I’m supposed to finally get a new dumb phone soon. This story makes me want to scrap the technology altogether.
Every time you unlock your front door, your key whispers a small, but audible, secret. Hackers finally learned how to listen.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore published a paper earlier this year detailing how, using only a smartphone microphone and a program they designed, a hacker can clone your key. What’s more, if a thief was able to install malware on your smartphone, smartwatch, or smart doorbell to record the audio from afar, they wouldn’t even need to be physically nearby to pull off the attack.
The key (ahem) to the attack, dubbed SpiKey, is the sound made by the lock pins as they move over a typical key’s ridges.
“When a victim inserts a key into the door lock, an attacker walking by records the sound with a smartphone microphone,” describes the paper written by Soundarya Ramesh, Harini Ramprasad, and Jun Han.
Smartphones can (and should) be shielded. Smartwatches are just ridiculous. And, the new doorbells are about as appealing as those cameras and 1984 microphones people are rushing to add to their homes. Again, I am really starting to suspect that electricity, not the AI thing, was the mistake. You might want to … lock that down.
So, as you know, for the past two and a half years it has been my high honor to write the National Affairs column for the Piedmont Chronicles. Those missives are basically supercharged versions of the posts you’ve enjoyed at this site for years. And I always run them here as a syndicated backup. However. All good things … come to an end.
Or, rather, they change.
This year has done a number on everyone, yours truly included. The spring and especially the summer have, er, slowed TPC production a bit. There was a little murkiness back in April and a hint that things might be wrapping up. They did not, thank goodness. The show rolled on.
On August 10th, an editorial memo came down that confidently announced a continuing way forward. Then, last night, THIS at http://www.thepiedmontchronicles.com: addressed in general and not just to me:
A Moment from MB
Well…
What can I say?
You knew exactly what you were getting in to. I’ve never given any illusions to the contrary.
TPC is a true passion of mine. It always has been & it always will be.
But…
I just don’t have the time for it right now.
Hope you understand.
There will be posts moving forward, but they’re going to be here & there, sporadic. Maybe sometimes few & far between.
I, for one, do understand. Times are tough and so especially is the business of slinging words around. There’s more than enough to keep people busy. It’s a little disheartening, but understandable. It hasn’t happened in more than half a decade, but this site was once known for the … pauses and interruptions. Some of you know that Freedom Prepper essentially took a year off. Things happen.
Yet, I happily note that: 1) this “shut down” has already been averted once, just this year, and; 2) as-is, the foregoing suggests that though the posts may be here and there, sporadic, and few and far between, they’re still a possibility.
Where, for now, does this leave my column? For now, RIGHT HERE! She’ll continue to be a weekly feature, standing out from the usual daily snippets and blurbs and rants. It will probably settle into a designated day and/or time slot, which I have yet to determine. You’ll know it when you read it.
And, soon… Soon, I plan to activate a scheme I’ve had under development for a little while, branching out to possibly two or three other American commentary outlets. This could possibly be the genesis of the greater syndication I’ve been stalling around with. Additionally, next week – I think, I’ll be submitting my debut article to a foreign magazine. All of these publications are (how shall I put this?) more in-line with my evolved brand of ultra-right-wing, Christian nationalism. There – if all goes well – will likely, necessarily be several different subjects or styles for each new place. Maybe. Time will tell. More on all of that later. (There’s much more, as always, under development around here).
And, as to TPC in the future, I remain willing, ready, and slightly incendiary – even if only needed here and far sporadic. Hopefully, this is just a hiccup. If not, then it’s been a great ride. MB and Gang, thanks for everything!
A new, never heard of before study purports to have this COVID bug figured out. The abstract:
The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein plays a crucial role in binding the human cell receptor ACE2 that is required for viral entry. Many studies have been conducted to target the structures of RBD–ACE2 binding and to design RBD-targeting vaccines and drugs. Nevertheless, mutations distal from the SARS-CoV-2 RBD also impact its transmissibility and antibody can target non-RBD regions, suggesting the incomplete role of the RBD region in the spike protein–ACE2 binding. Here, in order to elucidate distant binding mechanisms, we analyze complexes of ACE2 with the wild-type spike protein and with key mutants via large-scale all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations. We find that though distributed approximately 10 nm away from the RBD, the SARS-CoV-2 polybasic cleavage sites enhance, via electrostatic interactions and hydration, the RBD–ACE2 binding affinity. A negatively charged tetrapeptide (GluGluLeuGlu) is then designed to neutralize the positively charged arginine on the polybasic cleavage sites. We find that the tetrapeptide GluGluLeuGlu binds to one of the three polybasic cleavage sites of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein lessening by 34% the RBD–ACE2 binding strength. This significant binding energy reduction demonstrates the feasibility to neutralize RBD–ACE2 binding by targeting this specific polybasic cleavage site. Our work enhances understanding of the binding mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2, which may aid the design of therapeutics for COVID-19 infection.
