home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- Computer underground Digest Wed Mar 18, 1998 Volume 10 : Issue 19
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
- News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
- Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
-
- CONTENTS, #10.19 (Wed, Mar 18, 1998)
-
- File 1--Re: Censorware (Cu Digest, #10.16, Wed 4 Mar 98)
- File 2--Re: "Alert Vulnerability" - Cu Digest, #10.17
- File 3--Fwd: Does John Q. Public understand software complexity?
- File 4--Brian Milburn thread
- File 5--Senator plans to ban .gov porn-parodies; new crypto-campaign
- File 6--ACM Policy 98 Conference coming in May
- File 7--ANNOUNCEMENT: Democratic Renaissance / International Workshop
- File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 08:38:37 -0700
- From: michael_moore@stortek.com
- Subject: File 1--Re: Censorware (Cu Digest, #10.16, Wed 4 Mar 98)
-
- Date--Thu, 5 Mar 1998 12:15:26 -0500 (EST)
- From--"Bill Michaelson" <bill@COSI.COM>
-
- >BTW, I'm not one of "everyone", although I agree that most people seem to
- >accept as a basic premise that children should be shielded from certain
- >types of information. We who believe otherwise are in a very tiny minority.
-
- >I suppose this doctrine is firmly embedded in our culture, with
- >movie rating schemes and similar filtering/censoring devices all
- >around. It's practically apostasy to suggest that children can
- >handle any information with proper guidance. But having been a child
- >who was allowed access to any type of information, I find this
- >censorship quite repugnant.
-
- From what I'm reading here, you think that censorship of any kind is
- bad. Even the right of a parent to control the information a child
- receives. Not the guvmint, not censorware, but the parent. Correct?
-
- >It is comforting to me to believe that we are very concerned with child
- >welfare, but I am cynical because of the many who apparently trot
- >out the child welfare issue as justification for their political agendas.
-
- My comments have nothing to do with political agendas. No one has the
- right to tell me what is best for my children, not the censors not the
- anti-censors. They are not raising my kids, I am.
-
- >I think children are far more resilient than we give them credit
- >for being. We only stunt their intellectual growth when we withhold
- >information (of any kind) from them. And when some claim that children
- >are not "ready" for information, it is really the *adults* who are not
- >ready or willing to discuss the issues with their children.
-
- Wrong, at least in my case. I will discuss any subject they bring up as
- honestly and as completely as I am able. I note generalizations in this
- paragraph while the whole point of my earlier comments is how I, and no
- one else live my life and raise my children.
-
- > If I don't have the right to control and monitor the information my
- > children receive, than who does? The guvmint? No one?
-
- >Controlling and monitoring are distinct activities. I heartily approve
- >of monitoring (and editorializing upon) the information children receive.
- >I do not approve of controlling it to the extent that any information
- >is excluded.
-
- And here is the point of disagreement. While I agree that there is a
- great resiliancy is kids, there are also many things they cannot handle
- until they have had a chance to grow. I have spent many nights awake,
- comforting one of my children because of an image, idea, or occurance
- that happened in their life that they were, at the time, unable to
- handle. I would protect my kids from that when I can.
-
- >Regardless, I would give you the right to do both with your children,
- >just so that I could live in peace with you. I wouldn't necessarily
- >approve, and we might clash at the school board meeting occasionally.
-
- You and I may have.
-
- >In the end, I suppose my child would then have a competitive advantage
- >over yours.
-
- That remains to be seen, however it is mere speculation.
-
- >>>We do not allow parents to keep their children from getting an
- >>>education. We do not allow this even though that education can lead
- >>>to those children learning things that will cause them to disagree
- >>>with their parents.
- >
- >> Parents do not have the right to keep their children from an education
- >> but with things like the PTA and school board meetings we do have some
- >> control on the content of that education.
-
- >And the PTA and the school board, et al, battle it out, and the kids are
- >taught the resulting curriculum over some parents' objections. That
- >was the original poster's point.
-
- True, what a child learns in grade school differs enormously from high
- school, but then so does the child's worldview and maturity.
-
- >> War is a fact and cannot be hidden, however are you going to show photos
- >> of Aushwitz to a 3rd grade class or pictures of liberated villages whose
- >> people are glad that some one stood up to fight when it was necessary.
