[OT] Note to new-ish subscribers: you joined a mailing list, not a "group". (fwd)

[J.A. Terranson]

Resent to the new "cypherpunks at cpunks.org" address, as the old address is 
experiencing some kind of random delivery issue - my apologies if the 
copies sent to the old address show up [much] delayed, as seems to happen 
about half the time...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 02:25:27 -0600 (CST)
From: J.A. Terranson <measl at mfn.org>
To: cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net
Subject: [OT] Note to new-ish subscribers: you joined a mailing list,
    not a "group".


In response to several off-list emails, I believe that the Millenials 
Amongst Us (tm) may have a slightly off-kilter view of "What are CP's"?

"cypherpunks are "doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, felons, druggies, 
anti-druggies, anarchists, libertarians, right-wing fanatics, left-wing 
fanatics, teachers, housewives, househusbands, students, cops and 
criminals,"[1]

What I was [unsuccessfully] trying to point out to this Idjit was that the 
CP mailing list is *just* a mailing list: you have not joined "A Group", a 
"Political Party", or any other kind of organized "thing". You simply 
subscribed to a mailing list - that's it.

There is only *one* universal position, or philosophy if you will: CP is a 
bunch of otherwise unconnected and likely opposite people (cops/criminals. 
felons/druggies & right wingers/left wingers, etc), who share a central 
concern over privacy and privacy enabling tools.  Privacy is the ONLY 
thing that everyone here shares [in theory anyway]. 

There is NO GROUP.  There is NO LEADER. There is NO RIGHT or WRONG "WAY"!

Except for flat out trolling, there is ONLY one thing that binds all CP 
subscribers together: concern over privacy (digital or analog).  From that 
concern for privacy flows a desire to contribute: some people write code, 
some people host code (remailers, TOR exit nodes, etc), but we all *use* 
code created and/or nursed along here, whether you realize it or not, so 
contribute some brain cells ;-)  Play nice with others.  Or don't - 
doesn't really matter, right? Yes, that was rhetorical.

Grr... Got a little sidetracked there with the contribute some brain cells 
crap...  Back to the point I was poorly making in the middle of the night 
(on 2 days with no sleep, waaaay too much caffiene, and, and ...).

The *instant* you start believing that you have "joined a group" or some 
such nonsense, you'll find yourself in shackles: no bullshit, do your 
homework.  


***************************************************************************
*                                                                         *
* This list has a long history (day 2 pretty much) of both covert and     *
* overt monitoring by the Real Deal in Federal "Service": from Attorney's *
* General [federal and state], to FBI to IRS and all the way down the     *
* alphabet - they all watch this list. So be aware of what you say, and   *
* how you say it.  More than one list subscriber has done *serious*       * 
* prison time for things they posted to this list:                        * 
*                                                                         *
*                     Think BEFORE you post.                              *
* [2]                                                                     *
***************************************************************************


Last, but not least:	 Trolls....

Consider carefully whether a troll might not be a provocateur:

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur

It would not be the first time an Agent of the Federal Oligarchy has 
posted something here hoping to get a reaction that could be [and was] 
prosecuted using whatever Law-Of-The-Day was available for stretching that 
day.  

Look at my .sig. Go ahead - I'll wait till you get back.

...
...

Pretty tame, right?  Not so.  I got "An Interview [3]" for it. Seriously.  
Don't fuck around unless you're willing to let them come for you. And they 
will: with delight and vengeance turned up to maximum.  They will break 
their own laws, if necessary, when they come for you ("Hi Dennis!"). 

They don't exactly get written up for bending a law into a shape that 
nobody - including your Jury - can recognize ("Hi Tom!"). If your jury 
can't recognize it they WILL do what's expected of them: Convict.

You will NOT get a fair trial, and you will NOT get a fair appeal, and 
nobody will get hurt except *you*.  So for fucks sake, be *careful*.  If 
you just can't be careful ("Hi ***"!), at least phrase it in such a way as 
to have Plausible Deniability[4].  If you can't control that either, at 
least avoid phrasing things in any way that would point at anyone else as 
a possible "co-conspirator": if you want to be a fuck up, you alone should 
be the recipient of your own lazyness.

Hrmmmm... I already claimed to have written the "last" paragraph, but I 
forgot something else: Don't write to people directly (I break this rule a 
lot for those of you getting ready to say "huh? He just said *what*?  
Fuck me - we all have our issues), unless they specifically ask you to, 
or unless you have something to say that is truly private.  A lot of 
people will get *really* Bent Out Of Shape(tm) over this one: it will 
often break reply-chains, although some people get bent for no reason I 
can identify - they're just plain fucking crazy.  The Crazy Train makes 
very regular stops to both pickup and deliver to CPs. Get used to it ;-)

//Alif

-- 
[1] http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/09/55114
[2] People using proportional fonts probably see garbage here:
    GIGO ;-)
[3] They don't call it "Interrogation" anymore. Now you are "Interviewed" 
    into submission.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability

Those who make peaceful change impossible,
make violent revolution inevitable.

An American Spring is coming:
   one way or another.