Thursday, July 31, 2008

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Obama's Answer to Gas Prices - "Inflate your Tires"

No, really!



Did you get that? Taking care of your car would work better than drilling for our own oil.

John at Powerline fact checks:

"Just for fun, I did the math. Properly inflating your tires can improve gas mileage by 3%. Of course, many people already keep their tires properly inflated, and many more are at least close to being properly inflated. Let's be generous and assume that one-half of the total possible savings would be realized if we all inflated our tires properly; that's a net gain of 1.5% fuel efficiency.

Americans drive approximately 2,880 billion miles per year. If we average 24 mpg, we use around 120 billion gallons of gasoline in our vehicles. If, through perfect tire inflation, we improved our collective fuel efficiency by 1.5%, that would be 1.8 billion gallons. A barrel of oil produces around 20 gallons of gasoline, so the total savings available through tire inflation is approximately 90,000,000 barrels of oil annually.

How does this stack up against "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling?"

ANWR: 10 billion barrels
Outer Continental Shelf: 18 billion barrels (estimated; the actual total is undoubtedly much higher, since exploration has been banned)
Oil shale: 1 trillion barrels

So, on the above assumptions, it would take only 11,308 years of proper tire inflation to equal "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling."

Obama is a curious case. He gives the impression of being an intelligent guy, but through his unscripted comments we have learned that he knows little about history, science or mathematics. He also seems rather shockingly short on common sense, as this most recent gaffe illustrates."



Yeah. There is a word for that that describes Obama in a nutshell.

Inflated.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

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I've got your "silly" and raise you a "sillier"

Ambinder, reports:

"John Weaver, for years one of John McCain's closest friends and confidants, has been in exile since his resignation from McCain's presidential campaign last year. With the exception of an occasional interview, he has, by his own account, bit his tongue as McCain's campaign has adopted a strategy that Weaver believes "diminishes John McCain."

With the release today of a McCain television ad blasting Obama for celebrity preening while gas prices rise, and a memo that accuses Obama of putting his own aggrandizement before the country, Weaver said he's had "enough."

The ad's premise, he said, is "childish."

"John's been a celebrity ever since he was shot down," Weaver said. "Whatever that means. And I recall Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush going overseas and all those waving American flags."
Weaver remains in contact with senior McCain strategists and, for a while early this year, regularly talked to McCain.

The strategy of driving up Obama's negatives "reduces McCain on the stage," Weaver said.
"For McCain to win in such troubled times, he needs to begin telling the American people how he intends to lead us. That McCain exists. He can inspire the country to greatness."

He added: "There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now, and it isn't at Obama's. For McCain's sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop."



Well, I might agree, because Obama has enough baggage that is legit. But McCain's ad is targeted at the personal that Obama himself has been fostering with all "pomp and ceremony" and world tours and such. I mean, who's the star after all?

But while we are on the subject Marc, what's the big deal about McCain's $520 shoes?

Talk about "silly".
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Obama's Missed Troop Visit - The "Fact" is he didn't go

I can't remember the last time I seen the MSM try to hard to cover up for a political candidate. No, I take that back, they did it with Kerry. Since Obama - for whatever lame reason - missed visiting wounded troops in Germany, the media has gone into full on "protect mode" to "fact check" and "correct and clarify".

Regardless of the reasons he missed the visit. From Lynn Sweet's blog comes this explanation from Obama.

"Here's the explanation Obama gave Saturday in London when asked about the cancelled visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center:

Q. Can you clear up the controversy about visiting the troops in Germany, the Pentagon said you were more welcome to come but you cant bring the media and were not allowed to bring campaign staff other than that you are more than welcome anytime, inaudible, we have gotten a few conflicting claims...

OBAMA: The staff was working this so I don't know each and every detail but here is what I understand happened. We had scheduled to go, we had no problem at all in leaving, we always leave press and staff off that is why we left it off the schedule. We were treating it in the same way we treat a visit to Walter Reed which I was able to do a few weeks ago without any fanfare whatsoever. I was going to be accompanied by one of my advisors, former military officer. And we got notice that he would be treated as a campaign person and it would therefore be perceived as political because he had endorsed my candidacy but he wasn't on the senate staff.

That triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political and the last thing that I want to do is have injured soldiers and the staff at these wonderful institutions having to sort through whether this is political or not or get caught in the crossfire between campaigns. So rather than go forward and potentially get caught up in what might have been considered a political controversy of some sort what we decided was that we not make a visit and instead I would call some of the troops that were that. So that essentially would be the extent of the story."


Senator, they wouldn't have sorted through a thing. Maybe some of them didn't even want you there. It's not a matter of who on your campaign pulled the trigger, the fact is that it's YOUR campaign and YOU should have called the shot to find a way to visit the troops.

Nothing can change the fact that you weren't in command of the situation and thus not there.

That's the only "Fact" that matters.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

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Obama said the Surge wouldn't work - period!

Spin be damned, he said what he said - the surge wouldn't work.



Jake Tapper at ABC "Fact Checks" Obama and finds him wanting on the truth.

What he said then is clear and trying to say the opposite is true now that success is a reality simply reveals just how ingrained he is in his own delusional message.

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Obama is ZOD!

Over the Corner, Byron York shares an email.


"E-mail:

Obama's "people of the world" shtick reminded me of General Zod's speech from Superman II. Zod was, of course, a bit more ebullient.

ZOD
I am General Zod! Listen to me, people of the Earth! Today I bring a New Order to your planet! One which shall last until the end of time!

Each of you... each man, each woman, each child - all will march proudly together in this New Order! Your lands, your homes, your possessions, your very lives... All of this and more you will gladly give to me!

There is no longer a need for separate nations in this world, no need for petty squabbles between one group and another. All of you will work together, strive, produce, and sacrifice together - and all for a common goal!

It is useless for you to resist as it is for me to annihilate you. You will only bring death and destruction upon yourselves, while I will lose the potential products of your labour. There is now one law, one order, one ruler who alone will determine your collective destiny! One force before will all of you shall kneel forever! In return for this submission you will have my generous protection! In other words - you will be allowed to live.

CAPTAIN
(to ZOD - through bullhorn)
You are trespassing on Federal Government property - illegally occupying a national monument...

ZOD
I will not repeat myself again! There is no nation! Therefore there cannot be a monument to one! From this day forward - there is only Zod!"
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Senator (King of Pork) Stevens Indicted

Yeah, but it doesn't have to mean he'll step down immediately (using the William Jefferson Rule of Ethics).

"WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens allegedly made false statements to cover up gifts given to him by an oil contractor seeking his help on Capitol Hill, according to a seven-count federal indictment charging Stevens obtained Tuesday.

Stevens, 84, is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate and has been under investigation for more than a year, with a heavy focus on work done to his Girdwood, Alaska, ski-community home.

The Justice Department announced a 1:20 p.m. ET press conference, although the conference had not begun by 1:40 p.m.

Watch the news conference streaming live on FOXNews.com.

The indictment alleges that Stevens made false representations in his Senate financial disclosure forms and to federal investigators in an effort to cover up his receiving significant construction services.

Those services came from Bill Allen and the company he founded, VECO Corp, an influential Alaska oil services firm that has been the focus of federal investigators in an ongoing public corruption probe spanning the last two years.

In 2000, Allen oversaw construction on Stevens' house, although Stevens has claimed he paid for all the construction.

In the indictment, officials said VECO built Stevens, among other things, a new first floor to the house, a new garage, a new first- and second-floor wraparound deck, and new plumbing and wiring. VECO also provided him with expensive new vehicles in exchange for his used cars, furniture, household goods, a new tool chest stocked with tools, a brand new gas grill, and other items.

Investigators estimate the value of the material provided to Stevens to be $250,000."


Oh well, away with him. He's up for election this year - should have retired - and this might just mean a seat for Democrats. "Might" is the operative word unless Governor Sarah Palin decides a late run for the seat.
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The Nancy Pelosi of Fantasy

Yup, she's a storm trooper.

"From Medicare to housing to the new GI Bill, her Democrats have driven the legislative train more than the White House has in recent months. And even when the Democratic Party gave ground to the White House on terrorism surveillance, Pelosi’s credentials were such that Obama felt safer embracing the deal — after she did so first publicly.

Yet with this success comes new danger — like explorers lost at sea without longitude. Until now, Pelosi has been perceived as a counterweight to President Bush. But after the Democratic convention in Denver, and going into November, voters will take a closer measure of her performance — and fairness — since Democrats could very well be the new ruling party, controlling Congress and the White House in January.

