Slashdot Mirror
DIY Cruise Missile Grounded
PSaltyDS writes "The DIY Cruise Missile project from New Zealand has been previously covered on /., but the BBC now reports that Bruce Simpson has been forced to shutdown by his government. His project web site says 'The New Zealand government has moved aggressively to shut down this project -- and by using quite unscrupulous methods which appear to be in breach of the law.'"
"The authorities here finally decided to bankrupt me over a tax debt and I have now had to give the missile to a friend for safe keeping."
You would think that people would learn. If you're going to skirt the edge of the legal system, always pay your taxes!
Remember, Al Capone was jailed for tax evasion, not organized criminal activity. His claim that "The government can't collect legal taxes from illegal money." (1) held no more water than Simpson's claim that the government is trying to "bankrupt" him.
And speaking of Simpsons...
Lisa: Bart. Bart! What are you doing? We've got to get out of here.
Bart: Target sighted. Launching air-to-nerd missile!
[launches a missile model, hitting Lisa]
Lisa: Owww!
- Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Well, scratch the cruise missle off of my list of things to build...guess I'll just have to move straight to the ICBM. sigh.
...are on his forums.
He has some ideas for civilian uses of the technology, i.e., "the use of small squadrons of UAVs to assist off-shore search and rescue operations."
The Army reading list
I applaud the use of rocket science at home, but I don't think the general public should have cruise missles.
What are you going to do, put it in your pocket? How do you stealthily steal a cruise missile? Wouldn't people notice it poking out of your trunk?
But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
If you did all numbers in hexadecimal (but still using SI), they wouldn't understand it enough to ban it. They'd probably just laugh at you and say only the decimal radix would work.
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
.... his cruise missle project was shot down *budump bum ching*
Reminds me of the days when we were kids and used to strap on cans filled with a mix of sodium chlorate and sugar to our skateboards.
Fucking cops had no sense of humor.
Step 1: create weapons of mass destruction
Step 2: declare war on USA
Step 3: Collect war repartations
Step 4: Profit!!!
He proclaims he doesn't want "nefarious types" to get ahold of the development information, but he doesn't say how he screens the subscriber list to weed out these people.
Open source software == good
Open source flying cylinder of death == bad
The New Zealand government has been pretty agressive about exploiting the success of the LOTR movies to make millions of dollars in tourism revenues.
I guess they don't want those befuddled tourists who knock on doors aking where Frodo lives to accidentally stumble upon a homemade cruise missile silo instead.
but the BBC now reports that Bruce Simpson has been forced to shutdown by his government.
Well, there goes his uptime...
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
from the United States Government have helped Mr. Simpson with his debt problems by relocating him to the tax haven of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. No longer will he burdened by oppresive tax responsibilities. Thank you John Ashcroft, humanitarian.
... when you pry them out of my cold, dead hands.
As in Mouse that roared with Peter Sellers
Help fight continental drift.
Bruce Simpson runs a daily on-line column called the "Daily Aardvark", which gave lots of details on the bankrupting in installments last week. (Normally it is commentry on New Zealand internet related stuff - see this week for a taste of what it is normally like.)
Dec 1
Dec 2
Dec 3
Dec 4
Dec 5
I believe that Bruce appears on Slashdot as "NewtonsLaw" - I expect he'll put in an appearance.
From my understanding, it is an IRD vendetta that has bankrupted him, unrelated to the "cruise missile" project.
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
From the BBC site:
he believes he has proved his point - "that by using off-the-shelf technology in a suburban garage a terrorist can create a weapon against which there is no effective defence.
One would think a simple hand-delivered bomb would suffice.
Grr! Arg!
If cruise missles are made illegal, then only criminals will have cruise missles.
... or does it seem like a bad idea to piss off someone who is building a missile?
1) create weapons of mass destruction
2) declare war on USA
3) ominous silence
4) discover your ass is actually a smoking hole in the ground
This guy may be nuts but a remote control car rigged to a interweb-connected PDA full of C4 could do serious damage. No really need for jet engines. War on terror is doomed when technology is availiable on highstreet! Ashcroft to close electronic retail outlets in name of freedom?
I am the bastard of base minus 12! Turing was the ejaculate of my complete machine!
However, there have also been a number of people who claim I'm overstating the case and that it's not possible to build a real cruise missile without access to sophisticated gear, specialist tools and information not readily available outside the military.
