‘BOT ROAST II’ – Cracking Down On Cyber Crime

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

It’s the season for online shopping and spending, and you’ll be glad to know that we’ve stepped up our fight against one of the most serious cyber security threats just in time for the holidays.

That threat involves what are called ‘botnets’-armies of personal computers taken over by cyber criminals and used on the sly to commit all kinds of mischief, from identity theft to denial of service attacks to massive spam campaigns. Bah, humbug.

In June, we announced the first phase of Operation Bot Roast, which pinpointed more than a million victimized computers and charged a number of individuals around the country with various cyber-related crimes.

Today, we’re announcing part two of this operation, with more results:

• Three new indictments, including two this past month. In one case, we uncovered a denial of service attack on a major university in the Philadelphia area and then knocked out much of the botnet by disrupting its ability to talk to other computers.
• Two previously charged criminals who pled guilty, including a California man who is a well known member of the botnet underground.
• The sentencing of three others, including a pair of men who launched a major phishing scheme targeting a Midwest bank that led to millions of dollars in losses.

Our investigations spanned the country, including our field offices in Cincinnati, Detroit, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C., which worked closely with a great many partners, including the Secret Service and Immigrations Customs Enforcement.

And these cases spanned the globe, involving information sharing and coordination with international colleagues like the New Zealand police. This week, authorities there conducted a search of the residence of the supposed ringleader of an elite global botnet coding group who goes by the cyber name of “AKILL.”

The collective toll revealed so far in our operation has been significant, both at a national level and a personal level. To date, we’ve uncovered more than $20 million in economic losses. In one case, a victim confirmed damages of nearly $20,000 in denial of service attacks via botnets.

Resources

- How to Protect Your Computer - Botnet Consumer Alert - OnGuard Botnet Guide - Home Computer Security Guidelines - Botnet Tips - FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

Our work continues, but not without a familiar message for every consumer and computer user: please practice safe cyber security.

At a minimum, that means using and updating anti-virus software, installing a firewall, not opening unknown e-mail attachments, and using strong passwords.

There are plenty more tips and guidelines here for you to learn more (see the inset box).

And, as always, we encourage you to report cyber frauds and attacks to your local police, to your local FBI office, or to our Internet Crime Complaint Center.

---

[Or an easier, safer way, is to install a Linux Operating System (OS) or MAC instead of following the "mindless herd" and using MicroSHAFT's (MS) Win XP or Vista OS.

• Your need for a Firewall and Anti-Virus Programs are virtually Zero. The time spent per week running these protection programs is extremely minimal. The only reason to do so with Linux or MAC is to protect MS Win Users that you email to, etc., because both Linux and MAC are impervious to 99% of all viruses! And both have built in protection that you do NOT have to fool with!!!

Of course that's only my humble, Expert Opinion (backed by many years of intensive research).

But don't forget the Internet has been, and now is, powered by UNIX, the BIG Brother of Linux. And Linux is now being used with tremendous success and safety in place of Unix on the World Wide Web!
Also many of the higher quality Web Hosting companies use Linux.

Oh yes, someone in the audience is asking for my recommendations.

I recommend the following in order of:
(1) Ease of use (2) Compatibility with MS programs
(3) Business Applications (4) Ability to run Proprietary Programs.

Operating System	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	Cost
Linspire 6.0	A	A+	A	A-	$49.95 *
Ubuntu 7.10 1	A	A-	B-	B-	Free
Freespire 2.06	A-	A	B	B-	Free
1 Server Edition available

They all have a HUGE amount of FREE HIGH QUALITY Programs available for use. Installing 90% of programs is a no-brainer. Even your computer illiterate Great-Grandma can easily do it with NO HELP from you!

If you have a MS only program that you can't live without, don't fret. You can get MS Windows Emulator programs that will allow you to run your programs. Win4Lin and Wine are two such programs. Both have improved tremendously over the last several months. MACs have their own programs

* Price allows use on multiple computers without having to call and get a CODE in order to allow use after 30 days as per MS!
This OS is much less expensive than MS plus additional programs are usually FREE or at a lower cost than MS.

In addition, you can buy Computers with Linux OS, and more programs than you'll ever use, already Installed and very INEXPENSIVELY! And did I say these machines are fast? The Linux & MAC systems are very FAST!!!

Today it's a Win-Win Situation for the Consumer.

I wish I got $10 for each person that I got started to use Linux. Or better yet $1 a month for each user. I'd be sitting pretty right now. That would pay all my expenses. Sigh ... --- Ed]

---

For more information:
- National Press Release
- First Botnet Takedown
- FBI Cyber Investigations

• Tagged: anti-virus software, Cyber Crime, denial of service attacks, e-mail attachments, FBI, identity theft, indictments, firewall, spam, phishing, strong passwords.

It’s The Sun, Stupid

By Steven Milloy

When the international global warming alarm-ocracy gathers for its annual convention on the balmy island of Bali next week, is there any chance that the delegates will look up at the big yellow ball in the sky and ask, “Could it be the Sun, stupid?” New research suggests that would be a great question for them to consider …

Read the full column at FoxNews.com

Read more enlightening articles from the Junkman here and read Junk Science here.

