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FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism
by Razer 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

I think I've found the worst article of 2016... Illustrated: https://listverse.com/2016/12/03/10-surprising-upsides-to-colonialism/ "Colonialism gets a bad rep these days, often with good reason. You’d have to be a madman to look at King Leopold’s adventures in the Congo, for example, and conclude that the Belgians were awesome imperial overlords. Same deal with the slave-trading powers. But that’s not the whole story of colonialism. Move beyond the headline atrocities, and a more nuanced picture begins to emerge. Far from being a nonstop cavalcade of horrors, colonialism often resulted in some seriously awesome, surprising stuff. 10 Spreading Good Government Most of us kind of take democracy and functioning government for granted. But a largely democratic world was by no means inevitable. For most of human history, “government” meant a military dictator or crazy king telling you precisely where to live, what to wear, and when to die in battle for some pointless cause. So why does most of the world now at least pay lip service to democratic norms? For that, you can thank the European colonial powers. Wherever the British went, they instituted governments that looked like their own. That meant parliaments, an efficient civil service, and a basic package of democracy. The French, meanwhile, folded their conquered territories into France itself, promoting Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. When decolonization finally rolled around, many of those democratic institutions remained in place. 9 Creating Modern Medicine For colonial powers, tropical diseases were a constant pain in the derriere. Asia, Africa, and South America were swimming in bugs that had a nasty tendency to kill colonists and subjects alike. That meant unnecessary expenditure, time and men lost, and a problem extracting that sweet, sweet natural wealth. The solution? Throw everything modern medicine had at the problem. Europe was at the vanguard of modern medicine in the 19th century. The British discovered the antimalarial properties of quinine, which is still our only effective antimalarial. The French became specialists in tropical medicine thanks to their North African holdings. Public health in general received a massive boost thanks to techniques learned in the chaos of the colonies. Even conquered natives benefited from this, in the form of hospitals and new treatments pioneered in Europe. It’s no stretch to say modern medicine is a by-product of imperialism. 8 Economic Booms Of course, colonialism isn’t something that exists only in that fairy tale land we call “the past.” Welcome to Africa, where the Chinese are engaging in a massive exercise in 21st-century colonialism. According to Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, the resulting economic boom has been the best thing to happen to the continent in decades. Her data shows that this new colonialism has created jobs for millions of Africans and lifted many out of poverty. The boon from Chinese investment has massively benefited the poor in Africa and China alike. That’s not to say all colonial adventures improve people’s lives. Spanish dalliances in the New World memorably crashed Spain’s economy. But it does show that imperialism can be handled well, in a way that benefits the many rather than the few. 7 Global Languages Remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Humans were getting all uppity with their engineering prowess, so God scrambled their languages so they could no longer cooperate. Well, colonialism was sort of like that in reverse. From hundreds of thousands of different tongues, the age of empires whittled humanity down to just a handful of big ones. Seriously. There are currently 106 countries where English is spoken, many of them former colonies. Spanish is spoken in 31, modern standard Arabic in 58, and French in 53. Taken together, pretty much the entire world speaks at least a smattering of English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian, or Mandarin—all languages associated with imperial nations. And that has massive advantages. The ability to communicate breaks down barriers to trade and understanding. It allows wildly different countries to find common ground. While it’s not a prerequisite, it’s certainly helpful in uniting people. 