December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

IP: Fatal Flaws: How military misled about Agent Orange
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Fatal Flaws: How military misled about Agent Orange Date: Sun, 01 Nov 1998 11:41:36 -0600 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: San Diego Union-Tribune http://www.union-tribune.com/news/981101-0010_mz1n1agent.html FATAL FLAWS How the military misled Vietnam veterans and their families about the health risks of Agent Orange UNION-TRIBUNE Staff Writer November 1, 1998 The U.S. military's $200 million study of the health effects of Agent Orange on … [View More]Vietnam War veterans is so flawed that it might be useless, a six-month investigation by The San Diego Union-Tribune has found. The study has been a key factor in denying compensation to Vietnam veterans suffering from illnesses they blame on Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide used to destroy enemy crops and jungle hiding places. Interviews with military scientists, transcripts of meetings, and government reports and internal memos reveal that these are among the flaws in the Air Force study, which began in 1979 and concludes in 2006: Two study reports that revealed serious birth defects among children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange were withheld for years, leaving a generation of men and women who served in Vietnam to start families without knowing the potential risks. A report expressing concerns about cancer and birth defects was altered, with the result that the risks appeared less serious. The government ignored a National Academy of Sciences recommendation that the study be done by scientists outside the military. High-ranking Air Force officers interfered with the study' s data analysis, undermining its scientific integrity. The Air Force stonewalled a U.S. senator who wanted full disclosure of the data. Dr. Richard Albanese, one of four scientists who designed the study but later was taken off the project, says it was manipulated to downplay the health problems of Vietnam veterans. "This is a medical crime, basically," Albanese said. "Certainly, this is against all medical ethics." Albanese, a civilian doctor, still works at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, where the study' s scientists are headquartered. When the Union-Tribune contacted him, Albanese weighed the consequences for several days and then agreed to a series of interviews in the hope that veterans will be treated better in the future. He said the study is tainted because a government agency, in this case the Air Force, was allowed to investigate itself. Joel Michalek, the study' s head scientist, acknowledged that the Air Force and the government tried to interfere, but he said this had no impact on the study. He said he received two memos through the chain of command that tried to influence the study, but threw them away. The study is named for Operation Ranch Hand, a series of Air Force missions that sprayed 18 million gallons of defoliants over 3.6 million acres of South Vietnam. The Ranch Hand study tracks the health of about 1,000 veterans who participated in the spraying missions, in comparison with an Air Force group that was not involved in the spraying. Both groups come to San Diego every few years for medical exams. Agent Orange contained dioxin, now known to cause some cancers. The defoliant destroyed forests and darkened the waters of the Mekong Delta, where Patti Robinson' s husband, Geoff, was a gunner' s mate on a Navy patrol boat in 1968-69. Robinson, who lives in Clairemont, said her husband described how the herbicide congealed and licked at river banks. But he told her the men bathed and swam in the water anyway; their superiors said it was safe. When her husband died of cancer in 1981, Robinson turned to the Veterans Administration for help. Her claim citing Agent Orange as a factor in her husband' s death also listed her son, Matthew, who was born in 1976 with a developmental disability. But the government told Robinson that Agent Orange did not cause her husband' s malignant melanoma, nor her son' s communication disorder. Or any other health problem for that matter. All claims were being denied. Agent Orange was innocent until proved guilty. The government had made that clear in 1978, after the first 500 claims came in. Garth Dettinger, an Air Force deputy surgeon general, told Congress there was no evidence that Agent Orange had harmed anyone. But concerns about the herbicide' s health effects had been raised since the early ' 70s, and the public wanted proof. So Congress funded the Ranch Hand study. Dettinger helped make sure it was done by Air Force scientists. Conflict of interest Although Dettinger wanted the Air Force to evaluate its use of Agent Orange, some of its scientists thought that might present a conflict of interest. Col. George Lathrop, head scientist for the Ranch Hand study in its early years, told a military science board in 1979 that an Air Force study wouldn' t be credible to people outside the government. "We advised a certain general that, ' No, we should not do this.' And we were told to shut up and do it anyway," Lathrop said, according to a transcript of the meeting. "So we are saluting the flag pole and mushing on. We are doing the damn thing." That general, Lathrop said in a recent interview, was Dettinger. "Dettinger had the notion that if we didn' t do this study that he would devise his own questionnaire and his own study and go out and get it done himself," Lathrop said. "It would have been scientifically disastrous." Dettinger denied ordering Lathrop to do the Ranch Hand study and said he never threatened to conduct his own version. "He' s not being honest about that," Dettinger said. "I promised Congress we would do the study. My word is my bond, and so we went ahead and did it." Albanese also worried that conflict of interest might affect the findings. But, at the time, he believed the danger could be offset by a rule written into the study design: Air Force management was not to interfere with the scientific analysis. The scientists weren' t the only ones with conflict-of-interest concerns. The National Academy of Sciences reviewed the study design in 1980 and recommended it be done by independent researchers. But a White House panel made up of representatives from the Pentagon and VA, among other federal agencies, said the Air Force would do it. The panel, called the Agent Orange Working Group, appointed an advisory committee to review Ranch Hand reports. But the committee did more directing than advising during the first decade of the study, Albanese said. Ranch Hand reports went from the Air Force to the advisory committee, then to the Agent Orange Working Group and back to the Air Force. Sources and documents indicate the reports were changed during that process, sometimes dramatically. Altered report The Air Force scientists drafted two major Ranch Hand reports in 1984. One of them was withheld. The other was published, but its findings were altered. The report that was withheld dealt specifically with reproductive health issues, and stressed birth defects and infant deaths. It showed high rates of both among children of Ranch Hand veterans. The report that was published examined the general health of Ranch Hand veterans. It presented data on birth defects, cancer and many other medical conditions. The Air Force announced that it showed little difference between the health of Ranch Hand and comparison veterans. But that wasn' t what the Ranch Hand scientists wrote. Their original version of the report contained a table showing that the Ranch Hand veterans were, by a ratio of 5-1, "less well" than the comparison group. That version also noted that Ranch Hand veterans reported significantly more birth defects among their children than did the other veterans. After the White House panel' s advisory committee reviewed the report, those details were downplayed or eliminated. Lathrop complied with the committee' s recommendations to omit the table, soften the birth defects language and drop a sentence that said Ranch Hand veterans might have been harmed by Agent Orange. Lathrop also deleted a sentence that said some of the findings were "of concern." He added a line that said the overall findings were "reassuring." Lathrop didn' t object to the changes, which he said were minor. "Fundamentally, the advisory group felt that we were too liberal on the interpretation," he said. Albanese, on the other hand, thought the changes distorted the report. He wrote a letter requesting that his views be published as a minority opinion, and kept a copy in his files. Lathrop, who didn' t respond to Albanese' s letter, said he doesn' t recall receiving it. Albanese and Lathrop also disagreed about how the cancer data were prepared and presented in the 1984 health report. Because the Ranch Hand group is too small for the scientists to draw conclusions about rare cancers, Albanese said, they decided to study the incidence of cancer as a whole. They found that the Ranch Hand veterans had twice as many cancers as the comparison group. But that didn' t make it into the report. Instead, skin and internal cancers were separated. Presented that way, the Ranch Hand group had 135 percent more skin cancers than the comparison group, but only 20 percent more internal cancers. The scientists reported the high skin cancer rate, but suggested it was caused by overexposure to the sun. They found "no significant group differences" in internal cancers. Within the small Ranch Hand group, Albanese said, the increase in internal cancers became a meaningless statistic. Albanese was outraged. "It happened that most cancers were in the skin, and the report said they were just in the skin," he said. "That' s not a correct inference." At the press conference that unveiled the 1984 health findings, Murphy Chesney, a deputy Air Force surgeon general at the time, announced that the health of the Ranch Hand and comparison veterans was about the same. In response to a question during that press conference, Albanese voiced a mild disagreement. Noting the higher incidence of some diseases, he said, "I cannot account for such differences by chance; on the other hand, I cannot explain their cause." He repeated to reporters a phrase that had been deleted from the report: "A degree of concern is warranted." Albanese was removed from the Ranch Hand study eight months later. The Air Force said he was needed on a different project. Sensitive information Albanese considered going public with his misgivings about the Ranch Hand study years ago, but decided against it. He didn' t want to jeopardize his career as a government scientist. Because of the study' s flaws, Albanese said, Vietnam veterans have not received the compensation they deserve. Lathrop said it was better not to release sensitive data from the Ranch Hand study prematurely, and nothing was more sensitive than information about birth defects. "There was a great deal riding on the issue of birth defects," he said. "The VA had not decided on the issue of compensation and so forth." After her husband died, Patti Robinson struggled to meet her son' s special needs. She needed the government compensation, but more than that, she needed the truth. "The uncertainty has left big question marks," she said. "If it wasn' t for that, you could put it behind you." Robinson never remarried. She devoted her life to her son, Matthew, who is 21 now, the age his father was in Vietnam. Matthew has the reading skills of a second-grader, and he has a hard time getting words out. But he can look at a photograph, identify a place he has been and offer directions to get there. He calls his mother by her first name and often refers to himself in the third person. He will say, "Patti, Matthew is stupid," and his mother will fire back, "No, you' re not." Matthew keeps a picture of his father in his bedroom. Sometimes he shows it to visitors. But pain registered on his face when he was asked what he remembers about the man who died so long ago. He turned away. "Matthew doesn' t want to talk about that," he said. In the private sector To reduce the workload of its scientists, the Air Force hired a private company to conduct Ranch Hand general health studies published since 1984. But the government has remained in charge. And the firm that won the first contract featured a familiar face. George Lathrop had retired from the Air Force and was working at the San Antonio office of Science Applications International Corp., a San Diego-based company that was founded on defense contracts. Lathrop said he wanted to continue working on the Ranch Hand study. He figured that with him on its team, SAIC would get the contract. It did. Lathrop left SAIC in 1987. The company went on to win the contracts for 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002. It uses Scripps Clinic in La Jolla to perform the medical tests. Results are analyzed by SAIC, then sent to scientists at Brooks Air Force Base for approval. The SAIC contracts do not include compiling birth defects reports. The Air Force does that itself. By 1987, Ranch Hand had emerged as the government' s definitive Agent Orange study. "It was the pivotal study," said Michalek, Ranch Hand' s head scientist since 1991. "It still is." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta tried to do its own study by matching records of troop movements with Agent Orange spraying. But after five years and nearly $50 million, the CDC decided its review method wasn' t reliable. After the CDC gave up in 1987, the government dismissed other studies that used similar exposure estimates. They were deemed unscientific. That left the Ranch Hand study as the government' s principal yardstick for Agent Orange damage. Pattern of manipulation South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, a Democrat, has kept an eye on the Ranch Hand study since the early 1980s. He was confident it would support his belief that Agent Orange harmed Vietnam veterans. When that hadn' t happened by 1984, when Daschle was a member of the House of Representatives, he decided to investigate. He assigned an aide, Laura Petrou, to help. They collected Air Force and other government correspondence and saw what they believed was a pattern of manipulation to minimize findings of health problems among Ranch Hand veterans. When Daschle learned about the unpublished 1984 birth defects report, he asked for a copy. The Air Force refused to give him one. Finally, in a letter to Daschle dated Aug. 25, 1987, the Air Force conceded that the cancer and birth defects information in the 1984 Ranch Hand health report -- the one Albanese said was distorted by advisory committee changes -- might be incorrect. Daschle then met with Albanese, Michalek and a third Ranch Hand scientist, Col. William H. Wolfe. They told Daschle about another unpublished report, which included some of the cancer and birth defects information that was left out of the 1984 general health report. Daschle fought to make the report public. The advisory committee argued that it was a rehash of old data. The report was released in February 1988, but it didn' t gain the attention Daschle had hoped. The Air Force deemed the report "technically correct" but did not publicize it or list it among Ranch Hand publications. One month after the report was released, Scripps Clinic issued a study update, a press release that said the Ranch Hand veterans were doing fine. It quoted Wolfe: "This is the definitive study on Agent Orange in Vietnam veterans, and so far it shows that disease is not related to apparent exposure, that there is no increased incidence of major long-term health effects. "These results are reassuring." ' Forbidden interpretation' Patti Robinson was not reassured. She had been attending meetings of San Diego veterans' groups and had read everything she could find on Agent Orange. Robinson also corresponded with retired Navy Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, who had ordered the spraying of Agent Orange along the Mekong Delta to kill vegetation where enemy snipers hid. His son, Navy Lt. j.g. Elmo Zumwalt III, had commanded a patrol boat in the Mekong Delta, the same waters Geoff Robinson had navigated. Former Lt. j.g. Zumwalt died of cancer in 1988. His son, Russell, was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction, the same communication disorder that plagues Patti Robinson' s son, Matthew. Robinson thought the Ranch Hand veterans and her husband were exposed to roughly equal amounts of Agent Orange. She believed the Ranch Hand study would be the one that would "prove how dangerous Agent Orange was." "I placed a high priority on that study," Robinson said. "I was disappointed in the results." The Air Force now regrets having described Ranch Hand findings as "reassuring," Michalek said. "That' s a forbidden interpretation," he said. "You can' t reassure anyone of anything in (statistical studies). You can only establish hazard, not safety." Daschle grew tired of fighting the Air Force on the Ranch Hand study. He tried to find other ways to help Vietnam veterans and their families. "Our whole point was if the government was controlling all the science and analyses veterans would never get compensated," Petrou said. Daschle, along with then-Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., pushed legislation to compensate Vietnam veterans suffering from soft-tissue sarcoma and non-Hodgkin' s lymphoma. The bill also authorized the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate scientific and medical information about the health effects of Agent Orange. Earlier attempts to pass similar legislation had failed. But toward the end of 1990, with U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, Congress was eager to help veterans. The Senate passed the bill Jan. 30, 1991, the day Camp Pendleton Marines led the first major ground battle of the Persian Gulf War. During a ceremony to announce the legislation, President Bush proclaimed: "We are here today to ensure that our nation will ever remember those who defended her, the men and women who stood where duty required them to stand." Undue influence? Murphy Chesney, a retired lieutenant general, was an important player in both the Ranch Hand study and the Ranch Hand spraying missions. In Vietnam, as the officer in charge of the health and safety of Air Force personnel, he could have recommended against spraying herbicides if he thought they might be dangerous. But he shared the then-prevailing opinion that Agent Orange, named for the color of the stripe around its 55-gallon storage containers, wouldn' t hurt the troops. After the war, he oversaw the Ranch Hand study from 1979 until he was promoted to Air Force surgeon general in 1985. Chesney couldn' t say whether his role in Operation Ranch Hand influenced his decisions in the Ranch Hand study. "I hope it didn' t," he said in an interview. But Albanese, who worked on the study during the years Chesney was involved, believes it did. He recalled a dispute with a colleague, Wolfe, over data analysis. Chesney sided with Wolfe. "Then," Albanese said, "Gen. Chesney pulled me aside and said, ' If I had to accept your analysis, I' m not sure I could live with myself.' "I could see the water in his eyes. "He said he had approved some of those spraying activities." Chesney said no such conversation took place. But Chesney did remember ordering the scientists to comply with advisory committee recommendations, although such influence by the Air Force is prohibited by the rules of the study design. Looking back, Albanese said, it should have been obvious that the conflict of interest was too strong for the study to be objective. "There' s a faction that doesn' t want to pay the price of treating the veterans," he said, "and a faction that doesn' t want to have made them sick." Birth defects acknowledged In August 1992, the Air Force finally published a Ranch Hand birth defects report. Michalek said the Air Force had withheld the 1984 birth defects report because the advisory committee said it was incomplete. Ranch Hand scientists had verified records of babies with birth defects, but had not yet checked the healthy ones. In the draft of the report, the scientists wrote that it would take about a year to verify records of the healthy babies. But eight years passed before a report came out. The 1992 report confirmed the high rate of birth defects and infant deaths among children fathered by Ranch Hand veterans. But the scientists wrote that because the birth defects did not increase consistently with dioxin exposure, Agent Orange wasn' t to blame. But that might be inaccurate, the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 1994. The academy criticized the Ranch Hand study and singled out the 1992 birth defects report as an example of its many flaws. "It was confusing how the analysis of the birth defects was presented," said Kathleen Rodgers, one of 16 contributors to the National Academy of Sciences study, "Veterans and Agent Orange." "I remember being incensed at the time that we couldn' t get anything out of it," said Rodgers, an associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. The Air Force scientists, examining a study group that was small to begin with, had omitted hundreds of subjects from the analysis, the academy said. That made it harder to connect birth defects to Agent Orange. Or easier not to. "Some aspect of the Ranch Hand experience seems to have increased the risk of fathering children with birth defects," the academy report said, "but the implications of this finding are unclear." The Air Force, of course, knew that 10 years earlier but sat on the information. "It' s the worst thing I have ever seen from the point of view of medical reporting," Albanese said. Releasing the data In recent years, as the Agent Orange controversy has faded from the public' s consciousness, the Ranch Hand advisory committee' s role has diminished. During its meeting last week in San Antonio -- the first such gathering since 1995 -- Michalek briefed the committee on the Union-Tribune' s investigation of the study. Michalek asked Albanese to detail his concerns about unpublished data and government interference. Afterward, Albanese suggested that the raw Ranch Hand data be made public, repeating an idea he has advocated for years. That way, he said, researchers outside the military might come up with new and useful analyses. Advisory committee Chairman Robert W. Harrison recommended that everything should be released, except for information that would violate the confidentiality of the subjects. Michalek said he would comply. Harrison, a professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, said that he and his colleagues on the panel should start looking more closely at how the study is conducted and its findings. Expanded compensation Last year, the Air Force announced its first link between Agent Orange and a serious illness. The Ranch Hand veterans have a higher rate of diabetes. Air Force scientists saw the diabetes increase in 1992 but waited five years to make it public. Michalek said they wanted to be sure. The delay came as no surprise to Daschle and his aide, Petrou, who are still upset with the Air Force for withholding information about cancer and birth defects. "Delay is clearly their major tactic," Petrou said. "The delay is justice denied. It' s extremely disturbing. "From a public health perspective and from a moral perspective in terms of how we treat veterans, there' s no excuse good enough for this." Daschle has given up on the Ranch Hand study. But he has worked around it with some success. The National Academy of Sciences has continued its investigation, examining studies of Vietnam veterans and those of civilians exposed to dioxin in industrial accidents. As the academy links additional diseases to dioxin, more Vietnam veterans get help. The VA -- now the Department of Veterans Affairs -- has expanded its Agent Orange compensation list to 10 diseases, mostly cancers. Spina bifida, a serious spinal deformity, is the only birth defect on the list so far. As of April, the VA had received 92,276 Agent Orange claims from veterans and their survivors. Claims approved for diseases on the compensation list totaled 5,908. Patti Robinson remains a part of the larger group. The academy hasn' t found enough evidence that Agent Orange caused malignant melanoma, the cancer that took her husband. Which leaves Robinson where she was 15 years ago. She still believes Agent Orange killed her husband and disabled her son. But she can' t be sure. And that' s what really hurts, she said. "Look at all the years that have gone by, and there' s still no clear-cut answer." Copyright 1998 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** [View Less]

