The following press release is from the Oxford Union:
The Oxford Union will be hosting the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence award presentation on 23 January 2013. The ceremony will feature several individuals well known in intelligence and related fields, including, via video-stream, remarks by Julian Assange, winner of the Sam Adams award in 2010.
The annual award presentation provides a rare occasion for accolades to “whistleblowers” — conscience-driven women and men willing to take risks to honor the public’s need to know.
This year’s Sam Adams recipient is Professor Thomas Fingar, who is now teaching at Stanford University. Dr. Fingar served from 2005 to 2008 as Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
In that role, Dr. Fingar oversaw preparation of the landmark 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, in which all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded with “high confidence” that Iran had halted its nuclear weapon design and weaponization work in 2003. The Estimate’s key judgments were declassified and made public, and have been revalidated every year since.
Those pressing for an attack on Iran in 2008 found themselves fighting uphill. This time, thanks largely to Dr. Fingar and the professional intelligence analysts he led in 2007, intelligence analysis on Iran was fearlessly honest. A consummate intelligence professional, Fingar would not allow the NIE to be “fixed around the policy,” the damning phrase used in the famous “Downing St. Memo” of July 23, 2002 to describe the unconscionable process that served up fraudulent intelligence to “justify” war with Iraq.
We are delighted to be welcoming several previous Sam Adams awardees, including Coleen Rowley, Katharine Gun, Craig Murray, Thomas Drake, and Julian Assange (by video-stream) — as well as other Sam Adams associates from both sides of the Atlantic, including Ray McGovern, Brady Kiesling, Davdi McMichael, Elizabeth Murray, Todd Pierce and Ann Wright.
We feel that the Oxford Union, dedicated to upholding freedom of speech and providing a platform for all points of view, is a fitting venue. The traditional acceptance speech by Dr. Fingar will be followed by briefer remarks by a few previous Sam Adams awardees. They will be followed by Julian Assange who will speak for 20 minutes immediately before the Q&A, during which the audience will be invited to put questions on any topic to any of the presenters.
Assange is clearly a figure who generates controversy for reasons ranging from the allegations made against him in Sweden, to the perceived recklessness of some WikiLeaks activities. We would therefore encourage those who disagree with him, or with any of our other speakers, to participate in the Q&A session.
Last but not least, we are happy to note that Dr. Fingar, will be with us for the entire term. Professor Fingar has just begun teaching a course at the University of Oxford on global trends and transnational issues, as part of Stanford’s Bing Overseas Studies Program. He will also give guest lectures and public talks while here at Oxford (January-March 2013).
Professor Fingar holds a PhD in political science from Stanford. His most recent book is Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis and National Security (Stanford University Press, 2011).
Anyone remember ‘Peak Oil’? Soundly rebuffed by all the naysayers, in spite of the fact that Oil Engineers who have been seeking to evaluate Saudi oil reserves have been prohibited from surveying, it seems they are short by 300 Billion (billion with a ‘b’) barrels.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1725372/wikileaks-may-have-just-confirmed-peak-oil-imminent
Thanks Ben. I respect your superior knowledge of history, but why no mention in wiki?
And yes, man seems to repeat old patterns–circumstances and characters change, but, the song remains the same–why?
Well what the hell, we’re a Type Zero Global Civilisation anyway, regardless of how modern we think we are…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
Villager; Hypatia was reportedly skinned alive with pottery shards; her reward for dedicating her life to higher education.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia
Yea saw that Ben–truly horrifying.
See you tomorrow…
Everyone; Mary, Clark, Mark Goldberg…..look at Cryptome. Amazing.
Ben I don’t see anything there relating to Swartz that couldn’t be found any day of the week in the alt.binaries.e-book.technical or similar usenet groups, either in the books downloadable or in the list of books he allegedly downloaded. Strictly technical books of very limited interest or social science ones, slightly more interesting or comprehensible but riddled with error, despite their supposedly academic character. Far from being “The world’s entire scientific and cultural heritage” mostly it is just tedious dross, self-satisfied screeds.
