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Waltzing Australia

WALTZING AUSTRALIA
WALTZING AUSTRALIA

Sunday, December 19, 2010

21. Assange To Escape From Police At The Top Of Some Stairs

POLICE said they expected Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to attempt an escape, probably at the top of a long flight of stairs.

Following Mr Assange's arrest, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson confirmed there would be nothing they could do if he broke free but then accidentally tripped and hit every step on the way down.

Stephenson said Mr Assange would be held for questioning at a central London police station but due to a problem with the central heating they would have to keep moving him between floors.

He added: "Unfortunately the lifts are going to be broken the entire time he is custody."

He said: "I wish Mr Assange was not going to break his neck later this afternoon, but there is nothing my officers can do to stop him.

"They will shout something like 'hey you' or 'stop escaping' but he will be too quick for them.

"Also he will have forgotten to tie his shoelaces."

Sir Paul dismissed claims that the arrest was political but admitted international warrants were controversial and that it would have been more efficient to use the British system of pretending Mr Assange is a Brazilian electrician.

Meanwhile governments across the world were celebrating Mr Assange's arrest and imminent escape, stressing that history proves if you focus all your efforts on stopping one man then the thing you don't like will just go away. Source here

Note
We are aware the Julian Assange has been granted bail. This is submitted for the irony.

20. At a Glance: Wikileaks Cables

Timeline

28 Nov: First cables released

29 Nov: US brands cable leaks an "attack on the international community" and says criminal investigation ongoing

29 Nov: Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin calls for Mr Assange to be "pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders"

3 Dec: Wikileaks forced to change web address after coming under cyber attack

3 Dec: Sweden issues new European arrest warrant for Mr Assange over sex crime allegations but wording is wrong

6 Dec: Sweden issues new warrant and passes it to police in UK

7 Dec: Mr Assange is arrested in London after voluntarily walking into a police station

I really fear for the safety of Julian Assange if he is extradited to Sweden. Gerard Batten, a UKIP MEP, said the Assange case highlighted the dangers of the European arrest warrant.

He said: "I don't know of the quality of the evidence in Mr Assange's case but it does seem that he is involved in political turmoil and intrigue and there are a lot of people keen to shut him up and there is nothing a court in the UK can do to look at the evidence before they extradite him."

Analysis by Clive Coleman
BBC News legal affairs analyst.

At a full hearing, which is not likely to take place for some weeks, Mr Assange will be able to raise his arguments against extradition.

The "fast-track" European arrest warrant system is based on the concept that all the participating countries have legal systems which meet similar standards, and fully respect human rights.

If Julian Assange is to avoid extradition he would need to show the warrant is politically motivated. This has been argued successfully in the past by Russian oligarchs, though Sweden has a better judicial record than Russia.

Or he would need to use technical arguments - arguing the warrant does not show specifically what law has been broken. But most technical mistakes could be resolved eventually and the warrant reissued.

Wikileaks Cables

Read KEY REVELATIONS AND QUOTES FROM WIKILEAKS' release of thousands of US embassy cables pertaining to Afghanistan, Australia, Baltic states, Burma, China, China - Africa, Cuba, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Koreas, Libya, Libya - UK, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia - Hezbollah, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, UK, UK - Royal Family, United Nations, United States.

19. Wikileaks - Collateral Murder By U.S. Soldiers

Collateral Murder
Wikileak video COLLATERAL MURDER is an eye-opener.

On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing this video (after allegedly speaking to an unfaithful journalist). The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr. Manning a 'hero'. He is currently imprisoned in Kuwait. The Apache crew and those behind the cover up depicted in the video have yet to be charged. To assist Private Manning, please see bradleymanning.org.

5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.

Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.



The U.S. military claimed the victims died in a battle that took place between U.S. forces and insurgents.

"There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force."

- Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Bleichwehi, spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad.


Among the dead were two Reuters employees - Saeed Chmagh, a respected Reuters driver and assistant and Namir Noor-Eldeen. Namir, aged 22 came from a family of journalists and was considered one of the best war photographers in Iraq.


As I watched these videos, I was filled with a growing disgust, not just for the cold-blooded murder - and make no mistake, it was murder, but at the contempt exhibited by the U.S. soldiers and their behaviour. They wanted to kill these people, they could barely wait for the signal to finish off the wounded man lying on the ground.

They, and their bosses are despicable and morally reprehensible.

It was after viewing these that I felt nothing but scorn for a government that covers its wrong doings and hounds a man for showing the world the truth.

18. Wikileaks - Another Watergate?

The man responsible for what is now known as "Watergate", Daniel Ellsberg, supports Julian Assange.

Said Mr. Ellseberg, "Julian Assange is not a criminal under the laws of the United States. I was the first one prosecuted for the charges that would be brought against him. I was the first person ever prosecuted for a leak in this country—although there had been a lot of leaks before me. That’s because the First Amendment kept us from having an Official Secrets Act. . . . The founding of this country was based on the principle that the government should not have a say as to what we hear, what we think, and what we read. . . ."

Read more from DANIEL ELLSBERG.

Watergate
Daniel Ellsberg was a Marine from 1954-1957, and when he visited Vietnam during the war he was astounded by what he discovered.

