Culture is a bunch of protocols

We can’t think outside the protocol

You probably should buy stuff from your local stores, but if you use amazon, use it this way:

Use email alias

Don't use your legal name, use an alter ego, tell your family that your alter ego is getting the package

Use strong password

Enable 2FA

Use smspool.net for phone verification

Jig your address a little, use a central pincode not your real zip code. Adjacent pincode also works.

Use your country's capital as your default address especially if you don't live there.

Basically a human should understand your address so that he can deliver it, a machine shouldn't be able to read your address.

Club words etc. 1234BelmontAve for eg.

Consider using alias payment cards like PST.net, fluz.app etc

1. Ditch or Minimize Traditional SIMs for Voice/SMS

   • Use VoIP numbers as a bridge for services requiring SMS verification (banks, gov, etc.). They bypass local Stingray/IMSI-catcher attacks and most SIM-swap social engineering since reputable no-KYC providers don’t hold/verify your PII.

   • Top recommendation: jmp.chat

     • Offers US, Canadian (and some European) numbers without KYC.

     • Payments via Bitcoin (privacy-friendly).

     • Strong Android integration via Cheogram (XMPP-based, open-source, F-Droid).

     • Calls/SMS encrypted from your device to their servers (far better than plain carrier).

     • Premium/”plus” numbers often evade VoIP blocks on picky services—contact support for help.

     • Caveat: Some platforms detect/block VoIP; test your key accounts.

   • Alternatives: Check crowdsourced lists for country-specific no-KYC options. Privacy communities (e.g., Privacy Guides, GrapheneOS forums) still rate jmp.chat highly for long-term reliability in 2026.

2. Use Multiple Numbers for Compartmentalization

   • 3-number rule (excellent opsec):

     • #1: Banking/financial (high-security, rarely shared).

     • #2: Government/ID/official (tied to legal identity if needed).

     • #3: Everyday/social (give this out freely; low blast radius if compromised).

   • This buys time to detect/react if one leaks, and keeps financial/gov access isolated.

3. Switch to E2EE for All Real Communication

   • Signal → Best default for calls, messaging (full E2EE, minimal metadata).

   • Alternatives: iMessage/FaceTime (E2EE in Apple ecosystem), WhatsApp (E2EE content, but Meta collects metadata), or booth.video for video calls.

   • Avoid plain SMS/voice entirely when possible—anything over data + E2EE beats PSTN/SS7 routing.

4. Mobile Internet Without Carrier Tracking

   • Ideal: Airplane mode + WiFi only (no cell modem active → no tower pings/location leaks).

     • Connect via public/cafe WiFi + strong VPN.

     • Obscura VPN stands out for privacy decoupling: Two-party design (Obscura sees your IP but not destinations; Mullvad exit sees traffic but not you). No-logs by architecture, Lightning/Bitcoin/Monero payments. Great for censorship resistance and true separation.

   • For mobile data: Data-only eSIMs (no voice/SMS to intercept).

     • silent.link → Gold standard for no-KYC/privacy.

       • Zero personal data (no email/ID/signup).

       • Crypto payments (Bitcoin, Lightning, Monero, USDT).

       • 160+ countries, pay-as-you-go (balance never expires; $9 one-off for DATA.PLUS plan with initial credit).

       • Data-only (outbound SMS blocked to prevent abuse); works in restricted places (China firewall, UAE VoIP blocks).

       • Premium but reliable; strong rep in privacy circles.

     • Other contenders: PikaSim, ZeroID, LNVPN (compare coverage/pricing; silent.link often wins for no-expiry + anonymity).

5. Extra Layers for Travelers/Frequent Movers

   • Data-only global eSIMs shine here—no roaming SIM swaps or carrier logs tying to identity.

   • Public WiFi rotation + Obscura keeps things fluid.

This setup isn’t perfect (VoIP needs internet; some services block it; travel requires planning), but it dramatically reduces risks from SS7 exploits, local interception, SIM swaps, and carrier surveillance. Far safer than a plain carrier number in 2026.If you’re building/testing this (e.g., updating your VoIP database), share any new provider findings—the community appreciates it. Stay vigilant!

Either world governments will charge minimal tax for public security or some one else will come up with solutions to the public security problem, I think governments around the world will figure out that they can’t track their subject’s wealth.

For the most of us (who don’t have cases running in the apex courts) the Jurisdiction that applies is the local one which is not the Police Office but your Company’s or School Office.

If Police have to pickup a student from the University, they have to ask permission from the Pricipal. Same with the employer’s. So in this age, the ultimate authorities are double fold, the education system and the Company structures.

The power of the corporations is two fold, the Distribution/Network & the cashflow. The moment when the bitcoin start to become money (sooner that you think, xoxo lightning), the Companies will start operating in Bitcoin and the government’s authority will be shaken as government schemes will start to change when the Tax money stop flowing in.

Emergency services like the fire department, the paramedics, water, electricity will all be privatised.

The communities formed by forums online and Elsewhere will decide which product and services be good for them, and marketing will just mean communication to these communities.

Now the land is allotted by governments, I think future communities will look like what this free cities white paper says:

https://free-cities.org/free-private-cities-whitepaper/

Social Welfare

Free private chattered cities and towns will emerge and take care of public welfare.

