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02 Mar 2011 22:10

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Culture, World: More Wikileaks: Steven Spielberg scores the movie rights

  • And Wikileaks is very unhappy about this. The mega-director, known as much for his Hollywood films as his historical pieces, has secured the rights to a book about Wikileaks, “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy.” (It’s written by two journalists for The Guardian, who have kind of been on the front lines of all this.) Now, Spielberg has done great work before, but he is not a man known for keeping his films 100 percent accurate. For example, “Catch Me if You Can” was based on a real guy who pretended to be a pilot, but Tom Hanks’ character didn’t exist in real life. (Frank Abagnale is OK with this.) It’s understandable, then, that Wikileaks would say, in response to this, that “this is how bull#(&@ ends up being history.” Your move, Spielberg. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 21:45

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U.S.: Fresh Wikileaks charges: Did Bradley Manning “aid the enemy”?

  • 22 number of new charges against Wikileaking suspect Pfc. Bradley Manning, on top of two initial charges
  • yes Manning could face the death penalty over letting all this information get in the hands of Wikileaks source
  • » Soooooooo … The charges include the vague “aiding the enemy” as well as a number of computer-based and security-based theft thingy thangs. Some of the files, according to the charges were worth more than $1,000, according to the government. (Were they also bigger than a breadbox?) Do we really need to say anything here? Do the charges speak for themselves?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 11:17

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World: Julian Assange loses extradition case: What happened?

  • today Assange lost his extradition case, which says that he must return to Sweden to deal with that whole sex-by-surprise thingy thang that has long been dogging him. He denounced the decision as “a rubber-stamping process.”
  • next steps Assange has seven days to appeal the case, which his lawyers said he would. For now, he’ll likely have another month in the country. “We have to remember that at this point Julian remains uncharged,” said his lawyer, Mark Stephens. source
  • » In case you were wondering, like us: Assange’s people brought up this witness, Brita Sundberg-Weitman, who had some harsh words about Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny. Those words apparently weren’t enough to sway the judge, who noted that she had no direct knowledge of the case – just commentary on Ny as a person.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2011 13:10

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Politics: Julian Assange brings entire governments, cats to their knees

  • Julian assange asserts his human dominance: So says German author Daniel Domscheit-Berg, writing in his new book about his experiences with WikiLeaks and Assange. Domscheit-Berg claims that while Assange stayed with him in 2009, the silver-haired Australian began to abuse and battle his tomcat, which is adorably named Herr Schmidt. “Julian would constantly attack the animal. He would spread out his fingers like a fork and grab the cat’s throat,” the upcoming book says. Assange does have a built-in excuse for this abusive behavior, though, if he can only prove that this cat was a bastard. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2011 10:16

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U.S., World: Problem: The U.S. can’t figure out how to nail Julian Assange

  • yeah … The United States wants to nail Julian Assange for convincing Bradley Manning to leak a bunch of confidential documents, so they can arrest him for espionage.
  • … but Problem is, the evidence they have does not suggest that Assange convinced Manning to do anything of the sort, though some Wikileaks officials have closer ties. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2011 11:14

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World: Assange extradition trial pulls out the “biased against men” card

  • Well, that’s one way to win your extradition trial, Julian Assange. In what might be one of the more unlikely legal tactics out there, the WIkileaks founder’s defense team flew in former Swedish appellate court judge Brita Sundberg-Weitman to rip on the prosecutor in the case against Assange. Why? Because Sundberg-Weitman is willing to say in a court of law that prosecutor Marianne Ny has a “rather biased view against men.” Oh, and there’s more: “She seems to take it for granted that everybody under prosecution is guilty. I think she is so preoccupied with the situation of battered women and raped women that she has lost balance.” Damn. How about them apples? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 20:33

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World: Wikileaks cable: Israel favored Omar Suleiman to replace Mubarak

  • 2011 Omar Suleiman, a diplomatic figure closely associated with Hosni Mubarak (but mostly unknown to the Egyptian public) was appointed as Mubarak’s vice-president – and potentially leader-in-waiting – to the anger of many Egyptians.
  • 2008 A newly-released Wikileaks cable suggests that Israel heavily favored Suleiman were Mubarak to die or become incapacitated: “There is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Suleiman,” the wire said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Feb 2011 10:36

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World: Julian Assange’s extradition trial starts back up in the UK

The defense in the extradition trial suggested that there was real risk Assange could be sent to Guantanamo Bay. The prosecution pooh-poohed that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Feb 2011 14:16

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Politics: Why Barack Obama may not be so happy just now

  • By disclosing information about corruption, human rights abuses and war crimes, WikiLeaks is a natural contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • Norwegian MP Snorre Valen • As all members of national parliaments can make nominations for the Peace Prize winner, Valen bestowed this honor upon the WikiLeaks organization. The Nobel committee has declined to offer further comment. The news is likely to the intense chagrin of former winner Barack Obama. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 20:44

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Tech: Openleaks is here: Here’s a video explaining what Openleaks does

  • So, to clarify: “Bottlenecks” does not appear to specifically be a euphemism for “Julian Assange.” There appears to have been some sincere thought on how to cleanly decentralize the system. We wish Openleaks the best of luck in their mission. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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