September 2015 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

RE: Focusing x-rays
by wirelesswarrior＠Safe-mail.net 23 Sep '15

23 Sep '15

I actually knew the answer when I first read the post (no I didn't use a search engine to find it as I worked in aerospace) but thought it would be nice to provide an authoritative source. -------- Original Message -------- From: Peter Gutmann <pgut001(a)cs.auckland.ac.nz> To: "wirelesswarrior(a)safe-mail.net" <wirelesswarrior(a)safe-mail.net>, "jdb10987(a)yahoo.com" <jdb10987(a)yahoo.com> Cc: "cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org" <cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org> Subject: RE: Focusing x-rays Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2015 02:37:06 +0000 > wirelesswarrior(a)safe-mail.net <wirelesswarrior(a)safe-mail.net> writes: > > >Its called Grazing Incidence > > > >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_optics > > Ten out of ten for knowing what it was, but minus several million for using > Wikipedia as the reference. > > Peter.

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Re: LTE in Wi-Fi bands
by wirelesswarrior＠Safe-mail.net 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

A counter to this is to use SDR to enable WiFi mesh nets to use the LTE spectrum. -------- Original Message -------- From: Nymble <nymble(a)gmail.com> Apparently from: cypherpunks-bounces(a)cpunks.org To: "cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org" <cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org> Subject: LTE in Wi-Fi bands Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 10:52:09 -0700 > Cells phones in 2016 will start to use Wi-Fi bands for LTE: > http://goo.gl/s2Vsrz > There goes our free use of spectrum. There has been no adiquate effort by Qualcomm to demonstrate that LTE-U will compete fairly for band usage against Wi-Fi. > > > > > > On Aug 18, 2015, at 11:52 PM, Peter Fairbrother <peter(a)m-o-o-t.org> wrote: > > > > On 18/08/15 19:23, jim bell wrote: > >> *From:* Peter Fairbrother <peter(a)m-o-o-t.org> > >> > >> *Subject:* Re: Recommended Movie: "Sebastian" 1968. > >> > >> On 18/08/15 03:46, jim bell wrote: > >> > >> > >> >> Since people seem to be recommending things, I recommend the movie > >> >> "Sebastian". Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York. > >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIK3OYnD9MY > >> > >> >> Out of date even when it was made, I think it really represents the > >> >> cryptography situation as of the 1930's. > >> > >> >Based on a screenplay by Leo Marks - author of Between Silk and Cyanide: > >> >A Codemaker's War 1941-1945. > >> >Essential reading. Leo was the codemaker for SOE. All hand ciphers and > >> >agents. > >> >He wasn't at Bletchley - who called him "the one who got away" - though, > >> >and so no machine ciphers. > >> >The Silk in the title was for OTPs which could be hidden in clothing > >> >from Gestapo/SS searches. > >> >As I said, essential reading. > >> > >> > >> The tv show 60 Minutes spilled the beans about Enigma in 1975. > >> http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-ultra-secret/ > > > > > > Not sure that was the one to spill the beans. I thought it was Winterbotham's 1974 book of the same name which first got the idea across to the public; though there was a French book in 1973 as well. > > > > Like Winterbotham's book, which the TV show seems to be based on, it's also a bit confused and/or inaccurate. Much of what they tell - the conversations between Hitler and his generals, "knowing Hitler's most secret thoughts", and Hitler's message re Anzio which Gen Clark read - came from the breaking of the Lorentz SZ40, not the Enigma. Colossus, not Bombe. > > > > And the Coventry story is fiction [1]. Churchill could not have been told the target from ULTRA decrypts. The ULTRA decrypts are now available in public records, and they do not mention Coventry. > > > > > > > > [1] My theory: Probably it began as a story made up to impress the need to keep the ULTRA secret - "hey if the man at the door with the revolver who just threatened to shoot you doesn't impress you, Churchill allowed [2] the bombing of Coventry in order to keep the secret". > > > > Later the story became an accusation, then a rumour, then a play - though by the time it became a play it was becoming obvious that ULTRA wasn't involved, and the motive for allowing the bombing changed to "Impressing the Americans" [3]. > > > > I can easily imagine someone telling Winterbotham the story (Winterbotham was the one who first told the Coventry story in public). > > > > I can also imagine Winterbotham repeating the story, in confidence, in order to impress the listener with the need to keep the secret (and with W himself) so often that he didn't know whether it was true or not (he didn't claim to be personally involved). > > > > Good story, and Churchill was probably capable of it - but it ain't true. > > > > > > > > [2] not that there was anything he could have done to stop the bombing, but for the sake of the narrative .. > > > > > > [3] requiring an even wilder suspension of belief, IME > > > > > >> What most people didn't realize was that the controversy was due to the > >> fact that rotor-driven cipher machines had been continued to be sold in > >> the post-WWII era, without their weakness being recognized. This > >> allowed the CIA/GCHQ to continue to decrypt enciphered messages for > >> decades afterwards. > > > > > > Yes - but Leo Marks wasn't involved in that. He ~ stopped being a cryptographer when SOE was broken up at the end of the war. > > > > What he did was hand ciphers, for agents in occupied countries - they couldn't carry cipher machines. > > > > There is nothing else like Between Silk and Cyanide in the crypto literature. Crypto at the cutting edge, where a mistake is a painful death, and likely worse. > > > > More, it is about how a cryptographer and his work interact with the world. > > > > I would not like to have been Leo (I met him once), but hell if I don't respect him. > > > > There is a TV documentary about him, called "A Very British Psycho" - an apt title. > > > > > > > > -- Peter Fairbrother

