Molon Labe!

by Boston T. Party

  She never had the chance to find out.

  Acting on a tip, the DEA raided the Jessups and found several marijuana plants growing in their basement. The tipster was later learned to have been a "friend" who staunchly supported the War on Some Drugs. The irony of her daily vodka martini habit was lost on most everybody.

  The feds charged the Jessups with cultivation with intent to sell. Judge Gray instructed the jury to ignore Katherine Jessup's "medical cannabis" defense, opining that it was just a ruse to justify their "pot habit." The jury reluctantly found her guilty, and several jurors later wept when Judge Gray sentenced her to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for a term of five years. The jurors hadn't heard of the Fully Informed Jury Amendment (FIJA) and didn't know of their 1,000-year old right to judge both the facts and the law and acquit nonviolent offenders of harmful and unconstitutional legislation.

  At the Federal Prison Camp in Allentown, Pennsylvania Katherine Jessup lasted only five weeks. Denied the one drug which would have allowed her chemotherapy, she was found dead in her cell one morning having choked on her own vomit during the night. Her case and subsequent death caused howls of protest, but, like most protest, it went nowhere.

  Judge Gray, who tried to justify his actions by federal drug case sentencing guidelines, got a few death threats, but nothing came of them. It was typical American outrage: high heat, low Btu's. Emotionally satisfying, but ineffective.

  Katherine's husband, Tom, sentenced to three years probation for cultivation, went into an emotional spiral, lost his business, became an alcoholic and killed himself in a one-car crash. Only the Internet press carried the story of his tragic death.

  Washington, D.C. FBIHQ

  September 2007

  Special Agent Douglas Bleth is not looking forward to his follow-up meeting with the Director. He has not yet identified the Wyoming "general."

  The Director rises and smiles. "Ah, Bleth, good to see you again. What do you have for me today?"

  Bleth says, "We've made some progress, though not as much as we'd have liked."

  Frowning, the Director says, "Hmmm. Go on."

  "Two things we are sure of. One, that the Wyoming re-location is expanding to other counties."

  "Really?"

  "Yes, sir. We have access to weekly aggregates from the Wyoming SecState's office. New relocators are concentrating in several other counties along last year's model."

  "So," the Director says, "they're marching onwards, eh?"

  Bleth nods and says, "We've identified five, and maybe seven, new counties that they're moving into."

  This surprises the Director. "Seven? Plus the five they already have?"

  "Yes, sir. Assuming their 2010 electoral success, that would make up to twelve of Wyoming's twenty-three counties. Half the state."

  "Half the state . . ." the Director echoes.

  "Yes, sir, but something else we've learned is even more disturbing. Their numbers are also increasing within particular congressional districts overlapping the first five counties they saturated last year. Take Senate District 16, for example. While much of it is in Sublette County, which they already have, the rest extends into neighboring Lincoln County. New people are pouring into Lincoln. But here's the interesting thing. When they took over Sublette in 2006, they only moved to the southern part of the county, the part that's within Senate District 16. The northern half of Sublette is in SD 17, which also extends into Fremont and Teton Counties."

  "Bleth, I'm not following you," the Director exasperates. "What are you telling me?"

  "That this mass relocation is a movement not merely about certain counties, but to influence, if not control, state politics. That the Wyoming re location of those now 11,000 people was and is coordinated by some hierarchy. It can't be happening any other way."

  The Director looks skeptical.

  "Sir, maybe it would help if I drew out a simple diagram. It helped us when we were figuring this thing out."

  "OK, go ahead."

  Bleth reaches in his folder and takes out a clean sheet of copy paper. Moving to the Director's desk, he draws two vertically contiguous squares and says, "These are two neighboring counties, Lincoln and Sublette."

  "OK, I'm with you so far," the Director jokes.

  Smiling as he labels them, Bleth continues, "Now, Sublette's election was in 2006. Sheriff, coroner, county commissioners, dogcatcher — the whole county government. Lincoln's election is in 2010."

  Bleth then takes a yellow highlighter and fills in all of Lincoln County and the lower half of Sublette. "This yellow area is Senate District 16. Its senator is up for reelection next year in November.

  "Now, if you only wanted to take over Sublette, it wouldn't matter where your people landed inside the county, right?"

  The Director nods. "Correct."

  Bleth continues, "And if you wanted to take over Lincoln, same thing. Your people could land in any part of the county. But, if you also wanted to take over Senate District 16 which overlaps both counties, you would coordinate your people in a very specific way.

  "Basically, you'd numerically saturate Sublette to win in 2006, but you'd have them only in the south — in that portion within SD 16. Then, after your 2006 Sublette victory you concentrate on winning SD 16 in 2008 and start putting new people into Lincoln County. Adding more to Sublette would be pointless since you've already got that county and they wouldn't help saturate Lincoln, which is what you're trying to win in 2010."

  The Director understands. "Yes, that follows. It's the only way of maximizing a limited resource. The southern Sublette County people are like a '2-for-1' deal which helps to win Senate District 16. And the people you put in Lincoln for this year's SD 16 election will help you get Lincoln in 2010."

