Re: Br'er Tim and the Bug Hole

[Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>]

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At 8:31 pm -0500 on 11/12/97, Tim May wrote:


> Thank you. And contrary to what Hettinga claimed in one of his posts, I
>did not call for a judge to be killed. (Though, as I understand the law,
>that's not in and of itself illegal.) What I said was that the judge(s) in
>the Paladin case had committed a capital crime. Saying, for example, that
>OJ committed a capital crime is not uncommon, so why should judges be
>exempt from similar opinions?

Fair enough. However, I'm sure that any average junior-college educated
"BATFag" agent, or whatever, would read that stuff exactly as you intended
it. As a violent threat against a judge. No amount of sophistical
gerrymandering of pseudolegal semantics after the fact will dissuade the
guys with the leftover NATO toys from showing up and leaving their own
calling cards, to quote someone here recently.

> What we are seeing with Hettinga's anguished armchair analysis of me and
>my motivations is a lot of overly personal, even fixated, attention on me
>and my life. He pretends to know my social life, pretends to understand
>why I won't just tone down my comments and not rock the boat. Utter
>nonsense.

Speak for yourself, Tim. Actually, I think this entire argument of yours is a
red herring. To the extent that I, like most of the remaining members of this
list, stick around because you ocassionally say something very interesting is
not prima facie evidence of a "fixation" as you call it. Guessing at your
possible motives for doing some patently foolish things lately has become a
pretty good pastime among those who have read, and respected, what you've
written here on cypherpunks over the years. Call it armchair psychology, if
you want.

> I fully agree, and have not said I expect a full-scale assault on me, nor
> have I said I would expect to win such a war. The context of my recent
> comments about guns was the Gun Shows recently.

And the context of other comments within recent memory has been about
how much ammunition you have, how you've covered your property with sensors,
how you've reinforced various doors and windows, how you've put firearms
around your house, all just waiting for an eventual assault. All prudent
measures, mind you, if taken privately. And if you weren't also threatening
federal officials with their lives on a public email list.

:-).


> (I haven't seen Hettinga foaming at the mentions by certain other
> Cypherpunks of the Cypherpunks Shooting Club (which I am too far away from
> to attend, by the way). Nor did I see him remonstrate against the list
> member who brought his AR-15 carbine to a Cypherpunks meeting and held it
> up, like any good revolutionary holding up his Kalashnikov.)

Nope. You haven't. And I know members of the Cypherpunks Shooting Club, and,
while the AR-15 gag was a little silly, it can probably be chalked up to,
the um, irrational exuberence of youth, or something. :-).

I also happen to know that the person with the AR-15 bought it for personal
defense, probably brought about by the kind of quasi-millenial FUD going
around these days, and not to bring down the new world order or something.

I mean, some of my best friends are gun nuts. :-). I'd even let my daughter
marry one, if I had a daughter. Wish I could go out and play with a varmit
rifle, myself. I've read "Unintended Consequences" at the request of a gun nut
friend, :-), and it was well worth reading, if for all the gun lore alone.
Someday, it would even be nice to go shooting, if I can be trusted on a range,
anyway.

However, Tim, *none* of those people you've mentioned, and, frankly, no one I
know of but you, has effectively broadcasted a threat to kill federal
officials, or, to interpret it charitably, a not-so elliptical request to have
federal officials killed, ala "Beckett". Or a blanket invitation to a midnight
fandango on a California hilltop, for that matter.


> It happens that a lot of totalitarian moves are happening at this time. My
> "Mad as Hell" article lists a bunch of them. CDA clones, new crypto
> legislation, Clinton banning importation of fully-compliant foreign
> weapons, etc.

Yup, and it should be brought to people's attention, (like I'm pointing out
your present silliness),  paid attention to, and taken care of by saying,
publically, how silly, illegal, and draconian it all is. Calling for the
assassination of a judge won't get the job done, however.


Personally, I think the best way to stop all statist crap in its tracks is to
make it economically unrealistic to ban cryptography and anonymity, and the
best way to do that is with the widespread development and use of the
strongest possible financial cryptography. And, of course, the best way to do
that is to create internet transaction settlement protocols which are
so much cheaper to execute than any other way to move money, that they are
ignored at the economic peril of the country which tries to control them. I
find the fact that most of these transaction protocols, such as Chaum's blind
signatures, will prove to be cheaper *because* they're anonymous, more than a
little intriguing, myself. :-).


Nonetheless, whatever people themselves do to make strong crypto happen, it
sure beats wasting time with lawyers (ala EFF and CDT), and now, with this
Fortress May�ana adventure, guns. Well, offensive threats with guns, anyway.
(And certainly not, of course, with money, to drag Warren Zevon into it. :-)).


I seem to remember someone saying "Cypherpunks write code" around here, once.
That's because running code is a fait accompli. Reality is not optional.


Yes, Tim, I know. You've forgotten more about cryptography and software than
I will ever learn, and you're right. The fact remains, nonetheless, that
you're wasting that all that hard-won experience and information if it has a
9mm hole in it.

> And the rumors are mounting about a series of possible raids around the
>holidays this Thanksgiving Day. The FBI has acknowledge the fax sent out
>as legitimate.

I have one question. Exactly what are you going to say, having made this
incredible prediction of your impending seige at Casa Timothy, when nothing
happens? Are you going to march into the local FBI office and demand that
they lock you up, or something? Exactly how does escalating a violent
confrontation with people who wouldn't care about you otherwise do anything
more than make them want to shut you up the hard way?

More to the point, exactly how does it speed the deployment of cryptography
and privacy?

"Ah", as an Irish friend once used to say, "there's that, isn't it?"


> While militia members and Cypherpunks may not be able to withstand a full
> out war for very long, the mere willingness to defend oneself can itself
> act as a deterrent. This is basic game theory, basic strategy.

With, of course, as Tim ("we're just a mailing list", "anarchy is about no
leaders") May, as Maximum Generalissimo of the Revolution, or better yet, as
the Old Man on the Mountain?

Give me a break.

> Scared bunny little rabbits who tone down their words so as not to make
> their masters angry at them will not be any safer, ironically enough.

Yup, Tim. That's me. A slave. </CatoKalienMode> Hold on? I've got a tattoo
on my forearm somewhere? Nope? That's right... they gave me an implant? I
know I have one, too? because at night? they *talk* to me through it?...
</CKM>

The ganglia twitch. Call it ameteur psychology, I suppose.


Cheers,
Bob Hettinga


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-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/
Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>