A Reading List to Put the WikiLeaks ‘War Logs’ in Context

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Byline

Much of what is on Wikileaks is already in circulation but not in one place

Australian founder of whistleblowing website, 'WikiLeaks', Julian Assange, holds up a copy of today's Guardian newspaper during a press conference in London on July 26, 2010. (LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

by Nicholas Kusnetz and Karen Weise ProPublica

This morning, The New York Times [1], England’s The Guardian [2] and Germany’s Der Spiegel [3] published reports on what’s been termed the “War Logs”—nearly 92,000 documents about the war in Afghanistan made public by WikiLeaks. To put the leaked documents in context, we pulled together some of the best, past reporting on the main themes in the reports.

Pakistan’s influence on Afghanistan

The documents suggest [4] that Pakistan’s intelligence service has been aiding the Taliban and the Afghan insurgency. (See some of the documents here [5].) At the heart of this debate is the question Dexter Filkins posed in his Pulitzer-Prize winning coverage [6] in late 2007: “Whose side is Pakistan really on?” Continue reading →

Wikileaks releases 90,000 Afghan war documents

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Stephen Pate

We probably are hopelessly mired in another Vietnam trying to win an un-winnable war

Wikileaks has release 90,000 official documents on the Afghan war. Canada has lost 151 soldiers and created several thousand disabled veterans. The US has lost 1,000 men and women, the UK 320. Civilian deaths may be as high as 33,000. BBC

When you consider the casualty statistics in Vietnam, that’s not bad. But is it going anywhere or is the Afghan war hopeless?

The 90,000 documents released by Wikileaks point to ineptitude on the part of military leaders, complicity by Pakistan with the Taliban, and and every increasing amount of violence.
Continue reading →

Buggy software makers liable for damages

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Stephen Pate

License agreements that absolve software developers of responsibility found unenforceable

A recent decision of the UK High Court held that software developers are responsible for software bugs. This goes against most software license agreements that software companies force on customers. Essentially, software companies have been denying all responsibility for damages.

The license agreements are non-negotiable documents often consented to as software is being installed.

It’s been the software industry practice to admit that software is buggy. People know that and hundreds of millions of customers have accepted it for decades.

However, all goods are sold on the basis of “fit for the purpose intended.” The UK High Court ruled that license agreements can’t eliminate the basic rules of commerce. Continue reading →

Is Goldman Sachs profiting from financial crisis in Greece

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Even worse, are they and other US banks the cause of Greece’s financial dire straits?

SEC Ben Bernanke made the comments while testifying on the US economy photo: BBC

Testifying yesterday before the Senate Banking Committee, SEC Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Goldman Sachs and other US banks are being investigated for potentially setting up the current crisis in Greece. To top it off, Goldman is suspected of shorting the finances of Greece, betting that the economy will fail.

Bernanke told the Senate Committee that Goldman, over a ten year period, set up sophisticated credit arrangements that disguised the true nature and amount of Greece’s debt.

“We are looking into a number of questions related to Goldman Sachs and other companies and their derivatives arrangements with Greece,” Bernanke said, testifying before the Senate banking committee.”

“Addressing concerns that financial firms have been engaging in trades to bet on a Greek default, Bernanke said that “using these instruments in a way that intentionally destabilizes a company or a country is counterproductive, and I’m sure the SEC will be looking into that.” Washington Post
Continue reading →

Embedding links from another site not illegal UK

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Byline

Tech Dirt – We’ve seen more than a few lawsuits over the years by the entertainment industry against various sites that merely link to infringing content. The entertainment industry likes to make the claim that this is inducing infringement, but if you’re just pointing to a bunch of YouTube videos, it’s difficult to see how that should be considered infringement at all. In one such case, over in the UK, a site called tv-links.co.uk, after years battling this in court, was found not to have infringed on the copyrights of movie studios. The case was brought by FACT, the “Federation Against Copyright Theft,” but had little evidence of any actual infringement being done by the site, who merely linked to videos found on YouTube, Veoh, DailyMotion and other sites. Continue reading →

Study resurrects myth disabilities come from bad behaviour

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Troubled boys more likely to die or be disabled by midlife, study finds but the study findings are false

PRLog The media tend to print stories that portray cliches about people with disabilities. This week they reached into the dark ages to report that disability comes from sin.

The Violence and Society Research Group at Cardiff University Wales in a study of 411 men in South London, UK found that bad boys were more likely to die early or become disabled.

Disability is not caused by the Devil, evil spirits or badness. Disability is a fact of the human condition caused by genetics, aging, illness, and accident

The Cardiff Wales study is bad science and the reporters who report it without question are uninformed. It’s fact by press release.

Continue reading →

Historic building no excuse for lack of accessibility

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Stephen Pate

David Allen, 18 denied access but vindicated in court

Bank of Scotland must pay damages and install wheelchair lift

with a story from the BBC
The Royal Bank of Scotland lost its appeal to a ruling that it must install a $320,000 lift in one of it’s 19th century branches in Sheffield.

David Allen, 18, had won his original complaint the bank, where he dealt for 8 years, did not accommodate his wheelchair. Not only could he not enter the bank, there were no facilities for lowered counters or door openers.

The bank argued unsuccessfully that Allen could use any one of three other branches. It also argued the expense of renovating the 19th century branch on Church Street was not reasonable.

Continue reading →

Scotland Yard bungled Nightstalker case

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Artists sketch of Nightstalker handed out by police

Jehovah’s Witness Delroy Grant identified twice but slipped through police fingers

with stories from Mirror.co.uk and News of the World

The case of the Nightstalker had Scotland Yard searching for 17 years looking for the man who raped, assaulted and robbed more than 100 seniors in and around London England.

Human error ten years ago let Grant continue his crime spree and religious ministry.

Scotland Yard is estimated to have spent $32 million US in hunting down the elusive Nightstalker.

Ten years ago a witness gave police Grant’s license number when a house was buglered in Orpington, Kent. The modus operandi was similar to the Nightstalker.

Continue reading →

London’s “Night Stalker” was Jehovah’s Witness

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Remanded: Delroy Grant leaves Greenwich Magistrates Court in South London photo: MailOnline

Alleged rapist and criminal Delroy Grant looked after disabled wife

Since 1992 London police have been looking for the masked man who raped, assaulted and robed more than 100 elderly women and men.

Wearing a balaclava, he would attack single people living alone and left only his DNA. He would torture and threaten his victims over four or five hours shining a light in their faces and beating them,

On Monday morning Delroy Grant, 52, appeared in Magistrates Court to answer 22 charges of rape and indecent assault. He said little other than his name.

Grant was arrested Sunday morning based on good old police work and forensic science. He was in his car late at night in Shirley, Croyden not far from where he lived in Brockley.

While he left no fingerprints, he did leave DNA samples that identified him as someone from the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.

Continue reading →

Fresh round of layoffs signal recession still going strong

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Stephen Pate

The rise in the stock market has led some to conclude the recession is over

Tell that to the tens of millions of unemployed who will be welcoming new members shortly. Until people feel secure in their incomes, a recovery is a long way off.

Here are a few layoff notices handed out in the last week.

Canadian Manufacturers Association president Jayson Myers says “that even after shedding 200,000 jobs in the past year, a significant number of employers are still planning to lay off workers in the next few months.” CP

Continue reading →