On Friday, May 17, the international hacktivist collective known as Anonymous, joined by Code Pink and other political action groups from the U.S. and the U.K., launched Operation Guantanamo to mark the 100th day of a hunger strike within the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

The three day campaign of global action is intended to raise awareness of the human rights violations currently going on at Guantanamo Bay prison camp via social media and on the ground protests. Alleged violations at Guantanamo include the indefinite detention of prisoners, many of whom have been cleared for release years ago.

The following is an excerpt from a press release issued by Anonymous regarding Operation Guantanamo (#OpGTMO):

"With no hope for justice, over 100 men who have been held and tortured for years have gone on a hunger strike. On May 18th, it will have been 100 days since they have eaten voluntarily. Prisoners have died suddenly, violently, and suspiciously. All inmates in Guantanamo Bay have been locked in solitary confinement. Some are being force fed, an international crime. These men face the prospect of a terrible death in prison despite many of them having been cleared for release years ago.

Guantanamo Bay must be closed at once, and the prisoners should be either returned to their home countries or given a fair trial in a federal court. Guantanamo Bay is an ongoing war crime. Anonymous will no longer tolerate this atrocity.

On May 17 to May 19, to coincide with the 100th day of the hunger strike, we urge everyone to join global actions on the ground and hacktivist protests as well as twitterstorms, email bombs, and fax bombs, in 3 days of nonstop action.

Phone Bomb the representatives:

Call the White House and insist that President Obama fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo: 202-456-1111, 202-456-1414

Call the U.S. Southern Command to decry the conditions at Guantanamo: 305-437-1213

Call the Department of Defense, voice your concerns about the treatment of hunger strikers: 703-571-3343

Call your senators and representatives and urge them to support the closure of Guantanamo: http://congresslookup.com/

Sign the petition:

https://www.change.org/CloseGTMO

For updates:

Twitter : @opGTMO

Hashtag: #opGTMO"

A cyber-attack of various government websites by groups of hackers is allegedly underway Tuesday morning, as was warned using social media. A pastebin message begins with, “Let’s hurt them where it’s hurts the most” and the group promises, “Anonymous will make sure that’s this May 7th will be a day to remember” in what the group titles as, #OpUSA. The high profile list of targets includes, Bank of America, Citibank, White House websites, the FBI, among others.

Another message seemingly from a member of one of the hacktivist collectives known as Anonymous states “America you have committed multiple war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and recently you have committed war crimes in your own country. You have killed hundreds of innocent children and families with drones, guns, and now bombs. America you have hit thousands of people where it hurts them, now it is our time for our Lulz. For this you shall pay. Obama you have seen the over three billion dollars worth of damage we have done to Israel in operation Israel. It hasn’t even been a few weeks and the anonymous collective has gotten stronger since then.”

As federal government agencies brace themselves for a large-scale attack, a "Hacker's News Bulletin" is linked on Twitter that claims to be a running "List of Websites,Email Accounts affected under #OpUSA; Updating list as defaced,hacked or down."

"A group of mostly Middle East- and North Africa-based criminal hackers are preparing to launch a cyber attack campaign next week known as “OpUSA” against websites of high-profile US government agencies, financial institutions, and commercial entities," reports security blog Krebs on Security. "But security experts remain undecided on whether this latest round of promised attacks will amount to anything more than a public nuisance."

Last month, Anonymous launched #OpIsrael, which promised to “wipe Israel off the internet,” and well, that turned out to be a big #OpFail.

Artist Molly Crabapple talks about her new paintings, entitled "The Shell Game" and her documentary drawings of global turmoil in 2011, including the rise of Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous hackers, the health insurance crisis, the Tunisian Revolution, protests in Greece, and the Spanish M15 movement.

Crabapple's paintings portray a darkly humorous year in cartoonish figures, and just ended their first showing in New York City.

While "Shell Game" bursts with depictions of corruption and violence, for Crabapple, the past few years have been a mix of birth amid destruction. "Yes, it was awful, but it was also magic, she told Wired in an interview. "It was the magic of people speaking to each other, waking up, helping each other. For every person beaten up, everyone arrested, it was also a year of fierce aliveness."

Molly has generously released "The Shell Game" art on Creative Commons for non-commercial use only and attribution is mandatory.

Via Occupy Wall Street:

Greetings World.

We are Anonymous. We hereby call forth this May 1st a Global Day Of Resistance. We call upon every person in the world, every city or town, every country; Unite, rise up - and take back the public commons from the oppressors. March in your streets, occupy public space - be free and reclaim your world. And stay. Become part of a world-wide "Global Spring". From Idle No More in Canada to the pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain, on May 1st let us shake the world and the very foundations of all power and authority.

Anonymous will use all the tools at our disposal to facilitate and encourage this Global Day of Awakening. We are tired of having activists around the world hunted, jailed - and abused. We are tired of watching our own fall. And so Anonymous will stand with our freedom loving comrades all over the world and in unity raise our fist to the sky and shout: We Are Not Afraid!

We Are Anonymous.

