Wednesday, August 31, 2011

THE PLOT TO DESTROY THE CONSTITUTION How Team Obama undermines and perverts 'the supreme law of the land'





Thomas Jefferson warned us about the monster called government.

"In questions of power," he urged, "let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Unfortunately, America's government has long thrown off those constitutional "chains," resulting in its cancerous growth, massive welfare state, ruinous public debt and freedom-destroying intrusions into every area of the lives of its citizens.

And that was before Obama.

Today, the practice of ignoring, distorting and perverting the Constitution has become a high art. It is, in fact, literally the modus operandi of Barack Obama's presidency, as stunningly documented in the September issue of Whistleblower, "THE PLOT TO DESTROY THE CONSTITUTION."

In a relentless campaign to "transform America" from history's most successful constitutional republic into just one more weak European-style entitlement society based on all-powerful central government and massive wealth "redistribution," Obama and his administration have shredded the Constitution in every conceivable manner.

Soon after his inauguration, an early tipoff Obama held the Constitution in low esteem was his choice of "czars." Science czar John Holdren, for instance, is on record saying that in the event of a national emergency, the Constitution would permit compulsory abortions!

And Obama's powerful regulatory czar Cass Sunstein advocates an entirely new bill of rights – even authoring a book, "The Second Bill of Rights: FDR's Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More than Ever," in which he advances a disturbingly communist-sounding new set of "rights" for America. These include the government-guaranteed "right" to a job; the "right" to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing and recreation; the "right" to a decent home, to medical care and to a good education; and many more cradle-to-grave "rights" reminiscent of totalitarian, collectivist societies.

Employing his Alinsky-style, crisis-of-the-day tactics, Obama launched into endless, back-to-back attacks on the Constitution – from giving banks $700 billion of taxpayer money, to unconstitutionally requiring all Americans to buy health insurance; from sneaking in "Cap and Trade"-type regulations through the EPA, to instituting by executive order de facto amnesty for many illegal aliens; from imposing new regulations on gun dealers to going to war with Libya, both without the consent of Congress. "THE PLOT TO DESTROY THE CONSTITUTION" exposes these and many other ways Team Obama is operating entirely outside the United States Constitution.

What about Congress? Can't legislators stand up to a rogue president and insist he adhere to the "supreme law of the land"? Not likely, since not only do many congressmen and judges hold the Constitution in as low esteem as Obama does, but as Whistleblower documents, a recent poll shows elected officials know less about the Constitution than the general public! Fewer than half of elected "public servants" could correctly answer such basic questions as "Who can declare war?" and "What are the three branches of government?" And only 1 in 7 knew that the phrase "wall of separation" (between church and state) doesn't appear anywhere in the Constitution.



Sunday, August 28, 2011

It may to Late! Underpublicized threat deep in White House FBI: Penetration by radical agents worse than thought !




Infiltration of the federal government by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood is worse than some have warned recently, says a former FBI special agent in Washington.

The agent confirmed that at least three operatives of the Egypt-based Brotherhood – whose credo is "Jihad is our way and death in the cause of Allah is our dream" – have penetrated the Obama administration.

The shocking charge was first leveled by Muslim reformer Tarek Fatah during a recent speech in Toronto.

"When someone says that there is penetration of jihadi Islamists within society, do not dismiss it as some right-wing, xenophobic, racist rant," warned Fatah, a Canadian journalist.

Fight back against CAIR's attack on First Amendment by making a contribution to WND's "Legal Defense Fund." Donations of $25 or more entitle you to free copy of "Muslim Mafia" – the book so devastating to CAIR the group is trying to ban it.

"Today in the White House, there are three members of the Muslim Brotherhood that influence Obama's policy," he told the audience gathered for an IdeaCity conference. "One is Rashad Hassan, who is the American ambassador to the 52-nation Organization of Islamic (Conference)."

Former FBI special agent John Guandolo says Obama's ties to agents for the Muslim Brotherhood are even more extensive.

"The level of penetration in the last three administrations is deep," he said. "For this president, it even goes back to his campaign with Muslim Brotherhood folks working with him then."

Equally alarming, the Brotherhood also has placed several operatives and sympathizers within key positions in Homeland Security and the U.S. military, notes Guandolo, a former Marine Corps officer.

