Author

Topic: Laissez Faire City (a BFL connection(?), et al.) (Read 6779 times)

newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
December 11, 2017, 09:06:22 AM
#50
yeah, i found that, too.  u see?  no tech background on there.  i think he's just leaving it off.
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
Gleb, wow - checked out the twitter link and followed some links from here.  also found him on linkedin.  it looks like him (the photo), but the background doesn't match up.  the guy i was working with was quite technical -- worked on the linux kernel, patented data networks over power infrastructure in the UK, and we worked deep in the DMT java code.  all the info i found online doesn't show any of that technical history.

Read his Bio here: http://www.westmiller.com/family/ww_biog.htm
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
Gleb, yes those connections definitely check out.  just the presented skillset doesn't check out.  he's probably not listing his technical capabilities and that related history.  seems to be more politically oriented, so the tech history can be dropped.  it's too much of a coincidence that this is a different guy from the guy i worked with.  even taking into consideration the nearly 20 years of memory fade, chances are there wouldn't be two different people who looked that similar, associated with my experiences with DMT, LFC, Orlin, in CR, during that time frame.  Gotta be the guy.  I've pinged him, haven't heard back  I don't know about all the follow on stories, but he was a good guy to work with, and I found him to be decent and real in the week I spent with him.  Hopefully he'll ping me back, at least to catch up on things.
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
Gleb, wow - checked out the twitter link and followed some links from here.  also found him on linkedin.  it looks like him (the photo), but the background doesn't match up.  the guy i was working with was quite technical -- worked on the linux kernel, patented data networks over power infrastructure in the UK, and we worked deep in the DMT java code.  all the info i found online doesn't show any of that technical history.

There is a connection to Grabbe and 1999: https://web.archive.org/web/19990428164419/http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.2/Future_and.html
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
Gleb, wow - checked out the twitter link and followed some links from here.  also found him on linkedin.  it looks like him (the photo), but the background doesn't match up.  the guy i was working with was quite technical -- worked on the linux kernel, patented data networks over power infrastructure in the UK, and we worked deep in the DMT java code.  all the info i found online doesn't show any of that technical history.
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
yeah, that's him.  i'll call you later this weekend, but gotta run for now.  thanks for the info.

Dude, don't you want the surprise first? His email address was gleaned from https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.2702979 ([email protected]) Why was he using Rex at the time when that moniker was contributed to James Ray Houston, Sonny's real dad?
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
yeah, that's him.  i'll call you later this weekend, but gotta run for now.  thanks for the info.
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.



Hello, Sonny Vleisides, how you've been?

If you're not Sonny, then call me at 702-981-5600.

Hi Gleb,  I'm not Sonny.  I was a friend of Orlin's before LFC.  He and I worked on systems for capital markets together and he brought me into a project at LFC to build a web-based client for DMT.  I visited the Costa Rica campus for about a week, I think back in '99 or thereabouts.  

Met a bunch of folks down there and stayed with a guy known as haxaw -- had a lot of late nights drinking rusty nails.  LOL  My team and I worked on the project remotely after that, our codenames were Mr. Black (me), Mr. White, Mr. Blue.  I'm trying to see if I can reconnect with haxaw, but I never knew his real name.  He's probably in his 50s or 60s now, and all I know is that he worked on the Linux kernel with Linus in the early days, and he also patented data networking over electrical power infrastructure in the UK. You'd think I could find him with that info, but it's been a while and the scent is fading.  

Did I meet you down there in CR?  You probably wouldn't recall me, was just there for a brief time.  I remember a girl down there who went by the codename Nova.  She came to pick me up at the airport.  You remember her?  I guess I'm just trying to piece together recollections and reconnect with folks and see if there's a connection between DMT and the early concepts of bitcoin.  There's some mythology building that some of the DMT team are actually Satoshi.  Who knows.  Could be a good movie in there somewhere.



No, I wasn't down there. Do you recall a dude named Jeff Ownby while you were there? I believe I can give you a lead on Nova. At one time I leaned toward her being one of Sonny's girlfriends.

Here's a weird question: Do you think that Orlin is really dead? I'll PM you my Nova lead. I'm hunting it now.

EDIT: Does this person ring a bell? https://twitter.com/wwestmiller

EDIT: May be a dead end on Nova. Mixed her up with Gino but still looking.

EDIT: And fuck you for bringing down this rabbit hole again after once spending hundreds of hours researching LFC et al.  Tongue

Haha, yeah - a deep rabbit hole it is.  

A bunch of us conjecture on whether Orlin is still alive, or not.  We had a wake for Orlin in NYC, can't recall exactly when, sometime in the '00s.  There was about a dozen of us, having drinks in the east village, sharing memories of Orlin.  But no one knew if he was actually dead.  No one saw a body or any proof.  So when bitcoin spun up, and all the questions about who really is Satoshi, we would joke that Orlin is Satoshi.  I dunno, man - it's possible.

Hey, that's it!  Westmiller, that's the guy!  I'll have to ping him on LI.  At least to thank him for intro'ing me to Rusty Nails. LOL  Thanks man!


