.

Liberal or Conservative

2012-02-16T23:03:00.004-07:00

Lastnight, as my wife and I were watching the news, she asked me what aLiberal or Conservative actually is. As I made a gallant but futileattempt at defining them for her, I realized that I'm just likePotter Stewart (supreme court judge; 1958 to 1981) who, when referringto pornography, said "Ishall not today attempt further to define (thekinds of material)I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; andperhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know itwhen I see it...¹”

TheFebruary 13^thissue of Time®Magazine has an article titled “WHAT IS A CONSERVATIVE?”. 3 pagesof commentaries by 9 different authors and they all seemed toarticulate what a Conservative ISN'T,with absolutely no consensus on what one IS!I will assume that they would be similarly as inconsistent if theytried defining a Liberal.

On that note, and with one ofthe most important elections of the last 100 years coming up in just 9months, I decided to try my hand at coming up with a solid definitionfor each term.

If you have been reading thisblog for any length of time, you know where I stand on most social,economic and political issues; I have always considered myself to bea staunch right-wing Conservative and try to espouse those values andideals. However, like Justice Potter, I really don't have a soliddefinition. I just know them when I see them.

So I did a bunch of researchand here I bring to you my shot at putting forth true, accuratedefinitions for the terms Liberal and Conservative.

Liberal:lib·er·al/ˈlib(ə)rəl/ Adjective: Open to new behavioror opinions and willing to discard traditional values.

Answers.com has this tosay:

Liberalsbelieve that individuals are collectively responsible for the welfareof the entire community. Thus more programs to help the entirecommunity means that higher taxes and bigger government is needed tooversee the programs.

Pro-choice
Equality
Feminism
Affirmative Action
Gun Regulation
Social Help
Insurance that covers all
Support welfare program
Separation of church and state-No religion in schools
Against the death penalty
Regulated Market

Ask.comsays:

Liberalsdon't love to pay taxes, but they stress that a well-functioninggovernment has a responsibility to maintain law and order, and thatdoing this is costly. Liberals stress that taxes are necessary forproviding police and courts, ensuring safe transportation by buildingsafe roads, promoting education by providing public schools, andprotecting society in general by providing health care to those whoneed it.

In an article by RobertS. Sargent, Jr titled “Understandingthe Liberal agenda”²,I believe I found the best non-Conservative-biased definition. Eventhough he is an obvious conservative, he seems to attempt to offer atruthful, straight-forward view. It the article he says:

“...whatis the underlying principle that drives the Liberal (not Democratic)agenda? I'm convinced it's egalitarianism. It is a constant drivetoward equality.”

And:

“Egalitarianismmeans everybody is equal, and that must be instituted from a centralsource: the Federal Government.”

Andfrom StudentNewsDaily³we get what is probably the most definitive, in-depth andside-by-side comparison, which begins (for the Liberal side):

“Liberals– believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity andequality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviatesocial ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and humanrights. Believe the role of the government should be toguarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generallyemphasize the need for the government to solve problems.

Now onward to:

Conservative:/kənˈsərvətiv/Adjective: Holdingto traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change orinnovation, typically in politics or religion.

For the Conservatives,Answers.com says:

Conservativesbelieve that individuals are responsible for themselves, and that thecommunity benefits from the efforts of the individuals acting intheir interests. Thus less governmental programs, less taxes, andless government is the goal.

Pro-life
Equality takes a back seat
Patriarchal
Believe there is reverse racism in affirmative action
No Gun Regulation
No social help
No separation of church and state
Religion in public schools
Support the death penalty
Free Market

Andwe get this from Ask.com.

Conservativesgenerally value individual accomplishment and resent too muchgovernment intervention. They do not believe that it is the job ofthe government to solve the problems of society by imposing intrusiveor costly policies, such as affirmative action or mandatory healthcare programs.

TheConservative side of the StudentDailyNews.com³comparisonsays:

“CONSERVATIVES– believe in personal responsibility, limited government, freemarkets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strongnational defense. Believe the role of government should be toprovide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals.Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of theindividual to solve problems.”

Whileassisting me in the research for this posting, my son said: “Forwhat it's worth, here is why I call myself an independent.”

Ithas been said many times that; if you want to keep peace in a crowd,never discuss politics or religion. I hope this discussion doesn'tstart any brawls. I just wanted to bring a little clarification towhat seem to be some very muddy waters. I hope I succeeded. And...Ihope that, the next time someone tells you that they are a Liberal orConservative, you know exactly what they are claiming to believe. Orat least what somebody else thinks they claim to believe. Or what theother side wants to believe they believe. Or...Ahh! To hell with it.For better or worse; there it is.

Onemore thing. I'llbe the first to admit that our laws,our government and even our country are not perfect. Sometimes ourlaws don't work quite like we think...or wish they would (seemy posting: 01 June 2011-THE HIJACKING OF THE WHITEHOUSE - WHO REALLYCHOOSES OUR PRESIDENT?)But theballot box is the backbone – the very lifeblood of our republic.I'm not trying to get anybody to vote or believe one way or another.Whether you consider yourself a Liberal, Conservative or Progressive;whether you think of yourself as a Socialist or a Constitutionalist;please vote. Do your part to make us better. And to keep us the bestcountry in the world. It only takes a few minutes every other year.Please! Just vote.

Besidesif you don't vote, you have no room to complain if things don't endup the way you wanted.

At least, that's my opinion.What's yours?

PS:for a little more incentive to get out the vote, please read myposting from 04November 2011 titled

“A SOLUTION TO THEPROBLEM“

Citations

¹FindLaw Library

²Understandingthe Liberal agenda

³StudentDailyNews.com

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LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ONE WE LOST

2012-01-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

I have written several controversial posts but I have a feeling that this will probably be the most contentious yet by far. I don't ask that you agree or disagree with me. What I do ask of you is to keep an open mind and read the entire thing before forming an opinion...and think. If, through this article I start just one meaningful conversation about the suffering that we as Americans bring upon ourselves, I will have fulfilled my purpose in writing it.

God knows we've tried. We fought thegood fight and gave it our all. We spent our prayers, our time, ourmoney and our blood. Some fell along the way. Many good men and womendied or were ruined for life.

Now, I believe the time has come toface the truth. A very uncomfortable and controversial truth.

The fact is we lost! We lost thewar.

Not the ones in east Asia or themiddle east. I don't mean Korea or Vietnam, Iraq, Grenada,Afghanistan or the cold war.

I'm talking about the war on drugs.

Although the war on drugs wasofficially declared by Richard Milhous Nixon in 1971, in truth itstarted with the passage of the Harrison Act¹in 1914. This was the first federal attemptto curb usage of cocaine, opium and their derivatives. It waspresented as a tax law, but it's real intention was to end the saleand use of recreational drugs. It failed. Miserably!

Instead of curbing druguse, it only drove it underground; into the world of smugglers,thieves and murders².One law review stated " The impact... make it almost impossiblefor addicts to obtain drugs legally.³”What people failed to realize was that they would obtain them. Oneway or another.

Instead of stopping crime, thismisguided attempt at legislating morality and personal behavioractually increased it. Drug use and all the suffering associated withcriminals and their ways of life flourished. Soon, the cartels beganto become a major criminal force in an exact parallel to the rise ofthe Mafia directly due to our (the governments) attempt to stop usall from drinking: the 18^thamendment⁴.

Yes. By making illegaldrugs profitable, we created the cartels. That makes us responsiblefor the thousands of murders and kidnapings, beheadings and bombingsperpetrated by them every year.

And besides the cost inmisery and blood, let us not forget the absolutely staggeringfinancial cost. According to one police chief, we waste almost 52million dollars a day⁵on a losing battle-a battle we cannot win.

There's another –hidden – cost, too. Not money spent, but money not made. If you buya new TV, you spent $300 or $400. If you skipped work today, you maynot have spent any money, but you didn't make any either. The effecton your monthly budget is the same: you have less money to pay therent and buy groceries.

Anything bought andsold on the black market isn't taxed. That's just a plain fact.

And how much taxrevenue is lost each year? One government estimate states thatAmericans consumed about 22,000 metric tons of Mary Jane in 2002⁶.There are 35,274 ounces in a metric ton. Assuming a tax of just $5.00per ounce, we lost $3,880,140,000 of tax money that year. And thatwas just on pot. I'm sure that almost every pot smoker would gladlypay $5.00 or $10.00 more for his/her weed to be able to get itlegally. That's 4 BILLIONdollars a year we didn't collect in taxes; 8 billion at $10 a bag.And that's just on marijuana. Throw in all the other drugs and youwould probably come up with a trillion dollars in less than 5 years.That would cover a lot of the Social Security deficit.

And now you know whereI'm going with all this. Maybe it's high (pun intended) time to lookat the issue from another angle.

Legalization. Totallegalization of the purchase, possession and use of all drugs. Letthe government control the manufacture and sales of marijuana,hashish, cocaine, opium, heroin, ecstasy, lsd and all otherrecreational substances.

Oh yes. I can hear allthe screams already. I said you should read the whole thing beforeforming an opinion.

Think about it. No moreoverdoses from extra-pure drugs. Or people getting ripped off buyingaspirin instead of X. Or going on a bad trip because they got potlaced with PCP. There would be quality control. People would get whatthey pay for.

But wouldn't even morepeople use drugs if they were legal? Not if history is any measure.Again let's look at prohibition. Thousands of people who never drankbefore started drinking precisely becausebooze was against the law. The forbidden-fruit syndrome.

No more filling ourjails with people that just want to get high. According to a study Iread, there are about 420,000 people in jail just for drug offenses⁷.Lane County, Oregon says that it costs between $90 and $130 a day tokeep someone in jail⁸.Another article places the cost at a paltry $79 a day⁹.Even at that figure, it costs us the taxpayers $28,835 a year foreach and every man or woman caught with a bag of weed or a hit ofacid. That works out to $12,110,700,000 a year just to lock up thedruggies.

Add that to the losttax dollars and we are out over 16 BILLIONdollars ayear. Add in the profits that the states would make from selling thedrugs out of state-controlled outlets and about 30 of the 50 statescould balance their budgets in under 3 years.

Whatabout jobs? Consider that someone would have to hire hundreds if notthousands of people to produce, package, market, transport and sellall these products. That's American jobs; not European, Colombian orMexican. That money would stay in the US of A. Not get shipped tosome country that doesn't even like us.

Somepeople say that it would cost more money than it saves. Not true¹⁰.Addicts will still be addicts. People will still get high, just likeall the folks in the speakeasies of the 20s and 30s. The 21^stamendment (repeal of prohibition) brought a reduction in drinking andcrime, an increase in tax revenues from the sale of liquor and a lotof legal, good paying jobs. The same would happen with thelegalization of drugs. The prisons would be empty. Or at least a hellof a lot less overcrowded. And the trillion or so extra dollars wewould have could go towards education, health care, feeding thehungry or just getting the country out of debt.

Inthis time of financial collapse and failing job markets does ourcurrent drug policy really make any sense at all?

Ifthe drug laws and all the associated problems had ever actuallyhelped to curb drug use, I might say yes. But the reality is that weare simply making a bad situation worse.

Welost the war. It's time to face the truth, change direction and trysomething that we know works.

Weknow it would work because it worked before.

Welost the war.

Timeto lick our wounds and start over.

Welost the war.

Atleast that's my opinion. What's yours? Leave a comment and tellme...and the world what you think.

Citations

¹Historyof the Harrison act of 1914

TheHistory ofthe Non-Medical Use of Drugs

HarrisonNarcotics Tax Act-full text

²Failureof the Harrison Tax Act

6months of the Harrison Act

³Drugs-Crime-Behavioral-Aspects-Harrison-Act

⁴Crimeand Prohibition

Crimeand the drug war

⁵HowAmerica is losing its fight against drugs

Whatdoes the drug war cost?

⁶ LostTaxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws

7 Drugrelated incarcerations

8 Costof an inmate

9 Keepinga criminal in jail

10 Savingmoney through legalization

DrugWar Clock

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A LITTLE MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

2011-12-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

Not sure who sent this to me, but I thought it was worth posting. Feel free to copy it and pass it along to all the liberals in your life. If I can find out who wrote it, I'll be happy to give them credit.

Another very truestory

This is a history lesson thatWashington does not believe!

Class war at its best.