-
- >Is that how you choose to introduce the concept of war to children? Show
- >them the glory before you show them the horror? I'm getting a fresh
- >perspective on why war has persisted through the ages.
-
- You betcha. It has persisted because someone will always try to
- subjegate another. Someone will always want to take what another has.
- And when it reaches a point where it affects nations, war is inevitable.
- Hoping it will go away is just wishful thinking.
-
- >> Showing a little child pictures of horror will not end wars
- >Not by itself it won't.
- >> in the future but it will frighted, shock, and disturb him. Is this
- >> the way we want our small children to feel?
- >Yes. That is exactly how I want our small children to feel about war.
- >Frightened, shocked and confused. That's how I feel about war. What
- >about you?
-
- No I don't. Instead I want them to feel confident, knowlegable, and
- aware. War is horrible, the premature death of any individual should be
- considered the greatest outrage against mankind. This is a feeling that
- should be instilled in all people, children and adults alike. But to
- live in such fear of fighting that not to fight if and when it becomes
- necessary goes against everything I believe in.
-
- >> I don't and will do everything I can to
- >> block such sights from them until I think they're ready.
- >"Ready", how? Ready to accept such sights unemotionally?
-
- No, not unemotionally but instead mature enough to see them as the
- horrors they are, not the horrors a small child can imaging them to be.
- Little children take most everything they see, hear, and learn very
- personally. They do not see it as history but as immediate and now. They
- see these things as something that could happen to them that very day.
- They do not see it as something that has happened and good people
- everywhere are trying to prevent from happening again.
-
- >Interesting to me that you use Aushwitz and third grade as an example.
- >That's when I first learned about the Holocaust. I was about 7 or 8 years
- >old when I pulled a history book off my aunt's shelf while looking for
- >entertainment and found graphic descriptions of what man does to man in the
- >photos of liberated Nazi concentration camps. Yeah, I was disturbed and
- >confused. It was the weirdest shit I'd ever seen, and it took me years
- >to digest it. But I was old enough to go seeking information in history
- >books, so I found history, in a dosage exactly proportional to my
- >perceptual abilities at the time. Later, when I heard about this
- >guy called Hitler, it really meant something to me.
-
- I was also disturbed and confused when I learned about the camps. The
- pictures and movies I saw still haunt me at times. I still cannot
- understand the motivation for such atrocities. It is completely alien to
- my thinking.
-
- >I disagree with the notion that showing a child pictures of horror will
- >not end war. It will require a lot of factors to end war, but at the
- >core of our motivation will be a visceral revulsion of it. Short of
- >first-hand experience (which would be self-defeating), how are people
- >to acquire such revulsion through sanitized presentations at only
- >"appropriate" times?
-
- I have no idea when I first saw such things, but I must have been at an
- age when the emotions they generated were not revulsion so much as rage
- that this could happen. And that is the emotion I want my kids to feel,
- not revulsion so great that they hide from it but rage that it could
- happen and should never happen again.
-
- >Through a picture is the best way for a child to see a war, and it should
- >be seen, as early as possible, as far as I'm concerned. A child can
- >then contrast it with the reality of the decent civilized community within
- >which (hopefully) they live. They need to see the possibilities while
- >they're young and it will make the most lasting impression. This is
- >important stuff to learn while young.
-
- True, we only disagree on the extent and at what age a child should be
- shown the images of war.
-
- >>Violence is a fact of life but it is my job as a parent to protect my
- >>children from violence as long as I can. I fail to see how teaching
-
- >So protect them from violence. Don't "protect" them from knowledge.
-
- >> self-defence to an eight year old can protect them from violence from an
- >> adult. I must and do teach my kids what they can do in a bad situation,
- >> but I also try to teach them that in many instances violence is not as
- >> ubiquitious as the media portrays. I don't hide the fact of violence and
- >> hate from them but if I left it up to them to learn on their own, would
- >> they not learn that it is unavoidable, everyone is evil, and they can do
- >> nothing to escape it? Wouldn't it be more traumatic for my kids to live
- >> paranoid and afraid? Because of the sensational nature of the really
- >> heinous crimes, might they not think they are more prevelant then they
- >> actually are? Of course I'm going to keep some of this from my kids
- >> until I, no one else, decide that they are ready to handle it.
