December 2022 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Oscar Winning Flashdance and Fame Singer Irene Cara Dies Aged 63
by Gunnar Larson 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

Oscar Winning Flashdance and Fame Singer Irene Cara Dies Aged 63 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-26/oscar-winning-flashdance… rene Cara Lyrics "Flashdance... What A Feeling" First when there's nothing But a slow glowing dream That your fear seems to hide Deep inside your mind All alone, I have cried Silent tears full of pride In a world made of steel Made of stone Well, I hear the music Close my eyes, feel the rhythm Wrap around, take a hold of my heart What a feeling Being's believing I can have it all Now I'm dancing for my life Take your passion And make it happen Pictures come alive You can dance right through your life Now I hear the music Close my eyes, I am rhythm In a flash, it takes hold of my heart What a feeling, being's believing I can have it all Now I'm dancing for my life Take your passion And make it happen Pictures come alive Now I'm dancing through my life What a feeling What a feeling (I am music now) Being's believing (I am rhythm now) Pictures come alive You can dance right through your life What a feeling (I can really have it all) What a feeling (Pictures come alive when I call) I can have it all (I can really have it all) Have it all (pictures come alive when I call) (Call, call ,call, call, what a feeling) I can have it all (being's believing) Being's believing (take your passion) (Make it happen) Make it happen (What a feeling) What a feeling... https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/irenecara/flashdancewhatafeeling.html

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Group Home Owners Sentenced in $1 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
by Gunnar Larson 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/group-home-owners-sentenced-1-million-medica… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, November 30, 2022 Group Home Owners Sentenced in $1 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme A Texas married couple was sentenced today for a $1 million Medicare fraud scheme, including violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Lindell King, 53, of Missouri City, was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Ynedra Diggs, 45, also of Missouri City, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. King and Diggs were also ordered to pay $537,992.55 in restitution. On April 4, King and Diggs were convicted after trial in the Southern District of Texas of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and multiple substantive violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, both Diggs and King were patient recruiters who owned and operated group homes in which Medicare beneficiaries lived. In exchange for sending their group home residents to the Behavioral Medicine of Houston (BMH), a community mental health center that purported to provide partial hospitalization services, BMH paid Diggs, King, and other patient recruiters illegal kickbacks in cash and by check, often concealed as payment for “transportation” or other sham services. During the course of the conspiracy, BMH fraudulently billed approximately $1 million to Medicare in claims related to patients it received in exchange for the kickbacks paid to Diggs and King. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge James H. Smith III of the FBI Houston Field Office; and Chief William Marlowe of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement. The HHS-OIG, FBI, and MFCU investigated the case. Trial Attorney Monica Cooper and Acting Assistant Chief Brynn Schiess of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

