The war continues to escalate on many fronts with continuing assaults in all sorts of fun and creative ways. The next few months should bring a clear tipping point; under the mounting pressure, the cracks are beginning to show.
It's hard to overestimate the excitement over actor Jason Beghe's recent no-holds-barred denouncement of Scientology's practices. After spending 14 years and a million dollars, he left the cult last year and is now speaking out publicly, making his name synonymous with "brass balls" on the internets, as in "U guise showed real Beghes at the last raid". His interview with Wise Beard Man on XenuTV.com caused the Sci's to get their panties in such a wad that they got WBM's YouTube channel temporarily suspended - along with Tory Magoo's - claiming some tedious bullshit copyright violation...y'know, the same old ploy. They don't seem to realize that there's no stopping the tubes. The entire interview is over two hours long & goes into great detail, but the original teaser gives a nice taste of the flavor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvmvlZM1gw
He also responded publicly in the Village Voice to Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis' appearance on CNN. Note Tommy's appearance; looks like he ain't been gettin' much sleep.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/05/jason_beghe_to.php
Since the interview was released, he has made appearances at protests in San Francisco and New York. I got many lulz from the video of the NY protest when, responding to a hired security goon who told him that he couldn't stand on a public sidewalk, he said "You got any law behind that? I didn't think so." He also posts regularly on the message board at xenu.net & on enturbulation.org, passing on bits of information that he's getting from contacts still inside.
A couple of weeks ago he reported that the staff at the orgs are being told that Anonymous is picketing because they're being paid by pharmaceutical companies. Anonymous responded immediately:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBck2SnwY20
Damn, I love these guys. Now, if someone could just get video of one of them saying this....
And that's not as unlikely as it might seem. Many of them are starting to lose it publicly; there's video of Scientology staff assaulting protestors, throwing coffee & water on them, stealing their signs and other unseemly behavior. The most fabulous example of this was "Reverend" John Carmichael, head of the NYC org, caught on video saying to a protestor, "I smell pussy. You in particular." The Village Voice has been covering the movement extensively and reports on this here (with bonus video goodness!):
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/05/ny_scientology.php
At the following protest, the protestors were chanting "We smell cult. You in particular." Funny thing, though...since the Village Voice article came out, no one's seen John Carmichael. And it's been reported on enturbulation.org that phone calls to the org for him are met with a "John? John who?" kind of thing.
Another major footbullet occurred at a protest in London, a classic example of Fair Game in action. A 15-year-old was given a court summons for refusing to take down his sign that called Scientology a cult. This is absolutely ridiculous, being that Scientology has been openly referred to as a cult in the English courts. Here's the BBC news story on it:
http://www.vimeo.com/1051633
Unsurprisingly, charges were quickly dropped.
The live protests continue to gain steam; in addition to the larger monthly protest, an increasingly popular and effective tactic of mini flash raids has been employed. Since these are organized locally, the orgs are unable to predict when they will occur. Anonymous is also showing its ability to galvanize into action immediately; a report will be made on enturb about a Stress Test table set up somewhere & a few local Anons will show up to educate their victims about the nature of the tests. Freeway overpass mini-raids are starting to pop up where it's legal. The major media is starting to cover it. And all this is designed to disseminate information: the more the average person knows about the dangers of Scientology, the less influx of "fresh meat", as LRH called them. And since Scientology is organized as nothing more than a pyramid scheme on a massive scale, it will inevitably topple without this constant infusion of blood. Forbes magazine reported that Scientology's ads on Google and YouTube are costing them approximately 5.5 million dollars a month. They're starting to bleed out. And the movement is only gaining momentum: there are many projects in the works for The Summer of Lulz. In July, The Over 9000 Anon March is in DC at the reflecting pool on the mall.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rKNcSGyzOj0
http://www.anonymousdc.com/Over_9000_Anon_March/
The June Sea Arrrgh! protest - directed at Scientology's "elite" Sea Org - should also prove to be a big success, with it's lulzy pirate theme. If the website dedicated to it is any indication, it should be quite a party!
http://www.seaarrrgh.com/
Another project in motion is Operation Over The Wall: Postcards From Paradise, inspired by Amnesty International's postcard campaigns to political prisoners. Lists of people being kept at Scientology's "rehabilitation" camps were leaked and postcard love-bombs with the toll-free ex-Sea Org phone number were sent. I loved this idea & had a lotta fun working on it...so, far I've sent almost 300. This has been in operation about a month & the current tally is about 3500 cards sent from all over the world. There are rumors that this is driving them more batshit insane than they already are, but no solid information of the effects as yet.
