June 2021 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Cryptocurrency: Critics Wrong
by grarpamp 21 Jun '21

21 Jun '21

https://mises.org/power-market/3-common-criticisms-crypto-and-why-theyre-wr… https://mises.org/library/origin-money-and-its-value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_imputation https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-price-venezuela-doubling-18-days/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect Peter Schiff is a well-known critic of Bitcoin, and while he is an excellent resource on many economic and political topics, he misses the mark on cryptocurrency. To be fair, he is right that Bitcoin and other crypto assets are high risk and volatile, and he correctly points out that using leverage or going into debt to buy Bitcoin could end in financial disaster. However, he makes several errors in his analysis of Bitcoin. He is wrong about its scarcity and its ability to hedge inflation, but his largest mistake is his guiding principle: that Bitcoin (unlike gold) has no fundamental value. For example, Schiff is quick to point out that gold has uses outside of being money. It is used in electronics, dentistry, and jewelry to name a few. Given this, it's easy to see how - as Carl Menger noted - money could emerge in a free market from a state of barter. In short, gold had use cases independent of being money, but over time, it was recognized as a useful medium of exchange to facilitate more complex and indirect transactions. This led people to value it over and above its original use cases. Unlike gold, Bitcoin cannot be used in dentistry; it cannot be fashioned into jewelry; and it cannot be used in electronics. This leads to Schiff to claim that Bitcoin is unlike gold in that it has no fundamental (or objective) value. His mistake is obvious: there is no such thing as objective value, whether we're talking about gold or Bitcoin. Value is subjective and determined internally by individuals. Bitcoin has no objective value, but neither does gold. Yes, gold can be used to build electronics, but that only has value because consumers subjectively value electronics (See Menger’s Theory of Imputation). Schiff is also mistaken when he claims that Bitcoin provides no shelter from inflation. Yet, millions of people across the world have already used it to partly escape their failing currencies. In 2018, for example, the price of Bitcoin in Venezeulan bolívars was doubling every 18 days. It's important to keep in mind that any product can serve as a hedge against a devaluing currency—not just precious metals or cryptocurrencies. In the past, whiskey and cigarettes have been used for this purpose, as have many other consumer products. When a currency is failing, the demand for the currency declines and consumers rush to put their currency into physical products or other currencies. On the other hand, Schiff may be correct that a dollar crash could lead to a decline in Bitcoin prices (at least in the short term), but such an event would be so disruptive to many assets. The most recent example of these effects occurred on March 6, 2020. As the U.S. stock market crash deepened, both gold and Bitcoin sold off sharply. When the margin calls hit, everything got sold. The simple truth is that anything that's not a dollar or a promise to pay dollars (i.e., bonds) represents a hedge against dollar inflation. This does not make them immune (in the short term) from a collapse of the global reserve currency. Schiff’s last major mistake concerns Bitcoin’s scarcity. The ultimate supply of Bitcoin is fixed at 21 million units. Schiff discounts this limited supply by pointing out that thousands of crypto coins and tokens have been created since Bitcoin. These copies, he claims, prove that Bitcoin is not scarce. Would Schiff extend this logic to reproductions of the Mona Lisa? There is only one original, and it will remain scarce no matter how many copies are made. His stance also ignores the significant network effects that Bitcoin enjoys. Like other networks, the value increases as the number of participants grows. Numerous forks of Bitcoin have learned this lesson the hard way as their tokens have steadily lost value against the original. Finally, the existence of multiple cryptocurrencies is no more problematic than the existence of multiple precious metals. The total demand is simply divided between silver, gold, palladium, and others. It is likely that we are in a boom stage of crypto like the dotcom bubble. New coins are being created almost daily and most will not survive. It is up to the marketplace to determine if the price of Bitcoin will go up or down. The same is true for gold.

