January 2002 - cypherpunks-legacy

Morons of the year.
by mattd 06 Jan '02

06 Jan '02

Subject: morons.org What year could be complete without PETA doing something seriously dumb to get 1 0 attention? PETA is well-known for its publicity stunts and for its reputation of doing absolutely nothing at all to help animals, but plenty of things to hurt people. They're more anti-human than pro-beast. This year, PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk took the cake when she said she hopes that foot and mouth disease spreads to the US. That clinches it. Not only do they not do anything to help animals, they actually want them to come to harm. What a strange group. A twelve-year-old deaf girl in New Jersey was threatened with suspension from school. In 9 this day and age you'd think that meant she spoke the word "gun" to a friend on a weekend in a field 20 miles away from the nearest school, but that wasn't her crime in this case. No, her crime was signing. That's right. Being deaf, she speaks with sign language. Supposedly signing on the bus was creating a disturbance. Ironically, the girl's hearing was damaged at that same school by someone setting off fireworks in an enclosed space. We explored the inanity of knee-jerk reactions in Zero Tolerance Gone Mad, part IV. A 8 Nevada school expelled a boy for an off-the-cuff remark he made outside of school, saying he fit the "profile" of a suicidal mass murderer, Columbine style. Their profile? He's a good kid, gets good grades, is well liked, dresses neatly, and has ADHD. Oh, and he owned a BB gun! The school labeled him a "habitual offender" even though he had no prior disciplinary record, and he was hauled off to jail. Next we have the story of the mayor of a small Florida town who decided to expel the 7 devil from it. Really. I can't make things up this good. She wrote her proclamation out on 4 pieces of paper, which were then placed into hollowed out wooden posts that were placed at the four corners of town, witchcraft style. Presumably the dark lord is intimidated by hollowed out wooden posts with papers inside. After we waited an entire year for Hollywood to turn out a watchable movie that didn't 6 make us run from the theater screaming, "my eyes! my eyes!" they gave us Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Mind you, this is no American Beauty or Truman Show, but at least it isn't the usual crap. As one might expect, fundamentalist Christians had a field day with the movie, going on about how its appeal would draw helpless children into Witchcraft. Hey guys, here's a clue for you: witchcraft is a fantasy, just like your religion. Pat Robertson, the foaming-at-the-mouth, power-hungry scoundrel who recently retired 5 from running the Christian Coalition surprised a number of people by advocating abortion for Chinese women. While we agreed with his sentiment, it was surprising to hear it coming out of his mouth nonetheless. It was (and is) our suspicion that his advocacy was based on anti-China hatred, which got the better of his staunch anti-abortion views. Jerry Falwell. Oh, should I say more? OK. Jerry Falwell drew harsh criticism from the four 4 winds, even from people sympathetic to his sickening views, after accusing his opponents of causing the tragic terrorist attacks on the US. Two weeks after he made an ass of himself on the 700 Club, he claimed his comments were taken out of context. His son sent out letters to Falwell's followers asking for $50 or $100 to help his dear old dad recover from "Satan's fiery darts" that were supposedly launched against Jerry in a "mean spirited" attack. It's not an attack when it's simply the truth, Jonathan Falwell. Falwell claimed he simply "misspoke" for 35 seconds because he was tired. And on the topic of Jerry Falwell, we can't forget how he blamed the terrorist attacks on 3 his political opponents: gays, lesbians, the ACLU, the People for the American Way, and the general secularizing of America. What's better is one of our readers (who is now one of our writers!) predicted it 2 days beforehand. Reports of his comments were hard to believe, but we found them and placed the audio online for all to hear. The ironic thing is that it turned out that religious extremism (fundamentalism, if you will) had a lot more to do with the attack on the US than the existence of gays and lesbians. Not to be clichi, but it turns out the only difference between Falwell's regime and Osama bin Laden's is weaponry. Things got a little scary toward the end of the year. OK, they actually got absolutely 2 terrifying. Our buddy John Ashcroft went on the record saying those who oppose his efforts to destroy civil liberties in this country might as well be terrorists. Ok, so those weren't his words exactly, but he did say "To those who pit Americans against immigrants, citizens against non-citizens, to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends. They encourage people of good will to remain silent in the face of evil." Close enough. Opposing his agenda, you see, is like giving aid and comfort to terrorists. He didn't say it like that because of the obvious implication that he was accusing dissenters of treason. It was so scary that we drew a parallel between Ashcroft and McCarthy, as this sounded a lot like McCarthyism revisited to us. By far the largest scoring article of 2001 was Alcatel Fucks Up Bigtime. This was a 1 critical article for morons.org because it was one of the first pieces of original investigative journalism we were able to do, and because of the huge amount of attention it drew. Alcatel had come under fire for a nasty security vulnerability with its DSL modems when it announced it had no intention of releasing a patch and merely suggested users run firewalls (which wouldn't have helped anyway). We got a tip that in Alcatel's press release they had used a Microsoft Word feature that stores a document's revision history. It was relatively easy to view that revision history, and some of the comments it contained were terribly interesting. Comments like "Why don't we provide this level of security to all of our customers? Why don't we switch on firewalls by default for all of our customers?" Oops. So there you have it. The year in stupidity compressed into 10 paragraphs. If the world continues to deteriorate into absolute brainlessness at the present rate, I think I'll just stay inside and hide next year.---Nick

