Was granted asylum just this morning....
"Defense team rests in WikiLeaks trial" by DAVID DISHNEAU | Associated Press, July 11, 2013
FORT MEADE, Md. — Private First Class Bradley Manning’s defense rested its case Wednesday after presenting evidence from 10 witnesses, hoping to prove the loads of material the soldier gave to WikiLeaks did not threaten national security or US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prosecutors argued the former US Army intelligence analyst let military secrets fall into the hands of Al Qaeda and its former leader Osama bin Laden. Manning faces 21 charges, including aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.
Related: US commander secretly had files on bin Laden raid purged
Same thing. Why isn't the admiral being charged? And why would the U.S. government want to shroud its greatest victory in secrecy?
Manning did not take the stand during the trial. However, he testified during a pretrial hearing in February, reading from a 35-page statement in which he said he leaked the material to expose the American military’s ‘‘bloodlust’’ and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A judge, not a jury, is hearing the case at Manning’s request. Prosecutors said they plan to call rebuttal witnesses next week. The judge will hear arguments Monday on the scope of any rebuttal case.
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Other trials get way more attention.
"Germany’s Merkel rejects NSA-Stasi comparison" Associated Press, July 11, 2013
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected any comparison between US surveillance activities and pervasive snooping by communist East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, insisting in an interview published Wednesday that intelligence work is essential to security in democratic countries.
What a disappointment.
Btw, this isn't intelligence work, this is a massive surveillance of the population and the planet. I suppose it's not surprising a German leader would throw in with that.
Merkel grew up in East Germany, where the Stasi had a network of tens of thousands of full-time spies and many more informers, directed primarily at curbing internal dissent.
They once called it COINTELPRO here, you have your paid government bloggers out there, a mouthpiece media in their pocket now.
Asked in an interview with the weekly Die Zeit whether alleged bugging by the National Security Agency was reminiscent of the Stasi, the chancellor bluntly rejected the parallel.
‘‘For me, there is absolutely no comparison between the [Stasi] and the work of intelligence agencies in democratic states,’’ she said. ‘‘They are two completely different things and such comparisons only lead to a trivialization of what the Stasi did to people’’ in East Germany.
Yeah, it sure does because what the NSA and Obama have done is WAY, WAY WORSE!
Merkel argued that democratic countries’ intelligence work ‘‘has always been and will in future be essential for the security of citizens.’’
By SPYING on EVERYONE ALL the TIME! I mean, NOT EVEN HITLER DID THAT!
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So how are those trade talks going anyway?
And please tell me Joe Biden didn't do this:
"Biden says China cyber-theft must stop
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that China’s rise is good for the United States and the world but that its theft of US intellectual property must stop, as the two global powers began annual talks to build cooperation and hash out differences.
I suppose the Chinese then asked for the constant U.S. hacking to cease.
The Strategic and Economic Dialogue is taking place a month after the US and Chinese presidents held an unconventional summit at a California resort that aimed to set a positive tone in relations but made plain Washington’s anxiety about Chinese cybertheft.
I'd rather not chat about it now.
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And the scandals the Globe does care about?
Honestly, what would she know about authenticity?
Maybe I missed something, but I didn't see the word Snowden in my Globe today, although I admit I have not yet read a word from the editorial page on. Of course, it doesn't snow in July 'round h're.
Did you also notice ALL the OTHER SCANDALS have gone right down the Globe's MEMORY HOLE?
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Kremlin’s new spy tool: typewriters
It's a NoPP Friday because my preview of the website means the Globe isn't worth buying today.
What a pos, huh? Do you care about any of those stories? Maybe look at a couple, but c'mon!
"The massive coverage on the recent Snowden revelations has basically all been theater" -- NSA Spying Never Catches Israelis?