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[spam][spam][spam][spam][spam] reporting to lists
by Karl 21 Jun '21

21 Jun '21

When I say half-stuff my slave pattern is just trying to report out. I think whoever set me up is expecting whoever is taking over the country to demonstrate legitimacy by outfighting everyone else trying to reveal rebel patterns to be squashed

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[ot| [spam] [non-cpunks] random email Fwd: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)
by Karl 21 Jun '21

21 Jun '21

Hello universe if you are influencing me please provide a way to discuss our decisions that I can understand and respond to. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <mailer-daemon(a)googlemail.com> Date: Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 1:11 PM Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure) To: <gmkarl(a)gmail.com> [image: Error Icon] Address not found Your message wasn't delivered to *JohnWilliamJohnson(a)secmail.pro* because the domain secmail.pro couldn't be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again. The response was: DNS Error: 183448 DNS type 'mx' lookup of secmail.pro responded with code NXDOMAIN Domain name not found: secmail.pro ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Karl <gmkarl(a)gmail.com> To: JohnWilliamJohnson(a)secmail.pro Cc: Bcc: Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2021 13:11:16 -0400 Subject: Re: For Karl On Sun, Jun 20, 2021, 11:54 AM <JohnWilliamJohnson(a)secmail.pro> wrote: > Hi Karl, why did I stop receiving the newsletter? Female ISSUE 70 Date > Friday > Hi John, I'm not sure what you're talking about. Do you have the right email address? What newsletter are you referring to? If you've been receiving a newsletter from me, something strange could be going on. I don't know who you are. Karl >

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[ot] JohnWilliamJohnson@secmail.pro asking about newsletter Fwd: For Karl
by Karl 21 Jun '21

