Featuring the works and commentary of Andrew Bruss

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Alleged Witch is an Alleged Criminal


Not-witch” Christine O’Donnell is under investigation for misusing campaign contributions according to the Associated Press. The failed embarrassment of a Tea Party candidate lost her bid to fill Joe Biden’s shoes as a U.S. Senator from Delaware and allegedly spent campaign contributions on herself in the process. 

The news was brought to the attention of the AP by an unnamed source, but since then, the U.S. Attorney’s office has confirmed they are investigating a complaint.

O’Donnell first shot to national attention after her endorsement by Sarah Palin gave her the boost needed to trump Republican Mike Castle for the party nomination.

O’Donnell hasn’t had a full time job in years and has consistently dodged questions regarding her source of income. Her anti-masturbation position was very unpopular and her loss to Democrat Chris Coons was her third failed run at the seat. One of her former aids recorded an automated message that accused her of “living on campaign donations — using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt.” The candidate allegedly used campaign contributions to pay rent because her home “doubled as campaign headquarters.”

Without a campaign chest to seep from, her current means of paying rent is unknown. 

Saturday, December 25, 2010

French Technology Seeps Into Iranian Military Machine


Much like the lamp oil in the Hanukkah narrative, Wikileaks recent dump of confidential diplomatic cables seems to be the resource that never runs dry. In a State Department memo obtained legally by andrewbruss.com, it has come to light that French technology sold to China is being delivered to the Islamic Republic for use in infrared sensors.

The French firm Sofradir has been selling cooled and uncooled infrared detectors to Chinese firm Zhejiang Dali Technology Company LTD for incorporation into thermal imaging systems. According to the memo, the State Department believes the Chinese firm is selling the thermal imaging systems to Iranian defense entities. The US fears the technology could increase the threat to the US and its allies in the Gulf region.

American diplomats were requested to make a request of action from their French counterparts.

No sanctions or diplomatic irregularities would prevent trade between French and Chinese companies, but the American request from the French demonstrates the intensity of the conflict between the Islamic Republic and “The Great Satan.” Stuxnet malware is reportedly destroying thousands of nuclear centrifuges. Iranian nuclear scientists are being gunned down in the streets. The Persian economy is under attack from UN sanctions. Russia has refused to sell Iran the advanced S-300 air-defense system, and now technology as common as infrared sensors are being held back from the Iranians.

Most Western thinking would suggest a dethawing of ties would make life for the Islamic Republic much easier, but as the Andrew Bruss of andrewbruss.com, something tells me this is closer to whacking a hornets nest with a wiffle ball bat.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Obama's Best Week Yet




Even cnn.com had to "break the news" of two bills passing at once
It’s been a banner week for the Obama administration, and it appears as though the kicking and screaming by the GOP has done nothing more than increases the productivity of their favorite Kenyan-born Islamic President. Lets take a look at the legislative accomplishments passed this very week during the so-called “lame duck” congressional session.

-Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: This was a two-for-one deal for Obama. The repeal of an ass-backwards law requiring gay soldiers to hide their sexuality was a campaign promise now honored, in addition to a civil rights milestone that will go down in history.

-New START: The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) requires both Russia and the United States to cut their nuclear arsenals by a third and provide unheard of access to launch sites by “the other side.” Given the national security implications in this treaty, it required 2/3rds of the Senate to pass this treaty. Senator John Kerry worked hard to bring colleagues from across the isle on board, including fellow Bay State Senator, Republican Scott Brown, who lobbied his GOP cohorts to get behind a treaty every living Republican Secretary of State had endorsed.

-9/11 First Responders Bill: The brave men and women who spend months in the rubble of the Ground Zero have been getting sicker and sicker as a result of the air-born toxins they were exposed to. This bill ensures that Uncle Sam foots their health care bills. Some called the bill “needless spending,” but after a very personal lobbying campaign by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in addition to visits to Washington from sick first-responders, the bill passed the same day as the START Treaty.

-Tax Breaks: Although this legislation wasn’t passed this week, it deserves mention. Plenty of left-wingers within the Democratic Party felt betrayed by the extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, but this bill ensured support for an overwhelming percentage of Americans hit hard by the Great Recession. Prior to its passing, the GOP said they would block any and all legislative efforts that appeared before the Senate unless the Bush-era tax cuts were extended. Sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil, and if it were not for these extended tax cuts for all Americans, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, START, and the 9/11 First Responders Bill would have been failed legislation.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Stuxnet virus “nearly as effective as a military strike.”

Photo from theisraelproject.org
It’s no secret that the Stuxnet virus was likely designed by a (Jewish?) state sponsor to target Iran’s nuclear program. The extent of the damage done by the malware is hard to gauge, but German computer consultants are now saying the virus has set the program back by two years. The virus was developed to attack German-made industrial equipment used by the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, and the German computer consultant who first analyzed Stuxnet’s 15,000 lines of code has told the Jerusalem Post, “This was nearly as effective as a military strike, but even better since there are no fatalities and no full-blown war. From a military perspective, this was a huge success.”

The same German computer analyst told the Post, “It is extremely difficult to clean up installations from Stuxnet, and we know that Iran is no good in IT [information technology] security, and they are just beginning to learn what this all means,” he said. “Just to get their systems running again they have to get rid of the virus, and this will take time, and then they need to replace the equipment, and they have to rebuild the centrifuges at Natanz and possibly buy a new turbine for Bushehr.”