You don't need a *real* cruise missile, you just need a model aircraft. In fact, I've been thinking about getting one (not to build a missile, of course, but just to play with). There are even ones with gas turbines. Hell, do you really need a lot of explosives to terrorize someone/some group? You could even just load a model aircraft up with some colored gas, dump it over a group of people, and probably someone would get trampled to death in the rush to escape. I'm not a chemist, but I'm sure there's a heavier than air colored gas that's nonlethal that can be easily obtained. Even a model helicopter would be fine.
What the hell is wrong with red airplanes?
Before donning tinfoil hats here, remember that all governments like to get paid. Whilst what he was doing had very high hack value, it certainly wasn't cheap. When their local tax people saw that he was prominently spending money on a world famous endeavour rather than paying his back taxes, they acted. No conspiracy here folks, just a tax authority doing what tax authorities worldwide do on a daily basis. That being said, I watched his project with high interest.
The truth is rarely as simple as people (you?) believe.
I can't speak for this gentleman, but I can speak for myself. In the US, even if you believe you are an employee of a company, and you believe they are witholding your taxes as they should be, you are personally liable if they didn't.
That's the situation I found myself in, and thus, the reason I ended up owing 5 figures. I'm sure if the government had something personally against me, they could work that debt into something criminal.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
Donations
On a side note, I was really hoping this guy would have built this thing.
Linux O Muerte!
Here's an article that was in the NZ Herald (our main newspaper) a few days ago. Interesting to see the differences in wording between this article and the BBC one, even in his comments.
e ct ion=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3537971
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thes
... when you sweep the bits from my warm, moist ashes.
The ______ Agenda
You mean like 'guns'? Oh, but those are self-defense tools. Right. Let's take the NRA stance 'Homebuilt Cruise Missles don't kill people, people with homebuilt cruise missles kill people!'. Guns exist to kill/maim/destroy things ( be they other people, animals, or else ). Should they be likewise prohibited from possesion? ( Note there is a distinction between having the plans for how a gun works and possessing a gun ).
---
Segmentation Fault ( core dumped )
That if a privateer can build a cruise missile then all the billions the US is spending on Anti ICBM technology is money down the drain.
If either terrorists or a foreign power want the strike the US then holing up in the Ozarks and building a cruise missile out of a combination of publically available and smuggled components seems a pretty plausible way to do it.
I'm sorry to say it because I don't have a solution either, but making us take off our shoes at the airport etc. is an utter waste of time - terrorism is way too easy, just look at Iraq currently with GI checkpoints and patrols everywhere, even martial law doesn't fix the problem.
Politics is the only answer, coming up with some final solutions in the middle east...
Well reading his site. The missle and and all the plans are no longer with him. The plans are off shore encrypted somewhere, and the missle has been given to someone else.
http://blog.karit.geek.nz/
I'd say this isn't rocket science, but I suppose it is.
Still, there's no magic. There's no reason any other intelligent, motivated person or group couldn't do the same project. Killing this project will have no positive long term effect. It may stop some "bad" people from buying these, but it sure won't stop bad people from building their own.
This is like every other technology. You can attempt to stop it, but it will continue to develop. So we (the US) happily agree there should be no more nuclear testing, but that's really only because we can afford to buy/build supercomputers to do nuke sims. It's all so... hypocritical.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
The New Zealand government has moved aggressively to shut down this project -- and by using quite unscrupulous methods which appear to be in breach of the law.
Oh, wow, really? Even though it's not technically illegal, I wouldn't be too shocked to find out that the authorities wanted to have a word or two with me if I was building a V2 in my backyard:
"Oh, no, officer, this rocket is for humanitarian purposes only! And as a gift to all mankind, I've posted the plans online so that other humanitarians can build rockets of their own! What could be wrong with that?"
It was a really cool project, but come on. Who didn't see this coming?
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Bruce has put together a specification and built some bits for a device that could theoretically fly some distance in a controlled manner.
But a device to cruise some distance carrying enough ordanance to make a difference at point of impact it is not.
A pickup full of diesel and fertiliser would pose much more of a risk to the Govt of NZ and such a device is legal here, as long as intent to do harm is absent.
Ordinarily, I'd contemptuously dismiss any toothless rugby hooligan who claimed to have duplicated some of your deadly and sophisticated military hardware in the back of his yurt.