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Discount Cellular Long Distance Reseller Opportunity - Residual Income!
by cellular.reseller＠alloymail.com 06 Jan '02

06 Jan '02

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Discount Cellular Long Distance Reseller Opportunity - Residual Income!
by cellular.reseller＠alloymail.com 06 Jan '02

06 Jan '02

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Re: Untraceable money now more than ever!
by Lou Poppler 06 Jan '02

06 Jan '02

What ever happened to that previous Tim May, who used to extol the virtues of regular ASCII email and would twit those who sent messages in various wierd whiz-bang formats ? This new Tim May is obviously an imposter, sending 2 copies of the same message within one email, encrufted in ways that look like crap on my studiously obsolete MUA: On Tue, 4 Dec 2001 08:50:24 -0800, Tim May wrote: > Received: from got.net (beholder.got.net [207.111.232.12]) > by einstein.ssz.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id QAA21501 > for <cypherpunks(a)einstein.ssz.com>; Wed, 5 Dec 2001 16:38:28 -0600 > Received: (qmail 29809 invoked from network); 4 Dec 2001 16:50:17 -0000 > Received: from 66-81-21-86-modem.o1.com (HELO localhost) (66.81.21.86) > by always.got.net with SMTP; 4 Dec 2001 16:50:18 -0000 > Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v472) > Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=Apple-Mail-2--887346911 > From: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> > To: cypherpunks(a)einstein.ssz.com > Message-Id: <02E4A9C4-E8D7-11D5-9093-0050E439C473(a)got.net> > X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.472) > > --Apple-Mail-2--887346911 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset=ISO-8859-2; > format=flowed > > Or, "Why We Fight." [ Snip body of message, first copy ] > "If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third=20 > hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're=20= > > around." --attribution uncertain, possibly Gunner, on Usenet > > --Apple-Mail-2--887346911 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > Content-Type: text/enriched; > charset=ISO-8859-2 > > Or, "Why We Fight." [ Snip Tim's introductory comment ] > Read it and stoke your righteous anger: > > > --begin article-- > > <fontfamily><param>Palatino</param><bigger><bigger>This was in today's > Washington Post. Check it out at [ Snip 2nd copy of article ] > </bigger></bigger></fontfamily> > > --end article-- > > > > > --Tim May > > "If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third > hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while > they're around." --attribution uncertain, possibly Gunner, on Usenet= > > --Apple-Mail-2--887346911-- >

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Queers are Revolting.
by mattd 06 Jan '02

06 Jan '02

QUEERS ARE REVOLTING! And you can join us! (english) by The Love Revolution Heterosexism CAN BE CURED! Why Indeed? Gender and Race form the foundation of our current oppression under the white heterosexual Christian regime in the United States. Until issues of sexuality and gender are included in the fight for peace, there will be no peace. As long as heterosexual men feel that they must reign supreme in all political affairs, there will be no peace. As long as gays, lesbians, intersexuals, transgendered and bisexual people continue to be harassed, imprisoned, and killed simply for living their lives honestly, there will be no peace. And when you are ready to hide your heterosexuality in the closet, (no kissing your girlfriends at the protest rallies,) then we will talk about me stopping my visibility as a gay man. Gays and lesbians for Peace organizations. http://www.peaceresponse.org/lgb/index.shtml Want to learn more about Heterosexism and how it affects our culture? http://www.schryer.com/homophobia/ A few questions to ponder: 1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality? 2. When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual? 3. Is it possible your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of? 4. Could it be that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex? 5. If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how can you be sure you wouldn't prefer that? 6. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies? How did they react? 7. Why do heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into their lifestyle? 8. Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can't you just be what you are and keep it quiet? 9. Would you want your children to be heterosexual, knowing the problems they'd face? 10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual men. Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual male teachers, pediatricians, priests, or scoutmasters? 11. With all the societal support for marriage, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals? 12. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex? 13. Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual? 14. Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you fear s/he might be inclined to influence you in the direction of her/his own leanings? 15. Heterosexuals are notorious for assigning themselves and one another rigid, stereotyped sex roles. Why must you cling to such unhealthy role-playing? 16. With the sexually segregated living conditions of military life, isn't heterosexuality incompatible with military service? 17. How can you enjoy an emotionally fulfilling experience with a person of the other sex when there are such vast differences between you? How can a man know what pleases a woman sexually or vice-versa? 18. Shouldn't you ask your far-out straight cohorts, like skinheads and born-agains, to keep quiet? Wouldn't that improve your image? 19. Why are heterosexuals so promiscuous? 20. Why do you attribute heterosexuality to so many famous lesbian and gay people? Is it to justify your own heterosexuality? 21. How can you hope to actualize your God-given homosexual potential if you limit yourself to exclusive, compulsive heterosexuality? 22. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might enable you to change if you really want to. After all, you never deliberately chose to be a heterosexual, did you? Have you considered aversion therapy or Heterosexuals Anonymous?

