Hackers go after Orlando Scrooges (Anons oppose squelching hungry/homeless)

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure: /...lando-scrooges/comment-page-1/#comment-318414

[NOTE: Unmodded Comments!]

A hacker group, “Anonymous” has targeted several Orlando websites as retribution for the arrest of volunteers giving free food to the homeless in an Orlando park. The group, responsible for shutting down the websites of MasterCard and the Church of Scientology, has promised to continue the cyber attacks against Orlando websites as long as the arrests continue.

According to The New York Times, Orlando passed an ordinance five years ago that prohibits feeding over 25 people in a public park without a permit and only two permits for the same park will be given per year. The ordinance was passed in response to the compaints of local businesses. The group, Orlando Food Not Bombs has been feeding the homeless vegan and vegetarian meals three times a week in Lake Eola Park, one of Orlando’s largest public parks.

Beginning this past June, the Orlando police began arresting the volunteers serving food and have stated that they will continue to arrest volunteers who continue with serving food to the homeless. In response, Anonymous “declared a cyberwar” against the city of Orlando. They began with the websites for the local Fraternal Order of Police, the mayor’s re-election campaign and a leading redevelopment organization. The hackers have vowed to continue disrupting ten websites in Orlando each time arrests are made.

Although the group Orlando Food Not Bombs has disavowed the actions of the Anonymous hackers and calls the “cyberwar” a distraction, Mr. Markeson, a member of the antipoverty group has stated:

The Orlando mayor and City Council members had attempted to “criminalize poverty” by passing a series of ordinances intended to “hide the homeless.”
“Mayor Dyer wants to hide the poor and the hungry people living in our community,” he said.

The response from the Mayor Buddy Dyer’s spokesperson was predictably:

“We will continue to enforce the city ordinance,” said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified out of a concern she would become a target of Anonymous. “We must continue to focus on what our Orlando residents want and not the desires of others from outside the community

In response to the allegations that Orlando authorities were trying to hide the homeless and “criminalize poverty”, Mayor Dyer’s spokesperson responded:

.”“Nothing could be further from the truth. The city has a strong relationship with our region’s homeless providers and will continue to dedicate resources and services that assist our homeless population.”

Anonymous, although condemned by Orlando Food Not Bombs as a distraction seems to have entered the fray, welcomed or not, in an attempt to raise the visibility of the issue.
Most assuredly, the mayor and city council approve of the antipoverty groups who provide services in designated locations. It seems the main sin of the Orlando Food Not Bombs group is to provide their services in such a way that the homeless are visible in a large group that disturbs the sensibilities of the more fortunate in the area.

Interesting. Wonder if Anonymous' entry will end up being a net + or - for hungry people in Orlando.

I wonder if future generations will see Woody Guthrie as a terrorist.

I wonder if future generations will see Woody Guthrie at all.

History is written by the winners, or so I'm told...

Now they see Bob Dylan (who Woody mentored), but time loves a hero, and so Woody ... even if only one of over 10 million postage stamps, at award shows, in galleries, etc:

Posthumous honors

Pete Seeger had the Sloop Woody Guthrie built for an organization he founded, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.[99] It was launched in 1978. Now operated by the Beacon Sloop Club, it serves to educate people about sailing and the history and environs of the Hudson River.
Although Guthrie's catalogue never brought him many awards while he was alive, in 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the same year Bob Dylan was inducted (much of Dylan's initial folk music work was heavily influenced by Guthrie),[100] and in 2000 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[101]
In 1987 "Roll On Columbia" was chosen as the official Washington State Folk Song,[102] and in 2001 Guthrie's "Oklahoma Hills" was chosen to be the official state folk song of Oklahoma.[13]
On September 26, 1992, The Peace Abbey, a multi-faith retreat center located in Sherborn, Massachusetts, awarded Guthrie their Courage of Conscience Award for his social activism and artistry in song which conveyed the plight of the common person.[103]
On June 26, 1998, as part of its Legends of American Music series, the United States Postal Service issued 45 million 32-cent stamps honoring folk musicians Huddie Ledbetter, Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Josh White. The four musicians were represented on sheets of 20 stamps.[104]
In July 2001, CB's Gallery in New York City began hosting an annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash concert featuring multiple performers. This event moved to the Bowery Poetry Club in 2007 after CB's Gallery and CBGB, its parent club, closed.[105]
In 2005, the Boston-based punk band Dropkick Murphys recorded "I'm Shipping Up to Boston". The song's lyrics are from a poem written by Guthrie,[106] and the music was composed by the band. The song was released in 2005 on the album The Warrior's Code and gained fame when it was used as part of the soundtrack for the 2006 movie The Departed.
In 2006, The Klezmatics set Jewish lyrics written by Guthrie to music. The resulting album, Wonder Wheel, won the Grammy award for best contemporary world music album.[107]
On April 27, 2007, Guthrie was one of four Okemah natives inducted into Okemah's Hall of Fame during the town's Pioneer Day weekend of festivities.[108]
On February 10, 2008, The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949, a rare live recording released in cooperation with the Woody Guthrie Foundation,[109] was the recipient of a Grammy Award in the category Best Historical Album.[110] Less than two years later, Guthrie was again nominated for a Grammy in the same category with the 2009 release of My Dusty Road on Rounder Records.[111]

He is already seen as subversive and un american.
This land is made for you and me.
NEVER FORGET

Too bad Woody didn't have time to go electric...

