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A Warning About "GUN" The New Social Networking Website for Radicals

September 22, 2009 by ringokamens

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

from
http://snitchwire.blogspot.com/2009/09/warning-about-gun-new-social-netw...
According to posts on Indymedia sites:

'The Guerrilla Underground Network (GUN) is an autonomous & rhizomal
co-mutiny of resistance, & is open to all who seek social change from below.

You can customize your page, share photos, post your own videos and
music, post blogs, start your own groups, CHAT, and much more! Feel free
to invite your friends.

Obviously social networking (mapping) sites are sketch as fuck and
should be approached with caution and the utmost security culture (see
our Online Security discussion for tips on internet anonymity), but hey,
it's better than facebook or myspace.

Hope to see you there.

guerrillaunderground.ning.com"

SnitchWire STRONGLY cautions people to NOT USE this site. Here are our
reasons for doing so.

1. It is hosted on a third party host (ning.com) (like Geocities or
Blogger for social networking sites). This means that ALL information
gathered by this site is viewable by a third party.

2. The domain registration information for Ning.com does not list any
real names, only their postal address (735 Emerson St. Pal Alto, CA).

3. The property listed in the domain registration is owned by "Strategic
Decisions Group" which sounds like an intel collection firm if we've
ever heard of one. According to their website "Strategic Decisions Group
is a strategy consulting firm renowned for its expertise in strategic
decision-making, risk management, and shareholder value creation." On
their website, they list their allies and customers. Among the list is
Nuclear Power, known gentrifying forces, and pretty much anybody evil
you can think of. They were targeted by Santa Cruz activists for their
association with military recruiting centers.

4. The advertising on ning.com will hand over your IP address to
advertisers such as Google and anybody who chooses to buy an ad (as they
must be displayed to you, causing you to connect to them). If you have
javascript enabled, these banners can grab your browser history. If you
have javascript and flash enabled (if YouTube works for you), even using
the "clear private data" function on your computer/browser won't protect
you from things such as flash cookies.

5. Ning.com has a horrible privacy policy, allowing them source
information about you from external sources and release your personally
identifiable information if "we have a good-faith belief that doing so
is required by a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order or
otherwise required by law". In other words, they don't require a warrant
or other legal process, only the threat that it will be enforced.
"Additionally, Ning may disclose Personal Information where we, in good
faith, deem it appropriate or necessary to prevent violation of the Ning
Terms of Service, or our other agreements; take precautions against
liability; protect the rights, property, or safety of Ning, any
individual, or the general public; maintain and protect the security and
integrity of our services or infrastructure; protect ourselves and our
services from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; investigate and
defend ourselves against third-party claims or allegations; or assist
government enforcement agencies." SO, they'll be giving your information
to anybody in a suit who asks for it if they aren't the suits
themselves. They will also give your information to any entity who buys
Ning. It's worth nothing that many such services and organizations have
been set up by spooks in the past for the purpose of gathering information.

6. Social networking in general is a bad idea. There's no reason to use
it given the privacy you're giving up.

7. Tech collectives that have a long track record in the activist world
such as Riseup.net already have social networking platforms such as
crabgrass (we.riseup.net) if you really must use social networking.

8. Unlike Riseup and other activist-run services who encrypt the data on
their servers and have vowed to protect their user information (and only
gather it when absolutely necessary), Ning does not encrypt their
information or at least I couldn't find any proof of it.

9. In their posts advertising their site, they encourage people to check
out the "security advice" on their website, which suggests that people
use a one-hop proxy to "protect their anonymity" but these proxies are
completely worthless. They also provide non-https links to
https://www.torproject.org and other legitimate anonymity/encryption
systems, allowing an intermediary (such as the NSA) to see what you're
doing on those sites with ease. It also allows an intermediary to inject
a fake program in place of the real program without your knowledge.

Anybody with additional interesting information is encouraged to contact
SnitchWire (at) gmail [ dot] com. If you get down with encryption, use
our PGP key.

