Julian Assange

UK politics news review

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There are a few changes to David Cameron’s cabinet. I was personally surprised that Andrew Lansley is replaced by Jeremy Hunt. It makes me wonder whether Cameron has been reading McCann (or more likely some poor bod in MI5 has been forced to read it and provide a short summary).

Comparatively liberal justice secretary Ken Clarke was replaced by hardliner Chris Grayling, while Caroline Spelman was sacked as environment secretary to be replaced by Owen Paterson, who is pro-fox hunting and a renewable energy sceptic.

Jeremy Hunt was given the job of selling the NHS reforms of outgoing health secretary Andrew Lansley, with Patrick McLoughlin brought in to replace transport secretary Justine Greening, a vocal defender of the government’s commitment not to build a third runway at Heathrow.

But deputy prime minister Nick Clegg rejected claims the reshuffle represented a move to the right, insisting the coalition was ‘anchored in the centre ground’.

‘Right from day one this government was anchored in the centre ground. We’ve got a coalition agreement which is there, which is a tablet of stone setting out what we are going to do,’ said Mr Clegg, who did not make any changes to his quota of five Lib Dem cabinet ministers.

‘That is not going to change. I think the British people want us in the centre ground, they want us where the vast majority of British people are.’ [I think that I notice a repetative theme there.]

 

Andrew Lansley branded one of the worst health ministers since NHS foundation by union

Andrew Lansley was described today as one of the worst health secretaries since the NHS was formed in 1948.

Health workers’ union Unite said the departure of the “disastrous” Mr Lansley gives an opportunity for a “complete rethink” on the future of the health service.

The union’s head of health, Rachael Maskell, said: “The NHS has been pushed to the brink of destruction by Andrew Lansley – a minister who simply would not listen either to the patients or the professionals. Jeremy Hunt must reflect deep and hard on the errors of his predecessor and seek immediate dialogue with the NHS team and their unions.

“He has the power to slam the door on the increasing privatisation of the NHS.

“Andrew Lansley must rank as one of the worst health secretaries since the NHS was formed in 1948.

“He presided over deeply unpopular bungled reforms which heralded rising waiting lists, £20 billion cuts to services, job losses to thousands of nurses and other health workers, installed an expensive, needless bureaucracy and announced an open sesame to the private firms which put profit before patient care.

“He was also responsible for dramatic cuts to pay and pensions, as well as long-established terms and conditions. NHS staff have had their morale crushed by Lansley’s unlistening and steamroller mindset.

“David Cameron may have shunted him elsewhere, but serious work is needed now to repair the dreadful damage wrought by Lansley and his policies.”

 

Pro-Assange protesters hack MI5 and MI6 websites

The websites of intelligence services MI5 and MI6 were brought down for an hour yesterday in protest over attempts by the British government to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden.Between 9am and 11.30am the sis.gov.uk and mi5.gov.uk websites were hit and left inaccessible.

Renowned hacking group Anonymous claimed it brought the sites down using a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, as part of its ongoing #OpFreeAssange (Operation Free Assange) protests.

… 

 

27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingUK politics news review

While I am supporting Wikileaks and Julian Assange …

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While I am supporting Wikileaks and Julian Assange …

It occurs to me that there may be other political activists and dissidents that need supporting by a capable band of encrytption and associated capable people.

It is not only Assange that has made a stand and expressed himself.

While having no intention to diminish the treatment of Assange, there are others that have similarly confronted injustice and been subjected to similar treatment,

To be an out there dissident – an (effective, on the web) vocal opponent – of Fascist agenda and policies – means that you (me) are targetted by the powers that shouldn’t be in all sorts of *nasty* ways.

I would welcome some Wikileak activists, especially encryption experts to research for themselves – of course if that is not already apparent – about the activities of the New Labour government, the murder of  Brizzlian  Jean Charles de Menezes and the following murders by UK police. Were these murders identifying one particular person?

Ian Blair’s statements (particularly the Dimbleby lecture) but I can give you lots of info re: statements in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes. I would particularly like confirmation of the foreign – right-wing death squad – that murderd Jean Charles de Menezes i.e. it was not Met Police.

edit: Ian Blair, Tony Blair & John Reid’s statements.

(4am BST edit: Of course if Jean Charles de Menezes (because of his name) murder identified some particular person then – of course – it was pre-meditated. Were further murders (and other confrontations) about identifying a particular person?

Riz Ahmed. Riz Fucker.

edit: j7

 

 

 

 

Continue ReadingWhile I am supporting Wikileaks and Julian Assange …

Wikileaks: Collateral Murder

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The editor of one of the internet’s biggest sources of classified government information says there is strong evidence to suggest that video footage of an alleged US attack on Iraqi civilians is genuine.
Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks.org, told Al Jazeera that the footage, released on Sunday, corroborates witness testimony.

The video is believed to show a US helicopter firing at civilians in Iraq in 2007, during an attack in which 12 civilians were killed, the website said.
Wikileaks has obtained and decrypted this previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007. It shows

Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen, driver Saeed Chmagh, and several others as the Apache shoots and kills them in a public square in Eastern Baghdad. They are apparently assumed to be insurgents.

After the initial shooting, an unarmed group of adults and children in a minivan arrives on the scene and attempts to transport the wounded. They are fired upon as well. The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred. Wikileaks released this video with transcripts and a package of supporting documents on April 5th 2010.

 

Continue ReadingWikileaks: Collateral Murder