Tagged: Bali, Geophysical Research, Global Warming, Steven Milloy, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chang (IPCC).

Umm… Right….

Stolen from Daily Pundit. With compliments to  ~raftergoblin.

Hat Tip: Instapundit

 

Technorati Tags: 2nd Amendment, Self Protection, Rapist, Glock

Liberal Mantra: ‘Political Change Needed’-True or False?

Lee Ellis

All Americans can agree: change in Washington is needed. But what needs to be changed and who created the problem?

Let’s look at gasoline costs as just one example. Yes, gasoline prices have escalated. Do we want gas to cost less? It can be done—and we voters have control.

With oil jumping to 98 dollars a barrel and no new refineries being built, we are still relying on oil from foreign countries. Why? Because too many of our liberal congressional members keep voting against drilling in Alaska, in the Gulf and at other American sites. They ignore that new industrial nations like China and India are now competing for energy and thus bidding up oil prices as their citizens switch from bicycles to automobiles. They also ignore that much of our current oil is coming from OPEC nations that want to destroy the American economy.

Columnist Morris Beschloss, international economist and financial writer, reported in his Nov. 26 column:

“What was to have been a uniform final summation agreement by the OPEC leaders degenerated into arguments over the effect of fossil fuels on the world’s climate; and the need to set up a two-tier standard for the world’s rich and poor nations, as proposed by wacky President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Chavez wants the world’s poverty-stricken nations to buy at a discount, while charging the global economic barons a premium.”)

As long as politicians put special interest groups with their accompanying larger campaign contributions above the needs of the general public (in this case, the so-called “environmentalists”) such financial folly will continue.

In addition, these same liberal Congressional members are more interested in labeling gasoline profits as “windfall” and are trying to figure out ways to tax these profits to get more money for their own pork barrel projects. Instead, Congress should encourage these companies to invest these profits into more drilling and building new refineries which would lower the costs and reduce our dependency on foreign governments.

Profits are often interpreted by media and politicians as riches for greedy corporations. Liberal candidates tend to pander to the people who believe this. The following is an actual letter in one of today’s Gannett newspapers:

“Stop the stealing

Gas and oil prices – what a rip off. Our great oil companies have never made such high profits. Election year is out in full swing. The big question? Not one of our presidential hopefuls, Democrat or Republican, have [sic] said a word about what they would do to put a stop to this license to steal from our American people.”

It is so easy to forget how our system works. People forget that all money for future research, retooling, and improvements come from the true profits gained in the past. Also people invest only in companies that create profits. Would you buy shares in a company that lost money each year or just broke even? Would you continue your investment in any business if it never made improvements or never did research for the future? Where do people, such as the letter writer above, think that new energy, products or new medical discoveries come from?

All companies must use current profits for future investment. Of course, if there have been losses in past years, loans have to also be paid off from future gains. Failing to have the capital to cover past losses or to plan for a more competitive future, they face bankruptcy, a merger or a hostile takeover. American automobile companies come to mind. Just look at what has happened to these once prominent and leading corporations when they did not plan for their own futures.

Also, consider the ethanol scam now perpetuated right under the nation’s nose. It does not lower gasoline costs, but raises the costs of food as agricultural companies or farms sell much of their corn to oil companies instead of to bakeries, dairies and food manufacturers. Many former wheat farmers have switched to corn, causing higher wheat prices. Milk and bread prices have soared. So now we get hit by both higher gasoline prices and higher food bills! If a politician has had no economic business experience, why vote for him or her? If you would not hire a candidate to run your own shop or home budget, don’t vote for him or her to run your country either.

Polls and the media keep telling us that the liberal majority finds the current economy is frightening and that they need a political change. The left-leaning candidates hail this news as positive for them in 2008. But wait a minute folks, they have had control this entire past year and blocked most conservative plans for years before that. It is their control of power that has kept oil from being taken by America from the gulf, while Venezuela drills there instead. It is their control that keeps gas and food high and their control that threatens our nation’s defense.

We have stressed just one example of how congressional liberals are costing you money. Remember too, that almost every congressional member who has voted to keep our gasoline and food costs high has also bashed our winning strategy against terrorism while trying to get America to cut and run from Iraq at the height of our winning. Such actions keep our terrorist defense costs high and also cause more of our troops to be killed.

Yes, we do need a political change —but from a liberal control of Congress to a conservative control. Add a conservative presidency, too, and we shall see many good changes for America and its citizens. Whether it is illegal immigration, national defense, a good economy with more available jobs and lower taxes, maintaining America as a Republic, stopping local government and our schools from continued takeovers by Socialist or atheist forces and keeping our country as a nation under God, we voters will decide all of this in 2008. The political pendulum continues its swing.

Will it continue to swing to the economy-killing Socialism of the Left or back to the true American promise of the Right? It is your decision, Mr. and Mrs. America!