Comments

GUN no worse than FB or Myspace

September 27, 2009 by Rebel Insurgent, 8 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 4045

hey everyone.

i created GUN

many thanks to snitchwire for bringing these concerns to my attention. i guess i'm just a novice at these things.

i contacted snitchwire to see what they suggest. abandon the project?

but one thing is certain, GUN is no worse than myspace or facebook when it comes to the concerns listed above, so...

the reply to my email from snitchwire, shared w/their permission:

hey there!

I hope you didn't take our post personally or perceive it as a slam against
you or Dirty Hands. We actually love the work you guys do and want to visit!
Commends as well for reaching for accountability, which really I hope you're
not concerned too much about because GUN seemed well-intentioned, not as a
trap for young, internet-savvy activists to link up with informants (which
is what we see anarchists on the internet in danger of).

Generally, we recognize that facebook/myspace/ning/whatever is just bad
security culture. It can be nice to find friends online (hopefully that
translate to real life), but when a third party can literally trace back
that whole web of communication back to certain liable individuals, it
becomes a hazard to struggle.

I don't deny that it could be convenient for radicals to link up securely on
the web. I wish crabgrass was more. Unfortunately, doing it through free
services like ning or facebook (they are all the same, really) isn't secure
and it could put the more naive or young at unnecessary risk. Not to
mention, a little muckraking lead us to some gnarly conclusions on who might
own ning and thus revealing possible horrible scenarios that could arise
through using the service.

If you are really interested about facilitating this kind of project, why
not contact the crabgrass team and see if they could use some help? As for
the future of GUN, we would recommend addressing the points brought up in
our article on site and warning users of potential consequences. The idea
that a radical social networking site could merely facilitate introductions
between new friends and encourage communication between old friends far away
from each other is something that makes us excited. However, taking a look
at the site now, it appears there's people talking openly about tagging fed
buildings and shit. Educating people about basic security culture (NO WAR
STORIES/BRAGGING!) could help GUN be a positive tool rather than a haven for
agent provocateurs and spies collecting data.

Thank you for your concern, I hope we can meet on better terms soon!

in solidarity

snitchwire

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 9:34 AM, wrote:

> hey there snitchwire.
>
> i created GUN, and guess i'm an internet novice, because i was unaware of
> the problems you bring up.
>
> i want to be accountable to my community and am wondering what advise you
> have. just abandon the project?
>
> and shouldn't snitchwire make similar statements about the more popular
> social networking sites (myspace, facebook, etc.) before a project by and
> for anarchists?
>
> i was unaware of ning's fucked up nature and thank you for bringing that
> to my attention.
>
> i am also trying to learn about internet security which i know nothing
> about so forgive me if i've fucked up somehow.
>
> soidarity,
>
> -Ab Irato

GUN's security warning

September 27, 2009 by Rebel Insurgent, 8 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 4046

"For now GUN is hosted on Ning, a third-party host which provides a free and easy platform with lots of features, but comes with serious security concerns. GUN should thus be considered about as secure as Myspace or Facebook, which is to say, not secure at all. For an introduction to security culture, which should be utilized at all times on and off the internet, click here."

snitchwire runs on google

September 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 8 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 4047

"1. It is hosted on a third party host (ning.com) (like Geocities or
Blogger for social networking sites). This means that ALL information
gathered by this site is viewable by a third party."

wait snitchwire is on blogspot and they rock gmail? those are both google systems.

spam

October 17, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 4175

this last comment is spam.  They have left spam in the comments on some of the other articles too.  The editors should remove these.

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Open Newswire

FREE GLUCOSE METERS + AMERICAN DREAM PROGRAM FREE 800 306 0990 24HRS
1 hour 28 min ago
Anonymous

Government Diabetes.Org located in Washington, DC has reported, "There are free watches for every state plus billions of dollars in assistance earmarked for people previously diagnosed as diabetic. Public and private funds are now available for them to repair homes, start a business, consolidate debts and any worthwhile purpose." In addition, he reported how new financial resources have been committed to help diabetics get job training and re-enter the job market.
"Now is the time for diabetics to act if they need money, Wall Street has no effect on theses funds," urged Greene. He also revealed that several reduced-cost and free programs now exist to help diabetics and the economically disadvantaged who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Such programs include energy assistance, free prescriptions, free diabetic watch,home repair and legal aid.