21 Jun '21

This email is as weird as this mailing list. I'm imagining people involved in spam from past decades rising up and spreading. Things can seem so weird when they're from something far away. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Karl <gmkarl(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2021, 6:01 AM Subject: Re: For Karl To: <JohnWilliamJohnson(a)secmail.pro> Hi John, My last email to you bounced; I'm curious if this one does. Is the issue on my end, or expected? What newsletter are your referring to? I have some very crippling cognitive issues. Are you able to say more clearly what you are talking about? What kind of limitations are you dealing with? I'm not sure how to extract your key from your signature, I'm afraid. I used to love puzzles, but nowadays I have too many already to complete any. On Mon, Jun 21, 2021, 2:40 AM <JohnWilliamJohnson(a)secmail.pro> wrote: > Hi,Karl!I was told that you wrote to me. I have subscribed to the > newsletter, but unfortunately I have not received an email since Friday. > My key is in the signature. > > mQINBGDQMOEBEACoqozuhAgDHdnU0Em2iQnhY/krqyLscZ04bLikjWLWGLwVZsk1 > OlZqnJ/f+COlKjmMadlJA2/k6XLPCPi+yRBsD4rx/0hNr60H7Vq3EKW4HJzh3NxV > zg5eHUidDFqn+v2wf9LCUszqkWth/7evDbayA8UdFB8PVi1g/cZujkAwkx1GKxns > 8klZcVrQA1SwyLI1jVoE5SfqW67O/JHCccuR3QDbGEgf8hZDH6f1n6dn5+FN3OAC > ++i6RYUH9f4+dbrYEZKXtaQFi8OHuUNe/l7spkc9ScLpmpLnb5ALQyS6dJqLXcvd > e3Galr/lKz+b2nd21NF1ctBwqqtwR16himb58eMTphqao0jZ4rptdiZyTc2+8XvP > gooPGZXmqOBWpR/BaMjPznyaTnlh7H+uyZxh8gNBAPvhj3m+VbqrnOup9XG8Jlo5 > 9CjzJvQhKqjMLteU2ryL/txwMaYShrwwY39bDsJqviWh+CWCn1cAIShT6ymw+L7U > A0eqgFYslDvhJbUPmlcJbsahHSGAujPEGbLmIlfUamB3gdsLzbxKhjcevrgzZEkU > FDp1B74SlD9WvS4ui2NNyozeueylRtA1PXsaxmFITCRiQ4ovJVXRm7VDQjTKB1vi > wuEmAgEuY5t2IlzvghOgQbJAm0l79ozhNwgWNVPl7gBfgI1XuPlF2mNUQwARAQAB > tBJKb2huV2lsbGlhbUpvaG5zb26JAlQEEwEIAD4WIQRMLyiqxYCbPETzCW3kuj63 > ynzimAUCYNAw4QIbAwUJA8JvDwULCQgHAgYVCgkICwIEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRDk > uj63ynzimDUCEACT96uSgGxRMW5x4oDiuwi7jjmMPTIjr6TRWsV0tHC/8kIIaOfM > 44R40TgmA3p6vID1oc0iFPzeCwkOm2fs/z7KbhHkThDh+HshOdP3oRKCNjjcbuQa > 6luQyh97Qkrfla1/iLcf+Lrv/qtkc1Zbtd14JApodQSlBjxOFJaH801vxDdUsTlO > uuHfxmBlXvmKzvwazBNYcXQT73C2D02Q4cV9JqYA4VmxQQSs0/Uhx+WGh59E7JYt > a3PM2CXkuLd9lPeHd5aAu1AxdWld/0j2r08crLFYPBHKWfGCDKcHCmqgTrFqJ6Fo > R8GNdUrwKtzVc37oG6uuW0Xia/yZqwzBMedTYoMlr8XeTRoiW79zi+Ys7LIhxrmL > tSNAWVnYPX+Isk00gnGgSKs13wL586H8Ud7PY9V+QUMFkG0BG6HkqmTcLkTOAXzZ > v44s0+fylhndJao82NUV03UDE53IwUJaRJSjtHDRKV8f+LX5NuryGle5QJVwDsdQ > Nb3dZo3loFOqCjPo6V0ooqlHKL7V4CeQcfCPcH8MgFldSRCW932q7uVsfe4EENBS > gplev07TsOuzO4FqLwO0nAAh77/87Q5LL2oPX8BrjDuiuBU3SBvgEso3TEYgK3d+ > vZw+KYQOULYjvnh+rC15Wl8ddgzMeDiDOKDdoEOySBbBfyvSto3ReQhsiLkCDQRg > 0DDhARAAri3+kfYvE4iTXrzszC4qlq09cVTQRcua4AYAi3MpaBsw7WnIWAuBaof+ > XhjcmNX+avZMN8wf6dwDJI6OmkUy5GzU/7vGWHz9DOc/Kn66rhpmNZomMGrzTSnv > OSFTGROGKs63CKc7vVIKa2q/6RxHI7jom+ttE0Koz6cHAE6IVvMnIQwjZnhM8IyJ > QW7UCDZRrsmNxjDGJOdwdB0ewnVa2SAdaJKGV6v0rpAMbAx6FqBwhPW75YhqYwfQ > IkRwFL8yLO+PUTachJokW5xq+u53vGunBpCzqSP/JqvVW2PQkz3y5pS7iqClbpLd > RGzWMlmdbyfKfXC6PWZbFyI8AsgXzn8pcK3SSXkYluGbkndnVhe8wu28TVuMZsHG > +3ArOTa/xNcMRtmclroCGwvR5YTzY6VBqFWvQYzUIfVc7VDRP6KyBI38lSIw0X9I > Yc6TEv0yRGYzzI3ixEuIHjM9YJzJV2EWwh20hsBZmwRhJ3swNWkMVA1dbH1Yk3Cg > aQ/tbBZrssFcfxG04aEoLgX4je7OiqWRyIl20FhRGLw2m1vuE8izNVKnhpu5o9jB > POEaTYKfY2Q0TmBGRdtzpCBxJlshEej533ilk64+7kxQdyBgm8hF+l0zQpSEKNKg > AWgW9vMY2K4a0rdjhVLpxvnbxqNLBsrQjHWkYsnfTKjdw7Ftem0AEQEAAYkCPAQY > AQgAJhYhBEwvKKrFgJs8RPMJbeS6PrfKfOKYBQJg0DDhAhsMBQkDwm8PAAoJEOS6 > PrfKfOKYLogQAIkGAWKTFjGaAbUqZE00e+8Iy7/D6xrlelTpXV0rAqQIoQSHPV+4 > F3S40HMGK/4LDguDURsP5aPFzLVR+zldicDe0tVVw3XryXOV1OkPkMRWbTGTO0PD > zFufYvPtkYLDOgxfiPxSd+NNsDUGuv6B0lxGwljCBeL0u9eN3Hos0/Jm1ykoeN1M > Nmn5gb6x9VknRkpBeme3NCbMht18BDQdd5eFQmrFoeMVD2ZyhAbfMPPbD4Ymy2JC > Ql32Mqtg4ZKXWLW7WunVO0XoAjf0UXFK1J4Oj3dXedfrADd3V1Prj4ZtNhSdAHf4 > 1yTR799Kq1mfi/NxSY5ZW33GvnIN2hVG62p5m/xGUK7LZ61KfXwxc1DpyBynIL1d > LqxRmnaLvz9BvHWCRK+kCVxlYl8o7WGJi+Zu83OeGuNuwrhh3kZe1/cH8gtKzEw+ > 8X2kTGyKX8a6g8/zppoxVvLkdZ/LDsG3Nbmezsfffmtx6bsPwlOa7QLQ6nGOW3D1 > GPJcrTGMn261eDOkfj0pPR8EEIVOa5VlXX8uKnhXeeYp+PqnHElkgYwhfARxCkpr > Vyf3EdWM93UrycvH9Xjh0LqyUz9lNfvOPy4k1knUYNU9zfOXXWOaEpdjLwwi5KFj > GoWbgDDAM6YqqC0bL2R/4y3SIWMZSIv0sqvE/XtEYLTJmNhypb4Bbdci > =SBew > -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- > >

