March 2017 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

"Razer", the biggest / intensest fascist on the cypherpunks list
by Zenaan Harkness 05 Jan '18

05 Jan '18

Razer, you are the most fascist "idiot" (I'd prefer to say worse things, but I'm currently convinced you're just a marijuana fucked brain with legs) on this list. On the other hand, you've had very interesting contributions - also in the area of historical protests/ punch ups etc. So one might be forgiven for being somewhat conflicted about you. Bong on I guess... like, duuuuuuuuude! * Citation i Call to murder on the spot. Justification that "they don't debate your position", whilst of course Razer fails his own mass debate principle. Unfortunately there's no second option from hypocritical fascists like Razer, including no option to actually debate (see examples below). Subject: Re: Why Fascists Have No Right To Free Speech Whatsoever [was - Re: free speech 'marches on' as they say] On Thu, Jan 05, 2017 at 06:06:46PM -0800, Razer wrote: > Because they don't debate your position. > > They threaten your life instead. > > They have no interest in your position. You have no rights. > > Kill them when you find them. > > They are the human societal cancer they accuse others of being. > > It's always 'those other people'. Then one day you're 'those other > people'. > > Rr * Citation 0 Razer supports murder of those whose political ideology disagrees with his own (in this case, what he terms "fascists") - see last sentence in the quoted email: Subject: #RichardSpencerPunchingBag [Was: Re: The (Western) Empire: free speech, holocaust denial, jail in 14 countries] On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 04:52:11PM -0800, Razer wrote: > On 01/23/2017 12:15 PM, John Newman wrote: > > > The onus is not on Razer to disprove your ahistorical nonsense. I > > didn't mention the curious fact about the jewish finns and the > > nazis to bolster your bullshit. > > > > Have a horrible fucking day :) > > > > > > John > > > > Wouldn't have even seen this but you responded to 'it'. > > It isn't worth the response except to say the Hashtags > #RIchardSpencer and #RichardSpencerPunchingBag are being suppressed > by Twitter and FB because either A> They'd overtake #JustinBieber, > B> some safe space neonazis and their liberal friends complained it > would promote violence. > I can tell by the failure of 'dropdown recommendations'. to > materialize. Even on the name. > > I want to point out that all the liberals tsk tsked Richard Spencer > being used as Punching Bag but the crickets chirped in their good > german brains when a union organizer in Seattle got shot by one of > those scumbuckets while trying to deescalate a fight... I KNOW > which side liberals are on, and they're perhaps even an easier kill > than neonazis, but I digress... > > I also want to point out it's NOT just a fine old American > Tradition to kill fascists... * Citation 1 "Razer" celebrates the public beating and later murder of a man so convicted of his beliefs that he speaks publicly about those beliefs, and starts a political party in support of those beliefs: > ----- Forwarded message from Razer <g2s(a)riseup.net> ----- > Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 09:49:10 -0800 > From: Razer <g2s(a)riseup.net> > To: "cypherpunks(a)lists.cpunks.org" <cypherpunks(a)lists.cpunks.org> > Subject: [TriggerWarning: #NaziPunching] Great Nazi punchers in history... > yy > SDSU student Ed Cherry smacked the shit out of George Lincoln Rockwell > in the middle of a speech at San Diego State in 1962. > > > Self-styled American Nazi party leader George Lincoln Rockwell was > > slugged, hissed and booed when he spoke in the Greek Bowl March 8, as > > he hurled verbal blasts at minority groups to a crowd of about 3,000. > > > > Rockwell said that he had no intention of causing trouble. "If I had > > wanted trouble I could have worn my uniform with my armbands and the > > whole works. Believe me, I know how to stir people up if I want to," > > he said. > > > > > > Rockwell was slugged in the face by Ed Cherry, a SDS (San Diego State) > > senior physical education major, when Rockwell said that "the Jews are > > engaged in a great conspiracy." > > > > A press conference followed in the Aztec office. Rockwell predicted > > that he will be in political power in Virginia within five years > > ROTF He was a DEAD NAZI five years later! > > Archival info @ SDSU > > https://digital.sdsu.edu/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=90684&WINID=1485279750430

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Do you have predictions about 2017?
by Georgi Guninski 01 Jan '18

01 Jan '18

Niels Bohr allegedly said "Predictions are difficult, especially about the future". Do you have predictions about 2017? Being certified optimist, I predict fuckups, fuckups and more fuckups.

