Wikileaks Roundup: quick and dirty edition

The Swedes appeal to keep Assange in jail, Anonymous knocks the legs out of the Swedish prosecutor's site. And the antelope eat the grass.

The Swedes contest the bail hearing at 11:30am tomorrow London time.

Mark Zuckerberg (who Greg Mitchell at the Nation calls "the boy named 'sue'") wins TIME person of the year. Assange gets 3rd after the Tea Partiers. Lame that blowhards beat worldwide sociopolitical upheaval.

There's a highly suspicious, days-long-lack of Cable-talk from the New York Times. And the Guardian's Liveblog is down today! I am slain and puzzled.

Rush Limbaugh keeps it classy, attacking Michael Moore as a "fan of serial rapists". This whole discourse just gets more and more intelligent.

AT&T and Verizon are taking the US Air Force tactic and blocking all sites carrying wikileaks-related materials--ANY wikileaks-related materials. That poster from Anonymous sounds like a really awesome idea right about now...and I apologize if reading this blog is now making you uncomfortable. 

Oh democracy. Wtf is happening to you. 

Wikileaks Roundup Three: Return of the Roundup

The Extradition Mambo: under the new European Arrest Warrant system, Britain would have to agree to allow Sweden to extradite Assange to the US if they find (or make up) something to charge him with. After today's shenanigans, any extra government between him, the Swedes and the Yanks looks like Christmas.

Oh pornoscanners. You're so ridiculous.

Naomi Wolf, a journalist who has spent years talking to rape survivors literally the entire world over--developed, developing, Sierra Leone to Thailand to Norway to the UK to the States, you name it--NAILS IT, accusing Sweden and the US of "pimping feminism" (a charge that gives me shivers and makes me nauseated in all the right ways).

"In other words: Never in twenty-three years of reporting on and supporting victims of sexual assault around the world have I ever heard of a case of a man sought by two nations, and held in solitary confinement without bail in advance of being questioned -- for any alleged rape, even the most brutal or easily proven. In terms of a case involving the kinds of ambiguities and complexities of the alleged victims' complaints -- sex that began consensually that allegedly became non-consensual when dispute arose around a condom -- please find me, anywhere in the world, another man in prison today without bail on charges of anything comparable. Keep Assange in prison without bail until he is questioned, by all means, if we are suddenly in a real feminist worldwide epiphany about the seriousness of the issue of sex crime: but Interpol, Britain and Sweden must, if they are not to be guilty of hateful manipulation of a serious women's issue for cynical political purposes, imprison as well -- at once -- the hundreds of thousands of men in Britain, Sweden and around the world world who are accused in far less ambiguous terms of far graver forms of assault."

Good god damn yes read it now it's excellent.

Awesome guy makes Comics of the Cables, in the new-but-burgeoning-tradition of graphic novel journalism that I love so, so much.

As if making everything but DHS-vetted carrier pigeons court-martial-able wasn't "secure" enough, the US Air Force logs searches of and blocks access to any publication talking about the Cables whatsoever. Because god forbid they know what they signed up for.

And finally, historical quotables still topical:

News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.

--Lord Northcliffe

The Swedes Strike Back! Assange in lockup until their appeal is heard

I leave for two hours, and look what happens.

The Swedes, apparently dead set against Assange being able to move around at all, are appealing his bail in the High Court. Should happen within 48 hours, but as per usual with this particular instance of craziness, they're not giving anyone any information.

I don't want to say show trial, but....

He's Out! Assange granted bail by UK court, with conditions

Following AlexiMostrous, Times special correspondent in London, and Heather Brooke from the Guardian, as they literally sat in the court room.

Sounds like Barrister Robertson dropped serious civ lib science. They kept it PC, with all references to "rape" being prefaced with the word "alleged".
People of high society came out of the woodwork to support Assange: a Captain (which is a sort of knighthood for those of you not monarchistically inclined) offered his place as a British permanent residence for Assange, which means that's where the world press will be camping momentarily.
Sarah Saunders (restaurant designer) pledges 150,000 pounds as surety ("pretty much all I'm worth", she says). Vikram Dodd from the Guardian says over 200,000 pounds has been offered as surety for him returning to court when summoned--from ten international public figures.

His conditions include surrendering his passport, a curfew, and an electronic deer tag. His next court appearance will be Jan 11th.

Phew.

EDIT: Not so fast, Ash: the Swedes have two hours to launch an appeal, and he's not free til then.
Being topical is tricky.