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=?UTF-8?Q?Re: Would you work if you didn=E2=80=99t have to??=
by wirelesswarrior＠Safe-mail.net 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

I recently watched Zeitgeist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist_%28film_series%29#Synopsis_2 At least for the documentary's first half offers a very good and accessible indictment of the global monetary system and capitalism (as its practiced). -------- Original Message -------- From: Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> Apparently from: cypherpunks-bounces(a)cpunks.org To: Jim <jim.sovereign(a)optusnet.com.au> Cc: cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org Subject: Re: Would you work if you didn’t have to? Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:33:40 +0000 > Hi Jim, I remember suggesting this to M about 5 or 6 years ago. I have > not looked into the economics of it (i.e. how Australia's national > budget could make it work) and so it was heartwarming, or at least > very interesting to me, to read the article you forwarded which had a > few (small) examples in the last century where this has been trialed - > and that in at least one example, inflation went down, not up, quite > contrary to "normal economist" expectations! > > Very, very interesting. What this tells us, is that "the abundance > community" (or rather nation), can indeed work - and with robotics and > automation being spearheaded heavily this year by Japan we may well > need such a new economic model for nations in general. The fact that > it has been shown it works in at least a couple examples, is generally > great news of course. > > I experience in the "free software"/"libre computing" community - > Debian GNU/Linux, RedHat/Fedora and more, and from me-as-programmer > experience, it is a world of abundance - hackers (the good ones - i.e. > those who do stuff to benefit the community) essentially have an > abundance of the raw material or tools of trade - i.e. all you need is > a computer and away you go, you can write whatever program you think > people might enjoy using - since electricity to run your computer is > close to free - add a few solar cells and it is free. > > So in truth all the "information worker" needs to manifest their > creativity (besides their computer) is food and shelter - same for > musicians and certain other creative artists etc. > > And since the marginal cost (incremental cost) of duplicating a > (digital) song, or computer program, is very close to zero dollars > (just download it for a tiny bit of electricity expense), then when I > give my computer program to society as free/libre software, I am > causing an exponential benefit to society, since as many people as > have computers, can benefit from my creation. > > This is an "abundance economy" in action, and although I don't get > wealth in this situation where I give my computer program away, I get > credos/ ego satisfaction, recognition, esteem from my peers and or the > users of my program, and potentially a job doing something I really > enjoy (supporting users who benefit financially from my program, who > are willing to pay for some support, training, and or enhancements to > my computer program - this will normally just be the companies that > use my program - but RedHat demonstrates that it's possible to build a > billion-dollar company just supporting free software which is pretty > cool). > > As long as I can do a bit of travel, have food in my belly and a warm > couple of rooms to live in, I'm basically content and happy with life, > since it is my nature to be creative (with computers) and to give away > my creations. > > Regards, > Z > > > On 9/18/15, Jim <jim.sovereign(a)optusnet.com.au> wrote: > > The idea of universal basic income will likely become a human rights issue > > implemented by many countries due to rising under employment and > > unemployment, caused by increased technology automation reducing the demand > > for many jobs requiring menial or repetitive labour. > > > > Jim > > > > > > > > Would you work if you didn’t have to? > > > > news.com.au > > Frank Chung > > September 17, 2015 > > > > > > IF YOU were paid $30,000 by the government every year without having to lift > > a finger, would you still try to find work? > > And if you did, would you settle for a menial job cleaning toilets, or would > > you demand something more glamorous? > > > > > > More importantly, if in the next, say, 20 years, those toilets are being > > cleaned by robots, shouldn’t those now out-of-work toilet cleaners have a > > right to that $30,000? > > > > These are the questions at the heart of the debate over unconditional basic > > income — an unconventional policy idea which argues every person should be > > paid a standard amount, regardless of whether they are working or not. > > > > Like the dole, it’s meant to make sure every person in society can meet > > basic living standards. But it differs, in that there