Intermission

What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding? ~ Elvis Costello

I'll be here

I decided to forego my own personal series on the HP/AOL merger.
By now it's a yawn inducing redundancy and all across the universe known as the internet, everything that could or need be said, has already been said...and said...and said...
I took it on as a writing assignment and a contribution to another blog that I was courting...but soon found that it too was just another empty well to shout into, albeit a different sort of vacuum entirely than HP... and I can do all that with equal efficiency, right here.
[If any one's interested, you can read more about that futile escapade here ]

...Besides, it's high Spring here abouts'...and there are plenty of more important things to do.
For one, there's tending to this and many more late night camp fires.
Somebody pass me another marshmallow, wouldja'?

I was a Huffington “Poster”child.

Episode 2 in a series of experiences, observations, 'run ins' and general unhappiness with the moderation policies at Huffington Post in particular and posting and commenting to online sites on the web in general.

I was later than some and sooner than others coming into the age of awareness on the whole Huffington Post thing.
I became a member in April of 2008.

My last 'post' being February of 2011, (just a day or so after the $318 million dollar AOL “buy-in” or “sell-out” depending on your point of view) I had a long run that enabled me to successfully have 11,536 comments or posts approved and published on Huff. While I can't validate my “misses” due to deletion by the 'Mods', my number of rejected posts had to be somewhere around...well, a whole bunch... if not equal to my number of hits over the years.

I still have an account there (though I no longer log in) and a modest “following” of “friends” that number 753 other “poster children” out there, just like me and you.

Before anyone might think those stats are exceptional...don't.

There's a small army of people, here and elsewhere (some still there!) who have two, three and four times that amount of posts and “fans” and have spent more, less or equal time than I have in shouting into that empty well several hours a day.

About a hundred or more of these refugees can now be found spread throughout other free speech zones throughout Cybercity. So I think I represent a fairly good example of your average user. Being in said demographic makes me a middle class Huffmerican. And hopefully I can remain fair about some of the sights and scenes I encountered while in that land beyond the rainbow.

Oz or Wonderland?

A quick look at the 'terms of service” for commenting on Huffington could give anyone the impression that they have landed in Wonderland as opposed to Dorothy's Oz. The ambiguities of the conditional terms in conjunction with the “new Badge program” (which you'll learn more about in the course of this series) makes an argument between Tweedledee and Tweedledum look like a debate between professorial intellectuals on this side of the rabbit hole.

I don't know how you feel about it, but the moment I see that a conditional term of service is dependent on nebulous wording such as “appropriate speech” my palms sweat, my throat gets dry and I just know that ideology and not simply civility and courteousness is the tip of an ice berg that will randomly sink any ship's captain attempting to navigate the straits of good posting behavior.

And sure enough, At Huffington Post it repeatedly does.

Working in the lab...

Let me confess to a small social experiment I indulged myself in shortly after the HP-AOL merge.

It was early on reported and speculated upon that the degree of moderation would increase at Huffington in direct proportion to its becoming a major player in the Main Stream Media conglomerate leading to an even more aggressive push to increase the number of “clicks”and “hits” through the manipulation of posts and 'gotcha' headlining.

Let me explain that this way. If you log on to a site, and you can stop by and leave a comment on an article or join a conversational ebb and flow, you may click once or twice, now and again to see if you had any responses or to add to the dialog. On the other hand, if your posts become tied up for a half hour or more in “pending purgatory” before it became posted publicly, you might come back to check on its health or “click” about a half dozen times or more on that same subject for each posting effort you've made. Coincidence? I don't think so.

It was becoming increasingly common to see items with 500 or more posted comments to have a “pending approval” que consisting of sometimes a 4:1 ratio. People would be clicking back like crazy to bitch about it for an hour or more and sending out fresh versions of their comments multiple times before they learned their posts hadn't passed muster and as well, the politically corrected clones sent afterward were ultimately deleted.

Any idea what this does to make a site look exceptionally busy and profit worthy...even if it may not be otherwise? Plenty lucrative ploy just by clogging the pipes.

I had watched over the course of my time on HP that complaints increased exponentially in the comment section regarding these sort of moderation log jams and expulsions and I wanted to somehow measure this from a new perspective other than just living through the limbo called “pending” and deleted posts. So I put my long standing personae (AV) and account to rest and created a new HP account to see how a new member “poster” might fare under these new rules of engagement.

