WikiLeaker on Trial: Wikileaks document-supplier Bradley Manning could speak publicly for the first time since 2010 at his trial this week.
France Would Back a Palestinian State, if the UN actually votes on the question.
Living With a Robot Arm: Despite expensive and technologically advanced prosthetics, it’s far from easy for veterans to adjust to life without a limb.
Kim Jong-un: Sexiest Man Alive. China’s daily Communist Party newspaper fell for an Onion headline about the “Pyongyang-bred heartthrob” being the sexiest man alive.
Hello, Congresswoman: New Hampshire elected the first all-female congressional delegation. They’re ready to get some shit done.
CIA Drug Dealers: The sons of a scientist who the CIA dosed with LSD 60 years ago are suing the agency for his death.
Sad Times: A third person accusing Elmo performer Kevin Clash of sexual abuse has emerged.
The Facemaster: Two consumer watchdog groups have been hammering on Facebook over its privacy changes.
Ack! A Hungarian right-winger wants the country to do a survey of all the nation’s Jewish people who “pose a national security risk.”
Don’t Lose Your Cell Phone in New York: The police are amassing a giant collection of call records from phones reported stolen.
Learning About Urban Design… from Wreck-It Ralph!
Hooray for Pie! Portlanders donate $3,200 to a pie food cart owner whose Thanksgiving earnings were stolen.
I left a comment on the GMN! a couple days ago about Jeremy Hammond in hopes that someone at the Mercury would write about his plight.
Hammond is accused of hacking into Stratfor’s email system and handing those emails over to Wikileaks. Wikileaks in turn published this information under the “Global Intelligence Files”.
This hack is not yet as consequential as the Iraq War Logs and Diplomatic Cables (what Bradley Manning is accused of taking from the US government), which directly contributed to the Arab Spring and end of the Iraq War; however, the Stratfor hack has provided a unique window into the capabilities of private intelligence firms, as an example: Stratfor has virtually the same capabilities and intelligence resources as the CIA and DOD, that, this private company actually has contracts with both of those organizations, and considers them strategic assets. It’s entirely likely the Statfor even leverages the same intelligence assets (i.e. spies) that the CIA and DOD are using. This should be deeply concerning, as the CIA and DOD are contained (supposedly) by the Rule of Law, and the United States Constitution, whereas Stratfor is a global company that answers to no one. Stratfor’s capabilities are only limited by their cash flow.
Hence, this hack has provided unprecedented access to an entirely secretive world, a world where crimes go unpunished, spying and sabotage are routine – and unlike the CIA or DOD, this is not for the benefit of Americans at all.
I have a deep empathy for Bradley Manning and think he’s the emblem of American heroism, but we shouldn’t forget or ignore others who are working towards the same thing. If you spend a moment researching who Jeremy Hammond is, you’ll find another emblem of the type of people who change the whole world, and it’s just as likely that Hammond will spend the rest of his days locked up in a jail cell, or killed, in order to protect this secret world of spies.
In other news, I just flew in from Hong Kong, and boy are my jokes tired. Glad I missed all that rain last week, anyway.