-
- >So you are seeking a sense of balance in how media portrays life for your
- >child. That's sensible. Supervise and mediate, advise and consult. Help
- >them think critically. Don't let them live in a fantasy world shaped by
- >television and video games. You sound like a concerned, well-meaning and
- >loving parent.
-
- >But don't prohibit them from learning about ANYTHING. You can't stop it,
- >and if you try, you'll lose some of their trust. They're very smart, and
- >if you think you are keeping information from them, then it's almost
- >certain that THEY are or will be keeping information from YOU. Believe it.
-
- I won't prohibit my children from learning anything. I will try to
- protect them from things I don't think they are ready to handle. But if
- they do find out about a subject, I won't prevent them. In fact, it
- means that I miss-judged their ability and maturity and will encourage
- them. But at the same time, the whole point of my original post is that
- I AM the judge, not some faceless guvmint or software publisher. I do
- not, and will not use any type of screening software. I don't rely on
- movie rating or other nonsense that this country tries to use to protect
- us from ourselves. I will not surrender to anyone my right to raise my
- children the way I believe they should be raised. And when I have to do
- that by censorship, I do.
-
- >>>Yes, as a previous poster said, a 10-year-old searching for
- >>>information under "American Girl" may see things that will remain
- >>>with that child for the rest of his or her life. But there is no
- >>>evidence that this harms the child; there are a _lot_ of things that
- >>>remain with people throughout their lives. Parents have the
- >>>opportunity to do a lot of things that have this characteristic;
- >>>should they be able to shut children off from others doing the same,
- >>>if no harm is done to the child?
- >
- >> Maybe this stuff will do no permanent harm but they can be confusing to
- >> a child without the maturity to handle it. The little folks have enough
- >That's how maturity is acquired.
- >> problems living in the big folks world as it is. So I will keep things
- >> from my kids that I don't think they are ready for.
-
- >Like the military draft was something my mother thought I wasn't ready
- >to handle at the tender age of 18, I'm sure.
-
- But you learned about the draft in other ways. The point here is that
- your mother was exercising her right and duty to raise her son the way
- she saw best. Right or wrong, I do not fault her for trying.
-
- >Events march on, and you can't stop them.
- >You're not helping the kids. I suspect that it is you who are not ready
- >to face these issues with your kids. It's tough to explain to a child why
- >someone would hang a person from their skull on a meathook. In fact, I
- >don't really know how to explain it, or whether it merits explanation so
- >much as it calls for introspection. But if you have kids, you're stuck with
- >this sort of problem, if you accept the responsibility. Your kids will
- >know when you are hiding something, or are too squeamish to talk to them
- >about it. That does not foster trust. Get over it before the gulf gets >wide.
-
- You are reading much more into my words than I wrote. It is not
- abrogation of responsibility but the exercise of responsiblitly that I
- am talking about. Censorship plays only a small part in my raising of my
- kids, but it does play a part and I will not give up my right to use it.
-
- >> It boils down to a matter of values, not the PC "Family Values" that are
- >> being touted but the values that I've learned over the years and have
- >> put into my own life. I will try to instill those values in my children
- >> until such time as they are ready to develop their own. And I will do it
- >> by "censorship" if I think that is the way it should be done.
-
- >You lead by example. Regardless of your motives, the value you are
- >instilling is to control people by limiting their access to information.
-
- Again, no. Just to the point I feel they are ready to handle it. I do
- not keep things from a 13 year old, I think they are on the path to
- adulthood and probably ready for whatever they encounter. But I would
- from a 7 year old.
-
- >Perhaps they will learn this lesson well, and use it on you. Watch out
- >for the teen years.
-
- My kids are teens, and raised using the methods I've tried to describe.
- Two have graduated high school already, one is a senior. My son is
- heavily into computers and is now apprenticed to a computer graphics
- firm to learn the business. My oldest daughter is saving money for her
- schooling (a value instilled), and the youngest wants to be a writer and
- artist. I am proud of my kids.
-
- >But that's your privilege. Keep your kids off the 'net until you think
- >they're "ready". Or supervise them. But don't surrender your parental
- >responsibilities to someone else with their own social agenda, like a
- >censorware software maker.
-
- Again, I DO NOT surrender my responsibilities, not to the censors, not
- to the others who think differently from me.