This is only one of many operations nibbling away at Scientology's foundation. There are letter-writing & email campaigns to government representatives aimed at revoking Scientology's tax exemptions and lots of other creative and unexpected methods of disseminating information. At a recent mini-raid at a Scientology awards event - read fundraiser - about 40 protestors showed up at what they dubbed the AnonyProm, dressed in formal wear along with their masks and signs. Evidently, a couple of protestors had rooms at the hotel where the event was held, giving them access to the public areas. One resourceful FemAnon had printed out small slips of paper with web addresses and toll-free numbers for information on Scientology and how to get help if you want to leave. She went into the ladies rooms & unrolled the toilet paper, taped the slips into it & re-rolled them. And documented it all because, as they say on the internetz, pics or it didn't happen. Another project I am watching with interest are the actions of the Coalition Against Prank Calling, who strongly advised against calling Scientology orgs asking if they had copies of the new Battletoads video game. Anyone out there who is interested in the specifics of how not to go about this without being traced should read this informative and interesting thread:
http://forums.enturbulation.org/12-current-projects/coalition-against-prank-calls-9228/
Various other situations continue to play out legally. In response to Scientology's legal threats to Wikileaks for hosting all the leaked documents, they, not known for mincing words, replied:
"Dear Scientology, US law does not apply in the land of Vikings. Eat a dick in the name of Thor.
Sincerely, Wikileaks"
I am compelled to end this entry with a wonderful post by an Anon on enturb:
"On that note; a note to the Church of Scientology.We're EVERYWHERE. We showed up at your annual IAS ball and ruined your ability to milk people for money. Anons are on hotel staff - Anons showed up at your ideal org recently and things are only going to get better.
We were raised on spy movies, OSA. We've seen every James Bond movie, every episode of Get Smart and Dragnet, and watch CSI, 24 and Law and Order. Anything you do to try and spy on us - it doesn't work. Hiding in bushes? Driving a hundred feet and hoping you'll magically end up outside of our "circle of sight?" Sending out infiltrators wearing masks that blend right in to anyone driving by when the general public already knows Anonyous and now just assumes anyone wearing a mask in a group IS A MEMBER OF ANONYMOUS?And you wonder why your tactics are so ineffective, when we're completely transparent in our own tactics for five months now?
You fail, OSA, and will continue to fail in every possible aspect that you can. Scientology is failing in the courts, and all you have left to hang your hopes and dreams on is Gregg somehow folding or losing in court.The CoS has wielded immense power, so it never needed to update its spying tactics for decades. Once you have been challenged on a global scale, any method that you use is rediculously outdated, and whats worse, known to Anonymous. And any effective methods that you may stumble upon? Anonymous is already exploiting them to the fullest of our abilities. You're outclassed, outmatched, and outnumbered. "
__________________
Monday, June 2, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
"You never know what will be coming down..."
Well, I always knew this would happen. I got a call tonight from my brother's old girlfriend - his only real girlfriend his whole life and one true love until he died. She'd found my number on the internet and was looking for him. Four Fucking Years too late.
He'd been looking for her too. He wanted more than anything to talk to her before he died. The numbers he had were no good & he couldn't remember her sister's last name; he had those brain tumors. I certainly didn't, I don't know that I ever knew it. Mom, actually, might have. But if she did, she sure wasn't telling; she freaked out & lost it when he asked her. She always had a passionate and considerably irrational hatred of Kim.
What a fucking waste.
Actually, I hated her too, though not as bitterly as Nadine. She used Sean & broke his fragile little heart. But I was able to be kind to her when she told me that she thinks about him all the time and to tell her that he was thinking of her too. I hope it helped. I think she did really love him, in her own limited way. Well, she can't help it, she's a damn Scorpio.
