January 2020 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

IQNets - low b/w end user nodes - maximise 'user experience'
by Zenaan Harkness 09 May '20

09 May '20

End user nodes which have low or relatively low total bandwidth BW, Node End-user Low Bandwidth => NELB might usefully provide only small or "marginal" b/w links, and link contracts with reduced time T. Where the end user 'experience' arising from his available b/w is already reduced/low/frustrating, any overlay which treats that end user as anything but an "mostly end user only" node, will likely be switched off/ disabled/ uninstalled, by said end user. So for a "compelling user experience", at least with NELBs, by default we ought limit both time duration T and bandwidth BW, for all link contracts handed out to incoming requests. Low T means "problematic" (from end user experience point of view) link contracts will time out "relatively soon". Low BW, as a percentage of total NELB BW, should minimize "obtrusive slowdowns due to the overlay net", again, from the end user perspective. Some aggregate numbers of global Internet users, e.g. "how many Internet users, globally, onramp at X kbps b/w?" Presumably there are still millions who have sub 256kbps? In any case, with the limit case, at least for certain groups of users, being groups of such low b/w links, a useful overlay net must usefully use "many micro connections". We can at some point test and establish useful minimum T and minimum BW for T. To optimize for such lithe links (rather, link contracts), we need to minimize "overlay network switch contract nego" latency. So various previously listed concepts are essential at the core of the overlay net - seamless utilization of many "micro" links, link aggregation, seamless handling of links that drop out, possibly fan-out (single high BW to many low BW) and fan-in hops, etc.

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[PEACE] - Islam is Right about women - Re: Sydney Islamic Activists: If You Oppose Chopping Off Hands, You’re Intolerant
by Zenaan Harkness 06 May '20

