remember the good ole days?
Dec 27, 2005 @ 11:46
I remember when I used to blog here. Those were good times...
Come back late tonight and there should be some xmas material.
politics, please ignore (2)
Dec 21, 2005 @ 10:34
Let's take a quick close look at this wiretap scandal.
The wiretaps are being done without a court order, and Bush has admitted this, and he says it shall continue. The Administration is saying Congress has approved this, but it has become clear that Congress has been objecting in private all along, and not going public due to the secrecy of the project until the Times broke the story. The Administration is also saying that 9/11 could have been prevented, and then in the same breath saying they are only spying on known terrorists' international communications. The Administration obviously didn't know who to spy on for 9/11, so they wouldn't have been spying even if they could. The alternative, that the Administration did know who to spy on and didn't do anything about it... well, do we really want to go there?
Read the rest of this entry...
politics, please ignore (1)
Dec 21, 2005 @ 09:55
Ok, if the Republicans really cared about our troops, and really cared about funding hurricane relief, they wouldn't throw a controversial ANWR drilling rider onto the defense/relief spending bill. Because they KNOW how controversial ANWR is, and they KNOW it will interfere with the defense/relief spending bill getting passed.
And then those fuckers sit there and call people names who would oppose the bill because of the rider. The same people who complicated the situation by adding the rider in the first place would pass guilt onto those who oppose it. They would say the Democrats are the ones who aren't thinking of the troops or the hurricane victims.
Ted Stevens is a fucking douchebag. Fuck you Ted. Why don't you fund some more bridges to nowhere while you are at it?
merry ax-mas
Dec 20, 2005 @ 15:20
Paul wishes you a Merry AXMas.
Amazing.
the weather outside
Dec 20, 2005 @ 14:10
I wanted to make it snow, but Jesse is working on it as we speak.
If you need a moment, let it snow.
santa baby...
Dec 19, 2005 @ 21:19
...put an Apple under the tree,
for me.
Seriously, if I believe in Santa he almost has to bring me an Apple with dual cinema displays for Christmas, right?
So I bought this ice cube tray at Ikea that makes arrow --> shaped ice cubes. I've got some made right now. It is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. As an added bonus, I always find my way to the edge of my glass now.
king kong was good
Dec 19, 2005 @ 15:51
I liked King Kong. The island natives were scary. The tumbling dinosaur scene was totally delightful. I think I giggled. I saw it on Friday night.
The End.
new leadership needed
Dec 19, 2005 @ 11:12
To: cryptography[at]metzdowd.com
Subject: A small editorial about recent events.
From: "Perry E. Metzger"
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:58:06 -0500
“
A small editorial from your moderator. I rarely use this list to express a strong political opinion -- you will forgive me in this instance.
This mailing list is putatively about cryptography and cryptography politics, though we do tend to stray quite a bit into security issues of all sorts, and sometimes into the activities of the agency with the biggest crypto and sigint budget in the world, the NSA.
As you may all be aware, the New York Times has reported, and the administration has admitted, that President of the United States apparently ordered the NSA to conduct surveillance operations against US citizens without prior permission of the secret court known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (the "FISC"). This is in clear contravention of 50 USC 1801 - 50 USC 1811, a portion of the US code that provides for clear criminal penalties for violations. See:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sup_01_50_10_36_20_I.html
The President claims he has the prerogative to order such surveillance. The law unambiguously disagrees with him.
There are minor exceptions in the law, but they clearly do not apply in this case. They cover only the 15 days after a declaration of war by congress, a period of 72 hours prior to seeking court authorization (which was never sought), and similar exceptions that clearly are not germane.
There is no room for doubt or question about whether the President has the prerogative to order surveillance without asking the FISC -- even if the FISC is a toothless organization that never turns down requests, it is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years imprisonment, to conduct electronic surveillance against US citizens without court authorization.
The FISC may be worthless at defending civil liberties, but in its arrogant disregard for even the fig leaf of the FISC, the administration has actually crossed the line into a crystal clear felony. The government could have legally conducted such wiretaps at any time, but the President chose not to do it legally.
Ours is a government of laws, not of men. That means if the President disagrees with a law or feels that it is insufficient, he still must obey it. Ignoring the law is illegal, even for the President. The President may ask Congress to change the law, but meanwhile he must follow it.
Our President has chosen to declare himself above the law, a dangerous precedent that could do great harm to our country. However, without substantial effort on the part of you, and I mean you, every person reading this, nothing much is going to happen. The rule of law will continue to decay in our country. Future Presidents will claim even greater extralegal authority, and our nation will fall into despotism. I mean that sincerely. For the sake of yourself, your children and your children's children, you cannot allow this to stand.
Call your Senators and your Congressman. Demand a full investigation, both by Congress and by a special prosecutor, of the actions of the Administration and the NSA. Say that the rule of law is all that stands between us and barbarism. Say that we live in a democracy, not a kingdom, and that our elected officials are not above the law. The President is not a King. Even the President cannot participate in a felony and get away with it. Demand that even the President must obey the law.
Tell your friends to do the same. Tell them to tell their friends to do the same. Then, call back next week and the week after and the week after that until something happens. Mark it in your calendar so you don't forget about it. Politicians have short memories, and Congress is about to recess for Christmas, so you must not allow this to be forgotten. Keep at them until something happens.
Perry