The folks who are getting the freestuff

don't like the folks who are paying forthe free stuff

because the folks who are paying forthe free stuff

can no longer afford to pay for boththe free stuff...

and their own stuff!

And...

The folks who are PAYING for the freestuff,

want the free stuff to STOP.

The folks who are GETTING the freestuff

want even MORE free stuff on TOP of thefree stuff they are already getting!

Now...

The people who are FORCING the peoplewho PAY for the free stuff

have told the people who are RECEIVINGthe free stuff,

That the people who are PAYING for thefree stuff,

Are being mean, prejudiced, andracist.

So... the people who are GETTING thefree stuff

have been convinced they need to HATEthe people who are PAYING for the free stuff

by the people who are FORCING somepeople to PAY for their free stuff

and GIVING them the free stuff in thefirst place.

We have let the free stuff giving go onfor so long that there are

now more people getting free stuff thanpaying for the free stuff.

Now understand this.

All great democracies have committedfinancial suicide

somewhere between 200 and 250 yearsafter being founded.

The reason?

The voters figured out they could votethemselves money from the treasury by electing

people who promised to give them moneyfrom the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became aRepublic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now gettingfree stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff.

We have one chance to change that in2012.

Failure to change that spells the endof the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING

A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Governmentof Wolves!

Let's Take a Stand!!!

Obama: Gone!

Borders: Closed!

National language: English only!

Culture: Constitution, and the Bill ofRights!

Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screeningbefore Welfare!

NO freebies to: Non-Citizens!

We the people are coming

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UPDATE

2011-12-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

   In May, I wrote a post entitled "Are SubmarinesThe Answer To Piracy". In it, I talked about 4 Americans aboarda yacht that were taken hostage, then murdered¹.
   I'm happy to announce that Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali; thecommander of the pirates, along with 8 of his cutthroat thugs havebeen sentenced to life in prison. They have also each been ordered topay $400,000 in restitution².Not to sure how anybody will collect, but it's a nice thought.
    11 of them have pleaded guilty to piracy on the high seas. Theremaining 2 will be sentenced tomorrow. Let's hope they also getlife.
   As I said in the post: "Only by making the riskso great that potential rewards cease to be attractive has and willthe threat of piracy on the high seas ever been and ever will beabated."
   A few more pirates dead or in prison and maybe we canget a handle on this mess.
   As to the United States Navy; Well Done
That's what I think, any way. What are your thoughts?

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Bah!!! Humbug

2011-12-12T21:09:00.007-07:00

   Sorry I'm a little late, folks. I just started a new gig and have been getting everything set up for it.
   I'm still workin' on the posting about the the drug war; ie. one war that we have decidedly lost. This month though, as I was researching the billions of tax dollars we've wasted proping up; indeed creating the drug cartels, I have been bombarded with television ads about Christmas.
   Since before Thanksgiving everybody and their ridiculous uncles have been commercializing this holy day ad nauseum. Traditional carols have been perverted so that we can be enticed to going further into debt buying things we can't afford that the targets of the gifts will forget in a week. All this so that we can be seen spending more than the Jonses or whoever.
   If you believe the ads, we should be spending thousands of dollars on everything from cars and jewelry to sexy lingerie and custom-designed tampons.
   Shop here - not there.! Buy this and not that. Get her/him/them the gift she/he/they always wanted; a brand new this, that or the other thing.
   Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's about spending time with family and remembering the blessings we enjoy and the things...and people we're grateful for.
Merry Christmas.

At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

12/16

PS: I just received this in a Christmas card. Very relevant.

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepards & Wise Men & Angles & things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say.

December 25th is just a `Holiday.'

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks & credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Lady GaGa, an XBox, an I-Pod;

Something was changing. Something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan & Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas was nowhere to be found.

At K-Mart & Staples & Penny's & Sears

You won't hear Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-Ver-Si-Ty

Are the words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now ACLU, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Pelosi, on Obama!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation & grace.

The true gift of Christmas was exchanged & discarded;

The reason for the season; stopped before it started.

So as you celibrate `Winter Break' under your 1Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully. Choose what you say.

Shout Merry Christmas,

Not Happy Holiday!

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A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

2011-11-04T00:57:00.000-06:00

I was going to be writing about the war on drugs this month. Then I stumbled over an article that had been forwarded to me by a friend. With primary elections coming in the next couple of months and the choice for a new - or the same old - president and congress coming in just 12 months, I decided that the timing couldn't be better. Here it is just as I received it except for the font (it was green).
___________________________________________________________________________________

"545 vs. 300,000,000 People "
- By Charlie Reese
Politiciansare the only people in the world who create problems and thencampaign against them.
Haveyou ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans areagainst deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Haveyou ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation andhigh taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
Youand I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
Youand I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote onappropriations. The House of Representatives does.
Youand I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
Youand I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
Youand I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
Onehundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine SupremeCourt justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million aredirectly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for thedomestic problems that plague this country.
Iexcluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because thatproblem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated itsConstitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federallychartered, but private, central bank.
Iexcluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce asenator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-pickingthing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars incash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matterwhat the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility todetermine how he votes.
Those545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that whatthey did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common conregardless of party.
Whatseparates a politician from a normal human being is an excessiveamount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of aSpeaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creatingdeficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot forcethe Congress to accept it.
TheConstitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives soleresponsibility to the House of Representatives for originating andapproving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellowHouse members, not the President, can approve any budget they want.If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if theyagree to.
Itseems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetenceand irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem thatis not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully graspthe plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federalgovernment, then it must follow that what exists is what they want toexist.
Ifthe tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
Ifthe budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
Ifthe Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because theywant them in Iraq and Afghanistan .
Ifthey do not receive social security but are on an elite retirementplan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
Thereare no insoluble government problems.
Donot let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom theyhire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts andadvice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power toregulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do notlet them con you into the belief that there exists disembodiedmystical forces like "the economy","inflation,"or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they takean oath to do.
Those545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They,and they alone, have the power.
They,and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who aretheir bosses.
Providedthe voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
Weshould vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess."
Whatyou do with this article now that you have read it is up to you.

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WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

2011-10-01T16:28:00.000-06:00

I have touched on the illegalimmigration problem a time or two, but since immigration reform issuch a hot topic for the upcoming 2012 election, I decided that itwas time to take it head on.

A lot the left wing liberals wouldhave you believe that, if you don't want to let all those poormistreated “UNDOCUMENTES ALIENS” (criminals) stay in theUS and give them all the rights and privileges associated withcitizenship in this great country of ours, you are a heartlessracist¹. These bleeding hearts believe that someone whosneaks into our country and flaunts our laws should receive the verysame entitlements, education, public (tax payer) supported programsand everything else that you and I; and all the LEGAL immigrantsreceive². Were not even supposed to call them illegal anymore. Now we are supposed to call them undocumented workers³.

The liberal thinking seems to bethat since, with the exception of Native Americans, we are allimmigrants or the descendants of immigrants, so everyone-no matterhow they came into the country-should get the same treatment.

Is that right? Is it fair? Let'slook at some facts.

To start with, illegal immigrantsgetting all the benefits of a legal citizen is a direct slap in theface to those people that came here legally and went through theentire process of becoming an official, legal US citizen⁴.They worked hard, went to school. They had to learn a new languageand learn about our history, constitution and laws. These people:naturalized citizens are welcome here and are the backbone-the veryfabric of the United States of America.

Those of us born in the statestend to take our citizenship for granted. After all, all we had to dowas be born. According to the 14^th amendment, anyone bornhere is automatically a citizen⁵. Becoming a UScitizen when coming from another country is a lengthy and difficultprocess and those that complete the process and take the oath⁶deserve the respect ofall other Americans. They are welcome here and deserve to live here.In my opinion thecriminals that sneak acrossthe border to take advantageof America and Americansdeserve nothing but contempt, jail and deportation.

Also, these criminals put a verygreat financial strain on all of our social services and statebudgets; and this in the current climate of recession and massivebudget shortfalls⁷.

The liberal argument is that theypay taxes and so are productive members of society.

Is that true? Absolutely not. Thefact is that illegal aliens cost the taxpayers billions of dollarseach and every year. According to the National ResearchCouncil: “The NRC found that the average immigrant householdreceives $13,326 in federal welfare and pays $10,664.00 in federaltaxes”⁸;adifference of $2,662 per person. Ifyou accept thenumbers from the Center for Immigration Studies, there are about 11million illegals here as of 2008⁹.Figure an average of about 5 people per family (not sure where I gotthat number-it could be way off) that works out to almost $6 billiona year.

And then there's the burden on ourcriminal justice system. A lot of democrats argue that, if we justgive them all amnesty and citizenship, the legal problems woulddisappear. Bull@#*%!!!

Yes. If they were citizens, theywouldn't need false citizenship papers. Subsequently, identity theftand forgery would drop accordingly, but these are not the only-or themajority of crimes committed by people predisposed to commit criminalacts in the first place¹⁰. Theysneak across the border to buy and sell guns and smuggle drugs. Theviolence that goes along with those crimes are all part of theirtrade; who they are. They rape and murder and simply don't care.

Then there's the crimes that couldhave been prevented by the deportation of illegals already caught,but then released by the compassionate Obama administrtaion¹¹.

A new administration must be putin the white house and congress. Then-and only then can we begin toclean up this mess. If strong laws are passed and enforced, employerswon't be able to hire the illegals, land lords won't be able to rentto them. They won't be able to open bank accounts or buy cars. Thenwe won't have to spend the billions to deport them. With no job, nohome and no transportation they will have no choice. They will gohome.

These measures won't completelycure all of the problems associated with illegal immigration. Allcountries have them. Someone will always try to be where they don'tbelong and aren't wanted. But at least it would be a hell of a start.

Well anyway, that's what I think.What's your opinion?

Citations

¹IsRacism Fueling theImmigration Debate?- TIME

RacistMyths about Mexican Immigrants

http://www.towncalleddobson.com/?p=435

²http://www.anchorrising.com/barnacles/002855.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1616294/posts

³http://www.cairco.org/info/terms.html

http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/Illegal_Aliens_Vs_Undocumented_Workers/index.shtml

⁴http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=598da2f39b1ab210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=598da2f39b1ab210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

http://www.hooyou.com/naturalization/requirements.html

⁵http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html

⁶http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/citizenship/oath.html

⁷http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm

⁸http://www.rense.com/general81/dtli.htm

http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16980&security =1601&news_

iv_ctrl=1017

⁹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States

¹⁰http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_crime_summary.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/border-states-dealing-illegal-immigrant-crime-data-suggests/

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37374

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/13/police-illegal-immigrants-rape-year-old-texas-girl-july-th-party/

¹¹http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/us/politics/fatal-accident-puts-focus-on-deportation-program.html

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WILL WE EVER LEARN?

2011-09-01T17:10:00.002-06:00

We are quickly coming to the 10^thanniversary of the airplane attack on the pentagon and the worldtrade center.

I am sure that everyone old enoughto read this knows that on September 11^th, 2001 Americawas the victim of the worse attack against it since December 7^th,1941; the event that brought the USA into WWII. Both attacks were theresults of major conspiracies; one hatched by the leadership of anation, the other by a group of dedicated religious fanatics¹.Between the end of the cold war in 1991 and 09/11/2001 there were scores of other successful attacks by religious and politicalfanatics but almost none between 1945 and 1991 or after 9-11.

Why?

Although many faceted, the answeris relatively simple. Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers brought homein body bags and twisted steel the realization that conspiracies arereal and the world is full of people that wish to cause us harm.

For over 40 years America livedwith the realization that a very large nation held the capability andthe intent to wipe out our American way of life. Those of us over 50remember the drills in school of duck-and-cover under our desks incase of a nuclear attack. In every major city there were air raidshelters every couple of blocks. Joe McCarthy had all of us seeing acommie around every corner and, in some cases he was right. A vastand ongoing conspiracy was being run by the Soviet Union².

The American government new verywell the tricks of the Russians because we were doing everything tothem that they were doing to us in what turned out to be a successfulattempt to avert all-out nuclear war.

Atom bombs, espionage, secretcodes. Bombers on both sides of the Pacific ocean were kept ready tobe airborne at the drop of a hat and both sides had hundreds ofnuclear-tipped missles aimed at each other. Total annihilation wasready at the push of a button. The condition was known as “MUTUALLYASSURED DESTRUCTION”.

