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HOMELAND SECURITY

Biden’s Border by Chris Farrell

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17911/biden-border

Fiscal year-end figures provided this month by the Department of Homeland Security show that 2021 was the record year for all-time high apprehensions on the southern border. Federal agents apprehended 1,659,206 illegal immigrants at the southwest border in 2021, breaking the previous high of 1,643,679 in 2000.

The Biden administration, despite an August 2021 court ruling by Texas-based US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, continues to find ways through policy rules and memoranda of instruction, to circumvent the law and permit unlawful entry.

[T]he Biden administration has also decided to skew the numbers more favorably toward their goals for an even more “open borders” unrestricted immigration with a new policy directive from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas… fencing off a number of new “protected areas” where no immigration law enforcement activities are permitted.

Border communities and states will feel the impact of Biden’s policies first and the hardest, but what this administration has unleashed on the nation at-large will have enormous consequences for every facet of our society: housing, healthcare, education, services, public safety, quality of life, employment, economics, the justice system, and – of course – voting rolls. The voting issue is indisputably altered in California under Governor Gavin Newsom, where election officials mailed unsolicited ballots state-wide, reportedly enabling “Cheating in plain sight.”

One does not see reporting in the American news media nowadays about the “Biden Caravans,” thousands of immigrants making their way north to the border region of the United States. News media reports on the number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border are also few and far between. The deficit in reporting and public attention does not, however, mean that the border crisis has abated. In fact, the crisis has deepened on all fronts: it is a humanitarian disaster compounded by rampant criminality and grave national security threats.

The “mother of all caravans” (also known as the “march for liberty, dignity and peace”) is on the way from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, to the United States. By the time you read this, they may already have arrived. More than 4,000 illegal immigrants are estimated to be in the caravan. Spanish-language reporting (that includes video) on the caravan claims that the group consists mainly of Haitians and Central Americans. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, is quoted in a Mexican news story as saying that the government will act with prudence and caution in accordance with human rights laws, although he adds that migrants are being fooled because they will not be allowed to enter the United States.

Is America meeting the cybersecurity challenge? By Julio Rivera

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/10/is_america_meeting_the_cybersecurity_challenge.html

As the U.S. remains engaged in a persistent cyberwar, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an alert yesterday in reference to the Ongoing Cyber Threats to US Water and Wastewater Systems. The alert was a reminder of the persistent dangers that exist to America’s critical infrastructure.

For the past several years, the United States has endured attacks from North Korea, Russia, Iran, and in particular, China. During this time, the Chinese cyber threats have been among the most prolific, as we learned back in 2015 that the NSA had already documented over 600 occurrences of “corporate, private or government ‘Victims of Chinese Cyber Espionage’ that were attacked over a five-year period, with clusters in America’s industrial centers,” according to reports.

Despite American efforts to mitigate these attacks behind new cyber initiatives, the waves of attacks have persisted, with last week’s attack against Amazon’s live streaming platform Twitch being the most recent.

Amid the endless reports of attacks this year comes the revelation that a top Pentagon official involved in identifying the most secure software available for the Department of Defense (DOD) quit his position due to his belief that U.S. “AI capabilities and cyber defenses of some government departments were at kindergarten level.”

Biden’s Credibility Plummets over Purchase of Chinese-Made Drones by Con Coughlin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17861/biden-china-drones

Critics of DJI’s systems claim they have the potential to be monitored remotely, and a review of the drones conducted by the Pentagon earlier this year concluded that they posed a potential threat to national security.

The Pentagon has been voicing concerns about commercial off-the-shelf drones since 2018, when it implemented a ban. The following year, Congress passed legislation banning the use of drones and components manufactured in China, and the Trump administration blacklisted DJI for national security reasons

“DJI drones are safe and secure for government and enterprise operations.” — spokesman for DJI rejecting claims that its drones posed a security risk, Reuters, July 23, 2021

Given the Chinese Communist Party’s abysmal record for trustworthiness, however – as in prominsing not to militarise the fake islands they built in the South China Sea just before they militarised them, or claiming that their Chinese virus, COVID-19, was not transmissible human-to-human – this assessment is less than reassuring.

Nothing better illustrates the Biden administration’s utter incompetence in safeguarding America’s interests than the revelation that a number of federal agencies are reportedly purchasing surveillance drones from China.

