Floyd Abrams Takes on WikiLeaks

Floyd Abrams Abuse of Power
I promise I’m going to catch up on the Wikileaks stuff in more detail soon, but I wanted to do a quick post pointing out the idiocy of Floyd Abrams’ attack on Wikileaks. The logic of Abrams’ op-ed-which argues that Wikileaks is different from the Pentagon Papers and therefore bad and also ohbytheway bad for Journalists-is as follows: Daniel Ellsberg chose not to release the last four volumes of the Pentagon Papers because he didn’t want to get in the way of ...

Abrams on Wikileaks
Floyd Abrams, one of the lawyers on the Pentagon Papers case who is regarded as one of the country's premier First Amendment attorneys, sees Julian Assange's Wikileaks doing more harm than good for American Journalists, contrasting him with Pentagon Papers leaker Daniels Ellsburg and fearing the possibility of even more restrictive Legislation coming from a reactionary Congress: Mr. Assange is no boon to American journalists. His activities have already doomed proposed federal shield-law legis...

Abrams: Daniel Ellsberg did not leak all of the Pentagon Papers
Must-read piece in today's Wall Street Journal by noted First Amendment lawyer and advocate Floyd Abrams, who points out that Daniel Ellsberg opted not to leak all of the Pentagon Papers. There were four volumes Ellsberg kept confidential for years because they focused on the diplomatic efforts of the U.S. to obtain a negotiated settlement of the War in Vietnam. "In a secret brief filed with the Supreme Court, the U.S. government described the diplomatic volumes as including information about ne...

WikiLeaks is not like release of Pentagon Papers, lawyer argues
A lawyer who defended The New York Times over publication of the "Pentagon Papers" during the Vietnam War has condemned Wikileaks for recklessness and assaulting "the very notion of Diplomacy"....

Subs snuffing smoking in 2011
The "smoke pit" on Navy Submarines is on the way out. Starting Saturday, smoking will no longer be allowed on Submarines at sea. The smoke pit is where submariners go to light up Cigarettes. According to The Virginian-Pilot, smoking cessation classes have been held on some subs to help smokers cope with the change. They can also use nicotine gum or patches. Prescription Drugs to help kick the habit are not available to submariners. No. 16 Cowboys stomp Arizona for record 11th win How will you s...

Your pick for Most Intriguing Person of 2010 is ...
He's been called a criminal, a spy and a champion of the First Amendment. Some think he’s a villain. Some see him as a hero. The only thing that’s beyond debate: Julian Assange has more intrigue than the pulp section of a bookstore. Wikileaks' mastermind, the guy who everyone loved to hate or loved to defend, got the most first-place votes (25%) on CNN.com's “Most Intriguing Person” poll for 2010. Following Assange were: 10. Antoine Dodson, whose thoughts a...

Julian Assange, the Rosenberg Case and the Espionage Act of 1917
Rumors are swirling that the United States is preparing to indict Wikileaks leader Julian Assange for conspiring to violate the Espionage Act of 1917. The modern version of that act states among many, many other things that: "Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States" causes the disclosure or publication of this material, could be subject to massive crim...

Montana's "Inquisition" and Wikileaks
So you are a little girl in grammar school in 1917. Your name is Christine Shupp and you live near Melville in Sweet Grass County. Every morning after the pledge of allegiance to the flag, the teacher makes you, alone, kneel down on the floor and kiss the flag. It is because you are German. You are a rancher in Rosebud County and you call WWI "a Millionaire's war" and you are dragged off by neighbors to jail. You're in a saloon and call war time food regulations "a big joke" and you are sentence...

Floyd Abrams: Wikileaks is Not Like the Pentagon Papers
Floyd Abrams represented the New York Times in the case of the Pentagon Papers, and has a must-read piece today in the Wall Street Journal: Why Wikileaks Is Unlike the Pentagon Papers. The recent release of a torrent of State Department documents is typical. Some, containing unflattering appraisals by American Diplomats of foreign leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Libya and elsewhere, contain the very sort of Diplomacy-destructive materials that Mr. Ellsberg withheld. Others—the revelatio...

