No thread about the new WIKILEAKS United States diplomatic cables leak?

[Jon Miller]

Umm, anyone can do that.

JM

[MOBIUS]

I don't think that's strictly true, do you...?

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Hrafnsson said Assange's whereabouts would remain secret. He is known to have recently spent time in Sweden and London and is the subject of an Interpol arrest request over a rape allegation in Sweden.

He has faced calls from the United States for his arrest, with Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential hopeful, reportedly saying that those responsible for the leaks were guilty of treason and should face execution, CNN reported.

Separately, Tom Flanagan, an advisor to Canada's prime minister, said flippantly in a television interview that Assange "should be assassinated" and that US President Barack Obama "should put out a contract and maybe use a drone."

Hrafnsson, an Icelandic former journalist, defended Assange's decision to remain in hiding and not to face up to the Swedish arrest warrant, saying the timing of the Interpol alert was "curious".

"He is in a secret location and working on the project with a group of our staff. It is necessary in the circumstances to keep his location secret," Hrafnsson said.

The spokesman also pointed to the fact that WikiLeaks was suffering repeated cyber attacks as evidence that it was being targeted.

"We know the interest of the US government in bringing down WikiLeaks," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused WikiLeaks on Monday of an "attack on the international community" by releasing the documents, but Hrafnsson insisted that WikiLeaks had done nothing illegal.

"There has been a lot of talk about legal actions taken against Wikileaks and Julian, about how we have done something illegal, that we are criminals, but we have not seen any reference to how we are supposed to have broken the law," he said.

the guy is in hiding, wander how will this saga end, does he have another month to live? more or less... perhaps this should be a separate poll...

[Riesstiu IV]

Who is Tom Flanagan?

[Hauldren Collider]

Umm, anyone can do that.

JM

Mobius has clearly never heard of Linden LaRouche.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

I have no clue but our friend wiki apparently has an entry on the guy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Flanagan_%28political_scientist%29

Thomas Eugene Flanagan is a political scientist at the University of Calgary and a conservative political activist. He played an important role in helping Stephen Harper become Prime Minister of Canada.

[Asher]

I have no clue but our friend wiki apparently has an entry on the guy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Flanagan_%28political_scientist%29

Thomas Eugene Flanagan is a political scientist at the University of Calgary and a conservative political activist. He played an important role in helping Stephen Harper become Prime Minister of Canada.

Hahahahahaha, it was THAT Flanagan? That's awesome.

He was pretty extreme, even for a UofC right-wing poli-sci prof. I've heard hilarious stories of his rants in class. He's easy to troll and goes way, way off-topic for long periods of time.

All you need to do is criticize the GOP. Bam.

Edit: I guess that explains this tweet I saw today:

http://twitter.com/#!/UCalgary/status/10086194041851904

[Wezil]

Who is Tom Flanagan?

Right wing yahoo prof at an Alberta university. Former advisor to the PM.

You can ignore him. Sadly, we can't.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

something new from today

The cables reveal Washington's opinion on Gordon Brown's potential successors. David Miliband was deemed "too brainy", Alan Johnson had a "lack of killer instinct" and Harriet Harman was a "policy lightweight but an adept interparty operator".

apparently being "brainy" is not good for a politician

[C0ckney]

and diane abbot "who?"

[DaShi]

It seems that US diplomats are Batman nerds:

Medvedev is Robin to Putin's Batman.
Canada is Robin to America's Batman.
North Korea is the Joker to America's Batman. (Ok, this one I made up. Hey! Maybe I could be a diplomat.)

Anymore Batman references found?

[MOBIUS]

Wow, it's amazing to what lengths the US will go to stifle freedom of speech: WikiLeaks fights to stay online after US company withdraws domain name

Julian Assange this morning said the development is an example of the "privatisation of state censorship" in the US and is a "serious problem."

"These attacks will not stop our mission, but should be setting off alarm bells about the rule of law in the United States," he warned.

What a sad day indeed.

[DaShi]

It's really just symbolic. The data's out there now and there's nothing the US or any other nation can do to contain it. Even the NY Times is gleefully printing daily articles about the leaks.

[Asher]

I find it very amusing that if there were leaked information from the Chinese government being suppressed in China, Americans would bask in their "freedom" and talk about how much of a ****hole China's authoritarian government is.

When their own government (and 'patriotic' supporters in the private sector) does the same thing, it's for the good of all.

[MOBIUS]

No double standards there! Uh-uh. Nope. No Sir!