[sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable

Fri Mar 1 11:14:30 PST 2013

For those interested, Workshop Weekend (that is, my brother and I) prepared
the following statement on the lockpicking issue. We fully support Sudo
Room having its own statement on the issue too.

===========

Over the past two days, Workshop Weekend has received complaints from
concerned citizens of Oakland about the upcoming "Introduction to
Lockpicking" workshop being offered as part of Workshop Weekend on March 2,
2013. The workshop will run as scheduled, but in response to community
concerns, lock-picking tools will no longer be offered for sale at the
event.

As Oakland residents ourselves, we have felt Oakland's crime problem, and
we appreciate the community's concerns that offering a lock-picking
workshop appears to encourage crime and sends the wrong message. We
recognize now that it was insensitive to have the workshop listed and
broadcast in the way that it was, and we regret doing so.

To provide some background, Workshop Weekend invited The Open Organization
of Lockpickers (TOOOL) to run a workshop about lock-picking and lock
mechanisms this weekend.

Exploring lock-picking and understanding the limitations of locks is
valuable for everyone who relies on locks for physical security, and in
kids it can spark an interest in mechanical engineering and complex systems.

We would also like to share the following note from TOOOL, the group
offering the session: "We in TOOOL are of course sensitive to the concern
that occasionally surrounds our lock-themed workshops. We can only hope
that the atmosphere of openness, information sharing, and strong ethical
standards which is a part of all TOOOL meetings can assuage some concerns.
Knowing about the weaknesses in certain locks protects the public; it does
not aid criminals. Please visit our website -- toool.us -- for more
information."

We hope this note makes things clear to everyone; our goal is provide an
educational and inclusive experience for everyone in Oakland who would like
to be involved with our events.

*Workshop Weekend is a two-day celebration of hands-on learning taking
place in the heart of downtown Oakland, bringing together kids and adults
from Oakland as well as the rest of the Bay Area. The event encourages
exploration of new interests and passions by offering over 40 workshops in
subjects not typically taught in schools, including aeroponics,
electronics, and 3D printing. For more information, visit
workshopweekend.net*

We welcome your thoughts and comments at feedback at workshopweekend.net

===========

On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 6:44 PM, J.D. Zamfirescu <zamfire at gmail.com> wrote:

> Michael, you're not missing anything -- we haven't finished drafting the
> workshop weekend statement yet. :)
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 6:43 PM, Michael Scroggins <
> michaeljscroggins at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I must have missed something in the email chain as I am unaware of the
>> Workshop Weekend letter. Of course, you are right that the two letters
>> should match, especially in front of the media. I can't help to think,
>> though, that this is an opportunity to drive home the broader point that
>> neither curiosity nor association is a crime.
>>
>>
>>
>> Eddan Katz wrote:
>>
>> Seems to me like sticking to correcting the misuse of the word
>> unconscionable can be respectful to the police chief and informative about
>> the difference between skills and criminal intent.
>>
>> If Sudo Room does a separate statement, it should follow on Workshop
>> Weekend's letter and support its posture and position.
>>
>> There'll be TV cameras there this weekend - we can feel pretty confident
>> about that. It would be very useful to share a common understanding in
>> order not to have our purpose misrepresented.
>>
>>
>> sent from eddan.com
>>
>> On Feb 28, 2013, at 6:07 PM, Michael Scroggins <
>> michaeljscroggins at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  I think a statement is well and proper. I also think arguing the right
>> to disinterest inquiry is the proper line.
>>
>> To the earlier back and forth about "known gang members" ... one of the
>> differences between the people at SudoRoom and "known gang members" is
>> simply that to be classified as "known" is to be stripped of your right to
>> disinterested inquiry. All of your actions having been prejudged as
>> interested and malicious.
>>
>> If the letter is worded right we can make a statement about the lock
>> picking class and about the direction policing in Oakland has taken.
>>
>>
>> Michael
>>
>>
>>
>> Eddan Katz wrote:
>>
>> J.D. - do you think there should be an additional statement from Sudo
>> Room?
>>
>> Before we proceed any further - does anyone have objections to writing
>> such a letter or signing on to it? What the statement says is another
>> matter for which Sudo member objections should also feel empowered to
>> raise. Comments can be made anonymously on the etherpad or on IRC, if
>> someone isn't comfortable doing it on the list.
>>
>> sent from eddan.com
>>
>> On Feb 28, 2013, at 5:15 PM, "J.D. Zamfirescu" <zamfire at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Yeah, we were hoping to publish it tonight. Let me try to draft something
>> and send it on?
>>
>> Part of me is concerned about editing a public statement on a public
>> list...
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 5:14 PM, Eddan <eddan at clear.net> wrote:
>>
>>> J.D. - where were you thinking of publishing this letter?
>>>
>>> I think it would make for a stronger and more thoughtful response if
>>> there was a collective voice signing on to it either as a group or listed
>>> as individuals.
>>>
>>> With the help of the collective editorial prowess of the Sudo list, do
>>> you think you would be ready to publish it before tomorrow morning?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 5:09 PM, Eddan <eddan at clear.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I think the question is, rather - Can you get hired by a locksmith
>>>> company without knowing how to pick a lock?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 5:01 PM, <thadwooster at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I could be totally wrong on this, but I believe locksmiths are
>>>>> required to be bonded, fingerprinted and licensed.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 28, 2013, at 4:59 PM, rusty lindgren wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> WTF #@*)DKLJ
>>>>>
>>>>> I sent an email to that newb at the newspaper... UM, where do they
>>>>> think locksmiths learn stuff?  Should they have to pay to become a
>>>>> locksmith???
>>>>>
>>>>> So stupid.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 4:56 PM, Marina Kukso <marina.kukso at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> ftfy!: THIS is unconscionable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 4:50 PM, Eddan <eddan at clear.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Now, this requires a response. Has anybody started drafting
>>>>>>> something? If not, I will.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>> Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Howard+Jordan%22> was
>>>>>>> not pleased.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "I'm in shock that people would provide a class to teach people a
>>>>>>> skill to violate the law," Jordan said. "It's unconscionable."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Lock-pick instructor Michael Fitzhugh<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Michael+Fitzhugh%22> is
>>>>>>> a member of TOOOL (The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Open+Organisation+Of+Lockpickers%22>),
>>>>>>> a Netherlands-based outfit that teaches and holds national and
>>>>>>> international lock-picking events annually. In their world, lock picking is
>>>>>>> done for sport and bragging rights. But, he says, it's also a useful tool
>>>>>>> if you lock yourself out of your home.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jordan has a more conventional solution to that problem: "Call
>>>>>>> a locksmith!"
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Quan-s-wrong-note-on-lock-picking-class-4318130.php
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Even worse than Quan, this guy's so desperate to change the subject
>>>>>>> about the incompetence of the OPD in news story after news story.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Unconscionable!?! This coming from a police department that was
>>>>>>> about to go into an unprecedented federal receivership for its failure to
>>>>>>> reform; not to mention a police department seared with a global reputation
>>>>>>> for brutality, racism, and excessive means; and whose fundamental
>>>>>>> miscalculations and mismanagement of the response to Occupy cost the city
>>>>>>> millions of dollars.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>>>>>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>>>>>> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>>>>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>>>>> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>
>>>>> Rusty Lindgren
>>>>> **
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>>>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>>>> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>>>> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>
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