This thing exploded because Assange was supposed to have been tested for STDs before he left Sweden, as a condition of leaving, and he didn’t. Assange says that the women were “jealous” when the found out about each other, but the reporting seems to indicate that they panicked when the realized he had probably been tom=catting all over the world.
If he gets the tests and comes out clean, he can probably avoid prison, but if the tests show an STD then you are into some very serious territory.
Since Assange was trying to get permanent resident status in Sweden, he didn’t seem to be too worried about being extradited from there, and the current government is apt to want to get involved after the heat received when people found out about the complicity in the rendition program. I can see them deporting him to Australia to avoid problems, if they don’t imprison him.
Kryten, you have to realize that just because something is made public, it does not lose its classification, and if it is classified, copying or transmitting it is still technically illegal, which is why the US government has issued all of the bans on people going to the coverage of the documents. It looks, and is stupid, but it is the law.
]]>So to sum it up, Assange is at best a moron when it comes to things sexual. And that’s the best you can say about that. At worst… well, if charges are ever filed and it comes to trial in Sweden (which may never happen, if the unmarked aircraft scenario plays out — yes, Sweden participates in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program, that’s another thing that’s come out with Wikileaks), we’ll find out more after that, I guess.
]]>I don’t actually care much about Assange one way or the other. *shrug* Wikileaks is a whole other matter! π For example, did you know that Wikileaks has the only known copy of the first edition manuscript for the book “Operation Dark Heart” (Operation Dark Heart. Spycraft and Special Ops on The Frontlines of Afghanistan and The Path To Victory, ISBN: 9780312603694 ) by (former Intelligence Officer) Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, before the Pentagon bought (almost) all of the 10,000 first run copies and burned them in September? There is a 2nd edition now, but it’s been heavily redacted. I really hope Wikileaks releases that first edition soon! I really want to see what the Pentagon is afraid of! π
Apparently, the Pentagon only got just over 9,500 copies, and it’s known that about 100 or so advance copies are out there somewhere, which means, thanks to the internet, it won’t be too hard to find soon. π A few sold on eBay for up to $2k! π Originally, the Pentagon OK’d the book for publishing in 2003. Looks like the Pentagon once again wasted taxpayers money for nothing! Same old… π
Wikileaks Calls US Pentagon βNazi Punks,β Threatens New Leak
And, speaking of the “Fort”:
The New York Times reveals a few open secrets
Pentagon Bought & Destroyed 9500 Copies To Protect Military Secret?
π
]]>Hackers I can live with, but there is no need for the scriptkiddies to have the ability to muck things up. People should be required to show some talents before they can make a mess.
While we obviously didn’t talk about such things outside of our work areas, it was never indicated that the name itself was classified, or required protection, Kryten.
I’m OK with WikiLeaks, but the more I see about the actual Swedish case, makes me less than an Assange supporter. The Western media isn’t translating the Swedish articles, and you can’t trust the Google translations to be accurate, but it is looking like the case is very valid, and Assange could get some serious prison time. He should have dealt with it immediately. He might still avoid prison, but refusing to cooperate makes him look guilty to the Swedish prosecutors who seem to want the whole thing to be settled as soon as possible.
]]>From Juan Cole:
Former CIA Official Ray McGovern Defends Assange
Nice to see that a little sanity remains. π
]]>@Badux. Yeah, I occasionally miss is, then I remember the mostly bad bit’s and that feeling soon evaporates! π π
]]>All in all, I’m quite contented to be well away from that frustration and instead be focused on virtualization, storage, and clustering. Storage clusters don’t care what application writers stupidly do, we just serve bytes to a wire connected to the application server, what the applications do with those bytes (or don’t do, security-wise) is their problem :twisted:.
]]>DSD was classified? Next you’ll be telling me that GCHQ was classified in the UK. Nobody here but us spooks, or secret squirrels as some called us.
Well, studying electro-magnetic wave propagation in the upper atmosphere and polar regions is an international effort π
As for the birther Doc, at least some of the officers he took orders from were definitely “foreign born”, as were 10% of my basic training flight. You don’t have to be an American citizen to serve in the US military. You have the right to refuse an unlawful order, but the status of the individual giving the order doesn’t make it unlawful. In joint operations you may be under the command of officers from a foreign army, but you had damn well better follow orders.
]]>We don’t really have an equivalent of your NSA, but we have three organizations that together do what the NSA and the UK MI does. DSD (Defense Signals Directorate handles everything *electronic* (and was very secret until the late 80’s/90’s), DIO (Defense Intelligence Organization oversees all forms of intel gathering and analysis and are the official paranoids. When I was there, we had a Director that we nicknamed Bogeyman because he saw them everywhere! (and also because if he even suspected someone of being bent, he made their life hell!) We used to say we were certain he checked under his bed as soon as he woke up!) and the other org is still a secret and mainly handles field craft. π π
We have an interesting situation where the intel/security org’s here have a classification that is above the PM’s level. This is a leftover from the Colonial days where the UK Crown was the ultimate authority. Today, it’s a useful piece of old law that gives the PM and all Gov officials an *out* (plausible deniability).
Speaking of things Military, I saw this at TP.
Birther Army Doc Who Refused To Serve Pleads Guilty, Faces Up To Three Years In Prison
The Military better throw the book at this totally ignorant moron! Or they will have a LOT of problems on their hands!
During a heated interview with Lakin back in May, CNNβs Anderson Cooper lambasted him for singling out Obama. βHe has taken orders for years from people, probably thousands of orders, countless orders. He has never questioned the legitimacy of the people he has taken orders fromβ¦or all he knows, General Casey could be a foreign-born, a β not an American citizen.β
And really, these people are just too stupid to live! Seriously!
]]>It leads to the situation where you are issuing reports saying that the moron at X location are still using the regular phone lines that everyone and their kid can tap, rather than the encrypted, secure lines provided. You can’t even call and tell the people that they are doing it, and need to stop.
We know, and known for a very long time how to stop/prevent what just happened, but the people at the top need to lead on the issue. I doubt they’ll do what’s necessary, even after the leaks. They’ll go to the “few bad apples” defense, and the people truly responsible for making this possible won’t even get a reprimand inserted in their records.
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