Free-Glucose-Meter-Rx.Com offers the free diabetic watch program that provides the latest information on assistance for diabetics. It covers job training, financial assistance, phone bill assistance, diabetic recipes, free grants, scholarship and loan resources available for a wide variety of purposes, including business start-ups for diabetics. The kit also includes a list of more than fifteen hundred professionals offering diabetics free advice and business guidance.

For additional information on Government Diabetes.Org, contact Charles Greene or visit http://www.government-diabetes.org http://www.free-glucose-meter-rx... , Diabetic-Testing-Supplies.Orgfor news on diabetes visit , http://www.free-diabetic-supplie... . . Government Diabetes.Org offers a free diabetics watch and a free glucose meter to qualified beneficiaries with diabetes. Free diabetic watch offers are available in all 50 states while supplies last.

Zhibin Gu: China entrepreneurship, open society revolution vs Communist dynasty: history, politics, economy, and corruption
16 hours 30 min ago
Anonymous

George Zhibin Gu summarizes the history of China's Communist Dynasty:

(George Zhibin Gu of China is an author of several new books, including: 1. China's global reach, 2. China and the new world order, 3. Made in China.)

The past 60 years of China's Communist history can be divided roughly into two phases.

The first phase, between 1949 and 1978, was this: the Communist bureaucracy had totally destroyed society, the economy and the culture. This was done by a total bureaucratic monopoly over all of nation's wealth, labor, markets, organizations and institutions. Furthermore, it completely destroyed the free press and the law. But this unprecedented bureaucratic domination immediately produced unprecedented man-made disasters in world history, not just China's. The disasters include endless violence and terror, the creation of the state sector and people's communes, the total bureaucratization of media, education, and thought.

In the end, beginning in 1958, the regime wanted to have a total bureaucratic miracle in the so-called Great Leap Forward (1958-60), and record disasters emerged all at once. Record deaths of some 50 million people occurred in the period of 1958-62, killing some 50 million people by an unprecedented famine as well as a record oganized violence.

What is more, these unprecedented miseries turned out to be the very beginning of bureaucratic disasters. Worse than the famine, three bureaucratic wars emerged against society and the people in the period of 1959-78, which ended to destroy countless millions of lives, or even more, by organized violence, not to mention a near total destruction of culture, education, thinking, wealth and all other good things in life.

Responding to Harmful Government Inaction, Protestors Stop Blasting on Coal River Mountain
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PETTUS, W. Va. – Early this morning two concerned citizens, Dea Goblirsch and Nick Martin, locked down to a drill rig on Coal River Mountain’s Bee Tree mountaintop removal site, effectively stopping blasting. Two others, Grace Williams and Laura Von Dolen, joined them in direct support, holding a banner with the message “Save Coal River Mountain”.

These nonviolent protestors have taken this action to bring attention to the extreme danger facing residents of the Coal River Valley from blasting near the Brushy Fork Impoundment. They plan to stay locked down until law enforcement removes them.

Resident of Rock Creek, W Va., Delbert Gunnoe, stated his concerns with the blasting, “You know when they put a blast over there, and it shakes the windows over here, at what, ¾-a-mile distance, imagine what it does over there.” Gunnoe continued, “if [the impoundment] did bust…what would be the destruction? The town of Whitesville would no longer exist.”

The four are fearful of the blasting that Massey Energy began in late October. These blasts are 200 feet from the Brushy Fork Impoundment, permitted to hold nine billion gallons of toxic coal slurry. The impoundment sits atop miles of hollow, abounded underground mines, further endangering its integrity. By Massey’s own estimates, roughly 998 people will die should the dam break. The emergency evacuation plan states that a 40-foot wall of sludge, cresting at 72 feet, will flow through the valley, reaching 20-feet-high about 15 miles down the road. Apart from the initial flood, the impact of this potential spill would be felt along the Coal River’s 88 miles.

