December 2022 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Hardware Wallet Startup Cypherock Raises $1M to Skip circumcision in favor of castration
by professor rat 22 Dec '22

22 Dec '22

Thinking of the greater circle of eunuchs at this time of year CRIME SCENE Update “There are a lot of people at Twitter doing great work, and it is super appreciated,” - Constable Felon. Hardware Wallet Startup Cypherock Raises $1M to Skip Seed Phrases The firms new hardware wallet uses NFC-based cards to reduce risks related to seed phrases. https://decrypt.co/117692/hardware-wallet-startup-cypherock-raises-1m-to-he= lp-users-skip-seed-phrases Reposts contributing to the ever-expanding cryptoanarchist revolution

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EU consortium to deliver controversial digital ID wallets
by Gunnar Larson 22 Dec '22

22 Dec '22

https://fintechmagazine.com/digital-payments/eu-consortium-to-deliver-contr… EU consortium to deliver controversial digital ID wallets By Joanna England December 20, 2022 5 mins The European Union has announced the creation of a consortium that will deliver a cross-border payments programme, leading to digital ID wallets The European Union has announced the creation of a multi-country consortium, which will lead in the delivery of a new, cross-border payments pilot programme in keeping with the aims of the EU Commission, to launch a controversial digital ID wallet. A statement released by the multi-country panel of experts appointed by the EU, called the NOBID Consortium (which stands for ‘Nordic-Baltic eID Project) reveals six countries will be involved in the development of the digital ID wallet. They are; Denmark, Latvia, Iceland, Germany, and Norway. The consortium will be responsible for the development and delivery of the EU’s “priority use cases” for the digital ID wallet, which initially will encompass payments. NOBID is reportedly receiving support from leading digital government agencies, banks, enterprises, and technology providers to leverage the mature digital identity infrastructures of the six respective nations in the consortium. Plans for the digital ID also include the capacity to store a wide range of personal data points, from a person’s health and vaccination status to financial records and more. NOBID claims the new pilot will involve a secure app that, when it comes into being, will “allow citizens across the continent to easily verify their ID, access public and private services, and store sensitive digital documents in one place.” Digital IDs and the controversy over privacy The concept of digital ID wallets has not been met positively by many EU-based experts. And, despite the heavy opposition, the EU is marching ahead with its plans. A number of industry experts and politicians have expressed concern, citing privacy issues and likening such programmes to China’s social credit system in the making. In an information video released by the EU, the commentator states that; “the Europen digital ID wallets will allow us to store and exchange documents and legal information, while fully controlling which data we want to share with them.” The move has also the full support of EU President Ursula von der Leyen, who says digital IDs will enable EU citizens to have better control over their personal data and the system will prevent identity theft. Currently, the wallet, which will be developed as an app to be uploaded to a mobile phone, will only include information selected by the owner of the data. People can choose to include their medical and financial information. Political opposition to the digital ID wallet concept However, debates in the EU Parliament have already been raised regarding the app's potential as a tool that could be used to oppress citizens. MEP (member of the European Parliament) Cristian Terhes, recently described the EU’s mandatory COVID-19 passports and the digital ID wallet project as the “Chinification” of Europe. He stated: “Clearly, we are witnessing right now, the Chinafication of Europe because we see what is happening in China right now with the social credit score, where the government is monitoring all the people… They control everything and watch everything. This is an example of tyranny.” Another skeptic, Netherlands MEP Rob Roos, raised the question of mandates. He said: “How voluntary is the European Digital Identity Wallet? But even more importantly, how voluntary will it remain in the future? Because the European Union always comes up with nice plans to eventually abuse it, to create more control.” Digital IDs and social credit programmes According to reports, some countries in Europe are already embracing digital credit programmes that could work in conjunction with the digital ID wallet. Rome and Bologna, for example, have begun piloting a social credit programme that rewards people for adhering to the practices that will contribute the net zero agenda. These activities include using bicycles instead of scooters. EU trust in the digital ID wallet programme Despite opposition, the statement makes no acknowledgment of the controversy and instead notes that the NOBID Consortium will be just one of the EU digital identity pilots, and will receive funding from the EU Commission´s DIGITAL Europa Programme, enabling its March 2023 pilot launch. Furthermore, its implementation will “leverage existing payment infrastructure to enable payment issuance, instant payments, account-to-account transfers, and payment acceptance both in-store and online.” The project also reportedly has “unrivalled” support from leaders in banking and payments, including DSGV in Germany, DNB, and BankID in Norway, Nets in Denmark, Intesa Sanpaolo, PagoPA and ABILab in Italy and Greiðsluveitan in Iceland. Speaking about the project, Tor Alvik, Project Manager of the consortium, said; “We are honoured and privileged to have the EU Commission´s trust in piloting and shaping the future of digital payments and digital identity in Europe. Together with all our partners, we will make use of our experience and highly mature digital identity infrastructures in the NOBID consortium countries to deliver a successful large-scale payments-pilot of the EU Digital ID Wallet” A number of leading technology partners have also allied themselves with the project. They include; Thales, iProov, Signicat, RB, Auðkenni, IPZS, Poste Italiane, Intesi Group, InfoCert, FBK, and Latvian State Radio and Television Centre. Merchants that will be testing out the payment solution include Elkjøp in Norway and REWE-group in Germany.

