Was the Government internet ‘Kill Switch’ just tested?

 

At 3pmET yesterday, it appears that Google Cloud (affecting Gmail, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, and Facebook among others) mysteriously (and almost unprecedently) went offline.

This brought to mind Obama’s Executive Order just in case you think this is a tin foil hat thing. Congress had big plans too.

Incident began at 2019-06-02 12:25 (all times are US/Pacific).

Jun 02, 20 12:25 We are investigating an issue with Google Compute Engine. We will provide more information by Sunday, 2019-06-02 12:45 US/Pacific.

One Google insider explains (via YCombinator):

I work on Google Cloud (but disclaimer, I’m on vacation and so not much use to you!).

We’re having what appears to be a serious networking outage. It’s disrupting everything, including unfortunately the tooling we usually use to communicate across the company about outages.

There are backup plans, of course, but I wanted to at least come here to say: you’re not crazy, nothing is lost (to those concerns downthread), but there is serious packet loss at the least. You’ll have to wait for someone actually involved in the incident to say more.

The internet is having a very bad day… Zero Hedge  and more of the details and a tip of the hat.

View image on Twitter

 

 

If you think this couldn’t happen, check back at what Obama and Congress had in mind a few years ago.

Presidential powers over the Internet and telecommunications were laid out in a U.S. Senate bill in 2009, which proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. But that legislation was not included in the Cybersecurity Act of 2012. I caught some discussion of this at the time, and the rationale was that  “misinformation” may need to be curtailed. Where did I hear that before? Anyone still wondering where we are headed with this?

President Obama signed an executive order the week of July 12, 2012 that could give him control over the web in times of emergency.

According to The Verge, critics of the order are concerned with Section 5.2, which is a lengthy part outlining how telecommunications and the Internet are controlled. It states that the Secretary of Homeland Security will “oversee the development, testing, implementation, and sustainment” of national security and emergency preparedness measures on all systems, including private “non-military communications networks.” According to The Verge, critics say this gives Obama the on/off switch to the Web.

The order, known as the, “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions,” exists to hand over full control of communications and the internet to certain government authorities in times of natural disaster and security emergencies.

The wording for the executive order is of course lengthy and uses politician language, but the part worth pointing out is in section 5.2. It is in this section that the order states that Homeland Security will be able to monitor and control all non-military forms of communications in times of extreme measures, which is essentially giving the White House the on/off switch to the internet, according to some critics.

You can read more about the executive order, which still had 30 days before it became a law, over at CNET and The Verge. If you want to check out the order in its entirety, go to the White House press page.

It was a good day in the swamp.

Bonus:

Executive Order — National Defense Resources Preparedness

In a nutshell, it’s the blueprint for Peacetime Martial Law and it gives the president the power to take just about anything deemed necessary for “National Defense”, whatever they decide that is. It’s peacetime, because as the title of the order says, it’s for “Preparedness”.

Quote:

Sec. 201. Priorities and Allocations Authorities. (a) The authority of the President conferred by section 101 of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2071, to require acceptance and priority performance of contracts or orders (other than contracts of employment) to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders, and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense, is delegated to the following agency heads:(1) the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer;(2) the Secretary of Energy with respect to all forms of energy;(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to health resources;(4) the Secretary of Transportation with respect to all forms of civil transportation;(5) the Secretary of Defense with respect to water resources; and(6) the Secretary of Commerce with respect to all other materials, services, and facilities, including construction materials

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness

 

Thanks WhatFingerNews for the coverage! A great site for all the news.

 

Iran links in Homeland Security’s troubled immigration program

A program that gives coveted immigrant green cards to wealthy foreign  investors was so susceptible to fraud and abuse that it was used by an Iranian  network that sought to send banned high technology home and spread terrorism  abroad, federal investigators said.

The memo called the EB-5 program a weak point in the nation’s immigration  security because visa holders can become green card holders and eventually  citizens — without going through the background checks that most prospective  immigrants face. The program is designed to attract foreigners who pledge to  invest in the U.S. economy.

If this is not enough to question the subversives that are running our government, recall an earlier post this week: Thousands of Iranian students here will benefit from “agreement” – thousands of Iranian students are here on much of our dime studying Science and Math, of course, under the auspices of the Iranian government to come to the so-called “Great Satan.” But I digressed.

The EB-5 program was used by “a network involved in a series of international  assassinations and terrorism operations” that also was “procuring a variety of  goods for Iranian entities,” states an unsigned memo from U.S. Immigration and  Customs Enforcement made public Thursday. The memo was written in response to  questions asked by Janet A. Napolitano as homeland security secretary.

CIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas has  touted his reforms to the program, centralizing its administration at  headquarters in Washington, instituting anti-fraud measures and hiring as many  as 100 economic and business analysts.

The memo was made public by Sen. Chuck  Grassley, Iowa Republican, in a letter to ICE acting Director John  Sandweg asking a series of questions about the case.

Read more: Washington Times>

Feds seize 1700 Online Domains last three years, without due process

Back in February of 2011 I posted ICE shuts down 84,000 websites…again! Why do I revisit this again? Because in a little reported story this week that really is a big deal, the DHS, without due process, continues to shutter any website it chooses. Now we know the extent of their activity. Feds Seized 1,700 Online Domains in 3 Years. Guilty as charged. This is the precedent that can be used to shut down any website. Hang on to your blog with both hands! Website owners being treated similar to Drug kingpins.

The figures were buried in the White House’s 2013 “Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement,” (.pdf) and they represent about 50 seizures a month following the operation’s adoption three years ago.

Earlier in 2011: Senator Wants Answers from DHS Over Domain Name Seizures

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said Friday he would demand answers from the Department of Homeland Security about its domain seizure program known as Operation in Our Sites after it was revealed that the government kept a hip-hop music review site’s name for a year without affording the owner a chance to challenge the seizure.

Wyden also wants to know why there was no court record of the case, other than the initial seizure filing a year ago.

Under the program, implemented by the nation’s first and only IP czar Victoria Espinel, federal authorities are taking .com, .org, and .net domains under the same civil-seizure law the government invokes to seize brick-and-mortar drug houses, bank accounts, and other property tied to alleged illegal activity. The feds are able to seize the domains because VeriSign — which controls the .net and .com names, and the Public Interest Registry, which runs .org — are U.S.-based organizations. Under U.S. civil forfeiture laws, the person losing the property has to prove that the items were not used to commit crimes.

One of those sites caught in that crackdown (.pdf) was dajaz1.com. Operation in Our Sites, run by the Department of Homeland Security, accused the site of allowing its users to download pre-release music. But as it turns out, some of that music was sent to the popular blog by the artists or labels.

Most of the subdomains in question are personal sites and sites of small businesses. A search on Bing still shows how innocent sites were claimed to promote child pornography. A rather damaging accusation, which scared and upset many of the site’s owners.

The US Government has yet again shuttered several domain names this week. The Department of Justice and Homeland Security’s ICE office proudly announced that they had seized domains related to counterfeit goods and child pornography. What they failed to mention, however, is that one of the targeted domains belongs to a free DNS provider, and that 84,000 websites were wrongfully accused of links to child pornography crimes.

As part of “Operation Save Our Children” ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center has again seized several domain names, but not without making a huge error. Last Friday, thousands of site owners were surprised by a rather worrying banner that was placed on their domain.

The domain in question is mooo.com, which belongs to the DNS provider FreeDNS. It is the most popular shared domain at afraid.org and as a result of the authorities’ actions a massive 84,000 subdomains were wrongfully seized as well. All sites were redirected to the banner below.

Federal authorities said today that, since June 2010, they have seized more than 1,700 domains that allegedly breached intellectual property rights.

 

H/T:Wired

Obama signed Executive Order empowering Kill Switch over the Internet

On July 12, 2012 I posted the following story below. The Executive Order appeared in the Federal Register and there were 30 days for comment. There was little if any concern, and we bloggers were simply tin foil hat folks. I suggest one of the most dangerous moves Obama made. Now with the recent revelations, I thought this would be a good Sunday redo. So here we go:

Not much excitement about this apparently. So what he cannot do by Congressional action, he does by fiat. The interesting part is that his Executive Order was posted in the Federal Register.

Presidential powers over the Internet and telecommunications were laid out in a U.S. Senate bill in 2009, which proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. But that legislation was not included in the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 earlier this year. I would ask, why must Janet Napolitano cut off private networks? I caught some discussion of this, and the rationale was that  “misinformation” may need to be curtailed. Where did I hear that before? Anyone still wondering where we are headed with this?

President Obama signed an executive order this week (July 12, 2012) that could give him control over the web in times of emergency.

According to The Verge, critics of the order are concerned with Section 5.2, which is a lengthy part outlining how telecommunications and the Internet are controlled. It states that the Secretary of Homeland Security will “oversee the development, testing, implementation, and sustainment” of national security and emergency preparedness measures on all systems, including private “non-military communications networks.” According to The Verge, critics say this gives Obama the on/off switch to the Web.

The order, known as the, “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions,” exists to hand over full control of communications and the internet to certain government authorities in times of natural disaster and security emergencies.

