June 2016 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

the challenge of becoming an anarchist - why nearly everyone's a statist
by Zenaan Harkness 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

It seems that nearly everyone in this day and age is a statist to some degree, Juan excepted :) Why is this so, I have asked myself. The state is a bully, and no one has escaped the experiences of being bullied by the state - RBTs, license checks, seizing of bank accounts outside of any court hearing nor any chance for the target to be heard in a court of law with a righteous jurisdiction; and anyway, the courts, that last bastion of freedom and justice against the tyranny of the state, is almost completely, systemically, instutitionally corrupt by any common man standard. The state seizes taxes at every corner, violates our constitutions, unilaterally attacks other states, and conspires year after year to increase the burdens and the violations of its own constituents, namely we the people. The state (whether USA, Australia, etc) is nowadays so abhorrent, so in violation of the constitution which created it, so outside of ethics, morals, anything resembling higher causes or principles, it really is a beast of epic proportion which must be slayed or transformed, or the descent to total chaos war and bloodshed will once again happen, just another war to end all wars. Yet nearly everyone still clings to the state. Whether implicitly (it's the best history has given us, other options would of course be so much worse) or explicitly (driver licenses are our only hope to rid the world of evil environment destroying cars). 'We' have lost faith in our fellow humans to a high degree. We don't trust ourselves and so we don't trust our fellow 'citizens'. We put money, creativity, leisure, life, family, mortgage and the rest before any higher principle, in denial of the magnificence of that which we be, that which we are, these incredible universes we stroll around in. We expect "others won't stand behind me if I did take a stand against a bully or a tyranny, because deep down I know I am probably unlikely to get behind someone else taking a stand - especially since I haven't seen myself do so yet, so I have no evidence suggesting I'm that way inclined, so it's most likely true." We hail the heroes "oh I think it's awesome that history proves that someone comes along to fix things up every now and then - at a minimum on average of every 400 years". Yes this and endless more excuses for not supporing your local freedom "fighters" even in a small way, fatalism is just one more excuse. I've heard so many of them. 'We' live in golden cages. By historical standards, almost everyone in the West can eat cheesecake every day, travel to friends and sights and events one way or another, drape ourselves in silk and suede, or lounge on the beach. And the gold cage is never enough, the car or pushbike really needs to be newer, faster, with better suspension, and I want more and my kids need to go to more activities and events and and and... I have my life to live. And the state redistributes the wealth of others to make our golden cages. So we encage one another, binding our fellow man to tyranny, binding ourselves to self serving, self centered, selfish non action. Sleepwalking in comfort whilst the beast prepares its final meal. Gee it's great that heroes come along and solve such problems in history occasionally... now don't interrupt me whilst I shout down your Trump rebellion and screem the benefits of The Democratic Platform notwithstanding the evil that my state has become regardless. Cowards most of us.

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In support of Spooner: dominion, and the Christian Bible as a legal document
by Zenaan Harkness 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

Lysander Spooner's pamphlet on Natural Justice: "The Science of Justice" http://www.panarchy.org/spooner/law.1882.html Quoting Spooner: "If there be such a natural principle as justice, it is necessarily the highest, and consequently the only and universal, law for all those matters to which it is naturally applicable. And, of consequently, all human legislation is simply and always an assumption of authority and dominion, where no right of authority or dominion exists. It is, therefore, simply and always an intrusion, an absurdity, a usurpation, and a crime." Quoting the King James Bible, Authorised Edition: Genesis: "1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." In Australia, our federal Constitution (the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901, clause 9), invokes the Blessing of Almighty God, and references the bible, the King James Bible Authorised Edition to be precise. This foundation may be useful to those confronting a purported court. There is likely a similar foundation in America. By my understanding of Spooner, "natural law" and "natural justice" is universal natural principal needing no statute to define it, which would demonstrate a contradiction - if justice, right and wrong, requires a law to define it, then it is no longer a natural / universal principal. Our current predominant "shared common delusions" include courts, and police carrying guns requiring we go to court (or arresting us and taking us there by physical force). So we face the current reality of our society as it is, not as we would like it to be. It is in this context that getting back to the foundations of the founding fathers, and the principles of natural justice and dominion, and making use of those documents held in some regard and referenced, and at the very foundation of our constitution (at least here in Australia) by our founding fathers, namely the King James Bible, may have a utilitarian value in handling the current reality we face ourselves within. It's perhaps a great blessing that Spooner never finished his voluminous treatise on natural justice, since this pamphlet, the limit of his treatise, is so short even a slow reader with attention deficit disorder has hope to focus for long enough, over a few sittings, to get through this short list of paragraphs. I suggest this Lysander Spooner's pamphlet be required reading for all and sundry. Help spread the word - I shall.

