2012-03-17 #WikiLeaks News Update: #Assange4Senate; #Manning's motion hearing; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 470 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 467 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 665 days.


WikiLeaks News:

  • Mainstream Media organizations have been misquoting and misinterpreting our purpose and work here at WL Central. Please note that we are an organization wholly independent of WikiLeaks.


  • Stratfor hired Robert D. Kaplan, longtime national correspondent with The Atlantic, as their chief geopolitical strategist to help them bounce back after WikiLeaks began releasing their emails.


  • Andy Worthington released Part 33 of his 70-part in-depth series covering the WikiLeaks Guantanamo Files.


  • World Socialist Web Site published a new interview with Julian Assange in which he discusses the attacks on WikiLeaks and his upcoming Supreme Court verdict.


2012-03-18 'Old media' striking out and tripping up again

It has come to our attention that members of the mainstream media are both misquoting this site and misunderstanding what this site represents.

In a piece published 17 March 2012 at Adelaide Now, Samantha Maiden states the following.

An article posted on the WikiLeaks website predicted that, if successful, "ASIO would have a collective heart attack".

This is simply irresponsible journalism. The article in question was not published at the WikiLeaks website. It was published here.

http://wlcentral.org/node/2401

Author Peter Kemp is speculating into how well an Assange seat in Canberra would go over, what with the different mindsets of the WikiLeaks generation and the older generation in the Australian capital. He writes:

I anticipate seismic shifts, interesting and amusing scenarios/battles if Julian Assange is elected. Day one for example: "No, you not are allowed to connect a Tor relay server to the Parliamentary internet system. ASIO would have a collective heart attack."

It's patently obvious what Peter was getting at. It's also embarrassingly obvious that Samantha Maiden completely missed the point, and for no good reason.

Not to be outdone by the Herald Sun organisation, the Murdocrats tried the same thing.

The organisation released a document on Twitter they claimed held the answer that would allow him to run while under house arrest.

And the article leads back to the same article at this site.

2012-03-15 Full Transcript #Manning Motion Hearing Fort Meade, MD March 15, 2012 Day One

Full Transcript March 15, 2012

This transcript was typed from the press pool at Bradley Manning's motion hearing on March 15, 2012 at Fort Meade, MD.

This transcript may have errors and is incomplete in that there was no way for me to capture every word, or every sentence.

Please send corrections to carwinb@hushmail.com.

Bradley Manning's Motion Hearing is held in same court room as his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. You can read transcripts from the first three days of that proceeding, as well as transcript of his Arraignment here.

An AFP reporter informed me that the room where the press pool views the legal proceedings, Smallwood Hall, at Fort Meade, MD is also the location where Press views Guantanamo (GTMO) military tribunals via satellite.

Names:

  • General Court Martial Convening Authority: Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington
  • Commander of the U.S. Army Garrison, joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall: Col. Carl R. Coffman
  • Commander of U.S. Army Headquarters Command Battalion: Lt. Col. Eric Fleming
  • Military Judge: Col. Denise R. Lind
  • Prosecution: Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow, Captain Angel Overgaard, Capt. Hunter Whyte
  • Defense: Mr. David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard

9:38 a.m. proceedings begin.

All Rise.

Judge Lind: Please be seated. Court is called to order. It appears that all parties are present with the exception of Major Matthew Kemkes [Defense]. Is that correct?

2012-03-15 #WikiLeaks News Update: #Manning's motion hearing; #BeatTheBlockade; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 468 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 464 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 662 days.



Bradley Manning News:

  • Bradley Manning's motion hearing began today. Here are some major developments:
    • The defense filed a motion to dismiss charges against Manning based on the government withholding important evidence
    • The prosecution did not receive some important emails related to the case because their spam filter blocked anything with the word "WikiLeaks"
    • The enemy Manning is accused of aiding has been identified as Al-Qaeda
    • It is possible that Manning will testify about being videotaped at Quantico
    • The hearing will continue at 10AM tomorrow, March 16
    • For in-depth coverage of the hearing see Kevin Gosztola's live-blog and Alexa O'Brien's transcript


2012-03-15 Denver Nicks about his upcoming #Manning book, entitled Private, with undisclosed chat logs.

