March 2023 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

New York's Friendliest Republican in Town
by Gunnar Larson 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Move over, Ronald DeSantis. Gunnar Larson is working to become New York's friendliest Republican Feminist in Town ... Deplorable? Woke? Yes, even Jokes like you, Ron, all are welcomed by real Republicans. Don't say gay, Ron? Peter Thiel is such a successful example of gay ... I am even gayer, Gunnar Donald Arthur Peter Larson. Ron, I have Donald and Peter in my name and those feminists have always been the future. ---- A new resolution, introduced in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, would finally ensure a feminist approach to the country’s foreign policy, writes Lyric Thompson, the founder and CEO of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, in an op-ed for Devex. She writes that the U.S. can take inspiration from plenty of examples in its neighborhood. In Canada, embracing a feminist foreign policy has meant funding women’s rights and feminist organizations and pioneering the use of innovative investment mechanisms to support grassroots women’s rights organizations. While Mexico was among the few countries pushing for women’s rights activists to lead the way in climate negotiations at the most recent U.N. Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Opinion: The US must pass its feminist foreign policy resolution

1 0

The European Parliament Votes To Call For A Tribunal On Russia's Crime Of Aggression Against Ukraine - Trials & Appeals & Compensation - European Union
by Gunnar Larson 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

https://www.mondaq.com/trials-amp-appeals-amp-compensation/1290118/the-euro… On 19 January 2023, the European Parliament adopted the resolution (the "Resolution") on the establishment of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine (the "Tribunal"). According to the Resolution, the European Parliament, among others: considers that the establishment of the Tribunal would complement the investigative efforts of the International Criminal Court (the "ICC") and its Prosecutor, as it would focus on alleged genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine; reiterates its full support for the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the ICC into the situation in Ukraine; deems that the Tribunal must have jurisdiction to investigate not only Vladimir Putin and the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation, but also Aliaksandr Lukashenka and the political and military leadership in Belarus, as an enabling state, from the territory of which and with the logistic support of which the Russian Federation is committing its war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Parliament: emphasised that the EU's preparatory work on the Tribunal should begin without delay, focus on establishing the arrangements for the Tribunal in cooperation with Ukraine and support Ukrainian and international authorities in securing evidence to be used in the future Tribunal; called for the EU institutions and the Member States to work in close cooperation with Ukraine to seek and build political support in the UN General Assembly and other international forums, including the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and the G7, for creating the Tribunal; called for the EU institutions, in particular the Commission and the European External Action Service, to provide support in the meantime for the establishment of an interim prosecutor's office; supported the UN General Assembly recommendation as the first step towards the establishment by UN Member States, in cooperation with Ukraine, of an international register of damage to serve as a record for future reparations for damage, loss, or injury to all natural and legal persons concerned, and the long-term, widespread and severe damage to the natural environment and the climate, as well as to the state of Ukraine, caused by the internationally wrongful acts of the Russian Federation and its allies in or against Ukraine, as well as to promote and coordinate evidence gathering; invited the EU and the Member States, as well as their partners and allies, to engage in discussion on the legal possibility of using sovereign assets of the Russian state as reparations for the violations of international law by Russia in Ukraine, including potentially by denying such assets the protections of sovereign immunity or limiting such protections owing to the gross nature of these violations; called for the active use of EU public diplomacy and strategic communication in support of the creation of the Tribunal. Thus, the international community is taking further steps in holding Russia accountable for its brutal violation of international order and peace.

1 0

A Btc Pilgrims Progress
by professor rat 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Bitcoins anarchic adaptions are keeping it in business as a contender for ' The One ' enabler and master of the coming global matrix. P2P is a strong architecture for avoiding the ' Tyranny of structurelesness ' trap where informal hierarchy and clique's spoil crypto-anarchism's munificent blessings. The latest crash has actually flattened the OG pyramid somewhat creating more whole-coiners and a smaller harder, flatter target for attackers. With added stealth-carbon plating via remailers-mixers the Btc blockchain might now be said to be as atomic bomb-proof as, well . . . the net itself. Another reason anarchists have to pay attention - despite some foul-smelling Maxi bombast and critical-theorist bs - is the notion of ' Diversity of tactics " might be mapped onto Big Dog. When Btc is neither purely and simply ' money ' or ' gold ' then that adds a powerful diversity of approach. In the anarchist milieu this welcome diversity helps negate the states favorite ' divide and rule ' attacks ( usually led by the corpse media and invariable involving violence ) If bitcoiners follow our lead they will continue to argue for their favorite approach without becoming totally dogmatic, schismatic or self-negating about it. Some will hodl while others spend. Just as many anarchists won't join black blocs but agitate in alternative ways. The 'force-more-powerful' in the crypto-currency space has more competitive trials ahead - but I like what I've seen so far. If Big Dog can navigate a switch to lower energy mode and match current best-practice consumers service it will surely convert its first mover advantage into an unstoppable force. I may even have to become a whole-coiner myself before Cypherpunk 2027. ( Chorus ) God forbid! God forbid indeed! But Faustus has done it! ( Marlowe )