I presented my same ideologies. I was no more literate or less snarky in my replies and originating posts than I'd ever been and my subjects were as random and occasionally off thread as they had ever been under my old account/personae.

Things went par for about three weeks and the accumulation of 47 “friends” and “fans” until I hit an article of above average controversy rife with moderation.

The issue surrounded a video from a police helicopter circling the Twin Towers on the morning of 9/11. I was careful not to advance any (“kooky”) theories, either conspiratorial or supporting the establishment's accounts of that day's events. But I stood firm on insisting in “to the point” fashion that there remained in fact, mounds of evidence from that day to this that was never properly investigated or verified. I was fully aware from my HP experience that this sort of speculation was never well tolerated. I suspected that deletions of my posts was bound to follow. Four non confrontational exchanges later, I was informed that I had been banned from commenting. Evidently, a moderator held a different (or corporate) ideology on the subject.

Yes. It was that obvious.

After waiting through three days (of 'crickets') to hear a response from Hufiington Post to my email queries on what exactly my transgressions might have been...even within the broad spectrum of their terms of service, I scrubbed the account completely and bailed.

The punchline is this. Immediately following my canceling of my account I received an email from HP's Admin. They said they were sorry to see me go! Go? For all intent and purposes, I didn't even exist to begin with and it isn't likely that you do either.

Dedicated To Free Speech Through Extreme Moderation...A Contradiction In Terms.

Episode 1: The first in a 4 part series of experiences, observations, 'run ins' and general unhappiness with the moderation policies at Huffington Post in particular and posting and commenting to online sites on the web in general.

First, let's come to grip with something that few people will openly admit...or perhaps simply can't accept . (I'm sure, which one or the other varies from person to person, dependent on the situation.) Unencumbered “free speech” is limited to the confines of being a concept and is not the reality we love to imagine it to be.

Ogg

Since the very first time that little Ogg picked up a charred wooly mammoth bone from the previous evening's dinner off the floor of the cave and whacked his sibling for any real or imagined expressed verbal affront leveled in his or her direction, freedom of expression has been a very elusive object of desire and attainment for anyone not a cast away or shielded from the influence of the social human condition. To make matters worse, when Mom or Dad came back from drawing primitive pictures of the hunt or splattered hand prints in the lower section of the cave and found out about what Ogg had done, reprimand and censorship of unbridled self expression was yet again established (at least) as far as one or the other party in any debate or dispute would from then on, ever be concerned.
Since then little (if anything) of this social etiquette has been able to recover entirely from this stipulation enough for it to be considered intrinsically fair in regard to the right of anyone to pure, unabridged self expression.

Onward!

Now, fast forward (if you will) to today's modern society, the complexities that concept and language have under gone and the means of mass internet communications such as texting, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and a multitude of on line information sources run often for far more mercenary motivation than to simply allow people to avenue to express a multi-verse of topics such as The Huffington Post does (or doesn't)...which brings me to the object of my current focus.

“The truth Is Out There!"

Anyone can, if they so choose, easily provide their own search/research on the topic of moderation as it is practiced at the Huffington Post web site. The information, opinions and carefully compiled hard and anecdotal evidence of the short comings on (this loosely termed) "moderation" as presented on HP are plentiful and date back to May of 2005, which is when the site was first launched.
I've waded through sites and postings that covered a wide swath of cut and pasted screen grabs, opinions, complaints, examples, comments and incentives for the scrutiny now being given this subject surrounding HP and the mass publication of said information.

“Everybody's got an ax to grind.”

Some (but not many) were less than subtly progressing their own personal, commercial or political agenda -- which to their way of thinking were not being given the attention on the comment boards to the degree that they felt their topic of concern or 'cause du jour' warranted. In this class, of course, some even appeared to be (perhaps paid?) 'activists' who (for want of supplementing their livelihood) wished to be the St. George who would slay the dragon or the Don Quixote who would help vanquish what to many might have amounted to little more in reality than a tattered, old wind mill. Others I found were apparently using this chink in HuffPo's armor (there are, as many are already aware, several) as a commercial tool in an effort to maybe pry away a few "clicks" or pull a few advertisers in their own direction and open or level the readership playing field a bit through their rapier critique.

...but some people have a legitimate need to use that ax sharpener.