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Credit Default Swaps Blow Out on Credit Suisse as its Stock Price Hits an All-Time Low of $2.82
by Gunnar Larson 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/12/credit-default-swaps-blow-out-on-cre… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: December 1, 2022 ~ Credit Suisse That $4 billion capital raise that was supposed to shore up confidence in global banking behemoth Credit Suisse turns out to have been too little, too late. Yesterday, 5-year Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Credit Suisse blew out to 446 basis points. That’s up from 55 basis points in January and more than five times where CDS on its peer Swiss bank, UBS, are trading. The price of a Credit Default Swap reflects the cost of insuring oneself against a debt default by the bank. Who might be desperate to buy protection against a default by Credit Suisse and driving up the cost of that protection? The mega banks on Wall Street that are counterparties to its derivative trades come to mind, as well as hedge fund speculators. Things don’t look any brighter this morning for Credit Suisse. Its shares are trading in Europe at 2.67 Swiss Francs or approximately $2.82 – an all-time low. Year-to-date, shares of Credit Suisse have lost 66 percent of their value as of yesterday’s close on the New York Stock Exchange. Credit Suisse is Switzerland’s second largest bank, after UBS. It has been embroiled in nonstop scandals that suggest incompetent risk controls inside the bank. In late March and early April of last year, Credit Suisse lost $5.5 billion from the highly-leveraged, highly concentrated stock positions it was financing via tricked-up derivatives for Archegos Capital Management, the family office hedge fund of Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang. Archegos blew up on March 25, 2021 after it defaulted on margin calls to the banks financing its trades. (See our report: Archegos: Wall Street Was Effectively Giving 85 Percent Margin Loans on Concentrated Stock Positions – Thwarting the Fed’s Reg T and Its Own Margin Rules. Also see: Justice Department and SEC Portray Serially-Charged Banks on Wall Street as Hapless Victims of Archegos Fraud. Nobody’s Buying It.) The Board of Credit Suisse decided to hire the Big Law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, to conduct an internal investigation of the matter. On July 29, 2021 Paul Weiss issued a 165-page report on its version of what happened. Paul Weiss generously found that no fraud had occurred — just zombie risk management at a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB). This is how the Paul Weiss report portrayed the zombie risk managers at Credit Suisse: “The Archegos-related losses sustained by CS [Credit Suisse] are the result of a fundamental failure of management and controls in CS’s Investment Bank and, specifically, in its Prime Services business. The business was focused on maximizing short-term profits and failed to rein in and, indeed, enabled Archegos’s voracious risk-taking. There were numerous warning signals—including large, persistent limit breaches — indicating that Archegos’s concentrated, volatile, and severely under-margined swap positions posed potentially catastrophic risk to CS. Yet the business, from the in-business risk managers to the Global Head of Equities, as well as the risk function, failed to heed these signs, despite evidence that some individuals did raise concerns appropriately.” And this: “…a Prime Services business [lending to hedge funds] with a lackadaisical attitude towards risk and risk discipline; a lack of accountability for risk failures; risk systems that identified acute risks, which were systematically ignored by business and risk personnel; and a cultural unwillingness to engage in challenging discussions or to escalate matters posing grave economic and reputational risk. The Archegos matter directly calls into question the competence of the business and risk personnel who had all the information necessary to appreciate the magnitude and urgency of the Archegos risks, but failed at multiple junctures to take decisive and urgent action to address them.” Credit Suisse’s reputation took another hit from its involvement in the Greensill Capital scandal and its infamous spy-gate scandal in 2019 where the bank spied on, and followed, various employees. And if all of this wasn’t enough, on November 2 S&P cut Credit Suisse’s credit rating to one notch above junk. That was followed by more disturbing news on November 23 when the bank reported that its clients had yanked $88.3 billion of their assets out of the bank. According to an historical timeline on the Credit Suisse website, it was previously known as Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, which was eventually shorted to SKA. The timeline notes that SKA’s New York Branch was granted a license to accept deposits in 1964. Credit Suisse’s New York branch has continued for decades to accept deposits, but they are not insured. In the resolution plan for Credit Suisse that it filed with the Federal Reserve in 2020, it writes: “Our New York Branch is not a member of, and its deposits are not insured by, the FDIC. CS’ biggest U.S. presence is through its broker-dealer related businesses. Typically broker-dealer activities are resolved with a rapid runoff of the businesses as long as the resolution strategy is supported by adequate operational capabilities, such as the ability to transfer client accounts to peer institutions while causing minimal disruptions to the broader financial markets.” Wall Street trading houses accepting uninsured deposits resulted in the banking crisis of the early 1930s when thousands of banks failed and people rushed to pull their money from uninsured banks. Congress passed the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act banning the combination of investment banks/brokerage firms with federally-insured banks. (Federal deposit insurance was also created under the Glass-Steagall Act to restore confidence in the U.S. banking system.) The Glass-Steagall Act served the nation well for 66 years until its repeal under the Bill Clinton administration in 1999, allowing trading firms to merge with federally-insured, deposit-taking banks. It took just nine years without Glass-Steagall for Wall Street to collapse in a replay of the crash of 1929. Despite both Democrats and Republicans promising in their 2016 campaign platforms to restore the Glass-Steagall Act, the idea quickly bit the dust once the Trump administration took office. (See Mnuchin Says Trump Administration Never Intended to Restore Glass-Steagall Act.) Instead of Congress removing the Wall Street trading casino from the nation’s federally-insured banks, Congress has sat back and allowed the crypto circus to spread its risk directly into federally-insured banks. It’s time for the American people to pick up the phone and demand better from their elected members of Congress. FacebookTwitterWhatsAppLinkedInEmail

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Carol B Tome | About UPS
by Gunnar Larson 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

https://about.ups.com/be/en/our-company/leadership/carol-b-tome.html UPS Stories Logo Carol B. Tomé Chief Executive Officer Carol B. Tomé is the Chief Executive Officer of UPS. She is the 12th CEO in the 115-year history of the company. Before joining UPS, Carol served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Home Depot, Inc., one of the world’s largest retailers. She joined the company in 1995 as Vice President and Treasurer. Carol began her career as a commercial lender with United Bank of Denver (now Wells Fargo) and then spent several years as Director of Banking for Johns-Mansville Corporation. Prior to joining The Home Depot, Carol was Vice President and Treasurer of Riverwood International Corporation. Carol serves as board member for Verizon Communications, Inc. and is a board trustee for Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation and the  Atlanta Botanical Garden. She is also a member of The Committee of 200, The Buckhead Coalition, The Business Council and the International Business Council of The World Economic Forum. A native of Jackson, Wyoming, Carol holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Wyoming and a master’s degree in finance from the University of Denver. UPS is a company with a proud past and an even brighter future. Our values define us. Our culture differentiates us. Our strategy drives us. At UPS we are customer first, people led and innovation driven. - CAROL B. TOMÉ Carol B. ToméOpen Download Image Section THIS SITE Our Stories Our Company Social Impact Investors Newsroom Contact Us OTHER UPS SITES UPS.com Open in new window UPSers.com Open in new window CONNECT Get news delivered to your inbox. Terms of Use Privacy Notice Cookie Settings Please note, some images and video were taken prior to the pandemic. Copyright ©1994 - 2021 United Parcel Service of America, Inc. All rights reserved. No longer want to receive email updates? Unsubscribe Here To update all other UPS email preferences or unsubscribe from UPS marketing emails, click here.

