Posts by Tim Hannah
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Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Greg Dawson,
Fair enough, thank you for looking it up so I could sit on my arse.
Though I still have a not quite convinced feeling – OECD definition seems to imply ODA is on a cash basis, but I think it’d include the cost of food aid under welfare. US law at least until a couple of years ago* required that 3/4s of food aid be grown and packaged in the States and shipped by US flagged vessels. I don’t believe that the US would agree to a definition of aid that understated the spend it could claim by 75%. But I’m reasonably cynical about these things.
Anyway, not a big issue in this context, enough to say that neither nation is overwhelming in its generosity.
*Meant to say, I'm assuming this article is accurate - sounds reasonable, but I don't know much about this stuff.
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Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Greg Dawson,
But presumably better per capita income, not that I'm defending our rate.
Oh, and while I'm not defending our rate, possibly better per capita spent in recipient countries, as I believe a fair amount of US aid money is given to US corn farmers and the like?
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Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Che Tibby,
Why are we even bother with a trial then? Can’t we just move to sentencing?
just for the record, can we have a significant mea culpa if that [ his client is the victim of a pair of lying slappers with “secret agendas”] does actually prove to be the case? and these women are fabricating?
Trouble is, his trial** is about whether he is guilty beyond reasonable doubt*. If he is found not guilty, that isn’t actually proof that the slappers are lying, it is evidence that the case hasn’t been proven.
I suspect that is quite likely going to be the way it turns out, rape is hard to prove and this doesn’t seem like an open and shut case.
I suspect a lot of people will take Assange being found not guilty as pretty strong evidence that the slappers are, indeed lying. It’s very possible, even likely, that they aren’t lying and that he won’t be found guilty.
*Or something similar, I assume, not being an expert on Swedish juripudence
**If it happens, obviously, sorry.
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Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to HORansome,
They always seem so stern, so serious and not particularly happy about the world…
The purpose of the masks is to hide their permanent shit eating grins. How could a ninja not be happy? They're a freaking ninja.
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OnPoint: Pay Attention, in reply to BenWilson,
WikiLeaks has made informed guesses – see the zungazunga piece Giovanni’s linked to a few times. Now we’ll see if they’re right. But it isn’t really kick and hope.
Also, the assumption was not that it would foster open communication.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Simon Grigg,
My comment on the lack of outrage was cast a little wider than the readers of PAS. Show me the outrage in the US media. Or Joe Lieberman’s words on this.
Yeah, I know, I should really have replied to Chris, who responded to you and specified PA. The general point is bang on.
Sacha - on linking to Bat Bean Beam, yes linking is almost always a good thing, but not sure if Giovanni is coming back to this discussion and felt slightly odd about linking to him, even though mentioning it is pretty much doing the same thing.
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I’ve read your comments and links, and some of those of others, and then further comments and links etc… and I have changed my view on the value of WikiLeaks overall quite a lot. This is part of the value of PA for me.
Agreed, and Giovanni’s piece on Bat Bean Beam is definitely well worth reading. Assange isn't the only one at risk of US retribution in relation to leaks, whether these or others.
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President Lula says he is to register his protest at Assange’s arrest on his blog. "This chap was only publishing something he read,” he said. “And if he read it, it is because somebody wrote it. The guilty one is not the publisher, it is the person who wrote [these things].
Someone who focuses on the message rather than the messenger. Oh what a message to get through!
I'll take your word for it, though I'd have thought protesting Assange's arrest in relation to allegations of sex crimes because he's not guilty of espionage seems to be focusing quite heavily on the messenger. And it seems a pretty sucky message to the complainants.
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Though, of course, I realise that if no one notes and acts on their outrage it will pretty much guarantee that nothing happens to the bastards behind this shit. I'm impressed by those who take these fights on and know that their fight would be easier if I was more proactive.
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There seems little evidence that those so offended by the cable releases are showing similar outrage or even concern over this story.
Well sure, but I don't think you can take silence as lack of outrage, trouble is, with this stuff there's a lack of anything to focus your outrage on. No one from Dyncorp is here, there's no one from Pfizer here, so what is there to say except "fucking hell, that's outrageous, reminds me of the under age prostitution rings in the Balkans, something should be done but I bet nothing happens, except maybe to a receptionist". And we can all agree with each other.
With the Assange rape allegations there are other protagonists here who we can disagree with or call out for their BS (not so much lately), which gives the conversation a drive. and keeps it going.
I think most of the conversation about the cables isn't actually about the cables, it's about our reactions to them and what they mean. And that's because there is a discussion there rather than everyone agreeing on how awful something is.
And just noting that I think each of these cables is awful doesn't seem like a good use of anyone's time.