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[POLITICS] [RUS] God Praise America ! Russian Paralympians banned
by Zenaan Harkness 03 Oct '17

03 Oct '17

Hoo yah! We LOVE America. God bless America!!! Belarus Athletes Carry Russia Flag in Support of Unjustly Banned Paralympians http://russia-insider.com/en/belarus-athletes-carry-russia-flag-support-unj… (Alt: https://www.rt.com/sport/358613-belarus-russian-flag-paralympics/ ) Nope, no dirty American laundry here folks - move along now! On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 02:08:38PM +1000, Zenaan Harkness wrote: > > On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 5:11 AM Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> wrote: > > > If anyone wanted an example of propaganda and political bullying: > > > > > > "The IAAF and now the sports bodies of the US and Canada are not only > > > demanding that Russian athletes prove their innocence before they can > > > take part in the Games. They also demand that even if athletes prove > > > their innocence, they should only be allowed to take part in the Games > > > as “neutrals” and not as Russians. Thus even if proved innocent Russian > > > athletes would have to deny their nation and their country – foregoing > > > the right to wear its colours or hear its anthem if they win." > > > > > > http://theduran.com/stalinist-witch-hunt-russian-athletes/ > > > > > > > > > (I'm not sure anyone takes seriously the assertion that USA basically > > > does not use propaganda, only speaks truth and righteousness - I find it > > > quite amazing that such an assertion was even put in this mailing list > > > but I guess it's possible -some- people do believe that...) > > On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 06:07:05PM +0000, Sean Lynch wrote: > > Participate as a country, dope as a country, get banned as a country. Maybe > > Russia should clean its house if it wants representation at the games. Or > > if the institution itself is illegitimate, why do Russians want to > > represent their country so badly at the games? > > > > Oh well, the IOC refused to ban "the entire Russian Olympic team, > regardless", but ultimately "justice" is served - with the banning of, > wait for it, > > the entire Russian --Paralympic-- team. > > > YEAH! > > > Now -that-'s "justice", right Sean? Punish those paraplegic bastards! > Every last one of them, whether guilty or not!!! > > YEAH! U! S! A! Delivering JUSTICE to THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! > > > God -damn- we need to be greatful to America! > > And what a wonderful world we live in... so much empathy, harmony and > justice. > > > > God Praise America!!! > > > (Yes, AND you, CIA, you snivelling grovelling sluts! Thank you SO much > for this effective, decisive and ultimately just and righteous, psyops > campaign. Fucken A!) > > > > > > ** Vladimir Putin slams Paralympic ban; Congratulates Russian athletes > (http://theduran.com/putin-slams-paralympic-ban-congratulates-russian-athlet…) > ------------------------------------------------------------ > By Alexander Mercouris on Aug 26, 2016 02:00 pm > russia paralympics > > Russian President Putin has just given a scathing assessment > (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52765) of the collective ban > on Russia’s Paralympic Team. > > In doing so he has made it quite clear that he – like most Russians – > sees the ban as purely political and completely rejects the reasoning > behind it… > > “The decision to disqualify our Paralympic athletes goes beyond law, > morality and humanity. It is quite simply cynical to take out one’s > revenge and frustration on people for whom sport has become their life > purpose and whose example gives hope and self-confidence to millions of > people with disabilities. I even feel pity for those who take decisions > of this kind because they do not understand just how degrading this is > for them.” > > (Bold italics added) > > The words “revenge and frustration” quite clearly show that Putin sees > the campaign to ban the Russian Paralympic team as an act of spite and > revenge for the failure to achieve a collective ban of the Russian > Olympic team. > > The Russians have made it clear that they do not agree with the legal > reasoning of the CAS decision upholding the ban, > (http://theduran.com/court-arbitration-sport-upholds-ban-russian-paralympic-…) > and that they will continue to contest it in the civil courts and in the > European Court of Human Rights. > > As I have said previously, there is no doubt the Russians will pursue > legal action to its conclusion in this affair > (http://theduran.com/trying-ban-team-russia-olympics-big-mistake/) . > With the International Paralympic Committee looking at a disastrous > failure of the Paralympic Games in Rio and apparently short of money, it > may not be in good shape to contest whatever court cases the Russians > bring, or to pay any court awards the Russians might win. > > In addition to his comments about the Paralympic ban, Putin also made > some very interesting comments about the Russian athletes who competed > in the Rio Olympic Games > > “We know what a difficult time our athletes had in Rio. The team was cut > by nearly a third just before competition was about to start and lost > the chance to show its ability in the sports in which Russia has > traditionally been one of the recognised favourites. But you measured up > to all of these challenges, showed great unity and proved that victory > can be won not just by numbers, though numbers were important too, but > perhaps more importantly, victory is also won through skill. You > displayed a true fighting spirit, did not melt down or bend under the > pressure, but fought and won.” > > (Bold italics added) > > The words “showed great unity” surely refer to the point I have made > previously (http://theduran.com/russian-olympians-defy-odds-rio/) : that > not a single Russian athlete has succumbed to the pressure to turn > informer in return for the reward of a guaranteed place in the Rio > Olympic Games and a lucrative sports career in the West. > > What that means is that the entirety of the evidence that there is or > was a state-sponsored system of doping in Russia is that contained in > the McLaren report, which CAS has already said is “incomplete” and > cannot be used as evidence in deciding the fate of individual athletes. > That puts the IAAF, WADA, the IPC and potentially McLaren himself, in a > very fragile position in light of the pending court cases. > > The post Vladimir Putin slams Paralympic ban; Congratulates Russian > athletes > (http://theduran.com/putin-slams-paralympic-ban-congratulates-russian-athlet…) > appeared first on The Duran (http://theduran.com) .

