In case you've missed it, I've been covering the fascinating and kind of nail-biting political crisis in France. Things are a-happening!

Part 1 from last week, Macron appointed a loyal PM who immediately was thrown out by the French Parliament in a vote of no confidence. https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/09/more-madness-of-macron-an-endless-crisis/

30 years ago, Bob Morris, then a senior scientist at NSA, gave a keynote talk at the CRYPTO conference (the leading conference for academic cryptographers).

He opened by telling us he would reveal the NSA's first rule for cryptanalysis (which certainly got our attention). "First", he said, "look for cleartext. You'll usually find it."

True words, and enduring, too.