06 May '20

One of the greatest "protest" memes ever, is the signs going around that proclaim simply "Islam is Right about Women". This puts women "libbers" and minority promoting morons, in a total bind: If they agree with the assertion "Islam is right about women", they have to take a position opposing women, or at least opposing the Western view of "women are the same as men and must be treated equally in all things". And if they disagree with the assertion "Islam is right about women", then they must oppose their "support all minorities indiscriminately" dogma. And so because they are programmed, indiscriminate, dogmatic, intolerant in the name of tolerance, sheeple, their minds go into a form of apoplexy, unable to process their own hypocrisy and unthinking obedience to PC dogma, and their sole remaining neurone goes into spasms. Of course, such disconnects from reality never stopped their zealous from their own moronicity. Le beste meme, of 20 19 :) Islam is RIGHT about women https://barenakedislam.com/2019/09/22/islam-is-right-about-women/ Boston 25 News reports “It was just upsetting, I just didn’t like it, it just wasn’t necessary to be up and out in the streets,” said Anita Davison, who ripped down the signs and took the story straight to social media. “It’s either about women, it’s either about Islam, it’s about both, I’m not really sure what point they were trying to make — either way it was just, it was terrible,” Davison said. [Much juicy, so juicy, factual, juicy and factual material about women, from the Koran, omitted :D] ... As James N. Kennett noted on Steve Sailer’s blog: If you say Islam Is RIGHT About Women then you are guilty of hate speech. On the other hand, if you say Islam Is WRONG About Women then you are guilty of hate speech. Go figure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqBkuC4Oh-g "Islam is Right About Women" - The Best Meme of 2019? /September 24, 2019 https://johnmarksays.com/blog/2019/9/24/islam-is-right-about-women-the-best… “Islam is Right About Women.” These five words printed in plain text on an A4 leaf and duck-taped to a signpost constitute what is possibly the most powerful, and important, meme of 2019. “Islam is RIGHT about women” has sparked what anyone with an IQ above 130 would have immediately predicted upon reading these words: “confusion and anger” from the NPC class of Homo sapiens sapiens. At least that’s what they call it. We player characters (men and women of agency) call it cognitive dissonance. As you can see from this video, most people interviewed aren’t exactly sure what to make of it. Is this an attack on Islam? Or an attack on women? Or both? Or maybe it’s just a random right-wing troll that isn’t supposed to make any sense. You see, to come out and decry this poster as an attack on women is to acknowledge that Islam subjugates women, which is in direct conflict with the feminist egalitarian ideals of the West. But to come out and call this an attack on Islam, through the irony of saying the religion is “right”, is to (again) highlight the incompatibility of the Islamic patriarchy with the Western feminarchy. In five simple words, this meme destroys the narrative of inclusivity and diversity. Many on the Right will notice this cognitive dissonance, and find it amusing. But few will be brave enough to go a layer deeper and point to what this meme truthfully predicts for women: the West must choose which type of patriarchy it will have. Everyone who isn’t completely ignorant of the difficulties we are facing in the West today will recognise that Islam is stronger, growing faster, and maintaining its local hegemony in the Middle East far better than Western Civilisation is managing in its own geographic centres. The Islamic population in the West steadily grows, by both immigration and procreation, while our own birth rates continue to decline, and we don’t seem to be migrating into Islamic nations at all. It’s not hard to work out where this goes, even at current rates, with a bit of time passing. Islam is objectively stronger in the West than Christianity right now. No, I’m not saying that I’d like to live in an Islamic nation, or under Sharia Law, or within a global Caliphate. That would be disastrous, especially when one considers the peripheral drawbacks to the Islamic world, and the social ramifications of their religious superstitions. “Islam is right about women” signs spark outrage… but why? https://www.thedailybell.com/all-articles/news-analysis/islam-is-right-abou… ... One woman, offended by the signs, tore them down, and contacted the police. 2018: "It's OK to be White." 2019: "Islam is Right about Women." As good as it gets :) Meme on muh Gritties :D And for an excessive comedy quote for the week, moar memes, MOAR ! (Tor Browser for the time being folksies.) http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/ http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/death-of-conservatism-inc-this-rape-train-is-… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/wait-what-mexican-arrested-for-mass-shooting-… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/college-athletic-conference-names-man-pretend… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/bbc-viewers-blast-obese-body-positive-coach-f… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/italy-salvini-friends-win-local-election-in-h… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/portland-antifas-house-negro-finally-arrested… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/yids-flip-lids-after-big-afd-victory-in-germa… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/eat-the-maggot-greta-thunbergs-climate-diet-i… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/ann-coulter-calls-out-scheming-white-house-ki… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/uk-oxford-bans-clapping-because-its-progressi… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/germany-islamic-terrorists-going-to-war-with-… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/newly-islamic-new-zealand-denies-the-existenc… http://dstormer6em3i4km.onion/the-difference-between-a-mosque-shooting-and-… On Wed, May 01, 2019 at 04:24:44PM +1000, Gil May wrote: > *Sydney Islamic Activists: If You Oppose Chopping Off Hands, You’re > Intolerant* > [image: image.png] > > [image: > https://gellerreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/289038-hizb-ut-tahrir.j…] > > > [image: image.png] > Tolerance is in the eye of the beholder. > > Is accepting intolerance the price of tolerance? Is coming to terms with > beheadings and amputations under Sharia law tolerant? > > One Islamic group in Sydney says > <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6966531/Radical-Muslim-group-Hizb-…>, > “Aywah”. > > A radical Muslim group held a conference on Saturday afternoon discouraging > members and their children from singing the Australian national anthem – > while refusing to condemn ISIS. > > Global Islamist political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is campaigning for > Sharia law, hired a community hall at Campsie, in Sydney’s south-west, for > the event. > > In another part of the discussion, Mr Doureihi condemned an elderly white, > pro-refugee male customer at his shop who had described Sharia law Hudud > punishments as ‘barbaric’, which can involve the amputation of a hand for > stealing. > > ‘We’ve probably bought into the lie that is tolerance, diversity and > multiculturalism,’ he said. > > ‘We’re sold the rhetoric of acceptance of diversity, and different people’s > and different opinions and different religions but not realising the > reality of what that entails. > > ‘I said, “What’s your position on the Hudud in Islam?” He goes, “barbaric”. > > ‘I said you’re not tolerant.’ > > If you oppose chopping off people’s hands, you’re an Islamophobe. > > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> > Virus-free. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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Oddly silent
by Razer 05 May '20

05 May '20

I think it speaks volumes about how many of this list's posters work for US intel agencies and contractors by the lack of any commenting on your new war with Iran.