Then Russia got it's butt kickedin Afghanistan³, theBerlin wall came down⁴,the Soviet Union collapsed⁵under the weight of it's own totalitarian bureaucracy and the worldwas at peace at last. So much peace that we became complacent.

So complacent did we become thatanyone even talking about a conspiracy was labeled a right-wing nutjob and probably placed on some government watch list. Conspiracieswere a thing of the past. Except, of course for all the turmoil inthe middle east. Here at home we were protected in a cocoon. Far awayfrom the suicide bombers and missile attacks of Israel and Lebanon. Safein our Internet-boom prosperity. Peace talks between Israel and thePLO even foretold of a lasting peace in that part of the world. Talkof conspiracies was mocked and ignored.⁶

Of course there were the attackson marine barracks in Beirut, the first World Trade Center bombing, the attackon the USS Cole, the Oklahoma city bombing and others, but those werejust the work of lone terrorists. They didn't really affect thefabric of America. There were no conspiracies.

Then on September 11^that approximately 8:45 in the morning, American Airlines Flight 11crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New YorkCity. About 15 minutes later, United Airlines flight 175 hit the thesouth tower. America Was under attack. We were the victims of amassive, wide-spread and long-term conspiracy. How could that happen?To us?

Ignoring those that were warningus of the danger⁷ didnot guide any airplanes into their targets. Complacency didn't causethe 9/11 attacks. The air of false security did, however allow them tohappen. Had we maintained the vigilance of the cold war we likelywould not be building a memorial where the twin towers stood. 2,753*, **people would not have died on that chilly morning.

How long this time will it take usto once again forget the lessons that history has taught us? The mottois:”WE WILL NEVER FORGET”. Somehow, I doubt that.

That's my opinion. What's yours?Leave a comment here and tell the world whether you agree, disagreeor have another view.

*somesources have this number higher

**thisnumber includes only the world trade center. Including the Pentagonand flight 93, the casulties were over 3,000. Add in those that diedlater from injuries and exposure to toxins that were in the air andthe number probably exceeds 4,000. No one knows for sure.

Citations

¹For an excellent and very factual study of thePearl Harborattacks andthe months leading up to it, watch “Tora,Tora,Tora”starringMartin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards and Joseph Cotten.

Fora close look at the attacks and immediate aftermath of the 9/11attacks see “America 911-We Will Never Forget”.Both videos are widly available in VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray.

² Read “The Cold War: a history” by Martín Walker

and“One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on theBrink of Nuclear War” by Michael

Dobbs

Also see:http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/suez.htm

³ See ”Charlie WilsonsWar” starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman

⁴ There are many books and movies on the fall of the wall, but themost authorative is probably “The Fall of the BerlinWall (Turning Points in History)” by William F Buckley Jr. andHenry A. Kissinger

⁵ Read ”The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991” by DavidMarples

and “Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of theSoviet Union” by Roger Keenan and Thomas Kenny

⁶ http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI402A.html

⁷ http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI402A.html

http://tvnewslies.org/html/9_11_warnings.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-03-22/politics/clarke.bush_1_qaeda-attack-al-cbs-interview?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS

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Congress shall make no law

2011-08-02T00:48:00.003-06:00

respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Folks, today I'm writing about a real and on-going conspiracy that threatens all Americans. Whether you believe in God, Allah, Vishnu or even if you're an atheist, the freedom to practice your personal religion or lack thereof is a basic right so precious that our nation's founders amended the constitution , added a bill of rights and made freedom of religion the very first personal right mentioned.

So many times we are confronted with some liberal (mis)quoting the first amendment and using it to keep the majority of the American public from praying or practicing their spiritual beliefs.

How many of us know the ENTIRE text of the first amendment? Do you remember it from government class? It seems to me that, if the courts would look at ALL of it (the first amendment), we would be enjoying a lot more of our guaranteed freedom to pray, mention God in public, display religious symbols and generally exercise our FREEDOM OF RELIGION!

Here's the complete text of the first amendment to the constitution of the United States of America. Short, precise and to the point.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Yes! It does say “Congress shall pass no law respecting the establishment of religion”, but that is only half of the freedom-of-religion clause. Remember your 7^th grade English? In the form of that sentence, either half can be taken independently with the qualifier. Therefore, It can also be read “Congress shall pass no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof (religion).” The second half of that simple sentence seems to have been all but forgotten in an effort to have some liberal, atheist agenda shoved down our throat.

I believe in our constitution. I think that it is the single greatest document ever written. I just want people; especially our courts and elected officials to remember and apply all of it. Not just the parts that suit a personal, left-wing agenda pushed by somebody who thinks that freedom means the freedom to agree with them.

That's my opinion. What's yours? Do you agree? Disagree? Think I'm a commie pinko crackpot? Let me know.

To read the entire bill of rights, click here: Bill of Rights

The complete text of the constitution can be found at: US constitution online

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HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE TO KEEP A SECRET?

2011-07-02T15:45:00.002-06:00

Aquick note to my readers. I am spending a lot of time traveling this summer so,at least throughSeptember, I will be posting only once a month.

Also,I have receivedseveral emails regarding some recent conspiracies; most notably onsome current court cases regarding the 2^ndamendment. I am looking into these and will probably be writing aboutthem in late October or early November. Stay tuned.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDSON, LOGAN!

HE TURNS 2 TODAY

AsI said in my very first posting back in 2007, I don't wear atinfoil hat, I don't believe that aliens had a damn thing to do withJFK's assassination and I don't think the CIA is causing hurricanesto weaken foreign countries.

Iwon't get into anyargument (right now)for or against the beliefthat aliens have ever visited earth. I do, however, want to debunk oneoften used argument meant to supposedly “disprove” the alleged Roswell spaceshipcrash.

Ihave often heard it said that, if the Roswell incident did happen,there is no way that the 75 to 100 people that were actuallyinvolved; about a third of which were civilians (and thereforesupposedly less able to keep their mouths shut) could ever keep it asecret.

HuffPostSocial News had a comment from Dave24 that said “Thegovernment couldn't keep Watergate a secret, yet they've kept alienspacecraft a secret for decades, and have done so across manyadministrations. Nonsense.¹”

Ofcourse, the fact is that if a flying saucer DIDcrash in New Mexico, it's definitely NOT a secret²,but that's beside the point. The question is: could a lot of peopleconspire to keep a really big secret for years? And succeed? Howabout 12,000people?

To get an answer,lets look at a really big secret. How about Ultra: the alliedbreaking of the Nazi and Japanese codes during WWII. How many peopleworked on it, how many were civilians and how long was the secretkept?

Anyonethat has studied WWII knows now that Ultra was probably the mostclosely guarded secret in military history. According to Roswelllogic though, that would have been impossible.

First;the people. According to Wikipediaover 12,000 worked at the intelligence center at England's BletchlyPark throughout the war. A large portion were civilians, includingchesschampions, crossword experts, and mathematicians³.”Butthere's more.

Theultimate refinement of Nazi code making was the Enigma; atypewriter-like machine that produced one of the most secureencryptions available. For a while. Polish cryptanalysts had beenworking on German codes since 1930 and succeeded in breaking theEnigma code in 1934⁴.WhenWWII broke out in 1939 and Poland was overrun by the Nazis, work wastransferred to the French and British. After America got into the warat the end of 1941, we got our hands into Enigma cracking. That's alot of people in a lot of countries working on a big job for a longtime.

Sohow well was the secret kept?

In1974, a British gentleman by the name of FW Winterbottom⁵went to the government and asked permission to finally reveal allthat had been done by Allied cryptanalysts. Winterbottom had workedin BletchleyPark and knew a lot about it; a good source for a defining literarywork. It was decided by the powers that were that no further valuecould be gained by keeping Bletchly a secret any more and permissionwas granted. “The Ultra Secret” was published⁶and the secret was out.

From1930 to 1974, a period of 44 years, over12,000military and civilian personnel from no less than 5 countries kepttheir work hidden from not only the press and general public, buteven from their wives and husbands. I don't know how many American and British administrations that period covered, but it was quite a few. Lots of people over lots of years. And yet the secret remained intact and was only revealed after careful consideration by the leaders; not by some nosy reporter.

Coulda hand full of people, both military and civilians from a singlecountry and under threat of prosecution keep a secret for 50 years?If history is any yard stick, you damn rights they could.

Butdid the US Army spirit off any deceased aliens with big black eyes?That's for another time.

Atleast that's my opinion. What's yours?

Citations

¹http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Dave24/ufos-alien-sightings_b_850554_84970349.html

²Justtype “roswell ufo crash” into a search bar. You'll get over ½million hits.

³http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park

⁴http://avoca.ndirect.co.uk/enigma/index.html

⁵http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/01/obituaries/f-w-winterbotham-british-code-expert-92.html

⁶http://www.citinet.net/ak/polska.php?Page=36&Lang=EN

http://www.historykb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/world-war-ii/4003/German-reaction-to-Enigma-revelation

Tolearn more about the history of WWII cryptography and the breaking ofthe Enigma, see myApril 15th posting: “A Crypto Reading List” for some good reading.Most books mentioned are available at your local public library.

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THE HIJACKING OF THE WHITEHOUSE - WHO REALLY CHOOSES OUR PRESIDENT?

2011-06-01T17:54:00.006-06:00

Many people believe that when they go to the polls every fourth year to vote, they are voting for the president and vice-president of the United States of America. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your vote is really only a suggestion to some people (people you more than likely have never heard of) as to who they should choose as the president. A suggestion they are NOT bound to follow. Our founding fathers thought that the general population [THAT'S YOU AND ME, FOLKS] were too stupid to choose the right person for the job of president.

According to James Hamilton: “It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation...¹” The electoral college was born.

So exactly what is the electoral college? According to dictionary.reference.com the electoral college is:

“–noun ( often initial capital letters )

a body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and vice President of the U.S”

Now call me cynical but I think that's a little strange. I have voted in every presidential election since Nixon beat McGovern back in '72 and not once do I remember seeing any name on the ballot running for the office of elector. I put my check-mark next to one of the guys running for president.

Answers.com gets it a little closer. They say:

“The electoral college is a body prescribed by the US constitution, composed of delegates who pledge to vote for the Presidential candidate who won the election in whichever electoral district that particular delegate comes from, and whose vote officially elects the President.”

The national election is held in November. Then:
“...in the middle of December, the president and vice president of the United States are really elected by the votes of only 538 citizens...²” Unless you're part of your state's government you probably have never met these 538 good citizens or even heard their names.
Who are these 538 people? How are they chosen? What are their qualifications? Are they bound by law to follow the will of the people? Let's look at these questions one at a time.

Who are the electors?

“Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector“. The 14th Amendment also provides that anyone who “has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies are disqualified from serving as electors.³”

The way I read that (correct me if I'm wrong) the electors not only are not voted into office, they're actually FORBIDDEN from being voted for by the people. As long as they're not a convicted traitor and are not an elected official, they can be chosen. Although I didn't see it specifically mentioned, I'm going to presume that there is an age qualification in there somewhere. Probably at least 18.

How are the electors chosen?

That depends on the state, but normally the state legislatures choose them⁴. This, of course can lead to favoritism, cronyism and quid pro quo. Do you trust all of your state representatives to always act in your best interest? I know that mine don't.

What are their qualifications?

See “Who are the electors” above. That's it people. No education standard. Nothing about good faith, moral character or intellect. According to the constitution they could be a slobbering idiot or a bank robber or rapist awaiting trial.

Are the electors bound to vote in line with the popular vote?

This is the most complicated question of all. The short answer is: YES- in 26 states and the District of Columbia and NO in the other 24 states⁵.

It gets more complicated because, in most of the states where they are bound, it is only by pledge and not by law. In other words, they promised to follow the popular vote when chosen, but there is nothing holding them to that promise. The fact is that no elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

To me, one of the most disturbing facts about the electoral college is the Winner-Take-All laws in all but 2 states. In other words, if one candidate receives 49.9% of the votes and the other gets 50.1% in a winner-takes-all state, then 49.9% of the voters in that state get NO electoral votes for their chosen candidate⁶. In 1992, Ross Perot received almost 20% of the popular vote but received not a single electoral college vote⁷.

In November of 2,000, Business Week said "Unabashedly elitist, the Electoral College was created by the founding fathers in 1787 as a counterbalance against too much democracy and to protect states from encroaching federal power⁸."