I found this song on a CD he made for me a few months before he died. Hard to believe it's been four years; tonight it feels like it was only last week. For you, honey, wherever you are...and for Kim, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1rZa8Ur_Q
I miss you, Sean. Godspeed.
He'd been looking for her too. He wanted more than anything to talk to her before he died. The numbers he had were no good & he couldn't remember her sister's last name; he had those brain tumors. I certainly didn't, I don't know that I ever knew it. Mom, actually, might have. But if she did, she sure wasn't telling; she freaked out & lost it when he asked her. She always had a passionate and considerably irrational hatred of Kim.
What a fucking waste.
Actually, I hated her too, though not as bitterly as Nadine. She used Sean & broke his fragile little heart. But I was able to be kind to her when she told me that she thinks about him all the time and to tell her that he was thinking of her too. I hope it helped. I think she did really love him, in her own limited way. Well, she can't help it, she's a damn Scorpio.
I found this song on a CD he made for me a few months before he died. Hard to believe it's been four years; tonight it feels like it was only last week. For you, honey, wherever you are...and for Kim, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1rZa8Ur_Q
I miss you, Sean. Godspeed.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
World War Internets Escalates: Martyrs, Casualties, Collateral Damage
Been goin' through a lot of popcorn the last week or so trying to keep up with rapidly unfolding developments. The buzzword for the week is 'footbullet' as Scientology keeps digging themselves in deeper and deeper & as I shamelessly mix metaphors. Every tactic they use to combat this offensive either blows up in their face or is fixin' to come back and bite 'em in the ass. Hard, too, looks like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q40DzdVVw-s
Since the March 15 protests, a few folks have been targeted by Scientology with their Fair Game Policy, one of the things that the protestors are protesting. It reads as follows:
"Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
http://www.fairgamed.org/fairgame.htm
Perhaps the saddest story is that of Sean Carasov and his cat. His story & that of another Southern California member of Anonymous can be heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blMPBVLkR4M
R.I.P. Mudkips.
Nor are these the only cases of legal harassment that have occurred; there were two arrests at the Atlanta protests - where the police showed up in full riot gear & where it is rumored that Scientology has connections with the city government. Two speakers were arrested for protesting without a permit despite protest organizers being told repeatedly that permits were not required. Interestingly enough, video shows them being led into the Scientology compound. Without being read their rights. The police were also ticketing motorists passing by who honked in support of the protestors. Nice recap video of those events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dexAtZ54Sg
Another outrageous charge of criminal tresspass in Boston - along with a recent Scary Legal Letter Campaign, is profiled here:
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/03/anonymous-scientology-legal-letters-gregg-latham-watkins.php
Really, though....if this is the best they got, it's closer to the end than I thought. Epic fail, as they say. The really lulzy part though is how, as word spreads of these people's stories, even more people are compelled to act against these injustices. Enturbulation.org has over 13,000 registered members now.
Most fun of all are their YouTube videos, or would be if they didn't exhibit so much ignorance and psychosis. A typical example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NowhEuS-zsY
Lulzy Anonymous response:
"Knave of J, Anon does not fear water cannons. Because another of our many secrets is that we are really, really absorbent. In fact, you may think of Anon as a massive, porous, and courageous sponge of free speech. So soak us. Our picket signs may run, but we won't."
C'mon, ya gotta love these guys.
But it keeps you wondering...that video, for example: was it made by Scientology? Or by Anonymous to make Scilons look like jackasses? Considering that these are the same sort of tactics Scientology have traditionally used, they are ideal for Anonymous to employ against them in this particular arena, the tubes, where they have the clear advantage. Makes it hard to tell the players from the played...not unlike Iraq, I reckon. But with more lulz and cake and lots less Traumatic Brain Injury.
Other recent wins for Anonymous include leaks of the entire set of Scientology OT documents - the stuff they charge these poor suckers upwards of $300k for - and various financial and tax records. The organization is reportedly hemorrhaging funds and hitting up their minions for an additional $100k per month per "org" to combat this horrific "terrorist threat". Their desperation seems borne out by my friend Richard's report of finding Scientology fliers papering his neighborhood. You know you're in trouble when you have to start going door-to-door. Unless you're the Girl Scouts & you have cookies. Especially those tasty thin mint ones.
