megamerican alerted us to a
leaked document (PDF) from a
Virginia Fusion Center titled "2009 Virginia Terrorism Threat Assessment." The document is marked as "Law Enforcement Sensitive," not to be shown to public. Citizens for Legitimate Government
has a write-up. Slashdot gets a mention on page 45 — not as a terrorist organization itself, but as one of the places that members of Anonymous may hang out:
"A 'loose coalition of Internet denizens,' Anonymous consists largely of users from multiple internet sites such as 4chan, 711chan, 420chan, Something Awful, Fark, Encyclopedia Dramatica, Slashdot, IRC channels, and YouTube. Other social networking sites are also utilized to mobilize physical protests. ... Anonymous is of interest not only because of the sentiments expressed by affiliates and their potential for physical protest, but because they have innovated the use of e-protests and mobilization. Given the lack of a unifying creed, this movement has the potential to inspire lone wolf behavior in the cyber realms." According to the report, cell phones and digital music players have been used to transfer plans related to criminal activity, and therefore presumably could be grounds for suspicion. Podcasting is also suspicious.
A.C. (Score:5, Funny)
"Lone wolf" sound MUCH better than anonymous coward!
Re:A.C. (Score:5, Insightful)
They just don't understand the joke, do they?
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Re:A.C. (Score:5, Funny)
a coalition of persons of interest is growing at an exponential rate on the Internets. Members of the group, posting in various websites under the handle, Guest, often post provocative and sometimes unlawful comments. By using the handle name "Guest", they were afforded anonymity.
Several related groups are Anonymous, Anonymous Coward, Public, Guest, and Unregistered.
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Re:A.C. (Score:5, Insightful)
Genius. How great would it be if Slashdot changed 'Anonymous Coward' to Lone Wolf for a few weeks?
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Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymous (Score:5, Funny)
All your base are belong to us.
Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
"Who the hell their base belong to?"
You've just terrorized my brain.
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
You may say that, but I have contacts within the inner circle of Anonymous, and I'm given to understand that they have a laser. And they're charging it. And they don't afraid of anything.
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
Is Coward the only member of Anonymous? That's not much of a threat.
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
I'm betting it goes something like this:
People who blow shit up are likely to be antisocial.
People on slashdot, 4chan, etc., are likely to be antisocial.
Therefore people who read slashdot are likely to blow shit up.
Can't blame them, really, given the quality of education we as a society have decided to give our citizens. Makes me so angry I want to blow some shit up. Who's with me?
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Insightful)
remeber bretheren....
4f 6e 6c 79 20 72 65 61 6c 6c 79 20 73 74 75 70 69 64 20 70 61 72 61 6e 6f 69 64 73 20 74 68 69 6e 6b 20 74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65 72 65 20 69 73 20 61 20 73 65 63 72 65 74 20 73 6f 63 69 65 74 79 20 74 72 79 69 6e 67 20 74 6f 20 67 65 74 20 74 68 65 6d 2e 20 20 20 50 65 6f 70 6c 65 20 69 6e 20 67 65 6e 65 72 61 6c 20 61 72 65 20 74 6f 6f 20 6c 61 7a 79 20 74 6f 20 61 63 74 20 65 6e 2d 6d 61 73 73 65 27 20 74 6f 20 64 69 73 72 75 70 74 20 74 68 69 6e 67 73 20 69 66 20 74 68 65 79 20 61 72 65 20 63 6f 6d 66 6f 72 74 61 62 6c 65 2e 20 20 49 66 20 79 6f 75 20 61 72 65 20 63 72 65 61 74 69 6e 67 20 6d 69 73 65 72 79 20 61 6e 64 20 64 65 61 74 68 20 66 6f 72 20 61 20 67 72 6f 75 70 2c 20 74 68 65 6e 20 62 79 20 61 6c 6c 20 6d 65 61 6e 73 20 77 6f 72 72 79 2e 0a 0a 42 75 74 20 74 68 65 73 65 20 70 65 6f 70 6c 65 20 61 72 65 20 73 69 6d 70 6c 79 20 63 6c 75 74 63 68 69 6e 67 20 61 74 20 73 74 72 61 77 73 2e 2e 0a
It all goes down 4/20/09 at 16:20 local time. Tell the others!