6 The Creation Of Modern Art Who likes Picasso? What about Art Deco architecture? Or modern sculpture? We’re betting that at least half of you said yes to one of those. In that case, you should probably be thankful for French and British colonization of Africa. It was the display of African tribal art in Paris and London at the dawn of the 20th century that inspired all of these movements. Artists like Picasso and Matisse saw the treasures from the Ivory Coast or Benin City and were inspired. Architects were seduced by the simple, powerful forms of ruined African temples. It was the imperial trade that brought these objects to public view and allowed them to inspire everyone from designers to artists to architects. It’s incredible to think that, without African art, something like Art Deco wouldn’t exist. New York would look completely different. The cultural benefits of colonialism are all around us. 5 The Development Of Infrastructure Over the last few years, parts of Africa have been undergoing an infrastructure boom. Great railways have unrolled across the plains of Nigeria, the mountains of Ethiopia, and along the lakeside shores of Uganda and Kenya. The projects are expected to send local economies booming, lifting millions out of poverty. These vital new railways didn’t appear out of nowhere. They’re the remains of colonial infrastructure, being updated for the first time in decades. Ironically, the economic boom these railways will bring is partly thanks to Africa’s former colonizers. Wherever the great empires went, they left robust infrastructure in their wake. India still uses Raj-era rolling stock today, transporting millions across the subcontinent. Old colonial roads are still in use alongside ports, hospitals, schools, and universities. While the infrastructure initially benefited the colonizers, it has been repurposed to help the colonized. 4 Removal Of Brutal Occupying Powers The story of the Spanish conquest is portrayed as one of bloodthirsty Europeans super-murdering millions of Aztecs. While that definitely happened, there is one part of the story that gets left out: The Aztecs themselves were occupiers who were in the middle of conquering neighboring states when Cortez arrived. And you’d better believe they were brutal. The Aztecs worked captured enemies to death. They sacrificed them by ripping out their hearts. They forced prisoners into cannibalism. They murdered children to appease the Sun. The Spanish, too, were mega-jerks, but most of their jerkiness came from accidentally importing smallpox and running off with people’s gold. Compared to the bloodthirsty Aztecs, they were practically saints. You see this time and again in colonial societies. Before the British arrived, the Mughals had marched over India and razed Delhi to the ground eight times in eight centuries, building skull pyramids from its inhabitants’ remains. Even at the Raj’s most brutal, no massacres touched the mass murder and enslavement of those times. And while we’re on the subject . . . 3 Increased Peace For the vast majority of human history, life wasn’t fun. Competition for resources forced tribes into a nearly perpetual state of warfare. In Central America, for example, various Maya cities were only one failed harvest away from massacring one another. Steven Pinker has identified the creation of nation states as integral to ending this violence. In some places, the rise of those states was the result of fierce battles and endless politicking. In others, it was a direct result of colonization. Suddenly, once-competing tribes were bunged together and told to get along and swear allegiance to France, Britain, Spain, or wherever. While that created a ton of resentment, it halted the almost continuous cycle of killing, forging brand new national identities that still exist today (like Indian or Ghanaian). Sure, in some cases, like the Belgians in the Congo, the murder rate went up after colonization. But the overarching story is one of enforced peace, which isn’t great, but it’s still better than no peace at all. 2 The Creation Of Modern Tourism One peculiar side effect of the age of empires was the creation of modern tourism. Before the 19th century, going abroad was restricted to the rich and the scientifically curious. Middle-class people in Britain who wanted to go somewhere exciting went to the pub. Then the British Empire arose, bringing with it tales of adventure in far-off places with exotic, romantic names like India, Egypt, Jamaica, and Australia. Realizing the public hunger for these places, a guy named Thomas Cook started offering package tours to the empire’s outposts. In one fell swoop, the concept of the modern tourist was born. According to the Journal of Tourism History, empires provided the perfect vector for the development of a global tourist industry. By repackaging places like Australia from a convict island to a “Down Under paradise,” people like Cook changed how we thought of these places forever. 1 It Saved Millions Of Lives While their rulers and leaders were off gadding about the globe, it’s worth remembering that Europe’s masses were living through hard times. Mass famines were common. France alone suffered 40 devastating nationwide famines between 1500 and 1800. Millions were dying every decade. Into this chaos stepped an unlikely savior: Peru. Spanish conquistadors had brought back a wonderous foodstuff from the colonized nation. It was durable, easy to farm, full of nutrients, and nearly always gave a bumper harvest. It was the potato. Incredible as it may seem, introducing the potato to Europe saved millions of lives. Suddenly, crops no longer failed en masse. Starvation rates plummeted. Populations in rural economies like Ireland exploded, and rates of stuff like scurvy dropped off. Without Spain’s imperialism in the New World, this continent-transforming food would have never been adopted, and your family tree would probably be a heck of a lot emptier."

