August 2017 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Anarchast: Ron Paul on Anarchy, Running for President, the Federal Reserve and Bitcoin
by grarpamp 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34m4eUVFDT4 Jeff interviews Dr. Ron Paul! (aka: Dr. NO) Topics include: Anarchism is our natural condition, going to Washington, changing attitudes about the federal reserve, criticizing foreign policy, the moral defence of liberty, on the campaign trail, Rand Paul's philosophy and politics, attempts to audit the fed, Republicans and Democrats both support big government and fiscal deficits, government rationalization of massive unsustainable debt, crashing the dollar vs the globalists, what will replace the dollar, Ron Paul's comments on Bitcoin, what keeps Ron Paul going? The Ron Paul Liberty Report, Anarchapulco 2018! The Ron Paul Liberty Report website: http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/ Anarchapulco February 2018: https://anarchapulco.com/ Anarchast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anarchast Anarchast: http://anarchast.com/ BackWordz Music https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=CANQFA%253D%253D&q=backwordz

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Governance vs Decentralised Systems, Gold, Cash, Cryptocurrency
by grarpamp 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/6rr6uo/just_a_quick_reminder_why_bitc… 231 comments People used to pay each other in gold and silver. Difficult to transport. Difficult to divide. Paper money was invented. A claim to gold in a bank vault. Easier to transport and divide. Banks gave out more paper money than they had gold in the vault. They ran “fractional reserves”. A real money maker. But every now and then, banks collapsed because of runs on the bank. Central banking was invented. Central banks would be lenders of last resort. Runs on the bank were thus mitigated by banks guaranteeing each other’s deposits through a central bank. The risk of a bank run was not lowered. Its frequency was diminished and its impact was increased. After all, banks remained basically insolvent in this fractional reserve scheme. Banks would still get in trouble. But now, if one bank got in sufficient trouble, they would all be in trouble at the same time. Governments would have to step in to save them. All ties between the financial system and gold were severed in 1971 when Nixon decided that the USD would no longer be exchangeable for a fixed amount of gold. This exacerbated the problem, because there was now effectively no limit anymore on the amount of paper money that banks could create. >From this moment on, all money was created as credit. Money ceased to be supported by an asset. When you take out a loan, money is created and lent to you. Banks expect this freshly minted money to be returned to them with interest. Sure, banks need to keep adequate reserves. But these reserves basically consist of the same credit-based money. And reserves are much lower than the loans they make. This led to an explosion in the money supply. The Federal Reserve stopped reporting M3 in 2006. But the ECB currently reports a yearly increase in the supply of the euro of about 5%. This leads to a yearly increase in prices. The price increase is somewhat lower than the increase in the money supply. This is because of increased productivity. Society gets better at producing stuff cheaper all the time. So, in absence of money creation you would expect prices to drop every year. That they don’t is the effect of money creation. What remains is an inflation rate in the 2% range. Banks have discovered that they can siphon off all the productivity increase + 2% every year, without people complaining too much. They accomplish this currently by increasing the money supply by 5% per year, getting this money returned to them at an interest. Apart from this insidious tax on society, banks take society hostage every couple of years. In case of a financial crisis, banks need bailouts or the system will collapse. Apart from these problems, banks and governments are now striving to do away with cash. This would mean that no two free men would be able to exchange money without intermediation by a bank. If you believe that to transact with others is a fundamental right, this should scare you. The absence of sound money was at the root of the problem. We were force-fed paper money because there were no good alternatives. Gold and silver remain difficult to use. When it was tried to launch a private currency backed by precious metals (Liberty dollar), this initiative was shut down because it undermined the U.S. currency system. Apparently, a currency alternative could only thrive if “nobody” launched it and if they was no central point of failure. What was needed was a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. This was what Satoshi Nakamoto described in 2009. It was a response to all the problems described above. That is why he labeled the genesis block with the text: “03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”. Bitcoin was meant to be an alternative to our current financial system. So, if you find yourself religiously checking some cryptocurrency’s price, or bogged down in discussions about the “one true bitcoin”, or constantly asking what currency to buy, please at least remember that we have bigger fish to fry. We are here to fix the financial system.

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WiFi-Aware (NAN)
by Umair Chachar 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

Just read up on the new features on Android Oreo (next Android iteration) and one of those features is the following: It's called WiFi-Aware (Neighbor Awareness Networking A.K.A NAN). Here is a link to what it is: https://youtu.be/xwSYPqqhTsQ I can see some privacy concerns with this stuff. I was wondering what you all thought. V/R Umair

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Noam Chomsky's showing slightly more intelligence than usual.
by jim bell 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

https://www.yahoo.com/news/noam-chomsky-antifa-apos-major-110600596.html Noam Chomsky has launched into an attack on the anti-fascist movement and argued its actions are wrong in principle and it is a “major gift to the right”.The eminent intellectual, who is described as the father of modern linguistics, argued the movement was self-destructive and constituted a tiny faction on the periphery of the left.Antifa, shorthand for anti-fascist organisations, refers to a loose coalition of militant, decentralised, grassroots groups which are opposed to the far-right.The movement, which was founded in Europe in the 1920s, has dominated headlines in the wake of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville earlier this month. Neo-Nazis, KKK members and “alt-right” supporters clashed with anti-fascists and a woman was left dead after a car ploughed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters.In the wake of the deadly violence, President Donald Trump has prompted anger for drawing a moral parity between white supremacists and anti-fascists, saying counter-protesters were as violent as the far-right and the "alt-right" groups included some "very fine" people.Chomsky, a leading voice on the left who is famed for his critique of US foreign policy, neoliberalism and the mainstream media, has now criticised Antifa."As for Antifa, it's a minuscule fringe of the Left, just as its predecessors were," the linguist and political philosopher told the Washington Examiner. "It's a major gift to the right, including the militant right, who are exuberant.""What they do is often wrong in principle – like blocking talks – and [the movement] is generally self-destructive,” the 88-year-old told the conservative paper.He added: "When confrontation shifts to the arena of violence, it's the toughest and most brutal who win – and we know who that is. That's quite apart from the opportunity costs – the loss of the opportunity for education, organising, and serious and constructive activism."While many only associate the anti-fascist movement with militant direct action, it is worth noting it adopts a wide variety of tactics. This includes union organisation, migrant solidarity, public education programmes, ousting white supremacists and neo-Nazis to their neighbours and employers, and urging venues to cancel far-right events.Chomsky, who recently left his post as Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to become a laureate professor at the University of Arizona, has prompted criticism for his assessment of Antifa.Eleanor Penny, who has written extensively on fascism and the far-right, told The Independent: "Chomsky treats the battle against fascism as a battle for moral purity than can be won when the left remain respectful, polite, and deferent."She added: "But fascists have no interest in winning that battle. They don't care about respecting free speech or the right to a fair trial; they've openly declared their murderous intent towards people of colour (and other undesirables) and they'll pursue that goal by any means necessary. In this context, physical resistance is a duty, an act of self-defence, not an unsightly outpost of leftist moral decline.""What's more - it works. From the Battle of Cable Street in 1936 to similar confrontations in Lewisham and Wood Green in London in 1977, physical resistance has time and again protected local populations from racist violence, and prevented a gathering caucus of fascists from making further inroads into mainstream politics."Critics on social media argued Chomsky, who is one of the most cited scholars in history, had become less left wing in his old age and the remarks meant he had become irrelevant.Asa Winstanley, a US journalist, said: “Sad: Chomsky comes close to Trump blaming 'both sides'; says Antifa is 'a major gift to the Right'".“Can u believe we live in a world where Mitt Romney is left of Noam Chomsky on Antifa,” said another user.The anti-fascist movement, which is in favour of popular grassroots opposition to fascism rather than reliance on the police or the state, is not a homogenous centralised organisation. It has a long and varied history which dates back to fighting Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts in the 1920s and then Adolf Hitler’s Brownshirts in the taverns of Munich.In the UK, anti-fascists mobilised against Blackshirts led by Oswald Moseley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, in Cable Street in East London in the 1930s and in many other instances. [end of long quote] Jim Bell

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CyberClassWar Manifesto 2017
by Cecilia Tanaka 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

Received this text today. Really appreciated the ideas. You can detest the post, but must admit it's pretty interesting and provocative! :D Kisses, hugs and tickles! <3 Ceci ========== (A) CyberClassWar Manifesto 2017 (A) First and foremost we are anarchists. The world is split into two camps: the working class and the ruling class. We the workers will wage a class war against the ruling class and the current social order, and bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old. We seek to destroy capitalism, the state, and all forms of hierarchy such as racism, patriarchy, abelism, homophobia and transphobia. In turn we seek to create a united world, free of borders and nationality, where all people live united by solidarity and love for their fellow human being. We shall know no domination, no hierarchy, no oppression. We shall abolish wage labor and have workers' self-management. Surely there will be mistakes, and surely there will be problems, but the world will be incomparably better than how it exists today. We do not see this vision as some pipedream distant utopia, but rather as the only viable option for the survival of humanity. Climate Change and environmental degradation have ravaged our planet to a horrific degree, so we must act for the sake of the future. Make no mistake, we do not believe in a vanguard. The liberation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself. A small portion of the working class cannot stand as a representative for the rest of us. We do however believe that CyberClassWar can be used as a weapon against the ruling class. But what exactly is CyberClassWar? It is merely the practice of using the tactics of cyberwarfare to advance the aims of the working class. Instead of limiting ourselves to the workplace, community, and home, we are upgrading our strategy to the information age so as to encompass the virtual realm. We live out an increasing portion of our lives in the place known as the internet, so why not extend the fight. Hacktivism already exists but it hasn't been leveraged to the full degree it could. We will not go into detail, but we shall say that we want do expropriative acts via the digital realm.

