- This could be the end of a beautiful, hacking, espionage
friendship. It could also merely be a sign that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is becoming
increasingly toxic to be associated with. Asange, the in-hiding founder of the
site that has infuriated governments around the globe by obtaining and
releasing confidential documents, has lost the support of über-hacker group Anonymous,
which said Assange’s whistleblowing site had been “ruined by egos.” The loosely affiliated group of hackers
who comprise Anonymous has remained one of WikiLeaks’ closest allies during the
past two years and served as something of hired muscle for the site, launching
cyber attacks against its opponents and being suspected of, um, procuring some
of the top-secret material WikiLeaks posted. The denouncement of Assange and
WikiLeaks came through Twitter accounts belonging to top Anonymous operatives
and criticized the freedom-of-information project as a “One Man Julian Assange
show.” Anonymous labeled the split the end of an era and tweeted: “It was an
awesome idea, ruined by egos.” The group’s support of WikiLeaks originated in
2010, when the site faced what it has described as an “economic blockade” from
payments processing companies. Anonymous responded with attacks that caused service
interruptions to MasterCard, Visa and PayPal websites. Even as Assange fought
an extradition battle over allegations of sexual assault, Anonymous did not
desert him. He has camped out at the Ecuadorean embassy in London in recent
months, trying to remain a free man. The breaking point for the
WikiLeaks-Anonymous relationship appears to be the site’s decision this week to
post a banner advertisement asking for donations before allowing visitors to
access emails purportedly relating to Republican presidential nominee Mitt
“White Bread” Romney. Anonymous decried the move as “meretricious” and issued
an online statement slamming it. “We have been worried about the direction
WikiLeaks is going for a while,” Anonymous wrote in a statement published
overnight on Friday. “In the recent month the focus moved away from actual
leaks and the fight for freedom of information further and further while it
concentrated more and more on Julian Assange.” Assange’s dinner with pop hack
Lady Gaga this week further exacerbated tensions and made it appear he is more
focused on his own celebrity than the purpose his site is supposed to have……….
- Turkey does not seem happy right now. Intercepting a Syrian passenger
plane from Russia, allegedly carrying military gear to Damascus, suggests that
the relationship between the Middle Eastern neighbors is not kosher. Turkey
explained that its actions were out of a growing frustration at the drawn-out
conflict in Syria and its inability to hasten regime change in its neighbor. Recent
cross-border shelling from Syria that killed five Turkish civilians near the
countries' 566-mile common boundary pushed Turkey into action, but government
officials claim their options were limited. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has led the charge to pressure the tyrannical regime of Bashir al-Assad
to end its 19-month crackdown on the opposition and to expedite the process,
last year Ankara began allowing members of the rebel Free Syrian Army to
operate in Turkey. Intercepting planes is a good way for rival nations to restrict
Syrian government forces' access to military-related goods from external
sources, especially because no one seems to have the kahones to buck the trend
and directly intervene in the conflict. Wednesday’s incidence of Turkish
fighter jets intercepting the Syrian Air plane they said was carrying Russian
ammunition and military equipment destined for the Syrian Defense Ministry is
about as confrontational as any country has become so far. Syria quickly
labeled the incident piracy and Russia complained that the action endangered
the lives of Russian citizens aboard the aircraft. Of course, Russia has
remained one of Syria's main weapons suppliers and done everything in its power
to shield Assad’s regime from U.N. sanctions. U.S. State Department spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland said Thursday that Washington backed Turkey's decision to
intercept the plane, although it remains unclear what was on board. Turkey's
prime minister described it as "ammunition," while media reports
claimed the cargo contained 12 pieces of missile parts and trigger devices.
Russia’s story is that the plane was carrying radar parts for Syria and that
all items in the shipment complied with international law. Well, if you can’t
trust Russia on this one, then whom can you trust………
- Someone had better be unconscious, maimed or dead if Columbia County (N.Y.) Sheriff David Harrison Jr. is going to be bothered.