The wording for the executive order is of course lengthy and uses politician language, but the part worth pointing out is in section 5.2.It is in this section that the order states that Homeland Security will be able to monitor and control all non-military forms of communications in times of extreme measures, which is essentially giving the White House the on/off switch to the internet, according to some critics.

You can read more about the executive order, which still has 30 days before it becomes a law, over at CNET and The Verge. If you want to check out the order in its entirety, go to the White House press page. From the Examiner

Obama killed program that kept an eye on Muslim immigrants

So we had a program that kept a good eye on immigrants from Muslim countries. Did anyone in Congress let us know that Obama was getting rid of it because it was “offensive”? NSEERS was its name’

The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) or INS Special Registration^[1] is a system for registering certain non-citizens within the United States, initiated in September 2002 as part of the War on Terrorism. Portions were suspended as of April 27th, 2011.^[2] This system has two separate components: port-of-entry registration and domestic registration. In each case, those who register are fingerprinted, photographed, and interrogated. They are required to provide detailed information about their plans and to update Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if their plans change. They are only permitted to enter and depart the U.S. through designated ports of entry.

Domestic registration

Certain non-citizens who were in the United States prior to September 10, 2002, have been required to register in person at an INS office.^[3] This procedure is required of males over the age of sixteen who entered the United States legally on particular types of visa (primarily student, work, and tourist) from certain countries.

Results of the program:

As of May 2003, 82,581 individuals had complied with the domestic portion of the program. Of these, at least 13,153 were placed in deportation proceedings. Although the program originally included a requirement to re-register annually, the Department of Homeland Security, which gained jurisdiction over the program, eliminated this requirement. More at wikipedia

Thanks Janet. Well Done.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was on Happening Now this morning and remarked on Obama’s previous moves to make America less secure. Obama did away with the NSEERS program that scrutinized immigrants from 25, mostly Muslim, countries. Rand Paul reminded FOX viewers of this program this morning.

“Where 25 countries were targeted and we said they need special scrutiny to make sure they’re not coming here to attack us. President Obama disbanded that.”

Liberals like Obama thought NSEERS was offensive and discriminatory. So Obama did away with it.
Via Happening Now:

 

H/T: Gateway Pundit

Obama administration admits killing 16 year old in drone attack a mistake

So Barry admits he did a oopsie when he killed al-walki’s 16-year-old son. It has plagued me during these months that little attention has been paid to the son, but rather just his father. Not one word about him was mentioned at the hearings. It is the son that has been my issue. What was the evidence against a 16 year-old that deserved a drone? Let me first give you a reminder of the path we are going down here in the U.S.

CNET News: (Only obtained by a FOIA request) that is how we know.

Homeland Security’s specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a civilian is armed. Also specified: “signals interception” and “direction finding” for electronic surveillance.

Homeland Security’s specifications for its drones, built by San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, say they “shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not,” meaning carrying a shotgun or rifle. They also specify “signals interception” technology that can capture communications in the frequency ranges used by mobile phones, and “direction finding” technology that can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland Security’s requirements for its drone fleet through the Freedom of Information Act and published it this week. CNET unearthed an unredacted copy of the requirements that provides additional information about the aircraft’s surveillance capabilities.

Oops!… Obama Adminstration Admits Killing 16 Year-Old Denver Boy in Drone Strike Was a Mistake

Barack Obama is the official who makes the final call on overseas drone strikes.

This weekend, The New York Times reported that US officials now admit that the drone bombing of the Denver teen was a mistake.
The New York Times reported:

The missile strike on Sept. 30, 2011, that killed Mr. Awlaki — a terrorist leader whose death lawyers in the Obama administration believed to be justifiable — also killed Mr. Khan, though officials had judged he was not a significant enough threat to warrant being specifically targeted. The next month, another drone strike mistakenly killed Mr. Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who had set off into the Yemeni desert in search of his father. Within just two weeks, the American government had killed three of its own citizens in Yemen. Only one had been killed on purpose. Oops.     H/T:Gateway Pundit

DHS: Fend Off Shooter With Scissors

 Just in case you haven’t caught this, I will pass this alone. No need for guns, its back to Duck and Cover from the 1950’s including a scissor. Oh the scissor. Most of them these days they are made of plastic, but what the heck, it sure beats a gun. How much did DHS pay for this? They really think we are this stupid don’t they. Here we go.

Options for Consideration demonstrates possible actions to take if confronted with a active shooter scenario. The instructive video reviews the choices of evacuating, hiding, or, as an option of last resort, challenging the shooter. The video also shows how to assist authorities once law enforcement enters the scene.

FEMA plans for mass deaths, religious considerations UPDATE

UPDATE:

Will the CDC activate emergency measures with Ebola outbreak?

