Coverup takes a one-two

Official conspiracy theorists took a one-two punch in Republican and Democratic primaries yesterday.

Arlen Specter, whose political career soared after he drew up the Warren Commission's single-bullet theory, was knocked out in his bid to hold onto his Senate seat as a newly re-minted Democrat (he switched to the GOP early in his career).

Obviously, Specter, the former assistant counsel to the JFK whitewash panel that exonerated the CIA and others, did not lose because of that ancient act of treachery. He lost because of a rising tide of anti-central government sentiment. Much of the distrust emanates from the many Americans who have been (is this too harsh?) radicalized by the special favors for the ruling elite that emerged in the Wall Street crash and by wars that many now view as trumped up for the benefit of that elite. Many are losing faith in the central government and are therefore more likely to join the already large host that suspects treason on 9/11.

Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican who won in Kentucky, easily survived a savage attack by his rival labeling him as a kook for not frankly endorsing the government's conspiracy theory about 9/11. Paul walked a tightrope, with his campaign issuing a statement that the 9/11 debate was a "complicated situation" with "truth on both sides."

We can expect that the mainstream media, which is controlled by the ruling elite, will force Paul to continue to dodge about 9/11. But at least he didn't uphold the government's pack of lies.

The SEC has found no evidence that the May 6 "flash crash" was sparked by a "fat finger" or a cyber-terrorist, the SEC chief told a congressional panel last week, according to Kevin G. Hall, writing for McClatchy Newspapers.

A lawmaker urged that the SEC get information out to the public so as to head off conspiracy theories.

I saw nothing about market manipulation by traders, perhaps using high-tech trade strategies. Such behavior would not qualify as criminal intrusion by hacker-terrorists, but would still be effectively terrorist activity.

Censoring the act of censorship again... Australian authorities upheld the blocking of a blog post that discussed its web censorship.

Though Australia is considering an internet filtering measure, it already imposes heavy fines on internet servers who do not take down proscribed sites, according to Electronic Frontiers Australia.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had his passport seized by authorities at Melbourne airport, he told the Age of Australia. The Australian-born Assange said he was told his passport looked frayed and was about to be canceled, though the Age checked a database and found that it hadn't yet been yanked.

Last year, Wikileaks published a confidential copy of the Rudd government's proposed blacklist of sites it deems unsuitable for the public. Australian access to similar Wikileaks pages was blocked by the Ruddites.

You may be like me and not terribly interested in the minutiae of computer technology. However, according to some experts, it is a good idea to use a port scanner to guard against an attack on your system.

A computer leaves thousands of ports -- doorways -- into its system when connected to the internet. A hacker may use such a scanner against you, scanning your system for ports and, finding one or more unguarded, insert malware into your system. The "patches" offered by Microsoft and others are designed to close these inadvertently left-open doors.

By using such a scanner yourself, you can locate the ports that various software programs have left open, and seal them off. Port scanners may be downloaded free, but beware Greeks bearing gifts.

Some scanners check for more than others.

A computer professional may be helpful here.

If feasible, I'd like to get a program that scans and reconfigures the computer every time I log on so as to block such probes. But I'm just another dumbo on this subject.

Youthful vigor and love of freedom was cut down in cold blood in Iraq-controlled Kurdistan, the New York Times reports today.

Zardasht Osman, 23, was abducted and executed with two bullets to the head after he wrote some daring articles, including one in which he wondered whether he could rise from poverty by marrying the daughter of the  president of Kurdistan.

One editor said there is a clash of cultures: the democratically minded versus the old guard with its authoritarian mindset.

Tomorrow is Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, which was called by Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris as a rebuttal to the censorship of a South Park episode depicting Mohammed in an animal costume. Molly was apparently subjected to intimidation and I have renamed the day Everybody Defend Molly Day.

It will be interesting to see whether there is extensive search engine censorship of the May 20 mass cartooning event.