The veteran federal agent says such infiltration threatens national security, because the U.S. leadership of the international Brotherhood has outlined a secret plan to "destroy" the U.S. and other Western governments "from within."

After the 9/11 attacks, he says the FBI discovered the plan written in Arabic among documents seized from the basement of a prominent Brotherhood leader living in a Washington suburb.

Guandolo says the stated Muslim Brotherhood strategy for change "from within" includes the installation of loyal Brothers into political office.

Get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," autographed, from WND's Superstore

President Obama's top Muslim ambassador, Rashad Hussain, has raised suspicions. He is U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a powerful international group headquartered in Saudi Arabia and closely aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Before first joining the White House as a lawyer, Hussain regularly spoke to Brotherhood front groups and defended Brotherhood leaders like Sami al-Arian. Hussain at first denied defending the convicted terrorist, claiming he was misquoted, but then recanted after Politico.com produced a tape-recording of his remarks.

Recently, he has been overseas encouraging devotion to Islam, including in terror hotspots like Afghanistan.

In fact, Hussain has told Afghans the antidote to Islamic violence "is Islam itself."

"I am of the opinion that one of the strongest tools that you can use to counter radicalization and violent extremism is Islam itself, because Islam rejects violent extremism," he said during a recent speech in Kabul.

Hussain, a devout Muslim, says promotion of the Muslim faith is "key" to the administration's strategy to turn Muslims away from violence.

"We see that as one of the key elements of a strategy to address this type of violence," he said.

The strategy is at odds with what the co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission recently recommended in their follow-up report on homegrown terror, "Assessing the Terrorist Threat: A Report of the Bipartisan Policy Center's National Security Preparedness Group."

The study found that Islam was motivating terrorists not just abroad, but inside America's Muslim community. And it scolded U.S. leaders for pretending religion is not a factor in growing violence.

Still, Hussain insists: "When it comes to the problem of violent extremism, Islam is not the problem."

Hussain helped draft Obama's conciliatory Cairo speech to Muslims. Also helping with the president's speeches and policies toward Muslims is Mogahed, whose pro-Islamist statements have been posted on the Muslim Brotherhood's website, ikhwanweb.com.

Obama appointed the hijab-wearing Mogahed to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. On a British television program, Islam Channel, Mogahed defended Shariah law, the barbaric Islamic legal code that treats women as second-class citizens.

Muslim women actually "associate gender justice or justice for women with Shariah compliance," she argued. "It is 'only a small fraction' that associate Shariah with 'oppression of women.'"

She added that Muslims should work to integrate Islamic law into public law.

Another Brotherhood-tied figure influencing the White House is Azizah al-Hibri.

Obama this June appointed her to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. A Muslim professor, al-Hibri is also the granddaughter of a sheik, who claims the Saudi criminal justice system is more moral than the American one because it accepts blood money from murderers.

Al-Hibri herself has proclaimed: "Islamic fiqh (law) is deeper and better than Western codes of law."

She served on the advisory board of the American Muslim Council and made joint appearances with its leader Abdurahman Alamoudi. Now defunct, the AMC was a front group for the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, and Alamoudi was the Brotherhood's top leader in America. He is now behind bars as one of al-Qaida's top fundraisers in America.

Al-Hibri has also made appearances at Islamic Society of North America conferences. The Justice Department says ISNA is a Brotherhood front and recently named the group an unindicted co-conspirator in a plot to provide material support to Hamas terrorists.

Guandolo identified several other Brotherhood-connected agents of influence – all of whom are just as politically savvy and moderate sounding – who have worked their way into government positions, including:

* Arif Alikhan, who was assistant Homeland Security secretary for policy development and is now a distinguished visiting professor of homeland security and counterterrorism at the National Defense University.

* Syrian-born Kareem Shora, who is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's senior policy adviser.

* Navy Cmdr. Youssef Aboul-Enein and Jocelyne Cesari, a Muslim convert who previously worked with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, both of whom teach at colleges within the National Defense University.

Guandolo blames the advances Brotherhood figures on political correctness and lax vetting at government agencies.

Even at the FBI, he notes, an Iranian-born Muslim has taken over the agency's weapons of mass destruction program.


CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad shakes hands with intern Chris Gaubatz, aka David Marshall, at CAIR's national headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 2008

Stung by workplace discrimination lawsuits by Arab and Muslim employees, the FBI has come under pressure to hire more Arab and Muslim agents and language specialists and promote existing ones, while clearing them for higher security levels, according the best-selling book "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America."

The book cites internal FBI records showing the agency has been sued by no fewer than 14 Arab and Muslim employees since 9/11. Some of the lawsuits have been solicited or aided by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, another Muslim Brotherhood front group. The FBI in 2008 cut off formal outreach with CAIR and its branch offices.

"This is happening as we remain silent. And I say that as a liberal Democrat who worked and campaigned for Barack Obama," said Fatah, a Pakistan-born journalist and activist who founded the moderate Muslim Canadian Congress to fight the spread of "Islamofascism."

"Muslim Mafia" also has prompted a lawsuit from CAIR over the acquisition by the authors of CAIR documents.

In the lawsuit, CAIR, a self-described Muslim civil-rights group, does not defend itself against the book's claims, and the FBI has seized the CAIR material from the Washington law office of one of the attorneys for the authors. A previous filing in the case revealed a federal grand jury is investigating CAIR for possible violation of laws that ban financial dealings with terrorist groups or countries under U.S. sanctions.

As WND reported, CAIR's complaint seeks to expunge all copies of "Muslim Mafia" in an attempt, according to defense lawyers, to eliminate evidence that could lead to criminal prosecution.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The CAIR legal attack on WND's author is far from over. WND needs your help in supporting the defense of "Muslim Mafia" co-author P. David Gaubatz, as well as his investigator son Chris, against CAIR's lawsuit. The book's revelations have led to formal congressional demands for three different federal investigations of CAIR. In the meantime, however, someone has to defend these two courageous investigators who have, at great personal risk, revealed so much about this dangerous group. Although WND has procured the best First Amendment attorneys in the country for their defense, we can't do it without your help. Please donate to WND's Legal Defense Fund now.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Rush Limbaugh: Where are Obama's former girlfriends? Radio host says viral email raising valid questions for unvetted president ???





PALM BEACH, Fla. – As the presidential campaign season begins to get into full swing, radio host Rush Limbaugh is again raising questions about President Barack Obama's personal background, wondering where all of his former girlfriends, classmates and students are.


Rush Limbaugh

"I got one of these email things," Limbaugh said on his program this afternoon.

"And, of course, I've only seen it a thousand times, and knew it before I received the first one. And you probably have seen this one going around. This one is, 'Where are all of Obama's former girlfriends?' It's a takeoff on where are all of the students Obama taught who claim to have been inspired by him when he taught law at the University of Chicago. Where are all of the former classmates of Obama who can tell wonderful stories about their experience with Obama on campus or in the classroom?"

Jerome Corsi's New York Times best-seller, "Where's the Birth Certificate?", is now available for immediate shipping, autographed by the author, only from the WND Superstore

Limbaugh continued, "They are interesting because those people haven't surfaced. There aren't any ex-girlfriends that have admitted it. Students that have been inspired by Obama as a professor, they haven't come forth.

"Media hasn't dug 'em up. It is interesting from the standpoint that the guy has not been vetted yet. Look what they're trying to do to Michele Bachmann, what they're planning on doing to [Rick] Perry and so forth."

He concluded, "I'm just saying it's very strange that we know so little about a guy who's written two autobiographies. It really is strange."

One inquisitive WND reader added, "What I would like to know is where are the wedding photos. Just one? Anyone can do just one photo. Who were the bridesmaids? Ushers? Where where they married? Family photos? Photos of a pregnant Michelle? Baby photos of the girls? Where were they born?"




Really a lone wolf, a single shooter,a lone gunman! Watch out for this one man acting alone



(Reuters) - A decade after the 9/11 attacks, a "lone wolf terrorist" like the shooter in Norway now presents a bigger risk to the United States than a large-scale operation, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

"The most likely scenario that we have to guard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well-coordinated terrorist attack," Obama told CNN.

"When you've got one person who is deranged or driven by a hateful ideology, they can do a lot of damage, and it's a lot harder to trace those lone wolf operators," he said.

Obama described "extraordinary progress" in degrading al Qaeda, the group behind the September 11, 2001 hijackings whose leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in May.

"They are a much weaker organization with much less capability than they had just two or three years ago," he said, while stressing a need for "heightened awareness" of potential attacks around the anniversary next month.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

So You want to see face of 'terrorism'? Not many do!



People who characterize the tea-party movement as terrorists are clearly incapable of rationally processing information.

They don't know right from wrong.They don't want to know

They have no appreciation for American history and constitutional guarantees for freedom of speech and petitioning for redress of grievances. They really just don't care about what has made our country great.

They don't recognize that when tea-party groups get together, they clean up after themselves. Are respectful of others,and their point of view.

They don't burn, loot, commit arson, rape or murder, or do they?

Yet, people like Vice President Joe Biden call the tea-party activists "terrorists."

Do you want to see the face of terrorism today? Just look in the mirror!

You don't have to go to Philadelphia or to London.

You are the new face of terrorism. YOU! The American Citizen who dares to speak out and question your elected government!


You will notice that tea-party activists don't have a sense of entitlement. They don't ask for free stuff. They don't demand handouts. They don't ask that government take care of them. They just ask that government follow the rule of law and act responsibly.

The rioters in the streets of London and Philadelphia most certainly do have a sense of entitlement. They believe they have the right to rob and beat other people and take what they want. They believe in burning and terrorizing and attacking police and civilians.

But no one calls them terrorists.

Have you noticed that? Why is that I wonder?

I've been watching the coverage of the Philadelphia and London riots for days, and not one public official, not one reporter, no one has called the perpetrators of these acts of violence what they are – terrorists.

I honestly believe this is what happens to societies that try to bribe the disenchanted with "entitlements" and welfare. It doesn't lead to a more peaceful society. It leads to a more expectant and demanding underclass.

That's what we are seeing in London and Philadelphia today.

Nobody can understand what's happening.

It's just too self-evidence for them to see.

When you demonize the hard-working, productive middle class who organize peacefully and call for reforms, you are inviting the shiftless, unproductive class to take the opposite approach.

I think what we're seeing in London and Philadelphia is just the beginning.

Government officials have set the stage for this kind of behavior.

They don't honor and respect civilized protest. And then they're surprised by disorderly and uncivilized behavior.

We shouldn't be surprised.

Many of those rioting in London in Philadelphia, we're told, are school students on summer vacation. That's certainly encouraging news, isn't it? In other words, these malcontents are products of the government school system. Government has done a great job teaching them right from wrong, hasn't it?

Think about it.

What makes people think they can attack others, burn down homes and businesses, torch cars and steal at will?

Shouldn't we expect government school systems to be able to teach students not to do those things? Wouldn't that be a minimal expectation?

When people go mad like this, the only thing that can stop them is brute force. More cops. More government.

If people are incapable of governing themselves, government force is the only alternative.

Only a moral people, those who can distinguish between right and wrong, are capable of governing themselves.

Look into the eyes of those rioting in London and Philadelphia and decide for yourselves if those people are capable of governing themselves.

Then take a look into the eyes of the tea-party activists and see what you think.

By discouraging tea-party activism, by labeling it harshly, by not recognizing the good and responsible it is embracing, we are inviting exactly what we see happening in London and Philadelphia.

Why? How? Commandos criticize call for SEALs Rangers’ danger, single helicopter among questions





Some in the special operations community are privately criticizing the wisdom of Saturday’s failed rescue mission in Afghanistan, saying commanders should have sent more than the one Chinook helicopter that was shot down, killing 30 American troops, including 23 elite Navy SEALs.

They also questioned whether the quickly assembled mission was necessary to rescue a band of Army Rangers reportedly under fire from Taliban militants.

“I squarely blame whoever planned and authorized the mission for the deaths,” said a Special Forces soldier who served in Afghanistan.

“It was simply uncalled for unless Rangers were being overrun and the ground situation required this much operational risk.”

Special operations sources also told The Washington Times that it would have been better to send two helicopters instead of one to reduce risks.

“The SEALs do seem to like stuffing a lot of valuable guys in one [helicopter],” said a second special operations officer who also served in Afghanistan.

“There may have been an operational reason not to spread them out over two, [but] I just don’t know what that would be.”

They also questioned the type of aircraft dispatched for the mission. The NATO command in Kabul identified the downed helicopter as a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, not the modified version, the MH-47.

The MH-47 Chinook is configured for nighttime missions by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Army Times said the Chinook was piloted by a regular Army crew, not aviators from the specially trained 160th.

“This was a regular Army crew and bird, so the crew would have less experience, training and countermeasures compared to a 160th,” the second special operations source told The Times.

The NATO command said the CH-47 was felled by a rocket-propelled grenade as it approached a landing spot to disengage the SEALs, some of whom belonged to the special counterterrorism squad known as SEAL Team 6, which killed Osama bin Laden.

A retired officer who served with SEALs in Afghanistan said the best practice is to land the Chinook away from the point of battle, but choice spots are not always available in rugged terrain.

“I would be hard-pressed to challenge the commanders’ decision on the ground,” the ex-officer said. “My guess is that the Taliban got a lucky shot off. It happens in war. Unfortunately, when you have 30 guys in one thin-skinned [helicopter] the repercussions can be deadly.”

The U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., declined to respond to the mission’s critics.

It was just three months ago that the command was basking in SEAL Team 6’s successful mission to penetrate Pakistan’s airspace and kill bin Laden. Now it is grappling with the largest loss of SEALs ever in a single wartime mission.

Analysts say it is difficult to hit an aircraft, even one as large and slow as the twin-engined Chinook, with what amounts to an unguided warhead, unlike a missile that homes in on an engine’s heat source.

Helicopters are equipped with “countermeasures,” such as flares, to deflect a missile’s guidance system, but military sources said they know of no similar system to foil a rocket-propelled grenade fired at close range.

“Although the helicopters have countermeasures, I’m not aware of any countermeasure for an RPG,” said a congressional defense staffer. “An RGP’s range is so short. But it’s really hard to hit an aircraft with an RPG.”

Maj. Chris Kasker, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the service has spent $2 billion over the past two years improving helicopter defenses, but he declined to be more specific.

“We don’t want bad guys to know all the details. We can’t comment on the specific defense systems and countermeasures we have on our helicopters right now,” Maj. Kasker said.

“But I can say we are dedicated to providing the best survivability equipment available. We want to protect our aircraft and crew members from all different threats that they encounter.”

The NATO command said the operation “began as a security search for a Taliban leader responsible for insurgent operations in the nearby Tangi Valley.”

“After commencing the search, the initial security force on the ground observed several insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault rifles moving through the area. The security force and insurgents exchanged small-arms fire, resulting in several enemies killed,” NATO said.

“As the insurgents continued to fire, the combined force on the ground requested additional forces to assist the operation. Those additional personnel were inbound to the scene when the CH-47 carrying them crashed, killing all on board. …

“The helicopter was reportedly fired on by an insurgent rocket-propelled grenade while transporting the U.S. service members and commandos to the scene of an ongoing engagement between [International Security Assistance Forces] and insurgent forces.”

Another SEAL mission met a similar fate six years earlier.

In June 2005, four SEALs ordered to kill Taliban leader Ahmad Shad got pinned down by an overwhelming enemy force of perhaps 150 militants in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The team radioed a distress call. An MH-47 Chinook with eight SEALs and eight 160th Regiment personnel was dispatched to save them.

Like the Chinook on Saturday, the MH-47 was knocked down by a rocket-propelled grenade as it tried to enter the battle space. All 16 onboard were killed in the crash.

“Squad-sized automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) can ‘kill’ a helicopter if it comes with[in] range of the enemy,” military analyst Anthony Cordesman said in an Internet post Monday for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“There are no countermeasures to direct fire. The enemy is often not visible to the best night-vision systems, and sheer chance can make up for the lack of tactical experience and advanced guided weapons.

“What some in the military call a ‘magic bullet’ - one that finds a critical vulnerability out of sheer chance - is a constant risk of war.”

Monday, August 8, 2011

Iran says U.S. 'will be taught the mother of all lessons' Editorial warns of pending cyber attack on electrical grid!!





