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US probes whether laptop copied on China trip

May 29th, 2008 . by TexasFred

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into Commerce computers, officials and industry experts told The Associated Press.

Surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop was left unattended during Gutierrez’s trip to Beijing for trade talks in December, people familiar with the incident told the AP. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was under investigation.

Gutierrez told the AP on Thursday he could not discuss whether or how the laptop’s contents might have been copied.

“Because there is an investigation going on, I would rather not comment on that,” he said. “To the extent that there is an investigation going on, those are the things being looked at, those are the questions being asked. I don’t think I should provide any speculative answers.”

No one said you had to smart to work in the Bush administration, I guess this kinda/sorta makes that apparent huh??

This would be funny if it weren’t potentially so serious, I have no national secrets on my computer, I don’t even keep banking info on mine, for all the obvious reasons, somehow I don’t think this guy got the memo, ‘Never let it out of your sight’…

A Commerce Department spokesman, Rich Mills, said he could not confirm or deny such an incident in China. Asked whether the department has issued new rules for carrying computers overseas, Mills said: “The department is continuing to improve our security posture, and that includes providing updates, guidances and best practices to staff to maintain security.”

A rough translation of that would be: ‘We got caught with our pants down and we’re looking into it and are still trying to ascertain who we can point a finger at, blame will be assigned and we’ll call a press conference when we have someone to behead for you…’

It was not immediately clear what information on the laptop might have been compromised, but it would be highly unorthodox for any U.S. government official to carry classified data on a laptop overseas to China, especially one left unattended even briefly. Modern copying equipment can duplicate a laptop’s storage drive in just minutes.

I would love to believe that this was a setup, do you remember the Spy vs Spy routine from Mad Magazine?? It would be hilarious if this computer had been loaded with viruses or porn, stuff that would drive the Chinese absolutely crazy, but I seriously doubt if anyone in the Bush administration ever thought of doing something like that, after all, the Chinese are Bush’s buddies, and you just don’t do things like that to a trusted trading partner, it wouldn’t be PC…

Full Story Here:
US probes whether laptop copied on China trip

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Gas prices keep climbing even as oil prices drop

May 29th, 2008 . by TexasFred

NEW YORK (AP) - The gasoline price record keeps getting broken with each passing day. AAA puts the national average for a gallon of regular at a record $3.95. It’s jumped 35 cents in the past month and is 76-cents-a-gallon higher than a year ago.

If you need premium, it’s also never been more expensive. The auto club says the national average for premium is $4.35. That’s an 84-cent-a-gallon jump over last year.

Oil prices fell back Thursday ahead of a report expected to show U.S. inventories of crude and petroleum products grew last week.

Prices remained volatile, though, buffeted about by threats against Nigerian oil facilities, worries about falling gasoline demand in the U.S. and a strengthening U.S. dollar.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude contract for July delivery was down 65 cents at $130.38 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, July Brent crude fell 86 cents to $130.07 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Full Story Here:
Gas prices keep climbing even as oil prices drop

There are many things that can be said regarding this oil and fuel pricing crisis and much of it can be summed up in 2 words blurbs that are so easy to understand that even the dimmest of libbers should be able to comprehend their meaning…

Not the real cause: oil shortage, short supply, high demand

The real reasons we have incredibly high gas prices: price gouging, greedy bastards, Big Oil, rich Arabs, profit taking, record profits, price fixing, consumer abuse, rich executives, massive bonuses, tree huggers, spotted owl, snail darter and the list goes on and on, but I think you get the idea…

I don’t begrudge any company the opportunity to make money, that’s what free enterprise is all about, but when the oil companies sit back on their butts and tell us how much they are doing for us, and what it’s costing them to do it, well, I am astounded that the American consumer is falling for that line of BS.

I know a little bit about business, and you don’t have all those operating costs that Big Oil is saying they have and those supposed costs being what is driving them to record levels of profit, BILLIONS of dollars in profit, look folks, profit is figured in AFTER all costs of doing business are taken out, these record profits are just that, profit, financial gain, money in the pockets of the Big Oil executives, profit is what’s left after ALL operating expenses are covered…

By ALL, I mean exploration, drilling, production, transportation, refining, marketing, all of it, those costs are, or should be figured in before so much as a dollar of profit is figured into the equation, otherwise, if Big Oil was laying all that money out there and not making anything in return, it would be called losses, record losses, and I don’t recall hearing of any Big Oil companies that were recording record losses

We’re being taken for a ride my friends, and the Big Oil companies aren’t even greasing it before they stick it to us…

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Say NO to Obama, stop the Obamanation!

May 28th, 2008 . by TexasFred

We are witnessing a political phenomenon with Barack Hussein Obama of rare magnitude. His speeches have inspired millions and yet most of his followers have no idea of what he stands for except platitudes of ‘Change’ or they believe him when he says he will be a ‘Uniter’.

The power of speech from a charismatic person truly can be a powerful thing. Certainly Billy Graham had charisma and his manner of speech, and particularly the content of that speech, changed the lives of untold millions.

On the extreme other hand, the charisma of Adolph Hitler inspired millions as well, and the results were catastrophic.

