Displaying posts published in

July 2016

Comey Ran True to Form The FBI director let Hillary Clinton off, making the safe call—no big surprise there. Kimberley Strassel

When President Obama in 2013 named James Comey to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the president must have sensed that he had picked someone who could be trusted to have his back, even if Mr. Comey had served in the George W. Bush administration. This week, Mr. Obama’s bet paid off when the G-man let Hillary Clinton skate.

Not that Mr. Comey had an explicit understanding with the White House. It’s just that Mr. Obama and his savvy political team must have known from the start that Mr. Comey was no John Adams.

Not the Adams of Founding Father fame, but John Adams when he was a younger man, who in 1770 agreed to defend British soldiers accused of massacring Boston colonists. The legal task was so unpopular, so dangerous, that nobody else would do it. Yet Adams believed that the law trumped politics, and that the men deserved a fair trial. In taking the case, he risked both his economic and political future. He took it anyway.
Mr. Obama announced Mr. Comey’s appointment by praising his “fierce independence and deep integrity.” And the press drooled over several episodes in his history that had given the former Justice Department official a reputation as tough and impartial. What this missed was that Mr. Comey had risen through the ranks precisely by being the opposite of tough. Washington rewards officials who are best at currying public favor, best at surviving, best at creating unfounded legends. And Mr. Comey had been steadily rising in Washington a long time. CONTINUE AT SITE

Five Police Officers Dead, Several Hurt at Dallas Protest Two snipers opened fire amid rally over police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando CastileBy Dan Molinski, Dan Frosch , Alejandro Lazo

DALLAS—Eleven police officers were shot by at least two snipers here Thursday night during a protest over police brutality, leaving five officers dead and wounding six, throwing the city into chaos and turning parts of downtown into a massive crime scene by Friday morning.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the snipers had opened fire on officers from “elevated positions” during the protests. A civilian was also wounded.

By early morning Friday, three suspects were in custody, including a woman. A fourth was hunkered down in a city garage, exchanging gunfire with police.

The suspect told police negotiators that “the end is coming,” and that bombs have been placed around the garage and downtown with the aim of killing more law-enforcement personnel, Chief Brown said, adding that he had asked his staff for a plan to end the standoff.

Police are working on the assumption that all four may have been involved in the attack. It appeared the suspects had knowledge of the protest route, allowing them to take up “triangulated” positions above the march and target officers.

Police were still searching for other suspects over night, just hours before thousand of workers would fill offices, restaurants and shops in the downtown.

“We still don’t have a complete comfort level that we have all the suspects,” Chief Brown said, adding a search of the area was continuing.

Police and city officials said that large areas of downtown would be closed Friday as police continued their investigation.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told Dallas residents to check with a city website and their employers to see if they would have access to their workplaces. Parts of the city are “an active crime scene,” Mayor Rawlings said, “and we are asking you to stay away from that area.” CONTINUE AT SITE

ANDREW HARROD: ANALYST ATTEMPTS TO DISARM ISLAMIC HISTORY

Hudson Institute scholar Nibras Kazimi, a native-born Iraqi, gave an illuminating talk at the Westminster Institute on strategies to disarm Islamic history’s ideologically dangers. I critique.

“If the jihadists have weaponized history, we can counter by weaponizing historiography.”

Although Iraqi-born Hudson Institute jihadism expert Nibras Kazimi’s remarks at a Westminster Institute lecture in McLean, Va. (available in written form online) offered an intriguing thesis to undermine canonical Islamic historical narratives guiding various jihadists, the extent of the critical inquiry Islam can withstand still remains questionable.

Kazimi discussed the secular nationalist movements and regimes among Turks, Arabs, and Iranians under the Shah that had historically sought legitimacy. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, for example, rebuilt the ruins of Babylon south of Baghdad and, like the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar, had his name inscribed on the bricks. Hussein dubbed his 1980-1988 war with Iran the “Second Qadisiya,” an nod to the 636 Battle of Qadisiya in which Muslim Arab armies defeated the Persians, opening what is now Iran to Islamic conquest.

Yet, for jihadists, the “past is not a tool of mere inspiration or for marking enemies,” Kazimi said, arguing that “history books are recipe books” giving instructions on how to “reclaim that greatness of Islam.” Since its origins in 2006 Iraq, the Islamic State in particular saw itself emulating Islam’s founding followers from seventh-century Arabia under the prophet Muhammad, a community that ultimately conquered empires. The 2014 caliphate declaration of ISIS, a group perhaps even stronger than the initial followers of Islam’s prophet, reflected how Muhammad’s “calling compelled him to strike out boldly, against incredible odds.”

According to Kazimi, both Sunni and Shiite extremists often manage to exude an “aura of certainty” by wrapping themselves in the cloak of history, allowing them to withstand defeats like the 2007-2008 American surge campaign. He explained that these jihadists “can explain away setbacks. They can tell themselves that they got the recipe wrong somewhere, and all they need to do it to go back to the basics to try and try again until it gets going.” This cycle makes Islamic history the “springboard – the solid ground – used by the extremists to leap forward into their ambitious doctrinal ventures.”