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Message to Virginia Fusion Center, from Anonymo (Score:5, Informative)
"Only really stupid paranoids think that there is a secret society trying to get them. People in general are too lazy to act en-masse' to disrupt things if they are comfortable. If you are creating misery and death for a group, then by all means worry.\n\nBut these people are simply clutching at straws..\n"
(Python: ''.join(map(chr, map(lambda x: int(x, 16), s.split()))))
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Me too (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Me too (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Me too (Score:5, Informative)
I am David
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Re:Me too (Score:5, Funny)
Dave? Dave's not here.
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Re:Me too (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Me too (Score:5, Funny)
(nothing happens)
Mr. Anonymous has learned the first lesson of not being seen: Not to stand up.
Unfortunately, Mr. Anonymous chose a very obvious target.
*BOOO...Euuuuuuaaahhhh...OOOM*
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Is Slashdot a Terrorist Organization Or Not (Score:5, Funny)
Points in favor
* It hijacks internet bandwidth that could be used more productively
* It performs DDOS attacks on an hourly basis.
* Millions of hours diverted from productive programming to non-productive uses
* CSS that makes site look like someone vomited on your monitor.
* The Idle section
Points against
* Millions of anti-social, hormone filled misfits are kept off the streets where they could do real harm.
We report the facts. YOU decide.
Re:Is Slashdot a Terrorist Organization Or Not (Score:5, Funny)
Don't forget:
* Promotes non-mainstream, rabid devotion to fanatical religions--including Linux and OSS.
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of course! (Score:5, Funny)
It is well known that Commander Taco is actually a commander in the Judean Peoples' Front terrorist organization. Titles like "Cmdr" just aren't given out to anyone. He's their #2 man.
Re:of course! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:of course! (Score:5, Funny)
Judean People's Front?
Splitter
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Terrorism (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Terrorism (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Terrorism (Score:5, Interesting)
Dammit. A group of us did this in Auckland city one Friday night when I was a bit younger and we were bored. Any casual observer would've seen a group of six or seven of us carefully timing the traffic lights at the bottom of Queen Street for, oh, 20 or 30 minutes.
After we'd figured out the timing perfectly, we executed our nefarious plot. As soon as the lights turned red, we rushed into the middle of the intersection with a small couch, a couple of chairs, and a lamp, set up a mock living room, quickly took some photographs, and rushed back to safety just as the lights turned green.
And we thought we were just having some innocent fun on a Friday night!
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Ha! (Score:5, Funny)
In your face, Digg! Yeah!
That silly Constitution (Score:5, Interesting)
How DARE citizens engage in the rights to:
Free speech
Assembly
Petition the government (or government institutions).
Why those subversives who not only wrote it into law, but preceded those rights with the words "Congress shall make no law abridging..." must have been terrorists or something.
No wonder this was marked "not to show to public". How dare we engage in such subversion of the LAW enforcement establishment.
The way I read this is that they are setting up pretexts for "probable cause" to detain and search people who engage in normal, legal behavior. Yet more evidence that the "war on terror" and the PATRIOT act are being used to expand law enforcement power over the law abiding, when instead such energy would be better spent guarding the porous borders or monitoring the FOREIGN FUNDED (Saudi) mosques (which is where most world wide terrorism originates).
Re:That silly Constitution (Score:5, Insightful)
A terrorist attacks civilian targets. Freedom fighters attack military targets. There is a big difference.
You can be a freedom fighter and a terrorist. When will American history books call the people behind the Boston Tea Party terrorists? There's also the matter of a couple of nuclear bombs on Japan, and the fire bombing of Dresden.
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VA better watch out! (Score:5, Insightful)
Slashdot is known for being a terrorist hotbed of activity.
Seriously though, is it getting just so utterly bullshit that they list Slashdot as a potential terrorist hangout? I mean, really? Is the government this god damned stupid? I suppose in the back of my mind I always knew it was, but wow.