Wait, Westmiller is the guy you were looking for? haxaw? Boy, do I have a surprise for you if he is.
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.



Hello, Sonny Vleisides, how you've been?

If you're not Sonny, then call me at 702-981-5600.

Hi Gleb,  I'm not Sonny.  I was a friend of Orlin's before LFC.  He and I worked on systems for capital markets together and he brought me into a project at LFC to build a web-based client for DMT.  I visited the Costa Rica campus for about a week, I think back in '99 or thereabouts.  

Met a bunch of folks down there and stayed with a guy known as haxaw -- had a lot of late nights drinking rusty nails.  LOL  My team and I worked on the project remotely after that, our codenames were Mr. Black (me), Mr. White, Mr. Blue.  I'm trying to see if I can reconnect with haxaw, but I never knew his real name.  He's probably in his 50s or 60s now, and all I know is that he worked on the Linux kernel with Linus in the early days, and he also patented data networking over electrical power infrastructure in the UK. You'd think I could find him with that info, but it's been a while and the scent is fading.  

Did I meet you down there in CR?  You probably wouldn't recall me, was just there for a brief time.  I remember a girl down there who went by the codename Nova.  She came to pick me up at the airport.  You remember her?  I guess I'm just trying to piece together recollections and reconnect with folks and see if there's a connection between DMT and the early concepts of bitcoin.  There's some mythology building that some of the DMT team are actually Satoshi.  Who knows.  Could be a good movie in there somewhere.



No, I wasn't down there. Do you recall a dude named Jeff Ownby while you were there? I believe I can give you a lead on Nova. At one time I leaned toward her being one of Sonny's girlfriends.

Here's a weird question: Do you think that Orlin is really dead? I'll PM you my Nova lead. I'm hunting it now.

EDIT: Does this person ring a bell? https://twitter.com/wwestmiller

EDIT: May be a dead end on Nova. Mixed her up with Gino but still looking.

EDIT: And fuck you for bringing down this rabbit hole again after once spending hundreds of hours researching LFC et al.  Tongue

Haha, yeah - a deep rabbit hole it is. 

A bunch of us conjecture on whether Orlin is still alive, or not.  We had a wake for Orlin in NYC, can't recall exactly when, sometime in the '00s.  There was about a dozen of us, having drinks in the east village, sharing memories of Orlin.  But no one knew if he was actually dead.  No one saw a body or any proof.  So when bitcoin spun up, and all the questions about who really is Satoshi, we would joke that Orlin is Satoshi.  I dunno, man - it's possible.

Hey, that's it!  Westmiller, that's the guy!  I'll have to ping him on LI.  At least to thank him for intro'ing me to Rusty Nails. LOL  Thanks man!
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.



Hello, Sonny Vleisides, how you've been?

If you're not Sonny, then call me at 702-981-5600.

Hi Gleb,  I'm not Sonny.  I was a friend of Orlin's before LFC.  He and I worked on systems for capital markets together and he brought me into a project at LFC to build a web-based client for DMT.  I visited the Costa Rica campus for about a week, I think back in '99 or thereabouts.  

Met a bunch of folks down there and stayed with a guy known as haxaw -- had a lot of late nights drinking rusty nails.  LOL  My team and I worked on the project remotely after that, our codenames were Mr. Black (me), Mr. White, Mr. Blue.  I'm trying to see if I can reconnect with haxaw, but I never knew his real name.  He's probably in his 50s or 60s now, and all I know is that he worked on the Linux kernel with Linus in the early days, and he also patented data networking over electrical power infrastructure in the UK. You'd think I could find him with that info, but it's been a while and the scent is fading.  

Did I meet you down there in CR?  You probably wouldn't recall me, was just there for a brief time.  I remember a girl down there who went by the codename Nova.  She came to pick me up at the airport.  You remember her?  I guess I'm just trying to piece together recollections and reconnect with folks and see if there's a connection between DMT and the early concepts of bitcoin.  There's some mythology building that some of the DMT team are actually Satoshi.  Who knows.  Could be a good movie in there somewhere.



No, I wasn't down there. Do you recall a dude named Jeff Ownby while you were there? I believe I can give you a lead on Nova. At one time I leaned toward her being one of Sonny's girlfriends.

Here's a weird question: Do you think that Orlin is really dead? I'll PM you my Nova lead. I'm hunting it now.

EDIT: Does this person ring a bell? https://twitter.com/wwestmiller

EDIT: May be a dead end on Nova. Mixed her up with Gino but still looking.

EDIT: And fuck you for bringing down this rabbit hole again after once spending hundreds of hours researching LFC et al.  Tongue
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.



Hello, Sonny Vleisides, how you've been?

If you're not Sonny, then call me at 702-981-5600.

Hi Gleb,  I'm not Sonny.  I was a friend of Orlin's before LFC.  He and I worked on systems for capital markets together and he brought me into a project at LFC to build a web-based client for DMT.  I visited the Costa Rica campus for about a week, I think back in '99 or thereabouts. 