Why is this so important? So undemocratic? So bad for the country?

Glad you asked. Although it hasn't happened too frequently, in four instances the winner of the White House actually lost the national election⁹. The last time it happened was the 2,000 contest between Al Gore and George Bush.

So, can anything be done about this travesty called the Electoral College? There are a lot of people trying to cure this boil that sits festering in our republic.

One group; the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U.S. states that would effectively replace the current electoral college system of presidential elections with a direct, nationwide vote of the people. Another; RealDemocracy.com is working to return ALL control of government to the people. A lot of people think the time for change has come. Please contact them if you agree and would like to learn how you can help¹⁰.

There may have been a time when the electoral college was necessary but that has long since past. In this day and age there is absolutely no reason why the people who THINK they're electing their president shouldn't actually BE electing the leader of the free world.

At least that's my opinion. Let's hear yours.

PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA

Here's another tidbit you might find interesting. It is completely possible to have a president and vice president who were not elected by the people or the electors. Don't think that can happen? Gerald R. Ford was never elected to the position of either President or Vice President of the USA. He was nominated to the post of Vice President after the resignation of Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew of Maryland and later became President after the infamous Watergate scandal which saw the downfall of Nixon. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was Ford's vice president and HE WASN'T ELECTED EITHER¹¹.

Citations

¹http://www.historycentral.com/elections/Electoralcollgewhy.html

² http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electcollege.htm

³ http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#qualifications

⁴ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_choosing.php

⁵ http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/laws.html

http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/problems.htm

⁶ http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/problems.htm#wta

⁷ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_the_United_States

⁸http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_47/b3708005.htm

⁹ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?f=0&year=2000

¹⁰ http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

http://www.realdemocracy.com/page3.htm

¹¹ http://www.suite101.com/content/gerald-r-ford-americas-only-unelected-president-a62310

http://www.juntosociety.com/vp/rockefeller.html

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MEMORIAL DAY - A DAY OF HONOR

2011-05-29T20:22:00.014-06:00

Memorial Day is the day we honor the men and women who each and everyday lay their lives on the line for America and the day we pay special homage to those whogave their lives to protect the country they loved.

Wherever you standwithin the social and political fabric of our great country rememberthis.

Whether you agree with our wars or not; no matter if you're aDemocrat, Republican, a member of a third party or a totalindependent; in America you can walk out side and protest what youdon't like, shout about what you do like and openly debate the twowith someone who holds a different view.

Whether you are aChristian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, agnostic or atheist you canworship-or not-as you see fit.

In every city inAmerica an independent news coalition presents the happenings of theday from around the world as they were; not as someone wants you to believe they were.

And...if you don't agreewith our leaders you can vote them out of office. Ours is one of thevery few countries in the history of the world where the governmenttransitions peacefully. We change our leaders at the ballot box. Notthe guillotine.

Those freedoms aretruly rare in this world and it's our vets who make sure we keep them.

So the next time you see someone who is serving or has served in ourarmed forces, say thank you.

Godbless our military and

God bless the

United States of America

ARE SUBMARINES THE ANSWER TO PIRACY ?

2011-05-15T16:18:00.003-06:00

Some conspiracies aren't theories.Sometimes they're front-page news¹.

Such is modern day piracy which ithas become prevalent the world around². The majority ofencounters with pirates today occur off the coast of Somalia.

Piracy Hot Spots

Piracy is not just aconspiracy of a few people but of entire regions-places where thegovernment, and consequently law enforcement and the economy are weakor non-existent.

The total cost of piracy isestimated to be upwards of 12 billion dollars just for 2010³andthis figure is probably extremely conservative since many timesshipping companies simply pay the demanded ransom and never reportthe attack. Under reporting could be as much as 90%⁴.Onereason is the fear of increased insurance costs on all of theirships.

The economic costisn't just the ransoms paid. The shipping companies must also dealwith damage to the ships suffered in the attacks, stolen cargo, lostproduction while the ships are held hostage or being repaired and thesubsequent increased costs of goods to consumers around the globe.Additionally there is the human cost on which no monetary pricecan be fixed. Injuries, terror and murders are simply standardoperating procedure. In February of this year, 4 tourists weremurdered on their pleasure boat; not even a big ship⁵.

The obvious answerto the piracy problem would be to arm every merchant ship and place afew well-trained mercenaries or military personnel with some or allof the crews⁶. Then the ships could fight back and thesmall speed boats favored by the pirates would be ineffective againsta well armed adversary fighting from the much larger, more stablefighting platform afforded by the deck of a ship. This is notpractical however due to the varied political policies around theworld. For one thing, in most ports worldwide, merchant ships areforbidden from being armed. Additionally, many ship owners and captains are reluctant to arm their vessel⁷.Reasons citedincludecrews not trained for combat and the realpossibility that once the pirates learn the ships are armed, theywill likely target those ships to steal the weapons.

So is there anotheranswer? One that can address the fears about pirates stealing thevery guns carried to repel them, not run afoul of the laws of anycountries and not tie up precious military personnel and equipment?

Yes! That answer isprivate submarines. Submarines crewed by mercenaries. Submarinesbuilt by and mercenaries hired by the very same shipping companiesaffected and the insurance companies tasked with picking up the tab.

To succeed, we mustask 4 questions.

1. Can it be done?

PrivateSubmarines(seecitations for links)

The history ofsubmarines is written with homemade efforts. The first submarine tolaunch a military attack was built by a young man of 34 years namedDavid Bushnell. The submarine was called the Turtle, the year was 1776 and the enemy targetwas the British HMS Eagle⁸.

The first successfulattack occurred during the War Between the States. The homemade subwas the Confederate H.L Hunley, built by James R.McClintock and Baxter Watson. The victim was the Union man-o-war; USSHousatonic⁹.

     No exact start datecan be fixed for the recent explosion in personal submarines, but in thelast 15 years they have popped all over the globe. The personalsubmarine organization Psubs.orglists over 50 boats. A Google search for ”personal submarine”returns “about 8,560,000 results”. The boats coverthe gamut from 1 man, pedal-powered lake boats to ocean-goingdiesel-electric boats like the Kraka (see red &black sub pictured above). With the advances in hull &propulsion technology made in the last several decades fast,effective, reliable boats can be built economically and relativelyeasily. So the short answer is: yes! It can be done.

3.     What would it take?
     Initially, therequirements would be manpower, materials and a place to build theboats. The challenge would be to have a base close to the area ofoperation in a country that wouldn't prohibit the manufacture andstorage of arms and munitions and that would allow armed boats inthe harbor. The rest is just money. A shipyard would have to beconstructed, although the requirements for small submarines asopposed to large surface ships are minimal. At least one dry-dockwould be needed for maintenance and repairs. In addition, housing andfacilities (including a small hospital) for support personnel andin-port crews would be required, as well as fuel and equipmentstorage facilities.

3. How would it work?

There are two primary andeffective methods; both tried and tested during the battle of theAtlantic in WWII. Either one, to be affective, would require about 50boats on station at all times. With an equal number in transit to andfrom the area of operations and some in port for refit and repair,the total number of subs needed would be 100 to 150. Personnelrequirements would be around 5,000.

Plan #1: Form a picket line. Thecoast of Somalia is about approximately 1,900 miles. Having 50 subsspaced out 50 miles apart directly on the main shipping rout wouldcover the entire length of the coast and a good portion of theArabian gulf and no ship would ever be more than 25 miles from a sub;usually considerably closer. With modern sonar, the subs could listenfor unusual activity and, when needed, the closest sub would surfacenext to the ship in danger and either repel the pirates or engage andcapture or kill them.

Plan #2: Station half of thesubs at either end of the corridor and have them escort theindividual ships until they are out of danger. Cargo ships usuallycruise at no more than 10 knots. The subs could easily keep pace.

With either plan, the subswould stay in radio contact with ships traversing the dangerouscorridor and be advised of any suspicious boats in the area.

To protect the ships, speed isparamount. Modern subs can reach a sprint speed of over 25 knots.Constantly moving their stations, the subs would continue to enjoythe element of surprise and, after several consecutive failed attacksthe bad guys would be discouraged against further attempts. Thecaptured ones would be turned over to the home country of theattacked ship for prosecution. The campaign would last a year ormore; after all, piracy does pay quite well. If the sub crews remainvigilant, the pirates would finally have to give up and find anotherway to make a living.

4. How much would it cost?

Full size, military-typesubmarines and torpedoes aren't necessary. Submarines of 100' to 150'with crews of 18 to 24 would be quite sufficient. The pirates usesmall fishing boats as mother ships. 100 lbs of black powder in asmall torpedo would send them to the bottom. Each sub would also havesome small arms and probably a 2” to 3” cannon to maintain firepower superiority. As the allies discovered in WWII, without asuperior air force, a small number of submarines can decimate even alarge, well armed navy. A handfull of fishermen with RPGs and AK47swouldn't stand a chance. Below is an estimate for 150 subs and therequisite personnel.

Construction:approx $100,000 per sub – total: approx $ 1.5 million USD

Ship yard, housingand other associated buildings: $3 to $5 million

Salaries: approx $2million/boat – total: approx $500 million/yr

($80,000/yrsalary @ 24/boat + support personnel)

Food, fuel, medical& other supplies: approx $10 million/yr

Miscellaneous: $10 million/yr

These are just rough estimatesbut even if I missed by half, the initial cost plus 5 years ofoperation would be substantially less the reported losses just for2010. And if anyone besides the pirates get hurt, it would be themercenaries that signed up for it. Not innocent seamen just trying toget home to their families.

As for the pirates, isn't it aglorious life? What about all the romantic tales of daringswashbucklers living free and easy? What about the fame and fortunegarnered by all the famous ones?

MaryRead, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackam

Mary Read died of feverin a Jamaican prison. Calico Jack Rackam danced at the gallows.Blackbeard was shot 5 times, stabbed 20, decapitated and his headhung from the bowsprit. So much for glory.

Only by making the risk so greatthat potential rewards cease to be attractive has and will the threatof piracy on the high seas ever been and ever will be abated. A fleetof private submarines could make that risk a reality.

At least that's my opinion. What'syours?

Want to build your own Submarine? Learnhow at:

http://www.submarineboat.com/

http://130.94.182.150/submarin.htmand especially

http://www.psubs.org/

See some homemade submarines

http://www.vulcaniasubmarine.com/KRAKA.htm

http://englishrussia.com/2006/11/08/russian-smallest-submarine/

http://vision02.com/chinese-homemade-submarine/

http://www.giffordmarineinc.com/sub/Sub_Project.htm

To learn more about Calico Jack,Henry Morgan, Black Bart and others from the “Golden Age of Piracy”visit:

http://ageofpirates.com/article.php?Golden_Age_of_Piracy

http://www.cindyvallar.com/goldenage.htmland

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/pirates.html

Citations

¹http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1300344

http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?p=197

²http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/04/piracy-on-the-high-seas-a-firsthand-account/

³http://www.saveourseafarers.com/total-cost-of-piracy-menace-hits-u.s.$12-billion.html

⁴http://www.cargolaw.com/presentations_pirates.html#underreporting

⁵http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/23/pirates-launched-grenade-warship-killing-american-hostages/

⁶http ://blog.usni.org/2009/01/29/on-defending-unarmed-merchant-ships/

⁷http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/13shipping.html

⁸http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/Submarines_3.htm

⁹http://www.thehunley.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Hunley_%28submarine%29

THE CORN-ETHANOL CONSPIRACY

2011-05-02T14:49:00.001-06:00

You'veseen it on TV. You've read it in the newspaper. The headlines read“Too much ethanol could lead to food riots”and “Ethanol pumping up food prices”¹.News pundits anddoomsday theorists would have us believe that if we keep usingethanol for fuel, the whole world will starve ².Several sites ³tout all thedisadvantages of ethanol; higher prices than gasoline, loss offarmland, rain forests sacrificed. If youlook at all of these resources closely, you will notice that most specifyCORN-BASEDETHANOLand almost none of them tell you that not only is corn not the onlysource available, it's not even the best.

Ethanolcan be produced from any source of simple sugars⁴,and even things that can be broken down into sugars such as certainstarches and cellulose from plain old lawn clippings. Just today, I watched a History Channel program on biofuels, which in part talked about using termites in the process. While ethanolfrom cellulose is still experimental and quite expensive, progress isbeing made which shows promise of making the food-or-fuel debatemoot.

