October 2020 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

ideology - Penalizing Prudence - infantile thinking at its most basic - [PEACE]
by Zenaan Harkness 03 Oct '20

03 Oct '20

Many in the West are infantile in their often consumeristic and essentially narcissistic self centered thinking/ doing/ believing/ living. This is a fundamental problem. Perhaps we can riff on "we don't control our lives" to something like "many people, infantile consumers, do not realise that they do not control their lives". This too is a problem. A favourite line below: "The word ‘prudence’ is not trending very high in the public’s vernacular these days". Penalizing Prudence By Cognitive Dissonance 2020-10-01 - 15:17 https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2020-10-01/penalizing-prudence “Economy, prudence, and a simple life are the sure masters of need, and will often accomplish that which, their opposites, with a fortune at hand, will fail to do.” – Clara Barton “Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.” – Aesop One of my conceits, of which there are many, is the belief that because I have entered the third trimester of my life, I am now in possession of great volumes of wisdom and perspective. Thankfully Mrs. Cog is always nearby to efficiently and surgically remove any such thoughts of grandeur and omnipotence. That said, at some point during the flight of life, even birds of prey eventually turn their thoughts to the comfort of a nearby nest rather than their next fearless fight. Even the most reckless among us begins elevating to greater importance the preservation of resources rather than mindless squandering, especially when we are closer to the end than the beginning. This is a good thing, by the way. It adds balance to the socioeconomic system, both personally and collectively, as well as countering the self-destructive tendencies of those obsessed with endless consumption. There’s a reason we’re no longer referred to as ‘citizens’ in mainstream media or political speech, but rather the more personal-responsibility-evading ‘consumer’. If given even a minimum of thought, one quickly realizes this subtly propagandized term (consumer) is a significant, if not the only, component of the obvious agenda to infantilize the US (and global) population. Like the one year old who eats, sleeps, plays, defecates, eats, sleeps, plays……with no personal responsibility other than to be self-indulgent and consume food and attention, we are being reduced (distilled down might be a better term) to our most base impulses. I suspect most people, if told this to their face, would not react well to my observation, assuming instead I was being critical of them personally. Like mama always said…if the shoe fits, wear it. The word ‘prudence’ is not trending very high in the public’s vernacular these days, at least not until recently and still only by a few. The massively disruptive socioeconomic changes thrust upon the population in the name of saving the world from the COVID boogie monster reminds me of a famous quote from the Vietnam War. "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." – Peter Arnett, New Zealand-born journalist, quoting an unnamed Major during the Battle of Bến Tre. I’m not exactly the bastion of fiscal, emotional and professional prudence. Not by a long shot. If anything, over the last seven years Mrs. Cog and I have ramped up our spending when cash flow permitted in order to improve, expand and maintain our little homestead up here on the mountain. While we do indulge on occasion, our work is our play and we rarely spend frivolously on consumer treats. Except, of course, when we do. Overall, our focus has been squarely centered on sustainability, in essence the exact opposite of consumerism just for the sake of consumption. A prudent person considers the exit long before entering, knowing full well in advance (or at least making an honest effort to do so) what is, and is not, within their control. A mindless consumer thinks little of the exit, assuming it will always be there simply because it has always been there in the past. The very act of mindless obsessive consumption precludes any probing deliberation and thought. This is infantile thinking at its most basic, putting any naval gazing toddler to shame with our own audacity and hypocrisy. Today’s ‘adult’ is little more than an overgrown child with a credit card and an oversized sense of righteous entitlement. While we all love to point to this or that ‘authority’ as the entity responsible for our own self debasement (a typical infantile response) it takes two to tango. Just because we can purchase something doesn’t mean we should. Somewhere along the line “We the People” lost the ability to understand the difference between needs and wants. Or more accurately, we lost the desire to understand. Prudence and thrift were, not so long ago, considered admirable traits. Cultural phrases such as “A penny saved is a penny earned” or “A stitch in time saves nine” demonstrated the value assigned to conservative thought and practice. The viral spread of consumerism over the last several decades, turning exponential since social media exploded onto the scene, has branded conservatism (criminally conflated with the Republican political party, which long ago abandoned its core conservative roots) persona non grata in society. The cultural, political and financial pressure to disregard prudence and thrift, essentially abandoning time-tested practices by the side of the road, endlessly bombards us via every glowing screen we own or encounter. Today’s freshly minted crop of children have never been introduced to conservative thinking and practices unless their parents and guardians deliberating and consistently pushed against the overwhelming tide of profligate squandering promoted by everyone everywhere all the time. It is now considered a matter of national security that “We the People” (individuals, corporations and governments alike) continue our spendthrift ways, less the economy crater and the depression boogieman emerge from under the bed. In a finite world, infinite expansion and consumption lead to only one exit. National (global) bankruptcy and social disaster. As anyone (or any corporation for that matter) who has gone bankrupt can attest, one simply cannot spend themselves out of imminent bankruptcy. And yet this is precisely what we as a nation and as individuals are confidently told can, and will, occur from various conflicted and corrupted authorities and entities. A perfect example is Modern Monetary Theory or MMT, just the latest rationalization for unrestrained spending at all levels well beyond our means. https://www.investopedia.com/modern-monetary-theory-mmt-4588060 Sadly, tragically, we believe what we want to hear and there is no shortage of con artists, propagandists and politicians who will leverage our collective denial for their own personal benefit. NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST ZEROHEDGE DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX Receive a daily recap featuring a curated list of must-read stories. It is said that any government can do pretty much whatever it wants for as long as it can shield the population from the consequences of its actions. The longer the shield holds, the harder the eventual fall. At some point, when the general population is mostly dependent upon the government for basic services, distribution, protection and order, those most vulnerable to personal disaster will defend and support the very entity that is destroying them. While reading about historical events that led to individual and collective disaster, I often wondered how and why they didn’t see it coming. From my historically distant and disinterested point of view, it’s obvious to me what was rapidly approaching for those who would soon be pancaked between a rock and a hard place. I think I understand now. Life experienced from within the boiling stew pot is not the same when viewed from an external perspective. Our tendency to rationalize and justify even the most insane conditions is beyond logical explanation. This psychological pathology, the so-called human condition, is precisely why while history doesn’t repeat, it most certainly rhymes. Welcome to the insane asylum.

