem. In the meantime the United States is looking at a saver security problem all because of union strangulation.


The government on all levels federal, state and municipal is failing in the security of the citizens by capitulating to union demands. The unions have outlived their usefulness and they need to be dissolved. We can start the process on the federal level with AFSCME/AFGE these unions are growing like a tumor. The federal employment statistics for the year 2010 was 2,841,000 civilian employees. The Weekly Standard reported in January that  Andrew Biggs, the former Social Security Administration deputy commissioner for policy and American Enterprise Institute Scholar said that, “The average federal government employee receives a salary of around $75,000 per year. With present and future fringe benefits equal to about 76 percent of salaries, that makes for total annual compensation of around $133,000” 


Unemployment is holding steady at around 8% and there is jobs available but most of the jobs are part time dead end opportunities that can not pay the bills for a person undereducated by an underachieving union saturated school system. This is becoming a problem in cities like Detroit and Chicago where illegal activities have replaced a job or in some cases augmented the family income. With more illegal activity catering to vices comes more crime and violence sending a city into a death spiral. This can be seen in Detroit's abandon properties and Chicago's murder rate.


The United States has been lulled into a false seance of security by the federal government the war is no longer going to be in Afghanistan or some Middle Eastern backwater but right on American soil. The US has under-reported the threat from within. A disaffected unemployed  population of young people has given rise to the “occupy wall street” movement and anarchist movements that operate under the radar till an event takes place like the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida. A country that is fully employed minimizes these threats and maximizes it's tranquility. 


The large private sector unions like SEIU and AFL-CIO have a huge impact on the political decisions made in the United States. Since 2008 union influence in Washington has increased faster and is more pervasive than ever before. Richard Trumka president of the AFL-CIO has been to the White House over 50 times to meet with Obama. Andy Stern president of SEIU has also darkened the the White House door about 56 times prior to his retirement in April 2010. In February of 2011 Trumka was boasting that “I talk to someone in the White House EVERY DAY” what could these people be talking about? Perhaps it is the dividing of the nations loyalties? Or could it be the formation of bills and laws that would benefit unions? Maybe the discussion revolves around carve-outs in the tax code for union leaders in return for future favors? We can only speculate but it is clear that state and local governments are at war with unions over contract negotiations. It is becoming obvious that union leaders are special interest groups that have loyalty only to themselves not their members and certainly not the employers that the members work for. If your a teacher and a union member you represent a paycheck to the union leadership nothing more nothing less and the leadership will protect their investment by keeping you employed. So you can fall asleep in the classroom and you can keep checking out the children that parents have intrusted you with and taxpayers will keep paying your lazy perverted ass because the teachers unions have chosen to reward nonperformance and condone illicit behavior in return the receive $150 a month in dues .


Union leadership has taken membership dues and invested in failed socialist policies and pay-for-play political leaders that are selling this country out. The National Labor Relations Board that is loaded with socialists labor lawyers had blocked the opening of the Boeing assembly plant in South Carolina. At the prodding of Union leaders like Richard Trumka The White House instructed the NLRB to force Boeing,s production back to the unionized state of Washington. The House of representatives stepped up to the plate and in September voted 238-186 on a bill that bars the NLRB from forcing Boeing to act on a move. July 17 Boeing announced that they have secured $35 billion in new orders for their new fuel efficient aircraft. The announcement came at the U.K.'s  Farnborough International Air Show, assembly will take place at the South Carolina operation.

Boeing Facility in SC

At the show Airbus also hit a grand slam home run when they announced that they have secured orders worth $17 billion, good news for Airbus but better news for U.S. employment. The Euro manufacture that has been building commercial aircraft in France and Germany announced that their new A320neo airframe will be constructed in Alabama. With the rising cost of European union labor, the unstable economy in Europe, the technical skills of American workers and the availability of non union labor are all reasons that has lead Airbus to invest $600 million in a manufacturing facility in Mobile.


