A reference to the book of Esther in the Stuxnet virus?

The impression DEBKAfile sources gained Wednesday, Sept. 29 from talking to European computer experts approached for aid was that the Iranians are getting desperate. Not only have their own attempts to defeat the invading worm failed, but they made matters worse. The malworm became more aggressive and returned to the attack on parts of the systems damaged in the initial attack.

Young me - now me.

White Belly, Sioux tribe.

Lakota Sioux village.

Sun Chief, Pawnee tribe

Sky Chief, Pawnee tribe

Chief Two Strikes, Brule Sioux tribe

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

More cool time lapse video. This is indeed exactly what the fog looks like coming in from the sea at San Francisco. Except much, much slower, of course.

Found on this site. Which, by the way, you should all bookmark.

At least according to Breitbart, the Stuxnet worm is continuing it's damage in iran, and is even supposedly mutating to be ever more dangerous. Exactly how it is changing isn't explained, but if it really is, then the designers should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, as they have done more to keep it, by far, than the most recent winner.

more here.

Wake up, eat breakfast, jump out of airplane into the dark. Yep, manfun!

Hat tip Xbrad.

The bad news for the Iranian nuclear program is starting to flood out. Evidence is building that the Stuxnet worm has disabled multiple industrial systems in Iran, and specifically it is said that up to 3000 centrifuges at Nantaz have been idled.

If this is true it is great news, for us and, ironically, for the Iranians, because it makes a violent war to stop the mullahs less necessary.

More here, and here.

Hat tip Legal Insurrection.

She's going to devour Michelle! RRRAAWWRRR!

Michelle Obama greets the lion maned first lady of the African country of Cameroon, Chantal Biya. Wowza!

The overbuilding in the middle east has been so bad that now, Dubai thinks the gross overcapacity in office space there will require it to tear down some of it's office buildings. The middle east has always been filled with crazy people.

Update on the Stuxnet computer worm. Seems that Iranian industrial systems, and very likely their nuclear program at Bushehr is the target.

War has many levels, crudely divided recently into cold and hot war. This example is in between, perhaps best described as tepid war, where there is violence but not by people or military might. If this worm did disable the mullah's bomb making plans, so much the better. It is too bad for them that they have to rely on the west for everything technical, because there their vulnerabilities are the greatest.

If this helps prevent a hot war, which seemed to be more and more likely the closer the mullahs got to creating their own nuke, then the risks are very much worth it.

Full blown barking mad insane ride on crowded Moscow streets. This guy doesn't have long to live if he keeps this up.

Hat tip SDA

Saturday porch pictures.

Random intensity.

A Snow leopard kitten has been filmed, probably for the first time ever, by remote camera in Bhutan. Click through here to see the cheeky devil.

Stuxnet, is a recently discovered, military grade, precision crafted piece of weaponized malware created by unknown parties to attack, control and presumably destroy a complex industrial target somewhere in the world.

But only one specific target. The software 'fingerprints' every system it infects, looking for some so far unknown marker. If it doesn't find what it is looking for, it does nothing. However, experts have found that it then waits, checking every 5 seconds, looking for something very specific. We do know that the last bit of code, which is the key order to destruct, is called DEADF007.

Who did it is unknown, what it's target is is unknown, but it's sophistication and complexity required a lot of money and expertise to create, and thus it was probably sponsored by a nation state.

Possible target - Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant?

With two mighty blows from a hammer, Munich Mayor Christian Ude announced that the first beer barrel was 'O'zapft is' (tapped), and Oktoberfest has now officially begun. Ein mass, danke!

This is my comment on the Jesse Jackson Jr. Blond Bombshell Hullabaloo.

Rahm just deftly eliminated his main political competition for the Chicago mayor job.

JJJR just enraged a world of black women.

And, this little scandal illustrates the rule that people make their own problems.

Hat tip, theothermccain.

Personally, I prefer Oban single malt for my Scotch. No metrosexual can drink it, cause it's too strong! And no good woman ever shied away from a man who was too strong, as you can see from the picture. Win/win.

yep.

It wasn't the mothers who thought up this test of strength and coordination. Third guy from the left is the winner hands down. Sure hope he can catch.

Once again, public schools cover themselves in glory! However, judging by the pervasive level of jackassery that went on at the public school I attended so many years ago, I have to think that there is a significant chance that this was no typographic error. Somewhere, a pack of 17 year olds just can't seem to stop laughing.

A bit of photographic art for your viewing pleasure.

By Leonard Freed, Keukenhof Park, The Netherlands, 1964.

The Feds spend 224,000 in stimulus money on a sculpture of a bus for the new Reno bus station.

Why they couldn't just scare up an old worn out bus for 500 bucks, take out the drive train and sell that for scrap, and then use the money to paint it so it looks passable, and use that for the sculpture, I will never know. Sculpture indeed! Why any sculpture at all? It's a bus station, after all.

What these idiots don't seem to realize is that someone had to earn that money. They had to get up in the morning, put on their work clothes, and drag themselves to the shop. The money paid in taxes from that labor is here clearly wasted, in spite and in contempt of the sweat that produced it.

An excellent reason why the current government needs to be voted out in November.

Funny

More trail camera pictures. Here is a cute little devil, who apparently hangs with his pals Bambi and raccoon. Click and enlarge for greater enjoyment.

Can't a couple get a little privacy? Who is that behind the tree?

