This time of year is usually full of cheer, especially if one’s economics are right. If someone is suffering economically or having serious issues with their family, then this time of year can be a trying time. Most people buy and spend over-extending their credit and putting themselves in debt. But, people usually are in good spirits. Right now, the holiday season is in full swing. I think it’s about time people got the skinny on one of the most popular holidays, Christmas.
Let’s get right into it, shall we? December 25th is not the birthdate of Jesus. Jesus being born on December 25th is not backed up by the scriptures at all. In fact, it is the noted birthdate of a great number of those that would be considered sun gods or pagan deities. One has to go back about 4,000 years to a place called Shinar. Shinar was located in Babylonian which is now modern-day Iraq. Nimrod was the ruler of Babel, which was later known as Babylon. He was well-loved by the people. He was known to the ancient Egyptians as Osiris. Nimrod’s date of birth was December 25th. Nimrod’s symbol was the evergreen tree which represented everlasting or renewed and regenerated life through Tammuz. Nimrod’s wife was named Semiramis. She was also known as Isis. As the story goes, Semiramis was also the mother of Nimrod. Nimrod was the first being on earth to be deified. During his deification, he was then named Bael the Sun God. At his death he he was said to be eternal and ruled the universe as the Sun God.
Semiramis was said to be impregnated with the seed of Nimrod by the rays of the sun god Nimrod or Bael. She gave birth to their son Tammuz who was said to be Nimrod’s resurrection through birth. This is where the Biblical story of the immaculate conception comes from. Semiramis and Tammuz were married. This was an incestual relationship. Nothing holy about that. But it turns out that Tammuz is also Cupid. Tammuz was a great hunter which is why there is a constellation of Osiris The Great Hunter. After forty years Tammuz was killed by a wild boar.
December 25th represents the return of the rising sun during the winter equinox or the sun’s (son’s) resurrection. According to the Book of Genesis, Nimrod was the great-grandson of Noah. As a side note, I have to mention that originally there were only ten months to the standard calendar. The prefix dec represents ten. Our number system is a base-ten system. This where the term decimal comes into play. Also, decade represents a ten-year span. December used to be the tenth month until Julius Ceasar added July and Augustus Ceasar added August. These two additional months were smuggled in during the great Roman era. So now we have twelve months that represent our modern-day Gregorian calendar. So, even if Jesus’ birthday was on December 25th, we would overshoot it by two months each year.
Like the story of Osiris, Nimrod was murdered by a relative. Semiramis claimed that a full-grown evergreen tree emerged from a dead stump overnight which symbolized the re-erected phallus of Nimrod as well as a new life. The old stump symbolizes the dead Nimrod and the evergreen symbolizes the birth of son Tammuz. Nimrod (Tammuz) would place gifts on the tree every December 25th. This is where the yule log comes into play where the log represents dead Nimrod and is placed into a fire. The next day the log would be a full tree with a snake coiling throughout the branches. The serpent or snake represents resurrection. This is symbolic in the sense that snakes shed their skin which represents resurrection.
In Egyptian mythology, Tammuz is known as Horace who was the son of Osiris and also his resurrection. The ornaments placed on the trees in Babylon were balls dipped in gold or testicles of a sacrificed animal. Now Santa Claus was actually called Nimrod (Molech, Odin). Every December 25th, public child mass sacrifices were held. So, if one placed the “n” in Santa at the end of the word, we would have the word Satan. Satan’s Claws (Claus). Get the picture? The chimney that Santa was said to come down in the story of Santa Claus represents the alter that the children were sacrificed to. The parents would ask the alter for what they wanted before they would drop their newborn child in the fiery alter.
Another couple of names for Christmas is Natalis Invicti and Mithra. On December 17-21, the people would celebrate Saturnalia. During this time the people would get drunk and have wild and violent sex orgies. On the 22nd of December, they would participate in Sigillaria, the second feast or the feast of the dolls.
All of the information stated above is where the so-called holy day of Christmas was extrapolated. With that said, I hope you had a Merry Christmas!
