Cornwall ON – I learned in the media business it’s not what you do print, but what you don’t print that can make or break you.
Julian Assange is in the cat seat right now for “leaking” documents that were never meant for the public eye via his wikileaks site.
Not too many people had ever heard of Julian before Wikileaks and he’s probably a lot less safe now that
Salman Rushdie was a few decades ago. He’s up for alleged rape charges that are conveniently occurring as the world races to silence his voice.
As a student of propaganda and the flow of information I’m marveling at how this is all playing out. Most people don’t know what to think if all this and most don’t really care. The concept of being “lied” to by our governments isn’t new. We’re a jaded lot in this world with the stoic philosophical bent of old Russia.
In World War two Germans watching news reel clips from the government exclaiming great victories in 1944 knew they were being lied to systemically. As FDR I believe once said “you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people”
This leads to other questions? Why is Wiki Leaks happening? Did Mr. Assange really have access to all of this material? Was it that easy to get? Is it legitmate? Is it disinformation? Were bits are put out there to channel focus and attention? I mean if all of our governments lie to us and intelligence agencies work for governments could this all simply be a massive attack to cause changes?
For example if those reports are true will Iran view Saudi Arabia any differently? Will Mr. Putin be pleased by being called “Batman”?
With a Canadian professor calling for Mr. Assange’s assassination on television, alleged rape charges, and attacks of any website publishing Wiki Leaks web site will this all get smothered? And should it get smothered if the leaks are legitimate? This legality thing is a funny bird.
Guerrilla fighters technically are illegal unless of course they topple the government and take over as was the case of the American Revolution back in 1776. How many lies are we being told and should we know the depths of the lies we live on every day?
These indeed are very scary times we live in. ….
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I tried to find info about the Canadian Con Party and their collusion about the Alberta Tar Sands. There might be something on the Wikileaks site, but the navigation is such a nightmare that whatever it is will probably stay buried for a long time to come, or at least until Stephen Harper and his gang become fossilised dirty oil themselves.
According to media reports over the last 8 years (only harcopy newspaper lives to tell the tale) we have been winning in Afghanistan from day one.
I’m just curious as to how long we can keep winning until the Taliban retake the country.
Incidentally the beauty of volatile and ephemeral media — like television, radio and internet — is that a news report (such as came out the other day) that “Our Afghan Exit Will Mean Civil War” didn’t cause laughter at the reporter or editor, who are apparently unaware that Afghanistan was in the middle of a civil war, before, at the time of, and ever since our arrival.
And our government is lying to us about the cost, for while they tally the dead (although failing to mention the number that died from other than enemy action), the true number of wounded and damaged has not been divulged. And as for the cost? Read over the documents and report at “Janes’s”.
Yes, when all is done, we’re going to be very broke and working ’til seventy before a Canada Pension.
You can fool some of the people all of the time…and those are the ones most favoured. I just got off the phone with S. Rushdie. He says that Julian Assange snores and that he’s sorry about the Fatawa on journalists. The funniest thing so far was going to Wikileaks and doing a search on Little Mosque on the Prairie. Not sure if the State Department has a hit team looking for Rick Mercer or not. I’m glad Tom Flanagan likes the notion of capital punishment – capital punishment is an excellent idea for when an executive member of the Canadian government is found guilty of an indictable offence. I don’t know if promoting the murder of ‘not nice journalists’ is covered by that. Is it true that the US will start bombing Iceland? Is Julian Assange more or less dangerous than Bobby Fisher? Welcome to cold freedom. Terror, yeah – those that hide secrets from civilians are part of the terror network. The truth should be unwrapped every Christmas and served with a hot dish of pie.
The leaks are a hell of a lot more entertaining than anything I’ve seen on Canadian TV for some time. We need a Wikileaks TV network.
Here is a link to the truth about the allegations Swedish authorities are trying to damage the reputation of julian Assange with:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/swedens-reputation-is-on-trial-in-julian-assange-case/story-e6frfhqf-1225965772832
I love the USA as much as you do but when a countrty’s leaders start calling for extrajudicial killings of journalists that country has a very very big problem.
