Tea at Trianon: China Hacks U.S. Treasury

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

China Hacks U.S. Treasury

From The National Pulse:

The Biden-Harris government announced on Monday that a state-sponsored actor from China breached the U.S. Treasury Department. According to federal officials, the attack allowed the hackers to access workstations used by government employees and obtain unclassified materials. This development follows recent reports that Chinese entities had infiltrated U.S. telecommunications networks, gaining access to the conversations and text messages of American officials.
On December 8, BeyondTrust, a third-party software service vendor, alerted the Treasury Department about the security breach. The hackers had secured a security key, enabling remote access to certain department workstations and associated documents. The Treasury Department communicated this information to lawmakers in a formal letter. (Read more.)

Communism is alive and well and trying to spread. From Sinocism:

The Party’s leadership gathers a tremendous force for building Chinese modernization. Our Party profoundly understands that Chinese modernization is a cause of hundreds of millions of people, and that the people are the principal force behind Chinese modernization. Therefore, we must rely closely on the people, respect their creative spirit, and gather the wisdom and strength of all, so as to continuously advance Chinese modernization. We uphold the Party’s mass line, focusing on gauging the people’s sentiments, addressing their concerns, reflecting their aspirations, and enhancing their well-being when considering issues, making decisions, and handling affairs. We strive to secure the people’s wholehearted support for the Party’s theories, guidelines, principles, and policies. We remain committed to taking the people’s aspirations for a better life as our goal, upholding a people-centered development philosophy, prioritizing efforts to protect and improve people’s livelihoods, and focusing on solving their most pressing difficulties and concerns. By doing so, we ensure that the fruits of building Chinese modernization benefit all people more equitably. Our Party develops whole-process people’s democracy, broadens democratic channels, diversifies forms of democracy, and expands the people’s orderly participation in political affairs. This ensures that the people can, in accordance with the law and through various channels and means, manage state affairs, economic and cultural affairs, and social affairs, and thereby devote themselves with great enthusiasm to the cause of modernization as masters of their own country. The Party uses the vision of Chinese modernization to motivate, inspire, and galvanize people. It effectively promotes harmony in relations between political parties, ethnic groups, religions, social strata, and between compatriots at home and overseas, and encourages Chinese people worldwide to unite in pursuit of common goals, thus forging a mighty force for fully building a modern socialist country. (Read more.)