However, he's built a lot of those cool jet engines, which means his claim to have built a cruise missile is definitely credible. The New Zealand...ian government clearly thinks his claims are credible (unless they really are just prosecuting him for tax evasion, which is always a possibility people.) They might be going persecuting him for talking to the Iranians rather than because they think his missile works, and they'd still refuse to comment for Security reasons.
If you read his web page he says he's finished the missile except for some trivial details (not his exact phrasing.) My experience working with engineers (I am a Scientist, not any sort of MBA, before any of you start) leads me to believe that these "trivial details" may be less of a paint job and more of a profound deficiency that would prevent the thing from actually working. Of course, I'm just speculating here.
If they really are trying to squelch his right to free speech with the tax charge - he should give all his missile design documents to some outfit that will distribute them far and wide, raisethefist.com or something. That'll show the guv'mint what for.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
Tech point: How autonomous is this thing? What's the guidance system? Where did this guy get his maps and images? Or, did he?
Political point: On his web site he says he won't try to understand how politicians think. If he can't be bothered to understand why politicians want to eliminate independent sources of military weapons, he needs tocheck his grip on reality.
He sounds like one more presumptious and arrogant loon who thinks his moral dilletantism is reason to put others at risk. Good for NZ.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
How could one stop research in so important area of science called rocket engines?
How a government could to that?
There seems to be some kind of plot in it
(from Bruce Simpson's page):
The strange thing is that just a matter of months ago, they told me I could export the very same technology to Iran -- despite the fact that it is widely considered to be a terrorist sponsor and similar exports are prohibited in the USA.
And then the government decided shut it down.
Note also that israeli x prize team recruits serious brainpower.
If things are not about money (or sex) then politics must be involved.
I hope that such a genius person as Bruce will either join Xprize or find another way to continue his very important for science work on rocket engines.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
#
Of course, there is also the possibility that in like most air hijackings, that the plane would have safely landed somewhere with even fewer casualties. This is why not much was done on September 11th, we expected the terrorists to behave nicely or fly somewhere else, not to crash the planes into buildings.
What?
If the stories from the actual military pilots are true, this was not the case on 9/11.
There was only one squadron charged with covering the eastern US, and at that time only two (or four?) sets of pilots on call.
They were scrambled, and in both the NY and DC cases, they were not close enough to the rogue planes to shoot them down.
I think part of the problem was that it wasn't immediately clear which planes were rogue, but either way, on that day, the pilots just did not have the opportunity to shoot them down. They DID have clearance, and they even had a final Yes from Cheney.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
Is a regular on rec.crafts.metalworking and has promised to answer questions there concerning the cruise missile. You might want to keep an eye on the newgroup if you're interested.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Star Wars only protects against ICBMs. Anybody that has the capacity to lauch ICBMs won't, because it would be obvious where they come from, and they fear retaliation. The real threat is from low-flying vehicles, not ICBMs. Drones, cruise missles, RC planes, even Cessna 180s could be used to deliver a payload -- and the "missile defense sheild" wouldn't help at all. We don't need to protect ourselves from weapon systems flying 10 miles up -- we need to protect ourselves from weapon systems flying 10 feet over the waves.
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
A short list of items that people use to kill people that should be banned to prevent more deaths:
Guns, knives, hands, arms, pens, tire irons, vehicles, clubs, hammers, poison, explosives, fire, drugs, rope, nylons, anything that is heavy and easily wielded, anything that is sharp enough to penetrate the skin, water (used for drowning), etc.
Interestingly enough, firearms are only used in about 60% of murders. Take away guns or other weapons and people will still find ways to kill people they're real mad at. It's been happening since long before guns were around. How many serial killers use guns?
What?
He got shut down not because he could have done it or whether it would have worked or not, but because it reveals the basic anomaly that despite the highest levels of security and defense the lowest (budget) and innovate disruptive technology will continually defeat it. Just like a high level security lab that has the back door jammed open with a pencil because the night crew has to smoke outside.
Revealing the fragile state of most secure states in this day and age is not only an unwise idea, but a foolish one to broadcast to the world.
Let's keep in mind that patents are in place to keep lawyers employed and keep them litigating. -CatGrep
herrvinny: Who's there?
... mmmmph! mmmmph!
