Monthly Archives: April 2007

The Alaskan and the Hot Tub

One more reason that Mike Gravel Won't Be President.

Like you needed another reason?

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 1 Comment

Verio/NTT Sends Shutdown Notice to Cryptome — But Gives No Reason

John Young runs a very useful, important, but edgy (some would say over the edge) service at Cryptome.org, which I wrote about in Cryptome: Often Heroic, but Sometimes Creepy.

Over the years he's had some DMCA notices, and takedown requests passed on from foreign intelligence services, all of which his ISP Verio/NTT has dealt with in what seemed from his account to be a reasonable manner.

Now, all of a sudden and apparently without giving any reason, John Young reports that he's gotten a letter telling him that Cryptome is to be Shutdown by Verio/NTT.

This notice of termination is surprising for Verio has been consistently supportive of freedom of information against those who wish to suppress it. Since 1999 Cryptome has received a number of e-mailed notices from Verio's legal department in response to complaints from a variety of parties, ranging from British intelligence to alleged copyright holders to persons angry that their vices have been exposed (see below). In every case Verio has heretofore accepted Cryptome's explanation for publishing material, and in some cases removal of the material, and service has continued.

In this latest instance there was no notice received from Verio describing the violation of acceptable use to justify termination of service prior to receipt of the certified letter, thus no opportunity to understand or respond to the basis for termination.

It may be wondered if Verio was threatened by an undisclosable means, say by an National Security Letter or by a confidential legal document or by a novel attack not yet aired.

Every few months our Verio service rep, Warren Gleicher, Senior Account Manager, (wgleicher[at]verio.net) writes to see if service is satifactory.

Danna and Warren: Cryptome would appreciate your telling what has led to the termination for publication. Send the information anonymously if necessary to keep your jobs.

At least they gave him two weeks notice, but still — pretty low not even to give a reason.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Cryptography | Comments Off on Verio/NTT Sends Shutdown Notice to Cryptome — But Gives No Reason

Cynical Observations

The truth will get you fired

Things you shouldn't say at your dissertation defense

If your ratings are big you can get away with racism (more here)

The US government sure loves its lawless, secret CIA prisons — those would be the black sites where there's water boarding and other torture or near-torture, and people seem to vanish and die. Is there any hope that our next President will end this shameful system? I am not optimistic about most of the candidates, although the worst abuses may be curbed.

Résumé lies and signals

Posted in Linkorama | 1 Comment

Bill to Save Internet Radio

According to RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, The Internet Radio Equality Act (.pdf) was introduced yesterday by Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) and eight cosponsors.

This bill, or something like it, deserves support.

Posted in Law: Copyright and DMCA | Comments Off on Bill to Save Internet Radio

What’s Doing (Reptiles Dept.)

I just want to thank all the people who have kept the comments lively at The Buck Doesn't Even Stop By For Visits while I've been somewhat distracted by work.

If I know what's good for me, blogging will be light for the next few days — I have to write an exam and do major surgery to a paper.

The world certainly is doing its best, however, to be very distracting.

For one thing, there's a good-sized scaly toothed reptile back in the campus lake. I saw about seven eights of it, but not the snout which it had lodged under something at the bank of the lake, so I don't know if it's a gator or a croc, but I'd guess gator. The whatever-it-was had beached the front of its face, nose first, only 100 feet or so from the Rathskeller where students were happily boozing it up on a Friday afternoon, but there was a campus cop keeping the passing students from getting too close. He didn't seem to be enjoying the job, and gave a rather grim smile when I observed that the gator had a police escort.

Previous posts on our toothy friends include Crocodile Reminder, Crocodile Coincidence, What? A Croc?, Croc II !, Cold Front Flushes Out UM Croc, Fair Warning (Alligator Dept.), Who Gets Custody of the Alligator ? and of course Exam Question: Is an Alligator a Deadly Weapon?. It's not an obsession, really, just a fact of life.

Speaking of reptiles, the DoJ has done another Friday evening document dump.

Speaking of sinking your teeth into things, or maybe it's man-bites-dog, don't miss Army Officer Accuses Generals of 'Intellectual and Moral Failures' an amazing article about a Lt. Col. attacking his superiors (generically, not by name) in a prestigious army journal for incompetence and dishonesty in their prosecution of the Iraq war and for misleading Congress about it.

“After going into Iraq with too few troops and no coherent plan for postwar stabilization, America's general officer corps did not accurately portray the intensity of the insurgency to the American public,” he writes. “For reasons that are not yet clear, America's general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq's government and security forces and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq.”

Yingling said he decided to write the article after attending Purple Heart and deployment ceremonies for Army soldiers. “I find it hard to look them in the eye,” he said in an interview. “Our generals are not worthy of their soldiers.”

Next to last, but not least, the Bush administration war on the rule of law continues apace with its latest attempt to make it impossible for lawyers to provide meaningful or effective representation for Guantanamo detainees. I would write about this but words fail me to describe the petty viciousness of this idea and the manifest hostility to the very due process that I would have thought was one of the great achievements of our civilization. The NYT has an editorial which says part of what needs saying; some more of it is found in this Conversation with Gitmo Lawyer on Proposed DOJ Rules. Don't look to the Supreme Court to do anything fast — in tangentially related cases, it's not rushing the process, which is Shakespearian in its delay:

“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,”

Meanwhile, only the willful blindness of one or two men (Bush, Chaney, take your pick), ensures that the US Army will continue to bleed itself dry in Iraq, to no visible benefit to anyone outside the White House. I understand that our departure could lead to horrors — and think we have a duty to mitigate them, especially be admitting a very large number of refugees here in order to protect all the people who have helped us. If there were a plausible scenario by which staying on would allow us to enact the 'Pottery Barn rule' (you broke it, you pay for it), I could support that. But the occupation is as big a failure as the initial military campaign was a success. No one arguing for staying on has a winning strategy that they can articulate other than “retreat is not an option”.

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.

— Thomas Jefferson

Posted in Guantanamo, Iraq, Politics: US: GW Bush Scandals, U.Miami | 1 Comment

Dean Dennis Lynch To Step Down In a Year

This letter just went out the whole law school community (I added the photo):

To: Law School Community

From: Dean Dennis O. Lynch


Today I announced to the faculty that the 2007-2008 academic year will be my final one as dean. These past eight years have been the most challenging and rewarding of my professional life. We have hired very talented young faculty, expanded clinical programs for our students, significantly increased student scholarships, and almost doubled the Law School's endowment. I am grateful to my faculty colleagues for their shared dedication to the quality of the education we provide our students. I want to thank the staff for all that you do to assure the success of our students. I firmly believe that the University of Miami has one of the most talented and socially committed student bodies in the country. We have a wonderfully supportive alumni community who have demonstrated their faith in the School's educational mission by their generous support of the Capital Campaign. It has been a privilege to serve as your dean. I am looking forward to my final year as dean, to rejoining the faculty as a professor, and to being back in the classroom with our students.

Posted in U.Miami | Comments Off on Dean Dennis Lynch To Step Down In a Year