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[ot][cults] 02: cult intro course
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

Below the promo video is the first lesson. At the very end is a very simple quiz on the most basic material. 00 Promo MP4 format: https://arweave.net/booaga88a6AFc2DmZWJGM3l60lt7t4Yy-F6wtYuayKw Hello. My name is Dr. Steven Hassan. - I'm a licensed mental health counselor, and a former member of the Moon cult; - I was deprogrammed 45 years ago after a near-fatal van crash; and, - I wanted to introduce you to this foundational course, Understanding Cults: The Basics. In order for you: - To better understand the whole issue of the difference between ethical influence and unethical influence; - To learn more about my BITE model of authoritarian control, which I did my doctoral research on; - To be able to understand the dual identity model, the dissociative quality of being in a mind control authoritarian cult; - To basically have a foundational introduction to the whole phenomenon, Of, not just: - Religious cults, but, - Political cults, - Therapy cults, - Relationship cults, - Multi-level-marketing, and - Trafficking cults. Because it's your mind, and you should control it. So, please consider reading: - Combatting Cult Mind Control, the 2018 edition [this is the book gmkarl posted] - If you want to know more about how to rescue someone, Freedom of Mind, and of course - The latest book is The Cult of Trump. And, - I'm busy working on a course for mental health professionals who need more clinical orientation, but - That will be based on experiencing this first foundational course, and - I intend to do a course to how to help a loved one, a friend, or anybody, out of an authoritarian mind control cult, - And then a recovery course, for if you've exited, yourself: tips and strategies and tools. So, - I invite you to enjoy this course. - Learn a lot, and - I answer questions. And the course for mental health professionals is forthcoming. We hope to be able to offer CEU credits for a variety of different mental health professionals. I'm very excited. Thank you. $ b2sum 00-Promo.mp4 3439156683a5d73cc2d7eda22bcaf2054da7893097bee45923e85aa7e00172c32669df12e9a71d82e3b316a897b6468f32ec3bfbe3ebe713c72dd6d9474ca24f 00-Promo.mp4 01-Introduction https://arweave.net/NamOn6ENmnI8u0XXYC_P2_PoLJFAjurRzGfRag9Di_s [mp4 format] Hello, I'm Steve Hassan, and I'm here to share with you over 44 years of my life experience, as: - A cult expert! - A mental health professional, and - Someone who was not only involved with a cult, But was: - Rescued by my family, - Did deprogramming, helping other people get out. And, over the course of my career: - Became a licensed Mental Health Counselor, - Recently got a Master's and Doctorate from Fielding Graduate University. Author of four books: - Combating Cult Mind Control - Freedom of Mind - Releasing the Bonds, and - The Cult of Trump I wanted to take this opportunity to provide something that would be educational for the public, to give the basics about cult mind control, how to understand it, and I would like to share my slides now with you. [slide 1. centered text, logo and title backed by white, rest backed by blue [logo] Freedom of Mind [1] Resource Center UNDERSTANDING CULTS: The Basics Steven Alan Hassan, PhD. Freedom of Mind Resource Center, Inc. freedomofmind.com freedomfromundueinfluence.org 1: The logo of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center is a depiction of birds flying from opened hands, in blue. ] So, let's get started. My company is called Freedom of Mind Resource Center. My theme is: => It's your mind, and only you should control it. <= (I'm going to make this just a little bigger) [portrait of Dr Hassan largens] And: - You shouldn't let anybody else control it. And, - You need to understand how the mind works, - How social psychology works, and - How destructive authoritarian groups operate, and - How to get out, as well. So, let's dive in, and move forward. [slide 2. centered yellow text on a blue background. LESSON 1 Introduction to Cults ] - My website is freedomofmind, and - I also have a research site, freedomfromundueinfluence.org . And, let's get moving. [slide 3. centered white text on a blue background. MY STORY: HOW I GOT IN AND OUT OF THE MOONIES ] My story. How did I get in and out of the Moon cult? [slide 4. two large photos on a blue background. [left photo] [right photo] [1] [2] 1: A recent photo of an Asian couple, smiling, in front of a bronze curtain. The man on the left is very balding, is wearing a black suit with red and yellow embroidery or adornments on the upper left chest. Under it he has a white collared shirt and a red tie with yellow hashing. The woman on the right is a few inches shorter than the man, both with black hair. She wears small glasses with minimal rims, and has lipstick. She is dressed formally in a long blue skirt and coat with white trim at the clasps. Yellow and red flower-like adornments are on her upper left chest, and white embroidery is horizontal at the waist and around the wrists. Underneath is a white shirt. She wears a large ring on her ring finger and may have a necklace. Both are in formal black shoes. 