Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Distributed Denial

In the computing world we have sometimes heard of or read about something called a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Some few of us might understand what that is and how it affects us and our excursions into cyberspace. Others would have a “Huh” reaction, knowing only that our stupid computers were running very slow again or something was preventing us from getting on the Internet to retrieve our e-mail messages or Facebook or Twitter posts. Very frustrating! We felt so helpless!
Without getting too deep into the world of geekdom, DDoS attacks take a multitude of forms; each more insidious than the previous. While heading the computer support at Bethany College, my crew and I had to respond to a number of attacks. They took many forms: Syn floods, Low-rate Denial-of-Service attacks, spoofing, denial of access to web sites, execution of malware (Trojan horse programs, viruses etc.) and such.
Today, our nation is being subjected to what could be termed Distributed Denial of Rights (DDoR) attacks. The very provisions of our Constitution are being denied to us: First Amendment rights to free speech, freedom of the press, freedom to worship as we choose; Second Amendment rights to own and bear arms to protect us from the excesses of the government; Fourth Amendment rights prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause; and Tenth Amendment rights limiting federal government and preserving the rights of states.
In Greek mythology Hercules was required to fight and vanquish a creature called the Hydra. The Hydra had nine snake-like venomous heads, one of which was immortal. Each time Hercules cut off one of the heads, two more grew back. Hercules devised a way to cut off the heads and not have two more grow back. He had his nephew cauterize the neck stubs as he cut off the heads and then finally buried the immortal head under a large stone, thus immobilizing it and vanquishing the beast.
Every time conservatives are successful in putting down (cutting off) a gun control initiative, two more seem to rise up in its place with the ultimate goal of disarming the citizens of America and denying us the constitutional right to own and bear arms. Time for some cauterizing! Impeachment or even prosecution of legislators overdue to be replaced may be an effective method to put down the Barak Obamas, Nancy Pelosies, Michael Bloombergs, Harry Reids and Diane Feinsteins who continue to deny Americans their Second Amendment rights.
Attacks on free speech: limiting locations where it may be practiced, labeling certain speech hate speech (particularly when speaking about a certain Middle Eastern religion), restricting military chaplains from representing their faith, and limiting non-mainstream (read not-sold-out) media discussion of anything the government thinks is not complementary about the administration.
Rampant spying on private citizen’s communication without benefit of judicial sanction for probable cause and aggregation of information to be data-mined by government agencies is ongoing and increasing.
Expansion of federal government functions by Executive Order without Congressional approval.

Our nation is being destroyed by a conscious, pre-planned effort of individuals committed to aggrandizement of their personal desires and not the good of the citizenry and adherence to the goals of the world’s power elite. We have a choice: roll over or resist and insist on our government’s conformity to the Constitution.