Post Office

The PO networks are probably the best thing governments did, soon they will hike up the prices and charge the invoices in lightning.

Useful services and products like these will loose government subsidies and will likely be the alternate to sales and indirect taxes.

The oil and the factories

Some new stuff is discovered or invented, it gains traction and eventually governments regulate via laws and taxes (sales, excise, cess, customs etc).

But once the governments treasuries loose the tax money, it will become difficult to inflict direct and indirect taxes.

Online communities will buy land and form communes

We do a lot of stuff via internet and a lot has been decentralized but we still do offline conferences, there is some wisdom there probably.

Further reading

Read more

The only authority the governments will have, will be because the private security won’t be able to solve the public security problem.

Wealthy individuals have private security already but whoever will come up to safeguard the public will become the government.

Pre Word War 2, Gangs gave protection not the government, it will be something like that only, criminal syndicates are already using monero and will eventually shift to lightning.

But who will decide the laws and how will we construct the constitutions?

The narratives are increasingly being controlled by individuals through youtube and podcasts (RSS), Ofcourse governments have their own IT cells to keep their own narrative relevant but it would become more and more difficult as the tax money swindles.

Communities formed by reddit and other forums on the clear web and the onion web have their own set of rules, guidelines and policies. We are in an age of violence through words. Code is the free speech.

We have seen open protocols that have open platforms, like World Wide Web (RFC’s), nostr (NIP’s), email (SMTP/IMAP), RSS etc

But how will we able to solve public security and how we will construct security through new laws and regimes that is the question.

Further Reading

Read more

Letters

For letters like things I always recommend Anytime Mailbox, you should ensure the address is a “residential” one, if you are an americanyou can look up options here:

https://community.nomadgate.com/t/the-ultimate-guide-to-virtual-mailboxes-for-us-banking-purposes-nomad-gate/60741

I would recommend everyone to go to google street view and seeing if the address is actually a residential one

I have written why everyone should have an American address here:

Parcel

If it’s a parcel type or box type kinda thing I would recommend getting local PO Box.

Notes on Amazon

We all use amazon as it’s efficient but here are some tricks to use it privately and securely.

amazon profile locks, video locks, address mangering, alias name, gift card balance, alias email, smspool.net number, I will always eat the cake and have it. Always

Name - change the letters a bit

And change pincode

Account pin and profile locks.

Parental controls, rating & viewing restrictions.

Names of account, profiles, name on address, number on account, 2fa, number on profile for lock pin.

Jig your address a little

ext step is to get some proxies, proxies essentialy make amazon think you have a different Internet Address.

I have been testing nodemaven proxies for Amazon, it works very well!

Create a new account through my affiliate link

https://go.nodemaven.com/bowtiedanon

& apply coupon “ANON” to get 2GB extra bandwidth on any package (except trial)

The last step of preparation is to get comfortable using a multi accounting browser. This helps segregating and organizing different accounts.

For amazon, Incogniton does the job pretty well.

Use my aff for karma: https://incogniton.com/aff/1113618/

1. Get a new SIM

2. Get an alias email from simple login or anon addy.

4. Get proxy from rain proxy or use a cafe wifi or any public wifi.

5. Create new profile in incogniton

6. Run browser

7. Go to amazon.

8. Signup with that new number

9. Add email in amazon settings

10. Switch on 2FA.

At this current moment ironvest is

So use your own payment method

After a month of orders,

What if you get an email show proof that

Just give them proof that the payment mwthod is yours indeed.

Within 7 days you should get the account re enacted.

Amazon mainly want to verify that the payment methods that you are using are yours and you are not abusing quantity limits.

Amazon trust a new account the least and the orders in the first month will have the most scrutiny.

Further reading

https://x.com/AnonIndustries_

Anonshop.app

Peershop.app

I always recommend atleast having different email for finances, and proton mail fits the bill. Mostly for the UX, you don't want to miss important mails.

Public newsletters should not have your primary email as they can sell it to somebody else, then you will start getting stuff you don't want, and clutter your inbox.

If you just want to get something that requires an email and you don't want to have a relationship with them there after, use temp mails, just brave search, use whichever service works.

Aliases can be used other way around, you want to send an email to someone but doesn't want to reveal your primary email yet.

Imagine you want to interact with a service provider but you don't know how much crap they gonna send your way. So you use an alias, if they seem spammy after a while you can just switch off that alias and you won't be getting any emails from them.

Unsubscribing is an option but you never know if the other party will oblige.

Multiple Inboxes

Your every identity should start with a good email provider like Tuta or proton, then you can use something like forward email to setup custom domain and vanity domains.

Then even after that, setup email aliases with simple login and anon Addy to further the layer of protection.

This helps to organise multiple inboxes in one inbox without relying on gmail tools for eg.

Identity & purpose

Your email is your identity, you should be very clear about that, when you share your email, you are sharing your identity and that should be with a particular purpose not just a knee jerk reaction to an email inbox.

Fabricated History

The conversation you have with a newsletter or someone through emails is a history and an archive.

Aliases help to organise histories and fabricate them if need be.

Unsubscribe, delete Account or disable alias?

Unsubsribing mostly ensures that your email is deleted from their database but if you created an account, then you should delete the account instead.

Disabling alias does not ensure that the stuff related to the account is deleted from the site.