Obviously,sincethe ethanol is produced from sugar, thehigher the sugar content of a plant the more ethanol can be produced from it.Sugar cane and sugar beets are at the top of the list, but both takeup a lot of farm land also suitable for food crops. So, is there anycrop that can be grown without tyeing up valuable food acreage? Yes!

Carrots⁵.Carrotshave a higher natural sugar content than all other vegetables withthe exception of beets⁶.Carrots have 10% more sugarthan corn per gram⁷.AND...an acre of carrots produces over 3 times the product in weight than an acre of corn⁸.Those facts in themselves make the lowly carrot a much bettercandidate to scoot your Chevy or Ford down the road. An excerpt fromthe ETHANOL PRODUCER'S DATA BASE shows:

Feedstock listed in Alphabetical order	Gallons per Ton	Gallons per Acre	Best yield per Ton	Best Yield per Acre	BEST YIELD All around Theoretical
Carrots	9.8	121.0	29	13	18
Corn	84.0	214.0	2	7	1

clickHEREforcomplete table

From this table itwould seem that carrots run a poor showing when compared to corn.

Butthere's more to the story than what is seen here.

Tonow, I have compared acre to acre and pound to pound; also know as an“acre harvest”. To get the true picture, one also has to considerthe “harvest year”. That is; how many times can that same acre beharvested in any given year. This, times the acre harvest gives atrue annual yield. Carrots come out on top every time.

Inabout half of the country, you can get 2 harvests of carrots per yearif grown traditionally; ie. in the ground outside⁹.That in itself would give 242 gal/acre according to the above chart.That is a 12% increase over corn.

Thereis, however, another way to grow carrots (as well as radishes,potatoes and many other root crops). It's called hydroponics¹⁰.This can be done vertically (stacked troughs) as easily ashorizontally, giving a much larger yield. Stacked 3 high, 1 acre ofground can give about 2 acres of crop (space must be provided forequipment and your feet).

Additionally, because the growingarea is artificial as opposed to valuable farm land, it can be doneanywhere. Even in the rockiest, most worthless land you can find. Aslong as there is water available, a hydroponic systemcan be run. So much for eating up farmland and starving the masses.

Theother big objection given about ethanol production is the energyrequired for the distillation process. That energy is used in theform of heat to separatethe ethanol from the fermentedcorn, carrots or whatever you're using as raw material, and can becreated from almost anything that will burn. Yes; petroleum and coalcan be used. They pollute, are non-renewable and expensive. So isthere another, better way?

Methane!Methane is a natural byproduct of organic decomposition¹¹.It is also the primary component of natural gas¹².In other words; it will be produced. We can let it go into theatmosphere as a greenhouse gas, or we can burn it, extract theenergy, and pollute a lot less.

TheNEW SCIENTIST on-linepublication says:“Methanegenerated by rotting rubbish in landfill dumps could make a fargreater contribution to the world's energy supply”¹³ andthe WIH RESOURCE GROUP reports: “Foodthat is mixed in with regular trash is estimated to make up about 40%of the trash in landfills. It also is the biggest offender increating landfill methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas – 72times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Reducing landfill methane isjust one of the benefits of keeping this type of waste out oflandfills.” ¹⁴

Usinggarbage to turn into ethanol a crop that grows anywhere and gives 4to 5 times the yield of fuel over corn makes economic, environmentaland political sense. The reason you don't hear a lot about usingcarrots is precisely because it can be done cheaper and easier thancorn and carrots can be produced without driving up prices andgarnering a lot of political controversy. As long as corn pricesremain artificially inflated, congressmen get regular contributionsto their coffers. That will keep corn in the forefront and other crops, including carrots out of the spotlight.

At least that's myopinion. What's yours?
Have a conspiracy you'd like me to research? Got a question about crypto? Post a comment HERE and I'll do my best to post the answer.

Citations

¹http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-02-09-corn-low_N.htm

http://www.kxxv.com/story/14139555/clinton-too-much-ethanol-could-spark-food-riots?redirected=true

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/314999/why-sugar-corn-prices-are

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/547075/Corn-demand-driving-food-prices-up.html?nav=742

²http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18784732

http://stephenleahy.net/2008/02/09/ethanol-worse-than-gasoline/

³http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2006/10/19/News/The-Disadvantages.Of.Ethanol-2375556.shtml

http://science.jrank.org/pages/2576/Ethanol-Disadvantages-ethanol-an-alternative-fuel.html

http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2006/10/19/News/The-Disadvantages.Of.Ethanol-2375556.shtml

⁴http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil

⁵http://www.juicing-for-health.com/carrot-nutrition.html

http://www.catchfitness.com/Do_Carrots_Have_Sugar

⁶http://www.foodreference.com/html/artcarrots.html

⁷http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

⁸http://www.gardensofeden.org/04%20Crop%20Yield%20Verification.htm

⁹http://www.bluehorizonfarm.com/organic-gardening/Organic-Carrots.html

¹⁰http://www.jasons-indoor-guide-to-organic-and-hydroponics-gardening.com/how-to-grow-carrots-in-a-hydroponic-system.html

http://hydroponictech.blogspot.com/2008/01/hydroponic-carrots.html

¹¹http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/methanedigestion3.htm

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/BioFuel/biofuels.htm#Methane

http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html

¹²http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas

¹³http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7048-making-the-best-of-garbage-gas.html

¹⁴http://wihresourcegroup.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/composting-gases-vs-landfill-methane-gas-does-it-really-make-a-difference-wih-resource-group/

For more information on ethanolproduction in the USA, please visit:

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/ethanol/

Ifyou're interested inhomefuel-ethanol production, see:

http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/

http://www.ecoholistic.com/content/view/43/79/

and

http://umakeethanol.com/ethanol-production.php

Valuable information regardinghome production of methane can be found at:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1973-03-01/Modest-Experiment-in-Methane-Gas-Production.aspx

http://www.velacreations.com/methane.html

A CRYPTO READING LIST

2011-04-15T13:53:00.000-06:00

Whether youwant to create a cypher for yourself to hide a trade secret orromantic appointment, you are trying to read an encrypted messagethat “fell” into your hands, or you just want to study thehistory of cryptography you are going to need some good books.

Two of the earliestbooks dealing with cryptography are The Art of War¹by Sun Tzu and the Kama Sutra²by Vatsyayana. The Art of War dates to the 6^thcentury BC. No exact date is known for the Kama Sutra, but it isbelieved to be from around the 2^ndcentury AD.

In The Art of War,Sun Tzu says “The artof war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's notcoming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance ofhis not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made ourposition unassailable”.To that end, he adds: “Soif you do not know the plans of your competitors, you cannot makeinformed alliances”.In other words, hide your plans and discover theirs. Encryption andcryptanalysis.

The Kama Sutra lists64 arts that a woman should study. #45 is “Theart of understanding writing in cypher, and the writing of words in apeculiar way“.

Both books arewidely available in various forms fromany numberof outlets.

Galileo is said tohave hidden important information in anagrams to protect hisdiscoveries; specifically that Venus had moon-like phases ³.
The writings of Nostradamus⁴ fall into the category of steganography because he hid his prophecies in cryptic writingscalled quatrains.

With all the comments and questions I regularly receive about secret codes and the attention paid to the subject in the news lately (see my posting from earlier this month), I decided that it was timeto present a list of worthwhile books on cryptography. While this list is by nomeans comprehensive, it will provide a lot of importantinformation needed to understand the pitfalls in the use of cyphersand codes, a history of secret writing of all kinds and a rudimentaryeducation in cryptanalysis. Most of these are in my personal libraryand I highly recommend them. Your local public library or Amazon.comshould be able to supply all of the titles.

Also, for someentertaining but fictional accounts of cryptography, TheGold Bug by Edgar AllanPoe and Sherlock Holmes story of TheDancing Men arepractically required reading.

TheCode-Breakers

Author:David Kahn

Publisher:Scribner

Language:English

ISBN-10:0-684-83130-9

ISBN-13:978-0140244328

Probablythe gold standard of cryptography books from the 20^thcentury. Almost every other book that I have ever read on the subjectcites and/or quotes TheCode Breakers.It's kind of pricey (about $50.00 USD) but well worth the cost. Ifigured that if all my other books were quoting it, I should probablyown it.

CodeBreaking

Author:RudolfKippenhahn

Publisher:The Overlook Press

Language:English-translated from German by Ewald Osers

ISBN:1-58567-089-8

Focusesprimarily on cryptanalysis, with one of the best descriptions offrequency analysis I've read, using bi-graphs and tri-graphs as wellas letter frequencies in different languages. Also has an excellentdiscussion of the inner workings of the Enigma.

CodeBreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park

Authors:F. H.Hinsley & Alan Stripp

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Language:English

ISBN:0-19-280132-5

First-handaccounts from many of the people who worked in Bletchly Park duringWWII. It's what I'm reading right now- for the 3^rdtime. Gives a personal insight to the victories and frustrationsencountered during 7 years of cryptanalysis in war-time.

PhilipJohnston and the Navajo Code Talkers
Author:SybleLagerquist
Publisher:Council for Indian Education
Language:English
ISBN-10:0899921396
ISBN-13: 978-0899921396
Ireviewed this excellent work back in November of 2007. These guyswere real heroes. Nicholas Cage starred in a movie about them calledWindtalkers.Highly fictionalized but worth seeing. Also visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Johnston_%28code_talker%29and
http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/navajacode.htm

Crypto:How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the DigitalAge

Author:Steven Levy

Publisher:Penguin (Non-Classics); 1st edition (January 15, 2002)

Language:English

ISBN-10: 0140244328

ISBN-13:978-0140244328

This is an in-depthhistory of public-key cryptography and the development of PGP.Introduces you to Ron Rivist, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman: theinventors of RSA encryption algorithm; Whitfield Diffie and MartinHellman who developed the Diffie-Hellman key exchange and PhilZimmerman: the author of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). Good reading.

TheCode Book

Author:Simon Singh

Publisher:Fourth Estate Limited

Language:English

ISBN:0-00763-574-5

Sub-titledTheSecret History of Codes and Code-breaking, thisis the history lesson I mentioned. Along with Kahn's TheCode-Breakers, itis the most complete history of cryptography that I have found. Italso covers related topics like Egyptian hieroglyphics and Linear B.I've almost worn out my copy re-reading it.

Free-wareEncryption

Author:MichaelChesbro

Publisher:Paladin Press

Language:English

ISBN:1-58160-270-7

Agreat resource for computer encryption. Contains a brief discussionof the legal implications of encryption and a plethora of websites todownload various encryption programs. My favorite is VGP if I'mworking in Windoze.

Writtenin 2001, some of the sites may be out of date, but the generalinformation is timeless.

Visit:http://www.freebyte.com/security/ for a list of more current resources.

TheMan Who Saw Tomorrow – The Prophecies of Nostradamus

Author:MichelNostradamus (born Michel de Nostredame)

Translated by: ErikaCheetham

Publisher:Berkley Books

Language:English

ISBN:0-0425-08757-3

Notactually a book that has much to do with cryptography, butprobably the best example in history of hiding meanings within otherwritings (steganography).

OtherRecommended books

Codes and Secret Writing

Author:HerbertSpencer Zim

Publisher:Scholastic (January 1978)

ISBN-10:0590025856

ISBN-13:978-0590025850

Although I nolonger own this book, it was the beginning of my infatuation withcryptography. Phil Zimmerman, Whitfield Diffie and a lot of otherpioneers in modern cryptography first read this book and peaked theirinterest. While it is primarily a children's' book, it's still a valuableresource.

Handbookof Applied Cryptography
Authors:Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot & Scott A. Vanstone

Publisher:CRCPress
ISBN:0-8493-8523-7

Ihave never read this, but understand that it is the definitive sourcefor computer cryptography. It is available in print from any one ofthese on-line bookstores:

Prices as of April 15, 2010

Amazon Books (amazon.com) US $75.22.
Amazon.ca (for Canadian orders) Cdn $65.02.
Google EBooks US $80.96.
Itis also available for free download at: http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/

Iunderstand that: The PuzzlePalace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most SecretIntelligence OrganizationbyJames Bamford will give you a fair concept of the guys in America'sblack chamber; the ones that are trying to undo everything that youdo to protect your information. It is next on my “Have To Get It”list. High on my “Ongoing Conspiracy” list, too.