Sorry if what follows is cruel, just striving for some objectivity or counterpoint:
My understanding is he (Swartz) has written ‘Goodbye cruel world’ type blog posts going back to his early teens, long before this case, there was clear evidence of eating disorders, depression, body dysmorphic anxiety, irrational as well as due paranoia etc. Though this ludicrous case may have tipped him over the edge. Medical intervention, counselling, would have been of marginal help, anti-depressant or other drug treatment would probably have or may have freaked him out either in the build-up or withdrawal phase, after his memory was damaged his reading comprehension -particularly of technical material – impaired and his IQ substantially reduced. I question the whistleblower-hero accolades, well spoilt rich kid, indulged in everything, ivy-league silver-spoon millionaire by descent as well as by dot com type market distortion and silliness, peaked too soon, not helped by the genius label which was widely applied incorrectly to him, which he even began to believe himself for a time. Must have been on his nth nervous breakdown by the time he was twenty. Geek, nerd, hothouse flower, whatever labels, but not a great coder, mathematician genius or anything close, but a would be social scientist with a blog and manic phases, burned out, disenchanted. Would the US go around bumping of scions of its own elite caste, even unruly ones?
A champion of net freedom, alternative models for the widest distribution music, video, books; understood something was seriously amiss with capitalism and the illusion of democracy, bewailed the evils of US corporatism hegemony and hypocrisy. And yet a beneficiary of its selective abundance.
A loss certainly; if he’s dead, it’s possible he was driven to commit suicide.
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/dying
One of the comments: “Slow people with dim futures needn’t off themselves either.”
Cryptonym; ‘Amazing’ in the sense that the downloads are so tame, so worthy of Federal Indictment.
But, I am quite surprise at your harsh assessment of the lad.
“Amazing’ in the sense that the downloads are so tame, so worthy of Federal Indictment.”
Agree the stuff is largely tame and tedious. Of a type already available in such volume as to prevent seeing the wood for the trees; academic tracts from career-focused educationalists raised to the giddy heights of ‘published authors’ by something sold in small numbers, or as frequently given away and of interest only to others in the same field with the same mundane goals, created only so much as to burnish CVs and egos than to add anything startling or profound to wider knowledge. As likely to gather dust and never see nor desired by all to see the light again, in digital form or print. There is clearly such a surplus of unexceptional reading material, that such voluminous dumps risk losing what worthwhile stuff there could remotely be, in a mass of inconsequential literary fluff.
His actual actions seem more of a prank than a crime, only idealistic in a very vague way.
I did apologise beforehand for the remainder of the comment’s likely seeming harshness, but much of it is discerned, with some interpretation, from his own very public writings. I was just warning against undue rush towards irrational beatification of someone who seems from his own naivity-tinged admissions, to have been after all, rather an unexceptional figure.
Don’t want to dwell overly on it; a loss, but one in a world where such injustice and pain is most people’s apportioned inescapable everyday lot.
“warning against undue rush towards irrational beatification of someone who seems from his own naivity-tinged admissions, to have been after all, rather an unexceptional figure.”
I understood that. In fact I see myself as an ‘equalizer’ many times. It’s almost like I want to balance the equation. No offense was taken. It was more the velocity that took me aback.
A liberated JSTOR archive would useful, not moreso than the binary newsgroup archives, but in a different way.
JSTOR might be full of useless stuff but only as much as academia is flawed, but it is what it is – A (or the?) major paywalled and commercialised academic resource.
I liked Aarons blog, he seemed very bright and honest. I didnt think the ‘dying’ article was morbid or suggestive. I think it is very unusual that Aaron committed suicide especially without leaving any message on it.
Ben thanks for the infos on Sandy Bridge, yes it does seem so poorly contrived as to be blatant. That might be a calculated policy with psy-ops. Dont try to hide the deceit, part of the excercise is letting everyone know –there is no recourse for sensible judgement. Its the official story, most people are going to swallow it and if you aren’t you better not be getting anywhere, unless you are a ‘nut job’ who will unwittingly confuse and marginalise scrutiny. The interview with the medical examiner was just.. cartoon like. What a sham. Full spectrum domination, the boundaries of sanity and disbelief are rearranged.
“Hypatia was reportedly skinned alive with pottery shards; her reward for dedicating her life to higher education”
Recently saw the movie “Agora”, it was surprising good;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186830/
From a review of “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks”, Alex Gibney’s new documentary:
http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-latest/we-steal-secrets-the-story-of-wikileaks/5050934.article
“… while also probing the sensationalistic Swedish rape allegations against Assange that coincidentally erupted at the same time. But the film shrewdly squashes the conspiracy theories and reveals the banal truths behind the sex case.
