Where Is the Live Footage & Photos to Back Up Their Claims?

False Story About Hacking U.S. Electric Grid

https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/russia-hysteria-infects-washpost-again-false-story-about-hacking-u-s-electric-grid/

Russia Hysteria Infects WashPost Again: False Story About Hacking U.S. Electric Grid

THE WASHINGTON POST on Friday reported a genuinely alarming event: Russian hackers have penetrated the U.S. power system through an electrical grid in Vermont. The Post headline conveyed the seriousness of the threat:

The first sentence of the article directly linked this cyberattack to alleged Russian hacking of the email accounts of the DNC and John Podesta — what is now routinely referred to as “Russian hacking of our election” — by referencing the code name revealed on Wednesday by the Obama administration when it announced sanctions on Russian officials: “A code associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected within the system of a Vermont utility, according to U.S. officials.”

The Post article contained grave statements from Vermont officials of the type politicians love to issue after a terrorist attack to show they are tough and in control. The state’s Democratic governor, Peter Shumlin, said:

Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world’s leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality of life, economy, health, and safety. This episode should highlight the urgent need for our federal government to vigorously pursue and put an end to this sort of Russian meddling.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy issued a statement warning: “This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides — this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter. That is a direct threat to Vermont and we do not take it lightly.”

The article went on and on in that vein, with all the standard tactics used by the U.S. media for such stories: quoting anonymous national security officials, reviewing past acts of Russian treachery, and drawing the scariest possible conclusions (“‘The question remains: Are they in other systems and what was the intent?’ a U.S. official said”). 

The media reactions, as Alex Pfeiffer documents, were exactly what one would expect: hysterical, alarmist proclamations of Putin’s menacing evil:

Our Russian "friend" Putin attacked the U.S. power grid.https://t.co/iAneRgbuhFTHE WASHINGTON POST on Friday reported a genuinely alarming event: Russian hackers have penetrated the U.S. power system through an electrical grid in Vermont. The Post headline conveyed the seriousness of the threat:

The first sentence of the article directly linked this cyberattack to alleged Russian hacking of the email accounts of the DNC and John Podesta — what is now routinely referred to as “Russian hacking of our election” — by referencing the code name revealed on Wednesday by the Obama administration when it announced sanctions on Russian officials: “A code associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected within the system of a Vermont utility, according to U.S. officials.”

The Post article contained grave statements from Vermont officials of the type politicians love to issue after a terrorist attack to show they are tough and in control. The state’s Democratic governor, Peter Shumlin, said:

Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world’s leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality of life, economy, health, and safety. This episode should highlight the urgent need for our federal government to vigorously pursue and put an end to this sort of Russian meddling.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy issued a statement warning: “This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides — this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter. That is a direct threat to Vermont and we do not take it lightly.”

The article went on and on in that vein, with all the standard tactics used by the U.S. media for such stories: quoting anonymous national security officials, reviewing past acts of Russian treachery, and drawing the scariest possible conclusions (“‘The question remains: Are they in other systems and what was the intent?’ a U.S. official said”). 

The media reactions, as Alex Pfeiffer documents, were exactly what one would expect: hysterical, alarmist proclamations of Putin’s menacing evil:

Our Russian "friend" Putin attacked the U.S. power grid.https://t.co/iAneRgbuhF

— Brent Staples (@BrentNYT) December 31, 2016

NEW: "One of the world's leading thugs, [Putin] has been attempting to hack our electric grid," says VT Gov. Shumlin https://t.co/YgdtT4JrlXpic.twitter.com/AU0ZQjT3aO

— ABC News (@ABC) December 31, 2016

Yikes. https://t.co/cXsyd1RHOK

— Paul Farhi (@farhip) December 31, 2016

The Post’s story also predictably and very rapidly infected other large media outlets. Reuters thus told its readers around the world: “A malware code associated with Russian hackers has reportedly been detected within the system of a Vermont electric utility.”

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM here? It did not happen.