WORTHWHILEFICTIONTITLES

The Cambridge Quintet
     by John L. Casti
Cryptonomicon
     by NealStephenson
The Da Vinci Code andDigital Fortress
     both by Dan Brown
The Eleventh Hour

by Graeme Base (children's book)

Simple Simon
     by Ryne Douglas Pearson (see films)
PopCo
     by Scarlett Thomas
Secrets of the Alchemist Dar
     by Michael Stadther

SOME GOOD MOVIES

Enigma
      Good story and very fact-based. Youget to see an original Enigma machine in use. It was loaned to theproduction company by none other than Mick Jagger, who also helpedfinance the production and even makes a cameo appearance. The convoybattle and convoy numbers (HX 229/SC 122⁵),several names(Fasson and Grazier⁶)and many other parts are right out of the history books. There hasbeen criticism regarding some license taken, but; hey! Yes it's basedon true events but it's FICTION people.

Sneakers
     One of my all-time favorites. Starring a young Robert Redford anda whole contingent of A-list actors.

Mercury Rising (based on Pearsons' Simple Simon)
     Stars Bruce Willis

The Net
      Starring Sandra Bullock.If you watch this movie, and substitute Microsoft for GreggMicrosystems, you'll have an accurate concept of my view regardingMicrocrap Corp., Windoze operating System and Bill Let's-Take-Over-The-World Gates.

Citations

¹http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html, http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html, http://suntzusaid.com/

²http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/kamasutra.html, http://www.civilwarsignals.org/cipher/kamasutra.html, http://www.bibliomania.com/2/1/76/123/frameset.html

³http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagram

⁴http://www.nostradamus.org/, http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0608/nostradamus.html

⁵http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoys_HX_229/SC_122

⁶http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Grazier

Additional Information

Whiledoing some research for another posting, I came across this website.

FreeEncryption / Cryptographic Software, Free On the Fly Encryption, FreeDisk Encryption Tools, Steganography, Free Public Key EncryptionSoftware

http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/encryption.shtml

Hereyou will find more resources for computer encryption as well as some goodadvice like "Becareful when you use cryptographic / encryption software that do nottell you which algorithm they use. Claims like "strongencryption", "military encryption" and "secureencryption" do not tell you very much — after all, anyone cansimply convert the letters on (say) this page to numbers (where a=1,b=2, etc) and still claim it is strong encryption / cryptography."

Withthe exception of GPG and PGP, I have not used and cannot personallyendorse any of the software or information this site offers, so use with care.

GPG(GNU Privacy Guard) works well with Linux; my os of choice. I alsouse KGPG; the graphic front end for GPG. I use both frequently and highly recommend them.

THE FBI NEEDS YOUR HELP

2011-04-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

I had a whole different item planned for this post. Then: “Ricky McCormick Murder: FBI Wants Public's Help in Breaking Encrypted Clues^1,2,³” showed up in the news. Suddenly cryptography jumps out of the shadowy world of trench coats and Mata Hari and into the 5 o'clock news.

Apparently, back in 1999, a gentleman named Ricky McCormick was found dead. His death was ruled a homicide. His body was dumped in a field and the only clues left behind were two encrypted notes in his pocket.

click here for full text

The FBI (and probably every group of spooks employed by the federal government⁴) has been working on these notes attempting to decrypt them; all with no success. So now they're asking for the public's help. Can you break the encryption, read the notes and possibly solve a twelve-year-old murder?

While you're at it, if you're into a little mental gymnastics and like cryptography, look into the encrypted letters from the infamous Zodiac Killer⁴. Several of them have yet to be broken.

composite sketches of the Zodiac Killer

There are many other old cryptograms that have never been solved⁵. Try your hand at a few of them. Who knows; maybe you'll find a new career. Solve the Beale cyphers and you could even become a millionaire.

To help you get started, you might want a good example of forensic cryptanalysis. Take a look at the case of Ed Burns⁶. Here you will see not only the cryptograms and their solutions, but a short lesson on how they were solved.

Look to my next posting for a good list of resources regarding encryption and cryptanalysis.

Happy decrypting.

Citations

¹ http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/03/31/fbi-asks-for-help-cracking-murder-victims-secret-code/

² http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/03/ricky_mccormick_murder_fbi_wan.php

³ http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/31/fbi-inundated-tips-encrypted-notes-1-murder-mystery/

⁴^{http://www.zodiackiller.com/Letters.html}

⁵http://elonka.com/UnsolvedCodes.html

⁶^{http://www.blackdahliasolution.org/crypto1.htm}

In Memoriam

2011-03-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

Montana was my constant companion and friend for the last 5 1/2 years.
Sadly, he past away on March 2nd this year, after a short fight with cancer. He was laid to rest in his favorite forest. His love and friendship will be remembered and treasured always.

Goodbye, my friend

EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE CRYPTO

2011-03-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

This is a simple machine that I use frequently. It is loosely based on the Enigma algorithm. You simply print it, cut it out and use it. It is easy to make, use and hide. Because it is so simple to make, you could burn it after each use, printing another one when you need to encrypt or decrypt another message. Of course, make sure you keep the key somewhere safe.

SLIDE-STRIP ENCRYPTOR

Click on link for printable encryptor: Slide-Strip.xls
This is a spreadsheet-opens in Open Office or Excel

Print out the page on stiff card-stock. Cut the 5 strips and cut slots in the sheet as shown for the strips to slide through. Insert the strips across the page into the slots on each end and encrypt a message as shown.

ENCRYPTION

To encrypt a message, choose 3 of the 5 strips and insert into the slots. The choice of strips, along with their order and starting position of each strip is the key. (see illustration below) In the example, the strips are V, IV, I and the starting position (orange character lined up under “A” on the top gray alphabet) is 9, E, B. Note: although the example uses the 1st character on each strip, the key can start at any character. Each strip has 2 alphabets end-to end. This allows use of the entire alphabet without having to slide strips back and forth for consecutive characters.

As an example, let's encrypt the word: HELLO.

Find the plain-text:H (the actual message) character on the top row . (#1 in the illustration). Follow the lines. Take the character on the orange of the first strip directly below [2] [red line], and locate that character on the gray portion of that strip [blue line]. Repeat that step with the middle strip [8]. On the 3^rd strip, the cypher text is the character directly below on the orange W. W is the cypher-text for H.

Now slide the top strip (#V) 1 space to the left (start position: 8). The other 2 strips (#s IV & I) don't move.

Repeat the encryption for the E to get cypher-text E. (#2 in the illustration). Notice that some characters will encrypt to themselves. This is good.

Now slide the top strip 1 more space (start position: 7) and repeat again for L (#3 in the illustration) to get cypher-text R.

Continue for the remaining letters.

The complete cypher text is WERN0.

THE CHARACTERS

On my encryptor, I use the alphabet, the 10 digits and 7 non-alphanumeric (nac) characters. I use the “~” character to designate a space. The message: MEET AT THE BRIDGE AT NOON would first be written as: MEET~AT~THE~BRIDGE~AT~NOON. This gives all spaces in the message a printable or written character. The rest allow more precise communication, and allow more word substitution like "@" for "at". Such substitutions, combined with irregular spelling and a lack of standardized message structure serve to complicate cryptanalysis. To have a unique set-up, you can insert different cypher alphabets and/or more strips for even more-and different keys. I use 43 characters. You can make a new strip slide with more or less characters and have a completely different cypher.

KEYS

Once you have gone through the entire character set on the first strip, move it back to its original position and advance the middle strip one character. If you have a long message, do the same with the bottom strip. This gives you 79,507 positions before repeating. Along with the 60 possible strip position choices, that is 4,770,420 possible keys. Quick to make, easy to carry and use and strong enough encryption to foil all but the most dedicated of foes. To exchange an encrypted message with someone,you can either exchange keys in advance, or agree on a method of hiding the key within the message.

EXAMPLE: 6528,0WERN0

Here I simply added 1 to the number of each strip and took the letter following the actual starting place, then placed it at the beginning of the message. Use your imagination here. Once you determine a good method to encrypt and transmit the key, that's all you have to remember. No keys list to distribute. You can then use a different key with each message making cryptanalysis almost impossible.

Your intended recipient (or a foe) must have both the slide-strip and the key to be able to read your message. Leave the foe out of the loop. The encryptor without the key is all but useless to decrypt the message.

WE HAVE ARRIVED

2010-04-25T14:10:00.000-06:00

One year ago, I wrote about the coming of socialism to the United States of America. Well folks; here we are.
The government now runs the automotive industry, with all of it's associated jobs from the iron workers to the clerk at Wal Mart selling you an oil filter. Big Brother runs the banking industry, which means they (Obama & Pelosi) determine if you : buy a house, start a business, go to school or even; because they control the purse strings of ALL business, determine if and where you can get a job.
The IRS now decides if they like your health insurance, which you have no choice but to buy. That means they (the IRS) decides who lives and dies. Can't work and pay taxes any more? Too bad! That life-saving procedure that you need isn't approved.
We're going the way of post-war Europe. Pretty soon a gallon of gas will be $25.00. A loaf of bread; $10.00. And don't even think about going out to dinner or on a vacation. Unless you're a government worker of course. Welcome to the Socialist States of America.
That's my opinion. What's yours?

Good news for the USAF

2009-08-02T18:18:00.000-06:00

Have you been watching the news? After 18 years, The body of the first pilot shot down in the first Gulf War has been recovered. No one knew his fate since Jan. 17, 1991.1 Turns out some Bedouins had "respectfully buried" Captain Michael Scott Speicher. His remains will be returned to his family shortly.

According to the pictures on the news, the wreckage of his jet is on top of the ground and completely visible; specially from the air.

So here's my question. If we can't find one of our own jets sitting on top of the ground for 18 years, and then only with help from some nomadic goat herder, what the hell makes ANYBODY think that we've searched the entire country thoroughly enough to be certain that a raving maniac who HAD and USED weapons of mass destruction didn't hide them somewhere where we couldn't find them?

The entire country is basically one big sandbox. During Desert Storm, Iraqi solders popped up out of bunkers that our guys didn't see until there was an enemy soldier 3 feet in front of them trying to surrender. Even Saddam Hussein himself was squirelled away in a hole in the ground.2,3

Storage units have been found with sarin and mustard gas.4 Anybody wanna bet their chromosomes that there's really no nukes, or at least some uranium hidden away somewhere? I sure don't.

Anyway, that's my opinion. What's yours?

1) http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8234354&page=1

2) http://www.courant.com/entertainment/tv/bal-husseincapture-photogallery,0,414579.photogallery?index=bal-holepic1214

3) http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/14/sprj.irq.saddam.operation/index.html

4) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120137,00.html

American Socialism

2009-04-11T17:14:00.000-06:00

so⋅cial⋅ism [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] noun (1)

A theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals

We now live in a country where the leader wants to "REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH". That was the driving force behind the Bolshevik Revolution(2) of 1917; the start of the USSR. The idea was that the "capitalists" had gotten wealthy on the back of the "proletariat", and that the common people should take the farms and factories, put them in common (government) control and distribute the product equally. So...how well did that turn out?
The recent firing of the General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner(3) by president Obama sets a dangerous precedent. When the government gets in the business of private business, it's no longer private. One only has to look at North Korea and China to see the pitfalls. Without profit incentives to attract talent, private firms will wither and die. And...if a ceo or board of directors believe that the president or congress has the authority to sack them at will, their decisions suddenly become political rather than financial.
There seems to be a prevailing opinion that "PROFIT=EVIL". Where do people think that jobs come from? If a corporation(and the associated management team) is making a large profit, they are going to create more jobs and hire more people in an effort to make bigger profits. By the same token, if profits go away, jobs get cut. Just check out the current job market(4) and compare it with corporate earnings(5) over the last year! Then, the next time you or someone you know gets laid off, think about what would be happening if your (ex) employer was making MORE money instead of losing it.
Thats my opinion. What's yours?

1) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist

2) http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/EastEurope/OctRev.html

3) http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/03/29/obama-to-gm-ceo-wagoner-youre-fired/

4) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123876121625986405.html, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762531.html

5) http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/gdp408f.htm, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123807065934647327.html

THE ELECTION CONSPIRACY

2008-10-04T14:19:00.000-06:00

There is a long-standing conspiracy to keep the American public uninformed. Don't believe me? Google "the fully-informed jury". Now find the part of the constitution that talks about separation of church and state (the truth: it's NOT IN the constitution). Do you know how many political parties are allowed by the constitution. Answer: none! Political parties aren't mentioned.
Normally, I am a passionate Republican. This election, however, I'm having second thoughts; mainly because of Sarah Palin. The thought of her stepping in as president, should something happen to her 72 year old, 4 times cancer-surviving running mate scares the hell out of me.
Don't get me wrong. I like John McCain. And I'm relatively sure that Palin would make a good vice pres. But folks, can you see her at a G8 summit talking to Vladimir Putin? Or pumping up the troops just before a major offensive against Iran? There's a sight to make you fill up your Levis.
Fear not!!! There IS a choice.
Many people are unaware that there are several viable political parties in the good old U S of A. To learn about my other favorite, check out the Constitution party. Here's a quote from Wikipedia about them.
"The Constitution Party advocates a platform which aims to reflect the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Their policies are similar to that of the Libertarian Party in their strong belief in federalism, limited government, and non-intervention, but similar to the Republican Party in their stance against abortion, homosexual marriage, embryonic stem cell research, and illegal immigration."
To see the entire entry, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Party_(United_States)
If you would like to visit their home page, and find out what they're all about, go here:
http://www.constitutionparty.com/
Now you know that you have a choice, and you're a little more informed. God bless the USA

Democrat or Republican

2008-09-25T12:03:00.000-06:00

If you've read my insane rants for any length of time, then I'm sure that you're familiar with my political persuasions. This was forwarded to me by a kindred soul. I'll let it speak for itself.

10 REASONS TO VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATS

I'm voting Democrat because:
1) I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

2) freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

3) when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.

4) I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

5) I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

6) I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

7) I believe three or four pointy headed elitist liberals need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

8) I believe that when the terrorists don't have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don't want to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.

9) I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.

10) I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

Now doesn't makes you wonder why anyone would EVER vote Republican ?

And that's my opinion. What's yours?

I think that the credit for this piece goes to a gentleman named Jared Turner, but I'm not sure. If I'm mistaken, please let me know and I'll post a correction.

To protect and serve

2008-07-16T01:09:00.000-06:00

Recently, a local police officer was arrested for sexual abuse. He also shot and killed a young, unarmed Irish man. Two separate incidents. His lawyer says that we the people shouldn't think about the killing when trying him for the rape. Yeah! Right!
This crooked cop got me to thinking (which can be a dangerous activity for me). Just how many of those people hired to protect us FROM criminals really ARE criminals?
If it is, as the police and media would have us believe, a very few, then these few crooked cops are making it much more difficult for the honest, hard working men and women who lay their lives on the line to keep our society civil and livable.
On the other hand, if there a lot of cops raping, killing dealing drugs and generally engaging in nefarious activities, then you and I are in a real spot. When a cop comes to the door or pulls us over in our car, do we comply, let them in our home, hand them all of our paperwork or whatever else they ask, or do we arm ourselves and do our best to barricade them from our homes, cars and businesses in an effort to protect ourselves and our families from getting kidnapped, raped and murdered by the very people that are supposed to protect us?
This dilemma may very well get some good cops killed. What do you do? If any other criminal shows up at your door and tries to force their way in, you have (in most states) the right to use deadly force to protect your life. But if you shoot a cop, even if he/she was trying to kill you, you'll probably spend the rest of your life in prison. Or worse. After all; who is the court going to believe? How many of the cops that are accused of a crime ever get ARRESTED or CONVICTED? Most bad cops that I've known (quite a few) got promotions instead of jail time. Fellow officers won't purge them from their numbers. Prosecutors are loath to pursue their misdeeds. The media whitewashes their crimes to "protect the good cops".
What is really needed, in my opinion, is a citizen review board that scrutinizes every allegation against any law enforcement personnel or organization, with mandatory federal prosecution for any crime committed by them. I also believe that, other than minor traffic offenses, a crime committed by any federal, state, county or local law enforcement officer should be a separate, federal felony. Set up an anonymous system for the good cops to report and investigate these crimes and get the oversight out of the hands of the good-ol-boys networks and into someplace where there's at least a chance of the people getting some justice.
THAT will really protect the "good cops" by preventing any retaliation towards the good cops from their coworkers. And maybe we the people can begin to regain some trust and confidence in our justice system.
That's my opinion. Tell me what you think.

Tomatos & Oil

2008-07-01T18:44:00.000-06:00

Well! I'm back. Had to deal with a few health issues and couldn't keep up with my writing. And with all that has gone on in the world since December, I don't know where to start. How about tomatoes?
Salmonella is running rampant and every restaurant seems terrified to offer you a tomato. Now, the FDA (in all their efficient glory) has decided that tomatoes might not even be the source. Gee! Ya think? It has hit in about 35 of the lower 48 states; from coast to coast.
I don't suppose that the Office of Homeland Security has considered a biological attack. After all; Iran has so much good feeling for us, and couldn't possibly possess the technology to grow such an uncommon pathogen. So, of course, something like an outbreak of Ebola or hemorrhagic fever couldn't possibly happen; especially with the extreme security that the US of A exercises over its borders and how well it keeps undocumented workers out of the workforce and away from the domestic food chain.
OIL!!! Any one that thinks $10 a gallon gas can't happen here has never been to Europe. In this country, we have all the oil we need for about 25 years if we want to drill for it. That should be enough time to develop ethanol and hydrogen fuel cells and get them widely and economically distributed. Won't happen, though. America will hold on to its oil reserves until the rest of the world is out. Then, theoretically, we'll be in the drivers seat.
Unfortunately it isn't going to work that way.
The rest of the world WILL have hydrogen and ethanol wide spread within 10 to 15 years. Except, maybe for the Chinese. Demand will be at an all time low by about 2025, and China and the US will be the guys still screwing up the air that every one else has to breath. The middle east won't have the revenues of the last 150 years and will either slip back into the dark ages or (more probably) take all the money they've been saving for the occasion and start a really big war in an attempt to grab some other revenue sources. If you read the last chapter in the best seller of all time, you can read all about it.
Just some food for thought. Gotta go. I need some gas so I can drive to the store to buy some tomatoes for the salad tonight.

Santa's gassing up his sleigh

2007-12-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Christmas is almost here. Don't forget to check out the great wearable and display art at WesternStatesCreations.com. Find that perfect gift for the one on your list who has everything.
A sweetheart? Try jewelry by Chris Maqueirs.
A proffesional? See the stunning photography of Kris Montierth, Rani Hixon or Michael Peterson for the office.
The exquisite paintings and drawings of Nick Gustafson, Josie Dee or Frederick de Terazzas. will deck out any home .
Newlyweds? Look at "The Circle" and "You Are" by Rick Peterson.

So what's up with this election campaign? On the liberal side we've got a woman, a black and a spoiled rich kid. In the other corner there's a Morman, a minister and an adulterer. This is the most screwed up bunch of candidates I can remember, and when I was born, Harry S. Truman was president. I'm sure there's a conspiracy in there somewhere. Any thoughts; send me an email and I'll research it.

I'm taking a break from 'ritin 'n searchin' to entertain friends and family, but look for a new posting right after New Years. Is the FBI conspiring to do away with the constitution? You be the judge.
"Till 2008; have a very merry Christmas and a great new year.
Rick

NAVAJO CODE TALKERS

2007-11-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

No study or discussion of codes and cryptography would be complete without an in-depth look at the major contributions made by the Navajo tribe to the fighting during world war 2, as well as the sacrifices made by these brave soldiers and their families.
To this day native Americans, especially the Navajo, are treated like second-class citizens throughout society. For decades, they were stripped of their culture, their language and their identity. They were locked away on reservations, forbidden to speak their language. Their children were forced to attend boarding schools where they were beaten and ridiculed if caught speaking their native tongue. They were made to wear school uniforms, instead of their traditional clothing. They were taught that they were savages, and that the only way they could become "civilized" was to forget all things Navajo, and embrace the so-called American way of life and the English language.

Yet, when the US was in trouble in the war with Japan, the Navajos couldn't wait to join the marines, and offer their very special language as an unbreakable code; the very same language that the (our) government had tried so hard to eradicate.

In the march towards Iwo Jima, and ultimately the bombing campaign for Japan, virtually all of the American codes had been broken by the Japanese cryptography department. Without secure communications, US forces stood almost no chance of defeating the enemy. A search was on for a secure, accurate and quick method of relaying messages on the battle front.

During WW1, other native American languages had been used as codes, and with some success. These other languages had, however been learned by foreign students from Germany, Japan and other countries. No one, however, that hadn't been raised in the Navajo tongue could speak it with any efficiency. Phillip Johnston,(1) who had been raised on the Navajo reservation by his missionary parents, spoke the language. What's more, he knew that probably no one outside of the United States could understand it. When Phillip got word of the communication dilemma facing the armed forces, he recalled hearing of the WW1 codes, and spoke with communications officers at the San Diego Marine base, suggesting using Navajo for a completely secure code.

Although not immediately convinced, the military agreed to view a demonstration from the Navajos to see if it was feasible. In 1942, a pilot unit of 29 young Navajos started the Navajo code talkers.

There were quite a few obstacles. The Navajo language had no words for bomb, or submarine, or dive bomber. Code words were designated for over 400 specific military terms.(2) These all had to be committed to memory. There also had to be a way to spell out words for which no code word had been assigned. And they had to avoid the enemy of all encryption; repetition. These young warriors, used to overcoming many difficult obstacles and, most importantly, to memorizing lenghty stories verbatim (Navajo has no written language) made quick work of devising a code that would work in the heat of battle, and ensure that the vital messages were only understood by their intended recipients.

These soldiers and the code that they developed saved many lives, and hundreds of battles large and small were won due in no small part to the deep patriotism and bravery of the Navajo people, and their willingness to serve the country that, quite frankly, treated them like garbage.(3) Not until over 50 years after the war, and after many of these young men had died, were their contributions recognized by the military. They still have no VA services available close to home. They have struggled with payment, health care, housing and many other things the rest of the country takes for granted.

I, for one, salute them. For your commitment and bravery, and from the bottom of my heart; THANK YOU!

(1) For a short, but thorough history of the Navajo language code, get the booklet "PHILLIP JOHNSTON and the NAVAJO CODE TALKERS" by Syble Lagerquist

(2) A good representation of the code, as well as another view of it's history and development can be found in Simon Singh's "The Code Book"

(3) For a wonderful visual introduction of the code talkers, as well as the chance to see some of the men involved and actually hear the code being spoken, PBS.org has the video "TRUE WHISPERS" available. The cost is about $30.00. I highly recommend this video to any student of the history of military codes, or of Native American culture.

And a reader writes:

2007-11-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

AMEN to all of it brother! Minimum wage should go back down to 5.50 or less. It irritates me that people complain about it. If you don't like it, do something about it! Get a better job, study to better yourself, not force the government to pay you more because you don't have ambition.

WHO AM I

2007-11-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

I've been asked a few times to explain my political and personal beliefs (I believe the exact words were along the lines of "What kind of nut case ARE you?). For my readers who want to know, here's my personal statement.
I'm a died-in-the-wool hillbilly. I have lived most of my life in the mountains. Flapjacks for breakfast, trout for lunch and venison for supper sound like a balanced diet to me.
My ideal life is cutting wood, hunting for food and living in a log cabin; the last house on a long dirt road.
I'm an NRA member, own 5 guns, 16 hunting knives and a crossbow. I'm a fervent defender of the constitution. I think the second amendment is there in case the police/military/congress/courts forget about the rest of them.
I hunt, fish, eat lots of red meat, and believe that God put animals on earth to feed and serve mankind.
I'm a conservative Christian; albeit a little back sliding. I keep a Bible by my easy chair and another by my bed. I believe that the Bible is the complete word of God, and the only one.
I'm anti abortion, anti cloning and anti embryonic stem cell research.
I'm a passionate Republican! I voted for Reagan and The Bushes twice; each. I believe Clinton should have been impeached for lying.
I don't believe in term limits. There is a mandatory term limit imposed by God; everyone dies eventually! If people like a politician, they should be able to keep him or her in office as long as possible. If you don't like them, don't vote for them.
I believe eminent domain is a license to steal.
I believe that the CIA should be listening to every call that goes in or out of the United States, but don't believe that anyone has the right to listen to domestic calls or read domestic mail; e or otherwise.
I don't believe in welfare unless some one absolutely can't (not won't) work. Then the public should support them with dignity, and not make them feel like beggars. Unless they're an illegal alien. Then they should be deported. The drunks and junkies can support themselves or starve.
I think the minimum wage should be $5.50. Everywhere.
I think the labor unions have destroyed the ability of the US to effectively compete in the world market.
I believe that English is our national language. If you want to live here, learn it.
That's what I believe. Agree? Disagree? Think I should be elected to office? Locked up in a padded cell? Let me know.

