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wikileaks:stop the crackdown

catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
edited December 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
im posting this here cause i know not everyone ventures over to the moving train. and this is important stuff.


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/
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Comments

  • jg1988jg1988 Posts: 181
    Assange should print things like Ellsberg, something that will help bring troops home, not harm them more!
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    i prefer to know what my govt is doing in my name and how they go about doing it.

    not that im a fan of politicans anyway but i do appreciate knowing that my politicians are secretly telling tale to a foreign govt.

    i m also appreciative of knowing my prime minister is also in favour of using force in controlling a foreign country that at this point in time poses no threat other than economic.
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  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Posts: 11,408
    I'm kind of on the fence on this. Pretty sure Assange is a naive idiot and is trying to wreck diplomacy. On the other hand, we do have a 1st Amendment.
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  • Kilgore_TroutKilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    fuck assange... there are things that are meant to remain a secret for the well being of a lot of people... is there a fine line to that? yes. do i think there is any action that can/should be taking legally? probably not. is he a ego-centric douche? definitely. anyone that thinks he is doing this to promote freedom of speech is kidding themselves... the man is an anarchist

    i believe in accountability - but this has gone too far
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

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  • jethrojam420jethrojam420 Posts: 1,075
    there is a fine line between 1st amendment rights and treason.
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    I'm kind of on the fence on this. Pretty sure Assange is a naive idiot and is trying to wreck diplomacy. On the other hand, we do have a 1st Amendment.


    is that anything like trying to fight terrrorism??? ;) :P


    does the 1st amendment cover foreigners not on american soil??
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    jethrojam420 wrote:
    there is a fine line between 1st amendment rights and treason.


    assange is an australian. he cant be tried for treason in the US.. its not his government nor his country.
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  • BinFrogBinFrog Posts: 7,309
    The problem is that Assange does not know where to draw the line between what should be exposed and what is dangerous to expose.
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    BinFrog wrote:
    The problem is that Assange does not know where to draw the line between what should be exposed and what is dangerous to expose.


    we dont know everything hes seen nor what he has chosen not to make public. who knows what hes sitting on. could be mindblowing and extremely dangerous to certain parties or it could be nothing. i certainly dont know.
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  • heidihiheidihi Posts: 114
    The press should always allowed to be free!! If we make people scared to report what they find and muzzle people we are entering a potentially Orwellian world and I for one do not want my information filtered by the government according to what they think I should know. If the press are able to obtain information they should be able to report on it. I like the fact that with Wikileaks you can verify what you are reading with an original source document and make up your own mind on the issue. It is a refeshing change form the mind numbing journalism that reports what will maintain status quo. Just my humble opinion.
    “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Mark Twain
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    heidihi wrote:
    The press should always allowed to be free!! If we make people scared to report what they find and muzzle people we are entering a potentially Orwellian world and I for one do not want my information filtered by the government according to what they think I should know. If the press are able to obtain information they should be able to report on it. I like the fact that with Wikileaks you can verify what you are reading with an original source document and make up your own mind on the issue. It is a refeshing change form the mind numbing journalism that reports what will maintain status quo. Just my humble opinion.

    so you think theres a line though??

    and lets not forget this isnt just wikileaks. there are hardcopy newspapers printing this stuff that theyve sourced from wikileaks, so if we go after assange we also have to go after the editors of those newspapers.
    hear my name
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  • heidihiheidihi Posts: 114
    catefrances wrote:
    heidihi wrote:
    The press should always allowed to be free!! If we make people scared to report what they find and muzzle people we are entering a potentially Orwellian world and I for one do not want my information filtered by the government according to what they think I should know. If the press are able to obtain information they should be able to report on it. I like the fact that with Wikileaks you can verify what you are reading with an original source document and make up your own mind on the issue. It is a refeshing change form the mind numbing journalism that reports what will maintain status quo. Just my humble opinion.

    so you think theres a line though??

    and lets not forget this isnt just wikileaks. there are hardcopy newspapers printing this stuff that theyve sourced from wikileaks, so if we go after assange we also have to go after the editors of those newspapers.


    No I honestly think that journalists should pursue and report the truth..... not watered down versions of it... common to all commercial journalism in Australia. Mainstream media is held by coproprate arseholes that want to make money so they will write with a particular slant. In a perfect idealistic world (the one I would prefer) journalists should be reporting without bias on facts. The scientific journalism used by wikileaks is a glimpse of the future and I hope that people are not scared of delivering the truth by governments pursuing the people that deliver this information. A Big Brother controlling what I need to know is not my idea of a free state. This entire issue has made vow to never vote for another major political party ever again!
    “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Mark Twain
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    heidihi wrote:

    No I honestly think that journalists should pursue and report the truth..... not watered down versions of it... common to all commercial journalism in Australia. Mainstream media is held by coproprate arseholes that want to make money so they will write with a particular slant. In a perfect idealistic world (the one I would prefer) journalists should be reporting without bias on facts. The scientific journalism used by wikileaks is a glimpse of the future and I hope that people are not scared of delivering the truth by governments pursuing the people that deliver this information. A Big Brother controlling what I need to know is not my idea of a free state. This entire issue has made vow to never vote for another major political party ever again!

    so upt il now youve been voting labor or liberal? do you consider the greens a major party? oh shit you didnt vote for the national party did you?? ;) :P :lol:



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOwFTo4Q3I
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  • heidihiheidihi Posts: 114
    No I honestly think that journalists should pursue and report the truth..... not watered down versions of it... common to all commercial journalism in Australia. Mainstream media is held by coproprate arseholes that want to make money so they will write with a particular slant. In a perfect idealistic world (the one I would prefer) journalists should be reporting without bias on facts. The scientific journalism used by wikileaks is a glimpse of the future and I hope that people are not scared of delivering the truth by governments pursuing the people that deliver this information. A Big Brother controlling what I need to know is not my idea of a free state. This entire issue has made vow to never vote for another major political party ever again![/quote]

    so upt il now youve been voting labor or liberal? do you consider the greens a major party? oh shit you didnt vote for the national party did you?? ;) :P :lol:



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOwFTo4Q3I[/quote]



    Oh yeah... Nats all the way! :D :shock: Really I have been a card carrying ALP person since I started voting but I think it was about the ideal that they were rather than what they represent today. I am not sure about the Greens either.... I really do think we need a new political party in Australia.

    You just have to love Queensland ;)
    “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Mark Twain
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    heidihi wrote:
    Oh yeah... Nats all the way! :D :shock: Really I have been a card carrying ALP person since I started voting but I think it was about the ideal that they were rather than what they represent today. I am not sure about the Greens either.... I really do think we need a new political party in Australia.

    You just have to love Queensland ;)


    my parents live in longman and voted liberal last election. im still shaking my head. but you know thats what democracy is about. ;)8-)


    i do think this last federal election showed how labor and liberal are just 2 heads of the same monster. the whole campaign was negative and no one had the balls to actually stand for anything. so fuck 'em.
    hear my name
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  • heidihiheidihi Posts: 114
    Yeah I am in Dickson just next door.... I kind of agree they have all lost me and I have handed out how to vote cards and all for the last 15years.... politics is now about pleasing the masses not implementing change.... it is almost like democracy has cut its own head off :( This wikileaks thing and Julia's reaction to it while she drives Oprah around Sydney was the last straw. We are having a Butterfingers day here now ;)
    “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Mark Twain
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