I recently spoke with journalist and author, Denver Nicks, about his upcoming book, Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History. Nicks says that he has an agreement with one of his sources to publish the book after the verdict, and that it contains previously undisclosed chat logs. You can find Denver Nicks on Twitter @DenverNicks

2012-03-12 #WikiLeaks News Update: MP speaks out for #Assange; UN condemns #Manning's treatment; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 465 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 462 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 659 days.



WikiLeaks News:

  • Australian MP Jamie Parker gave a speech to the Parliament of New South Wales about WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Bradley Manning, calling on new Foreign Minister Bob Carr to reject the Australian Government's position and be an advocate for Assange.


  • Der Spiegel journalist Holger Stark addressed MasterCard about their continued financial blockade against WikiLeaks, to which their spokesman replied, "Our position didn't change. I'm not able to give further explanations. […] There will be no explanation."


2012-03-10 Interview with Chase Madar, journalist and author of The Passion of Bradley #Manning

Chase Madar is the author of the recently published book, The Passion of Bradley Manning. Madar is a civil rights attorney, who also writes for the London Review of Books, Le Monde diplomatique, The American Conservative (where he is a contributing editor), CounterPunch and TomDispatch. He can be found on twitter at @ChMadar.

2012-03-10 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles coverage; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 462 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 459 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 656 days.



WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks continues to release more G.I. Files daily. Here is the latest coverage:
    • Undercover NATO troops are already in Syria despite denials from their parent governments
    • Corrupt Venezuelan officials are stifling local production in favor of imports
    • Russia tried to prevent Polish President Kaczynski from landing in Smolensk to force him to miss a Katyn massacre memorial service
    • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez betrayed the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to appease generals
  • An Op-Ed in Al Jazeera looks at the rise of Stratfor and their actual functionality.

2012-03-07 Press Release for Motion Hearing at Fort Meade, March 15, US vs PFC Bradley #Manning

Below is a March 1, 2012 United States Department of Defense Press Release for an upcoming Motion Hearing in the legal proceedings for U.S. Government vs. PFC Bradley Manning:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

NEWS RELEASE

The U.S. Army Military District of Washington
Guardians of the Nation’s Capital

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE#12-06
DATE: March 1, 2012

U.S. GOVERNMENT VS. PFC BRADLEY MANNING MOTION HEARING SCHEDULED

FORT LESLEY J. MCNAIR, D.C. – The military judge has scheduled a motion hearing in the case of United States vs. Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, beginning on Thursday, March 15 at 10 a.m., at Fort George G. Meade, Md.

Pfc. Manning is charged with aiding the enemy; wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing that it is accessible to the enemy; theft of public property or records; transmitting defense information; fraud and related activity in connection with computers; and for violating Army Regulations 25-2 “Information Assurance” and 380-5 “Department of the Army Information Security Program.”

If convicted of all charges, Manning would face a maximum punishment of reduction to the lowest enlisted pay grade, E-1; total forfeiture of all pay and allowances; confinement for life; and a dishonorable discharge.

Media queries and information on credentialing for the arraignment may be emailed to the U.S. Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office at mediadesk@jfhqncr.northcom.mil.

-30-

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

2012-03-06 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles; Updated events; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 458 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 455 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 652 days.



WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks continues to release more G.I. Files daily. Here is the latest coverage:
    • Stratfor sees New Zealand as holding little geopolitical importance.
    • Mossad assisted their Saudi counterparts with intelligence on Iran
    • Assad's mother is disappointed by his failures as Syrian President
    • Papua New Guinea's new PM, Peter O'Neill, is only interested in money
    • Stratfor believes Turkey's PM Erdogan has two years to live

2012-03-06 Christine Assange's Talking Points

UPDATE: See also Christine's Swedish Extradition FACTS from Christine Assange.

Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks founder and Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, has spent many long months reaching out to supporters and urging them to contact their local political representatives. Recognising that many politicians still do not know the true story behind WikiLeaks and her son's legal battles, she asks supporters to give them the facts and request their assistance.

Christine has been using her @AssangeC Twitter account and the #fact4mp hashtag to post the following important talking points for supporters to disseminate:

1. WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have not been charged with any crime in any country in the world. See http://justice4assange.com

2. WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have been recognized for quality investigative journalism with many prestigious awards, including:

- Julian was unanimously given the Sam Adams Award in 2010, for Integrity in Intelligence (Iraq War Logs) by a panel of retired senior U.S. military and intelligence officers.

- Julian won the Amnesty UK Media Award in 2009 for the "Cry of Blood" report into extrajudicial killings and disappearances in Kenya.