Met a bunch of folks down there and stayed with a guy known as haxaw -- had a lot of late nights drinking rusty nails.  LOL  My team and I worked on the project remotely after that, our codenames were Mr. Black (me), Mr. White, Mr. Blue.  I'm trying to see if I can reconnect with haxaw, but I never knew his real name.  He's probably in his 50s or 60s now, and all I know is that he worked on the Linux kernel with Linus in the early days, and he also patented data networking over electrical power infrastructure in the UK. You'd think I could find him with that info, but it's been a while and the scent is fading. 

Did I meet you down there in CR?  You probably wouldn't recall me, was just there for a brief time.  I remember a girl down there who went by the codename Nova.  She came to pick me up at the airport.  You remember her?  I guess I'm just trying to piece together recollections and reconnect with folks and see if there's a connection between DMT and the early concepts of bitcoin.  There's some mythology building that some of the DMT team are actually Satoshi.  Who knows.  Could be a good movie in there somewhere.

legendary
Activity: 3304
Merit: 4543
diamond-handed zealot
well...so much for that 1300 bucks

damn

Hey Sonny, just did the math on that...$1.6 million today

hope you and Josh are sleeping well, I am not the only one.
vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.



Hello, Sonny Vleisides, how you've been?

If you're not Sonny, then call me at 702-981-5600.
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
I worked on the web-based version of DMT around 1999-2001.  Great group of people down there.  I was friends with Orlin before LFC and DMT, visionary guy.  There's a lot of negative commentary on this thread about LFC and DMT.  I didn't see that.  Knowing Orlin, and what I saw in CR, they were a committed group with strong convictions working to do good.  No one was trying to rip anyone off.  The whole concept was ahead of its time.  Definitely a precursor to BTC, perhaps a direct connection through some of the team members, not sure.  I was not part of the core team, more of a mercenary to bang out code and get parts of the system built.

I'd really like to reconnect with any of the CR team from the old Nicaraguan embassy. Especially haxaw - if you get this, please ping me.

vip
Activity: 1428
Merit: 1145
Can't believe I missed this thread.   I was searching to see to what extent Orlin Grabbe has been mention on this forum, and was going to post this link to his seminal essay "The End of Ordinary Money," which I thought would be interesting to some people here (although no doubt kind of quaint from a technological perspective, given its age.)   

Today would have been Grabbe's birthday.   He is missed. 


Frank

Hey, James, how much longer are you going to go by your dead father's name?

ref.:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=eufaula&id=I1708
https://analytx.co/shortercemetery.org.html
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=86312654
https://www.bizapedia.com/al/friends-of-shorter-cemetery-inc.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Frank_Mottley&oldid=306622418 (dad had yet to decompose)
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ripple_(payment_protocol)&oldid=661889597
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.9131875 ([email protected])
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
~Bruno~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitcoin100: 1BTC1oo1J3MEt5SFj74ZBcF2Mk97Aah4ac

My job is to uncover the truth and be unwavering, even in the light of louder voices and big business.

BTCitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Re: the slogan currently set in your profile:
"My job is to uncover the truth and be unwavering, even in the light of louder voices and big business."

The CliffsNotes response: You are doing this self-appointed job badly. The way you have been posting anything you find as a 'stream of consciousness' without much filtering, but with interpretation by you, needs to stop.

The Long Response:

Just restricting this analysis to your recent posts about LFCity, what I find fascinating about your choice of sources, is that instead of linking to the small number of high quality articles available on the web, you concentrated on the trashy, deliberately misleading posts spewed in several places during 2002-2005 by disinfo agent 'Witchdoc' AKA 'Simon Jester' AKA 'uppity' (AKA several other aliases).

However, having lurked here at Bitcointalk for a few months, and getting a feel for how this place has been developing, unfortunately it's not surprising.

Applying the old joke to this board: Bitcointalk posters require no physical fitness program. Everyone gets enough exercise jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, knifing friends in the back, dodging responsibility and pushing their luck.

1. Your current 'stream of consciousness' style makes it difficult to sift valid information from the irrelevant or most worrying of all, the unproven and false.

2. Reposting user-generated content from other boards without understanding - or perhaps caring about - the difference between alleged facts and checked out facts, but with the addition of your own interpretation, will get you into all kinds of trouble (both reputational and legal).

Those who use open-source intelligence understand the difference between alleged and checked out facts, and set a high bar to ensure that 'raw' alleged facts are not published.

3. The Bitcointalk community is toxic enough as it is, without adding libellous materials from other places, or making new posts that due to the carelessness with which they have been constructed, make them afresh, and even mint new libellous assertions.

You have already stated false things in this thread. They are not only false but are likely to cause provable harm.

In my next post I will point out your specific libels in more detail. How you (and the board moderators) are going to deal with cleaning up afterwards is the subject for later discussion, i.e. simply deleting the original posts is probably not the correct way to deal with it.

+1

Damn good post! (seriously)

Quote
My job is to uncover the truth and be unwavering, even in the light of louder voices and big business.