2: An old, grainy black and white photo shows an aging man with a tall paper-like crown extending his hand over a line of at least 6 people, possibly opposite other people. His eyes aim downward and there are adornments on his upper right chest. Vertical embroidery and embroidered sashes are along his garment, which drapes the sleeve at least a foot below his outstretched arm. His fingers are extended and in motion. His face looks detached, like it might be familiar with the behavior. He stands partly behind a metal railing or tubing of some sort, which his left hand might be holding. The people standing in front are aiming to the left, lined up on the right in front of him, only their upper torso and heads visible. There are at least 3 men and at least 1 woman. They have light-colored flower-like adornments in their hair. Their faces are causal, some looking a little sour, some a little satisfied. Some of their eyes are closed. An object on the lower left has uncertain nature; it may be a larger decorative item held by someone off-camera. ] You know, a lot of young people have never heard of - The Moonies, [Hassan's cult] or - Sun Myung Moon, [the leader] - Hak Ja Han, [the leader's wife] - "The true parents of the universe" . But, back in the 70s, when I was a 19-year-old, - I had never heard of them. - I was a creative writing major in college, - the youngest of 3 kids, living at home, (I have two older sisters). - Was not a joiner, - Read books, - Wrote poetry, and - Was an upper junior at Queen's College. But within a very short space of time, I got recruited by a fringe group, into ... [slide 5: a single large black and white photo on a blue background. A man wearing a tall crown, with right hand outstretched, adornments on the upper-right of his chest, wearing a long white robe, stands in front of a mass of people dressed in white gowns and black suits. It looks like the women are in white gowns, and the men in black suits, and that there are about the exact same number of men and women. The people toward the lower right are nearer, and one can perceive them standing in lines, alternating women and men, marching with their backs toward the camera in rows toward the upper left. Somebody also in a white robe stands opposite the person with their hand outstretched, also wearing a shorter crown, with something white falling over their back from the crown. Both people with crowns are standing on raised stairs that look like they are made from successively smaller blocks of a fancy stone such as marble, with no handrails, simply stone. The person with the smaller crown has a single woman in a gown standing next to them, on a much lower terrace of the wide stone stairs. The leaders stand on their terraced stone with their feet somewhere between waist and shoulder height of the crowd. The rows of marching pairs can be seen to continue past and between the people wearing crowns, toward the upper left of the photo, where the patterns in the crowd can be seen to change. There is a mass of people aiming back toward the camera without a clear pattern, and behind them pairs of men and women along the side, behind the leader facing the photo. Behind everyone, a structure can be seen, similar to where a crowd might sit at a sports game, with vertical parts keeping people from entering the area, and railings alongside stairs that extend up the viewing area. The vertical structure between the observers and participants has vertical stripes on it, which are in a repeating pattern of 6 or so successive colors. In the foreground of the camera, at the lower left, is a large bouquet of flowers. ] ... this cult, which is very well-known for its mass weddings. In fact, I think Moon has the Guinness Book of Records for most people married at a single time. I think it was thirty thousand couples. And, to accomplish this, members believed that: - He was clairvoyant [can see things not visible] - And clairaudient, [can hear things out of earshot] - He was the Messiah, - He was sometimes greater than Jesus, - Buddha, - Mohammad. - They were all in the spirit world, supporting him. - He was going to save the planet, - Get rid of sin, - And evil, - And crime. And at these wedding ceremonies, - He'd select men and women, and - Tell them "you" and "you", and - People would have 5 minutes to decide if they accepted the Messiah's recommendation. - Of course, most people did. - Of course, many many years later, most of the marriages have failed. People are very disillusioned. [slide 6. centered text and a photo on a blue background. a small logo in the lower right. Sun Myung Moon: Founder and Owner of the _Washington_Times_ [large photo][1] [logo][2] 1: A very balding man wearing a suit stands behind a seated woman in a long gold dress, on a featureless white background. The man's right hand is closed, his left hand not visible. He is wearing a black suit, a white collared shirt, and a red tie with yellow visible on it. Both are smiling. Bright lights reflect off their skin. The woman has her hands clasped over knees shaped as if sitting on a chair. They do not have adornments on their chest, and the woman's ring is not visible. 2: The logo has the image of birds leaving hands next to the text FREEDOM / OF MIND ] A lot of people don't know: - He founded the Washington Times newspaper. - His son has a gun factory. On my website, freedomofmind, I have a long list of different fringe groups that the group has operated. Just check the Resource section of this course, and you can find a lot more information about the cult. [slide 7. centered text and two adjacent color photos on a blue background Sun Myung Moon's Coronation as the "King of Peace" [left photo [1]] [right photo [2]] 1: A man and shorter woman are having unique crownsaplaced on their heads by off-camera people holding them. The crowns have vertical spires coming from, the ones of the man's more prominant. They are dressed in blue robes with golden decorations and white cloth covering their shoulders and upper chests, that clasps at the neck but flares out. The two people have their heads slightly bowed. The people holding the crowns have white gloves. In the background is some kind of poster. The non-gold parts ofth ecrown are maroon. The crown-holder on the left has blue sleeves, whereas the one on the right has grey sleeves. There are deocrations on the arms of the crown holders. 