Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!

art by Ray Blackbayou W

Book Review: CypherPunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet

By JULIAN ASSANGE

With JACOB APPELBAUM, ANDY MÜLLER-MAGUHN
and JÉRÉMIE ZIMMERMANN

"Cypherpunks is gripping, vital reading, explaining clearly the way in which corporate and government control of the internet poses a fundamental threat to our freedom and democracy".  —Oliver Stone

"Obligatory reading for everyone interested in the reality of our freedoms." —Slavoj Zizek

"The power of this book is that it breaks a silence. It marks an insurrection of subjugated knowledge that is, above all, a warning to all." —John Pilger

Published by OR Books (Order by clicking the link)

Reading this book was, in many ways, a wake up call for me personally. Not because I didn’t already know that this was the direction the world was heading in but because it emphasized the speed at which the transitions were occurring, the seriousness of the impact of these transitions, and the urgency to act now.

I’m an Organized Stalking victim. One of those who have been subjected to Stasi-like malicious government, corporate, community, workplace, social and professional persecution for many years in Canada, extra-legally and often through criminal misappropriation of government funds. This has occurred at the hands of a retired CSIS member, while he worked for CSIS and continuing after his retirement. He is also a member of the wealthy Canadian elite and his family, friends, corporate whores and corrupt state bureaucrats and civil servants have engaged in criminal collusion in this campaign of continuous and ongoing harassment including physical and psychological abuse of my person, property, family and pets.

As a result I know first hand the dangers that face all of us when our privacy can be violated at will, our personal and professional lives invaded and disrupted, and when the lack of Transparency, Accountability and Justice at the highest levels of society allows the type of corruption that enables the wealthy to act extra-legally, with the criminal collusion of corrupt elements of the state and it’s institutions, and with the associated impunity. Especially when those individuals are text book Psychopaths.

So, the first thing I have to say about the CypherPunks books is that unless all of the good citizens of the world want to live the kind of life that has been imposed on me by this kind of corruption (and for no good reason that can be called by rational by any standard), I strongly suggest you read this book and act immediately and with conviction to change our current path.

What is that path? According to the Cypherpunks (and I agree), freedom of movement, freedom of speech and the free flow of information versus censorship and control of information, and financial freedom are the cornerstones.

The battle is between the corrupt and their minions amongst the wealthy elite who want to maintain their secrets so that their corruption and control of the population to prevent dissension against their corruption is enabled versus the citizens who want to maintain a transparent democracy where information and speech is free, individual rights including the right to privacy are inviolable, and the principles of true accountability and justice are upheld.

“JULIAN ASSANGE is the editor in chief of and visionary behind WikiLeaks. An original contributor to the Cypherpunk mailing list, Julian is now one of the most prominent exponents of cypherpunk philosophy in the world. His work with WikiLeaks has given political currency to the traditional cypherpunk juxtaposition: “privacy for the weak, transparency for the powerful.” While his most visible work involves robust exercise of the freedom of expression to force transparency and accountability on powerful institutions, he is also an incisive critic of state and corporate encroachment upon the privacy of individuals.”

Having been a lurker on the old alt.cypherpunks news group in the late 1990s, I already have some familiarity with the philosophy. And no truer words were spoken than when someone, somewhere (I don’t recall where I read it or heard it) stated something along the lines of “yesterday’s conspiracy theory is today’s reality”. Much of what was discussed on alt.cypherpunks has, today, become a general reality and the path we’re heading down is a dangerous one for the people of the world.

These dangers are elucidated in detail and with a simple clarity in the Cypherpunks book. Presented in the context of the three basic freedoms defined by the Cypherpunks:

“And we can also think about this as three basic liberties. The liberty of freedom of movement, physical freedom of movement—your ability to travel from one place to another, to not have armed force deployed against you. We can think about the liberty of freedom of thought, and freedom of communication, which is inherently wrapped up in freedom of thought—if there’s a threat against you for speaking publicly, the only way to safeguard your right to communicate is to communicate privately. And finally, the freedom of economic interaction, which is also coupled, like the freedom of communication, to the privacy of economic interaction. So let’s speak about these ideas that have been brewing in the cypherpunks since the 1990s of trying to provide this very important third freedom, which is the freedom of economic interaction.”