is no work requirement > > or means test — meaning you could have a job and pocket the $30,000 cash on > > top of your wage, or not work at all and live off the $30,000 alone. > > > > Some conservatives like the idea because it would theoretically streamline > > and simplify complex systems of social security payments and subsidies, > > cutting down administrative costs. > > > > It’s already being trialled in the Netherlands with 300 residents of the > > town of Utrecht among a number of Dutch pilot sites, while the Indian > > government has also embraced the idea, and previous small-scale experiments > > have been hailed as great successes. > > > > A new lobby group has formed in the US, Basic Income Action, to coincide > > with the eighth International Basic Income Week, and the campaign to give > > every human being a basic minimum wage, no questions asked, appears to be > > picking up steam. > > > > The group, taking a cue from recent similar campaigns around gay marriage > > and marijuana legalisation, has launched a petition calling on US > > presidential candidates to support basic income. > > > > “Basic income is a remarkably powerful and timely idea, and Basic Income > > Action will be a great resource for longtime activists and people who are > > learning about this for the first time,” said Steven Shafarman, author of > > the upcoming book The Basic Income Imperative. > > > > It’s not a new idea, but with rising under- and unemployment, increasing > > cost of living and low to negative real wage growth — not to mention the > > growing automation of menial jobs — basic income has become a popular cause > > of the Left. > > > > Canadian author Naomi Klein recently released a manifesto which, along with > > universal childcare and an end to international trade deals, called for a > > universal basic income. > > > > Next year, Switzerland will hold a referendum on the issue after a petition > > gained more than 100,000 signatures, although the government has come out > > against the idea, urging its citizens to vote ‘no’. > > > > It’s an idea which appeals to both sides of the political spectrum. > > > > Classic liberal economists including Milton Friedman supported the idea in > > the form of a ‘reverse tax’, or a threshold under which, rather than the > > government taking your money, it pays you. > > > > Progressives, who often throw around terms like ‘wage slavery’ when > > discussing universal income, see it as a way of expanding the social safety > > net and elevating the human condition above the drudgery of performing > > soul-crushing jobs just to survive. > > > > The key question is whether people can be trusted not to sit around doing > > nothing. Conservatives naturally assume the worst of people, while > > progressives hope for the best. > > > > Arguments against the idea are generally that one, we can’t possibly afford > > it; and two, it would dampen labour market participation by removing > > incentive to work, putting greater tax pressure on those who do. > > > > A study conducted 40 years ago in the tiny Canadian farming town of Dauphin, > > Manitoba, found the payments actually had a “social multiplier effect”, and > > despite the fears of a dip in labour, people still had the incentive to work > > more hours rather than less. > > > > One big danger in implementing such a system, however, would be pressure > > from the welfare lobby to apply different loadings for various interest > > groups, undermining the generic distribution. > > > > Mikayla Novak, senior research fellow with free-market think-tank the > > Institute of Public Affairs, wrote in 2013 that while basic income was a > > seductive idea for people of “varied philosophical persuasions”, it could > > “risk ending up as another initiative in which good intentions do not align > > with desirable results”. > > > > Another common criticism of basic income is that it would lead to inflation > > — if everyone has more money, everything would cost more. > > > > Writing in Medium, basic income advocate Scott Santens provides two > > real-world examples where that proved not to be the case: Alaska in 1982, > > and Kuwait in 2011. In both cases, inflation actually decreased after the > > government introduced a partial basic income to citizens. > > > > Supporters argue that in general, since the income is provided by the > > government through existing, not printed money, the inflationary effects > > should be minimal. > > > > He told Motherboard the momentum which was lost in the 1970s was coming back > > and, due to advances in technology, was “here to stay”. > > > > “Step one to all of this is growing the conversation for basic income to a > > critical mass and connecting the people who believe it needs to happen,” he > > said. “And that’s what BIA is for, to grow and connect, and to win.” > > > > http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/would-you-work-if-you-didnt-have-to/… > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >

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Bitcoin exchanges.
by Edd thompson 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

Is there and way a person can get their paycheck direct deposit to a Bitcoin? So instead of a deposit to a checking account it goes to an exchange that converts it for you? And then is there a good way to access currency in rural areas? I have seen a few videos and read overviews but they never get to how to make it practical for people not in big cities, hell it just doesn't seem practical at all unless you live near an exchange or are willing to do credit card transactions that cost on top of the exchange and make the currency traceable.

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Old-style encryption
by jim bell 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-cracks-mafia-sheep-code-arrest-godfathers-hench… Italy cracks Mafia sheep code to arrest Godfather's henchmen By Ella Ide 1 hour ago Rome (AFP) - Italian police on Monday arrested 11 suspects linked to the fugitive head of the Sicilian Mafia, including a former boss who ran a secret message system for the mobster using a sheep-based code. Matteo Messina Denaro, 53, who has been on the run since 1993, used a farm in Mazara del Vallo to communicate with his henchmen via the aged-old method of "pizzini", bits of paper containing messages often written in cipher, police said. Among those arrested was former boss Vito Gondola, 77, whose job it was to call the clan members to alert them to each new message, which was placed under a rock in a field at the farm and often destroyed on the spot after reading. "I've put the ricotta cheese aside for you, will you come by later?" he would say on the telephone -- a phrase investigators said had nothing to do with dairy products. "The sheep need shearing... the shears need sharpening" and "the hay is ready", were among other code phrases used to alert the gang to a new message, written on tightly folded bits of paper wrapped in Sellotape and then hidden in the dirt. The police investigation, which followed the passing of messages between 2011 and 2014, used hidden cameras and microphones around the farm near Trapani in western Sicily to follow the movements of the clan -- and discover Denaro's fading glory. View gallery Gondola is caught in one conversation telling another mobster that Denaro -- once a trigger man who reportedly boasted he could "fill a cemetery" with his victims -- was losing control over the latest generation of criminals, who "disappear without saying anything". - 'State win, Mafia loses' - Three of those arrested were over 70 years old. The only known photos of Denaro date back to the early 1990s. He is believed to be the successor of the godfathers Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, who are both serving life sentences, but less is known about him. At the height of his power he had a reputation as a flashy, ruthless womaniser who ruled over at least 900 men with an iron fist. View gallery The 11 suspects arrested "were the men who were closest to Denaro right now," said police official Renato Cortese, adding that it was "too early to say" whether the sting would help investigators close in on the fugitive. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi thanked the investigators in a message on his Facebook page, saying onwards all, to finally capture the super-fugitive boss," insisting "Italy is united against organised crime" despite a recent slew of corruption scandals in the country. "The state wins, the Mafia loses," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Twitter. Gondola, who despite his age rose every morning at 4 am to tend to his flock, is believed to have once been a right-hand man to Riina. In the 1970s he belonged to a gang used by the Mafia to carry out kidnappings, according to Italian media reports. The Sicilian Mafia, known as "Cosa Nostra" or "Our Thing", was the country's most powerful organised crime syndicate in the 1980s and 1990s, but has seen its power diminish following years of investigations and mass arrests. It also faces fierce underworld competition from the increasingly powerful Naples-based Camorra and Calabria's 'Ndrangheta.