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[WAR] Trump negotiates contract with Russia for "10,000 beautiful MiG-35s" to replace F-35 boondoggle
by Zenaan Harkness 14 Jul '17

14 Jul '17

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/kgb-sends-trump-his-first-directive-a… Donald "Donat Ivanovich Trollstoyevski" Trumpenfuhrer begins the inevitable naval vtol gazing. KGB is proudski.

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Russia's "eye-watering" military toys
by Zenaan Harkness 11 Jul '17

11 Jul '17

http://journal-neo.org/2015/11/16/do-we-really-want-a-new-world-war-with-ru… Enjoyable read. Reminds me of that immortal line in the Putin documentary where the Russian navy chief points at a radar screen saying something like 'look at that, I've never seen [a destroyer class battleship] do this figure-8 move before' as the USS Donald Cook first enters then hightails out of Crimean waters. International military sparring at its best :) Z

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Russia bans purchase of foreign non-niche software in Russian state agencies
by Zenaan Harkness 08 Jul '17

08 Jul '17

Import substitution applied to software... http://fortruss.blogspot.ru/2015/11/medvedev-bans-use-of-foreign-made.html Medvedev bans the use of foreign-made software in Russian state agencies Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ 20th November, 2015 novayagazeta.ru The Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medevdev, has signed a decree prohibiting from 1 January 2016 the purchase of foreign-made software for state needs, reports the press service of the Cabinet. According to the document, customers will now be obliged to buy Russian-produced software. It notes that the initiative is a method of import substitution. The exception is when software has the necessary functional, technical or operational characteristics absent in Russia. To place an order on, for example Microsoft Windows, officials will have to justify the need for this operating system. As reported to "Kommersant" earlier, the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that a German IT company began to discuss with the Ministry of economic development the possibility of a partial transfer of software production to Russia, in order thus to be able to sell it on government orders. A draft resolution was prepared and submitted by the Ministry of communications and mass communications of the Russian Federation. It was presented to Medvedev earlier in April.