# #
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and radio narrator, formerly a Vice President with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He is also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He can be contacted at indiolee@dc.rr.com.
read full author bio hereRead More informative articles at FamilySecurityMatters.org

Tagged: American economy, Hugo Chavez, Liberal, Oil, Socialism, voters, Washington

Lester, Attention Whore… again…

Jesus Christ, aren’t her Fifteen Minutes up yet?

GILFORD, Mich. —  A Michigan teenager who flew to the Middle East last year to be with a man she met on MySpace.com has broken up with him on the “Dr. Phil” show.

“This is really hard for me to tell you, but I’m not going to be with you anymore,” 18-year-old Katherine Lester said as her Palestinian boyfriend, Abdullah Jinzawi, watched on a monitor from the West Bank town of Jericho where he lives.

Lester told Jinzawi he was possessive and swore at her. Under questioning by host Phil McGraw, Jinzawi denied being verbally abusive but said he called her names.

Her father, Terry Lester, told Jinzawi he tried to be nice so he wouldn’t lose his daughter. “But I’m so glad you’re not in front of my face right now because they’d have to take me to jail. You’re never going to touch her again.”

Is it too much to hope that sickening little melodrama has finally come to a close? The acting has been bad, the plot has been weak, and none of the main characters are the least bit likable.

You have the attention grabbing and fame seeking parents; the deluded, stubborn and lovesick child; and the drop out, and follower of the pedophile prophet in the West Bank.

This is not a Romeo and Juliet story, this is just simply a gang of attention whores acting out their sick little soap opera on the world stage.

VOMIT.

 

Technorati Tags: Katherine Lester, Abdullah Jinzawi

Quote For The Day

“Some people are like Slinkies – not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.”

Scandals On Parade

by Tim Potts, Co-founder of Democracy Rising PA

In this Edition:

• Reality Check
• Scandals on Parade

Reality Check
872 - Days since the Pay Raise of 2005. See the ticker .
1 – Law enacted to improve government integrity. See the cartoon .
0 – “Best-in-America” laws enacted. See the campaign .
See the full November edition of “Reality Check” on the web.

Scandals on Parade
In another illustration of why Pennsylvanians have come to fear holidays (when strange things related to our legislature tend to happen), it was a busy week last week with disturbing revelations appearing in newspapers almost daily. Here are some lowlights.

Document Destruction Charged in Bonusgate.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Brad Bumsted and Debra Erdley broke the story on Wednesday. An unnamed lawmaker claimed that 20 to 30 boxes of documents were shredded last summer even as a grand jury was investigating whether lawmakers violated state law in awarding $3.6 million in bonuses last year, primarily to staffers who worked on political campaigns. Click here for the full story.

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dennis Roddy and Tracie Mauriello added more details. The story describes how investigators barely saved even more documents from destruction and cites sources who say the destruction order came from within the House Democratic Caucus. Some computer hard drives were destroyed. Click here for this full story.

Questions:

• Did Attorney General Tom Corbett seek an order to prevent the destruction of documents when he began his investigation in January?
• Will he add obstruction of justice to the investigations arising from Bonusgate?

$500,000 for Legislative Polling.
Not only don’t lawmakers want you to know what they think, they don’t want you to know what you think. And they didn’t want you to know that they spent nearly half a million of your dollars on partisan polling so far this year to find out what you think. Credit the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mario Cattabiani for starting to change that.

As a result of Cattabiani’s investigative report on partisan polling, House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, said House Democrats will cut back on polling and released some poll results, which you can see by clicking on the date:

April 15-22, 2007, including a Regional breakdown for all of PA.
April 15-22, 2007, directed at Northeast PA.
May 20-23, 2007, directed at Northwest PA
May 21-23, 2007, asking about the Duquesne School District.

Senate Republicans said they will release poll results this week. House Republicans and Senate Democrats have refused to release the polls that taxpayers bought. Click here for the full Inquirer story.

Especially interesting to DR fans is the response to Question 16B in the Regional and Northeast polls and 20B in the Northwest poll. A solid majority of us, 55-34%, favor a Constitution convention to set state government straight. The majority was strong in every region of the state except suburban Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley.

PA is believed to be the only state where public tax dollars are used for partisan polling. Elsewhere, political parties pay for partisan polls.

Questions:

• Why does every poll include questions about the popularity of incumbents?
• If the questions are unbiased and the results are reliable, why don’t the four caucuses cooperate on a regular survey of public opinion and talk about the results with citizens?
• Should public officials ever use tax dollars for partisan polls? For unbiased polls?
• If lawmakers are going to spend our money to find out what we think, what justifies keeping the results secret?
• Will the new open records law that the legislature is debating require the release of all previous polling results obtained with public funds?

It’s COLA Time.
In state government some things are optional, and some things are mandatory. In the optional category are the highest standards of public integrity in America, property tax reform, better roads, better schools, better health care, less regulation – just about everything citizens want from their government.

In the mandatory category is a COLA for lawmakers, judges, the governor and top executive branch officials. This Saturday, Dec. 1, lawmakers will get a 3.5% increase in their pay as mandated by law. In January, the raises for the rest kick in.