Ellsberg had 47 volumes - 7,000 pages - of documents in his safe at Rand. On October 1, 1969 he started secretly xeroxing them. They were later called The Pentagon Papers. These documents proved that each President, from Truman to Nixon lied to the public about Vietnam. “It wasn’t that we were on the wrong side,” he says, “We were the wrong side.” The Presidents lied to the public about many things happening in Vietnam, including the Tonkin Gulf incident which led America deeper into the war. According to his papers, this was a completely fabricated incident.

Daniel Ellsberg faced 115 years in prison, but a mistrial was pronounced during the trial.

17. Pentagon Bans Its Journalists From Reading Wikileaks

Is the USA now the USSA - The United Soviet States of America?

Now I'ved heard everything. The Pentagon has banned its journalists from reading Wikileaks - no, I'm not joking, this is fair dinkum. They've banned journalists with the popular defense daily Stars and Stripes from consulting leaked diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks.

The daily wrote "The newspaper editorial independence of Stars and Stripes and its readers' right to news free of censorship are being threatened by an overly broad and misdirected response to the Wikileaks debacle."

"Amazingly, the government wants to bar this newspaper's journalists -- along with most federal workers -- from reading information already plastered all over the public square."

In the article, the daily's ombudsman Mark Prendergast revealed that the Pentagon communications department had advised that "access to any classified information hosted on non-DoD systems from any government-owned system is expressly prohibited" even if it was now in the public arena.

This week, the Air Force blocked all connections from its computers to the Internet sites of 25 media organizations that have published the leaked cables.

This meant computers used by Air Force employees could not access newsites, including the New York Times, The Guardian and Der Speigel, that have posted the cables online, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP. Story here

The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Freedom of the Press in the United States
Freedom of the press in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This clause is generally understood as prohibiting the government from interfering with the printing and distribution of information or opinions, although freedom of the press, like freedom of speech, is subject to some restrictions, such as defamation law and copyright law. Source, Wikipedia

" although freedom of the press, like freedom of speech, is subject to some restrictions" - perhaps this also includes people who have embarrassed powerful governments?

With an opprobrious attitude like this, one could be forgiven for thinking the United States has become the new China. Anerica the Land of the Free? Don't make me laugh. On a well-known IQ test originating in the United States, one of the questions is "Why is freedom of speech important in a democracy?"

16. Wikileaks - Open Letter To The Prime MInister

Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister condemned the "illegal act" behind the flood of leaked American cables from Mr Assange's organisation. As a result, hundreds of lawyers, academics and journalists rallied to his cause.

Laurie Oakes, one of the most respected political journalist in Australia (he won the Gold Walkley award) has stated publicly the PM was wrong and he supports Assange. He said her comments were "ridiculous".

A protest letter to the Prime Minister warned that Mr Assange was at risk of becoming the Gillard government's David Hicks. The letter was originally signed by 200 people, including human rights barrister Julian Burnside QC, federal Greens politicians Bob Brown, Scott Ludlam, Adam Bandt and academic Noam Chomsky. More than 4,000 people have now signed this letter.

The Letter
6 December 2010

Dear Prime Minister,

We note with concern the increasingly violent rhetoric directed towards Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.

“We should treat Mr Assange the same way as other high-value terrorist targets: Kill him,” writes conservative columnist Jeffrey T Kuhner in the Washington Times.

William Kristol, former chief of staff to vice president Dan Quayle, asks, “Why can’t we use our various assets to harass, snatch or neutralize Julian Assange and his collaborators, wherever they are?”

“Why isn’t Julian Assange dead?” writes the prominent US pundit Jonah Goldberg.

“The CIA should have already killed Julian Assange,” says John Hawkins on the Right Wing News site.

Sarah Palin, a likely presidential candidate, compares Assange to an Al Qaeda leader; Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania senator and potential presidential contender, accuses Assange of “terrorism”.

And so on and so forth.

Such calls cannot be dismissed as bluster. Over the last decade, we have seen the normalisation of extrajudicial measures once unthinkable, from ‘extraordinary rendition’ (kidnapping) to ‘enhanced interrogation’ (torture).

In that context, we now have grave concerns for Mr Assange’s wellbeing.

Irrespective of the political controversies surrounding WikiLeaks, Mr Assange remains entitled to conduct his affairs in safety, and to receive procedural fairness in any legal proceedings against him.

As is well known, Mr Assange is an Australian citizen.

We therefore call upon you to condemn, on behalf of the Australian Government, calls for physical harm to be inflicted upon Mr Assange, and to state publicly that you will ensure Mr Assange receives the rights and protections to which he is entitled, irrespective of whether the unlawful threats against him come from individuals or states.

We urge you to confirm publicly Australia’s commitment to freedom of political communication; to refrain from cancelling Mr Assange's passport, in the absence of clear proof that such a step is warranted; to provide assistance and advocacy to Mr Assange; and do everything in your power to ensure that any legal proceedings taken against him comply fully with the principles of law and procedural fairness.

A statement by you to this effect should not be controversial — it is a simple commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law.

