September 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Fatherland Security agents above the law?
by Tyler Durden 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

"The Fatherland Security troops are publicly embaressed and showing their brown shirts." Well, I'm not convinced you guys have detected the right intended message here. Basically, the real message may be: "it's impossible to protect Americans through local policies alone". In other words, there's no serious desire high-up to truly seal our ports in the short run. American perceived insecurity will allow "us" to eventually move into places like Indonesia, in order to "defend" our ports. The fact that it may actually be impossible to screen everything coming in is immaterial. No wait...it's beneficial. -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)lne.com" <cypherpunks(a)lne.com> >Subject: Re: Fatherland Security agents above the law? >Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:26:49 -0700 > >At 10:41 AM 9/11/03 -0700, Tim May wrote: > >* depleted uranium (DU) is essentially pure U-238, with very low > >specific activity (decay rate); removal of the 2-3% of the higher > >specific activity U-235 lessens the overall decay rate of the original > >metal substantially. > >Commericial airliners often contain tens of >kilograms of DU as ballast. Ref: _Living with Radiation_, >by Frame & Kolb. They often carry medical or other >isotopes during civilian flights too. There are rules for >distributing those containers so no one passenger gets >too much extra dose. > >DU gives off plenty of alphas. (Thus you don't want to breathe >DU dust, which will also heavy-metal your kidneys in the >short term.) But they're stopped by anything, including aluminum >foil-- lead pipe is overkill. The only way to detect shielded DU >is gammas, to identify it you need gamma spectroscopy. >The neutron analysis being done at some ports of entry >only works on fissile materials. > >The Fatherland Security troops are publicly embaressed and showing >their brown shirts. > >--- >Of course Pierre Curie didn't die from radiation >poisoning, he was hit by a horse drawn cart. _________________________________________________________________ Get 10MB of e-mail storage! Sign up for Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es

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Re: [p2p-hackers] Project Announcement: P2P Sockets (fwd from bradneuberg@yahoo.com) (fwd from morlockelloi@yahoo.com) (fwd from bradneuberg@yahoo.com)
by Eugen Leitl 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

----- Forwarded message from Brad Neuberg <bradneuberg(a)yahoo.com> -----

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Re: Fatherland Security agents above the law?
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

At 10:41 AM 9/11/03 -0700, Tim May wrote: >* depleted uranium (DU) is essentially pure U-238, with very low >specific activity (decay rate); removal of the 2-3% of the higher >specific activity U-235 lessens the overall decay rate of the original >metal substantially. Commericial airliners often contain tens of kilograms of DU as ballast. Ref: _Living with Radiation_, by Frame & Kolb. They often carry medical or other isotopes during civilian flights too. There are rules for distributing those containers so no one passenger gets too much extra dose. DU gives off plenty of alphas. (Thus you don't want to breathe DU dust, which will also heavy-metal your kidneys in the short term.) But they're stopped by anything, including aluminum foil-- lead pipe is overkill. The only way to detect shielded DU is gammas, to identify it you need gamma spectroscopy. The neutron analysis being done at some ports of entry only works on fissile materials. The Fatherland Security troops are publicly embaressed and showing their brown shirts. --- Of course Pierre Curie didn't die from radiation poisoning, he was hit by a horse drawn cart.

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RIAA lawsuits harming public knowledge of law
by Major Variola (ret.) 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

Saw this in an editorial: "Sure, technically, it's stealing. But so is dubbing a tape, which we all did back when cassette tapes were all the rage. " http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20030911/localnews/239711.html It is unfortunate that the RIAA's terrorism has caused people to forget their rights, established in law and precedent, to "dub tapes" and time-shift broadcasts. This is a form of "chilling effects". Its akin to "cops" type shows illustrating sheeple consenting to searches they needn't agree to ---it teaches uncivic unAmerican behavior to the clueless. --- Mohommed Atta -An Army of One

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Re: unintended consequences: Davis recall leads to US internal passports
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

At 03:38 PM 9/10/03 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote: >(And it's probably a bit too much cognitive dissidence for them >if you simultaneously want a parking pass for your car >and don't have your DL because you took the bus :-) The DL stays in the car, the only place it is needed. I've heard that during voir dire you're asked if you know about nullification. If so, you're out. I enjoy what Sakharov termed "reactance", ie, when compelled I resist, if asked I may comply. Where I come from the constitutional ban on illegal taking, slavery, and the trumping of the constitution over states (the 14th IIRC) matter. So I regard the nastygrams as offers to volunteer. When I do volunteer, I'll bring a stack of fija.org info to distribute anonymously. Its the patriotic thing to do. ------ "We have no clue. ... Our computer is not happy. " Grid operators, Aug 14 03

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Fatherland Security agents above the law?
by Major Variola (ret.) 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

U.S. agents also sought, without warrant or subpoena, to obtain ABCNEWS field tapes. Two agents showed up at night at the San Diego home of a freelance cameraman, Jeff Freeman, who worked on the project. "They first identified themselves as FBI agents, which it turns out they weren't," said Freeman. "They wanted to know if I still had the tapes I had shot for ABC and if I could turn them over." http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/Primetime/sept11_uranium030910.html

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ABC Smuggles depleted Uranium into US...
by Tyler Durden 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

I think that it's becomming clear that in order for Americans to feel safe US troops should morph into an international Police force. Next stop: Indonesia! -TD "The ABCNEWS suitcase containing the uranium was placed in a teak trunk along with other furniture put in a container in Jakarta, Indonesia, a city considered by U.S. authorities to be one of the most active al Qaeda hot spots in the world. The container was shipped to Los Angeles in late July, just one week before the bombing of the Jakarta Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has claimed major improvements in port security, in part because of enhanced vigilance overseas. "So that our borders become the last line of defense, not our first line of defense," Ridge said in a speech last week. He said the United States was increasing security "thousands of miles away, long before a container is first loaded on a ship." But in Jakarta, ABCNEWS producers David Scott and Rhonda Schwartz found that the chest in which they had placed the depleted uranium was never opened or inspected before being sent on to Los Angeles. " _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE computer virus scan online from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

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Re: Anyone Remember Zero Knowledge Systems?
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

At 05:44 PM 9/10/03 -0400, Adam Shostack wrote: >The problem with running Napster over Freedom was bandwidth costs. >Users may be more willing to pay today, given the clear risk of paying >$10,000 or more in fines. I'm sure that ZKS would be happy to sell >someone a commercial use license. Depends on the price, and how readily it can be adapted to P2P nets. The need certainly increases with the lawsuits. The folks profiting from P2P (eg Sharman networks) will have to include IP anonymity features in future releases. Else folks don't share, ergo their tool is useless, and no eyeballs to sell to the advertizers. The punitive fines will drive anonymity, or Sharman collapses. Since ZKS et al. were existence proofs that it can be done, and the techniques largely known, it probably will happen, with or without ZKS' code. Sorta like Hiroshima as an existance proof and neutron physics as the techniques. As an aside, I'm surprised the BSA hasn't joined in. --- "Clearly the purpose of cutting grass is to encourage the grass." Edward Teller, _Memoirs_, p 355

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[cdr] CNN.com - U.S. refuses judge's order in Moussaoui trial - Sep. 10, 2003 (fwd)
by Jim Choate 11 Sep '03

11 Sep '03

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/10/moussaoui.trial/index.html -- -- ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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[cdr] Slashdot | RIAA Sued For Amnesty Offer (fwd)
by Jim Choate 10 Sep '03

10 Sep '03

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/09/10/2222214.shtml?tid=123&tid=141&tid=188&… -- -- ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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