Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Still Life With President Obama and His Summer of Recovery

Stimulated.



Delightful: DHS Now Looking to Spy On Its Own Employees

Amazing. Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security doesn't want to keep tabs on illegal aliens, but does want to secretly monitor its own employees. Jacob Goodwin at Government Security News spotted an intriguing and bizarre RFP (Request for Proposal) from DHS this week.

Why would the Federal Protective Service want to spy on itself?


A recent solicitation issued by the Federal Protective Service unit of DHS for what it calls a 'Video Surveillance Rapid Deployment Kit' contained an intriguing requirement among its roster of technical specifications: 'Hidden internal camera and microphone that will allow a remote user to see and hear the operator of the system.'

That sounds as if a boss back at [DHS] wants to be able to watch and listen to the person actually carrying the video camera, without that camera person even knowing that he or she is being watched.

Strange.

...[After we asked, here's] what Michael Keegan, chief of public affairs for the Federal Protective Service, told GSN on August 17... “Due to operational security and potential officer safety concerns we are not at liberty to go into the details of the system,” Keegan added, “but rest assured that the equipment will be employed for security and criminal investigative purposes within the parameters of the law.”

That certainly didn’t tell us very much.

...The statement of work that accompanies the solicitation, which was issued on August 16 by the FPS office in Kansas City, MO, explains that the system ought to be transportable by one person and be able to “monitor critical assets and remote locations,” both indoors and outdoors... "The surveillance camera software should be navigated by a 17-inch touch-screen monitor accompanied by a special industrial-grade back-lit keyboard for nighttime surveillance operations..."

Plus, approved users should be able to log-in to the wireless camera system, with their cell phone, laptop or compatible wireless device, to look at live feeds or previously-shot video stored on the system’s DVR.

The Federal Protective Service provided five pages of detailed technical specifications for the preferred DVR and surveillance cameras, but never got around to answering a fundamental question: What is the central mission for this rapidly deployable system?

What indeed?

Don't look for the ACLU to generate the same level of outrage over this sort of Orwellian activity as it once raised for the Bush administration's wire-tapping of terrorists.

And I wonder what the public sector unions think of this sort of monitoring activity? Fully supportive, no doubt.


Larwyn's Linx: L.A.'s $578M School Celebrates a Post-American World

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

L.A.'s $578M School Celebrates a Post-American World: Virtuous
Censorship in the era of the Ground Zero Mosque: Simon
MI votes against fake tea party candidates: BlogProf

Economy

The White House War on Jobs: Malkin
Cloward-Piven Blueprint Continues to Unfold: RWN
Stampede for ObamaCare in NJ: Malkin

Stimulus cost more than Iraq War: Tapscott
Welcome to the Horrors of Rationing: RWN
For ObamaCare supporters, judgment day approaches: York

Climate & Energy

James Cameron, Fraud: NiceDeb
Obama WH knew drilling moratorium would cost 23,000 jobs: Hot Air
Offshore drilling industry forever changed after Gulf spill: Hill

Media

BLOGOLA!: Ace
The Daily Caller Blew It: the Truth About Bloggers and Consulting: RWN
A Better Topic for the Daily Caller: George Soros and the President: RWN

Paul Krugman is a Liar: Does the New York Times Care?: Baehr
Dem Strategist on Obama: “He Is a Walking Radioactive Disaster”: GWP
Now, why would 20% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim?: Shiver

World

Pakistan's Games of Duplicity: CJ
The ICE Conspiracy With Illegal Aliens: Hindenblog
‘U.S. has more Muslim blood on its hands...’: NRO

Tolerance: Pro-Mosque Communist Screeches Against 'Zionist Jews': WZ
Barack, the Fourth Stone Cutter: Breath of the Beast
How Much is Too Much?: GrandRants

SciTech

Tech at Night: Net Neutrality, FreedomWorks, Christian Coalition, RIAA, Copyright, Cybersecurity, Intel, McAfee: RedState
Net Neutrality Backers Challenged by ACORN, MoveOn Ties: Hill
Inside the Electric Grid: CNet

Cornucopia

Dr. King, Religion and Freedom: Star Parker
Why Young Black Males Are Not Graduating High School: AmSpec
Maybe It's Just a Bad Enchilada: MOTUS

Images: People's Cube.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate


Monday, August 23, 2010

Nation of Cowards: Eric Holder Hiring Linguists Who Can Understand African-American Dialects. Seriously.