1 0

Leaked Hillary Clinton Emails Revealed NATO Killed Gaddafi to Stop the formation of a United States of Africa.
by zeynep＠keemail.me 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

https://twitter.com/AfricanHub_/status/1633541711837159431?t=TJmAfDDdTB0HyI… Of the 3,000 emails released from Hillary Clinton's private email server in late December 2015, about a third were from her close confidante Sidney Blumenthal. One of these emails, dated April 2, 2011, read in part: Qaddafi's government holds more than 143 tons of gold and a similar amount in silver ... This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA)." In a 'source comment', the original declassified email added:According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influencedPresident Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to commit France to the attack on Libya. According to these individuals Sarkozy's plans are driven by the following issues: 1. A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production, 2. Increase French influence in North Africa, President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to commit France to the attack on Libya. 3. Improve his internal political situation in France, 4. Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world 5. Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi's long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa" ...... The Main stream media will never tell you this. The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that is power. Because they control the minds of the masses.

1 0

Freedom, Equality, Sisterhood
by professor rat 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Longish piece on anarcho-feminism in Belarus https://anarchistnews.org/content/interview-belarussian-anarchist Reposts not Wikileaks treason to anarchist activism

1 0

ETHERIUM circle-of-eunuchs snapshot
by professor rat 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

ETHERIUM - the neo-liberal hegemony you have when you’re not having neo-liberal hegemony. Buttface Buterin just repeated his Bill Gates philanthropy act while ETH-Denver . . . well https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-didn-t-crypto-walk-the-walk-at-ethdenver This network is barely ticking over as circle-of-eunuchs cypherpunk - where’s ma AUGUR rifle!? Reposts not walk-the-talk shining of killer markets

1 0

APster virality guaranteed
by professor rat 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

As the worlds richest men start living with their bodyguards " . . . people are going crazy over a new “kill-to-earn” zombie shooting game . . . " https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/dd-nukes-nft-ban-kill-to-earn-zombie-sho… Apropos of nothing much Avalanche just scored a big new gaming deal. APster is bubbling under and only awaits some Streisands shriek to explode. The original KILLER APP and still the best. " Everyone an assassin ' makes for a polite society. Welcome to the globalized anarchist revolution!

1 0

Re: An application for near-term quantum devices generating cryptographically certified random bits, to use in proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies.
by professor rat 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

Full spectrum quantum computing combined with stronger AI spells doom for Big Dog’s steampunk proof-of-work. Energy use will fall - ergonomic anarchy will reign. DON"T ANYONE TELL BACKSTABBER THIS!

1 0

FDIC Investigators Are on the Premises of Collapsing Federally-Insured, Crypto Related Bank, Silvergate: It’s Not a Friendly Visit
by Gunnar Larson 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/03/fdic-investigators-are-on-the-premis… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 8, 2023 ~ Alan Lane, CEO, Silvergate Bank Alan Lane, CEO, Silvergate Bank A very peculiar headline appeared at Bloomberg News yesterday concerning the collapsing federally-insured bank, Silvergate Bank, which became the go-to financial institution over the past few years for crypto exchanges around the globe. The headline read: “Silvergate Is in Talks With FDIC Officials on Ways to Salvage Bank.” That headline moved quickly to other news outlets, which dutifully regurgitated that there was an effort underfoot by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to save Silvergate Bank. Bloomberg News then went further out on a shaky limb with this paragraph: “Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials have been discussing with management ways to avoid a shutdown, according to people familiar with the matter. One possible option involves lining up crypto-industry investors to help Silvergate shore up its liquidity, said one of the people. FDIC examiners arrived at the firm’s La Jolla, California, offices last week, the people said.” For starters, “FDIC examiners” are not investment bankers from Goldman Sachs or Perella Weinberg Partners. They don’t arrange mergers and acquisitions. If bank examiners from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are on the premises of Silvergate Bank, it is because officials of that bank put a big red target on their bank for the Feds on March 1 when it made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that stated that the bank had concerns about its “ability to continue as a going concern.” The SEC filing also indicated that record-keeping at the bank is so suspect that it can’t even file its annual report for the full year of 2022 (Form 10-K) on time; and it needs more time to “record journal entries.” Equally troubling was the phrase that “its independent registered public accounting firm” will require more time “to complete certain audit procedures, including review of adjustments not yet recorded and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.” And if all that weren’t enough, it added for good measure that it was under multiple investigations from regulators, Congress and – oops – those folks with criminal prosecution powers – the U.S. Department of Justice. So, to summarize, that devastating information was released seven days ago and yet, yesterday, Bloomberg News’ reporters think that the Feds are on the premises of Silvergate to “salvage” the bank. Here’s an alternative theory: the FDIC bank examiners are on the premises of Silvergate Bank to find out how big a hole there is between what the bank owes to depositors, its cash on hand, and what its liquidated assets might be worth. Silvergate’s ability to find a white knight bidder to “salvage” the bank ended when gutsy U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) released a letter on January 30 to the bank’s CEO, Alan Lane. The letter revealed that the bank had been stonewalling the Senators on their inquiries about the bank’s dealings with Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed crypto exchange, FTX, and his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Federal prosecutors have charged that Alameda and its principals looted more than $8 billion from FTX customer accounts and the money is missing. The letter from the three Senators to Silvergate CEO Lane explained the situation as follows: “We are disappointed by your evasive and incomplete response to our December 5, 2022 letter regarding Silvergate Bank’s role in the improper transfer of FTX customer funds to cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research (Alameda). We wrote to you seeking information on what appeared to be an egregious failure of your bank’s responsibilities to monitor and report suspicious financial activity. Your response confirms the extent of this failure – but then neglects to provide key information needed by Congress to understand why and how these failures occurred. Moreover, in the month since you provided your inadequate reply to our request for information, new reports have emerged detailing the run Silvergate Bank (Silvergate) faced in the wake of the FTX collapse, and the funding sources the bank turned to as its coffers ran low, further underscoring the need for full transparency from you and your bank. “Most notably, new reports revealed that as it sank further into distress in 2022, Silvergate turned to the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of San Francisco for an injection of cash large enough to ‘stave off a further run on deposits.’ Your bank ‘now holds roughly $4.6 billion in cash,’ the vast majority – $4.3 billion – of which it secured as an advance from the FHLB. By using the FHLB as its functional ‘lender of last resort,’ Silvergate has further introduced crypto market risk into the traditional banking system. If Silvergate were to fail – as have banks facing a fraction of the withdrawal rates Silvergate has faced – FHLB could ‘assert statutory lien priority on other assets – essentially putting the Home Loan bank ahead of all other creditors,’ including the Federal Deposit Insurance Company’s (FDIC) deposit insurance fund. Financial experts have noted that such a scenario could leave the FDIC – and therefore the American taxpayer – holding the bag.” It turns out that the people running Silvergate Bank did not quite grasp the concept of hot money. Hot money can pour in really fast to a bank and boost its deposit base but it can also drain deposits in record time, leaving the bank teetering. On January 5, Silvergate reported to the SEC that its “total deposits from digital asset customers declined to $3.8 billion” as of December 31, 2022 (down from the previously reported $11.9 billion on September 30, 2022.) That’s a 68 percent drop in one quarter – an astonishing figure for a federally-insured bank in the United States. A federally-insured bank is not some local mom and pop bakery that puts a sign on its door that it’s closing due to its rent going up. A federally-insured bank is part of a complex system of deposit insurance that, ultimately, puts the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for unrecouped losses. On an ongoing basis, the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) is funded primarily through quarterly assessments on insured banks. A bank’s assessment is calculated by multiplying its assessment rate by its assessment base. A bank’s assessment base and assessment rate are determined and paid each quarter. According to the FDIC, the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) held $128.2 billion as of December 31 while the total of domestic deposits tallied up to $17.7 trillion. But some of those deposits exceed the insurance limits. According to the FDIC, as of December 31 the Deposit Insurance Fund’s balance was just 1.27 percent of the insured deposits held at the nation’s banks. (See chart above from the FDIC.) That low reserve at the Deposit Insurance Fund has not been a problem heretofore but if crypto fraudsters are allowed by Congress to continue to invade federally-insured banking in the U.S., it could become a problem very fast. That problem would not only raise the cost of insurance premiums to the ethical banks in the system but it could also do serious reputational damage to the safety and soundness of the entire U.S. banking system.

1 0

Cryptoanarchy is the rise of a world-historical challenge to liberal capitalist democracy.
by professor rat 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

A multipolar world was just a rinse - the heavy-duty-cycle's coming up next. And the winner takes it all. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p2rTsmms2Z4J:https://… Reposts not rootin' for Putin type idiocies

1 0