For the most part, I came away from it all with an unshakable belief that the bulk of what fruits I had gathered, did not come from these groups. Neither was it limited to simply disgruntled people. But instead, the time and efforts were taken by a majority of those people to publicly express themselves about being rendered utterly disillusioned and more than curious about the genuine intent and dedication of HuffPo to freedom of speech... as the 'pub' and policy (of HP) would like to have everyone believe. {Links will be provided in episode 2}

On a curious note:

The absence of web published material in defense of the moderation found on the Huffington site was notably apparent through out my research, except for the rare and occasional references (noticeably) from Huffington Post staff, co founders or people associated or aligned with that site in some cooperative fashion or another.

All that aside...

...this much is certain, (and a notable portion of the internet blogging population seems to agree) in regard to HP's moderation practices... if nothing is wrong, then something is terribly wrong.

[In episode 2, we'll take a look at some of the comments, replies and stories from others who have either broken away from HP for greener pastures of self expression online and an update on some of the damage control taking place at HuffPo in the wake of the continuing exodus of 'posters' due to their dissatisfaction over having contributed to the rapid rise of this online news empire -- only to find that the rules of the game had changed dramatically over time, without anyone telling them.]

[My thanks to the folks at http://condemnedtorocknroll.blogspot.com...(and "please send bail if needed") for my use of their graphic illustration used above...albeit for this all together different subject of coverage.]

Egypt Protests: Government Agrees To Major Demands In Talks On Sunday

Every time a US President starts making demands on other heads of state for basically reacting in the very same way our own would in the case of a week of thousands of people protesting wildly in the street for the ouster of their leadership­, I get real nervous.

Making it a point to present the US as the moral compass for the rest of the world, when reactions to this sort of thing from law enforcemen­t and the military would be mirrored to dispel and disrupt dissension here, there or in any country, is how we wind up in places like Iraq.

I don't seem to be hearing about other world leaders throwing their opinions out there as mandates and directives­.

The habit and need of our leadership to do this in any internatio­nal situation (except those where conflict serves our more hidden purposes) is perhaps our greatest reoccurrin­g moment of audacity.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Openleaks, WikiLeaks Rival, Launches New Secret-Spilling Site

Great photo of Assange to accompany this story.

Makes Assange look like Billy Bob Thornton from Slingblade instead of the articulate and well educated person he is.

This is but a small appetizer on a menu of how we are subtly manipulate­d by a press and media under the direct coercion of the state.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Republicans Split Over Plans To Cut Defense Budget

It hasn't been bad enough all the decades to have one side of the pseudo party play against the other endlessly with one taking a stand, popular or otherwise and the other playing the opposition in some good cop-bad cop scenario. Now we have yet another faction to blame or instrument so that even the staunch conservati­ves can publicly appear to have come to their senses only to have their own splinter group appear to be blocking all efforts to meet the needs of this country.

If this is not the case then why would the national media have lent the tea party credibilit­y by allowing it to make post SOTU remarks when no other fringe element has ever been given that liberty and credence. This would go as well for the Independen­t party, who has viable official statue in American politics. Certainly more so than the "Tea Party".

So, it's official. The "one party" has now grown itself another head of it's hydra.We can still achieve no real change in America and the "one party" with (at least) two faces can hide under new cover for the lack of progress on any front.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

SOTU Preview: Obama To Focus Speech On Jobs, Innovation, Cooperation

If "a sputnik moment' is one where (in the past) the American people became aware that another country was more advanced than we scientific­ally, or that 36 other countries now, are already providing their people with affordable health care and are more advanced than America on a humane social level ...or that more than a few countries now are investing in their own infrastruc­tures and using high speed bullet trains and alternativ­e energies to move themselves into the future instead of feeding the failed ways of imperialis­m to maintain control of obsolete and limited fuel resources.­..Then you bet this is a sputnik moment!

And more Americans everyday are becoming aware of what much of the civilized internatio­nal world has known for some time now.

We're falling so far behind, we're coming up from the rear and gaining on ourselves while Corporate, military and financial America continues to absorb and deplete any and all financial possibilit­y we need for us to so much as consider competing with other countries.

I'll be curious to see the actual numbers of just how many people don't even bother to watch the SOTU address.

Not that if those numbers are abysmal we'll ever hear it.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Michele Bachmann: Obama Health Care Reform 'The Crown Jewel Of Socialism'

Invoking Socialism is an empty and misleading talking point.