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Intro/Projects
by Charles Fox 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

Hi Everyone, I'm new to the list and to encryption generally. I don't consider myself a good programmer but I needed to learn a little about gpg for work and I'm increasingly curious about it. I had two ideas for things I could build but I want to know if they've already been done/whether they're bad ideas: 1) Cloud storage. I think it would be relatively easy to write a program where any file I save in folder X automatically gets encrypted and saved to folder Y Box/Dropbox/etc. Any new files saved in Y which my key can open get opened and put in folder X. Since the private key password would be saved for this to work automatically, it would be worthless if someone got on my machine, but if one of the cloud providers gets compromised, all they would have is a collection of encrypted files. 2) re-mailer usability An Outlook (sorry) macro (sorry again) to save outgoing mail as .msg file. Python script monitors folder were the .msg would appear, encrypts the msg, composes and sends new blank message with the old message as an encrypted attachment and the proper forwarding instructions. I'm not an anarchist, please forgive me.

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USA Universities learn the consequences of disrespecting free speech
by Zenaan Harkness 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

Trigger Warning: diversity of thought apparently often not allowed, inclusion of conservatives denied, safe spaces "trump"ing all common sense. But! BUT! Your personal hero MILO, shows us that such insanity can sometimes have multi-million dollar consequences. Read it and laugh, snigger, indulge imperiously at the holes some universities dig in the name of combatting free speech to protect the modern extreme-Left precious snowflakes. Full text transcript: MILO Explains The Patriarchy At Ohio University http://www.breitbart.com/milo/2016/12/02/milo-explains-patriarchy-ohio-univ… " In March last year, Missouri admitted that they had lost about 1,500 students and were experiencing a budget shortfall of $32 million, just a few months after the protests. We’ve also learned that the university had to close four dormitories — including two called Excellence and Respect. " It is very easy, and perhaps we have been trained to do so, to accept the pre-ordained "boxes" dictated to us by others. So many times, reading, listening to or watching the original speeches and or writings of those who are publicly decried (truly, slandered) by others, can leave one refreshingly disabused of said falsities and slanders - one thing we can be thankful for the Internet for :) So remember good folk, when someone loudly proclaims or deems an en-boxed certitude of negativity regarding some public figure you have never personally read, listened to or watched, perhaps consider a little personal discovery in order to form a grounded personal opinion - Say NO today to dirty opinion porn. Stop mass debating in non-founded opinion porn of others. Get laid today in the actual facts. Be different, be kinky, respond to the opinion porn of another with some racy gratuitous and well founded facts. Trigger a closet totalitarian Liberal Lefty today - state a fact. Be a winner, except when embracing your inner sub (your inner lefty whiner that is). "Yeah! each to his own" I hear you say :) "Extreme Lefty Totalitarian wanna be" warning signs / examples: - "this is how it is" (without any supporting fact) - "the alt-right are fascist racist sexist bigoted dictators" (without any supporting facts) - "Breitbart are heavily biased baby seal clubbers" (without any supporting facts) - ... ditto :) Dude, club your inner sub already! -- Certified Deplorable Fake News Nazi (TM)(C)(R) Executive Director of Vice, Ministry of Winning Shilling for buxom Russian swastika clad minxes since 1488

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Re: USA Universities learn the consequences of disrespecting free speech
by Cecilia Tanaka 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

On Dec 5, 2016 8:39 PM, "Marina Brown" <catskillmarina(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > I miss the list the way it was back in the 90's. Sure there were fights but there was so much more content now it just seems to be the trolls. > > I learned so much back in the early days of the list. That is why i came back here. I wanted to leave this list several times in the last months, but I didn't leave because few women -- cis and trans -- write here and I really want to make this space a bit more comfortable and secure for them and for more fragile, more sensitive people and minorities in general. I absolutely do not care about trolls and offenses, but I know they scare a lot more sensible and delicate people. Poisonous censorship made by trolls: violent, coward, illogical and exhaustive. It's killing the CP list. As I said few weeks ago, we are losing good informations, technical and personal opinions of good people, good professionals, because this list is not healthy, is too aggressive and very, very toxic. What really annoys me and let me very upset is knowing that some sensitive persons here never will write anything on this list, never will share their opinions and ideas, because of this oppressive dictatorship of fear and aggressive bad words. We don't have moderation, but there is already brutal censorship.

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Re: US Dollar collapse strategy - MUST be in place
by Zenaan Harkness 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