But my favorite development came not only out of Texas, but out of the Republican Party of Texas: they adopted a resolution calling for the revocation of Scientology's status as a legitimate religion in the State of Texas.
http://www.anonhouston.com/wiki/Image:Resolutionsmall.jpg
...Just makes me all warm and fluffy inside. Now if I could only get one of those letters...
This is about much more than Scientology: it's about free speech, it's about tax fraud - YOUR money! - it's about human rights violations, it's about child abuse, it's about the perversion of our legal system, it's about corporate fascism and corruption and the destruction of familes, it's about the legally sanctioned exploitation of the emotionally vulnerable.
There's lots more documentation for all this stuff out there, easily available. Google is your friend. Educate yourself. Knowledge is free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q40DzdVVw-s
Since the March 15 protests, a few folks have been targeted by Scientology with their Fair Game Policy, one of the things that the protestors are protesting. It reads as follows:
"Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
http://www.fairgamed.org/fairgame.htm
Perhaps the saddest story is that of Sean Carasov and his cat. His story & that of another Southern California member of Anonymous can be heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blMPBVLkR4M
R.I.P. Mudkips.
Nor are these the only cases of legal harassment that have occurred; there were two arrests at the Atlanta protests - where the police showed up in full riot gear & where it is rumored that Scientology has connections with the city government. Two speakers were arrested for protesting without a permit despite protest organizers being told repeatedly that permits were not required. Interestingly enough, video shows them being led into the Scientology compound. Without being read their rights. The police were also ticketing motorists passing by who honked in support of the protestors. Nice recap video of those events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dexAtZ54Sg
Another outrageous charge of criminal tresspass in Boston - along with a recent Scary Legal Letter Campaign, is profiled here:
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/03/anonymous-scientology-legal-letters-gregg-latham-watkins.php
Really, though....if this is the best they got, it's closer to the end than I thought. Epic fail, as they say. The really lulzy part though is how, as word spreads of these people's stories, even more people are compelled to act against these injustices. Enturbulation.org has over 13,000 registered members now.
Most fun of all are their YouTube videos, or would be if they didn't exhibit so much ignorance and psychosis. A typical example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NowhEuS-zsY
Lulzy Anonymous response:
"Knave of J, Anon does not fear water cannons. Because another of our many secrets is that we are really, really absorbent. In fact, you may think of Anon as a massive, porous, and courageous sponge of free speech. So soak us. Our picket signs may run, but we won't."
C'mon, ya gotta love these guys.
But it keeps you wondering...that video, for example: was it made by Scientology? Or by Anonymous to make Scilons look like jackasses? Considering that these are the same sort of tactics Scientology have traditionally used, they are ideal for Anonymous to employ against them in this particular arena, the tubes, where they have the clear advantage. Makes it hard to tell the players from the played...not unlike Iraq, I reckon. But with more lulz and cake and lots less Traumatic Brain Injury.
Other recent wins for Anonymous include leaks of the entire set of Scientology OT documents - the stuff they charge these poor suckers upwards of $300k for - and various financial and tax records. The organization is reportedly hemorrhaging funds and hitting up their minions for an additional $100k per month per "org" to combat this horrific "terrorist threat". Their desperation seems borne out by my friend Richard's report of finding Scientology fliers papering his neighborhood. You know you're in trouble when you have to start going door-to-door. Unless you're the Girl Scouts & you have cookies. Especially those tasty thin mint ones.
But my favorite development came not only out of Texas, but out of the Republican Party of Texas: they adopted a resolution calling for the revocation of Scientology's status as a legitimate religion in the State of Texas.
http://www.anonhouston.com/wiki/Image:Resolutionsmall.jpg
...Just makes me all warm and fluffy inside. Now if I could only get one of those letters...
This is about much more than Scientology: it's about free speech, it's about tax fraud - YOUR money! - it's about human rights violations, it's about child abuse, it's about the perversion of our legal system, it's about corporate fascism and corruption and the destruction of familes, it's about the legally sanctioned exploitation of the emotionally vulnerable.
There's lots more documentation for all this stuff out there, easily available. Google is your friend. Educate yourself. Knowledge is free.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Anonymous & the OED
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
legion
• noun 1 a division of 3,000-6,000 men in the ancient Roman army. 2 (a legion/legions of) a vast number of people or things.