ACE2? ACE2? ACE2? Hmmm. Might??? Oh, yeah, it’s the same cellular structure I was writing about here on March 18th, at TPC on March 10th, at FP on March 9th, and back here on March 6th. I’m not a bio-medical pathologist, I just play one on the old blog – five months before the real guys come along. Get it here first, from the latter sources later, or from the MSM never (they say something about “a mask”).
As the dedicated professionals of the public disinformation and communist programming cabal reel from one sniffle-based hoax, they grapple with how to deceptively implement another.
John Marshall keeps a picture of Breonna Taylor in his office at the headquarters of Kentucky’s largest school district, a visual reminder, he says, of the need for curriculum changes that better honor and focus on Black stories.
Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, spent her senior year of high school at Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools, where Marshall, the district’s chief diversity officer, has been leading a system-wide revamp of teaching materials and practices.
Good golly! It’s another “education” story that has it all:
Chief diversity officer!
Shifting the focus of dumbing it down!
Minority majority in Kentucky (they ain’t alone, ‘Murica)!
Neo Tower of Bable confusions!
“Virtual” learning (which virtually isn’t)!
Equity and inclusion everywhere! (just like Holocaustianity, just maybe not quite as important?)
81% of publik skool teechaz supporting Boisterous Lying Marxists!
CONTROL!!!
New “perspectives!”
Lies!
More lies!
Hyphenationated paperwork-citizens!
Likely CIA front company psy-ops!
Those meaningful conversations no SJW or globopedo will tolerate! Hey, yeah. Let’s talk about Cannon Hinnant’s murder by that… Oh, okay, I’ll show myself out the door!
Saint Floyd of the Opioids!
And, much more!
You’ve probably identified the biggest issue with this crock of shit, right? Having succeeded so brilliantly in destroying the curriculum and turning off the young minds, these changes have nothing to take root in. What else, really, can they do that they’re not doing now? White guilt trip sessions? Daily beatings? Equity lynchings?
Who the hell cares? Not you. You homeschool! You’d damn well better.
Here’s another murder that won’t make any national headlines.
Police said Tuesday night that three teens, Keyshara Michelle Deans, 19, Nezyiha Zamir Collins, 19, and Tyreek Qumay Rodgers, 18, were all arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
Authorities were still looking for 17-year-old Devin Cordell Jones. A juvenile petition and secure custody order for the murder of Veronica Lee Baker were being sought for Jones. On Wednesday morning, the teen was taken into custody and charged with Baker’s murder.
Yes, the names are giveaways. And, yes, some online commenters have picked up on several other suggestions and too-common anomalies. I always, as you know, like to look at the school profile. Here’s Garner High, from which the victim had just graduated. Rest assured that the suggestions, anomalies, and modern cultural problems were there and played their respective roles. It can perhaps be summed up best in the graph one finds upon clicking the “Students” button. My intuition was rewarded; that’s quite the change from thirty years ago – and it’s a pattern that’s repeating across NC and everywhere else. Demographics = destiny. Destiny increasingly looks like homicide.
These are not schools. They’re not even close anymore. Now, they’re starting to resemble hunting grounds.
Well, this story is in keeping with the earlier post about my new book. And, like the sad Mass schools article from the other day, it has many, if not all, of the interesting components.
As the pandemic has ravaged the United States, some Americans are finding that a second citizenship or permanent residency has a renewed appeal. “Even the most basic things have become politicized,” said Anjelica Triola, 34, a director of marketing at Wethos, a company that helps freelancers grow their businesses, who also has Italian heritage.
She brought up protective masks as an example. “My father’s parents came here to be free, and there is an entire generation that are trying to go back now to pursue similar freedoms,” she said.