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RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: Matthew James Gering <mgering(a)ecosystems.net> > Subject: RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted > Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 15:57:43 -0800 > BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Johnie Wise, 72, and Jack Abbott > Grebe, 43, were convicted Thursday of two counts of sending > threatening e-mails -- one message to the Internal Revenue > Service and one to the Drug Enforcement Agency. > > They could get life in prison at their Jan. 29 … [View More]

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s-format file converter?
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I need to convert some files stored in Motorola s-format (widely used for input into EPROM burners) to a binary blob of data my debugger can read. I know there is a GNU utility that supports converting to and from s-format and a wide variety of other file formats, but a web search turned up empty. If you know where to find such a utility for UNIX, please let me know. Thanks, --Lucky Green <shamrock(a)netcom.com> PGP 5.x encrypted email preferred

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RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 20:41:24 -0500 > From: John Young <jya(a)pipeline.com> > Subject: RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted (fwd) > Jim Choate asked: > > >If they had threatened just a plain old citizen with this > >email would they also be facing this life imprisonment? > > Apparently the charges would have been the same if made > against any > > "person within the United States, and the results of such > use affect … [View More]interstate or foreign commerce or, in the case > of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected > interstate or foreign commerce." (see below) Ok, exactly how would their threat effect inter-state commerce? > The use of E-mail was incidental to the charges of both > conspiracy and threatening to use weapons of mass destruction: > > 18:2332(a)(2) and (c)(2)(C). Conspiracy to use a weapon > of mass destruction against person(s) w/in the U.S. > the results of which affected interstate & foreign > commerce. Offense dates: 3/24/98 - 6/30/98. Penalty: > Any term of years or for life, $250,000, 5 yrs SRT. (1) Conspiracy requires active steps, not simply talking about it. As I understand it the conspiracy and weapons of mass destructions charges were given a not-guilty by the jury. No proof was presented that they had ever even bought a bic lighter to test with. Hell, even going to the bookstore and buying a book or the library and checking one out is protected under the Constitution. It takes more than talk to generate a conspiracy. > 18:2332a(a)(2) and (c)(2)(C) and 2. Threatening to use a > weapon of mass destruction. Offense date: 6/26/98 > Penalty: any term of years or Proceedings include all events. > for life, $250,000, 5 yrs SRT as to ea ct. (2 - 8) If we're going to go by this then the US government is already guilty re their plan to destroy various contraband plants via genetic weapons. If you think that won't effect inter-state & international commerce you better think again. And they've gone a lot farther than just talking about it in email. Congress has spent millions on it over the last few years. > The eight counts are for the one count of conspiracy and > threats against seven federal agencies ("employees and > families"): > > The President > ATF > FBI > DEA > IRS > Secret Service > Custom Service Ok, so my question still stands what if these had been actual people instead of government agencies? The charges are *NOT* for threatening individuals who happen to be government agents, oh no, they're for threatening government *agencies* a whole different ball game ('The President' is an office not a person). > CHAPTER 113B - TERRORISM > > Sec. 2332a. Use of weapons of mass destruction > > (a) Offense Against a National of the United States or Within the > United States. - A person who, without lawful authority, uses, > threatens, or attempts or conspires to use, a weapon of mass > destruction, including any biological agent, toxin, or vector (as > those terms are defined in section 178) - Where is 'lawful authority' defined? > (2) against any person within the United States, and the > results of such use affect interstate or foreign commerce or, in > the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected > interstate or foreign commerce; I covered this one already. > (c) Definitions. - For purposes of this section - > > (2) the term ''weapon of mass destruction'' means - > > (A) any destructive device as defined in section 921 of this > title; > > (B) any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or > serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or > impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors; > > (C) any weapon involving a disease organism; or So if I go out and sneeze on somebody I've committed an attack using a weapon of mass destruction? > (D) any weapon that is designed to release radiation or > radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life. Where is the definition of 'mass' in there? Hell, just about anything qualifies under this definition. It doesn't even require the death of 1 single individual (it doesn't even require it to be lethal). Oh, *all* radiation is harmful to human life. > CHAPTER 10 - BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS > Sec. 178. Definitions > > As used in this chapter - > > (1) the term ''biological agent'' means any micro-organism, > virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be > engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally > occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, > virus, infectious substance, or biological product, capable of > causing - > > (A) death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a > human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism; Well this certainly covers each and every effect of a pathogen on a biological system (I particularly like the way they've covered their butts for ET.... 'another living organism'. Not to mention that cleaning your kitchen counter qualifies under this statute. > (B) deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or > material of any kind; or > > (C) deleterious alteration of the environment; Well at least they've set themselves up for their anti-drug pathogen program. > (2) the term ''toxin'' means the toxic material of plants, Can you say circular defintion, I thought you could. This sentence say nothing. > animals, microorganisms, viruses, fungi, or infectious > substances, or a recombinant molecule, whatever its origin or > method of production, including - > > (A) any poisonous substance or biological product that may be > engineered as a result of biotechnology produced by a living > organism; or > > (B) any poisonous isomer or biological product, homolog, or > derivative of such a substance; This of course happens to cover plain old water (re 'whatever its origin or method of preduction'). > (3) the term ''delivery system'' means - > > (A) any apparatus, equipment, device, or means of delivery > specifically designed to deliver or disseminate a biological > agent, toxin, or vector; or > > (B) any vector; > > (4) the term ''vector'' means a living organism, or molecule, > including a recombinant molecule, or biological product that may > be engineered as a result of biotechnology, capable of carrying a > biological agent or toxin to a host; and Next time I get food-poisoning at a restaraunt it's comforting to know that the federal government will be right there to prosecute under this particular statute... Geesh. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- [View Less]

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No Subject
by explorer＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