2: A closer shot of the man wearing the crown in front of the large poster. He is looking to his lower-right, the lower-left of the camera, and appears to have a happy expression on his face that may be a little suppressed in some way. Styled writing is visible on the poster in the background, partial words such as maybe "for" or "lox" /, then maybe "Reconce .. and Pea", / then "ce Build...23rd 200". In the closer shot, a tag of some sort is visible on the man's chest, hanging from something. A somewhat large rectangle of white and yellow that looks like it contains writing. ] Oh, here's a set of images where: - He was in the Senate Office Building, - Being crowned the Messiah by some congressmen. It was very controversial and upsetting, that: - A convicted felon, - (he was convicted; owner of a newspaper in our nation's capital I might add as well), Could be crowned the Messiah, in our government buildings. [slide 8. centered text on a blue background; small logo in lower right How would you know if _you_ were under mind control? [fom logo] ] The critical question that I always like to ask people: to really stop and think, how would you know if you were under mind control? And I'm serious. How would you know? How would anyone know? Cause I can tell you, 100%, for the two and a half years that I was in the Moon cult, - People told me I was brainwashed, - They told me that I was in an authoritarian, destructive, cult, - But I didn't believe it. - I didn't feel it. I guess I had a misconception in my mind that to be brainwashed implied that I was tortured, or beaten, into submissions, which did not happen at all. In fact, in my story: - My girlfriend had dumped me, - Some women were flirting with me at my campus, - Pretending to be students, - And they deceptively recruited me. But this is a very important question [How would you know if you were under mind control?]. I'm going to come back to it in the course, and explain that there really is a reality-testing process that I recommend, for anyone to understand whether or not they're involved in a mind control relationship or situation. [slide 9. a rectangular graphic, white on dark dark blue and black, on a somewhat less dark blue background. [centered text:] Influence Continuum >From the BITE Model: Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotional Control [full-justified text and charts:] _Constructive_ _Destructive_ <=============================================================================> _Healthy_ _Unhealthy_ [offset chart, backed by light blue on left, black on right:] Authentic Self False (Cult) Identity Unconditional Love Conditional "Love" Compassion For Individuals Hate Conscience <=================> Doctrine Creativity and Humor Solemnity, Fear and Guilt Free Will / Critical Thinking Dependency / Obedience [offset chart, backed by light blue on left, black on right:] Psychologically Healthy Narcissistic / Psychopathic Knows Own Limits Elitist / Grandiose Empowers Individuals For Leaders Power Hungry Trustworthy <=================> Secretive / Deceptive Accountable Claims Absolute Authority [offset chart: backed by light blue on left, black on right:] Egalitarianism Elitism Checks and Balances Authoritarian Structure Informed Consent For Organizations Deceptive / Manipulative Individuality / Diversity <=================> Clones People Means Create End (and Relationships) Ends Justify Means Encourages Growth Preserves Own Power Free to Leave No Legitimate Reasons to Leave [centered:] >From _Combating Cult Mind Control_ (2018) by Steven Hassan ] What I would like to focus (I'm just going to move this over a tad), is on the Influence Continuum. [This section is referring heavily to the above slide.] - This is a critically important graphic. - It is on my website, freedomofmind. - It's in my books as well. But, I really want people to think (I'm going to just grab a pointer I think. Yeah, good. I've got a handy-dandy pointer.) [points along first <==> line] So, if you think about influence - On a continuum, - From Ethical/Constructive/Healthy, - To Destructive and Unhealthy, It's a very important organizing slide, for people to really be able to discern what's happening. [points along the left end of the first <==> line] So, first of all, I want to just point out, *Constructive, Healthy* influence, people and groups, involves: - Honesty, and what's known in the law as - Informed Consent. So that if someone is inviting you to something, or getting involved with you: - There's no lying. - There's no lying by withholding information, - Distorting information, or - Outright lying. [points along the right end of the first <==> line] Whereas, on the *Unhealthy* side: - There's always lying. - People do not understand what they're getting into. Because, in my experience, people do not voluntarily enter destructive, authoritarian cults. They just don't want to be: - Abused, and - Exploited, and - Enslaved, By another person or a group. [makes circles with the pointer around the different areas of the first chart: the center line, and then each item while going through them] So, let's just go through some of these important themes. I've kind of organized it in the slides as *For Individuals*. Think about, we're born with an *Authentic Self*: - Who we truly are. And, the Steve Hassan of Flushing Queens New York, that I was; through the mind control process, indoctrination process (which I will get to in detail in this course), I became a *Different Identity*: - A different belief system, - A different language system. - I looked to Moon and his wife as my parents, my true parents, - And Milton and Estelle Hassan, my real parents, were just my physical parents. And, on the healthy side, *Love is Unconditional*, - It's based on your beingness. But in authoritarian destructive relationships and groups, The "love" is really *Not Love*. It's really: - They like you _if you do what they tell you to do_. - So it's very Conditional. And people find that out especially: - If they start questioning and wanting to exit, They start