Anonaddy & SimpleLogin

SimpleLogin has unlimited bandwidth so you should segregate newsletters, letters, important stuff, specific emails for specific social media accounts, etc into multiple sub domains aka aliases.

Anonaddy has sort of unlimited aliases, so you should use that for creating new emails and giving out to potential spammers and disable them whenever need be, their paid plan is reasonable and can be used for replying as well.

Titles & Threads

We often organize and find relevant emails in our inboxes through title searches, when using alieases you go one step further by segregating different categories of emails.

Reply, reply all, CC, bcc, is how we organize emails in our inboxes.

Alias Description and tags

In an alias app like simpleloggin and anon addy, you use description and tags to remember for what purpose you gave the email away.

So write the tags and description vigilently.

When not to use them?

Sensitive stuff, stuff not related to the email it was created for.

For eg if you created an alias for a particular purchase and communication from a particular seller, then that's fine, if you create an email for amazon, just use it for amazon.

But don’t mix and mingle, don’t use an alias email for finance stuff, just use a primary email from Tuta or proton.

Forward email is zero access encrypted so are it's MX records, I am not sure about SL or AD.

Proton and Tuta are the last defenses.

Further reading

https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/email-alias-strategy/21522/10

https://www.reddit.com/r/Simplelogin/comments/18ojxkl/to_those_that_have_multiple_aliases_what_are_your/

08:50 - 14:44

youtube.com/watch?v=8YWqCaufWv8

4th amendment of the USA constitution (all constitutions are based on this) is this:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,

and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Right to privacy is a fundamental right under this amendment that ensures personal liberty.

In 1973, there was a pivotal supreme court judgment. Roe v. Wade affirmed that the right to privacy, protected under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, encompasses a woman’s decision to terminate her pregnancy.

Third party doctrine is something the Americans should be scared of.

The doctribe is the evolution of the Katz definition of privacy to modern facts: if you disclose something to a third party, you no longer have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The gov only needs a warrant to “search” places where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

For eg. Prosecutors often use cell tower data in criminal cases. Government never subpeona the big tech, they just have backdoor access to them because of this doctrine.

The expectation of privacy is a legal test, originated from Katz v. United States and is a key component of Fourth Amendment analysis. The Fourth Amendment protects people from warrantless searches of places or seizures of persons or objects, in which they have a subjective expectation of privacy that is deemed reasonable. The test determines whether an action by the government has violated an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

The Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Test

In Katz, Justice Harlan created the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Test in his concurring opinion. Although it was not formulated by the majority, this test has been the main takeaway of the case. Justice Harlan created a two-part test:

1. The individual has exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy.

2. The expectation is one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable.

If both requirements have been met, and the government has taken an action which violates this “expectation,” then the government’s action has violated the individual’s Fourth Amendment rights.

Article 21 of the Indian (largest democracy) constitution goes like this:

21. Protection of life and personal liberty

No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.

In the landmark case of Supreme Court of India, K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) established the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution.

American Express was denied access to the Indian market until they store Indian citizens’ data in the country itself which was lifted on Aug 24, 2022

In the UK (the country where the contemporary law began), the right to privacy is protected under common law and the Human Rights Act, specifically through the Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights:

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his [or her] private and family life, his [or her] home and his [or her] correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

And so on...

Therefore violating the right to privacy is non constitutional many of the countries but then again, big tech and the governments & law enforcement themselves often do activities that we consider violations of privacy. Why is this happening?

The fact of the matter is, we don't really have a neat or a clear defination of the word “privacy”. It's not just the act of leaving someone alone. It's not individualism (having the liberty to think and do things without the interference from the people around). It's not just about private property - the whole bitcoin debate is about private property, much of the discussion is about privacy.

Indian wives often have this habit of saving money and hiding it from the husband for the good of the family (consider it, a rainy day fund), but when the unfortunate demonitization of 500 and 1000 Indian currency notes happened, the money that the wife saved over the years suddenly became worthless and had to be revealed out in the open so that it could be exchanged for the new legal notes. The privacy of those wives was violated.

People say that privacy is important only for those that have something of value / are rich but I would argue, the wealth of the individual has nothing to do with their need for privacy.

Homeless people in the United States feel violated if their meagre possesions are searched, feel violated if you barge into their tents etc. How much money may give you the power to increase your privacy and security but it definately has nothing to do with the want of every Indidual for privacy, it is a fundamental right and the people who do stuff (the executive) have overstepped the legislature (two of the four pillars of democracy have been unbalanced)

Privacy is the extent of the power of an individual that he/she can exercise when the immediate environment violates their possessions (in the digital context - data). And it is also the extent of the default protection the stuff has. What takes priority, privacy or security? - that I think is the wrong question, the right question to ask is this - if all the privacy is taken from you, will there be any security left?

As a society we consider asking for consent as a foundational paradigm that we live by. In medical practice, we go as far as saying a misinformed consent is not a consent. Consent without revealing every detail of the procedure is not a consent at all. So if possesions are taken away or in the case of data, it is collected without consent, it's not consensual, in all seriousness, its rape. The defaults of the web matter the most, opted out should be the default, not opted in. And Ofcourse without informed consent, there is no such thing as opting in.