As far as the above sentence in my sig is concerned, I borrowed it from Matthew N. Wright: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.1094337

Overall, you nailed how I go about things rather well. I honestly didn't realize that that's I how go about the things you mention. On rare occasions I was conscience of pulling only selected content to further some concern, but now see that I probably did it more than I thought.

I have no intention of deleting any posts, but truly look forward to reading the pointing out of errors and your suggestions on cleaning this up.

That said, I like you, Robert. Feel free to put me on my paper anytime in the same non-abusive tone as above, and I promise to not get into a dung tossing contest with you, for I feel it would be a losing battle on my part.

Peace, bud.

~Bruno~
member
Activity: 68
Merit: 10
Can't believe I missed this thread.   I was searching to see to what extent Orlin Grabbe has been mention on this forum, and was going to post this link to his seminal essay "The End of Ordinary Money," which I thought would be interesting to some people here (although no doubt kind of quaint from a technological perspective, given its age.)   

Today would have been Grabbe's birthday.   He is missed. 


Frank
newbie
Activity: 5
Merit: 0
~Bruno~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitcoin100: 1BTC1oo1J3MEt5SFj74ZBcF2Mk97Aah4ac

My job is to uncover the truth and be unwavering, even in the light of louder voices and big business.

BTCitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Re: the slogan currently set in your profile:
"My job is to uncover the truth and be unwavering, even in the light of louder voices and big business."

The CliffsNotes response: You are doing this self-appointed job badly. The way you have been posting anything you find as a 'stream of consciousness' without much filtering, but with interpretation by you, needs to stop.

The Long Response:

Just restricting this analysis to your recent posts about LFCity, what I find fascinating about your choice of sources, is that instead of linking to the small number of high quality articles available on the web, you concentrated on the trashy, deliberately misleading posts spewed in several places during 2002-2005 by disinfo agent 'Witchdoc' AKA 'Simon Jester' AKA 'uppity' (AKA several other aliases).

However, having lurked here at Bitcointalk for a few months, and getting a feel for how this place has been developing, unfortunately it's not surprising.

Applying the old joke to this board: Bitcointalk posters require no physical fitness program. Everyone gets enough exercise jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, knifing friends in the back, dodging responsibility and pushing their luck.

1. Your current 'stream of consciousness' style makes it difficult to sift valid information from the irrelevant or most worrying of all, the unproven and false.

2. Reposting user-generated content from other boards without understanding - or perhaps caring about - the difference between alleged facts and checked out facts, but with the addition of your own interpretation, will get you into all kinds of trouble (both reputational and legal).

Those who use open-source intelligence understand the difference between alleged and checked out facts, and set a high bar to ensure that 'raw' alleged facts are not published.

3. The Bitcointalk community is toxic enough as it is, without adding libellous materials from other places, or making new posts that due to the carelessness with which they have been constructed, make them afresh, and even mint new libellous assertions.

You have already stated false things in this thread. They are not only false but are likely to cause provable harm.

In my next post I will point out your specific libels in more detail. How you (and the board moderators) are going to deal with cleaning up afterwards is the subject for later discussion, i.e. simply deleting the original posts is probably not the correct way to deal with it.
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Note that the local times are the same, inferring that they're in the same time zone (western Europe), set their settings to simple reflect such, or there's a default setting I'm missing of which both didn't bother to set. Both last active only six minutes apart today.
It's a testament to the general quality of people posting here on Bitcointalk that you assume by default a new poster must be some kind of sockpuppet.

However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now, and assume good faith.

(If you were trying to crack a joke, well, best to do that in a separate post, and not in one where you are also trying to bring potentially serious accusations to light.)

Hey, Robert. First off, I would like to thank you and Steve for joining the forum. (sincerely)

With all honesty, surely you know the ropes here, or will soon learn, that a myriad of paranoid fuckoids (colloquially speaking) reside here and, unfortunately, I may be becoming one.

To get it out of the way now, further down the road somebody may question how you got out of Newbie with only one post. I'm sure the answer lies in that you removed them for some reason. Feel free to use that when if it's ever bought up.

My post above was not meant as a joke, but to bring awareness to the facts as they were first known to me at the time. I started the long thread without even knowing the connection between you and Dr.Steve existed until after I posted the reply post to your suggestion which, BTW, was kindly appreciated, not even then making the connection of your low post count and that this thread in not in Newbie. But enough about all that low post count BS.

Neither of my posts after your post above was of a joking nature. They were published all in good faith--to let the community know stuff no matter how mundane. Yes, when I decided to pen the comparison post above, it was done to show that possibly a sock puppet may be in play here. Personally, I do have a slight doubt that that's the case, but nonetheless I felt it needed to be share and let the community decide.

My best suggestion to you is to not reply to this post, for that would bring further attention to yourself, whereupon others, and possibly myself, will start digging to see what, if any, connection could be made. Simply put, let my post here stand on its own, for if you knew my current track record, you'll know that my voice doesn't carry as far as it used to, but make the mistake of continuing the dialog, and sure enough another user or two will pick up the mantel and start looking for skeletons with fireplace poker in hand. Done of this is a threat of any kind but, unfortunately, a fact due to the human nature of certain members of this board, again myself sadly included.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't have a reason to question your presence here one iota until I read the following:

I'm new to this forum. I am thrilled to be here. In a previous life, I lived at Laissez Faire City and had some involvement with the Digital Monetary Trust venture of Orin Grabbe.
Dr. Steve!