• adjective great in number: her fans are legion.
— ORIGIN Latin, from legere ‘choose, levy (an army)’.
OK, this has been bugging me & I'd just like to point this out because not only have I encountered this gross linguistic misinterpretation in the Tubes, but have also fielded similar comments IRL regarding Anonymous' use of the phrase "We are legion". A typical comment (from YouTube):
"Your quote in caps is interesting...and disturbing. Two lines are from the Bible. "The Truth shall set you free" speaks of the Gospel of Christ saving sinners. That's good so far. Then "We are Legion" speaks of the account of when Christ was exorcising demons out of a possessed man. When Christ asked who the demon was inside the man, the demon replied, "I (We) are Legion" because he was possessed by 1,000s of demons. We are legion? Not me."
I can only assume that this is due to most people's early christian indoctrination, something I mercifully escaped. Webster's Unabridged was my bible. But there seems to be a common association with the word 'legion' - especially in the context of the phrase 'we are legion' - with demons or satan. Since I'm too lazy on this Easter Sunday to drag out the bible, I'll trust Wikipedia to this one:
The most commonly quoted version is found in Mark 5:9:
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, Our name is Legion: for we are many. (KJV) [it is argued that the phrasing is, "we are legion, for we are many"]
Another version of the quotation is in Luke 8:30:
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. (KJV)
In some versions of the Bible, the quotation is different: We are mob, for there are so many of us
Or maybe most folks simply associate the phrase with The Exorcist, an admittedly really scary movie, especially if you saw it when you were a little kid. The book was scarier, though.
But let's just break this down: isn't all the possessed dude really saying here is "Call me whatever you want. Hey, just call me BunchOfUs because, well, there's a bunch of us in here." Y'know, if you subscribe to that sort of thing. Would that make the phrase "a bunch of us" somehow inherently demonic?
Just wondering. Isn't it all about the vernacular?
We Like Big Words,
P.
legion
• noun 1 a division of 3,000-6,000 men in the ancient Roman army. 2 (a legion/legions of) a vast number of people or things.
• adjective great in number: her fans are legion.
— ORIGIN Latin, from legere ‘choose, levy (an army)’.
OK, this has been bugging me & I'd just like to point this out because not only have I encountered this gross linguistic misinterpretation in the Tubes, but have also fielded similar comments IRL regarding Anonymous' use of the phrase "We are legion". A typical comment (from YouTube):
"Your quote in caps is interesting...and disturbing. Two lines are from the Bible. "The Truth shall set you free" speaks of the Gospel of Christ saving sinners. That's good so far. Then "We are Legion" speaks of the account of when Christ was exorcising demons out of a possessed man. When Christ asked who the demon was inside the man, the demon replied, "I (We) are Legion" because he was possessed by 1,000s of demons. We are legion? Not me."
I can only assume that this is due to most people's early christian indoctrination, something I mercifully escaped. Webster's Unabridged was my bible. But there seems to be a common association with the word 'legion' - especially in the context of the phrase 'we are legion' - with demons or satan. Since I'm too lazy on this Easter Sunday to drag out the bible, I'll trust Wikipedia to this one:
The most commonly quoted version is found in Mark 5:9:
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, Our name is Legion: for we are many. (KJV) [it is argued that the phrasing is, "we are legion, for we are many"]
Another version of the quotation is in Luke 8:30:
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. (KJV)
In some versions of the Bible, the quotation is different: We are mob, for there are so many of us
Or maybe most folks simply associate the phrase with The Exorcist, an admittedly really scary movie, especially if you saw it when you were a little kid. The book was scarier, though.
But let's just break this down: isn't all the possessed dude really saying here is "Call me whatever you want. Hey, just call me BunchOfUs because, well, there's a bunch of us in here." Y'know, if you subscribe to that sort of thing. Would that make the phrase "a bunch of us" somehow inherently demonic?
Just wondering. Isn't it all about the vernacular?
We Like Big Words,
P.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Roadtrip Pics & Video now on Photobucket!