experiencing some of the negatives and threats and such. On the healthy side *Compassion*; on the unhealthy side *Hate* -oriented. This is very important: *Conscience* and - Your own morality system, Vs the *Doctrine* of the cult, where - They define what is ethical and what is not ethical. In the real world, *Creativity and Humor* is: - An essential part of the human experience, But in mind control cults, it's often very *Solemn*, very *Fear, Guilt* oriented. And, in the ethical side, *Free Will / Critical Thinking*: - Being able to ask questions, is okay. But in an authoritarian relationship or group, *Dependency and/or Obedience*: - To the authority figure, - To the group, Is what is critical. [begins pointing similarly along the second chart] And I have two other dimensions that I'll just go through quickly. Healthy leaders are - *Psychologically Healthy*, Whereas most destructive cult leaders and controllers are very - *Narcissistic and Psychopathic*, And we'll get into more details about what I mean by that, in later slides and different parts of the course. But, Healthy leaders - *Know their Own Limits* - They *Empower other People*, - They're *Trustworthy*, - And *Accountable*. Whereas, cult leaders are typically very - *Elitist and Grandiose*, - They're *Power Hungry*, - They're _very_ *Secretive and Deceptive*, - And they want *Total Authority and Power*. They want *Total Loyalty and Obedience*. [continues to pointing similarly along the third chart] And then, in terms of organizing principles for organizations: *Egalitarianism* [healthy, on the left side of the chart] vs *Elitism* [destructive, on the right side of the chart]; There are *Checks and Balances* in a healthy organization or in a country, and unfortunately destructive cults are very *Authoritarian in their Structure*. I've already mentioned *Informed Consent* is critically important, vs *Deceptive and Manipulative*. - When a person tells you a false story about who they are and what their history is, it should make you very alert that there's something wrong here. It's very interesting, but the *Means Create the Ends*, whereas in mind control groups, they say the *Ends Justify the Means*. So, because we're "going to save the world", - It's okay to lie to people, - It's okay to steal in some cases, - It's okay to kill in some cases as well. This [healthy organizations and relationships on the left] is - Very *Growth* oriented, Whereas this [destructive organizations and relationships on the right] is - Just about *Preserving Power*. And, most importantly, Healthy organizations, if you don't like it, - *You Can Leave*. And, in a mind control group, they - *Don't Want Anyone to Leave*. So, in the mind of a cult member, there's *No Legitimate Reason, ever, to Leave*. So, when you're thinking about the *Influence Continuum*, and you're meeting somebody for the first time, I really want you to think about: - Are they Ethical? - Are they Healthy? - Or are they Destructive? And, a little bit later, we'll get into my 4-part model, called the BITE model, of authoritarian control, that looks at Behavior Control, that's up here [points at top of slide listing BITE parts, underlining each part]: - Behavior Control, - Information Control, - Thought Control, - and Emotional Control. And, the more a group does these overlapping components, [circles around right end of first <==> line], the more *Destructive* they are. Every group has some rules, some behavior control, they have their own language, etc, but the really authoritarian, bad groups, they use B I T E to control people. [slide 10. white text on blue. the heading is centered, the rest is left-justified It's Not As Obvious As You Think * People who are under undue influence usually don't see their situation clearly [ ] They believe it is their own free choice [ ] They are indoctrinated to not think independently [ ] They are isolated from other points of view and critical information -- they are living in a cult bubble [ ] They really cannot SEE their situation objectively * Helping people realize they are victims of undue influence is the first step in liberating them [fom logo] ] So I want to just say, - It's Not As Obvious As You Think, Because when people are under mind control, or undue influence (that's a term that the law likes to use: due influence vs undue influence): - You don't realize it, - You don't recognize it, because - They subvert your own mechanisms for reality testing, so - People think it's their own free choice. - They can't think independently, and if they do they're punished, typically. - They're often isolated from other people's points of view and critical information. - They live in a cult bubble. And I just want to comment, that - We're living in the 21st century now. And a lot of people think of destructive cults as people with shaved heads living with robes in an isolated compound somewhere, but in fact, especially during the covid pandemic: - People are forced to be online, - Isolated, and - Sitting in front of their computer or some screen or their phone. And, because of the nature of social media and our computer and digital systems and equipment: - We are now in a bubble, - Even if we're living by ourselves, in an apartment or a house, working a job, - We can still be totally isolated in our minds, in an information bubble. And one critical piece that I want to comment on, is: - People can't see their situation objectively. So, one technique, and we'll get into this a little bit more later, is: - If you're not sure if you're able to think critically, etc, - Can you step out of your situation and see your situation objectively? Or, when you look at your situation: - You justify, rationalize, all of the things that you're doing, and such. But, I believe healthy people can step out of: - Their own mindset, - Their own belief system, - Their own organization, Listen: - To critics - And former members, And Assess, more objectively, what it is they're involved in. So, helping people realize they're victims of undue influence, is really the first step to liberating them. [slide 11. white text on blue. heading centered, content left-justified Fundamental Attribution Error + Over attribute personal variables + Under attribute personal variables + Putting emphasis on personal characteristics to explain someone's behavior in a given situation instead of considering the external factors that may lead them to act in such a way [fom logo] ] And, I really wanted to talk about the *Fundamental Attribution Error*. I first learned this in Social Psychology, in college, decades ago. It's considered to be: - The single most important principle of social psychology. And essentially how to explain it, is that: - Human beings have a bias. When they think about other human beings, and look at what they're doing, and they want to understand: - Why are they doing what they're doing? There's: - An over-emphasis on personality variables, and - An under-estimation of the context, and the social-psychological variables. So, what do I mean by this? If you think about it, people talk about somebody in a cult, - Whether it's the Moonies, - Whether it's NXIUM, - Whether it's Scientology, - Whether it's Multi-Level-Marketing group, Whatever: They tend to look at the person and go, - "oh, they were stupid for getting involved," - "they were weak," - "they were looking for something," _As if there was something wrong with them_ for being interested and curious to learn things. In other words, - There's a "blaming the victim" phenomenon that - Typically happens - When trying to look at people involved with mind control cults or authoritarian cults. But what we've learned in social psychology is, in fact, - The human mind is doing shortcuts all the time, in terms of the information that we're taking in, and - We can be tricked, and - We can be indoctrinated, - Covertly, - Very quickly in some cases, And it's not our fault, other than not being *inoculated* and: - Understanding at the very beginning of meeting a new person, - Or even going to a website, Doing *independent evaluation*: - Before you get involved, - Before you give any personal information. I really also want to comment that, In the 21st century: - A lot of our personal data is now "owned" on the web, - On the dark web, and - If somebody wants to figure you out, and know what buttons to push, - The data is out there on the web, if somebody has the money and the desire to figure you out. And so, we have to be extra careful, especially: - If we meet someone or some group, and - It seems like they're reading our minds, - Or it seems like we've known this person our whole life, but you've just met them a couple of hours ago, There could be something else going on, that's outside of your conscious awareness. And because: - Most people are ethical, at least in my experience, - They don't think like a cult recruiter, - They don't think like a con artist person either, And I know this because I got deceptively recruited and indoctrinated into a cult, and: - I learned to become a recruiter, - And recruit a whole lot of other people, into the Moon cult. And of course, in my case, my family found me after a near-fatal van crash that I had due to sleep deprivation (I should say I was sleeping about 3-4 hours a night), woke up as I was driving into the back of a tractor trailer truck on the Baltimore Beltway at 5:30 in the morning, and nearly died, and needed surgery on my leg. And deprogramming was arranged: - Through my sister, - And my parents, - And some former Moonies. And, that's another story, we'll get into that a little bit later, but I'm so grateful: - That my family cared about me, - That they didn't give up on me, even though I was a fanatic and I tried to recruit them, and - They tried everything, to talk to me logically and rationally. And nothing seemed to help at all, until that opportunity where: - I couldn't fight, - And I couldn't run away, - And I was at my sister's house, - And my family confronted me with love. And said, "Steve, what are you doing? We think that you've been indoctrinated, we think you've been brainwashed." "Oh no, I'm not brainwashed!" "Prove it. Just give us a few days, listen with an open mind, and decide, if you want to go back to the group, at least we'll be able to sleep at night, knowing that we did the responsible thing. But please, open your mind and learn." And some of what I learned there was so interesting to me, because for example: - Chinese Communist brainwashing was one of the major models used to describe thought reform and brainwashing, and - As a Moonie we were indoctrinated to hate Communism and fear it, because we thought it was Satan, and of course God was in the Moonies, - So I was very willing to listen about Chinese Communist brainwashing. - And, of course, the former Moonies would share their own experiences, in the workshops and in the whole structure of the cult, and - Eventually my mind started to start thinking again, - And I started to realize that Moon wasn't the Messiah, - And I had been lied to, And here I am. More than 40 years later. So, welcome to Understanding Cults: The Basics. And this is the end of Lesson 1. Thank you. $ b2sum 01-Introduction.mp4 31de9eea65dc94983bc6d22999598e0418424a372052b7c32d267456ec1ffb486b2e7eab4f0cabb4bf81d6d05f398817f69cbec9bbe01eaf8c1838a842f220b4 01-Introduction.mp4 Quiz 01 Choose only ONE best answer. 1. What was the nickname of the group Steve joined? A) The Sunnies B) The Moonies C) The Unity 2. Why is it difficult for people to know when they are under mind control? A) They believe it is their own free choice B) They are isolated from other points of view and critical information C) They really cannot SEE their situation objectively D) All of the above