It's been a long time. Both newbies here, at almost the same time.

it must be a conspiracy!

It was when I read that I thought to myself you must have registered in May of this year, the same time as Dr.Steve. But that proved to not be the case. You registered after the first new mention of Laissez Faire City by me, penned while trying to make a connection between it and BFL.

I'm only stating facts, Robert, and again, at the moment, don't have any harsh words for either your or Dr.Steve.

That said, I felt it important to address you first before I go and pen an epic post connecting Josh W and Bitforce Consultancy (no smiley, for such an entity exists and you'll soon learn what the W stands for).

Peace, bro. (sincerely)

~Bruno~
newbie
Activity: 5
Merit: 0
Note that the local times are the same, inferring that they're in the same time zone (western Europe), set their settings to simple reflect such, or there's a default setting I'm missing of which both didn't bother to set. Both last active only six minutes apart today.
It's a testament to the general quality of people posting here on Bitcointalk that you assume by default a new poster must be some kind of sockpuppet.

However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now, and assume good faith.

(If you were trying to crack a joke, well, best to do that in a separate post, and not in one where you are also trying to bring potentially serious accusations to light.)
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
And the important thing to take away from all of this is that the US Government are the biggest criminals of all.  They run all of the other criminals, from the scammers who prey on naive libertarians, to the hackers who have been attacking Bitcoin for the last year, to your local petty thieves and drug dealers, to all of the hilariously inept "terrorists" who plotted attacks on US soil, to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and in Libya and in Syria and anywhere else that the interests of the criminals in charge of the US government can be furthered.

They are on these forums.  They have been watching Bitcoin for a long time.  They have the resources and the motivation to plan for the long-term, and to create and operate seemingly legitimate businesses in furtherance of their interests.  And any of you who naively believe that the government is your friend, or the "good guys", and that they are going to let you in on their little money-printing racket and maybe even use your plucky start-up currency to fund their black-ops, should have his head examined.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
There's something about that Laissez Faire City deal I'm missing, but can't put my finger on it.

To start with, you are missing this, the definitive history of the Laissez Faire City project, written nearly ten years ago:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021210112835/http://www.scamdog.com/freedom_projects/?view=laissez_faire_city

More from me later.

We look forward to reading more about you. Glad you met up with Dr.Steve.

I'm new to this forum. I am thrilled to be here. In a previous life, I lived at Laissez Faire City and had some involvement with the Digital Monetary Trust venture of Orin Grabbe.
Dr. Steve!

It's been a long time. Both newbies here, at almost the same time.

it must be a conspiracy!



Note that the local times are the same, inferring that they're in the same time zone (western Europe), set their settings to simple reflect such, or there's a default setting I'm missing of which both didn't bother to set. Both last active only six minutes apart today.

Tomorrow I will prove that an Amish guy named Pinkiert Piepous built Rassah's coffee table.  Grin

I wonder if the Dr. Steve mentioned here is the same as our Dr.Steve. (centered text is linked)


Or this one: http://www.offshorealert.com/WorkArea/threadeddisc/print_thread.aspx?id=60&g=posts&t=37064

Quote
One, Fake dividend distribution.
Second, confirmation that Houston's identity was known and kept from founders by the insiders.
Three, the email list of founders was available to this guy.
Four, Sealand connection. Holmes and Davidson info is on this page
http://www.ezez.com/free/sealand/prop.htm

Five, ATM and stock was manipulated by Houston and Huge , along with Trustee to "submarine" Harry Gordon.
Six, strong hint that Dr. Steve was a Houston stooge all along.
Seven, Houston claimed connection with "Schultz" and Hunt. I guess he has some fixation on silver.
Seven, in the second email, confirmation of the book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand being used illegally and that this was the sole "business plan".
Eight, the info, very specific, about Mailvault being insecure.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Selected quotes, with emphasis mine, gleaned from http://web.archive.org/web/20021210112835/http://www.scamdog.com/freedom_projects/?view=laissez_faire_city

I'm new to this forum. I am thrilled to be here. In a previous life, I lived at Laissez Faire City and had some involvement with the Digital Monetary Trust venture of Orin Grabbe.
Dr. Steve!

It's been a long time. Both newbies here, at almost the same time.

it must be a conspiracy!

Closing quote below, out of sequence.

Quote
An important part of the Laissez Faire City experiment was the community it engendered. Many people from all corners of the globe met either in person or virtually through LFCity and its projects. There now exists a pseudo-anonymous network of these people. They are still working towards the same goals, albeit with a lower profile.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
There's something about that Laissez Faire City deal I'm missing, but can't put my finger on it.

To start with, you are missing this, the definitive history of the Laissez Faire City project, written nearly ten years ago:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021210112835/http://www.scamdog.com/freedom_projects/?view=laissez_faire_city

More from me later.

Thanks, Robert G. I'm reading it now.