11/03/98 INTERNET NEWS/Y2K (YEAR 2000 SOLUTION) Most of the information from the silicon valley is obtained from the local pubs/bars. Un-named sources discussing the Y2K problem at the local brew revealed, that 2 of the big valley software manufacturers are in a bidding war for software technology created by a small publicly traded company OTC-BB symbol:"TCFG" that is in the process of obtaining a patent. This 3 year old emerging … [View More]

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s-format file converter? (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: "Lucky Green" <shamrock(a)netcom.com> > Subject: s-format file converter? > Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 18:52:11 -0800 > I need to convert some files stored in Motorola s-format (widely used for > input into EPROM burners) to a binary blob of data my debugger can read. I > know there is a GNU utility that supports converting to and from s-format > and a wide variety of other file formats, but a web search turned up empty. > > If you know … [View More]

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CJ & a potential out...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It occurs to me that since the court saw fit to assign an attorney over CJ's objection he may have constitutional grounds to have his arrest and the consequential proceedings overturned. The Constitution says that a person has a right to counsil if the issue at hand is worth more than $20. It doesn't say the court must appoint one and it most certainly doesn't say a defendent requires one. Since the Constitution leaves the issue up to the defendant any action that is contrary to their desires … [View More]

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ITU In Knots Over Accounting Rates
by totaltel＠total.emap.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Welcome to the Total Telecom news update. http://www.totaltele.com ------------------------------------- today's top story:- ITU In Knots Over Accounting Rates Developed and developing countries were in a deadlock over how to reform the international accounting rate system at the International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis .... http://www.totaltele.com/news/view.asp?ArticleID=20393&Pub=tt ***************************************** Total Telecom - … [View More]site update As part of a larger effort to improve the service, we have moved Total Telecom to a new server and database over the weekend. This should result in faster download times and improved searches for our readers. However, as a result, a few readers may experience a few problems entering the site. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please email us if you are experiencing any difficulties. webmaster(a)total.emap.com ***************************************** current Total Telecom headlines include..... Cegetel Subdued by Slow Uptake and ART's Ruling Cegetel Entreprises, the corporate user division of France's second telecoms operator, is braced for heavy losses this year due to slower than expected customer uptake and France Telecom's aggressive ........ http://www.totaltele.com/news/view.asp?ArticleID=20394&Pub=tt ------------------ Pay-Per-Slot Likely for Satellite Reform The International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary conference in Minneapolis will this week hear a proposal to break a 10-nation stranglehold on world satellite systems. Under the plan, still ...... http://www.totaltele.com/news/view.asp?ArticleID=20397&Pub=tt ---------------- First Pacific in Talks to Buy More PLDT Shares First Pacific Co. said it bought a "strategic stake" in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and may buy more, transactions that will cost at least $724 million. First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based in http://www.totaltele.com/news/view.asp?ArticleID=20396&Pub=tt --------------- France Telecom to Sell 15% Stake of Greece's Panafon in IPO Panafon SA, Greece's largest mobile phone company, said France Telecom SA will sell a 15% stake in the company through an initial public offering that may raise as much as $600 million. Panafon, 55%-...... http://www.totaltele.com/news/view.asp?ArticleID=20395&Pub=tt ---------------- plus NTT President Apologizes for Service Break in Osaka Diax Mobile Phone Services May Not Start Until February Iridium to Begin Satellite-Phone Network Sunday AsiaSat Owners Discuss Reshuffle of Holdings: C&W May Exit Deutsche Telekom Hit by New Price War ITU Plenipot 98 Plays Paper Satellite Ping-Pong US Bids for Internet Domain Name Control .....go to the front page for the full list of headlines http://www.totaltele.com ******************************************** If you wish to be removed from future mailings, please reply with "Remove" in the subject line and we will automatically block you from this list. Thank you for reading Total Telecom [View Less]

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Re: dbts: Lions and TEMPESTs and Black Helicopters (Oh, My!)
by Michael Motyka 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> "Awwwww, C'Monnnn. Niiiice taxpayer. Staaaaay. *Don't* go anywhere. > Pleeeeease?" > *** By and large I agree with you, the fears of TotalControl(tm) are largely unfounded. Abuses do exist. Always have. *** These unregulated virtual economies need to conduct trade with ActualPhysicalSpace. The interface is where the control will be exerted. If you can't safely convert your LibertE$ to physical goods their value will be quite low. Participation will be limited. Also, as the … [View More]

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Frankenstein should be avail. for Unix (S-Records)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://vanbc.wimsey.com/~danf/cbm/cross-development.html > $ Cross-32 V2.0 Meta Assembler [DOS] (Universal Cross-Assemblers) > Table-based absolute macro cross assembler using manufacturer's > assembly mnemonics. Supports macros and conditional assembly. > Uses C language arithmetic and logical operators. Includes > tables for 6502, 65C02, 65816 and >40 other CPUs and can be > … [View More]

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A Motorola site w/ potentialy relevant info (S-Records)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://www.mcu.motsps.com/freeweb/amcu_ndx.html > as-080.dp 43197 Mar 30 94 Understanding S-Records & Downloading > XASMHC11.MAC 49024 Mar 30 94 This is the Motorola Free cross- > assembler ported to the Mac by Georgia Tech. Use MacBinary to download > this Macintosh application. [Uploaded by Jim Sibigtroth.] > AN1060Q.BAS> 8083 Mar 30 94 This is the BASIC source code for AN1060. > This program allows S-records … [View More]

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instruments of liberation (continuing 'fear' thread)
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:22 PM 11/1/98 -0800, Tim May wrote: >"Wired News" carried an article reporting on a plan to (somehow) spread Wired recently had pix/columns on Rivest and Schneier. This is how crypto will get into the popmind: through sophisticated deadtrees like this read by propeller heads *and* suits. The Cryptos talk of the economy, of keeping crackers out, of personal privacy. The list of good uses will grow. The Fascistas will be stuck with only their dealers and the vaporrists, … [View More]

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CJ Legal Defense
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Larry Dowling, an Austin attorney participating in CJ's legal defense, has engaged me to gather information for CJ's defense. This message and any related correspondence with me is protected as "attorney privileged information." Larry, who does not use E-mail, has asked me to obtain the following information for forwarding to him (Plaintext and ciphertext welcomed; PK below. Your choice as to posting responses to cpunks.) 1. How many people who saw the CJ posting cited by the IRS as a … [View More]death threat against federal officials took it as a serious threat? See the IRS complaint at: http://jya.com/cejfiles.htm 2. If you answer "yes" to the question 1, then in your opinion are you of sound mind? 3. How many people are willing to help CJ's defense by answering questions and testify concerning his postings? 4. How many cypherpunks (and others) are willing to attend a trial for CJ in Washington State if the government proceeds to trial? For verification of this message here's Larry's contact: Larry J. Dowling Attorney at Law 606 West Eleventh Street Austin, Texas 78701-2007 Tel: (512) 476-8885 Fax: (512) 476-9918 My contact: John Young 251 West 89th Street, Suite 6E New York, NY 1002 Tel: (212) 873-8700 Fax: (212) 799-4003 ----- There are John Young <jya(a)pipeline.com> PGP 2.X PKeys on the servers. Here's PGP5.5: -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: PGPfreeware 5.5.2 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> mQGiBDUT1GoRBAD96qrjqMjIZK30XrvsEgsDssidjh4gjxoM3XZwYvjuNqohFUYC W6ktcjtHkITXeCP0leprRByF4LIZZp75JrR/FODnpELnTQwzQ03kD/OTRBl+m2ED /3N4T29KwwKdvEvfoKgJ8UYrAb4nS5F7W26kiKAIslpIIKBSdMCWszoBRwCg/ydS 4PuvY6YJMbHc3Ir0OpW9NZ8EANM9K1c7OKDOQEriJOtYqlwd//qKP2GQLvq7Kdel /fjZRKBDW3vRRJZvNkTpMN44eRz2wJxuQh1Jjqj/RWO7+KkeJF1ftVhWcC3kzmBa 7HX2CXmFX2Y+/Fqk1nyzDh2hD5nDidYS4uDMgNfAKs8WBVqWY9l9rHmX3LvoKIUP WYGWBADFmYF5n+6LMwnrEWJb3/G/LPTz8bupjZAX3pk7JAysJjwet1ZRfN356RuF 8p4ia4BY8evpmwG0ICW0skrzPf6EelOGef7RpQN+4CSTHaF2lsMe4PFfQSI9c7lP vGG74byiiR7V9BpWR6yhsB18FZhrCXkp44HQTFEbqbDbKwB3krQdSm9obiBZb3Vu ZyA8anlhQHBpcGVsaW5lLmNvbT6JAEsEEBECAAsFAjUT1GoECwMCAQAKCRCDRF/O eTbvYJ2pAJ0cPHIxXi8h0tbgWOH9NgPof7uH7QCfee3M2/PHjS59s5KTLHi1qrHu O+m5Ag0ENRPUaxAIAPZCV7cIfwgXcqK61qlC8wXo+VMROU+28W65Szgg2gGnVqMU 6Y9AVfPQB8bLQ6mUrfdMZIZJ+AyDvWXpF9Sh01D49Vlf3HZSTz09jdvOmeFXklnN /biudE/F/Ha8g8VHMGHOfMlm/xX5u/2RXscBqtNbno2gpXI61Brwv0YAWCvl9Ij9 WE5J280gtJ3kkQc2azNsOA1FHQ98iLMcfFstjvbzySPAQ/ClWxiNjrtVjLhdONM0 /XwXV0OjHRhs3jMhLLUq/zzhsSlAGBGNfISnCnLWhsQDGcgHKXrKlQzZlp+r0ApQ mwJG0wg9ZqRdQZ+cfL2JSyIZJrqrol7DVekyCzsAAgIIANDxYVQYe4ZXIS8pYMT5 RyCM1IH8Zl2D29Dem3DpaR8nIaaV7S3MqtQ78m0dH2ae5GeyVEmNl1Hbr0N2SHzi tmAMHqU2wriYsWuczFO+55Qman924+0LHJTykpj6LIzs7C426hkj23nuDc4m4y4n p8wCLg8f4ySWwDHdFNgydRwcgC6M8Z5HqFeCsUFX5KPbZjxmMyD+jzoeKSKtju4D MqTMvbotVDycnjB4P2aXEas1iie4irlgB/bNsQCFQY3KdTJsCkb70KwaK+eAzo5Y iXXREZqK9XsIR65AG5B6jenwziwrTEirCtqDs4gqBt54X/IeKIjJDIYwTmUyxIcW GK2JAEYEGBECAAYFAjUT1GsACgkQg0Rfznk272D76gCg/LOtMsq7I0NnuEp3qr/I qKmOJngAoNPsyKKflQrPkA6LAJfFXVRmRSdx =KgPx -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- [View Less]

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RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 23:35:32 -0800 > From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart(a)pobox.com> > Subject: RE: Bic-Assassins Convicted (fwd) > >Where is 'lawful authority' defined? > > Not sure, but it means that the Feds aren't terrorists if _they_ > threaten or conspire to use weapons of mass destruction, > but you would be if you did. It also probably means that > foreign governments aren't covered here, but foreign NGOs are, > e.g. the … [View More]IRA. That's truly funny.... "We the people in order to form a more perfect union...." How does the federal government gain priviliges and immunities (ala 16th) that aren't defined in the Constitution or an amendment? (see 9th and 10th) > >> interstate commerce > The standard clause used to give the Feds jurisdiction over things; > given Roosevelt-era courts deciding that a farmer feeding his own grain > to his own hogs affects interstate commerce, surely email or the > World Wide Web counts as interstate, as does killing anybody > who might cross state lines or buy some product that does. > (Of course, given the number of politicians who are for sale, > removing a few of them from the market can pretty legitimately > be called affecting interstate commerce :-) Read the last sentence of the rubber-clause.....any action or law that derives from it is required to respect the remainder of the Constitution in full (simply crossing a state border doesn't annul the Constitution). Since that includes the 9th and 10th (in toto) they have themselves a quandry. Personaly, I would trust an individual handling these technologies before I'd trust a bunch of power-happy gun-toting morons acting in concert who's answer to everything is "my boss told me to do it" and willingly deny their duties as individual citizens in order to play their three-initial games. I saw a comment the other day that the government (those who support these world views I suppose) doesn't trust the people. I wonder why after reading laws that are this poorly constructed. Whatever the hell the intent was it wasn't to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- [View Less]

