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Post by HiTemp on Jun 24, 2014 5:17:35 GMT -7
I caught just a bit of this hearing and I can't believe what I'm seeing. The whole thrust of this disappearing email thing is centered on the loss of a single hard drive. No government IT department I've ever heard of keeps emails on a single hard drive, in fact the specs for setting up a network REQUIRE that email servers be configured with a RAID array using 3 drives. When I was doing network admin chores for the classified network I managed, this was a never-ending problem because of the cheap-ass hard drives the government would buy and issue to us. But, even with a lot of failures, recovery was simple: you took the bad drive out, put a new formatted drive in, and turned the system back on. In the background, all data on the good drives was copied to the new drive. You ended up with 3 identical hard drives. In fact, for archive purposes, we'd intentionally pull a drive that was good and install a fresh drive, let it get copied to, then pull it and store it, replacing it with the pulled good drive.
Works like this: You have A, B, and C installed and working. You replace B with D, let it update, then put B back in and store D as your archive copy. Next month, you pull B again and insert E for updating, then replace E with the original B and store E. Next month, you use D again to backup, month later E, then D again, etc. 5 drives, 3 in the system, two stored. That was the standard config we used for every network on the base, email servers included, and the civilian (government employee) networks on base used the same system. It isn't even possible for TWO hard drives to crash and lose all the data because you only need one to recover the whole thing. Our IT budget for the network I ran was $4150 a year. I find it not just incredible but impossible that an agency with a $1.5 BILLION IT budget didn't have a simple multi-drive system. One way to find out - subpoena their IT people and their purchasing records and you'll know what configuration they had. Supposedly they had a complete tape backup of everything, but no one knows if they ever attempted to back up from it.
This is just sickening. Congress should demand all IRS computer record backup chores be given to a civilian contractor without such incompetence and strip the IRS of its $1.5 billion budget. They also need to suspend the entire government worker bonus program. There is no way the head of IRS should be saying "we knew of the deficiency" but needed another 10 to 30 million to fix it, which we didn't have, but they managed to dole out $80 million plus in bonuses.
That's why government can't run a single program well. There is just too much politics and too many personal agendas in big bureaucracies.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Jun 24, 2014 6:12:14 GMT -7
Actually its 6 hard drives all on different computers of people under subpoena, all at the same time period after the private archiving service they used was dropped about the time they were starting to target the Teaparty groups. But its a 'conspiracy theory' to even think their may be something nefariousness going on. They convicted Scooter Libby on less.
We should do those things, in fact I would favor banning all public unions, tying wages to private sector averages of like jobs, raises to cost of living and sans bonuses at all. Ultimately we should repeal the 16th amendment and abolish the IRS as it is period as the only way to effect any true reform, but that's about as likely as anything of substance coming from this. Congress at large has no interest to reform the gestapo, they might want it when the power swings back, and it make good political theater and fundraising lever.
And when we do get a couple who may actually be good leaders who understand their constitutional role, they turn out to be complete imbeciles on foreign policy and national security and blame us for the chaos and evil of Islam. Jindal was right when he said people are ready for a revolution.
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Post by Stetto, man... on Jun 24, 2014 6:58:39 GMT -7
Those hard drives were at the least intentionally wiped if not destroyed. I know more than a few tech geeks who all say that once an email is sent, it exists FOREVER somewhere. It's just a matter of diligence and computer savvy to find them. I have no doubt the Chi-Coms have copies of everything. These buffoons know this, and will change their stories accordingly, as they've been doing all along. It's as simple as saying "Someone planted that", and again, scandal diffused. As long as there are Dave Galvins out there enthusiastically supporting this blatant malfeasance/ineptitude/corruption/abuse of power, we not only will never see the end of it, this is powderpuff compared to what's coming. This IS the rise of nazi Germany repeating.
This is the Chicago Mob Machine that was predicted before 2008, confirmed immediately after the ordination, and steadily entrenching.
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Post by HiTemp on Jun 24, 2014 17:40:26 GMT -7
See, this is the thing. I don't care how many individual PCs have a hard drive failure, the emails aren't saved on those machines, they are saved on the server or via the server's archiving processes. Suppose Lerner, just for example, emailed some other IRS schmuck. Lerner has a copy on her PC, the email goes to the network's email handler which could be just a program on the main network machine but is usually a dedicated server because of the load it uses. So a copy sits in the archive of the mail server, another copy is written to the client account - i.e. - the recipient's email file/folder. When that person checks their email, the copy on the server is downloaded to their PC and usually - unless the client sets it up otherwise - the email file is deleted once it is downloaded. But the COPY STILL EXISTS in the server's archive copy. That's how all (when I say all I mean I have never seen or heard of a network set up otherwise) networks keep a copy of all their company or organization's emails... they just do a daily backup of that email archive of the server and they have ALL emails from anyone to anyone, including the Admin of the network. That's the standard way they are set up.
If you've ever had your work PC fail, you'll normally be told when you get a replacement that they can load your group settings (access to various things, programs) in an hour or so, but your email won't be back to what it was for a couple days. That's because they have to load yesterday's email archive and merge it with whatever emails you sent/received from today's archive that will be made at the end of the day (midnight or so). Once they merge the data, they restore it to your account and all your old emails come right back. That's why they do it like that.
The IRS, unless they are the only people in government with some strange reasons for not doing it the industry standard way - and I find that hard to believe because their IT job postings all require MS or CISCO network qualifications and both of them teach you to set it up as I described - should have backups galore. Plus, many government outfits have a policy of sending monthly backups off-site for archival purposes, a policy put into place after the Oklahoma City bombing and 911. So if they are saying there is no copy anywhere - and it's interesting to note the IRS has specifically NOT said that - then they are full of it.
