The principal series of operational ciphers of the Imperial Japanese Navy [IJN] from 1939 to 1945, collectively called JN25, used five-digit code groups which were all multiples of three. This is shown to have been a quite unnecessary major flaw with very considerable consequences.

A detailed discussion of the JN-25 and related ciphers.

FLAW IN THE JN25 SERIES OF CIPHERS, THE Cryptologia - Find Articles

He realizes something: The Americans must have done the impossible: broken all of their codes. That explains Midway, it explains the Bismarck Sea, Hollandia, everything. It especially explains why Yamamoto -- who ought to be sipping green tea and practicing calligraphy in a misty garden -- is, in point of fact, on fire and hurtling through the jungle at a hundred miles per hour in a chair, closely pursued by tons of flaming junk. He must get word out! The codes must all be changed! This is what he is thinking when he flies head-on into a hundred-foot-tall Octomelis sumatrana.

Given yesterday's revelation about Stevens this funny passage from the Cryptonomicon IS Apropos.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Apropos Admiral Yamamoto:

"Howard Tayler, the webcomic artist of Schlock Mercenary fame, is calling on people not to donate money during the latest Wikimedia Foundation fund-raiser. This is to protest the 'notability purges' taking place throughout Wikipedia, where articles are being removed en-masse by what many see as overzealous admins.

Apparently people around here aren't the only ones grumbling about deletionism.

Slashdot | Call For Halt To Wikipedia Webcomic Deletions

Stevens enlisted in the Navy on Dec. 6, 1941, hours before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He later won a bronze star for his service as a cryptographer, after he helped break the code that informed American officials that Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese Navy and architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, was about to travel to the front.

I haven't read this entire interview, but this data point might be of interest to several folks here. Its not clear from this whether he had a scientific or operational role.

Justice John Paul Stevens broke a Japanese Cipher

I am reminded of the scene in "Titanic" after they hit the iceberg. The crew is kicking around the ice on the deck and they are talking about getting in to New York late.

The Big Picture | Home Price Fall For 8th Consecutive Month

Two well-respected US peace activists, CODEPINK and Global Exchange cofounder Medea Benjamin and retired Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, were denied entry into Canada On October third. The two women were headed to Toronto to discuss peace and security issues at the invitation of the Toronto Stop the War Coalition. At the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry.

Database sharing between the U.S. and Canada begins to have political implications, as acts of civil disobedience can now make you unable to cross the border.

FBI Puts Antiwar Protesters on Criminal Database; Canada Uses It To Ban Protesters From Entry

I'm not sure if this is real. See the thread for details. If it is real, its basically everything the left told you to worry about, but fortunately this view is at least marginalized enough that the organization Wonkette touts as having gone out in support of this idea has done an extensive job of destroying every shred of evidence that they were ever associated with it or it's author. Whether this is because they are horrified by this idea and any thought that they might be associated with it, or if its because you're not supposed to talk about fight club, is really impossible to know. In fact, without more information its impossible to know if this really happened. That question in itself makes this interesting.

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.

He could then follow Caesar’s example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.

U.S. Conservative calls for military coup of U.S. Government

The Georgia Supreme Court today ended the 10-year prison sentence of a man who was convicted in 2003 of having consensual oral sex with another teenager. The court said the harsh sentence violated the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Georgia Court Orders Man Freed in Sex Case - New York Times

You can actually program in this. Best programming language since OOK.

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD!"
KTHXBYE

home � LOLCODE

As the United States and Iran are locked in a battle for power and influence across the Middle East—with the fear of an Iranian nuclear weapon looming in the background—FRONTLINE gains unprecedented access to Iranian hard-liners shaping government policy, including parliament leader Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, National Security Council member Mohammad Jafari and state newspaper editor Hossein Shariatmadari.

Frontline continues to be worth the hour. This report paints a damning picture of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory in US/Iranian relations mostly due to incompetence. Watch it online.

FRONTLINE: showdown with iran | PBS