We Are Everywhere.

We Are Legion.

We Do Not Forgive.

We Do Not Forget.

Expect Us.

Webchat: http://bit.ly/11k8pgw

Network: irc.cyberguerrilla.org

Port(s): 6667 — SSL(6697)

Channel: #MayDay

Website: http://MayDay.tk/

Thousands of well-wishers witnessed an honor guard of firefighters standing to attention to salute pallbearers carrying Boston bombing victim Krystle Campbell's casket into church on Monday.

The line outside St. Joseph Church on for the 11 a.m. funeral of the 29-year-old stretched down the block as 23 officers on motorbikes joined the procession.

Campbell was one of three people killed near the finish line a week ago. The restaurant manager had gone to watch a friend finish the race.

In addition to the mourners, union members and a local motorcycle club showed up to prevent the Westboro Baptist "Church" from disrupting the funeral after they vowed to stage one of their infamous anti-gay protests outside the funeral. But there was no sign of the Westboro clan to be found...except on Twitter.

"U c us in Boston?" the Westboro Baptist Church tweeted to the Boston Globe, the Boston police and Teamsters. "look around u."

Teamsters Local 25 replied on Twitter: "Show your face. We're here in the open."

More than a thousand off-duty Teamsters answered Local 25 President Sean O'Brien's call to form a human shield to protect Krystle's funeral. We understand UNITE HERE members are also there. Krystle's mother Patty and brother Billy are both long-time members of UNITE HERE Local 26 in Boston. Patty has been a member of Local 26 since 1983, and Billy since 2000.

“I’ve never been prouder to be a Teamster and a Bostonian,” said Sean O’Brien, president of Local 25 in Boston. “The city of Boston is filled with people who care about each other and will lift each other up when we are down or need a hand.”

A side note, it also appears that the hacktivist collective Anonymous may have hacked the Westboro group's Facebook page. The page now features all updated posts and photos, and on Tuesday morning the following message greeted visitors:

"Goodmorning to all you "true WBC followers" we love you!

and from now on any use of the word HATE. will be extremely frowned upon and may cause your post to be deleted!

this is a anti negative zone now."

The hacktivist collective known as Anonymous is calling for an internet blackout on Monday, April 22, in protest of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that recently passed the House of Representatives.

The group is also "encouraging" all web developers and website owners to go dark on Monday, and display a message as to why, and encourage others to do the same.

The call for a blackout is being spread with a newly released video (above) and also on a Facebook page.

Text of the video statement follows:

Dear citizens of the internet,

We are Anonymous.

The United States Government is again attempting to control and censor the internet. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act has just recently passed the house.

This bill would allow major internet entities such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to voluntarily share your personal information with the U.S. Government. This will not only effect users in the United States, but also anyone with an account with these companies.

This upcoming Monday, April the 22nd, we invite you to join Anonymous in a internet blackout. We encourage all web developers and website owners to go dark on this date. Display a message as to why you are going dark, and encourage others to do the same.

We hope, just like the successful protest over the Stop Online Piracy Act, we can encourage the senate to stop this bill.

Spread the message, and inform the world.

We are Anonymous
We are the people
We are the internet

Knowledge is free

Matthew Keys, deputy social media editor of Thomson Reuters and former web producer at a Tribune Company-owned television station in Sacramento, Calif., has been charged in a federal indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of hacker group "Anonymous" to hack into a Tribune Company-owned website. A Justice Department press release said that Keys, 26, was charged with providing log-in credentials to a Tribune Company server and encouraging Anonymous members to disrupt the website. A hacker then made changes to a Los Angeles Times news feature. Keys could face up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for each count if convicted.

Justice Department:

Matthew Keys, 26, of Secaucus, N.J., was charged in the Eastern District of California with one count each of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, transmitting information to damage a protected computer and attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer.

Keys was employed by Sacramento-based television station KTXL FOX 40, as its web producer, but was terminated in late October 2010.

The three-count indictment alleges that in December 2010 Keys provided members of the hacker group Anonymous with log-in credentials for a computer server belonging to KTXL FOX 40’s corporate parent, the Tribune Company. According to the indictment, Keys identified himself on an Internet chat forum as a former Tribune Company employee and provided members of Anonymous with a login and password to the Tribune Company server. After providing log-in credentials, Keys allegedly encouraged the Anonymous members to disrupt the website. According to the indictment, at least one of the computer hackers used the credentials provided by Keys to log into the Tribune Company server, and ultimately that hacker made changes to the web version of a Los Angeles Times news feature.

The indictment further alleges that Keys had a conversation with the hacker who claimed credit for the defacement of the Los Angeles Times website. The hacker allegedly told Keys that Tribune Company system administrators had thwarted his efforts and locked him out. Keys allegedly attempted to regain access for that hacker, and when he learned that the hacker had made changes to a Los Angeles Times page, Keys responded, “nice.”

Each of the two substantive counts carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Just a sample of the State Government Leadership Foundation's work.

By Justin Elliott, ProPublica

Some of the nation's biggest corporations donated more than a million dollars to launch a Republican nonprofit that went on to play a key role in recent political fights.