America Has Gone Away
Today the press is a Propaganda ministry for the government. Any member who departs from his duty to lie and spin the news is expelled from the fraternity. A public increasingly unemployed, broke and Homeless is told that they have vast enemies plotting to destroy them in the absence of annual Trillion-dollar expenditures for the Military/security complex, wars lasting decades, no-fly lists, unlimited spying and collecting of dossiers on citizens supplemented by neighbors reporting on neighbor...

Important Update on Wired and Lamo Chat Logs: No Unpub Material on Assange
Source: Greg Mitchell @ The Nation 11:55 Seemingly important updates by the Wired folks tonight saying they reviewed the chat logs and found NO unpublished Manning references to Assange.  This leads BoingBoing to suggest in a new piece (see earlier one just below) that this undermines some of Lamo's claims and will make it harder to go after Assange in this matter. Read more: https://www.thenation.com/blog/157348/blogging-wikeleaks... https://m.boingboing.net/2010/12/29/lamomanning-wikileak... W..

What's in the Manning/Lamo WikiLeaks Chat Logs?
Glenn Greenwald has been warring with Wired over Wired's supposed responsibility to release more of the chat logs between arrested-but-not-convicted alleged WikiLeaker Bradley Manning and Adrian Lamo, the man to whom he supposedly confessed his Crime and who turned him in. Here is Wired explaining why they have released all they ought, and why Greenwald is a hypocrite, a bad Journalist, and any number of other yucky things. Here is Greenwald's response to Wired (including suggestive accusations...

News Story of the Year WikiLeaks
Read Nick Gillespie's essay, "The #1 Game-Changer of 2010: Wikileaks By a Landslide." The key point is that unlike the umpteen other purported "game-changing" news stories, WikiLeaks is genuinely new. And Gillespie argues the frequently heard point that WikiLeaks' impact goes far beyond one individual, such as Julian Assange. Beside that though is to what effect? What's the utility beyond the crazed Anarchist's dream of sowing mayhem and destroying state operations, if not the state. We get that...

Response to Wired's accusations
As noted above, the principal tactic of Wired.com Editor-in-Chief Evan Hansen and Senior Editor Kevin Poulsen in responding to my criticisms is to hurl a variety of accusations at me as a means of distracting attention from the issue that matters.  Between my June article and the one on Sunday, I've now written more than 9,000 words about Wired's role in the Manning/Lamo case.  To accuse me of "a breathtaking mix of sophistry, hypocrisy and journalistic laziness," they raise a h...

Gilad Atzmon: Wikileaks and Israel
© unknown Julian Assange 'Wikileaks to publish Israel files on Second Lebanon War, Dubai Assassination' Julian Assange said today that thousands of documents related to Israel are due to be released over next six months. Assange admitted also that so far only 2% of the Wikileaks released documents related to Israel were picked by the Western Mainstream Media, something to do with 'sensitivities' of the Jewish communities in France, Germany, Britain and the USA. I guess that more than e...

WikiLeaks being *exploited to spread conspiracy theories,* Jewish group claims
The release of thousands of US diplomatic cables by the secrets outlet Wikileaks has unintentionally led to the proliferation of anti-Israel Conspiracy theories, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL said that Conspiracy theories linking Israel to Wikileaks have circulated through online publications, where it has been suggested that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange struck a secret deal with Israeli officials over the leak of diplomatic cables; or that Assange actually works for...

WikiLeaks News Story of the Year
Read Nick Gillespie's essay, "The #1 Game-Changer of 2010: Wikileaks By a Landslide." The key point is that unlike the umpteen other purported "game-changing" news stories, WikiLeaks is genuinely new. And Gillespie argues the frequently heard point that WikiLeaks' impact goes far beyond one individual, such as Julian Assange. Beside that though is to what effect? What's the utility beyond the crazed Anarchist's dream of sowing mayhem and destroying state operations, if not the state. We get tha...

