MaxRedline

Iran's Ticked; Mexican Mayor Stoned

Iran's leadership - if you want to call it that - is really upset: Stuxnet invaded Iran's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems through "zero-day" access.  It's a sneaky approach; albeit not widely implemented by worm-builders because other vulnerabilities are easier to penetrate.  It's a tricky bit of code indeed that will lie quietly by until the zd window opens.  As noted previously, however, it appears to reject any configuration that doesn't match its target - which is why Iran's claim that it poses a threat to personal computing platforms is laughable.

Significantly, their lack of foresight or general ineptness - which appears to have left them vulnerable to infection - has them blowing their tops:
 they're threatening military retaliation.

Iranian and intelligence sources report that these statements are preparing the ground for Tehran to go beyond condemning the states or intelligence bodies alleged to have sponsored the cyber attack on Iranian infrastructure and military industries and retaliate against them militarily. Iran is acting in the role of victim of unprovoked, full-scale, cyber terror aggression.

Damn.  Maybe they should stop enriching uranium.

You know why you can't circumcise an Iranian?

There ain't no end to them pricks. 

- Gallagher

MEXICO CITY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The mayor of a small town in western Mexico was found on Monday stoned to death in the third attack on a public official in the country in less than a week, local authorities said.

Either they're growing really potent weed, or you really need to consider someplace other than Mexico for your next vacation.

Green Oregon

John Kitzhaber knows from green.  As sitting governor he obtained a loan from an investment firm - which generally doesn't do things like that - then appointed the head of the firm to a seat on the Oregon Investment Council.  Chicago politicians would be proud.

Kitz sent out a statement recently which claims “I borrowed against my own savings in order to purchase a home in 1999. I paid interest on the loan and in fact paid it off early."

Sounds good.  Just one little problem:

The document (PDF) Kitzhaber released last night actually directly contradicts Kitzhaber’s claim: it references a final payment for “John A. Kitzhaber MD…Mortgage Account.” At the risk of re-stating the obvious, a mortgage is a loan made against property, not against securities or “savings.”

Oh.  It's not just a little problem; it's a big, sticky one - one that may have violated federal law, in fact.

But, what the heck!  Doctor John has learned from his mistakes, so he should go back to Mahonia Hall.  He's a trustworthy guy.  

Really.

 

Flying Pig Alert

The Big Zero has endorsed Rob Cornilles in the 1st District Congressional run.  Wu Who!  Whatever got into the folks at The Oregonian?  Are they trying to become relevant, all of a sudden?

Another Weekend Dump

If you don't want news to get out quickly, you wait until late on a Friday to make your dump.  Oregon has it down to a science.

Coming in late in the news cycle: Oregon's Treasurer has called for a complete halt to borrowing - which would effectively put the skids on the state's big-government spending spree.

As well, it turns out that we'll need to cough up another $1.1 billion to cover PERS obligations.

TIGARD — The bad news was passed along quickly Friday when the board of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System approved higher payroll-contribution rates for state agencies, local governments and school districts for the next two-year budget cycle.

ObamaNation

Where to start?  The Democrat Obama administration is fighting a lawsuit filed by Log Cabin Republicans who demand the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the U.S. military, which Bill Clinton enacted.

Clinton claims that he was mislead by Colin Powell, who retorts that the honky cracker's full of it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Obama invoked the state secrets privilege to toss a lawsuit brought by civil liberties groups against an assassination plan against terrorists that would also target a U.S. citizen.

Isn't it great to have the most open, honest, and transparent administration in the history of the country?

But speaking of transparency:  Nevada’s Senate candidate forum ended in a loud shouting match and fist fight between supporters of Harry Reid and Sharron Angle.

Here in Portland, a citizen was assaulted for shooting video of Democrat John Kitzhaber, who was speaking at a political event.

They keep claiming that the TEA Party folks are violent thugs.  Did the Democrats all join the TEA Party, all of a sudden?

The Hidden Cost Of Government Greenies

Washington state banned certain types of laundry detergent recently, in an effort to boost their "Green" image.  Naturally, the government-mandated stuff performs about as well as dog-poop, which has of course generated a black market for laundry detergent that works.  In eastern Washington, residents often drive into Idaho, bringing back real detergent.

On the west side, they've taken to bringing it in from China.  

Having solved the problem of illegal aliens and other issues, the feds are focusing upon counterfeit detergents:

SEATTLE (AP) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized nearly 1,500 cartons of counterfeit laundry detergent that arrived in Seattle by ship from China.

Included were 5,000 boxes of detergent that resembled Tide and 3,600 bags that resembled the Ariel brand. In a statement, Customs says the products not only bore protected trademarked names, they falsely claimed they originated in the United States.

Note to government:  stay out of our washers, okay?  You ain't gonna win the War On Cleanliness.

 

 

The Worm Has Turned

Iran's nuclear agency is trying to combat a complex computer worm that has affected industrial sites throughout the country and is capable of taking over the control systems of power plants, Iranian media reports have said.

This particular worm was briefly mentioned here a couple of days ago, in connection with the larger issue of cyber-warfare.  By all accounts, the sophisticated worm was finely-tuned to target specific hardware configurations, which it will ignore if the parameters aren't met.  It appears that some of the stuff over in Iran have passed the worm's tests.

Golly, how do you fight something that's capable of reprogramming infrastructure components and then morphs into something with an entirely different set of fingerprints?  My, this certainly presents them with a difficult nut to crack.

Obama's Hostility Toward Law

That's come back to the forefront, finally, with the testimony of Christopher Coates, who invoked whistleblower protection status in order to testify under oath after his superiors had specifically ordered him not to do so.

Friday's testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights came from much-decorated Justice Department veteran Christopher Coates, a hero of the civil rights legal community when he was a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. "The election of President Obama," he said, "brought to positions of influence and power with the Civil Rights Division many of the very people who had demonstrated hostility to the concept of equal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act."

These people have no respect for the law if it fails to serve their agenda, as Coates has clearly pointed out.  They're nothing more than Chicago-style thugs, from Obama on down.

 

Kerry: You're An Idiot

A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation.

“We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday.

Well, Johnny, much as it may pain you, many have survived the more than 20 years of indoctrination that you and your ilk have devoted toward dumbing down children in U.S. public schools.

They've grown up to understand that your slogans and the mainstream media can't be relied upon to provide accurate information.

It isn't they who are clueless, Johnny, it is you and your Democrat buddies.  All your condescending rhetoric does is demonstrate how out-of-touch you folks really are.  And we've had about enough of it.

 

Woodsman, Spare Those Trees!

For now, a government agency has ordered a halt to a planned clear-cut on 42 acres of private property in Tigard, Oregon.

TIGARD -- A regional water authority has halted -- for now -- the planned removal of more than 2,300 trees on a single private property in Tigard. 

On Sept. 17, Hillsboro-based Clean Water Services issued an order to stop the operation. The regional water utility said Fields needed to submit a more complete inventory of wetlands and other water resources on the property.

Right.  It's all about the wetlands.  That's just code for "We're going to harass you and try to grind you down because the neighbors like the trees on your land."

"It's like a micro-ecosystem," Stewart said of the land that abuts his property. "The greatest value that property has is what it is already." 

Absolutely!  Never mind that if the trees come down and his neighbor's property is sold for development, Stewart's views go away.  It's lovely to sit on the back deck and look out across the forest that sits on somebody else's land.  Maybe Stewart should buy some of that land, so that he can protect it.

Too much trouble; too expensive.  Wouldn't be prudent.  Better to whine sufficiently to get government agencies involved.