-
- >I'm willing to pay the school tax for your kids, and to subsidize your
- >extra tax write-offs. No problem. But don't ask me to pay the cost of
- >your parenting responsibilities with my freedom of speech, or the freedom
- >to seek information of *any* sort. Don't lend support to cockamamie rating
- >systems that will sterilize the 'net.
-
- You are free to say anything you wish and learn anything you wish, I
- support that wholeheartedly. But then so am I. And if you say something
- that I would see as detrimental to my children I would block it from
- them. I don't lend support to cockamamie rating systems, nor do I want
- to see anything like mandatory censorship of the net or anything else. I
- only want to make it clear that I will not give up my duties as a parent
- and the tools I have available, including censorship, to anyone.
-
- I am curious about the tax writeoffs you mention, I can't remember ever
- getting a break.:^)
-
- >I don't mind too much if some parents choose to keep their kids ignorant,
- >but not anyone else's, and certainly not the world at large.
-
- It is not ignorance I support, but what as I see as responsible
- parenting. My methods have worked for me. My kids are the proof. My
- biggest objection is ANYONE telling me that what I do with and for my
- family is wrong because it does not agree with what they think is right.
- I don't do it to others, do not do it to me.
-
- Peace.
-
- Michael W. Moore
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:36:13 -0500 (EST)
- From: "John S. Cronin" <jsc@SWAMP.OIT.GATECH.EDU>
- Subject: File 2--Re: "Alert Vulnerability" - Cu Digest, #10.17
-
- > From--shadow@KRYPTON.RAIN.COM(Leonard Erickson)
- >
- > In Cu Digest, #10.16, Wed 4 Mar 98, "Richard K. Moore" <rkmoore@iol.ie>
- > writes:
- >
- > > The next step is to contact those people NOW - while you still can
- > > conveniently - and exchange with them your phone numbers, fax numbers, and
- > > postal addresses. You might even go so far as to make preliminary
- > > arrangements for "phone-tree" or "photocopy-tree" protocols for
- > > distributing information, but most of us probably won't get around to that,
- > > life being what it is. The important thing is to have the necessary data
- > > on hand well in advance of need.
- >
- > I suggest checking out Fidonet. Unlike the Internet, Fidonet is *based*
- > on a "phone directory" (the nodelist) that permits *direct* exchange of
- > email and files between sites. It also has some elementary security
- > provisions, such as pre-arranged session passwords.
-
- I am surprised that nobody mentioned another old standard, UUCP. It
- was passing news and email long before the Internet. It works via direct
- connections over the phone lines. It is not a great replacement for
- "the Internet", but in a pinch, it is would certainly be much better
- than nothing at all. So the trick is, prepare now to bring up a UUCP
- network in a crisis, if you are concerned about this. Virtually all
- Unix systems have UUCP support, and I have seen UUCP on DOS systems
- as well.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 13 Mar 98 16:24:23 -0800
- From: Tommy Anderberg, Tommy.Anderberg@abc.se
- Subject: File 3--Fwd: Does John Q. Public understand software complexity?
-
- I dare say he does not. If the general public understood the realities of
- software design, development, testing, documentation and maintenance -
- simply
- put, what an incredible amount of work it all is - we wouldn't be having
- problems like a "sudden" 2YK crisis ("what do you mean there isn't enough
- time to fix all systems, there are almost two years left and it's just a
- few 0s!") and even software piracy would probably not be as widespread as
- it is ("hey, it's not stealing - besides, it's absurd what those lazy, fat
- cat programmers would have you pay for a few lines of code").
-
- That's why I came up with the idea for the contest at
-
- http://www.polyhedric.com/software/acid/contest.html
-
- Taking part is very simple: all you have to do is guess the size of the
- source code for a new, moderately complex program (available for download
- at the same site). Get it right to within ten lines and you win a free
- user
- license. More importantly, you will have given some thought to the
- complexity of a minuscule part of "cyberspace", hopefully gaining some
- insight in the process. At least, that's the idea.
-
- So how is it working out? Well, I've just had the first answers sent over
- -
- both the contest and the software are brand new - and it's even worse than
- I thought. So bad in fact that the deadline for submissions may have to be
- extended beyond the originally planned date of April 6. If not, we may not
- even have somebody land in the right ballpark.