The Donald Trump administration needs to have a strategy in place to handle what is coming with respect to the collapse of the USD house of cards and the private Federal Reserve. Without a plan, the terms of any new system will be set by the powers that be, namely the private Federal Reserve. In the American "democratic" system, the question arises is it possible for an administration to bring in a national currency which is controlled by the government, and is not controlled by private bankers. We know JFK failed to achieve this. Perhaps JFK's problem was that he tried to do this unilaterally, from a government administration point of view, rather than with the power of the people - that is, by referendum, and therefore with the mandate of the people to bind him. Ego and pride comes before the fall, and it seems most leaders seek to be the great hero, the Ulysses who plants the flag of freedom on the hill, only to get shot just before raising that flag, as in JFK. The time for the individual hero has gone. It is time for collective empowerment on some level at the least by referendum. Good luck fellow humans, ----- Forwarded message from Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> ----- Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 19:10:43 +1100 From: Zenaan Harkness <zen(a)freedbms.net> Subject: US Dollar collapse strategy - MUST be in place Dear Team Trump, The Trump administration needs to have a strategy to handle the looming collapse of the US dollar, which the private Federal Reserve can bring on at a time of THEIR choosing. Good luck. Regards, Zenaan from Australia http://www.jsmineset.com/2016/11/30/fake-news-list-death-knell-for-msm-paul… Posted November 30th, 2016 at 12:18 PM (CST) by goyama & filed under USAWatchdog.com. Fake News List Death Knell for MSM-Paul Craig Roberts November 30, 2016 The latest is called “Fake News List Death Knell for MSM-Paul Craig Roberts.” Economic expert and journalist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts thinks the recent publication of the so-called ‘fake news” list recently published by the Washington Post signals a major turning point for all of the mainstream media (MSM). Dr. Roberts explains, “I think this is the death knell for the mainstream media. I think this list essentially kills the credibility of the mainstream media and certainly the Washington Post. It has demonstrated it is completely devoid of any integrity. I am a former Wall Street Journal editor, and if we had done something like that, Warren Phillips would have fired every one of us. We would have been told to get out. You can’t carry on this kind of assault on people. I think this is a sign of desperation.” On why the markets haven’t crashed, Dr. Roberts, who was an Assistant Treasury Secretary in the Reagan Administration, says, “The markets are all rigged. So, when you try to look at the markets in traditional ways such as price/earnings ratios, earnings growth, or sales growth or any kinds of things like this, they don’t know anything because the Federal Reserve has probably the largest trading desk in the world. They can trade anything, in fact, everything, and they have no limits on their pocketbook…In order for the Fed to protect the dollar, the dollar’s exchange value from the massive outpouring of dollars that the Fed created to buy all the bonds, they had to stop the dollar from falling in relation to gold. So, they have to go in and sell massive amounts of gold shorts in the futures markets. This is how they knock the gold price down…Unless the world runs on the dollar or unless the rest of the world abandons the dollar, I can’t see anything that would bring down this house of cards. They can continue this because the Fed can create all the money it wants. There is no limit.” On the oligarchs trying to control Donald Trump with the threat of crashing the economy, Dr. Roberts contends, “The easiest thing for the oligarchs to do would be to orchestrate an economic crash, and they can do this easily because it’s a house of cards held up by the Fed. If they come to the conclusion that they can’t control him and he is actually a threat to them, they’ll just crash the economy, and then they’ll go to Trump and say hey look, you are blamed for this and on the defensive. If you want to get out of this, you have to appoint us, and we’ll get you out of this. That’s the sort of power that the oligarchs have over Trump. I have said from the beginning that Trump has the sort of strong will you have to have to bring change from the top down.” On holding physical gold and silver, Dr. Roberts, who holds a PhD in economics, says, “Anyone who has surplus funds should be holding gold and silver because the dollar should be reduced already to the level of toilet paper. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has exploded. It’s grown so much. So, you have this massive increase in supply of money, but not in goods and services. The reason we are not experiencing hyperinflation is not much of that money got into the economy. It went into financial assets and bid up stock prices, bond prices and real estate prices…If the world turns on the dollar, the Fed is not going to be able to sustain it. Gold and silver have always been money… If people don’t want the currency because it’s worthless, it’s nice to have something to engage in trade with until some new monetary system can be formed. I think it is very reckless to abuse the dollar the way it has been abused.” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, founder of PaulCraigRoberts.org. Here’s the link: http://usawatchdog.com/fake-news-list-death-knell-for-msm-paul-craig-robert… Greg -- Certified Deplorable Fake News Nazi (TM)(C)(R) Executive Director of Vice, Ministry of Winning Shilling for buxom Russian swastika clad minxes since 1488

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reason vs. rationalization
by Zenaan Harkness 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

Here's a fine ("useful") distinction which jumps out this very day: " Reason is slippery because language is. Reason can easily become rationalization and discerning the difference is the task of true philosophy. " Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson on Petre Tutea of Romania http://www.dailystormer.com/the-orthodox-nationalist-the-thoughts-of-petre-… -- Certified Deplorable Fake News Nazi (TM)(C)(R) Executive Director of Vice, Ministry of Winning Shilling for buxom Russian swastika clad minxes since 1488