Sanctuary Cities Threaten American Lives Senate Democrats vote to protect bastions of crime, violence and danger from the law: Michael Cutler

This administration has consistently acted in ways that show utter contempt for the Constitution and the Rule of Law as well as the separation of powers. In so doing, this administration has created an environment of mistrust by the citizens of the United States that go to the very heart of our Democratic Republic.

Our nation’s immigration laws are among its most fundamental because they were enacted to protect national security and the lives and livelihoods of Americans. Politicians from both political parties have found every excuse imaginable, and indeed, some excuses that defy logic and reason to explain why our immigration laws cannot, will not or must not be enforced.

The Obama administration has done the most damage to the immigration system, making a mockery of our immigration laws and sending a clear and dangerous message to people from around the world- in the United States violations of our laws will not only be tolerated but rewarded. The sheer statistics are staggering and provide irrefutable evidence of the level of anarchy created by this administration.

The consequences of the failures of our immigration laws have repeatedly enabled terrorists to enter the United States and embed themselves as they went about their deadly preparations to launch deadly terror attacks inside the United States.

Criminal aliens ply their “trades” with impunity in towns and cities across our nation that cost thousands of innocent people their lives.

Those who advocate for the effective enforcement of our immigration laws are not “Anti-Immigrant” but are “Pro-Enforcement.” To be “Pro-Enforcement” is taking a “Pro-Immigrant” position because under our current immigration laws our nation admits more lawful immigrants than all of the other countries on this planet. Our current immigration laws are utterly blind as to race, religion and ethnicity and must finally be effectively enforced!

Tactics of intimidation and deceptive use of language are the stock and trade of the open borders anarchists. Anyone who would dare suggest that our government must exercise caution in admitting aliens into the United States to protect the safety and security of America and Americans are quickly branded “racist” and “nativist.” Their objective is to shut down debate and discourse- the hallmarks of true democracies.

Mideast Expert Reveals Details of Palestinian Authority Payments to Terrorists’ Families: $78 Extra for Jerusalem Residents, $130 for Arab Israelis by Lea Speyer

The head of a Jerusalem-and Washington, DC-based research organization revealed specifics on Tuesday of the “significant sums” allocated by the Palestinian Authority to incarcerated and dead terrorists and their families.

Yigal Carmon, president and founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), revealed the shocking details during testimony he submitted to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In his statement, Carmon demonstrated the ways in which the PA supports those deemed to be “martyrs.”

He also said that $137.8 million of the PA’s 2016 budget will be used for “underwriting the expenses of the prisoners and their families.” Some $173 million has been set aside to provide what the PA says is “a dignified life to the families of all those martyred and wounded as a result of being participants or bystanders in the revolution.”

According to Carmon, payments for imprisoned terrorists, and the families of suicide bombers are anchored in a set of laws in the Palestinian legal system.

“The prisoners are described as ‘a fighting sector and an integral part of the weave of Arab Palestinian society’ and it is stated that ‘the financial rights of the prisoner and his family’ must be assured. It is also stated that the PA will provide the allowance to ‘every prisoner, without discrimination,’” Carmon explained.

The Globality Quotient: Cybersecurity – Prevention And Protection. – By Ludmila Morozova-Buss Interviews Chuck Brooks

Charles (Chuck) Brooks serves as the Vice President for Government Relations & Marketing for Sutherland Global Services. Chuck is Chairman of CompTIA’s New and Emerging Technology Committee, as a Fellow oat The National Cybersecurity Institute, and serves on Boards to several prominent public and private companies and organizations. Chuck has extensive service in Senior Executive Management, Marketing, Government Relations, and Business Development and worked in those capacities for three large public corporations.In government, he served at the Department of Homeland Security as the first Director of Legislative Affairs for the Science & Technology Directorate.
“Digitalization is the cause of large-scale and sweeping transformations across multiple aspects of business, providing unparalleled opportunities for value creation and capture, as well as being a source of major risk.”* –
Scientific advancement of modern times in high technologies that results in the state-of-the-art engineering technologies, the speed of technological changes all over the globe and in space, are a magnet for ‘white’ and ‘black’ players – ‘Lords of Order’ and ‘Lords of Chaos’- that aim to generate ‘cyber tornados’, ‘cyber thunder-storms’. ‘Cyber–attacks can range from installing spyware on a PC to attempts to destroy the infrastructure of entire nations’, to cause great harm with unprecedented consequences. These ‘players’ have names. Many hide behind the masks. –
We are being showered with reports of escalating impacts and costs that are measured in the billions. –

Cybersecurity. Pushing the frontiers: Prevention and protection strategies in cyber security. What do we need to know about prevention of cyber-attacks and protection of critical infrastructure?

With these and a few more questions I am proud and honoured to again be gifted with time and wisdom of Mr. Chuck Brooks – one of the world’s known experts, the industry guru, your future reference for the most competent and comprehensive quest and analysis on cyber security.

To Chuck Brooks: What do we need to know about prevention of cyber-attacks and protection of critical infrastructure?