-
- We already have the terms "illiteracy" and (semi-officially) "innumeracy",
- but I think the time has come to coin a counterpart for the information
- age.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:28:54 GMT
- From: Randy Simpson <rjsimpson@hotmail.com>
- Subject: File 4--Brian Milburn thread
-
- Re: the CyberSitter issue - I have 2 daughters who are now both in
- college so I might be able to provide an additional perspective on this
- issue.
-
- At some point, usually in high school but certainly by college, even the
- most vigilant parent has to trust that what they've taught their child
- is sufficient preparation for them to go it on their own.
-
- If all that a parent has taught a child is to obey the dictates set
- down, then they've done a poor job of preparing that child to make
- decisions on their own. The child might make a good soldier or prison
- guard but certainly not anyone creative.
-
- As far as limiting access on the net, at some age it might be wise to
- involve the child in making decisions about what to block. Of course,
- this would require that reasons be given to the child for such
- censorship and a parent should be aware that the reasons given now will
- be re-examined by the child at an older age - relying on trickery or
- poor logic is unwise.
-
- As for parental discretion within software that limits children's
- access: if I were the author of such a product, my goal would be to have
- a default setting that would reflect my standards for children or
- possibly what I perceived to be the standards of the parents likely to
- use my product with the option for parents to easily adjust the default
- settings.
-
- I suspect that many parents think they can take software like
- CyberSitter and plug it in to relieve themselves of the responsibility
- of participating in their child's usage of the net.
-
- While I think that a child should be allowed the chance to explore the
- net on their own, I also think that a parent who truly cares about a
- child would want to be part of his/her net experience just as they would
- want to be part of other aspects of a child's life. No one would expect
- a parent to take a test for a child or to be at bat for them in a little
- league game. Why expect a parent to act in place of a child's discretion
- on the net?
-
- IMHO, a child is a person with qualities to be discovered and brought
- out, not some piece of material to be hammered into something you wish
- you could have been.
-
- If you *must* force some dogma on your children, at least make it
- something that you've thought out rather than some "conventional wisdom"
- that you've unthinkingly accepted.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 13:21:51 -0800 (PST)
- From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
- Subject: File 5--Senator plans to ban .gov porn-parodies; new crypto-campaign
-
- Source - fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
-
- Y'all should subscribe to politech.I rarely forward stuff to f-c
- http://www.well.com/~declan/politech
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
- Date--Wed, 4 Mar 1998 13:15:35 -0800 (PST)
- To--politech@vorlon.mit.edu
- Subject--Senator plans to ban .gov porn-parodies; new crypto-campaign
-
- More on Gates in NYC and the FBI's antihacker crusade is at
- the URL below. --Declan
-
- ===========
-
- http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/afternoon/0,1012,1782,00.html
-
- The Netly News / Afternoon Line
- March 4, 1998
-
- Loin-cloth
-
- One lawmaker who doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor about
- titillating web sites is Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.). When his
- presumably technology-impaired staffer stumbled across whitehouse.com
- and found not Hillary Clinton's child care proposals but a doctored
- photo of Hillary in leather, Faircloth decided to take action. "I plan
- to introduce legislation that would ban the assignment of popular
- government agency names to anyone," he told The Netly News after
- speaking at an Internet child safety seminar this afternoon. "Can you
- imagine how many people have thought they were contacting the White
- House only to see that?" A better question might be which site is the
- more popular one. --By Declan McCullagh/Washington
-
- Might Makes Right
-
- Congress rarely does the right thing for the right reason.Instead,
- lobbyists vie to make voting the wrong way too politically costly for
- legislators.
-
- Now a new coalition, called Americans for Computer Privacy, is
- trying out this strategy on encryption legislation. The group of high
- tech firms and nonprofit groups aims to convince lawmakers that
- supporting restrictions on either the domestic use or overseas
- shipment of encryption productions is too politically painful.
-
- "We would not turn the keys to our front doors over the
- government. Why should we have to turn over the keys to our
- computers?" asked ACP counsel and former White House lawyer Jack
- Quinn.
-
- To convince Americans that ACP's answer is the right one, the
- coalition has gathered together an advisory panel of former spooks and
- law enforcement agents.
-
- Quinn told the Netly News that his strategy has already won
- results--"Senior officials at the National Security Council and the
- vice president's office" this morning signaled they're willing to sit
- down at the table for a friendly chat about crypto-laws. --By Declan
- McCullagh/Washington
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 08:35:49 -0500
- From: morgan@shore.net
- Subject: File 6--ACM Policy 98 Conference coming in May
-
- We hope you can join us for this exciting conferrence!
