A thought police for the internet age: the dangerous cult of the Guardian

By Jonathan Cook
Redress

Jonathan Cook looks at how Britain’s Guardian newspaper is trying to maintain its role as gatekeeper of information and controller of public debate by vilifying, smearing and defaming those who test the bounds of permissible thought and challenge established truths, including musician and writer Gilad Atzmon, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, journalist John Pilger and academic Noam Chomsky.

There could be no better proof of the revolution – care of the internet – occurring in the accessibility of information and informed commentary than the reaction of our mainstream, corporate media.

For the first time, Western publics – or at least those who can afford a computer – have a way to bypass the gatekeepers of our democracies. Data our leaders once kept tightly under wraps can now be easily searched for, as can the analyses of those not paid to turn a blind eye to the constant and compelling evidence of Western hypocrisy.

Viral Art: Julian Assange vs Mark Zuckerberg

Some viral art

A cold season for Assange

By Bob Row

The extradition of Julian Assange to be judged in Sweden sets the path to the end of what we can call the “romantic period” of cyber-activism. The dream of a perfectly transparent society, free from secretive diplomatic deals, where the people have ALL the data that can affect their lives is not a reachable one.

The war on WikiLeaks: A John Pilger investigation and interview with Julian Assange

By John Pilger

The attacks on WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, are a response to an information revolution that threatens old power orders, in politics and journalism. The incitement to murder trumpeted by public figures in the United States, together with attempts by the Obama administration to corrupt the law and send Assange to a hell hole prison for the rest of his life, are the reactions of a rapacious system exposed as never before.

In recent weeks, the US Justice Department has established a secret grand jury just across the river from Washington in the eastern district of the state of Virginia. The object is to indict Julian Assange under a discredited espionage act used to arrest peace activists during the first world war, or one of the “war on terror” conspiracy statutes that have degraded American justice. Judicial experts describe the jury as a “deliberate set up”, pointing out that this corner of Virginia is home to the employees and families of the Pentagon, CIA, Department of Homeland Security and other pillars of American power.

Spain’s largest newspaper on WikiLeaks, Madrid cables

Why EL PAÍS chose to publish the leaks

By Javier Moreno
El Pais, Dec. 23, 2010

1. The leak and its consequences.

When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called my cellphone on a Friday afternoon in November, I could barely hear him. The conversation, held amid the usual tumult of Rome’s airport on a weekend, was strangely short. Assange talked slowly, making sure to pronounce each word carefully, his deep, almost baritone voice, reducing itself almost to a whisper at the end of each sentence. A few moments before the conversation, I had noticed how the Italian police seemed particularly interested in the little luggage that I was carrying, and that as the phone had rung, they were examining the cloth that I had used to wipe the screen of my iPad. Were they looking for drugs, or explosives, or both?

Assange, as far as I could tell at that time, was willing to give EL PAÍS access to 250,000 cablegrams sent between the US State Department and its embassies in around 30 countries, garnered as a result of the largest leak of secret documents in history.

Wikileaks, the United States, Sweden, and Devil’s Island

By William Blum
Anti Empire Report

December 16 … I’m standing in the snow in front of the White House … Standing with Veterans for Peace … I’m only a veteran of standing in front of the White House; the first time was February 1965, handing out flyers against the war in Vietnam. I was working for the State Department at the time and my biggest fear was that someone from that noble institution would pass by and recognize me.

Veterans for Peace Protest War outside White House (Video)

By Malak Behrouznami
The Real News Network

Protesting wars, resisters also called for the release of Bradley Manning and issued their support for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

Timeline of Assange’s visit to Sweden and events that followed

By Guy Rundle
Crikey

The following is a timeline and summary of the public record of Julian Assange’s visit to Sweden, incidents therein, and accusations arising therefrom. Since what would otherwise be a private legal issue has become a global public cause, and since the level of misinformation has been excessive, we’re presenting this run-down of events in the interests of clarifying debate.

All material, unless otherwise marked, is a matter of public record. Even parts that are marked unconfirmed have multiple separate sources. Nothing that is purely directed towards the character or the history of the two female complainants has been included. Material that has been included is that which goes to questions of reliability of evidence in court proceedings. The timeline has been prepared from public sources in English and Swedish media, and from first-person interviews by Guy Rundle.

CLG Breaking News on WikiLeaks

By Citizens for Legitimate Government

A collection of recent news items on WikiLeaks, its website(s) and on Julian Assange.

Julian Assange to be questioned by British police –New extradition warrant issued over alleged sexual assaults –Assange appeals for supporters to put up surety and bail 06 Dec 2010 Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is expected to appear in a UK court tomorrow after his lawyers said he would meet police to discuss a European extradition warrant from Sweden relating to alleged sexual assaults… Jennifer Robinson, a solicitor with Finers Stephens Innocent which represents the Australian freedom of information campaigner, told the Guardian: “We have a received an arrest warrant [related to claims in Sweden]. We are negotiating a meeting with police.”

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange and Conspiracy Theories

reddit

By Michael Collins

“I’m constantly annoyed that people are distracted by false conspiracies such as 9/11, when all around we provide evidence of real conspiracies, for war or mass financial fraud.” Julian Asange, Wikileaks, July 19 (Image right)

John Young was one of the co-founders of Wikileaks. He quickly left the organization in disagreement with some of its policies (CNET). Young was a natural choice for Wikileaks since he’s operated a leak website, CRYPTOME, since 1996. His site just released two articles on July 31 attributed to Wikileaks’ Julian Assange (me@i.1.org). The announcement read:

“These essays on conspiracies by Julian Assange (me@iq.org) were retrieved today from his website iq.org. The first from the currently active site, dated November 10, 2006, and the second at archive.org, dated December 3, 2006.” CRYPTOME – 31 July 2010 (author’s emphasis)