July 2023 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

CopWatch: Judge and ACLU Smack Down Kansas Troopers War On Motorists
by grarpamp 29 Jul '23

29 Jul '23

Govt cops only report to their Govt masters, not you. Cryptocurrency allows people to hire protection and investigation under good policies, including reporting directly to the people. Kansas Troopers 'Waged War On Motorists' With Bogus Stops, Interrogations https://reason.com/2023/07/24/kansas-cops-have-waged-war-on-motorists-by-su… https://www.aclukansas.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/memorandum_a… https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/14-3278/14-3278-2016… https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/gwlr66&div=23&i… https://www.cato.org/commentary/aclu-just-got-some-much-needed-free-speech-… "The Kansas Highway Patrol has waged war on motorists -- especially out-of-state residents traveling between Colorado and Missouri on federal highway I-70," a federal judge declared on Friday in a scathing condemnation of tyrannical practices embedded in police training. Among those practices is something cops call the "Kansas Two-Step." After pulling you over for a traffic violation and dispensing either a warning or a ticket, a cop starts walking away, but then turns back and asks, "Hey, can I ask you something?" What feels like a friendly conversational question is actually intended to trick you. As Reason's Jacob Sullum explains: "Police are not supposed to continue detaining you after the ostensible purpose of the stop has been accomplished unless they reasonably suspect you are involved in criminal activity. The two-step is designed to extend the encounter by making it notionally voluntary, giving the officer a chance to elicit incriminating information, ask for permission to search your car, and/or walk a drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle." Troopers are taught the technique in their training, but US District Judge Kathryn Vratil said, "the theory that a driver who remains on the scene gives knowing and voluntary consent to further questioning is nothing but a convenient fiction." "Troopers occupy a position of power and authority during a traffic stop," wrote Vratil, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, "and when a trooper quickly re-approaches a driver after a traffic stop and continues to ask questions, the authority that a trooper wields—combined with the fact that most motorists do not know that they are free to leave and KHP troopers deliberately decline to tell them that they are free to leave—communicates a strong message that the driver is not free to leave." Judge Kathryn Vratil was appointed by George H.W. Bush The Kansas Two-Step is just one piece of a policing regime that Vratil rightly found objectionable. In her decision, Vratil also criticized pretextual traffic stops, in which police contrive some reason to pull people over merely on the hope that they'll discover something they can arrest you for. "As wars go, this one is relatively easy; it’s simple and cheap, and for motorists, it’s not a fair fight," wrote Vratil. "The war is basically a question of numbers: stop enough cars and you’re bound to discover drugs. And what’s the harm if a few constitutional rights are trampled along the way?" The thicket of traffic and vehicle equipment regulations, including the ability for cops to pull you over for actions subjectively deemed "imprudent," means anyone can be pulled over on a whim. "Even the most cautious driver would find it virtually impossible to drive for even a short distance without violating some traffic law," writes University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris, whom Vratil cited in her ruling. "A police officer willing to follow any driver for a few blocks would therefore always have probable cause to make a stop." With supplementary techniques like standing very close to cars or even placing their forearms inside, troopers perform the "Kansas Two-Step" in a way that makes reasonable drivers conclude they're not free to leave, the judge ruled (WDAF-TV) Kansas state troopers disproportionately preyed on those with out-of-state license plates. "KHP troopers stopped 70 per cent more out-of-state drivers than would be expected if KHP troopers stopped in-state and out-of state drivers at the same rate...represent[ing] roughly 50,000 traffic stops," wrote Vratil. She found the KHP has been violating tenets set down by the 2016 case of Vasquez v Lewis, which rejected searches based on flimsy pretexts such as "status as a resident of Colorado." Vratil said troopers applied "an absurd and tenuous combination of factors" to conclude that individuals were suspicious, such as: Having a car with out-of-state plates "Seeming nervous while interacting with law enforcement" "Having fingerprints on the trunk lid" "Going on a trip with one's nephew" "Having a bag in the passenger seat" Many fruitless vehicle searches were initiated by the use police dogs, whose purported alerts are determined solely by their dog handlers. That's problematic enough, but even genuine alerts are triggered by mere odors, not drugs per se. That means a dog could very well alert simply because someone who smoked pot -- maybe a car mechanic returning from lunch or the previous user of your rental car -- touched your door handle. In the coming weeks, Judge Vratil, who was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of driving under the influence, will impose an injunction. Her ruling includes a draft with provisions that would, among many other things, require troopers to: Communicate to drivers when they've reached the point where the traffic stop has concluded and they are free to go Inform drivers of their right to refuse or revoke search consent Obtain supervisory approval before commencing purportedly consensual searches Maintain better traffic-stop documentation and electronic records Plaintiffs in the the case, Shaw v Jones, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Yes, on rare occasion, the ACLU -- which increasingly throws its principles to the wind to please leftist donors -- still manages to occasionally do some good.