-
- For more press information, please contact Tina Angelone at
- angelone@hq.acm.org
- or visit http://www.acm.org/policy98/
-
- -- Chris Morgan
-
- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
- ACM Information Alert
- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
-
- ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY
- * * * POLICY '98 CONFERENCE * * *
- http://www.acm.org/policy98/
-
- "Shaping Policy in the Information Age"
- Washington, DC, Renaissance Hotel
- May 10-12, 1998
-
- Register now for the one computing policy conference you don't
- want to miss...featuring:
- - Senator Orrin Hatch (invited): Future of Intellectual Property
- - Special Advisor to the President Ira Magaziner: White House Report
- - Representative Vern Ehlers (invited): Reformulating US Science Policy
- - Representative Constance Morella: The Role of the Federal Government
- in Computing
- - Assistant Director Juris Hartmanis: The Role of the National Science
- Foundation in Computing Policy
- - Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
- Larry Irving: Universal Service
- - Debate: Esther Dyson and Gary Chapman
- - ACM Presidential Award for founding NetDay: John Gage, Sun
- Microsystems
- - Making Science Policy: Roundtable with NPR Correspondent Dan Charles
-
- The ACM Policy '98 Conference will focus on public policy issues
- affecting future applications of computing. Our goal is to
- forge stronger links between computing professionals and policy
- makers. Attendees will interact with prominent leaders from
- academia, industry, Congress, and Executive agencies, and
- participate in debates on policy issues including:
-
- - Universal Access - Electronic Commerce
- - Intellectual Property - Education Online
-
- All Policy '98 attendees are invited to the Annual ACM Awards
- Banquet on Sunday evening May 10th, and a conference reception
- on Monday evening May 11th at the new headquarters of the
- American Association for the Advancement of Science.
-
- Register online at
-
- http://www.acm.org/policy98/
-
- or write to policy98@acm.org. Early registrants and
- ACM members receive discounts. A limited number of
- low-priced student registrations are available.
-
- Conference Chairs - Ben Shneiderman, Dianne Martin
- Program Chairs - Marc Rotenberg, Keith Miller
- Panel Moderators - Jim Horning, Pamela Samuelson,
- Charles Brownstein, Oliver Smoot
- USACM Chair - Barbara Simons
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 22:03:35 GMT
- From: "Richard K. Moore" <rkmoore@iol.ie>
- Subject: File 7--ANNOUNCEMENT: Democratic Renaissance / International Workshop
-
- * Workshop Announcement *
-
- - please distribute globally -
-
- ~-===================================================-~
- Seeking an Effective Democratic
- Response to Globalization
- and Corporate Power
-
- an international workshop for activist leaders
-
- Summer 1998, Canada -- details available soon
-
- Organized by: Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
- ~-===================================================-~
-
-
- WHO WE ARE...
- We are an informal association of concerned citizens from around the
- world who are dedicated to overcoming corporate domination through the
- revitalization of constitutional democracy.
-
- OUR MISSION...
- is to work with people and organizations everywhere to help
- bring about an historic transition from this "Era of Corporate Hegemony"
- to a new "Era of Democratic Renaissance".
-
- WHY WE ARE SPONSORING THIS WORKSHOP...
- The purpose of the workshop is to begin a global consensus-building
- process among diverse activist groups -- to develop a shared perspective
- on globalization and a common strategy for effective democratic counter-
- measures. This process will be continued in larger follow-on conferences
- and in other ways, aiming toward the the creation of a potent political
- movement...
-
- The Global Coalition for a Democratic Renaissance
-
-
- ~-===============================================================-~
- Manifesto for a
- Democratic Renaissance
-
- (1) Corporate globalization is leading the world to disaster and
- something MUST be done about it. Corporate influence has corrupted
- our democracies, undermined our sovereignties, bankrupted our govern-
- ments and is destroying the very earth our survival depends upon.
-
- (2) The very success of corporate globalism in subjugating everyone
- to its agenda has created the potential for a massive counter-movement,
- a peaceful democratic counter-revolution on a global scale.
-
- (3) Political activists must rise to the challenge of this strategic
- opportunity -- it is time to move beyond our special-interest
- causes and find a path to solidarity and the collaborative pursuit
- of shared objectives. Foremost among our tasks is to build bridges
- across the gulfs dividing factions such as liberals & conservatives,
- believers & non-believers, labor & environmentalists, etc.