Conservative governors in right to work states are being very aggressive in courting CEOs into relocating to their states. Rick Scott of Florida has dropped the states unemployment rate almost 3 points since he was elected in 2010. Gov. Scott has reduced property taxes and maintained services. Personally my taxes have decreased about $80 a month. 


Governors Like Rick Scott, John Kasich of Ohio and Scot Walker in Wisconsin are directly in the cross hairs of union leaders. They see them as the enemy of working class people. The fact is, it is unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU that drive up the cost of goods and services in the United States. CEOs have been fighting back for the last 50 years by withdrawing their manufacturing facilities from the U.S. to countries like Mexico. The UAW has caused a title wave of jobs flooding Across the southern border. Wile German and Japanise auto makers have built non union auto assembly plants in right to work states. American auto makers started by importing small parts and plastic blow molded components from Mexico that were shipped back to Detroit for the assembly line. Today it is complete Hemi engines and transmissions for America's police cars and most disappointing of all are the complected cars and SUVs that are shipped from Mexico directly to the auto dealers.

Richard Trumka

  
Remarks by Richard Trumka April 27, 2011

" I really believe the public is on to what these CEO-backed Republican attackers are trying to do to working people and their rights, and that over the next 18 months, working people and our allies across these battleground states are going to win—not every fight, but the big ones and the day. I believe Scott Walker, the ambitious little big man that he is, will regret listening to the Koch Brothers—the real ones, not the Internet pranksters.  
But the bigger question really is what does this fight mean for workers' future in America?  It would be nice to say that victory over Kasich and Walker and company will mean victory for workers and our unions.  But that will not be true. 

The reality is that we have only faced this kind of attack because the labor movement has been in decline for so long our enemies thought we were weak and isolated and could be destroyed once and for all.  The truth is that we live in a country where 3 out of 4 workers are in the private sector, and only 7% of them have a union in their workplace.  That figure—7% private-sector union density—may be the most important number in American life.  It speaks to stagnant wages and out-of‑ control health care costs, to mass foreclosures, to weak demand, to the politics of plutocracy, to our failure to invest in America.Political strategies that are simply about low-risk ways of holding the White House will not help workers—they will lengthen a losing end game and will not give us a path to victory.

To get the job done, we need to build and strengthen and broaden the labor movement.  We need to better engage our members and build an army of activists like the teachers and firefighters and other public employees in Wisconsin who have inspired us all.

We must take the spirit that brought working people to the streets of Indianapolis and Madison and Columbus—and Tunis and Cairo—and bring it to all our nation's workplaces—and to our polling places, our state capitols and our national capitol.  With this spirit of unity, of solidarity, of democracy itself, we can be unstoppable in 2011, in 2012 and in the years to come. "

Mr Trumka Has advocated violence in the past but now he is promoting the use of public disobedience and violent behavior as a means to an end. All this in an attempt to stay relevant and promote the socialist agenda. The unions and the AFL-CIO in particular  are looking to capitalize on the uprisings in the Middle East endorsing the overthrow of governments bringing that level of violence to this country. The police officers and nurses that are union members will be thrilled to hear that the AFL-CIO will be contributing to their overtime. Mr Trumka is a power hungry control freak using big labor as a club to beat the population over the head. President Obama in turn is using the labor unions as a tool to soften the American populous to the idea of social justice and create a rich vs poor environment so it will be easy to infect the ignorant with his socialist manifesto.


Mr Trumka also said

" In the age of Internet globalization, we live our cause as one with workers around the world. The U.S. labor movement's voice has been clear in support of democracy and workers' rights in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Bahrain, in Syria, in Iran—and our voice has been heard.  Victorious protestors in Egypt ordered pizza by cell phone for workers sitting-in in Madison, Wisconsin.  One of the inspiring young leaders of the teaching assistants' AFT local in Madison is an Egyptian student whose family was in the streets in Cairo.  We are global."

