Last year, the U.S. Navy bought 59,000 microchips for use in everything from missiles to transponders and all of them turned out to be counterfeits from China.
Wired reports the chips weren't only low-quality fakes, they had been made with a "back-door" and could have been remotely shut down at any time.
If left undiscovered the result could have rendered useless U.S. missiles and killed the signal from aircraft that tells everyone whether it's friend or foe. And then you people get mad when we tell you we want your staff sans electronics.
#1
Not surprising. There have been counterfeit CISCO routers made in China that have back doors in them too. Both civilian and military institutions have made standing policies not to buy CISCO switches/routers that are not made in the USA.
Thank you China for helping us support our "Made in the USA" program.
#5
Yes. We had to do a complete checkdown of our Cisco routers in 2007-8 and the amount of serial numbers and lot numbers that Cisco kept track of was amazing. Basically, we could verify 100% that our routers/switches were in fact made in the US and the chips were made from trusted sources in "safe" countries by trusted manufacturers.
It is up to each CIO if this is worth the cost vs the risk, but I am reasonably comfortable with the IBMs, HPs, Googles and Microsofts of the world have taken steps to sure they are operating as safely as possible. There will always be holes of course, but they get plugged as soon as they are found.
The places I'm worried about is the little mom and pop local banks and tech businesses that don't know or cut corners. They are the most vulnerable.
#6
Do you believe that is anything more than the most casual deterrent?
Actually, it is. There are two NCIS investigations going at my facility regarding delivered (but not installed) CISCO equipment that was found to be graymarket, thanks to due diligence on our part.
The weak spot is the procurement process. There is no incentive for experienced acquisition experts (already in short supply) in DOD to remain within the Department. The process itself is convoluted. There are also outside pressures (think politicians).
There is something to be said for the old MILSPEC.
Exactly. Spies-R-Us network consulting low bids on gov contracts. Bids on DoD/intel networks. Even uses fresh faced American engineers to do the work. Who I am kidding, H1B visa Indian engineers would raise less suspicion. Orders and replaces legit CISCO routers (or any other equipment) w/ Chinese trojans. Serials and appearances match. The only way to tell the difference would be to grind down each chip and inspect every transistor layer w/ an electron microscope.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2011 20:28 Comments ||
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#9
Exactly. Spies-R-Us network consulting low bids on gov contracts. Bids on DoD/intel networks. Even uses fresh faced American engineers to do the work. Who I am kidding, H1B visa Indian engineers would raise less suspicion
Obviously you have no experience with military networks. You have to have a security clearance to work on them. An H1B Indiian IT worker won't get one.
But the issue is procurement. The problem is more the lines of who the military (and the government for that matter) can buy from. You have to go with the lowest bidder, unless you can make a case that "can be defended in court". Same with asking for 'sole source' purchase. For non-military agencies, if you contract over a certain amount, a percentage has to go to businesses owned by certain demographics.
So - you end up with companies that are 'owned' by the correct demographics, but are essentially fronts or drop-ship points. Most are legit. But, given the shortage of acquisition specialists, political pressure, CYA attitude of senior administrators, bureaucratic restrictions, military and federal regulations, the stupidity of the funding cycle, the 'social justice' aspect of purchasing, and the inherent inefficiencies of a huge procurement system, you will have problems like this.
That was a joke. I once worked for a company, in chip design (massively parallel - of interest to the gov) where I was the the only US citizen in the entire engineering staff. The only one who could gain access to US gov and gov contractor facilities. And yes, the company was (openly) foreign owned, headquartered in a (friendly) foreign country. Though I can't say the same for some of engineers, many of Islamic background and a few years after 9/11. While that company was legit, I could easily see where an unfriendly power set up US operations to vend to the government and infiltrate tainted equipment. It's a lot cheaper than spy satellites and a lot less dangerous than some the the ops Americans pulled off like Ivy Bells.
#11
A lot of the classified electronic equipment the government uses is designed by foreign born engineers, though with citizenship. That doesn't stop some of them from leaking details to their native governments or selling the info to the highest bidder. Quite a few cases in the news w/ the worst (or most careless) cases being Chinese immigrants.
#1
Other related articles indicate they couldn't be sure that smoke particles wouldn't be drawn in the A/C system for the computers, so they shut them off to prevent this damage.
#1
Article 1 - The Legislative Branch
Section 10 - Powers Prohibited of States
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
...
Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992) is a Supreme Court ruling concerning use tax. Quill Corporation is an office supply retailer. Quill had no physical presence in North Dakota (neither a sales force, nor a retail outlet), however it did have a licensed computer software program that some of its North Dakota customers used to check Quill's current inventories and place orders directly. North Dakota attempted to impose a use tax on Quill, which was struck down by the Supreme Court.
