July 2021 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Leaks: Daniel Hale Gets 4 Years For Exposing US Drone Murder
by grarpamp 29 Jul '21

29 Jul '21

https://theintercept.com/2021/07/27/daniel-hale-drone-leak-sentencing/ https://couragefound.org/2021/07/daniel-hale-sentenced-to-45-months-in-pris… Daniel Hale, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst, was sentenced to 45 months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to leaking a trove of government documents exposing the inner workings and severe civilian costs of the U.S. military's drone program. All while Government Murder remains not even arrested or even ended. Daniel Hale sentenced to 45 months in prison Supporters for Daniel Hale, outside the courtroom in Alexandria, VA. Whistleblower Daniel Hale was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison today, for disclosing government documents on the U.S. military’s drone program to a journalist. The sentence—three years and nine months—includes his time served during court proceedings and will be followed by three years of supervised release. Before he was sentenced, Hale read a powerful and intensely emotional speech to the court, condemning the horrors of war, particularly the post-9/11 U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and drew attention to Iraqi and Afghan victims of the U.S. drone assassination program. He said he opposes war for the same reasons he opposes the death penalty, saying it’s wrong to kill and especially wrong to kill the defenseless. The U.S. often posthumously labels those it kills as “combatants,” and Hale said that sometimes up to 90% of victims in a given airstrike are unidentifiable. Hale recounted the day he plead guilty to one count under the Espionage Act. He biked to the Capitol that day, to the Department of Justice, and to the war memorials on the National Mall. He noticed there was no monument to mark the end of the Iraq War, and he said the most powerful memorial is for the Vietnam War, consisting of a long black marble slab engraved with the names of dead American soldiers. “If the memorial included the names of the Vietnamese dead,” he said, “it would be four miles long.” Hale said that he is a descendant of Nathan Hale, who spied on British troops for the United States in the Revolutionary War, and who was executed following his own espionage conviction more than two hundred years ago. Daniel Hale echoed the famous sentiment of his ancestor in his speech: “My only regret is that I have but one life to give to my country, whether here or in prison.” Hale talked about the “moral injury” war inflicts on soldiers. He said a fellow member of the Air Force once said to him about drone strikes, “You ever step on an ant? That’s what we’re doing.” He talked about how this weighed on him, how it “tore [him] up inside” to the point of “nearly giving up.” Hale said, “I am here because I stole something that was never mine to take — precious human life. For that I was compensated and given a medal. I couldn’t keep living in a world in which people pretended that things weren’t happening that were. Please, your honor, forgive me for taking papers instead of taking human lives.” Judge Liam O’Grady took note of Hale’s widespread support, mentioning that several dozen people, including former members of the military, journalists, and others have written letters to the judge calling for leniency and considering Hale a hero. Judge O’Grady himself said that Hale deserves credit for the time he spent after his Air Force service in informing the public about U.S. warfare, but said that he could’ve done so without disclosing documents to the reporter. O’Grady noted this case raises the issue of the intersection of the First Amendment with national security interests, and said that he needed to deliver a substantial sentence to act as a deterrent against those whom Hale might inspire. O’Grady sentenced Hale to 45 months in prison, to be served in northern Virginia. Following the proceedings, a press conference was held outside the courtroom. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou applauded Hale for acting on his morals, and said there could be “no sentence that will deter someone who knows in their soul that a crime is being committed. There will always be people with a conscience.” Chip Gibbons, with Defending Rights and Dissent, condemned the double standard applied to media leaks: “If Daniel Hale had leaked documents that supported” U.S. military action “rather than exposed it, he wouldn’t be in prison today.” Jesselyn Radack, herself a former whistleblower and a member of Hale’s legal team, said “Daniel rejects the notion that he is a hero or a victim.” What he wants the public to know and talk about, she said, are the victims of the wars he tried to expose. NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, who has been through an Espionage Act prosecution, lauded Hale’s personal sacrifice, knowing what he could face but doing the right thing anyway. As the official remarks concluded, the crowd chanted a call for President Biden to pardon Daniel Hale.

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Wikileaks: Ecuador Revokes Assange Citizenship
by grarpamp 29 Jul '21