On Friday, Dec. 27, former Vice President Joe Biden said that he would not comply with a subpoena to testify in President Trump’s upcoming Senate impeachment trial.
In an interview with the editorial board of the De Moines Register in Iowa, Biden claimed that if he were issued a subpoena to appear before the Senate, any testimony he would give would only draw attention away from Trump’s alleged wrongdoing and would effectively let the president off the hook.
“What are you going to cover?” Biden said to Register Executive Editor Carol Hunter in response to a question about the possibility of his participation in the trial. “You guys are going to cover for three weeks anything that I said. And (Trump’s) going to get away.”
“You guys buy into it all the time. Not a joke …” he added. “Think what it’s about. It’s all about what he does all the time, his entire career. Take the focus off. This guy violated the Constitution. He said it in the driveway of the White House. He acknowledged he asked for help.”
The Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump earlier this month for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” related to his dealings with Ukraine. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Biden Forced to Clarify His Statement on Subpoena
However, soon after the former VP made those statements, he was forced to clarify his position – which as stated – meant he would be breaking the law.
By Saturday, Biden was singing a different tune.
“I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests,” he tweeted.
“But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine,” he said.
Later on Saturday, during a town hall in Iowa, Biden said he “would obey any subpoena sent to me.”
“The question is, did Trump do his job,” he added.
The sanctuary county of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina is currently on course to let 1,000 criminal illegal immigrants into the interior of the U.S. after its officials ended cooperation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Figures from the federal government have revealed that each year until Fiscal Year of 2019, Mecklenburg County would hand over to ICE between 1,000 to 1,300 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions or pending charges against them.
Last December, however, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden put an end to all of that, tearing up the county’s agreement with ICE, making the county into a sanctuary jurisdiction that actively prevents criminal illegal immigrants from being repatriated back to their homelands.
Unfortunately, the county’s new policy means that roughly 1,000 criminal illegal immigrants are expected be released sometime this year. 300 illegal immigrants who would have be removed from the country by ICE will more than likely stay in the country instead.
“Sanctuary cities and counties around the country are acting as illegal incubators for criminal alien activity, harboring dangerous offenders and often releasing them back to the streets,” one federal official told journalists from Breitbart News.
“The egregious practice of local police ignoring our laws and obstructing the federal law enforcement mission of safety and security should have no place in North Carolina or anywhere else,” the official added.
Among those recently released from the county’s custody are illegal immigrants who’ve been charged with raping children and heroin trafficking, federal immigrations have revealed. Other convictions of illegal immigrants who’ve been released into the country’s interior include drunk driving, assault, possession of drugs, and larceny.
While the left has taken Inspector General Horowitz’s report as some kind of vindication of the FBI and the FISA court, the IG himself begs to differ.
In a second day of testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Hororwitz had some harsh words for both agencies regarding the mistakes his probe revealed that they had made.
During the hearing, IG Horowitz, rebuked the FBI for repeated “failures” during the initial phase of the Russia probe, as reveled by his extensive report on the investigation’s origins and the process used to obtain a surveillance warrant for former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.
Horowitz’s report identified a total of 17 inaccuracies and omissions in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications for Page, which included a doctored email and the failure to include exculpatory information about Page that may have impacted the court’s decision to grant the warrants.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was blunt in trying to get to the bottom of what happened during Wednesday’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
“Were they just all incompetent?” he asked. Hawley then noted that due to the complexities involved, “it doesn’t sound like they’re very stupid to me.”
Hawley ultimately asked why the members of the FBI would commit such failures to mislead a court multiple times.
“That was precisely the concern we had,” Horowitz said. The inspector general made it clear, however, that he did not reach any conclusions regarding intent. But, he also did not necessarily accept the reasons people gave him during his investigation.
“There are so many errors, we couldn’t reach a conclusion or make a determination on what motivated those failures, [other than to] raise concerns about the explanations we got,” Horowitz said.
