NEW YORK - John McCain is mocked as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate in a television commercial out Friday from Barack Obama as the Democrat begins his sharpest barrage yet on McCain’s long Washington career.

The new fighting spirit (PD Note: article written by AP. Notice how Hussein’s age-based attacks are spun in a positive light as “fighting spirit”?) comes as McCain has been gaining in the polls and some Democrats have been expressing concern the Obama campaign has not been aggressive enough. (PD Note: Again, the light spin. It’s been widely reported from The Politico on down that the Dems have hit a full-blown panic over Hussein’s plummeting polls and floundering campaign, . But here that’s censored for a brighter outlook: all we are told is “some Dems have been expressing concern.” Uh, that’s a, shall we say, very glossed over picture of the darker reality faced by the candidate the AP de facto endorses.) Obama’s campaign says the escalation will involve advertising and pushes made by the candidate, running mate Joe Biden and other surrogates across the country.

“Today is the first day of the rest of the campaign,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe says in a campaign strategy memo. “We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain’s attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people.”

The newest ad showcasing their hard line includes unflattering footage of McCain at a hearing in the early ’80s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit, interspersed with shots of a disco ball, a clunky phone, an outdated computer and a Rubik’s Cube.

“1982, John McCain goes to Washington,” an announcer says over chirpy elevator music. “Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn’t.

“He admits he still doesn’t know how to use a computer, can’t send an e-mail, still doesn’t understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class,” it says. It shows video of McCain getting out of a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush and closes with a photo of him standing with the current President Bush at the White House. “After one president who was out of touch, we just can’t afford more of the same.”

Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer claimed the campaign was not making an issue of the 72-year-old McCain’s age, but the time he’s spent in Washington.( PD Note: Did he have any choice other than to say “Don’t believe your lying eyes, we’re not saying he’s too old to be President.”? No, he didn’t and so his statement is as empty as his candidate.)

“Our economy wouldn’t survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn’t know how to send an e-mail.”

A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, Alex Conant, accused Obama of “trying to destroy” McCain and running mate Sarah Palin with personal attacks.

“This is more evidence that Obama’s politics of hope is just empty words,” Conant said in a statement.

Obama has already been showing a newly aggressive tone on the campaign trail in the past week, claiming he is a real change agent for Washington, and that McCain’s claims to be one are phony. Some Democrats have privately groused that Obama is attacking Palin and arguing that job should fall to Biden.

(AP)

Fri, 12 Sep 2008

Pak Tribune

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army has been ordered to retaliate against any action by foreign troops inside the country, Geo News quoted ISPR spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas as saying on Thursday night.
Shakil Shaikh adds from Islamabad: Pakistan`s military commanders resolved to defend the country`s borders without allowing any external forces to conduct operations inside Pakistan.

The military commanders expressed this resolve on the first day of the two-day Corps Commanders conference, which began here on Thursday at the General Headquarters. Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani chaired the all-important conference against the backdrop of the new strategic developments taking place in the region.

General Kayani has already rebuffed the American policy of including Pakistani territory in their operations against terrorists and those hiding in the areas bordering Afghanistan. Reports say that the US President Bush has allowed air raids from drones and ground operations in Pakistani areas including FATA.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has termed General Kayani`s response to the Americans as a true reflection of the government`s policy. The military commanders are understood to have discussed the implications of the American attacks inside Pakistan and took stock of the public feeling.

“In his statement, Genral Kayani has represented the feeling of the entire nation, as random attacks inside Pakistan have angered each and every Pakistani,” said a senior official. As the corps commanders continue their discussion on Friday, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported the Bush administration`s policy of conducting attacks inside Pakistan.

President Zardari is expected to talk to Mr. Brown on this issue during his first visit to Britain next week. Pakistan`s Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, is also learnt to have already talked to senior security officials in Washington. The latest spate of attacks from drones in Fata has killed many innocent people recently, which has only added to the gravity and complexity of the situation.

Click on the pic to view the vid…

If you get an email that gives you a link to an “Obama Sex Tape” don’t open it.

Cyber crooks are trying to cash in on fascination with the US presidential race by sending trick email promising a sex video starring candidate Barack Obama, according to Sophos computer security firm.
Email recipients gullible enough to click on an enclosed link get to see a seemingly homemade sex video that doesn’t feature the presidential contender but does secretly install malicious software on people’s computers.

“This email has been spammed out widely across the Internet, claiming that US senator Barack Obama has been in a sex video while he was in the Ukraine and all you have to do is click on the link to view the movie,” Sophos technology consultant Graham Cluley said in a video posted on the firm’s website.

“If you were to click on that link … spyware is installed on your computer which steals your passwords and your banking information and sends it to cyber criminals.”

Ill-intended creators of malicious software are quick to seize on hot topics to dupe people into opening files or executing applications that allow stealth programs to invade their machines.

The tactic is referred to as “social engineering” because it involves fooling computer users instead of hacking past security software or firewalls guarding systems.

Ruses have involved sending bogus emails promising images or video of celebrities or from major disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis or hurricanes.

“So next time you receive an unsolicited email don’t just blindly click on it,” Cluley advised. “You could be getting into danger.”

(AP)

Dropping like flys….

September 12, 2008

(AFP) - A missile fired by a suspected US drone Friday killed a dozen people in a Pakistani tribal area where American forces based in Afghanistan have been targeting Al-Qaeda militants.

The missile hit a house on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, a local official said, in the fifth such strike in two weeks targeting Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters hiding out in the rugged tribal area.

“The pre-dawn strike destroyed the house and 12 people were killed,” the official told AFP, with another 10 people wounded.

The 12 were believed to be rebel fighters, locals said, adding that the house hit in the Tol Khel area had been rented by an Afghan militant organisation, Al Badar, and was being used as an office.

Al Badar, backed by former guerrilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has previously conducted operations against Afghan and international forces based across the border in Afghanistan, residents and a security official said.

Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.

Pakistan and the United States have been drawn into a dispute over the strikes, with Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani this week strongly criticising them and insisting no deal existed to allow foreign troops to conduct them.

As well as the missile strikes, Pakistan for the first time accused Afghanistan-based troops of carrying out a direct attack on its territory, a raid in the South Waziristan tribal zone that left 15 people dead.

US and Afghan officials say Pakistan’s tribal areas are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.

A separate strike in North Waziristan on Monday targeted but failed to hit top Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, but did kill four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives, a security official and a militant source said.

With tens of thousands of US and other international troops locked down in Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen said Wednesday he had ordered a new strategy covering both sides of the border with Pakistan.

7:24 A.M.

Are you ready? No, you’re not.