I would argue (this will be highly controversial in privacy circles) that Google is private because it gives you - the user the power over your data, you can clearly see what all data is collected in your personal dashboard and you can export it and delete it if you chose to and Google has atleast been always honest about collecting data, unlike apple, which in their ads - flaunt that their devices private but in fact, are not.

But Google is not secure because the central collection of the data and Google analytics tracking individuals across web pages (even anonymised) is a vulnerability bad actors can exploit.

Security is also not neatly defined as well, I’d like to define security as the likelihood of harm to the individual in the context of its environment.

Previously, I argued that threat modelling is a wrong approach to security, instead what we should be doing is, trust modelling - evaluating the things in your environment as trustworthy or not, discarding those that breaks your trust, not fully trusting services and products initally, approaching them with caution and slowly increasing the trust as you have more information and experience with it.

It would be a disgrace if I didn't comment on anonymity when I am writing a thesis on privacy. We often think about what other people would think, about our actions and tastes. And it often strangles us, limits our thinking and our actions.

People from all around the world having all kinds of backgrounds and cultures come to New York, walking through the city center is quite liberating, you are anonymous even if you wear a very different clothing because there is no judgement, and that is what liberates you. That my friends is anonymity. Identity without judgement.

Snowden

Read more

2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation

3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist

4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)

5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

______________________________________________________________________________________

COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..

There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'

Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'

If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.

Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'

A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favour is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'

Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'

Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.

Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'

Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favourite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favourite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.

Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'

Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.

Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'

It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.

CONCLUSION

Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation

Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply. These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to cover up.

1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.

2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.

3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.

4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.

5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.

6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.

7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.

8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.

9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.

10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.

11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.

12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.

13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.

14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.

15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.

16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.

17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.

18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'

19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.

20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.

21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.

22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.

23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.

24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.

25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist

1) Avoidance. They never actually discuss issues head-on or provide constructive input, generally avoiding citation of references or credentials. Rather, they merely imply this, that, and the other. Virtually everything about their presentation implies their authority and expert knowledge in the matter without any further justification for credibility.

2) Selectivity. They tend to pick and choose opponents carefully, either applying the hit-and-run approach against mere commentators supportive of opponents, or focusing heavier attacks on key opponents who are known to directly address issues. Should a commentator become argumentative with any success, the focus will shift to include the commentator as well.

3) Coincidental. They tend to surface suddenly and somewhat coincidentally with a new controversial topic with no clear prior record of participation in general discussions in the particular public arena involved. They likewise tend to vanish once the topic is no longer of general concern. They were likely directed or elected to be there for a reason, and vanish with the reason.

4) Teamwork. They tend to operate in self-congratulatory and complementary packs or teams. Of course, this can happen naturally in any public forum, but there will likely be an ongoing pattern of frequent exchanges of this sort where professionals are involved. Sometimes one of the players will infiltrate the opponent camp to become a source for straw man or other tactics designed to dilute opponent presentation strength.

5) Anti-conspiratorial. They almost always have disdain for 'conspiracy theorists' and, usually, for those who in any way believe JFK was not killed by LHO. Ask yourself why, if they hold such disdain for conspiracy theorists, do they focus on defending a single topic discussed in a NG focusing on conspiracies? One might think they would either be trying to make fools of everyone on every topic, or simply ignore the group they hold in such disdain.Or, one might more rightly conclude they have an ulterior motive for their actions in going out of their way to focus as they do.

6) Artificial Emotions. An odd kind of 'artificial' emotionalism and an unusually thick skin -- an ability to persevere and persist even in the face of overwhelming criticism and unacceptance. This likely stems from intelligence community training that, no matter how condemning the evidence, deny everything, and never become emotionally involved or reactive. The net result for a disinfo artist is that emotions can seem artificial.

Most people, if responding in anger, for instance, will express their animosity throughout their rebuttal. But disinfo types usually have trouble maintaining the 'image' and are hot and cold with respect to pretended emotions and their usually more calm or unemotional communications style. It's just a job, and they often seem unable to 'act their role in character' as well in a communications medium as they might be able in a real face-to-face conversation/confrontation. You might have outright rage and indignation one moment, ho-hum the next, and more anger later -- an emotional yo-yo.

With respect to being thick-skinned, no amount of criticism will deter them from doing their job, and they will generally continue their old disinfo patterns without any adjustments to criticisms of how obvious it is that they play that game -- where a more rational individual who truly cares what others think might seek to improve their communications style, substance, and so forth, or simply give up.

7) Inconsistent. There is also a tendency to make mistakes which betray their true self/motives. This may stem from not really knowing their topic, or it may be somewhat 'freudian', so to speak, in that perhaps they really root for the side of truth deep within.

I have noted that often, they will simply cite contradictory information which neutralizes itself and the author. For instance, one such player claimed to be a Navy pilot, but blamed his poor communicating skills (spelling, grammar, incoherent style) on having only a grade-school education. I'm not aware of too many Navy pilots who don't have a college degree. Another claimed no knowledge of a particular topic/situation but later claimed first-hand knowledge of it.