Remember: they're uniters, not dividers.

This is non-fiction: an RFP from Eric Holder's Department of Justice, as publicized by The Smoking Gun, is fairly outrageous. In short, the DEA wants "Black English" linguistic experts to decipher the audio recordings of bugged calls.



Thought experiment: I wonder what legacy media would say if the Bush administration had tried something like this?


Ground Zero Imam: Despite freeing tens of millions of Muslims from despots, U.S. has more blood on its hands than Al Qaeda

Sounds tolerant to me.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf: "We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaida has on its hands of innocent non Muslims...

...You may remember that the US-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of over half a million Iraqi children. This has been documented by the United Nations. And when Madeleine Albright, who has become a friend of mine over the last couple of years, when she was Secretary of State and was asked whether this was worth it, said it was worth it."

Rauf's screed is an abomination.

George W. Bush freed tens of millions of Muslims from the Taliban and Saddam Hussein's despotic regime.

And the United States gets no credit from Rauf and his ilk.

Say, let's have him build a tolerance mosque in the Ground Zero debris field!


Please Congratulate Shane Goldmacher, Author of the 'Most Biased Top Story Ever Published In Any Free-World Newspaper'

That is how Tim Cavanaugh describes the verbal stylings of the Los Angeles Times' Shane Goldmacher.

In one of its many books of guidelines, the Los Angeles Times instructs employees to write so that a reader "cannot detect" the political views of the reporter. If there's any place where you'd expect this iron-age rule to be followed, it's in an A1, top-right-column story, which is traditionally considered the leading news story of the day.

So it's not Shane Goldmacher's opinion, just straight news, that the lame-duck governor of California is sending a "gubernatorial ransom note" and "holding the state hostage" in his budget negotiations, thus repeating a "shameful chapter in California's history" and alienating cooperative Democrats with his "ultimatums." It is furthermore objectively true that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing this not just from an honest desire to fix Sacramento's chronic budgeting problems but out of personal pique, that he is trying to retrofit a "fiscal system that has bedeviled California -- and him -- for years."

Sounds even-keeled to me.

Goldmacher seems awfully proud of Blue State governance. From the $578 million K-12 public school building to delayed school payments of roughly $3 billion, there's a lot for him to kvell over.

If you ever find yourself in Goldmacher's presence, please don't mention the public sector unions that control Democrat legislators. He still believes in the Tooth Fairy and the success of socialism.


Image: Sacramento Bee. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

The Most Detailed Schematic Illustration of Democrat Effects on the U.S. Economy You Will Ever See

Ray sent this one in.

True dat. Click here for Chapter Ninety Zabillion of the Democrat Economic Success Story™.

Oh, and let me guess: it's Bush's fault. Or the vapors.

Epic Personalized Email Message

Getting huge quantities of email is a delight in and of itself, but nothing's better than the personal touch:

What a d-nozzle.