Bruno H
Phinn Labs LLC
newbie
Activity: 5
Merit: 0
There's something about that Laissez Faire City deal I'm missing, but can't put my finger on it.

To start with, you are missing this, the definitive history of the Laissez Faire City project, written nearly ten years ago:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021210112835/http://www.scamdog.com/freedom_projects/?view=laissez_faire_city

More from me later.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Bob Chapman lived in Costa Rica.

So, I read some of those links and I still don't get the story on LF City.  Did it ever actually exist?

No. The best I can explain it is that the original idea forked, and the computer geeks' camp recognized that money could be made in a somewhat cloaked fashion.

Fast forward to Bitcoin.

We are Bitcoin! We can do it better. Welcome to our new campsite, boys, and who among us brought the giant marshmallows?

~Bruno~
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
Bob Chapman lived in Costa Rica.

So, I read some of those links and I still don't get the story on LF City.  Did it ever actually exist?
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
The follow books may offer up clues:

I don't think the authors of those books have any personal connections to the subjects of your current investigation (which has been outstanding).

As I was so close, too.

History of Laissez Faire City: http://www.liberalismo.org/bitacoras/7/2487/historia/laissez/faire/city/

Quote
In 1994, a group of investors from various countries visited some regions of Latin America. It was on that trip that James Dale Davidson took notes on his laptop that would eventually constitute the famous The Sovereign Individual . During the trip, these capitalists recalled some idea that Ayn Rand had decades ago. The liberal author had wondered what would happen if a poor country for 50 years cede few dozen square miles to a group of investors. He quickly warmed to the idea and decided to get to work.      

    They founded the Laissez Faire City International Trust and a former diplomat appointed trustee Russian named Mikhail Larguine to coordinate efforts. At first, they threw the eye to a hundred square miles in Peru. During the summer of 1995, the Trust published an advertisement in The Economist and Newsweek reporting project. Several media outlets, mainly British, echoed the news, while the United States spent almost unnoticed. Thousands of people contacted the Trust and some paid the hundred dollars initially asked to become Founder. In March 1996, created the website Laissez Faire City (hereinafter LFCity).

Quote
When these young people took the reins in 1997, his first goal was to develop software to ensure user privacy. They understood that it was of utmost importance to protect themselves from attacks by government agencies and any other thieves and snoopers.

    The first real fruit of this new approach was the MailVault, an email system based on advanced encryption techniques to ensure privacy of the messages. On this foundation, was to build a network of tools to enable future citizens to create their own businesses LFCity electronic banking with which to develop the city's economy.

Quote
At the beginning of 2001 came into operation on Digital Monetary Trust (DMT) that began to develop the necessary tools for a digital currency. Mainly, the lodgment Asset Trust Accounts (ALTA) and Laissez-faire Electronic Stock Exchange (LESE).

Quote
It was discovered that one of those involved in the scam of DC had participated for years in a silver fiddle with various U.S. states And I suspect that had something to do with disreputable people of Russia for some comments that made ​​me a beta tester of the Eastern countries.

    Years later, many of the participants are still in touch. At least, served to make friends, learn four little things and see the gross, Hayek was right that when he spoke of "the socialists of all parties". Freedom is practiced, not designed.

I am so glad that there's not a single parallel between Laissez Faire City and Bitcoin.
legendary
Activity: 3304
Merit: 4543
diamond-handed zealot
well...so much for that 1300 bucks

damn
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Shit! I just found this, but don't have time to read it, for a client of mine is due any minute. http://www.liberalismo.org/bitacoras/7/2487/historia/laissez/faire/city/

~Bruno~
legendary
Activity: 826
Merit: 1001
rippleFanatic
The follow books may offer up clues:

I don't think the authors of those books have any personal connections to the subjects of your current investigation (which has been outstanding).
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending

Wow, that is some father. I wonder why Nevada was his chosen state to be governor, lol.

How can BFL_Sonny say almost nothing about his father, other than that he became enamored with him as an adult?

An adult in his mid twenties, that is.

There's something about that Laissez Faire City deal I'm missing, but can't put my finger on it.

James Orlin Grabbe is one major connection, but still feel there's more to this story besides him, Houston, Vleisides, Gevers, et al. (previously mentioned on this forum)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Orlin_Grabbe

The follow books may offer up clues:





sr. member
Activity: 448
Merit: 250
Wow this is looking worse and worse...
legendary
Activity: 826
Merit: 1001
rippleFanatic

Wow, that is some father. I wonder why Nevada was his chosen state to be governor, lol.

How can BFL_Sonny say almost nothing about his father, other than that he became enamored with him as an adult?
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Sonny Vleisides' father, James Ray Houston.

JANE ANN MORRISON: Sheriff's reference jogs memories of 1970s 'Silver King' political scandal

Quote
He came back to face 24 charges of mail and wire fraud but was found not guilty by federal jurors, who decided that, yes, he had stiffed his investors but had no intent to defraud. The 1,182 investors who had lost more than $3.5 million by investing in nonexistent silver were out of luck.