Guy in Sunglasses: John.
herrvinny: John who?
GIS: John Ashcroft, asshat. Please put this bag over your head, and come with me. We're going on a nice all-expense paid trip for one to Cuba.
herrvinny: Why? What did I do?
GIS: Does posting terrorist plots to Slashdot ring a bell?
herrvinny: But that was just hypothetical. I was critiquing a stupid government decision in a specific case --
GIS (hitting herrvinny with cattle prod, and putting a bag over his head): Shut up! We'll take care of you terrorist swine! You probably pirate mp3s, too.
herrvinny: mmmmph
(etc)
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
Even in the United States, there are laws and regulations about this sort of thing. The BATF can nail you for building a "destructive device" without a license. Purchasing, storing and using explosives involves federal and state licenses. You need a federal export license to transfer missiles, missile components, or technical data about missiles to a foreign country or foreign national.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
http://tam.plannet21.com/ - a site that documents a flight across the atlantic of a model airplane using GPS. Just change model airplane to a metal cylinder.
err...
Well, three outta four ain't bad.
Needle Nardle Noo
Interestingly enough, firearms are only used in about 60% of murders.
You do realise that's more than half. As in most people who are murdered are killed using a gun
How many serial killers use guns?
So what? How mamy people are killed by serial killers?
Some phrases you just can't get used to, like this one.
"I have now had to give the missile to a friend for safe keeping."
but then he gets permission to export his
technology to Iran? I suppose it's debatable if
Iran=Terrorism, but what he says and what he does doesn't match apparently
If you read my columns you'd have seen that I was gobsmacked that the NZ government would endorse the export of military technology to Iran, and as a result, I went straight to the NZ Secret Service for a second opinion. It's also worth noting that although they said "it wasn't a good idea" they didn't say I couldn't have -- and to this day, the advice I received from teh NZ government has not been rescinded.
I never had any intention of exporting (and never had) any of my work to countries that are considered a "sponsor of terrorism". The only reason I made the enquiry was because I was interested to find out the government's stance on such things.
If any expat Kiwis feel up to it they can mail the NZ politicians to lend support to Bruce.
Jim Anderton
Michael Cullen
Helen Clark
This isn't too much about the cruise missile, it's more of the IRD (IRS to you) being right asshats. The general gist is:
- Bruce had some bad (clumsy, not evasional) book-keeping and finds out he's got a large tax bill
- He starts paying off the tax bill
- After a court hearing where the IRD is told off for being idiots (not having a record of a $16k payment and for not having his name right), an IRD employee threatens "We'll get you" in the courtroom
- Bruce sells his assets (including his house) to pay off his increasing tax bill (interest and penalties - the IRD always seemed to find new debts)
- Bruce signs up with a deal with a US company to manufacture his pulse-jet engines for a project. This deal is important because the manufacturing was going to be in NZ, creating jobs and bringing in lots of income.
- While Bruce was in the US signing this deal, the IRD gets him declared bankrupt, despite not being in the best interests of NZ - writing off a $100k debt instead of bringing in potentially millions
- Bruce contacts the Minister of Finance and Minister of Economic Development in an attempt to overturn the bankruptcy so the deal can go ahead (get-out clause is if either party goes insolvent)
- Deal expired on 1 December. Now that Bruce is insolvent and is not allowed to run a company for 3 years, he gets to go on the dole (social welfare) instead of creating dozens of jobs and bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars into NZ.
While this was happening, he received enquiries from Iran about the pulse-jet engine. He contacted the NZ Trade organisation to find out about selling this technology to countries like Iran, and was told "no worries". This didn't sit right with Bruce so he contacted the SIS (NZ Secret Service) and they said "yeah, that's wrong. He's been interviewed by the SIS and says that they're reasonable guys, it's the IRD who are being wankers.
Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
Wow, that's pig headed and ignorant. It's so bad I suspect you did it on purpose just to piss people off. Your whole premis and understanding are backward - one evil use prevents much good use.
First, you can indeed use small nuclear devices for excavation. Look up the plowshears project from the US govenment. That kind of excavation would save billions of dollars and thousands of lives when used for ordinary construction of canals. More importantly, such cost savings would make lots of nice projects possible, like harbor construction is solid stone.
Second, it's not a particular configuration of special nuclear materials that's against the law, it's the possesion of them without license.