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Cypherpunk list subscriber "threatening" Feds
by professor rat 22 Dec '22

22 Dec '22

Don't hate the FBI - KILL the FBI An anarchist using the online moniker “Professor Rat” has threatened the lives of two federal terrorism investigators in Denver, advocating that they “need killing.” The threats name an FBI agent assigned to the local multiagency Joint Terrorism Task Force and the government’s lead prosecutor of terrorism cases in Colorado. Officials say they are concerned about the threats, which were sent to an e-mail listserv and posted on the Internet in April. “The recipients of the threats have no way to discern their validity,” said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. "They cause fear and they disrupt lives, and it’s for that reason that they’re taken very seriously. “It’s more than the individual targets. It’s the families and those associated with them,” he said. That is the purpose of the postings, an Australian man who admits to using the Professor Rat name and to posting these kinds of threats said in a telephone interview and a series of e-mails: To scare people out of working for the government.

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Planned outage Wednesday Dec 22 7-10am PST
by Greg Newby 21 Dec '22

21 Dec '22

Hi folks. I plan to bring the main pglaf.org server to the latest operating system version. This includes lists.cpunks.org email list, archives, and website. Expect all functions to be unavailable for an hour or two, and then I'll bring things back and update/repair anything needed. In case of mishap or unexpected delays, use gbnewby(a)petascale.org for communication. ~ Greg

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s Criminal Trial Judge Is Married to Law Partner of Firm that Arranged the FTX-BlockFi Deal
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '22

