March | 2012 | VenusPlusX

The Sexual Freedom Project: Born This Way?

Are we all “born this way” or is it possible for us to evolve in our sexuality as we grow up? Do you agree that there is pressure even within the LGBT community to conform to the idea that our sexual orientation and gender identification is inherent, genetic, or otherwise predisposed? What does “born this way” mean to you?

Make a video, write a poem, song, or an essay — or even create an original work of art — and express your thoughts. If we feature your contribution on the site, we will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt to thank you.

Video by Tiye Massey.

in The Sexual Freedom Project / Videos by Tiye 09 Mar 2012 0 comments

25 Anonymous Arrested, Infiltrated, and the Fallout

(También en Español)

News of Note: “Interpol: Suspected Anonymous Hackers Arrested“

“February 28, 2012

Interpol said Tuesday that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.

The international police agency said in a statement that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol’s Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.

The suspects, aged between 17 and 40, are suspected of planning coordinated cyberattacks against institutions including Colombia’s defense ministry and presidential websites, Chile’s Endesa electricity company and national library, as well as other targets.”

While these arrests do not appear directly related to the Stratfor hack last December, their proximity to the recent Wikileaks release is quite advantageous for all entities that oppose Anonymous. Was it law enforcement’s technical prowess that resulted in these Anons getting caught?

“Anonymous hackers claim they were infiltrated“

“The GREAT majority of those implicated were people inhabiting the servers of anonworld.info, something that disconcerts us,” said the activist “Skao,” who identified herself as a law student.

In the communique released on its blog, Anonymous Iberoamerica said the 25 were snared not through “inteligence work or informatics strategy” but rather through “the use of spies and informants within the movement.”

As participation within Anonymous is accessible to just about anyone, anticipating their next move and even compromising those involved may have been quite easy for an informant.

How does Anonymous respond?

“Anonymous Retaliates For Interpol Arrests”

Anonymous launched a sustained distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that knocked Interpol’s public-facing website offline for several hours Tuesday.

Members of the hacktivist group Anonymous apparently took credit for the attacks via the AnonOps Twitter channel, which has served as a reliable source of Anonymous information. “Tango Down >> Free International Anons!” read one tweet, while another said, “Tango Down II 404 Interpol, #Anonymous is not a criminal organization.”

While taking down one website for a few hours is nothing compared to locking up 25 people for many years, I’m happy to see Anonymous maintaining its presence and an unstoppable attitude.

Will there be more arrests directly in response to the Stratfor hack? Again, I find myself cheering for the Internet hivemind, eager to see what happens next.

Creative Commons image: Source

in News of Note by Jack Diehl 08 Mar 2012 0 comments

Wikileaks Releasing 5+ Million Emails From Intelligence Company Stratfor

(También en Español)

On Monday Wikileaks began releasing the beginning of over 5 million emails taken from the Global Intelligence Company Stratfor. The information is believed to have been given to Wikileaks by Anonymous, who hacked Stratfor’s servers in December 2011.

According to Wikileaks:

On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered “global intelligence” company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.

What has been revealed so far?

As journalists continue to dredge through the leaked emails and more juicy details surface, we’re going to see Wikileaks, yet again, demonized as anti-American terrorists. People are fine with secretive intelligence companies selling US Intel to the highest bidder, but when Wikileaks reveals it for free, they’re terrorists. With only a few hundred emails revealed everyday, there is much more to come. I’m eager to see what gets revealed and beyond that, if anyone is going to be prosecuted over it. More to come.

in News of Note by Jack Diehl 04 Mar 2012 0 comments

Lesbian Judge No Longer Marrying Straight Couples

(También en Español)

News of Note: Gay Texas judge won’t marry straight couples

Tonya Parker, an African-American lesbian judge in Texas, refuses to marry straight couples until everyone in the state has the right to marry.

Turning away would-be newlyweds is “my opportunity to give them a lesson about marriage inequality in this state,” Parker told a meeting of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas earlier this week.

She said it’s “oxymoronic” for her to perform a ceremony that can’t be performed for her.

Instead, she refers couples to other judges in the courthouse with an explanation along the lines of “I’m sorry. I don’t perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality, and until it does, I am not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn’t apply to another group of people,” she told the meeting.

I’m very impressed to see a Judge using her authority to raise awareness about marriage equality. There is nothing discriminatory about what Judge Tonya Parker is doing, since she isn’t marrying anyone and she doesn’t have to. Tonya’s stance should serve as an example for us all. This type of integrity and moral leveraging is not common enough today.

in News of Note by Jack Diehl 02 Mar 2012 0 comments

The Sexual Freedom Project: A Culmination of Things