I don't want to come off as a nutjob here, but this country is falling down hard. A new revolution in the next 100 years appears to be more than possible at this point. Laws are getting absolutely ridiculous.
I realize VA is far from the federal government, but this "OMG EVERY1 IZ TERRORIZT!" stuff is getting really scary.
Terrorist.. This decades Communist.. Make lists and round 'em up, boys!
Fucking scary.
Terrorism Report (Score:5, Funny)
"Our report on the terrorist group is complete."
"What did you find?"
"Well, for one thing, we think they have been using the web to visit popular websites."
"Okay... what else?"
"Our findings indicate they have been eating food, possibly sourced from restaurants. Also, we think they've been engaging in verbal communication."
"That doesn't exactly narrow it down, does it? Based on that, almost anyone could be a susp... oh! I get it. Nice work!"
Terrorist tools proliferation (Score:5, Funny)
According to the report, cell phones and digital music players have been used to transfer plans related to criminal activity, and therefore presumably could be grounds for suspicion. Podcasting is also suspicious.
I am told that terrorists now have access to a medium that can't be wiretapped, can be folded or rolled up for ease of concealment, and can be destroyed in seconds with an ordinary match. I'm hoping that the authorities don't paper over this threat. This stuff is so cheap it practically grows on trees.
Re:Level Up (Score:5, Insightful)
Scientology. Or Habbo.com. Either could be the culprit.
That's such an illogical conjecture I'm not sure where to start. "Anonymous" isn't some sort of highly organised group. It's just a bunch of people on various websites. Going to those websites doesn't make you a terrorist, or a furry, or a protester, or whatever it is someone else is doing. "Stick around"? Makes no sense.
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Re:Level Up (Score:5, Insightful)
Anonymous is a microcosm of society. There is no formal method for joining. There are no membership lists or membership dues.
There are people doing good things (for whatever you consider good), people doing bad things (for whatever you consider bad), people doing neutral things (for any other action), and people doing nothing.
When someone says "Anonymous will do xyz", they're not charging everyone who associates themselves with the group to do xyz. They are simply invoking the protection of being lost in a crowd and the protection of free association.
All things that, in and of themselves, are perfectly legal in the United States. However, what is done once under the cloak of these protections, on the other hand, may be illegal.
Personally, Anonymous scares me a hell of a lot less than the far right militia groups (which, by the way, all do the same thing and are legal).
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Re:Level Up (Score:5, Insightful)
That's such an illogical conjecture I'm not sure where to start. "Anonymous" isn't some sort of highly organised group. It's just a bunch of people on various websites. Going to those websites doesn't make you a terrorist, or a furry, or a protester, or whatever it is someone else is doing. "Stick around"? Makes no sense.
That's basically what the report actually says about Anonymous. They got a mention and a small write-up in the report because a few individuals identifying with them committed minor acts of vandalism. It says that they aren't really an organized group. The main reason they're even mentioned seems to be to give an example of people coordinating protests or actions online.
The "phones and ipod" section just gives examples of how terrorists and organized criminals were taking advantage of technology-- examples which are already pretty well-known, really.
This isn't alarmism on the part of the Virginia government. The summary is silly.
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Re:Level Up (Score:5, Funny)
Xbox Live Achievement Unlocked: You are now a terrorist!
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Re:Level Up (Score:5, Funny)
Tell that to GameStop.
I'm sure the mere mention of "battletoads" will immediately put you on a watch list sometime soon.
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Re:Q: anonymous in an organization? (Score:5, Informative)
They're talking about the group Anonymous, mostly from 4chan. They were responsible for some reasonably large and well-organized protests against Scientology not too long ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group) [wikipedia.org]
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
Let's post our real names.
I'm David.
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
Nice to meet you, Dave. I'm Spartacus.
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
There are some who call me, "Tim".
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
(Mark 5:9)
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Re:Who is this anonymous? (Score:5, Funny)
His name is Robert Paulson.
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Re:Kind of funny (Score:5, Insightful)
"Ethnic cleansing" would be a better description of what the founding of America was based on.
Terrorism is something else and a term that gets abused to the point of making it meaningless.
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Re:Anonymous defined (Score:5, Informative)
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