Good cause has been shown for the control of these materails, but the control has overriden many legitimate uses. The bottom line is that materials that have one or two significant evil uses have been controled and that prevents hundreds of very good uses. We are restricted to fewer harbors and less energy production. The poor energy production makes all manner of industry more difficult. This is a shame.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Hired a CPA to handle his accounting and taxes. Turned out the bastid pocketed the withholding.
Guess what? Willie had to pay it all anyway, and the CPA got off without penalty. He be broke, and the IRS wanted to jail Willie.
And Willie is still a Democrat.
So right now I'm living in a cold, drafty, leaky house that I rent for US$70 a week (so you can imagine how crappy it is), I'm not allowed to be self-employed, there are no jobs going for a jet-engine designer and even if I wanted to flip burgers, the town where I'm living has just suffered a mill-closure that has put a whole lot of people on the unemployment line. It's not going to be a very nice Christmas this year :-(
I may be crazy, but I think that you should set up a paypal account and let the community help you. I'm sure that many people would donate whatever's been lost between the couch's cushions and it could add up to a helpful amount. I've said it before; small donations are the way of the future!
Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/donations.shtml
Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
So what is the motivation for stringing Mr. Simpson up? Taxes or 'terrorism' (aka being a squeaky wheel)? Maybe it was taxes, but I notice that the BBC uses the phrase:
An interesting turn of phrase for an agency which has a reputation for accuracy. Normally tax details are protected for reasons of confidentiality, and 'national security' (aka lots of things) is protected for reasons of secrecy. So is the BBC saying 'national security' (aka war on terror) is behind things? Either way, surrounding "secrecy" with quotes seems to be a form of 'nudge-nudge-wink-wink'.
</tinfoil hat>
So what are the implications for other geeks?
Apart from his taxes, Mr. Simpson appears to have done no wrong. Indeed, reading his discussion forum, he appears to have bent over backwards to do nothing underhanded, break no laws and keep everyone (including government) informed of what he is doing. Given the media coverage of the project, it would be difficult to claim Mr. Simpson was hiding his actions.
I would compare Mr. Simpson to crypto researchers, P2P software authors and security researchers. Why? Because his work has both 'black hat'and 'white hat' uses, lends itself admirably to beng a political football and demonstrates glaring weaknesses in existing systems. If Mr. Simpson goes down without a fight, will it encourage governments to move against the other areas mentioned above?
*If* Mr. Simpson is going down due to his missile work, and not for taxes, shouldn't the geek community chip in and help him? (He has a paypal account, under the name 'paypal@aardvark.co.nz', to offset the costs of a news site he runs. There is also a 'make a donation' link to PayPal from the news site.) I would think he would be at least as deserving as the college students who have attracted public funding for their court cases over downloading copyrighted music.
No, I'm not affiliated with Mr. Simpson. I also don't pretent that Mr Simpson is some sort of an angel. It's just that the facts seem so damned hard to find in this case. Here are a few possible scenarios:
- Mr. Simpson is being screwed in the name of the 'war on terror' for pointing out how vunerable we are to unmanned vehicles.
- Mr. Simpson didn't pay his taxes and that is all there is to it.
- Mr. Simpson could see a tax bill coming and started a the cruise missile project in an attempt to make himself untouchable
Personally, I dismiss the last possibility, but don't have enough information to decide between the first two. If it turns out to be the first possibility, that scares the shit out of me and, in the name of democracy, Mr. Simpson would deserve all the support anyone can give him.I helped design one of the engines commonly used on US cruise missiles in the early eighties, and it was fairly obvious 20 years ago that a DIY cruise missile was quite an achievable goal, requiring only slightly more sophistication than the average EAA homebuilt airplane. The guidance issue is the biggest one (you could adapt a commercially available autopilot system for control purposes), but the wonderful thing about doing a cruise missile that doesn't have to penetrate USSR airspace during wartime is that you can use GPS -- possible then, almost trivial now given off-the-shelf hardware. I outlined a novel back then where a couple of out-of-work aerospace engineers built such a device for import/export purposes (the intent being to fly low over the Gulf Coast and drop 100 kilos of a suitably valuable substance after you ascertained you were really alone in the drop zone.) The plot twist was to have been having the project hijacked for more nefarious ends.
In any case, a small team of talented individuals could put something impressive together these days for less than the cost of a luxury car, and it would easily penetrate current US air defenses. Why do you think Lockheed is hard at work on the high-altitude blimp/advanced radar platform?
First off, the second amendment (source):
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
(my emphasis added)
Where in the text of the second amendment does it say "conventional firearms"? The truth is, it doesn't. The truth is, at the time the Bill of Rights was written up, people could and did own weapons as powerful as their own government's weapons, whether that was flintlock rifles, or cannons drawn behind horses or mounted to private ships. Why? Because often, these same people were the "well regulated militia"!
You may say "well, that is the role of the Army/Navy/Air Force today" - and you would be wrong again. At the time, it was seen that a government with a standing army was a dangerous government (to the people it governs). It was argued (I believe in the various Federalist Papers and elsewhere) that such a system should not be put into place. Alas, it was never codified in the Constitution that such a standing army not be erected.
You may tell yourself that the citizens of this country have no need for weapons that equal the government's, that the government would never turn its weapons and soldiers on its own people, that the soldiers would never fire upon their own countrymen - and you would be WRONG.
I am sure there are more recent examples, but Kent State is one U.S. example - and to invoke Godwin's Law, have we forgotten Nazi Germany?
What the hell is it going to take to open your eyes and see what our government has already done to our rights? Need I list them?
War on (some) Drugs (aka, Prohibition Redux)
DMCA
UCITA
Gun control laws
PATRIOT Act
Echelon
Carnivore
Driving Laws removing the Right to Travel
and on and on...
WAKE UP, PEOPLE (if it isn't already too late)!!!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
does anyone else think that it is funny that this guy honestly thought that the government of New Zealand wouldn't have a problem with him building a cruise missile?
I don't. New Zealand is ostensibly a democracy that offers its citizens a reasonable degree of freedom
Then again, so is the US. So I see your point.
Basically, all he was building was a scaled down version of a German V-1 "buzz bomb", with probably some GPS guidance hardware (whereas the V-1 was a fire in a straight line type device). The real technology was the pulse jet it was to be powered by - his design was supposed to way better than anything else available (a lot of thrust for the pulse jet) - not sure if it was going to be better than Mark Pauline/SRL's pulsejets as used on their hovercraft (which I got to see and help set up one for him here in Phoenix back in 2001 at a nighttime non-publicized "demo" for an SRL show that got canned by our lovely fire department) - those jets used a reedless resonant design (no moving parts) - I think that is where this guy was headed.
It would have been nice - because reedless pulsejets can be powerful (when tuned properly) and with no moving parts, they can run for as long as fuel is supplied. A perfect hobbiest jet engine (cheap and works well). He made mention of showing how to build a similar engine (can't remember now whether it was to be a reedless or reeded design, though) from auto exhaust parts and other parts from "Home Depot" type stores.
A pulsejet is something I have wanted to build for a while now after seeing my first SRL show - maybe one day I will get board, buy some pipe, break out my welder and experiment...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
With that said, what you need to do now is put in some kind of deadman's escrow the plans, etc for the missle, as well as for the pulsejet. This way - should you be "disappeared", these plans would be distributed far and wide (torrent files, p2p systems, freenet, usenet, etc) - spread the info.
I would try to immediately put up and have mirrored any and all ideas you have on the "building a pulsejet using parts from auto parts stores" or whatever it is called. No government can stop the flow of information - they can only stop the people. Look at things like DeCSS - enough people wanted it, now it is everywhere (and actually better stuff has superceeded it), the genie can't be stuffed back. You need to make your stuff the same.
I realize that you wanted to make a business out of this - and I sincerely wish you could. But in the here and now, you have two choices: let the secrets be silenced and/or die with you - or distribute them far and wide. Personally, I would rather give away something that I knew how to do, than to keep it in the hopes of profiting on it later - especially if the government has already shown me it doesn't care about my welfare by taking my house, etc - who says they won't take your life to take your ideas and knowledge from the world away?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Interestingly enough, firearms are only used in about 60% of murders.
Ummm... not that I want to get into the middle of a pro/anti gun debate because it's offtopic and pointless, but that struck me as a really odd piece of support to put up so I have to comment on it.
You listed 18 different potentially fatal weapons, yet only 1 of them (which comprises 5.5% of the list) accounts for 60% of the fatalities? What point are you arguing, exactly?
