By Greg Mitchell
The Nation
December 11, 2010
http://www.thenation.com/blog/157053/blogging-wikileaks-weekend-edition
As I've done for the previous 13 days, god help me, I will be updating news & views on all things WikiLeaks all weekend. All times added at top are ET. For more follow me at Twitter. Read about my latest book here.
1:20 Guy at PDF forum showing ambivalence, offering "shout out" to Bradley Manning and then saying "not necessarily a supporter." Carne Ross, the former UK ambassador, then says not sure why everyone assumes Manning guilty of all claims against him, "implausible" that he could have downloaded all.
1:00 Arianna Huff says at PDF forum: "A broken condom brings a whole new meaning to the term 'wikileaks.'"
12:40 Assange's chief attorney Mark Stephens on Twitter @MarksLarks.
12:35 I linked to the rough cut of "Wiki Rebels" doc yesterday but here it is easy to click if you want -- 57 minutes.
12:25 On another subject: oing a live book chat & taking Qs--about amazing and influential Upton SInclair campaign for governor and birth of "media politics" --at FireDogLake today at 5 pm ET
12:15 The PDF forum is back and streaming after brief break.
11:40 Somone at PDF conference (see link to live stream below) reads new statement by Anonymous admitting it has only caused a "black eye" so far and shifts focus now to urging leaks and finding unpublicized leaks in what Wiki has put out.
11:35 Ironic that a big natiional story today is release of "new" Nixon tapes showing his racism and anti-Semitism -- after nearly 40 years.
11:30 Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon latest to bash Naomi Wolf over her piece on Assange and sex charges. A different view on the "murky" case from The Age.
11:05 Gideon Levy kicks off his PDF remarks by noting "WikiLeaks is watching" -- it just tweeted the live stream (see link below). He then said "not helpful" to call WikiLeaks a "news organization," it's so different from others, "sui generis." Jay Rosen and Jeff Jarvis and Carne Ross have already spoken, audience joining in soon.
10:50 Watch the PDF forum on WIki live, streaming here, with some great people. Also @GritLaura and @janehamsher and other tweeting it.
10:45 Far-fetched claim? Article says Vatican cables today so "inflammatory" could spark violence against Catholics in UK.
10:30 Aussie paper claims it gets direct leak from Wiki, embarrasses leaders (if true).
9:30 Published Wiki cables, in running count at their site, has creeped all the way up to.... 1,295. Only 249,000 to go.
9:15 New cables: The Pope wanted Muslim Turkey out of European Union -- and also lobbied against Hugo Chavez.
9:10 Thank god, we now have Piers Morgan involved!
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8:50 The Guardian with several pieces on cables related to the Vatican, including big sex abuse cases in Ireland. The Vatican can't transfer those stories back into hiding, so it urges caution in reading.
8:30 Evgeny Morozov, one of the sharpest guys covering this for days, tweets: "To understand Assange we need to re-read Koestler's 'Darkness at Noon,' one of his favorite novels."
8:25 Financial Times on Assange, the "cornered crusader." I am reminded of line from one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs: "To live outside the law / you must be honest." Here's George Harrison doing great cover of the song.
8:20 The Guardian op-ed hits Amazon move vs. Wiki and what it means for democracy.
8:15 Jessica Valenti in Wash Post on the dismissive coverage of the Assange sex charges -- and what it reveals about U.S. rape attitudes as well.
8:10 I've mentioned before, but here Guardian covers global pro-Assange protests.
8:00 Latest from The Guardian on Operation Payback and hacktivist plans.
From late Friday:
McClatchy's Nancy Youssef: Tying Assange to Manning won't be easy. ... NiemanLab with good end-of-week summary of the WIki and journo issues raised in past days, with dozens of key links.
Stephen Walt at Foreign Policy: Hey, why not arrest Bob Woodward, then? " I keep seeing the double-standards multiplying. Given how frequently government officials leak classified information in order to make themselves look good, box in their bureaucratic rivals, or tie the President's hands, it seems a little disingenuous of them to be so upset by Assange's activities.".... Ace blogger Digby hits media attempts to scare-monger WikiLeaks claims to have documents possibly showing corruption at a major bank -- painting this as possibly "bringing down" the bank and wrecking people's savings.
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