Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

February 29, 2012

VIDEO: Tucson lockdown: Protest border militarization Feb. 29, 2012

Activists block the entry to G4S parking lot, Tucson, 02.29.2012

Part of #F29 shut down the corporations day, activists in Tucson, AZ, blocked the entrance to a parking lot where buses that are used to deport migrants are parked. Workers of G4S taking down the own fence to let the buses out.
G4S is one of the biggest corporations in the world, it works includes privatization of prisons and deportations in the US, also they are part of the private companies that were contracted to privatized the check points in the West Bank in Palestine




BREAKING NEWS: LOCAL ACTIVISTS TAKING DIRECT ACTION AGAINST BORDER MILITARIZATION, PROFITEERING AND ALEC IN TUCSON, AZ
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Media Contact: Richard Magon
E-mail: feb29media@gmail.com
Phone: (520) 261 - 0292

This morning, local activists are using direct action to shut down the transportation headquarters of G4S in Tucson, Arizona. Responding to Occupy Portland's call to shut down the corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, this action is being taken to halt the profit-driven operations of ALEC member G4S. This massive company operates the buses used to transport those being deported or moved between immigration detention facilities, and contributes to untold strife and devastation for those criminalized by U.S. Immigration policy.
“The second largest multinational corporation after WalMart, G4S, a worldwide private security services provider, profits through the militarization of infrastructure along the U.S. Mexico border, aiding U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the human rights crisis perpetuated through the daily seizure, detention and criminalization of undocumented people. G4S profits additionally from the private management of prisons, into which thousands of people are streamlined daily by the U.S. prison-industrial complex and its corporate, governmental and military investors,” explained Ben Lorber, a supporter of the action.
Ben Lorber further stated, “Well beyond our borders, G4S bolsters and profits from state-based terror worldwide. In occupied Palestine, to cite one of many examples, the company provides private security technology and personnel for Israeli prisons, where the systematic torture of Palestinian prisoners is regularly documented by human rights organizations, and for West Bank settlements, deemed illegal and in violation of international human rights law by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice.”
Jonah Clarke, one of the participants in today’s actions said; “Today's shutdown of G4S bus operations is part of a nation-wide day of action to shut down the corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization in which corporations who stand to profit from criminalization and militarization, such as G4S, work directly with politicians to craft model legislation that puts profit over people, and bolsters the military- and prison-industrial complex while human beings are trampled underfoot. Across the country, in all our struggles, ALEC's influence is present and representative of a failed system in which power and greed are dominant over everything else.
This day is part of a longer struggle against ALEC and against the white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy and the colonial state of which they are only a part. We use direct action to confront these oppressive structures and take back the power to shape our world.”
The G4S bus shutdown is expected to last several hours. In addition to this autonomous action, a rally in response to the Shut Down the Corporations call is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at the Joel D. Valdez library in downtown Tucson.
For video from this morning’s ongoing action, see http://www.youtube.com/user/shutdownalec
.High quality photographs are available by contacting feb29media@gmail.com.
More information on the national day of action available at http://www.shutdownthecorporations.org/
.

Western Shoshone challenge Te-Moak Tribal Council's member disenrollments

WESTERN SHOSHONE CHALLENGE TE-MOAK TRIBAL COUNCIL’S MEMBER DISENROLLMENTS



By Lisa J. Wolf, Correspondent
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
February 28, 2012
Newe Sogobia

Of 2,448 enrolled Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone members in 2003, an estimated 413 were disenrolled (some 17% of the Tribe), and it is expected that the current disenrollment wave underway by Nevada’s Te-Moak Tribal Council will eliminate the membership of another 300 persons for a total disenrollment of approximately 29% of the Tribe.

In a letter dated January 23, 2012, to the Te-Moak Tribal Council in Elko, Lois Whitney and Myron Tybo informed Council Members a meeting had been held on January 21, 2012, to discuss enrollment issues at which the “majority of the people in attendance expressed that the enrollment committee altered their family enrollment,” which the letter maintains is “unconstitutional and a violation.” The letter called on the Tribal Council to investigate its enrollment process.

Reminding the Te-Moak Tribal Council they are responsible to “promote the welfare of ourselves and descendants,” the letter claims the Council and Enrollment Committee “used malice to disenroll members,” and demands that disenrollment be dissolved “in its entirety, including the Enrollment Committee, and that the Enrollment Ordinance, characterized as not approved or enforceable, be abolished; and that all members’ documents be protected and that members be allowed to review their family enrollment files.

The letter maintains tribal members “were denied due process” and demands the Council “immediately reinstate” all federally-recognized enrolled Te-Moak Tribal members.

Joe McDade of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Eastern Agency; Bryan Bowker, Area Director of the BIA’s Western Regional Office; Ken Salazaar, Secretary of the Interior; and Larry Echohawk, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, also received a copy of the letter.

In addition, a Support Document, aiming for 1,000 signatures, being circulated opposing “altering Shoshone blood and disenrolling members,” notes that on February 1st, 2012, Tribal members “plead[ed] with the Te-Moak Council to cease tribal disenrollment and reinstate members’ status,” and called for a resolution for a referendum vote by the people to determine Tribal membership, which was defeated by the Council with Tribal Chairman, Brian Cassadore, casting the tie-breaking vote against the referendum. The Document characterizes the Tribe’s current review process as “equivocal to entrapment and denying membership cards takes away rights, privileges and membership.” Disenrollment cuts people off from tribal rights including homes, land assignments, health care and the right to vote and hold office.

The Support Document, based on the Tribal Constitution’s Bill of Rights which allows members “to seek redress of grievances;” notes “to avoid Tribal retaliation, signatures will be held under seal for only the Secretary of the Interior to witness.”

The Te-Moak Tribe blood-degree individuals have determined enrollment as outlined in the original Constitution and By-Laws of the Te-Moak Bands of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada approved August 24, 1938, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Indian Affairs.

The 1937 Constitution’s Article II states membership “shall consist” of “[a]ll persons of at least one-quarter degree of Shoshone Indian blood whose names appear on the official census roll of the Elko Colony as of January 1, 1937” and “[a]ll persons of at least one-quarter Shoshone Indian blood residing in the territory of the Bands whose names appear on the official census roll of the Carson Indian Agency as of January 1, 1937” who “make written application to the Te-Moak Western Shoshone Council” as well as “[a]ll children of at least one-quarter degree of Indian blood born to any member.”

In addition, the 1937 Constitution allowed admittance “to membership” of “any other person whose name appears on the official census roll of the Carson Indian Agency as of January 1, 1937.”

The Constitution permitted the Council to cancel membership upon application by any adult person “to sever his tribal relations.” In addition, the Tribal Council was given authority to “promulgate ordinances subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior governing adoption and compulsory loss of membership.”

In 1982 the Constitution was amended and likewise mentions “the official census roll of the Elko Indian Colony as of January 1, 1937, hereinafter called Base Roll 1.” However, there is and never has been, an Elko Indian Colony official census roll.

The Amended Tribal membership section also includes “descendants of members of the Tribe born after the effective date of this Constitution, provided, such descendants possess at least one-quarter degree Te-Moak Indian Blood” and “[a]ny person who does not appear on either Base Roll 1 or 2, who has at least one-quarter degree Shoshone Indian blood and who can establish residency for himself or his ancestry in the Te-Moak census area as of January 1, 1937.”

In 2003 when members began to be disenrolled by the Te-Moak Council, the U.S. DOI BIA wrote to the Chairman expressing that the BIA office had been receiving calls and visits from individuals who themselves or their children were being disenrolled by the tribe “due to a blood degree decrease initiated by the Tribe.”

Acting Superintendent Robert R. McNichols told the Chairman the BIA had not “received any official documentation” regarding Tribal “correction to blood degrees of individuals” and informed the Tribal Council “you may be making blood degree changes without authority for those listed on the Indian Census of 1937, an official federal document.”

McNichols acknowledged the Tribe could make changes to an “individual’s blood determination if a mathematical error is made or if an error is apparent on the record” but “must provide our office with documentation to support the change so that we can make an official request to the Regional Office to have the record changed,” as well as requiring that “all individuals and their heirs” be notified about the correction on their blood degree and provided “with a hearing and their appeal rights prior to taking action on any disenrollment.” Absent such a hearing, the tribe would be denying individuals “due process.” Further, McNichols told the Chairman, “Any action taken by the tribe illegally will not be honored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and our records will remain the same.”

Further, in August of 2005, the BIA informed the Acting Enrollment Officer for the Te-Moak Tribe that the Tribe’s request for 18 individual blood degree changes required additional documentation. Again the BIA letter cautioned, “Because blood degree changes may have an adverse effect on numerous descendants involved; all persons who would be affected by the changes should be notified by the tribe in writing of the change being considered and given the opportunity to show evidence why the change should or should not be made.”