The Pentagon has previously advised against US agencies purchasing Chinese-made drones on the grounds that they could be used to transfer sensitive data to Beijing’s communist rulers.

But now a new report by the Axios website claims that a number of federal law enforcement agencies in the Biden administration have purchased drones from China that have previously been labeled a potential national security threat by the Pentagon.

Biden’s Immigration Treachery Threatens the Nation, Not Just National Security By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/09/bidens-immigration-treachery-threatens-the-nation-not-just-national-security/

The president is telling Texas and other border states that the federal government will neither protect them nor allow them to protect themselves.

T he photographs that should be seared in your memory from the Del Rio debacle are not those of Border Patrol agents on horseback, defamed by their federal superiors — and in particular, by President Biden himself — for daring to do their job.

Focus instead on the photos of police vehicles arrayed in long, imposing rows on the American side of the river — state police vehicles, ordered to secure the border by the governor of Texas.

Does Governor Abbott have the authority to deploy a “steel wall” of Lone Star State troopers?  Well, he has the raw power to do it, and in crisis conditions, that is what tends to matter. And — capped by White House oracle Jen Psaki’s astonishing assertion that the “migrants” Democrats are inviting into our country don’t need the COVID vaccines Biden is mandating for Americans because “they are not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time” — the administration’s ineptitude was sufficiently humiliating that Biden hasn’t challenged Abbott’s démarche . . . yet, anyway.

As it happens, I believe the state of Texas does have the authority to exclude illegal aliens. But it is a debatable question thanks to a century of federal jurisprudence, culminating in Obama-era Supreme Court decisions that sided with the federal government’s willful refusal to perform its basic constitutional duties, and against the basic constitutional principle of state sovereignty — of which self-defense is an ineliminable element.

10 Top Rated Cyber Security and Technology Experts

https://kevsbest.com/best-cyber-security-and-technology-experts/

Security is a necessity for everyone. That’s why it is important to have the right professional who will support you through a protective issue.For those who are in need of good expertise, we’ve devised a list of the top 10 cyber security and technology experts to watch out for. These professionals are trained to find weaknesses in databases, networks, hardware, firewalls, and encryption. Let’s take a look!

#1 Ron Sharon 

Ron Sharon is no stranger to danger with an interesting background as a former Israel Defense Forces Military Policeman. His work with the government didn’t stop there, with his list of achievements in providing technology solutions to the US Government.

With his long-enduring passion for technology and cyber security as well as his impeccable list of experiences on his back belt, he is your go-to guy for all your protective needs.

#2 Tyler Cohen Wood

2nd on the list is Tyler Cohen Wood, a renowned cybersecurity expert in the field. She has worked with an array of notable companies and clients, making a name for herself. With all her experience she is working as an author and mentor, recently releasing her book,  ‘Catching The Catfishers’. Being noted in a few reputable news outlets, its no wonder why Tyler is in the top 10 list.

#3 Bob Carver 

Bob Carver holds the bronze medal for his years of experience in the cyber security field, currently working in a senior management position at Verizon. He has a unique background due to his prior history of working as an architect. Combining both experiences, he has tailored a security service never to be seen before.

#4 Kevin Mitnik 

Kevin Mitnik has been on both sides of the coin. As a former of FBI’s Most Wanted, Mitnik had been a hacker getting into the systems of over 30 big companies but has since turned a major 360 degrees. He is now a reliable and renowned cybersecurity expert, with the in-depth knowledge on the mindset of the hacking system to understand how to keep you in safe hands.

5# Katie Moussouris 

Katie Mossouris is special with a capital K! She has an impressive range of accolades with her experience working with MIT and Microsoft to name a few. Watch out!

6# Chuck Brooks 

Chuck Brooks is next on the list of the top cyber security experts to watch out for his incredible list of experiences especially running Brooks Consulting. An advisor at Georgetown University, he is in the know on everything related to the field.

#7 Theresa Payton 

Theresa Payton is the President of Fortalice Solutions, LLC with over 10 years of running. She has recently put out a book called, ‘Campaigns and Electrons’ on Amazon.

#8 Richard Stiennon 

Next on the list is Richard Stiennon who is the lead chief research analyst at IT-Harvest. With an education background at King’s College in London, he has state-of-the-art knowledge and experience in the cyber security and IT field.

#9 Bruce Schneier 

Known as the security guru, Bruce Schnier is the go-to expert as the Chief of Security of Architecture at Inrupt, INC.