And can be summarized in the form of threats to the above freedoms as:

1. Mass surveillance state, of which censorship like self-censorship is a by-product which impacts your freedom of movement (and association)
2. Control over the Internet, thereby including control and censorship over all information and communications
3. Centralization and control over all financial transactions

So what are the solutions? What can we as ordinary, every day joes and janes on the street do to protect ourselves from these attacks by the powerful and corrupt? The ones who have bought our governments and our states. The ones who are using them to impose their fascist dictates on us and treasonously undermining our democracies while thumbing their noses at our justice system and buying our judges to maintain their impunity over the law.

Personal Technical Solutions: 

1. Encryption
2. P2P
3. Bitcoins

Now read the book .

Other books by Julian Assange: 

Julian Assange (with Sulette Dreyfus). Underground, a history of the international hacker movement.

WikiLeaks Press Release: European Commission enabling blockade of WikiLeaks by U.S. hard-right Lieberman/King

European Commission enabling blockade of WikiLeaks by U.S. hard-right Lieberman/King, contrary to European Parliament’s wishes

Tuesday 27th November, 1300 GMT

European Commission documents released today by WikiLeaks show that hard-right U.S. politicians were directly behind the extrajudicial banking blockade against WikiLeaks. In the heavily redacted documents, MasterCard Europe admits that Senator Joseph Lieberman and Congressman Peter T. King both "had conversations" with MasterCard in the United States. Lieberman, the then-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, boasted of instigating Amazon's cutting of service to WikiLeaks - an action condemned by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers on 7 December 2011.

Senator Lieberman tried to introduce the SHIELD Act into the Senate and advocated for prosecuting the New York Times for espionage in connection with WikiLeaks' releases. Rep. Peter King, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, tried to formally designate WikiLeaks as a foreign terrorist organization, have its staff listed as 'enemy combatants', and have WikiLeaks put on a U.S. Treasury blacklist. On 13 January 2011 the U.S. Treasury announced it would not do so because there was no evidence that WikiLeaks should be on such a list. While Lieberman and King were unsuccessful in these methods of legally cutting WikiLeaks from its popular donor base, they were successful in doing so extra-legally via VISA and MasterCard, which together hold a monopoly of 97 per cent of the market of EU card payments.

VISA Europe is registered in London and is owned by a consortium of European banks. MasterCard Europe is registered in Belgium and has similar ownership, but the Commission papers show that European control of VISA Europe and MasterCard Europe is a fiction. The papers reveal that the instructions to blockade WikiLeaks' operations in Europe came directly from VISA and MasterCard in the United States. Ownership would normally imply control, but VISA and MasterCard Europe are essentially controlled by confidential contracts with their U.S. counterparts, a hidden organizational structure that the Commission calls an "association of undertakings".

On Tuesday, 19 November 2012, the European Parliament took an important step towards safeguarding the economic sovereignty of all Europeans. In Article 32 of its resolution, the European Parliament expressed the will that the Commission should prevent the arbitrary refusal of payments by credit card companies, which economically strangles businesses and organizations, notably ours. The resolution is an important step to putting an end to the Lieberman/King blockade, which has wiped out 95 per cent of WikiLeaks' revenues. The Lieberman/King blockade has been directly condemned by, among others, the UN Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Speech and the New York Times Editorial Board. The blockade is a direct infringement of the Article 19 right to receive and impart information, and threatens all donor-funded organizations and the freedom of the press.

It comes as a surprise, then, that the European Commission is taking the contrary view in its preliminary decision, of not opening a formal investigation into VISA, MasterCard and AmEx's violations against DataCell, the company that collected donations to the WikiLeaks project until the imposition of the blockade in 2010. The Commission's 16-page preliminary decision has been announced after 15 months of deliberations. The 'normal' waiting time is four months. Yesterday, DataCell and WikiLeaks submitted detailed counter-arguments to the Commission's preliminary decision.

Through the leaked documents we learn that VISA and MasterCard have used a false statement by the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to mislead the European Commission. The Prime Minister's statement, which she later claimed was made in her "private capacity", was that the WikiLeaks publication of diplomatic cables was "illegal". This was declared to be false by a subsequent investigation by the Australian Federal Police, which declared that WikiLeaks had not broken any Australian law. Earlier this year, the Australian Senate passed a resolution demanding the retraction of the Prime Minister's false statement.

The leaked documents reveal MasterCard's political stance to our exposure of the crimes and horrors of military campaigns: "It is evident that any affiliation with an organisation causing damage to the national interests of several nations involved in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq... will be extremely damaging for the public perception of MasterCard".