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Re: [Cryptography] Photojournalists & filmmakers want cameras, to be encrypted
by grarpamp 22 May '17

22 May '17

On Thu, Dec 22, 2016 at 6:40 PM, John Gilmore <gnu(a)toad.com> wrote: > Here's an example. Some thugs with a rented box truck broke into a > cannabis dispensary storefront in a residential neighborhood near > mine, some years ago. These thugs appeared to be hired or imported by > the DEA. Their typical pattern had been to break all the glass, smash > I brought an ordinary pocket camera (pre-cellphone). > my camera failed me by taking very blurred images. People need to consider lenses when buying cameras. Other things equal, going with the fastest f-stop you can budget will get you less blur, 2.8, down to even 1.x for dim light. Image Stabilization gizmos will never beat a fast shutter. And for a lot of street use, fixed wide lenses with decent pixel count backs more 'dont have to think' useful than crazy range fidgety zooms. > Since these thugs had no legal leg to stand on, I would've welcomed > intervention by local police > When the thugs are violating their own laws, which seems to be a > very common occurrence Some Sheriff's don't take kindly to external forces doing improper things. In that case even a trouble call to them will hold up the thugs for a while. >> 2 and 3 are solved with remote storage, to a "safe" place, of the stills or >> video. Take it off the camera, fast. Don't forget, open firmwares for some cameras do exist... http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK Don't know if that includes encryption or sigs or authentication in UI yet but it is an example that the camera maker isn't always right. Don't forget to transparent overlay your embedded serial numbers with noise.

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Equation Group - Cyber Weapons Auction
by grarpamp 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