Worth noting is that the base salary for lawmakers effectively hits $100,000 with this COLA. While the actual base salary becomes $76,163, the average lawmaker also gets another $24,000 in unvouchered expenses. Leadership and committee officers get even more. Click here for the story by the Harrisburg Patriot’s Jan Murphy, which includes details of the raises for each branch.

Questions:

• Did our political leadership earn an extra 3.5% this year?
• What programs that serve citizens got an extra 3.5%?

Democracy Rising Pennsylvania P.O. Box 618, Carlisle, PA 17013

Tagged: Attorney General Tom Corbett, Bonusgate, Brad Bumsted, COLA, Constitution convention, Debra Erdley, Democratic Caucus, Dennis Roddy, documents shredded, Harrisburg Patriot-News, House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, Jan Murphy, lawmakers, Legislative Polling, legislature, Mario Cattabiani, partisan polls, Pennsylvanians, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Tracie Mauriello, unvouchered expenses

Freedom’s Nightmare

I woke up this morning, flicked on the radio and caught the middle of BBC news coverage of the about-to-begin Annapolis thing (meeting? conference?, event?, gathering?).

I groaned as I heard the traditional demands for even more “painful concessions” from Israel which would be required for “progress”. The interview was given by some woman who obviously could not hear my groans and clever retorts.

I stomped out of the bedroom …and when I returned, my wife (who had continued to listen) said “Did you know that that was Olmert’s spokesperson?”

The Olmert government is a Zionist nightmare.

Tagged: Annapolis, Appeasement, Democracy, Freedom, Israel, Jerusalem, Olmert, U.S.A., Zionism.

Fallen Soldier’s Family Buys Iraqi Girl’s School Supplies

Pat Dollard

“Prepare to have your opinion of this war changed forever.”
By Pat Dollard.

School girls from the Dur-Mandali Primary School for Girls in the city of Balad-Ruz receive supplies from the family of fallen Paratrooper Spc. Michael Rodriguez. Spc. Rodriquez’s family said he wrote home about the wonderful kids he had met and loved. The note read, “The school supplies that we are giving you today are from the family of a Soldier who died in Iraq, who loved the children of Iraq. His name is Specialist Michael Rodriguez.”

BALAD-RUZ - The speaker is Capt. James Goethals, a Civil-Military Affairs officer stationed in Eastern DiyalaProvince. The audience is a crowd of almost (100) young girls at the Dur-Mandali Primary School for Girls in the city of Balad-Ruz.

Spc. Rodriguez was assigned to 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He was killed in action in April, when multiple suicide bombers driving explosives-laden vehicles attacked his unit’s base in As-Sadah. He had written home telling his family about how much affection he had for the children he saw on patrol, and so his family turned their grief to a positive end, collecting school supplies for Iraqi children.

Capt. Goethals took over the mission of delivering the school supplies when Spc. Rodriguez’s unit rotated home this past October. He was accompanied by Capt. Tony Keller from 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, the Mayor of Ballad Ruz, Mohammed Rouf Hussein and the Superintendent of Schools, Morat Kadum.

Following the presentation of the school supplies, Capt. Keller, Mayor Hussein and Superintendent Kadum spoke to the school teachers, thanking them for their service to the community and emphasizing the importance of an education, both for these children and the nation of Iraq.

Once the presentation was over, the children transitioned from the well-behaved and orderly formation to a sight similar to an American elementary school without their teachers in close attendance: running, laughing and staring in curious wonderment at the American Soldiers who accompanied the delivery. The Soldiers walked in to several classrooms, snapping pictures with the children and communicating in Pidgin English.

The lasting message of the day was communicated by Capt. Keller just before going into the meeting with the teachers, mayor and superintendent: “I want to thank all of you young ladies here today for going to school. You guys are the future of Iraq. Don’t let anyone stop you from getting an education. Always remember Specialist Rodriguez.”

(MNFI)

• Read & See more of Pat Dollard reports.

Tagged: Balad-Ruz, Capt. James Goethals, Capt. Tony Keller, Fallen Soldier, Girl’s School, Iraqi Girls, Mohammed Rouf Hussein, Morat Kadum, school supplies, Spc. Michael Rodriguez.

Impact Annapolis NOW!! Keep Jerusalem United!!

Posting a cartoon every weekday leaves no room for me to simply share news, ideas, and other stuff with you. So welcome to ‘Sunday Mail: Letters from Dry Bones’, the new, once-a-week Dry Bones feature.

Last Minute! Americans: Impact Annapolis NOW!!

Americans have a way to send a loud and clear message about what is happening in Annapolis right now. CCJ (the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem) has set up a fantastic system to enable Americans to call the White House, the State Department and/or the Israeli Embassy. The CCJ is subsidizing both the system and all of the calls, so it’s completely free!!If you are in the States just click here and then type in your name, state and phone number. In moments your phone will ring and you will be connected to the White House, State Department or the Israeli Embassy.There’s even a suggested script for a short, effective message… and please let us know how it goes!!
Free Annapolis Phone Calls.