Julian Assange said:

> There is no sovereignty without economic sovereignty. It is concerning that hard-right elements in the United States have been able to pressure VISA and MasterCard, who together hold monopoly over the European market, into introducing a blockade that the U.S. Treasury has rightly rejected. These unaccountable elements are directly interfering in the political and economic freedoms of EU consumers and are setting a precedent for political censorship of the world's media.

WikiLeaks will continue to fight the blockade, despite its limited resources, because it is fighting for its survival. Already there have been victories. In June 2012 WikiLeaks won its first court victory in Iceland against the Lieberman-King blockade. Last month WikiLeaks opened a new battle front by filing, together with its partner DataCell, a case against Teller A/S (VISA Denmark).

NOTE

The movement in Parliament and in the rest of Europe is to support WikiLeaks' publishing rights. The German foundation Wau Holland Stiftung (WHS), which collected donations for WikiLeaks via PayPal had their donations account arbitrarily shut down. The tax-exempt status of the Foundation was challenged as well, as a result of political interference which was exposed this month in Der Spiegel ("Taxing Transparency"). Yesterday, WHS announced that, after almost two years of negotiations with German tax authorities, its tax exemption (charitable status) has been reinstated. Citizens of all EU Member States will now be able to donate to WikiLeaks' operations through WHS and deduct the donation from their income tax.

*Additional information*:

UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/showarticle.asp?artID=829&lID=1

Council of Europe - Declaration on online service providers:https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1883671&Site=CM

The Guardian Comment is Free (23 November 2012) by Glenn Greewald:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/23/anonymous-trial-wikileaks-internet-freedom

Video: U.S. demands to assassinate Assange - http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZuQW0US2sJw

*Quote from Visa and MasterCard Submissions to the European Commission*

Visa's response to the European Central Bank:

> As you will no doubt be aware, in some jurisdictions, various stakeholders have questioned whether WikiLeaks is, in respect of some of the material it publishes, committing criminal acts. Our Operating Regulations prohibit the use of the Visa system for illegal purposes either in the jurisdiction of the merchant (in this case Iceland) or the jurisdiction of the cardholder (which could be anywhere in the world). It is possible that activities that are permitted in one jurisdiction may be illegal in others. Accordingly, the application of the relevant position under the Operating Regulations does not necessarily depend solely on Icelandic law.

> This position is appropriate and proportionate in light of the alleged unlawful conduct of WikiLeaks, which, among other sensitive material, in 2010 published and refuses to return large amounts of material stolen from classified US military databases. Further, according to recent press coverage, it appears that the leaking of sensitive information is continuing.

MasterCard's arguments to the European Commission:

> MasterCard does not hold a collective dominant position with Visa... It is also worth mentioning here that MasterCard does not constitute an 'essential facility', and therefore is under no obligation to provide its services to any particular undertakings.

> It is evident that any affiliation with an organisation causing damage to the national interests of several nations involved in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and possibly putting lives needlessly at risk, will be damaging for the public perception of MasterCard and consequently damage MasterCard's goodwill or its [trade]Marks.

> By way of example, in 2004 MasterCard requested the Dutch acquirer, then 'Interpay Nederlands B.V.' (now 'Paysquare') to suspend the provision of acquiring services to merchants operating websites offering access to pornographic material including showing sexual acts with animals ('bestiality content').

> ...before taking its decision, MasterCard Incorporated did not have any contacts with public authorities, and therefore did not act upon request from any public authorities.

> MasterCard Incorporated had several conversations with the FBI, US Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the possibility of such DDoS attacks.

> MasterCard Incorporated had conversations with certain Congressional staff (i.e. Chairman Lieberman and Chairman King's [Senate and House Homeland Security Chairs] staff)."

*European Parliament - on Card, Internet and mobile payments*

  Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments - 20 November 2012

The European Parliament voted that the Commission introduce legislation to determine when credit card companies can deny payments:

> 32. Considers it likely that there will be a growing number of European companies whose activities are effectively dependent on being able to accept payments by card; considers it to be in the public interest to define objective rules describing the circumstances and procedures under which card payment schemes may unilaterally refuse acceptance;

In his intervention, Swedish MEP Christian Engstrom explained:

> Another example is when Visa, Mastercard and Paypal blocked payments to WikiLeaks. There was no legal basis and [it] should be seen as the three companies helped the US government to silence an inconvenient voice. It is not acceptable that private corporations have the power of [controlling] free speech.

In Honor of our Vets

Atheists In Foxholes (United States)

Atheists in foxholes, some say they are myths,
Creations of the mind who just don't exist.