At the same time, the wave of change her party has ridden could come crashing down. The pressures facing the nation — troubled financial markets, falling housing prices and rising energy and food costs — are genuinely historic. The next president will inherit a projected deficit of close to $500 billion, and Democrats admit privately that they were caught off guard by the spike in gasoline prices and the hardship it has imposed on middle-income and working-class voters.

With fewer than 20 legislative days before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, the entire appropriations process has largely ground to a halt because of the ham-handed fighting that followed Republican attempts to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration. And after promising fairness and open debate, Pelosi has resorted to hard-nosed parliamentary devices that effectively bar any chance for Republicans to offer policy alternatives.

“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”


Failed policy indeed. If Pelosi could bother to glance she's see that oil prices are falling. This is taking place as investors and speculators withdraw from the oil market due that failed policy of allowing companies to drill for their own oil.

While this bird-brain has been glancing at the stars and dreaming of "Saving the Earth", the fact is that since 2006 the Democrats have done exactly squat to fix any of the issues facing the country. Every one of the financial woes, from gas to banks, to housing happened under their watch and by the lack of watch by committees they head.

Just take the Banking Committee for instance. Senator Chris Dodd's "no shows" on the committee and lack of guidance and what appear to be sweet mortgage deals for himself contributed to the problems we see now. Many of these subprime mortgage issues were surfacing about the time Dodd decided to run for President in which case he completely abandoned his committee. In fact how he is not resigning or at least being investigated by the ethics committee is all you need to know about Pelosi's "governance".

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Obama's VP picks? So long as it's not Hillary

God, we couldn't get this lucky. Via Ambinder:

"The following three Democrats are being vetted by Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy and there is independent evidence that Obama is taking a serious look at them:

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen. Evan Bayh.

Additionally, allies of Sen. Joe Biden say that he is under serious consideration, although he is not being subjected to the same level of vetting.

The huffing and puffing over Kaine is the result of Kaine's allies getting excited...and confirming what has been reported here and elsewhere, which is that Kaine is being vetted and that Obama is seriously considering him. Based on discussions with high-level Obama aides, I do not get the impression that Obama has made up his mind yet. These aides do say that Obama is narrowing his choices.

Now -- the way to look at these names, I think, is to analyze what picking each would say about the Obama presidency and what he expects in a vice president.

Sebelius and Kaine are both governing choices, not campaign choices. They're not going to match Obama's enthusiasm levels; they're not going to do all that well at the VP debates; they're not even going to solve political problems (even Kaine). But they are solid; they are centrist-in-style; they are Washington outsiders; they know how to balance budgets and deal with Republicans. As an historical analogy, think Clinton's choice of Gore."


Ok, that's a lefty view. But here is it is from the Right. "Anybody but Clinton".

Either of the above choices works for us on the right. It's not so amazing that the Light Being would pick a Biden or Kane so to not dim his - er, bulb. Ann Carpenter at Town Hall does her own vetting.

"Evan Bayh: Too young, too inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Joe Biden: Most likely to say something on October 30 that will blow it for Obama.

Tim Kaine: Massive eyebrow problems. Sort of creepy. (Photo evidence). I live in Virginia and can't think of anything notable he has done.

Kathleen Sebelius: Will outrage all the Hillary people because Obama picked a woman other than Hillary."


That last one is the most true.

The only "pick" that should scare us and which gives Obama the best chance to win is Hillary Clinton. Unless he does the backlash is going to cost him dearly in November.

Monday, July 28, 2008

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Man who shot up fellowship in Knoxville wanted to kill liberals

I hate liberals, but only in the political sense. Not in the person to person sense. This is a travesty.

"The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday’s mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of “the liberal movement,” and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his “hatred of the liberal movement,” Owen said. “Liberals in general, as well as gays.”

Adkisson said he also was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job, Owen said.

The letter, recovered from Adkisson’s black 2004 Ford Escape, which was parked in the church’s parking lot at 2931 Kingston Pike, indicates he had been planning the shooting for about a week.

“He fully expected to be killed by the responding police,” the police chief said.

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

“It appears that church had received some publicity regarding its liberal stance,” the chief said. The church has a “gays welcome” sign and regularly runs announcements in the News Sentinel about meetings of the Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays meetings at the church.

The church’s Web site states that it has worked for “desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women’s rights and gay rights” since the 1950s. Current ministries involve emergency aid for the needy, school tutoring and support for the homeless, as well as a cafe that provides a gathering place for gay and lesbian high-schoolers."