Experience the awesome quiet of the Painted Desert & Petrified Forest, admire a really big hole in the ground somewhere in Arizona, drive up Highway 1 up the California coast and onto the Golden Gate in the rain, party with Hippies On Fire before the infamous Phil Lesh show in San Francisco, drive through Napa Valley at sunset, arrive in Yosemite during a snowstorm, join Megan for a jacuzzi bubble bath in El Portal, fall in love with Death Valley & more!
Lots of pics & video...at some point, I'll get all Megan's stuff from her laptop & there'll be more. Her pictures tend to be much better than mine, well, she can see a helluva lot better, and I know she's got some fun video too. I'm certain that doing that will provide me with countless useful hours of frustration. What the hell, it keeps me off the streets at night.
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/pamsterpics/SWroadtrip/
Lots of pics & video...at some point, I'll get all Megan's stuff from her laptop & there'll be more. Her pictures tend to be much better than mine, well, she can see a helluva lot better, and I know she's got some fun video too. I'm certain that doing that will provide me with countless useful hours of frustration. What the hell, it keeps me off the streets at night.
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/pamsterpics/SWroadtrip/
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Revolutionary Potential of Anonymous
These folks caught my attention first several months ago when I became interested in a rather obscure news item about a teen suicide connected to some sort of MySpace drama. After reading the particulars of the story, and how a grown woman had deliberately baited an unstable young girl by pretending to be a boy who liked her in order to set her up for social ridicule, it really touched a nerve in me – as it evidently did a fair amount of folks – and I went looking for what people were saying about this on various forums and such. Just in time to watch all hell break loose. The original news stories did not name the woman, but provided enough details for a few Anonymous individuals to determine it. Her name, her husband’s name, her kid’s name, their address, home & cell phone numbers, their places of employment, client list of their business, property tax records, I can’t remember what all. And then fed it to an angry internet mob. The results were predictable. And very satisfying: Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword. It was a beautiful thing, anarchy in action. It’s not often you get to see karma work itself out so quickly and publicly.
I was struck then by the potential for this; Anonymous kept stirring the pot, keeping folks riled up and people started putting pressure to have the case re-opened. Then on the major media to cover it and now people all over the world know Lori Drew’s name and what she did and what she looks like. And even if she never did get charged with anything, she’s definitely paying her debt to society.
So, curious about these Anonymous folks, I started looking into them. And stumbled onto a whole subculture with its own language, jokes, philosophies and code. Some of it, well, a lot of it, was just juvenile. But some of it was funny as hell and I liked their style. It fascinated me sociologically and was a lot of fun to watch. Lotsa lulz. If you have no other real life, see
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Main_Page for details.
I missed the beginning of World War Internet between Anonymous and Scientology because I was on the roadtrip, but when I got back and caught up with all that had gone on, I was really impressed at the success of the Feb. 10 protests. Anyone interested about the genesis of this movement should check out 'The Road to February 10th' :
http://www.dailymotion.com/SA-Anonymous/video/7341208
The really remarkable thing to me is how this small group of internet Merry Pranksters evolved – and very quickly – into a hive-mind, a collective consciousness. The Zeitgeist of the Internets.
Here are two excellent videos about the nature of Anonymous and how it is evolving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuHF_br-DBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0WCLKzDFpI
But think about this for a minute: the early old-school Anonymous are hard-core gamers. The Fox News piece about them last summer,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJQY
(causing many lulz) was about as accurate as most of its careful and thoughtful reporting, but, from my research into their ouevre, I think they did get it fairly spot-on when they said that Anonymous plays the internet - and its denizens - like a computer game. Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And never forget that Anonymous’ primary motivation is always for the lulz.
There is a fair amount of evidence that Scientology was in danger of imploding even before Anonymous declared war. There have been many leaked documents in the last year and several high-profile defections, including David Miscavige’s niece and Mike Rinder, former chief spokesman for the church.