Yet, they answered the call to defend, with great pride.
With reason their watchword, they bled and they died.

They took Saratoga from the British crown,
Secured America's freedom at the Battle of Yorktown.

From Sumter to Appomattox, fields flowed with their blood.
When the cannons grew silent, the flag proudly stood.

From the Marne to the Argonne, in trenches and tanks,
They defeated the Germans -- the whole world gave thanks.

They were bombed at Pearl Harbor, fought on to Berlin.
Many freethinking women served along with the men.

Still war keeps erupting -- Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Where is the peace that eludes people so?

It is broken by tyrants who bear crosses and creeds,
That overshadow reason with hate and cruel deeds.

So atheists prevail until your work is complete.
Mothers mourn, children cry, and bigots plan your defeat.

By air, land, and sea, you answer freedom's call.
Without god or faith, you seek liberty for all.

Remember ... Remember ... The Fifth Of November

#OPVENDETTA

November 5, 2012. London. Family Portrait ;-D

Bigotry, Bullying, Suicide and the Tragedy of Youth

I’m going to tell you a story about a beautiful young man whom I will call Z.

Z is his first initial. In order to protect the privacy of his family I will not be using his full name.

Z realized at a very young age that he was sexually attracted to males … that he was gay. It wasn’t something he felt he should be ashamed of but he wasn’t open about it.

Unfortunately, despite our alleged enlightenment in the 21st century, bigotry reared it’s ugly head and Z paid a horrific price for his sexual orientation.

When Z was 15, in 2007, one day after school he was grabbed, dragged into his school washroom by a group of 4 older and bigger male students, and brutally assaulted for no other reason than he was gay.

The assault was so brutal that he lost hearing in one ear, his teeth were broken, and he almost lost one eye. The baseball bat and the bag of oranges that they used resulted in a broken pelvis and so much damage to the genitalia they had to be removed. Z lost consciousness during the assault.

He knew the boys who assaulted him and he knew why they assaulted him but he covered for them anyway. He told the police and doctors that the attack was his fault and he didn’t know the people who had done it.

To add insult to injury, his step-fathers discovery that he was gay led to him being thrown out of the house, 6 months later, at the tender age of 15.

He stayed with a gay friend and his family and completed his year of high school with them. All the while missing his family and brothers and friends and feeling very alone and abandoned.

His counsellor put him on Valium to help but he became addicted and started drinking to supplement the Valium. When the Doctors refused to prescribe more he went to other drugs and pills to ease his pain and addiction. When he tried to withdraw from the drugs the nightmares and horrors of what he had experienced flooded back so he started drinking regularly.

And then, finally, with the resilience of youth, managed to deal with that addiction as well.

In 2011, he reconnected with his mother and brothers again. Something which brought him a great deal of joy and happiness.

It took Z quite a while and a great deal of patient counselling to accept what had happened to him and he appeared to have accepted it.

In 2011, a friend who provided online suicide counselling to gay teenagers in crisis worked with him, encouraged him to go on Facebook and start connecting with friends.

Z seemed happy. He seemed to be accepting his life and working towards something better.

In Z’s own words:

I could fully redo the pelvis and set an artificial penis, but it's too expensive and of course, Michael refused to pay and my mom has no money, so I save money and maybe one day , I could have the operation ... who knows?

For the moment there are only big hugs between my partners and I, no need to explain I guess, but as long as I can see tenderness and affection into the eyes of Max, I am pleased ...

Above all, Tim, let me say a BIG, BIG thank you for staying there, having lost on sleep to back me up; being so friendly, sweet, kind and comprehensible ... Namaste Tim

And then one day, Z suddenly, quietly and efficiently took his life.

Today is the anniversary of Z’s death and Z’s friend, Tim, would like everyone to remember the serious damage that bullying, bigotry and hatred cause.

Especially to the young.

Much love to Z’s family and friends. May he continue to be the inspiration to all of you that I know he was.

For further information about Z's story you may contact:  zachsstory@gmail.com.