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VANGUARD: An Election About Nothing? (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Subject: VANGUARD: An Election About Nothing? > Date: Tue, 3 Nov 98 00:35:09 -0600 > From: Vanguard <Vanguard(a)theVanguard.org> > > AN ELECTION ABOUT NOTHING? > 30 October 1998 > > Copyright 1998, Rod D. Martin > > "The Vanguard of the Revolution" > National Edition > An election is at hand, and yet again, … [View More]the vast majority will not > vote. Just as they have shown a complete disinterest in the > character of the President, they will Tuesday show a total lack of > concern for the fate of their country. For them, this is the > Seinfeld election: an election about nothing. > > It is just as well that such nincompoops won't vote; and yet it is > a sorry commentary on the state of our body politic that so few > understand, that so few even care. Another fatal disaster just > this month, this time in Taft, California, shows us again just why > it is so tragic. Perhaps they're not stupid. Perhaps their not nin-compoops, but rather you are for assigning any value to the entire process. It is a standard litany of conventional science to choose the lesser of two evils. Perhaps the lesser of two evils in this corrupted, Constitutionaly bereft system is *NOT TO PARTICIPATE*. Sine it obviously doesn't matter who wins, since the mighty spectre of compromise will dilute any real difference into a verbal shell game devoid of meaning. Maby deToquville (sorry for spelling - early morning) was right about mediocrity being the result of democracy, except in one fine point. It won't be the people as a whole but rather those who are too stupid and wedded to outmoded ideals to change. The social and political dinosaurs if you will. Maby the polls where drunk dwarves win over 'serious' candidates is actualy demonstrating the absurdity of those who insist their issue are serious. Perhaps people are finaly seeing that these nin-compoops who want the political power in this country are simply blind to a social and economic change in the winds. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- [View Less]

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Re: Is CP mail to me bouncing?
by ichudov＠Algebra.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Francis Litterio wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > In the last few days I've ceased receiving CP email from algebra.com. > Am I still subscribed? Is mail to me bouncing back to you? My ISP > has some aggressive anti-spam measures that sometimes bounce mail from > lists. Yes, your problems in receiving cypherpunks mail are due to your ISP. Please change your ISP, as the current one cares more about the antispam crusade than about their customers receiving email. - Igor.

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100S OF FREE PICS'N'LINKS EVERY DAY!
by STUFFED WED NOV 4 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

+ 30 SUPERB, HI-RES, HOT PHOTOS + 5 SUPER SEXY STORIES + BIG BEAR AMAZING PICS + SWEBABES + YVONNE'S ASIAN GIRLS + HOTT SHOTTS + MISGUIDED + CHEERLEADER SQUAD + THE BRASS ASS + CUM CATCHERS + XXX VAGINAS + PORNCLIPS + BONUS PIC 1 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/14164.htm + BONUS PIC 2 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/12417.htm + BONUS PIC 3 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/10249.htm + BONUS PIC 4 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/9906.htm + BONUS PIC 5 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/… [View More]

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[Fwd: ...prolonged, unintentional and inadvertent...]
by da5id＠simons-rock.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: 0xdeadbeef(a)substance.abuse.blackdown.org Subject: ...prolonged, unintentional and inadvertent... From: glen mccready <glen(a)qnx.com> Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 11:30:26 -0500 Delivered-To: da5id(a)simons-rock.edu Resent-Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 11:32:36 -0500 Resent-From: 0xdeadbeef(a)substance.abuse.blackdown.org Resent-Message-ID: <"CF3sc1.0.UA3.D0pFs"@shell> Resent-Sender: 0xdeadbeef-request(a)substance.abuse.blackdown.org Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <nev(a)bostic.com> … [View More]

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RE: VANGUARD: An Election About Nothing? (fwd)
by Brown, R Ken 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Eric Murray wrote: > Not voting tells the current politicians that you > don't care what they do to you. They'd be happier > if only % of the electorate bothered to vote that's > fewer people to market to. Yep look at it as a market. People who don't or can't vote don't count; jist as people who don't or can't pay don't count in a shop. If you vote or at least if you give a credible threat of possibly voting they might notice. Otherwise you are invisible. > I was … [View More]thinking as I read the voter pamphlet that an > Absurdist party would be quite amusing and would > point out the silliness of the current politicians. > But I don't think I could come up with anything as > wacky as the Natural Law people can. We used to get "Natural Law" candidates in UK as well. Not so many last time round, maybe they finally spent George Harrison's money. The best track-record for an Absurdist Party in this country is the Monster Raving Looney Party, which used to be mostly Screaming Lord Sutch who stood for parliament again and again but has recently taken on some sort of continuing existence (see http://www.surfbaud.co.uk/loony/) and even has a few town councillors in various places. Sutch may well have almost invented an electoral version of the cypherpunk assasination prototcol - bookies were quoting odds of 15 million to one against him winning a seat once and he pointed out that if he could find a way to pay voters off anonymously he could bet on himself and bribe the electorate with his winnings... I think the odds fell after that. Of course the possibility of easy anonymous bribery makes traditional electoral law much, much harder to enforce (see, this is relevant to Cypherpunks). There are some fun looking parties around. The line up for the UK General Election on the Glorious First of May was (in order of number of seats gained): Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberals, Ulster Unionist Party, Scottish Nationalist Party, Plaid Cymru, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Democratic Unionist, Sinn Fein, United Kingdom Unionist, Madam Speaker Seeking Reelection and Martin Bell standing as an independent; all of whom won something. And Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, British National Party, Rainbow Dream Ticket Party, Green Party, Liberal Party, Mebyon Kernow,Monster Raving Loony Party,National Democrats, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, Natural Law Party , ProLife Alliance ,Popular Unionist Party, Referendum Party Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Party, Scottish Social Alliance, UK Independence Party, Workers Party, Workers Revolutionary Party; who didn't win anything but all seem to have some sort of continuing existence as parties And Anti Sleaze/Corruption, AntiConservative, Sportsman's Alliance: Anyone But Mellor, Lord Byro versus the Scallywag Tories, AntiPoliticians, Antimajority Democracy, Independent Democracy Means Consulting the People, People in Slough Shunning Useless Politicians, Common Sense Sick of Politicians Party, None of the Above, Drugs Hemp/Cannabis Platforms, New Millenium, New Way, Hemp Candidate, Hemp Coalition, Legalise Cannabis Party, Ind AE Independent Anti Europe, British Home Rule , British Isles People First, Independent Conservative, Independant Christian, Christian Party, Christian Nationalist, Christian Democrat, Christian Unity, Independent Communist, Communist Party of Britain, Communist League, Independent British Democratic Party, Social Democrat, English Democratic Party, Rennaisence Democrat, Independent Democrat, Freedom/Justice/Rights Platform, Justice Party, Freedom Party, Justice and Renewal Independent Party, Pacifist for Peace, Justice, Cooperation, Environment, Charter for Basic Rights, Fellowship Party for Peace and Justice, Human Rights ', British Freedom and Individual Rights, Far Left, Radical Alternative, Building a Fair Society, Full Employment Party, Socialist Party of Great Britain, Socialist Equality Party, Independent Far Right, National Front, Third Way, Independent Green, Scrapit Stop Avon Ring Road, Newbury Bypass Stop Construction Now, Independent Liberal Democrat, Top Choice Liberal Democrat, Independent Labour, and Local Independent; who all seem to have been invented for the occasion. Make up your mind as to which, if any, are absurdist. I suspect none of them bribed the voters much. Roll on the transferable vote! Ken Brown & the Disclaimers. [View Less]

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Re: VANGUARD: An Election About Nothing? (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: Eric Murray <ericm(a)lne.com> > Subject: Re: VANGUARD: An Election About Nothing? (fwd) > Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 09:00:34 -0800 (PST) > Not voting tells the current politicians that you don't care > what they do to you. They'd be happier if only 5% of the electorate > bothered to vote- that's fewer people to market to. That should set off flags for truly honest politicians (talk about a non sequeter). > If you don't like the … [View More]Republicrats in office, then vote for > what the media denigrates as a 'fringe cantidate'. If they > lose, which is likely because Americans tend to want to vote > for the winner, then you'll be satisfied because you voted > against the idiot in office. If they happen to win, then > you'll either get someone wiht some new ideas which (hopefully) you > agree with, or someone so seriously wierd that they paralyze > government for their entire term. This of course assumes that there is some faith in the system. > The Natural Law people are so wierd that it's very tempting to Weird? You're talking to somebody who lives in Austin, Tx. The capital of weird amond weird....;) But the point isn't to vote for just anybody. I keep having this echo of Federalist #5 (I think that's the one about political parties) going through my head. The problem with our system is that we need a more representative form of government. It shouldn't be simply a football game (which leads to a related but deep issue about American psychology itself) but a fair and honest representation of the peoples desire. The only things I can find that would make such '3rd party' strategies work is if the representation was done by percentage as in Englands parliament. > That's my point. Absurdisim sends a much stronger message > than just not voting. Voting for serious 'fringe' candidates > (i.e. Libertarians) also sends a message. Not voting just > says "I don't care what you do to me". I'll think about this one. Several points come to mind and I'm not sure how to express them at this point. The point I can address is that it isn't that people voted for a drunk dwarve. It was the issue was so trivial or irrelevant that it didn't matter who goes in there, it simply doesn't matter. In that case the only answer is to opt out and spend ones time dealing with the issues and problems that do matter. The question is deeper than simply participation, it's addresses the entire point of the system that needs our participation in the first place. > last night the ABC web site had pages up with _today's_ > voting results, with 100% of the "precincts reporting". I'd guess they were testing. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- [View Less]

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No Subject
by explorer＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

11/04/98 INTERNET NEWS 8 Pine Circle Dr. Silicon Valley,Ca. USA INTERNET NEWS/Y2K (YEAR 2000 SOLUTION) Most of the information from the silicon valley is obtained from the local pubs/bars. Un-named sources discussing the Y2K problem at the local brew revealed, that 2 of the big valley software manufacturers are in a bidding war for software technology created by a small publicly traded company OTC-BB symbol:"TCFG" that is in the … [View More]

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JIM MARTIN---NC Supreme Court (fwd)
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This spam was received earlier today. One has to wonder just how stupid this guy is. Hint: I live at least a thousand miles from North Carolina. This guy is running for a position as judge, but thinks that it is more important to tell people about how many kids he has as opposed to his actual qualifications for the office. He might also want to learn how to use English, that people in the other 49 states cannot vote for or against him, and what the term "theft of service" means before he … [View More]

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Seeking Commission Based Sales Representatives and Distributors
by service＠angelfire.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi We are seeking commission-based sales representatives and distributors in your geographic market to spearhead the national roll-out for our Consumer Smart Product line. Whether you are a student or a senior citizen, everyone is qualified to earn extra income within our company. Could you use extra income? Are you tired of get rich schemes? If you can answer YES to these questions, then this is the perfect opportunity for you. This is not a pyramid or get rich quick scheme.… [View More]

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MIB Subponeas
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Toad has encouraged publication of any other subpoenas in the Toto-assassination case, and we've asked for info on any other solicitations by the MIBs to list subscribers, or others, such as that to Alan Greenspan posted here. It's understandable that anyone served or solicited might want to keep that private, upon legal advice, or for self-protection. However, it'd be a help to those of us awaiting the slug, or wanting to aid and abet the MIB-fed fictional conspiracy, to know what is … [View More]happening. For example, the dates of contact, when the documents were served and the means used, what was asked for, or anything that might be shared without necessarily identifying who was contacted. Anon to the list or to jya if preferred. For example, Alcatraz's subpoena was dated October 9, for a GJ session on November 10. We don't know when the subpoena was served or how. And how those dates and compare to those of Huntsville's, though in latter case we've been told the subpoena came with two MIBs. JYA'd like to be in Tacoma when the WWA GJ is MIB imaginary totostimony, either in response to character-assassinatory subpoena or by idly hanging out with attention-seeking gov assassination-groupies, so some times and dates would be helpful if different from November 10. Bee in the bonnet: A few days before CJ's arrest warrant was issued the DoJ put out a study on the "Shared Traits of Potential Assassins:" http://jya.com/ojp80598.htm The traits: * To achieve notoriety or fame. * To bring attention to a personal or public problem. * To avenge a perceived wrong; to retaliate for a perceived injury. * To end personal pain; to be removed from society; to be killed. * To save the country or the world; to fix a world problem. * To develop a special relationship with the target. * To make money. * To bring about political change. What? The ambitious MIB job description mirrors the Cypherpunk agenda? The PR on the report goes on: The report outlines how law enforcement agencies can establish programs and systems to identify and prevent persons with the means and interest to attack a protected person. The guide may also assist law enforcement and security agencies responsible for investigating and preventing other kinds of targeted violence, such as stalking, domestic violence or workplace violence. The report takes law enforcement agencies through the entire threat assessment process, from designing a protective intelligence program to investigating suspicious persons to closing a case. Protective intelligence programs are based on the idea that the risk of violence is minimized if persons with the interest, capacity and willingness to mount an attack can be identified and rendered harmless before they approach a protected person. To obtain a copy of "Protective Intelligence and Threat Assessment Investigations" (NCJ 170612, 59 pp.), contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420. Amazing coincidence, this matching of Justice with the Cypherpunk missions. MIB aiding and abetting MIB. [View Less]

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FUD vs LINUX
by Secret Squirrel 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

MICROSOFT EXECS WORRY ABOUT FREE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT An internal Microsoft memo written by one of that company's software engineers indicates that Microsoft is concerned with developing strategies for competing against free programs that have been gaining popularity with software developers, such as the operating system Linux. The memorandum warns that the usual Microsoft marketing strategy known as FUD (an acronym for fear, uncertainty, and doubt) won't work against developers of free … [View More]

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knapsack...
by Bernardo B. Terrado 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Could someone tell(give) me where to get a source code for the knapsack algo (w/ backtracking). I am going to "parallelize" it. (suggestions/comments ?) Thank you.