So what is Mr Trumka saying hear? He intends to bring that level of violence to the United States for the purpose of boosting the union rolls. If the SEIU and the AFL-CIO take to the streets burning buildings and killing people the backlash will be severe, immediate and unrecoverable. Mr Trumka will see his 7% go to 0 and the final nail in the union coffin will be hammered.

SIP-DIS: Tlass Blood is Thicker Than Loyalty.

SIP-DIS: Tlass Blood is Thicker Than Loyalty.: Manaf Tlass The world has witnessed Egyptian tank commanders in Tarear Square restraining and refusing orders to fire on protesters....

Tlass Blood is Thicker Than Loyalty.

Manaf Tlass

The world has witnessed Egyptian tank commanders in Tarear Square restraining and refusing orders to fire on protesters. This is a rare event in the Muslim world. Solders and low level officers are trained and instructed to strictly obey orders in a Middle Eastern dictatorship. Unlike Western solders the troops in the Middle East are not trained to think for themselves, but to roboticly follow orders or be disciplined. A personal moral decision was made that day in Tarear Square and that may have been attributed to American instruction and leadership. The last thirty years of Egyptian military leadership and instruction has been heavily influenced by American technology and innovation. This influence has given rise to independent thinking and self reliance. Therefore the moral turpitude of the individual soldier has been risen to the point of self sacrifice rather than the implementation of an illegal order.

Resistance fighter with American M4 rifle 

The military doctrinaire of the former communist block does not recognize the idea of an illegal order. As trainers in Muslim states like Syria and Iran this attribute has also been passed on. Therefor the states that have aliened themselves with the former communist block countries do not encourage this moral question in the mind of their military. As a result of this the individual solder has three options, 1 follow orders, 2 do not follow orders and be tortured and killed, 3 defect and leave behind your family to receive your punishment in your absence. This is what is being contemplated in the mind of the Syrian Sunni soldiers.

Free Syrian Army solider sniping in Rastan with American M16 rifle

Then there is the Sunni glass ceiling that prevents a segment of the Syrian population to rise above a certain level. We can deduce that this is the reason way we are seeing the military defections, the choice between no future under al Assad or the chance for a future in a Sunni Syria. 


There is much less accountability of the foot-soldiers in relation to officers, so when five or ten disappear from a patrol their absence is not readily noticeable. Like in any army the higher up in rank the more responsibility and accountability that soldier has so his disappearance proportionality more noticeable. Recently we have noted that upper level officers have turned coat and are joining the resistance. This is partly because Syria has commenced their so called “war games” and in the kayos of fighting the resistance and the operation the officers are able to slip away. The high profile defection of Brigadier General Manaf Tlass was achieved not by the fog of war games or by his anonymity among thousands. Tlass's escape was successful because of a diversion. General Tlass was in charge of the Republican Guard forces responsible for the security of the palace as well as the Assad families personal protection.


The Assad and the Talass families have enjoyed a long standing relationship that goes back more than 50 years when the patriarchs Hafez al Assad and Mustafa Tlass became friends in the Syrian military academy. The two men organized the movement within the military that overthrew the government of Salah Jadid in the 1970 coup known as the Syrian Corrective Movement. Tlass a Sunni and Assad an Alawite together were a unifying force within the military that guaranteed the coups success. 

Akram Ojjeh

Mustafa the farther of four, sons Faris, Manaf and daughters Sarya and Nahed was the countries powerful defense minister until 2002. In 1978 Nahed married Akram Ojjeh very wealthy Saudi arms dealer at the age of 18. Shortly after the marriage the newlyweds moved to France where her 60 year old groom died leaving her the benefactor of a billion dollar fortune sister Sarya married a Lebanese man and is living in Lebanon. 


Since the escalation of violence in Syria Nahed, very well connected politically had facilitated the escape of her farther and now her brother General Manaf and his family to France her brother Faris left Syria for Dubai UAE. He is the operator of the only company that supplies the Syrian military with everything from A to Z. Abdul Razzaq Tlass a lieutenant in the Syrian Army and cousin to the general fled Syria for Turkey. In 2011 Abdul Razzaq, once in Turkey, proclaimed very publicly that he has defected from the Syrian Army and is taking up arms against his former compatriots to fight with the Free Syrian Army. 