Message To The Media From Anonymous

October 22, 2012

Greetings from....
   _  _    ___                                                  
 _| || |_ / _ \                                                
|_  __  _/ /_\ \_ __   ___  _ __  _   _ _ __ ___   ___  _   _ ___
 _| || |_|  _  | '_ \ / _ \| '_ \| | | | '_ ` _ \ / _ \| | | / __|
|_  __  _| | | | | | | (_) | | | | |_| | | | | | | (_) | |_| \__ \
  |_||_| \_| |_|_| |_|\___/|_| |_|\__, |_| |_| |_|\___/ \__,_|___/
                                   __/ |                        
                                  |___/            

This message is to the media:

Earlier tonight, the Twitter account @FawkesSecurity posted a link to a pastebin and a YouTube video that stated the following:

"As of today 200 kilograms of composite Nitroglycerin and commercial explosives have effectively been concealed in a government building"

Let us be perfectly clear: Anonymous is not a terrorist organization. Anonymous does not use bombs. Anonymous does not condone violence in any way. Anonymous supports justice and universal equal rights. We support peaceful protest.

At this time, we are not sure whether or not @FawkesSecurity is trying to troll, or if he's trying to discredit the name of Anonymous in the eyes of the world. Maybe @FawkesSecurity's twitter and YouTube account was hacked. Perhaps this is the FBI's way of trying to label Anonymous as terrorists so they can begin using the NDAA against us.

Either way, fuck whoever posted that threat.

We are Anonymous
We are legion
We do not forget
We do not forgive
Expect us

http://pastebin.com/nnfYegsJ

Just A Thought ...

‎"If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status. Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the ... confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." 

--Edward R. Murrow, a great American journalist whose writings exhibited honesty and integrity.

Julian Fantino A Fascist in Sheep’s Clothing

Please note that the following comments should not be generalized to apply to all Liberals or NDPers or even Conservatives. I am talking about specific elements in the Liberal, NDP and Conservative parties only.

Our world isn’t straightforward anymore. We have a phenomenon occurring where political stripe has actually become a meaningless label.

Look at Mulcair and Fantino, for example. Both have strong Liberal connections and many policies are Liberal oriented. Today’s Liberal policies are also very conservative compared to the policies of past decades. Mulcair represents a more left Liberal type faction while leading the NDP and Fantino represents a more right Liberal type faction while being a Conservative politician.

That said, we would do well to remember that it has consistently been the Liberals and faux Liberals of the Mulcair/Fantino ilk that have thought nothing of violating and even removing the civil rights of Canadians on a whim. Has anyone forgotten the havoc Bob Rae wreaked in Ontario as leader of the NDP?  Bob Rae is now interim and likely to become leader of the Federal Liberals.

Any excuse will apparently do and these Liberal fascists, who, in most cases, have also been bought by some segment or other of the corporatocracy, have not been above fabricating those excuses and then acting on their own deceptions.

For example, in the 1960s, the FLQ was accused by the Liberal government of the day led by Pierre Elliott Trudeau of burning down barns, bombings, etc. and it was those alleged terrorist acts which led to kidnappings and at least one murder and culminated in the War Measures Act being invoked.

The War Measures Act completely suspended the civil liberties of Canadians from one end of the country to the other allowing the state to arrest and hold anyone on any grounds for any length of time without any legal recourse or protections under the law.

In Canada in October of 1970 we had outright fascism for a period of one month and it was all legally done. To this day our alleged Charter of Rights does not protect us from this treasonous (in my opinion) act of the Liberal Party of undermining our Democracy.

In 1976, we had the McDonald Commission of RCMP Wrongdoing Hearings which finally exposed the fact that the barn burnings and bombings were not only RCMP Red Squad inspired but RCMP Red Squad implemented.

Operation CheckMate, one of the operations which was under investigation at the time, is still secret and this portion of the Hearing has not been declassified despite the fact that declassification is supposed to occur after 20 years (1996).

Now, in the new Millenium, skanks like Fantino, through the Conservatives have reintroduced these types of operations and are trying to make them legal again by removing the few protections (like the requirement for warrants) that exist to protect us from these criminal (in my opinion) violations of the civil rights of Canadians.

In criminal (in my opinion) collusion with the Ontario Liberals draconian and fascist legislation was dusted off and applied during the G8/G20 summit where over 1000 protestors were arrested or detained illegally (in my opinion) over a period of two days. This occurred while Fantino was OPP Commissioner and also on JIG, the group that was responsible for G8/G20 security and each and every policy that was implemented at the time.

Odd how during all of the violence which occurred by a group which had been infiltrated by the OPP (by their own admission) there wasn't a single cop around.

It made for a great reason to walk in and arrest lots of people though.

And as usual, Fantino had someone else to hide behind, Chief Blair took the heat for this one.

Fantino also contributed to the draconian Omnibus Crime Bill and sat in the background while Toews took the heat for it and I don’t doubt for one moment that it was Fantino who advised Toews to pull the “we’re doing it to get the pedophiles” bullshit out of his ass.

