From: internaut@aol.com
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 93 06:48:34 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: FWEE!: Premature Ejaculation
Message-ID: <9303070949.tn25905@aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


>>nowhere@bsu-cs.bsu.edu
>>
>>Way cool--Pentagon gettin' zapped!
>>
>>F-117A Nighthawk ("Stealth") Program--Summary

Uh-huh... OK. Easy now, Lads... Let's not "jump the gun."

It is with a strange mixture of giddy delight and dire trepidation that I
'pen' this note to you all. I read "nowhere's" posting with no small amount
of interest and yet I have a BIG PROBLEM with it, so I thought I would post
this tiny reminder to everyone about "what the hell are we fighting for"
(anyone else around here remember singing along with Country Joe and MEANING
it? ...1-2-3) before any more such postings occur. If you answer "don't ask
me, I don't give a damn," I worry about you (...5-6-7).

Some thoughts:

1. The Whistleblower system currently under construction (in more ways than
one) is of extremely high value both to us as digital pioneers and ultimately
to the People of this country and by extension of the world. It promises to
open up 'doors' that would otherwise stay very tightly shut. This is no small
thing.

2. The WB system should be directed toward uncovering structural ABUSES by
persons or companies entrusted with the interests and/or funds of the People.
Remember, this whole gig is supposed to be "of, by and for the People." We're
just here to remind the trustees not to cook the books like George Herbert
Fucking Walker Bush did. Infact he can be considered as one of our most
interesting subjects, whatever flat little Texas rock he might be hiding
under right now. We haven't forgotten you George, we're just getting our
digital posse rounded up. Except there's someone among us who's wearing
his/her gun belt a little too tight already, to wit:

3. The purpose of such a system is NOT to cater to the puerile (look it up,
it comes from the Latin for 'childish' and yes, I indulge in it often enough
to understand) impulses of people who'd like to anger the Dark Side just for
the sake of thumbing their noses at Authority, but to truly cut the Dark Side
to the bone - to expose their Darkest Secrets and leave them bleeding ink all
over the front pages. I recently paraphrased the Bible (and probably every
other religious tome since recorded Herstory began) in conversation with two
of my favorite Cypherpunks and I now see the value of sharing this tidbit
with all of you:

"That which is whispered of in closets, shall be shouted from the rooftops
for all to hear."

...I propose this as a suitable motto for the Whistleblowers and possibly
even the Cypherpunks - at least those with an ironic bent. (Btw, would the
more Bible-literate among us please feel free to cite chapter & verse, so I
can find where I read this and quote it more accurately in the future.)

4. Posting information of the kind in "nowhere's" transmission (though
admittedly fascinating) will only serve to ALERT and STRENGTHEN the position
and attack capabilities of those who would defeat the WB system BEFORE it
truly gets off the ground. Post data like this NOW and you provide ammunition
to sharpshooters who need an excuse to terminate us with extreme prejudice.
Compare the value of information of the sort in "nowhere's" posting (which I
might add can probably be found by the more astute among us in certain
lesser-known defense industry publications) with an anonymous posting by
someone taking a very BIG chance with his/her life by proclaiming the
complete and utter lack of integrity of persons charged with the maintenance
of Democracy or persons charged with the maintenance of the Safety and
Security of the People. I ask you, fellow Patriots: what would you rather
read? Would the expose' of a high-ranking member of the Military-Industrial
Complex be of greater value to you than the specs on the composition of a
plastic wing's leading-edge? Let us not forget who arranges for the
development of such weapons - those who loose the Dogs of War, not the Dogs
themselves should be our Enemy.

Another hypothetical example: would you like to know what the US Government
knows about _who_ shot John Fitzgerald Kennedy and _why_? Keep posting
information on expensive black budget D-Fens items and see if we ever find
out. I don't particularly want some haircut sliding in my front door with a
warrant just because I'm on this list - and don't think I'm overreacting
(because I am). FLAME.

A wise man chooses his weapon carefully and does not shoot his bolt before
the target is well in sight. In the teachings of ancient strategists, one can
find many sage postings on when to keep one's powder dry, when to retreat for
strategic/tactical advantage and when to just plain shut the fuck up so no
one knows you're hiding there with your pointy stick.

"Verbum sat sapienti est." In Latin (remember how far those Roman strategists
got!) this means "wise up or someone with much fancier toys will come and
take your cereal box and you'll be left with no whistle to blow. I get off on
reading about Inspector Gadget's Flying Doomsday Jets as much as the next
technoweenie, but I also have an idea of what's really important here. As a
person who threw bricks at riot police in the '60's, I have an indelible
impression of what it is that Freedom of Speech is all about and I don't want
to risk a potentially incredible source of Freedom of Speech all for a few
nuts and bolts descriptions of some weapons systems that some very dangerous
mofos will do just about anything to keep under wraps. Remember, no system of
anonymity or encryption is _completely_ secure: give the wrong entity a good
reason to focus its highbeams on us now, and you jeapordize our whole
mission. One might even say that a valid attack strategy for someone who
wants to take us down is to float such postings NOW so that serious, formal
complaints could be substantiated in the not-too-distant future.

  dave "are you experienced?" del torto, aka d2t