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UK Pirate Party Preparing to Scuttle the Ship
by grarpamp 03 Oct '20

03 Oct '20

https://news.sky.com/story/uks-pirate-party-set-to-be-scuttled-after-almost… UK's Pirate Party set to be scuttled after almost a decade at sea Speaking to Sky News, current and former members described a party which perhaps lacked political will. Alexander J Martin, technology reporter Alexander Martin Technology reporter @AJMartinSky Saturday 3 October 2020 15:21, UK Pirate Party feature graphic Image: After a decade at sea, Pirate Party UK is holding a ballot to dissolve Why you can trust Sky News After more than a decade of electoral failures, the Pirate Party UK (PPUK) is holding a ballot to dissolve. It seems likely that, when voting closes on Sunday 4 October, the party will be scuttled. Speaking to Sky News, current and former members described a party which perhaps lacked political will and professionalism (in one infamous incident, members of its national executive faced being summonsed to the High Court), but a party which also lacked the toxic internal conflicts that can tear idealistic movements apart. "A serious party with a silly name," as former members describe it, the Pirate Party was never a truly significant political insurgency in British politics. At its height in 2015 the party had 766 members, six of whom ran in the general election, collecting just 1,130 votes. In comparison the Monster Raving Loonies - a silly party with a silly name - ran 27 candidates, receiving 3,898 votes. If the Pirate Party is to sink as a political entity it will do so having fallen well short of the shores of electoral success, and without leaving much of a ripple in the turbulent seas of Westminster. But its demise is a reminder that at some point over the past 10 years a particular era of the internet quietly passed away too. It's hard to imagine today, but a decade ago the general sentiment regarding the internet was that it was a fundamentally democratising force. From the Arab Spring through to the open-source-software movement, there was an optimism that the self-propagating values of an open society would spread anywhere that information technology would allow them access to. The Pirate Party even crowdsourced a general election manifesto on social media, without any fears of astroturfing from hostile trolls. It campaigned on a platform of radical copyright reform - reducing copyright terms to 10 years so society could enjoy its own cultural products. It demanded internet access for all, an infrastructure question which major parties have subsequently adopted. In particular PPUK was formed in response to the last Labour government's Digital Economy Act (2010), a law that introduced controversial powers to disconnect individuals' internet connections if they were suspected of downloading copyright-infringing material. Loz Laye was PPUK's leader from 2010 to 2015. Pic: Andy Halsall Image: Loz Kaye was PPUK's leader from 2010 to 2015. Pic: Andy Halsall Loz Kaye, who served as the party's leader from 2010 to 2015, told Sky News that the Digital Economy Act was what "galvanised me to act politically, rather than just writing a letter or appearing on a phone-in on the radio," something he laughed about doing. If the party's core supporters were easy to stereotype as nerds hunched over laptops, Mr Kaye couldn't have been more different. A handsome and outgoing professional music composer, active in Manchester politics, he brought a focus on social justice to a party which was generally focused on technology issues. "Loz is not the person anybody expects when you're talking about the Pirate Party," Andy Halsall told Sky News. Mr Halsall, a British Army veteran turned IT professional, served as the party's campaign manager during the first three years of Mr Kaye's leadership and its greatest growth in membership and finances. Mr Halsall, who joined the party because his brother-in-law was standing, told Sky News how the leadership team pulled information on how to run a political campaign "from Wikipedia and everybody else's election manuals" and then attempted to convince activists they needed to put in work on the ground instead of just building websites. "It's very hard when people have the expectation that a digital-only campaign will sway people to actually vote for you - when they think that having the right ideas and the right position can win an election, when obviously that isn't the case," he said. BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 05: A member of the Piratenpartei (Pirate Party) taps on an iPhone before a press conference October 5, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The Piratenpartei is seeking to capitalize on its recent success in Berlin city elections as recent nationwide polls indicate that 8% of the German population would supoort the party in federal elections. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Image: Activists initially focused on digital-only campaigning The party itself was essentially pluralist and a few former members who remain active in party politics are now members of the Conservative Party, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. "We were generally anti-authoritarian," said Mr Kaye. "What united us all was not feeling very comfortable in the demonstrated political clothes. I hate the socialist cosplay of Corbynites, I abhor the flag-waving numptyism of the current Tory party. I think all of those ways of demonstrating politics or political place are just fatuous," he told Sky News in a phone call. Despite this growth PPUK never quite matched the successes of pirate parties in Germany, Iceland and the Czech Republic. In a way PPUK's pluralism stands in contrast to the most successful pirate party, the Czech Pirate Party, which retains the third largest presence in the country's lower house of parliament