This is sad. But first let's be clear. This is ot a "Church" under the New Testament definitions as no place that celebrates sin could possibly be a member of the body of Christ. Just because someone names Christ or calls themselves a "Church" doesn't mean they are the real thing.

Nevertheless NO fellowhip or organization deserves to have some nutbag come in and shoot the place up and kill people. Like it or not they are free to practice what they believe in America so long as they obey the law.


God will sort out the false prophets and adherants on the final day, he doesn't need our help.

This man is very definitely disturbed and it's not a "conservative" vs. "liberal thing", although the usual idiots will gloat through the blood to make their point.

Liberals commit similiar crimes as well. But then you couldn't expect the idiots at FDR to fact check before they bark.
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Macsmind UPDATE

We've got everything moved to new digs and the DNS change should be taking place over the next two days. Here in a nutshell is what happened.

First, Hostgator Sucks. Probably the worst customer service experience I've ever had with a host and owning several sites with different hosting companies that is saying a lot.

On Saturday we were informed that Macsmind.com was receiving a HUGH amount of traffic on the server it shared with others and in the *wisdom* of their tech people they just decided to remove our site from their DNS.

No warning, just did it. Macsmind when from 500,000 monthly to squat.

Hostgator couldn't advise where the HUGH traffic was coming from but from a glance a the logs over the weekend we could see the specific IP addresses responsible and I am working with the FBI to identify the people responsible.

But this is where it got interesting. Three of the IP addresses: 66.39.4.254 66.39.143.229 216.146.206.181 , come back to BarackObama.com

Why this is interesting is because in February I placed the youtube version of the video "Obama Wants to Disarm America" and over the last three months it received 1000s of views.

It's just interesting, but we won't know until we get through the trace routes and that's going to take some time.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

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Obama checks into Hospital for Hip Problem

But I thought he was such a HE MAN, you know, not sweating or anything!

"All that basketball seems to be taking at least a slight toll on Sen. Barack Obama's nearly 47-year-old body.

Late Sunday, he visited the University of Chicago Medical Center to have a sore hip checked by an orthopedic doctor. It has been bothering him since before the start of his overseas trip on July 17.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the basketball injury is nothing serious, but some X-rays were taken."


I don't know. Bad hips at 47, god knows what they'll be like in 2018 when he leaves office!
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Big Bump for Barry After World Tour

Well you would expect something after spending a few million.

"PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.

This represents a continuation of Obama's front-runner position evident in the last three Gallup Poll Daily tracking updates. The margin, coincident with the extensive U.S. news coverage of Obama's foreign tour, is the largest for Obama over McCain measured since Gallup began tracking the general election horserace in March. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)

A key question remains as to whether this "bounce" is short-term (as happens to bounces in some instances following intense publicity surrounding a convention) or if his lead will persist -- the answer to which will become evident in the next several days."


Of course we have to balance this with other polls - such as Fox, which showed next to nothing in a bounce. While Gallup is normally accurate, they are not posting the sample break down and this sounds that it was weighted Democrat. Nevertheless, and giving WIDE benefit of the doubt, while 9 points is hefty, you have to shave off the margin of error and it's not that big of a deal. Actually I'll bet the Obama camp is a little worried that he shot his wad - so to speak - before Labor Day.

In fact, now that I think about it, for all the Obamamania, the hoop and holler and over the top media coverage and adulation 9 points isn't really much at all.
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McCain Reverses on Affirmative Action - GOOD!

They're calling this a "reversal".  I call it McCain's, er,.. coming of age.


"ABC News' Teddy Davis and Kevin Kilbane Report: During a "This Week" interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos John McCain reversed himself on affirmative action and endorsed for the first time a proposed state ballot measure which would end race and gender-based affirmative action in his home state of Arizona.

"I support it," McCain declared when asked about the referendum. "I do not believe in quotas... I have not seen the details of some of these proposals. But I’ve always opposed quotas."

McCain has long opposed quotas but his new support for ending affirmative action programs which stop short of quotas puts him at odds not only with Democratic rival Barack Obama but also with the Arizona senator's own views in 1998.

Back then, when the legislature in McCain's home state of Arizona considered sending the voters a measure to end affirmative action, McCain spoke out against it calling it "divisive."