In other news relating to Iran's nuclear program, two of their nuclear scientists were gunned down in the streets by gunmen on motorcycles. Plenty of rabble-rousers have suggested the lack of a conventional military strikes means that Iran's nuclear program is not "under attack." Nothing could be farther from the truth...

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Wikileaks utilizes transparency of online dating...


Super-emo self-photo. How myspace of him.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange appeared before a judge today and was granted bail while awaiting extradition to Sweden for sexual crimes. With Assange in the news, everyone over here at Andrewbruss.com thought we’d look into the past of this alleged sex criminal by taking a look at his online dating profile.

On the free dating site OK Cupid HarryHarrison,” aka, Assange says he is a 36 year-old male from Melbourne, Australia who is interested in dating women up to 12 years his junior.

He opens his profile with his trademark arrogance: “WARNING: Want a regular, down to earth guy? Keep moving. I am not the droid you're looking for… I like women from countries that have sustained political turmoil. Western culture seems to forge women that are valueless and inane.”

Although Assange is on trial for committing sexual crimes against more than one woman, he says he is “pretty intellectually and physically pugnacious [and is] very protective of women and children.”

When asked to list six things he could not do without, he cites the company of women. Given his pretty-boy looks, something tells me that a loss of female company may be in his future. If he is behind bars with violent men who also miss a women’s touch, a lack of female companionship may be the least of his problems.

I’ll keep you posted on this Wikirapists comings and goings with regards to extradition, but in the meantime, don’t bother messaging “HarryHarrison.” Assange doesn’t have Internet access in prison...

*Thanks to Jack Wolfe for the tip*



Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Wikirapist?


Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is behind bars in the U.K. for committing sex crimes in Sweden. While some outlets are reporting he is being charged with rape and sexual assault, others are saying the charges pertain to a broken condom and a refusal to submit to STD tests.

While the easy assumption to jump to is that the long, vengeful hand of the United States has orchestrated all this, the charges were filed by two female victims before this recent dump of diplomatic cables.

Some legal analysts are saying that the charges will be hard to prove, and if he is innocent, Assange deserves to walk. However, if he is guilty, I’m comfortable assuming his diplomatic mischief will result in the book being thrown at him.

The U.K. is likely to extradite him to Sweden, who in turn has an extradition agreement with the United States. The big question is if Assange is not found guilty of rape, would he still be extradited to the U.S. for violating the Espionage Act?

If the U.S. asks the Swedes for him, his guilt in this case doesn’t seem to matter. Turns out jeopardizing the pissing off the State Department to earn yourself international stardom can get you into a lot of trouble. Don’t drop the soap Julian...

Friday, December 3, 2010

Lebanon Gave Advice On Defeating Hezbullah


Hezbullah's anti-tank corps.

And Wikileaks is to thank for yet another declassification of sensitive, endangering information. This time, the leaks pertain to information passed on to the US by the Lebanese Defense Minister on how Israel could defeat Hezbullah in the next round of fighting.

Defense Minister Elias Murr told officials that Israel should avoid bombing Christian infrastructure to avoid losing their public support. The Minister reportedly said, “If Israel has to bomb all of these [infrastructure targets] in the Shiite areas as a matter of operational concern, that is Hezbullah’s problem.”

The cables also said that the Lebanese army would not get involved in the next war and that their hope was to survive for three weeks “completely intact” so they can “take over once Hezbullah’s military has been destroyed.”

For his part, Minister Murr’s office has denied that he made the comments.

Given the historically violent relationship between Shia and Christian demographics in Lebanon, these comments are sure to inflame the already high tensions between Hezbullah and the government coalition backed by the son of slain former-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

The investigation into Hariri’s death is likely to incriminate members of Hezbullah and the group has made clear they will not tolerate the indictment of their members.

Analysts have speculated that Hezbullah would respond to charges by either attacking Israel, or overthrowing/boycotting the Lebanese government. The declassification of these cables is can be counted on to make a bad situation worse.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Pakistan shares intel with Israel


Although Pakistan does not recognize the existence of the Jewish State, they are willing to share intelligence with it. According to cables uncovered in the most recent Wikileaks document dump, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence Agency forwarded information on a pending terrorist attack in India to Israel. The attack was intended to attack Israeli targets in India.

[Side note: The ISI is the same Pakistani intelligence agency credited with creating the Taliban and giving continued support to the forces killing American soldiers in Afghanistan]

Pakistan’s warning is surely a sign of good will, but given the country’s high population of Islamist extremists, this disclosure will likely be unwelcomed news in Pakistan. The same cache of leaked documents suggests that Western intelligence agencies are worried about Pakistan’s nuclear program due to the instability of Pakistan’s government (and the chance of an Islamic coup d'etat).

No doubt, this latest leak will be a dangerous embarrassment to Pakistan. The greatest danger for Israel is that this embarrassment will shy the Pakistani’s away from sharing life-saving intel in the future.

It’s for this reason and many, many more, that Wikileaks Founder/Spokesman Julian Assange has been awarded the Andrewbruss.com 2010 Douchbag Of The Year Award.