This is and has been Fantinos MO all the way down the line.

1. Fabricate an alleged “greater good” reason that people will get behind

2. Use that alleged “greater good” reason to violate everyone’s civil rights.

3. Repeat the lie over and over again through every outlet possible including the traditional media until people start to believe it.

This is the psychology of fascism.

It’s what Hitler did to rationalize many of his fascist laws and ironically it’s being used in democracies today around the world to undermine those very democracies and bring fascism in through the back door.

We can also give due credit to the German Stasi who also developed, introduced and used many of the techniques employed by those who wish to undermine our democratic processes and buy our governments.

Unveiling Stratfor 4: On A Lighter Note

Since I’m still working my way through the reams of emails on Anonymous and letting the information work it’s way through my thought processes, I decided to take a break and show you the humorous side of Stratfor. Sorry, Stratfor guys, I lied when I said I was done having some fun at your expense. :-D

Yep, folks. Stratfor's not all dark and shadowy. Now, I’m not out to embarrass anyone without cause so I’ve removed the names of the analysts who made the comments below and have not included the email references in my release.

In addition, I'm giving Stratfor 1 Brownie point towards their Humor badge. ;-D So, Brownie points are back to 1.

The humor, albeit a little on the dark side, ranges from analyst reactions to things like SHAC’s harassment of Goldman Sachs [CT] list to numerous conspiracy theories which they receive and dutifully place on their [Analytical and Intelligence Comments] list …

(Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I’m against animal cruelty of any kind but frankly SHAC is nuts so I wouldn’t defend them either).

In response to this report:

Goldman Sachs claims it is being harassed by a group of British protesters who accuse one of its executives of "torturing puppies". In papers filed at a Washington court, the U.S. banking giant is seeking to block Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (known as SHAC) and another animal rights group from demonstrating on its property or contacting its staff. It claims that SHAC has targeted the bank over its business links to Huntingdon Life Sciences, the animal testing laboratory in Cambridgeshire, which protesters accuse of "mistreating and killing dogs".

Source
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8212691/Goldman-Sachs-seeks-injunction-against-anti-Huntingdon-protesters.html

Analyst: “LOL. They're screwed. SHAC is crazy. They will go after the GS execs at their homes.... “

Analyst: “I like their tactics and could easily be an operative. I would leave a python in the exec's toilet bowl, put a rattler in the bed, place a mongoose in the backseat of their Lexus, make anonymous calls to the IRS and place their names on every NAMBLA and hard core porn mailing list w/a typo so their neighbors receive the packages. “

Analyst: “Another good one to pull off is to call a funeral home and tell them your elderly uncle just passed away (the exec) at home. Give them the execs house address. The funeral home will show up at the door to be greeted by the Exec in his Gucci bathrobe and slippers. "Hello, I'm so sorry for your loss, but I'm here to pick up the deceased (the exec.)"

 To the media reports that go on the [Social] list (hilarious):

[Social]

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpps/news/dpgoh-carly-houston-makes-911-call-from-jail-fc-20100324_6724504
Woman Makes 911 Call from Jail
Updated: Wednesday, 24 Mar 2010, 9:13 AM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 24 Mar 2010, 8:43 AM CDT
(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Here's what not to do with your one jailhouse
call: Dial 911 and report you are trapped a** inside the jail.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/ap_on_fe_st/odd911_abuse;_ylt=AtN60xQ3Qi7e5MMt0gGAVHwDW7oF
Man calls 911 to save him from police
Mon Jul 16, 6:08 PM ET
LARGO, Fla. - A 38-year-old man was arrested after he called 911 and told
a dispatcher he was surrounded by police officers and needed help,
authorities said.

 And to all you conspiracy theorists out there, I did look up 9/11 to see what they had to say about it and I did it just for you ;-D If there was a 9/11 conspiracy or even a hint of one, these are the guys who presumably would have known about it.

Here is the only email I could find on 9/11 (other than the ones sent to them from people outside of Stratfor offering up numerous theories).

Date 2001-09-19 23:59:38
From friedman@infraworks.com
To cartwright@infraworks.com, Social@infraworks.com,Others
MessageId: <2804E3BAEF0EF349B6750F32EF7A93FC37784B@main.infraworks.com>
InReplyTo: 003b01cb0b8a$428b7820$c7a26860$@gibbons@stratfor.com
Text

Mr. O'connor's IQ--11.