Iran is planning to retaliate against the United States for the sabotage against its nuclear program, according to an editorial in the Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The U.S. has all of its infrastructure connected to the Internet, the editorial says, and as a result, "it is constantly worried about an unknown player, who they will never be able to identify ... sitting in some corner of the world who would launch an attack on a sector of (the Americans') foundations. They will be taught the mother of all lessons."

Specifically, Iran is looking into launching a cyber attack against U.S. electrical grid systems.

Iranian officials are furious over the July 23 assassination of nuclear scientist Dariush Rezai-Nejad, who was working on electric detonators for the Iranian nuclear program, which can be used on missiles or nuclear bombs. He was the third Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated since 2009.

The frustration over acts of sabotage started with the computer virus Stuxnet in which 1,000 of Iran's centrifuges at the Natanzs nuclear facility were destroyed and had to be replaced. The virus also attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which has resulted in repeated delays in it joining the country's power grid.

The July 29 Kayhan editorial threatening America with retaliation said that during the last month, the United States has published two strategy documents regarding cyberspace, both of which emphasize the ever-evolving nature of Internet communications.

The first document, signed by President Obama, lays out the country's strategy on cyberspace, states that the Internet epitomizes great opportunity and says it is not viewed as a threat to the United States, the editorial says. It adds that "it can be suggested that the U.S. can play a leadership role in cyberspace in that the U.S. would create and maintain that position for the long term."

But then the editorial takes direct aim at Washington: "The second document is brimming with the over-confidence and hyper-intellectual posturing of the first. These documents, which the Pentagon published two weeks ago, use straight-forward war vernacular and (the Pentagon) has openly announced that from here on in, cyberspace will be considered a war zone.

"The laughable part of this document is when the neurotic American generals threaten hackers sitting behind their computers who attack America (that they) should be careful that a cruise missile does not fly in through their heating pipes to destroy their turf."

The United States is no longer the unequivocal leader of the Internet, the editorial says. "Diverse and interesting players have now come on the scene and have … managed to inflict some costly and unprecedented damages on the American Internet infrastructure. … Due to the convenient global nature of the 'players,' their network operates outside time and space. They can be anywhere from right under Mr. Obama's ear in Washington, D.C., to the depths of the African desert."

The editorial accuses the Americans, with the help of Israelis and Germans, of creating the Stuxnet virus to attack the Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.

"Americans are under the (mistaken) impression that they are the only ones who can strike violent blows against their most ardent opponents and not sustain any real damage," the editorial warns.

Earlier this year Iranian officials announced that Iran's cyber war campaign would be activated under the Passive Defense Organization of Iran, which openly recruited hackers who would support the goals and ideals of the radicals ruling Iran. Also as reported earlier, in a recent meeting among Iran's Revolutionary Guard commanders and Iranian scientists, America's vulnerabilities for a cyber attack were discussed. They concluded that the U.S. power grids represent the best opportunity for such attacks, as more U.S. utilities are moving their control systems to the Internet and using smart-grid technology.

According to reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, America's power grid remains vulnerable to cyber attack, a result of slow implementation of computer security standards. A successful cyber attack on the North American power grid systems could disrupt the economy and possibly create a national trauma.

U.S. electrical grid penetrated by spies, hackers, or something unfathomably more terrible




By Laura June

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the electricity grid in the United States has been infiltrated by "cyperspies," in an attempt to map the infrastructure, leaving behind software that could pose potential threats in times of crisis. Quoting anonymous "current and former" national security officials, the report claims that the spies, hailing from China, Russia, and "other countries" have not attempted to do any damage, but that they could, and that these types of intrusions are on the rise. Officials are of course worried about the potential implications of such penetrations, noting that much of our infrastructure, including nuclear power plants and financial institutions, are at risk. Unfortunately for the WSJ and its Cold War-era headline, the article goes on to state that it's not really possible to know whether a particular attack is "government sponsored," or just the work of regular old hackers from those regions running amok in cyberspace. Additionally, spokespeople from the Russian and Chinese Embassies vehemently deny their respective governments involvement in any such work. The Wall Street Journal, of course, fails to point out the most obvious of explanations: it's aliens.