8) Time Constant. Recently discovered, with respect to News Groups, is the response time factor. There are three ways this can be seen to work, especially when the government or other empowered player is involved in a cover up operation:

a) ANY NG posting by a targeted proponent for truth can result in an IMMEDIATE response. The government and other empowered players can afford to pay people to sit there and watch for an opportunity to do some damage. SINCE DISINFO IN A NG ONLY WORKS IF THE READER SEES IT - FAST RESPONSE IS CALLED FOR, or the visitor may be swayed towards truth.

b) When dealing in more direct ways with a disinformationalist, such as email, DELAY IS CALLED FOR - there will usually be a minimum of a 48-72 hour delay. This allows a sit-down team discussion on response strategy for best effect, and even enough time to 'get permission' or instruction from a formal chain of command.

c) In the NG example 1) above, it will often ALSO be seen that bigger guns are drawn and fired after the same 48-72 hours delay - the team approach in play. This is especially true when the targeted truth seeker or their comments are considered more important with respect to potential to reveal truth. Thus, a serious truth sayer will be attacked twice for the same sin.

______________________________________________________________________________________

How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)

One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why?

1) The message doesn't get out.

2) A lot of time is wasted

3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged

4) Nothing good is accomplished.

FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established.

Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country.

Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female.

The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs.

This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists.

It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control.

In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist:

"You're dividing the movement."

[Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people]

This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth.

The agent will tell the activist:

"You're a leader!"

This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist.

This is "malignant pseudoidentification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist.

Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudoidentification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge.

The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts.

The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler.

The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them.

The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality."

Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent.

Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness.

The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion.

It can usually be identified by two events, however:

First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent.

As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim.

The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time.

A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions.

Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner:

1) To disrupt the agenda

2) To side-track the discussion

3) To interrupt repeatedly

4) To feign ignorance

5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person.

Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members.

Saboteurs

Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will ....

1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites)

2) Print flyers in English only.

3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares.

4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support

5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing.

6) Confuse issues.

7) Make the wrong demands.

Cool Compromise the goal.

9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work.

Provocateurs

1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement.

2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble.

3) Encourage militancy.

4) Want to taunt the authorities.

5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values.

6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activisim ought to always be non-violent.

7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence.

Informants

1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything.

2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data).

3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend.

4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of committment.

Recruiting

Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves.

Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents.

Surveillance

ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance.

At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist!

Scare Tactics

They use them.

Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow.

This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists.

If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced.

COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act.

The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.

1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.

2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit.

3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors." (If they tend to believe the "rumors" it must be because they are simply "paranoid" or "hysterical.")

4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspects of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors (or plant false stories) and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.

5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nutcase," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and, of course, "rumor monger." Be sure, too, to use heavily loaded verbs and adjectives when characterizing their charges and defending the "more reasonable" government and its defenders. You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned. For insurance, set up your own "skeptics" to shoot down.

6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money (compared to over-compensated adherents to the government line who, presumably, are not).

7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.

8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."

9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hangout route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken. With effective damage control, the fall-back position need only be peddled by stooge skeptics to carefully limited markets.

10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.

11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. E.g. We have a completely free press. If evidence exists that the Vince Foster "suicide" note was forged, they would have reported it. They haven't reported it so there is no such evidence. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press who would report the leak.

12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. E.g. If Foster was murdered, who did it and why?

13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or publicizing distractions.

14. Lightly report incriminating facts, and then make nothing of them. This is sometimes referred to as "bump and run" reporting.

15. Baldly and brazenly lie. A favorite way of doing this is to attribute the "facts" furnished the public to a plausible-sounding, but anonymous, source.

16. Expanding further on numbers 4 and 5, have your own stooges "expose" scandals and champion popular causes. Their job is to pre-empt real opponents and to play 99-yard football. A variation is to pay rich people for the job who will pretend to spend their own money.

17. Flood the Internet with agents. This is the answer to the question, "What could possibly motivate a person to spend hour upon hour on Internet news groups defending the government and/or the press and harassing genuine critics?" Don t the authorities have defenders enough in all the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television? One would think refusing to print critical letters and screening out serious callers or dumping them from radio talk shows would be control enough, but, obviously, it is not.

Source

https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm

I mean, ideally wouldn't you want to be maximally secured?

The counter argument ofcourse is that, we have limited resources - money, time etc.

But

I am gonna make a very big claim, security is cheap, as in, it won't cost you much to set it up, its just practice, and once setup is done, it doesn't need much time and you would be secured against most vulnerabilities.

By stating that, your threat model allows a certain vulnerability to be out of scope of your preparation against an adversery, you lost wayyy before even thinking about starting the fight.

Even state actors can't break maths (If they could, I know a lot of people, in a lot of jurisdictions that would have ended up behind bars)

The worst state actors can do, is infiltrate via social/cultural programming/subversion (Hence I will have a section on COGSEC in bible 2025) - also study how xz backdoor played out.

Today I propose to you a different approach to security which I don't think anyone on the interwebz has codified, but its very intuitive to us, physically, somewhat less digitally, like how privacy is intuitive to most people when they buy the curtains for their windows but not when they post on Insta or sell their DNA sequence to a bankrupt organisation.

Trust is something we all understand, its something that is ingrained in a personality that you don't know all the complexities of, but after certain encounters with said personality, you develop almost an instinct to judge it, hence decide to trust them on some spectrum.

Physically we always do this intuitively, slowly allowing a stranger into our lives untill we know how trustworthy, the individual is. We don't share everything, to everyone, all at once - same should be applied to everything digital, trust should be given in layers.