This echoed what Horowitz said in his opening statement, where he made clear that “although we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct, we also did not receive satisfactory explanations for the errors or the missing information and the failures that occurred.”
Horowitz went on to testify that both Justice Department attorneys and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court “should have been given complete and accurate information,” adding, “that did not occur and as a result, the surveillance of Carter Page continued even as the FBI gathered evidence and information that weakened the assessment of probable cause and made the FISA applications less accurate.”
Accusations of Bias and Impropriety in the FISA Process
After Horowitz released his report, Democrats defending the initial Russia probe, pointed to the lack of a determination of “political bias” as a motivation to start the investigations of the Trump campaign.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., indicated that this would be a flawed assumption, questioning whether Horowitz’s inability to find evidence of bias really meant that there had not been any bias.
“Just because you didn’t find it doesn’t mean it didn’t exist,” Paul said, noting that there could have been 15 people involved whose bias influenced their decisions, but it just wasn’t provable.
“We could not prove it. We lay out here what we can,” Horowitz replied.
Former FBI Director James Comey, who led the bureau at the time, insisted he was unaware of any impropriety at the time, but told “Fox News Sunday” he “was wrong” when he defended the FBI’s FISA process in the past.
Still, he defended his former subordinates by claiming that no one committed any intentional misconduct, despite Horowitz calling for accountability and making referrals for further investigation.
At the same time, Comey admitted that there was “real sloppiness,” and that as director, he was ultimately responsible.
If you follow recent polls, you see that somewhere between 45 and 50 percent of Americans wanted President Trump impeached and removed from office. The anti-Trump media is touting those numbers as evidence that Trump cannot possibly win the 2020 election. And if you take those numbers at face value, you might be inclined to believe them.
But right now, the odds are in favor of Trump winning re-election – and the savvy Democrats know it. But how can that be with such terrible numbers. There are several reasons these polls will not be predictive.
First, historically polls have always favored the Democrats – and the further away from an election the greater the bias. No one knows why that is for sure, but one theory is that most of the polling companies are hired or run by … Democrats. It is just a bit of unavoidable bias that creeps into the building of the demographics and the framing of the questions.
The bias may also lead to another problem – one that can be seen when polling numbers are matched with actual results. Most polling models have been shown to overestimate Democrat turn-out and vote.
There is almost always a general shift toward Republican candidates as the election nears. One only need recall Hillary Clinton’s substantial lead over Trump just a month or so before the election. Even on the eve of the election, polls predicted a Clinton victory – closer, but a victory just the same.
There are also specific reasons why Trump is likely to do better in future polling – and he already is in some polls. He is coming out of the Impeachment process with a bit higher favorable rating – and the number of those clamoring for his impeachment and removal is declining. That is a problem for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats because they impeached Trump as their support among the general public was declining.
House Democrats orchestrated the impeachment process for maximum negative impact on Trump. They expected it and need it. Having gotten ahead of the public – and facing the certainty of an acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate – the Democrat impeachment strategy is collapsing like a wooden tower stacking game.
But perhaps the most important reason for Trump optimism is who gets polled. Some polls cover the American public. Some registered voters. Some likely voters. The value and accuracy of these decline in descending order – with public polling and registered voter polling being utterly worthless.
Even likely voters will not indicate an election outcome. That is because of the Electoral College and the unique distribution of Democrat voters. They are highly concentrated in the big cities of the big very blue states.
To understand why polling can be so inaccurate, you have to look at the 2016 election, in which Trump won the all-important Electoral Collage while losing the popular vote. That was because Clinton racked up HUGE majorities in a few big Democrat states – including California, Illinois and New York. Her margin over Trump was achieved in California alone.
Trump, on the other hand, won narrow victories in 30 states – giving him 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227. It does not matter how huge a candidate’s win is in a single state, they get the same number of electoral votes.