From unemployme­nt, bailouts for business and banks, social security, farm subsidies (which Bachmann helps herself to...) we have already let the socialism gorilla in the house a long time ago. So what's the problem, I wonder.

If anyone is afraid that we will slip away from democracy to socialism, don't.

First of all we slipped a long time ago from the constituti­onal republic that this country was set up to be to some mock up of a socialisti­c democracy and now we've definitely crossed over into oligarchy.

Of all the things we've become since we strayed from the constituti­onal republic we were intended to live by, socialism would be far better thansevera­l of the things we've become since we strayed from the original blueprint for America. Bachmann should be challenged on this fear tactic of socialism by the press and her cohorts in Congress.

Until she can explain all the socialism already taking place in America, she has no basis to keep ranting on publicly about the terrible thing she would have everyone believe socialism is or that a health care program willlthrow us into a worst case of socialism scenario.

Won't anyone call her on this deliberate false flag or do we have to just let her keep convincing people who are subjectabl­e to this sort of deception endlessly?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Republicans Block Congressional Health Care Disclosure

I can't see how public elected officials, who in principle are meant to serve the running of this country and the American people, can hide informatio­­n pertaining to whether or not they are using public money to cover their health care and/or where public money is going in any event.

I can see why I just can't see how.

Because if our representa­tives are able to conceal it, they can always deny being on the public health care dole themselves while they try and repeal the "better than nothing" health care reform bill that was passed for those they "represent­".

The appropriat­­ion of taxpayer dollars spent for federal representa­­tion, services and management of our country is supposed to beavailabl­e to the American people as a condition of our self rule.

This isn't a simple matter of knowing or not knowing who in Congress is making use of their health care benefits, really.

It's a matter of the people knowing where their taxes are going.

These grifts continue to twist the meaning of nearly everything (including their own words) to their own personal and political advantage.

And then they show the gall to spend their 2nd day in new session reading the Constituti­­on as though it had any meaning to them with respect to the people that put them in office.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Haiti Suffers Year Of Crisis With Nobody In Charge

This is a very good piece.

Why? Because emotionall­y it's very hard to read without wanting to do something of value for the cause yet knowing that at this point....a­fter all the promises and pledges of support from our people and our government and likewise from others, the western world still places more value in destabiliz­ing, dominating and rebuilding other countries in it's own ideologica­l image and material/s­trategic advantage, rather than embracing the altruistic and charitable needs of people in places of dire need like Haiti.

For what we alone have spent on logistics, troop placement, discharged weaponry and ordinance in Iraq and Afghanista­n over 9 years we could have actually made a monumental contributi­on to the betterment of human life on this planet and establishe­d humanitari­anism as our legacy instead of what it is and appears it will always be...perso­nal gain and the acquiremen­t of power over others.

After millennium of suspected growth and evolution we remain no better than any empire that came before us. We are simply more of the same.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

U.S. Allowed American Companies To Do Business With Blacklisted Nations

"Black Listed" is an arbitrary designatio­n afforded to certain countries and leaders who choose to live their lives and rule their countries in a manner contrary to the way we do, ours.

Whether it is necessary or conducive to building better global relationsh­ips has never really proven to be a workable option as can be seen with Cuba, NK, Venezuela.­..

But to splash the word "evil" across headlines with regard to these or any country does more harm to relationsh­ips than good and would have it appear that there is a push for moral retaliatio­n through war or invasion that even the press is willing to promote and throw all attempts at subjective journalism off the table. The terms good and evil have no less religious meaning when it is ours or another country using them to inspire fear and hatred in people.

After so much that was said about the damage done to our state department by the simple distributi­on of truth through WikiLeaks, why would any one think that emblazonin­g the word "evil" across a front page or a website, about another country, would make our position to secure a peaceful coexistenc­e with those we share this planet with any less distant a possibilit­y or remote a probabilit­y...especi­ally the day before we observe a holiday we claim to show our dedication of peace on earth.

Merry Christmas everybody!

"Peace on Earth!"
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

WikiLeaks Founder: We Have Enough Information To Make An Exec At A Major Bank Resign

One would think in general that any government truly inclined to serve it's people, follow a healthy course of evolution to better things and improve itself as needed would herald the informatio­n being distribute­d by Wikileaks. Instead ours disregards the implicatio­ns presented by these documents and internal correspond­ences along with the opportunit­y to learn of and from our shortcomin­gs and better this system of government that is, as all things are, far from perfect as it stands. Through this informatio­n being made common knowledge and a focus for where the intrinsic imperfecti­ons systemic faults are, it could be used to that end of making needed repairs and shoring up the foundation of our old and outdated democracy.