Services and products, have a personality, brands have a personality, heck substances that we use and abuse have personalities.

Threat modelling is a waste of time, most security is free because code is free speach, and we all have right to speak anything we like, once we have adequate security.

Refutation to CounterProductive Argument

The argument goes something like this “If you don’t even know what you’re defending against then you’re liable to do things that are useless or even counterproductive”

For the time being, I can only say this:

Having maximal Security Baseline isn't counterproductive.

Usability

maximum privacy is tails os?

Not really.

Macbook m series with obscura, is maximum usability + more or less same privacy.

Opsec & CogSec

Cognitive security is your habits and behavioural conduct in your immediate physical and digital environments.

The Action Plan

Read more

I have been thinking of what post-AI content will look like, and imo AI will replace search & entry lvl coding. AI agents will create new IDE's and interfaces (to reallity itself).

AI will kill most “SEO” - content which is spam (i.e. strongarm marketers into thinking more), as in, what would have been a sentence rather than a Table of Contents, will be a sentence.

If you want a recipie, you will get one! not long ass articles with SEO slop. (think based.cooking like answers)

I think its important look at content through thre lens of research, reporting (journalism) & education.

Research is synthesis of new information, new insights, new lines that connects the dots, and shows you new ways that previously didn't existed.

https://medium.com/future-literacy/zeroth-principles-thinking-9376d0b7e7f5

Indoctrinization is NOT education (DM bowtiedqueenbee on X, she will tell you), its opening up the minds of the educatee, challenging their axioms and revealing the underlining assumptions and “myth” busting to create better maps of the world so that they take better actions.

Reporting vis-a-vis journalism is narrative building, getting a crowd on the same page to do awesome stuff ideally. (imo good marketers don't create mobs but cults)

Narrative building is selling the discovery of the inventions.

I educate through my research. I don't do reporting. If my work interests you, it entertains you.

A researcher brings new information, an educator imparts it, a reporter contextalizes it.

Truth, Wisdom & Tech Savviness

Securitybrahh | The Sovereign Shadow

Further reading

https://blog.kagi.com/kagi-ai-search

https://blog.kagi.com/age-pagerank-over

The only “crypto” that matters is, bitcoin because, we are fixing money FIRST And everything else can wait, Because fixing the corruption of money will take care of everything else. But,

Today I am not talking about money but cash.

Because like money, cash is a problem with similar importantance, if not more.

Bitcoin is not fungible, what that means is, you can distinguish 1 bitcoin from another, hence authorities can identify where the bitcoin came from & hence block it.

Note, There maybe an increase in fungibility of bitcoin in the coming future but its only a hope right now (see Appendix A),

Monero is not money

Bitcoin is money, because for some asset, to be money, it needs governments and central banks to hold it, even if they don't like, holding it.

And even if its not a “legal” tender, if people use it, its money. And that has been acheived and we shouldn’t remake the wheel.

So BTC is money, Monero is cash, try to remember that.

Even though txn fees and tail emissions (see Appendix B) make us feel that monero can behave as money but as noted by me, above, we should'nt remake the wheel.

Monero is not an Asset

Taleb in his bitcoin “blackpaper” assumed that the interest in bitcoin will not be sustained.

But I have many reasons to beleive that assumption is wrong, it will be sustained because mining gives reward & money is a promise, not an “interest”.

Gold is maintenence free, but you still need to mine it physically and its not digital, hence can't serve the needs of the internet anyhow.

Monero is not Price

Either tail emissions is keeping the monero price against USD stable (even flat) or people don't want to “accumulate” it.

Hence people are mostly using monero as cash.

Speculative price appreciation of Bitcoin in USD terms makes us feel that we can't use btc as money yet, hence we must use monero as cash.

Why we need monero?

Lightning can be cash (I am not sure yet), lightning is mostly (https://lightningprivacy.com/en/introduction) private & fees are very low there (for now, and maybe forever), and settlement times a are quick like Visa, then why do we need monero?

It may take us forever to adopt lightning QR codes and point of Sales. Hence we have to rely on monero first, maybe lightning will never replace monero, but time can only tell.

Does Mining “profitabliy” decreases security of monero?

Mining monero is not “profitable” by design as you can't use fast machines to mine it to prevent centralization of hashrate (see Appendix B)

I may have miscalculated this, but with current highest CPU powers, we can't really make “money” on monero.

And the most interesting thing about monero is, when it was delisted from exchanges, the currency actually strengthened, and also when China banned monero mining.

Monero FUD debunking

The Basics

Monero block rewards will never drop to zero. Block rewards gradually dropped until tail emission commenced at the end of May 2022. At this point, rewards will stay fixed at 0.6 XMR or less* per block.

Due to block size penalties.

Why

Miners need an incentive to mine. Because of the dynamic blocksize, competition between miners will cause fees to decrease. If mining is not profitable due to a high cost and low reward, miners lose their incentive and will stop mining, reducing the security of the network.

Tail emission ensures that a dynamic block size and fee market can develop.

https://www.getmonero.org/resources/moneropedia/tail-emission.html

This tail emission enables two key features in Monero

A lower bound of network security forever (miners will always be able to rely on 0.6XMR per block, no matter the fee market)

A dynamic block size (Monero’s blocks can grow/shrink to adapt to short-term increases in usage, with a penalty to mining rewards during these times).

https://sethforprivacy.com/posts/dispelling-monero-fud/

“Bitcoin is not money yet, so expecting volatility to be low is illogical.”

