Anonymous Day of Action (2/9/08)

[Shawn]

The long awaited Anonymous Day of Action has arrived.

February 10th marks the day that the loosely grouped band of modern day Robin Hood figures have chosen to act in their war with The Church of Scientology. Individuals, small groups and larger gatherings, both in person and online, all seek to open the world's eyes to what they see as a very dangerous and damaging cult. There have been numerous protests already around the world and these are expected to be followed by further efforts later in the day in North America.

Beatking spoke to one member of Anonymous from his command center in Northern Canada.

BK: So what is the general message you would like to have the world hear?

anon: That Scientology is a dangerous cult. They intimidate, threaten and have been closely linked with more than a handful of deaths. They also profiteer off of the suffering of their membership.

BK: So you feel that they actually pose a threat to their members and to society?

anon: Exactly. They stifle all dissent with legal action, bankrupt some of their members with internal "audits" and they keep some of their more disturbed members from seeking help.

BK: Some media has portrayed Anonymous as an equally ruthless gang of hackers. Have they not?

anon: It's hardly surprising. For decades Scientology has quite deliberately sought a power base among the world's rich and powerful and...

BK: Are you not scared of reprisal or legal action yourself?

anon: I was told that any anonymous who fall will receive 72 lolis in the afterlife.

BK: ...

anon: Anonymous is worldwide. And Anonymous. Anonymous is unstoppable. We will shed light into this cult and eventually be seen as a savior to thousands of people caught up in the CoS's web.

BK: Ok, thank you.

[DudeAsInCool]

Nice interview! Here are some protest pictures from 'Around the World':

[DudeAsInCool]

Anonymous in London

[Shawn]

A fair number of Anonymous report being followed away from the protests.

And one CoS agent was arrested for trying to physically remove a protester's mask.

[Shawn]

Not everyone is amused:

Thanks for failing harder than I would have ever thought possible. You've made the fatal mistake of taking e-drama into real life, just like the lolcows that we used to make fun of on here when they called the police and said "U GONAN GET PARTYVAND." Now the 傻香肠 plague has come full circle and now /b/ and Anonymous is the lolcow. We have become what we used to make fun of. Now we think the Internet is serious business. Now Anonymous is the one who thinks he's on some bullshit crusade to defeat the forces of evil and rule the Internet, just like legendary failures such as Argent009, Hal Turner, et al. No, Anon, you are the failure.

If there is such a thing as a "real" Anonymous, or if there was before the entire thing was corrupted by 傻香肠s who thought that /b/ was Project Mayhem, he doesn't give a shit about Scientology one way or the other, because Anonymous is a creation of the Internet. Anonymous lives on the Internet and can only exist on the Internet and does not get involved with IRL garbage like this. People who do this shit (ie 傻香肠s) do it because they think Anonymous is some idiotic clique or social movement like Fight Club and they can do whatever the fuck because "AN LEGION LOL."

Look, I personally hate Scientology. It's a money-sucking religious cult which serves no purpose except to confuse and brainwash people who actually need help. If you hate Scientology too, there are legit channels you can go through to attack them. Write to your representatives or join one of the grassroots movements to expose them, whatever. But leave Anonymous out of it. You're only making yourself and him look like retards.

[method77]

nice one Shawn

[DudeAsInCool]

I don't think Anonymous came off like retards, they came off to me as extremely sophisticated. In a very short amount of time, they have been enormously successful in terms of educating the public to some of the pitfalls of Scientology; when the Economist sees some merit in the movement, then its clear this wasn't just a lark. The critic is right that their are legitimate ways to redress the wrongs of Scientology; on the other hand, Scientology is very litigious, so an Anonymous attack was probably the right strategy to start...

BTW, I do see some merits to Scientology - unfortunately, their legal tactics, financial operations, and anti-psychiatry mania seem to be off base to me.

[DudeAsInCool]

Here's a video from London - looks like they were having fun

The crowd does their own cover of Never Gonna Give You Up or Desert You

The crowd sings along to the Prince of Bel Air Hint: Will Smith is a member of the Church of Scientology...

[DudeAsInCool]

Here is a roundup of the stats on the Anonymous Day of Action - many cities and photos, along with reports:

Check Here

and

here

[DudeAsInCool]

A newsletter video from Project Chanology which summarizes the Anonymous movement to date and invites others to join the protest on March 15th:

THIS VERSION IS OBSOLETE - SEE NEW LINK BELOW!!!!

by SA-Anonymous

[DudeAsInCool]

[DudeAsInCool]

Here is a 'breakdown, city by city planned protests' for today. Anyone heard any reports?

[Malicious Intent]

Scary video from Atlanta. Police in full riot gear looking like storm troopers, arresting peacefully protesting individuals and even pulling over cars that honk in support:

[DudeAsInCool]

Here's how the cops handled things in LA - thank you, officer

[Shawn]

Would it be wrong to admit how badly I wanted to quietly replace your video insert with this one?

[DudeAsInCool]

Probably - that was 17 years ago. Who knows, maybe the cop above is the new face of the LAPD. One should give credit, where credit is due.

A more recent fiasco happened in MacArthur Park, when the cops swarmed in on a pro-immigration rally last May - Read More

[DudeAsInCool]

Anonymous hacks Scientology's anti-anonymous website

[Malicious Intent]

Their website is

http://anonymous-exposed.org

Anonymous have only bought a similar domain.