We believe this case represents something of a watershed, with implications that extend beyond Mr Assange and WikiLeaks. In many parts of the globe, death threats routinely silence those who would publish or disseminate controversial material. If these incitements to violence against Mr Assange, a recipient of Amnesty International’s Media Award, are allowed to stand, a disturbing new precedent will have been established in the English-speaking world.

In this crucial time, a strong statement by you and your Government can make an important difference.

We look forward to your response.

Letter to the Prime Minister.


Governments have been shown for the fools and buffoons they are and this is what sticks in the craw of those that are baying for his blood. They've been embarrassed because the whistle has been blown and comments from politicians etc have been repeated. They were caught with their trousers down around their ankles and for this they call for an assassination? A trumped-up charge of espionage?
Pffft! Pull the other one.


Feelings are running high, and many in this country take the view that the Australian Government ought do more to assist its vilified, beleaguered citizen.

It's disgraceful and disgusting the way Assange is being treated. Think he'll get justice? Huh! And all because the American government has egg on its face. What a joke they have become. It will be a long time before I have any respect for them, if ever. And it will be a long time before I respect the British justice system. As for the Swedish government, well there's an old saying - "If you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas."

Saturday, December 18, 2010

15. Wikileaks - Rape Accusor Linked To CIA

One of the women in the alleged "rape" case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, reportedly has links to the US CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA). Does Anna Ardin have ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups? Described as a "leftist", she published her anti-Castro diatribes in the Swedish-language publication Revista de Asignaturas Cubanas put out by Misceláneas de Cuba.

While in Cuba, Ardin worked with the Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White), a feminist anti-Castro group. A declassified 1976 document revealed Posada to be a CIA agent. He has been convicted of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of people.

The speed in which Julian Assange has been arrested is unbelievable. How many genuine rape victims see the "rapists" locked up in prison in so short a time? Real rape victims STRUGGLE TO BRING THEIR RAPISTS TO JUSTICE.

But then again, those men are not involved in the embarrassing of powerful governments. The US government want him locked up (in their gaol of course) so - Sweden calls for his extradition from Britain and if they succeed, the US calls upon the Swedish government for his extradition to the US and your guess is as good as mine what will happen to him then.

14. Wikileaks - No Condom, That's Rape

What a convenient coincidence that Julian Assange has been charged with rape. It certainly has come at the right time hasn't it? Just a little too convenient if you ask me. The might of the US govenment has been embarrassed and has egg on its face and has been shown to be no better than anyone else. For all they sprout about being the Land of the Free, that obviously doesn't include freedom of information if it doesn't show them in a shining light. America - your halo has slipped and it will be a very long time before you are looked up to again.

By continuing to pursue Julian Assange with the ferocity of a mad dictator, they show themselves for what they really are - a bunch of bully boys who can't stand that anyone has seen through them. And what they don't seem to understand is they are doing more damage to themselves than good by their actions.

So, let's just have a look at this so called rape charge. Apparently it is illegal in Sweden for two adults to have consensual sex without a condom and is punishable by a term of imprisonment of a minimum of two years for rape.
And for this, Assange is being pursued?

Sweden’s Public Prosecutor’s Office was embarrassed in August this year when they leaked to the media that they were seeking to arrest Assange for rape then on the same day withdrew the arrest warrant because in their own words there was “no evidence”.

Statements by the two female “victims” Sophia Wilen and Anna Ardin that there was no fear or violence would stop a rape charge in any western country dead in its tracks.

Ardin hosted a party in Assange’s honour at her flat after the ‘crime’ and tweeted to her followers that she was with the “the world's coolest smartest people, it's amazing!”

Ardin has sought unsuccessfully to delete these and thereby destroy evidence of Assange’s innocence She has published on the internet a guide on how to get revenge on cheating boyfriends.

Read the full story HERE and also HERE.

Friday, December 17, 2010

13. Strine

What is Strine? Strine is what we call real "Aussie" speak. Mum would have called it slang, but somehow over the years these words have become known as Strine. The word as far as I can tell, derived from the word Australian. Many Aussies pronouce it Ostrayan, or Ostrine which then led to "Strine". You may hear Australia pronounced as Austraya.

So, lets' take a look at some "Strine". We do tend to shorten some words and add an 'o' at the end. Like arvo, decko garbo etc. Now unless you're an Australian or have lived here for a good many years, you probably won't know what on earth we're talking about and would look like a stunned mullet!

Ambo - Ambulance, or ambulance driver
Arvo - Afternoon
Bizzo - Business
Compo - Worker's Compensation pay
Decko - Have a look (at something)
Doco - Documentary
Garbo - Dustbin man, municipal garbage collector
Goodo - That's fine, alright
Gyno - Gynaecologist
Journo - Journalist
Metho - Methylated spirits
Refo - Refugee
Rego - Vehicle registration
Relo - Family relative
Righto - Alright, yes I agree
Servo - Petrol station
Smoko - Smoke or tea/coffee break
Thingo - Whatsit, wadjamacallit, thingummy
Yobbo - A lout or uncouth person

Note
If you look like a stunned mullet, it means you have an expression of disbelief or incomprehension on your face. In other words, the sort of expression when you don't understand something.