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Militia, law, impressment, guns, history
by grarpamp 01 May '20

01 May '20

> such implicit arguments have frequently been cited by (mostly > liberal?) debaters, and much of the clueless populace, lacking any sort of > legal education, accepts them without apparent question.) The Anti-Gun crowd generally avoids quoting, analyzing and debating law and its historical context and reasons. This is because it simply does not support their Anti-Gun position. And because sidestepping needing to voice or contend with such things makes their agenda easier. It's also relavant that most of them have never spent an afternoon or year learning the sport, defense, hunting, law, comparative statistics, etc. Let alone been exposed to or explored larger free thought subjects such as... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_secession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rights_and_legal_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntaryism > Now, a state might hypothetically have a LAW requiring a militia > member to respond to a call. But that law would not necessarily > be Constitutional These sorts of "laws", including "mandatory service", taxes, etc are all immoral and against natural law... forcing somone to take an action, slavery, whatever you want others to do, them having done nothing to you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressment Took till 1995 for even the UN to begin to understand that conscription and impressment are wrong.

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Re: The flip side of UBI/ Universal Basic Income - beware what you ask for - [MONEY]
by Zenaan Harkness 28 Apr '20

28 Apr '20

Exhibit #1 : As Trump Threatens Tehran Over Censorship, Facebook's Thought-Police Censor Pro-Iran Posts https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/trump-threatens-tehran-over-censorship… https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/while-trump-warns-tehran-of-censorsh… The hypocrisy is unbelievable. In order to comply with United States sanctions on Iran, Facebook’s thought police have taken to censorship on behalf of the government. At the same time, President Donald Trump warns Iran not to use censorship. ... “These massive Big Tech corporations are Thought Police for the US government: Facebook and Instagram are removing posts expressing support for Iran’s top general Soleimani,” journalist Ben Norton tweeted. “They say it’s to comply with US sanctions, but how do posts violate sanctions? –RT https://www.rt.com/news/478044-instagram-iran-trump-censorship/ ... ----- Forwarded message from Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> ----- From: Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> To: cypherpunks(a)lists.cpunks.org Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2020 21:46:06 +1100 Subject: The flip side of UBI/ Universal Basic Income - beware what you ask for - [MONEY] UBI, what could possibly go wrong? IOW, be (very) careful what you ask for ... Universal Basic Income: A Dream Come True For Despots https://www.zerohedge.com/political/universal-basic-income-dream-come-true-… ... “What do you think the potential disadvantages of the basic income would be, then?” [My neighbour] replies, “There aren’t any.” Trade-Offs Are Inescapable ... But the universal basic income seems unaffected. It’s going to cure poverty, eliminate stress, reduce crime, unleash entrepreneurship, emancipate women, save us from AI, and fight climate change. I’m not not exaggerating. I googled, and there are multiple articles claiming that, not only will the UBI save the economy from flatlining due to a lack of consumer demand by increasing consumption, but somehow also put a halt to global warming as well — contradictory as these two aims may seem. ... Trusting the World's Regimes to Do Good? Most people agree that politics is a dirty game and that political powers will inevitably be used to further the agenda of officeholders and their cronies. That said, despite being immersed in the current thinking regarding UBI for three years now, I have seen precious little worrying as to what the government — or a future government — might actually do once it has seized control over everyone’s purse strings. After all, these governments are composed of the same people who launched a permanent war in the Middle East, wasting trillions of dollars on destroying millions of lives. These governments bailed out the banks from the public purse and gave themselves raises after telling the rest of the nation we had to tighten our belts. They have robbed the young of the opportunity to own a home by sending house prices through the roof and mean to leave them a nation in ruinous debt. They continue locking away huge numbers of people for decades for victimless crimes, leaving their children to be raised single-handed. They created an oligopoly of higher education provision forcing generations into student debt that cannot be defaulted on, and healthcare systems that are so restrictive that people must pay inordinate sums to get care or are otherwise forced onto government waiting lists so long that many of their conditions are chronic or untreatable before they are seen to. Am I the only one who thinks these powers may be used for evil rather than good? China’s “Credit System” One such cautionary tale may be found in China. ... [ -------------- money quote --------------- ] Now a basic income guarantee may begin universal, but as the years wear on and it proves expensive to provide, it might be that corners have to be cut in order to ensure its continued fungibility. Hardly anyone will object to the UBI being withdrawn from criminals, for example. And then perhaps for antisocial behaviour. People may have their universal basic income docked for committing petty crimes like littering the street. A few might moan that this is the beginning of a government social engineering program, but to most people this will seem like a quite a sensible and reasonable measure. After all, we all “benefit” from the benevolence of society providing our roads and schools, and now our basic income. So if some choose to repay society in disrespect, with such vulgar behaviour as littering, throwing away the ends of cigarettes, spitting on the street, failing to remove their dog foul, or what have you, why should society continue to furnish them with the fullness of a basic income? Besides, if their basic income is docked for several months they are unlikely to repeat the crime — they will soon learn their lesson. It will save money on law enforcement, lengthy court trials, and prison sentences as well, all of which are costly. Clipping people’s basic income will soon seem the most sensible and appropriate response to many crimes and misdemeanours. People may be sanctioned for things like not sorting out their recycling. After all, the government provides garbage disposal for us, and the environment is at stake. Governments are already looking at sanctioning people for this kind of behaviour, so the step would not be much of a leap. These steps will simply be designed to acclimatize people to the idea of being “nudged” in the right direction before more radical measures are taken to use the UBI to shape their behaviour. ... In China people can have their social credit score docked for posting fake news online. We may, of course, ask, fake according to whom? After all, the Chinese government maintains that the Tienanmen Square Massacre of 1989 was “fake news” drummed up by the West to undermine the regime. Closer to home, the mainstream media was entirely complicit in selling the war on Iraq to the public, but I very much doubt we will see people being sanctioned for posting news from mainstream sources such as the BBC or MSNBC. Our leaders are above falsifying our historic records and sending embarrassing incidents down the memory hole for permanent deletion. The purse strings of the universal basic income also present a grave threat to freedom of speech. Anyone who has been following the “woke wars” on Twitter and other social media platforms will have heard of people receiving lifetime bans for tweeting things like “Men are never women.” Now whether you believe such a message is transphobic or otherwise, you may at least believe that someone has the right to tweet it, and be duly educated as to the wrongs of their action by other users. The universal basic income could easily become the new weapon to wield against those who hold unpopular opinions or those that are simply no longer politically correct. It will be first used to strike against unpopular groups such as racists, misogynists, homophobes, and bigots. Not many people will come to their defense when they lose their basic income for spreading hate. But one day you yourself may hold an unpopular opinion that is relatively benign. Maybe you will say that people shouldn’t have their basic income docked just because they say unpopular things on the internet. You will not just be slapped with a Twitter ban, you will potentially lose $1000 a month. ... The UBI will institutionalise the state as each of our patrons — and us as wards of the state. Once this relationship is established we will enter into a frightening era where the government is our provider and the UBI can easily be weaponized by our rulers to shape us into compliance. ----- End forwarded message -----