That is also true of national polling. Trump is actually losing ground in those very blue states, but it will not negatively impact on his Electoral Collage vote. By polling only on a state-by-state base – the only way to go – many analysts believe that were the election held today, Trump would again lose the popular vote – even by a wider margin — but still win re-election. One credible analysis even predicts that Trump would lose the popular vote by a greater margin today and still win even more electoral votes than he got in 2016.
Even the mere POSSIBILITY that Trump could be re-elected at the point of his impeachment is a huge red flag for the Democrats. A lot can happen between now and election day, but those who are firmly convinced that Trump will be trounced next November may wind-up reliving election day 2016.
So, there ‘tis.
While the number on stage diminished, but talking points remained the same. And if you think that you are getting debate weary – like going through Disney’s Small World tunnel over and over – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
The pace of debates will increase with another in January and THREE in February. Whoever at the Democratic National Committee signed off on these debates should be looking for a new job.
For sure, the liberal media is always enthused – praising every event, while trying to never criticize any candidate. They will heap lavish praise on their media colleague moderators for their banal softball questions. The December debate was no different – and that was the overarching problem. There was nothing of substance to be learned.
In the aftermath, the folks at CNN and MSNBC could not say enough good things about everyone’s performance. According to the propagandizing pundits, all the candidates did an outstanding job.
I would concur that they all came out relatively even, but not as winners. Rather, they were united in demonstrating that none of them are what America needs. Even with fewer candidates on the stage they all seemed to appear individually smaller. They were all losers.
The seven-candidate debate brought about a much different dynamic, however. It was the day of the moderates. Unlike the previous debates – where progressives outnumbered the so-called moderates of the Democratic Party — this was a 5-to-1 advantage for the Biden wing of the Party. Elizbeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were left to hold up the increasingly tattered flag of the radical left.
Suddenly progressives did not look like the future of the Democratic Party, but a philosophic albatross. All that talk about everything for everybody got slapped down over and over. When Warren was told that most economists say her multi-trillion-dollar plans are way too expensive, her feeble response was, “They’re wrong.”
The debate led off with virtually identical no-surprise mentally pre-recorded statements in support of President Trump’s impeachment. Oh hum.
There were a few notable moments if you had not nodded off or switched over to the movie channel. The fellow with the sharpest blade was the usually mild-mannered mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg. He was attacked by the two ladies on the dais, Warren and Amy Klobuchar.
Warren walked into a well-set trap when she blasted Buttigieg for being willing to take money from rich people and holding big-donor fundraisers in a fancy California wine cave. Buttigieg snapped like a bear trap. He said the Democrat candidate should not exclude any legal donations because the nominee will be facing the mega-million-dollar Trump campaign.
And then he went on the counterattack, noting that Warren is the very person – a multimillionaire – that she condemns. Punch number one. In a hard right to jaw, Buttigieg next noted that Warren had partially funded her campaign by transferring millions from her Senate account – money raised in the good old fashion soak-the-rich tradition. Punch two – and Warren is left staggering. Award the round to the small-town mayor.
Klobuchar played the experience card – diminishing Buttigieg by comparing her Washington experience to his as a small-town mayor. Often derisively referring to him as “mayor.” Buttigieg correctly noted that Washington experience is exactly what most voters do not want. While Klobuchar said she did not mean to demean his experience, Buttigieg hit back with, “But you did.” Mayor Pete may not have knocked Klobuchar to the canvas, but he showed he could take a punch and hit back.
Most of the post-debate pundits agreed that former Vice President Joe Biden was as good as he gets — not great, but at the top of HIS game. His level of performance was unintentionally damned with faint praise when CNN’s Chris Cuomo suggested that at least Biden did not have any of those senior moments that characterized his past performances.
Biden did stumble once – in my judgment. When asked if he would sacrifice hundreds of thousands of jobs to shut down the fossil fuel industry, he said he would. With that answer, the former VP won himself a spot in innumerable Republican campaign commercials.
Now in all fairness, Biden said all those people would get even better jobs – union jobs. No worker is going to believe that political sop. Biden made it sound like you lose your job on Friday and start a better job on Monday. No Joe. It does not happen that way.