Price volatility does not reflect the progress of Bitcoin adoption.

How else does a free-market money evolve?

If a new economic unit came into existence, and over time, without the assistance of government or central authority, is destined to overcome all obstacles and dominate the entire world as its preferred money and unit of account – what would that look like at the start? Would its price be volatile?

Absolutely it would be volatile. It certainly can’t be stable, it isn’t money and not everyone values it to be so at the start, and not everyone will accept it as payment.

This hypothetical example describes BITCOIN. The point to debate is not its current volatility, but whether it is destined to be the world’s money in the future. The volatility at the start is not an indication one way or the other if it will succeed, so please, stop mentioning it as a criticism.”

Only a money by decree (fiat) can be non-volatile to begin with, and even then it is because it is pegged by the government (with an IOU) to stable money (gold). New money arising from nowhere with no pegging is GOING to be volatile!

https://armantheparman.com/volatile/

Social Properties

“The number of people using it (Metcalfe’s Law: the value of a communications network is proportional to the square of the number of its users)

Fair (created without a pre-mine – ie the founders did not enrich themselves)

No central control

Sufficiently distributed with a tendency to further distribute (note: even distribution is impossible to begin with)”

https://armantheparman.com/volatile/

Schelling Point

When will bitcoin become money, and when will monero become cash?

The thing is, monero was cash on day 1, You don’t need timeframes for cash.

“Money” needs time to become money, and that time period is acheived as I have some reason to believe that states have private keys to hold bitcoin in their bags, hence the chasm has been crossed, bitcoin has successdully become money.

Tell parman that, he would be happy.

Appendix A: How will bitcoin become fungible?

joinstr.xyz provides fungibility despite soft forks, as it mixes PSBT's via nostr, it can be automated, via mobile-light nodes (https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino)

opCTV vs opCAT pools

https://github.com/taproot-wizards/purrfect_vault/issues/1#issuecomment-2513445570

Appendix B: Fungibility via Lightning

A video trying to explain why monero is not a shitcoin.

https://www.getmonero.org/resources/moneropedia/randomx.html

https://github.com/SChernykh/p2pool

I right now think that sender privacy with lightning is possible if you trust the channel (possibly node), the sender is on.

Also silent payments will make reciever privacy a thing.

References

https://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/BTC-QF.pdf

https://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/BTC-QF-appendix.pdf

P. S. remember to support me,

lifetime subsciption to this substack is the sweatest deal as you get access to my telegram group and get textual suport from me, and the OPSEC bible for free (with free lifetime updates).

As security of monero chain is compromised, your wealth if stored in it will erode.

Bitcoin transactions even boosted are slow, and block confirmations feels to take ages when we are accustomeed to instant settlements to the likes of visa networks. Monero is faster than bitcoin in this sense.

The consensus algo (the rules by which bitcoin exists) makes sure that bitcoin’s ultimate supply is capped at 21 million coins which means its scarce, hence has value. But just scarcity means nothing alone, we have to transact in it and we have to store our wealth in it. (collective hunger for a scarce something makes it valuable)

Monero has no such scarcity. I have yet to hear any argument of why that scarcity is not needed or how the chain enforces scarcity, if it does it in any way, I am not accustomed to.

1 xmr = 1 xmr, monero is fungible, this is not true for bitcoin, because of soft forks and where the coin originally came from (what I call taintness) due to the public nature of the chain. Each bitcoin is not equal to the other.

Monero’s price is stable (almost flat) because people are not keeping it, hence we can transact in it without feeling uncertain & without the untrustworthiness of the volitlity. (Anxiety of future value, makes buying stuff with a currency difficult)

By my calculations, monero mining is not profitable even when you price the whole equation of inputs and outputs in the coin itself, hence security of the chain is compromised.

Monero only has one consumer friendly self custodial mobile wallet I could find that is well maintained - monero.com by cakewallet.

Monero has had regular hard forks to maintain the privacy and since inception of it, the node operators have no choice but to obey.

Bitcoin core is gradually adopted and each node operator can decide to upgrade or not. There is no abononment in bitcoin, while monero hard forks makes the previous versions of the chain obselete hence any node operator that decides to keep that version will have numbers that mean nothing.

One should study Zimbabwe hyperinflation, the government has tried to introduce time and time again “new” legal tendors, but those bills have lost value faster than they were printed, because people refuse to transact in it and refuse to store wealth in it, as they don't trust it.

Dollar bills became famous there as a result.

This will happen to monero eventually, the privacy narrative is attractive and I use monero from time to time but I never store more than anything that I can not afford to loose.

Solution?

Solution is ofcourse using bitcoin, but in the current state, you have to follow certain habits to maintain hygiene, below I lay down the exact things to keep in mind.

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I think that's inhumane, what you rather want to, is have:

1. Your own grid (mostly as a backup)

2. Local grid (community)

3. "Offshore" grids. (National (state) as well as international - one step at a time)

Remember

Lone wolf dies, the pack survives.

Sovereignty is not about going in the woods and dieing alone, its about optionailty.