-
- We are all in this together!
-
- (4) Overcoming corporate globalism calls for more than protest or
- resistance -- it requires a different vision for the world, a
- coherent agenda which can provide sustainable prosperity and
- which avoids chaos during the historic transition.
-
- (5) That vision and agenda must be based on the establishment of
- healthy democratic processes in our individual nations and on
- the realization that sustainable economics and respect for the
- environment are not just good ideas, but are rather necessities
- for human survival.
- ~-===============================================================-~
-
- About the workshop..
-
- This initial workshop will be very small, limited to approximately
- fifty invited delegates. We are seeking a "representative sample"
- of activist leaders from every corner of the world, representing
- diverse constituencies and all walks of life. This workshop will be
- held in English, but we are developing the capability to support
- multiple languages in future events.
-
- The reason for the small size is to ensure that everyone will be heard
- and to encourage an atmosphere of comradarie and focused endeavor.
- Workshop deliberations will be based on the principle of consensus,
- ensuring that no one is coerced and that no viewpoints are ignored.
-
- The workshop will be one week in duration. Meals and accommodations
- will be provided on-site and local volunteers will enable us to keep
- workshop fees to a minimum. Staff and other locals, including indigenous
- tribal members, will join us for evening activities, which will emphasize
- sharing of cultural traditions through conversation, music, dance, and
- story telling.
-
- A web page on our server will be dedicated to the workshop, and daily
- bulletins will be published, including session reports and delegate
- interviews. An email list will be dedicated to discussion of the
- workshop, and netizens everywhere are invited to participate remotely
- via these facilities.
-
- A professional and unobtrusive film crew will be in attendance to record
- selected workshop activities and to interview delegates and others.
- A broadcast-quality documentary will be produced to promote the coalition
- and will be made available at a nominal fee for non-commercial use. We
- will also seek broadcast, cable, and video distribution worldwide.
-
- The workshop process will begin before the workshop actually convenes.
- As delegates are recruited, email and fax will be used to introduce
- delegates to one another and to begin substantive discussions.
- Session details will be settled in this way and a draft manifesto
- will be developed on a collaborative basis.
-
- Sessions will generally begin with a panel presentation and then open
- up to general discussion. We will break up into smaller groups fre-
- quently to enable all delegates to contribute and to facilitate the
- consensus process. Session descriptions may change depending on
- delegate interest and willingness to participate on panels.
- ________________________________________________
-
- Provisional session descriptions...
-
- * OPENING CEREMONY - traditional spiritual-alignment
- ceremony led by local indigenous tribal leaders
-
- * GETTING ACQUAINTED - delegate self-intros, description
- of activities and organizations, statement of intentions
- regarding workshop and coalition; discussion of workshop
- process and agenda
-
- * GLOBALIZATION AND CORPORATE POWER - presentation:
- capsule history of corporate power and the rise of globalization,
- with an emphasis on sovereignty and democracy; discussion of
- globalization and its consequences; special presentation by anti-
- MAI activist delegates
-
- * POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY - comparison of political and
- electoral systems in delegates' countries; discussion of reform
- agendas; discussion of media propaganda and the growth of
- factionalism; special presentation on Cuban system by Cuban
- delegate(s)
-
- * INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - presentation: capsule history
- of imperialism, the postwar pax-americana regime, and hi-tech
- neo-interventionism; discussion of the linkage between these
- developments and globalization generally, especially in light
- of (elite strategist) Samuel P. Huntington's KulturKampf agenda;
- special focus on Middle East, including delegates from that
- region
-
- * TOWARD A SENSIBLE WORLD - panel reports and general dis-
- cussion of ecosystems, economics, technology, sustainability, and
- prosperity; discussion of reform agendas and priorities;
- discussion
- of how to implement reform incrementally, without causing chaos
- in the process; discussion of international relations based on
- the
- paradigm of collaboration
-
- * ADOPTION OF CONSENSUS MANIFESTO - discussion,
- amendment, and adoption of documents which have been
- previously developed via email, fax, etc. by delegates
-
- * COALITION LAUNCH - for those delegates who are ready to
- commit, there will be a ceremonial declaration of collaborative
- solidarity in pursuit of the goals of the manifesto. These
- delegates will then be the charter members of:
-
- The Global Coalition for a Democratic Renaissance
-
- * GETTING ON WITH THE REVOLUTION - discussion of
- coalition-building and of movement strategy; identification
- of initial constituencies to be recruited to the coalition;
- break up into affinity groups to discuss joint endeavors and
- to commit to initial joint objectives; reconvene and discuss
- reports of affinity groups; closing discussion
-
- * CLOSING CEREMONY - traditional endeavor-blessing
- ceremony led by local indigenous tribal leaders
-
- * farewell "rebel-rousing" party in honor of staff
-
- ________________________________________________
-
- If you are interested...
