So we had a meeting of about fifteen people, all named “David”, outside the Founding Church of Scientology on a Saturday afternoon. And that means…
February 9, 2009, 9:27 PM
Yes, a meeting of about fifteen people, all named “David”, outside the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington DC on a Saturday afternoon means that it was once again time for Anonymous DC to have its monthly raid, protesting the practices of the Church of Scientology. And as always, we had fun, we had epic win, and we had more than enough lulz to go around. And in Anonymous, everyone is “David”.
This time around, the theme was “Space Opera”, taking a science fiction theme, mainly centering around Star Wars.
MisterTastee wore two cinnamon buns on his head, imitating Princess Leia’s distinctive hairstyle.
Continue reading…Categories: Project Chanology, WMATA
I’d say that in January, Anonymous made a bigger splash than usual…
January 18, 2009, 8:17 PM
In January, Anonymous DC raided not once, but twice. This stemmed from the fact that the global raid date was January 17, and for us, bringing out the big guns on January 17 for the global was not the best idea in the world, considering that right now, Washington DC is swamped with out of town tourists – and out of town cops – for Barack Obama’s inauguration in two short days. Thus we had our “global” raid on January 10, and we flash-raided on the 17th. Win was had by all, though it was cold as hell on both days.
On the 10th, our raid was loosely themed around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Thus:
We had Shredder.
Categories: Project Chanology
A year of Anonymous…
January 8, 2009, 7:39 PM
It was recently brought to my attention today that Project Chanology, the Scientology-protesting offshoot of Anonymous, has been going on now for a year. And despite the Scilons’ best efforts, including bogus legal threats, bullbaiting by Scientology spokesmodel Sylvia Stanard, and many other half-assed efforts at intimidation, Anonymous goes on.
And if you think the protesting of the Church of Scientology is just a DC thing, you are sadly mistaken, as Scientology has been protested across the United States and worldwide. This video sums up the situation quite well, that despite the Church of Scientology’s best efforts, we are still alive, and not going anywhere:
Categories: Project Chanology
There’s nothing like an evening of anti-consumerism Christmas caroling to really get you in the spirit…
December 21, 2008, 12:15 AM
Yes, there’s nothing like an evening of anti-consumerism Christmas caroling to really get you in the spirit of things this time of year. From 7 to 10 PM on Friday night, I, along with other like-minded DC area activists, did just that. We had our caroling session in Georgetown, at the intersection of M Street NW and Wisconsin Avenue NW, with The Shops at Georgetown Park on the southwest corner, and the PNC Bank building (former Riggs Bank building) on the northeast corner. What better place to protest consumerism and the current economic crisis than outside an upscale three-story shopping mall and a large bank, no?
I left work at 5 PM as usual, and took Metro to Foggy Bottom. There, I walked west along Pennsylvania Avenue, crossing the bridge over Rock Creek Parkway and passing the Lukoil station to arrive in Georgetown. Then it was a few more blocks down M Street before I reached The Shops at Georgetown Park.
There, I found a woman wearing a Santa hat, and so I took off my Gatsby cap, and put on the long Santa hat that I had previously worn to the Anon raid. Then the woman passed me a songbook, and we got busy singing.
The songs were very creative, taking popular Christmas carols and writing new lyrics to fit our anti-consumerism theme. The words mostly fit the tunes, though a few parts here and there required us to think on our feet and be creative to make them fit properly. All in all, we did our best, and had fun.
Long hat is long!
December 15, 2008, 7:12 PM
Let me just say that I had a wonderful day on Saturday. First off, I had an early lunch with Kathleen Haines, the Lutheran and Presbyterian campus minister at JMU, whom I had not seen since 2004. We went to Cafe Luna, one of my favorite Dupont Circle restaurants. Kathleen looks exactly the same as she did back in my day, and we had great stories to share. It was great seeing her again. And afterwards, we got a quick photo together:
And yes, this was a quick turn-the-phone-on-ourselves kind of shot.
Categories: LPCM, Project Chanology
I paid my last respects to the Infoshop last night…
December 7, 2008, 7:41 AM
I went into DC yesterday evening in order to pay my last respects to the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop, which is closing this month. It was kind of a bittersweet moment. On one hand, it’s a shame to see the Infoshop go, as it was more than just a bookstore, since even more so, it served as a social gathering place and meeting point for DC’s radical community. On the other hand, I’m happy that I got some closure to my four years of visiting the Infoshop. Recall that I first visited the Infoshop immediately following the Million Worker March in October 2004.
While at the Infoshop, I picked up a vegan cookbook for 25% off. That excites me, since I absolutely love vegan cooking, but never have taken the time to try it out. Maybe this will get me to actually do some real cooking, vs. preparing stuff in the microwave (which isn’t “cooking”, in my opinion).
I also found out that the reason the Infoshop was closing was due to its dwindling volunteer base, and loss of its lease. That’s a shame on both counts. I admit, however, that I had stopped going to the Infoshop a while back partly because of their hours changes, and even then, I would go down there only to discover that no one had showed up to open the place up, making the whole exercise a wasted endeavor. However, the location was amazingly Metro-accessible, being about three blocks from both Shaw and Mt. Vernon Square stations on the Green/Yellow Lines.
One group of people at the Infoshop at the time of my visit was optimistic, however, that there would be another Infoshop in the future. I hope that’s the case, since despite its basement location (no “storefront” and therefore no foot traffic) and its erratic hours, it did serve a purpose for the DC radical community, as a place to share information and as a gathering point, as well as a place to chat with similarly-minded individuals.
But for now, we must say “so long” to the Infoshop, and hopefully we’ll meet again one day in a new, rejuvenated form.
Categories: Activism, Washington DC
Having returned to the mother ship between protests…
November 15, 2008, 8:41 PM
The first protest was a smashing success, and I’m now fresh as a daisy after having come home and taken a nap before returning to the streets tonight for the “rowdy” march at 11:55 at Dupont Circle.
For the first march, I cheered. This was our last opportunity to use a lot of the Bush cheers, and use them we did. No longer will we be shouting, “George Bush… you motherf—–! Hey, George Bush, can’t you see, that my body belongs to me!”
And the weather held out. I used Duckie early on because it was looking like it was going to rain, but then switched to the Kodak once I saw sky. That will be fun to put together for the set, going from one set of shots to another. The rain held out, and didn’t start until I was in the final 100 feet to Farragut North station.
Meanwhile, I once again tip my red and black radical cheerleader hat to the goddess of radio, Randi Rhodes, for giving us the phrase “privatizing the profits and socializing the losses”, as we worked it into our cheer and it went over very well.
Categories: Activism
So there seems to be a protest just about everywhere…
November 14, 2008, 10:27 PM
This weekend will be fun, let me tell you. First of all, there is a protest against the meeting of the World Economic Forum, where the G20 will be looking to figure out how to handle the financial crisis. The main demonstration starts at 10 AM at Murrow Park, in front of the World Bank building at Pennsylvania Avenue, 18th Street, and H Street NW. We march to Luther Place near Thomas Circle. There, a people’s forum will be held.
For this event, I will be in radical cheerleader configuration, and cheering. After all, this will be our last opportunity to do the multitude of Bush cheers prior to George W. Bush’s leaving office (and counting the days). My cheer outfit this time around will be nearly identical to the one I wore for October Rebellion, minus the tights. It will be a shade too cold for tights, so I’m substituting jeans. If they weren’t calling for a 90% chance of rain, I might have done the tights, but not with rain in the forecast. As it is, with the foul weather planned, Duckie is being seriously prepped along with the Kodak, since it sounds like it might just get its day in the rain (which is what it was designed for). On days when Duckie is not expected to see use, I just take it along with no special preparations.
Categories: Activism, Black bloc
Scientology thinks they can avoid us by having their awards event elsewhere? I think not…
November 9, 2008, 1:50 PM
Anonymous DC had its monthly raid last night, and we had a blast. We started at the Org, and then moved on to the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Woodley Park, where Scientology was having their International Association of Scientologists (IAS) awards ceremony.
Meanwhile, my Anon look changed again for this one. Early on, I went like I would for a black bloc. Then in June, I did that one-off pirate look with the V for Vendetta mask. Then six raids in zentai. With the weather getting too cold for my zentai, I wore whatever and the V for Vendetta mask – with glasses. That was an interesting look, since it made the grinning Guy Fawkes face look particularly scholarly. Take a look:
Categories: Project Chanology
I won “best concept”!
November 2, 2008, 7:03 PM
So halloween went swimmingly. We dressed up at work, and had a costume contest. We had four different categories: best concept, best execution, “that took guts to wear”, and “most likely to traumatize a child”. I ended up winning best concept, with my 3000-Series Breda. Take a look:
Categories: Halloween, Project Chanology
Now this is an interesting situation…
September 24, 2008, 7:06 PM
This is an interesting situation. Halloween will involve a costume contest at work, and also likely an Anonymous raid after work. Lots of fun stuff going on, all requiring special outfits.