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SpyVeillance: Corrupt Cops Take Bribes from Sleezy Corps to Pimp SpyVeillance on You
by grarpamp 21 Jun '21

21 Jun '21

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2021-06-17/ring-influence… "In a bid to bolster its claims as a crime-fighting tool, Ring deployed a tactic popular in the business world: influencer marketing," reports the Los Angeles Times. "It selected a cadre of brand ambassadors, rewarded them with free gadgets and discount codes, and urged them to use their connections to promote the Santa Monica security camera startup via word of mouth. "In this case, the brand ambassadors were Los Angeles Police Department officers." "You are killing it, by the way. Your code has 14 uses, eleven more and I will be sending you every device that we sell," a Ring employee wrote to one officer in a 2016 email. "Do you have any community meetings or crime prevention fairs coming up?" Ring provided at least 100 LAPD officers with one or more free devices or discount codes and encouraged them to recommend the company's web-connected doorbells and security cameras, emails reviewed by The Times reveal. In more than 15 cases, emails show that officers who received free gadgets or discounts promoted Ring products to fellow police officers or members of the public... [P]articipating officers got tens of thousands of dollars' worth of free and discounted electronics and helped establish a network of personal surveillance cameras that the LAPD could tap into with much less red tape than the typical means of obtaining video. The practice, privacy and criminal justice experts warn, raises the question of whether LAPD officers were serving the public in their interactions with Ring, or if they were serving a private business and themselves... It's unclear whether LAPD officers disclosed their arrangements with Ring to the public or fellow officers.

