Report: Chinese hackers caused billion-dollar Nortel collapse

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A former systems security adviser to Nortel Networks says he has no doubt that extensive cyberattacks on the technology company contributed to its downfall.

In an interview with the CBC’s As It Happens, Brian Shields, the former senior systems security adviser at Nortel, said spying by hackers allegedly based in China “absolutely” was a “considerable factor.”

“When they see what your business plans are, that’s a huge advantage. It’s unfair business practices that really bring down a company of this size,” Shields said.

Nortel is currently selling off assets in the wake of a 2009 bankruptcy filing.

Shields said both the Canadian and Chinese governments should investigate.

Read more at CBC News HERE.

Ron Paul on Social Conservatism: The States should be in charge, not the Feds

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(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Texas.), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, told Candy Crowley on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that social conservatism is “a losing position” for the Republican Party.

“Do you–are you uncomfortable–certainly Rick Santorum is the one who has been in the forefront of some of this talk on social issues, but there have been others in the race,” Crowley asked Paul. “Are you uncomfortable with this talk about social issues? Do you consider it a winning area for Republicans in November?”

“No,” said Paul. “I think it’s a losing position.

“I mean, I talk about it because I have a precise understanding of how difficult problems are to be solved,” Paul continued. “And they’re not to be at the national level. We’re not supposed to nationalize these problems. The founders were very clear that problems like this, if there needs to be legislation of sorts, the state has the right to write the legislation that they so choose. And that solves a lot of our problems.”

Read more at CNS News. By Terence P. Jeffrey.

Ex-Judge Defends Forced Abortion Ruling

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A retired Massachusetts judge is defending her decision to order a mentally ill woman to have an abortion and be sterilized against her wishes.

Christina Harms is also criticizing Boston University for withdrawing a job offer after her ruling sparked controversy and was overturned by the state Appeals Court.

Harms, who retired last month, defended her ruling in a letter she sent Monday to other Massachusetts family court judges, saying she believed the schizophrenic woman would have chosen to have an abortion if she had been mentally competent. The letter was first reported by The Boston Globe.

Read more at Official Wire. By Associated Press.

George Washington The Hero: Part One

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George Washington was a conservative landowner who helped transform a bunch of quarrelsome states into a cohesive nation – and drafted the American Constitution.

Politics And Religion DO Mix-And Always Have

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“Politics and religion don’t mix” is an ill-conceived America adage that has been passed from generation to generation. It is false an ideology and an essential reason why America, the greatest nation on earth has fallen to its knees spiritually, morally, and economically.

The Founding Fathers never envisioned an America where the Bible was out-of-bounds when defining public policy. They unabashedly called upon the name of the Lord God Almighty for His providence and applied His principals when forming the Constitution of the United States of America.

Their words speak for themselves:

•George Washington: ”Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.

Read more at Western Journalism.

Is Congressman Darrell Issa Wimping Out?

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During the past week a number of Operation Fast and Furious watchers have been celebrating the notion that Congressman Darrell Issa’s February 14th letter to Eric Holder represents a last chance, comply or else, final offer to the gangster Attorney General.

Unfortunately, buying into such wishful thinking will result in nothing but disappointment as the Congressman has shown little in his dealings with the Attorney General over the past 6 months but a litany of empty threats and predictable retreats when they are ignored.

During his December 8th testimony before Issa’s House Government Reform Committee, Holder stated emphatically that his Department of Justice would NOT provide congress any Fast and Furious information dated later than February 4th of 2011. In support of that assertion he has prevented DOJ officials providing testimony to the House and ignored repeated requests for relevant letters and emails.

Read more at Western Journalism.

Obama’s War on Religious Liberty

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Welcome to the real ObamaCare, whereby a handful of leftists in Washington, D.C., impose the views of their big-money donors on more than 300 million Americans. If the Obama mandate for contraception remains intact, then liberals will next demand that Americans pay for other objectionable items that are not really medical care.

We can expect future mandates, under the guise of “health care,” to include sex-change operations, late-term abortions, embryonic stem-cell use and a variety of other procedures that many Americans do not support and certainly do not want to be compelled to foot the bill for. Obama’s directive for abortifacient drugs opens a slippery slope that would erode the moral authority of religious institutions in America.

Obama and the liberals have overplayed their hand. By baring their teeth, these lackeys for the Left have awakened Democratic voters to the real contempt that liberals hold for religious values.

All 181 U.S. Catholic bishops oppose Obama’s mandate, and Rasmussen polling estimates that 65 percent of Catholic Americans also oppose it. There are about 75 million American Catholics, most of whom have traditionally been Democratic voters but wouldn’t hesitate to cross party lines to defend their church leaders.

It will be fascinating to see how many Democratic politicians up for re-election this November side with Obama and against religious organizations. Liberals are just fine with throwing some Democratic incumbents overboard to advance far-left goals, just as the enactment of ObamaCare in 2010 cost many Democrats their congressional seats.

Read more at Townhall.com HERE.

Obama Likes High Gasoline Prices, But Won’t Admit It

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Energy Policy: If gasoline prices so far are any indication, the pain at the pump will be severe this year. But if you think President Obama cares, you’re wrong. If anything, he’s secretly cheering it on.

Already, average pump prices have topped $3.50 a gallon, leading some experts to think they could reach an all-time high of $5 by the summer.

So what’s Obama’s response? He treats it like a badge of honor, saying this week that “gas prices are on the rise again because as the economy strengthens, global demand for oil increases.”

But what else can he say?

During his presidential campaign, Obama admitted he didn’t have a problem with sky-high gasoline prices, he just “would have preferred a gradual adjustment.”

Read More at investors.com Investor’s Business Daily

Video: Geithner Contradicts Obamacare Debt Promise

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified the other day before conservative hero and budget hawk Paul Ryan, essentially saying that we just don’t like your approach to cutting the deficit. Man, I sure hope that this guy is out of a job at the end of the year!

Religious Leaders Testify for All Americans’ Liberty

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Since the Obamacare anti-conscience mandate was proposed in August, the Obama Administration has come under intense scrutiny for the rule’s violation of religious liberty. In the wake of the final rule’s publication in the Federal Register yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a full committee hearing yesterday to further investigate those claims, highlighting the law’s serious threat to freedom.

Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, began the panel testimony by telling a story, “The Parable of the Kosher Deli.” Bishop Lori’s parable drew a parallel between the mandate coercing many religious employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptives against their beliefs and a hypothetical situation of a government forcing all Jewish delis to serve pork sandwiches. The latter situation is clearly an absurd violation of religious freedom, and Bishop Lori’s story ended with the government rescinding the requirement to serve certain meat products and restoring Jewish deli owners’ liberty.

The bishop concluded:
The question before the United States government—right now—is whether the story of our own Church institutions that serve the public, and that are threatened by the…mandate, will end happily too. Will our nation continue to be one committed to religious liberty and diversity? We urge, in the strongest possible terms, that the answer must be yes. We urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to answer the same way.

Dr. C. Ben Mitchell, a professor at Union University and ordained Southern Baptist minister, reminded the committee that the mandate threatens the conscience rights of people from many faith traditions:

The policy is an unconscionable intrusion by the state into the consciences of American citizens. Contrary to portrayals in some of the popular media, this is not only a Catholic issue. All people of faith— and even those who claim no faith—have a stake in whether or not the government can violate the consciences of its citizenry. Religious liberty and the freedom to obey one’s conscience is also not just a Baptist issue. It is an American issue that is enshrined in our founding documents.

Read More at The Foundry By Sarah Torre, The Foundry