Creating resources that you can rely on if the time comes, only when the time comes.

Humans alone as individuals are nothing, its how we coordinate is, what makes us stronger.

Sovereignty is about acquiring the strength to quit toxic relationships and bravery to create new ones.

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its just that, they don't know,

they are giving away their rights to it, when they go about, on the internet.

Once people realize, posting their entire lives on Instagram can become quite dangerous and has real life consequences, fear often creaps in and then, they hurry to youtube channels like Techlore and the like.

The right to privacy is litterelly the 4th amendment of the consitution of United States.

One can debate whether the legal system was a bad invention or not but it definately protects us from the worst of human nature.

It was indeed the best invention, at that time, THE founding fathers were no fools.

All costitutions are based on USA's, so if you haven't read it, you should, its litterly just 19 pages, all others have their countries' context in them,

You should be familiar with the structure of yours as well, other than that of USA, all else are somewhat bloated or corrupted by bribery / European / Anglosaxon Feudalism, and of course follow some landmark cases & bills in the subject if your chosing.

We are

stories of data,

our identity and personailty defines us.

Even in villages and close knit communities we STILL like to have privacy. You don't want to share, your most intimate moments with everyone.

We learn by making mistakes, once we know that we are being watched, we tend to be more cautious, and try to make way less mistakes, and hence don't learn nor innovate.

Why is that, we feel creeped out, once we realize someone is stalking us?

Why are we so addamant to want, to protect our data & privacy?

The answer is very simple yet, not so clear, when you think about it.

The why

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More often than not, websites agree to these removal requests, but in the process, you increased your exposure instead of decreasing it, as you trusted the parties that do not deserve anyone’s trust to begin with.

The first step is always to google / brave search your name and delete accounts you may not even remember creating. You should replace the personal data with fake info before deletion.

If you do this till page 4 or so, you will be lot less exposed and your future self will thank you for it.

And then, there are these entities that go by titles like “data broker”, they collaborate and collect info that you may not even remember providing.

Almost every “privacy” company is launching their version of data removal service these days, but I don't think they are approaching this problem from the right angle.

The correct approach is to build an app that runs locally on your device and programmatically sends the DMCA's and fill opt-out forms. (hence your data never leaves your personal device)

People at redact.dev are working on something like this, and their ceo, Dan plans to launch the beta at the end of this month.

He told me, it would be somewhat similar to what DDG provides, but far better and more comprehensive. (personally I haven't used what DDG provides nor do I like the search engine, nor the company)

I like redact.dev's redacting service as it is, this would be icing on the cake.

I will lay down in the next few sections what tools and forms you should use, to find the places where your data shouldn't have been, and where to file for its removal.

DIY is the most comprehensive aproach and even if you use a service, you should DIY from time to time; because when push comes to shove, its not humans vs machines, its humans & machines.

Seal the Data Leaks

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Cryptography is a mathematical wizardry by which you can keep your digital memories safe from prying eyes, share secrets across different channels without meeting in the first place, give proof of something you have without revealing what that thing is, be a witness of the proof & even apparently beat quantum computers.

You think VPN's protect you? well kinda, base layers of the internet is encrypted by default by something called TLS, so thank god cryptographers for that. VPN protect you from the malicious upper layers, at least when you choose a good provider.

(btw that malicious upper layers are the apps you love)

But all in all, its plain simple (albeit hard) maths that you probably won't use when buying a coffee, but well again, thank god for those wonderful people who gave their sweat and blood for this beauty called maths.

The thing is, internet and our devices were made by keeping efficiency in mind, not security, but once efficiency got achieved, we got plagued with shareholder greed taking over.

Web 1.0 was a read only environment meaning you can only consume information, Web 2.0 is read/write environment meaning you can interact with the information and Web 3.0 is first and foremost a secure environment.

Once Web 3.0 has been achieved, we can then move on to adopting lightning or quite possibly monero as our medium of exchange, as cash & digital bank accounts is controlled by Tyrannical governments and their institutions which degrade the value of our collective productivity.

Just to beat inflation we have to think about investments rather than focusing on what we do best - our work.

While Bitcoin can serve as a unit of account, as its optimized for verifiability not privacy or scale.

So anons, now that I have cleared this big misconception that web 3.0 is not about infecting every piece of humanity with casino shitcoins but securityyy, what you gonna do with this information?

This is the question you can only answer.

Love, Wisdom & Tech Savviness

Yours only

securitybrahh | The Sovereign Shadow

The edge changes, the reality shifts.

You are in between that reality.

You are not “in” the present, nor in the future nor in the past.

You ARE the present.

Time is all there is.

Hence change, adapt.

The enemy won't know where you are, because its not where, it's when.

Plausable deniability & pleading negligence is alpha.

Reality isn't what they tell you, it's what you tell them.

Time is on your side only when you believe it doesn't exist.

Love, Wisdom & Tech Savviness,

SecurityBrahh | The Sovereign Shadow

I have been noticing that only 40% of people are opening my emails, I like to keep the quality of my emails list high.

So after 10 hours or so, I will be removing the other 60% (maybe they sub’ed by mistake or have no interest etc)

Thanks for being a reader, I get immense value from you being engaged and your feedback/comments.

Truth, Wisdom & Tech Savviness.

Yours only,

Security Brahh.