#10 Joseph Steinberg 

Founder of CISCO and CEO of Secure My Social, Joseph Steinberg is up to date when it comes to the technology and cyber security trends to help you have the best protection services on your side!

Importing Enemies The demand to resettle Afghan refugees brings the war home. By Michael Anton

https://americanmind.org/salvo/importing-enemies/

Perennial Democratic White House aide, congressman, Chicago mayor, and ambassador-in-waiting Rahm Emmanuel’s sole memorable utterance—his only candidate for Bartlett’s—is his cynical 2008 maxim that the good guys (i.e., his team) must “never let a serious crisis go to waste.” He was speaking of using the financial crisis to usher in sweeping changes to law, policy, the economy, and society that would otherwise not have been possible through ordinary democratic processes.

The same logic applies now to the Democrats’—and many Republicans’—insistence that America be flooded with Afghan “refugees.” Importing as many immigrants as possible, from cultures as alien to traditional America as possible, is the ruling class’s top priority, after protecting its own wealth and power. But since importing millions upon millions of foreigners is the primary tool by which the ruling class maintains that wealth and power—by suppressing wage growth and dividing the population—it can be hard to disaggregate these two priorities.

The parallels between the two crises are obvious. Just as ruling class hubris, incompetence, dishonesty, and greed created the financial crisis, so did a similar combination produce the mess in Afghanistan. There is no need to rehash the “higher” motives for the failure here. It is worth noting, however, that lower motives were not absent: a lot of people were making a lot of money off that war.

And now, just like thirteen years ago, our rulers want to use a crisis they created as justification to ram through what they always wanted to do anyway. Which, in this case, is to resettle a hundred or two hundred thousand (the number varies depending on who’s speaking) foreigners with no tradition of liberty—who are indeed from a culture deeply alien, even hostile to, Western civilizational norms—in your communities.

Bringing in Afghan Refugees with All of Their ‘Luggage’ What’s not being talked about. Dr. Stephen M. Kirby

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/09/bringing-afghan-refugees-all-their-luggage-dr-stephen-m-kirby/

Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban and American forces are withdrawing.  As with such ventures, this has resulted in tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing their own country.  And as night follows day, this has also resulted in calls by many American individuals and organizations to bring in as many of those refugees as possible, because we “owe” it to the Afghans.

To hear such claims, one would think that these many thousands of refugees will immediately become part of America, sharing our values and ideas, and contributing to our communities.

What is not being talked about are the values, ideas, and culture those refugees are bringing with them.

In order to better understand the people many are calling to be brought in by the tens of thousands, let’s look at some considerations about the society from which these refugees are coming.

National Security

There are two national security issues that must be acknowledged.

First, a 2019 study found that 13% of Afghans had a lot of (4%) or a little (9%) sympathy for the Taliban.[1]  This means that for every 100,000 Afghan refugees brought into the United States, we could expect about 13,000 of them to have varying degrees of sympathy for the Taliban.

Then we need to take into consideration that 39% of Afghans think that “suicide bombing” in defense of Islam is often or sometimes justified.[2]  If we use the 4% number for those with a lot of sympathy for the Taliban, this means that out of every 100,000 Afghans we could have up to about 1,560 Afghans believing that “suicide bombing” could often be justified.[3]

Combining these two issues means we could be bringing in a potentially significant base of support for a jihadist group; and that base of support could include a large number willing to engage in jihadist attacks in the United States using explosives.

Is Texas Shooting The Start Of A Biden-Fueled Terrorism Surge?

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/09/01/has-a-biden-fueled-terrorism-surge-already-begun/

A cold-blooded murder in a city northeast of Dallas over the weekend hasn’t exactly made national news – yet. But it could be the first in a new wave of terrorist attacks spawned by President Joe Biden’s disastrous retreat from Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the day before the last U.S. military plane departed the Kabul airport, a gunman shot and killed a Lyft driver in Garland, then drove the car over to a nearby police station and started shooting at the people inside. The alleged gunman, later identified as Imran Ali Rasheed, died after police gunned him down.

The next day, an FBI official said that Rasheed “may have been inspired by a foreign terrorist organization to commit these crimes,” by which he meant “was inspired by rhetoric or propaganda by foreign terrorist organizations.”

Why the FBI got involved at all was because Rasheed apparently left a note in the dead Lyft driver’s car, which prompted local police to reach out to the Bureau. 

