John Kampfner: Wikileaks shows up our media for their docility at the feet of authority - Commentators, Opinion. It is within these parameters that the furore over Wikileaks and its exposures should be seen. The latest document dump is larger than the Iraq files and potentially more embarrassing, with its State Department assessments of governments and statesmen – from Hamid Karzai to Silvio Berlusconi to Nicolas Sarkozy. Diplomats have launched a frantic round of damage limitation. Oh to have been a fly on the wall during the excruciating conversation between the US ambassador and Downing Street.
The Americans are entitled to put their side of the story, to seek to assuage any inconvenience caused. The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, believes the Americans are going much further than that, carrying out a concerted campaign to undermine and discredit him. I have no information on the cases that have led two Swedish women to press charges of rape and sexual harassment against him. Only those involved do. He accepted; then he disappeared for five days, not answering phone calls or emails. The Wonderful, Wacky World of Sexhibition. Amazon. Former Justice John Paul Stevens Criticizes Death Penalty. In 2008, two years before he announced his retirement, Justice Stevens reversed course and in a concurrence said that he now believed the death penalty to be unconstitutional.
But the reason for that change of heart, after more than three decades on the court and some 1,100 executions, has in many ways remained a mystery, and now Justice Stevens has provided an explanation. In a detailed, candid and critical essay to be published this week in The New York Review of Books, he wrote that personnel changes on the court, coupled with “regrettable judicial activism,” had created a system of capital punishment that is shot through with racism, skewed toward conviction, infected with politics and tinged with hysteria. The essay is remarkable in itself. But it is also a sign that at 90, Justice Stevens is intent on speaking his mind on issues that may have been off limits while he was on the court.
He will be on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. In Payne v. Robert B. Big Polluters Freed from Environmental Oversight by Stimulus - The Center for Public Integrity. In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out billions of dollars in stimulus money to some of the nation’s biggest polluters and granted them sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found. The administration has awarded more than 179,000 “categorical exclusions” to stimulus projects funded by federal agencies, freeing those projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Coal-burning utilities like Westar Energy and Duke Energy, chemical manufacturer DuPont, and ethanol maker Didion Milling are among the firms with histories of serious environmental violations that have won blanket NEPA exemptions.
The so-called “stimulus” funding came from the $787-billion legislation officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February 2009. Question of Whether Ends Justify Means Sen. The green groups prevailed. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Says Bush Lied About Iraq War. Former President George W. Bush claims in his book that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reneged on a promise to back the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
(h/t Mediaite) Schroeder said he’d stand with Bush, but there were conditions: In a statement, he confirmed that he had told Mr Bush he would “stand reliably on the side of the US” if it was confirmed that Iraq was sheltering those responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. “But this link, as it became clear during 2002, was false and contrived. This goes for reasons [for the invasion] given by Bush and [then vice-president Dick] Cheney too. “As we know today, the Bush administration’s reasons for the Iraq war were based on lies.” Some of Schroeder’s aides had even more scathing comments. The reaction of former Schroeder aides was scathing. “For this reason it was difficult to communicate with him. Iran: Timeline to crisis - Iran. With the release of the first round of WikiLeaks State Department documents this week, Iran hawks in the United States have embraced a new line: Look at the number of Arab leaders who privately urged the U.S. to attack Iran, they say — it isn’t just Israel!
A U.S. attack on Iran, David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter who helped sell the Iraq war, enthusiastically claimed on Monday, is “more politically feasible than it was 72 hours ago.” It’s true that, as has long been suspected, some Arab leaders want very much for the U.S. to stop Iran, their regional foe, from getting a nuclear weapon. (This is in contrast to the majority view of Arab populations.) But what Arab autocrats tell U.S. diplomats in private is only a small part of the two decades of history that have led up to the present sense of crisis on Iran (whether misplaced or not). Throughout all of this, the Iranian government has claimed it is pursuing nuclear fuel for power and medical purposes, rather than for a weapon. US embassy cables: The job of the media is not to protect the powerful from embarrassment | Simon Jenkins. Is it justified? Should a newspaper disclose virtually all a nation's secret diplomatic communication, illegally downloaded by one of its citizens?