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problems with the concept
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> http://www.jya.com/hr4655-wjc.htm > TEXT: CLINTON ON SIGNING THE "IRAQ LIBERATION ACT OF 1998" OCT. 31 Mr. Clinton would seem to have a problem with the concept of "covert" as it applies to personal and international actions. The MIB who visited the radio astronomer who thought he discovered extraterrestrial "intelligence", when it was just a classified intelligence satellite, have a "subtlety" problem. [see http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/7193/cancelled.html (also … [View More]

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is it real?
by z�R� 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>>for your info, please. >> >>>>Just in case....... >>>>......... basically.... don't install Windows 98 ..... since they >have >>>>this "added" function..... =) >>>> >>>> Microsoft slapped two more lawsuit against one teenager and one >>>>retired worker for using pirated Windows 98 software. >>>> >>>>For your information on how Microsoft actually trace PIRATED / >>>>… [View More]

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Re: Hayek and Foucault
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 04:27:52 EST Reply-To: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: Hayek Related Research <HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: Stephen Carson <SWCarson(a)AOL.COM> Subject: Re: Hayek and Foucault To: HAYEK-L(a)MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU Clearly, Hayek's analysis of power & the state has been superseded by a far more nuanced view. But, just for old time's sake, I would like to try arguing … [View More]that Hayek's (and, in fact, the Old Whig/classical liberal) perspective may still have something to offer us that these new views, as explicated by Williams & Davis, don't seem to have. Please chalk up unrelated attempts to defend Hayek to my current fascination with "pietas", now that I've finally figured out what my Latin teacher meant by that. Julietwill(a)AOL.COM (Juliet Williams) wrote: >given everything Hayek knew about the perils facing the planning state, he >nonetheless feared it. Hayek's own arguments about the obstacles to >planning and centralizing power should have suggested to him that the real >danger in the future lies not with a centralized state (which is doomed to >fail) but rather with a government that recognizes the need to >decentralize its power in order to maintain hegemony. Then Hayek might >have understood that a state which dissipates and, hence, masks its power >can threaten liberty equally if not more so than a state which tries to >maximize its direct control. Hayek was perfectly positioned to >understand, as Foucault did, that total state poses much less of a threat >in these times than does the post-modern one in which state power is so >thoroughly diffused as to be unrecognizable. Perhaps I'm thinking about the wrong time horizon, but it seems to me that the 170 million or so that were marched out to the killing fields in this century might have had some not entirely irrelevant fears of the "planning state". Certainly, despite my understanding of the inherent instability of the Total State, I thank God regularly that the US hasn't yet gone through that awkward transition period between the birth of the Total State & its demise. Foucault is probably correct that we are beyond the centralized state. But I can't help recalling to mind my re-reading the other night of the first chapter of R. J. Rummel's _Death By Government_ in which he details the numerous slaughters (most by centralized states) that have occurred throughout history prior to the 20th century. I hope very much my pessimism about human nature will be disproven, but I think I'll keep my eyes open just in case. >Foucault thus offers us something Hayek does not, namely, an imperative to >resist power. Hayek is primarily concerned not with promoting resistance, >but rather with preventing the need for it in the first place. It is true >that Hayek concedes a place for participation by his admission that >democracy is one of the most important safeguards of freedom (LLL3, 5). > But Hayek hardly offers a resounding endorsement of participatory >politics. In his words, democracy is one of those paramount though >negative values, comparable to sanitary precautions against the plague. Given all this I'm not quite sure what to make of Hayek's personal efforts, like the Mont Pelerin Society, or of the rumours that Hayek's writings have had & continue to have an influence on those suffering under totalitarianism & looking for a sign of hope. To be sure, this may be very distant from the sort of participatory politics that Foucault understands to be effective, but it seems unfair to say that Hayek had no strategy of resistance at all. My own reading of Hayek is of a man who was (since roughly 1922) engaged in a lifelong resistance against state power. Admittedly, his strategy may seem extremely subtle & long-term, but I might even go so far as to claim that his strategy has already had some effectiveness in its own small way... And that his intention was that its greatest impact wouldn't hit until well after his death. daviserik(a)HOTMAIL.COM (Erik Davis) wrote: >Liberals in general tend to limit discussion of "power" to discussion of >the state, and perhaps Hayek often did the same. One might even say that, in the context of a classical liberal political discussion, the term "power" is short for "state power", (or, perhaps, coercive power). >This will seem paradoxical to a liberal--and even more so to a >conservative (esp. those of Hobbesian persuasion)--because if the rule >of law must ultimately be "enforced" endogenously then this means >that--if it were ever to be completely upheld--one could say (1) that >the state will cease to exist [because there would not be a need for >exogenous enforcement of rules] or (2) that the "state" will be ALL >PERVASIVE [because every agent is committed to the rules]. (Certainly, >just what is "endogenous" and what is "exogenous" should itself be >brought into question--that would be Foucault's point, no?). The >liberal will say (1), the postmodernist will say (2). It's probably just six of one, half dozen of another, as you imply. Though it occurs to me that Rummel's particular concern about the state, (that it will slaughter its citizens and whoever else comes under its power), would be allayed in the situation described. So in this particular sense, (1) might be the most useful claim to be made. It further occurs to me that if Rummel is right, that a society in which the rule of law is diffused & widely practiced will not kill its citizens, then would could conjecture that such a society might even afford more liberties than just to retain one's life. >If we read Hayek with (2) in mind, Hayek does at times seem to >politicize EVERYTHING. For example, in his "Why I am Not a >Conservative", the Party of Life is not tied to a state. > >I wanted to emphasize this in my earlier post (in reply to Gus DiZerega >and Stephen Carson) by pointing out the analogies between common law >(tied to state action) and custom (not necessarily tied to the state). >Common law is a system of precedents which determines where and when >force can be legitimately applied; customs ("rituals" [INSTITUTIONS! >{see below}]) function in a completely analogous way. The POLITICAL >character of these customs (as, in one form, a "perverse system of >rituals")--and of challenges to them--is precisely the argument of >Vaclav Havel's THE POWER OF THE POWERLESS. I think this is an excellent point. Perhaps it's just taste, but I'm a bit bothered by speaking of the political character of customs. Certainly customs, (and non-state institutions, like the family & friendship), have political implications, but to talk about their political character seems to me to let politics eat too much up. And I think we've had quite enough of that. Stephen W. Carson <mailto:SWCarson@aol.com> "Premature optimization is the root of all evil" -Donald Knuth --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' [View Less]

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Praetoriani Novi
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com X-Sender: believer(a)telepath.com Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 06:17:44 -0600 To: believer(a)telepath.com From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: New Powers for Secret Service Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: Salt Lake City Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/11031998/utah/utah.htm IT'S CLASSIFIED: The Secret Service Will Have a … [View More]Hand In 2002 Security BY GREG BURTON THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE A classified executive order signed by President Clinton during the summer has altered the way the Secret Service prepares for security at national events, a change already affecting the blueprint for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Presidential protection, often a hectic, hodgepodge operation, has been the jurisdiction of the Secret Service since John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln. Now, the presidential directive orders the Secret Service to take an active role in planning security for major national events, whether or not presidents, vice presidents, ex-presidents, their spouses or other dignitaries attend. Called Presidential Decision Directive 62 (PDD 62), the order also reportedly alters a range of national security considerations, although the directive's internal hardware is top secret. PDDs, like executive orders, do not require the approval of Congress but come through the National Security Council. For Salt Lake City, PDD 62 means Secret Service agents already are planning for the orchestration of executive ogling at the Winter Olympics without knowing who the president of the United States will be or if that person will attend. At the 1996 Summer Games, when the same shadowy squad led then-first-term Clinton through the magnolia trees in Atlanta, security experts with the Secret Service did not begin preparing for the executive visit until after Olympic organizers and the FBI had completed their security plan. ``The public has this perception of the Secret Service as a strange institution that rides in and rides out with black glasses on,'' says Dennis Crandall, resident agent in charge of the Secret Service for Utah and Idaho. ``This is kind of a new era for us.'' PDD 62 now enters a vault of classified security directives. Among other PDDs is No. 29, issued in 1994, that established the Security Policy Board, a secretive agency with authority over information systems' security and safeguarding classified information. The National Security Council has refused to release details of PDD 29. PDD 62 likely will remain equally veiled. ``PDD 62 is not classified, but the contents are,'' says David M. Tubbs, the recently appointed special agent in charge for the FBI's Utah, Idaho and Montana command. Says Crandall: ``Portions of it are still sensitive.'' According to several national security experts, the major event clause in PDD 62 is an outgrowth of a perceived lack of security planning for the president's visit to the Atlanta Games. Because of PDD 62, the Secret Service has been involved nearly from the onset of security planning for the 2002 Winter Games. ``We are designated to take a more aggressive upfront role in major events,'' says Crandall. Currently, the FBI and the Secret Service are hammering out a memorandum of understanding that clarifies the division of labor between the two federal security teams in accordance with PDD 62. The Secret Service's role -- although a topic that has reportedly led to turf wars in Washington, D.C. -- has been welcomed by most Salt Lake City organizers. Tubbs does not see their involvement as a threat to the FBI, the lead federal security agency for the 2002 Olympics. ``I have not had a turf war with anyone. Period,'' says Tubbs, who was one of several agents with direct security oversight during Atlanta. ``We are all involved in the planning stages here, so what has happened in the past is unimportant. What is important is what happens in 2002.'' ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' [View Less]

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Registration
by Total Telecom Web 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Thankyou for registering with Total Telecom Your username is: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Your password is: cypherpunks If you haven't already done so, you can set a 'cookie' to make entry easier - go to - http:www.totaltele.com/register/help.asp If at anytime you wish the change your user profile - go to - http:www.totaltele.com/register/edit.asp We recomend you keep a copy of these details in case you forget your password or your 'cookie' is lost.

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Sensar knows!
by X 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<the last line of this is a funny double entendre> HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, SENSAR By Peter D. Henig <mailto:peteh@redherring.com> Red Herring Online November 3, 1998 You walk out the door and down the street to find the closest ATM machine, but reaching into your wallet -- "oops" -- you forgot your cash card. Don't you hate that? Well, if Sensar, a biometrics manufacturer of iris identification products has anything to say about it, you'll soon be tossing that ATM card in the can. … [View More]Sensar has announced the world's largest ever combined equity investment in the field of personal electronic identification -- which is actually a bigger deal than you might think. Moving a step closer, as the company puts it, "toward making PINs and passwords obsolete," Citibank, NCR, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch's wholly-owned subsidiary, KECALP Inc., and others have invested an aggregate of $28 million in Sensar as the company attempts to further roll out its iris identification pilot programs around the world in the hopes of owning this futuristic segment of the biometrics market targeted at the financial services and banking industries. Who cares? Who cares about equity stakes in biometrics companies? Good question, and the same one we asked when the company came a-pitching us their story. It turns out, however, that biometrics is -- as Sensar likes to remind us -- an emerging technology that could soon turn into a hot, if not huge, market around the globe. With the initial results of their European pilot program (set up in a small city outside London), it's "going very, very well, and I do mean very well." According to Per-Olof Loof, Senior Vice President of NCR's Financial Solutions Group, Sensar is pumped to push forward with its iris recognition products, shooting for commercial roll out in 1999, and a real ramp up of shipping product by 2000 and 2001. The Sensar Secure Iris Identification System is currently being used in NCR ATMs and at teller stations at Nationwide Building Society, the United Kingdom's largest savings and loan. Sensar's Iris Identification product was also used by professional athletes for access control and security at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Citibank, an equity investor, has also launched an in-house pilot program using its employees to test iris scan technology. And just how big is this market? While company officials wouldn't be pinned down on specific forecasts, Mr. Olof noted that there are 20 billion customer transactions annually on NCR ATM machines alone, and that NCR has 37 percent market share. That's not a bad partner for a private company like Sensar to have. Moreover, Tom Drury, president and CEO of Sensar noted that there are currently 900,000 ATMs worldwide and 160,000 new machines shipping each year. Smile! The unique aspect of Sensar's products is that you may not even be aware you're being watched. Sensar's iris identification products use standard video cameras and real-time image processing to acquire a picture of a person's iris (the colored portion of the eye), digitally encode it, and compare it with one on file -- all in the space of a few seconds. It allows for highly accurate identification (comparing features across a whole database) and verification (comparing features with a single template) in a user friendly environment; second in accuracy only to retina identification using sans-laser beams. In layman's terms, this might mean opening up an account at your local bank by simply sitting down, having them take a snapshot of your eyeballs, and then hitting the ATMs or tellers for some cash. According to the company, iris recognition uses digitally encoded images of the iris to provide a highly accurate, easy-to-use and virtually fraud-proof means to verify a customer's identity. With 266 identification characteristics, the iris is the human body's most unique physical structure. And unlike other measurable human features in the face, hand, voice or fingerprint, the patterns in the iris do not change over time; receeding hairlines be damned. They're not alone "This landmark agreement puts iris identification light years ahead of any other personal electronic identification technology," said Mr. Drury. "Clearly, this agreement validates Sensar's product as the most accurate, customer-friendly, cost effective personal electronic identification product ever developed." That's not bad cheerleading, but Sensar is clearly not the only biometric firm in the identification market's field of vision. According to the Gartner Group (IT <http://www2.nordby.com/herring/returnquote.asp?SYMBOL=IT>), Miros and Visionics were the first companies to enter the facial recognition market, although facial recognition tends to be a less accurate means of identification. These two companies offer far cheaper products than Sensar, and are targeting applications to such markets as PC and network access and online transactions. Sensar, however, will also be designing for and marketing to the online environment, as it envisions iris technology hitting the desktop environment. While the Gartner Group forecasts that the more widely accepted fingerprint recognition techniques will be the remote access standard of choice through 2001, it also predicts that "aggressive financial organizations will begin full-scale rollouts of iris recognition for tellers and ATMs by 2000." Hence, the $28 million equity stake in Sensar by this highbrow club of financial institutions. By 2002, Gartner analysts predict iris recognition will be the biometric of choice, an area where IrisScan Inc. holds an exclusive patent. (Sensar uses the iris recognition process developed and licensed from IriScan, Inc., and has the exclusive use of that technology for all financial services transactions.) And as far as exit strategy goes, everybody, including Sensar, still has dreams of Silicon Valley dollars dancing in their heads. "We have a classic Silicon Valley entrepreneurial team," said Mr. Drury, who is located in New Jersey, "and we consider an IPO as a definite exit strategy." We'll be watching. [View Less]

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NYC Smartcards Die
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Chase, Visa and Mastercard have closed down their smartcard trial on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the NYT reports today. It also says Mondex has closed its Swindon trial. The problem in NY is that the system was too cumbersome to use, needing special readers that were not always up to snuff, compared to the familiar and reliable system for credit cards. Bribing users with start up cash didn't work either. No one ever reloaded their cards. Not all merchants took them, especially those … [View More]

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100S OF FREE PICS'N'LINKS EVERY DAY!
by STUFFED THU NOV 5 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

+ 30 SUPERB, HI-RES, HOT PHOTOS + 5 SUPER SEXY STORIES + PRIVATE COLLECTION + HOT ROD + A1 HARDCORE + SILICON SLUT + RETRO XXX + NATURAL BODIES + A W PHOTOGRAPHY + ONLY EROTICA + DEBBIE'S SEX SITE + NUDE PICS + BONUS PIC 1 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/8778.htm + BONUS PIC 2 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/23651.htm + BONUS PIC 3 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/24385.htm + BONUS PIC 4 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/24429.htm + BONUS PIC 5 -> http://www.stuffed.net/home/6277.htm … [View More]

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Dead man running; metabolism no problem to candidates
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 03:13 PM 11/3/98 -0800, Bill Stewart wrote: >On the other hand, it's still tempting to see about putting Frank Zappa >on the ballot. He is a bit metabolically challenged these days, Here in LA, we had a Dead Man Running for sheriff. This Shermie Block character croaked before the race, but his party still urged voting for him, to spite his opponent. (Some "board" would appoint a replacement, so the vote was actually for the board.)

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No Subject
by atlantis＠earthlink.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

11/04/98 Y2K Solution! 8 Pine Circle Dr., Silicon Valley, Calif. USA OTC Company "TCFG" 21 st. Century Frontier Group has through several members of their administrative research department leaked vital information about their companies efforts. Everyone was tight lipped and interviews were refused, and through un-named sources we have learned that the technology and software solution are in the process of being patented! In over 1640 … [View More]

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hoping to obtains copies of documentation ...
by Steven Cooper 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There are two informative documents available from GEMPLUS (France) as part of their development kit for their GPK4000 smartcard. 1. GPK4000 Application Notes (for public key applications) Banking, Personal Identification, Internet Transactions 2. Electronic Purse Architecture for MPCOS-EMV (for DES and 3-DES applications) Unfortunately, it the kit costs more than US$4k. Any chance some kind soul could forward a copy of these documents? If so, email me directly to make arrangements. -- scoop

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0851244.shtml
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Advertisement Welcome to Slashdot Science News Technology Star Wars Prequels The Internet faq code awards slashNET older stuff rob's page submit story book reviews user account ask slashdot advertising supporters past polls features about jobs BSI Review:Handbook of Applied Cryptography Encryption Posted by Hemos on Wednesday November 04, @08:51AM from the just-the-facts-ma'am dept. Giving some actual … [View More]theory to the whole cryptography discussion, Ian S. Nelson's review of Handbook of Applied Cryptography takes a look at this veritable tome of information. This isn't a book for those of you trying to figure out exactly what the NSA actually does; this is for the real meat and numbers behind it all. Click below for more info. REVIEW: Handbook of Applied Cryptography Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, Scott A. Vanstone CRC Press (ISBN 0-8493-8523-7) Nutshell Review: Required reading for any cryptography freak. Rating: 9/10 The Scenario CRC Press has been building a series of books on discrete mathematics and its applications. Doug Stinson wrote the theory book on cryptography (Cryptography: Theory and Practice (ISBN: 0-8493-8521-0, if you don't like this book you'll vomit when you see the Stinson book) and this is the application book on cryptography. It's close to 800 pages chocked full of information. I must confess that I'm a cryptography freak and I'm a little sick of the constant political discussions and lack of tech talk, this book is all tech and might even be a little much if you're not into math. It's a wonderful companion to the Schneier books (Applied Cryptography 1st or 2nd Edition A.K.A. "the crypto bible") if you're into the nitty gritty details of cryptography. What's Bad? I really like this book and I can't find a lot that I don't like about it... but I think in places the math gets a little thick. I have a degree in math and I find myself returning to the math overview section more often than I'd like to admit. If you're not familiar with discrete math and combinatorics then this book probably isn't for you. If you enjoy that stuff, then this will be a piece of cake. If you're looking to build your crypto book library up I'd highly recommend this book before you get some of the more hard-core books. Something else I feel is lacking is cryptanalysis on ciphers. They discuss attacks on various protocols and hashes but actual attacks on ciphers are glossed over. As a companion to Cryptography: Theory and Practice, which covers cryptanalysis in more detail, it is understandable to leave that material out of this book but I think they could discuss it a little more than they do without going into specifics. The no-nonsense style can be a little dry at times, there aren't a lot of jokes or anecdotes to lighten things up in this book. What's Good? Cipher isn't spelled with a 'y' anywhere in this book. It's not filled with a lot of opinion or rumor. It doesn't hardly bring up ITAR, key escrow, or the NSA's mystical superpowers. This book is about cryptographic techniques and a listing of patents is about as political or opinionated as it gets. It is kind of like a textbook without the problems at the end of each chapter. It is written in an outline format with subitems of "Definition", "Fact", "Notes", "Example", and "Algorithm." Each subitem is followed by a few short but concise paragraphs of explanation. Plenty of charts and figures fill the pages and everything is explained well. While it lacks source code, there is certainly enough information for you to implement any of the ciphers, hashes, or protocols covered. It even includes some test vectors for a lot of the algorithms. So What's In It For Me? If you want to learn about cryptography, not the politics but the actual technology, then this is a great book to get before you get over your head. It's very readable and while the math can be a little heavy in places it is accessible and useful. It gives you a good flavor of how more advanced papers and books on the subject are and it avoids the nonacademic discussions surrounding cryptography. To pick this book up, head over to Amazon and help Slashdot out. Table of Contents 1. Overview of Cryptography 1. Introduction 2. Information Security and Cryptography 3. Background on Functions 4. Basic Terminology and Concepts 5. Symmetric-key Encryption 6. Digital Signatures 7. Authentication and Identification 8. Public-key Cryptography 9. Hash Functions 10. Protocols and mechanisms 11. Key establishment, management, and certification 12. Pseudorandom numbers and sequences 13. Classes of attacks and security models 14. Notes and further references 2. Mathematical Background 1. Probability theory 2. Information theory 3. Complexity theory 4. Number theory 5. Abstract algebra 6. Finite fields 7. Notes and further references 3. Number-Theoretic Reference Problems 1. Introduction and overview 2. The integer factorization problem 3. The RSA problem 4. The quadratic residuosity problem 5. Computing Square roots in Zn 6. The Discrete logarithm problem 7. The Diffie-Hellman problem 8. Composite moduli 9. Computing individual bits 10. The subset sum problem 11. Factoring polynomials over finite fields 12. Notes and further references 4. Public-Key Parameters 1. Introduction 2. Probabilistic primality tests 3. (True)Primality tests 4. Prime number generation 5. Irreducible polynomials over Zp 6. Generators and elements of high order 7. Notes and further references 5. Pseudorandom Bits and Sequences 1. Introduction 2. Random bit generation 3. Pseudorandom bit generation 4. Statistical tests 5. Cryptographically secure pseudorandom bit generation 6. Notes and further references 6. Stream Ciphers 1. Introduction 2. Feedback shift registers 3. Stream ciphers based on LFSRs 4. Other stream ciphers 5. Notes and further references 7. Block Ciphers 1. Introduction 2. Background and general concepts 3. Classical ciphers and historical development 4. DES 5. FEAL 6. IDEA 7. SAFER, RC5, and other block ciphers 8. Notes and further references 8. Public-Key Encryption 1. Introduction 2. RSA public-key encryption 3. Rabin public-key encryption 4. ElGamal public-key encryption 5. McElliece public-key encryption 6. Knapsack public-key encryption 7. Probabilistic public-key encryption 8. Notes and further references 9. Hash Functions and Data Integrity 1. Introduction 2. Classification and framework 3. Basic constructions and general results 4. Unkeyed hash functions (MDCs) 5. Keyed hash functions (MACs) 6. Data integrity and message authentication 7. Advanced attacks on hash functions 8. Notes and further references 10. Identification and Entity Authentication 1. Introduction 2. Passwords (weak authentication) 3. Challenge-response identification (strong authentication) 4. Customized zero-knowledge identification protocols 5. Attacks on identification protocols 6. Notes and further references 11. Digital Signatures 1. Introduction 2. A framework for digital signature mechanisms 3. RSA and related signature schemes 4. Fiat-Shamir signature schemes 5. The DSA and related signature schemes 6. One-time digital signatures 7. Other signatures schemes 8. Signatures with additional functionality 9. Notes and further references 12. Key Establishment Protocols 1. Introduction 2. Classification and framework 3. Key transport based on symmetric encryption 4. Key agreement based on symmetric techniques 5. Key transport based on public-key encryption 6. Key agreement based on asymmetric techniques 7. Secret Sharing 8. Conference Keying 9. Analysis of key establishment protocols 10. Notes and further references 13. Key Management Techniques 1. Introduction 2. Background and basic concepts 3. Techniques for distributing confidential keys 4. Techniques for distributing public keys 5. Techniques for controlling key usage 6. Key management involving multiple domains 7. Key life cycle issues 8. Advanced trusted third party services 9. Notes and further references 14. Efficient Implementation 1. Introduction 2. Multiple-precision integer arithmetic 3. Multiple-precision modular arithmetic 4. Greatest common divisor algorithms 5. Chinese remainder theorem for integers 6. Exponentiation 7. Exponent recoding 8. Notes and further references 15. Patents and Standards 1. Introduction 2. Patents on cryptographic techniques 3. Cryptographic standards 4. Notes and further references 16. Appendix A: Bibligraphy of Papers from Selected Cryptographic Forums 1. Asiacrypt/Auscrypt Proceedings 2. Crypto Proceedings 3. Eurocrypt Proceedings 4. Fast Software Encryption Proceedings 5. Journal of Cryptology papers < The demise of Crack.com | Reply | Flattened | 50 Gb drives from Seagate > Related Links Slashdot Cryptography: Theory and Practice book Amazon Ian S. Nelson's NSA More on Encryption Also by Hemos [INLINE] Amazon Info The books here are brought to us in Partnership with Amazon.com. If you follow the links around here, and eventually buy a book, we get a percentage of the cost! Want books about any of these things? Perl, Linux, Unix, Gardening, CGI, Java? Still not finding what you're looking for? Visit Amazon.com from this link, and we still get some credit. Or you could even Search Amazon using this convenient form: ____________________ ______ [INLINE] The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. Slashdot is not responsible for what they say. < Down One | This Page's Threshold: 0 | Up One > (Warning:this stuff is extremely beta right now) Amazon.com confuses "Applied Cryptography" with "H by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @09:09AM For those of you who order the Handbook of Applied Cryptography, don't be suprised if amazon sends you Bruce Schneiers "Applied Cryptography" instead.....its happened to me and another person I know.. [ Reply to this ] politics / history is relevant (Score:1) by harshaw on Wednesday November 04, @10:00AM (User Info) On of the great things about Schneier's Applied Cryptography was how he intertwined the mathematics with the political ramifications of the particular crypto algorithm. I think the study of Crypto needs to be tightly coupled with an understanding of the societal / political issues around it. For instance, you can't simply implement 128 bit RC5 in your product and ship it of to Iraq without having RSA (for patent violations) and the NSA (for the obvious reasons) come down on your head. IMO, Crypto is a VERY tough subject and requires an intense amount of study to understand the math. If the text you are studying is dry and lacking wit or humor, it makes the job even harder :( [ Reply to this ] * politics / history is relevant by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @11:57AM Loved it! I laughed! I cried! (Score:1) by bobse on Wednesday November 04, @11:14AM (User Info) What I liked was the way that each algorithm was reviewed in a very consistent manner. Most algorithms were described not just with words and mathematics (which is good), but also with pseudocode (which is great if you are actually trying to implement this stuff). The consistent, itemized format also allows you to compare the strengths/weaknesses of different algorithms yourself, instead of relying on someone else to do it for you. Very cool. 9.5/10 [ Reply to this ] Price Check (Score:1) by Ralph Bearpark on Wednesday November 04, @12:15PM (User Info) As an onging service to /. readers ... Amazon = $84.95 BarnesAndNoble = $109.50 (HAHAHAHA!) Shopping books = $71.96 Spree books = $67.99 (Is it my imagination, or is /. reviewing increasingly expensive, non-Amazon-discounted books? Surely not. :-)) Regards, Ralph. [ Reply to this ] * Price Check by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @01:12PM The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. Slashdot is not responsible for what they say. < Down One | This Page's Threshold: 0 | Up One > (Warning:this stuff is extremely beta right now) ____________________ ______ All newspaper editorial writers ever do is come down from the hills after the battle is over and shoot the wounded. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest &copy 1998 Rob Malda. [ home | awards | supporters | rob's homepage | contribute story | older articles | advertising | past polls | about | faq | BSI ] [View Less]