Like the nonprofit groups that poured money into last year's elections, the decade-old State Government Leadership Foundation has been able to keep the identities of its funders secret. Until now.

A records request by ProPublica to the IRS turned up a list of the original funders of the group: Exxon, Pfizer, Time Warner, and other corporations put up at least 85 percent of the $1.3 million the foundation raised in the first year and a half of its existence, starting in 2003.

The donor list is stamped "not for public disclosure," and was submitted to the IRS as part of the foundation's application for recognition of tax-exempt status. If approved, such applications are public records.

The foundation and other similar nonprofits are allowed to take anonymous and unlimited donations from individuals or corporations. That's because they are classified as "social welfare" nonprofits, which are supposed to benefit the community at large, and not just one group or political party.

Last year, we reported how the State Government Leadership Foundation paid for Republican redistricting consultants to draw new congressional district maps in North Carolina. The resulting gerrymander helped flip the state's congressional delegation to Republicans.

In recent years, the foundation has also funded TV ads targeting Democrats during the 2011 Wisconsin showdown over collective bargaining rights; attacking President Obama in Virginia over his energy policy; and accusing teachers unions of "destroying our children's future."

The foundation also gave $1.25 million in 2011 to the Indiana Opportunity Fund, a state-level nonprofit that ran anti-union ads featuring Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. (That group was founded by attorney Jim Bopp, who has long fought against campaign finance regulation.)

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If you thought the amorphous hacktivist collective known as Anonymous was done avenging the suicide of Aaron Swartz, think again. In an email blast sent to their community, as well as a message posted on their website, the group announced plans to disrupt President Obama’s State of the Union address and prevent it from live-streaming on the Internet. “[Tonight] we will face down the largest superpower on Earth. And we will win!” the message reads. “There will be no State of the Union Address on the web tonight.” The group cites a variety of motivations, including “freedom” and “Arran Swartz,” claiming that Obama’s failure to stop the “idiotic and destructive efforts to control the last free space on Earth,” is unconstitutional.

Text of message from "Anonymous" follows:

Citizens of the Internet,

Last year we faced our greatest threat from lawmakers. We faced down SOPA, PIPA, CISPA and ACTA.

And we won!

But that victory did not come easily. Nor did it come without a price.

Aaron Swartz was one of the leading voices in the fight against these idiotic and destructive efforts to control the last free space on Earth.

Aaron Swartz was persecuted. Now Aaron Swartz is dead.

Tonight, the President of the United States will appear before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address and tomorrow he plans to sign an executive order for cyber-security as the House Intelligence committee reintroduces the defeated CISPA act which turns private companies into government informants.

He will not be covering the NDAA, an act of outright tyrannical legislation allowing for indefinite detention of citizens completely outside due process and the rule of law. In fact, lawyers for the government have point-blank refused to state whether or not journalists who cover stories or groups the Government disfavors would be subject to this detention.

He will not be covering the extra-judicial and unregulated justifications for targeted killings of citizens by military drones within the borders of America, or the fact that Orwellian newspeak had to be used to make words like “imminent” mean their opposite.

He will not be covering Bradley Manning, 1000 days in detention with no trial for revealing military murders, told that his motive for leaking cannot be taken into consideration, that the Government does not have room for conscience.

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Hacktivists claiming to be from the group Anonymous threatened early Saturday to release sensitive information about the U.S. Department of Justice as a response to the prosecution and death of Aaron Swartz.

They claimed to have one such file on multiple servers ready for immediate release.

The hacktivist collective had previously knocked the DOJ and MIT's websites offline as a form of "tribute" to Aaron.

The website of the U.S. government agency responsible for federal sentencing guidelines was hijacked, and a message demanding the United States reform its justice system or face incriminating leaks to select news outlets:

Two weeks ago today, a line was crossed. Two weeks ago today, Aaron Swartz was killed. Killed because he faced an impossible choice. Killed because he was forced into playing a game he could not win — a twisted and distorted perversion of justice — a game where the only winning move was not to play.

Anonymous immediately convened an emergency council to discuss our response to this tragedy. After much heavy-hearted discussion, the decision was upheld to engage the United States Department of Justice and its associated executive branches in a game of a similar nature, a game in which the only winning move is not to play.

The "game" mentioned in the video involves releasing a file ("warhead") containing sensitive information about the Justice Department. Anonymous isn't saying just what the information is:

The contents are various and we won't ruin the speculation by revealing them. Suffice it to say, everyone has secrets, and some things are not meant to be public. At a regular interval commencing today, we will choose one media outlet and supply them with heavily redacted partial contents of the file. Any media outlets wishing to be eligible for this program must include within their reporting a means of secure communications.

The hacked site also contained links to "warheads" each named after one of the Supreme Court justices, and each linked to a website containing a "503 service unavailable" error message.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission took its website down for several hours before restoring it later Saturday, although it still didn't seem to be quite fully functional at last check.

A full transcript of Anonymous' message after the jump.

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