Give me 15 minutes with their network administrator and I'll get every email they've ever sent over their email system for whatever month is in question. Specific day would take longer, maybe another 30 minutes.
Get serious Congress! They don't produce the email in a week, defund them. Strip their bonuses and freeze all purchasing until you get the emails, no ands, ifs, or buts. Suspend all their IT people and open it up to private bidding. I'd bet there is a ton of companies out there who would love to get a government contract like that.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Jun 24, 2014 19:42:00 GMT -7
I know, I am pretty familiar with email, servers and how the server sends email through clients who all keep the data. It would be bad enough that they claim to have lost one persons email, which is not possible, even in closed system unless it was intentionally scrubbed, they want us to believe everyone of consequence also lost their emails that might have been pertinent.
And you are right, the show is great, but there is no move of any substance at all. Where is the special prosecutor that surely would have been appointed if Pelosi was speaker and this was Bush. They have no interest in fixing this. The GOP is just as interested in having the Teaparty suppressed as the dems, probably more so.
But this will come to no good end, people are getting fed up and will start to take their own actions if they keep getting pushed into a corner.
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Post by HiTemp on Jun 24, 2014 21:28:17 GMT -7
Good reporters say that the story is not so much in what they tell you but in what they don't tell you. Someone isn't telling the whole story here, and I'm not talking about the IRS. With IRS, they are in complete damage control mode and are denying everything, hoping the thing blows over or, like Benghazi, becomes too old news to pursue any longer.
Congress cannot be that stupid that they aren't being told by competent IT people how they can retrieve the emails. It would not surprise me if they had a mole or two on the inside at IRS feeding them the backstory as this whole thing plays out. But something is definitely missing. It's as though they have a smoking gun (or what they believe to be one) but are not putting that into play just yet. Based on what they asked/said to this IRS dude at the last set of hearings, there really was no reason for him to be there. I'm wondering if the IRS anticipated they would lay out their smoking gun and sent the head guy over there to flush it out. I don't know why I think that, just that this whole thing is a big show about a routine IT chore that should be handled one way or the other inside a week, including getting off-site copies to restore from. Congress must know that, and it's almost as if they are giving the IRS all the rope they need to hang themselves.
Something about it just isn't right. There has to be more to this.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Jun 25, 2014 6:07:13 GMT -7
I used to think there had to be more to a lot of these scandals and the reaction by the opposition, but after all that's happened, every new scandal worse and much larger than the last, and no consequence at all for anyone ever comes of it, I think not. You are seeing all there is to see, a show, and it will blow over, and the GOP will stupidly expect the same treatment when they are in majority, because they want to be the dictators for a while.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Jun 26, 2014 6:08:50 GMT -7
Heh, The lack of response is prompting the I dog ate my homework defense to other agencies, with the EPA now. But not to fear, the GOP is taking a stand, Boehner is going to sue... the president. If they wanted to really wanted to light a fire, articles of impeachment would have been drawn up for his majesty, special investigators would be appointed for the EPA IRS and Harry Reid, and several other Dem and GOP congress members for numerous corruption issues and defund until a govt shutdown in order to house clean. None of that will happen. This govt is no longer anything it was founded as. I have had enough, I see only a future of session or rebellion is next IMO, regardless if the GOP wins a damn thing. With Thad "Teaparty is racist" Cochran pulls off the slimiest subversion of elections and no one says boo, there is no voice for the anyone who wants a limited accountable govt, much less the teaparty in this system, and it IS tyranny. (Yes you NSA bastiges, I pinged your radar I'm sure, your day is coming too where you are taking off ID and throwing it away and trying to blend in the crowd. You will reap what you sow)
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Post by Stetto, man... on Jun 26, 2014 6:25:54 GMT -7
(Yes you NSA bastiges, I pinged your radar I'm sure, your day is coming too where you are taking off ID and throwing it away and trying to blend in the crowd. You will reap what you sow) Their problem will be just like those who ran Auschwitz. They are right now high profile and people have a talent for remembering the faces of their tormentors, even decades later. Their "enthusiastic supporters"? Heh, they'll have eaten each other by the time this is done...
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Post by zrct02 on Jun 26, 2014 11:08:39 GMT -7
This all just tells me they are all corrupt. The only reason to not press for the facts is that they have things to hide also.
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Post by HiTemp on Jun 26, 2014 11:34:54 GMT -7
Only three entities can convene a special prosecutor; Obummer, Holder, or a Federal Judge.
Sure bet the O won't; Holder was sent the request and hasn't replied - good reason for the House to hold the entire DOJ budget up until they get an answer. I don't see anyone trying to take the matter to a Federal Judge, which may be why Holder isn't answering up one way or the other.
But the House has the power to appoint a Special Counsel, whose powers are pretty close to that of a Special Prosecutor at least in terms of investigatory powers. Why no move to do that, I wonder?
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Jun 27, 2014 6:09:10 GMT -7
I know it was rhetorical, but it could not be more clear they want to use a political neutron bomb, clear out the dems but leave the machine intact. The problem for them with that is the teaparty at large is just not quite as stupid as the dependent class to believe what the "leadership" in govt says, no matter what pie hole it comes from, they only recognize result, and there has been very little of that.
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Post by HiTemp on Jun 27, 2014 19:46:13 GMT -7
Well I'm sure not holding my breath waiting for Boehner's "lawsuit." Sounds like it was designed just in time for a couple primary elections, now that the heat is off it will quietly fall into a ditch like his promises to get to the bottom of Benghazi and Holder running guns to Mexico.
I don't even know why I bother reading the news about these useless idiots. I'm getting ready to self-impose a Stettoban on political news. Same ol' thing: Outrageous behavior, run to the microphone to criticize it, go back to their office and forget about it.
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