*Anarcissie*
2008-02-21 16:25:12 UTC
http://www.blacksunjournal.com/current-affairs/1257_wikileaks-888013160_2008.html
Last year I posted about a promising new site for whistle-blowers.
According to Wikipedia,
"Wikileaks was conceived of and organized in 2006 by James Chen,
Julian Assange, and Chinese government dissidents and others.
According to InterNIC, wikileaks.org was registered on October 4,
2006. Their advisory board includes members of the expatriate Russian
and Tibetan refugee communities, reporters, a former US intelligence
analyst, and cryptographers. It planned a March 2007 public
announcement of its existence."
On February 18, 2008, in a sickening affront to free-speech and
transparency, a federal judge has ordered the entire domain of
wikileaks.org shut down. But it's still available at the IP address
88.80.13.160.
Whatever the issues of the case at hand involving Bank Julius Baer &
Co., it's clear there are more than a few people in this world who
have no shame about the way they operate-namely in secrecy. The
inescapable (and tautological) conclusion about secrecy is that there
is something nefarious to hide. Something the secret-keepers couldn't
justify if it became known. When the secret-keepers succeed in pulling
the strings of justice, we should all sit up and take notice.
Look behind every human-rights violation, every toxic spill, every
externality, every case of torture, every war crime, every terror
attack, you will find one thing: Secrecy. It's the Phillips
screwdriver of every power-broker. From the lowliest merchant
disguising his margin as he marks up his goods to the elder statesman
negotiating a better treaty, secrecy is essential.
That is-if we want to keep doing business as usual.
But if we want a better world, some secrets are going to have to come
out. Especially those that have been institutionalized. Apparently,
the offending secrets involved Swiss banking in the Cayman islands.
Secret Swiss accounts have been around so long they are the stuff of
legend. So some of us may rationalize that just maybe there should be
a place to park or launder money without governments knowing about it.
Some libertarians and tax protesters harbor barely-concealed glee that
someone (if not them) can sequester their money in accounts out of
reach of the long arm of the law.
But that same safe-harbor can be used by human traffickers, arms-
dealers, terrorists buying nukes, or any number of civilization-
threatening undesirables.
In the end, peace and freedom require placing a premium on
transparency and trust. In the end, if we want to be ethical, we all
have to act as if our every move will be published on the front page
of the New York Times. Call me naive, but I refuse to accept that
there is any good reason for a site dedicated to outing truth and
concealed information to be taken off line.
So I champion the folks behind Wikileaks, and I wish them all the
success in the world at moving the incriminating evidence to offshore
servers and publicizing their IP addresses. District Court Judge
Jeffrey White should be ashamed of himself. The irony is palpable.
Julius Baer & Co. protects blood money and Wikileaks protects open
documents. Who did White choose to shut down? Like all censors before
him, he's only drawn more attention to the incriminating information.
And the movement toward transparency will grow.
Please repost the Wikileaks IP address as often as possible. Let's
participate in the growing internet swarm, and make fools out of the
would-be censors.
[And yes, the Barefoot Bum beat me to it. Go Larry!]
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
Last year I posted about a promising new site for whistle-blowers.
According to Wikipedia,
"Wikileaks was conceived of and organized in 2006 by James Chen,
Julian Assange, and Chinese government dissidents and others.
According to InterNIC, wikileaks.org was registered on October 4,
2006. Their advisory board includes members of the expatriate Russian
and Tibetan refugee communities, reporters, a former US intelligence
analyst, and cryptographers. It planned a March 2007 public
announcement of its existence."
On February 18, 2008, in a sickening affront to free-speech and
transparency, a federal judge has ordered the entire domain of
wikileaks.org shut down. But it's still available at the IP address
88.80.13.160.
Whatever the issues of the case at hand involving Bank Julius Baer &
Co., it's clear there are more than a few people in this world who
have no shame about the way they operate-namely in secrecy. The
inescapable (and tautological) conclusion about secrecy is that there
is something nefarious to hide. Something the secret-keepers couldn't
justify if it became known. When the secret-keepers succeed in pulling
the strings of justice, we should all sit up and take notice.
Look behind every human-rights violation, every toxic spill, every
externality, every case of torture, every war crime, every terror
attack, you will find one thing: Secrecy. It's the Phillips
screwdriver of every power-broker. From the lowliest merchant
disguising his margin as he marks up his goods to the elder statesman
negotiating a better treaty, secrecy is essential.
That is-if we want to keep doing business as usual.
But if we want a better world, some secrets are going to have to come
out. Especially those that have been institutionalized. Apparently,
the offending secrets involved Swiss banking in the Cayman islands.
Secret Swiss accounts have been around so long they are the stuff of
legend. So some of us may rationalize that just maybe there should be
a place to park or launder money without governments knowing about it.
Some libertarians and tax protesters harbor barely-concealed glee that
someone (if not them) can sequester their money in accounts out of
reach of the long arm of the law.
But that same safe-harbor can be used by human traffickers, arms-
dealers, terrorists buying nukes, or any number of civilization-
threatening undesirables.
In the end, peace and freedom require placing a premium on
transparency and trust. In the end, if we want to be ethical, we all
have to act as if our every move will be published on the front page
of the New York Times. Call me naive, but I refuse to accept that
there is any good reason for a site dedicated to outing truth and
concealed information to be taken off line.
So I champion the folks behind Wikileaks, and I wish them all the
success in the world at moving the incriminating evidence to offshore
servers and publicizing their IP addresses. District Court Judge
Jeffrey White should be ashamed of himself. The irony is palpable.
Julius Baer & Co. protects blood money and Wikileaks protects open
documents. Who did White choose to shut down? Like all censors before
him, he's only drawn more attention to the incriminating information.
And the movement toward transparency will grow.
Please repost the Wikileaks IP address as often as possible. Let's
participate in the growing internet swarm, and make fools out of the
would-be censors.
[And yes, the Barefoot Bum beat me to it. Go Larry!]
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks