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Good Morning!
Longwood Gardens. April, 2012. Photo credit: joanneleon
There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.
~ Smedley Butler
News
emptywheel refers to the underlying New York Times article as "an egregious version of sanctioned leaks of classified information".
Obama Ordered Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran: NYT
"Unnamed" US and Israeli officials admit use of cyber weapons
The Obama administration, allowing 'unnamed officials' to speak with the New York Times, has taken direct responsibility for launching a series of cyber attacks against Iran, including the Stuxnet virus attack that took place in the summer of 2010.
The admission is the first acknowledgement by any White House that is has launched a preemptive cyber attack on another nation. Concerns have been raised that the revelations will set a dangerous precedent for the future of cyber warfare and international relations.
[ ... ]
The Guardian's Peter Baeumont, reporting on this and other recent reports in the Times and based on information from "unnamed" Obama administration insiders, says the revelations appear to be well coordinated and seem intended to fend off accusations by his political opponents that Obama has been weak on foreign policy, especially in the case of Iran. "The recent highly sympathetic media disclosures," writes Beaumont, "appear to have been carefully calculated to counter" such suggestions.
More Administration Leaks Position Obama as Ruthless
This is the week where the President, through coordinated leaks at the highest levels, admits to the New York Times to ruthlessness when it comes to “fighting the bad guys.” First it was the drone strikes, and now it’s an excerpt from a forthcoming David Sanger book, where we get the first acknowledgement that the President led and ordered cyberwarfare against Iran, in the form of the Stuxnet virus.
An older piece of news (from March) but relevant to today.
Pentagon revamps rules of engagement for cyberwar
The Pentagon is rewriting the book on how it defends against and possibly responds to cyberattacks against the United States, the top uniformed officer in charge of the effort told Congress on Tuesday.
[ ... ]
The new DOD plan would also look to coordinate more with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice.
DHS would take the lead in coordinating with the private sector and defending against attacks on U.S. networks.
Scarecrow:
Mario Draghi’s Admission: Lying to Europe
(Update: Irish Vote Yes on Austerity Pact)
What Mario Draghi just admitted at the European Union is not merely that Europe’s leaders need to define a sustainable future end state. What’s he’s really saying is that much of what the voters have been told about the sustainability of the current state was a lie, which means they’ve been asked to make horrendous sacrifices to achieve an outcome that won’t and can’t work. When did he realize this?
As Paul Krugman just pounded into an unlistening British panel, austerity won’t reduce deficits/debt, let alone revive an economy in the middle of a recession. It will instead cause further unemployment — now up to a record 11 percent in the Euro zone. If pursued relentlessly it will produce depression conditions, as in 20 percent unemployment (Spain), the collapse of private investment (in Europe and the UK here) and public services and . . . higher long-run deficits (see Brad DeLong). Krugman implies the elites are still lying about this to cover an agenda of dismantling the safety net.
David Dayen:
Honeywell CEO, Presidential Appointee to Catfood Commission Cote: Eliminate Corporate Taxes
Honeywell CEO David Cote said yesterday – when his goons weren’t yanking the microphone away from a labor reporter asking a question – that the ideal corporate tax rate should be zero percent:
SORKIN: David, I have a tax question for you. What do you think the ultimate effective tax rate should be on corporations?
COTE: Zero.
SORKIN: Zero?
COTE: The problem is from a fairness perspective, nobody would be able to stand it. But at the the end of the day, jobs come from companies and if we wanted to create the most effective foreign direct investment pipeline you’ve ever seen, we would have the lowest rate possible.
Warning to US Journalists: Do NOT Ask Difficult Questions of Powerful CEOs
Labor journalist Mike Elk on Thursday attended a Capitol Hill conference where he performed the unspeakable act of behaving like a journalist. During the Q&A portion of a panel discussion, Elk rose to ask a question of Honeywell CEO David Cote, but as Congressional staffers nearby realized that his question wasn't a soft-ball about how a young entrepreneur might climb to the heights of corporate America, but a serious question regarding "labor practices and the recent release of radioactive UF6 gas" at a Honeywell uranium facility in Metropolis, Illinois," the microphone was ripped from Elk's hands and his questioning cut off.
So much for being a credentialed journalist trying to ask a CEO an uncomfortable question in public.
Blog Posts of Interest
Ancient and Worldwide on DailyKos by rserven
WI: The Deer Czar is not the Problem on DailyKos by 2LaneIA
The Other 1 Percent & the Deaths We Talk Too Little About on DailyKos by Dr Rhymes