and functions as a liberal third party to the country's populists and eurosceptics. "I think if we were honest with ourselves, we never particularly saw becoming an MP as a short-term prospect," Mr Kaye said, attributing this to the first-past-the-post system in Westminster, noting: "It's not like say the Netherlands, where you can have a Party for the Animals and get into parliament." For onlookers such as Jim Killock, the director of digital rights organisation Open Rights Group, the Pirate Party failed to focus on the limited number of chances it had for electoral success - specifically the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and London, and two seats in the European elections in the southeast England and London. "In my own view, I saw too much political naivety for them to really grasp the chances that they had," Mr Killock said. Andy Halsall recollects: "Standing for elections was what political parties did, so there was a default position of 'if we're a political party, that's what we do - otherwise we're just a bunch of activists talking about it'." But converting its geographically dispersed support into votes in a national campaign was difficult on such a small policy platform. As Mr Kaye recollected, voters who he met on doorsteps and at debates often expressed an appreciation for the party's copyright policies, but had other issues too: "What are you going to do about the bins, Palestine, and all the rest of it?" The Royal Courts of Justice building, which houses the High Court of England and Wales, is pictured in London on February 3, 2017. / AFP / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images) Image: The NEC almost ended up fighting a lawsuit in the High Court Despite the struggle to establish itself as a national entity on par with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, or Labour, for a six-month period the Pirate Party website was not only the most popular political website in the UK, but one of the most popular of any at all receiving more than 50,000 hits every hour. Nobody who spoke to Sky News remembers who really started it, but just before Internet Service Providers in the UK implemented a court-ordered block on the website Pirate Bay for copyright-infringement, PPUK began to host a proxy service allowing people to access the site. "I don't know who kicked it of, at some point we simply had a proxy running for the Pirate Bay on party kit that we were managing, and that was it," said Mr Halsall, who described the incident as one of the issues with professionalising the party and ensuring that when actions were being made and decisions taken they were overseen. "We wanted to change the law, not circumvent it," Mr Halsall added. Loz Kaye, who was leader at the time, told Sky News he'd talked very little about the incident before. He said: "Essentially the point was if you start blocking sites you start out on a slippery slope and hand powers that perhaps you might want to think twice about to governments. "The question was also about free access to culture, so that was the thinking - but it also then proved ridiculously successful. "Because it was linked to our website, the Pirate Party website became the most popular political website in the country. We were in the top hundred sites in the country, ahead of major banks, so not surprisingly this came to the attention of the BPI." He added: "I don't mind admitting we were a little bit naive, but I think we were all surprised by what happened." What happened was this: Six months after the proxy went up, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the trade association for record companies, targeted the individual members of the Pirate Party's national executive committee (NEC) with legal threats to take the proxy down. They initially said no. "Behind the scenes it was very hard for us to get legal representation," Mr Kaye said. "It was hard to find lawyers, even though some were keen, but any firm with any knowledge of intellectual property would also potentially have conflicts of interest as they may have acted for potential litigants. "We were days away from being summonsed to the High Court and the lawyers we had pulled out. That was possibly the most stressful thing that has ever happened to me," he said. Eventually replacement lawyers were found, but the proxy was taken down. Although the party membership generally considered that the proxy was justified, as NEC members were being personally targeted by a potentially very expensive court case, Mr Kaye said: "I didn't think it was fair to push it too far." It was an ignominious end for an action driven by a political cause that was sincerely believed in, but without the political will to be seen through. Many years later, a similar fate looms over the party as a whole. Pirate Party UK's leadership proposed closing it down Image: Pirate Party UK's leadership proposed closing it down In its proposal to close Pirate Party UK, the current leader and the chairman of the board wrote it was "with great sadness that we have reached the conclusion that PPUK has run out of steam". Members who are considering voting "no" to dissolving the party were instructed to only vote that way if they themselves were determined to help run the party, and not simply because they thought that somebody should do so. In the case the ballot concludes that the party will be dissolved, members' personal records will be destroyed and the Electoral Commission will be notified that the party has ceased to be. Outstanding debts will be settled and any remaining funds will be split between two charities, the National Museum of Computing and Privacy International, fitting locations for the vestiges of PPUK. 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Matthew Mayhew gets it, apologizes for his Whiteness as though his life depends on it - dial to 11 - [PEACE]
by Zenaan Harkness 03 Oct '20