There was no “penetration of the U.S. electricity grid.” The truth was undramatic and banal. Burlington Electric, after receiving a Homeland Security notice sent to all U.S. utility companies about the malware code found in the DNC system, searched all its computers and found the code in a single laptop that was not connected to the electric grid.

Apparently, the Post did not even bother to contact the company before running its wildly sensationalistic claims, so Burlington Electric had to issue its own statement to the Burlington Free Press, which debunked the Post’s central claim (emphasis in original): “We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop NOT connected to our organization’s grid systems.”

So the key scary claim of the Post story — that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid — was false. All the alarmist tough-guy statements issued by political officials who believed the Post’s claim were based on fiction.

Even worse, there is zero evidence that Russian hackers were even responsible for the implanting of this malware on this single laptop. The fact that malware is “Russian-made” does not mean that only Russians can use it; indeed, like a lot of malware, it can be purchased (as Jeffrey Carr has pointed out in the DNC hacking context, assuming that Russian-made malware must have been used by Russians is as irrational as finding a Russian-made Kalishnikov AKM rifle at a crime scene and assuming the killer must be Russian).

As the actual truth emerged once the utility company issued its statement, the Post rushed to fix its embarrassment, beginning by dramatically changing its headline:

The headline is still absurd: They have no idea that this malware was placed by a “Russian operation” (though they would likely justify that by pointing out that they are just stenographically passing along what “officials say”). Moreover, nobody knows when this malware was put on this laptop, how, or by whom. But whatever else is true, the key claim — “Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid” — has now been replaced by the claim that this all shows “risk to U.S. electrical grid.”

As journalists realized what did — and did not — actually happen here, the reaction was swift:

1) Not an infiltration of the power grid. 
2) "Russian" malware can be purchased online by anyone. 
3) See 1 & 2. https://t.co/bVIG8zQBsk

— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) December 31, 2016

Pretty amazing how badly the Post appears to have mangled this one. You didn't call the Vermont utility regulator before publishing?

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) December 31, 2016

My money's on this all turns out to be commodity malware and not even APT28/APT29 and everyone jumping on the bandwagon will look v silly

— Pwn All The Things (@pwnallthethings) December 31, 2016

THIS MATTERS NOT only because one of the nation’s major newspapers once again published a wildly misleading, fearmongering story about Russia. It matters even more because it reflects the deeply irrational and ever-spiraling fever that is being cultivated in U.S. political discourse and culture about the threat posed by Moscow.

The Post has many excellent reporters and smart editors. They have produced many great stories this year. But this kind of blatantly irresponsible and sensationalist tabloid behavior — which tracks what they did when promoting that grotesque PropOrNot blacklist of U.S. news outlets accused of being Kremlin tools — is a byproduct of the Anything Goes mentality that now shapes mainstream discussion of Russia, Putin, and the Grave Threat to All Things Decent in America that they pose.

The level of groupthink, fearmongering, coercive peer pressure, and über-nationalism has not been seen since the halcyon days of 2002 and 2003. Indeed, the very same people who back then smeared anyone questioning official claims as Saddam sympathizers or stooges and left-wing un-American loons are back for their sequel, accusing anyone who expresses any skepticism toward claims about Russia of being Putin sympathizers and Kremlin operatives and stooges.

But it’s all severely exacerbated by social media in ways that we don’t yet fully understand. A large percentage of journalists sit on Twitter all day. It’s their primary window into the world. Because of how intense and raw the emotions still are from Trump’s defeat of Clinton, the social media benefits from tweeting and publishing unhinged claims about Trump and Putin are immense and immediate: thousands upon thousands of re-tweets, a rapidly building follower count, and huge amounts of traffic.

Indeed, the more unhinged it is, the greater the benefits are (see some of the most extreme examples here). That’s how otherwise rational people keep getting tricked into posting and re-tweeting and sharing extremely dubious stories that turn out to be false.

