Tag: wikileaks

No. More. Stupid. – Wikileaks and Dead Animals

NOTE: Somehow this never got published and I found it while traipsing the jungle of unfinished entries in my journal. While it is dated I don’t liek the idea that I didn’t put this on the site. So enjoy! -Tony 8/16/2012

WikiLeaks isn’t the problem.

Assange isn’t the problem.

The government classifies far too much information, and the information that is actually extremely sensitive isn’t guarded well enough. But that doesn’t matter, because Assange is a scapegoat. Let me ask you something.

If your HOA was deliberately turning a blind eye to its largest contributor because of the money they contribute by constantly ignoring disturbingly illegal activities in the neighborhood, would you hang your next door neighbor, who is in the exact same situation you are, when that neighbor gives all the incriminating information about those activities to the media?

I don’t bloody think so…although you may want to spank them for the inconvenience.

It’s simply astounding. Julian Assange is being sensationalized by the media. The media has made the Wikileaks agenda so much more successful than any one man could have. I daresay he’s also being completely misrepresented by the governments he’s blowing the whistle on. Another point I’d like to make is that the Wikileaks organization is not being treated properly, due process is only being followed where there is direct public scrutiny.

Coming full circle, the media isn’t giving much info on the actual leaks…its just focusing on how evil Wikileaks is and hype. At first it really seemed like the news organizations were in it to go through the documents and out everyone who’d been playing dirty. This is entertainment at its best people…what are we doing about it? The governments…specifically big banking, stopped giving Wikileaks to accept payments via Visa, MasterCard, etc. Governments tried to actually freeze Wikileaks accounts, even though there was no government action ordering that it happen (and there still isn’t).

Let me throw you a curve ball. Wikileaks isn’t anywhere near as “rogue” as you think. Before releasing the information, they consulted with a large number of the worlds largest news organizations to recruit help in making sure the wrong information wasn’t released…you know…the stuff that will get people killed kind of stuff. NOW EVERYONE FORGET YOU JUST READ THAT, so you can go on about your wonderful day thinking that Wikileaks is criminally negligent in allowing this information to be released.

Instead of addressing the very large number of examples of poor candor and decidedly unprofessional monologues…our tax dollars are going into focusing on the owner of WikiLeaks…like he wrote all these things about all these countries.

Please don’t get me wrong. I understand the need for national security…but Mr. Assange didn’t steal the documents, and he’s not bound by US law. He’s just the front-man for Wiki-Leaks.

Assange didn’t leak the information. The US military did. Wikileaks is just another media outlet, the only difference is that people pay more attention to Wikileaks than the hundreds of thousands of blogging and conspiracy theory sites that publish the same ideas and data.

And by the way, the sensationalism has caused some of the WikiLeaks crew to start OpenLeaks. Another venue for people to submit leaks to the media anonymously. Don’t be mad at them, the media allowed them to get the backing for it. The same media putting Assange on the boxtop instead of all that juicy material that was leaked.

Wikileaks Til Ya Puke via Google News Feed

The Sky Is Not Falling!

I just have to get this out there.
I know there were tons of mass animal deaths. I don’t even buy into the whole “fireworks” theory that the birds were frightened by fireworks and flew off head first into the ground.
Maybe in an instance or two, but not all of those instances in three different areas.
But I cant stress this enough. The sky isn’t falling.

Our awareness of world events and is getting more and more…well…acute. As with any experience, as we become accustomed to those experiences I am sure we’ll remain a tidbit more calm about them even though the severity of the situation may be critical. If you truly feel the sky is falling, do something about it. I am not talking about any radical action that would endanger anything, but look for a viable answer, and run with it. There are some REALLY smart people out the that need your help in solving these crises.

That said, I’ve been watching the news, and been reading a FEKTON of documentation on this stuff. Mass animal deaths have been occurring for a long time, with documented events going back more than a hundred years. The USGS has actually been tracking mass animal death for decades, and so does the CDC. Between the two, they apply a body of knowledge incredibly more suited to sift fact from fiction in these matters, and thankfully, unlike the media, they aren’t in the habit of scaring the shit out of us civilians without some credence.

What I think we should all do is what we’ve already been doing. Be more aware. Know where to report news when you see it, and be more responsible when discussing these things so that you don’t start a scare. There is NOTHING wrong about feeling something is important or and there certainly isn’t anything wrong in helping resolve these events, but causing panic and unrest is the media’s forte, not yours. As individuals please try to exhibit some sense when you decide to talk about this.

If you look at the really cool Google Map of animal deaths (linked below), you will notice that there have been a bunch, and if you research them you’ll see a number of them have already been explained. As a species, we ourselves are doing so many things to contribute to this that the numbers are just heartbreaking. For every new method we find to live without destroying our planet, there are a hundred poor choices made for us that hurt the environment. Awareness in a huge factor. As in being aware we can expect at least some people will change their course.

