Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to
Yes, I was thinking just the same thing last week - that what we know for absolute straight up fact about things our governments have done on record is every bit as bad as anything in the cables. Hence the comments lots have people have made about not being much surprised (although of course mightily interested).
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to
I know it’s not quite as exciting to contemplate as a sprawling CIA honeytrap plot, but sometimes more mundane explanations are worth considering.
Totally. Without in any way writing off the honeytrap plot as completely implausible. The way Assange carries on, it would hardly have been difficult to set up.
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After which the combat promptly resumed on the steps of the set. There was some vigorous gesticulating and after I heard the word 'credibility' a couple of times I decided to make for cover.
Wow, so Media 7 is going all Sally-Jessy? If there's going to be biffo I might actually show up for a recording!
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On the contrary, they're natural bedfellows. Turning up to a flame war without a straw man is like not chat-fragging people on principle.
Edit: For the record, I didn't chat frag without justification (and getting one's frag count up was not justification).
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The undertone of all this discussion being
Most of the flaming on this thread seems to be a reaction to undertones. This is not uncommon when facts are scant on the ground, everyone's speculating, and that shows their particular hobby horses, and straw men are everywhere.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to
The fact that the lawyer's interest in causing Assange embarrassment aligns with just about everyone who has an embarrassing revelation in Wikileaks, is probably coincidental. They're under no obligation whatsoever to treat him in a friendly way, indeed they'd be remiss if they squandered such a golden opportunity.
If the justice system in Europe as a whole allows the case to carry on ad nauseum if it is actually clearly vexatious, could hint at more sinister hubris. But this is the flip-side of rape cases. Just as they are hard to prosecute even if the accused is guilty, they're also hard to avoid the taint of, even if innocent. The cases still get to be heard because the accusation is still very serious.
This, if anywhere, is where the lawyer could be acting against the interests of their clients. The court of public opinion could end up weighing very heavily against these women. Are their names likely to remain secret, when they're up against the very King of Leaks? I hope this is not the case, that they are aware of what they have signed up for, and are OK about it.
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It's not so much a "wall" as potholes strewn wildly about the place.
I think their actual wall wasn't really meant to stop invaders either. It was meant to slow them down during their getaway. More of a disincentive than an actual barrier - it was far too long to actually man in a way that could prevent anyone breaking through. Very much analogous to the internet. So long as people are made aware of the wall's presence, that will deter a significant proportion from even attempting ... er... whatever it is that the Chinese don't want people doing with the internet. As long as it is frequently brought to people's minds "will the Chinese block this?" about some service or other, then just in the interests of not fucking around, many will implement policies that prevent such blockages (like blocking the word t-i-b-e-t, I guess).
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I think the fact that both women were sympathetic to his cause suggests that fucking the cause up isn't their highest priority. It's actually about getting back at him personally. Whether vexatiously or not is still not public knowledge, but if I were in the lawyer's shoes and realized my target had launched himself into the public spotlight, that could only be good for my case. No conspiracy is really needed to explain why now would seem like the best time to catch Assange.
Edit: Oh, and also to catch public limelight, good free advertising for lawyers.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to
In the absence of more facts and with the assumption of innocence this is a silly point to judge him on.
In context, I think this was merely mocking the claim that Assange's sexual escapades make him fascinating, rather than a judgment of obvious guilt.
So far as I can see he's a fairly normal guy in the sleeping around stakes - he's traded on his notoriety to pick up some easy no-strings attached shags. This is how he sees it, I expect. And, like a colossal number of people, he doesn't like condoms. I sure don't. We'll find out soon enough whether a court finds that his refusal to wear one, or continuing sex when one broke was accompanied by anything remotely resembling rape.
Well, maybe not THAT seriously, since the charges were instantly thrown out, and then reopened only after Assange embarrassed some of the most powerful people on the planet.
Quite, although I suspect the throwing out had less to do with "not taking rape seriously" and more to do with "recognizing a hopeless case", considering he had skipped the country, and the evidence was the usual problematic testimony of word-vs-word, and it doesn't sound like shocking crimes of violence. His sudden leap into the public spotlight made it much less hopeless - obviously so since he's now turned himself in. It's quite possible the Swedes still only want him on the rape and other charges, to get his side of the story as a statement, and are simply being opportunist. It could still be vexatious, but you can't really show that until you at least front up to tell your story.
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As always, the most sensible rational course with these rape allegations is "let's wait and see". Since it sounds mostly like word vs word, the charges probably won't stick. Which is a fucked up thing about date rape, of course, but still no proof of Assange's guilt or innocence.
It could be as silly and petty as Naomi Wolf suggests, or it could have been quite a serious crime. Hopefully the court system will find out more. Until then, everyone's flailing in the dark.
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