McCain's campaign does not dispute that the Arizona senator spoke out against the 1998 effort to end affirmative action in his home state.

When asked about the apparent change in position, a McCain spokesman was not able to distinguish the two measures.

"I do not have a firm enough grasp on the historical and relevant context of McCain's remark in 1998 to give you the pushback that this question deserves," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds told ABC News.

McCain's critics on the left charge that he has changed his position on affirmative action in order to shore up his support among conservatives.

"This is clearly an election-year flip flop and a pander to a skeptical right-wing base," said John Kraus, spokesman for the liberal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. "He has put politics first on this issue. There is no other way around it."


Well, we'll take it Kraus. God knows it's about time. Affirmative Action is one of the greatest discriminatory practices in America today. It's a travesty we even enacted it and it's cost untold thousands to be bumped to the end of the line all for the color of someone's skin and not based on merit, hard work and abilities.

Good for you McCain.
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Spinning on the Obama Visit in Afghanistan

I told you about this last week, that I had received several emails that mirrored the one described here.

"An Army officer’s negative e-mail account of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit with the troops in Afghanistan that set the blogosphere ablaze prompted Army officials to correct aspects of the e-mail and resulted in a statement from the message’s author that “some of the information that was put out in my e-mail was wrong.”

The e-mail, signed by Capt. Jeffrey S. Porter at Bagram Airbase, characterized Obama’s July 19 visit with soldiers there as contrary to the positive portrayals of the mainstream press.

“As the soldiers where (sic) lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the general,” the e-mail said.

Porter wrote that Obama then went straight to the base’s “Clamshell” or recreation facility to pose for “publicity pictures playing basketball” and “shunned the opportunity to talk to soldiers to thank them for their service. I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-in-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.”

Army Times sent an e-mail to Porter, a Utah Army National Guard member assigned to the 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion, asking if he could verify that he wrote the controversial e-mail and requesting an interview.

Porter’s reply declined the interview request, but said:

“I am writing this to ask that you delete my e-mail and not forward it, after checking my sources some of the information that was put out in my e-mail was wrong. This e-mail was meant only for my family. Please respect my wishes and delete the e-mail and if there are any blogs you have my e-mail portrayed on I would ask if you would take it down too.”

When contacted, Tiffany Porter who identified herself as his wife, said: “There were discrepancies in the e-mail, but I am not at liberty to say more.”

The Army refuted the accuracy of the account of the Obama visit.

“These comments are inappropriate and factually incorrect,” Bagram spokesman Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green told the New York Daily News.

Obama didn’t play basketball at Bagram or visit the Clamshell, she said.

“We were a bit delayed ... as he took time to shake hands, speak to troops and pose for photographs,” Nielson-Green said."


While I didn't receive anything about him playing b-ball, they did tell me that the photo ops were extremely controlled - well staged, especially the mess hall shot.

I doubt the good Captain had any reason to lie and he hasn't recanted his email. Obama's campaign looks silly as hell trying to defend itself in this with it's silly "fight the smears" campaign.

I wonder, would he like to call Captain Porter and call him a liar?


UPDATE: I too received Captain Porter's email, here it is.

"Hello everyone,

As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to "The War Zone". I wanted to share with you what happened.
He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.

So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,

CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier
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McCain Releases Ad about Obama Missing Troop Visit

Amen.





We know that the reason that he missed the visit was a campaign logistical snafu as AP at Hot Air points out, but the fact is that it's Obama's campaign, and thus a leadership issue. He should have been out front of this and made whatever adjustments necessary.  


It's about bringing out the fact that Obama isn't the "leader" that people think he is.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

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What Happened?

Today we were informed by our host, "Hostgator" that we were the subject of a DOS attack which crashed the shared server we were on. We know that this was in relation to our hosting of the Obama Wants to Disarm America video.

In fact we are sure this is what has been happening ever since Feb when we first put the video up on the web. Whomever is doing this needs to know that the video has already been viewed 2 1/2 million times from our blog as well as another 2 million times from Youtube, so trying to knock it off the web is futile.

Additionally we were able to gain the identity of the perp who began the attack and contacted the FBI in Miami and they are actively investigating it. Once the subject is in custody I will initiating civil action against him and the company he works for where the hack originated.

Consequently we had to find a new home for Macsmind, and are working to get the site back up on their considerably more secure servers. In the meantime I will have to be blogging here the old Macsmind.
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