We Steal Secrets is impressively researched, including interviews with nearly everyone involved, from a former CIA director to Assange’s second-in-command to one of the Swedish women who accused Assange of rape. However, the filmmakers did not have direct access to Manning, who is in a military prison, and Assange, who is hiding out in Ecuador’s consulate in the UK.”
Interviewing Anna Ardin? Assange is legally barred from discussing the allegations publicly, so isn’t this film prejudicial to any potential future trial?
When challenged that the title of the film itself “We Steal Secrets” was not only factually wrong, but incredibly prejudicial given the ongoing Grand Jury investigation in the US, Alex Gibney claimed the title was actually a quote from the CIA’s Michael Heyden, who appears in the film at one point. He’s been roasted alive on Twitter for the absurdity of this statement.
Also posting this on the Why I’m Convinced Anna Ardin is a Liar thread – seems apt:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/09/why-i-am-convinced-that-anna-ardin-is-a-liar/comment-page-6/#comment-390114
To arbed: the story ecuador to djibuoti was not published on truth-out.org
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/a-tale-of-cocaine-trafficking-sex-crime-charges-extraordinary-rendition-julian-assange/
they refused to publish the story, they felt it was too favorable to Assange. That he is a “tool” and is guilty of offending the female race
I am just carefully reading Julian Assange et al’s book: Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet (available only from OR Books online–it’s boycotted everywhere else). It is bloody good. I saw the RT TV show on YouTube of the same name (Cypherpunks) where the discussion on which the book is based first took place between the four authors last year. The book is better–it is more digestible in written form and it comes with explanatory notes which elaborate on technical questions in an accessible way.
This is one of the most important books of our times because it exposes the dark side of most important technological development of our times: the Internet and the Web.
The “whole world is watching” thanks to the Web and was watching when a policeman in New York pepper sprayed young women in the face while peacefully demonstrating 18 months ago. But some of the watchers are the signals intelligence agencies (GCHQ, NSA etc.) and the book explains very clearly the rise of “strategic surveillance”, or bulk surveillance. Essentially if any communication data is in digital form (email, phone calls, SMS messages, instant messages or chat messages, IRC, Usenet, social networking messages, website and blog posts and comments, search engine records, the lot) it can now be intercepted and stored easily. It is easier and cheaper now to store ALL communications than to engage in old style “tactical surveillance” of individual criminals and subversives which had at least some judicial oversight.
In the post 9/11 period, the likes of the NSA and GCHQ are effectively a law unto themselves with little or no effective oversight. UK Parliamentary oversight of the intelligence agencies is a joke as MI5 whiste-blower Annie Machon explains on her blog. We now have total surveillance of whole countries and I am only a third of the way through the book. Next chapter is corporate surveillance outfits like Stratfor.
Essential reading folks and the the profits go the Wikileaks legal deference fund.
“they refused to publish the story, they felt it was too favorable to Assange. That he is a “tool” and is guilty of offending the female race.”
Yes, the thing about spook-ridden honey traps and sexual allegations is that it splits the left by opportunistically tapping into the huge anger about the abuse of women that exists and turning it against those who are deemed a threat to the military industrial complex. The smear tactics via gutter tabloids like Expressen are extremely effective in destroying reputations over night.
Unfortunately, there are some in the UK liberal-left who cannot see that even being innocent until proven guilty does not even apply yet because Assange has not even been charged with anything. He has been tried, judged and sentenced by the Swedish SÄPO in league with Expressen and there are sections of the left who can’t see it. I think Pilger is right about identity politics obscuring issue of imperialism and war. B52 feminism if you like. Gillard is one of them.
And as Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt struggles to cover up the fact that he’s lied that Sweden didn’t make “an informal agreement” to allow the extraordinary rendition of the two Swedes from Djbouti to the US, news about what’s happened to the British ex-citizen (courtesy of Theresa May)has come out.
British man who ‘vanished’ after being stripped of citizenship says he was tortured and forced to sign a confession by the CIA:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265185/British-man-vanished-stripped-citizenship-claims-tortured-forced-confess-CIA.html
So, it would be impossible for the Swedish government to agree to Assange’s onward extradition to the US because it’s against Swedish law to extradite to countries which torture? Yeah, right.
Anyone here know a ‘person of influence’? Someone’s done a brilliant open letter asking for action to protect Assange, which can easily be adapted for any recipient you fancy sending it to:
http://cyklistbhriste.blogspot.ie/2013/01/my-open-letter-to-person-of-influence.html
Finally!