03 Oct '20

Folks starting to have fun with this game, pushing the dial to 11, no 12, even O M G, 13! The apologies, the whiteness, the wokeness, the humanity, the healing, all going to 11. "I am struggling to find the words to communicate the deep ache for the damage I have done." You see muh b.gger wh.ggers, if _your_ chosen variation of an "apology for Whiteness" is just a little overdone, or just slightly out of kilter, not only will some educated liberals spend time correcting you or denigrating you for your apology (thus, you know they've spent that time reading your apology), you're also educating folks with a sufficient IQ on another approach to handling this demon, and having a little fun while you do it. How many variations on slightly (or not so slightly) off kilter apologies for whiteness are there? As many as there are Whypeople :D NPCs across the globe are just about to get ultra triggered ... time for our memes, much chuckling, and liberation. Comedy is born in blackness, Amurrica be healed. Ohio State Prof Pens Hyperbolic Apology For His "Whiteness" After Suggesting College Football Could Unify The Nation https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ohio-state-professor-pens-hyperbolic-ap… .. This week, Mayhew is writing a lengthy and possibly immensely hyperbolic apology for advocating for a sport that "places Black bodies at disproportional risk". "I recently led a piece in Inside Higher Ed titled 'Why America Needs College Football.' I am sorry for the hurt, sadness, frustration, fatigue, exhaustion and pain this article has caused anyone, but specifically Black students in the higher education community and beyond," Mayhew wrote in a part two, published in Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/09/29/author-apologizes-inside-hi… .. He continued, in an apology that was dripping with so much emotion that Reason suggested it could be satirical: I learned that I could have titled the piece "Why America Needs Black Athletes." I learned that Black men putting their bodies on the line for my enjoyment is inspired and maintained by my uninformed and disconnected whiteness and, as written in my previous article, positions student athletes as white property. I have learned that I placed the onus of responsibility for democratic healing on Black communities whose very lives are in danger every single day and that this notion of "democratic healing" is especially problematic since the Black community can't benefit from ideals they can't access. I have learned that words like "distraction" and "cheer" erase the present painful moments within the nation and especially the Black community. I am just beginning to understand how I have harmed communities of color with my words. I am learning that my words—my uninformed, careless words—often express an ideology wrought in whiteness and privilege. I am learning that my commitment to diversity has been performative, ignoring the pain the Black community and other communities of color have endured in this country. I am learning that I am not as knowledgeable as I thought I was, not as antiracist that thought I was, not as careful as I thought I was. For all of these, I sincerely apologize. https://reason.com/2020/09/29/inside-higher-ed-osu-professor-apology-sorry-… The New York Times, perhaps bewildered by whether or not Mayhew was being serious and confused as to what, exactly to be offended by the most, then came out and publicly criticized the apology, noting that "such a dramatic public apology is obviously weird and bad." https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/1310959886751199232 "The obsequious tone of the groveling should be a red flag that there's something seriously awry with this mode of discussion," the Times wrote. I'll just step right in here and add that my whiteness, my privilege, all the hurt to minorities and POCs that my whiteness and privilege has caused is hereby denounced by me in the strongest, most emphatical words of hopefully not too much whiteness that my patriarchal keyboard can cope with transmitting through its black USB cable to the soon to be very woke computer and ... well you get the picture. And if you don't, you ain't black!