The BIA pointed out that as the Te-Moak Tribe “does not have an official base roll or a reconstructed base roll the Tribe does not have the authority to change any individual’s blood degrees that are listed on the Northeastern Nevada Indian Census of January 1, 1937” which is “the official record of the Bureau of Indian Affairs” and that all blood degree requests for changes must be approved by the BIA “prior to the Tribe changing their official records.”

Further correspondence from the BIA directed to the Chairman in 2008, related that “individuals are enrolled under the laws that are in effect at the time the application is filed;” meaning new membership requirements contained in the amended Constitution would “affect only those individuals who submit an application on or after the date of approval of the new membership provisions.”

In addition, the BIA informed the former Chairman the new requirements cannot be applied to individuals “who were enrolled under the old membership requirements.”

Joe McDade of the BIA in Elko, himself a Te-Moak Tribal member, said by phone February 27, 2012, “I know what you’re referring to about the BIA letting them know about their concerns with the disenrollment. I’m not really sure that that process isn’t a Tribal issue providing they’re not doing it violating people’s rights or in conflict of their Constitution. If they’re doing it in violation of people’s rights and in violation of their Constitution then there’s probably going to be an issue with that. The problem comes in interpretation: what the Tribal Council interprets as being what their Constitution says and what other entities say it is, that’s where the problem comes in.”

McDade said he supported the statements made by McNichols in his letter of 2003 but said, “The Tribe has a different interpretation sometimes than what the Bureau has.”

Regarding the Tribe contacting people and telling them they have to return their membership cards with the threat of litigation without confirmation of disenrollment criteria from the BIA, McDade said. “All of their enrollment meetings are closed meetings, I think, and it’s difficult to determine what happens. We haven’t seen anything official here on any of the actions that they’ve done.”

“That enrollment issue is pretty much a local matter with the Tribal Council. The only thing when the BIA would be involved; and that’s if they were notified that there were changes to the official blood quantum that’s listed on one of those census rolls. If they’re changing those, it has to come to the federal agency to make the change; and then if it’s a mathematical error or something like that because those are federal records.”

“I know it’s a contentious issue. The Superintendent hasn’t been involved in those issues. Number 1: we haven’t been asked; and number 2: we haven’t seen any official actions that have been taken that’s come through here.”

“Until something comes through here and I’m officially able to take a look at it, I really can’t comment one way or the other on that.” McDade acknowledged that changes to the official census have to come through the BIA “if we are made aware of it.”

The information would have to come from a Tribal group. “Officially, it would have more weight if it came from a Tribal Council; certainly an individual can ask us about that and we would have to respond one way or the other; but if I don’t have the documentation in front of me, I wouldn’t know what to ask.”

McDade said his membership in the Te-Moak Tribe “has nothing to do with my position here.” McDade said official actions “if we’re made aware of those and they come through here then we’ll have to respond one way or the other. Nobody’s asked. We hear this stuff going out there; and the Tribe’s reluctant to ask the Bureau to be involved in things like that, especially matters of enrollment; that’s pretty much a local issue.”

The Council in order to act on disenrollment is required to have resolutions of support from all the Bands, including the Battle Mountain and South Fork Bands. However, in 2006 the South Fork Band “voted in favor of a resolution in opposition of the disenrollment by the Te-Moak Tribal Council of Western Shoshone” and demanded that the Te-Moak Council “stop and desist any further actions of disenrollment of the Te-Moak Tribal members” and resolved that members disenrolled should be re-enrolled “back to their original status as members of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada.”

Likewise, the Battle Mountain Band Council on December 14, 2007, and on May 6, 2010 issued resolutions opposing the “disenrollment procedures of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone.” The Wells Band and Elko Band are both being contacted to ask for resolutions in opposition to disenrollment.

Moving the process forward, 12 concerned Western Shoshone met February 25th at the Battle Mountain Band Council offices to discuss resolving the disenrollment issue. Some present had themselves been disenrolled.

Western Shoshone at the meeting contend that the Enrollment Committee is indeed going backwards in time and disenrolling people ex post facto or retroactively. Ex post facto laws are expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution.

Members are being disenrolled because of charges of lack of blood degree, in some instances only using one side of their parentage despite both parents being Western Shoshone, and being sent letters threatening criminal charges if they don’t return tribal membership cards. Apparently, members are being disenrolled on the basis of “errors.”

Rhonda Hicks and her daughter were disenrolled. When she confronted Enrollment Committee members, Lita Jim and Lavona Johnson, “they were really rude.” Hicks feels disenrollment happens “if you don’t know the right person or they’re mad at you.” Hicks said if you’re “not in with their crowd, they won’t do anything.” She found it odd that her daughters were disenrolled and her son was not. A prevailing impression is that certain connected families are behind disenrollment. Hicks said, “If you can’t be fair, then what’s the point? They don’t want to hear anything.”

Hicks wondered, “How many know your blood has been changed?”

Apparently, other Constitutional violations include the entire Tribal Council being present at meetings of the Enrollment Committee and voicing opinions rather than simply listening and gathering information.

In addition, Enrollment Committee members, the Tribal Enrollment Officer and the Tribal Administrator bear close family ties and appear to be violating nepotism principles. Enrollment Committee members Lydia Sam and Lavona Johnson are sisters and Committee member Lita Jim is their cousin. The Tribal Administrator, Pat Stevens, is Lita Jim’s sister.

Bernice Lalo believes some 80% of the Battle Mountain Western Shoshone have been disenrolled. The Enrollment Committee says they can’t give out the names of disenrolled persons due to confidentiality.

Lalo said the BIA “needs to come over here and consult with the Newe people until all this gets so big that we don’t have a Newe nation anymore.” Lalo observed, “We’re like an abusive family. We’re letting it air out.”

The BIA can’t step in on their own but must be invited.

Members share concern the tribe is being written into extinction while enrollment should be boosted. One member observed with so many disenrolled, only the big families can get in the high seats and believes they are protecting their own families and the non-members who work around them.

Myron Tybo has said, “Why Te-Moak is disenrolling people, we don't know” and “that is why we are involved because they are violating members’ rights without due process of how they are disenrolling them. They are in violation of the Te-Moak Constitution because there is no clause in the Constitution that calls for disenrollment. The only way a member dissolves his membership is if they relinquish and put it in writing according to the Constitution. And, the disenrolled members have not officially been disenrolled because they have not received anything in writing from the Department of the Interior stating they have been disenrolled, only at the Te-Moak level.”

He also stated, “No one has this so-called ‘Te-Moak blood’ that tribal members are being disenrolled by. It is not a federally recognized blood. Who is going to be disenrolled next? No one is safe from this Enrollment Committee.” When the 1982 Constitution was amended, a US Department of the Interior letter dated April 30, 1982 stated regarding the one-quarter degree Te-Moak Indian blood that “we have eliminated the language dealing with the source of that blood.”

Contacted at the Tribal Office, Enrollment Officer, Sharla Dick, rather than answering questions, referred the inquiry regarding disenrollment to Tribal Manager Pat Stevens. Stevens likewise wouldn’t answer, saying, “The only person who can give that information or make a response--the employees cannot respond to anything like that--it has to be the Chairman.” Thus far, Chairman Cassadore has not responded.

Disenrolled Western Shoshone Lois Whitney characterizes disenrollment as “a tribal genocide against their own people. Why would they take away those people who are Western Shoshone people?”

Asked about the problem of the quarter-degree blood component diminishing as the generations unfold, Whitney described “what they did in my situation. Both of my grandparents are full Western Shoshone and my mother was born here in Elko; so she’s full Shoshone. My dad was raised in the Owyhee Reservation, which is just 100 miles away in Elko County, and where the Eastern Agency was located at one time; and that reservation was created for the Shoshone people when they signed the Treaty of 1863, so what they did is they took away half of my blood. They said, ‘We can only count the blood of one parent even though they were full Shoshone’” and “they took away the blood of my daughter because her father is not Shoshone; he’s of another tribe” and “when it came to my grand-children then they were wiped out: they didn’t qualify for the one-fourth even though they had their great-grandparents who were four-fourth’s Shoshone on both sides.”

Whitney added, “We object to the fact that we were having to establish blood degrees like pedigree, like animals. We’re not animals: we’re people. We’re descendants of the aboriginal people that were here. This is our territory and we have to prove who we are.” Whitney considers it “cruel and mean to do this,” and says the Council and Enrollment Committee “are not protecting the Constitution; as a matter of fact, they are violating the Constitution” and “violating the rights of the people.”

On February 29th, Whitney and the group will present on disenrollment to the Elko Band Council. In addition, another public meeting on disenrollment will take place March 3rd at 9:30 a.m. at the Elko Public Library.

