Jim Bell sentenced to 10 years in prison

[Faustine]

John wrote:

>To not blindly tar everyone with this, I concede that those 
>who have overtly proven they are trustworthy and continue 
>to do so overtly, that is in public under fire, deserve a
>chance on trust on short-terms. Talk about deserving trust
>from any previleged position is just authoritarian talk.


Maybe this is off on a tangent, but why "trust" anyone unless you have 
something substantial to gain by it? I don't give anyone my trust or ask to 
be trusted in return unless I have a damn good reason. In fact, it's 
significant if I even consent to open an e-mail from someone, much less 
answer it.

How many times has someone "overtly proven themselves trustworthy" and then 
turned around and stabbed you in the back for no good reason at all? How 
many times have people here had law enforcement sicced on them over some 
two-bit petty quibble? Is spilling your guts to people in the interest of 
ego-enhancing camaraderie really worth the risk you put yourself in by 
giving them the power of your information to hold over you? No thanks, I'll 
pass. Don't trust me and I'll be happy to return the favor.

Which reminds me, I don't know why people here seem to think that any sort 
of "deception operation" would come from people who show up using nyms to 
express unpopular opinions. (e.g. "you said something I don't want to hear; 
threfore its FUD and you're a fed.") On the contrary, a really first-rate 
deception job would probably involve having someone post under their own 
name and acting in apparent good faith for years, only introducing the 
deceptive elements gradually, after they've had ample time to "overtly 
prove themselves trustworthy". If you go around assuming everything is as 
transparent as the "AOL b0mbz kiddiez" troll you're setting yourself up for 
a rude awakening. Now whether you choose to take that as an empty scare 
tactic or someone genuinely trying to get you to collectively wake up? 
Your call.

I think one of the biggest lessons to take away from the Bell and Johnson 
cases is the immense danger of practicing abysmally shitty tradecraft while 
letting your emotions get the better of you. The unbalanced are always easy 
prey--using the case documents as a "spot the mistakes" instruction manual 
for what NOT to do couldn't hurt either.

~Faustine.