Here's some Woody Guthrie ...

OG doesn't afraid of Blacklisted.

:quickpalm: for the love of Pete, please delete the post that goes to your family site.

Not my family i have no idea who they are.

Ok, as long as you lied about it being your grandpa.

I am shocked that you can get arrested for giving food to the homeless without a permit. We are allowed to help the needy without permission but the government says we can't? Well i hope orlando gets what it deserves.

It's a health code thing. You can give anything you want to a homeless person. The law says you have to get a permit for feeding large numbers of people. It's designed to make sure that whoever is doing the feeding understands what guidelines need to be followed to prevent any risk of the spread of foodbourne illness. The permits are extremely easy to get and cost next to nothing. But Food not Bombs loves the attention they get.

But is arresting them an appropriate response? Seems a little extreme, imho.

Perhaps. But it's the cops job to enforce the law and Food not Bombs have made it clear they're going to keep doing it. So the police have no other options really. The provisions of this particular bill are too strict imo. People should be focused on amending the law.

Ya I wasn't blaming the cops, I just thought that maybe a fine would be better suited for the situation.

I agree.

As long as your not a native American Indian eh!

"This land was made for you and me" is inclusive, it means this land was not made for GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS, or RELIGIONS. Its belongs to the people. The government forgets that sometimes.

Yeah but Governments, Corporations, and Religions are all part of the people.

The people forgot that; need more Woody Guthries.

Actually, it's the other way around: people are part of all Governments, Corporations, and Religions.

Yup. It's too bad that Anonymous, to a great degree, has become synonymous with anarchy.

Just for now.

I thought Anonymous was anarchy in action. That's what makes the hivemind beautiful is that it is a system without leaders, where it is the people who decide the courses of action and not specialized groups or select individuals. The opportunity to abuse power is minimized because the power is so thinly spread.

I agree with Herro. Mass feedings do require some level of oversight because there are health codes and sanitary conditions that have to be met and observed. The idea that only two permits will be issued for a park in a YEAR is ludicrous. That law needs to be changed, and this may be how it happens. Anonymous should, in my opinion, pressure the mayor's office and city legislature to enact those changes, as should Food Not Bombs.

Until then, I say they conduct food distribution in phases of no more than 25 people to get around the law. Feed 25 people, then disperse and send in a new group of volunteers to feed 25 more, rinse and repeat.

This is clearly the fastest and simplest short-term solution. I likee.

Speaking of health codes and sanitary concerns...a lot of these guys will be eating out of dumpsters if they don't get they sammich.

Yeah but if one of them gets food poisoning from someone who is unlicensed handing out food then ambulance chaser lawyers can have a field day, or on a serious note there could be a bad outbreak of e coli etc.

In point of fact Anonymous is a meritocracy.

Anonymous approaches activism and coordination in an anarcho approach but in history, anonymous has not exclusively included anarchist movements (in its many definitions and approaches) on its list of priorities.

IIRC, when I had a friend active with FNB in ATL about 10 years ago and when I was asked to join her at an event to help out (which I did), they at least SAID that they had gotten a permit to distribute food. Whether this is true (or even relevant 10 years later, and in another city) is debatable. Notably, there were no problems when they held their event.

It is POSSIBLE that FNB in Orlando chose not to get a permit that other FNB groups in other cities DO get (or claimed to have gotten--I never saw one or asked to see one), and is paying the price for that.

By "Anonymous is anarchy in action", I'm commenting upon the method of execution by which the collective known as Anonymous operates. I wasn't talking about the goals of the collective, just the means by which we run.

Especially since I for one happen to not be an anarchist. I'd really like to see something a little closer to what Heinlein described in "Starship Troopers" for a system of rule than one where I have to entrust equal decision making power to every schmuck out there. Some folks are simply too greedy or stupid to be allowed anywhere near power. When it comes to a system of rule, giving everyone a say isn't always a good thing.

For Anonymous, anarchy works. For governmental rule? I'd be disinclined to agree.

Back on topic, I have a friend in Santa Barbara who said they may soon be experiencing similar issues. I told him that if something comes up to let me know, and then I'll let the boards hear about it so that anyone supporting the FNB op can get extra intel.

2 permits a year??

One of those arrested, Tommy Frain, is suing the Tarpon Springs Police Dept. for an earlier arrest over filming a cop. It was caught on video and the cop lied about the circumstances of the arrest. The State Attorney refused to prosecute.



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...less-pictures-20110608,0,6597341.photogallery

http://www.copblock.org/tag/tommy-frain/

A permit to do something in a public place doesn't equal a food handlers license. This is about health and safety it's about the rich not wanting to see the poor.

Wait, did I miss something? They only serve them vegan meals? What the fuck?

The people who volunteer tend to be veggie themselves. And meat is expensive. I'd rather have a big helping of veggie than a small portion of meat.

mmm.