Promising unemployment for hundreds of thousands of highly unionized mining and drilling workers may even lose Biden a few points with some of the labor bosses. That comment should have the head of the United Mine Workers heading to the White House for a photo-op.
Sanders was Sanders – reprising his role as the understudy for the Muppets’ grumpy old man. We were again … and again … reminded that a few people at the top of the economic ladder have a lot more wealth than a lot of us down at the lower rungs. His call for “revolution” in America is starting to sound like the wishful reminiscences of a retired general in a military home.
Businessman Tom Steyer reminded the audience that he was among the first to call for Trump’s impeachment – not long after the 2016 election. I wrote a commentary at the time, that he was collecting names for a future presidential run. Ironically, Steyer’s proud claim gives credence to the Republican charge that Democrats have been obsessed with impeachment from day one.
That leaves businessman Andrew Yang. According to the clock watchers, he had the least talking time – and I cannot think of anything he said that was new or significant. So, I guess he won the debate.
So, there ‘tis.
In the midst of this holiday season, I found myself channeling Clement Clarke Moore and his epic holiday poem.
‘Twas the week before Christmas when all through the House
Impeachment was stirring, with considerable joust;
The Articles were prepared by the chairmen unfair,
In the hopes that Pelosi, no vote would she spare.
The members assembled all smug at their desks;
While visions of Trump gave Democrats no rest.
The Speaker with gavel and Schiff at his post,
They addled our brains with their long-winded roast.
When off to the right there arose such a clatter,
I ran to the chamber to see what’s the matter.
Away to the gallery, I flew like a flash,
I tore open the doors with a loud sounding crash.
The lights of the chamber seem dim and so low,
Giving an ominous look to the people below.
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
A miniature Nadler I saw from the rear.
He was speaking to another in such somber riff,
And I knew in a moment it was his friend shifty Schiff.
To your seats now assemble, I heard Pelosi proclaim.
She gaveled and shouted and called each by their name.
Now Omar! Now Clyburn! Now Dingell and Pascrell
Come Shalala! Come Lujan! Come Waters and Swalwell.
To the front of the chamber, to your seats in this hall.
Now vote away! Vote away! Vote away all.
To their seats in the chamber each member they flew,
With the hands full of papers, and those Articles, too.
And then in a twinkling, the call of the roll,
With the secretary of the House taking the toll.
As I drew in my head and kept gazing about.
Down came the gavel with Pelosi’s great clout.
She was dressed in all black, from her head to her foot,
As the scheme of her caucus had now taken root
With the pretense of solemnity, she stood at the podium
With confidence in the outcome, despite its odium
A bundle of votes, she drew from the floor
Of the number she needed, there were quite a few more.
Her eyes, how they squinted, her lips pursed so tight
You could tell that the Speaker was ready to fight.
When the votes were all counted and their deed was then done,
Madam Speaker had warned against any expression of fun.
With a wink of her eye and a frown on her head
She gave warning to her members – a warning they dread.
The Republicans stayed loyal to the positions they held,
But four Democrats protested by refusing to meld.
While shaking a finger at those who oppose,
She picked up the gavel and in her hand it arose.
Banging on the rostrum, she declared with great might,
That Impeachment is accomplished on this cold winter night.
So, there ‘tis.
Many people in this present time feel that we are not alone in this vast universe or solar system for that matter when it comes to intelligent life. I’m talking about an extraterrestrial alien presence currently existing on earth unbeknownst to most people. Is it possible that we share the earth with intelligent beings that are not human or from this planet? According to Phil Schneider, we currently co-exist with extraterrestrial alien life forms here on earth.
Phil Schneider has 17 years of experience working on government Black Projects or Skunk Works. These projects or budgets suck away 25% of the United States’ gross national product. Trillions of dollars per year are smuggled into these projects. Rumsfeld admitted in a congressional hearing that they had misplaced over $7 trillion. I wonder where that money went. Phil Schneider was a geologist and structural engineer. He was part of the Area 51 construction crew. There are currently 131 secret underground bases in the U.S. Phil also worked on the construction of other secret underground bases like Dulce, New Mexico and Los Alamos where 66 government agents and workers lost their lives in August 1979 during conflicts with E.T.’s. As early as 1979 there were 1477 secret underground bases internationally where they utilize such technology as the magneto leviton trains which reach speeds of up to Mach 2.