EVIDENCE THAT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS WELCOMES FBI INTEL OPERATIONS AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWER
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gsosbee

The universities across the nation (and AG) do more for the fbi/cia than assist in the search for foreign terrorists; today our colleges and universities directly encourage their campus police and civilian employees to engage in unlawful intel operations against whistleblower
GERAL SOSBEE.

 

 

 

In November, 2009, the Texas Attorney General (AG) grants near blanket authority (in Case number OR2009-16316 & Case ID#367454) to the University Of Texas Police (UTP) and Harlingen, Texas (HTP) Police to withhold from Open Records (OR) disclosure the key data in their possession relating to Geral Sosbee. The AG also states in each opinion that the AG has no authority beyond the scope of the OR statutes. The AG thus hides from his responsibility as a citizen and human being for civil and human rights violations behind the the OR guidelines ( which are designed to allow the police to engage in witch hunts, stalking, harassment, fraudulent stings and other crimes as I have documented at many pages of www.sosbeevfbi.com.) I have also provided the AG with evidence of ongoing felonies against my person (continuing in Texas and other locations for the past decade); by the AG letters referenced above the fbi now gains the AG approval and authority to use UT employees (including UTP) in efforts to silence or kill me; see for example the specifics of some of my reports at

http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/affidavit2007.html

 

Evening of Solidarity for Dr. Mutulu Shakur
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denverabc

An Evening of Solidarity for Mutulu Shakur
Presented by Denver and Aurora CopWatch, Sisters of Color United for Education, and Denver ABC

Saturday, November 28th
Sisters of Color 2895 8th Ave, Denver, CO (8th and federal across the street from the bus yard)
7:30-12ish
Sliding Scale 1-5$ (if you ain't got it don't let it stop you from coming)

Teach-in by Professor Ward Churchill

Live Music by:
Mike Wird
Ietef
Debajito (of Debajo Del Agua)

Hosted by Shareef Aleem

Please join us on Saturday, November 28th to stand in solidarity with Dr Mutulu Shakur before his appeals hearing on Monday, November 30th at the super-maximum Federal prison in Florence, CO.

Dr. Shakur is a New Afrikan (Black) man whose primary work has been in the area of health. He is a doctor of acupuncture and one of the most prolific, committed and conscious freedom fighters and political prisoners to whom the Black liberation struggle has given birth.

Since the age 16, Dr. Shakur has been a part of the New Afrikan
Independence Movement. As a part of this movement Dr. Shakur has been a target of the illegal Counterintelligence Program carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (COINTELPRO). This was a secret police strategy used in the U.S. starting in the 1960's to destroy and neutralize progressive and revolutionary organizations. It is believed that Dr. Shakur's resistance to this program led to his arrest and trial.

"Straight ahead, stiff resistance"

contact info: 970.302.7349/miketruswell@yahoo.com
www.mutulushakur.com
www.dare2struggle.org

The Shortwave Report 11/20/09 Listen Globally
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 Dear Radio Friend,
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4 days 4 hours ago
Anonymous

LA VIRGEN DE LA GUADALUPE ES DE TODOS LOS MEXICANOS, NO DE LOS CURAS

La Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) no está de acuerdo en que los Mexicanos utilicemos a la Virgen de la Guadalupe, como sucedió en la marcha de SME el pasado 11 de noviembre (2009) por “manipular el sentimiento religioso”, se ha afirmado en varias ocasiones desde que concluyó la 88ª Asamblea Plenaria del CEM. Los curas, junto con los políticos y las grandes transnacionales se han adueñado de nuestro país y de nuestros símbolos.