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M.Hearn adds privacy depriority to Bitcoin XT, calls your Tor/Proxy/etc use "unimportant"
by grarpamp 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

http://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-August/010379.h… https://github.com/bitcoinxt/bitcoinxt/commit/73c9efe74c5cc8faea9c2b2c785a2… Bitcoin XT contains an unmentioned addition which periodically downloads lists of Tor IP addresses for blacklisting, this has considerable privacy implications for hapless users which are being prompted to use the software. The feature is not clearly described, is enabled by default, and has a switch name which intentionally downplays what it is doing (disableipprio). Furthermore these claimed anti-DoS measures are trivially bypassed and so offer absolutely no protection whatsoever. ...

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Bitnation system. Looks interesting.
by jim bell 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

http://bitnovosti.com/2015/06/04/bitnation-pangea-releases-alpha-governance… It's in Russian.Here is the automatic translation: Bitnation released blokcheyn system of public administration BY IMPGUN on 2015/06/04 • (53)Bitnation, project development blokcheyn system of public administration 2.0, headed by charismatic founder Suzanne Tarkovsky-Templhof (Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof), released an alpha version of the platformBitnation Pangea. The release is version 0.1.0, and can not boast of stability and broad functionality, but it is based on the idea of a truly revolutionary and can have important consequences.«Bitnation - an operating system for the public administration 2.0, designed to undermine the oligopoly of nation states due to more convenient, secure and cost-effective management services, - said Bitcoin Magazine Templhof Tarkovsky, who worked for many years in various troubled regions of the world. - As the world due to globalization leaves the current paradigm of the nation-state, it is possible to implement a completely new solution that enables service providers to many competing public administration to take the place of states which for centuries maintained its geographical monopoly violent means. "Developers Bitnation Pangea want to create a platform for the world's first nation to blokcheyne that would provide all the services of traditional states and replace them with voluntary communities. The ultimate goal Bitnation - to create a new world in which everyone will be able to choose their nation, few nations do not choose none at all, or even create their own nation on the platform Bitnation. "The alternative, which is now leaning to the world - a global organization in the spirit of the United Nations that the management plan will be even worse than the current structures, because they will try to mow one size fits all - says Tarkovsky-Templhof. - We strive to Bitnation prevent this development by creating an environment of competing service providers using blokcheyn Bitcoin - in fact, to develop a protocol kriptonatsy open source. " The core platform consists of a system for tracking identity and reputation (passport Bitnation), of dispute resolution, the notary and libraries (decentralized) management applications in the style of "do it yourself", with which users can create, upload to the network, spread in share or sell their own (decentralized) management applications. The plans - services for marriages and wills, contracts for child care, birth certificates of land ownership, the establishment of corporations and trade interests in them, unemployment insurance and health insurance, pensions, security and diplomatic services.Alpha release, which is updated in real time in response to user feedback in discussion groups Bitnation, already includes some interesting features such as the ability to register blokcheyne document with a time stamp.Previous pilot projects include Bitnation first marriage registered in blokcheyne, and first-blokcheyn passport. Bitnation also developed land registry and successfully tested it in Ghana, where 70% of the land is not registered any property rights, which discourages investment and lending on the security of land.After studying many blokcheyn protocols developers Bitnation for the release of the first release of Pangea joined forces with the founders of Project Horizon and Blocknet. The alpha version used blokcheyn Horizon, but the technology will support Blocknet and other blokcheynov. According to Tarkovsky-Templhof, future releases will not be limited Pangea blokcheynami altkoynov, and be able to use blokcheyn Bitcoin, which should positively influence the prospects of the project. «Bitnation - it is a truly innovative concept, and we are pleased to provide them with a platform for development - said Arlene Kalvik (Arlyn Culwick), one of the project participants Blocknet. - We believe that providing interaction blokcheynov, Blocknet will help unlock the full potential of blokcheyn technologies. "«Bitnation - a revolutionary idea, which we believe will radically change the world for the better - said Tarkovsky-Templhof in the previous press release. - And yet, as we are the first one who really tries to challenge the relevance of the construct of nation-states to implement existing ideas is sometimes not easy. " One of the main problems is the financing of the project, so the group Bitnation, which until recently largely relied on the efforts of volunteers willing to accept moderate investment by business angels, to create a more solid basis for development.Giulio Prisco (Guilio Prisco), May 20, 2015Source: bitcoinmagazine.com