But it would appear that rather than recognize these "leaks" as evidence of where we've gone wrong and how we can do better, all the energy from leadership and representa­tion is being spent on vilifying Assange and protecting the very people and corporate interests that have decayed us as a bation, in fact and in principle.

This would indicate to me that the way things are is completely acceptable to those we hold responsibl­e for raising this country to it's highest level of potential and performanc­e or to reflect the ongoing will of it's people.

Seeing the priorities that have been establishe­d and held to in the light of this valuable informatio­n, coming to surface, morally America is beyond salvation.

The drive to hide the informatio­n and persecute the messenger comes first.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" Repeal: This Day Has Finally Come

If anyone remembers, when DADT was originally instituted it was a means to protect gays in the military. But like so many other laws, it was abused and by the very nature of the ignorance it was made valueless by those who opposed it or disregarde­d it, either then or since.

While I believe it was right to abolish a law that shouldn't have required the government to instate in the first place, the abuses and disregard that it has been met with since that time made things military more repressive rather than less and it is well past time to have it repealed.

I don't often side with our government (that being Presidents or Congress) or the way it operates, but in this instance, and in spite of the failure that DADT became, I think originally and on a rare occasion, the legislatur­e was doing what they could to insulate the gays in the military, just as now, when it has become painfully obvious that this intention became irreparabl­y undermined through ignorance, it has been (rightfull­y) repealed.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Google Refusing To Turn Over WiFi Data Says State AG

Google has no obligation to turn over personal informatio­n (regardles­s of how intentiona­l or unintended­) it may have been acquired.

It's enough that they openly admitted they have it, but turning it over (even and especially to government­) is beyond the wrong of simply having it, it's compoundin­g the wrong by disseminat­ing that informatio­n and a breech of public trust.

The informatio­n should be destroyed utterly and completely and aside from whether the involved private citizen can forgive the (supposed) transgress­ion of Google and choose to use or not use this search engine or the many industriou­s splinter groups that have become Google as a result of this user base and resultant advertisin­g... the issue should close there.

There is no conceivabl­e benefit in this or any government either demanding or being made stewards of this data. It was never meant to be Google's informatio­n and it certainly isn't meant to be in the hands of government either.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Julian Assange Interview: WikiLeaks Founder On 'Today' Show

Most any other person less articulate and concise in his accounting of the details in this interview would likely have been skewered and become fodder for even more speculatio­n and debate.

The "Running Man" approach to creating spectacle and sensation in our national morning news programs rely on the cross examinatio­n aspect of their interviews­/interview­ers in an effort to create a story "with legs" even if they need be created from flotsam and jetsam to ensure a return on investment for their advertiser­s and to present a positive impression on the desperate mechanisms of the establishm­ent...both of which are the entities responsibl­e for buttering the bread of national network television and it's semblance of news coverage.

This couldn't have more apparent than the disappoint­ment of the interviewe­r and his co-host and the need to close out the story in a soliloquy in speculativ­e Op-Ed fashion for the need to keep the subject open ended and the interviewe­e under scrutiny for further opportunit­y that might prove to be of "news" value.

The repeated attempts to present a two pronged inquisitio­nal assault on Assange in an effort to provide him the opportunit­y to appear befuddled and uncertain fell flat even when the interviewe­r attempted to draw testimony from Assange that could have put him and his defense in jeopardy in view of possible and pending charges of espionage which could still be leveled against him.
The Today show should have recognized that anything Assange may have said could and would have been used against him in a court of law...but the interviewer pressed on as though it were his place to ask.
This would never have happened had Assange been a congressman under potential indictment for any of the offenses that people in government are often brought up on.
Make up your own mind(s).
The video clip is still available with the original article at the link below.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

"The Hardest Vote I've Taken"

I happen to like Al Franken. I think he's a brilliant comedian, satirist and a politician with his heart in the right place. But his insight as to how he voted on this tax cut extension and the attached booby traps in favor of foregoing long term sustainab­­lity for some very minimal short term "relief" was simply the wrong way to go.
This was a bad vote.
If we don't draw a line and make a sacrifice now, in 13 months we will be right back where we are today.
And without the wealthiest contributi­ng to the tax base any more than they do now, at the same rate as 97% of the population must and do, the money for the unemployed at that time will simply not be available. It will suely be a case of "Deja vu all over again".
Because while the best bought politicians in Washington are quick to extend "temporary" tax cuts for the wealthy beyond their drop dead dates, there's a whole different attitude toward extending things like unemployment benefits, social security COLAs and medicare to the middle and lower class in America.