29 Jul '21

https://twitter.com/amnestypress/status/1419608296496013313 https://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=1021687617 Free Julian Assange! Ecuador Abruptly Revokes Julian Assange's Citizenship On Suspicions Of Fraud Ecuador this week took the major step of revoking WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's citizenship at a moment he's languishing in London's high-security Belmarsh prison while awaiting further US extradition request legal proceedings. The Australian had initially received Ecuadorian citizenship in January 2018 as part of a failed bid of then-President Lenín Moreno, an avid supporter of Assange's, to get him classified as a diplomat so that he could safely walk out of the Ecuadorian embassy. That attempt failed, of course, as on April 11, 2019 UK police were invited into the embassy after his asylum was abruptly revoked. He's remained in Belmarsh ever since, following his seven years holed up in the embassy, at the end of which he had frequently clashed with Ecuadorian staff and officials. Julian Assange during his time in the Ecuadorian Embassy. Assange was reportedly notified of the nullity of his naturalization in a letter, with the WikiLeaks organization on Wednesday vowing to fight the decision as it was done without representation and due process, according to his legal team. "On the date (Assange) was cited he was deprived of his liberty and with a health crisis inside the deprivation of liberty center where he was being held," Assange's lawyer said in a press statement. Ecuador reportedly based its decision on what government authorities say was a possible fraud in the way the documents for naturalization were prepared. Previously a vocal political enemy of Assange, then-Foreign Minister José Valencia, had charged that "false claims" were made in his naturalization application documents. "A naturalization is considered damaging when it is granted based on the concealment of relevant facts, false documents or fraud," The Associated Press writes of the government's position. "Ecuadorian authorities say Assange's naturalization letter had multiple inconsistencies, different signatures, the possible alteration of documents and unpaid fees, among other issues." Assange is still facing potential extradition after the US prosecutor was able to appeal the prior decision of a London court which refused to extradite, with the UK judge saying he would face "oppressive" and possibly torturous conditions inside the US supermax prison he would likely end up in. The US has since sought to assure the London court it will not send him to a supermax facility. US promises not put #Assange in a maximum security facility or subject him to Special Administrative Measures BUT reserves the right to break this promise. "This undermines the intn'l prohibition on torture" @JuliaHall18 tells @fattoquotidiano’s @SMaurizihttps://t.co/juNpZISn0t — amnestypress (@amnestypress) July 26, 2021 That appeal will only drag out the legal proceedings, and at the same time he'll stay in prison, which WikiLeaks supporters say is precisely the point - to drag things on indefinitely while legal limbo keeps him locked up.

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Bytes
by grarpamp 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

62f50063cf2f4be935275032e13394e4857c232b

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Tech Breakthrough Morphs Gigabit WiFi into Terabit Satellite Internet - SpaceNews
by jim bell 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

https://spacenews.com/tech-breakthrough-morphs-gigabit-wifi-into-terabit-sa… " Sponsored Post Tech Breakthrough Morphs Gigabit WiFi into Terabit Satellite Internet by Carlos A Rios — July 26, 2021Reformulated terrestrial radio MIMO technology could empower SpaceX to singlehandedly bridge the global digital divide by decade’s endMid-decade “Dynamic Polarization” – upgraded SpaceX Starlink Gateways, LEO satellite and Subscriber CPE A highly unlikely, radically innovative synthesis of millimeter wave antenna design, digital communications coding, new-school terrestrial radio multi-signal processing and old-school satellite directional transmission could be delivering High Definition Internet from way-on-high to billions by 2026. This piece describes recently patented Dynamic Polarization Spatial Multiplexing and Beamforming (“Dynamic Polarization”, or “DPSMXBF”) technology and how it could enable so-upgraded Low Earth Orbit satellite (“LEOSat”) networks to close the worldwide Internet Haves versus Have-nots “digital divide” in just a few years. Two decades into the new millennium a decided preponderance of the planet’s population still lacks good video-quality Internet at home. One might think that all those newfangled LEOSat constellations now starting to launch could together finally mend that particularly 21st century global socioeconomic rift, but not even SpaceX’s full-up Starlink network can even begin trimming back the masses of Netflix-deprived. Its planned 12k 15 Gbps satellites will deliver less than 2M 720p HD streams to the billion-plus households clamoring below, an over 100x Internet capacity shortfall. So, as launching 1.2M satellites likely exceeds the wherewithal of even Elon Musk, one might conclude that the global Internet connectivity chasm will remain un-spanned for some while."

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CryptoPotato: U.S. Senator Wants to Save Financial System from “Shadowy Crypto Super-Coders”
by jim bell 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