On November 26th, world leaders will congregate in Annapolis to once again seek concessions from Israel and declare that Jerusalem should be divided, with part becoming the capital of a new, Hamas-controlled Palestinian terror-state. Israel should not be pressured by the United States, least of all while facing terrorism, rocket attacks, and hate, and while its kidnapped soldiers remain hostages.

Keep Jerusalem United

— Read More Dry Bones Cartoon-Blogs by Yaakov Kirschen

[We, the people, can stop this insane debacle. All it takes is making your voice heard. It will take only 90 seconds of your time to Keep Jerusalem United.

Remember, this isn't just about Israel; this will affect America greatly in a negative way! Israel is our ONLY True Friend and Ally in the Middle-East. The Palestinian Terrorists are NOT!
--- Ed]

Tagged: Annapolis, Hamas, hate, hostages, Israel, Israeli Embassy, Jerusalem, Palestinian, Palestinian terror-state, rocket attacks, State Department, Sunday Mail, Terrorism, U.S.A., United States, White House.

Fred At A Gun Show…

Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson spent part of his weekend at a gun show.

LADSON, S.C. (AP) — White House hopeful Fred Thompson called his trip down an aisle of rifles, shotguns and pistols at a gun show Saturday “a day in paradise,” and criticized his leading Republican opponents for past positions on gun control and abortion.

Talking to reporters after the gun show visit, Thompson singled out former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Giuliani “never met a gun-control bill he didn’t like until he started to run for president and now I understand he very much approves of the Supreme Court taking jurisdiction of this Washington, D.C., case which most Second Amendment advocates think will establish that the Second Amendment means what it says and grants individual rights to people to possess firearms,” Thompson said. “So, ah, maybe he’s changed his mind about that, but his record is clear otherwise.”

… and there lies my top reason for not backing Rudy. As Thompson points out, Rudy was a notorious gun grabber. It would not surprise me in least if the Brady Campaign were to back Rudy.

When you take away the citizen’s right to self defense, you invite fascism and crime.

“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.”

–Adolf Hitler

Technorati Tags: Fred Thompson, Second Amendment, Rudy, Brady Campaign, Guns, Gun Control, Hitler

Brazilian Girl, 15, Gang Raped In Prison

I’m not exactly sure what idiot thought that putting a fifteen year old girl in a cell with twenty male inmates was a good idea, however the outcome could of been seen by a blind man.

You put a young woman in that situation, and your going to end up with a traumatized victim.

(CNN) — The Brazilian government is investigating the case of a 15-year-old girl who allegedly was raped and tortured after being put in a prison cell with 20 male inmates, officials said.

The girl — who said she was forced to have sex for food and suffered burns and other abuse — has denounced police in the small town of Abaetetuba for keeping her in the cell.

She is now in a witness protection program.

I hope the police are strung up by their balls.

 

Technorati Tags: Brazil, Scandal, Police, Protect and Serve, Rape, Prison, fifteen

The Israeli “Shield” ?

The Israeli news item that is on the front pages of our local press is like an episode out of “the Shield” …the American TV show about cops who go “too far” in fighting the bad guys and who have to keep their deeds hidden from police investigators.

Here’s the story as reported by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper: “

Five police officers, including a superintendent, have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in planting bombs targeting alleged underworld figure Michael Mor and his cousin.
A gag on the story was lifted yesterday; the arrests were made in recent weeks.
The five officers plus a civilian are suspected of planting the bombs a year ago to avenge a grenade-attack on the home of one of the policemen, and in response to a series of threats the suspects attributed to members of Mor’s gang.

“The suspects concluded this was the most effective and correct way, in their view, to act against those criminals,” said Shlomo Lamberger, the deputy head of the Police Investigation Department (PID) at the Justice Ministry.” – more

I’m curious.

Has this story made it big outside of Israel?

Tagged: Crime, Israel, Mafia, Mobsters, Police, Underworld.

Thanksgiving Special Edition

THE FOUNDATION “Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us devoutly to express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us, the General… earnestly exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.” -George Washington (December 17, 1777)

Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell, 1943

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

The necessity of Thanksgiving

In this era of overblown political correctness, we often hear tales of Thanksgiving that stray far afield from the truth. Contemporary textbook narratives of the first American harvest celebration portray the Pilgrim colonists as having given thanks to their Indian neighbors for teaching them how to survive in a strange new world. This, of course, is in stark contrast to the historical record, in which the colonists gave thanks to God Almighty, the Provider of their blessings.

The “First Thanksgiving” is usually depicted as the Pilgrims’ three-day feast in early November 1621. The Pilgrims, Calvinist Protestants who rejected the institutional Church of England, believed that the worship of God must originate freely in the individual soul, under no coercion. The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on 6 September 1620, sailing to the New World on the promise of opportunity for religious and civil liberty.