From Radar Magazine:
"It's looking like the perfect storm," says Dave Touretzky, a research professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and a longtime critic of the Church. "I just can't believe what's happened over the last six months. It's all falling apart for Scientology now. We're looking at the end times for them."
http://radarmagazine.com/from-the-magazine/2008/03/scientology_anonymous_protests_tom_cruise_01.php
So, just suppose Anonymous decided that, for the lulz, they’d up the ante and move their game from cyberspace into meatspace, as they say. What better target than Scientology, a corrupt and just plain silly pseudo-religion that’s already a public joke, albeit currently wealthy and somewhat politically powerful? If so, this is brilliant strategy; if Anonymous can take even partial credit for the crash of the church of Scientology, it’s quite an epic win for them, as they say. I’d say it would boost their credibility – not to mention their notoriety – considerably.
But Anonymous is no longer just a small group of cyber-anarchists; a lot of people are waking up to the power of the internet to affect political and social change. The Christian Science Monitor, in an article about the recent protests, reports that:
“These tactics of anonymous activism have given a new voice to dissidents living under authoritarian regimes in Burma (Myanmar) and China. But similar methods are now challenging the legal systems of democratic governments as well, upsetting the ability of judges to balance freedom of speech against competing claims of privacy and public safety, argue some experts.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0317/p03s02-ussc.html
But it’s Anonymous’ use of satire and humor that’s making it work here; in another article I saw them referred to as “the Yippies of the internet” and that is exactly how I see it. Abbie Hoffman knew this: make the revolution a party and folks will show up. In this, Anonymous has their priorities in order: first, do it for the lulz. And there must always be delicious cake.
I was struck then by the potential for this; Anonymous kept stirring the pot, keeping folks riled up and people started putting pressure to have the case re-opened. Then on the major media to cover it and now people all over the world know Lori Drew’s name and what she did and what she looks like. And even if she never did get charged with anything, she’s definitely paying her debt to society.
So, curious about these Anonymous folks, I started looking into them. And stumbled onto a whole subculture with its own language, jokes, philosophies and code. Some of it, well, a lot of it, was just juvenile. But some of it was funny as hell and I liked their style. It fascinated me sociologically and was a lot of fun to watch. Lotsa lulz. If you have no other real life, see
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Main_Page for details.
I missed the beginning of World War Internet between Anonymous and Scientology because I was on the roadtrip, but when I got back and caught up with all that had gone on, I was really impressed at the success of the Feb. 10 protests. Anyone interested about the genesis of this movement should check out 'The Road to February 10th' :
http://www.dailymotion.com/SA-Anonymous/video/7341208
The really remarkable thing to me is how this small group of internet Merry Pranksters evolved – and very quickly – into a hive-mind, a collective consciousness. The Zeitgeist of the Internets.
Here are two excellent videos about the nature of Anonymous and how it is evolving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuHF_br-DBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0WCLKzDFpI
But think about this for a minute: the early old-school Anonymous are hard-core gamers. The Fox News piece about them last summer,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJQY
(causing many lulz) was about as accurate as most of its careful and thoughtful reporting, but, from my research into their ouevre, I think they did get it fairly spot-on when they said that Anonymous plays the internet - and its denizens - like a computer game. Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And never forget that Anonymous’ primary motivation is always for the lulz.
There is a fair amount of evidence that Scientology was in danger of imploding even before Anonymous declared war. There have been many leaked documents in the last year and several high-profile defections, including David Miscavige’s niece and Mike Rinder, former chief spokesman for the church.
From Radar Magazine:
"It's looking like the perfect storm," says Dave Touretzky, a research professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and a longtime critic of the Church. "I just can't believe what's happened over the last six months. It's all falling apart for Scientology now. We're looking at the end times for them."
http://radarmagazine.com/from-the-magazine/2008/03/scientology_anonymous_protests_tom_cruise_01.php
So, just suppose Anonymous decided that, for the lulz, they’d up the ante and move their game from cyberspace into meatspace, as they say. What better target than Scientology, a corrupt and just plain silly pseudo-religion that’s already a public joke, albeit currently wealthy and somewhat politically powerful? If so, this is brilliant strategy; if Anonymous can take even partial credit for the crash of the church of Scientology, it’s quite an epic win for them, as they say. I’d say it would boost their credibility – not to mention their notoriety – considerably.