#3
Ah, liberals. "Tax and Tax more!" just doesn't work. Congratulations on adding more people to welfare and not collecting a single time for this tax.
#6
North Dakota attempted to impose a use tax on Quill, which was struck down by the Supreme Court. The USSC did not strike down 'use taxes.' In the cited case, it struck down an attempt by ND to force Quill to pay ND directly for Quill's sales to ND residents. Sales & use taxes are STILL LEGAL. States have a perfect right to collect them - or not. States have to collect those taxes at the point of sale if within the state or from the purchasers.
Too much anti-tax Kool Aid on the table here.
#7
AH, that's similar to MA trying to collect sales tax from MA residents on purchases made in tax free NH. That didn't go over real well and almost started a war when MA staties went to NH state liquor stores to spy on who was buying. NH staties resented that and arrested some.
#9
AH, where did the use occur? Did the use occur at the point of the keyboard or at the location where the software was housed and run. That's the problem with an internet use tax and one that has to be ultimately defined as per federal authority. Congress has played with that issue for over a decade. The problem is that each state is equal in the Senate with each trying to raise revenues back home. Some are willing to forgo the tax for employment and the revenue that is generated by such businesses.
#10
That's the problem with an internet use tax and one that has to be ultimately defined as per federal authority. I see no distinction between items purchased outside & delivered in-state, whether they are ordered over the internet, by phone or mail, or purchased out of state & transported back by the buyer (that's where the use occurs). It's all interstate commerce brought into the state. It would be different if the item were used and consumed or kept out of state altogether, but that has never been an issue. What's the federal issue here?
Massachusetts spying on its citizens' purchases out of state was simply laughable, and not the issue here.
#11
I read that Boing used to fly buyers out over the Pacific to sign the paperwork and make sales and that move avoided most if not all of the taxes. At some point Amazon could just set up in the Bahamas or something and avoid all taxes.
I don't like the idea of this new tax but if something like this doesn't happen the sales tax is somewhat doomed.
#12
It's all interstate commerce brought into the state.
..and interstate commerce is the power of the federal government.
The problem presented in the California case is referrals. An owner of a website upon which a link is clicked and referred to Amazon et al may well have the website hosted in Kansas with the individual clicking on the link in Alabama to a Amazon server in Virginia. Just what part of that transaction occurred in California? And why just California and not multiple states?
#13
AlanC, there's still a line on the MA income tax form that requires you to pay MA sales tax on estimated out-of-state purchases on which you didn't pay sales tax. Booze in NH, for example.
Tax cheats ignore it. I haven't heard of any prosecutions, but that's just me. "A felony a day" comes in handy when they need some.
State taxes are (purportedly) collected for the benefit if state residents, to be used to serve the residents (roads, schools, etc.). The people in the state should be paying state taxes; the businesses outside the state should not have to collect them for the state. Those out-of-state businesses in no way benefit from state programs and/or amenities.
Here's a free clue: if the states spent half the time they spend trying to think up new forms of theft taxes thinking about how they could cut their spending and what "programs" they could cut that aren't the state's business anyway, and cut the graft, they wouldn't need to continually raise taxes.
You'll notice I'm not holding my breath. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/30/2011 15:23 Comments ||
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#15
I read that Boing used to fly buyers out over the Pacific to sign the paperwork and make sales and that move avoided most if not all of the taxes.
Nothing new, really. Railroads have long taken delivery of locomotives and rolling stock in a tax-friendly state they had tracks in.
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's finance minister on Wednesday urged Muslim countries to adopt suitable economic reform programs and adapt to the changing global economic atmosphere to confront the challenges facing them.
We should also strengthen our joint efforts to overcome development obstacles, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf told the annual conference of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.
Twenty paragraphs or so about economic reform for Muslim countries. Not a word on the personal liberty, freedom of thought, and freedom of conscience required for effective economic reform in Muslim countries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
Several of the Arab oil countries are at the peak of their oil production, and it will start to decline rather sharply in the next couple of decades. Iraq is not one of those, but for those Arab countries, something has to be found to keep handing out the goodies to the locals. That is Dubai went on the 'build like there is no tomorrow' trip, and is trying to attract everyone with money to buy mansions on their artificial island scam, the Palm.
[Emirates 24/7] The front man for Soddy Arabia's Labor Ministry says the kingdom will no longer issue work permits for nubile young domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines after new hiring guidelines laid out by those nations.
Khatab Al Atiry said Wednesday the decision would be effective July 2.
Indonesia said on June 22 it would not send domestic workers to Soddy Arabia until Riyadh signs a deal on migrant worker protection. The moratorium followed the execution days earlier of an Indonesian maid convicted of murdering her Saudi employer's wife.