Value of Mr. O'connor's time--worthless.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Cartwright
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 4:57 PM
To: Social
Subject: FW: #11

-----Original Message-----
From: dennis O'Connor [mailto:daocop@dashlink.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 5:01 PM
To: John Cartwright
Subject: #11

The #11

Have you seen this??

Not sure how it may or may not play a role in ANYTHING, but sure is odd.

You decide:

The date of the attack: 9/11 and 9+1+1=11
September 11th is the 254th day of the year:2+5+4=11
After September 11th there is 111 days left to the end of the year.
119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran: 1+1+9=11
Twin Towers- standing side by side look like the number 11.
First plane to hit the towers was Flight 11.
State of New York- The 11th State added to the Union.
New York City- 11 Letters
Afghanistan - 11 Letters
The Pentagon- 11 Letters
Ramzi Yousef- 11 Letters (convicted of plotting the WTC bombing in 1993
Flight 11- 92 on board 9+2=11
Flight 77- 65 on board- 6+5=11

You decide!

The Unveiling Stratfor series of articles is being produced as the result of an investigative partnership organised by WikiLeaks, and is based on data obtained and released by WikiLeaks

Julian Assange: A Hero and an Inspiration

Official Statement by Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy

Source of this full text: WikiLeaks

Sunday August 19th, 14:30 BST

(This version has been proofed)

I am here because I cannot be closer to you.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for your resolve and your generosity of spirit.

On Wednesday night after a threat was sent to this embassy and the police descended on the building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it and you brought the world’s eyes with you.

Inside the embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming into the building through the internal fire escape.

But I knew that there would be witnesses.

And that is because of you.

If the UK did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching.

And the world was watching because you were watching.

The next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend the rights we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark outside the Embassy of Ecuador, and how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world, and a courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.

And so, to those brave people:

I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and granting me political asylum.

And so I thank the government and the Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, who have upheld the Ecuadorian constitution and its notion of universal rights in their consideration of my case.

And to the Ecuadorian people for supporting and defending their constitution.

And I have a debt of gratitude to the staff of this embassy whose families live in London and who have shown me hospitality and kindness despite the threats that they have received.

This Friday there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of Latin America in Washington D.C. to address this situation.

And so I am grateful to the people and governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela and to all other Latin American countries who have come to the defence of the right to asylum.

To the people of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia who have supported me in strength while their governments have not. And to those wiser heads in government who are still fighting for justice. Your day will come.

To the staff, supporters and sources of WikiLeaks whose courage, commitment and loyalty have seen no equal.

To my family and to my children who have been denied their father: forgive me. We will be reunited soon.

As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of our societies.

We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the United States of America.

Will it return to and reaffirm the values it was founded on?

Or will it lurch off the precipice dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark?

I say that it must turn back.

I ask President Obama to do the right thing.

The United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks.

The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation.

The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters.

The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful.

There must be no more foolish talk about prosecuting any media organization, be it WikiLeaks or the New York Times.

The US administration’s war on whistle-blowers must end.

Thomas Drake, William Binney, John Kirakou and the other heroic US whistle-blowers must - they must - be pardoned and compensated for the hardships they have endured as servants of the public record.

And the Army Private who remains in a military prison in Fort Leavenworth Kansas, who was found by the UN to have endured months of torturous detention in Quantico Virginia and who has yet - after two years in prison - to see a trial, must be released.

And if Bradley Manning really did as he is accused, he is a hero, an example to us all and one of the world’s foremost political prisoners.

Bradley Manning must be released.

On Wednesday, Bradley Manning spent his 815th day in detention without trial. The legal maximum is 120 days.

On Thursday, my friend, Nabeel Rajab, was sentenced to 3 years for a tweet.

On Friday, a Russian band was sentenced to 2 years in jail for a political performance.

There is unity in the oppression.

There must be absolute unity and determination in the response.

Unveiling Stratfor 3: Anonymous Defined?

Okay, now that I’ve had my bit of fun at Stratfor’s expense in my previous post …

I’m going through all of the emails related to Anonymous as thoroughly as possible. A bit challenging since the term comes up in thousands of emails, many of which are just using it as a descriptive word and not talking about the Anonymous collective.

Stratfor apparently became interested in Anonymous with the launch of Operation PayBack. An Anon Op in support of Wikileaks.