Phil Schneider says while working on drilling a base in Dulce, New Mexico, the excavation crew and himself was attacked by E.T.’s. In this attack, Phil lost two fingers and had his rib cage blasted open by a laser shot from the alien. Phil Schneider stated that these aliens were about 7 feet tall, had an angered appearance, and smelled really bad. He was lucky to make it out with his life but he did need a prosthetic rib cage put in place of the one he lost in the attack. After Phil Schneider went public, there have been nine attempts on his life. In one of the attempts, Phil was shot three times. Two of the bullets got lodged in the artificial rib cage so it may have possibly saved his life. Phil Schneider concluded that these particular E.T.’s were malevolent and had plans to take over and colonize the earth.
Phil states that there are eleven distinct races of aliens or E.T.’s. This information remains hidden because the “government” doesn’t want the general public to know the alien agenda which includes colonizing the earth, creating human-extraterrestrial hybrids and using humanity as it’s genie pig. History is not what one might believe it is. A big piece of ours is missing. Phil Schneider says that E.T.’s arrived on this planet as far back as 500,000-1,000,000 years ago. In 1909 aliens were first encountered by a U.S. Calvary unit while chasing down some alleged outlaws. The Calvary came across the E.T.’s in a cave. They called the UFO’s the “silver wing” for lack of better terminology describing what they just had encountered.
In 1954, the United States government signed a treaty with the E.T’s giving them the right to abduct humans and livestock in exchange for technology. In these underground bases, biological tests are being done along with the reverse engineering of traded technology. The treaties stated that the E.T.’s were to report who and what was abducted and also for what purpose. The aliens over time continued to alter the treaty to suit their agenda. They proved to be deceitful. Some say that many of the extraterrestrials are interdimensional demons as well.
Dr. Steven Greer is an E.T. researcher. Officer X joined forces with Dr. Greer because of his contacts and influence with the “higher-ups” in the government and military. He would be able to use that to aid Dr. Greer with his quest. He uses Officer X because he wished to remain anonymous. In 1997, Dr. Greer was heading to Phoenix to create a video to present as evidence of E.T.’s to Congress in D.C. Simultaneously the biggest UFO event in American history took place. On March 13th, 1997, what has been coined the Phoenix Lights happened. 6-7 huge luminous bright lights lit up the sky in front of the eys of over ten thousand people.
Disinformation is often used to cause investigative minds to lose the scent and get their eyes off the prize. Although some alien enthusiasts don’t feel that the E.T.’s don’t have a malevolent agenda, but some do. How much of our lives have been bargained away?
When I was younger, I feared that I might die young. One day I woke up and realized I had become too old to die young. I, like several of the candidates for President of the United States, have slipped into what I call the “red zone” of life – that time when anything can happen at any time.
Since I am in the age range of several of the leading Democrat candidates, I have given serious thought to that issue. It is almost a year until the next election. Will the septuagenarian candidates make it to election day without a trip or two to the hospital?
I posed that question because I did a mental inventory of my friends who are in the same age group. Almost every one of them has had a trip to the hospital or been diagnosed with a serious illness – not always life-threatening, but serious enough. Many required surgery – including myself.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has already hit the emergency room with a mild heart attack. Having had one or two of those in the past, I can attest to the fact that you can return to normal life for a while – but not the life one leads when they are 40, 50 or even 60.
The 95-year-old former President Jimmy Carter said it directly. He declared that no person over the age of 80 can handle the job of President. I think he is probably right – and two of the Democrat candidates – Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden – will enter the eighth decade of life during their potential first term in office.