  "Precisely, sir. If we hadn't analyzed their relocation geographics, we wouldn't have wondered why people hadn't moved to northern Sublette in the Pinedale area, which is very desirable. Because they concentrated only in Marbleton and Big Piney, and then began to populate Lincoln County was the clue we needed. And they're still not moving to Pinedale."

  "Why not?"

  "Probably because they don't have the numbers for Senate District 17 and its Teton and Fremont Counties. Not for the general election in 2010, anyway. Both have a higher percentage of Democratic voters and would take more conservative newcomers to saturate. That's the other thing, sir. They've picked the most conservative counties for their first two waves. They've yet to touch Sheridan, Campbell, and Natrona. They're going where, one, they're likely to win, and two, to counties with strategically overlapping congressional districts with the correct election cycle sequence. County A, then a legislative district common to County B, and then County B. It's a very clever and workable formula."

  The Director is lost in thought.

  Bleth offers, "We're also seeing them use it in Weston County for House District 1, as well as in Converse County for HD 2."

  Finally the Director says, "It almost reminds me of a board game. Somebody put a great deal of thought and planning into this, Bleth. The elegance of the scheme shows that."

  "Yes, sir, I agree. And so far it's been successful. The details required must be considerable. We estimate that their margin for error is very thin, under 5%. It's like having $1,000 to bid on several objects which will sell for a total of $951 to $999. If you bid too high on one then you're forced to bid too low on another, losing it. A very challenging process. Your board game analogy is right on. Whoever's orchestrating this must have daily accurate figures and some great software to crunch it all."

  "You're forgetting the most important element, Bleth."

  "Sir?"

  "The theory behind all this is useless without the leadership to find, collect, and direct thousands of people to actually become a part of this. Remember, we're talking about human beings here, and apparently of a strong independent nature. I mean, how do you cordon off certain counties and even areas within those counties and get individualists to move there? To
stay there for at least two election cycles, county and congressional district?"

  "The leverage or incentive would have to be pretty strong," Bleth says. "True, but it still all finally boils down to the leadership of one man," explains the Director. "One general. Have you found him yet?"

  "No, sir. To tell the truth, until we unraveled their relocation scheme, I wasn't totally convinced that there even was a general. We have, however, identified several of their senior noncoms and a lieutenant or two."

  "Well, if you've breached their officer corps why can't you chase it up to their general staff?"

  Bleth says, "Because the higher ranking coordinators are using much more sophisticated communication techniques. Encrypted remails from public terminals, I'd bet. Nothing incriminating is done over any phone lines. We've learned nothing from their computers from the several 'sneak and peaks,' either."

  "What would you need to penetrate their techniques?"

  "Three dozen agents for thirty days of man-on-man surveillance of six subjects," Bleth says firmly. "We'd surely learn more about their contacts, meeting places, other modes of communication, etc."

  The Director ponders this. Such would be expensive and it might even tip off the subjects, but some risks are worth taking.

  "Then," Bleth says, "we use our arrest powers under Patriot Act II and squeeze them to talk. Though it'd be a stretch, we could get warrants under section 404 for their illegal use of encryption in the commission of a federal crime. All we'd need to do is decide on which federal crime. Income tax evasion, money laundering, gun violations, even terrorism if we're lucky."

  "The same idea crossed my mind, too. Look into that, Bleth. You'll have my approval for the surveillance manpower you need. Let's start digging in these people's lives. Everybody has some dirt on them, whether they know it or not."

  Bleth nods happily. "Yes, sir. We'll get right on it."

  Wyoming

  Fall 2007

  Life for the relocators in the five counties of Niobrara, Crook, Johnson, Sublette, and Hot Springs is prosperous and pleasant. The locals were at first wary of all the newcomers, but that quickly passed once they proved themselves to be productive, respectful, and likeable.

  Highly intelligent, too. The newcomers sparked something of an intellectual revival. Political debates, scientific discussions, travel experience, computer expertise, and chess clubs were like a fresh breeze for the mind.

  Housing had been tight at first, and new mobile home parks were only a temporary expedient for most. New home construction was booming, which did much for the local economies, as did the new companies founded in or transplanted to the five counties.

  The new county government officials (libertarians generally in Republican clothing) strove not to alienate the old-timers with sudden radical changes. The political ships of state were kept on an even keel, but with a course slowly increasing towards liberty. Any new proposals smacking of do-gooder origins were canned by the freedom-oriented county councils. Several older laws restricting liberty were quietly hunted down and repealed.

  A major county level goal was the eradication of building permits and zoning requirements. It would take some time to accomplish the necessary social inroads (people first needed convincing that "architectural anarchy" would not result), but the process was already well under way.

  So as to acquaint newcomers to Wyoming life, a flyer was circulated.

  Wyoming Rules and Etiquette for You New Folks

  Consider very carefully whom you invite to join us: Are they rugged and hard working, or are they soft and lazy? Will they adapt and fit in, or will they pine for their metropolitan condo? Do they revel in freedom, or are they busybodies who "know what's best" for everyone else? Do they honor their word even to their own hurt, or do they justify ways to renege on obligations which become inconvenient to keep? Are they willing to take chances and boldly try new things, or do risks frighten them?