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NSA Releases Under 2010 FOIA Two Formerly Top Secret COMINT Documents
by John Young 02 Oct '20

02 Oct '20

NSA Releases Under 2010 FOIA Two Formerly Top Secret COMINT Documents: Norman Boardman Interview 1986 https://cryptome.org/2020/10/nsa-boardman-interview-1986.pdf (63 pp, 16MB) History of Computer Security 1998 https://cryptome.org/2020/10/nsa-history-computer-security-1998.pdf (110 pp, 29MB)

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Tesmanian: SpaceX offers free Starlink internet after wildfires, the network is '
by jim bell 02 Oct '20

02 Oct '20

Tesmanian: SpaceX offers free Starlink internet after wildfires, the network is '. https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/wildfire-starlink

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1984: Starlink First Partner: Local Cops and State Military
by grarpamp 01 Oct '20

01 Oct '20

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/washington-emergency-responders-use-spacex-… News prediction: Starlink Feeds Robot Dogs, Spy Drones, Cameras Microphones Pop-Control Sensors Everywhere Giving 100:1 odds to any buyer.

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Marketers are gathering data on your kids from the apps they
by Stefan Claas 01 Oct '20

01 Oct '20

Horrible! Laws should be passed and those 'parents' should be punished, for letting their little kids play with online devices! Companies producing and selling such products too! <https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/08/health/privacy-violations-kids-apps-well…> Regards Stefan

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Re: Paper on Assassination Markets
by Punk-BatSoup-Stasi 2.0 01 Oct '20

01 Oct '20

On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:22:26 +0000 "b. water" <benwater(a)protonmail.ch> wrote: > This website does not require Javascript to download the pdf yes it does.

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Leaks: Microsoft XP Source Code, also Server 2003
by grarpamp 01 Oct '20

01 Oct '20

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-xp-leak-confirmed-after-user-compiles… https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/09/looks-like-the-windows-xp-source-code-ju… https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/21/21265995/xbox-source-code-leak-original-… https://twitter.com/NTDEV_ The torrent is easily findable. The current chips from Intel / AMD would be a much more interesting leak into the open sunshine debugger. The first CPU company to go fully open and publicly prove they have far less or even approaching zero bugs and backdoors, would instantly 10x their stock price and be swamped with hardware buyers. The first to have their piles of bugs and backdoors leaked will plummet out of business. Attn HW makers... leaks will happen... choose your future. #OpenFabs, #OpenHW, #OpenAudit

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Cryptocurrency: Brock Pierce Runs for 2020 US President Third Party, Dropping in 100 Candidates for 2022
by grarpamp 01 Oct '20

01 Oct '20

Brock Pierce Runs for 2020 US President Third Party, Dropping in 100 Candidates for 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNi9XosiuEU Brock Pierce Runs for 2020 US President https://brock.vote/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pc_pPDu-Ys w Nick Spanos on election mechanics, 1 vote needed for from 100% to 33% chance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1824_United_States_presidential_election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-jCBDsmMX0 Brock Pierce Runs for Pres https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pierce-brock-mighty-ducks-bitcoin-billiona… https://www.facebook.com/BrockJPierce/videos/national-town-hall-3-mental-he… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Pierce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party_and_independent_candidates_for_th… https://liberate.us/ On July 5, 2020, Pierce announced his Independent candidacy for the 2020 United States presidential election as an Independent. The campaign filed registration documents with the FEC on July 7. Pierce based his campaign around his background as an entrepreneur, and his running mate is Karla Ballard, a fellow entrepreneur. Pierce gained ballot access in Oklahoma on July 15, in Arkansas on August 12, Colorado on August 19. and was nominated by the New York Independence Party on August 24. Pierce was endorsed by venture capitalist and Bitcoin advocate Tim Draper. Pierce was also backed up by singer and entrepreneur Akon, who will manage his presidential campaign as chief strategist. In September 14, he announced that he will form a new party and run candidates under party banner in 2022. Party's name is unknown.

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