'Cryptome' writes WikiLeaks' obituary: Site's purpose now 'dead in the water'
WikiLeaks is dead. Long live Wikileaks. That's the basic message Wednesday from secrets blog Cryptome, which published an essay outlining why the release of secret US State Department cables effectively struck a death knell to WikiLeaks as a service to the Whistleblower community. WikiLeaks as a secrets outlet was once a thriving, vibrant online community: a technology apparatus that allowed for the transmission of data with complete anonymity. Today it is completely seized by the international...

Wikileaks: a Big Dangerous US Government Con Job
The story on the surface makes for a script for a new Oliver Stone Hollywood thriller. However, a closer look at the details of what has so far been carefully leaked by the most ultra-establishment of international media such as the New York Times reveals a clear agenda. That agenda coincidentally serves to buttress the agenda of US geopolitics around the world from Iran to North Korea. The Wikileaks is a big and dangerous US intelligence Con Job which will likely be used to police the Interne...

Noonan leads Boise State past Louisiana Tech 71-60
Boise State's Westly Perryman (30) and Louisiana Tech's James Johnson (23) go after a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college Basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010, in Boise, Idaho. Paul Noonan scored a season-high 23 points to lead Boise State to a 71-60 victory over Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams Wednesday night. The Broncos (8-5) opened the game with a 20-2 run and maintained control the rest of the way. DeAndre Brown scored 24 points t...

Saint Mary's pounds Mississippi State 94-72
Mickey McConnell scored 28 points, Matthew Dellavedova had 24 and they combined to make 11 3-pointers as St. Mary's defeated Mississippi State 94-72 on Wednesday night in the Shamrock Shootout. The Gaels (11-2), who have a five-game Winning Streak, also got 15 points from Rob Jones and 12 from Mitchell Young. The Bulldogs (8-6) were led by Ravern Johnson's 26 points. Riley Benock added 13 and Kodi Augustus 12. McConnell also had 13 assists. Dellavedova, who made six 3-pointers, scored 16 points ...

UCLA rallies to beat Washington State 80-71
Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee scored 21 points apiece to lift UCLA to a come-from-behind 80-71 victory over Washington State Wednesday night. Nelson and fellow sophomore Tyler Honeycutt, who finished with 14 points, did most of their damage in the second half, after the Bruins found themselves training by eight points at halftime in the Pac-10 opener for both schools. Nelson was held to eight points in the first half and Honeycutt, back from a one-game absence because of a sprained shoulder, sco...

Steed, Smith lead Fresno State to 75-62 victory
Tim Steed and Greg Smith each scored 16 points and Fresno State defeated San Jose State 75-62 in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both Wednesday night. Keith Shamburger had 13 points for the Spartans (8-4), who had their three-game Winning Streak snapped. Steed capped his night with two fast-break dunks in the final 3:08 and also was a big part of the defensive effort that limited Adrian Oliver, the WAC's leading scorer, to 15 points. Oliver entered averaging 25.8 points. San Jose Stat...

Taliban fires rockets into main US base near Kabul
NATO and Afghan Police say Insurgents have fired two rockets into the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. Master Sgt. Jason Haag, a spokesman for NATO in Kabul, says that Bagram Air Field received "two rounds of indirect fire" early Thursday morning. He did not have additional details. But Sher Mohammad Maldani, Police Chief for Parwan province where the base is located, says no casualties were reported. He says the Insurgents fired and fled. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the Insurgents sh...

Hendra's 22 points help American top Fordham 73-57
Nick Hendra scored a career-high 22 points to help American reach the Championship Game of the Cable Car Classic with a 73-57 victory over Fordham on Wednesday night. Stephen Lumpkins added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles (8-5), who had lost five of their previous seven. Vlad Moldoveanu scored 16 points. Brenton Butler scored 14 points for the Rams (6-5), who snapped a four-game Winning Streak. Chris Gaston added 10 points and nine rebounds. Fordham, which had Monday's game canceled at ...