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Twitter executive responsible for the Middle East is UK Army soldier from the Information Warfare unit
by Razer 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

A Twitter executive, responsible for the Middle East, has been exposed as a British Army soldier active in the ‘information warfare’ unit, dedicated to propaganda, known as the 77th Brigade, an exclusive report by the U.K.-based Middle East Eye outlet has revealed. There are fresh questions over the relationship between social media companies and western security states after details emerged about Twitter’s high-level staff. Middle East Eye revealed that Twitter executive Gordon MacMillan is a member of the 77th Brigade of the U.K. military, which claims to have “the capability to compete in the war of narratives at the tactical level”. The revelations come amid recent controversies around Twitter banning accounts critical of U.S. foreign policy. In August almost 1,000 accounts that criticized ongoing protests in Hong Kong were banned from the platform. The 77th Brigade is an amalgamation of two existing British military units, the Media Operations Group and the 15 Psychological Operations Group. “In our 77 Brigade … we have got some remarkable talent when it comes to social media, production design," Army General Nick Carter said speaking of the mission of the brigade at a London think tank. "We also, though, need to continue to improve our ability to fight on this new battlefield, and I think it’s important that we build on the excellent foundation we’ve created for Information Warfare through our 77 Brigade which is now giving us the capability to compete in the war of narratives at the tactical level.” There are also concerns about the role Macmillan is playing in U.K. politics. Investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg found tweets that showed hostility towards Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been critical of U.K. interventions in the Middle East, “Maybe I'm just being cynical/paranoid/worse. But @GordonMacMillan's tweets about Corbyn and Labour are universally negative and almost universally negative respectively,” Klarenberg commented in a tweet. Former soldier Joe Glenton, who was imprisoned following his refusal to return to another tour of duty in Afghanistan, and hit the headlines after attending an anti-war rally, also commented on the revelations saying “This is vital journalism. It adds to concerns I have had about the placement and role of 77 Brigade people in public life more generally." Both Twitter and the 77th Brigade claim that they do not have a formal link. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Twitter-Exec-Exposed-as-UK-Military-Off… Rr Sent from my Androgyne dee-vice with K-9 Mail

