Welcome to the Church of Strong Cryptography.

[Major Variola (ret)]

At 01:26 PM 8/24/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote:
>>PS: I thought Tyler had nominated himself as leader?  :-)
>No, almost the opposite. I propose that any 'Cypherpunk' can declare
himself
>to be leader and make 'official statements' at any time.

Oh, then you'd be reformed cypherpunk.  The orthodoxy is that the
group has no head (an arch).  I think of it as a grad student lounge
with open doors, and a few conversations going on at once.   Anyone
can pop in (wearing a mask or not) and make a fool of himself,
or enlighten others, or ask questions (as long as they're not homework),

or even forward nominally relevent articles, or flame others for doing
so.

Of course, others
>can (and most probably will) choose to ignore the official statement,
or
>even declare himself to be leader and 'officially' rescind that
statement
>and/or issue a completely contradictory statement. This will be
particularly
>useful when getting (for instance) public interest to move elsewhere.

Or it will seem a petty schism like the Sierras or Athiests or Amerikan
Xians etc..

The only coherence is an interest in crypto and society.  This
reasonably
extends to privacy, opsec, surveillance and reverse-surveillance,
OS bugs, hardware, censorship, finance, etc.
Read the fatwa --er, the cyphernomicon :-)   Read the Bill of Rights,
(now a quaint obsolete historical document) and think about technology.

>For instance, it might be usefulto have an official statement ready
if/when
>the Cryptome press starts poking around Cypherpunks:

The useful statement is May's Cyphernomicon (ie an outline) and the bulk

of the discussions of the last 12 years (better get a few reams of paper
for
the printout, Mr. Fed).   PKZ's rant is also good introductory material
IMHO.

>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>Cypherpunks is a collection of diverse individuals dedicated to
preserving
>the freedoms that all Americans value. As part of this effort,
Cypherpunks
>periodically analyzes the systems used by terrorists and other enemies
of

^

and governments

>freedom in an attempt to strengthen such systems and prevent their
abuse.

Even with my addenda your statement is too restrictive.  E.g., some
here, I have
gathered, worry about corporations (but not LLCs) too.

......and now, some quotes for Tom Ridge to ponder.....

Forget turbans, real terrorists wear neckties.

"Stop shedding our blood to save your own and the solution to this
simple
 but complex equation is in your hands. You know matters will escalate
the more you
delay and then do not blame us but blame yourselves. Rational people do
not risk their
security, money and sons to appease the White House liar."

"Can you hear me now?" -UBL


"Naturally the common people don't want war...But, after all, it is the
leaders of a country who determine policy, and it is always a simple
matter
to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist
dictatorship, or parliament or a communist dictatorship. All you have to
do
is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for
lack of
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in
every
country."
--Hermann Goering, (1893-1946) Nazi Reichsmarschall, at the Nuremberg
Trials, 4/18/46. From _Nuremberg Diary_ by Gustave Gilbert.

The risks posed by ignorant politicians may
yet be far more dangerous that the odd virus and software mistake.....
Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff

Additional case studies are needed, however, to determine which traits
of chemical and biological terrorists might help identify them
because charisma, paranoia, and grandiosity are alo found to varying
degreees among, for example, leaders of political parties, large
corporations, and academic depts. --John T Finn, _Science_ v 289 1
sept 2000

We have always been at war with Oceania bin Laden -Orwell

In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the
clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature,
and not to the executive department.
-James Madison

"The tragedy of Galois is that he could have contributed so much more to

mathematics if he'd only spent more time on his marksmanship."

"Your children are not safe anywhere at any time."  -IAMGodsniper
commenting perhaps on the USG's propensity for using them as cannon
fodder.

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"

"When a man assumes a public trust,
he should consider himself public property."

Bluffs will be published if comical but otherwise ignored. -JY

SAFETY RULES FOR US STRATEGIC BOMBERS
 5.1. Don't use nuclear weapons to troubleshoot faults.
http://cryptome.org/afi91-111.htm