Free Republic

<p>Software used by an electronic voting system manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems has been left unprotected on a publicly available server, raising concerns about the possibility of vote tampering in future elections.</p> <p>The software, made available at ftp.jaguar.net, is stored on an FTP server owned by Jaguar Computer Systems, a firm that provides election support to a California county. The software is used for placing ballots on voting kiosks and for storing and tabulating results for the Sequoia AVC Edge touch-screen system.</p>

THE FLAG CODETitle 36, U.S.C., Chapter 10As amended by P.L. 322, 103rd CongressApproved September 13, 1994|§ 170. National Anthem; Star-Spangled BannerThe composition consisting of the words and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America.§ 171. Conduct during playingDuring rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in  uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in  uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the  hand being...

SHIPPENSBURG, PA -- The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday, September 4, 2003, ordering Shippensburg University President Anthony F. Ceddia not to enforce provisions of what the court termed Shippensburg's "speech code." The code is being challenged in a lawsuit brought by attorneys in the Legal Network of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The court also denied the university's motion to dismiss the case, allowing it to proceed to trial. "This is a great victory and a vital step in the struggle against the scandal of unconstitutional...

Parasoft CEO Blames SoBig On Arrogant Software Industry Leadership August 22, 2003 (3:29 p.m. EST) By Keith Ferrell , TechWeb News Sharply criticizing complacency, arrogance and immaturity in software industry leadership, and blaming those qualities for the SoBig virus's successful march through the world's computers, Parasoft CEO Adam Kolawa delivered a rant Friday that included an offer to show the industry how to cure its errors. The head of the privately held software development solutions company said that the industry's policy of tackling program bugs at the latter stages of development cycles is self-defeating. By that point in the development...

As Congress continues work on health care issues such as adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, a study by the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) urges lawmakers not to overlook a key element in any health care reform effort: the Tax Code itself. "In their zeal to supposedly 'fix' America's health system, policymakers have focused far too often on tinkering with or even worsening the very source of the problem," said NTU Director of Government Affairs and study author Paul Gessing. "Solving our nation's health care woes requires thinking outside of the current entitlement-based structure, which unwisely permits third...

<p>An al Qaeda sleeper agent "wrapped in his cloak of American citizenship" has secretly pleaded guilty to aiding Osama bin Laden by scouting out bridges and railroads for destruction in New York and Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft said yesterday.</p>

<p>BY some reports, the just- passed federal tax cut favored the rich at the expense of the poor. Yet U.S. Treasury data show that lower-income taxpayers received a larger percentage tax cut than higher-income taxpayers. Families with modest incomes received an expansion in the 10 percent tax bracket, an increase in the standard deduction for married couples and an increase in the child tax credit.</p>

The Americans had tried almost everything, but they just couldn't crack an encrypted message they came across while investigating the 9/11 attacks. Finally, they approached a 17-year-old boy in Delhi about whom The New York Times had done a feature. Over the next 10 days, Ankit Fardia hunkered down in his room in Delhi and came up with the key to crack the message. The worst fears of American investigators came true — Al-Qaeda was using a sophisticated technology, called steganography, to communicate. It involved sending encrypted messages concealed in a photograph or series of photographs. “I was lucky in...

ROME, May 8 — Investigators analyzing computers seized from an Italian mosque say they have uncovered images of the twin towers that were downloaded just days before the 9/11 attacks, as well as a trove of pornographic photos they believe were used to conceal coded messages. On Sept. 4, 2001, according to investigators, pictures of the World Trade Center were saved as temporary files on one of the computers at the Via Quaranta mosque in Milan — the mosque frequented by Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed, also known as Abu Saleh, an Egyptian currently on trial in absentia in Milan on...

Saddam got a coded message from President Bush. It read: 370HSSV-0773H Saddam was stumped and sent for the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The Iraqi Intelligence Service was stumped too, so it went to the Special Security Service . The Special Security Service couldn't solve it either, so they asked Baddad Bob. He suggested turning it upside down ...

The women in Washington D.C. and San Francisco who protested the impending war with Iraq, in honor of International Women’s Day, are a disgrace to all women. They claim to be progressive, when in fact, they are regressive, marching backwards against the tide of history. The silly names of their organizations, “Code Pink” and “Women in Black,” are a case in point. For some unknown reason, the “Code Pink” ladies decided that pink is a symbol of oppression, so they dressed up like walking Pepto-Bismol bottles. Their ridiculous chanting of “Bush says Code Red; we say Code Pink” did little...

DENVER (AP) - When five female Air Force Academy cadets reported that they had been raped by classmates, they sought some support from the military. Instead, they were treated as if they were either crazy or promiscuous, says a former Air Force captain and founder of a group that tracks sexual assaults in the military. The women say they were reprimanded for reporting the attack, and four have left the academy. Now, the military has ordered a review of how the academy handles sexual assault allegations. "They have attempted to talk about it or find some assistance within the system....