Harrison is none too happy after lost hiker Kyle Pember of Northbourough,
Mass. was found alive and reasonably well Wednesday morning in the Bash Bish Falls area of Copake Falls. That seems odd because Pember
had been hiking with his father when they became separated on Monday and his
father contacted police to report the disappearance. The case was turned over
to investigators and on Oct. 9, Pember’s father informed the sheriff’s office
that his son called him on his cell phone and said he did not know exactly
where he was and that he was cold, scared and possibly hurt. Using coordinates
derved from the phone call, emergency personnel were able to locate Pember
about 1.5 miles north of Undermountain
Road in Copake. He was cold, extremely hungry but did not display
any visible injuries. Members of the Copake
Rescue Squad evaluated Pember and transported him to Columbia Memorial Hospital for further
evaluation, but having a lost man found and reunited with his family clearly
does not warm the heart of Sheriff Harrison the way it may for a normal human
being. Because Pember did not have a compound fracture of his femur, a
lacerated spleen or had not been mauled by a bear and lost one-third of the
blood from his body, the sheriff is pissed over using so much manpower and so
many resources to conduct the search for someone who was believed to be lost or
possibly injured. He has been in contact with the local district attorney’s
office and prosecutors are considering filing criminal charges against Kyle
Pember. The Columbia County Attorney's Office is also considering taking legal action for reimbursement for
fuel, equipment and overtime incurred by the emergency services agencies
involved. Y’know, because people lost in the woods must meet a certain level of
suffering before qualifying for free assistance from emergency personnel………
- How bad should the world feel for Los Angeles Lakers big
man Dwight Howard? He was once a jovial, beloved player who doubled as the face
of the franchise in Orlando and the best defensive player in the NBA, but is
now the poster child for whiny, spoiled, petulant and indecisive professional
athlete who feels a sense of entitlement toward everyone. He jerked with the
Magic for an entire year, wavered at crucial moments but ultimately forced his
way out of Orlando and burned every bridge in sight on his way out of town. He
put the team and its fans through a lot of pain, but maybe Magic fans will feel
better knowing that Howard was also in a lot of pain last year. Okay, so maybe
it won’t help at all, but there was still a time last season when Howard could not do a calf raise and stand up
on his toes. He claimed Thursday that he had shooting pain in his left leg and
had trouble bending over due to complications from severe back problems. A
herniated disk made life miserable and apparently, that’s supposed to make up
for what a d-bag he was to Orlando for an entire year and change. "What a
lot of people don't know is, when I hurt my back, it affected my nerves to the
point where my whole left leg went dead," Howard said. "Basically, I
couldn't do a calf raise. There was a practice where I couldn't even bend over.
I just felt it all the way down my leg. That's when I knew something was wrong.
The doctor said, 'If you can't do a calf raise, you need to have surgery.' And
I couldn't do it." The way Howard tells the story, he kept the pain quiet
because he “didn't want anybody thinking I was quitting on my team or thinking
about doing that.” Why would anyone have thought that? Just because he was
distant, cold and detached on the floor throughout the 2011-12 season?
Following surgery on the disk, he has recovered quickly and has been able to
participate almost fully in Lakers practices during training camp. He is likely
to play at some point in the preseason and may be ready at the start of the
regular season. With a golden opportunity to win a championship the next 2-3
years, he had better hope that pain stays away………..
- Saying a Robert De Niro movie is a terrible idea before it
even happens used to be bad form. Then again, De Niro used to make better
choices on roles he accepted. Suffice it to say that starring in a movie will
fellow old guy Sylvester Stallone in a movie about two has-been boxers
returning to the ring to face each other is not a wise choice. While both men
have portrayed boxers on the big screen before and done so in well-received
films, this isn’t 1980 and De Niro isn't what he was when “Raging Bull” was
filmed. Stallone, bad “Rocky” sequels of recent years and all, is nowhere close
to what he was when the original “Rocky” was released. Yet there these two old
dudes are, signing on to star in a new boxing movie called “Grudge Match,” about a pair of
retired boxers who are persuaded to return to the ring. While the movie does
get some leeway because it is a comedy and hopefully won't take the boxing
aspect of the project too seriously, the sight of these two stumbling around in
the ring is still unpleasant. Comedian Kevin Hart will play the promoter who
pits them against each other and the project will be directed by Peter Segal,
which might be a bigger cause for concern than who is on screen. Segal is known
for stink-bomb comedies like “Nutty Professor II” and “Get Smart,” two films
most movie fans were smart (and fortunate enough) not to see in theaters.
Stallone is riding a wave of old-man power with the modest success of
“Expendables 2” and with a new action movie called “The Tomb” in which he will star alongside fellow
geezer action hero Arnold
Schwarzenegger. De Niro also remains busy with “The Silver Linings” and
“Killing Season” both to be release in the coming months…….
No comments:
Post a Comment