The Rascals - Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, 12-15-2012
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Thursday, 9 December 2010
Guantanamo files may star in next WikiLeaks release
WikiLeaks' next assault on Washington may highlight U.S. government reports on suspected militants held at Guantanamo Bay, which some U.S. officials worry could show certain detainees were freed despite intelligence assessments they were still dangerous.
The leaks could be an embarrassment to President Barack Obama's administration, already angered over WikiLeaks document dumps of U.S. State Department cables, as it seeks to fulfill a 2-year-old pledge to close the prison and either release the foreign terrorism suspects or move them elsewhere.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, jailed in Britain this week, has told media contacts he has a large cache of U.S. government reports about inmates at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, known as GITMO, the last of four major tranches of U.S. government documents which WikiLeaks had acquired and at some point would make public.
"He's got the personal files of every prisoner in GITMO," said one person who was in contact with Assange earlier this year.
Officials at the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies had no immediate comment.
People familiar with Assange's dealings with the media said they had no indication he had already given journalists access to the Guantanamo material. In the past, large document dumps by WikiLeaks were made available initially to a small group of media.
Several U.S. government sources said there was concern Assange's material could include highly sensitive "threat assessments" by U.S. intelligence agencies gauging the likelihood that specific inmates would return to militant activities if set free.
These assessments, if published, could prove damaging in a number of ways, including revelations that could theoretically put in jeopardy U.S. intelligence sources and methods.
They could further embarrass the U.S. government if they show that detainees deemed likely to return to terrorism were released and subsequently involved in anti-U.S. violence.
It is unclear what time period may be covered by the Guantanamo documents believed to be in WikiLeaks' possession.
The prison at a U.S. naval base in Cuba was opened to house prisoners taken in the U.S.-led Afghan war launched by President George W. Bush soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. It has been controversial as a legal limbo, and Obama said on taking office in January 2009 that he wanted to close it in a year...
The leaks could be an embarrassment to President Barack Obama's administration, already angered over WikiLeaks document dumps of U.S. State Department cables, as it seeks to fulfill a 2-year-old pledge to close the prison and either release the foreign terrorism suspects or move them elsewhere.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, jailed in Britain this week, has told media contacts he has a large cache of U.S. government reports about inmates at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, known as GITMO, the last of four major tranches of U.S. government documents which WikiLeaks had acquired and at some point would make public.
"He's got the personal files of every prisoner in GITMO," said one person who was in contact with Assange earlier this year.
Officials at the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies had no immediate comment.
People familiar with Assange's dealings with the media said they had no indication he had already given journalists access to the Guantanamo material. In the past, large document dumps by WikiLeaks were made available initially to a small group of media.
Several U.S. government sources said there was concern Assange's material could include highly sensitive "threat assessments" by U.S. intelligence agencies gauging the likelihood that specific inmates would return to militant activities if set free.
These assessments, if published, could prove damaging in a number of ways, including revelations that could theoretically put in jeopardy U.S. intelligence sources and methods.
They could further embarrass the U.S. government if they show that detainees deemed likely to return to terrorism were released and subsequently involved in anti-U.S. violence.
It is unclear what time period may be covered by the Guantanamo documents believed to be in WikiLeaks' possession.
The prison at a U.S. naval base in Cuba was opened to house prisoners taken in the U.S.-led Afghan war launched by President George W. Bush soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. It has been controversial as a legal limbo, and Obama said on taking office in January 2009 that he wanted to close it in a year...
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Mark Hosenball @'Reuters'
Mark Hosenball @'Reuters'
Anon Facebook ban and NEW genuine twitter #
http://213.251.145.96/
NEW Twitter
@Anon_Operationn
government, if not silenced!
...and here we go
anonops TARGET: WWW.TWITTER.COM: FIRE FIRE FIRE!!! WEAPONS http://bit.ly/e6iR3X ::: SET YOUR LOIC TO irc.anonops.net :: #PAYBACK #WIKILEAKS #anonops
torrentfreak I think Twitter might do down next, @Anon_Operation doesn't appreciate 'censorship' much so I've heard. #payback
Back up
anonops Ok, we have another target. #anonops #payback #Wikileaks The Free Speech is the final border. If we can't speak we have no freedom.
Hardly a surprise after THAT tweet!