21 Dec '22

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/12/sam-bankman-frieds-criminal-trial-ju… Ronnie Abrams Testifying at Her Senate Confirmation Hearing in 2011 Last week the New York Times did a puff piece on the judge that will be presiding over the Sam Bankman-Fried criminal trial in the Federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. The judge is Ronnie Abrams. The narrative at the New York Times is that Abrams’ “husband, Greg Andres, is an accomplished former Brooklyn federal prosecutor….” Our take is that Greg Andres is part of Ronnie Abrams’ immediate household and a law partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a law firm that has problematic ties to Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX, and another crypto firm it became enmeshed with, BlockFi, which is also now in bankruptcy. According to the Davis Polk website, the following occurred in July of this year: “Davis Polk advised BlockFi, Inc. as borrower under a $400 million loan facility provided by West Realm Shires Inc, an affiliate of FTX-US. Davis Polk also advised BlockFi, Inc. in connection with an option for FTX-US to acquire BlockFi at a variable price of up to $240 million based on performance triggers… “FTX is a leading cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products. Founded in 2018 by Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX offers a range of trading products, including derivatives, options, volatility products and leveraged tokens. “The Davis Polk corporate team included partner Michael Davis and associates Brian Lee and Malik M. Khalil. The finance team included partners Meyer C. Dworkin and Christopher Nairn-Kim, counsel Erika D. White and associate Matthew Vallade. Partners Lucy W. Farr and Corey M. Goodman and associate Yixuan Long provided tax advice. All members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York office.” At the very time that Davis Polk wrote that “FTX is a leading cryptocurrency exchange” it was in reality embezzling billions of dollars from its own customers according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The peculiarly named West Realm Shires Inc. that was involved in the BlockFi deal is majority-owned by Sam Bankman-Fried. While hopefully doing some type of due diligence for their client, BlockFi, ten Davis Polk lawyers did not, apparently, stumble upon the fact that BlockFi was accepting an option for a potential buyout with what Damian Williams of the U.S. Department of Justice now calls “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.” Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX at the time this deal was put together, now faces eight criminal counts which have the potential to put him in prison for life. And the best the Federal district court for the Southern District of New York can offer up as a judge to preside over the criminal trial is the wife of a law partner at Davis Polk. Davis Polk also represented the crypto exchange, Binance, and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in a securities class action against the firm. On March 31 Davis Polk won dismissal of that case, Lee, et al. v. Binance, et al., 1:20-cv-2803-ALC, which was also situated in the Federal district court in the Southern District of New York. Binance and Zhao also have highly problematic ties to FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried blames Zhao for backing away from a deal to buy FTX in November for the collapse of FTX. The two have engaged in a war of words on Twitter, with Zhao calling Bankman-Fried a “fraudster” while Bankman-Fried calls Zhao a liar. This would not be the first time that Judge Ronnie Abrams has presided over a high-profile case while overlooking a conflict of interest on the part of her husband and his law firm. In 2014 Judge Abrams dismissed a whistleblower case brought by Carmen Segarra, a bank examiner at the New York Fed, who credibly alleged she was fired after refusing to change a negative examination of Goldman Sachs. Just 20 days before Judge Abrams issued her written decision, she convened a phone conference with lawyers on both sides. She alerted them that it had just come to her attention that her husband, Greg Andres, “was representing Goldman Sachs in an advisory capacity” according to the telephone conference transcript. Following that telephone conference, Segarra’s lawyer, Linda Stengle, filed a letter with the court asking for a more complete disclosure of the Judge’s husband’s relationship with Goldman Sachs. The New York Fed responded with its own letter, writing: “Plaintiff’s request for additional disclosures raises concerns about the appearance of a different sort of impropriety: forum shopping…Under these circumstances, the Court should deny Plaintiffs request for additional disclosures and proceed with the case.” (See FRBNY Response to Segarra Request for Filing Amended Complaint.) Judge Abrams went on the offensive, adopted this line of reasoning, and accused Stengle of “judge-shopping” in her written decision tossing out the case. It was a bizarre position to take since Stengle had not asked the Judge to recuse herself. Wall Street On Parade found the following interesting background details at the time we wrote about that case: Judge Abrams also worked at Davis Polk just prior to taking the bench in 2012; U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who recommended Abrams to President Obama for the Judgeship and spoke on her behalf at her confirmation hearing, also previously worked at Davis Polk; Davis Polk was the second largest contributor to Gillibrand’s 2012 Senate race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, with its lawyers, employees and/or PACS contributing $333,100; One of the lawyers representing the New York Fed in the Segarra matter, Thomas Noone, previously worked at Davis Polk and his employment there overlapped with that of Judge Abrams; Davis Polk previously represented the New York Fed in significant matters; How big a retainer the Judge’s husband received from Goldman Sachs and when he received it did not come to light. What we did discover is that Goldman Sachs was a large, long-term client at Davis Polk. As we have previously recommended, an independent investigation of the federal district court for the Southern District of New York needs to happen – sooner rather than later. (See The Carmen Segarra Case: Welcome to New York, Wall Street and McJustice and Goldman Sachs Beats Another Fraud Rap: Can the Public Ever Get Justice in New York Courts? and JPMorgan Chase Quietly Settles Whistleblower Case Involving Charges of Keeping Two Sets of Books and Improper Payments to Tony Blair.)

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'lefties' should be 'screaming from the rooftops': Taliban ban women from universities
by professor rat 21 Dec '22

21 Dec '22

Fuck Islam. Fuck Muslim. Fuck Sharia. Fuck Halal. Fuck Mecca. Fuck Korans. Fuck Hijab. Fuck Female-circumcision. Fuck Allah. Fuck Mohamed. The character of Islam involves violence, corruption, tyranny, poverty, and illiteracy. Fuck Islam. Fuck Muslim. Fuck Sharia. Fuck Halal. Fuck Mecca. Fuck Korans. Fuck Hijab. Fuck Female-circumcision. Fuck Allah. Fuck Mohamed. If there was a God it would be necessary to destroy it.

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Cryptocurrency: Stops 5000 Pages Of Undue Waste, Power, War, Corruption
by grarpamp 21 Dec '22

21 Dec '22

Congress Unveils Sweeping 'Omnibus' Funding Bill With $1.7 Trillion Price Tag https://www.theepochtimes.com/congress-unveils-sweeping-omnibus-funding-bil… Lawmakers have at long last unveiled the legislative text of the huge $1.7 trillion “omnibus” government funding bill for all of fiscal year 2023, with apparent wins for both parties like boosting non-defense discretionary spending, while keeping restrictions on funding abortions. “The choice is clear. We can either do our jobs and fund the government, or we can abandon our responsibilities without a real path forward,” Leahy said in a statement. “Passing this bipartisan, bicameral, omnibus appropriations bill is undoubtedly in the interest of the American people.” Before we get into the details, The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel sums up the bill perfectly: This "omnibus" is one of the ugliest, least transparent bits of lawmaking I've ever seen...and that's saying something. It isn't just the spending, though the new domestic numbers are gross, given the trillions spent in the past few years. It's also that Congress, in a new trick, is attaching dozens of pieces of stand-alone legislation to this--retirement changes; public lands management; healthcare policy; cosmetics regulation; electoral count act changes; horseracing rules. Every one deserves a full debate and a roll call vote, so that Americans can see where their representatives stand. Instead, this monstrosity is cooked in a back room, and members can claim they had no choice but to vote against a shutdown--ducking accountability. Not that any members will have time to read this 4,155 pages of bad policy, obscene spending, and self-serving pork and earmarks. They'll just vote and go home for Christmas. Your government at work. GOP and Ds are just as bad as each other. The U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Aug. 6, 2022. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images) As The Epoch Times' Tom Ozimek detailed earlier, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released the bill (pdf) late Monday, urging members of the House and Senate to take up the 4,155-page bill and “pass it without delay” as government funding is set to expire on Dec. 23 at midnight and a shutdown looms. Failure to pass the legislation could bring a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday and potentially lead to a months-long standoff after Republicans assume control of the House on Jan. 3, ending the Democrats’ monolithic grip on power in Washington. The bill is the product of long-running negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, which ran into less routine sticking points like the location of the new FBI headquarters and more standard fare like the GOP pushing back on what it views as wasteful pork-barrel spending on programs unrelated to defense. “This omnibus bill represents the last best chance for Democrats to push funding for their policy initiatives before Republicans take over control of the House—and it is already significantly scaled back from their ambitious earlier designs,” Gerard Filitti, Senior Counsel at The Lawfare Project, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “What is not included in this bill, among other things, is billions in dollars in pandemic aid requested by President Biden—a category of funds that has previously been used to fund policy initiatives only tangentially related to the pandemic,” Filitti continued, noting further that an enhanced Child Tax credit and cannabis banking legislation also failed to make the cut. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Dec. 14 that,”Republicans simply were not going to lavish extra-liberal spending” on non-defense programs into the omnibus bill. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat in the Senate, said on Dec. 14 that, “nobody is going to get everything they want, but the final product will include wins everyone can get behind.” Leahy said Monday that the bill “is the product of months of hard work and compromise” and thanked Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) for “their partnership and hard work.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a press conference on the Senate Democrats expanded majority for the next 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Dec. 7, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) The full details of the package were being crafted over the weekend, with the draft released late Monday showing that the legislation includes $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding. There’s also $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and America’s NATO allies. Both Parties Claim Wins Members of both parties claimed their own victories in the sprawling bill. Democrats’ wins include increased clean energy funding, more money for nutrition and child care programs, as well as funding boosts for various homeless and housing initiatives. Republican victories include retaining longstanding restrictions on funding for abortions and trimming funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS is set to receive $12.3 billion, a $275 million cut from the prior year’s level, a welcome development for Republicans who were upset over the $80 billion funding boost for the tax agency outside the regular appropriations process in a bill earlier this year that passed without GOP backing. Filitti explained that the omnibus bill boosts non-defense spending at a lower rate than inflation, which means that non-defense spending gets an effective cut in real, inflation-adjusted terms. “The non-defense portion of the budget is only a modest increase over the previous year (a net decrease when adjusted for inflation), and this represents a victory to Republicans and the handful of fiscally-responsible Democrats who want to keep spending in check,” Filitti said. McConnell on Monday touted the deal as a win for Republicans because of that very reason, namely that the package raises defense spending above the rate of inflation. Details A topline summary (pdf) of each of the omnibus package’s 12 appropriations bills shows that all are slated for increases to varying degrees. Agriculture-FDA (pdf): $25.48 billion, a $355 million increase compared to the fiscal year 2022 funding level; Commerce-Justice-Science (pdf): $83.85 billion, an $8.1 billion increase; Defense (pdf): $797.7 billion, a $69.3 billion increase; Energy and Water (pdf): $54.65 billion, a $1.778 billion increase; Financial Services (pdf): $27.699 billion, a $2.067 billion increase; Homeland Security (pdf): $60.7 billion, a $3.2 billion increase; Interior-Environment (pdf): $40.45 billion, a $2.45 billion increase; Labor-HHS-Education (pdf): $209.9 billion, a $14.8 billion increase; Legislative Branch (pdf): $6.9 billion, a $975 million increase; Military Construction-VA (pdf): $135.2 billion in discretionary funding and $168.6 billion in mandatory funding, representing a combined increase of $34 billion; State and Foreign Operations (pdf): $61.758 billion, a $3.76 billion increase; Transportation-HUD (pdf): $90.955 billion, a $9.917 billion increase. Funding for bipartisan priorities includes $58.7 billion for programs authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; $1.8 billion in new funding to implement the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022; and $5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund to implement the PACT Act. The package also includes $47.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health; $9.2 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; $1.5 billion for ARPA-H; and $950 million for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Read more here...