The Oxford Union appears to have relented and put up Julian Assange’s speech at the Sam Adams awards ceremony. I reckon the fuss must have been about Wikileaks’ use of Collateral Murder as a backdrop because the green screen here has been replaced with the Oxford Union’s logo but you can still see Collateral Murder behind Assange in the long shots from the auditorium.
It’s a great speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vQNWYnQjUE&feature=youtu.be
Pity about the sound–i presume you had the same problem. Sometimes i think these things are deliberate so that they dissuade others from watching them. If you find a normalised version pls do post it. Thank you!
Villager, 6.38pm
Are you referring to the vid just cutting out after the first couple of minutes? I just refreshed the page and it worked perfectly all the way through. That link should work fine.
No Arbed, my buffering is fine but after the first 20 secs the volume goes into a near mute, down to about 5% of normal level. Isn’t that strange and you don’t have a problem on that? Any ideas?
Hmmm, how weird. Only solution I can find of is to temporarily whack up the volume on your PC. At the risk of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, your PC’s volume control should be in the top panel of your screen somewhere.
Morning Arbed you’re a helpful person in nature so ok to take that risk! I have an apple macbook–the volume ‘meter’ shows the full volume and is responding fine both on the keyboard and screen in sync, yet same annoying issue, 5% of volume actual output. NO issues on any other vids even of the OU but same problem persists every time i reload this one. That is weird! Will listen later with straining but its like trying to listen thru someone else’s earphone at a distance. May have something to do with apple software compatibility combined with a glitch….
Oh dear Villager – I’ve seen from some of the replies to Wikileaks tweet that some people are having this problem, so it’s not just you, but some people arn’t… I’m not at all tech-literate so I’m not sure I can be all that helpful, I’m afraid.
Perhaps you could try watching the video directly from Wikileaks tweet of it? Sometimes I find I can’t watch Youtube videos directly from the YouTube site (because of Adobe Flashplayer incompatibility with my browser) but I can watch them if they are embedded in an article or a tweet.
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/295048695869734912
Dear Arbed you are much deeper than to direct all your energy on tech-literacy. Having noted that i wouldn’t have expected differently. Please read this in the context that my primary passion is to understand life, its wholeness, its fragmentation, why we humans choose to live the way we do, i.e. in constant conflict. In that vein i admire Julian, his work and the courage he has to take up the cause of justice and freedom in this world. Having noted your work and support, i also have deep respect for you.
Same result with the twitter link but reassured that i’m not the only one facing the problem–hadn’t spotted that earlier even though i’d looked for it.
Thanks again and if you find a transcript please alert me.
Just came across this:
Julian Assange News:
In an interview with Actualidad RT, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño stated that, if they can’t reach a diplomatic agreement with the UK over Julian Assange’s situation, Ecuador will have “no choice” but to seek a judicial settlement instead.
http://www.thisdayinwikileaks.org
and this;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0145pst
Thank you for your kind words, Villager. I’ve found the answer to your problem with the Oxford Union video. This, from the comments underneath the video on their Youtube channel:
“ATTENTION VIEWERS: Because of a phasing problem between the left and right channels of the audio, you will hear very little if you listen to this in mono. If you use headphones or hook up a stereo, the sound will be fine. I have written to the organisers and asked them to fix this. Hopefully another version will appear soon.”
I have stereo sound on my PC system, so that’s why I can hear it no problem.
Thanks Arbed for helping me pin that down. Not very tech-savvy these Oxford guys are they? Plus this is the w/e and we’re in England–anywhere else they would’ve sorted the problem out within the hour. Anyway i’m glad its up from 300 hits to 4000+. But still low given what’s happening around the world. My frustration at the sound is only magnified by the feeling of despair at how many people are just sleep-walking through life.
Hi Arbed. Long time no see\hear, valiant effort in still banging the drum for JA.
Think you’re dreaming however if you believe most people are going to have a conversion over the alleged rapist.
Disgrace than he will be showered with respect and a forum at this conference, the only whistle he is interested is blowing is his own, just a crying shame that someone of Craig’s integrity is too far in too turn around.
PS, my budgie died yesterday, should I suspect Karl Rove’s involvement?
Jives,
You forgot to add, totally false. Are you sure it wasn’t his sisters, aunties, brothers, boyfriends, friend of a friend who it happened to?