JPBarlow RT @evgenymorozov RT @jackschofield: Twitter has suspended the @Anon_Operation account, which has 22,173 followers...
German Police Seize Marijuana Christmas Tree
A six-foot marijuana plant decorated as a Christmas tree was confiscated from the home of "an old hippie," who is now facing a drug possession charge, German police said Wednesday.
In a press release entitled "All you need is love, or how a hippie celebrates Christmas," police in the western city of Koblenz said they found the big cannabis plant in the living room of the suspect, reports AFP.
"A hippie celebrates Christmas too, just differently," read the release. "The two-meter-tall marijuana plant had been put in a Christmas tree stand and decorated with a string of lights."
"When asked, the hashish fan told the perplexed officers that he had intended to add more decorations to the 'tree' and place the presents it, according to tradition."
Narcotics detectives stumbled on the unconventional Christmas tree while searching the home of an "old 68er," a reference to the groups of young students and workers who participated in political protests which swept across Germany in 1968, reports The Local.
The Grinch-like cops seized the plant plus 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of marijuana found in the apartment.
The man "more or less willingly" handed over the 150 grams to the officers, according to the report.
The "old hippie" in Koblenz isn't the only German having a high holiday season.
Authorities on Tuesday said that a 21-year-old man in the southern city of Munich had been arrested for a homemade Advent calendar with cannabis behind each little door, instead of chocolate.
That suspect was released but now faces charges of possessing drugs.
"A hippie celebrates Christmas too, just differently," read the release. "The two-meter-tall marijuana plant had been put in a Christmas tree stand and decorated with a string of lights."
"When asked, the hashish fan told the perplexed officers that he had intended to add more decorations to the 'tree' and place the presents it, according to tradition."
Narcotics detectives stumbled on the unconventional Christmas tree while searching the home of an "old 68er," a reference to the groups of young students and workers who participated in political protests which swept across Germany in 1968, reports The Local.
The Grinch-like cops seized the plant plus 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of marijuana found in the apartment.
The man "more or less willingly" handed over the 150 grams to the officers, according to the report.
The "old hippie" in Koblenz isn't the only German having a high holiday season.
Authorities on Tuesday said that a 21-year-old man in the southern city of Munich had been arrested for a homemade Advent calendar with cannabis behind each little door, instead of chocolate.
That suspect was released but now faces charges of possessing drugs.
(Thanx j6nnie!)
The crux of the WikiLeaks debate
Below is the audio from the To the Point segment. Just trust me and listen to it. The first 20 minutes or so is just John Burns reporting on the Assange court hearing, which is unnecessary to listen to. Then, at roughly 23:45, the Rubin is brought in, and he repeats his denunciations of WikiLeaks that he published in The New Republic; he also claims that the diplomatic cables show no deceit or wrongdoing whatsoever on the part of the U.S. Government. Rubin's segment goes on for about 10 minutes, and while listening to it will give important context for what follows, it's not completely necessary.
I was finally brought in at the 32:15 mark and that's when things became quite contentious and illuminating. I've written about this before, but what's most remarkable is how -- as always -- leading media figures and government officials are completely indistinguishable in what they think, say and do with regard to these controversies; that's why Burns and Rubin clung together so closely throughout the segment, because there is no real distinction between most of these establishment reporters and the government; the former serve the latter. Below is the clip itself; I'm posting the specific evidence showing that Rubin's general claim (that these cables contain no deceit or wrongdoing) as well as his specific claims about Yemen were absolutely false...
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Glenn Greenwald @'Salon'
Abandoned on Everest
In 2006, a lone climber attempting the summit of Mount Everest for the third time was, purely by chance, caught in an amateur photograph taken by another climber of the scenic mountaintop ahead. The climber in the photograph was making his way up what is known as the Final Push of the Northeast ridge, between Camp VI at 8,230 m and the summit. It was late in the afternoon, a foolishly reckless time to undertake the lengthy and dangerous route.
It would be many hours before the the photographer and his climbing team saw the man again. Leaving the camp at the recommended time, shortly before midnight in order to reach the summit at daybreak, they were first in line of a total of roughly 40 climbers attempting the Final Push that day. A long train of men, all tethered to the lengths of rope permanently in place to keep climbers on the right track...
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