CryptoPotato: U.S. Senator Wants to Save Financial System from “Shadowy Crypto Super-Coders”. https://cryptopotato.com/u-s-senator-wants-to-save-financial-system-from-sh… "Jul 28, 2021 05:35 U.S. Senator Wants to Save Financial System from “Shadowy Crypto Super-Coders” Crypto skeptic U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren has been on the warpath again, lambasting cryptocurrencies and their supposed threat to the… Martin YoungOn July 26, Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking for greater regulation for cryptocurrencies. If she had her own way, they would be banned outright. At a July 27 hearing of the Senate Banking Committee labeled “Cryptocurrencies: What are they good for?”, Warren continued to lambaste digital assets proclaiming that “all the warning signs are flashing.” She claims that the tiny $1.6 trillion crypto market is a massive threat to the whopping $25 trillion dollar plus U.S. banking system. “The hype, the volatility, the wild claims that turn out to be false. As the crypto market grows, so do the risks to our financial stability and our economy.” In mid-June Warren labeled cryptocurrencies as a “bogus and lousy investment”. Shadowy Super-Coders She continued to argue that crypto assets are not as decentralized as it seems, much of them being controlled by founders and miners. Like something out of a Marvel comic book, the Massachusetts senator stopped short of labeling those in the industry as evil masterminds: “Instead of leaving our financial system at the whims of giant banks, crypto puts the system at the whims of some shadowy, faceless group of super-coders and miners, which doesn’t sound better to me.” In the letter to the equally crypto skeptic Janet Yellen, Warren warned that “as the demand for cryptocurrencies continues to grow and these assets become more embedded in our financial system,” The digital disparagement continued with a number of examples of how cryptocurrencies could undermine the financial system and banking sector. Warren concluded reiterating her plea for urgency in regulating the sector. “As the body responsible for coordinating amongst U.S. financial regulators, FSOC [Financial Stability Oversight Council] should take a leading role in developing a comprehensive regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies,” In a related development, Treasury Secretary Yellen held a closed meeting with financial lawmakers yesterday to discuss Tether’s reserves among other things. Crypto Markets Rebound Regulatory rhetoric aside, crypto asset markets have continued to build upon gains with a 5.4% increase in total market cap over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has pushed towards the psychological $40K barrier, trading up 8% on the day at $39,940 at the time of writing according to CoinGecko. Ethereum has moved in the shadow of its big brother, notching up a 4.6% gain to hit $2,300. U.S. politicians and bankers may be railing on crypto but the general public still clearly clamors for it.

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Ninth Circuit limits feds' confiscation of cellphones, laptops at points of entry: report | Fox News
by jim bell 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ninth-circuit-confiscate-cellphones-laptops-poin… "Border agents operating at some U.S. ports of entry, airports and shipping ports are facing new limits regarding their ability to confiscate travelers’ personal electronic devices, according to a report." "In a decision reached in June, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit all but eliminated agents’ ability to access people’s cellphones and laptops without a warrant, according to Border Report." "The decision – which applies only to the western U.S. states that lie within the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction -- effectively places limits on law enforcement in those areas to seek evidence of crime, the report said."

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Re: California 1 - Corbyn 0
by professor rat 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

CODERMAN scribbled ... "... i have to laugh at the tagline: "Make socialism scientific again!" as science is by definition agnostic to such concerns. if you want a lasting socialist order, you need to empower the individual. this is more a fight for "peaceful Hain" than a mastery of S.T.E.M. the fully empowered, fully decentralized individual lives authentic anarchy! (spoiler alert: authentic rational anarchy is the only sustainable socialism :) ..." YES, there is a lot to laugh about authoritarian socialism, and authoritarian socialist type - take our resident poorly-recovering, Marxist, James A. Donald. He's a laugh riot. Then there's the Sartrean Stalinist, John Young. Eat your heart out, Jim Carey. If you want a lasting crypto-anarchist order you have to clean house so that no shitcoiner socialist can realistically accuse us of fascism of the left ( see above ) OR - more important in this context - so no-one from anywhere can accuse any of us of being Randite-Paultard, Austro-libertarian MORONS. Revolutions famously devour their young. So if it takes a bloodbath lets get it over with. Welcome to the global anarchist revolution. Death to America.

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Shit's Been Getting Weirder in the World...
by grarpamp 28 Jul '21

28 Jul '21

Shit's been getting weirder in the world, something opened Pandora's Box a while back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DpPicOZOig

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cypherpunks list archive / cpunks.org archive at archive.org
by coderman 27 Jul '21

27 Jul '21

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 i promised Karl i'd archive the cypherpunks list so he's always got a written record to refer to, if desired. in that vein, i have started an Internet Archive for cpunks: https://archive.org/details/cpunks-archive i'll update month by month, as long as i'm able. best regards, -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iNUEAREKAH0WIQRBwSuMMH1+IZiqV4FlqEfnwrk4DAUCYP8vQl8UgAAAAAAuAChp c3N1ZXItZnByQG5vdGF0aW9ucy5vcGVucGdwLmZpZnRoaG9yc2VtYW4ubmV0NDFD MTJCOEMzMDdEN0UyMTk4QUE1NzgxNjVBODQ3RTdDMkI5MzgwQwAKCRBlqEfnwrk4 DHQOAP4uiLAXpjB5ai1u4aJJXTrkSZTR04xGt4upNVIRsMGGWAEAiqAT1OUZlm9g bDtItkLc140M2kEhJ3eWEVAm4lLZRYU= =z0fI -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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California 1 - Corbyn 0
by professor rat 27 Jul '21

27 Jul '21

" I met Jude in 1999…" - Dickie Bird ( 15 min ) https://cosmonautmag.com/2021/07/californian-dreams-tech-utopia-or-dystopia/

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