The issue will likely go to federal court if the problem can’t be resolved. Asked about funding for a court case, Whitney said if they have to they will find funding as they “look at saving our Tribe” and speak “out for the Elders and those who passed away who were disenrolled.”

8 California disenrolled Pala Band of Luiseno Indians were recommended by the BIA for re-entrance on the Tribe’s membership roll. As reported on January 4, 2011 in the Original Pechanga’s Blog, “The Picayune Rancheria, near Fresno, eliminated almost 50% of their tribe. Pechanga at about 25%. The Redding Rancheria even terminated the family of their FIRST Tribal Chairman, Robert Foreman.” Again, the disenrollments are characterized as genocide. As Original Pechanga says, “It has been discussed that tribal disenrollments in Indian Country is nothing short of genocide of families. It's nothing compared to the horrors in Rwanda or Armenia of last century, however, tribes are eliminating large percentages of their people.” Original Pechanga says, “Disenrollment is tribal genocide.”

Money is involved in Pechanga disenrollment. “In the case of Chukchansi Gold, the casino had been averaging $5 million per month in payments to the Tribe over the past 48 months (as reported to me by a former Tribal Council member). The tribe disenrolled 625 members whose share would be $3,200 per month. This equates to $104,000,000 stolen. They are now disenrolling an additional 300 members.”


The North County Times posted an editorial by Rick Cuevas that says, “Tribal governments are using sovereignty as a weapon to beat the weak and helpless. Our federal and state governments are happy to stay out of the issue by saying that membership is a tribal matter. Fair enough, but what about the government's trust responsibility to Indians, to see that tribal constitutions are followed?”

Cuevas observes, “Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. That simply is not what is happening on tribal reservations.”

Cuevas says, “Tribes are using fear tactics, and yes, terrorism, to keep members in line for fear of losing their land, homes, per capita shares and health benefits. More critical, they also lose their rights to choose a representative government and to vote on issues that pertain to them. Imagine if the Republicans were able to eliminate 25 percent of the Democratic vote.”

Disenrolled Te-Moke Tribe members have reason to fear. Says Cuevas, “Currently at Pechanga, the tribal council is threatening allottees with fines, banishment and restricted access to their property. One family is taking it upon themselves to try to force a family ---- who was given an allotment with the creation of the reservation ---- off their land.”

The Chukchan Tribal Council is now in a war over the recent election which was reported on by ABC, Channel KSEE24, February 28th. The recent Council voting included disenrolled members and a new anti-disenrollment council was elected, ousting the pro-disenrollment council. The installation of the new council is being opposed by the previous Council and the BIA has been saying, as did McDade at Elko’s BLM, that it is an internal tribal matter. The dispute between Chukchan tribal members has turned violent with a teenager stabbed, and a woman and security guard injured, on Tuesday, February 28th, in the dispute among the Councils. The BIA is being asked to step in and assist.

The drama in Chukchan may serve as a cautionary tale to the Te-Moke Tribal Council as their members seek to stop disenrollment.
 

Copyright Lisa Wolf, Censored News. May not be used or republished without written permission.

Censored News content may not be used for any commercial use, or revenue-producing use.

TUCSON ALEC action underway to shut down G4S border profiteers


BREAKING NEWS: LOCAL ACTIVISTS TAKING DIRECT ACTION AGAINST BORDER MILITARIZATION, PROFITEERING AND ALEC IN TUCSON, AZ

BREAKING NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Media Contact: Richard Magon
Email: feb29media@gmail.com
Phone: (520) 261 - 0292
This morning, local activists are using direct action to shut down the transportation headquarters of G4S in Tucson, Arizona. Responding to Occupy Portland's call to shut down the corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, this action is being taken to halt the profit-driven operations of ALEC member G4S. This massive company operates the buses used to transport those being deported or moved between immigration detention facilities, and contributes to untold strife and devastation for those criminalized by U.S. Immigration policy.
“The second largest multinational corporation after WalMart, G4S, a worldwide private security services provider, profits through the militarization of infrastructure along the U.S. Mexico border, aiding U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the human rights crisis perpetuated through the daily seizure, detention and criminalization of undocumented people. G4S profits additionally from the private management of prisons, into which thousands of people are streamlined daily by the U.S. prison-industrial complex and its corporate, governmental and military investors,” explained Ben Lorber, a supporter of the action.
Ben Lorber further stated, “Well beyond our borders, G4S  bolsters and profits from state-based terror worldwide. In occupied Palestine, to cite one of many examples, the company provides private security technology and personnel for Israeli prisons, where the systematic torture of Palestinian prisoners is regularly documented by human rights organizations, and for West Bank settlements, deemed illegal and in violation of international human rights law by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice.”
Jonah Clarke, one of the participants in today’s actions said; “Today's shutdown of G4S bus operations is part of a nation-wide day of action to shut down the corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization in which corporations who stand to profit from criminalization and militarization, such as G4S, work directly with politicians to craft model legislation that puts profit over people, and bolsters the military- and prison-industrial complex while human beings are trampled underfoot. Across the country, in all our struggles, ALEC's influence is present and representative of a failed system in which power and greed are dominant over everything else.
This day is part of a longer struggle against ALEC and against the white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy and the colonial state of which they are only a part. We use direct action to confront these oppressive structures and take back the power to shape our world.” 
The G4S bus shutdown is expected to last several hours. In addition to this autonomous action, a rally in response to the Shut Down the Corporations call is scheduled for 4PM today at the Joel D. Valdez library in downtown Tucson.
For video from this morning’s ongoing action, see http://www.youtube.com/user/shutdownalec.
High quality photographs are available by contacting feb29media@gmail.com.
More information on the national day of action available at www.shutdownthecorporations.org
.

February 28, 2012

VIDEO: Totem Pole honors slain woodcarver John T. Williams

Click arrow below to watch video.
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Stratfor Files: US issued sealed indictment against Julian Assange

Press release: US issued sealed indictment against Julian Assange
Tuesday 28th February 2012 18:30 GMT
http://wikileaks.org/Stratfor-Emails-US-Has-Issued.html
Reposted at Censored News
Updated with statement by US Center for Constitutional Rights
Confidential emails obtained from the US private intelligence firm Stratfor show that the United States Government has had a secret indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for more than 12 months.
Fred Burton, Stratfor’s Vice-President for Counterterrorism and Corporate Security, is a former Deputy Chief of the Department of State’s (DoS) counterterrorism division for the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
In early 2011, Burton revealed in internal Stratfor correspondence that a secret Grand Jury had already issued a sealed indictment for Assange: "Not for Pub — We have a sealed indictment on Assange. Pls protect." (375123) According to Burton: "Assange is going to make a nice bride in prison. Screw the terrorist. He’ll be eating cat food forever." (1056988) A few weeks earlier, following Julian Assange’s release from a London jail, where he had been remanded as a result of a Swedish prosecutor’s arrest warrant, Fred Burton told SkyNews: "extradition [to the US is] more and more likely". (373862).
Emails from Fred Burton reveal that the US Government employs the same counterterrorism strategy against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as against Al Qaeda: "Take down the money. Go after his infrastructure. The tools we are using to nail and de-construct Wiki are the same tools used to dismantle and track aQ [Al Qaeda]. Thank Cheney & 43 [former US President George W. Bush]. Big Brother owns his liberal terrorist arse." (1067796)
Ten days after the CIA reportedly assassinated Osama bin Laden, Burton writes in an email sent to Stratfor’s "Secure" mailing list that he "can get access to the materials seized from the OBL [Osama bin Laden] safe house." (1660854)
Burton states: "Ferreting out [Julian Assange’s] confederates is also key. Find out what other disgruntled rogues inside the tent or outside [sic]. Pile on. Move him from country to country to face various charges for the next 25 years. But, seize everything he and his family own, to include every person linked to Wiki." (1056763)
Along with the FBI, the Diplomatic Security Service and the Department of Defense (DoD) form a multi-agency US Government outfit seeking to criminally indict and prosecute WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. According to the Department of State, the DSS handles the investigation of all leads that involve the DoS and assists the DoD in forensic analysis of hard drives seized by the US Government in its ongoing criminal investigation.
Burton also says he "would pursue [c]onspiracy and [p]olitical [t]errorism charges and declassify the death of a source someone which [he] could link to Wiki" (1074383). Burton’s strategy is to: "[b]ankrupt the arsehole first," Burton states, "ruin his life. Give him 7-12 yrs for conspiracy." (1057220)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: "For over a year now, the US Attorny General Eric Holder has been conducting a "secret" Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks. This neo-McCarthyist witch hunt against WikiLeaks may be Mr Holder’s defining legacy. Any student of American history knows that secret justice is no justice at all. Justice must be seen to be done. Legitimate authority arises out of the informed consent of the governed, not Eric Holder’s press secretary. Secret Grand Juries with secret indictments are apparently Eric Holder’s preferred method of dealing with publishers who hold his administration to account. Eric Holder has betrayed the legacy of Madison and Jefferson. He should drop the case or resign. Should he continue, however, the Obama administration may not — Democrats and Republicans alike believe in the right to tell the truth."
As early as June 2010, after the release of the Collateral Murder video but prior to the Afghan War Diaries release, the emails talk of a sealed indictment. In an email conversation between Shane Harris, a National Security journalist, and Burton, Harris is surprised that Assange was reporteded to be attending a Las Vegas Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) conference. Burton remarks: "As a foreign national, we could revoke [Julian Assange’s] travel status and deport. Could also be taken into custody as a material witness. We COULD have a sealed indictment and lock him up. Depends upon how far along the military case is" (391504). Julian Assange cancelled his appearance at the IRE conference due to security concerns.
In another email to Stephen Feldhaus, Stratfor legal counsel, about Ronald Kessler, a "pro-FBI journalist", Burton remarks: “I look forward to Manning and Assange facing a bajillion-thousand counts [of espionage]." (1035283)
In July 2010 alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning was moved from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait to the Quantico Brig in the Military District of Washington at the request of Maj. Gen. Terry Wolff, then Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division/US Division – Center in Iraq.
Wolff requested Manning’s move, the Pentagon reported, "due to a potentially lengthy pre-trial confinement because of the complexity of the charges and an ongoing investigation.” Three days before Manning arrived at Quantico Brig, Burton wrote to George Friedman, Stratfor CEO and founder:
“We probably asked the ASIS [Australian Secret Intelligence Service] to monitor Wiki coms and email, after the soldier from Potomac was nabbed. So, it’s reasonable to assume we probably already know who has done it. The delay could be figuring out how to declassify and use the Aussie intel on Wiki... The owner [Julian Assange] is a peacenik. He needs his head dunked in a full toilet bowl at Gitmo.” (402168)
The GI Files: http://wikileaks.org/the-gifiles.html
Please donate: http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate

WHO TO GO TO FOR COMMENT
--Wikileaks– Kristinn Hrafnsson, Official WikiLeaks representative: +35 4821 7121
- Julian Burnside, Australian barrister and Human Rights expert: +61 412 157 230 or +61 03 9225 7488, burnside@vicbar.com.au
- Jennifer Robinson, Legal adviser in Australia and available for interviews now: +61423871773
- Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR): +1 2126146449, press@ccrjustice.org
- Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression +502 23 680-021
- Scott Ludlam, Australian Senator: +61 6277 3467
- Geoffrey Robertson, Australian-born Human Rights barrister, academic, author: +44 020 7404 1313, g.robertson@doughtystreet.co.uk
- Glenn Greenwald (salon.com), Columnist/blogger/Constitutional lawyer: +1 (646) 400-5600, ggreenwald@salon.com
- Ben Wizner, Litigation Director at ACLU’s National Security Project: +1 (212) 519 7860, bwizner@aclu.org
- Oliver Spencer, Article 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression: +44 (0)20 7324 2517
- John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): +1 415 436 9333 and +1 202 797 9009, barlow@eff.org
- Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation: +1 415 436 9333 x108, cindy@eff.org
- Tala Dowlatshahi, Reporters without Borders (US): +1 917-239-0653
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Important Statement by the US Centre for Constitutional Rights regarding reported sealed Assange indictment

Leak of Private Intelligence Firm Documents Confirm Existence of Secret Indictment by Secret Grand Jury. Important Statement by the US Centre for Constitutional Rights regarding the reported secret Assange indictment:


"A sealed indictment against Julian Assange would underscore the very thing Wikileaks has been fighting against: abuses the government commits in an environment of secrecy and expansive, reflexive calls for 'national security.' "




Journalist Julian Assange, the founder and editor of WikiLeaks



CCR Condemns Reported Sealed Indictment Against WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange.


February 28, 2012, New York – Leaks published today from Stratfor, a private intelligence corporation, indicate the United States Department of Justice has issued a secret, sealed indictment against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. In response, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

A sealed indictment against Julian Assange would underscore the very thing Wikileaks has been fighting against: abuses the government commits in an environment of secrecy and expansive, reflexive calls for "national security." From the shocking, inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning, to secret grand jury proceedings, to Stratfor's apparent knowledge of the existence of a sealed indictment before either Mr. Assange or the American public had such knowledge, the government's conduct in this case reveals why more transparency, not more secrecy, is essential.

This would also mark perhaps the first time a journalist has been prosecuted for allegedly receiving and publishing “classified” documents. Indicting Julian Assange would represent a dramatic assault on the First Amendment, journalists, and the public's right to know.
Rather than promoting transparency as promised, the Obama administration has aggressively pursued whistleblowers and dissenters, launching Espionage Act prosecutions twice as many times as all previous administrations in the last century combined. Attorney General Eric Holder should rethink this dangerous course. Instead of pursuing Julian Assange, Mr. Holder should investigate the serious crimes and abuse of government authority exposed by Wikileaks.
The Center for Constitutional Rights legally represents Wikileaks and Mr. Assange in the Bradley Manning hearings.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

Visit www.ccrjustice.org. Follow @theCCR.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recovering satisfactory

President Hugo Chávez Is Recovering Satisfactory

Office of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Censored News

As is publicly known, in recent days, during a medical check-up of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, doctors detected a lesion requiring corrective surgery.
In that sense, the medical team, after the necessary tests, performed the surgery in the briefest time possible. The surgery was carried out as expected, producing satisfactory results and a recovery plan was established for the coming days.
President Chávez is in good physical condition, is joined by his family, and constantly in touch with the executive vice president and the Bolivarian Government. He is always attentive to keeping the Venezuelan people and the international community properly informed, with accuracy and transparency, about the details of the medical treatment he is receiving.
The president has asked that the results of his recent surgery be made public. As soon as the surgery concluded, the results were presented by the medical team in the following terms:
The pelvic lesion was totally removed, as well as the surrounding tissue. There were no complications with regard to adjacent organs. Immediate post-surgery has been clinically stable, without systemic complications. He is adequately recovering with the post-operative rehabilitation. In the coming hours the histology tests will be available, which will determine the optimum medical treatment for the lesion.
President Chávez thanks, from the bottom of his heart, the warm wishes he has received from the Venezuelan people, as well as innumerable messages of solidarity from men and women from other parts of the world.
Additionally, he offers his thanks for the several messages and phone calls he has received from heads of state and government, as well as from international leaders and representatives of important grassroots organizations in the world.
On behalf of the Venezuelan people, the President wishes to thank Fidel, Raul, the Cuban people, and the medical team that led this surgery and is conducting with scientific wisdom and human warmth the treatment for his full recovery.
For its part, the Bolivarian Government expects the sentiments of solidarity and support from the Venezuelan people for their president be respected by those international and national right-wing political sectors that are at the service of imperial interests, and asks that they stop their perverse campaign against Venezuela.
Finally, President Chávez ratifies the call to all men and women of our homeland to continue working in the daily struggle to consolidate independence and build socialism, which is the supreme dream of our Liberator, Simón Bolívar.
Our people know that they can always count on the loyalty and commitment of Commander Chávez, leading the homeland, just as he trusts the love and loyalty of the people.
Toward victory always! We shall live and overcome!
Office of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Comunicado
Presidente Hugo Chávez se recupera satisfactoriamente
Como es del conocimiento público, en días pasados, durante el más reciente control médico del presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, le fue detectada una lesión que ameritó una intervención quirúrgica correctiva.
En ese sentido, el equipo médico, tras las correspondientes evaluaciones, fijó la operación en el tiempo más breve posible. Ésta se llevó a cabo según lo previsto, obteniéndose un resultado satisfactorio tras lo cual se ha programado un plan de recuperación a cumplir en los próximos días.
El presidente Chávez se encuentra en buena condición física, en compañía de sus familiares y en contacto directo y permanente con el vicepresidente Ejecutivo y el Gobierno Bolivariano. Siempre atento a mantener oportunamente informados al pueblo venezolano y a la comunidad internacional, con exactitud y transparencia, acerca de los pormenores del tratamiento que está recibiendo.
El presidente ha ordenado hacer públicos los resultados de la reciente intervención quirúrgica. Éstos fueron expuestos por el equipo médico, tan pronto concluyó la operación, en los términos siguientes:
Se realizó la extracción total de la lesión pélvica diagnosticada, extirpándose además, el tejido circundante a la lesión. No hubo complicaciones relacionadas con los órganos locales, El post operatorio inmediato ha sido estable, clínicamente sin complicaciones sistémicas. Se recupera adecuadamente colaborando con la rehabilitación post quirúrgica. En las próximas horas se dispondrá de los estudios histológicos, que determinarán el tratamiento óptimo de la lesión
El presidente Chávez agradece, desde su corazón, el cálido acompañamiento que ha recibido del pueblo venezolano, así como también las innumerables expresiones de solidaridad venidas de hombres y mujeres de todas las latitudes del planeta.
Igualmente, desea expresar su agradecimiento por los numerosos mensajes y llamadas recibidos de parte de jefes de Estado y de gobierno, así como de líderes internacionales y representantes de importantes organizaciones sociales del mundo.
De manera especial, quiere, en nombre del pueblo de Venezuela, agradecer a Fidel, a Raúl, al pueblo cubano y al equipo de especialistas de la salud que han dirigido esta operación y mantiene, con sabiduría científica y calor humano, el tratamiento para el pleno restablecimiento de la salud del comandante Chávez.
Por su parte, el Gobierno Bolivariano manifiesta su aspiración para que el sentimiento de solidaridad y apoyo del pueblo venezolano hacia su Presidente sea respetado por parte de aquellos sectores políticos y de la derecha nacional e internacional, al servicio de intereses imperiales, y que cesen en su campaña perversa contra Venezuela.
Finalmente, el presidente Hugo Chávez ratifica su llamado a todos los hombres y mujeres de nuestra Patria a mantenerse en el trabajo y la lucha diaria por consolidar la independencia y construir el Socialismo, que no es no es otra cosa que el sueño supremo de nuestro Libertador, Simón Bolívar.
Sabe nuestro pueblo que puede contar siempre con la lealtad y el compromiso del comandante Chávez al frente de la Patria, así como él tiene la confianza de que cuenta con el amor y la lealtad de todo un pueblo.
¡Hasta la victoria siempre! ¡Viviremos y venceremos!
Presidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela

Alaska's Big Village Network protesting sHELL drilling in Arctic!




Alaska's Big Village Network
Protesting
sHELL drilling in the ARCTIC!!!
supporting the international days of action........
Thanks to Real People in Alaska
Thanks to Earl Kingik for publicly standing up to Shell
Thanks to US Constitution for allowing this freedom of speech against a foreign multi-national corporation set to seize on America's Arctic.
Thanks for the Bowhead Whale for providing thousands of years of beauty, food, culture and sharing with the Iniut.
Thanks to Human Beings to Save the Arctic.
Photos by Alaska Big Village Network. Thanks for sharing with Censored News!

February 26, 2012

NOW: Wikileaks releasing Stratfor 'Global Intelligence Files'

Wikileaks releasing Stratfor e-mails
Posted at Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Updated Monday Feb. 27, 2012

Wikileaks Global Intelligence Files, e-mails released: http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/releasedate/2012-02-27.html
Ustream: Wikileaks press conference today, watch archive video:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/frontline-club

Wikileaks is now releasing five million e-mails from Stratfor global intelligence. The e-mails were turned over to Wikileaks by the hacktivists Anonymous.
Censored News is happy to report that we, as a collective of writers and activists at Censored News, are among the first mentioned in the leaked Stratfor Global Intelligence Files.
Although we are not yet mentioned by name, those of us at the Cochabamba climate summit are incorrectly categorized by US State Dept. sources as "anti-US, anti-Capitalism (specifically targeting Coca Cola), anti-UN, pro-coca (sic cocaine) and narco-trafficking platform that was embraced by 22,000 anti-US, left-wing anarchists in as a result of the recent Climate Change Summit in Cochabamba."

Scroll down for some of the first e-mails leaked, selected by Censored News: Bolivian President Evo Morales and those attending the Cochabamba climate summit; Chavez' illness; report on ICE hit in Mexico; payment to informant 'Geronimo'; 'Insight McCain Pls do not forward' and Coca Cola spied on PETA.

A large number of oil companies were Stratfor clients seeking global spiex. Around the world, oil companies target activists defending the land, resulting in abuse, rapes, tortures and assassinations of Indigenous Peoples.
Client list:
http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1429763_client-working-list-.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wikileaks, Yes Men and Stratfor release statements

Wikileaks said, "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"(Scroll down for full statement.)
The Yes Men, the subject of Stratfor e-mails, also released a statement. "CEO Friedman recently to an employee, Reva Bhalla, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on Chavez's cancer. (Stratfor's 'confidential intelligence services" clients include, besides Dow and Union Carbide, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines, the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.)
Yes Men said, "Perhaps most entertainingly of all, the email trove reveals that Stratfor's  'Confederation Partners"—an unethical alliance between Stratfor and a number of mainstream journalists—are referred to informally within Stratfor as its 'Confed Fuck House.' (Another discovery: Coca Cola was spying on PETA. More such gems are sure to surface as operatives sift through the 5.5 million emails.)" Scroll down for Yes Men statement.
Meanwhile, Stratfor, in a released statement, said it will neither confirm or deny the authenticity of the e-mails: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/599356
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insight Bolivia: State Dept. source's take on Morales
April 27, 2010

".... Finally, the nomination of Evo for the Nobel Peace Prize
was just formally accepted yesterday as a result for his "Mother Earth" Summit [aka, vehement anti-US, anti-Capitalism (specifically targeting Coca Cola), anti-UN, pro-coca (sic cocaine) and narco-trafficking platform that was embraced by 22,000 anti-US, left-wing anarchists in as a result of the recent Climate Change Summit in Cochabamba."
READ MORE:
http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1142108_re-insight-bolivia-st-dept-source-s-take-on-morales-.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coca Cola asked Stratfor to spy on PETA (one of four e-mails released so far from June 2009)
"Hi Ben,
As we discussed, I'd like to put a really good research-oriented intern on
the case to find the following information.

- How many PETA supporters are there in Canada?
-- How many of these are inclined toward activism?
-- To what extent is PETA in Canada linked to PETA in the US or elsewhere?
--What sort of attacks has PETA carried out in Canada?
-- To what extent could non-PETA hangers-on (such as anarchists or ALF
supporters) get involved in any protest activity?

To put some context onto this request, our client is looking forward
toward the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and is somewhat concerned that PETA
affiliates might be interested in carry out direct action against Olympic
sponsors and events during that time frame ..."
READ MORE: http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/releasedate/2012-02-27-12-coca-cola-contracting-stratfor-to-spy-on-peta.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INSIGHT - VENEZUELA - Update on Chavez's health, power struggle
Dec 6, 2011

"It does check out with what I heard in caracas but that increases the
chance its gossip.

If this is a source you suspect may have value, you have to take control
od him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control to the
point where he would reveal his sourcing and be tasked. This is difficult
to do when you are known to be affiliated with an intelligence
organization. The decision on approach would not come from you but from
your handler. This is because you're position is too close to the source
and your judgment by definition suspect. Each meeting would be planned
between you and your handler and each meeting would have a specific goal
not built around discussing the topic of interest which would ideally be
hidden but in analyzing him personally and moving toward control.
The justification for the op would be specific classes of information and
on gaining control the first step would be determining his access. If he
failed the test contact would be terminated."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Mexico ICE hit:

Feb 17, 2011

"According to STRATFOR sources with knowledge of the investigation and
details surrounding the attack, the working theory behind the attack
against the two ICE agents was that they were the target of a "hit"
sanctioned by the top ranks of the Los Zetas cartel. Originally it was
thought that the men were targeted because they were driving in (according
to sources) a high-profile, fully-armored navy blue Suburban SUV, a valued
commodity amongst cartel members.

While a carjacking may have been the original intent once the vehicle was
first spotted, according to STRATFOR sources, the two agents stopped for
lunch at a Subway fast-food restaurant along the route before the
incident. While the distance between the restaurant and the roadblock
where the shooting took place is not yet known, it is possible that
stopping while in route from Mexico City to Monterrey may have led to them
to be identified as U.S. law enforcement and provided time for Zetas
associates to put an operation in place to target the two agents at the
roadblock (we believe a rolling roadblock) along Hwy 57. This is
especially possible since according to sources, the vehicle they were
driving had diplomatic mission license plates. As the agents stopped (or
were forced/boxed in) at the roadblock (which they thought was that of the
military), it would be difficult for the gunmen not to have noticed the
specialized plates indicating the vehicle as that of U.S. federal law
enforcement. There is a specific two-letter code issued on license
plates to federal agents inside Mexico."