Al-Qa'ida operative reveals code words By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 18 February 2003 Western intelligence officials say they have obtained a glossary of al-Qa'ida code words following the capture of an associate of one of the network's senior operatives. Words such as "honey", "toy" and "little girl" – overheard by electronic eavesdropping of conversations between suspected terrorists – have been revealed to have a sinister meaning. The breakthrough has come as result of the interrogation of Shadi Abdullah, who was arrested last April by police in Germany. The 26-year-old was seized after officials intercepted a phone conversation between him and...

  From Governing’s February 2003 issue Introduction THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT The Way We Tax Massachusetts Adequacy of revenue        Fairness to taxpayers        Management of system        Massachusetts’ official nickname has always been the “Bay State,” but until relatively recently it bore a less flattering nickname to citizens in the rest of New England. They made fun of it as “Taxachusetts.” The term was never entirely fair. Massachusetts’ tax rates have generally stayed in line with the rest of the country, and as a percentage of personal income, its residents’ tax burden...

Norse code taps back 9000 years to life in Highlands MARTYN McLAUGHLIN ARCHEOLOGISTS have discovered the remains of a 9000-year-old community that shows Scotland's earliest settlers may have been of Nordic origins. The site, halfway up the 4000ft Ben Lawers in Perthshire, has uncovered a range of flints and tools almost identical to those originally created in Norway. However, it came as a surprise. Dr John Atkinson, of Glasgow University, was leading a five-year project to excavate the area and was working on another site at the time. "We were looking at structures relating to the 1570s when we dug...

Saw these two messages on the Usenet Group: alt.tv.lexx. Subject: Ghassan Muhammad: Al Queda will destroy the infidels (next attack on Buy Nothing Day) Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:16:36 GMT From: annihilator-7@erlenstar.demon.co.uk Organization: Al Queda Newsgroups: alt.tv.lexx -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Ghassan Muhammad, allah be praised, here are your orders: -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: 2.6.2i /jeOLGSmS8JbWnaSUXa5Or88MOfoC4EZDHi6iFTO6okKD1CuzdGe1mAJe3AQ+YIY O20XJruNw22wo0HSfLfYIXyEH6pruLVAbPPBxrDXEqd3dmMlWUprvUvGOFQzzEcp d7dCxgzUQ++r3OXxJDWtPtgc8+cS0OdAlUMnkUAHkTIHSLblD5PV12JGEFMpo9mO SiEwIBFSnfAzQST6Viat9T+qbh2CDmCzDj/EG4oDUXwBJkclVUAsjZoBf0RRRdWd ktB4oOPo9sc1oo8YrYxu9QlhRJZIAbvJLH5DVIRO8yXq3BcQ6Csp5ngQ8ooTUbQc M05FJ3bkLIZHf8k7DPDYzamq5u+tE+B+E07cBVOmCopkPlhpnSE6SFxUeNgSfVMM nzu/dkhs/+Gf97IIA322bbGe1chEt4WNkVzUkNufFxJhp60L2uuK4u== =UneX -----END PGP MESSAGE----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v0.9.5 (FreeBSD) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org BdOaOwQ/wMOhpjAh9agikerP1Am5nb1hXGWreTFtslujEv+SKpoUQ1T8ZAHDfODM czBPHRZ7tEa+45cL1oDuRihpZE5oZETiQxByD86aTb== =knMM -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Subject: Abdel Ali AL-Shouli: Al Queda will destroy the infidels (next attack on Buy Nothing...

There exists a series of 'nonsense' postings in Usenet. (Please no jokes about Usenet already being full of nonsense). Obviously computer generated.  These often have Arabic names interspersed in the content. One speculation is they might just be 'merry pranksters' posting vast amounts of nonsense to confuse Usenet readers. Another speculation is this might be the 'increased al-Qaeda chatter' we hear about when the Home Land Security changes the color to a redder hue. Note the increase just after Dec. 22 (the date that the Shoe Bomber was captured trying to blow up Miami to Paris, flight AA 63). We...

The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting The Rabbit was so boastful that he would claim to do what- ever he saw anyone else do, and so tricky that he could usually make the other animals believe it all. Once he pretended that he could swim in the water and eat fish just as the Otter did, and when the others told him to prove it he fixed up a plan so that the Otter himself was deceived. Soon afterward they met again and the Otter said, "I eat ducks sometimes." Said the Rabbit, "Well, I eat ducks too." The Otter challenged...

Hey, I was reading an article on al-Qaeda in Time (itself a reasonably interesting read), and I noticed something kind of spooky: the letters "CIA" are capitalized throughout the article!!! Totally freaked me out, makes me wonder if al-Qaedas are hacking articles and sending messages through them! Check it out yourself: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,366218,00.html?cnn=yes

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School The Code of Hammurabi Translated by L. W. King When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me,...