The very first email I located was dated December 9, 2010 (DocID: 35760):

“2010-12-09 06:29:38

Thanks. I'm getting a kick out of Anon activities related to this whole thing. “

That comment was in response to the following email sent by an external party to the above Stratfor employee:

“Dec 7, 2010, at 11:50 AM

sup man

here's some extra info along these same lines:

http://www.neontommy.com/news/2010/12/war-internet-anonymous-defends-wikileaks-after-cablegate”

I’m sure Anonymous will be pleased to note that Stratfor analysts initially found their antics lulzy. ;-D

The above email exchange is also interesting for another reason. The party that sent the information to Stratfor used a Fark.com email address. Fark is a “news aggregator” site for geeks.

However, I should point out that one really can’t come to any conclusions about that relationship without more information. Companies like Stratfor tend to work very hard on establishing a particular image and building relationships. As a result their sources often aren’t fully aware of who they’re dealing with and what the real agenda is. On the other hand, sometimes the sources are quite aware and paid very well to do what they do.

Either way, the significance of this is simply that it's just more evidence that the intelligence agencies and the private corporations associated with them, (aka the Military Industrial Complex) are using social media as an Intelligence source and have been for at least the last few years.

Both the HBGary leak and this current Stratfor leak confirm this as a fact.

Yet despite this fact, there still appears to be a lot of confusion amongst the analysts where non-traditional organizations like Anonymous are concerned. Of course, the purpose of analyzing groups like Anonymous is so that they can attempt to predict future behavior. If they don’t understand the organization, they can’t intervene, infiltrate, or develop accurate predictions about future behavior easily. 

I put this limitation in understanding down to the simple fact that these agencies and corporations live in a “Cold War” world and have a “Cold War” psychology.

They have yet to clue in that the “Cold War” was over in the 1980s and that world has progressed in ways that appear to be quite incomprehensible to them precisely because of their own psychology and it’s associated limitations.

I would apply the very same comments and critique to the traditional political organizations (left, liberal and right).

It is this inability to comprehend that will result in their eventual downfall and has resulted in their complete exposure.

I would ask the Citizenry to consider this:

Is this the world you want for your future and the future of your children?

A world where corporations like Stratfor can invade your privacy in ways previously unheard of through social media, sometimes with the active collusion of the social media, as well as attempt to manipulate public opinion in favor of the corporations and agencies that hire them?

From the first email I published on the “Threat Assessment” in my previous post:

“What about defining Anonymous in terms of the individual? Instead of

saying Anonymous attacking cartels, Individuals acting under the

Anonymous name.... Yes”

What about defining Anonymous truthfully?

Brownie points = 0.

The Unveiling Stratfor series of articles is being produced as the result of an investigative partnership organised by WikiLeaks, and is based on data obtained and released by WikiLeaks

Unveiling Stratfor 2: Anonymous. A threat assessment?

Forgive me for saying this, Stratfor guys … but does a threat assessment usually consist of a bunch of people talking out of their asses with no real clue about the topic they’re assessing?

You guys appear to be quite intelligent, and can be pretty amusing, but this particular email, dated 24/10/2011 20:54 (DocID: 156506),  just made me laugh (at you, not with you). 

“I agree. I haven't seen any defining attributes of Anonymous as a group.

They may not even know the identities of each other. There are several

facebook / twitter Anonymous pages, which seem to be run by different

individuals.”

“But we don't know what information Anonymous' adherents have access to,

and doubt they have such information that provides any sort of

existential threat to the cartels as a whole or their networks.

This is a problem with the threat assessment.”

The problem with the threat assessment, apparently, and according to the analysts, is the fact that Stratfor has no clue who or what Anonymous is, how to define Anonymous, or even what Anonymous capabilities are.

So, they realize that they don’t have what they need to do a threat assessment and then proceed to do a threat assessment? Okay, well they get one brownie point towards their honesty badge. I’ll give them that.

“Yes, it's not exactly a 'threat assessment'. just say we don't know. And we can say

we doubt they have it because they haven't shown much capabilities to

get at insider/confidential/classified information, rather mostly DDOS

attacks. However, there are people that have demonstrated such

capabilities, and its possible they also joined an 'anonymous'

campaign--like whoever got the recent personal data out of the Sony

PSN.”

Speculative and baseless at the time it was written, but no doubt later proven to be true given that Stratfor themselves later got hacked. Lol.

I just have to wonder why the focus of this “threat assessment” is Anonymous? Isn’t bringing down organized crime considered to be a good thing by Stratfor?

This series of articles is being produced as the result of an investigative partnership organised by WikiLeaks, and is based on data obtained and released by WikiLeaks.