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Geronimo source payment

Dec 6, 2011

"... Can you send us an "approved" email for the source that Marko left with you=
. Geronimo, $1200 monthly payment.=20

Since this is a recurring payment, you can also send us something like "I a=
pprove this expense for the remainder of the term, or until I say otherwise=
.=20"


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Insight McCain #5 -Internal use only-Pls do not forward
Nov 5, 2008

"... Curiously, there are whispers of McCain being set up by the Cheney/Bush
crowd, because McCain was never liked by either. Some are shocked he did
so well. Coupled with serious errors in tactics. Some made no sense.
For example, the Hispanics in Florida loved Palin but his camp would never
send her there when easy money was to be had. My guy said Rove and
company want to bring in someone they can control next go around. McCain
was not controllable. Jeb Bush's name is being discussed. Source
advised Rick Davis was an arsehole and McCain's econ team had no clue,
trusting in academics vice business-people. The Jewish crowd was split
and money never flowed. For example, McCain staff only gave $3000.00 for
nationwide ads, when Obama put in $500,000 targeting the Jewish community
in Florida alone.

I'll see what more I can collect on this."


READ MORE: http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/347043_insight-mccain-5-internal-use-only-pls-do-not-forward-.html


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wikileaks release statement
LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails date from 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 Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example :
"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.
The material contains privileged information about the US government’s attacks against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Stratfor’s own attempts to subvert WikiLeaks. There are more than 4,000 emails mentioning WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. The emails also expose the revolving door that operates in private intelligence companies in the United States. Government and diplomatic sources from around the world give Stratfor advance knowledge of global politics and events in exchange for money. The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and pre-paid credit cards. Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and journalists around the world.
The material shows how a private intelligence agency works, and how they target individuals for their corporate and government clients. For example, Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of Bhopal activists, including the "Yes Men", for the US chemical giant Dow Chemical. The activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The disaster led to thousands of deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting environmental damage.
Stratfor has realised that its routine use of secret cash bribes to get information from insiders is risky. In August 2011, Stratfor CEO George Friedman confidentially told his employees : "We are retaining a law firm to create a policy for Stratfor on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I don’t plan to do the perp walk and I don’t want anyone here doing it either."
Stratfor’s use of insiders for intelligence soon turned into a money-making scheme of questionable legality. The emails show that in 2009 then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO George Friedman hatched an idea to "utilise the intelligence" it was pulling in from its insider network to start up a captive strategic investment fund. CEO George Friedman explained in a confidential August 2011 document, marked DO NOT SHARE OR DISCUSS : "What StratCap will do is use our Stratfor’s intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of geopolitical instruments, particularly government bonds, currencies and the like". The emails show that in 2011 Goldman Sach’s Morenz invested "substantially" more than $4million and joined Stratfor’s board of directors. Throughout 2011, a complex offshore share structure extending as far as South Africa was erected, designed to make StratCap appear to be legally independent. But, confidentially, Friedman told StratFor staff : "Do not think of StratCap as an outside organisation. It will be integral... It will be useful to you if, for the sake of convenience, you think of it as another aspect of Stratfor and Shea as another executive in Stratfor... we are already working on mock portfolios and trades". StratCap is due to launch in 2012.
The Stratfor emails reveal a company that cultivates close ties with US government agencies and employs former US government staff. It is preparing the 3-year Forecast for the Commandant of the US Marine Corps, and it trains US marines and "other government intelligence agencies" in "becoming government Stratfors". Stratfor’s Vice-President for Intelligence, Fred Burton, was formerly a special agent with the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and was their Deputy Chief of the counterterrorism division. Despite the governmental ties, Stratfor and similar companies operate in complete secrecy with no political oversight or accountability. Stratfor claims that it operates "without ideology, agenda or national bias", yet the emails reveal private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with US government policies and channel tips to the Mossad – including through an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in violation of WikiLeaks’ contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables to Israel.
Ironically, considering the present circumstances, Stratfor was trying to get into what it called the leak-focused "gravy train" that sprung up after WikiLeaks’ Afghanistan disclosures :
"[Is it] possible for us to get some of that ’leak-focused’ gravy train ? This is an obvious fear sale, so that’s a good thing. And we have something to offer that the IT security companies don’t, mainly our focus on counter-intelligence and surveillance that Fred and Stick know better than anyone on the planet... Could we develop some ideas and procedures on the idea of ´leak-focused’ network security that focuses on preventing one’s own employees from leaking sensitive information... In fact, I’m not so sure this is an IT problem that requires an IT solution."
Like WikiLeaks’ diplomatic cables, much of the significance of the emails will be revealed over the coming weeks, as our coalition and the public search through them and discover connections. Readers will find that whereas large numbers of Stratfor’s subscribers and clients work in the US military and intelligence agencies, Stratfor gave a complimentary membership to the controversial Pakistan general Hamid Gul, former head of Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who, according to US diplomatic cables, planned an IED attack on international forces in Afghanistan in 2006. Readers will discover Stratfor’s internal email classification system that codes correspondence according to categories such as ’alpha’, ’tactical’ and ’secure’. The correspondence also contains code names for people of particular interest such as ’Hizzies’ (members of Hezbollah), or ’Adogg’ (Mahmoud Ahmedinejad).
Stratfor did secret deals with dozens of media organisations and journalists – from Reuters to the Kiev Post. The list of Stratfor’s "Confederation Partners", whom Stratfor internally referred to as its "Confed Fuck House" are included in the release. While it is acceptable for journalists to swap information or be paid by other media organisations, because Stratfor is a private intelligence organisation that services governments and private clients these relationships are corrupt or corrupting.
WikiLeaks has also obtained Stratfor’s list of informants and, in many cases, records of its payoffs, including $1,200 a month paid to the informant "Geronimo" , handled by Stratfor’s Former State Department agent Fred Burton.
WikiLeaks has built an investigative partnership with more than 25 media organisations and activists to inform the public about this huge body of documents. The organisations were provided access to a sophisticated investigative database developed by WikiLeaks and together with WikiLeaks are conducting journalistic evaluations of these emails. Important revelations discovered using this system will appear in the media in the coming weeks, together with the gradual release of the source documents.
END
- Public partners in the investigation
- Comment
- Current WikiLeaks status
- How to read the data






Public partners in the investigation:

More than 25 media partners (others will be disclosed after their first publication) :
- Al Akhbar – Lebanon – http://english.al-akhbar.com
- Al Masry Al Youm – Egypt – http://www.almasry-alyoum.com
- Bivol – Bulgaria – http://bivol.bg
- CIPER – Chile – http://ciperchile.cl
- Dawn Media – Pakistan – http://www.dawn.com
- L’Espresso – Italy – http://espresso.repubblica.it
- La Repubblica – Italy – http://www.repubblica.it
- La Jornada – Mexico – www.jornada.unam.mx/
- La Nacion – Costa Rica – http://www.nacion.com
- Malaysia Today – Malaysia – www.malaysia-today.net
- McClatchy – United States – http://www.mcclatchy.com
- Nawaat – Tunisia – http://nawaat.org
- NDR/ARD – Germany – http://www.ndr.de
- Owni – France – http://owni.fr
- Pagina 12 – Argentina – www.pagina12.com.ar
- Plaza Publica – Guatemala – http://plazapublica.com.gt
- Publico.es – Spain – www.publico.es
- Rolling Stone – United States – http://www.rollingstone.com
- Russia Reporter – Russia – http://rusrep.ru
- Ta Nea – Greece –- http://www.tanea.gr
- Taraf – Turkey – http://www.taraf.com.tr
- The Hindu – India – www.thehindu.com
- The Yes Men – Bhopal Activists – Global http://theyesmen.org
- Nicky Hager – New Zealand

Comment:

- WikiLeaks – Kristinn Hrafnsson, Official WikiLeaks representative, +35 4821 7121
Other comment :
- Bhopal Medical Appeal (in UK) – Colin Toogood : colintoogood@bhopal.org / +44 (0) 1273 603278/ +44 (0) 7798 845074
- International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (in India) – Rachna Dhingra : rachnya@gmail.com, +91 98 261 67369
- Yes Men – mike@theyesmen.org / +44 (0) 7578 682321 - andy@theyesmen.org, +1-718-208-0684
- Privacy International – +44 (0) 20 7242 2836
Twitter tag : #gifiles

CURRENT WIKILEAKS STATUS:

An extrajudicial blockade imposed by VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America, and Western Union that is designed to destroy WikiLeaks has been in place since December 2010. The EU Commission is considering whether it will open a formal investigation, but two lawsuits have been filed (http://wikileaks.org/Banking-Blocka...). There are also other ways to donate (https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate). It is legal to donate, including in the United States. The US Treasury has publicly stated that that there are no grounds to place WikiLeaks on a US government blacklist.
WikiLeaks Founder and Publisher Julian Assange has not been charged with any crime in any country. Four prosecutors are currently trying to charge him under the Espionage Act of 1917 before a closed Grand Jury in Virginia, in the United States. Julian Assange has been detained for 447 days (10,728 hours) since Dec 7, 2010, without charge, and he is currently awaiting a decision from the UK Supreme Court on extradition to Sweden (http://www.justiceforassange.com/Su...). The decision is expected in March. The decision on whether he will be onwardly extradited to the US lies in the hands of the Swedish Executive, but Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has refused to state whether he will protect Assange from a politically motivated extradition to the United States (http://justice4assange.com/US-Extra... ).
The Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has repeatedly attacked WikiLeaks this week in a bizarre manner (http://ferrada-noli.blogspot.com/20... ).
An alleged WikiLeaks US military source, Bradley Manning, has been in pre-trial detention for 639 days (http://bradleymanning.org/ ). His arraignment took place on 24 February 2012. In December 2011, Manning’s attorney revealed in the preliminary hearing that the US government is attempting to enter a plea deal with Manning in order to "go after" Assange. Manning has 22 charges against him, including violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and aiding the enemy. Manning has deferred entering a plea. Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are legally represented in the Manning hearings by the US Centre for Constitutional Rights (http://ccrjustice.org/ ). WikiLeaks was denied full access to Manning’s hearing after appeal (http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/pres... ). WikiLeaks put out a statement relating to Manning’s trial ahead of the Article 32 Hearing : (http://www.wikileaks.org/Statement-... ).
The alleged WikiLeaks-supporting hacktivists known as the "PayPal 14" were arrested in 2011 following co-ordinated online demonstrations against the financial services companies that are carrying out the unlawful financial blockade on WikiLeaks (VISA, MasterCard, Paypal, Western Union, Bank of America). They are represented by attorney Stanley Cohen and will go before court in May 2012 (http://www.cyberguerrilla.org/?p=4644 ).
WikiLeaks is about to launch a distributed, encrypted "Facebook for revolutionaries" (https://wlfriends.org/ ).
Julian Assange is currently directing interviews, from house arrest, for a programme on the future of the world that is syndicated to various broadcasters. The first show will be broadcast in March (http://www.wikileaks.org/New-Assang... )

HOW TO READ THE DATA

This is a glossary and information on how to understand the internal terms and codes used by Stratfor in their emails. It is not a complete list. We call on the public to add to this list by tweeting #gifind
To see a list of the terms George Friedman considers useful for his staff to know please download this PDF : The Stratfor Glossary of Useful, Baffling and Strange Intelligence Terms.


OPEN SOURCE VS. "COVERT"

As you browse through the content, you will notice that a large set of it is what is classified as "open source" (subject lines which include [OS]). These are basically email threads that start with someone posting a published and accessible source, such as news sites, and follow with commentary by the staff. In one of the emails, Joseph Nye is referenced saying :
"Open source intelligence is the outer pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, without which one can neither begin nor complete the puzzle"

CODES IN SUBJECT LINES

Many of the emails have codes in the subject lines as well as in the body, to make it easier for the staff to "quickly identify when we need to go back and have a look-see." [*] :
Examples : INSIGHT - COUNTRY - Subject - SOURCE CODE INSIGHT - CHINA - Trains and planes - CN1000
Please refer to the glossary for the code names of subject and country tags, as well as mailing list names.

SOURCE CODES

A lot of interesting stuff comes from "sources". Sources are either informal contacts or people they have a formal relationship with. The IDs for sources have the format of CN120 or ME001. In terms of the character part, it refers to a region or a country :
A) Regions ME - Middle East region EU - European Union EE - Eastern Europe LA- South America SA- South Asia
B) Countries or Orgs CN - China PK - Pakistan IN- India ML - Malaysia VN - Vietnam NP- Nepal
US - United States VZ - Venezuela CO- Colombia BR-Brazil NC- Nicaragua MX- Mexico CL/CH- Chile AR- Argentina PY- Paraguay BOL- Bolivia
RU - Russia UA - Ukraine GE - Georgia TJ - Tajikstan MD - Moldova BG -Bulgaria CR/CZ- Czech Republic PT- Portugal
ZA - South Africa AO - Angola SO - Somalia NG- Nigeria CD- DR Congo CI- Cote D’Ivoire ZW- Zimbabwe ZM- Zambia RW- Rwanda KE- Kenya ET- Ethiopia SD -Sudan MA- Morocco SN- Senegal GN- Guinea SL- Sierra Leone
IR - Iran IQ- Iraq IL or IS- Israel SA- Saudi Arabia SY- Syria KU- Kuwait Y or YN - Yemen HZ - Hizbollah TK - Turkey LN- Lebanon LY- Libya UAE- UAE EG- Egypt (etc.)
C) Odd codes OCH - Old China hand, a finance insider. Stick - Scott Stewart, high level employee Z’s - Zetas, Mexican drug gang

INSIGHTS FORMAT

When "insights" are sent, they usually have the following header information :
SOURCE : The ID of the source, say CN123. Sometimes this is left "no source ID" when it’s a new source.
ATTRIBUTION : How the source is to be attributed, i.e. "Source in the pharma distribution industry in China", Stratfor source, etc.
SOURCE DESCRIPTION : Describes the source, for example : "Source works with Mercator Pharmaceutical Solutions, distributing pharma to developing countries." These include concrete details on the source for internal consumption so that there’s a better understanding on the source’s background and ability to make assessments on the ground.
PUBLICATION : Yes or No. If the option is yes it doesn’t mean that it would be published, but rather that it _can_ be published.
SOURCE RELIABILITY : A/B
SOURCE RELIABILITY : A-F, A being the best and F being the worst. This grades the turnaround time of this source in responding to requests.
ITEM CREDIBILITY : 1-10, 1 being the best and 10 being the worst (we may change the range here in the future). this changes a lot based on the info provided. 1 is "you can take this to the bank" and 10 would be an example of maybe - "this is a totally ridiculous rumor but something that is spreading on the ground"
SPECIAL HANDLING : often this is "none" but it may be something like, "if you use this we need to be sure not to mention the part about XXX in the publication" or any other special notes
SOURCE HANDLER : the person who can take follow-up questions and communicate with the source.

MAILING LISTS

alpha@stratfor.com Discussions circulated exclusively among analysts, writers and higher-ups, including ’insights’ and discussions about sources and source meetings. secure@stratfor.com Discussions circulated exclusively among analysts and higher-ups, and only for use within continental US (analysts traveling ’overseas’ are removed from the list for the duration of their journey). analysts@stratfor.com - Discussion among analysts only, who manage sources, gather and analyze intelligence. ct@stratfor.com Ongoing discussions to collect and analyze counterterrorism intelligence, circulated among select group of analysts. tactical@statfor.com Non-time sensitive discussions for internal training on technical and tactical matters within field of counterterrorism. intelligence@stratfor.com gvalerts@stratfor.com - Related to Gas ventures clients military@stratfor.com Military list for pre-approved staff africa@stratfor.com eastasia@stratfor.com mesa@stratfor.com Middle East/South Asia list for pre-approved staff. eurasia@stratfor.com os@stratfor.com List with information from the public domain circulated and discussed among all employees. adp@stratfor.com List for ADPs. See Glossary. translations@stratfor.com alerts@stratfor.com responses@stratfor.com dialog-list@stratfor.com

GLOSSARY

a) Industry and other misc. tags :
HUMINT - Human intelligence OSINT- Open source intelligence DATA FLU BIRDFLU ECON TECH ENERGY MINING GV - Gas Venture CT - Counterterrorism G1-G4 B2-B4 S1-S4 MILITARY or MIL PENTAGON AQ- Al Qaeda AQAP - Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula SF- Special Forces CONUS- Continental US
b) Special internal codewords :
Hizzies or HZ - Hizbollah Izzies or IZ - Israel A-dogg - Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, Iranian President Baby bashar - Bashar Al-Assad, Syrian President Uncle Mo - Moammar Gaddhafi ADP- Analyst Development Program. Four-month program at STRATFOR from which candidates— mostly recent college graduates— are selected for hire. Strictly protect and protect - Often mentioned in the ’subject’, means that the source is protected. Played- A term used for procuring sensitive information from sources. E.g. from one of the secure list messages circulating the ’complete scenario for the Israeli team in Centcom’s war game,’ the analyst who procured the data wrote : "I played the head of the Mossad which was great fun." Excomm- Appears to be ’executive committee’ of STRATFOR.
c) Regions and Orgs
AFRICOM - African countries LATAM - Latin American MERCOSUR NATFA ASEAN APEC FSU - Former Soviet Union countries MESA or MIDDLEEAST - Middle East EASTASIA OPEC EURASIA SA - South Asia FSB- Federal Security Service (Russia)

ATTACHED DOCUMENTS

Attached documents can be searched by Filename or part of the file name. Preliminary searches for filenames using the terms ’lists’, ’source lists’ or ’insight lists’, coupled with the names of source handlers (e.g. Reva for Turkey, Brazil or Venezuela) produced Excel lists of the source names, contact info and source descriptions which correspond to the source codes (e.g. ME1315).