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Re: Is this crypto paper real or fake?
by Georgi Guninski 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

On Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 12:53:08PM -0700, Alice Wonder wrote: > > > On 09/21/2015 03:58 AM, Peter Fairbrother wrote: > >>secp112r1 : SECG/WTLS curve over a 112 bit prime field > >>secp112r2 : SECG curve over a 112 bit prime field > > > >Yes. Pwnable. > > > > I did not ask the question but thank you for your answer. I was a > math major back in the early 90s but never really went that way > career wise, but with the weak DH parameter revelations this topic > has suddenly become a lot more interesting to me, and clearly I have > a lot to learn. It is nice to see answers like yours that I can at > least somewhat comprehend without hours of research. > > And I think that is part of the problem, while all programming > involves some math, most of us do not have good enough of a grasp of > cryptography to understand when we are doing something that can be > broken or circumvented. (CC'ing cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org for trolling reasons). Your argument raises the question about the soundness of the so called ``theory of many eyes''. libressl/openssl ship elliptic curves of low quality, and they can be detected by man documented command. The low quality of the curves can be checked by going to wikipedia's page about ECC dlog records. AFAICT they probably implemented backdoored RFC (don't know if they knew it is backdoored). This raises the question about more obscure features buried in, say, obscure macros, misleading comments, etc. No math knowledge required, but the low quality curves are weaker that the backdoored DSA via generic dlog attack, unless DSA allows much faster dlog in the small subgroup by exploiting the sub-exponential attack of dlog modulo $p$ (or some other attack).

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Re: Would you work if you didn’t have to?
by Zenaan Harkness 22 Sep '15