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
using quite unscrupulous methods which appear to be in breach of the law.
at least they didn't bomb his house.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
why the hell are you worried about a tax debt...you already have a more effective arsenal than the NZ govt ever had.
Go on...you know you want to...
Theres a big difference between making a jet powered go kart (which a great many have done), and making an autonomous machine with the brains to keep it self not only flying, but flying to a specific target.
Look at his website, only 3 of the 15 or so pages that document the project actually link to anything even though the project is basicaly done, and those three show nothing of any substance except that more will be uploaded 'in a few days'.
He doesnt even show any hint that he has any understanding of aeodynamics and design and control of flight surfaces.
He just happens to know how to bolt a mini jet engine to a go-kart. Thats it. The engine he claims he is designing is just as much a scam! Posters on his forums point out how his engine looks exactly like the off the shelf engines anyone can buy!
I call shenanigans! The subscribers and donators to his project and all of you that believe it have been scammed. His tax bill wasn't paid because he couldnt fool enough of you to send him money. Notice how eager he is to sell exclusive media rights to his story yet the best you see is the go kart? its all a money grab.
And now that he's bankrupt, he is conveniently blaming it all on the government. Claiming the missile is in a friend's possesion, ignoring the fact that if the government really cared, they could just demand that he identify the friend or else jail him as a threat to society. Surprise proof of the missile's existance is gone. Let's hope he has a few friends that aren't as imaginary as the one hiding the missile.
Only the taxman is after him, not the military. There is no conspiracy to prevent him from making the missile, just his own inability to report and pay his taxes properly.
Gee a scammer who avoids taxes, there's a new twist.
Could a cruise missle be manufactured for $5,000? Probably after all the research and development.
Did this guy do it? no way.
Move on, there's nothing to see here, the little grey men, silent black helicopters, and missing snipers from the grassy gnoll will escort you out.
George Bush + Linux = "I will not let information get in the way of the fight against Windows"
This is why you need to be careful on taxes. Like it or no, they are YOUR responsibility in most countries. For most people, with just a saliry/wage and maybe some investments it is as simple as getting all the standard documentation and filing a form. However if you start to play around substantially with investments (espically complex ones) or running your own bussiness, make sure your books are clean. Don't think every thing is fine, KNOW it's fine, or you could find you owe money you didn't think you did.
Yes, they were being wankers about it, but all in all, that's ther job. For every 1 guy like this there are hundreds that are just trying to get away with not paying. I'm also sure that "but I have the big bussiness deal that will get me all the money I need real soon" is not an uncommon excuse that gets tried.
So I can feel some sympathy, but not too much. A friend of mine got nailed with a $2000 tax bill from a web design bussiness he had for a bit. He didn't properly document all his expenses (he lost money on the venture) and so he got screwed. I feel kinda sorry for him but ultimately, it was his responsiblity to know this shit.
Instead of calling it a "cruise missle", why not call it an "automated in-flight mail carrier" or "hobby hover-craft". Then the military would not get their panties in bundle over it. Typical of us nerds to open our big mouths without realizing how the rest of the world will interpret it.
Table-ized A.I.
It is an interesting point to note that the New Zealand government DO NOT have an air force sufficient enough to defend itself from any form of missile attacks. Is the New Zealand government trying to hide from this shaming fact and the humiliating possibilities by stopping Mr. Simpson from conducting researches on missile technology? I think it's funny how they restrict the knowledge from being publicized.
According to one of the articles that Mr. Simpson has written, the government itself has breached some of the laws to prevent him from continuing the project. This is absurd. For what reason should the citizens of New Zealand follow the law imposed on them by their government, if it is not consistently applied to all New Zealand citizens, military personnel and governors alike? If the government has "publicly admitted that the project broke no laws," they certainly owe Mr. Bruce Simpson an open apology and should permit him from continuing his projects in missile technology.
Propagating ignorance will not prevent terrorist attacks. If they should silent those who has the knowledge that could be potentially used by terrorists, no industry could possible exist anywhere in this world. Explosives can be obtained from some readily available chemicals; shoe laces can be turned into a lethal weapon; a plane can become a cannon shell; a pencil can be used by a professional trained person to kill hundreds... and the list simple goes on. Whether some seemingly trivial things can become a terrorist's tool is merely a matter of how limited your imagination is.
I don't see how shutting down Mr. Simpson's project will be to the benefit of national security or the worldwide hype of anti-terrorist champaign. It is, however, a desperate endeavor of politicians to secure their positions from being put in a vulnerable state, from those who possess the knowledge of technology so much more powerful than what they command.
Drugs are a great civilian app for cruise missles
Stoner (on the phone): Um, State Farm agent?
State Farm Agent: My name is Cindy, I'll be your agent today. what can I do for you?
Stoner: Um, I need to submit a claim on my renter's insurance, you know. *sniff*
SFA: Ok, what's the disaster?
Stoner: Well, you see, it's like this. My homeboy down in Mexico sent me this package, and everything, and it got here and all you know. *giggle*
SFA: I don't see why that would result in a claim on your renter's insurance.
Stoner: Um, hang on. (sound of paper crackling) *crunch* Um, yeah. Where were we?
SFA: You were about to explain how you received a package in the mail and it resulted in a claim on your renter's insurance.
Stoner: In the mail? I didn't receive a package in the mail? *crunch crunch*
SFA: Sir? You said that one of your friends in Mexico sent you a package in the mail.
Stoner: Friends? Oh! You mean my homeboy Paco. Yeah, he's a cool guy, you know. But he didn't send me a package---*crunch*--ooooooh yeah. Yeah. No, that package didn't come in the mail, you know.
SFA: It didn't?
Stoner: No, Man. See. It's like this, you know. *crunch* *swallow* Um, hang on. (water flowing) Aaaah. *zip* *snap* Ok, where were we?
SFA: I don't know.
Stoner: Oh yeah! I know! See, my buddy Paco said he has this new delivery system, and everything, and he sent me a package with it! It just got here today, you know.
SFA: Riiiiight. And how does that make it a renter's insurance claim? Do you have renter's insurance?
Stoner: Of course! You wouldn't think--*crunch*--you wouldn't think I wouldn't? I mean, I'm calling in a claim and everything, so of course I have renter's insurance, you know.
SFA: Riiiiiight.
Stoner: So, anyway. This new delivery system is like totally guaranteed to not be picked up by the DEA, you know, and everybody. But it blew up my house!
SFA: He sent you a bomb, through the mail?
Stoner: No man! It's not a bomb! He read some website in New Zealand, you know, that told him how to build a cruise missile with like, only $5,000 dollars and everything. I told him, I told him I said "Look man, you're crazy!" But he isn't! He built the fuckin' thing, and everything, you know! And it worked!
SFA: Your friend Paco, in Mexico, put a cruise missile in your house?
Stoner: Yeah man! That's crazy!
SFA: That's not covered by your renter's insurance, you know.
Stoner: It's not?
SFA: No, it's not. You know, if you read your policy, you'll see that your policy doesn't cover acts of war.
Stoner: But it's not an axe of war, you know. It's like, I mean, you know, it's just a cruise missile, and we're not like at war with anybody, I don't think. Are we?
*click*
Like what I said? You might like my music
Bad example. Cyanide is used extensively in industry and there are some home uses. Mostly, home uses I'm aware of involve KFeCN -- don't recall the valence -- such as photography and growing pretty crystals (despite the name it's not particularly toxic as long as you keep it away from acids).
Should you be allowed to possess the chemical formula on how to manufacture cyanide?
The top secret formula? Add an acid to a cyanide salt. Congratulations, all you terrorists out there now know as much as a high-school chem student. As Kibo says, You're Allowed.
Should you only be prevented from actually making and storing cyanide?
I'm storing a cyanide salt right now, perfectly legally. I purchased it from a photography supply store which sold it legally. With effort, I could make it into a weapon, but I can think of much better things to do with it. For that matter, I could do the same with fertilizer and diesel, or gunpoweder, or about a gazillion other things. But then, last time I checked, I wasn't a sociopath.
We'll never be able to prevent terrorists or murderers (or recreational drug chemists, whom I don't put in the same category) from knowing basic chemistry, and there are just too many widely available precusors for things like cyanide or explosives.
It's an entirely different issue than gun control. Many gun murders are crimes of passion or opportunity. Crimes involving poisons or home-made explosives are almost exclusively premeditated.
This may be of interest, Bruce Simpson appeared in an epsiode in the current series of Scrapheap Challenge (the UK version of Junkyard Wars)