wikileaks petition- stop the crackdown

catefrances

Incredible - nearly 400,000 signatures in one day for press freedom! Join the massive outcry and forward the email below -

Dear friends,

The chilling intimidation campaign against WikiLeaks (when they have broken no laws) is an attack on freedom of the press and democracy. We urgently need a massive public outcry to stop the crackdown -- let's get to 1 million voices and take out full page ads in US newspapers this week!





The massive campaign of intimidation against WikiLeaks is sending a chill through free press advocates everywhere.

Legal experts say WikiLeaks has likely broken no laws. Yet top US politicians have called it a terrorist group and commentators have urged assassination of its staff. The organization has come under massive government and corporate attack, but WikiLeaks is only publishing information provided by a whistleblower. And it has partnered with the world's leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel etc) to carefully vet the information it publishes.

The massive extra-judicial intimidation of WikiLeaks is an attack on democracy. We urgently need a public outcry for freedom of the press and expression. Sign the petition to stop the crackdown and forward this email to everyone -- let's get to 1 million voices and take out full page ads in US newspapers this week!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl

WikiLeaks isn't acting alone -- it's partnered with the top newspapers in the world (New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, etc) to carefully review 250,000 US diplomatic cables and remove any information that it is irresponsible to publish. Only 800 cables have been published so far. Past WikiLeaks publications have exposed government-backed torture, the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, and corporate corruption.

The US government is currently pursuing all legal avenues to stop WikiLeaks from publishing more cables, but the laws of democracies protect freedom of the press. The US and other governments may not like the laws that protect our freedom of expression, but that's exactly why it's so important that we have them, and why only a democratic process can change them.

Reasonable people can disagree on whether WikiLeaks and the leading newspapers it's partnered with are releasing more information than the public should see. Whether the releases undermine diplomatic confidentiality and whether that's a good thing. Whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has the personal character of a hero or a villain. But none of this justifies a vicious campaign of intimidation to silence a legal media outlet by governments and corporations. Click below to join the call to stop the crackdown:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl

Ever wonder why the media so rarely gives the full story of what happens behind the scenes? This is why - because when they do, governments can be vicious in their response. And when that happens, it's up to the public to stand up for our democratic rights to a free press and freedom of expression. Never has there been a more vital time for us to do so.

With hope,
Ricken, Emma, Alex, Alice, Maria Paz and the rest of the Avaaz team.

SOURCES:

Law experts say WikiLeaks in the clear (ABC)
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/conten ... 086781.htm

WikiLeaks are a bunch of terrorists, says leading U.S. congressman (Mail Online)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -King.html

Cyber guerrillas can help US (Financial Times)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3dd7c40-ff15 ... z17QvQ4Ht5

Wikileaks: Brazil President Lula backs Julian Assange (BBC):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11966193

Amazon drops WikiLeaks under political pressure (Yahoo)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/tc ... ressamazon

US Gov shows true control over Internet with WikiLeaks containment (Tippett.org)
http://www.tippett.org/2010/12/us-gov-s ... ntainment/

US embassy cables culprit should be executed, says Mike Huckabee (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/de ... e-huckabee

WikiLeaks ditched by MasterCard, Visa. Who's next? (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Hor ... Who-s-next

Assange's Interpol Warrant Is for Having Sex Without a Condom (The Slatest)
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2276690/

given2fly23

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

catefrances

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

and what is it they deserve???

major newspapers are publishing this stuff as well. lets bring them all down so the governemnts of the world can continue to do what they do in secret and not have to deal with any repercussions from the people they purport to represent.

ed243421

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

the government endangers the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians everyday
fighting wars over oil and money
do you have a problem with that?
which of the leaks in particular endangers lives, or is that just what fox "news" told you?
do you mean the nobel peace prize when you say you hope assange and manning get what they deserve?

whgarrett

As for the American, he should serve a life long prison sentence for treason. The Australian shouldn't face any major consequences. Keep publishing. It will only force the U.S. and other countries to spend more money on keeping better secrets. The majority of the people in world don't care or already know it is happening. Nothing new unless they release something huge like Obama is not an U.S. citizen or Bush personally flew the planes into the Twin Towers via remote control. Even then reality t.v. is sooo much more interesting.

given2fly23

I know. How dare I generate an opinion myself? I should just listen to celebrities instead.

Shawshank

You could get 6 billion signatures and those guys are going down no matter what. Guaranteed.

Smellyman

given2fly23 wrote:

I know. How dare I generate an opinion myself? I should just listen to celebrities instead.

How about you defend and give reasons for your "opinion"?

ed243421

Smellyman wrote:

given2fly23 wrote:

I know. How dare I generate an opinion myself? I should just listen to celebrities instead.

How about you defend and give reasons for your "opinion"?

or how about answering my questions?

