Please understand that I wasn't picking on your item.  I had seen a bunch of flack in the last few days, from people who should have known better, braying about my postings concerning government misbehavior.  I knew that nobody would object to your posting (quite correctly!), and I took the opportunity to compare these two examples.  The peanut-gallery needs to learn that the Cypherpunks list covers not merely encryption, but issues somewhat collateral (including political) to that matter.  The reason the 'shills' object to _my_ commentary concerning my history is that there is no longer any upside for the government, and in fact there is potentially a huge downside due to past government corruption that has virtually never been covered here.  (to my knowledge; until March 2012 I lived in a 'gated community'.  <guffaw>)  In contrast, as of right now in the Ross Ulbricht situation, the government can 'ride in on a white horse', pretending to save the day from evil drug-dealers.  No downside for the government (at least not yet), and so the shills remain quiet.
       Jim Bell



From: Mike Gogulski <mike@gogulski.com>
To: Jim Bell <jamesdbell8@yahoo.com>; "cypherpunks@cpunks.org" <cypherpunks@cpunks.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 2:40 PM
Subject: Re: MEDIA RELEASE: Family of alleged Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht launches legal defense fund

Thanks, Jim. And I've never seen your posts as spam.

Peace,
Mike

On 11/20/2013 10:34 PM, Jim Bell wrote:
> BTW, I'm not accusing this material of being 'spam', the way some of
> my posts on Cypherpunks are being labeled by a few.  In fact, I really
> think this kind of thing should be posted here.
> (cypherpunks@cpunks.org).  But, other than the fact that Silk Road
> used Tor, and thus onion routing, why would my situation and cases be
> any less appropriate of comment than Ulbricht's situation?  I realize
> that there are probably going to be some pro-government shills who
> simply don't like what I did, and some of them have and will continue
> to speak up.  But we should all be willing to pay attention to the
> illegal means with which government(s) promotes its interests.
> Particularly with Snowden's massively-important disclosures about the
> USG's clearly-illegal surveillance activities, it is quite clear that
> the Federal government has decided to treat these kinds of disputes as
> if they were a 'war', and to use war-like tactics on civilians.
> I fully expect that similar illegal activities will be used against
> this 'Sanjuro' guy.  Google 'Assassination Market Sanjuro'.
>        Jim Bell  (Veteran and one of the first POW's of the Crypto War)
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Mike Gogulski <mike@gogulski.com>
> *To:* Progressbar General Discussion
> <general-discussion@lists.progressbar.sk>; "c4ss@googlegroups.com"
> <C4SS@googlegroups.com>; System undo crew <unsystem@lists.dyne.org>;
> "cypherpunks@cpunks.org" <cypherpunks@cpunks.org>;
> PT-Refuge@yahoogroups.com
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 20, 2013 1:01 PM
> *Subject:* MEDIA RELEASE: Family of alleged Silk Road operator Ross
> Ulbricht launches legal defense fund
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Defense Fund Launched for Ross Ulbricht, Accused Silk Road Marketplace
> Operator
>
> New York, NY, November 20, 2013 – The family of the man accused by the
> US government of operating the Silk Road online marketplace has
> launched a fund for donations to their son's legal defense.
>
> Ross Ulbricht, 29, was arrested on October 1st and charged with
> creating and operating the web marketplace Silk Road, under the
> pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts”. The allegations include a variety of
> conspiracies, including narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and
> money laundering, as well as planned acts of violence. Ulbricht denied
> all charges in federal court in San Francisco in October. He will
> appear at a bail hearing at the United States District Court, Southern
> District of New York at 11:00 am EST on Thursday, November 21.
>
> On their website, the Ulbricht family states: “Our goal is to provide
> Ross with what every American citizen is promised: a fair trial. In
> the USA we are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a
> reasonable doubt. We firmly believe in Ross’s innocence and are
> working hard with the best legal team to prove it.”
>
> The family has retained New York-based attorney Joshua L. Dratel to
> defend their son in court. Mr. Dratel stated: “It is crucial that we
> have a level playing field for defending Ross, and that requires
> resources from the communities that support him.”
>
> The Ross Ulbricht Legal Defense Fund LLC is a Wyoming-based
> corporation established by the Ulbricht family. All donations are used
> solely to pay attorney fees, fund accounting fees and ancillary legal
> expenses.
>
> ###
>
> SOURCE: Ross Ulbricht Legal Defense Fund LLC, www.freeross.org
>
> CONTACTS:
>
> Joshua L. Dratel
> Joshua L. Dratel, P.C.
> 29 Broadway, Suite 1412
> New York, New York 10006
> United States of America
> jdratel@joshuadratel.com <mailto:jdratel@joshuadratel.com>
> Office: +1 212 732 0707
> Fax: +1 212 571 3792
> www.nycriminallawfirm.com
>
> Ross Ulbricht Legal Defense Fund LLC
> www.freeross.org
> freerossulbricht@gmail.com <mailto:freerossulbricht@gmail.com>

>
>
>