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[song] [OT] Don't Judge
by Cecilia Tanaka 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

https://youtu.be/kkTqm_vTpAc 'DON'T JUDGE' So many ways of separation Labels and tags your designation Boxes to tick on every form Colours and creeds classification Het'ro or gay, orientation? Measuring up to someone's 'norm' What does it matter? Everyone's a star Just let them shine the way they are. Don't judge the contents by the cover Don't judge the person by the shell If you look closer you'll discover There's so much more inside as well. Don't judge casting aspersions Don't judge making assertions Don't judge you have no right Don't judge stereotyping Don't judge forever sniping Don't judge live side by side Follow the rules and regulations Do as they say, no deviations Live in the box, one size fits all Why all the pressure? Different is no crime This world of prejudice is blind Don't judge the contents by the cover Don't judge the person from the shell If you look closer you'll discover There's so much more inside as well We're all entitled to our way of life Live and let live, don't criticise Don't judge the contents by the cover Don't judge the person from the shell If you look closer you'll discover There's so much more inside as well Don't judge casting aspersions Don't judge making assertions Don't judge you have no right Don't judge stereotyping Don't judge forever sniping Don't judge live side by side

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Website Raising Money To Fund Assassinations Of Trump, Pence Uncovered On "Dark Web"
by Zenaan Harkness 06 Dec '16

06 Dec '16

Website Raising Money To Fund Assassinations Of Trump, Pence Uncovered On "Dark Web" http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-05/website-raising-money-fund-assassi… A website hosted on the Dark Web claims to be asking for Bitcoin donations and "expert advice" to help fund the assassinations of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. According to CSO, which first uncovered the "murder-for-hire" site, the darknet portal went live last week and calls for assistance to fund an assassination attempt against Trump, and features an image of the president-elect in crosshairs. The website is located on the Dark Web, and can be accessed only using the Tor browser, which masks IP addresses. "As you are all well aware, the consequences of having Donald Trump and Mike Pence as the leaders of the free world is extremely dangerous," reads a statement on the "murder-for-hire" website. "The political, environmental and social consequences will change the United States for the worst." ... -- Certified Deplorable Fake News Nazi (TM)(C)(R) Executive Director of Vice, Ministry of Winning Shilling for buxom Russian swastika clad minxes since 1488

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BBC to Air ‘Muslim Big Brother’ Show Featuring Islamic State Defender
by Zenaan Harkness 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

BBC to Air ‘Muslim Big Brother’ Show Featuring Islamic State Defender: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/04/bbc-air-muslim-big-brother-show-… Should go off with a bang, as they say. Break a leg guys, we're sure you'll get a head with this one. NYT: Explosive opposition to the show. "Bedroom scenes too racy with 6 year old on BBC set," says Guardian... ... cast confused: "Why ain't the show called 'Little Brother' - he's only 6 years old?" Director heard mutterin "Well stone the women, never thought I'd see the day!" Saudi Arabia objects - women on the show to be replaced. Charlie Hebdo magazines from previous show hastily removed from set's coffee table and lavatory. Actors objecting to "goats of color" - "this politically correct inclusiveness is ridiculous; now I understand the British public want more vibrancy in their lives, but this is simply ridiculous - I TOLD them at the casting couch, White goats only!" BBC's in house psychologist overheard mumbling "... contract was therapy PUPPY, not <unintelligible> baby!" If you think that's sad, try this bit of reality in the face of that anonymous joke the other day about trolling Safe Spaces: Students Cry Their 'SAFE SPACE' Was Violated By Trump Slogan http://clashdaily.com/2016/03/whiners-students-cry-their-safe-space-was-vio… This is just terrible, I don't know what's become of humans - such insensitivity must be vehemently opposed, so let's all sing Kumbaya as we hold hands now in our official cypherpunks safe space over at Juan's and healing with our collective cry-in while each holding a therapy ... puppy. "We'll show THEM!" said Juan in his high pitched airy and effeminate voice when he suggested the idea. So welcome folks, welcome to your new, more vibrant, world. -- Certified Deplorable Fake News Nazi (TM)(C)(R) Executive Director of Vice, Ministry of Winning Shilling for buxom Russian swastika clad minxes since 1488

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FBI to gain expanded hacking powers as Senate effort to block fails
by Cecilia Tanaka 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

FBI to gain expanded hacking powers as Senate effort to block fails http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-congress-idUSKBN13P2ER "[...] allow U.S. judges will be able to issue search warrants that give the FBI the authority to remotely access computers in any jurisdiction, potentially even overseas." "[...] in the hands of an administration of President-elect Trump, a Republican who has "openly said he wants the power to hack his political opponents the same way Russia does." We are discussing the bad possibilities in some legal and technical studies groups in my country. Our laws don't permiss this kind of violation. Fu¢k FBI.

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