Paperwork Americans;
First and second generations migrants that never assimilated;
Dual (paper) loyalties;
Single mothers;
Admission that the “Land of the Free” no longer is;
Boomers(!); and more!
We ran here for the good times and helped wreck this nation. Now that the fun is over and the fires are burning, it’s time to go (back to the real) home! And, these paperwork jobs are or were marginal Americans, not quite Anglo, but close enough, right? They’re far from the worst dual-nationals too. Here’s hoping that they find peace and nationalism in their true nations. Americans used to enjoy something like that, you know, here in America. Crazy, yes.
Get Out! kids, if you’re thinking about moving, remember the criticalities of compatibility. If you go, go to stay and stay to integrate. You’ll never be [fill in the blank nationality] unless it’s already literally in your blood. But your grandkids might. I keep writing “kids, kids, kids” for a reason! No Boomers, please. Gen X, we’re on the line and I’m leaning towards a “no.”
The book is proving about as popular as I feared it would, though I hope the few of you who have downloaded it find it helpful.
Lately, one of my selected nations has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Belarus is towards the end, written about when I was running out of steam and received the barest mention:
A little larger and inland, landlocked. Ethnically Belarusian and other Euros. 80% Eastern Orthodox, with more Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and various Protestants. An IQ like Lithuanian. Flat and cool. A developed economy where privatization is still in progress. They’re not on the Euro, using the “new” Ruble – theirs, not the Russians. They speak Russian and Belarusian, officially.
And now, oh, no! They have – surprise, surprise – political problems. What country doesn’t?
Here’s how I see the situation with Lukashenko, Putin, and the protesters: for [reasons], what’s happening there is still better than what is happening at the same time in dying Amerika. Watch Belarus. Whatever comes of the current turmoil will still be more pleasant than what unfolds in the US.
I wrote another column on the gamboling fun of organized sports entertainment in 2020. In short: it’s not happening, or not happening much, sorry. Be your own sport. Buck the trends and get in shape. There. I may have more on that later. For now, consider the following, which I deemed of greater value:
Perplexed as always, the Disciples asked Jesus to explain what caused their failure in doing that which He did with ease. “He answered, ‘Because you have so little faith. In truth I tell you, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.‘” Matthew 17:20.
We, all of us, could use a little more faith these days.
One thing leads to another. I was reading a Mary Cuff article at Crisis the other day and, in a very rare move, I clicked on a pop-up ad. And I’m glad I did because it led me to a video presentation by Church Militant featuring Father Paul Kalchik.
Kalchik is almost a household name in right-wing, traditional, American Catholic households. We, some of us, have followed his titanic battle against the forces of the sodomitical wolves currently at work against both the Church and the Flock. Because of HOAXID-19, it was, of course, a virtual teleconference. Because of his amazing victory, and subsequent lavender mafia retaliation, Kalchik joined the show from a place of hiding. However, there is no hiding the magnitude of his inspirational message.
Part of the missive, which amounts to an hour-long homily of peace, was the above-cited parable about the mustard seed of faith. My thoughts of late, regarding the state of the world and especially the terminal decline of the American nation and the United States, have led me to consider that our main problem is the woeful character of the people. I summed it up to myself as people being both wicked and stupid. One is bad enough on its own; together they are a dreadful combination as one amplifies the other. We see the results all around us: a people, barely surviving, who almost gleefully play the fool’s part in accepting hoaxes, lies, degradations, and disaster, all wrought by the same usual suspects who have lied to, robbed, and murdered humanity for centuries.
Father Kalchik sees all of this too. He takes a calmer, more reflective approach to it than some (not looking at your author, no…). He names the problem and those behind it. Call them globalists, globopedos, the illuminati, fear-mongers, or whatever you will, they are only the dark one and his loathsome servants. It really is that simple. And, Father K. offers a surprisingly simple solution for us: Faith and Prayer. Well, those simplicities along with a healthy dose of RESISTANCE, which is the title of CM’s conference.
He gives concrete steps anyone can take to fight the forces of hell. It’s all bound by faith in Jesus Christ. It takes strength through prayer. And it moves through calm questioning, learning, and action.