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MS "halloween" doc, vs. linux
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

some people objected to my last post ranting about MS tactics relative to the browser market. there has been a remarkable development that shows how MS deliberately attempts to "sabotage" markets through FUD etc.... an internal policy memo that discusses their tactics leaked to the public.. good article on Slate about how MS is attempting to sabotage the growth of new free linux software through a systematic strategy of "decommoditizing" or "embrace and extend" where some people call this "… [View More]

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No Subject
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: efc-talk(a)efc.ca From: David Jones <djones(a)efc.ca> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 11:21:57 -0500 (EST) Seems a bit strange that just when the private sector is recognizing that smart cards are not yet ready for prime time, the Ontario government is gearing up to launch a "universal smart card" for the delivery of government services. But don't worry, the government smart card will be better than Mondex ... it will have biometric identification. ;-) Ontario considering smart cards … [View More]

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DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Reply-To: <sjl(a)sjl.net> From: "Scott Loftesness" <sjl(a)sjl.net> To: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Subject: DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 12:32:56 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Precedence: Bulk List-Subscribe: <mailto:requests@philodox.… [View More]com?subject=subscribe%20dbs> X-Web-Archive: http://www.philodox.com/dbs-archive/ FYI... DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward PALO ALTO, CALIF.--November 4, 1998 DigiCash Inc. has announced that it is entering into a Chapter 11 reorganization to allow it to pursue strategic alternatives for its electronic cash ("eCash" ) products and the associated intellectual assets pioneered by DigiCash. According to Scott Loftesness, interim CEO of DigiCash, "The company is exploring a range of potential alternatives including working with major strategic players to finance the market development of eCash or the sale and/or licensing of the Company's intellectual property portfolio." Loftesness added, "eCash, as it has been developed by DigiCash, is an important and inevitable payment solution in the world of global electronic commerce." The DigiCash payment solution is currently in use by leading banks in Europe and Australia. These banks have deployed the DigiCash eCash solution and continue to add to their respective consumer and merchant eCash acceptance networks. DigiCash's eCash payment solution offers a secure, low cost and private payment option to consumers for payments of any amount. The intellectual property owned by DigiCash consists of a series of patents, protocols, and software systems that were specifically designed to be privacy protecting for consumers and which also enable other applications like online electronic voting. The ability to pay privately, without revealing personal information, and avoiding the capture of personal transaction information for marketing or other subsequent uses is a growing concern among consumers globally. Contact: Scott Loftesness: (650) 798-8183 or via email: sjl(a)sjl.net --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' [View Less]

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IP: ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore(a)email.msn.com> Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 00:19:58 -0800 To: <Undisclosed.Recipients(a)majordomo.pobox.com> ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) Tuesday November 3, 1998 ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This … [View More]From: WIRED News, November 2, 1998 http://www.wired.com Students Wonder: How Smart? http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/15978.html by Marlene Blanshay, blanshay(a)total.net TORONTO -- A coalition of University of Toronto students is leading an open forum on smartcard technology Monday to discuss concerns that a new campus card program may be compromising their privacy. The T-card pilot project began last year when the university distributed 45,000 smartcards to students, staff, and faculty. Like many students across the US, where such programs are common, the 39,000 Toronto volunteers were sold on the convenience of having all their ID combined on a single piece of plastic. "[Students] don't have to carry around so many cards," said University of Toronto registrar Karel Swift, the chairwoman of the school's T-card implementation committee. Not everybody feels that way. The university says it has been open about the new program, but some students feel that the school has not been up front with them about what is being done with information on purchases made with the card. "We just want some answers," said James Hooch of the Identity Technology Working Group, the coalition of students and faculty that will host Monday's forum. "We feel we are being used as a captive market." Andrew Clement, a professor of information studies at the University of Toronto, said the university has an obligation to be more open about the project. "We don't think they are up to some nefarious scheme," said Clement, moderator of Monday's forum. "But they are implementing the new technology, which is going to be used in a wider setting, and should be setting a good example." Nevertheless, Swift said that students have not been left out of the process. "We consulted with student reps when the project was under consideration," Swift said. She added that the university has privacy policy and that their records are protected by a rigorous access to information policy. Some still worry that the university, in the interest of efficiency, is introducing a new technology without looking at the potential uses or misuses. "There is a lot of concern among the students about collection of information for purposes they are not aware of," says Jack Dimond, the university's commissioner for freedom of information and privacy. "My concern is that as smartcards are used more, there is a procedure of review of information it collects. When you begin using the new applications, you have to look at them closely." One freedom and privacy advocate encourages students to boycott the cards. "[Students] should just say, 'I refuse to use this card for any cash purchases until you tell me where this info is going and what you're doing with it,'" said David Jones, president of Electronic Frontier Canada. Copyright © 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc. --------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------ ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and international newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases (up to 3 - 8 clips per day) send the following message "Please enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to: ISPIClips(a)ama-gi.com . The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no government funding and takes a global perspective. ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research into electronic, personal and financial privacy with a view toward helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have with respect to government, industry and each other and to likewise inform them about techniques to enhance their privacy. But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and generous financial support. If you are concerned about the erosion of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this important work by becoming an "ISPI Supporter" or by taking out an institute Membership? We gratefully accept all contributions: Less than $60 ISPI Supporter $60 - $99 Primary ISPI Membership (1 year) $100 - $300 Senior ISPI Membership (2 years) More than $300 Executive Council Membership (life) Your ISPI "membership" contribution entitles you to receive "The ISPI Privacy Reporter" (our bi-monthly 12 page hard-copy newsletter in multi-contributor format) for the duration of your membership. For a contribution form with postal instructions please send the following message "ISPI Contribution Form" to ISPI4Privacy(a)ama-gi.com . We maintain a strict privacy policy. Any information you divulge to ISPI is kept in strict confidence. It will not be sold, lent or given away to any third party. **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** [View Less]