Barack Hussein Obama seems to radiate an aura of pure evil as he attempts to call upon the inspirational speaking styles of both Billy Graham and Adolf Hitler, and it makes me feel an almost primal fear every time I see this person, not a man to man fear but a deeper and much more spiritual fear, as if a pall of doom were being cast across America…

Here are just a few things that define Barack Hussein Obama:

He voted against banning partial birth abortion.

He voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.

Supports affirmative action in Colleges and Government.

In 2001 he questioned harsh penalties for drug dealing.

Says he will deal with street level drug dealing as a minimum wage affair.

Admitted marijuana and cocaine use in high school and in college.

His religious convictions are very murky.

He is willing to meet, unconditionally with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Has said that one of his first goals after being elected would be to have a conference with all Muslim nations.

Opposed the Patriot Act.

First bill he signed that was passed was campaign finance reform.

Voted No on prohibiting law suits against gun manufacturers.

Supports universal health care.

Voted Yes on providing habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees.

Supports granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.

Supports extending welfare to illegal immigrants.

Voted Yes on comprehensive immigration reform. Would result in 20 million instant citizens never having paid SS, many refusing to speak English, immediately sending for their 40 to 50 million extended relatives telling them not to wait and obey the laws, the once mighty USA is theirs for the taking.

Voted Yes on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.

Wants to make the minimum wage a ‘living wage’.

Voted with Democratic Party 96 percent of 251 votes.

Opposed to any efforts to Privatize Social Security and instead supports increasing the amount of tax paid.

He voted No on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax.

He voted No on repealing the ‘Death’ Tax.

He wants to raise the Capital Gains Tax.

Has repeatedly said the surge in Iraq has not succeeded.

Has never served in the military and has never visited Afghanistan, and hasn’t bothered to visit Iraq since Jan. of 2006.

He is ranked as the most liberal Senator in the Senate today and that takes some doing.

Is a notorious gun grabber, he wants to completely disarm the American population and is a total supporter of ALL anti-gun legislation.

If your political choices are consistent with Barack Obama’s and you think that his positions will bring America together or make it a better place, then you will probably enjoy the ride and not re-post this message as we attempt to stop this poser from ascending to the Oval Office.

If you agree that this is an important issue, please pass it on in a nationwide emailing and re-post it on your blogs.

The mainstream media will not do it for you!

Obama is EVIL personified and a danger to America!


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Mexican villages feel U.S. slowdown as cash stops flowing

May 28th, 2008 . by TexasFred

LA PAROTA, MEXICO — Freddy Arroyo’s wife was nearly nine months pregnant, but the $10 a day he earned delivering water couldn’t feed his two children, let alone a new baby.

It was time to do what generations of young men in the parched village of La Parota in Mexico’s western state of Michoacán have traditionally done in tough times — head for Houston.

Catalina Orozco did not speak to her husband for weeks. Then five days after her daughter was born, the phone rang in the shack where the 26-year-old lives among other desperately poor relatives.

Calling from Houston, Arroyo listened with joy to the baby’s cries and then gave his wife the bad news.

“He said there was no work and that he couldn’t send us any money,” she said.

Villages across Mexico depend on money from migrant workers in cities like Houston. But now, as the U.S. economy slows, relatives in industries like construction are increasingly limited in what they can give.

“These days you just scrape by, nothing else. You can’t afford to send anything back,” Alberto Cruz, an illegal Mexican day laborer, said by telephone from Houston.

Full Story Here:
Mexican villages feel U.S. slowdown as cash stops flowing

I guess this story was posted by the Houston Chronicle in an effort to illicit some sympathy for the plight of the poor Mexican migrant worker that only wants to mow your yard and send money home to his wife and kids…

I have a serious opinion on this subject and I feel that it needs to be taken to heart by ALL Mexicans and any others that come here ILLEGALLY, if ya can’t feed em, don’t breed em…

Hard attitude?? Yes it is, but in MY opinion we need to apply that same rule to the American welfare rolls as well, there’s a group of people in this nation that live off of welfare, charity, food stamps, handouts and unemployment, and you can bet that someone like this poor ILLEGAL that only came here so he could feed his family will be ON those rolls very soon, and he’ll bring his wife, kids, mother-in-law and a whole herd of cousins to the USA once he realizes that he can work the system…

The MSM in this nation does everything it can to slant their readers thoughts on ILLEGALS and the real danger they present to this nation, we have left leaning politicos that make repeated attempts at passing legislation that would grant immediate amnesty TO those ILLEGALS, some of those politicos claim to be Republican and Conservative, and seek the highest office in this land as they continue to try and deceive the American public regarding their true intentions…

Some so-called Republicans have recently condemned ALL Conservatives, claiming that we have destroyed the Republican party and that we wrap ourselves in the flag and demand way more than Americans should, all because we actually have the GUTS to stand up FOR America as opposed to those that are doing their level best to give Her away…

It’s about time that we ALL stood up and fought to save America, save Her from the ILLEGAL INVASION, from the likes of Hillary Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, John Murtha, Barack Hussein Obama and yes, even John McCain, and we’d better get busy, we really need to get this done while there’s still an America that’s worth saving…

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