It is not significant that two army officers a businessman and a former political crony left the country but it is extremely significant that they are who they are. This news is just real bad PR for President al Assad and bolsters all Sunni Muslims within the Syrian Army with the fact that it is not impossible to get out. One of the remarkable facts that has come out is that A Republican Guard General in charge of Assad's palace security was under a sort of house arrest imposed by Bashar al Assad himself. When the demonstrations and protests started in March of 2011 it was Manaf who was the point-man in negotiations between the two sides. Apparently he was successful with both sides giving in to a compromise. The deal was unacceptable as it was laid out to Assad and his advising generals, so it was decided to crush the uprisings with an overwhelming show of force. General Tlass protested this decision to Assad and the military, so he was admonished. The deadly military response in the towns of Douma and Rastan by Assad garnered a backlash and the protests increased in their intensity, the countries violence continued to ratchet up ever sense. 


The straw that broke the camels back for General Tlass was an all-out military offensive in Rastan the hometown of the Tlass clan the general again protested and again he was rebuffed. Late into the action General Tlass was ordered to go into Doma and Rastan to facilitate the peace and he did not refuse to obey the order but he did say the he would not issue any orders to shoot protesters. This was unheard of in the Syrian chain of command. General Tlass was then relieved of his duties and placed under house arrest (his own house).

Akram Ojjeh's TAG Aviation jets in Geneva 

Manaf made the best of his house arrest, sources that are close to him say that he was jogging every day sometimes swimming and playing sports with his friends. Manaf also was making plains for his bug out transferring funds, collecting cash and shipping antiquities from his farther collection. One source reported that one of the items sent out of the country was the sword of Imam Ali? Reports on twitter now claim that the Tlass properties have been ransacked and looted so anything left behind is now gone. 
So did the general simply go to the airport in Damascus, jump on a private jet and fly to Paris? We just do not know the particulars of his defection but one of his cars, a Honda, was found in the Rukn ad-Din neighborhood of Damascus and then there are reports he was in Turkey but now we know that his billionaire sister greased some palms in France and he shows up in Paris. Sounds like a James Bond movie. The one thing that is for certain is that western intelligence agencies will be on him like a cheep suit.


The symbiotic relationship between the Tlass and al Assad families has catapulted both to power and wealth. The two families share the responsibility of Syria's tumultuous past, present and future and that must be remembered. It is probably safe to assume that the close personal relationship between the two clans is now over and for the short term any one with the Tlass name should avoid dark allies and be looking over their shoulder for an Assad henchman.  Now that The fighting  is ratcheting up and the sectarian sides are becoming more defined Syria is in for a long hot summer of war and it seems that some will sit it out on the sidelines sipping champagne. When it comes to Syrian dictators Blood is thicker than loyalty.

Washington D.C.: Bombs Bursting in DOJ

Independence Day in Washington is an insparational and joyfull time for most Americans But not so much for lawyers scrambling to to put out the fires at the Department Of Justice. DOJ lawyers with their pants on fire are devising strategies to keep the boss Eric Holder out of the reach of a possible grand jury indictment. July 3^rd at DOJ the fireworks were bursting in Eric Holders office when Bloggers David Codrea of The War On Guns and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars filed a ethics complaint with the D.C. Bar Association in regard to the Attorney General Eric Holder's conduct and participation in the illegal gun running operation “Fast and Furious”.

The same day a letter sent by Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Attorney General asking him why he had lied under oath to the congressional committees. The letter was accompanied by a document obtained by Grassley's office detailing a telephone conversation that his investigators had with an agent involved in the “Fast and Furious” operation. The letter implicates two separate departments within the DOJ of fabricating a strategy to lie and mislead congressional investigators.