22 Sep '15

Hi Jim, I remember suggesting this to M about 5 or 6 years ago. I have not looked into the economics of it (i.e. how Australia's national budget could make it work) and so it was heartwarming, or at least very interesting to me, to read the article you forwarded which had a few (small) examples in the last century where this has been trialed - and that in at least one example, inflation went down, not up, quite contrary to "normal economist" expectations! Very, very interesting. What this tells us, is that "the abundance community" (or rather nation), can indeed work - and with robotics and automation being spearheaded heavily this year by Japan we may well need such a new economic model for nations in general. The fact that it has been shown it works in at least a couple examples, is generally great news of course. I experience in the "free software"/"libre computing" community - Debian GNU/Linux, RedHat/Fedora and more, and from me-as-programmer experience, it is a world of abundance - hackers (the good ones - i.e. those who do stuff to benefit the community) essentially have an abundance of the raw material or tools of trade - i.e. all you need is a computer and away you go, you can write whatever program you think people might enjoy using - since electricity to run your computer is close to free - add a few solar cells and it is free. So in truth all the "information worker" needs to manifest their creativity (besides their computer) is food and shelter - same for musicians and certain other creative artists etc. And since the marginal cost (incremental cost) of duplicating a (digital) song, or computer program, is very close to zero dollars (just download it for a tiny bit of electricity expense), then when I give my computer program to society as free/libre software, I am causing an exponential benefit to society, since as many people as have computers, can benefit from my creation. This is an "abundance economy" in action, and although I don't get wealth in this situation where I give my computer program away, I get credos/ ego satisfaction, recognition, esteem from my peers and or the users of my program, and potentially a job doing something I really enjoy (supporting users who benefit financially from my program, who are willing to pay for some support, training, and or enhancements to my computer program - this will normally just be the companies that use my program - but RedHat demonstrates that it's possible to build a billion-dollar company just supporting free software which is pretty cool). As long as I can do a bit of travel, have food in my belly and a warm couple of rooms to live in, I'm basically content and happy with life, since it is my nature to be creative (with computers) and to give away my creations. Regards, Z On 9/18/15, Jim <jim.sovereign(a)optusnet.com.au> wrote: > The idea of universal basic income will likely become a human rights issue > implemented by many countries due to rising under employment and > unemployment, caused by increased technology automation reducing the demand > for many jobs requiring menial or repetitive labour. > > Jim > > > > Would you work if you didn’t have to? > > news.com.au > Frank Chung > September 17, 2015 > > > IF YOU were paid $30,000 by the government every year without having to lift > a finger, would you still try to find work? > And if you did, would you settle for a menial job cleaning toilets, or would > you demand something more glamorous? > > > More importantly, if in the next, say, 20 years, those toilets are being > cleaned by robots, shouldn’t those now out-of-work toilet cleaners have a > right to that $30,000? > > These are the questions at the heart of the debate over unconditional basic > income — an unconventional policy idea which argues every person should be > paid a standard amount, regardless of whether they are working or not. > > Like the dole, it’s meant to make sure every person in society can meet > basic living standards. But it differs, in that there is no work requirement > or means test — meaning you could have a job and pocket the $30,000 cash on > top of your wage, or not work at all and live off the $30,000 alone. > > Some conservatives like the idea because it would theoretically streamline > and simplify complex systems of social security payments and subsidies, > cutting down administrative costs. > > It’s already being trialled in the Netherlands with 300 residents of the > town of Utrecht among a number of Dutch pilot sites, while the Indian > government has also embraced the idea, and previous small-scale experiments > have been hailed as great successes. > > A new lobby group has formed in the US, Basic Income Action, to coincide > with the eighth International Basic Income Week, and the campaign to give > every human being a basic minimum wage, no questions asked, appears to be > picking up steam. > > The group, taking a cue from recent similar campaigns around gay marriage > and marijuana legalisation, has launched a petition calling on US > presidential candidates to support basic income. > > “Basic income is a remarkably powerful and timely idea, and Basic Income > Action will be a great resource for longtime activists and people who are > learning about this for the first time,” said Steven Shafarman, author of > the upcoming book The Basic Income Imperative. > > It’s not a new idea, but with rising under- and unemployment, increasing > cost of living and low to negative real wage growth — not to mention the > growing automation of menial jobs — basic income has become a popular cause > of the Left. > > Canadian author Naomi Klein recently released a manifesto which, along with > universal childcare and an end to international trade deals, called for a > universal basic income. > > Next year, Switzerland will hold a referendum on the issue after a petition > gained more than 100,000 signatures, although the government has come out > against the idea, urging its citizens to vote ‘no’. > > It’s an idea which appeals to both sides of the political spectrum. > > Classic liberal economists including Milton Friedman supported the idea in > the form of a ‘reverse tax’, or a threshold under which, rather than the > government taking your money, it pays you. > > Progressives, who often throw around terms like ‘wage slavery’ when > discussing universal income, see it as a way of expanding the social safety > net and elevating the human condition above the drudgery of performing > soul-crushing jobs just to survive. > > The key question is whether people can be trusted not to sit around doing > nothing. Conservatives naturally assume the worst of people, while > progressives hope for the best. > > Arguments against the idea are generally that one, we can’t possibly afford > it; and two, it would dampen labour market participation by removing > incentive to work, putting greater tax pressure on those who do. > > A study conducted 40 years ago in the tiny Canadian farming town of Dauphin, > Manitoba, found the payments actually had a “social multiplier effect”, and > despite the fears of a dip in labour, people still had the incentive to work > more hours rather than less. > > One big danger in implementing such a system, however, would be pressure > from the welfare lobby to apply different loadings for various interest > groups, undermining the generic distribution. > > Mikayla Novak, senior research fellow with free-market think-tank the > Institute of Public Affairs, wrote in 2013 that while basic income was a > seductive idea for people of “varied philosophical persuasions”, it could > “risk ending up as another initiative in which good intentions do not align > with desirable results”. > > Another common criticism of basic income is that it would lead to inflation > — if everyone has more money, everything would cost more. > > Writing in Medium, basic income advocate Scott Santens provides two > real-world examples where that proved not to be the case: Alaska in 1982, > and Kuwait in 2011. In both cases, inflation actually decreased after the > government introduced a partial basic income to citizens. > > Supporters argue that in general, since the income is provided by the > government through existing, not printed money, the inflationary effects > should be minimal. > > He told Motherboard the momentum which was lost in the 1970s was coming back > and, due to advances in technology, was “here to stay”. > > “Step one to all of this is growing the conversation for basic income to a > critical mass and connecting the people who believe it needs to happen,” he > said. “And that’s what BIA is for, to grow and connect, and to win.” > > http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/would-you-work-if-you-didnt-have-to/… > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >

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Re: Your paper on criminal contracts
by jim bell 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

Your paper: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uac… Thank you for your reply, Dr. Juels, Once you read my essay, I think you will understand my concern about the motivation for your research, and its potential consequences. Superficially, and certainly to someone unfamiliar with my idea (Assassination Politics essay), I'm sure it sounds useful and indeed beneficial to try to prevent the construction and operation of "criminal contracts". One problem that I see, as a lifetime libertarian, is that "criminal" may mean no more than "what the government wants to ban" rather than an actual victim crime. Worse, governments are powerfully motivated to prevent developments that will someday likely destroy them. I suggest that you study the analyses of Bob Vroman http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009ape , http://www.mail-archive.com/cypherpunks-moderated@minder.net/msg02068.html and of Bob Murphy, www.anti-state.com/murphy/murphy17.html (although the Murphy essay might not be available, except as an archive.) as well as by R. Sukumaran http://www.idsa.in/strategicanalysis/CryptologyDigitalAssassinationandtheTe…. Further, consider https://github.com/isislovecruft/patternsinthevoid/blob/master/content/anar… https://c4ss.org/content/1157 series -- anti-state.com https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarcho_Capitalism/comments/2jo578/arguments_for_a… There is a lot more where this comes from. Keep in mind that when I wrote the AP essay, technologies such as Tor, Bitcoin, and especially Ethereum and Augur simply did not exist. But today they do, or at least they soon will. And that, I consider to be an extremely good thing. So perhaps you will understand that I consider that trying to prevent _all_ "criminal contracts" from being formed is a major, and indeed dangerous mistake. While I do not believe that such an effort can ever succeed, I think it would be best not to try. Jim Bell From: Ari Juels <juels(a)cornell.edu> To: jim bell <jdb10987(a)yahoo.com> Cc: "runting(a)gmail.com" <runting(a)gmail.com>; "akosba(a)cs.umd.edu" <akosba(a)cs.umd.edu> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 2:32 PM Subject: Re: Your paper on criminal contracts Dear Mr. Bell, Thank you for your original note and follow-up. We’re indeed planning to read your essay and cite it as appropriate in our next paper revision (slated to come out in January). Yours, AJ From: jim bell <jdb10987(a)yahoo.com> To: "juels(a)cornell.edu" <juels(a)cornell.edu>; "runting(a)gmail.com" <runting(a)gmail.com>; "akosba(a)cs.umd.edu" <akosba(a)cs.umd.edu>; Cpunks List <cypherpunks(a)cpunks.org> Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 10:14 AM Subject: Your paper on criminal contracts Dear Professors Juels (http://www.arijuels.com/) and Shi (runting(a)gmail.com) and Ahmed Kosba akosba(a)cs.umd.edu : I've found a reference to your recent paper, http://www.initc3.org/publications.html. "The Ring of Gyges: Using Smart Contracts for Crime." Perhaps you are not aware, but 20 years ago (1995-6) I wrote an essay on a very similar subject. I called it "Assassination Politics". cryptome.org/ap.htm . Jim Bell

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