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IP: [FP] L.A. DMV Tries to Stem the Tide of Fake Licenses
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ScanThisNews" <mcdonalds(a)airnet.net> Subject: IP: [FP] L.A. DMV Tries to Stem the Tide of Fake Licenses Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 22:30:13 -0600 To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com SCAN THIS NEWS [This is a little dated, but well worth reading] -------------------------------------------- Sunday, April 5, 1998 DMV Tries to Stem the Tide of Fake Licenses Crime: Demand for IDs fuels counterfeiting rings and corruption inside the agency. Officials respond with anti-tampering … [View More]features, more monitoring of workers. By VIRGINIA ELLIS, Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO - The California driver's license's preeminence as a form of identification has spawned a thriving black market for fraudulent licenses and a major corruption scandal in the state's motor vehicle department, records and interviews show. In recent years, as the lowly driver's license has been redesigned to make it more tamper-resistant, the card has increasingly become the dominant piece of identification for cashing checks, obtaining credit and securing government services. This, in turn, has caused the black market value for licenses to soar, providing a catalyst for counterfeiting and bribery of Department of Motor Vehicles employees. Scores of DMV workers in offices from San Diego to Sacramento already have been caught illegally issuing driver's licenses, and officials say many more are under investigation. "We have, in effect, created a cottage industry," said Steve Solem, a DMV deputy director. "A lot of different changes have been evolving over the years that have made...people feel the need to get a driver's license at any cost." As a result, officials report that: * Counterfeiting rings operate in every large city in the state, serving up fake licenses of varying quality for sale on the streets. In Los Angeles, business is so competitive that state investigators say a prospective customer can bargain for the best price. A counterfeit identification package, including a license, usually sells for $100, but state agents have paid as little as $35. * At many of the DMV's busiest offices, scam artists make use of loopholes in procedures to get legitimate licenses, which are then peddled to undocumented immigrants or suspended drivers. In Santa Clara County, a four-month surveillance of DMV offices recently led to 26 felony and 16 misdemeanor arrests for using false documents to obtain driver's licenses. * In the past two years, 144 DMV employees were fired or otherwise disciplined for illegal activity, primarily driver's license fraud. Most cases were referred for prosecution. The corruption affected more than a third of the DMV offices. "It's by far the biggest scandal and case of severe corruption in my 16 years here," said state Sen. Steve Peace (D-El Cajon), who heads a legislative task force on personal privacy. "It's not a single organized entity. It's a number of entrepreneurial criminal activities." Late this year, officials plan to begin issuing new licenses with even more sophisticated anti-tampering features to help stem the tide of license-related crime. Among the features will be a tiny ghost image designed to make it harder to substitute one person's photo for another. "You've got to be as technologically alert as the criminals out there," said DMV Director Sally Reed. "You've got to keep changing the license. You've got to keep changing your practices." Complicating the task is an overwhelming DMV workload. The department licenses more than 20 million California drivers, issues more than 6 million new licenses and identification cards a year, and operates 172 licensing centers around the state. How many fake and fraudulent licenses may be in circulation is impossible to calculate. But state officials say the problem is rampant, its impact on society insidious. A fraudulent driver's license that is used to steal someone's identity can cause years of frustration as the victim suddenly finds his or her credit destroyed. Or the fake license can put a convicted drunk driver back on the highway, where the next accident may cause someone's death. The role of the driver's license in criminal activity was heightened not only by the technological changes that made it so widely accepted, but by governmental decisions to use it as a tool for punishment. New laws have made a larger and larger pool of people susceptible to losing their license for activities unrelated to driving. The license can be suspended for spraying graffiti, failure to pay child support, truancy and certain kinds of prostitution. And immigrants who lack proper proof of residency cannot be issued one. "If you're a drunk driver, you want a fake ID," said Alison Koch, a senior special investigator for the DMV in Sacramento. "If you're in a gang, you want a fake ID. If you're a deadbeat dad, you want a fake ID. If you're an illegal alien, you want a fake ID. If you want to commit check or credit card fraud, you want a fake ID. "There is hardly a crime out there that doesn't demand some kind of fraudulent identification." For many minor crimes, she said, a bogus license - even a poor one - is all the fraud artist needs. The quick glance that many business people give the license before cashing a check or accepting a credit card is not enough to discern that it's fake. For more sophisticated crimes, said Vito Scattaglia, an area commander for DMV investigators in Los Angeles, criminals want the real thing - and this demand for legitimate licenses has put heavy pressure on low-level state employees to commit fraud. "When you have a technician who is making $2,000 to $2,400 a month and you have an individual who is willing to pay $1,000 to process one driver's license, you don't have to be a genius to figure out how tempting that is," he said. But Peace, the state senator, said high-level officials did not recognize how extensively their department had been infiltrated by criminals until an embarrassing KCBS-TV Channel 2 report last year caught a DMV employee on camera processing illegal licenses. Until the Los Angeles broadcast, only a handful of DMV investigators had been monitoring employee fraud, and they were struggling with a huge backlog. Then Reed temporarily assigned 213 DMV investigators to employee fraud and announced that it would be the agency's No. 1 priority. The results were staggering. Using everything from surveillance to informants, investigators caught dozens of DMV employees around the state processing illegal licenses. Many were teamed up with grifters on the outside, who usually worked the DMV parking lots, preying mostly on immigrants who would be guaranteed a license for about $1,000 to $2,000. Typical was the case of an 18-year Torrance employee who was targeted after a DMV computer in Sacramento showed irregularities in licenses he had issued. After investigators interviewed dozens of his customers, the employee was charged with computer fraud and altering public records. "The first person I interviewed, I knew I was on the right trail," recalled Ken Erickson, a senior DMV special investigator. "The customer was honest. He said, 'Yeah, I'm here illegally and I can't read or write either English or Spanish.'" But, Erickson said, data the Torrance employee had entered into the DMV computer stated that the man was a legal resident of California who had passed the written driver's test in English. Investigators searched the employee's car and found $14,280 in cash stashed behind the front seat, Erickson said. They estimated that over a 15-month period he had improperly issued at least 70 licenses. After pleading no contest to two felony counts, he was fined $14,280 and placed on three years probation. He also was fired and barred from future government employment. The employee fraud, Peace said, is "not some sort of single grand conspiracy with a godfather sitting on top pulling levers." "What it has been is a culture within the department that has allowed for a whole variety of entrepreneurial criminal behavior. It was a culture which says, 'I've got my little deal and you've got yours. Don't mess with mine and I won't mess with yours.'" Although the problem predated Reed's appointment as director, Peace faulted her for initially disbelieving it and being "slow to react" until the television report. Reed acknowledged the bad publicity was a wake-up call but disputed Peace's contention the DMV has a culture of corruption, saying the vast majority of the DMV's 8,600 workers are law-abiding. A spokesman for the California State Employees Assn., which represents DMV employees, accused the department of overreacting. He said the crackdown has destroyed worker morale and become so broad that "it could very likely be called a witch hunt." Investigators concede that corruption within the DMV probably pales compared to that on the outside. Richard Steffen, chief consultant for a legislative task force investigating state government, said crime rings are able to get legitimate licenses simply by knowing how to work the system. He said they know, for example, that photos and thumbprints are not taken until the end of the licensing procedure, a process tailor-made for the use of ringers. The ringer takes the driver's test, then the customer comes in the next day and completes the process. "There is a pattern here that is known on the street," said Steffen, who is preparing to release a report on the DMV. "It's not like masterminds come up with this." Birth certificates, which the DMV requires, are easily counterfeited, and phony ones are hard to spot, officials said. The appearance of birth certificates varies from state to state and sometimes, as in California, from county to county. Adding to the problem is California's open birth certificate procedure, which allows virtually anyone to get a certified copy of anyone else's birth record. One team of ringers arrested by the California Highway Patrol was found with counterfeit birth certificates from Oklahoma, Utah, New York and Texas, according to Bruce Wong, a senior DMV investigator in San Jose. "They were driving up the state from Southern California, stopping at different DMV offices and submitting license applications under different names," he said. "In one day of driving, they had accumulated eight different instructional permits, which they could then sell along with the counterfeit birth certificate." Solem said some loopholes in licensing procedures will be closed when the department begins issuing the new licenses and taking photos and thumbprints at the beginning of the process. "But this is a problem that's going to be with us," he added. "Government does something and the crooks figure a way around it and then government catches up. It goes on and on." Scattaglia said much of the counterfeiting may have its roots south of the border, but no one knows for sure because investigators have only been able to arrest the sellers, not the suppliers. "We have gone into places and recovered sheets and sheets of holograms and state seals - literally a setup [for] putting a license together," he said. "But we've never found the commercial facility that has the printing presses and all the orders. The informants we have all indicated that that place is somewhere in Mexico." Beth Givens, director of the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer information and advocacy program, predicted that driver's license fraud will always be difficult to control because it's not a violent crime and punishment is light. "If these criminals happened to break and enter or use a gun, it would be one thing," she said. "But because they're using paper and documents, they're not seen as a threat to society." Banking officials are starting to rethink their heavy reliance on the driver's license. "That's certainly a trend that's underway because they are increasingly fake," said Gregory Wilhelm, lobbyist for the California Bankers Assn. Los Angeles Times ======================================================================= Don't believe anything you read on the Net unless: 1) you can confirm it with another source, and/or 2) it is consistent with what you already know to be true. ======================================================================= Reply to: <fingerprint(a)networkusa.org> ======================================================================= To subscribe to the free Scan This News newsletter, send a message to <majordomo(a)efga.org> and type "subscribe scan" in the BODY. Or, to be removed type "unsubscribe scan" in the message BODY. For additional instructions see www.efga.org/about/maillist.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Scan This News" is Sponsored by S.C.A.N. Host of the "FIGHT THE FINGERPRINT!" web page: www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml ======================================================================= **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** [View Less]

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SETI@home Project Update
by SETI＠home 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear SETI@home volunteer: Thank you for signing up for SETI@home. We're on schedule to distribute the SETI@home screensaver program in April 1999, and we'll send you another email when that happens. On October 30 we began recording data at the world's largest radio telescope, located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Preliminary versions of the screensaver program and the data distribution system have been completed. On November 20 we will begin testing the system with a group of 100 users … [View More]

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Programmer Needed for Privacy Tool Implementation Project Programmer Needed for Privacy Tool Implementation Project
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As the World Wide Web Consortium's Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) specification is nearing completion, it's time to start working on P3P implementations. I have an immediate opening for a java programming contractor to implement a P3P user agent as a client-side proxy. For details on P3P see http://www.w3.org/p3p/ This is an excellent opportunity for a programmer who wants to help make it easier for people to maintain their privacy online. An outstanding candidate for this … [View More]

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FREE CD With Your Free Netcenter Membership
by netcenter-news1＠netscape.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

**************************************************** CLICK HERE TO JOIN NETCENTER NOW AND GET A FREE CD! http://home.netscape.com/welcome/musicblvd/3.html **************************************************** Dear Internet User: You are receiving this offer because you are a valued Netscape customer. And now we would like for you to discover for yourself why millions of people have signed up for Netscape Netcenter, and why industry analysts say Netcenter "goes well beyond the services … [View More]available from any other portal site."* Becoming a Netscape Netcenter member is fast, easy and FREE. PLUS, IF YOU SIGN UP NOW YOU'LL GET A FREE CD FROM MUSIC BOULEVARD! Netscape Netcenter gives you the best of what you need on the Internet, customized especially for you. Just look at what you'll get with your free membership: FREE PERMANENT EMAIL When you open a Webmail account you can access email from any Internet- connected computer in the world. FREE CUSTOMIZED HOME PAGE With "My Netscape" you can create your own customized homepage with all the information you want exactly where you want it. FREE AOL INSTANT MESSAGING You can communicate INSTANTLY with friends, co-workers and family any time you want. You don't even need to be an AOL subscriber! FREE DOWNLOADS OF NETSCAPE SOFTWARE A Netscape Exclusive! Download the latest version of Communicator! FREE NEWS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS All the news you need, any time you need it, from Inbox Direct to your desktop. You get instant access to more than 135 popular online publications. FREE AUTOMATIC SOFTWARE UPDATES Smart Update keeps your Netscape software current by automatically letting you know every time an update is available. FREE NETCENTER MEMBER DIRECTORY Find other members any time, from friends and colleagues to other professionals in your industry. FREE 17 INDIVIDUAL CHANNELS OF VALUABLE INFORMATION >From computing to travel, lifestyles to sports, and health to autos -- you can find almost everything on Netcenter. FREE CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED ABC NEWS The latest news updated throughout your busy day. Join NOW -- It's Free! There's so much more you'll get with your FREE Netcenter membership -- from Net Search to Classifieds to our comprehensive Web Directory to What's New, What's Cool and complete Yellow and White Pages. Plus there are lively discussion groups and THE BEST WEB CONTENT YOU CAN FIND ANYWHERE. You can even get Netcenter in 17 international versions! And you'll be glad to know that navigating the net as a Netscape Netcenter member is both easy and fun. Keep in mind that many of our most popular services, like Webmail and Instant Messages, ARE RESERVED FOR REGISTERED MEMBERS. So why not join now and start enjoying all these FREE SERVICES and get a FREE CD from Music Boulevard! Sincerely, Tom Leonard Netcenter Marketing JOIN INSTANTLY! Click here and you're IN! http://home.netscape.com/welcome/musicblvd/3.html We respect your online time and Internet privacy. If you would prefer not to receive further marketing promotions from Netcenter, reply to this message with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. P.S. Join Netcenter NOW and get a free CD from Music Boulevard! Don't wait...there's no better time to join. We're eager to welcome you as a new Netscape Netcenter member. *Source: Los Angeles Times, 7/16/98 [View Less]

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RE: dbts: Privacy Fetishes, Perfect Competition, and the Foregone Alternative
by Matthew James Gering 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[dbts and e$ Cc: dropped] Petro wrote: > However, Privacy + Freedom == Anarchy, or close enough to be > indistinguishable. However much I may or may not agree with you, that is an entirely subjective judgement. In political context, anarchy = without rule of government -- nothing more, nothing less. That necessarily means you will have freedom from government, but does not imply you will have freedom from others. Ditto for privacy. In fact there is good claim that privacy will not exist … [View More]

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SETI@home Project Update
by SETI＠home 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear SETI@home volunteer: Thank you for signing up for SETI@home. We're on schedule to distribute the SETI@home screensaver program in April 1999, and we'll send you another email when that happens. On October 30 we began recording data at the world's largest radio telescope, located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Preliminary versions of the screensaver program and the data distribution system have been completed. On November 20 we will begin testing the system with a group of 100 users … [View More]

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RE: dbts: Privacy Fetishes, Perfect Competition, and the Foregone (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: Matthew James Gering <mgering(a)ecosystems.net> > Subject: RE: dbts: Privacy Fetishes, Perfect Competition, and the Foregone > Alternative > Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 14:29:47 -0800 > Petro wrote: > > However, Privacy + Freedom == Anarchy, or close enough to be > > indistinguishable. This is silly. > for privacy. In fact there is good claim that privacy will not exist in > anarchy except by those that decide to use the tools … [View More]

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RE: dbts: Privacy Fetishes, Perfect Competition, and the Foregone (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 18:29:20 -0500 > From: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> > Subject: RE: dbts: Privacy Fetishes, Perfect Competition, and the Foregone > (fwd) > At 6:01 PM -0500 on 11/4/98, Jim Choate wrote, from the bowels of my killfile: > > > > They're bound by economics and nothing else, not even the government cats. > > Amen. Which is why it's a *BAD* idea. > A government is just another economic actor. A very … [View More]

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