Smashing The State

by Bruce Elmore
[email protected]

Special to TLE

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

           Of all ten of the Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, this one is the one most important to the cause of the destruction of the Leviathon currently known as the Federal Government.
           We have the right to be secure in our persons, houses, and papers against searches, and that right shall not be violated without probable cause. Let us think about that for a moment.
           All of us, have the right to secure our papers and effects from unreasonable prying by agents of the State. Further, these agents of the State, at least in theory, are completely unable to delve into our private affairs unless someone swears before a lawfully constituted magistrate, can show under oath good reason why that right should be abrogated.
           Papers and effects means our methods and records of yours and my communications.
           It therefore logically follows, that both you and I have the right to keep any and all communication between us as private as possible, and that no agent of the Government has any business reading them, so long as we are not conspiring to deprive another individual of their rights.
           Once again, it follows quite logically, that anyone wishing to transmit information which they deem to be "private", should be using the most secure means of communication they can reasonably lay their grubby little hands on.
           Fortunately, we are all now living at a time which is the apex of secure communications technology, and the true beauty of it is that it is all available for a mere pittance. That's right brothers and sisters. Anyone with an ounce of motivation can make their communications in almost any medium just about completely indecipherable to agents of the State. All of it is perfectly legal as well.

Time Tested Methods

           Some of the oldest methods of secure communications (cryptology) are what are known as "subsitution codes". These are almost childishly simple once you figure out how they work. For instance. Lets say you want to send a private message to your old friend Bob. Thats easy. You and Bob meet somewhere and decide that you are going to take the alphabet, and shift it by, oh let us say, three letters.
           That means that when you write the letter "A", it really is the letter "C". This is one of the earliest and most primitive forms of "code". Unfortunately for you and I, this was a very easy type of code to figure out. Substituting letters AND numbers makes this primitive cypher somewhat more effective, but it is still relatively easy to crack.
           Another method of "secure" communications involved nothing more that a stick of a predetermined diameter and a strip of paper. One simply wrapped the strip of paper around the stick in question and wrote your message, and then unwrapped the paper. Then you filled the empty space in between your message with a bunch of random letters, numbers, and symbols, and there you were.
           If your adversary didn't have the proper sized stick, he had nothing more than a good bit of paper for starting his fire. But, you having the proper diameter stick, could quite easily read the message your friend intended for you.
           These and other primitive methods of encrypting messages worked quite well for a couple of centuries, and they can still be employed by clever individuals for simple messages between small numbers of people to this very day.
           However, they are wholly unsuited for rapid communications using the modern methods of communications available today.

Invisible Inks

           The next method of secure communications developed were the so called "invisible inks" These were a quantum leap in their day, and they are still useful today if clever and resourceful freedom fighters are careful in how and where they are employed.
           Lemon juice was quite often used when one wished to put pen to paper and keep the words safe from prying eyes. All one had to do was dip the pen into the juice of a lemon, and write whatever you wished on a blank piece of paper and voila,, in a few moments, the paper was once again appeared blank to the nake eye. By holding it to a candle flame, your message appeared to the reader. One could even write over the secret message with standard ink and noone was the wiser.

Modern Substitution Codes

           During World War Two, both the Japanese and the Germans developed codes which were supposedly "unbreakable". The Japanese called their code "Purple" in honor of the Emperor Hirohito, and the Germans was called "Enigma". Both were by subsitutions codes of the type mentioned earlier. However, there was a twist.
           The "keys" could be changed on a moments notice by the sender. This simple change made decryption much more difficult by the opposing party. In fact, it was practically impossible given the technology of the day. In the case of the Japanese codes, it was only by capturing one of the "Purple" machines that the Allies were able to decrypt messages at all. In the case of the German "Enigma" codes, it was a combination of sheer luck and brute force which allowed British to decode the most critical German communications.

Sheer Luck And Brute Force

           By chance, or the favor of Divine Providence, the British found a way to decipher the German Enigman code. What is truly unbelievable is that the Nazi High Command never bothered to institute a regimen of changing their code keys.
           What this means is that they got complacent. They had something which they figured could "never" be broken, in spite of all the historical evidence. The Nazi codes were, by todays standards, ridiculously simple. They had a "key length" no longer than the alpabet. That is 26 X 26.
           Once the British figured out how to break this code, they could read even the most sensitive of German communications with ease.

What WE Have Today

           I am so very happy to be alive today. What is available to the dedicated freedom lover as far as encryption technology today is very nearly mind boggling. Anyone who wishes to make their communications over the internet secure has an incredible array of tools at their disposal for almsot no cost at all.
           If one has a wish to send or receive "private" email or visit websites with total anonymity, one need only visit Anonymizer.com and you can send completely anonymous emails and visit websites with total privacy. Another provider called Zero Knowledge will provide similar services.
           The state of encryption technology available today is truly astounding.
           Pretty Good Privacy is an encryption tool which the United States Government has classified as a "munitions" device. This fact alone should make it first on the list for any Freedom loving individual to have. Yes, it can be broken. But, "cracking" PGP requires an absolutely huge amount of time on the part of the most dedicated and rich adversary. That fact alone makes it first on my list of things to have and to USE on a daily basis.
           Just imagine your local Government busybody having to fill out a requisition form for hundreds of hours of mainframe time in order to decrypt your mothers chocolate chip cookie recipe. If that doesn't make you chuckle, then you don't belong here.
           There is also a wonderful and very secure email service available from MailVault. If you are lucky enough to be selected for the Beta trial these folks are running, I suggest you jump in with both feet. [And don't forget HushMail a free web-based secure mail service -- Webmaster]

Exercise Your Rights

           You have the RIGHT to be secure, in your papers and effects.
           Rights are like muscles my brothers and sisters. If you don't use them, they will atrophy, become weak, and die. And if your sacred and God given rights weaken and die, it will be no one's fault but your own.

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