Methbot

Back in early July, I noticed an unusual number of hits to this blog coming out of the small island of Mauritius ... then later in the month this activity shifted to Russia. At the time I attributed this surge to political intelligence gathering by the Ruskies ... see: From Russia with Love. Next my Verizon e-mail account was tagged for issuing spam ... all very suspicious! In a few weeks this spurt of Russian activity disappeared and I assumed I had been tasted by the bear and spit out.

Not so fast oh naive one ... for the Russian surge has returned in the last few weeks and today I think I found out why. It seems that there is a grifting group in Russia (and Mauritius too?) that are using a robotic Internet agent called "Methbot" that runs around the Internet referencing sites to artificially run up advertising revenue for some mysterious third party ... see: Fortune Magazine Story. I'm not sure that this is the bot jazzing up the impressions on this site but I am reasonably sure it is a bot because of the syncopation and magnitude of the references. And I also am seeing more originating in the United States of late. And all this for this blog that does't carry ads!!

The site of this blog is run by Google (in a rather haphazard and unprofessional manner). I would like to believe that the software and network talent at Google would be able to thwart such scammers. But maybe the technical talent there does not match their reputations or compensation? Or maybe all this phony bot ad revenue also benefits Google too? (We're talking about as much as two billion dollars of fake annual ad revenue from this one bot.) Just maybe the disincentive just isn't there ...

And just maybe Methbot was used to throw the presidential election? (Tongue in cheek.)

Machismo

I hate to believe that the Obummer administration would make military and cyber-warfare decisions based upon the political climate of the current presidential race. Can we weigh the following unusual events to see if they may be designed to aid one side in this contest?

- The planned final assault on what's left of the ISIS forces in Mosul, Iraq. After months of run-up and the insertion of hundreds more of US military "advisers", this assault is taking place against any Islamic States forces that have been foolish enough to stay in Mosul ... see: Activist Post Story. After years of a namby-pamby foreign policy, I find it deeply offensive that this administration would cynically time and sacrifice possible American or even Iraqi lives in order to get Hellary Clinton elected.

- The CIA's telegraphed cyber-attack on Russia ... probably to accent the Democrats' charge that Russia has been the source of the embarrassing Wikileaks e-mail hacks over the last many months ... see: NBC News Story. Note the funny wording in this story "a possible 'covert' cyber attack"! How can it be covert if it is in the national news?

- The recent cruise missile attacks on three radar sites inside of Houthi-controlled Yemen perpetuates the narrative that Obummer is not beholden to Iran ... see: The Guargian Story. This is because the Houthis are sponsored and funded by Iran ... probably with some ot the $150 billion gift from the Obummer administration ... connected to the highly-unpopular Iran nuclear agreement.

I find it just a little ironic that the Democrats are attempting to elect our first female president predicated on using machismo tactics.

Cotton Candy

My grandfather had a term for cotton candy at the carnival … “gap and get nothing.” In case you haven’t noticed in this blog, I am not a fan of the Clinton's, particularly Hillary Clinton ... who is, to me, nothing more than cotton candy … non-nutritional pap designed to appeal to the impulse buyer … but clearly not good for one’s health.

I have previously done a serious appraisal of Hillary’s term as Secretary of State and have come up nearly empty … see: Ship of State Disasters. But now, in preparation for a possible run for the presidency in 2016, she is beginning to slyly critique the very failed policies she helped put in place … particularly in the Middle East and toward Russia.

In retrospect, even the Democrat establishment seems hard pressed to list her actual good deeds when she was at the reins in Foggy Bottom … other than she traveled a lot … see: Hillary's Accomplishments. But they still idolize her and want her as their leader.

But now even the pink Duchess herself can’t find the words to list her winners while she was Secretary of State … other than meaningless blather … see: Capitol City Project. If she actually runs to replace our feckless leader in 2016, she best sit down with her extensive and well-paid posse and make up some fibs to put in her pre-election book … which will have a compelling title but which few will read … and to answer such an obvious question.

For, in reality, Hillary Clinton is clearly gap and get nothing …

Prediction

If Mitt Romney were to win the Presidential election on November 6th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average would immediately advance by at least 1,000 points.  (It already is creeping up as Romney keeps doing better in the polls.)