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Interesting Engineering: Law Enforcement Secretly Ran Part of the Dark Web, Again
by jim bell 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

Interesting Engineering: Law Enforcement Secretly Ran Part of the Dark Web, Again. https://interestingengineering.com/law-secretly-ran-part-of-dark-web-again

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[ot][spam] being scared of police
by Karl 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

Person a walks up to person b. B: "Let's lock our doors! Take down the surveillance state!" A: [looks around furtively] "Omigod!" B: "What are you, some kind of narc? Come on, everyone is locking their doors!" A: "Are you a plant? Am I in danger? I don't want to get hurt. Is it safer to break the law or obey it here?" B: "Laws telling you not to lock your doors are the man breathing down your ass. Get up and stop milking your own sorry death!" A: "Omigod! Are there such laws as that? I never thought about whether I might get imprisoned for locking my door!" B: "Totally. There's worse stuff than that, too. Why, the national spy agencies are taking 80%[number made up for impact] of your taxes and mostly spend their time actively trying to make people helpless." A: "Omigod! I don't want to be made helpless fighting these people!" B: "The only solution is rip your chains off, throw it down, and fight!" A: "Are you going to hurt me? What I do to fight? Can you rescue me if I'm in trouble with these people? Can they rescue me if I'm in trouble with you?" B: "I've already told you how to be rescued. Stop being a sheep and bite the forces of oppression." A: "I'm ready! I'm scared! I'm bite the forces of oppression until you go away!" B: "Good." B: "Me and A are going to bite the forces of oppression. Who's with us?" C: "A is my friend, and I oppose the government, but not violently, because I have a federal agent friend who follows me everywhere ever since I attended a rally. What do you have to say to my federal agent friend?" B: "Your jerk friend better quit their job and take down the state! You're an agent yourself, I bet!" C: "A is my friend. Are they okay?" B: "I won't fall for your state-sponsored deception!" D: "So, how are things going? And what's your name?" C: "D is a friend who follows me everywhere." A: "Creepy! Do they ever hurt you?" B: "I don't need to give idiots like you my name. Did you know that state-sponsored spy agencies take 80% [number fabricated for impact] of your taxes?" C: "Well, no not directly and physically, but I've been pretty stressed out being followed everywhere." D: [turns to A] "And you? What's your name?" A: "My name is A and B is asking me to fight the state and I just don't want to get hurt!" C: "I mean honestly the state is not always that amazing. Many see voting as fighting the state." B: "Voting is a trick designed to keep you from ever accomplishing anything! Burn down the voting booths!" D: "And your name is B, is it?" B: "My name is C. That's B." [points to C] C: "He knows I'm C, he follows me everywhere D: "Oh, B and I are good friends, I was just putting on a show for you all." A: "Where is normality? Where is normality?"

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[ot][spam] small mourning
by Karl 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

I read the fbi hacking scads of criminals via centralised compromises, mostly to hunt drugs. When I went to the place where my issue catalyzed, the activists' systems were all compromised, mostly disabled. It's really rough to live a normal life with your systems getting disabled. It's not hard to resolve such things with some technological skills, but I got targeted and couldn't do so. Now my systems get disabled and things. I wonder if there is some way to ask for help resolving things. I think once I found a cybercrime portal but it basically just seems like an anonymous drop box without any relation back. These people couldn't use their computers; for years I have struggled to use mine. The fact that they keep breaking gives direct trackable evidence for whyever they are breaking. How do we pursue these things? What is really going on? Are there people with systems that are actually secure?

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Censorship: Project Veritas - News Media Fires Reporters, Censors BTC HCQ Poor Empowerment
by grarpamp 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