  Only when you are convinced (preferably after years of association) that they are quality people should you confide our Wyoming venture. If they are not hardy, industrious, generally libertarian, honest, and courageous, then we do not want them. (They wouldn't like it here, anyway.)

  When you discuss Wyoming and your move there, be discreet. While you're welcome to extol its free-market climate and honest people, please do not hail Wyoming as some sort of "promised land."

  We have no guarantee of what we will accomplish politically. We may simply saturate a county or two, or we may end up electing the state government, or something in between. Whatever we achieve, we will enjoy more freedom than we do now, and this is what makes our efforts worthwhile. Besides, we really have no other choice, do we?

  OK, now to the "rules."

  1) Leave behind most of your old ways of doing things.

  You moved to Wyoming for a different pace of life. Allow that to happen. Embrace Wyoming's way of doing things, and gracefully accept the fact that you're no longer in Denver, Dallas, or Des Moines.

  2) Don't try to change Wyoming into something it's not.

  Can't get The New York Times at the newsstand? No Mercedes dealership in your town? Lousy espresso at the local coffee shop? We coulda told ya. Learn to live with the Cheyenne Sentinel, American cars, and black coffee. If you must have big city amenities, then choose Casper, Jackson, Sheridan, or Cheyenne. Everyplace else is a small town, and folks like it that way.

  3) The locals know more about Wyoming life than you do.

  Don't be too quick to assert that your way is a better way. Give the locals a fair chance to prove that they know their business. They likely do.

  4) Arrive ready to work and eager to lend a hand.

  Wyoming is a hardy place, and life can be arduous. Nobody is despised more than a goldbricker, or a shirker. So, get some calluses. Be willing to help out instantly, and you'll quickly gain the favor of your neighbors.

  5) Don't whine. Don't bitch.

  You've nothing to complain about. 98% of the world would gladly trade places with you. You're living in what is still one of the world's freest countries, and you're living in America's freest state. Wyoming is soon to be the freest place on the planet, and you are a part of that.

  Yes, it can be cold and windy and provincial in Wyoming but you knew that before you came out. (It was in all the brochures.)

  Don't grouse about it.

  6) Don't try to convert everyone into becoming a Libertarian.

  Most Wyomingites are already politically conservative. Libertarianism is the logical conclusion for many Republicans, if they will spend the time and effort to examine their beliefs.

  If they do not — if they stubbornly stick to a comfortable, lazy, and unchallenging dogma then there is little you can do:

  A false conclusion once arrived at and widely accepted is not easily dislodged, and the less it is understood the more tenaciously it is held.

  — George Contor's Law of Conservation of Ignorance

  7) Concentrate on being a good example.

  What you do speaks louder than what you say. You are missionaries in a new land. Will the locals want what you have?

  1 A scheme whereby a government agency holds copies of everybody's encryption keys to use when al lowed by a court. Imagine if the police had copies of everybody's housekeys. Same thing. The potential for abuse is staggering, which is why the public shouted it down in the early mid 1990s.

  2 In the equation AB = C, factoring is trying to figure out the factors A and B from the product C. Factoring is extremely difficult when the factors are very large prime numbers. It's like trying to learn which shade of blue and yellow paint were mixed to make a particular green. This mathematical phenomenon of a "one way street" is what public key encryption depends on. No new techniques for factoring large primes are expected, not that the NSA isn't trying.

  3 "Magic Lantern" is an FBI program to learn passphrases by methods outside of computational attack, such as planting key sniffers on target computers or instal
ling tiny video cameras to record user keystrokes.

  4 Originally called "Carnivore" until public outrage forced its name change in February 2001, it is an email vacuuming system at the ISP level. It flags for key words and names.

  5 Internet Protocol, which can be linked to the telephone number of a computer's modem.

  6 These are fully discussed in the Appendix "Wyoming Report" pages 389 391.

  2008

  A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.

  — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

  2008 USA privacy news

  All measures foment countermeasures, and CALEA II was no different. The "sneak and peak" warrants of 2002 (whereby "key-sniffing" programs and devices were installed on subjects' computers without their knowledge) had been often thwarted by keeping encryption passphrases on one's PDA to be link-downloaded when needed (bypassing the computer's keyboard).

  To thwart CALEA II's "Give up your passphrase, or else!" threat, a new software called Bye-Bye incorporated tamperguards to automatically shred a raided hard drive's encryption keys, making the passphrase useless. It was activated by the user within any OS through a hotkey (e.g., Shift + F12). If the computer was connected to an APS, Bye-Bye could, should the owner be away, be triggered by the home-security system, auto-boot from a USB drive (which the owner left in when not using the computer), shred the PGP keys, shred itself and all traces of its installation, and then shut down (which required only 25 seconds in all). Bye-Bye used the Gutmann shredding standard of 35 random overwrite passes, and was thought 100% effective. Once shredded, the keys were gone. Bye-bye. If one could not be proven the owner or user of a key pair, then one could not be pressured to disclose the passphrase. (Besides, how would the court know if the correct one had been given? No keys existed to find out.)