But Anonymous is no longer just a small group of cyber-anarchists; a lot of people are waking up to the power of the internet to affect political and social change. The Christian Science Monitor, in an article about the recent protests, reports that:
“These tactics of anonymous activism have given a new voice to dissidents living under authoritarian regimes in Burma (Myanmar) and China. But similar methods are now challenging the legal systems of democratic governments as well, upsetting the ability of judges to balance freedom of speech against competing claims of privacy and public safety, argue some experts.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0317/p03s02-ussc.html
But it’s Anonymous’ use of satire and humor that’s making it work here; in another article I saw them referred to as “the Yippies of the internet” and that is exactly how I see it. Abbie Hoffman knew this: make the revolution a party and folks will show up. In this, Anonymous has their priorities in order: first, do it for the lulz. And there must always be delicious cake.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Ides of March: United as One, Divided by Zero
I really do just adore these Anonymous folks; who needs 'Survivor' when you can watch anarchy with a sense of humor unfolding right in front of you? Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is smiling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF2dTMHG-4U
Beautiful day for the Anonymous protests against the fraud and abuses and suppression of free speech by the Church of Scientology in Austin down by UT. A little warm for March - hey, Anonymous....can you maybe work on this whole Global Warming thing after you get done grinding Scientology into dust? Really; I think Al Gore would welcome you with open arms. You're natural allies, since he did, of course, invent the Internet.
I brought delicious chocolate cake, to the delight of many Anonymous protestors, along with party hats. I opted not to wear a mask, since I consider myself an Anonymous supporter and observer, rather than among the actual ranks. I also received compliments on my cool, albeit controversial, Anonymous t-shirt. I fully appreciated the dichotomy of the t-shirt when I bought it, with full knowledge that the very existence of such shirts is anathema to the core belief systems of Anonymous. I felt strongly, however, about showing my support and that as a supporter I could raise awareness by wearing it. Besides, it's really fucking cool.
Met my friend Erika and her friend Thax down there & hung out. Almost as good as sitting on the seawall. Nice vibe; a lot of laughing and dancing and singing. And, of course, cake. Pretty good turnout, I thought, peak count about 80 I heard, and lots of honking support from traffic. Hopefully, the numbers will continue to increase; the next protests are scheduled for 4/12. Expect us! One lone counter-protestor...I felt a little sorry for him. He didn't seem to be having nearly as much fun as everyone else. I watched a little video of some of the other protests; NYC looked like so much fun I'm tempted to fly there for the next round. See that here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk_26KVWabw
And don't miss the speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0VI7B9rIw&feature=related
Got a few nice pics & a coupla videos, including music by the timeless Rick Astley. They can be viewed here: http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/pamsterpics/idesofmarch/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF2dTMHG-4U
Beautiful day for the Anonymous protests against the fraud and abuses and suppression of free speech by the Church of Scientology in Austin down by UT. A little warm for March - hey, Anonymous....can you maybe work on this whole Global Warming thing after you get done grinding Scientology into dust? Really; I think Al Gore would welcome you with open arms. You're natural allies, since he did, of course, invent the Internet.
I brought delicious chocolate cake, to the delight of many Anonymous protestors, along with party hats. I opted not to wear a mask, since I consider myself an Anonymous supporter and observer, rather than among the actual ranks. I also received compliments on my cool, albeit controversial, Anonymous t-shirt. I fully appreciated the dichotomy of the t-shirt when I bought it, with full knowledge that the very existence of such shirts is anathema to the core belief systems of Anonymous. I felt strongly, however, about showing my support and that as a supporter I could raise awareness by wearing it. Besides, it's really fucking cool.
Met my friend Erika and her friend Thax down there & hung out. Almost as good as sitting on the seawall. Nice vibe; a lot of laughing and dancing and singing. And, of course, cake. Pretty good turnout, I thought, peak count about 80 I heard, and lots of honking support from traffic. Hopefully, the numbers will continue to increase; the next protests are scheduled for 4/12. Expect us! One lone counter-protestor...I felt a little sorry for him. He didn't seem to be having nearly as much fun as everyone else. I watched a little video of some of the other protests; NYC looked like so much fun I'm tempted to fly there for the next round. See that here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk_26KVWabw
And don't miss the speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0VI7B9rIw&feature=related
Got a few nice pics & a coupla videos, including music by the timeless Rick Astley. They can be viewed here: http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/pamsterpics/idesofmarch/
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