For almost three months, 102 seafarers braved the brutal elements, arriving off what is now the Massachusetts coast. On 11 December, before disembarking at Plymouth Rock, the voyagers signed the Mayflower Compact, America’s original document of civil government predicated on principles of self-government. While still anchored at Provincetown harbor, Pastor John Robinson counseled, “You are become a body politic… and are to have only them for your… governors which yourselves shall make choice of.” Governor William Bradford described the Mayflower Compact as “a combination… that when they came a shore they would use their owne libertie; for none had power to command them…”

Upon landing, the Pilgrims conducted a prayer service and quickly turned to building shelters. Malnutrition and illness during the ensuing New England winter killed nearly half their number. Through prayer and hard work, with the assistance of their Wampanoag Indian friends, the Pilgrims reaped a rich harvest in the summer of 1621, the bounty of which they shared with the Wampanoag. The celebration incorporated feasting and games, which remain holiday traditions.

Such ready abundance soon waned, however. Under demands from investors funding their endeavor, the Pilgrims had acquiesced to a disastrous arrangement holding all crops and property in common, in order to return an agreed-to half of their produce to their overseas backers. (These financiers insisted they could not trust faraway freeholders to split the colony’s profits honestly.) Within two years, Plymouth was in danger of foundering under famine, blight and drought. Colonist Edward Winslow wrote, “The most courageous were now discouraged, because God, which hitherto had been our only shield and supporter, now seemed in his anger to arm himself against us.”

Governor Bradford’s record of the history of the colony describes 1623 as a period of arduous work coupled with “a great drought… without any rain and with great heat for the most part,” lasting from spring until midsummer. The Plymouth settlers followed the Wampanoag’s recommended cultivation practices carefully, but their crops withered.

The Pilgrims soon thereafter thought better of relying solely on the physical realm, setting “a solemn day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer, in this great distress.” In affirmation of their faith and providing a great witness to the Indians, by evening of that day the skies became overcast and gentle rains fell, restoring the yield of the fields. Governor Bradford noted, “And afterwards the Lord sent to them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving.”

Winslow noted the Pilgrims’ reaction as believing “it would be great ingratitude, if secretly we should smother up the same, or content ourselves with private thanksgiving for that, which by private prayer could not be obtained. And therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed for that end; wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise, with all thankfulness, to our good God, which dealt so graciously with us…” This was the original American Thanksgiving Day, centered not on harvest feasting (as in 1621) but on gathering together to publicly recognize the favor and provision of Almighty God.

Bradford’s diary recounts how the colonists repented of their financial folly under sway of their financiers: “At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number.”

By the mid-17th century, autumnal Thanksgivings were common throughout New England; observance of Thanksgiving Festivals spread to other colonies during the American Revolution. At other junctures of “great distress” or miraculous intervention, colonial leaders called their countrymen to offer prayerful thanks to God. The Continental Congresses, cognizant of the need for a warring country’s continuing grateful entreaties to God, proclaimed yearly Thanksgiving days during the Revolutionary War, from 1777 to 1783.

In 1789, after adopting the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, among the first official acts of Congress was approving a motion for proclamation of a national day of thanksgiving, recommending that citizens gather together and give thanks to God for their new nation’s blessings. Presidents George Washington, John Adams and James Madison followed the custom of declaring national days of thanks, though it was not officially declared again until another moment of national peril, when during the War Between the States Abraham Lincoln invited “the whole American people” to observe “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father… with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience.” In 1941, Congress set permanently November’s fourth Thursday as our official national Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims’ temporary folly of sundering and somersaulting the material as transcendent over the spiritual conveys an important lesson that modern histories are reluctant to tell. The Founders, recognizing this, placed first among constitutionally recognized rights the free exercise of religion-faith through action.

If what we seek is a continuance of God s manifold blessings, then a day of heartfelt thanksgiving is a tiny tribute indeed.

This Thanksgiving, please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families-especially the families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who have died in defense of American liberty.

[Amen, we agree with the above statement. --- Ed]

On behalf of your Patriot staff and National Advisory Committee, we wish God’s peace and blessings upon you and yours this Thanksgiving.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!

Mark Alexander
Publisher

[We, the writers at PA Pundits and 7.62mm Justice, also wish you God's peace and blessings upon you and yours with a happy, harmonious, Thanksgiving among Family and Friends.]

Permission granted to reprint, post or forward this edition of The Patriot.

P.S. Like many mission-based organizations, we typically raise most of our budget in the last two months of each year. We still must raise $266,482 before year end. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot today by making a secure online donation-however large or small. If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our Donor Support Form.

Note to parents: Our Family Thanksgiving Quiz provides a great opportunity for kids to learn more about the Christian foundations of our great nation.

(Publisher’s Note: Regarding our Thanksgiving edition, as with our Easter and Christmas editions, we take leave from the rigors of research and analysis of contemporaneous news, policy and opinion in order to focus on an eternal message, indeed a Christian message. To our Patriot readers of faiths other than Christianity, we hope that this edition serves to deepen your understanding of our faith-the faith of our Founders.)

Tagged: Christian, Faith, God Almighty, Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, Thanksgiving.

Fans Of Dry Bones, I Posted 2 Today

Okay, fans of Dry Bones you got two ‘toons today.

“The Madness Continues . . .” is a sad commentary on the Incompetence of USA leadership, our “Pinko” State Department (ala Archie Bunker) and Israeli Leadership.

Is this really happening or am I in the middle of a Bad Dream?

Boy, Yaakov hit home with a big truth in his 2nd Toon “. . . doing this blog takes so much time . . .” Actually it’s the 1st chronologically, but 2nd down the page.

I spent most of the day replacing a computer case fan and various old data strap, etc.on my main PC. (work done at CFS Speed)

Still need to replace Hard Drive. Tomorrow hopefully.

It’s a great life, if you don’t weaken . . .

Ed

Tagged: CFS, Dry Bones, PC, time, Toons.

The Madness Continues . . .

Yup. The latest is that our incompetent Prime Minister has now decided to arm our enemies… over the objections of the army and our security forces. According to YNet:

Olmert approves supply of 25 armored vehicles to PA Despite IDF, Shin Bet’s warning that equipment could reach terror organizations, prime minister agrees to hand over to Palestinians armored vehicles from Russia, 2 million bullets as goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Abbas ahead of Annapolis summit - more

The situation is becoming more and more bizarre. How is Olmert surviving the practically unanimous Israeli wish for him to just go away?!

Your thoughts?

Tagged: Annapolis, Appeasement, Israel, Olmert, Palestinians, U.S.A.

Winter (1986)

Okay. I admit it. I really love this little besieged country that I live in. Sometimes it annoys my friends. That’s what this “Golden Oldie” cartoon from 1986 is really about. And I haven’t changed. The skies broke open this morning and winter rains drenched our streets, and roads, and fields, and pedestrians, and my living room.Yup. I had meant to check the rain gutters and drains after the long dry summer… but well, doing this blog takes so much time and so our living room ceiling began to leak, in a number of places, puddles of water spreading across the floor…

So the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I got out a ladder and we used a broomstick to poke out the gunk that was clogging the drain.

We were both then soaked in the shower blast of all the previously dammed up water. I felt joy at the gift of rain that was cleansing and replenishing the land. I kept it to myself, however, the LSW being more concerned with the fact that her shoes were now filled with cold, dirty water and her clothes were soaked.

A happy, rain-filled winter to the Land of Israel!

Tagged: Humor, King Solomon, Rain, Seasons, Weather, Winter.

DR News: The DeWeese Defense. Oh, Really?

by Tim Potts, Co-founder of Democracy Rising PA

In this Edition:

• Reality Check
• The DeWeese Defense. Oh, Really?

Reality Check
866 - Days since the Pay Raise of 2005. See the ticker .
1 – Law enacted to improve government integrity. See the cartoon .
0 – “Best-in-America” laws enacted. See the campaign .
See the full November edition of “Reality Check” on the web.

The DeWeese Defense. Oh, Really?
Political speech can be an art form. In the right hands, it can end wars and lead citizens to greatness. Or it can deceive in the guise of truth for no better reason than personal power and venality.

On Nov. 13, House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, purged seven staff, including his chief of staff, because of an undisclosed involvement in the “Bonusgate” scandal.

On Nov. 14, after an ex-lawmaker from his caucus was indicted, DeWeese issued a written statement about the most recent scandal. The ex-lawmaker is accused of paying his sister (Ann Bartolomeo) and niece nearly $26,000 for jobs in which they allegedly performed little or no work. The sister’s hiring was back-dated. That is, it was approved in June of 2006 but was dated the previous February, allowing her to collect months worth of back pay instantly. She resigned 10 days after getting a lump sum of $19,329.

Below is DeWeese’s statement in bold quotes. Bullet points offer questions and observations about what the political speech seeks to obscure.

“I am greatly saddened by the charges against Frank LaGrotta. When we learned of these allegations several months ago, I directed my staff to cooperate fully with the Attorney General’s investigation and we provided many of the documents referenced in today’s presentment, including the emails.”

• DeWeese doesn’t mention that he went to court to obstruct the Attorney General’s investigation into the Bonusgate scandal, challenging lawful subpoenas and search warrants. DeWeese also was the last caucus leader to make public who got the bonuses and how much they got.
• On October 30, during the debate on House Bill 443 (the “open records” bill), DeWeese voted to keep emails hidden from the public.

“Last July, after r eviewing these same documents, I directed that Mr. LaGrotta’s employment with the caucus be terminated.”

• But did DeWeese ask for the money back? Or was LaGrotta right last January when he emailed his niece, “You can pay it back if you choose – but no one here is asking that.”?

“Due to the size of the House Democratic Caucus with its more than 800 employees, I appropriately delegate many of the day-to-day personnel decisions to others. The caucus employee who signed my name to the memo authorizing the retroactive hiring of Ann Bartolomeo resigned from the caucus staff yesterday.”

• DeWeese doesn’t say that he delegated this personnel decision. He also doesn’t say that he didn’t know about Bartolomeo’s hiring. Saying that someone else signed the memo doesn’t mean that DeWeese didn’t know about it, nor does it mean that he didn’t direct the employee to do it.
• It’s hard to imagine that back-dating an employment contract happens so often as to be described as a “day-to-day personnel decision.” If it is commonplace, that’s the next scandal. What records are there to reveal how often employment contracts are back-dated?
• The PA General Assembly has the second highest number of full-time legislative staff in America, behind only California.