http://pastebin.com/NDTU5kJQ a guest Aug 13th, 2016 27,472 Never -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 From: bitmessage = BM-NBvAHfp5Y6wBykgbirVLndZtEFCYGht8 i2p-bote = o1uHOkOcMoFEa7O7dbEilzfMvWzo7bDu~td3x9gYz4b4t5OriJ7U6GUWr5GZoWxQ9f2TrIY5RzhpIMVP6hTLXZ Equation Group Cyber Weapons Auction - Invitation - ------------------------------------------------ !!! Attention government sponsors of cyber warfare and those who profit from it !!!! How much you pay for enemies cyber weapons? Not malware you find in networks. Both sides, RAT + LP, full state sponsor tool set? We find cyber weapons made by creators of stuxnet, duqu, flame. Kaspersky calls Equation Group. We follow Equation Group traffic. We find Equation Group source range. We hack Equation Group. We find many many Equation Group cyber weapons. You see pictures. We give you some Equation Group files free, you see. This is good proof no? You enjoy!!! You break many things. You find many intrusions. You write many words. But not all, we are auction the best files. Picture Urls - ------------ http://imgur.com/a/sYpyn https://theshadowbrokers.tumblr.com/ https://github.com/theshadowbrokers/EQGRP-AUCTION File Urls - ---------- magnet:?xt=urn:btih:40a5f1514514fb67943f137f7fde0a7b5e991f76&tr=http://diftracker.i2p/announce.php https://mega.nz/#!zEAU1AQL!oWJ63n-D6lCuCQ4AY0Cv_405hX8kn7MEsa1iLH5UjKU https://app.box.com/s/amgkpu1d9ttijyeyw2m4lso3egb4sola https://www.dropbox.com/s/g8kvfl4xtj2vr24/EQGRP-Auction-Files.zip https://ln.sync.com/dl/5bd1916d0#eet5ufvg-tjijei4j-vtadjk6b-imyg2qkd https://yadi.sk/d/QY6smCgTtoNz6 Free Files (Proof) - ------------------ eqgrp-free-file.tar.xz.gpg sha256sum = b5961eee7cb3eca209b92436ed7bdd74e025bf615b90c408829156d128c7a169 gpg --decrypt --output eqgrp-free-file.tar.xz eqgrp-free-file.tar.xz.gpg Password = theequationgroup Auction Files - ------------- eqgrp_auction_file.tar.xz.asc sha256sum = af1dabd8eceec79409742cc9d9a20b9651058bbb8d2ce60a0edcfa568d91dbea Password = ???? Auction Instructions - -------------------- We auction best files to highest bidder. Auction files better than stuxnet. Auction files better than free files we already give you. The party which sends most bitcoins to address: 19BY2XCgbDe6WtTVbTyzM9eR3LYr6VitWK before bidding stops is winner, we tell how to decrypt. Very important!!! When you send bitcoin you add additional output to transaction. You add OP_Return output. In Op_Return output you put your (bidder) contact info. We suggest use bitmessage or I2P-bote email address. No other information will be disclosed by us publicly. Do not believe unsigned messages. We will contact winner with decryption instructions. Winner can do with files as they please, we not release files to public. FAQ - --- Q: Why I want auction files, why send bitcoin? A: If you like free files (proof), you send bitcoin. If you want know your networks hacked, you send bitcoin. If you want hack networks as like equation group, you send bitcoin. If you want reverse, write many words, make big name for self, get many customers, you send bitcoin. If want to know what we take, you send bitcoin. Q: What is in auction files? A: Is secret. Equation Group not know what lost. We want Equation Group to bid so we keep secret. You bid against Equation Group, win and find out or bid pump price up, piss them off, everyone wins. Q: What if bid and no win, get bitcoins back? A: Sorry lose bidding war lose bitcoin and files. Lose Lose. Bid to win! But maybe not total loss. Instead to losers we give consolation prize. If our auction raises 1,000,000 (million) btc total, then we dump more Equation Group files, same quality, unencrypted, for free, to everyone. Q: When does auction end? A: Unknown. When we feel is time to end. Keep bidding until we announce winner. Q: Why I trust you? A: No trust, risk. You like reward, you take risk, maybe win, maybe not, no guarantees. There could be hack, steal, jail, dead, or war tomorrow. You worry more, protect self from other bidders, trolls, and haters. Closing Remarks - -------------------------------------------------- !!! Attention Wealthy Elites !!! We have final message for "Wealthy Elites". We know what is wealthy but what is Elites? Elites is making laws protect self and friends, lie and fuck other peoples. Elites is breaking laws, regular peoples go to jail, life ruin, family ruin, but not Elites. Elites is breaking laws, many peoples know Elites guilty, Elites call top friends at law enforcement and government agencies, offer bribes, make promise future handjobs, (but no blowjobs). Elites top friends announce, no law broken, no crime commit. Reporters (not call journalist) make living say write only nice things about Elites, convince dumb cattle, is just politics, everything is awesome, check out our ads and our prostitutes. Then Elites runs for president. Why run for president when already control country like dictatorship? What this have do with fun Cyber Weapons Auction? We want make sure Wealthy Elite recognizes the danger cyber weapons, this message, our auction, poses to their wealth and control. Let us spell out for Elites. Your wealth and control depends on electronic data. You see what "Equation Group" can do. You see what cryptolockers and stuxnet can do. You see free files we give for free. You see attacks on banks and SWIFT in news. Maybe there is Equation Group version of cryptolocker+stuxnet for banks and financial systems? If Equation Group lose control of cyber weapons, who else lose or find cyber weapons? If electronic data go bye bye where leave Wealthy Elites? Maybe with dumb cattle? "Do you feel in charge?" Wealthy Elites, you send bitcoins, you bid in auction, maybe big advantage for you? bitmessage = BM-NBvAHfp5Y6wBykgbirVLndZtEFCYGht8 i2p-bote = o1uHOkOcMoFEa7O7dbEilzfMvWzo7bDu~td3x9gYz4b4t5OriJ7U6GUWr5GZoWxQ9f2TrIY5RzhpIMVP6hTLXZ END MESSAGE -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2 iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJXrr2sAAoJEAQSTyzLXAwbVzwP/jR5sQcS8VzH2jmuRjbE6RLV P3RkY6RWyyTyCtTiyTXK4RtWQoz8CfEjnXdIaR3BIZG4u827iI2fbQMVlWu0jMn4 NYN1I/neBoDaagApRgGQqYXip3IdHsqJennOAxRqr0ZoOgJ3IVtiZK8/6vtEnXRK 03IJvKu0zOVROuP0a9OPX0jko2g3Rl2tvo1ljkU1bqLKHs6xb1VzmdoqlAOYR1Bv 4Kb/Gbr6uc5fG84sM8FzSdiyJgS3U21SqfUENyFLyyP05iCyKCybFMne1JckFre8 gI/nUhdRHJaETYorY49PTQvdBaD30aT1I7efyAAM9uxsF97Au/UEvk0hkzh0YfoR /m+htNKlaP/oclL5GhJEq2O4wWb1KJuyrHU3FZYdUWRA4SlELBb0oR64cw/8kDo+ 6WftSANdlolgQLMbng2/ORGTeXHQ033mX6Op93o2oZUuNNhHvR1PnhWPUA2vMcIs ndo6YuYV2TZR/4GVNiJYQhTcWVNZ7a10FuvWk7yyHkTKXRVHG43G5Rzzm9ZxMUcL DMAExiPnrehGYTcxrrOP28RB+Mw7Is5YwRpc/h0mwDYGijjUzXGLXPWKFLa8ksxR zdaUnAjJzhVwR4IVGmGlU687Ox0FayJz9LAhst5eiittciY0iooz8YLee8hrxD7C XqUIpr4n+QKMYs4AfWd+ =5yni -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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"PHP sucks" and contempt culture
by Zenaan Harkness 02 Apr '17