Sourcing Criteria

The following are the proposed criteria for analyzing both sources and insight.
1. Source Timeliness 2. Source Accessibility/Position 3. Source Availability 4. Insight Credibility 5. Insight Uniqueness
Source Timeliness : This is the average grade on how long this particular source turns around tasks and replies to inquiries. It may change but is more of a static indicator.
Source Accessibility : Accessibility weighs the source’s position to have certain knowledge in a particular field. So, for example, if we are looking for energy insight and the source is an official in an energy agency, his or her Accessibility would be ranked higher than if s/he was a banker giving insight on energy. While we would welcome a banker giving his/her insight, a good source may not have a high accessibility ranking if they aren’t in a position to offer reliable insight on a certain topic. The source’s access to decision makers, specific training or education in the desired topic area, specific knowledge of events/situations/incidents can also be considered.
Source Availability : How often can we go to this source ? Are they someone we can tap daily, weekly, monthly, yearly ?
Insight Credibility : This is our assessment of the veracity of the insight offered. Here we need to consider whether or not this is disinformation, speculation, correct data or knowledgeable interpretation. Any bias that the source is displaying or any specific viewpoints or personal background the source is using in the assessment provided should also be considered.
Insight Uniqueness : Is this insight something that could be found in OS ? If it is but the analysis of the information is unique, it would still have a high uniqueness ranking. Or, if it is concrete data, but is something that is only offered to industry insiders, i.e. stats that aren’t published but that aren’t secret, it would still have a high uniqueness score.
Scoring
All of the above factors will be scored on an A-F scale, with A being exemplary and F being useless.
Source Timeliness : A = turnaround within 24 hours B = turnaround within 48 hours C = turnaround within a week D = turnaround within a month F = lucky to receive a reply at all
Source Accessibility : A = Someone with intimate knowledge of the particular insight B = Someone within the industry but whose knowledge of the topic is not exact (e.g. if we were asking someone in the oil industry about natural gas) C = Someone working close to the industry who doesn’t have intimate knowledge of a particular topic but can speak to it intelligently (e.g. a financial consultant asked to gauge the movement of the stock market) D = Someone who may know a country but doesn’t have any concrete insight into a particular topic but can offer rumors and discussions heard on the topic F = Someone who has no knowledge of a particular industry at all
Source Availability : A = Available pretty much whenever B = Can tap around once a week C = Can tap about once a month D = Can tap only several times a year F = Very limited availability
Insight Credibility : A = We can take this information to the bank B = Good insight but maybe not entirely precise C = Insight is only partially true D = There may be some interest in the insight, but it is mostly false or just pure speculation. F = Likely to be disinformation
Insight Uniqueness : A = Can’t be found anywhere else B = Can only be found in limited circles C = Insight can be found in OS, but the source has an interesting take/analysis D = Insight can be found in OS, but still may not be common knowledge F = Insight is accessible in numerous locations
Daily Insight Scoring
SOURCE : code ATTRIBUTION : this is what we should say if we use this info in a publication, e.g. STRATFOR source/source in the medical industry/source on the ground, etc SOURCE DESCRIPTION : this is where we put the more concrete details of the source for our internal consumption so we can better understand the source’s background and ability to make the assessments in the insight. PUBLICATION : Yes or no. If you put yes it doesn’t mean that we will publish it, but only that we can publish it. SOURCE RELIABILITY : A-F. A being the best and F being the worst. This grades the source overall - access to information, timeliness, availability, etc. In short, how good is this source ? ITEM CREDIBILITY : A-F. A = we can take this info to the bank ; B = Good insight but maybe not entirely precise ; C = Insight is only partially true ; D = There may be some interest in the insight, but it is mostly false or just pure speculation ; F = Likely to be disinformation. SPECIAL HANDLING : often this is "none" but it may be something like, "if you use this we need to be sure not to mention the part about XXX in thepublication" or any other special notes SOURCE HANDLER : the person who can take follow-up questions and communicate with the source.
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YES MEN Press release
MASSIVE LEAK REVEALS CRIMINALITY, PARANOIA AMONG CORPORATE TITANS
Dow pays "strategic intelligence" firm to spy on Yes Men and grassroots activists. Takeaway: movement is on the right track!
WikiLeaks begins to publish today over five million e-mails obtained by Anonymous from "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails, which reveal everything from sinister spy tactics to an insider trading scheme with Goldman Sachs (see below), also include several discussions of the Yes Men and Bhopal activists. (Bhopal activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India, that led to thousands of deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting environmental damage.)
Many of the Bhopal-related emails, addressed from Stratfor to Dow and Union Carbide public relations directors, reveal concern that, in the lead-up to the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, the Bhopal issue might be expanded into an effective systemic critique of corporate rule, and speculate at length about why this hasn't yet happened—providing a fascinating window onto what at least some corporate types fear most from activists.
"[Bhopal activists] have made a slight nod toward expanded activity, but never followed through on it—the idea of 'other Bhopals' that were the fault of Dow or others," mused Joseph de Feo, who is listed in one online source as a "Briefer" for Stratfor.
"Maybe the Yes Men were the pinnacle. They made an argument in their way on their terms—that this is a corporate problem and a part of the a [sic] larger whole," wrote Kathleen Morson, Stratfor's Director of Policy Analysis.
"With less than a month to go [until the 25th anniversary], you'd think that the major players—especially Amnesty—would have branched out from Bhopal to make a broader set of issues. I don't see any evidence of it," wrote Bart Mongoven, Stratfor's Vice President, in November 2004. "If they can't manage to use the 25th anniversary to broaden the issue, they probably won't be able to."
Mongoven even speculates on coordination between various activist campaigns that had nothing to do with each other. "The Chevron campaign [in Ecuador] is remarkably similar [to the Dow campaign] in its unrealistic demand. Is it a follow up or an admission that the first thrust failed? Am I missing a node of activity or a major campaign that is to come? Has the Dow campaign been more successful than I think?" It's almost as if Mongoven assumes the two campaigns were directed from the same central activist headquarters.
Just as Wall Street has at times let slip their fear of the Occupy Wall Street movement, these leaks seem to show that corporate power is most afraid of whatever reveals "the larger whole" and "broader issues," i.e. whatever brings systemic criminal behavior to light. "Systemic critique could lead to policy changes that would challenge corporate power and profits in a really major way," noted Joseph Huff-Hannon, recently-promoted Director of Policy Analysis for the Yes Lab.
Among the millions of other leaked Stratfor emails are some that reveal dubious financial practices, including an apparent insider trading scheme with Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz, who joined Stratfor's board of directors and invested "substantially" more than $4 million in the scheme, called StratCap. "What StratCap will do is use our Stratfor's intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of geopolitical instruments," wrote Stratfor CEO George Friedman in September 2011. StratCap was designed through a complex offshore share structure to appear legally independent, but Friedman assured Stratfor staff otherwise: "Do not think of StratCap as an outside organisation. It will be integral... It will be useful to you... We are already working on mock portfolios and trades." (StratCap has been due to launch in 2012, though that could now change.)
Other emails show Stratfor techniques of a truly creepy Spy vs. Spy sort: "[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control," wrote CEO Friedman recently to an employee, Reva Bhalla, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on Chavez's cancer. (Stratfor's "confidential intelligence services" clients include, besides Dow and Union Carbide, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines, the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.)
Perhaps most entertainingly of all, the email trove reveals that Stratfor's "Confederation Partners"—an unethical alliance between Stratfor and a number of mainstream journalists—are referred to informally within Stratfor as its "Confed Fuck House." (Another discovery: Coca Cola was spying on PETA. More such gems are sure to surface as operatives sift through the 5.5 million emails.)
A number of the remaining Yes Men-related emails take the form of reports on public appearances by the Yes Men, such as one that describes one audience comprised of "art students on class assignments and free entertainment." Another notes that "The Yes Men tweeted about the US Chamber of Commerce 'plotting forged emails, documents to trick (AND smear) opponents,'" a reference to an apparent plot to discredit Chamber opponents using forged documents, as revealed when thousands of emails were recently leaked by Anonymous from cyber-security firm HB Gary. Yet another discusses Alessio Rastani, the Wall Street trader widely mistaken for Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum, who proclaimed, live on the BBC, that "governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world."
"Rastani was right," said the real Andy Bichlbaum five months later. "But it's now very clear that it doesn't have to be that way anymore."
The Yes Men and representatives from the Bhopal Medical Appeal will join Julian Assange of Wikileaks at a press conference at noon today, Feb. 27, at the Frontline Club in London. test