Encryption is for your phone calls, too!

2007-10-25T08:36:00.000-06:00

What's that they say? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that someone isn't out to get you! How about: No one ever got shot or busted for being too paranoid! With all that's going on in the world nowadays, you don't to need to be an alien abductee to understand that your world might not be as private as you would like.
Whether it's a trade secret that you're trying to protect, or you're just foolin' around on the wife/husband, you can't be too careful. So you've got your papers cross-cut shredded, your office has 3 surveillance cameras, all your emails are encrypted, and your documents are on an encrypted, phantom drive on a remote off-shore server.
What about your phone calls? Any one from the business rivals(1) to the feds(2 )to your boyfriends wife(3) can be listening in on your calls. Don't you think it's about time to protect your spoken words, too?
It used to be that encrypting phone calls was the territory of governments. The equipment was expensive, and the resulting calls were scratchy and broken. Those days are gone. For anywhere from $1600 to possibly under $100(4) you can get a phone scrambler that will guarantee your privacy. Of course, you will need at least two of them; one for each end of the conversation
The new scramblers on the market can be left on all the time, as they recognize a compatible unit on the other end and automatically encrypt calls. If the receiving end has no scrambler, the call goes through normally.
If you're electronically inclined and adventurous, you can even try building your own device(5). No guarantees on how, how well or even if this one works.
I have no economic interest in any of the companies whose links I have provided. I do have an interest in preserving our(my) absolute right to talk to anyone I choose and say anything I want without someone else listening in for whatever nefarious reason they may may have in their warped little brains.

Stay safe. Stay private.

N.R.P.

(1) http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1989_cr/s890418-bug.htm , http://www.tscmvideo.com/synopsis-tscm-video.html

(2) http://www.privacy.org/pi/issues/tapping/ , http://www.alternet.org/rights/32218/

(3) http://www.divorcesource.com/research/edj/cases/wiretapping.shtml

(4) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,2081513,00.htm , http://cellular.co.za/accessories/encryption/cryptophone_gsm_phone_encryption.htm , http://www.spyworld.com/Scramblers_Encryptions.htm , http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/the-secure-phone-miser-telephone-conversation-encryption-device-175953.php

(5) http://www.schneier.com/essay-099.html

Weapons of Mass Deception

2007-10-05T09:42:00.000-06:00

Much of the world wide news media, and many people in the US government (most of them Democrats) would like you to believe that there never were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; that the military has never found any and that Saddam Hussein did, in fact comply with the U. N, destroy all of his biological and chemical weapons, and abandon his nuclear arms ambitions.

Is that true? Has the Iraq war been a complete blunder? Was the entire justification for the Iraq invasion a mistake, or possibly even a complete fabrication?

If this is true, either the governments of about 30 countries are totally incompetent and complete morons (always a possibility), or Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, Hu Jintao and George W. Bush, along with the governing, military and intelligence agencies of all the other U.N. security council members (1) conspired to decieve the entire world population.

If it is not true, and there in fact were (or are), WMDs in Iraq, why would so many of our congress men and women, presidential candidates and journalists want us to believe otherwise?

The truth is, since 2003, coalition forces have recovered over 500 munitions that contain mustard gas and sarin nerve agent. According to a recently unclassified document, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions still exist, . (2,3,4) Both sarin and mustard gas are classified as weapons of mass destruction according to the United Nations resolution 687. (5,6)

These are not the only WMDs recovered. The whole world new that, prior to the US invasion, Saddam Hussein had WMDs. He purchased them. He produced them. He used them; against his own people. If he had so many, where did they go? Could they have simply disappeared?

The most likely possibility is that they were hidden; either inside of Iraq, or in other countries after the UN inspectors were thrown out of the country (7), in an effort to thwart the world community from locating and destroying them (8, 9,10).

Iraq is a huge country, and less than 20% has been thoroughly searched. In 2003, Coalition forces found fighter jets under the desert sand(11,12,13). More sarin, mustard and even nuclear devices could very easily be hidden all over the country. We know that at least five secret storage bunkers around Baghdad, Basra and Tikrit held chemical weapons(14). If we are unable to locate these and other WMD caches due to the constraints of the war or (God forbid) a complete pull-out of American forces, Al Queda and other fanatics could very well get their hands on them. Should that happen, 9/11 just might look like a church social.

So why would anyone in the government and media deny these facts, lie to the public about the WMDs and play down or cover up these discoveries? What diabolical agenda do the candidates, pundits and others hell-bent on convincing the public of their lies have that they are willing to expose the whole world to these terrors? Isn't this eerily similar to the Holocaust denial?

I don't have the answers. Just the questions. What do you think?

1) United Nations Security Council resolutions 660, 661, 678, 686, 687, 688, 707, 715, 986, and 1284

2) http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200606/NAT20060621e.html

3) http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1435

4) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html

5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin

6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_gas

7) http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1123

8) http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/2/18/233023.shtml

9) http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/11738

10) http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=55

11) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1022824/posts

12) http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/foxbat.htm

13)http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/foxbat.htm

14) http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544556813.html?from=storyrhs

Machine Guns and Secret Codes

2007-09-24T17:04:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of people afraid of the widespread use of cryptography.

Why? What are their concerns? What is the logic of their arguments behind attempting to restrict, or outright ban the use of cryptography?

The primary reason that is given time and time again is that, with the use of strong cryptography, law enforcement will lose the edge of wire taps, using information found on computers and gaining information about crimes from emails in their efforts to prevent and prosecute crimes.

These are legitimate concerns. They sound like compelling arguments. They sound logical. They only fall completely apart when looked at from the reality of two points.

First, all these points assume that the United States is the only, or at least the best place to acquire cryptography. If that were true, then we could curtail the use by terrorists and criminals of crypto simply by outlawing it, and enforcing those laws.

Oh sure; a few bad guys would find a way to get a hold of it, but for the most part, national and local law enforcement agencies would have their investigations and prosecutions unhindered by the inability to collect or use information because it was hidden behind unbreakable cryptography.

The problem is that really good cryptography is available worldwide. Since the Americans are not the only ones that want it, they're not the only ones creating it. Even if were completely illegal inside the US, it is still readily available all over the rest of the world.

Which brings us to the second reason the anti-crypto laws make absolutely no sense. I have yet to hear of a law that Al Queida, or the drug cartels or child pornographers gave a damn about. The same thinking is trying to take all guns away from Americans. Machine guns have been illegal for decades, yet they are still the weapon of choice for dope dealers and terrorists.

All these laws do is disarm law abiding citizens, and make them easier targets for the criminals. Then, in an effort to protect themselves from the REAL criminals, the average citizen has to BECOME a criminal, and go get a gun, and/or cryptography.

Without strong crypto, identity theft will become even more rampant. Fraud and other information crimes will flourish because people can't protect their information from the real criminals. So they download some from Germany or France or Brazil, and become themselves a criminal just for having it.

That is my opinion. What are your thoughts?

The Chinese Invasion

2007-09-09T14:43:00.000-06:00

A Crypto Contest
Do you enjoy cryptograms? Western States Creations is holding a contest. The current winner gets their name and photo published on the web. A lot of fun for those that enjoy challenging their brains. Nothing to buy. Just some fun.
The winner of the next contest, due to start 9/15/'07, gets a prize worth over $150.00.
Check it out at: http://westernstatescreations.com/cryptochallenge/crypto_contest.html. Be sure to visit the adds and sponsor links, too. Without them, they (WSC) couldn't bring you the contest.
Looking for more crypto games? check out: http://www.darkrockstudios.com/decrypt/public/.
It's plugged as:"The game will teach you to crack real ciphers by hand. Then you will have to follow clues through the virtual internet to find encrypted communications and decipher them as you try to solve a mystery."
It's in beta now, but looks like it could be a blast.
Where CRYPTO meets CONSPIRACY
Is Microsoft in bed with the NSA? Read this and decide for yourself.
http://www.hackwatch.com/cryptography.html. Another good article can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/03/windows.nsa.02/. This is why I advocate Open Source. Personally, I never did trust Mr. Gates. I thought the movie "The Net" was a wake-up call for anyone using encrypted operating systems.
The Chinese Invasion
Pet food. Toothpaste. Toys. Clothes.
We are being overwhelmed by poisons from China. Is it a conspiracy, or just a long series of idiotic mistakes from the well-meaning but misunderstood People's Republic of China? You decide!
After Del Monte, Nestle, Menu, Diamond and a host of other pet food manufactures found a deadly toxin in their products. (get complete list here: http://www.fda.gov//oc//opacom//hottopics//petfood.html) the recall frenzy began.
The poison was in the wheat glutin, which the Chinese government denies ever shipping to us. See: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/05/business/gluten.php
Next came poison toothpaste, Barbie and other toys and even clothes. See: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1420022007 and http://www.thestate.com/business/story/168102.ht.
Why would they ship out a few tainted products, which are bound to be discovered and to their own financial detriment? Is it a conspiracy? Let's examine the possibilities.
The Chinese are known for their patience. They have weathered isolation for hundreds of years, and probably feel that they could survive a few more, if necessary.
Right now, the US imports over 70% of our toys from China. If a couple of million get recalled due to lead paint, how many still made it to our children to give them lead poisoning, and the associated behavioral problems, learning disabilities and growth retardation. These problems won't have any real affect on the country as a whole for 20 to 30 years. Then, if enough of our children are "slow", we could have an entire generation that can be led and manipulated by the PRC. The toothpaste, clothes and pet food COULD be tests to determine the most viable method of introducing lead and other mind dumbing chemicals.
Or, it could all be just a big mistake. What's your opinion?

First thoughts

2007-09-08T01:49:00.000-06:00

This is my first attempt at a blog. Let's face it; I'm an old geezer and not too checked out with all this new fangled technology. So why even attempt it?
Two reasons.
First, my son, Michael, and I have started an on-line art dealership called WesternStatesCreations.com, and we needed a method of getting the word out to folks that there is a different way to buy and sell art. A lot of people don't realize that local, not-well-known artisans create beautiful works. What was needed was a place to display and sell them so that folks such as your self could access some great art works without having to travel every back road in the country.
With that in mind, I thought I would use this as a way to bring a little light on to the creations of these artists, of which I am one.
Which brings me to the second reason for this muse. You may have noticed the title of this page: Conspiracies 'n Crypto. I am a poet and writer, and, if you read some of my work on the site like "Standing, After the Fall", you will see that I am rather opinionated.
I do believe that conspiracies exist. As I read yesterday; a conspiracy is, by definition, more than one person. Not necessarily a megacorp or government. Just 2 or more people deciding to do something illegal, immoral or fattening.
I don't wear a tinfoil hat, and I don't believe that aliens had a damn thing to do with JFKs assassination. I don't think the CIA is causing hurricanes to weaken foreign countries.
I do believe that people with power do things to maintain and/or increase that power. I do believe that some of the things they do are not in yours and my best interest and that, as such, those powerful people do their best to hide a lot of things from the rest of us. Those things, folks, are conspiracies.
And the crypto?
We all have a right to privacy. From our neighbors. From criminals. And yes, from our government. I do not believe that any law enforcement agency has the right to read my mail, electronic or otherwise, just in case I might be a criminal. Come up with some evidence first. Then go to a judge and get a warrant.
I hear people say "I don't have anything to hide". Then take down all your curtains and doors. Let EVERYONE see EVERYTHING. You won't do that. You expect; no, demand some privacy.
By the way, if anyone would like to post their public keys here, please feel free. I am not a "Trusted Third Party", and cannot vouch for anyone, but you can get your keys out through this blog (strange word).
So let's hear what you think!