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"democracy" vs Monarchy - the Russian conversation
by Zenaan Harkness 18 Apr '20

18 Apr '20

Modern "democracy" makes its own extremely strong case against itself. "Monarchy" is just one form "benevolent dictatorship", when it works, but is anything but benevolent when it doesn't work. Hereditary monarchy consistently descends into something as bad as "democracy" is today. Personality cult worship is also a societal pathology. Putin actually did save Russia from total disintegration (to the great chagrin of Harvard's "economic shock therapy" oligarch creators) - and a significant percentage of the Russian population bemoans that Putin "did not go far enough" (in putting unethical oligarchs in jail for instance). Although the lie we've been fed for decades that "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest" has lead many away from the path of critical thinking about our Western system and how it is used to dominate us, the truth is that this quotable quote contains an assumption at its core underlying that lie, which also leads people astray, "that government is something important, necessary". Mechanisms of conflict resolution are what's needed. Government is one form of conflict resolution, notwithstanding the tyranny of the majority/ the mob, the tyranny of the minority, and the usurpation of not only government, but any and every form of shared common delusion or collective concensus agreement - there are always problems to solve. And yes, we've never had a real anarchy, or a real libertarian or direct democracy. BUT, we have had "relatively benevolent" benevolent dictators - in the modern floss world, Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman and others, and throughout history, some of the rulers have been, from the point of view of their citizens, generally, and genuinely, benevolent - not the majority I presume, but certainly some. So benevolent dictatorship - if you truly have an actually benevolent dictator at the top - is one of the most constructive and functional societal arrangements, as long as the various forms of descent into tyranny are successfully guarded against - hereditary right does not make logical sense and history shows us it readily descends into tyranny (old Roman empire, many Monarchies). One could be cautiously hopeful that Russia will carry through with its excellent "democratic" threat of Etherium based public ledger, publicly auditable national voting, and even more to eventually put everything to the vote - a true direct democracy (as Malcolm always says, at least the people would have only their collective selves to blame, for every law and clause). Now although we in The West are supremely enlightened since 400 years and view the world eminently objectively from unassailable glass towers << COUGH >> << COUGH >>, with our deeply nuanced understanding and abiding and unconditional empathy for our Russian brothers <<...>>, we immediately understand not only why they (rightly I would say) view Putin as a benevolent dictator and somewhat of a saviour of all Russia and Christendom, but carry some not insignificant concern for the day, roughly 6.5 years from now, when Putin steps down from his benevolent dictator role. Our Russkie brethren have a significantly more vibrant public discussion (a bit unbalanced in some ways, and very different to what we see in the pathological Western MSM), and one which is naturally drawn from their very rich (as in interesting) past, thus the real and significant desire of a portion of the Russian population to return to Monarchy (see below). In a very real sense this shift is unstoppable, just as the Christian revival is unstoppable in Russia (they are STILL opening on average 3 new churches a day, day in, day out, and have for a few years now) - since as some (<cough>Razer<cough>) have utterly failed to grasp, that which you try to (or temporarily successfully) suppress, be it the Huwaite Nazis or the Russian Orthodox Churches, you do nothing but strengthen the backlash when it comes. The cycle (the resolution of the existential crisis sweeping the globe, both Eurasian and Western) is likely not back to Monarchy, as the path of the awareness and realisation of sovereignty in this reality has gone thusly: God/Creator -> Monarchs -> Man (the individual) -> _ _ _ _ The natural or cyclical progression is something other than "back to Kings and Queens" - the majority simply won't give up their dawning sovereignty, and so some other resolution is inevitable. Since vesting sovereignty in the individual, in Man, has actually yet to be really done, that is what must eventuate, notwithstanding the vehement and violent opposition from the oligarchs who rabidly continue to attempt to suppress