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Re: Faustine's paranoia index (or: mindless OT bickering)
by faustine.＠hushmail.com 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Faustine wrote: Black Unicorn wrote: > You should be glad I've managed to avoid polluting the forum by > wasting breath responding to most of the gradeschool taunts/death > threats losers seem to get off on directing my way these days. >>Hey! I only asked you to dinner. LOL! I suppose I could figure out a way to meet you sometime so you don't know I'm "Faustine"...chalk another one up for the Index, I guess. ;) ~F. *** Apemantus' Prayer: Immortal gods, I crave no pelf; I pray for no man but myself: Grant I may never prove so fond; To trust man on his oath or bond; Or a harlot, for her weeping; Or a dog, that seems a-sleeping: Or a keeper with my freedom; Or my friends, if I should need 'em. Amen. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.1 Note: This signature can be verified at https://www.hushtools.com wl4EARECAB4FAjw3wsgXHGZhdXN0aW5lLkBodXNobWFpbC5jb20ACgkQGwpHwwWoj8WZ EACfS9sC1FT4zaJrzww/V5pjn8MrNJwAoLB4DH9GP1YM9LVbwBFe40ngopIL =zerN -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Cpunks Lauded
by John Young 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

A local NYC TV show, The Digital Age, today had David Kahn and Steve Levy discussing crypto, bin Laden and 911 with the show's host, James Goodale, former vice-chairman of the New York Times. The topic was what role encryption may have played in 911. Steve was persuasive in noting that crypto should not be singled out as a lethal technology for terrorism any more than other technology that could be put to malign uses. Cypherpunks got a plug from Steve for making encryption "hip." Though Goodale attempted to get Steve to agree that it was not a good thing for crypto to be liberated from government control, Steve wouldn't buy that, and he credited cypherpunks with a principal role in popularizing and spreading the technology, along with Phil Zimmermann's PGP effort. David Kahn agreed with Steve that there was nothing that could be done about loss of government control of encryption, the technology was out there for all to use for good or bad purposes. David reaffirmed his belief that key escrow would have been best for the country's security, but now it was no longer possible. (We heard David state that a few years back at a crypto conference in NYC.) David was emphatic that public key cryptography is the single most important invention in the entire history of cryptography. Diffie and Hellman were cited, but not the British predecessors.

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Re: Faustine's paranoia index (or: mindless OT bickering)
by faustine.＠hushmail.com 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Tim wrote: >You're a waste of electrons here. Even Agent Farr was more on-topic. Is >this some kind of ersatz chick thing? Posting about guns and survivalism is a chick thing? Sure, whatever you say. So I felt like writing about a few things from my experience that were "off topic" this week, who cares. If you find them fatuous and irrelevant, there's always the filter file. At the very least, you could stop writing substantive replies to them that generate even more off-topic content. And I do happen to think off-topic content is better than no content at all. You know, the kind of post that says nothing apart fron bitching about someone else's. Like this one. You should be glad I've managed to avoid polluting the forum by wasting breath responding to most of the gradeschool taunts/death threats losers seem to get off on directing my way these days. (I was about to include a whole paragraph of inflammatory comments regarding the aforementioned, but thought better of it. What's the point? I'm too busy and life's too short. To each his own. FOAD. Whatever.) ~Faustine. *** "When even one American--who has done nothing wrong--is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril." - -- Harry S. Truman -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.1 Note: This signature can be verified at https://www.hushtools.com wl4EARECAB4FAjw2Qq4XHGZhdXN0aW5lLkBodXNobWFpbC5jb20ACgkQGwpHwwWoj8U9 JwCfWJzoz8q0oGz7oNfxL4rtSOBONGoAn2UxCPX45CyaUsJlSZ8EgqbyUEq2 =0K13 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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FOI- Arizona Stadium Tax Nazis
by Matthew Gaylor 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

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by willy brown 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

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