-
- If you are an activist leader who is interested in being a delegate, if
- you want to recommend a candidate, or if you want to be kept in the
- loop on developments -- please contact us at cadre@cyberjournal.org.
-
- And please visit our our website "cj/cadre", more formally known as
- http://cyberjournal.org/cadre
-
-
- Sincerely Yours,
- Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance (CADRE)
-
- Richard K. Moore richard@cyberjournal.org
- Freelance writer & political analyst
- US citizen residing in Ireland
- Editor, cyberJournal@cpsr.org
- Chair, CADRE
- Co-author, cj/cadre
-
- "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful
- committed citizens can change the world,
- indeed it's the only thing that ever has."
-
- - Margaret Mead
-
- Carolyn Ballard cballard@cetlink.net
- Freelance writer, South Carolina, USA
- Co-author & editor, cj/cadre
-
- "You write in order to change the world. The world
- changes according to the way people see it, and if you
- can alter, even by a millimeter, the way...people look
- at
- reality, then you can change it."
-
- - James Baldwin
-
- Jan Slakov jslakov@TartanNET.ns.ca
- Peace and environmental activist, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Liaison to organizations affiliated with CADRE
-
- "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
- adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of
- stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light
- can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can
- do that."
-
- -Martin Luther King
-
- Chris Thorman chris@thorman.com
- Administrator, cyberjournal.org
-
- "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it;
- Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
-
- - Goethe
-
- ________________________________________________________________
-
- ~-==============================================-~
- Restore democratic sovereignty.
- Create a sane and livable world.
- Bring corporate globalization under control.
-
- Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
- http://cyberjournal.org/cadre
- mailto:cadre@cyberjournal.org
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 7 May 1997 22:51:01 CST
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
- Subject: File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
-
- Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
- available at no cost electronically.
-
- CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
-
- Or, to subscribe, send post with this in the "Subject:: line:
-
- SUBSCRIBE CU-DIGEST
- Send the message to: cu-digest-request@weber.ucsd.edu
-
- DO NOT SEND SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MODERATORS.
-
- The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-6436), fax (815-753-6302)
- or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
- 60115, USA.
-
- To UNSUB, send a one-line message: UNSUB CU-DIGEST
- Send it to CU-DIGEST-REQUEST@WEBER.UCSD.EDU
- (NOTE: The address you unsub must correspond to your From: line)
-
- Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
- news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
- LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
- libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
- the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
- On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
- on RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020 (and via Ripco on internet);
- CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from
- 1:11/70; unlisted nodes and points welcome.
-
- In ITALY: ZERO! BBS: +39-11-6507540
-
- UNITED STATES: ftp.etext.org (206.252.8.100) in /pub/CuD/CuD
- Web-accessible from: http://www.etext.org/CuD/CuD/
- ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4) in /pub/Publications/CuD/
- aql.gatech.edu (128.61.10.53) in /pub/eff/cud/
- world.std.com in /src/wuarchive/doc/EFF/Publications/CuD/
- wuarchive.wustl.edu in /doc/EFF/Publications/CuD/
- EUROPE: nic.funet.fi in pub/doc/CuD/CuD/ (Finland)
- ftp.warwick.ac.uk in pub/cud/ (United Kingdom)
-
-
- The most recent issues of CuD can be obtained from the
- Cu Digest WWW site at:
- URL: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/
-
- COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
- information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
- diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
- as the source is cited. Authors hold a presumptive copyright, and
- they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
- non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
- specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
- relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
- preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
- unless absolutely necessary.
-
- DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
- the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
- responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
- violate copyright protections.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Computer Underground Digest #10.19
- ************************************
-
-
-