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Antisemitism - the hatefilled bigotry of criminal garbage
by professor rat 21 Dec '22

21 Dec '22

I’d like everyone to pause to enjoy what may be the greatest humiliation ever. Musk held like a Putin-like initiative to solidify his takeover of Twitter. He promised to abide by the results. He lost badly. Whatever happens next will be worse than before. But savor this EladNehorai 9h Now Musk is “just asking questions” with one of Twitter’s most notorious antisemites. It just so happens that the questions fully align with the antisemitic trope that Jews control the media. Musk is now one of (if not the) leading spreaders of antisemitism in America. Show this thread <<<

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History is proving now that anarchism is right
by professor rat 20 Dec '22

20 Dec '22

It seems incredible to her now when she sees all the branches listed on the back of Freedom – it seems worldwide. Time will prove how genuine it is. Must have some effect. https://www.judygreenway.org.uk/wp/kitty-lamb/ Reposts etc

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"If you're watching everybody, you're watching nobody."
by professor rat 20 Dec '22

20 Dec '22

"If you're watching everybody, you're watching nobody." - John Gilmore The essence of "watching" or "looking" is focusing your attention. If you diffuse your attention to encompass everything, you end up missing everything. This is exactly what the US Government is doing with its police-state tactics (searching everyone who travels; fingerprinting every foreigner who is stupid enough to arrive; etc). http://www.toad.com/gnu/ Reposts from deceased C-punk founders

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