Here is the Google News link for the animal deaths in the news.




How to lose a vote. Don’t EVER turn your back on Hillary Clinton…

On February 15, Hillary Clinton gave a speech touting American disdain for other governments’ censorship and restriction of free speech, while at the same time…a peaceful demonstration by a long-time U.S. veteran (Ray McGovern) was met with intolerance and that same restriction on our own soil.

The poor ol’ guy. All he did was stand up and turn his back on Clinton while she was speaking.

Here’s the video, the guy didn’t even say anything until it was evident that they weren’t going to let him stay.

What the hell?!

Look, I understand the need for security. But if everyone was on their game, they should have known there was a protester in the crowd…not only this, but the guy is a vet! This wasn’t just treading on our free speech…this was jumping up and down on it and then spitting in the eye of those that risk their lives for the name of.

Whoops. I was going to say freedom…but apparently that’s only available to people that aren’t directing that at our government. Over the last few weeks our own governments actions, in conjunction with that of a number of private firms are getting outed for only obeying the law when it suits them and when their own reputation isn’t at stake. By this same demonstration of physical censorship…we brand our own country as committing the very same deplorable freedom of speech violations Secretary Clinton was denouncing in her speech while they dragged him away. lame, very lame.

…every year, it seems like the pickins on politicians that aren’t hypocrites gets down to searching for needles in a haystack. I was already tired of Republicans years before Bush Jr. was done…seems the Dems are just out to make my opinion unilateral. Luckily I still know of a few decent people I’d vote for (all Libertarians – go figure)…it’s just too bad how corrupting the government is.

-Stay safe, and for our future’s sake, vote smart people.

-Tony

Here are the links:
GOOGLE NEWS
ALTERNET.ORG
YOUTUBE
EXAMINER




I am not Anonymous

Quite the opposite.

Everyone pretty much knows who I am and where I stand…umm…quite literally.

But one day. Today. I think I might agree with being Anonymous.

There was a time when I thought these guys might end up fighting the wrong fight, but I was wrong. As they’ve grown they have evolved into a group that stands for some of the more basic rights we hold as living beings, and were among the first to publicize all that was very obviously wrong with the Church of Scientology.

So it’s been a while, and Anonymous has focused on a new strategy. They’re going to get us all to agree with them, here’s how. They’ve begun a push to start have people gather for “Freedom of Speech” days.

Freedom of Speech is something every living being on this planet is entitled to.

So why am I reading THIS. Apple – in their infinite wisdom, has chosen to pass judgement on Wikileaks, before any government can even legitimately prove or covict anyone of any wrongdoing…

But wait…there is more. With complete disregard for due process and international law, Bank of America suspended all payments to WikiLeaks, and alongside of them, eBay (they own Mastercard and PayPal) decided with no legal precedent order to stop all transactions with WikiLeaks.

As much as some people may not like it…WikiLeaks is a news publisher and whistleblower…not a terrorist organization. They publish documents that make headlines. If a government is going to resort to corporate and social assassination just to save itself from a little embarrassment…then that I think our government might actually be failing to represent it’s citizens’ interest accurately. By our governments actions, and by that of key American financial companies, we announce to the world that our freedom of speech is only for those that don’t speak out against us.

Enter Anonymous. With many people clearly (and quite vocally) offended that corporations were taking action before any semblance of proof was even gathered against WikiLeaks, Anon came in and immediately took action, seems they DDoS’ed PayPal, MasterCard, Bank of America, and eBay.

The argument was posed attacking Anon stating that deliberately bringing down those sites was blatantly ignoring the rights of those organizations rights to free speech as well. Anon clearly explained that their “goal is to raise awareness about WikiLeaks and the underhanded methods employed by … companies to impair WikiLeaks’ ability to function.” I can make this even easier. The financial companies took action first without legal precedent (but I pet money they had one hell of a lot of encouragement by the US political community, none of which will admit they did any such thing).

The bottom line is not that WikiLeaks is right…or that they are wrong. The bottom line is that corporate America didn’t bother waiting for legal precedent…they just said “fuck you Julian” and stopped giving him money that was by all rights his. This isn’t legitimate business, it’s theft.

You might be wondering where I am headed with all this, considering the top of the page says “I am not Anonymous.”

It’s simple. I feel that both corporate America and the US Government are not acting in the interests of the citizens of the US. I think they are acting at the behest of our government in the interest of saving face and embarassment over the mistakes those leaks might reveal. Revealing those mistakes is not a crime, people.

If those leaks reveal incidents whereby people have breached our own laws or those we’ve agreed to abide by others, it’s justice – pure and simple.

Again, I say I am not Anonymous…but after everything I’ve read today…I sure as hell agree with them.

Please let our government grant those other countries/organizations those ineffable human freedoms we so violently declare our support for.

Rant over, have a great evening everyone.

-Tony

Google News Anonymous
Google News WikiLeaks
The Slate
Opposing Views