The ethics complaint unsheathed by Codrea and Vanderboegh is a blast from the past and brings back thoughts of Watergate. Attorney General John Mitchell in 1974 was indicted for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, giving false testimony to a Grand Jury, and perjury, for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. He was convicted of these charges in 1975 and sentenced to two-and-a-half to eight years in prison. It was not till after Mitchell was convicted and sentenced that he was disbarred from the New York Bar Association. Along with Mitchell seven other White House and DOJ lawyers were disbarred including Richard Nixon. Spiro Agnew Nixon's Vice President was disbarred under separate charges of tax fraud, extortion, bribery and conspiracy unrelated to Watergate. He was eventually charged with accepting over $100,000 in bribes during his time as an elected official..

The historian Stanley Kutler, who has written several books about Nixon and Watergate, sued for release of the transcripts of Nixons testimony. Ten months after Nixon was forced out of office he drove to the Coast Guard station in San Mateo, California to meet with grand jurors and, for the only time, testified under oath about the Watergate affair. President Obama and AG Holder attempted to block the release of the transcripts with a justice department injunction. They were opposed to the transcripts release on privacy grounds. On July 29, 2011, the U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted Kutler's request, saying that historical interests trumped privacy interests.

It is interesting that President Obama as a candidate proclaimed that his administration would be the most transparent in history has tried to block the release of the Nixon testimony, as well as documents relating to “Fast and Furious” by way of executive privilege. Those of us that are interested in bringing justice to Justice will be watching as the sparks fly around the belt way. Walking guns to Mexico is infinitely worse than Watergate but has been down played in most media outlets and is not even a subject in the presidential face off between President Obama and Governor Romney. What Senator Grassley wants to know is how saturated the DOJ is in the swamp we know as “Fast and Furious”. The action taken by Codrea and Vanderboegh is only a love tap compared to the seriousness of the gun scandal that has killed hundreds of Mexicans and two federal law enforcement officers. Many U.S. Attorneys are deep in the swamp and may be slapped with legal sanctions including then acting ATFE director Kenneth Melson. I love the fireworks in Washington.

Assad: The Hot Potato

Diplomatic dingbats discussing the deplorable dictator Bashar al Assad on Friday June 29^th and Saturday the 30^th can not come to agreement on the disposition of the current Syrian leadership. The talks on Saturday in Geneva yielded nothing. Observers in the meeting said that it was the death of Kofi Annan's 6 point peace plain. One thing that the group did agree upon was the omission of the words “whose participation would jeopardize stability and reconciliation” this was a reference to Assad in the 6 point plain and the western allies agreed  to this, unbelievable. 


Friday President Assad acknowledged on Sana Syria's state run TV that his country is in a “state of war”, it does not take an ophthalmologist to see that. The Syrian situation all hinges on Assad's behavior and actions but the diplomats continuously run from any agreement that calls for Assad to be neutralized.

This farcical exercise is going no were without Syrian input. You may as well be talking to a brick wall. And that is just what the Russians are complaining about. This is nothing more than liberal lip service aimed at world leaders just so they can say look we are trying to help the people of Syria but Syria won't cooperate.

Turkish convoy headed to Syria

Ammar Qurabi, a Syrian opposition leader with the exiled National Current for Change group, said, “The meeting in Geneva was a shock for the Syrian people; they were expecting an explicit call for Assad to step down.”

Qurabi speaking out about the proposal for a Syrian transitional government said. “We can’t say we would participate in a transition from Assad to Assad,” he said. “All this did was give the Syrian issue sleeping pills for six months, until the U.S. elections are over.” As a Syrian Mr. Qurabi knows that for a successful political change in Damascus to take place then all remnants of a Assad regime must be eradicated. This is not to say that all Baathist influence will be eliminated. Just like in Lybia the upper level officials and family members must be ousted or eliminated.

