Scott Dorsey wrote:

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

There's also Derby Line, vt, where a small town straddles the border
- the line runs right through the library. Since 9/11 crossings there
have become much less casual.

For years I bought frequency-determining crystals from a company called
QMX Crystals. Their factory had a yellow line going down the center, and half was in Mexico and half was in the US and various procedures were done
on each side of the border depending on tax costs.

They managed to survive 9-11 but didn't make it to get to the first Trump presidency.

Crystals were another one of those technologies that exploded during WWII
and helped us win the war. There were hundreds of small companies making crystals for the military in the forties... by the time I was interested in radio in the seventies it was down to a couple dozen larger companies.
These days there are really only a couple companies in the world making custom-cut-to-frequency crystals.
--scott

In the mid 70s I knew a physics PhD who designed and made new crystals
for industry. There was a demand for his product but he could not
afford the patent process, which limited his return.

He gave it up to work on one of the first remote car starters. He said
his customer base was the Saudis on the one hand, and people in New
Jersey on the other.

Fortunately, he was an excellent musician. I suspect that paid the rent.


William Hyde

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Fri, 15 May 2026 21:54:57 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

There's the Peace Arch Park in Douglas Washington, which spans the
border, and has to remain unfenced due to complex reasons involving
the Treaty of Ghent.

The Peace Arch park is mostly notable for being where the 49th
parallel (which is the Canada US border for everything west of Ontario
other than AK and HI) hits salt water on the west coast has existed
for more than 100 years - and the Arch was built as a commemoration of
100 years of peace following the War of 1812.

Got a citation on the gates having to be open? I remember during the
Vietnam war there was a MAJOR hubbub when protesters closed the gate
for a short time.

Probably the most famous story about that park involves Paul Robeson
who in 1952 during the McCarthy era was banned from entering Canada
(he was a Communist party member) which meant he couldn't play his
concert in Vancouver (which is about 20-25 miles north of there).

What they did was bring two pickup trucks (which were brought to about
10 feet south of the border) and he sang from the back of one truck
while the other truck was used for sound equipment

https://www.historylink.org/File/8163

(The article was obviously written by an American since Blaine, WA is
the border town on the US side of the line while White Rock, BC is the
border town - now an outer suburb of Vancouver - on the Canadian side)

There's also Derby Line, vt, where a small town straddles the border
- the line runs right through the library. Since 9/11 crossings there
have become much less casual.

I've heard about that one.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 5/24/2026 2:15 PM, The Horny Goat wrote:

On Fri, 15 May 2026 21:54:57 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

There's the Peace Arch Park in Douglas Washington, which spans the
border, and has to remain unfenced due to complex reasons involving
the Treaty of Ghent.

The Peace Arch park is mostly notable for being where the 49th
parallel (which is the Canada US border for everything west of Ontario
other than AK and HI) hits salt water on the west coast has existed
for more than 100 years - and the Arch was built as a commemoration of
100 years of peace following the War of 1812.

Got a citation on the gates having to be open? I remember during the
Vietnam war there was a MAJOR hubbub when protesters closed the gate
for a short time.

Not sure how authoritative this is, but:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/peace-arch-us-side-picnic-access-for-canadians-1.5635031

- start quote -

Saunders said the province of B.C. "kind of has their hands tied" given
the legal underpinnings of the park enshrined in 1814 in the Treaty of
Ghent, a settlement after the War of 1812 between U.S. and England. The
park allows citizens of both the U.S. and Canada to mingle without
technically crossing any border. It was meant as an enduring symbol of
the sibling-like relationship between the two countries.

Saunders said the treaty stipulates there could not be any boundaries or physical barriers erected on the northern border of the U.S. ? and if
either side violated that treaty ? the boundaries revert back to pre-treaty.

"So if the Canadian government decides that they want to cut off the
Peace Arch park from Canadians entering from Zero Avenue by putting up a physical barrier, then technically the United States can claim back part
of Southern Ontario and Quebec, under this treaty which would be
broken," he said.

And if the Americans violate the treaty? Canada gets back parts of
Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin.

- end quote -

pt

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)