Comments on: Blog Around

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:08:52 +0000

If the prosecutors can choose, they will probably stay with the same judge. I would expect his attorney to protest [I certainly would], but local customs very a lot. I spent a lot of time bailing my people out of the lower court system in West Germany, and the advice I received from the guy I replaced on the duty was don’t annoy the judge. That advice works well in the US court system too. Judges have a lot of power in their court rooms, and you don’t test it unless you want to pay a heavy price.

Missing that hearing was one of the dumbest things that he could have done. Showing up would have almost guaranteed that he would have been allowed to post bail and return to the UK until the trial. Now he has shown himself to be a flight risk, and bail will be out of the question. Dumb, really really dumb.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:29:26 +0000

They do have, however, judge-shopping in Sweden. After multiple attempts to prosecute the Pirate Bay ran aground on judges who refused to countenance the dubious notion that U.S. law should govern Sweden, the prosecutors kept shopping the case around until they finally found a judge willing to do so. But you are correct, jury trials aren’t done in Sweden. (Well, actually, Wikipedia mentions one exception to that, but it does not apply here).

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 01:51:31 +0000

In reply to Steve Bates.

Steve, most of the world thinks the US is being silly about WikiLeaks, and the government of Sweden doesn’t want to face an election with the opposition calling it a tool of the US. It’s not like anyone outside of the US even knows who Joe Biden is. Hell, I’d be surprised if a majority of Americans knew who Joe Biden was.

Persecuted? He has to be one of the few people on the planet who can get bail on a fugitive warrant. You don’t give bail to someone who is wanted essentially for jumping bail. He won’t be offered bail in Sweden, and that has nothing to do with who he is, but what he did in Sweden. Depending on Swedish procedure, the judge who issued the bench warrant may be the same judge who hears the case. They don’t have jury trials in most of Europe, and I think that Sweden is one of the countries without juries.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:05:05 +0000

I have to say this, though: When the Vice President of the United States says you are close to being a “high tech terrorist,” there is no way in hell you can get a fair trial on any charge whatsoever, certainly in America and probably internationally. One does not have to be a fan of Assange to come to the conclusion that he is being persecuted.

Not for the first time, I wish Biden would simply shut his big mouth.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:43:08 +0000

Kryten, the opinion of governments changes depending on who is taking the heat. As long as the target is on people you don’t like, it is “obviously” a good thing, but once you are in the cross hairs, your attitude shifts. All politicians like “good” publicity, but all “bad” publicity is a smear by “enemies of the state”. The Soviets would have awarded Assange at least two medals and possibly an order by now, just to drive the Republicans nuts and tie up US resources. It always worked, and was really embarrassing for field people trying to explain the tactic to their bosses.

That was terrible “Professor” Bates. Yes, I have heard “very close veins” and “prostrate cancer”. Actually “prostrate” is so common that Google brings up “prostate” results when you type it in. I attribute it to the change from reading to listening in most cases.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:18:27 +0000

My favorite eggcorn is one that I’ve been told by med students is commonly used by patients: “very close veins.”

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:13:21 +0000

"I’ve seen a number of media stories that talked about 'reigning in spending'." Elayne Riggs of Pen-Elayne once voiced the same complaint, adding that it didn't seem to bother other people as much as it bothered her. I commented on that thread, "Hmm. The 'reign-in' pain stays mainly in Elayne." But clearly that is no longer the case.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:01:56 +0000

LOL Sadly, all too true! ;) :D And, you mean like this CIA? Lawsuit over Drones in Pakistan forces CIA Station Chief to Flee It's really interesting when you look at which International Governments are openly supporting WikiLeaks, and which are opposed. ;)

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:53:42 +0000

The really annoying part about Assange’s fans is they think the CIA is competent enough to pull this off. Hell, they couldn’t pull off a kidnapping in Italy without getting two dozen of their agents convicted, and the average street dealer demonstrates better opsec than those clowns showed.

Now the Brits and the Russians could once pull off something like this supposed conspiracy, but they have fallen apart. The US has never managed to succeed at this sort of thing, and they sure can’t with the kind of people they have been recruiting for some time.

This administration is wasting time going after WikiLeaks when they should be fixing their system to prevent leaks from happening in the first place. They give approximately 3 million people access to the system and wonder why they have leaks? What the hell happened to need to know?

Beware, Kryten, Gillard is starting to act like Obama and caving to conservatives before being asked. She is going to set women back if she keeps it up.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:47:26 +0000

LOL Yeah! :D Did you know there is a movie already? ;) Well, a WikiLeaqks documentary to be accurate... Can be d/l free. Haven't watched it yet, too busy. Maybe later tonight. :D Wikileaks Documentary: Wiki Rebels (Link to movie included) Heh... ;) (I've also d/l the WikiLeaks *insurance* 1.4GB encrypted document cache). Will be interesting to see if it really contains anything of value, or is a bluff. Assange doesn't strike me as much of a bluffer, but he would also know that AES encryption isn't very secure (especially for the NSA) which many claim is the encryption used to secure the package. Curious... ;) (I used to love these fun and games when I was in the biz! Kept me from getting bored with the more common *stupids* I had to deal with!) I also see the USA has been harassing people who work for WikiLeaks for at least several months. The bullies are at it again! :P ;) Iz he is, or iz he ain't? ;) You can see the difference between Rudd & Gillard in these two articles, and they show part of the reason why I despise Gillard and prefer Rudd (with all his faults, at least he was sane and competent. It's now obvious that his biggest fault was bad choice of staff & underlings, and too much loyalty where it wasn't warranted.) Rudd (who, IMHO, hit's the nail squarely): Wikileaks: Australia FM blames US, not Julian Assange Gillard (who is apparently trying to be a bigger US ass-kisser than Howard. She also shows she hasn't a clue and is way out of her tiny depth): Gillard condemns WikiLeaks