Turkish anti-aircraft missile emplacement on Syrian border

Friday several interesting statements were made by U.S. officials regarding Syria and surrounding countries. During the DoD press conference Secretary of Defense Leon Pannetta and General Martin Dempsey confirmed Turkish troops, tanks and anti-aircraft emplacements are massing on the Syrian border. Also revieled to us was the fact that “the United States and Israel have rescheduled a joint military exercise called Austere Challenge.” Israeli sources relieved that Saudi Arabian tanks and infantry entered Jordan and are massing on the Syrian border. The Saudis are their on the invitation of Jordan’s King Abdoulah.

Saudi forces taking up positions in Jordan

Saturday in Geneva Mrs. Clinton through out some hints at what she know about the role of western forces that are operating within the Syrian operational theater with this statement. ”But the stakes of inaction by the international community are just too high. If Syria spirals further into civil war, not only will more civilians die, not only will more refugees stream across the borders, but instability will most certainly spill into neighboring states.” Mrs. Clinton at this point is very cryptic but what she is alluding to is CIA/MI5 operations supporting the rebal/Free Syrian Army factions. The recent success of the forces opposing Assad have a great deal to do with the distribution of weapons, dissemination of aerial surveillance photographs and the recruitment of defectors. The CIA has also been instrumental in the formation of a satellite communications network linking opposition commanders in a strategic Information sharing system. Mrs. Clinton may also have confirmed the presence of the Saudi forces in Jordan that are poised to encircle Damascus and creating a safe zone in the suburbs.

Jordan's Tanks preparing for Syrian invasion

In a statement issued by the US State Department Friday an official identified as a senior State Department official spoke from St. Petersburg, Russia. The official paraphrased a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by saying “it’s not simply about the suffering of the Syrian people and the danger that the country itself will unravel, but the Secretary made the point that there are real dangers for the wider region. We’ve seen the tensions between Syria and Turkey just this week. We’ve seen the impact on Lebanon. You could have a seriously destabilizing impact on Jordan. You could have an impact on Israel. So it’s really incumbent upon the Security Council members and regional states to exercise leadership and do what we can to help end the violence and get to a political transition. This confirms the sentiment of the Obama Administration that the Syrian people are secondary in this fight. The Americans may be supplying humanitarian aid but that is just cover for the real intentions. President Obama clearly is avoiding the Syrian conflict in public. At the same time Obama is instructing the CIA to steer all support toward the Islamist power structure of the Muslim Brotherhood. Clinton speaks about the impact of neighboring states and the danger of the conflict spreading. This has already happened. AQI al Qeada in Iraq has inserted itself in the fight and is taking advantage of the destabilization to spread its sectarian violence.

Turkish rocket launcher

With the statement “there are real dangers for the wider region” Clinton eludes to the WMDs that are under the control of Pro-Assad forces and the threat of bio/chem attacks on the population of Syria and the exportation of that terror threat. There is a real possibility of the poison agents finding their way into the hands of AQI, Hezbollah, Hamas and the radical Muslim Brotherhood. Syria has produced tuns of Mustard and VX gases as well as Anthrax, small quantities of these substances are devastating to densely populated arias Such as Tel Aviv or the subway system in NY. To make matters worse these agents are stored in bulk containers as well as being weaponized into artillery shells and the storage facilities are scattered throughout the country.

Israeli forces on Syrian border

One thing that is certain to happen in the Syrian conflict is that failed diplomatic attempts will continue to result in the death of more people, the destruction of the countries infrastructure and the expanding radical threat from Islamist groups like AQI. At the very least we must commend Kofi Annan for his continued efforts to resolve the situation through his 6 point plain and by confronting President Assad on his home turf. Clearly the diplomatic effort to curtail the violence has failed leaving neighboring countries to defend their borders and airspace or join the fight. The internal fight between pro and anti Assad factions will escalate to the point that one will collapse, most likely it will be the Assad regime but it may take all summer leaving a lawless vacuum waiting to be filled by various radical Islamist factions. The Jinn is out of the bottle and the longer it takes to cauterize the Syrian wounds the more blood will be spilled and the continued growth of terrorist organizations.