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Cryptocurrency: Superconductor Mining Chips... First To Fab, First To Profit, FTW
by grarpamp 29 Jul '23

29 Jul '23

Superconductors, Aliens, AI, Genetic Compilers, Quantum... Singularity. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.12008.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.12037.pdf For the first time in the world, we succeeded in synthesizing the room-temperature superconductor (Tc 400 K, 127 oC) working at ambient pressure with a modified lead-apatite (LK-99) structure. A material called LK-99®, a modified-lead apatite crystal structure with the composition (Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O (0.9<x<1.1)), has been synthesized using the solid-state method. The material exhibits the Ohmic metal characteristic of Pb(6s1) above its superconducting critical temperature, Tc, and the levitation phenomenon as Meissner effect of a superconductor at room temperature and atmospheric pressure below Tc. Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 Making frozen coffee @cometeer Prev @PrincetonPhys Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 17h Today might have seen the biggest physics discovery of my lifetime. I don't think people fully grasp the implications of an ambient temperature / pressure superconductor. Here's how it could totally change our lives. 1,809 16,033 3,671 89,533 Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 4m The more I read this the more bullish I get. Kim really believes and is just out there saying go try it. There is something here for sure Ate-a-Pi @8teAPi 1h It’s real. He’s putting his name on the line. Basically saying the papers are crap, the team has infighting.. probably over credit. The 3 man paper hit arxiv 2.5 hours before the 6 author paper. He’ll assist other groups in verifying. He’s on email. archive.is/2023.07.26-181113… 1 12 Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 13m The option space here is very wide. We have an extremely rough understanding of High Tc superconductivity in cuprate-like lattices. It is fully possible we are seeing new physics (albeit shoddily conducted/hastily published) that doesn't exactly match previous materials. 2 1 15 Alex Kaplan retweeted Anatoly Vorobey @avorobey 4h Replying to @alexkaplan0 1 5 74 Alex Kaplan retweeted Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 23m Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron @Dereklowe @mattwridley @kchangnyt @DrCarpineti Sounds like serious drama btw Kim and the other researchers. He was left off the 3 person paper, uploaded 2 hrs earlier. Doesn't invalidate results - if anything makes it seem like they care even more? Ate-a-Pi @8teAPi 1h It’s real. He’s putting his name on the line. Basically saying the papers are crap, the team has infighting.. probably over credit. The 3 man paper hit arxiv 2.5 hours before the 6 author paper. He’ll assist other groups in verifying. He’s on email. archive.is/2023.07.26-181113… 1 7 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 47m Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron @Dereklowe @mattwridley @kchangnyt cautious excitement from @DrCarpineti iflscience.com/first-room-te… First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor Achieved, Claim Scientists Someone with a lab please try to reproduce these results so we know if we should pop the champagne. iflscience.com 1 3 13 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 48m Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron @Dereklowe @mattwridley @kchangnyt discusses a lot of failed superconductor research along with the recent paper here. Not sure I agree with the framing, this is pretty different nytimes.com/2023/07/26/scien… A Looming Retraction Casts a Shadow Over a Field of Physics Misconduct allegations are leading scientists to question the work of Ranga Dias, including his claimed discovery of a room-temperature superconductor. nytimes.com 1 9 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 52m Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron @Dereklowe reasonable skepticism from @mattwridley spectator.co.uk/article/why-… Why I’m sceptical about a superconductor breakthrough A team of South Korean scientists has pre-printed a paper asserting that they have achieved superconductivity at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The paper has led to widespread speculation... spectator.co.uk 1 1 7 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h If I had to pick one, it'd be something like @VEIR_Grid. Commercial power transmission on short distances for very high value delivery. Use it as a wedge to build experience in transmission and build towards interregional, interstate, nationwide, with IRA funding. 4 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h TAM is very hard to know across sectors, but certainly venture-scale across infrastructure, medicine, science tooling (a whole new LHC?), and QC. Probably have to partner with someone deep in the field for an understanding of the business cases. 2 3 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h The easiest thing to start is a shopify storefront like this one I got RBCO disks for my birthday from. @harleyf what do you think? You do the branding, I do the supply? If you can get access to a vacuum, should be easy to make. CC @andrewmccalip 1 3 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h Commercial-scale integrations will likely take major rearchitecting of existing transmission/power electronics. I don't see factories installing LK-99 before EOY. That's where the money is at scale, but potentially some moats in B2B access/rolodex. 1 3 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h Here is how I would spend the replication interregnum as an entrepreneur. First what are going to be the binding early constraints? Production of material will be shoddy and inconsistent until better methods developed, but demand will be high. 1 1 10 Show this thread Alex Kaplan retweeted Seth Rosenberg @SethGRosenberg 1h Replying to @alexkaplan0 @alexkaplan Cheers independent.co.uk/tech/super… Scientists might have made the ‘biggest physics discovery of a lifetime’ – or not Breakthrough would mark ‘holy grails of modern physics, unlocking major new developments in energy, transportation, healthcare, and communications’ – but it is a long way from being proven independent.co.uk 1 2 12 Alex Kaplan retweeted Douglas Natelson @NanoscaleViews 1h Replying to @alexkaplan0 Yeah, and really big diamagnetism could be weird and interesting. 1 1 7 Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h If I were to guess what's going on, it's that fig. 4.a is just sloppy like the rest of that paper and they forgot the to add the S.I. notation 1 3 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h Replying to @alexkaplan0 @NanoscaleViews These are figures 4a in arxiv:2307.12037 and 1d in arxiv:2307.12008, respectively 1 5 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron the plot thickens Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h This is the first serious flaw I have seen investigated in the pair of papers. There is a difference by a factor of 7,500 between these two otherwise similar graphs. These show both results 36x more diamagnetic than graphite and crudely mislabelled axes. All cred @NanoscaleViews Show this thread 2 1 12 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 1h This is the first serious flaw I have seen investigated in the pair of papers. There is a difference by a factor of 7,500 between these two otherwise similar graphs. These show both results 36x more diamagnetic than graphite and crudely mislabelled axes. All cred @NanoscaleViews Douglas Natelson @NanoscaleViews 2h 1/8 A thread on magnetic susceptibility data in the papers of the moment. Magnetic susceptibility tells us about how much magnetization M (mag moment per volume) a material develops when placed in a magnetic field H. \chi = dM/dH. Annoyingly, cgs and SI units are different. Show this thread 3 3 46 Show this thread Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 2h Replying to @alexkaplan0 @condensed_the @sandersted @jjaron with a few quotes in new scientist Jacob Aron @jjaron 2h Hello to new followers - here's the story you've been waiting for newscientist.com/article/238… 1 9 Show this thread Load more