The reporting in the Guardian of the first of a selection of 250,000 US state department cables marks a recasting of modern diplomacy. Clearly, there is no longer such a thing as a safe electronic archive, whatever computing's snake-oil salesmen claim. No organisation can treat digitised communication as confidential. An electronic secret is a contradiction in terms.
Anything said or done in the name of a democracy is, prima facie, of public interest. When that democracy purports to be "world policeman" – an assumption that runs ghostlike through these cables – that interest is global. In this light, two backup checks were applied. The state department knew of the leak several months ago and had ample time to alert staff in sensitive locations. The job of the media is not to protect power from embarrassment. The money‑wasting is staggering. The 10 most important WikiLeaks revelations - War Room. The AP has concluded that there is nothing “particularly explosive” so far in the archive of State Department cables that has begun to be released by WikiLeaks. That assertion is debatable in itself. But anyone who takes time to browse through the documents will find both fascinating and solidly new and newsworthy information about U.S. foreign policy and international relations.
WikiLeaks says the documents will be released in stages “over the next few months,” so much of what we know now comes through the filter of the handful of media organizations who had access to the full archives. Only a few hundred cables have been released. Here are the top 10 revelations so far: Diplomats as spies: As part of an intelligence gathering effort, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 ordered diplomats overseas and at the U.N. to collect personal information on foreign officials including credit card and frequent flier numbers and biometric information.
What are we missing here? Obama’s War on Whistleblowers. Many comedians consider stand-up the purest form of comedy; Doug Stanhope considers it the freest. “Once you do stand-up, it spoils you for everything else,” he says. “You’re the director, performer, and producer.” Unlike most of his peers, however, Stanhope has designed his career around exploring that freedom, which means choosing a life on the road. Perhaps this is why, although he is extremely ambitious, prolific, and one of the best stand-ups performing, so many Americans haven’t heard of him.
Many comedians approach the road as a means to an end: a way to develop their skills, start booking bigger venues, and, if they’re lucky, get themselves airlifted to Hollywood. But life isn’t happening on a sit-com set or a sketch show — at least not the life that has interested Stanhope. He isn’t waiting to be invited to the party; indeed, he’s been hosting his own party for years. Seven Secrets that China Would Like to Keep. Many comedians consider stand-up the purest form of comedy; Doug Stanhope considers it the freest. “Once you do stand-up, it spoils you for everything else,” he says. “You’re the director, performer, and producer.” Unlike most of his peers, however, Stanhope has designed his career around exploring that freedom, which means choosing a life on the road. Perhaps this is why, although he is extremely ambitious, prolific, and one of the best stand-ups performing, so many Americans haven’t heard of him.
Many comedians approach the road as a means to an end: a way to develop their skills, start booking bigger venues, and, if they’re lucky, get themselves airlifted to Hollywood. But life isn’t happening on a sit-com set or a sketch show — at least not the life that has interested Stanhope. Because of the present comedy boom, civilians are starting to hear about Doug Stanhope from other comedians like Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman, and Louis CK. Save Millions: E-Commerce Best Practices: Magic of Free Shipping.
Free Shipping is one of the common tricks to convert visitors into customers. What I found though is that most of retailers neither have an analytical framework to identify products to be sold with free shipping and nor have tools to evaluate results of the promotion. Here are some of my best practices that you are welcome to try out. Magic of Free ShippingThere are numerous researches on why Free Shipping feels like an irresistable deal. The best books I read on this topic are Predictably Irrational written by Dan Ariely, an extraordinary guy who I took a number of seminars with at MIT, and Free Prize Inside by Seth Godin. Dan dedicated a chapter of his book to the "Magic of Free Shipping" looking at Amazon`s success with Free Shipping program and lack of thereof in France where Amazon tried "1 euro" shipping.
Presentation: Full Shipping, Discounted Shipping or FREE SHIPPINGLet`s say I am a retailer and sell a coffee table for $100 and charge $25 for shipping. TEST! WikiLeaks cables: CIA drew up UN spying wishlist for diplomats | World news. WikiLeaks cables show the Central Intelligence drew up information wishlist. Photograph: Getty Images The US state department's wishlist of information about the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, and other senior members of his organisation was drawn up by the CIA, the Guardian has learned.