the sovereignty of the vast majority of individuals in their unbalanced and relentless pursuit of "more power" which journey, of itself, can never conclude except by suppression of everyone except for a single individual - Atlas Shrugged must be read for those who fail to grasp this simple conclusion. In other words, we are still in the transition from the ultimate power of the Earthly Monarch, to vesting sovereignty in Man, the individual. The glorification of the individual, as seen so strongly in the West, carries its own psychoses and societal pathologies (also seen widely in the West), yet before a different journey can begin, we seem bound to play out the present one to its conclusion - and the struggle for sovereignty (its true vesting in the individual) is now a very small step away - technologically, direct democracy is almost trivial today, requiring nothing more than a little leadership and collective will in this direction, and Russia's Ethereum-based voting looks to be the first solid step on this journey. Don't worry though - the individual quest for meaning and significance shall continue, and once the extreme vesting of sovereignty in the individual is (shortly - over the next decade) attained, then discovery and pursuit of the next step in the evolution of mankind shall begin - seeking the deepest understandings and experiences within the nature of our existence, consciousness and its source, and the mystery of the matrix of this particular "reality" within which we find ourselves - for want of words, that search for the divine, for "the Creator", for "God" - but this time by "going within" rather than settling for the mediation of the priest, the imam, or the medicine man. Nikola Tesla (not Nickola) spoke/ wrote quite poignantly to the art (science?) of contemplation and its use in the pursuit of creativity, knowledge, and manifestation in reality - in some ways he was quite the modern exemplar of this journey. May you find that which Soul seeks for itself, ** Democracy Is Fraud! - We Need Monarchy! - Hugely Popular Russian Priest on Top TV Show ( Dmitry Smirnov) https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Mark Boden on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 Dmitry Smirnov is one of the best known priests in Russia and has a very large following. He is ubiquitous on television, radio, and YouTube, where his videos frequently get 100s of 1000s of views on his channel. (Russian only). He is a brilliant public speaker and excellent at debate, known for his sharp wit and quick comebacks. He is especially loved for his sermons, which are all on his YouTube channel, and is by far the most popular preacher in Russia. ** The Coming War to End All Wars https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Ed Curtin on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 “The compulsive hatred of Putin by many who have almost zero idea about Putin or Russian history is disproportionate to any rational analysis, but not surprising. Trump and Putin are like weird doppelgangers in the liberal imagination.” —John Steppling, “Trump, Putin, and Nikolas Cruz Walk into a Bar” ** If America Wasn’t America, the United States Would Be Bombing It https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Darius Shahtahmasebi on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 On January 8, 2018, former government advisor Edward Luttwak wrote an opinion piece for Foreign Policy titled “It’s Time to Bomb North Korea.” Luttwak’s thesis is relatively straightforward. There is a government out there that may very soon acquire nuclear-weapons capabilities, and this country cannot be trusted to responsibly handle such a stockpile. The responsibility to protect the world from a rogue nation cannot be argued with, and we understandably have a duty to ensure the future of humanity. ** The Guardian Is Right – Ghouta Is 'Syria’s Srebrenica' https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Catte on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 Simon Tisdall’s latest fact-lite, emotionally manipulative lament that the West isn’t doing enough to save the lovely terrorists in Syria makes one unintentionally accurate claim. “Eastern Ghouta,” he says “is turning into Syria’s Srebrenica.” We agree with him on this, but not for the reasons he offers in his article. Let’s remind ourselves about the real story of Srebrenica and the wider context of the break up of Yugoslavia. Srebrenica didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was part of the “civil war” that shattered the former Yugoslavia into warring regions. NATO supported the civil war and encouraged the secession of Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. It saw chaos in the region as advantageous to its interests.

