Category: Current Events & Politics

Letter Re: Digital Security

Hello from Russia! This Friday, SurvivalBlog mentioned “Digital Security- Part 2, by Dakota”. As a computer specialist and a paranoiac, I must warn you about two things. Bitmessage is absolutely secure. (I mean that nobody can read an encrypted message or find the sender or recipient or fact of communication between them.) But the price of this fact is too high and is a security hole by itself: Bitmessage client sends your message to every other client. What does it mean? In reality, every client would receive all the traffic the system creates. If, say, every one of 100 users …


Digital Security- Part 2, by Dakota

Secure Email (continued) Public key encryption works like this: you have two keys– a public key and a private key. Your public key is just that; it’s something you share with the public. Think of it as more of a padlock though. When someone wants to send you an email, they lock it with this padlock. No one along the way can see what’s inside the email (not even your email provider). When you want to read the email you use your private key just like you would use a literal key to unlock, or rather decrypt, the message. Your …


Digital Security- Part 1, by Dakota

Before we begin, note that the title is a bit of a misnomer. Digital security is mostly nonexistent. When computers took off, security was never a concern, so they are inherently insecure. I will do my best to help you secure your computer as much as possible. The point isn’t to make your computer invulnerable to attack. That’s impossible. However, just like your survival retreat security, the goal is to make yourself such a hard target that hackers or the government move on to lower hanging fruit. Again, nothing in here will make you immune to the NSA. They have …


Letter Re: Ancestry Story

HJL, It looks like there is a differing view that counters the story you linked to… Facts matter!. – D.S. HJL Responds: There is always more than one side to any argument; this one is no exception. However, the author of the “Facts matter!” article that you are referencing, while making the accusation that the original author is twisting “the facts” to suit his purpose, does the exact same thing. Given both articles, here are my concerns: Does anyone who submits their DNA to Sorenson Labs (Ancestory) have a reasonable expectation that their DNA will be used for any purpose …


Letter Re: Bird Flu Becoming Critical

James, Our county department of health is running an exercise to see how well they could do if they had to distribute an anti-viral to the community. They are asking for volunteers to take part in an effort to try to stress their delivery system. I am encouraged that the local officials, even in hyper-liberal Boulder County Colorado, take the possibility of an outbreak seriously enough to run an exercise. – R.R.


Letter Re: Google Almighty

HJL: Search with Google, the candidate “Scott Walker” and then use Duck Duck Go to search the same thing. When I did it, Google queued up 10 articles on him that were all negative. The Duck queued up 6 favorable articles with four negative articles. I’m not necessarily endorsing Mr. Walker, but he is a controversial figure, due to his anti-union measures, making him a good example of Google limiting not just what you see but what you should think. – RV


Letter Re: Google Almighty

HJL, Do I speak blasphemy? Do I speak heresy against the almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing Google? Yes, I do and proudly proclaim my disgust with Google and their we-know-better-than-you mindset. In fact, they have accumulated so enormously and stupendously much data that they have concluded they know everything, and since they know everything they can decide what you should know and what you should not know. That’s right. Google has decided to filter the search results it presents to you in the name of Internet quality, and I can’t argue that they do not have a right to do this, but …


Letter Re: Your Thoughts on Jade Helm

Mr. Rawles, I was wondering if you could comment on the Jade Helm issue that is all over the Internet. Is this for real? Should we be concerned on what may happen? I would like to hear your opinion. Thanks. – C.F. HJL Responds: JWR will respond more in depth on this issue when he is finished with his current research for his new novel. In the mean time, I’ll answer some of your questions. There is no doubt that the training is intended for the implementation of martial law. However, I do not believe that federal government will just …


Letter: Cash at KFC

HJL, My family and I (all seven of us) went to our local KFC in Southern KS this past Wednesday. As it costs a little more for a family of seven to eat out, I tend to carry some extra cash on me. When I pulled out a $100 bill to pay, the cashier took me to the side and requested I print out my name and drivers license number on a pre-printed sheet he had next to the register. He indicated this was corporate policy when dealing with $100 bills. I’m not sure this is newsworthy, but the more …


Letter: Posse Comitatus Won’t Save You From The U.S. Military

HJL, The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (Pub. L. 18 USC P 1385) was supposed to keep the U.S. Military from enforcing local and federal law, or assisting local law enforcement in that duty. Well before the Posse Comitatus Act was passed, Congress passed the Insurrection Act of 1807 (Pub. L. 10 USC 331 thru 335), which was a “set of laws that govern the ability of the President to deploy U.S. troops on American soil.” Such deployment could only come at the request of a governor of the state in which an event was taking place requiring a larger …


Letter Re: LE Criticism

HJL, I believe there are a few points being lost in the ongoing debate concerning law enforcement’s attitude towards their job and the public. Time and time again the blanket statement levied in support of law enforcement’s defense is “ Not all cops are bad”. I agree with this wholeheartedly, and I think any sane person would also agree with this. However, as a person who exercises critical thinking, I have to wonder, where are the “good cops”? Where are the whistleblowers? Good cops don’t allow flagrant abuse of police powers, good cops don’t blindly follow, Good cops don’t stand …


Letter: Anti-LE Tilt

HJL, On occasion I see an anti-LE tilt to some e-mails submitted to SurvivalBlog. I have to wonder at anyone who is at age 35 trying to break into law enforcement, but that is their choice. It actually sounds like some public defenders I know. Recalling my brother-in-law’s academy adventure, he was @10 weeks into a boot camp style police academy for a prestigious city PD and was ready to quit. Too hard? Not really; it was just that as a former Air Force NCO, he did not think he was being treated in a deferential manner as he was …


Letter Re: A Story of Caution in Today’s Police State, by Lebannen

HJL, I appreciate Lebannen’s miltary service, and his desire to serve his community as a local police officer. I do think that it is very, very important to clarify a piece of legal advice that the OP provided in this article. Towards the end of Part 2 of the article the OP states “If the police come to your door and ask you to step outside or open it, you do NOT have to comply. They need a warrant unless an exigent circumstance occurs.” This is patently incorrect in the case of a vehicle stop, and in failing to do …


Letter Re: A Story of Caution in Today’s Police State, by Lebannen

Jim and editor: Regarding this post, I’d like to comment if I may. A reply to Lebannen’s posting regarding caution towards police: I’m encouraging conservatives to join Law Enforcement! Lebannen has my respect. He has values and sticks to them. However, I’m replying to encourage a slightly different point of view in order that good men and women will not stay out of law enforcement but, rather, will apply in increasing rates. My thoughts are simple. While I respect Lebannen’s commitment to the Constitution and willingness to set aside a career path to stick to his principles, I think perhaps …


The 100-Year Geomagnetic Storm and The Electric Grid – Part 2, by Tango Delta

Defense Strategies If you’re not ready for TEOTWAWKI, you’re probably asking, “Can’t we do something to keep the grid from going down?” The answer is “yes”. There are two approaches– early warning and hardening of equipment. In theory, early warning relies on the ACE and DSCOVR satellites, located one million miles from the earth, to measure the intensity and polarity of a storm and then issue warnings, which utilities would use to take steps to protect their equipment. In reality, large storms are too fast, allowing maybe 15 minutes of warning. Nuclear plants are supposed to be in “cold shutdown” …