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WikiLeaks, Money, and Ron Paul
Another day, another dozen WikiLeaks stories, several of which revolve around money. PayPal has given in to pressure to release WikiLeaks funds, though they still won't do further transactions. Mobile payment firm Xipwire is attempting to take PayPal's place. "We do think people should be able to make their own decisions as to who they donate to." PCWorld wonders if the WikiLeaks' money woes could lead to great adoption of Bitcoin, the peer-to-peer currency system we've discussed in the past. Meanwhile, Representative Ron Paul spoke in defense of WikiLeaks on the House floor Thursday, asking a number of questions, including, "Could it be that the real reason for the near universal attacks on WikiLeaks is more about secretly maintaining a seriously flawed foreign policy of empire than it is about national security?" The current uproar over WikiLeaks has prompted Paul Vixie to call for an end to the DDoS attacks and Vladimir Putin to break out a metaphor involving cows and hockey pucks.
If there's one thing Tron Paul gets it's the Constitution. I personal freedom (construed broadly) is a misnomer, I think, when it comes to Paul, but at least someone in there realizes that this is about freedom of speech, the integrity of the press, and human rights.
Once again, how is this about freedom of speech? Whose speech is being suppressed? Whose newspapers have been shutdown? Whose radio stations have been shut down? Just who isn't able to say what they want to say here? Certainly not Julian Assange. On the contrary, he won't shut up.
This isn't about free speech, period. This is about a giant classified document dump. The only original writings involved are of government employees and officials. No one is suppressing the writings of Assange or any other protester.
If you want to make the argument that governments should have no secrets at all, that diplomats should have no confidential communications at all, then say that. But quit saying that this is a freedom of speech case.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Look at one example where Ron Paul demanded that 3/4 of million dollars be used for a bus stop. If the money had not be spent, this could have been cut from the next budget. Furthermore, the bus stop distorts the free market by forcing the taxpayer rather than the individual to cover the individuals commuter costs. Some would say that by building a bus statin we don't have to build freeways, but that assumes we have to build freeways to reduce congestion, which we do not. We can allow the free market to operate. If people can't get to work, then they will find other jobs. If they can't find a job, then they will move to a location where they can find a job. Individuals are no entitled to a lake front home or a high paying job, and Paul should not take from the the taxpayer cover these individual expenses. This is the way that the free market operates. Not by government subsiding infrastructure that favors certain individuals, but by individuals making choices of how to use their personal resources in a most efficient fashion.
Then, of course, there is conservative get-out-of-jail-free card that even he uses. Out of the 17 million dollars he stole from taxpayers, mostly for gifts to his buddies in the name of socialist job creation for his constituents. Almost 10 million went to defense contractors. For those who do not know, firms go into defense contracting when they cannot run a legitimate free market business
It is also interesting to note, that as far as I can tell, while he gave huge sums to the dying petrochemical industry, he did not earmark a penny to help NASA and the space industry, something that could help his district in a post-oil world.
All this wasteful spending, which by itself is not a huge problem, has be to be taken in the context of his contempt for the IRS. I know of at least one case where the IRS tried to collect from a family in which all indicators suggested that they were tax cheats. Paul's office helped them, and it turned out they probably not tax cheats, but Paul gave no credit to the IRS. Now, if Paul were not building million dollar bus stops and paying 3 million dollars to his friends for 'defense' such attack on the IRS would be ok. But rational people understand that many of our current deficit problems result from offering services that every agrees we need, like payments to the old, defense, etc, while not taxing for those services. Taxing the families in Pauls districts under the pre-bush-era tax cuts would more than cover the bribes that Paul gives his friends through earmarks, but without these taxes we go into debt. Going into debt for bribes is the reason so many want earmarks to go away.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
You must be retarded to have to ask those questions.
What laws have they broken?
Receiving and distributing classified information that causes harm to national security is against the law.
Whose(sic) laws?
The laws of the United States.
Were those laws written prior(sic) to the commission of the crime?
Yes. It was even tested in court prior to this. See here: http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/rosen080906.pdf
Honestly, I don't give a damn about that. The sandniggers have been fucking boys for centuries, so it is just a part of their culture, thus, it cannot be judge by the standards of civilized people, which means that it can hardly be called rape. And Dyncorp is free to spend their money however. Whether or not they should be contracted in the future is an obvious "no", but they were just trying to cater to the culture they were in, as shitty and backwards as it is.
VC: forcible, no, really, it was.