Wikileaks?

[Pat]

+1 Keith and Pete.
Read the NY Times article on PFC Bradley Manning. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/us/09manning.html
He's a complete whack-job with anger management issues. How he received and maintained a security clearance (much less access) is beyond me as is his ability to intercept, from a brigade level office, copy and transfer what Mr. Assange describes as half a million documents in addition to 400,000 related to the Iraq War without notice. He had access to SIPRNet (the government's classified internet) and somehow was able to discretely read and copy hundreds of thousands of diplomatic e-mails?? Bradley had also been demoted for assaulting an officer and he was discovered not through any skilled detection by the government security apparatus but be was reported to the U.S. authorities as an act of conscience by a confidant and fellow hacker. It certainly is reassuring that this same security apparatus is soon going to be the custodian of our health and medical records.
John, I've got to disagree with you on all this (by the way, read-up on Richard Armitage -he's certainly no Bush operative).
I don't believe on big government conspiracies. Like others, I've worked there and my belief is that they are simply an inept bloated bureaucracy. Hell, Nixon couldn't even pull off a burglary and Clinton couldn't privately doink an intern and Hillary can't snoop on U.N. diplomats without discovery and the FBI couldn't catch Bradley Manning without a friend turning him in. For me it's not the power of the government I fear, it's the size, spending and incompetence. Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.
I wonder if Manning knows how to get the TSA x-ray photos of a certain sales rep at work. She’s flying to Atlanta next week. He’s probably not interested but a number of us might be

 

[Jack]

Veek +1

 

[Terry Oxandale]

What appears to be driving this very intelligent person is the linking of justice and conspiracy. If they are synonymous in one's mind, then it's not unexpected that this kind of action is taken in order to insure justice (and it's corresponding exposure of conspiracy) is served. I cringe at the realization that I'm more cynical about our own government (and now our own citizenship) than ever before, and there are a lot of folks like Assange the will follow his footsteps if allowed. I don't condone his actions, but I certainly can understand the drive or motivation. In essence, we are watching history being written in real time, not 20 years later.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

– In the first major policy fallout from the WikiLeaks disclosures, the State Department has ordered all U.S. diplomats to “cease and desist telling the truth until further notice.”

“We are working overtime to try to make sure that leaks like these don’t happen again,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters. “But until we’ve got the leaks plugged, it’s incumbent on all our diplomats to put on their lying caps.”

Secretary Clinton noted that since many US diplomats are major political donors with long careers in the business world, “this shouldn’t be a reach for them.”

But for those career diplomats who came up through the Foreign Service, the State Department will be holding a series of “truth avoidance seminars,” led by executives of Goldman Sachs.

Additionally, Secretary Clinton said, the State Department would install on all diplomats’ computers new software called CandorShield™, which automatically translates truthful language into a less embarrassing truth-free version.

For example, she explained, the software would translate the phrase “two-faced weasels” into “trusted Pakistani allies” and would delete all references to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as “Monsieur Shorty Pants.”

Elsewhere, Interpol issued this statement about its pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: “We will find Julian Assange, and then we will hire him.”

:laugh:

 

[Terry Oxandale]

David, and now you.

 

[Jack Duha]

I have great faith in my country.
This might be flagwaving, but the USA to me, represents the potential to be creative and tolerant.

The modern world has become more intimate.
For some cultures, maybe too intimate. (I blame "BayWatch"... Ha Ha!)

Guess What? We need to get to know(understand, trust/distrust) each other a lot better if we want to play together nicely!

There are smart people out there, but too bad they're not crazy enough to run for office.

I just hope that Wikileaks becomes an urban term for "Wake up call!"

Jack

 

[Graham]

I have great faith in my country.
This might be flagwaving, but the USA to me, represents the potential to be creative and tolerant.

The modern world has become more intimate.
For some cultures, maybe too intimate. (I blame "BayWatch"... Ha Ha!)

Guess What? We need to get to know(understand, trust/distrust) each other a lot better if we want to play together nicely!