Larwyn's Linx: The Professional Left vs. the Amateur Right

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

The Professional Left vs. the Amateur Right: Cube
Illegal alien who voted illegally to receive citizenship: GWP
The Case For Impeachment: Kuhner

Barney Frank's Opponent Gets Rousing Welcome: RWN
Deference and the Constitutionality of Health Care Reform: Volokh
Kucinich and the Communists: NewZeal

L.A. Leftists Get the Code Pink Treatment: BigGovt
We Haven't Forgotten: NRO
Hannity Freedom Concert in Tulsa--MSM: Shame on You: MagNote

Economy

It's the Economy... And Locusts!: Patterico
401(k) Loans Up? Good!: Surber
Hard Hats: No Mosque: IBD

Obama, Liberation Theology, and Marx: AT
Eonomy Leaves Americans in No Mood for Liberal Agenda: Barone
Clampdown on High Frequency Churners, Er, Traders Begins: ZH

Climate & Energy

'Extreme Weather'? Not Yet!: RWN
Surprise: Cameron Morphs Into Gore: CBullitt

Media

When it comes to the Ground Zero Mosque, truth is the new hate speech: BigJournalism (Geller)
Frank Rich: You People Will Cause The Already Failed Afghan Surge To Fail: LegalIns
The US blogger on a mission to halt 'Islamic takeover': Guardian

Hyperliberals: RWN
10 Bigoted Remarks Made by the ‘Tolerant’ Left In Obama’s ‘Post-Racial’ America: NewsReal
Obama's Religious Affiliation?: Langbert

World

Sunday Morning Thought Experiment: TigerHawk
Muslim Festival on 9/11 Canceled: Surber
10 Bigoted Remarks Made by the ‘Tolerant’ Left In Obama’s ‘Post-Racial’ America: NewsReal

Inside the Victory Mosque's Shady Washington-Riyadh Finance Trail: AmPower
Claire Berlinski on Moderate Islam: RWN
Not Safe For Work or the Faint of Heart: iOTW

Shut Up, They Explained - National Security At Ground Zero: JOM
Code Pink Leader Freaks Out After Protesters Crash Her Home Fundraiser For Jerry Brown: GWP
Meet Jodie: iOTW

SciTech

Apple applies for patent to kill jailbroken devices: CNet
Amazon Kindle 3: The Best Kindle Yet: PC World
Google Is Anakin, Verizon Is The Emperor, And The Dark Side Is Winning: TechCrunch

Cornucopia

Uncle Sam's Evil Twin: MOTUS
Guy goes into a bar, there’s a robot bartender...: AmDigest
Tranny Travels the Terminals: Ace

Chris Matthews’ Prayers Have Been Answered: The Barack Obama Inflatable Doll: Powers
Reminder: Obama’s Played More Golf in 2 Yrs. Than Bush Did Both Terms: RWN
Joe Webb could be the Vikings' quarterback of the future: NBC

Images: People's Cube.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Click here to thank John McCain for the Gang of 14.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Don't Question Her Patriotism, But Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) Holds Huge Stake in Supplier of Military and Space Electronics to Iran

It turns out that one of California's radical Congressional Representatives is a bit more radical than she'd let on. Jane Harman (D-CA) appears to hold between $5 million and $20 million in companies that provide military and space electronics to Iran.

I have learned of financial ties between incumbent multi-millionaire Jane Harman and the distribution of "dual use" electronic goods in Iran. AKG Acoustics of Austria, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harman International, a U.S. company, distributes electronic products in Iran under the name of Fowzi Electronics, Ltd in Tehran, Iran. That information is corroborated on AKG's website and by recent reports in news blogs. In other words, AKG is materially assisting Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism.

Incumbent multi-millionaire Harman's financial disclosure form lists ownership of shares approximating $5 million to $20 million in value in Harman International. AKG is best reputed for the commercial and industrial use of recording devices, speakers, microphones, headphones, and wireless communication. But this equipment falls into dual-use technology that may also be employed in defense or aerospace.

Gee, you'd think our legacy media might have picked up on this story somewhere along the line. Maybe 60 Minutes or Family Guy, which are about equally respected.

While we wait for the media to run with this scoop, you may want to consider supporting Harman's challenger -- Mattie Fein -- who wants to put an end to Harman's outrageous support of a terrorist regime. And the anti-Harman video on her website is plenty entertaining.


Update: Democrat Jane Harman Admits, ‘Ahmadinejad Was . . . My Boyfriend!’


Hat tip: Larwyn.