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Be Bruce
by pro2rat＠yahoo.com.au 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

It’s time to scrap AML / KYC entirely. The idea that politicians should know how citizens spend their money is a new and deeply flawed idea. An entire generation has been fooled into thinking this is a necessary part of finance and the world continues to double down on an unworkable system. Only 30 years ago when I started my career as a stockbroker/ financial advisor I could call you on the phone and sell you MSFT or IBM stock and I did not need your DOB or your social security number. You didn’t even need to have money in the account. The 1990s to the post 9-11 Patriot Act (which was a horrible law) saw a radical increase in AML /KYC requirements. These seem to get worse every year. In my office when we were first required to take a drivers license, the older brokers were incredulous: “What do you mean we need an ID for someone buying stocks?!? What’s next, you need an ID to buy gas or groceries?” Now, just 25 years later an entire generation thinks this is normal or how it should be. Worse yet, some think the system won’t work without it. The opposite is true — the compliance gums up the works and adds friction where it should not exist. While the regulator class arrogantly acts as if AML KYC is their birthright and ending it is some sort of untouchable rail, the justifications are weak. Why do we have these regimes? To stop “money laundering”? What is that? Who is the victim? Is it to stop “human trafficking” or “terrorism”? If so, how? Is it to “stop” the 12,000 entities on the OFAC list by messing with the 2,000,000,000 people not on the list? Are major criminals somehow stopped by this? Has it stopped crime? Even if it did, is it worth burdening millions of firms and billions of people with paperwork and procedures that slow down commerce? Shouldn’t efforts be made to go after the actual criminals rather than encumbering the entire world with an inefficient compliance regime? Money must be able to flow and move. People must be able to take risks and make investments as they choose. This is the lifeblood of a solid economy and the jobs, growth, prosperity and peace that comes with it. The US (and by extension much of the world due to our influence) is sacrificing jobs, innovation and opportunities by chasing an extremely ineffective and indirect compliance regime. The entire idea belongs back in the dumpster of history. Let the investigators chase terrorists & human traffickers for those actual crimes and let the other billions of us use and move our money as we wish. Bruce Fenton

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CFPB Report Highlights Abusive Consumer Financial Tactics
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

CFPB Report Highlights Abusive Consumer Financial Tactics By Sydney Price The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found in its latest supervisory examinations that companies across various sectors are engaging in "unfair, deceptive and abusive" lending and collection practices. 1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1704256?nl_pk=bd316618-088c-4274-ab…

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Objectors Say $725M Facebook Privacy Deal Is Unfair, Unclear
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Objectors Say $725M Facebook Privacy Deal Is Unfair, Unclear By Caleb Symons Meta Platforms Inc. is facing a slate of new objections over its $725 million settlement to resolve concerns arising from the Cambridge Analytica data-harvesting scandal as litigants cast the agreement as overly broad and unfairly favorable to certain Facebook users. 3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1704678?nl_pk=3a5ab50c-5347-423d…

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The Hurdles Of Class Noticing In Crypto Class Actions
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

The Hurdles Of Class Noticing In Crypto Class Actions Amid the growing number of cryptocurrency-related class action lawsuits, there are challenges relating to notifying potential class members, as the methods for traditional class actions may not work in these cases, say Loree Kovach and Nicholas Schmidt at Epiq. Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1698538?nl_pk=8da16ff7-f140-…

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Raytheon Supplier Presses 'Secret Sauce' Trade Theft Claim
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Raytheon Supplier Presses 'Secret Sauce' Trade Theft Claim By Brian Dowling A Boston federal judge on Thursday pressed an aerospace supplier on its claim that Raytheon Technologies Corp. stole its trade secrets for a component in a military project, asking if McDonald's could argue misappropriation by a partner that was offered the five-ingredient "secret sauce" but ended up only using mayonnaise. Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1704530?nl_pk=fa7fa7d8-…

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Cohen Says Trump's Celebrity Status Can't Halt Spread Of Info
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Cohen Says Trump's Celebrity Status Can't Halt Spread Of Info By David Minsky Michael Cohen urged a Florida federal court not to grant a protective order stopping him from further disseminating allegedly confidential disclosures about Donald Trump, saying the former president hasn't shown a legitimate basis that he'll be harmed because he's a public figure. Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1704564?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…

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Reason Demanded To Unseal Records In Hunter Biden Case
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Reason Demanded To Unseal Records In Hunter Biden Case By Leslie A. Pappas A Delaware federal judge on Thursday gave the House Ways and Means Committee chair four days to explain why documents he sought to file in Hunter Biden's criminal case, including personal tax information, should be made public, after attorneys for President Joe Biden's son pushed to keep the documents sealed. 4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1704573?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…

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Real Estate Rumors: JPMorgan, Related, Carlyle
by Gunnar Larson 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Real Estate Rumors: JPMorgan, Related, Carlyle By WaTeasa Freeman JPMorgan has reportedly bought a $1.8 billion mortgage portfolio, Related Cos. is said to have paid $58 million for a New Jersey site and The Carlyle Group is said to have paid $97.5 million for a Brooklyn rental building. Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/mergersacquisitions/articles/1704422?nl_pk=8bba16ad-…

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