There are smart people out there, but too bad they're not crazy enough to run for office.

I just hope that Wikileaks becomes an urban term for "Wake up call!"

Jack

Nice one Jack,

I love an Idealist, and I can't disagree with a single thing that you've written there (although I'm not sure that Baywatch would have been quite so well received in The Yemen). :laugh:

Graham.

 

[Keith]

Well that's it then. Assange appears to be here in "The Land of The Free (Lunch)" and is being served a warrant by local Plod (assuming they know where he is) to extradite him to Sweden for 2 complaints of rape when he visited there last August.

"It's a stitch up" his lawyer said "and we want to know who leaked this to the press"

He went on "It's an International conspiracy"

Well, he did say the second bit, but I made the first statement up.

I suppose this being Britain, he could claim political asylum because Pete has said he should be hung up by his balls in Australia, so he certainly wouldn't be safe in Sydney, or Terry or even James come to think of it...

 

[Keith]

Well, this toe rag has been arrested and is due to appear in court in London very soon for extradition to Sweden to answer two charges of 'sexual assault' (alleged).

Whatever sympathy he may have received for his efforts towards US Govt 'transparency' should surely be well and truly dead and buried now since they published a world wide list of those soft targets that the US Govt considered most at risk from terrorist attacks - a gift from Allah no less.

I believe he did this deliberately and carried out a threat "to release more damaging material" if they didn't leave him alone.

So not only have military lives been put at risk but many civilians also as the list includes power stations, factories, transport hubs etc etc.

Can anyone now claim that what he has done is for the Good?

I am all ears... :veryangry:

 

[Garry]

Kieth,
Not Me! This guy is a cyber-terrorist and by releasing the new information he has outed himself. All he really wants is anarchy, not progressive change as others on this forum have stated. The charges may be trumped up, but his nasty little reaction to the world calling him and his cyber-ubers out is exactly the kind of childish response that puts these tales of "patriotism to higher ideals" to bed.
A chulrish little minch that hope fully will get his 15 minutes of fame and then 25 years of hard prison time... in Levenworth, Kansas, if we are lucky.
Garry

 

[Graham]

Well, this toe rag has been arrested and is due to appear in court in London very soon for extradition to Sweden to answer two charges of 'sexual assault' (alleged).

Whatever sympathy he may have received for his efforts towards US Govt 'transparency' should surely be well and truly dead and buried now since they published a world wide list of those soft targets that the US Govt considered most at risk from terrorist attacks - a gift from Allah no less.

I believe he did this deliberately and carried out a threat "to release more damaging material" if they didn't leave him alone.

So not only have military lives been put at risk but many civilians also as the list includes power stations, factories, transport hubs etc etc.

Can anyone now claim that what he has done is for the Good?

I am all ears... :veryangry:

Nope....

I wholeheartedly believe that we need people to hold government to account, a whistleblower if you will.

What we don't need is a dangerous little twat like him endangering peoples lives for self aggrandisement.

What a wanker :evil:

 

[Terry Oxandale]

(flamsuit on)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

<o></o>
If he truly feels these charges have been drummed up, then it's understandable that he would be resentful, even vindictive. He is no different than anybody he's exposed. Talk nice, act pleasant, stay neutral, but when backed into a corner, lash out! Who or what country wouldn't do the same if they had the power. We even have a name for people or organizations that do this when we disagree with their methodology of "lashing out" if it isn't on our own terms...we call it " terrorism ". <o></o>
<o></o>
Yeah, I couldn't believe I heard this term used on the news the other night in describing Assange's methods. Right and wrong, (and the twisting of terms) are only defined by the powerful. Is there anybody here that honestly believes the US wouldn't throw someone or some country under the bus to preserve its own hide, reputation, standing? Has the US ever miss-directed it's vengeance on another being or country? Has the US ever manipulated data or information to its own advantage resulting in death? Come on, in the real world we're just looking at ourselves here, just one that we like to keep hidden.<o></o>
<o></o>
Personally, I think there's a lot of house cleaning we need to do before we start judging other's actions. We've always had the luxury of having the upper hand, and with that, the conviction we are always right. There are no political or war "crimes" when you're always the winner.<o></o>