¿Ya se les olvidó a los curas que la Virgen de Guadalupe es el único símbolo religioso auténticamente Mexicano? ¿Ya se les olvidó que ellos llegaron con Hernán Cortés a robar y a imponernos su cruz a sangre y fuego? La Virgen de Guadalupe es Tonantzin y es nuestra, aunque no les guste a los extranjeros como ellos.

Lo que los curas del CEM no quieren es que el pueblo Mexicano, unido al SME, siga la trayectoria de don Miguel Hidalgo y les arrebate la jugosa ganancia.

Yo les pido a los curas del CEM que ya no nos “salven”.
¡¡Larguense de aquí!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense de México y de todo este continente!!
Josefa Ortiz
http://josefaortiz.hpage.com/sme...

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA ~ TAX EXEMPT U.S. FOUNDATIONS OF OUR AMERICAN WEALTHY ELITE HAVE BECOME TAX EVASION FOUNDATIONS THAT NEED NEW FEDERAL GUIDLINES.....
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Anonymous

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAX EXEMPT SLUSH FUND CHARITIES(FOUNDATIONS) FOR OUR U.S. WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS WE ALL KNOW  are QUITE COMMON AND COSTING THE U.S.GOVERNMENT BILLIONS IN POSSIBLE TAX REVENUE.

***MANY OF THESE SAME AMERICAN WEALTHY ELITE NOT ONLY HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER THEIRTX EVADING  FOUNDATIONS BILLIONS,BUT ALSO FIND IT NECESSARY TO HIRE LOBBYISTS TO ATTEMPT THE DIRECT CONTROL OVER VARIOUS USES OF AMERICAN TAX PAYERS TAX $$$ ???

WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER OUR U.S.CONGRESSIONAL TAX DOLLAR SPENDING WITH THEIR BEHIND THE SCENE LOBBY MONIES... AND ARE CONTINUING TO DENY MIDDLE~CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS PROPER HEALTH ~ CARE , PROPER LEGAL PROTECTIONS IN AMERICAN FAMILY COURTS,CIVIL COURTS,& FEDERAL APPEALS FROM STATE COURTS. **THOUSANDS OF POORER AMERICANS ALL ACROSS AMERICA ARE LOSING PARENTING AND VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THEIR CHILDREN, ARE BEING FALSELY IMPRISONED, WRONGFULY EXECUTED,LOSING THEIR HOMES OR APARTMENTS ETC...

** IS THIS REALLY WHAT MANY SAY APPEARS TO BE THE FORMATION OF A NEW WORLD ORDER IN AMERICA THAT IS ATTEMPTING TO BREAK DOWN AND DESTROY AMERICAN FAMILIES AND ESTABLISHED FAMILY VALUES ACROSS OUR GREAT COUNTRY ???

Chickenhawk Hall of Shame
6 days 3 hours ago
Anonymous

<p>Compiled by <a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/">The New Hampshire Gazette</a></p>

<p>When an American male (or an especially belligerent female) makes the challenging transition from late adolescence into early adulthood, he is faced with many decisions. One certain, specific combination of choices will result in his becoming a chickenhawk: choosing to “support” war, while also choosing not to serve in the military. His motto becomes: “Let’s you and him go fight; I’ll hold your coat.”</p>

<p>Depending on external circumstances, such an individual may become one of three varieties of chickenhawk:</p>
<p>• If there is no draft, and the nation is at peace, the individual becomes a Common Chickenhawk;</p>
<p>• If there is a draft, and the nation is at peace, the individual becomes a Chickenhawk First Class;</p>
<p>• If the there is a draft, and the nation is at war, the individual becomes a Chickenhawk First Class with Distinguished Fleeing Cross.</p>

<p>We currently have 132 Chickenhawks listed in our database. Here they are, listed chronologically by date of birth. <a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/chickenhawks/?sort_list=0">CLICK HERE</a> to see them listed alphabetically.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/nominate/?id=-1&action=new">Nominate a Chickenhawk</a></p>

<p>posted by the <a href="http://wintersoldier.org">Thomas Paine Project</a> (FYI: the organization is run by veterans)</p>

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