What, we wonder, could have “inspired” Rasheed to go on a killing spree? Could it be that the humiliating defeat of the U.S. at the hands of the fanatical Taliban has energized Islamic radicals around the world, including in Texas?

The Economist helps answer that question. In the wake of Biden’s desperate evacuation and the loss of 13 Americans to terrorist bombs in Kabul, it notes:

In Yemen, they set off fireworks; in Somalia, they handed out sweets; in Syria, they praised the Taliban for providing a ‘living example’ of how to ‘bring down a criminal regime’ through jihad. Around the world, jihadists were elated by the fall of Kabul. Through willpower, patience, and cunning, a low-budget band of holy warriors has vanquished America and taken charge of a medium-size country. To Muslims who yearn to expel infidels and overthrow secular states, it was evidence that God approves. The ripple effects could be felt far and wide.

Far and wide indeed.

Cyberwar – Part One by Peter Schweizer

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17654/cyberwar-part-one

Directly, these attacks [on the U.S.] strike at parts of our electrical grid, our food supply, our energy providers, banks, business computer networks and government systems. Indirectly, they threaten our livelihoods and our sense of security and stability.

[Cyberwar is] an undisguised assault against military and civilian infrastructure meant to cripple the targeted country, destroy or damage its communications and command systems, and create immediate and total chaos among its people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime has denied its involvement, as it always does. No one believes them.

[Former U.S. National Security Adviser John] Bolton warns that to protect the American people, the defense establishment needs to focus much more attention on early threat-recognition.

Moreover, it is clear the U.S. government must be more assertive in pointing the finger at Vladimir Putin when a Russian attack is unmasked.

Cybercrime often merges with cyberwarfare. The techniques of both are similar, even if their intentions are not. Yet, unlike their “real-world” counterparts, we cannot afford to treat the former as merely a law enforcement problem and the latter as a military problem. Today’s gnat is tomorrow’s nuclear-tipped missile.

In a recent article, former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton highlighted the cyberwarfare being waged on the West every day by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. The assault is an accelerating proxy war, a coordinated terrorism campaign conducted by both hired criminals and military intelligence agencies, capable of great economic and societal damage. At the same time, even at lower intensity, it is a subtler attack on Western morale.

Directly, these attacks strike at parts of our electrical grid, our food supply, our energy providers, banks, business computer networks and government systems. Indirectly, they threaten our livelihoods and our sense of security and stability. That is, at least for the present, the most important thing about them.

The SolarWinds hack of 2020 compromised a top-tier provider of IT management services by injecting malware into the company’s routine software update to its 33,000 customers. Those victimized customers included hundreds of large companies, as well as the federal departments of Treasury, Commerce, and even Homeland Security. The hack was extremely sophisticated and operated for months before it was discovered. Cybersecurity analysts in and out of the government say conclusively it was the work of a hacking group they call “Nobelium,” operating with the support, if not the direct control, of the Russian government. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime has denied its involvement, as it always does. No one believes them.

Hundreds of released Gitmo detainees back to killing Americans Paul Sperry

https://nypost.com/2021/08/21/hundreds-of-released-gitmo-detainees-back-to-killing-americans/

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. intelligence documents reveal 229 “rehabbed” former Gitmo detainees have returned to terrorism and killing Americans — and an alarming 66% of them have not been recaptured and are still at large.

Meanwhile, President Biden is quietly freeing more of these terrorist suspects from the Guantanamo Bay prison, all to fulfill his old boss’ pledge to permanently close the facility in Cuba.

Shortly after taking office, Biden reversed President Trump’s executive order to keep Gitmo open and is lining up inmates to transfer out of the prison with the goal of emptying it and shuttering it — even though the remaining prisoners have long been classified by military intelligence as the worst of the worst and too dangerous to release.

Last month, the president freed his first prisoner — accused terrorist Abdul Latif Nasser — leaving the number of remaining detainees at 39. Ten others have been cleared for release, including some of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s safehouse operator, according to Gitmo parole board documents.

 The five Taliban prisoners exchanged for Bowe Bergdahl.Department of Defense

Still other detainees have appealed to the Biden administration through their pro-bono defense lawyers to ensure their release, despite the risk of them returning to militant activities. The suspected 20th hijacker, Mohammad al-Qahtani, and a dozen other inmates are slated for parole hearings this year, documents reveal.