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Fact-checkers have lost important digital tools — and will lose one more in September - Poynter
by jim bell 17 Apr '20

17 Apr '20

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2019/fact-checkers-have-lost-importan…

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Re: Libertarian Economic Logic (chart attached)
by Zenaan Harkness 11 Apr '20

11 Apr '20

On Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 05:54:02PM +1000, jamesd(a)echeque.com wrote: > > > > And in case you missed it, there's 100s of sites these days such > > > > as http://opensourcemachinetools.org/wordpress/ > > > > Which don't tell you how to make a pencil. > > On 2019-09-23 09:33, Zenaan Harkness wrote: > > How many years was the interval between when RMS started his version > > of "the free software movement/ community" and now (now being a > > relevant point in time where we see an incredibly abundant cornucopia > > of all manner of computer software, in free forms available to all) ? > > Since that software was produced by handful of very smart people, that > irrelevant to question of whether you can make a pencil without a boss telling > you how to do it. > > You can make some gun parts with a threedee printer and software downloaded > from the internet, but some gun parts you cannot. And for a very long time, > no one could make those parts except existing large scale gun makers. > > And watching Ivan the Troll make those gun parts, it was absolutely obvious to > me that come civil war II, it is not going to be a large number of people > making full auto weapons in their home workshop. We are going to have to > conscript Ivan the Troll, and conscript a thousand people to do what he damn > well tells them to do. There's a principle there I do agree with. The benevolent dictator, the individual with capacity - call it creative intuitive or inherent or something. I am well aware that those of capacity ("any relevant level of capacity" perhaps?) cannot be duplicated in general. And yes, come civil war, very few will have the ability and capacity to create anything particularly useful, in a relevant time frame, to the defence of their family. I think calling "inherent intuitive ability in one or more areas" "a boss" leads to unfortunate descent of the conversation. One of the great problems of today is the Marxist indoctrination of many, when they go to college, and combined with the relative technological abundance and access to Wikipedia we have, a lot of "spoilt brats" think not only can they do anything, but that the world owes them everything and they ought not have to lift a finger to receive everthing, and this approach has gottem them a fair way in the "cotton wool parents" world we now live in. And come civil war, a few inherent but long buried facts will, usefully if painfully, expose themselves rather rudely to those who've been living such delusions. Anyway, there are those who are intent on building up the publicly accessible knowledge base on how to make things. Some will join them. Perhaps even someone who already knows how to make pencils, and perhaps few people will even be able to follow the instructions - perhaps none (though I doubt that - such a view smacks of ego hubris); timeframes though... I can't stop wondering about the Werner von Braun and NASA USA rocket building history though ... I usually prefer to have the discussion on the list by the way. Regards, Zenaan

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Diplomat suffered memory loss while stationed in China.
by jim bell 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

Anyone with an Android smartphone should be able to download an audio spectrum analyzer app to detect various sonic events. Further, I believe that USB-connected SDR's (Software-Defined Radios) which can implement cheap spectrum analyzers are cheaply available. https://www.walmart.com/ip/100KHz-1-7GHz-Full-Band-UV-HF-RTL-SDR-USB-Tuner-… $25.31, in kit form.Although, this specific one is limited to 100Khz-1 GHz. Anything reasonably usable to go to at least 3 GHz. Jim Bell BY BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. diplomat who said he suffered headaches and memory loss under mysterious circumstances while stationed in China pledged Friday to donate his brain to head injury researchers. Mark Lenzi, 44, is an unusual addition to the several thousand others, including many former NFL players who suffered concussions during their careers, who previously signed agreements to have their brains studied after they die by the CTE Center at Boston University. A security engineer for the U.S. State Department, Lenzi was among a number of diplomats who were brought home last year from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China, after reporting as-yet-unexplained symptoms. The State Department has drawn no link between those diplomats and 26 workers at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba who were withdrawn in 2017 after reporting symptoms, including those consistent with minor traumatic brain injury, or concussion. "The engineer in me wants to get to the bottom of this type of concussion and exactly what happened to me," Lenzi said while signing the pledge in Boston with representatives of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, an organization that collaborates with the BU researchers by recruiting donors and publicizing the dangers associated with head trauma. Chris Nowinski, co-founder and chief executive of the foundation, said the brain injury community must continue research to find answers for head trauma. "There are patients out there that need answers from the scientific community," he said. Lenzi now works at a State Department passport office in his native New Hampshire. He said he and his wife began hearing strange noises in their apartment in 2017, and later developed symptoms consistent with concussion. In an interview with the AP, he said he initially did not associate the noises with the symptoms, believing the headaches may have been triggered by smog. Lenzi has not been identified by U.S. officials as someone suffering from injuries similar to those suffered by diplomats in Cuba. The State Department said Friday that out of 15 diplomats or family members from China who underwent additional medical evaluation in the U.S., 14 were found not to have symptoms like those from Cuba and the other case had not been determined. [end of partial quote]

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