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synchronicity - historical quotes on Natural Justice
by Zenaan Harkness 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

Just received the below from a totally different channel. It's in the air. 1722 seems to be missing a word, perhaps "possessions"? 1859 omits "or for the restitution of a damage caused by him to another" otherwise we're saying once a crime (e.g. of theft) has occurred, no restitution is permitted in natural law, which I would (hopefully obviously) disagree with. : 300s BC Epicurus Natural Justice is a symbol or expression of usefulness, to prevent one person from harming or being harmed by another. 900s Islamic Theologians Man can rationally know that man has a right to life and property. 1689 John Locke Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions. 1682 Samuel von Pufendorf Among the absolute duties of anybody to anybody, the first place belongs to this one: let no one injure another. For this is the broadest of all duties, embracing all men as such. 1722 William Wollaston No man can have the right to begin to interrupt the happiness of another yet every man has a right to defend himself and his against violence 1790 Mary Wollstonecraft The birthright of man is such a degree of liberty, civil and religious, as is compatible with the liberty of every other individual 1816 Thomas Jefferson Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add within the limits of the law because law is often but the tyrants will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him. 1851 Herbert Spencer Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man. 1859 John Stuart Mill The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over a member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. 1961 Ayn Rand The precondition of a civilized society is the barring of physical force from social relationships 1963 Murray Rothbard No one may threaten or commit violence (aggress) against another mans person or property. Violence may be employed only against the man who commits such violence; that is, only defensively against the aggressive violence of another. In short, no violence may be employed against a non-aggressor. Here is the fundamental rule from which can be deduced the entire corpus of libertarian theory. L. Neil Smith No one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, nor to delegate its initiation. Walter Block It shall be legal for anyone to do anything he wants, provided only that he not initiate (or threaten) violence against the person or legitimately owned property of another. ----- End forwarded message -----

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Call for translators - panarchy.org
by Zenaan Harkness 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

A job, a job, a very very very fine job. Those who are able to translate between languages, or tidy up translate.google.com 's translations at least, may be inspired in the coming years to contribute fine tuned translation of a document at panarchy.org - e.g. search 1934 on the front page for an Italian document with no English translation (reading and speaking only English, I selfishly promote translations to English :) For humble objective self satisfaction, anonymous contributions I am sure will be welcomed with gratitude. For a public ack and some mutual admiration backslapping, a note to this list is in order. In fact, a note regarding a new translation by an anonymous contributor would also be greatly appreciated.

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A disputation of Spooner?
by Zenaan Harkness 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

Been referred a couple of times now, and finally spent the necessary time to properly absorb Spooner's The Science of Justice. I am indebted to those who have encouraged me to do so. Thanks in particular to the quiet and gentle persistence of Juan. So. Very. Compelling. Who, if anyone, disputes, could dispute, might dispute, or suggests any possible dispute whatsoever, of any of the foundations Lysander states in such simple terms, and if so, which ones (quote of relevant verbiage appreciated)? : http://www.panarchy.org/spooner/law.1882.html Black and white absolutes allowed, nuanced views encouraged, statists, fascists, nihilists, anarchists and all others encouraged, presumptions tolerated, projections gladly received, ad homs and straw men shall be summarily mocked and enjoyed by all. <drum roll> <royal trumpets introducing the knights of the argumentus> <pallid and slightly high pitched eunuchian voice> Hear ye! Hear ye! By royal order of the ghostly spirit of Lord Spooner, Let the disputations begin.

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How Citizen Diplomacy Broke Through the Iron Curtain
by Zenaan Harkness 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