Quote
In the end, the Silver King's silver was gone. Investors lost their money to a glib con man, a self-promoter who wanted to be governor of Nevada, a man with more money than sense who believed his own PR.

legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
wouldn't be kind of cheating, if said city has business with the outside world?

I've thought about this a bunch, and originally I had the same view as you.  But, now I think the question of sustainability depends on what kind of assets are owned by the residents of the city, outside of the city.

Sure, it is valid to say that cities like Hong Kong are not sustainable, since they depend in large part on immigrant slave-like labor, on financial services and on acting as trading hubs.  But it is possible to create a city that is for the most part only dependent upon real assets, owned by its residents in other countries.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
No taxes or bureaucracy in planned libertarian paradise: Adventurers seek to establish a capitalist Utopia in the jungle

Quote
The group already has 60 founding members, each of whom put up $5,000 (pounds 3,125) and a recent advertisement in the Economist yielded a flood of letters and faxes. "Some of them have been sending us unsolicited money, which is more than we asked for," said Sonny Vleisides, editor of the Laissez Faire City Times, the newsletter sent to every prospective founder.

Yet MORE Laissez Faire City info.

Quote
Mailvault is a supposedly secure email system- Mailvault.com-
built by the Laissez Faire City programmers, see the previous posts. There was an IRS revenue agent on the staff of Laissez Faire City during the time this was built. This agent helped troubleshoot systems that the LFC security "experts" just could not figure out. And a bang up job he did too!
Surely no federal tax agent would stoop to a backdoor in a system used to move funds by a large group of tax evaders? By Saint Ayn of the holy Rand, that just would not be possible!, right?

As shown here https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.1208123 Johann Gevers owns mailvault.com
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1008
If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat
I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question.
 
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
'No!' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.'
'No!' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.'
'No!' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.'

I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different.

I chose the impossible.

I chose... Rapture.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor;
where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality;
where the great would not be constrained by the small!

And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.

+1, epic
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
I'm surprised that Digital Monetary Trust (DMT) has only been touched upon once before on this forum by a member who'e still active.

I'm new to this forum. I am thrilled to be here. In a previous life, I lived at Laissez Faire City and had some involvement with the Digital Monetary Trust venture of Orin Grabbe.

http://www.orlingrabbe.com/dmt1.htm

Quote
This article describes an Internet-based anonymous banking project, known as The Digital Monetary Trust, Ltd. The Digital Monetary Trust (hereafter: DMT) is a proposed financial trust (which may be optionally viewed as a mutual fund, or a money market fund) all of whose assets will be invested in cash, commodities (such as gold), and high-quality (low credit-risk) securities denominated in various national currencies. DMT is a Laissez Faire City corporation.

http://www.orlingrabbe.com/dmt2.htm (this is part 2) reads like Satoshi Nakamoto's White Paper. I'm in need of an expect opinion on this, for here is where I get lost.

Loos more like open transactions than anything else.
hero member
Activity: 952
Merit: 1009
I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question.
 
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
'No!' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.'
'No!' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.'
'No!' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.'

I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different.

I chose the impossible.

I chose... Rapture.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor;
where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality;
where the great would not be constrained by the small!

And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.
sr. member
Activity: 504
Merit: 250
admittingly haven't read up on Rand or Laissez Faire City, but wouldn't be kind of cheating, if said city has business with the outside world? Like the Biosphere2 was completely sealed of from the atmosphere. If LFC citizens do business with outside governed countries (where poor people have more purchasing power and businesses are taxed) how can it prove sustainability? They'll have to have fences to keep people in, and an infrastructure with farmers street sweepers and beggars etc.

Sounds more to me as a billionaires tax paradise, not a scientific experiment!
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
And more of the same (different link): http://www.offshorealert.com/forums.aspx?g=posts&t=36707

Quote
I believe that the "Adam Selene" comment came from a former Laissez Faire City Randroid, user nyms from various science fiction books(and movies) were very popular. And still are at the Distributed City clubhouse, the one for the failed programmers, who partied more than they coded. Encryption, digital cash, perpetual tourist, Sovereign, taxes bad, all the really stupid parts of Libertarian thought times 12-they are looking for more high net worth Sovereigns. Grabbe and Ian Fraser hang out there.
Each founder paid 6K per position and Grabbe got half, Ian got paid a bounty for every founder he brought in.

They DID produce the J. Orlin Grabbe Digital Monetary Trust-DMT- and pennies on the dollar amounts of this DMT are allegedly being given to LFC founders as a consolation prize for the funds embezzled by James Ray Houston (aka Rex Rogers aka Midas Mulligan aka Big Ben aka Kay Ludlow aka the former "Silver King" of Las Vegas shame) the City Clerk and even the Trustee, a Mr. Mikhail Larguine. There may also have been a problem with the books, the audit was very entertaining, if nothing else. It can be seen here, http://www.lfcfa.net/
the notes to the audit are juicy reading.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
And you think we have problems here in paradise.

Imagine if the Bitcoinica and Pirate episodes were rolled into one. This: Laissez Faire City Founders looking for revenge?