- Julian won The Economist magazine's Freedom of Expression Award in 2008.

- Julian won the Sydney Peace Foundation's Gold Medal in 2011 "For exceptional courage and initiative in pursuit of human rights". The Sydney Peace Foundation has only awarded 4 Gold Medals in 16 years, with Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama being 2 of the other 3 recipients.

- Julian won the Martha Gellhorn Prize For Journalism in 2011: "He is brave, determined and independent and a true agent of people not power... [WikiLeaks'] goal of justice through transparency is in the oldest and finest tradition of journalism."

2012-03-05 Untitled Angst: the curse of lethargy in a time of monsters

Authored By: Nadim Fetaih

Image

As Edmund Burke once wrote, “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” It is time for Canada to shed the shackles of apathy and rise.

I have long been a proponent for a revolution in Canada. I have written many blog pieces to try and inspire the Canadian people and have stuck with my belief that Canada has the potential to once again become a leading force in the world, to inspire freedom and prosperity for people around the globe.

With recent events though, this belief has begun to chip away. My once strong resolve for hope has begun to decompose with the filth I have seen in not only the political spectrum, but the social spectrum as well. Within the past year alone we have seen so many repugnant acts by our political elite. Harper — our near dictatorial Prime Minister — has stepped beyond the bounds of his political mandate far too many times.

The most internationally known aspect of popular Canadian sentiments has been its exit from the Kyoto Protocol. This was not only a defeat to all those who have been fighting the oil tar sands development, but also to any Canadian who once believed we were leaders in the world. No, instead we boldly stated that we are nothing but puppets, selling our souls to international corporations at the expense of our health and environment.

In the process, we proved once more that we are nothing but a side-kick of our neighbors to the south — that unless our master, the United States of America, enters into an endeavor, neither will we.

2012-03-15 Global Spring: Towards an advanced and mature world civilisation | Another World, Now!

Authored by OrsanS for GAIA

Our current civilization, based on the dominance of a capitalist mode of production relations and other social relations is in large portion an outcome of or strongly determined by the principal relationships in this mode, including ‘foreign’ relations between human societies.

The rising people’s grassroots movement openly and clearly challenges and wants to change these relationships at a global scale.

This conscious ‘demand’ of the peoples is being unsuccessfully undermined by the mainstream media.

The existence of astonishing number of alternative visions for the aftermath of the approaching collapse is the proof of this: the gift economy, solidarity economy, participatory economy, resource based economy, commons based economy, and many more.

The material basis that gives way to such visions to be born is the actual changes have taken place in productive forces since the 70s.

The rapid change in communication and transportation technologies and, more importantly, the impact of these changes on social relations, culture, language, etc. have transformed the society itself: the primary productive force we have.

Since the invention of the internet and fast mass transportation we have observed the rise of peer to peer networks, in which individual nodes can link up each other freely, without necessity of hubs/gate keepers. And it is, in principle, possible within these networks to appropriate the necessary knowledge of the total system nodes are involved.

2012-03-03 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles coverage; Bradley #Manning updates; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 455 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 452 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 649 days.



WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • The G.I. Files have been dominating the headlines. Here are some highlights:
    • Coca-Cola contracted Stratfor to spy on PETA
    • Stratfor monitored Bhopal activists, including The Yes Men
    • Osama bin Laden was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency
    • Stratfor discovered Israel already destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities
    • A Homeland Security

2012-02-29 Global Intelligence Gate: From Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to the Stratfor Corporation

Authored By: Nikolas Kozloff

I have always been a bit skeptical about some of the more salacious claims made in John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, the story of one man’s life working for the secretive National Security Agency or NSA. When he was a young man, NSA interrogators interviewed Perkins and explored his “frustration about the lack of women, sex, and money.” Perkins’ fit the NSA’s psychological profile, and after being accepted into the organization’s shadowy ranks, he landed a corporate job working as an economist with a major consulting firm. It was all a cover, however, for Perkins’ real purpose: as a self-described “economic hit man,” the youth was dispatched to poor Latin American countries such as Panama and Ecuador where he was tasked with cheating governments out of money and funneling cash from the coffers of the World Bank into the hands of major corporations and wealthy elites.

No doubt, U.S. intelligence agencies partake in such activities all the time, yet some of Perkins’ stories strained my credibility. For example, the author discusses a mysterious woman “consultant” at his firm named Claudine who came to be the young man’s teacher. “My assignment is to mold you into an economic hit man,” she tells Perkins. “No one can know about your involvement --- not even your wife.”