02 Apr '17

Well not PHP exactly, that's just an example of course - Aurynn Shaw does a fine job on the topic, worthy of any tech belittler, not just language superiority trips... Contempt Culture http://blog.aurynn.com/contempt-culture So when I started programming in 2001, it was du jour in the communities I participated in to be highly critical of other languages. Other languages sucked, the people using them were losers or stupid, if they would just use a real language, such as the one we used, everything would just be better. Right? This sort of culturally-encoded language was really prevalent around condemning PHP and Java. Developers in these languages were actively referred to as less competent than developers in the other, more blessed languages. And at the time, as a new developer, I internalised this pretty heavily. The language I was in was blessed, obviously, not because I was using it but because it was better designed than a language like PHP, less wordy and annoying than Java, more flexible than many other options. It didn’t matter that it was (and remains) difficult to read, it was that we were better for using it. I repeated this pattern for a really long time, and as I learned new languages and patterns I’d repeat the same behaviour in those new environments. I was almost certainly not that fun to be around, a microcosm of the broader unpleasantness in tech. At least, until I got called on it. “Have you thought about…” I’d been making critical comments about PHP the language, and PHP developers, nothing more than standard “PHP sucks” sort of language. The same thing I’d been doing, and supported in doing, for years. Getting called out was hard, and I was asked to consider who and what I was criticising. I was able to access a very specific version of the self-taught narrative, where I used “real” programming languages and had “real” passion and drive, the result of which was that I fit the early hacker archetypes and was permitted status - as long as I participated in gate keeping. My self-taught narrative is not other peoples’ self-taught narrative, and I was very firmly reminded of that. Other self-taught narratives, such as starting with Wordpress-based design backgrounds and moving from more simple themes to more complex themes where PHP knowledge is required, to plugin development is a completely valid narrative, but a path that is predominately for women. This was a bombshell. I’d been loudly criticising the language and, through that criticism, implying that people using the language weren’t as good me, weren’t good programmers. And suddenly I was thinking about all the myriad ways that someone with that background would feel othered by me, like they didn’t belong and weren’t welcome in the communities I was a part of. All of the ways in which I was actively participating in the exclusion of women from STEM. Intent is Not Magic1 Of course, I hadn’t intended to do any of these things, but as I came to realise, it doesn’t matter what I intended to do, what matters is that I did it and that it had real repercussions. I intended to make fun of a language, the repercussion is that people from minority backgrounds wouldn’t want to talk to me about the things they’d done in that language, they wouldn’t feel safe talking about their achievements and exploits. And why would they feel safe? If they say what they use, we as a culture laugh at their choice. We tell them they should know better, tell them that it’s a horrible tool. Tell them that they are wrong. We ignore the achievement and focus exclusively on how it was reached, on how much better we are because we had access to narratives that the broader culture had already deemed more real. Not better narratives or better tools, just more accepted, more permitted, more discriminatory. Contempt Currency I was taught to be contemptuous of the non-blessed narratives, and I was taught to pay for my continued access to the technical communities through perpetuating that contempt. I was taught to have an elevated sense of self-worth, driven by the elitism baked into the hacker ethos as I learned to program. By adopting the same patterns that other, more knowledgable people expressed I could feel more credible, more like a real part of the community, more like I belonged. I bought my sense of belonging, with contempt, and paid for it with contempt and exclusionary behaviour. And now, I realise how much of it is an anxiety response. What if I chose the wrong thing? What if other people judge me for my choices and assert that my hard-earned skills actually aren’t worth anything? What if people find out I’m a fraud? By perpetuating a culture of contempt as the means of acquiring credibility, I was able to avoid these difficult, introspective questions. We don’t have to look at how we’re harming other people who want in, don’t have to acknowledge the niggling little voice in the back of our head asking are you good enough. It wasn’t me that was wrong, it was them. Instead, I was taught to use emotional weaponry to silence and exclude others, resulting in the remaining voices being the most toxic and exclusionary, the most able to tolerate toxicity and exclusionary attitudes. This pattern is common in tech, from extremely high-profile projects like the Linux kernel to the ongoing os/language/editor “wars” to the vile reactionary attitudes towards the introduction of Codes of Conduct, to any developers making disparaging comments about other peoples’ ability to code, and the growing contempt around people whose first or primary language is JavaScript. And now This culture has ramifications. PHP communities, for example, have lacked access to the development of DevOps tooling, the use of PHP is widely derided as being insecure by default, are they are widely mocked for being an “objectively bad language.” Yet people make their livings working with PHP, deploying PHP, trying to secure PHP. Don’t they deserve the help that we received, the help of good practises and security-first development? These people who can’t improve their work because we won’t work with them and drive them away from our communities with mockery and spite. And then they engineer things on their own, because they still need these tools, and we have the gall to ask why they didn’t use these other tools. Tools that we mocked them for asking about, telling them to get a real language, to rewrite their entire app, to rebuild from scratch because their particular path was not blessed enough. Because we were the problematic elements. I’m Tired of This It’s 2015, and I saw a presenter at a Python conference make fun of Java. How would that feel to people trying to move from Java into something else? I wouldn’t feel welcome, and I’d have learned that the idea that the Python community is welcoming wasn’t true. I’m tired of calling people out again and again for dumping on PHP. I’m tired of people dumping on Windows, that most popular operating system, because it’s not what we choose to use, tired of the fact that we don’t make it easy to use our tools and teach them how to move, when they’re ready. Instead, we lecture and dismiss and heap scorn upon them. We don’t reinforce our communities with respect or a sense of achievement, but with shame and contempt and awfulness. We exclude people. I’ve excluded people. Directly, me. I have to own up to that and deal with it. We excluded people. Directly. All of us. Even if we didn’t intend to, it does not matter. We make fun of the things others care about, make them feel small, make them feel like their achievements didn’t matter. Make them feel like they’re not welcome. What can we Do? SHUT. UP. No, really, cut it out. If you need to make fun of a language, do it with your own language, inside your own community. JavaScript is really good at this, because they’re trying to help people write better code within JavaScript. Do it around friends only, and acknowledge that it’s extremely problematic that you’re doing it at all. Find some amazing project to celebrate in a language you’re contemptuous of. Go to meetups of what you despise. Say you don’t know anything, and see how welcoming they are to new people. See what they say, what they do, and ask if you’d be as welcoming to them when they come to your meetups. Work to change your community. Ask people who try to pay for their membership in contempt to stop, or to leave. Make it unacceptable to use these behaviours as a means of obtaining social wealth. The best advice we give programmers is to leave things better than how they started. We do it with code, why don’t we do it with communities? Why don’t we do it with people, colleagues, friends? Ask why it’s okay to do these things in your community, and leave things better than when you started. Intent is magic!↩ http://www.shakesville.com/2011/12/harmful-communication-part-one-intent.ht…

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Kafka on the GateKeepers
by grarpamp 01 Apr '17

01 Apr '17

Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in sometime later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” The gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful. And I am only the lowliest gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the last. I cannot endure even one glimpse of the third.” The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.” During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this first one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud; later, as he grows old, he only mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has also come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers up in his head all his experiences of the entire time into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body. The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the difference between them has changed considerably to the disadvantage of the man. “What do you want to know now?” asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.” “Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is it that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?” The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” -- Kafka

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