Due to his own circumstances, he’s understandably taken with the technology of encryption. I do wonder about his suggested “digital catacombs.” Have we come that far, or retreated that far? Perhaps. You be the judge once you’ve seen or heard the message in full.
Along the way, in the presentation, Father tells some of his own backstories. He adds a great quote from the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen about not going with the flow: “dead bodies float downstream.” He also discounts just a select few of the more recent hoaxes set into motion by the luciferians, including:
The general uselessness of the tacky popular culture;
Y2K (I’d forgotten about that!);
Global Warming;
Climate Change;
White Guilt;
LGBT+P; and
Corona hype and hysteria.
Again, he only chose a few and only those from the more recent decades of memory. In every case, all cases, it is the same evil at work.
His ultimate point is that, eternally, evil cannot win. Without our consent and participation, it really can do little more than annoy us who are in the world but not of it. Still, a certain Carpenter told us to take care of business until He returns. We have a solemn obligation to resist. That’s where so many of us – at times, all of us – fail. Fortunately, inspirationally, the fix is as small as the mustard seed. It’s high time to move some mountains.
Please take an hour out of your busy, locked-down, masked lives and watch the following (or, as I did, listen to it while doing something else):
Fr. Kalchik, CM, June 2020.
Furthermore, kindly pray for Fr. Kalchik. For a brief explanation of why he’s “on the run,” please read THIS and THIS. In summary, he took a page from the Lord and Saint Paul and mortally angered the sodomite usurpers by burning one of their sacrilegious artifacts. In a (perhaps distantly) forthcoming novel, I have a heroic character based on Kalchik. In a literal world that frequently out-shocks the most dystopian fiction, it’s good that we have real characters, real heroes, like him.
Now, all, please acquire the seeds, and move those mountains.
In a dark season of pestilence, COVID has reduced to tatters the illusion of American exceptionalism. At the height of the crisis, with more than 2,000 dying each day, Americans found themselves members of a failed state, ruled by a dysfunctional and incompetent government largely responsible for death rates that added a tragic coda to America’s claim to supremacy in the world.
The author goes on and into details about other failed states and empires. He might be correct about all of that, but, as we have been so reliably informed so many times, Amerika really is different. Just check the Founding poem on our big girl statue! (Hey, I wonder how many communists Lady L will crush when they finally pull her down??????)
Amerika is, and always has been, just an idea, a simple, incoherent, misleading creed. If there’s any minor problem with it at present, then all we have to do is get out an eraser and change a few words or something. Nations, after all, are just words and vague ideas, and not borders, blood, and people.
Pandemics are like economic issues: all they require are more immigrants, who were really always the best Amerikans anyway.
Just when one thinks the satanists who operate the country’s failed public “schools” can’t sink any lower, they do. A new trend in “education” has teachers calling the cops and CPS on parents whose children don’t tow the moronic line on Zoom faux classes. Pot, kettle; black as educrat hearts.
If there’s one thing the public school system shouldn’t be doing right now, it’s making life even more hellishly difficult for parents. And yet many teachers in the state of Massachusetts are contacting the authorities to report parents for suspected child abuse when kids fail to show up for Zoom classes.
“Massachusetts school officials have reported dozens of families to state social workers for possible neglect charges because of issues related to their children’s participation in remote learning classes during the pandemic shutdown in the spring,” The Boston Globe reported on Saturday.
This story really has it all:
The little girl in the picture is wearing a fear hoax mask, while at home, putatively during a remote “class.” W.T.H?
Immigrants who can’t speak English.
Working mothers.
Single mothers.
Mass dysgenic effects.
Textbook SJW behavior: lies, doubling down, and projection.
Evil (and, I really mean that word) officials, who themselves abuse children, daring to accuse parents of the same thing by not playing the fool’s game of double-fake schooling.
Children, temporarily freed from direct attacks, still learning nothing.
A school district with elementary schools cursed with shifting demographics and collapsing academic performance. (Those usual go hand in hand).
Police state intimidation tactics.
Bullying and abuse (by a school) of a mentally challenged child and his family.
Lazy, wicked power-tripping, writ large.
Pundits who think the schools should be doing anything but closing and bulldozing.
Get your children out of these luciferian communism centers. Get them completely out, to include out of all contact, even the virtual. Homeschool or face terminal failure and accusations that you committed the crimes of the system.
PERRIN LOVETT 
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