Later, Perkins remarks of Claudine, “Beautiful and intelligent, she was highly effective; she understood my weaknesses and used them to her greatest advantage.” “Her approach,” Perkins wrote, was a “combination of physical seduction and verbal manipulation.” The author adds, “My time with Claudine already represented the realization of one of my fantasies; it seemed too good to be true.”

From Claudine to Stratfor’s Modest Analyst

2012-02-26 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles & More




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 450 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 447 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 644 days.



News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks, partnered with over 25 media organizations, began the release of "The Global Intelligence Files," a collection of over 5 million emails from the Texas-based intelligence company Stratfor. So far 167 files have been released. Here are some ways to follow the releases:

2012-02-27 WL press release: The Global Intelligence Files [UPDATE 2]

On the 27th of February 2012, Wikileaks released the following statement:

"LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example:

"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.

2012-02-26 On the political expediency of the notion of stability

Right now in Australia, the governing Labor party is embroiled in a leadership contest that 'is shaking the nation'. Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd face off for the Prime Minister of Australia tomorrow, Monday, by internal caucus vote. The media commentary is homogenous: Australians are tired, of all things, endless infighting in the Labor party. We are tired of 'faceless men' who decide party leadership. All 'we' want is 'stable government'.

Let us consider for a moment what is meant by this stability. By stable government, the media and politicians mean an orthodoxy, a government in power, delivering legislation 'on behalf of the Australian people', a government with a mandate, free to carry out an agenda, without contests in the media, in the open. What they mean by a stable government is what government in Australia has looked like for 20 years or so.

The line in voxpops on the evening news and opinion in the media is consistent: This 'leadership battle' has 'us' the Australian people as its 'casualties'. Us poor middle-class Australians.

Perhaps if we are strong Labor supporters, or slightly left of centre, we might despise this contest for what it is doing to opposition leader Tony Abbott, making him seem like a stable pair of hands, when he is likely to deliver a government to the right of even former Prime Minister Howard.

The ability of the media to provide an analysis that gives us what we think that we think is insidious. It's at the point where any reasonably intelligent person can read a major paper provided by Fairfax or News Limited and we have a list of ready stocked political positions that will be aired at middle class dinner tables across Australia. Is that really what you think or did you read it in the Herald?

2012-02-24 #WikiLeaks News Update: #Manning's arraignment; Financial Blockade; Cablegate Coverage; More




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 448 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 445 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 642 days.



News:

  • Bradley Manning had his arraignment on February 23, which lasted 45 minutes. Some key developments are as follows:
    • Bradley deferred both his plea as well as his decision to be tried by judge or panel.
    • The prosecution requested a trial date of August 3rd, which would have Bradley at over 800 days of pre-trial confinement.
    • The next court session is scheduled for March 15.
    • For in-depth coverage of the arraignment, see Alexa O'Brien's transcript and Kevin Gosztola's live-blog.
      (Links for further coverage available at the end of this update.)


2012-02-23 Transcript of Bradley Manning's Arraignment at Fort Meade, MD 1 p.m. February 23, 2012

This transcript was taken by hand at Bradley Manning's arraignment on February 23, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., Fort Meade, MD.

Please send corrections to carwinb@hushmail.com.

Bradley Manning's arraignment was held in same court room as his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. You can read transcripts from the first three days of that proceeding.

The courtroom for Bradley Manning's arraignment is lit dramatically with incandescent parabolic reflectors, and not fluorescent lights as was his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing.

Military personnel are dressed in full armed service uniforms. They had worn camos during the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing.

Many of the same individuals from the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing, like Lt. Hughes, are guarding the arraignment proceeding.

I went as a member of the public, even though WL Central was considered a credential media organization by the Pentagon "for this hearing." I did so, because I wanted to be in the courtroom.

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Captain John Haberland, a spokesman for the Military District of Washington (MDW), sat behind me taking notes and coughing. He had also been at the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. (I would have brought a hearing aid, but, alas, they don't allow electronic devices in courtroom.)

Military judge Col. Denise R. Lind is presiding. She is middle aged, with blondish coiffed hair, spectacles, and a long black robe.

Prosecution is Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow and Captain Angel Overgaard.

Defense is Mr. David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard.

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