With the endless NATO approach to Russia's borders, Poland and Baltic states putting bullseyes on their foreheads with America's supposedly "anti" ballistic missile "shield", endless anti Russian MSM propaganda and known psychopathic criminals in charge of most (or all) of the western ICBM nuclear bomb arsenal from USA to UK, and what looks on the face of it to be pretty serious ongoing escalations as we speak, the following is I say quite apt for the times, a good reminder that the stereotypes (Russian state is repressive, Putin's a fascist, Russians are drunkards and madmen all the way down) fail in the face of meeting actual fellow humans, with their own families, mothers, grandfathers, children, hopes, tragedies and loves. We are all human. ------------- How Citizen Diplomacy Broke Through the Iron Curtain http://www.opednews.com/articles/Lessons-for-Peace-from-Bac-by-David-Swanso… http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/lessons-peace-back-ussr/ri14805 One American woman determined to visit the USSR ignored US government warnings and established more contacts and learned more about the country than US officials had in decades David Swanson In the early 1980s almost nobody from the United States traveled to the Soviet Union or vice versa. The Soviets wouldn't let anybody out, and good Americans were disinclined to visit the Evil Empire. But a woman in California named Sharon Tennison took the threat of nuclear war with the seriousness it deserved and still deserves. She got a group of friends together and asked the Russian consulate for permission to visit Russia, make friends, and learn. Russia said fine. The U.S. government, in the form of the FBI and USAID, told them not to go, warned that they would not be permitted to move freely once there, and generally communicated that they, the U.S. government employees, had internalized their own propaganda. Tennison and company went anyway, had a wonderful experience, and spoke at events with slide shows upon their return, thus attracting many more people for the next trip. Now it was Tennison's turn to brief the flabbergasted and ignorant U.S. government staff who had virtually no actual knowledge of Russia beyond what she gave them. This was back in the day when President Ronald "Is this a film or reality?" Reagan said that 20 million dead Americans would be acceptable in a war. Yet the so-called intelligence so-called community didn't know its assets from its elbows. War as a "last resort" was being considered without having considered literally any other resorts. Someone had to step in, and Sharon Tennison decided she'd try. Those first trips took courage, to defy the U.S. government, and to operate in a Soviet Union still monitored by a nasty KGB. But the Americans went with friendship, were generally permitted to go wherever they wanted, and encountered friendship in return. They also encountered knowledge of cultural differences, the influences of history, political and social habits both admirable and lamentable. They became, in fact, a bridge between two worlds, experts on each for the other. They expanded their work as Gorbachev came to power and the USSR opened up. They hired staff and opened offices in both countries. They sponsored and facilitated all variety of exchanges from art schools to Rotary clubs to police officers to environmentalists. They began bringing Russians to the United States as well as the reverse. They spoke all over the United States, even -- in some examples Tennison gives in her book The Power of Impossible Ideas -- converting gung-ho members of the U.S. weapons industry into volunteers and staff (in one case a man lost his job at General Dynamics as penalty for associating with them, but this freed him to more closely associate). Tennison's organization worked on sister cities, citizen diplomacy, alcoholics anonymous, and economic development. The latter would, over the years, become increasingly central and certainly focused on privatization and Americanization in a manner that might well be criticized. But it was not U.S. citizen diplomats who created the oligarchs of the 1990s or any culture of oligarch admiration. In fact, Tennison and her philanthropists made grants to Russians dependent on their making donations to others, working to build a culture of philanthropy. Alcoholics Anonymous can also be criticized, of course, but this was an effort to assist Russians with a real problem, not to threaten them with nuclear annihilation. All of these projects built relationships that have lasted and that have influenced U.S. policy for the better. Through the 1990s, the projects evolved to include food and financial donations, orphanages, aid modeled on the Marshall Plan's Productivity Tours, the creation of urban gardens and sustainable agriculture, and numerous business-training initiatives. Tennison met Vladimir Putin before he rose to power. She also met and advised top officials in the U.S. government. She accepted huge grants from USAID, the agency that had advised her never to begin her work. Of course, USAID has been involved in coups and hostile propaganda around the world, and a closer look at that problematic association might have been helpful in The Power of Impossible Ideas. But the work Tennison describes was all for the better, including taking U.S. Congressional leaders to dine in ordinary Russian homes. (I wonder how many current U.S. Congress members have done that.) I can't possibly recount all the amazing stories in Tennison's book, which lives up to its vague and extravagant title; I strongly recommend you read it yourself. The critical development in the later chapters is the diversion Tennison encountered between reality and U.S. media. She found Putin to be a force for reconciliation, and the U.S. media to be intent on demonization -- at least from the moment that Russia refused to participate in attacking Iraq in 2003. Putin had tried to partner with the United States, challenging the demands of Russian hardliners. He allowed the U.S. to use Russian bases in Central Asia. He overlooked the United States withdrawing from the ABM treaty. He accepted NATO expansion right to Russia's border. He supported, up to a point, the U.S. "war on terrorism." Washington didn't care. "During the 2000s," writes Tennison, "I watched as the reservoir of goodwill from the Gorbachev/Reagan years evaporated." In 2004 the State Department cut off its funding for Tennison's work. In 2006 the Council on Foreign Relations produced a report hostile toward Russia. That same year, Russia gave the United States the 10-story-tall monument that stands in Bayonne, New Jersey, but it was too late to have the U.S. media inform many people of it. In 2007, the U.S. was pushing to get Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Now, following the Ukrainian coup, the U.S. is seeking "partnerships" with NATO for those nations. The U.S. also announced its plans to put Ronnie's "Star Wars" into Poland and the Czech Republic, later changed to Poland and Romania. Finally, Putin began pushing back, warning against aggression toward Russia. In 2007, Tennison brought a group of 100 Russians to Washington, D.C., to speak to Congress. But the hostility only increased. (By 2016 Pentagon staff would be openly saying ( http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/army-internal-fight-russia-d… ) the motivation of this hostility is bureaucratic and profit-driven.) In 2008, Tennison and others in her organization ( http://ccisf.org/ ) launched a blog ( http://russiaotherpointsofview.com/ ) to correct bad U.S. media. But with tensions growing ever worse ( http://davidswanson.org/node/5151 ), Tennison has lately returned to where she started and begun taking groups of interested Americans to visit Russian cities and get to know members of the demonized foreign land. These trips are as badly needed as they were in the 1980s, though they may require less courage. In fact, what seems to me to require the most courage, or the greatest delusion, is to not participate in this potentially world-saving project.