 

[Keith]

No need of a flamsuit Terry (whatever that is - sounds kinda kinky though) I refer particularly to the act of releasing a confidential list of what US strategists call "risk targets". Every country has them (high risk targets & lists). Any citizen by virtue of due diligence could research the subject for themselves and come up with such a list but it would NOT have the Govt stamp of 'acknowledged risk' on it. This is not Government overreaching their mandate, this is Govt doing what they are supposed to do - identifying possible targets who's potential destruction threatens stability and that means The People at Large. By releasing this list, he has shown potential 'enemies of the state' what the US considers are vulnerable civilian targets and he did it in a spiteful manner. This act by very definition does not illuminate abuse of any power except his own. I have up until now, pretty much agreed with some of the leaked assessments he has released and also find them quite amusing - beyond that I haven't particularly been interested and nor has it seemed to make any dents in the status quo. Perhaps that's what made him angry. Governments are not God but at least they're elected - Assange it seems, wants to play Unelected Supreme Being whilst getting a hard on. Well, he's bought himself lasting fame and notoriety - perhaps women will throw themselves at him from now on.. in August, he was a nobody (it is alleged).

 

[David Sturch]

Keith & Terry,

I saw a few pages of the last release and it mentioned power generation in the area that I live in. Darlington ,Pickering and Bruce nuclear power generation stations and the effects on the grid in the event's of a terrorist attack. All of the grid is shared in north east Canada and US. There always fears of a cascading blackout like in 2003. I don't think they could do much fisical damage, but shuting down a reactor can be fast and restarting one takes longer. It's the damage to the economy that can hurt. They would have a hard time getting close here. They have small well equipped tactical armies. We even have a police helicopter for a city of 150,000 mosty financed by OPG. (Ontario Power Generation) Most of the stuff is common knowlege just concerns expressed between goverments.
Dave

 

[Keith]

Guys, we do not have that level of security here and what's more couldn't afford it anyway.

Not all such 'sensitive' locations are (were) public knowledge but I guess they are now.

Damned irresponsible and to what end? How does this act of bloody mindeness assist in facilitating transparent Government?

I really don't mind a contrary view - my opinion wouldn't shake anyone anyway. We shall agree to differ but I have used these venerable pages to vent my spleen on this issue and for that I thank GT40's.

For the Brits, Assange reminds me very much of David Icke. Remember him?

 

[David Sturch]

I remember him Keith. Nice to know that the son of god is a Brit.

 

[Keith]

I remember him Keith. Nice to know that the son of god is a Brit.

Not sure you shouldn't have put that phrase in "quotes"

Nicely remembered...

 

[Tom]

For anyone who thinks that diplomacy is a completely straight up, above board and honest game, that person needs to read some history, or have their head examined. It is messy, difficult etc. For Assange to release these materials is damaging, for no greater purpose that I can identify. Maybe he should have every email and transcripts from every conversation he's ever had released for public consumption. I daresay it would cause him some consternation, and require more than a few apologies.

For him to publish the list of softspots? And rape women?

I think he should be thrown in the general population of a supermax prison, and forced to share all of his thoughts and feelings with his burly prison mates, and the world outside. See how he feels about "openess" then.

 

[Keith]

Found out today that WLeaks is being run from London :stunned:

Oh well, we've only seen around 300 leaked cables. Only 249,700 to go.

This IS going to get messy.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Speaking of the sexual assault (Alleged) he has not been charged, I heard on the BBC so it must be true, that the young lady who made the complaint first agreed to sexual congress but half way through changed her mind and said no! Not even a GT40 has brakes that good.:stunned:
Assage is now in the slammer awaiting extradition for questioning by the Swedish plod.