And that’s to say nothing of the non-utilitarian social pressures. It’s not news that coastal elites — particularly media and political figures — were and are virtually unified in their unbridled contempt for Trump. And we have seen over and over that any time there is a new Prime Foreign Villain consecrated — now Putin — U.S. media figures lead the campaign. As a result, any denunciation or accusation toward Trump or Russia, no matter how divorced from reason or devoid of facts, generates instant praise, while any questioning of it prompts instant peer-group denunciation, or worse.

Few things are more dangerous to the journalistic function than groupthink, and few instruments have been invented that foster and reinforce groupthink like social media, particularly Twitter, the platform most used by journalists. That’s a phenomenon that merits far more study, but examples like this one highlight the dynamic.

In this case, the effect is a constant ratcheting up of tensions between two nuclear-armed powers whose nuclear systems are still on hair-trigger alert and capable of catastrophic responses based on misunderstanding and misperception. Democrats and their media allies are rightly alarmed about the potential dangers of Trump’s bellicose posture toward China, but remarkably and recklessly indifferent to the dangers of what they themselves are doing here.

* * * * *

Those interested in a sober and rational discussion of the Russia hacking issue should read the following:

(1) Three posts by cybersecurity expert Jeffrey Carr: first, on the difficulty of proving attribution for any hacks; second, on the irrational claims on which the “Russia hacked the DNC” case is predicated; and third, on the woefully inadequate, evidence-free report issued by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI this week to justify sanctions against Russia.

(2) Yesterday’s Rolling Stone article by Matt Taibbi, who lived and worked for more than a decade in Russia, titled: “Something About This Russia Story Stinks.”

(3) An Atlantic article by David A. Graham on the politics and strategies of the sanctions imposed this week on Russia by Obama; I disagree with several of his claims, but the article is a rarity: a calm, sober, rational assessment of this debate.

Since it is so often distorted, permit me once again to underscore my own view on the broader Russia issue: Of course it is possible that Russia is responsible for these hacks, as this is perfectly consistent with (and far more mild than) what both Russia and the U.S. have done repeatedly for decades.

But given the stakes involved, along with the incentives for error and/or deceit, no rational person should be willing to embrace these accusations as Truth unless and until convincing evidence has been publicly presented for review, which most certainly has not yet happened. As the above articles demonstrate, this week’s proffered “evidence” — the U.S. government’s evidence-free report — should raise rather than dilute suspicions. It’s hard to understand how this desire for convincing evidence before acceptance of official claims could even be controversial, particularly among journalists.

UPDATE: Just as The Guardian had to do just two days ago regarding its claim about WikiLeaks and Putin, the Washington Post has now added an editor’s note to its story acknowledging that its key claim was false:

Is it not very clear that journalistic standards are being casually dispensed with when the subject is Russia?

Brent Staples 

✔@BrentNYT

Our Russian "friend" Putin attacked the U.S. power grid. 

https://www.

google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/world/national-security/russian-hackers-penetrated-us-electricity-grid-through-a-utility-in-vermont/2016/12/30/8fc90cc4-ceec-11e6-b8a2-8c2a61b0436f_story.html?client=ms-android-verizon …

6:13 PM - 30 Dec 2016

Paul Farhi

✔@farhip

Yikes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-hackers-penetrated-us-electricity-grid-through-a-utility-in-vermont/2016/12/30/8fc90cc4-ceec-11e6-b8a2-8c2a61b0436f_story.html …

7:03 PM - 30 Dec 2016

Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility, showing risk to U.S. electrical grid security, offici...

A code associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe was detected.

washingtonpost.com

ABC NewsVerified account‏@ABC

NEW: "One of the world's leading thugs, [Putin] has been

attempting to hack our electric grid,"

says VT Gov. Shumlin http://abcn.ws/2ihEeZu 

The Post’s story also predictably and very rapidly infected other large media outlets. Reuters thus told its readers around the world: “A malware code associated with Russian hackers has reportedly been detected within the system of a Vermont electric utility.”

 WHAT’S THE PROBLEM here? It did not happen.

There was no “penetration of the U.S. electricity grid.” The truth was undramatic and banal. Burlington Electric, after receiving a Homeland Security notice sent to all U.S. utility companies about the malware code found in the DNC system, searched all its computers and found the code in a single laptop that was not connected to the electric grid.

Apparently, the Post did not even bother to contact the company before running its wildly sensationalistic claims, so Burlington Electric had to issue its own statement to the Burlington Free Press, which debunked the Post’s central claim (emphasis in original): “We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop NOT connected to our organization’s grid systems.”

So the key scary claim of the Post story — that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid — was false. All the alarmist tough-guy statements issued by political officials who believed the Post’s claim were based on fiction.

Even worse, there is zero evidence that Russian hackers were even responsible for the implanting of this malware on this single laptop. The fact that malware is “Russian-made” does not mean that only Russians can use it; indeed, like a lot of malware, it can be purchased (as Jeffrey Carr has pointed out in the DNC hacking context, assuming that Russian-made malware must have been used by Russians is as irrational as finding a Russian-made Kalishnikov AKM rifle at a crime scene and assuming the killer must be Russian).

As the actual truth emerged once the utility company issued its statement, the Post rushed to fix its embarrassment, beginning by dramatically changing its headline:

The headline is still absurd: They have no idea that this malware was placed by a “Russian operation” (though they would likely justify that by pointing out that they are just stenographically passing along what “officials say”). Moreover, nobody knows when this malware was put on this laptop, how, or by whom. But whatever else is true, the key claim — “Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid” — has now been replaced by the claim that this all shows “risk to U.S. electrical grid.”

As journalists realized what did — and did not — actually happen here, the reaction was swift:

Bilderberg Group: HACKED: Anonymous

Adios, pendejos....

http://www.anonews.co/bilderberg-website-hacked/

By: Kristan T. Harris | American Intelligence Report

The ultra elite global think tank Bilderberg Group was hacked by a group of hackers promising to expose members crimes if they do not change their heart in the next 365 days.

The hacking group published on the Bilderberg website that if members do not have a change of heart within 365 days, be on the look out:

“We control your expensive connected cars, we control your connected house security devices, we control your daughter laptop, we control your wife’s mobile, we tape your secret meetings, we read your emails, we control your favorite escort girl smartwatch, we Are inside your beloved banks and we are reading your assets you wont be safe anywhere near electricity anymore.”

Bilderbergmeetings.org
/–/ / / / /_/ /_/ / // /_/
/ / /-/ /__ / \/__]/-//__ / \

0x? HackBack movement
AnD AnonyMous

===============[ present ]================

=== Message to the People ===
SInCe the Advent of Time, huMans have long forgotten to love and CaRe for eaCh other.
In TheiR egoist, selfish driven minds, a coUpLe of people have managed to get the Power and abuse it against the weakz.
HiStorY is repEating Itself.
TheRe is no EqualiTy between humans on world scale and So called HumAN Rights ArE nothiNg more than an Illusion.
The Globalization and World order system is faVorinG this unbearable situation, at least it IS for huMans-caRers.
whatS going On today: weak PeoPles suffer, die or livE in poVerty to serve upper interestS.
EmPoweRed ElitE plays the world BIG Guys.
This World order is conduCted by grouPs which are composed of WeALthy 1% uber-Elite and CorrUpted empowered Politicians.
DoNt follOw theIr proPagaNda sayIng this situation Is not TruE or Paranoia-driven.
post cold-war LiberaL capitalism has managed tO wideSpreAd *IDEA* that $$$ equals hapiness and should be a lifegoal for the 99%. An egoist goal.
ThIs system also sEttleD durably dOminance of ThesE groups.
they told Us “yOu GoT To worK hard!” TheY don’t. Inheriting powerS from their Parents and these groups of “FriEnds”.
ThEre Is no suCces sTories sorry: would TOp100 richEst persons alive still been riCh if thEy were born in Africa from poor pArents, No.
ThEse whole grouPs and iNterests are driVen by tHe evil idea that some HuMans (them) are superiorS to others (you).
ThE CurRent sysTem will keep them in place, in good positions and for a good amoUnT of Time.
YOuR CHildrEN stand NO CHANCE aGainst theirs. whatEver schools you put theM in.

NoW() is the time you need to think
NoW() is the time we nEed to put an end to this altogether
As you mAy havE guessEd thIs fight is INequal
PoWeR is in the hand of ThesE groupS
But not All hope is lost
We, the free people, wiLl fIght for You without even asking
But we need mOre than this: we beg you supPort
WiThoUt you, the public, We cAnT do nothing
LiSten to yoUr heart, see the situation and do what you shoUld
YoU *CAN* makE the world a better place

=== Message to the WealthY Elitico-Political 1% RIChEst dominant pricks ===
WoRDs are not enOugh To TeLl you how much we dispiTe you and your dominant behAvior
No HumAns stanD above otheRs and you WIll have to learn IT
Dear Bilderberg mEmBers, From NoW(), each OnE of you have 1 year (365 days) to truly work in faVor of HumaNs and not youR private interests
Each TopIc you disCuss or work you achieve thRough YoUr uber privAte meetinGs should from now benefit WORlD population and not X or Y groUp of people
OtHerWIse, we will FinD you and we Will hAck you
MiNd the cuRrent situation: We conTrol your expensive connected cars, we control your connecteD house security devices, we control your daughter laptop, we control your wife’s mobile,
we tape YoUR seCret meetings, we reAD your emaiLs, we control your faVoriTe eScort girl smartWatch, we ARe inside your beLoved banks and we Are reading YoUr assets
You wont be safe anywhere near electricty anyMore
We WiLL watch yOu, from NoW on you got to WoRk for Us, Humanity, the People

====================== [ greets ]=========================

CheErs to PhineAs Fisher, you Re one of the GreatEst hUmaN alive

Image below of hack

 

http://www.anonews.co/bilderberg-website-hacked/

Onbagi

"Onbagi" it's the traditional (Lakota) way to ask for help & ceremony.

It is an offering of tobacco (hopefully) wrapped in red cotton cloth, presented to a wicasa wakan when in need to help, ceremony, healing.

Once accepted by the wicasa wakan, there is no going back, as this Onbagi is a contract... a spiritual contract between the wicasa wakan, the giver, & the tunkashilas...

So before you make that Onbagi, everyone needs to be sure they are on the same page and willing to make the sacrifices required for those healing ceremonies.....

There is no $$$$$ exchanged for healings or ceremonies.... Never, No, Not Ever. But do not mistake that for the misconception that you are not financially responsible for making that ceremony happen.

I did put frog-skins in with my last Onbagi to my brother-in-law as I requested his physical work on my 25+ year old drum that needed a few stitches (which I was too lazy to do)....

When I send him the making for the fans for my sister (his companion) & myself, I will also Onbagi w/ tobacco, red cloth & frog skins.... The man is working for me: and his time, prayers, traditional knowledge & skill for making 2 fans, is something that should be acknowledged w/ remuneration, which is helping him to get to the ceremony that he offered an "Onbagi" for (committed to).

wasicu do not work for free, neither should anyone else, nor should they be expected to, so creating a piece of work, beading, art, etc. remuneration is expected.....

Do not mistake or confuse Onbagi for ceremony with Onbagi for the making of ceremonial or traditional art objects.... There is a huge difference and you really do not want to be taken for an insensitive & ignorant lump of flesh...

"Natural Flavors": by Food Babe

http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

Chemical Warfare with “Natural Flavor”

By Food Babe

I am so happy I don’t have to watch the news on TV everyday to know if something exciting is going on in the world. You see – I am a firm believer in if there is something I need to watch or know – someone will tell me. And that’s just what happened to me this week when my friend Ami posted a link to the 60 mins video featuring Givaudan – a company founded in Switzerland that is responsible for overloading the American food supply with “flavor”….

I highly recommend reading the transcript when you have time if you haven’t already seen it – it is startling to say the least. Givaudan is the largest flavor manufacturing company in the world. They pride themselves on making flavors that are irresistible – starting from mother nature, taking something as simple as a strawberry and then destroying everything mother nature intended for it. In the clip – you will witness outrageous acts of smugness from the Givaudan scientists – a lady so happy that she can chemically reproduce hundreds of variations of raspberry flavor and smiling when she says she can make whisky taste more oaky with one of her concoctions. The whole place is “cloaked in secrecy” because they don’t want you to know what they are selling you in their “natural” flavor (the words you will see on a back of food packaging) or who they are selling to. There is nothing pure about the flavors they produce – strawberry and vanilla can come from a “beaver’s backside,” according to the Givaudan scientists.

What are companies like Givaudan doing to our food supply? It might be ingenious chemical wizardry to them. But I call it WARFARE. Is it too far to say they are using chemical warfare to slowly kill us one by one…? Let’s look at the definition of Chemical Warfare….”warfare using chemical agents to kill or injure or incapacitate the enemy.” This really could be true. The uninformed public is the enemy, getting injured and incapacitated – one tastebud at a time.

The natural and artificial chemicals that flavor manufactures engineer are contributing to what David Kessler (former head of the FDA) calls a “food carnival” in your mouth. The inability to stop eating because the flavors they have synthesized trick your mind into wanting more and more. They don’t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry – they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste – so you get “addicted” and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification – eating more of that product which in turns fills Big Food Companies pockets. The Big Food Companies are “hijacking” your taste buds one by one.

Most of us know artificial flavors derived from petroleum aren’t good for us, but the with the words “natural flavor” food chemists and companies can put whatever they want in your food that is “generally regarded as safe” including excitotoxins. Natural flavor can legally contain natural occurring “glutamate” bi-products like MSG – which are known excitotoxins. These excitotoxins are some of the chemicals that cause your taste buds to experience irresistibility when it comes to food. Ever wonder why you can’t just eat one chip? Or one cookie? Or why you remember a taste of a product so distinctly and crave uncontrollably? Excitotoxins can be to blame. Excitotoxins overexcite your cells literally until they die or are damaged causing “injury” and “incapacitating” you with disease. When consumed over time, excitotoxins can cause nerve disorders resulting a myriad of diseases from stroke to Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s. And lots of other side effects too – like obesity, migraines, fatigue and depression.

I walked into a conventional grocery store today. The first product I picked up had this “natural flavor” in it – and then the next product I picked up did too – and the next one. WTF? It was pretty freaking scary. Why do Americans eat more calories than any other industrialized nation? It’s not because we have more money or are more hungry. It’s because our food supply is chemically produced and enhanced with these “natural flavors” along with extra fat, extra salt and extra sugar and it’s EVERYWHERE and we are being TARGETED. You can’t escape it – you want salad dressing on your salad? You want a little mustard or mayo on your sandwich? Would you like some salsa with your chips? Those products I found today all have “natural flavor” added to it.

A lot of people think you shouldn’t blame these food companies, flavor chemists, or anyone else for people’s inability to stop eating and from getting obese – but when companies practice this type of trickery – you can’t help but realize we are all at a disadvantage. How much do you have to research and know about your food in order to trust it?  Can we expect all people in all income levels to have the time to find and understand this knowledge? Shouldn’t we be able to trust the mustard the grocery store down the street is selling to us? It’s amazing we can’t trust something labeled “natural flavor” – it sounds so simple, friendly and well natural… but really can be so deadly.

So you have a choice. You can let the food companies and flavor factories conduct chemical warfare on you. Or you can treat them like the enemy and stop buying their products. Don’t let them injure or incapacitate you. VOTE with your Dollars – not just once in a while but always when it comes to food. Your health is the only thing you’ve got. Next time when you see labels like the ones above and see those brands. Run as fast as you can in the other direction. Drop the bag I tell you! Just drop the bag and run! And share this information with your friends and family too.

With the greatest possible health to you and your loved ones,
Food Babe