One has to know there is nothing the CDC is not concerned about. For myself, I would prefer the focusing on our borders and keeping us safe. Maybe now we know Why is the government buying up so much ammo? Just for the record, if we are under mass attack I really don’t care about “religious considerations”.

H.R. 6566: Mass Fatality Planning and Religious Considerations Act

112th Congress, 2011–2012. Text as of Sep 28, 2012 (Introduced).

Status & Summary | PDF | Source: GPO

The United States Congress has introduced a bill which mandates the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to prepare for “mass fatality planning” and funeral homes, cemeteries and mortuaries being “overwhelmed” in the aftermath of a mass terror attack, natural disaster or other crisis. Not to worry, if Congress doesn’t pass it, Obama will write an E.O.

Noting the necessity for emergency preparedness in relation to terror attacks, natural disasters and man-made disasters, the bill instructs FEMA to be sensitive to the fact that Jews and Muslims require bodies to be buried within 48 hours of death.

“Funeral homes, cemeteries, and mortuaries could be overwhelmed should mass fatalities arise from a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster,” states the legislation.

The bill, H. R. 6566 or the Mass Fatality Planning and Religious Considerations Act, was posted on the govtrack.us website this morning having been approved by the House on September 28

H.R. 6566: To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency …

This is just one of those things that makes the stomach turn: the people who brought us the National Defense Authorization Act (authorizing the detention of US citizens on US soil) now deem it prudent to prepare for mass fatalities on US soil…

H/T: Before it’s News

Obama pays illegals to come here and reap our stash

Obama continues his Cloward-Piven strategy. First I read from the Washington Times; “Slow path to progress for U.S. immigrants, 43% on welfare after 20 years”, but let’s not stop here. Now Obama advertises to encourage these folks to come and reap the benefits. Does anyone still wonder what the plan is? We have a lawless President. From gateway Pundit:

Power Line reported, via Free Republic:

As in so many other instances, President Obama has simply changed the law by executive fiat. In this case the administration acted quietly, so that it took quite a while before others understood how badly Obama had subverted the immigration laws. Yesterday, four Republican Senators wrote to Janet Napolitano and Hillary Clinton; you can read their letter here:

It has long been a sound principle of immigration law that those who seek citizenship in this country ought to be financially self-sufficient. We were thus shocked to discover that both the State Department and DHS exclude reliance on almost all governmental welfare programs when evaluating whether an alien is likely to become a public charge. Your agencies apply a cramped interpretation of the law in this regard, considering reliance on only two of nearly 80 federal welfare programs as evidence of likelihood of becoming a public charge: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

In fact, guidance from your agencies specifically prevents consular and DHS officials from considering the likelihood that an alien will receive SNAP benefits [food stamps], WIC payments, Medicaid, child-care benefits, foster care, energy assistance, educational assistance, other medical and health benefits, and assistance from at least fifteen different nutritional programs.

Napolitano ‘Expect more members of Terrorists organizations’-video

So Janet thinks that having terrorists in the USA wiil take  a bit of “nuance” in giving them entrance. “I think we have to add more nuance to that,” she said when King mentioned that Eldin is part of a designated foreign terrorist organization. The worrisome point is she continues to claim that Eldin was fully vetted several times at the hearing. This is what we have achieved in Egypt. Our wizard who orchestrated the end of Mubarak. Rep.King takes her on big time. Here we go:

Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, presses Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for further explanation on why a visa to visit the United States was granted last month to Hani Nour Eldin, a member of a designated foreign terrorist organization, Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group).  Its spiritual leader, Omar Abdel Rahman—also known as the “blind sheik”—was convicted in 1995 of plotting attacks on New York City landmarks and transportation centers, and is serving a life sentence in a North Carolina federal prison.

King charged the Obama Administration with violating a law in hosting Eldin at the White House. “It appears as if the law was not complied with in that he did not apply for a waiver [and] Congress was not notified, which is also required,” he told Napolitano. “It does not appear that either the letter or the spirit of the law was complied with.” Now that is something new.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress today to expect more members of designated foreign terrorist organizations to visit the United States.

“I think you are right in pointing out that as we move forward we are going to continue to have visitors to this country that the State Department and others feel are useful to bring to the country to have discussions moving forward who say they are members of the political party that in the past have been so designated,” Napolitano told House Homeland Security Committee chairman Pete King, R-N.Y. during a committee hearing this morning.

Napolitano was defending the decision to host Hani Nour Eldin — a member of Egyptian parliament elected on the political party platform of the Islamic Group, which the State Department has designated as foreign terrorist organization — at the White House.

 Chairman King questioned Secretary Napolitano and NCTC Director Olsen at a Full Committee hearing entitled: “Understanding the Homeland Threat Landscape.”

More at the Washington Examiner