“There was no indication on Ann Bartolomeo’s employment application that she was Mr. LaGrotta’s sister, and their relationship was not known to those in Harrisburg who reviewed and approved her contract.”

• Nothing in this statement says that DeWeese did not know about the contract or the relationships involved. Nor does it say that those who reviewed and approved the contract did so without DeWeese’s knowledge, direction or approval.

“As members are required to do for all district-based employees, Mr. LaGrotta signed a contract certifying 1) that the employees’ services were necessary 2) that he accepted responsibility for directing and supervising them and 3) that he would notify the Leader if their services were no longer necessary or were no longer being performed.”

• Apparently, being majority leader carries no responsibility for approving hiring decisions, even when back-dating contracts, and no responsibility for monitoring employees to ensure that taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.

“As part of our reform efforts, we are immediately implementing stronger internal caucus controls within the Personnel Office. For example, we are revising our application forms to require the disclosure of familial relationships to House members.”

• DeWeese writes in the present tense, which means that he had not changed the House Democrats’ internal controls by November 14. If he learned about this several months ago, why weren’t the application forms revised several months ago? What else are they doing?
• Why not simply prohibit nepotism and back-dated contracts? Is that on DeWeese’s agenda?

Democracy Rising Pennsylvania P.O. Box 618, Carlisle, PA 17013

• Tagged: Ann Bartolomeo, Attorney General, Bill DeWeese, Bonusgate scandal, California, Frank LaGrotta, House Democratic Caucus, PA General Assembly, Pennsylvania.

Gun bills blocked by PA Judiciary Committee

[Thank God for that!
For any of you who think gun control is the answer to Crime and to School Shootings, please buy the Window sticker shown here.
I'll even pay for it if you will display it prominently on your front door or in your front window.
(This may be the answer to increasing the intelligence of our gene pool : )

If there wasn't such an obsession with curtailing our rights to own and carry guns Columbine, Virginia Tech & other Massacres would NOT have happened!!! See a thoughtful, well researched article, that achieved International recognition, by our own editor - "The Truth, nothing but the Simple Truth" ---Al]

By Jan Murphy / of The Patriot-News, 11/20/07 10:58 AM EST Updated: 11/20/07 7:22 PM EST

Gov. Ed Rendell may have left the Capitol with a clear conscience last night.

But it was the state’s hardcore protectors of the right to bear arms who went home with smiles on their face, after they beat back a Rendell-backed attempt to push through three of the gun control lobby’s centerpiece bill through the House Judiciary Committee.

[Damn straight, we're "Hardcore" in believing in the rights of Citizens as provided for by our Constitution. ---Al]

Despite a rare direct appeal from the governor to let their “common sense and backbone” send the bills to the House for a full floor debate… committee members killed two centerpiece gun control bills today, despite hearing a direct appeal for the legislation from Gov. Ed Rendell

[Our home grown "Mafia" Governor].

“What you had before the committee today was feel-good legislation, not good legislation,” said John Hohenwarter, state liason for the National Rifle Association…

Gun control opponents see these measures as impeding their freedom to bear arms.

[Same thing Hitler & other Tyrants did to their people before running roughshod over the Citizens]

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s (tomorrow’s) editions of The Patriot-News.

Read More at PennLive

Tagged: 2nd Amendment, Bill of Rights, Columbine, Ed Rendell, Gun Control, John Hohenwarter, Massacres, National Rifle Association, Virginia Tech

Murtha Says Bush Can Have His Money If He Agrees To Retreat

I guess that old senile excuse for a Marine*, Jack Murtha, hasn’t come to the realization that even the New York Times has come to. We are winning in Iraq, despite the democrats every effort to undermine the war.

(The Politico) House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Defense subcommittee on Appropriations, said President Bush can receive all $200 billion in new funding he wants to pay for the Iraq war next year, as long as he agrees to their demands to set a non-binding “goal” for withdrawing most U.S. combat troops by Dec. 2008.

The two senior Democrats also repeatedly slammed Pentagon officials for claiming that the Defense Department may have to shut down some military depots, and lay off civilian employees, if the Iraq funding bill is not enacted soon. Murtha called the charge “despicable,” and he angrily yelled at a reporter at one point during today’s press conference, asking “Do you believe the Pentagon?”

Obey said the “bridge fund” passed by the House before it left for a two-week recess includes “three simple requests” that must be met before he agrees to any release any of Iraq funding – more training and better equipment for troops before they are deployed to Iraq;  adoption of the Army Field Manual’s prohibition on torture by all U.S. government agencies; and “the president produce a plan to end our military involvement in Iraq by the end, not this year, but next year. That is another 14 months. That is more than 400 days. That is hardly a precipitous withdrawal.”

Murtha and his army of lemmings are still attempting to undermine the war. Why oh why, Pennsylvania did you not vote this doddering old fool out when you had the chance?

 

* With apologies to Marines everywhere. Jack Murtha would be the exception to the rule that there are no “Former Marines”.

Technorati Tags: Jack Murtha, Pennsylvania, Retreat, Budget, Fool