Indonesian officials complained they were not informed before the execution.
Millions of foreign workers live in the kingdom, and rights and labor groups say domestic workers and laborers are poorly paid and subjected to abuse.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
In essence, shutting down what has become a slave market.
#2
Foreign workers (of both genders I would guess) are subject to rape by their employers - with no recourse - after all it takes 4 eye witnesses to convict a Muslim man of rape.
#3
So, basically, the Indonesian and Philippine governments said "if you want to hire our citizens, you must agree to treat them like human beings", and the Saudis responded by banning any workers from those countries?
Clarifying moment, isn't it?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/30/2011 9:35 Comments ||
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#4
This should be entertaining. Slaveholders become so reliant on their slaves that they go into withdrawl when deprived of them. They don't know how to pick up their own dirty under drawers, much less how to launder them, which they believe is "beneath their station", anyway.
So they will begin whining and biatching to the government in short order. The trouble is that these two countries almost have a lock on Muslim workers who aren't lower order primates.
[Bangla Daily Star] Eleven left-leaning parties will march towards Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban Thursday demanding the scraping of Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim", Islam as state religion and provision for allowing religion-based political parties from the constitution.
The procession will start from the Central Shaheed Minar premises at around 12:00pm.
The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the 11 parties at the office of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) on Wednesday.
The 11 parties are Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, CPB, Gono Forum, Samyabadi Dal, National Awami Party, Gonotantri party, Gono Azadi League, Communist Kendro, Samajtantrik Dal of Bangladesh and Gonotantrik Mojdur Party.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and General Secretary Anisur Rahman Mallick urged all to join the march to make it a success.
Earlier on the day, the 11 parties submitted a memorandum to the speaker at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to meet their demands.
The House is likely to pass the constitution amendment bill on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Islami Andolan Bangladesh ...a minor Islamist party which in the days of Bangla Bhai served as a recruiting agency for the JMB... (IAB) on Wednesday called a daylong countrywide hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for July 10 to protest against the move to drop 'Absolute Trust and Faith' in Allah from the constitution.
IAB Chief Syed Rezaul Karim announced the programme at a presser held at its central office at Paltan in the capital.
Rezaul also declared a three-day programme protesting the issue. He said the party will hold a grand rally at Laldhighi Maidan in Chittagong on July 4, and protest rallies at all upazila headquarters on July 5 and at district headquarters on July 7.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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Virginia jumped over the Lone Star State this year to become No. 1 again on CNBCs annual list of Top States for Business.
Virginia received 1,660 out of 2,500 points, which are scored using 43 measurements in 10 competitiveness categories: Cost of Doing Business, Workforce, Quality of Life, Economy, Infrastructure & Transportation, Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Access to Capital and Cost of Living.
Texas and Virginia and have flip-flopped between first and second place on CNBCs annual ranking. This year, Texas received 1,578 points. Texas has created more jobs than the rest of the country over the past ten years and Virginia's current unemployment rate is 6.1%. Why can't this news - and the lesson it offers - penetrate the D.C. Beltway?Why doesn't it register with the Progressives?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/30/2011 08:32 ||
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#1
The folks inside the Beltway don't care because they've got their own business model that's working out just great. (Today I work for the government, tomorrow I lobby the government, rinse, repeat.)
The hard-core progressives react to business folks like 19th century English aristocrats who have just been offered a tradesman's daughter in marriage. "But mother dear, she is so ... vulgar." It's class thing.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/30/2011 11:35 Comments ||
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#2
As opposed to the next article (above) where Caliphornia is driving away jobs with new taxes.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/30/2011 11:46 Comments ||
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#3
How many of the jobs in Virginia are directly or indirectly related to the growth in the federal government?
#4
This is a CNBC poll, and Governor Rick Perry is going after Zero on the economy, so expect a lot of LSM polls to show that Texas is no longer number 1 in jobs or anything else. They have to protect their investment in Zero, and if they have to lie to do that, they will.
(KUNA) -- The European Commission Wednesday granted clearance to the acquisition by Total SA of La Belle France of SunPower Corporation of USA. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure, said the EU's executive body in a short statement. Total is mainly active in the fields of natural gas and oil production, refining and marketing of oil products and petrochemicals. SunPower is active in the design, manufacturing and supply of solar cells, modules and systems, on a worldwide basis.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] GREEK politicians voted on Wednesday for a massive new austerity package demanded by international creditors, amid violent festivities between protesters and police firing tear gas outside the parliament.