More fun with the Democrat's new logo.

More trail camera photos from some friends of mine on a hunting forum. Nice stuff, and notice that these cameras record the temperature! I got a trail camera for father's day, and I'm setting mine up later. We have quite the coyote population here, and I am expecting several to make an appearance, plus plenty of skunks and opossums. Several years ago my wife saw a mountain lion near our house, right next to the garage, so maybe, if I'm lucky, I will catch one of those bad boys on film .... or pixels.

This moose looks like one bad dude.

It's a hazy morning in the Sierra today, but still very beautiful. Maybe I ought to take a day off next week and hike all day before the snow flies.

Here is a trail camera picture of a cougar dragging away his dinner. Nice.

I couldn't get the picture to load, but the link that follows is very interesting. It is a newspaper story about a trail camera in Canada catching a cougar killing a coyote. Wildlife, it's called that because it's wild!

This made me laugh. A really dumb logo just invites parody, and we are likely to be entertained for quite a while with this one.

The New Zealand rugby team known as the All Blacks perform a Haka before their match with Ireland.

In April 2008, The Orange County Register published a bombshell of an investigation about a license plate program for California government workers and their families.

Or, how government bureaucrats who start out as public servants quickly become our masters.

Second, back when Jerry Brown was governor, he signed into law the right for government workers to unionize, and to then naturally trade their votes for raises and other benefits. This sort of thing happened all over the country, and now, having traded our state and nation's financial health and future for a few votes, the financial consequences have come around and cannot be escaped. As in the video above, once summoned, the evil cannot be avoided, or ignored.

Now, their salaries and benefits and retirement pay is locked in so that the tax payers must pay if the government cannot. And it is increasingly obvious that it cannot. Tax payers, already straining to pay for their own health care, retirements, and house payments, are in no mood to pay more.

It's a titanic collision in store for us, and I'm not sure if there are any lifeboats.

Saturday porch pictures.

Awesome flying skills on display right here.

Video of a high school football team doing what is known on the island of Tonga as the `Haka´ dance. High school? Impressive and intimidating. But, can they compete with that Japanese walking team I posted on below? Sounds like it´s time for a showdown.

Here is simply a cool and interesting picture of an exotic locale, from near Kirkenes in Northermost Norway, which I found here. Offered just because it´s beautiful ..... although i´d hate to see what it´s like here in the winter. Click and enlarge.

I like Gumby, and I like things that go `Boom.´ Here Gumby and some beets make me very happy.

Ah, the simple pleasures in life are sometimes the best. I like how Gumby´s little arms are both being blown backwards by the flying beets. He likes it too.

One in 84 homes in Nevada received a foreclosure notice last month! Nevada is one of my favorite states, and I have spent many pleasant hours of adventure exploring the desert there. This is frightening news, not only for the residents of the silver state, but for everyone else as well.

Hat tip, Instapundit.

This is really truly hard to believe. Hyped as a major announcement, this ridiculous logo seems like a spoof. The Onion would have trouble doing better.

And the comments are priceless.

If this is real, and not some sort of joke, then it is no surprise why the Democrats have so comprehensively screwed the country in just about two years in unrestricted power. They richly, richly deserve what´s coming to them in November.

Japanese precision walking team steps out and cuts loose. Oddly entertaining

Fried beer. Man food. Coming to a cook out near you!

¨Contemporary liberals, having abandoned the belief in God given inalienable rights, masochistically crave a worldly master. This master is a sadistic god substitute who will provide the stern discipline needed to force economic equality and fairness....¨

This seems to explain the democrats need to control all aspects of our lives. Our healthcare, our retirement, our rights to defend ourselves, and even such mundane acts like whether you can use your cell phone while driving. Meanwhile, all income, property or commercial activity is taxed, and taxed again. Any act or innovation must be approved by the government through licensing or permit requirements. And when you die, your estate is taxed again, if it is of even moderate size.

They are the agents of god, and god is the government.

Ouch! But you have to finish.

Tapâm - a flyfishing journey from tapamthemovie on Vimeo.

There are some simply gorgeous videos on the net these days. This is one not to be missed, and be sure to watch it full screen. Worth every second.

From the joys of third world train travel ....

To modern air flight....
The principles are becoming the same.

It is the newest idea in airline travel. Semi standing seats. What a fine way to make an already hectic and harassing flight experience even better! However, for a short flight, say less than two hours, the savings in airfare might be worth it.

Our very serious president has a lot on his plate. A struggling economy, Muslims screaming for blood all around the world, two wars, a difficult election coming right up, etc. Hard pivots, laser like focus, and all that.

And what does our esteemed leader choose to do with his time?

Party!

Wow. Nothing like a wet road and a huge tanker truck out of control to you jump. Pucker factor of 10 out of 10.

A little Texas/American history that all of us should keep in mind. With apologies to Leonidas and his Spartans, this is the attitude that gets the job done.

The Weekly Standard does a bang up job in this article on how wars are lost by politicians and weak indecisive leaders. Might not we learn form this for the small but intense wars that are sure to come in the future?

A must read on the difference between Christianity and Islam. Once understood, the different world view of these two competing ideologies seem to explain well their behaviors.

Here is an article that tries to explain the left´s psycho hate and fascination with Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and current right wing political power broker.

The theory that Ms. Palin threatens the status of the left very likely has validity, and they certainly act like they are constantly fearful and bothered by her very existence. A good read indeed.