The disclosure comes as new information emerged about Washington's intelligence gathering on foreign diplomats, including surveillance of the telephone and internet use of Iranian and Chinese diplomats. One of the most embarrassing revelations to emerge from US diplomatic cables obtained by the whistleblowers' website WikiLeaks has been that US diplomats were asked to gather intelligence on Ban, other senior UN staff, security council members and other foreign diplomats – a possible violation of international law. Humint is part of the CIA, which deals with overseas spying overseas and is one of at least 12 US intelligence agencies. "No one should think of American diplomats as spies. WikiLeaks cables: Conservatives promised to run 'pro-American regime' | Politics.
Conservative party politicians lined up before the general election to promise that they would run a "pro-American regime" and buy more arms from the US if they came to power this year, the leaked American embassy cables show. Despite British leaders' supportive stance, the dispatches also reveal – in what some will see as humiliating detail – how US diplomats in London are amused by what they call Britain's "paranoid" fears about the so-called special relationship. One said the anxious British attitude "would often be humorous if it were not so corrosive" and that it was tempting to take advantage of this neurosis to "make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance". The UK was said to offer "unparalleled" help in promoting America's aims.
The incoming Conservatives appear to have made some wide-ranging offers of political co-operation with the US. The cables detail a series of private meetings with Tory frontbenchers, many of whom are now in the cabinet. WikiLeaks' Assange to fight any extradition: lawyer. Update (04.Dec.) Please RT > Big List of #WikiLeaks-Mirrors #cablegate #mirror - many Websites - Daniel Ellsberg Says Boycott Amazon.
Daniel Ellsberg Says Boycott Amazon Daniel Ellsberg, December 02, 2010 Open letter to Amazon.com Customer Service: December 2, 2010 I’m disgusted by Amazon’s cowardice and servility in abruptly terminating today its hosting of the Wikileaks website, in the face of threats from Senator Joe Lieberman and other Congressional right-wingers. I want no further association with any company that encourages legislative and executive officials to aspire to China’s control of information and deterrence of whistle-blowing. For the last several years, I’ve been spending over $100 a month on new and used books from Amazon.
I understand that many other regular customers feel as I do and are responding the same way. So far Amazon has spared itself the further embarrassment of trying to explain its action openly. Yours (no longer), Daniel Ellsberg. U.S. Military in Iraq Tries to Intimidate Soldiers Into Not Reading Wikileaks. @frijoles: THANK YOU! You also forgot that not "every" Soldier has a secret clearance. @frijoles: it says " This page simply warns the user that the website they are about to view may contain classified documents and that such documents should not be VIEWED, downloaded, or distributed on NIPR computers. There is a button at the bottom of this warning page that then allows the user to go to the website. " I have personally not read the leaks, I'm a US citizen and have never been outside of the country, and from what I hear, the leaks are mostly just dirty pollical stuff, nothing too serious, and nothing that could directly hurt any americans.
What I am interested in, is the reaction that our government is taking, I pay taxes, over 20% of my income is taxed, like most americans, and I live in Seattle, Wa, sales tax here is 10%, so nearly 30% of whatever I earn in my entire life will go to the government. @frijoles: Xerox machine?!? WikiLeaks' 'insurance' file to ensure work goes on - U.S. news - WikiLeaks in Security. An encrypted cache of uncensored documents that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has circulated across the Internet may ensure that a huge array of secrets will be revealed even if the website is shut down or Assange is arrested. Tens of thousands of supporters have downloaded the "insurance" file, which has been available since July, and it includes files on BP and Guantanamo Bay, The Sunday Times reported.
Assange has warned that efforts to curtail his activities could trigger a deluge of national and commercial secrets. "If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically," he said in a live chat with readers of the Guardian newspaper this week. One reader asked if he was tempted to release the password for the encrypted file, but he did not respond to the question. The Sunday Times said the U.S. Assange is known to possess documents on a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians and Bank of America documents. Most popular. US military threatens soldiers not to read Wikileaks | Raw Story. Julian Assange - Who Will Be TIME's 2010 Person of the Year? Hullabaloo. PRESS RELEASE Tue 7 Dec 15.55 GMT Julian Assange Defense Fund frozen. The Swiss Bank Post Finance.