And the problem is that I can’t exactly wear the same costume for both things. I thought about just wearing the zentai that I wear for Anonymous for both things, but we run into two problems. First of all, the zentai has a set of gloves built into it, and I generally don’t do well with that, since for me, gloves rarely ever fit me “like a glove”. It’s a cruel reality. And my zentai is no exception. I’ve tried typing in it, and it doesn’t work. The other problem is that the zentai only has a back zipper that goes from mid-back to shoulders. No zippers in the front. If I need to answer nature’s call, I have to peel the whole suit off. I’ve commented that going to the bathroom in the zentai takes ten minutes. Four to take the suit off, one to actually answer nature’s call, one to wash my hands, and then four to put it all back on.
However, it’s not like my coworkers don’t know about the fact that I run with Anonymous, and about the zentai I wear to raids. After all, one of my coworkers yelled my name out at the May raid, and another one of my coworkers was passing by and posed with me for a photo at the September raid. Take a look…
Categories: Halloween, Project Chanology
Who doesn’t like a free hug?
September 10, 2008, 10:54 PM
So as far as I was concerned, International Free Hug Day was a resounding success, as free hugs were given to all who wanted them. This was an event that I organized with Anonymous as a flash raid, and so we gave our free hugs on the triangle across from the Founding Church of Scientology, in front of La Tomate. I was out there for three hours, having come straight from work, and Heidi joined in about halfway through. Check us out:
Categories: Netculture, Project Chanology
Scientologists don’t scare me!
July 21, 2008, 7:10 PM
I finally got the opportunity to scan the letter, and so here is the Church of Scientology’s effort to try and silence me, reprinted here in its entirety:
Categories: Project Chanology
“Ask me why I’m NOT wearing a mask!”
July 18, 2008, 10:06 PM
After the final day of Plone training at American University, I rode down to Dupont Circle – not to go to the office, mind you. Anonymous was holding a “flash raid” ahead of tomorrow’s “Over 9000 Anon March” in front of the Lincoln Memorial. That usually involves a handful of people in Guy Fawkes masks or other kinds of masks protesting Scientology. They’re called “flash raids” because they’re quick and often called on very short notice.
So leaving the house this morning, I grabbed a hat and a bandanna and stuck it in my bag for the flash raid. However, I had a revelation around 2:00. What’s the point of my masking up for this one? The reason why participants in Anonymous wear masks in the first place is to protect against the Church of Scientology’s practicing Fair Game on them by concealing their identity. However, I received the cease-and-desist letter from the Church of Scientology’s lawyers. So they know about me. I’m “outed”. They know I’m part of Anonymous. So what’s the point of masking up? I didn’t see one, so the bandanna and hat stayed packed.
I also got to take a moment to celebrate my cease-and-desist letter with another anon who goes by “Heidi”, who also got a cease-and-desist letter. Same law firm, and same letter except for the last two paragraphs. And we had a quick strategizing session on how to capitalize on that. What we came up with was a little play on the classic Anonymous sign that reads, “Ask me why I’m wearing a mask.” We went unmasked, and our signs said, “Ask me why I’m NOT wearing a mask.” Check it out:
Categories: Project Chanology
I am officially a Suppressive Person!
July 14, 2008, 8:28 PM
I felt so honored today when I got home after work and found a letter at my door. I took a look at it. The letter was dated July 9, 2008, and was from the law firm of Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns. The letter indicated that their firm “has been retained by the Church of Scientology International in connection with a series of terrorist threats against Church leaders and parishioners made by an internet group known as ‘Anonymous’.”
My favorite part is near the end:
We are sending you this letter because we have reason to believe that you are associated with and have been assisting Anonymous in its campaign against the Church. In particular you were identified as participating in “Anonymous” activities against the Church in Washington, DC on June 14, 2008.
The purpose of this letter is to place you on notice that the activities of Anonymous in inciting violence against the Church and its members and engaging in acts of terrorism […] violate State and Federal law. We demand that you immediately cease all such activities. Should your organization continue inciting and/or engaging in violent acts against the Church or its members, we are prepared to take any and all steps necessary to protect our client, including referring the names of persons to State and Federal authorities.
Categories: Project Chanology