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[ot]karl notes
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

i found that some of my habits actually quickly minimized my video window right before a seizure-like experience, hiding video of it. i'm using KDE now, after a some small reviews between it and gnome for things. In KDE, right clicking on the title bar, then going to More Actions, then Special Window Settings, I was able to disable minimization on the window entirely under the Size & Position tab. [check: minimized -> force -> no]. notes: ffmpeg can record terminal sessions as video as well as X, but i'm set up for X right now. it's pretty rare that i stabilize this for a bit.

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[log][censorship?] github "secondary ratelimit"
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

0350 AM I blockchained a video stream of github giving me a strange ratelimit error for the first time ever, during normal browsing. The event in the stream is preceded by me experiencing a past influence trigger to poop rather than continue a small project. The text of the error, which has been occurring on every page, is: Whoa there! You have exceeded a secondary rate limit. Please wait a few minutes before you try again; in some cases this may take up to an hour. Contact Support — GitHub Status — @githubstatus I viewed the source and it looked like the content was generated by javascript, not certain. When I refreshed the page to include network details in this post, the site began working again. My video stream can presently be viwed with download.py from https://github.com/xloem/log . Make a file containing this content on one line: {"ditem": ["N8R9sPCEIat6OOQRaCpy8dc4g0W1aacoP9yBuvylzv8"], "min_block": [1068522, "VBm4hzP_wNuv8neg7au0Fp-zlDThCxcJeIGb_Ol3qYViIqmhX2-Wt2t1U7Ib7zP8"], "api_timestamp": 1669884875164} And pass the filename to download.py . It will attempt to write the video content on stdout. The block containing that ditem hasn't mined yet at this time, so there's no guarantee or anything quite yet.

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CORPSE FIAT pegged - bring out your dead
by professor rat 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

Stablecoins are presently only cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar, other cryptocurrencies, or a commodity like oil or gold. But that was then - this is now. First Mover - Primus inter pares The stablecoin linked to and floating with a basket of crypto-currency ONLY assets will gain an advantage. Or tokens representing desirable commodities - THC , Porn, Tequila, etc Look for Paolo Ardoino tomorrow and you'll find a grave man. Vorwart to cypherpunk 2027 - viva la revolution!

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Telegram and Tether promise P2P power to the people
by professor rat 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

Holepunch was founded to unlock global communications and empower freedom of speech, access to information and combat censorship around the world. Allowing users to be in control of their own data and communication channels are fundamental to breaking free from technology monopolies. https://tether.to/en/tether-bitfinex-and-hypercore-launch-holepunch-a-platf… Pavel’s Doges https://cointelegraph.com/news/telegram-founder-wants-to-build-new-decentra…

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Anarchist punk and post-left anarchism in Argentina
by professor rat 01 Dec '22

01 Dec '22

The Anarchism and Punk Book Project was launched in the spring of 2021 https://anarchistnews.org/comment/49276#comment-49276 Reposts not Juan Garofalo garbage

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