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Fwd: [tor-talk] CULT OF THE DEAD COW Statement on Jacob Appelbaum / ioerror
by Cari Machet 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

The dead rise ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "ja.talk" <ja.talk(a)yandex.com> Date: Jun 7, 2016 10:10 PM Subject: [tor-talk] CULT OF THE DEAD COW Statement on Jacob Appelbaum / ioerror To: <tor-talk(a)lists.torproject.org> Cc: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2853643-Jacob-Appelbaum-CULT-of-the… https://www.facebook.com/cultdeadcow/posts/10157076402890360 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 06-June-2016 CULT OF THE DEAD COW Statement on Jacob Appelbaum / ioerror Like much of the hacker community, we were troubled to hear the allegations of sexual abuse, manipulation, and bullying leveled against one of our members, Jacob Appelbaum, A.K.A. ioerror. We’re also aware that the Tor Project is conducting an internal investigation, and encourage anyone with relevant testimony to come forward. For some, it won’t be easy. There can be shaming or humiliation, or the fear of not being believed. It is also our responsibility to create an environment where people feel safe to come forward. We have always stood for freedom of speech and expression, which sometimes necessitates the right to anonymity. This is something that victims of abuse often require. We stand by their right to be anonymous. Others, like our friend Nick Farr, who decided to go public with his own difficulties, deserve our respect and support. Everyone will do this in their own way. We know that it may be scary, but we also encourage victims to contact their appropriate local authorities. We understand the complicated relationship we all have with law enforcement, but there is a time and place for government intervention. If the most extreme of these allegations are true, they should be addressed in a court of law, and dealt with appropriately. CULT OF THE DEAD COW is known for a lot of things, but treating people horribly is not one of them. If communities are to thrive and remain relevant we have to do some housecleaning from time to time. As we have become aware of the anonymous accusations of sexual assault, as well as the stories told by individuals we know and trust, we've decided to remove Jake from the herd effective immediately. EOM -- tor-talk mailing list - tor-talk(a)lists.torproject.org To unsubscribe or change other settings go to https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk

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2 year concise recap - US, Syria, lying like a clinton, dissolving the EU
by Zenaan Harkness 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

This is concise in wording, so I appreciate it, yet detailed so not particularly short. Journal-Neo.org is nearly always in depth like this it seems. The US Congress Debates: The Funding of World War III http://journal-neo.org/2016/06/07/the-us-congress-debates-the-funding-of-wo… I guess someone will record the old song "Cryin like a refugee" as "Lyin like a Clinton". And to pre-empt a retort from last year, no, the facts of America's actions is not a beat up on America, it's simply facts. If you can spare the time, this article's a great and succinct read covering a lot of territory. Enjoy.

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global censorship
by Zenaan Harkness 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

So I try to load the following news item in TBB: http://www.pravdareport.com/news/hotspots/crimes/10-06-2016/134690-donbass_… It just comes up completely blank. No worries a quick "new circuit for this site" and ... still blank. OK, let's search google cache. google.com redirects to google.ch. paste in url, search - no cache, no results, but 403 "that's an error. Your client does not have permission to get URL /...". Rinse repeat, new circuit for this site, paste, search, same result 403. Netherlands, switzerland, at this point I give up and use firefox. I just want to read the news article, which happens to be a little topical - lynch mob, but this one's in Ukraine, physical net. Bingo, page appears. What gives? Why so many blocks to this particular article (since, BTW, I loaded 4 other articles from the same website, within the same minute or so, and they all appeared in separate tabs in tbb no problems) ??

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Tor (and other nets) probably screwed by Traffic Analysis by now
by grarpamp 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

Re subject thread, betanews, ars... https://cryptome.org/2016/06/800-backbones-tapped.pdf https://cryptome.org/2016/06/transnational-cables-tapped.pdf Also, search employment postings at cable landings / hubs, note the two post pattern of identical position descriptions, except one of them requires clearance, the other doesn't. Two sides to the room...

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