An AFP count gave Prime Minister George Papandreou's government the 151 votes it needed to push through measures to save 28.4 billion euros (S$50.4 billion) by 2015, and so unlock emergency finance from the EU and the IMF.
The yes vote was 'the only way to buy time and start the great changes this country needs,' Mr Papandreou said in the moments before voting, pledging to do 'everything to avoid the collapse of this country,' with the plans deemed essential to prevent default on its 350-billion-euro debt mountain.
Mr Papandreou's Socialists lost one vote among their 155 politicians, as expected, but also won backing from one opposition MP. A second vote on the detail behind the measures has still to be held on Thursday.
And then, apparently, there's to be a second round of budget cutting in September or so. It might help if they figured out how to actually collect taxes...
As festivities between protesters and police rocked the streets outside the parliament for a second day, Mr Papandreou admitted 'there is no Plan B' to save Greece, evoking the threat that public salaries and pensions might go unpaid otherwise.
The plan is a condition for 12 billion euros of emergency loans needed by mid-July from stressed euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund, that could now be unlocked by euro zone finance ministers as early as their next meeting on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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KAUKAUNA -- As changes to collective bargaining powers for public workers take effect today, the Kaukauna Area School District is poised to swing from a projected $400,000 budget shortfall next year to a $1.5 million surplus due to health care and retirement savings.
The Kaukauna School Board approved changes Monday to its employee handbook that require staff to cover 12.6 percent of their health insurance and to contribute 5.8 percent of their wages to the state's pension system, in accordance with the new collective bargaining law, commonly known as Act 10.
"These impacts will allow the district to hire additional teachers (and) reduce projected class sizes," School Board President Todd Arnoldussen wrote in a statement Monday. "In addition, time will be available for staff to identify and support students needing individual assistance through individual and small group experiences."
The district anticipates that elementary class size projections for next year will shrink from 26 students to 23 students. Class sizes for River View Middle School are expected to fall from 28 students to 26 students.
Kaukauna High School classes could be reduced from 31 students to 25 students.... Read an article recently from Jonathan Kozol, describing the miserable results from Inner City schools, as compared with suburban schools. Kozol pointed out that the suburban schools spent 50% more money and made many more opportunities for students. I respect Mr. Kozol's scholarship; but I did not see any discussion of the financial waste in urban schools in his article. He discussed bureaucratic stupidity and racism, yes; but no discussion of stupidities caused by rules that cost taxpayers unnecessary money and cost children the resources needed for a good education, like New York's notorious "rubber rooms" for teachers who get full pay for doing nothing while being investigated for misconduct. Perhaps he tackled that issue in a different article.
#1
Not the middle east, not even Hawaii, but Kaukauna is in Wisconsin, about 25 miles SW of Green Bay.
Maybe benefited from Gov. Walker's new law?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/30/2011 12:51 Comments ||
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#2
No amount of money alone can fix inner city schools. Without any realistic means of discipline there is not even an opportunity for learning. And money won't attract the better teachers to such an environment. It's hard enough to attract and retain even competent teachers to well-financed and semi-disciplined suburban schools.
[Dawn] The Attorney General of Pakistain said on Wednesday that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent... was hanged after a rushed decision and that the Supreme Court needs to re-examine his murder trial, DawnNews reported.
The attorney general said that a sentence cannot be implemented within seven days of the issuance of a black warrant, however, in Bhutto's case, he was hanged within 12 hours of the warrant being issued against him.
An eleven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is hearing the Bhutto reference case.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned until July and the date will be announced depending on the availability of the bench.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"Moot court" Pakistani style. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could not be reached for comment...
h/t Sense of Events
The London-based World Energy Council says Israels Shfela Basin, a half-hour drive south of Jerusalem, holds 250 billion barrels of recoverable shale oil, possibly making the energy-vulnerable country (as expressed by The Wall Street Journal) the worlds newest energy giant. With reserves of 260 billion barrels, Saudi Arabia would remain the worlds No. 1 oil country though not, perhaps, for long. Howard Jonas, CEO of U.S.-based IDT Corp., the company that owns the Shfela Basin concession, says there is much more oil under Israel than under Saudi Arabia: Perhaps, he says, twice as much. Salt to taste
#3
While we're at it, we need to Drill Baby Drill too. It would do wonders for the deficit, the trade deficit, and it would be less money we'll eventually have to pay out in welfare/workfare/crazy checks.
Why do that when Obama can ensure even Canadian oil goes to China. China Has Its Eye On Canada's Oil While the U.S. dithers with concerns about "dirty oil" from Alberta's rich tar sands, energy-hungry China makes Ottawa an offer it might not refuse. Memo to Washington: Pipelines can run west as well as south.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Emirates 24/7] The 
[Straits Times] GREEK 