The Juggler

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

:thumbup:

Commy

The Jeagler wrote:

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

:thumbup:

it should be obvious that those who start and engage in wars will forever be responsible for more killing and death than those who try to stop them.\


without the pentagon papers, where it was shown that the US gov't lied to start the vietnam war, many more would have suffered, and more would have been killed, including US soldiers. the release of that information saved lives.


the people responsible for releasing that information were only informing, as Assange and wikileaks are doing.


a war in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. At some point people will stand up and put an end to this imperialism, maybe this is the spark we need.

jamingjamers

The Jeagler wrote:

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

:thumbup:

[Crude, abusive comment removed by Admin]

The Juggler

jamingjamers wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

given2fly23 wrote:

This is not about freedom of the press, it is about endangering the lives of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians.

I hope Assange and Bradley Manning get what they deserve.

:thumbup:

hope you guys choke on a cock

really?

well that's...very teen-ish of you.

wanna be careful, my friend, our moderators do not take too kindly to those kinds of words.

John Briggs 2008

I don't trust my government but that doesn't mean I should or can trust wikileaks or Assange either. Best wishes to everyone just the same though.

The Juggler

John Briggs 2008 wrote:

I don't trust my government but that doesn't mean I should or can trust wikileaks or Assange either. Best wishes to everyone just the same though.

says the man with a devil on his shoulder....

Claireack

Signed it. Not going to discuss/argue. Freedom of speech.

Best of Times

PFC Bradley Manning should be tried for treason and executed in accordance with the UCMJ.
All you hippies can suck it.

John Briggs 2008

The Jeagler wrote:

John Briggs 2008 wrote:

I don't trust my government but that doesn't mean I should or can trust wikileaks or Assange either. Best wishes to everyone just the same though.

says the man with a devil on his shoulder....

Exactly.

haffajappa

Best of Times wrote:

PFC Bradley Manning should be tried for treason and executed according to the UCMJ.
All you hippies can suck it.

< baaa-aaaa

haffajappa

the men who sign the papers to start a war are the victims here, clearly, while those who merely uncover the truths about it are treasoners...


Off with their heads?
ummmm...................

The Juggler

Claireack wrote:

Signed it. Not going to discuss/argue. Freedom of speech.

end of story. end of discussion, right?

Byrnzie

John Briggs 2008 wrote:

I don't trust my government but that doesn't mean I should or can trust wikileaks or Assange either. Best wishes to everyone just the same though.

It's not about Assange, it's about the information Wikileaks has released which is further proof that those in power are liars and murderers who don't give a fuck about the people they are elected to govern.

catefrances

if you dont want your secrets found out, make sure they cant be.




person A has a secret, person B finds out and tells person C. person C tells the world. whos at blame here??


theres a fair amount of gossipy stuff being exposed, which whilst not security threatening, is amusing. my fave was when putin was said to be an alpha dog... no? really?????????????? whoulda thunk it? :roll:

jamingjamers

[/quote]

really?

well that's...very teen-ish of you.

wanna be careful, my friend, our moderators do not take too kindly to those kinds of words.[/quote]

sounds like you wouldnt mind living in a policed state

catefrances

haffajappa wrote:

the men who sign the papers to start a war are the victims here, clearly, while those who merely uncover the truths about it are treasoners...


Off with their heads?
ummmm...................

down here in the south we call them traitors.

catefrances

jamingjamers wrote:

jeagler wrote:

really?

well that's...very teen-ish of you.

wanna be careful, my friend, our moderators do not take too kindly to those kinds of words.

sounds like you wouldnt mind living in a policed state

lets not get the thread locked. the mods get jittery sometimes. i thought your post was uncalled for too.

jamingjamers

catefrances wrote:

jamingjamers wrote:

jeagler wrote:

really?

well that's...very teen-ish of you.

wanna be careful, my friend, our moderators do not take too kindly to those kinds of words.

sounds like you wouldnt mind living in a policed state

lets not get the thread locked. the mods get jittery sometimes. i thought your post was uncalled for too.

i think most of this board is uncalled for

catefrances

jamingjamers wrote:

catefrances wrote:

lets not get the thread locked. the mods get jittery sometimes. i thought your post was uncalled for too.

i think most of this board is uncalled for

maybe someone should alert wikileaks.

jamingjamers

i ha ve the right of freedom of speech, dont i?
or is that for when i just say stuff that everyone else agrees with?

haffajappa

catefrances wrote:

haffajappa wrote:

the men who sign the papers to start a war are the victims here, clearly, while those who merely uncover the truths about it are treasoners...


Off with their heads?
ummmm...................

down here in the south we call them traitors.

haaaa, i went all sarah palin on that i guess, what of it?
there might be such thing as a treasoner...

catefrances

jamingjamers wrote:

i ha ve the right of freedom of speech, dont i?
or is that for when i just say stuff that everyone else agrees with?

sure you can say whatever you want but that doesnt mean you should. i see it more as a privilege than a right and one that should be treated as such.