Julian Assange is a Journalist and Publisher – he is entitled to protection under the first ammendment.
Your leaders and media figures have lost their collective minds. You have been kept by your government in the dark for the past decade and the sunlight of truth is making you close your eyes to the truth.
Julian Assange as a journalist and journalists have an oath that they swear to defend the truth and truth tellers.
That there is such panic from on high seems to suggest the power elite who control the type of information you are able to recieve have much to loose with the collapse of their regime of information manipulation.
Every American knows the government must have some secrets but the government has gone too far – everything they do is in secret whilst everything about each of us they want to know.
balance must bve retored or face the fcat you are sliding into fascism and the loss of your democracy.
The truth is julian Assange pee’s off the media because (1) he has more guts than them; (2) they have developed a cosy relationship with the state which has turned them into a propaganda arm of the state.
How justified? By creating a world where right can be suspended under aegis of an unending series of wars.
I hope that julian is released and continues his work. He deserves the knobel peace prize. I believe the cables are real and I hope they continue to leak. i have learned so much from them. As an american I feel better knowing a more about what my country is doing behind my back. So I can make better descisions of what to do and who to support. Julian is a Hero in my eyes. I believe America and other Governments are using Julain as their scape goat. If we all look at Julian and worrie about him. For a moment we will look away from what these Governents are doing. Good Luck Julian, my heart is with u.
At this point it doesn’t smell right. The first rule is, don’t get captured. He’s supposed to know that. He had a Government invitation to stay. So why did he leave Iceland? All the leaks appear more or less US orientated. Where’s my Romanian, Russian and Algier leaks? The recent Canadian terrorist hot spots intel was the topper. Dams and pipelines. A two dollar gas station map shows all our gas and oil pipelines, railroad tracks, our dams are tourist sites. Eye of sight for hydro wires. I’m sure they teach this at terrorist school. If that’s the best Wikki has to offer, better not pick up a National Geographic. It’s poof stuff. Sweet, puffy, some light substance. Julian as Patsy? Useful idiot? If someone’s got cool stuff to dump and they’re so psychologically motivated why go to all this trouble? Why not just dump it on a dozen newspapers un-moderated comments section? Why does anyone need Wikki? A rogue employee can post the entrance codes to the flying saucer factories on Baffin Island in a South African chat room. I’m less convinced then I was. Distraction and disinformation and blaming the social network for something is part of this. What’s the half inch story on page 73 beside the used car auction advertisements? What aren’t we supposed to pay attention to?
The government of Canada has sent e-mails to employees forbidding them to visit any wiki leak site, (because it is an offfence to know information above one’s classification, discovering a secret would be an offence)
Of course it also helps them sweep stories under the rug such as drugs being smuggled back to Canada from Afghanistan…
272359Z IRoA NPCC Daily Report
2007-04-27 17:59:00 Expand acronyms: Take care; definitions may be wrong.
NPCC DAILY LOG
27 April 2007
NORTH
CENTRAL
Laghman Prov/Laghman City/Mastoora High School: 260900L Apr07. ACF placed a land mine close to the high school. The land mine was detonated killing (1) and wounding (1) civilian. NFI.
Kunar Prov/ Wata Por Dist: 26 Apr07. ANP conducted a clearing and searching operation resulting in the seizure of (1) rocket round. NFI.
Laghman Prov/Alishang Dist: 26 Apr07. (1) LN was wounded by CF air strikes. NFI.
Kabul Prov/Musay Dist: 261500L Apr07. ANP seized located and seized (1) BM1 rocket round. NFI.
Kabul Prov/Kabul City Dist 10 Airport: 26 Apr07. ANP arrested (2) suspects with (1.4) kilograms of Heroin. The suspects were trying to fly to Canada. NFI.
Doubting Tom, you aren’t supposed to pay attention to H. Clinton in Wakefield Quebec today and the proposed new security perimeter for January 2011. It’s a surprise. Sorry about the Wiki red herring.