An excerpt:

Quote
James Ray Houston has ripped off a lot of money from people many times.
The trail starts in Las Vegas , then Florida and on to Costa Rica, who knows where it will end?
None of the assets from Landco, the real estate part of LFC ever showed up on the truly laughable audit. A lot of assets "somehow" did not make it to the audit, Johann Gevers must be a student of the Leavenworth system of accounting.
Grabbe has some sort of deal going with Sealand, could be where he hosts the DMT stuff. A lot of porn and spam comes from there so he would fit right in.
One of the unmasked BOG( Board of Oversight Governors)used the nym Graywing, real name Magdalena Donea, runs this site http://www.lfcgate.com/
and this one
http://thirdhost.com/
She is married to Patrick G. McCuller, another fellow with real "inside " info.
This is a site run by an LFC "insider" http://www.scamdog.com/
And this one http://ica.citystateinc.com/
And the nym Howard Huge is really Steve Randall of this site
http://www.randallsquared.com/
And then there is http://www.metropipe.net/, just took over Mailvault, run by yet another LFC alumni.
And Grabbe is right there http://www.orlingrabbe.com/homepage.html

And the low risk high value stock they trade in is the names and emails and payment histories of Sovereign Individuals.
High net worth sovereign translates in idiot to english as- has cash -will send to strangers.
They are not on the run because when a scammer steals from libertarians or sovereigns there was very little risk.

Here's the fun part: Wait till other LFC players on this forum, besides Dr.Steve, start emerging, namely Johann Gevers, and I'm not stating whether he's a good or bad guy--just connected.

~Bruno~
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
I'm surprised that Digital Monetary Trust (DMT) has only been touched upon once before on this forum by a member who'e still active.

I'm new to this forum. I am thrilled to be here. In a previous life, I lived at Laissez Faire City and had some involvement with the Digital Monetary Trust venture of Orin Grabbe.

http://www.orlingrabbe.com/dmt1.htm

Quote
This article describes an Internet-based anonymous banking project, known as The Digital Monetary Trust, Ltd. The Digital Monetary Trust (hereafter: DMT) is a proposed financial trust (which may be optionally viewed as a mutual fund, or a money market fund) all of whose assets will be invested in cash, commodities (such as gold), and high-quality (low credit-risk) securities denominated in various national currencies. DMT is a Laissez Faire City corporation.

http://www.orlingrabbe.com/dmt2.htm (this is part 2) reads like Satoshi Nakamoto's White Paper. I'm in need of an expect opinion on this, for here is where I get lost.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
The first connection we have between BFL and LFC is Sonny Vleisides (second quote): No taxes or bureaucracy in planned libertarian paradise

Quote
Proponents say the futuristic city, drawn straight from the pages of a 1950s novel, will combine the dynamism of Hong Kong with the beauty of - Las Vegas.

Quote
The group already has 60 founding members, each of whom put up $5,000 (pounds 3,125) and a recent advertisement in the Economist yielded a flood of letters and faxes. "Some of them have been sending us unsolicited money, which is more than we asked for," said Sonny Vleisides, editor of the Laissez Faire City Times, the newsletter sent to every prospective founder.
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
Bump! Links over there are not working. http://freenation.org/a/f63k1.html

I like the advert more than the eventual 'results' of the initiative (see John Kingman's report)  Undecided
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
To get up to speed as to what Laissez Faire City was, I offer up the following links.

Update on Laissez Faire City

Quote
2) establish some core businesses and services which would facilitate economic activities and wealth creation. Such core services include encrypted/private communication servers (which, in addition to masking message content also mask sender/recipient combinations), a stock exchange, and a digital cash exchange.

SPECIAL REPORT ON VISIT TO LAISSEZ FAIRE CITY

Quote
And the four travelers all decided to put their money where their mouths were by becoming founding grantors of  Laissez Faire City and two of them leapt off a bridge just to seal it in style. As I hung there dangling above the river still 100 feet below I reflected that an existing founder had jumped FIRST. Now how many businesses have that kind of chutzpah? Look at what they have to offer and decide for yourself....



Imagine if Bitcoin was the brainchild of the founders of LFC while consuming the local vegetation in some jungle in Costa Rica.

More can be read archived on LFC:

http://web.archive.org/web/19980716012653/lfcity.com/sovereigng.htm
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
Reserved!
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
To not further pollute the current Butterfly Labs thread with this I believe lies a connection, I'll dedicate a new thread here in Off-topic for my dwindling fan base to peruse.

There's a lot of players connected to Laissez Faire City, some of which committed suicide, died, didn't really die, or are active members of this forum. The follow ad appeared in The Economist in June of 1995, of which I glean from here: http://www.seasteading.org/2009/07/nation-founding-classics-laissez-faire-citys-ad-the-economist/



Feel free to discuss whatever related to LFC, and since we're in Off-topic, the tread may verve in who knows what direction, but as always I'll keep my wet noodle whip closeted, saving the 500 lashes for some other occasion.

I've reserved Post #2 for a synopsis if one is warranted. Post #3 is where I'll start penning to get this thread a rollin'.

~Bruno~
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