Based on my own experience and general statistics, I see a very high possibility – maybe even a probability – that one or more of the older candidates will have a health scare before the election. It could change the entire trajectory of the campaigns — depending on who it is and when it might occur.
If it happens when they are a candidate, it is mitigable. If it happens after taking the oath of office, it can be a much more serious problem.
I know it is not politically correct to raise the issue of age, but as Biden often says – “come on, now. Get real”
So, there ‘tis.
Eight-year-old Alyssa Lemay was alone in her room – or so she thought – when a disembodied voice began to speak to her. Alarmed, the little girl asked, “Who is that?”
The tenor tones of a man’s voice replied right away:
“I’m your best friend – I’m Santa Claus!”
The voice continued:
“You can do whatever you want right now. You can mess up your room. You can break your TV.”
At that point, the girl yelled, “MOMMY!” for help.
The girl’s mother Ashley LeMay shared the security camera system footage with ABC’s Good Morning America show and said:
“I can’t even put into words how violated I feel. It really is like my worst nightmare.”
Ashley LeMay returned her new Ring camera just four days after purchasing it. The conscientious parent had set up the system to monitor her three daughters while she worked overnight nursing shifts. Another mother had recommended adding the security feature and it seemed like a great Black Friday bargain.
Young Alyssa was in the hallway with her two sisters when she heard some strange music coming from her room. Curious, she went inside to investigate. That’s when the unknown intruder’s voice told her it was okay to trash her room and break an expensive piece of equipment.
Ring issued a statement that the company was “taking appropriate steps to protect our devices” and that “we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring’s security.”
The statement, presumably intended to calm consumers’ fears, went on insult the intelligence of some of their clients and blame them for giving the cyber trespassers an easy way in:
“Due to the fact that customers often use the same username and password for their various accounts and subscriptions, bad actors often re-use credentials stolen or leaked from one service on other services. As a precaution, we highly and openly encourage all Ring users to enable two-factor authentication on their Ring account, add Shared Users (instead of sharing login credentials), use strong passwords, and regularly change their passwords.”
Another similar statement made Ring appear to be the good guys, above reproach:
“Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. Our security team has investigated this incident and we have no evidence of an unauthorized intrusion or compromise of Ring’s systems or network.”
“Recently, we were made aware of an incident where malicious actors obtained some Ring users’ account credentials (e.g., username and password) from a separate, external, non-Ring service and reused them to log in to some Ring accounts. Unfortunately, when the same username and password is reused on multiple services, it’s possible for bad actors to gain access to many accounts.
“Upon learning of the incident, we took appropriate actions to promptly block bad actors from known affected Ring accounts and affected users have been contacted.”
This isn’t the first time a Ring security camera system has been hacked. Owners in Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and Texas have filed incident reports after their systems, intended to provide safety, introduced danger instead. Hackers have subjected family members to racial slurs and even demanded a Bitcoin ransom.
A Georgia couple who prefer to remain anonymous said they were alarmed when a hacker’s voice began speaking through the speaker in their bedroom three weeks after they had installed the system to keep an eye on their puppy while they went to work.
On December 9, 2019, after putting Beau the pup in a crate for the night, the Brookhaven woman lay down in her bed to go to sleep. Then, she was startled to hear a man’s cough over the Ring camera. Thinking it was her boyfriend, the woman texted him:
“I see the blue light come on…Why are you watching us?”
His reply:
“What are you talking about?”
Then, the stranger’s voice started giving orders and clapping his hands:
“I can see you in the bed! C’mon! Wake the [expletive] up!”
The woman said she was terrified and “literally could not move my body.”
At one point, the male voice tried to engage the dog:
“Hello! Hello! Come here, puppy.”
The couple said they shared their story with the media after filing a police report to raise public consciousness about the dangers of the Ring surveillance network:
“I just want people to be aware. We got this Ring camera thinking about one thing – watching our puppy – not somebody looking at us.”
The couple checked the security system’s settings and found out that their Ring camera had been hacked on four separate occasions – but they couldn’t be sure if it was the same person each time.
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