The Gentleperson's Guide To Forum Spies (spooks, feds, etc.)

[John Young]

Yes, all that, assures the Internet is addictive.

At 04:56 PM 5/31/2021, Greg Newby wrote:
>John,
>
>On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 07:30:06PM -0400, John Young wrote:
> > Greg, these complaints seem to fit the 
> disruptive practices of attackers described here:
> >
> > https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm
> >
> > Maybe coincidental but not the first to aim 
> at messing with the list. Other lists have been 
> wiped out with endless bitches, accusations, demand for attention.
>
>Of possible interest, here is an extract from a 
>WWII-era field manual on sabotage. It highlights 
>a variety of mechanisms to monkey-wrench organizations:
>
>
>Techniques for General Interference with Organizations and Production.
>
>Extracted from Project Gutenberg's eBook #26184 
>(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184).
>
>SIMPLE SABOTAGE FIELD MANUAL STRATEGIC SERVICES FIELD MANUAL No. 3
>
>(11) General Interference with Organizations and Production
>
>(a) Organizations and Conferences (1) Insist on 
>doing everything through "channels." Never 
>permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
>
>(2) Make "speeches." Talk as frequently as 
>possible and at great length. Illustrate your 
>"points" by long anecdotes and accounts of 
>personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a 
>few appropriate "patriotic" comments.
>
>(3) When possible, refer all matters to 
>committees, for "further study and 
>consideration." Attempt to make the committees 
>as large as possible -- never less than five.
>
>(4) Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
>
>(5) Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
>
>(6) Refer back to matters decided upon at the 
>last meeting and attempt to re-open the question 
>of the advisability of that decision.
>
>(7) Advocate "caution." Be "reasonable" and urge 
>your fellow-conferees to be "reasonable" and 
>avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.
>
>(8) Be worried about the propriety of any 
>decision -- raise the question of whether such 
>action as is contemplated lies within the 
>jurisdiction of the group or whether it might 
>conflict with the policy of some higher echelon.
>
>(b) Managers and Supervisors
>
>(1) Demand written orders.
>
>(2) "Misunderstand" orders. Ask endless 
>questions or engage in long correspondence about 
>such orders. Quibble over them when you can.
>
>(3) Do everything possible to delay the delivery 
>of orders. Even though parts of an order may be 
>ready beforehand, don't deliver it until it is completely ready.
>
>(4) Don't order new working materials until your 
>current stocks have been virtually exhausted, so 
>that the slightest delay in filling your order will mean a shutdown.
>
>(5) Order high-quality materials which are hard 
>to get. If you don't get them argue about it. 
>Warn that inferior materials will mean inferior work.
>
>(6) In making work assignments, always sign out 
>the unimportant jobs first. See that the 
>important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers of poor machines.
>
>(7) Insist on perfect work in relatively 
>unimportant products; send back for refinishing 
>those which have the least flaw. Approve other 
>defective parts whose flaws are not visible to the naked eye.
>
>(8) Make mistakes in routing so that parts and 
>materials will be sent to the wrong place in the plant.
>
>(9) When training new workers, give incomplete or misleading instructions.
>
>(10) To lower morale and with it, production, be 
>pleasant to inefficient workers; give them 
>undeserved promotions. Discriminate against 
>efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.
>
>(11) Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.
>
>(12) Multiply paper work in plausible ways.  Start duplicate files.
>
>(13) Multiply the procedures and clearances 
>involved in issuing instructions, pay checks, 
>and so on. See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.
>
>(14) Apply all regulations to the last letter.
>
>(c) Office Workers
>
>(1) Make mistakes in quantities of material when 
>you are copying orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.
>
>(2) Prolong correspondence with government bureaus.
>
>(3) Misfile essential documents.
>
>(4) In making carbon copies, make one too few, 
>so that an extra copying job will have to be done.
>
>(5) Tell important callers the boss is busy or talking on another telephone.
>
>(6) Hold up mail until the next collection.
>
>(7) Spread disturbing rumors that sound like inside dope.
>
>(d) Employees
>
>(1) Work slowly. Think out ways to increase the 
>number of movements necessary on your job: use a 
>light hammer instead of a heavy one, try to make 
>a small wrench do when a big one is necessary, 
>use little force where considerable force is needed, and so on.
>
>(2) Contrive as many interruptions to your work 
>as you can: when changing the material on which 
>you are working, as you would on a lathe or 
>punch, take needless time to do it. If you are 
>cutting, shaping or doing other measured work, 
>measure dimensions twice as often as you need 
>to. When you go to the lavatory, spend a longer time there than is necessary.
>
>Forget tools so that you will have to go back after them.
>
>(3) Even if you understand the language, pretend 
>not to understand instructions in a foreign tongue.
>
>(4) Pretend that instructions are hard to 
>understand, and ask to have them repeated more 
>than once. Or pretend that you are particularly 
>anxious to do your work, and pester the foreman with unnecessary questions.
>
>(5) Do your work poorly and blame it on bad 
>tools, machinery, or equipment. Complain that 
>these things are preventing you from doing your job right.
>
>(6) Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.
>
>(7) Snarl up administration in every possible 
>way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will 
>have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.
>
>(8) If possible, join or help organize a group 
>for presenting employee problems to the 
>management. See that the procedures adopted are 
>as inconvenient as possible for the management, 
>involving the presence of a large number of 
>employees at each presentation, entailing more 
>than one meeting for each grievance, bringing up 
>problems which are largely imaginary, and so on.
>
>(9) Misroute materials.
>
>(10) Mix good parts with unusable scrap and rejected parts.
>
>(12) General Devices for Lowering Morale and Creating Confusion
>
>(a) Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.
>
>(b) Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police.
>
>(c) Act stupid.
>
>(d) Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible 
>without getting yourself into trouble.
>
>(e) Misunderstand all sorts of regulations 
>concerning such matters as rationing, transportation, traffic regulations.
>
>(f) Complain against ersatz materials.
>
>(g) In public treat axis nationals or quislings coldly.
>
>(h) Stop all conversation when axis nationals or quislings enter a caf�.
>
>(i) Cry and sob hysterically at every occasion, 
>especially when confronted by government clerks.
>
>(j) Boycott all movies, entertainments, 
>concerts, newspapers which are in any way 
>connected with the quisling authorities.
>
>(k) Do not cooperate in salvage schemes.