Fox Affiliate Fires Reporter After Release Of "Censorship" Clips Via Project Veritas by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times, https://www.theepochtimes.com/project-veritas-releases-fox-26-reporters-cen… https://www.instagram.com/real.ivory/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CQKXscKpy9-/ https://twitter.com/EricSpracklen/status/1404921756561854476 https://www.theepochtimes.com/giving-the-right-name-to-the-virus-causing-a-… https://www.projectveritas.com/ Fox News doing this, imagine what rest of Fake News Media is doing... A Fox affiliate station has fired a reporter after she went off-script during a weather segment on Monday saying she is being allegedly muzzled by Fox News, and later shared with Project Veritas recordings she says show the network’s censorship and corruption. Ivory Hecker, 32, who formerly worked for Fox 26 in Houston, has been let go by the station, a representative confirmed in a statement to several news outlets Tuesday. Hecker during the live segment claimed that Fox Corporation has been “muzzling” her to “keep certain information from you, the viewer.” “And from what I am gathering I am not the only reporter being subjected to this. I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox because it applies to you, the viewers. I found a nonprofit journalism group called Project Veritas that’s going to help put that out tomorrow so tune into them,” she said, before proceeding with the weather report. The 32-year-old, according to Fox 26’s website, was a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor. She previously worked for KARE-11, an NBC affiliate station in Minneapolis. Hecker’s Instagram says she is a music recording artist who has released several songs. Hecker took her clips to investigative journalism nonprofit Project Veritas. In an Instagram story on her personal account, she said that she had made it clear to her bosses that she was recording them. She told Project Veritas that the Fox affiliate station “came at my throat for standing up against censorship.” “What’s happening within Fox Corp is an operation of prioritizing corporate interests above the viewer’s interest and, therefore, operating in a deceptive way,” Hecker told Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe. “It is unspoken, but if you accidentally step outside the narrative, if you don’t sense what that narrative is, and go with it, there will be great consequences for you,” she continued. “My newsroom kind of groups everyone into racial groups.” In one of the clips Hecker shared with Project Veritas, Lee Meier, an assistant news director with the station can be heard saying: “It’s not just about the viewers; it’s about what our CEO reads; it’s about what our GM [general manager] reads.” BREAKING: Fox 26 Reporter Releases tape of ‘Corruption,’ ‘Censorship.’ Fox Corp Boss told Hecker “cease & desist” posting on Hydroxychloroquine & ‘Poor African-Americans’ don’t care about Bitcoin. “Viewers being Deceived”#Fox26Whistleblower pic.twitter.com/vwVcy3MBvS — veritastips(a)protonmail.xn--com-v392bja (@EricSpracklen) June 15, 2021 Meier implies in the clip that the station wouldn’t run a story on the cryptocurrency based on specific demographics. “I have passed on Bitcoin stories…Bitcoin for poor African American audience at 5, it’s probably not going to play. That’s a choice I’m making. An editorial choice,” Meier says in the recording. Hecker also revealed how she was instructed to “cease and desist” on content that would present hydroxychloroquine as a feasible treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. She told O’Keefe that she was sent to a hospital to report on COVID-19 treatment, and ended up interviewing Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of critical care at United Memorial Medical Center on his use of hydroxychloroquine. “We have used it. I mean, we know it’s a drug that has been politicized up to the wazoo. We’ve used it. We use it with good success,” Varon told Hecker. In response, Susan Schiller, Fox 26 vice president and news director, told Hecker she had “failed as a reporter.” “You need to cease and desist posting about hydroxychloroquine,” Schiller says in one clip, citing a New England Journal of Medicine study on the drug. “What’s happening within Fox Corp is an operation of prioritizing corporate interests above the viewer’s interest and, therefore, operating in a deceptive way,” said Hecker. “The viewers are being deceived by a carefully crafted narrative in some stories.” Fox 26 Houston has responded to several news outlets through a company spokesperson: “FOX 26 adheres to the highest editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality. This incident involves nothing more than a disgruntled former employee seeking publicity by promoting a false narrative produced through selective editing and misrepresentation.” Hecker announced on her personal Instagram page late Tuesday that she will soon be releasing additional recordings that show “the depths to which the company will stoop.” “This story has not fully been told,” she told her followers. The Epoch Times has contacted Fox 26 and Fox Corporation for comment.

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[ot] slavery
by Karl 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

If you know the answer to slavery, we need to _succeed_ at whatever the best solution part is, because it will _only get harder and harder_.

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