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[OT] Jokes, this list and my birthday... :)
by Red Red Wine 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

> Cecilia Tanaka cecilia.tanaka at gmail.com > Sun Aug 20 20:47:46 PDT 2017 > > my birthday will be in August, 26 > !!! Happy Birthday !!! Your gift is better jokes: HOW DOES NASA ORGANIZE A PARTY ? They spend billions to fake it with Photoshop and AfterEffects. HOW DO YOU TELL DRACULA IS SICK ? Because he admits he's become vegan. WHY DID THE VEGAN CROSS THE ROAD ? To violently protest ebol natsees. Pic related.

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Boston Free Speech Rally
by Red Kale 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

> Steve Kinney admin at pilobilus.net > Sun Aug 20 12:30:24 PDT 2017 > > Yesterday or so in Boston, about 15,000 of their fellow > Americans turned out to say Fuck You. > Either you are lying or you are misinformed, my red friend. Pic related. The Free Speech Rally was Dr. Shiva "Poo-in-the-loo" Ayyadurai talking about freedom of speech and the media. You are basically cheering the wrongful protesting of fellow cpunk, Steven Schear, since both lay claim to "invention" many years after the act and seem to care about actual freedom. If you don't believe me, take it from the Ministry of Truth. **Until they shut it down.** Video of the event: youtube.com/watch?v=q9X2ZRB9GCU

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[OT] Jokes, this list and my birthday... :)
by Red Red Wine 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

> Cecilia Tanaka cecilia.tanaka at gmail.com > Sun Aug 20 20:33:53 PDT 2017 > > I had serious health problems > vegan > since 2013 > Therein lies your problem. Pic related. > highly toxic and hurting people > Not a claim that can be proven mathematically, but yes, veganism hurts people. On your way to Breatharianism. Turn back, c&canon. > a complete waste of time... > Time is a unit of measurement an cannot be wasted. Besides, the only time is now.

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[OT] Jokes, this list and my birthday... :)
by Cecilia Tanaka 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Hi, dear all. Sorry for being so absent, but had serious health problems and a forced rest. Hope everybody is doing good. <3 This message is just to communicate everyone here that this list is becoming a complete joke. Not a good one, it's becoming highly toxic and hurting people. :( I will tell a few jokes to make you smile and after it, please, let's talk seriously about cryptography, security, coding, bitcoins, anarchism, revolution... We had a lot of useless and aggressive noise here in the last times. Ugh, a complete waste of time... Mottainai. :-/ "How does Nasa organize a party? They Planet." "How do you tell Dracula is sick? Because of his coffin..." "My wife is leaving me because I'm going bald. I'm not bothered, it's hair loss." "Why did the vegan cross the road? To tell someone he was a vegan." I admit I am almost returning to the complete veganism because I love jokes about vegans, hahaha!! I would love to introduce myself saying "Hi, I am vegan, use only organic products, and my name is Cecilia", hahahaha!! My family and friends would kill me, hahaha!! ;D Well, my birthday will be in August, 26, and my gifts will be donations to the CryptoParty this year. If you want to give me a gift, contact the CR Team to know how to donate, please. :D https://cryptorave.org/ https://twitter.com/cryptoravebr https://facebook.com/cryptorave (ugh, ugh, ugh! :P) #cryptorave @ irc.indymedia.org We already had our CryptoRave, a bigger event, with lots of music, talks and activities for 24 hours (a bit more, to be sincere). The CryptoParty will be shorter, but with talks, activities and a Cecilian birthday cake. :D Yep, it will be a vegan cake, haha!! The last time I bought eggs and milk was in the beginning of 2013. :D Much love and hugs, wishing you all peace and self-moderation. Let's use a little of common sense here, please. Ceci, la la la... <3

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Boston Holocaust Memorial
by Red Kale 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Looks like they got the "white" supremacist who threw a rock and vandalized the Boston Holocaust Memorial. Pic related.

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