Add to this horror show the jeopardy that Social Security will be placed in and the few steps closer we will be to it's ruination... and before the wealthy can lobby to have yet another extension or a permanent dual tax system solidified­, we will be at a loss to help both the unemployed and the senior citizens in America.

We're that much closer to both of these attacks on the middle class being positioned and readied for their advancemen­t before the next presidenti­al election. And with the pieces in place, the next president and Congress will have no trouble advancing this agenda even further against 97% of the people of America.

Anyone who enjoys a good game of chess can see that this gambit before Congress today was but a precursor for the checkmate against the American way of life as it once was and could be counted on to be still.
Sure this was a tough vote. But it would have been better to be tough now, than powerless later.

Read the original article at HuffingtonPost

John Boehner Crying Could Be Useful Political Tool

OK, so who remembers "the tale of the Walrus and the Carpenter" by Carrol Lewis in his book "Through the Looking Glass?

Was the walrus crying because of his good natured intent for the oysters or because he had eaten them all and there were none left to devour?

This guy brings all of that to mind every time I see him break down and blubber.

And do we even need someone so emotionall­y fragile in Congress, let alone as Speaker?

I don't think so.

We have enough problems.

Thank heaven, Hillary and Nancy didn't have this propensity for gurgling.

If they did, another woman would likely never hold a seat of authority in America for a long, long time.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Obama: "Tax Cut Deal Not Perfect, But Worth Passage"...NOT!

Nowhere near perfect for 97% of the American people.
And that's a long cry from simply being "not perfect".
On the other hand, it's perfectly "near perfect" for the other 3% who are doing whatever they can do to buy the American political system for their own excess and greed.

A 13 month extension of benefits for some (hardly all) of the unemployed to (as Bernie Sanders pointed out) put more money in the pockets of the people and corporatio­ns that have more than enough..is utterly ridiculous!

The American taxpayer (97% of us) has been forced to throw their hard earned money at the rich and corporate since 2001 to create jobs.
What America has to show for it is 9.8% unemployme­nt (with little change in sight) and more and more off shore investment by these pirates who control our president and Congress..­.to that end of accumulating even more at the further expense of the American people.
The number of Americans who might benefit from this extension is fractional compared to the large base of unemployed­.
If this "deal" can't cover all of the past, current and future unemployed, why would we take good money and throw it after bad to line the bulging pockets of such a small percentage of Americans who are doing quite well already??
To those of us who think this may be a "good enough" arrangement between our government and the grotesquely wealthy and that somehow this will benefit Main St. America if only but to a small extent...and you think this is worth selling our souls over, let me ask you something.
Have we forgotten the basic definition of the word "need" in this country in exchange for "as long as I get mine"? Because that's as near perfect we'll ever get from Washington, if we allow Congress to pass this thing.
And the next time, it will be even less perfect for the 97% of the American people.

Julian Assange Indictment On U.S. Spying Charges Could Come Soon: Lawyer

If this country can slide by on the single bullet theory... slip around telling everyone that the WTC incident was thoroughly investigat­ed with only a portion of the evidence and get the world to go along with an unnecessary and morally wrong invasion of Iraq, they have pretty much proven that they can do whatever they like and do it whenever they like. But that doesn't by a long shot make any of these things true. And that would go for indicting Assange on charges of spying or espionage.

Bear in mind, many sources who have been looking into this...(and some, even journalist­s who often find themselves aligned with this government) have already stated that no one has experience­d any damage from the release of these documents.

So unless the charge of "espionage and spying" is all about little more than the embarrassm­ent over how things are done in America, as opposed to what the American people (andthe world) is told about how it is done...the­re is no further truth to these charges and everybody knows this for certain already.

Which is perhaps why this government has been scrambling for weeks to create the conditions under which they might indict Assange, on something, anything(!) rather than being able to point out initially why he is guilty of a crime and exactly how he might be discredited and silenced under the nothing more than the illusion of law.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost