Internet Inaccessible Behind China's Firewall, Including Sites Such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

WikiLeaks Site Blocked Behind Chinese Firewall

Amplify’d from www.cbsnews.com

WikiLeaks Site Blocked Behind Chinese Firewall

Vast Swath of Internet Inaccessible Behind China's Firewall, Including Sites Such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Links to the WikiLeaks website were blocked within China on Wednesday local time amid potentially embarrassing claims made in leaked U.S. diplomatic cables posted to the site.  (CNET)

Play CBS Video Video WikiLeaks Impacts Washington James Hohmann, Reporter for POLITICO, talks with Up to the Minute anchor Betty Nguyen about how the recent documents dump by WikiLeaks is affecting Washington and The White House.

Stories Who Is WikiLeaks' Founder Julian Assange? WikiLeaks: Gov't Cuts Access after Secrets Spill

(AP)  Updated at 11:30 p.m. ET Links to the WikiLeaks website were blocked within China on Wednesday amid potentially embarrassing claims made in leaked U.S. diplomatic cables posted to the site. Attempts to access wikileaks.org and cablegate.wikileaks.org were met with a notice saying the connection had been reset. That's the standard response when a website is being blocked by Chinese authorities who exert rigid controls over Internet content. It wasn't clear when the blocks were imposed, although a vast swath of the Internet is inaccessible behind China's firewall, including social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Human rights and political dissent-themed sites are also routinely banned, although technologically savvy users can easily jump the so-called "Great Firewall" with proxy servers or other alternatives. WikiLeaks may have been singled out because of some of the assertions made in the leaked cables, including some sent from the U.S. Embassies in Seoul and Beijing focusing on China's ally North Korea. Those included suggestions that North Korea's communist regime would likely collapse within three years of the death of ruler Kim Jong Il, and that Chinese leaders were prepared to accept South Korea's eventual rule over the entire Korean peninsula. In one, a Chinese diplomat is quoted describing North Korea as a "spoiled child" for attempting to win U.S. attention with a provocative missile test. The leaks also claimed that China's Politburo directed a cyber intrusion into Google's computer systems, and expressed concern over attempts by Iranian front companies to obtain Chinese nuclear technology. China's government has taken a low-key approach to the leaks, with the Foreign Ministry saying it would not comment on specific assertions in the cables. "China takes note of relevant reports. We hope the U.S. side will properly handle the relevant issue. As for the content of the documents, we do not comment on that," ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Tuesday. The Global Times, a provocative tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece Peoples Daily, labeled the disclosure a "nefarious slander against China" on Wednesday. It also questioned the U.S. government's perceived inability to block the posting of the leaks, saying it raised questions as to whether it had reached some form of tacit understanding with WikiLeaks. Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Beijing's Renmin University, said Beijing shared Washington's concern about the release of sensitive diplomatic communications. But he said the WikiLeaks' blocking was motivated more by the need to stifle further rumor mongering, rather than suppressing specific revelations. "The website is blocked because the information is both unprovable and sensitive," Shi said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that WikiLeaks acted illegally in posting the documents. Officials around the world have said the disclosure jeopardizes national security, diplomats, intelligence assets and relationships between foreign governments. The massive leaks were "embarrassing" and "awkward," but the consequences for American foreign policy should be limited, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. More on the Wikileaks Diplomatic Cables: Wikileaks Sends U.S. Scrambling Over Security Leaked Cables Reveal Locations of European Nukes Hoekstra on WikiLeaks: "A Number of Time Bombs" Outrage Over Wikileaks The WikiLeaks Impact WikiLeaks Releases State Dept. Documents Key GOP Pol: WikiLeaks a Terrorist Group Ahmadinejad Dismisses WikiLeaks Cable "Mischief" U.S. Cables: Iran Armed Hezbollah Via Ambulances Hoekstra: World's Trust in U.S. Now at Risk U.S. Encouraged Diplomats to Spy, Leaks Show Leaked Cables Shine Light on Iran Nuclear Threat Worldwatch: Embarrassing Revelations Abound Worldwatch: Diplomatic Shockers White House Condemns WikiLeaks' Document Release WikiLeaks Defies U.S., Releases Embassy Cables Links to Leaked Cables: Cables Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels (NYT) The US Embassy Cable (Guardian) A Superpower's View of the World (Spiegel, in English) Los papeles del Departamento de Estado (El Pais) Wikileaks: Dans les coulisses de la diplomatie americaine (Le Monde) Read more at www.cbsnews.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzss

Indonesia's Islamic laws are 'abusive', report says: poor women, bear the brunt of Sharia law

Amplify’d from www.bbc.co.uk

Indonesia's Islamic laws are 'abusive', report says

Women, especially poor women, bear the brunt of Sharia law in Aceh, says Human Rights Watch

Two Islamic laws applied in the Indonesian province of Aceh violate people's rights and are implemented abusively, a new report has concluded.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says two of five local laws based on the Sharia legal code discriminate against women.

It says the laws against "seclusion" - association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex - and dress codes are also not applied to wealthy people.

Islamic law applies only in Aceh in the secular state of Indonesia.

The report by New York-based HRW, Policing Morality: Abuses in the Application of Sharia in Aceh, Indonesia, notes that the rights group takes no position on Sharia law as a whole - a system its supporters say provides a comprehensive guide to behaviour.

However, it says the "seclusion" law, which makes association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex a criminal offence in some circumstances, and laws on dress requirements, are discriminatory.

"These two laws deny people's right to make their own decisions about who they meet and what they wear," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The laws, and their selective enforcement, are an invitation to abuse," she said.

Abuse

The word "seclusion" has been used to bar people simply meeting and talking in a quiet place, the report says.

Abuses include aggressive interrogations and attempts to force people to marry.

At least one case of rape of a woman in detention by Sharia police officers has occurred, the report says.

HRW says Sharia police officers have told investigators that they sometimes force women and girls to submit to virginity exams as part of the investigation.

The laws also allow for members of the public to identify, report and punish alleged misbehaviour which has also led to further violence and abuses which usually go unpunished, HRW says, citing several first-person accounts.

Other Islamic laws applied in Aceh relate to charitable giving, gambling, Islamic ritual and proper Muslim behaviour.

They were applied as part of the central government's attempts to appease the Islamic lobby in Aceh, where separatists have for years criticised unfairness in the distribution of wealth from Aceh's considerable oil and gas resources.

Surveys in the province have regularly highlighted local residents' unhappiness with the laws.

There has been no central or local government response to the HRW report.

Related stories Five flogged by Indonesian police 06 AUGUST 2010, ASIA-PACIFIC On patrol with Aceh's Sharia police 02 FEBRUARY 2010, ASIA-PACIFIC Aceh passes adultery stoning law 14 SEPTEMBER 2009, ASIA-PACIFIC Aceh wary over new Sharia police 08 DECEMBER 2006, ASIA-PACIFIC Read more at www.bbc.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzrv

BBC News - Idaho prison guards 'filmed watching inmate attack'

URL:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11883673

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzr3

BBC News - Interpol issues 'Red Notice' for Wikileaks' Assange

URL:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11883567

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzql

Amplify’d from www.bbc.co.uk

Spanish nursing home orderly admits 11 killings

An orderly at a Spanish retirement home has admitted killing 11 residents, reports say.

Joan Vila, 45, said he poisoned them with bleach, an overdose of insulin or drugs at the home in the north-eastern town of Olot, Spanish media reported. He had confessed to killing three residents "to end their suffering" when he was arrested in October. He then told a judge on Tuesday that he had killed another eight, the Spanish news agency Efe reported. The confession came 10 days after a judge ordered the eight bodies exhumed as part of an investigation into suspicious deaths at the La Caritat home. Doctors first alerted police after they found burns to the mouth and throat of an 85-year-old woman who died last month. Mr Vila then confessed he had killed the woman and two others by forcing them to drink bleach. In his latest confession Mr Vila told a judge he killed another six with a mix of drugs and two from an overdose of insulin, Efe reported. The newspaper El Periodico quoted Mr Vila's lawyer, Carles Monguilod, as saying that the first killing was carried out in August 2009, another later that year and the other nine this year. Mr Vila, who worked weekends at the home, is currently being held in the psychiatric ward of a prison. Mr Monguilod said his client acted out of "compassion... because they were suffering and he wanted to give them some peace". Most of the patients were said to have been suffering terminal illnesses, including Alzheimer's, and had fevers or were disorientated. Read more at www.bbc.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzpx

Amplify’d from news.adventist.org

Obama's anti-child obesity initiative receives faith, community support

At White House, Wilson pledges support for 'Let's Move' goals

Ansel Oliver/NAD staff

The Seventh-day Adventist Church joined some 50 other faith and community organizations yesterday in supporting a national initiative of United States first lady Michelle Obama to fight the epidemic of childhood obesity. The initiative, "Let's Move: Faith and Communities," seeks pledges from organizations to promote exercise, the planting of community gardens to provide fresh food, and other activities contributing to healthful living. About one-third of children in the U.S. are overweight or obese, Obama told faith and community leaders gathered at the White House. "It's clear that when it comes to ensuring our children's health and well-being, when it comes to tackling childhood obesity, our faith-based and community organizations have a very critical role to play," Obama said. She said this new phase of the previously established Let's Move initiative would work to support existing programs. "Many of you have been leading the way on this issue for so long..." Obama said, referring to faith-based health ministries, exercise clubs and education in "Saturday and Sunday schools." The new initiative is comprised of four goals for next year: -Community and faith-based members walking a total of three million miles. -Complete 500,000 Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards or establish exercise programs. -Host 10,000 community gardens or farmer's markets nationally. -1,000 new summer feeding sites nationally. Several leaders of prominent faith groups expressed support for the goals, including Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the Adventist world church, who said he "resonate[d] with the issue personally." He holds a master's degree in public health from the church's Loma Linda University. "The 'Let's Move' initiative is consistent with our church's approach to ministering to people physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually," Wilson said. "It has been shown that Seventh-day Adventists live longer because of their healthy lifestyle. "Seventh-day Adventists have extensive educational and health systems in which we promote better health through practical, healthy lifestyles such as balanced nutrition, exercise, drinking enough water, adequate sunlight, abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, fresh air, appropriate rest and trust in divine power. "We will promote balanced and healthful vegetarian meals for children and young people in our schools and summer Vacation Bible Schools, walking programs for young people, and possible use of periodic local produce markets on church properties. "The Seventh-day Adventist Church will do its part to fulfill God's wish found in 3 John [chapter] 2 which indicates that God wants us to be in physical and spiritual health," Wilson said. Katia Reinert, Health Ministries director for the church in North America, said members will be encouraged to: -Walk 1 million miles through InStep for Life and other exercise initiatives. Health Ministries will aim to motivate 100 churches walking 10,000 miles a year and at least 10 people per church walking 2.5 miles a day. -Engaging youth at churches and schools to establish vegetable gardens in the community, with the goal of one garden in each local conference. -Encourage youth to receive the Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards; at least one award per Adventist school in North America. -Establish summer feeding programs through Vacation Bible School, summer camps, and community service outreach initiatives. "I think more than ever the time has come for God's message of healing and restoration to be heard," Reinert later said in a statement. "This is a wonderful opportunity to engage our churches and schools to make a positive impact for Christ in our communities on a national level." For more information, resources and an initiative tool kit, visit www.letsmove.gov. Read more at news.adventist.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzps

Amplify’d from gawker.com

Tea Party Leader: Restricting Voting to Property Owners 'Makes a Lot of Sense'

Judson Phillips, president of prominent Tea Party group Tea Party Nation, has a terrific idea: "The Founding Fathers... put certain restrictions on... the right to vote... you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense."

Like a lot of people, I was pretty worried that after The Tea Party won the November elections and executed President Obama for treason, they'd stop peddling their bizarre, antiquated views of government in public. But I was wrong! Because Judson Phillips is out there, fighting the good fight for the landed gentry, on the Tea Party Nation radio station:

The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you're a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners.

That whole property owners-only deal worked out pretty well back in the nineteenth century, didn't it? I mean, if you were a property owner! If you weren't (or if you were female, or black) well, no, it probably did not make so much sense, to you. But who cares what you think! How on earth could you have a vested interest in your community if you are renting, or, say, homeless?

So why not just add this proposal to the bizarre movement to repeal the 17th amendment, which would end the direct election of Senators? Hell, why not repeal all the amendments? And let's get a king in here, too! He'd look after the property-owners.

[ThinkProgress]

Send an email to Max Read, the author of this post, at max@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzpn

Wikileaks chief said he has 5GB of secret docs on Bank of America

Amplify’d from www.rawstory.com

Flashback: Wikileaks chief said he has 5GB of secret docs on Bank of America (exclusive)

By Sahil Kapur

In an interview published Monday, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange revealed that his whistleblower website intends to publish a trove of secret documents exposing the corruption of a major American bank. He declined to say which bank, but he offered what may be a telling hint last year as to who the megaleak will target. "At the moment, for example, we are sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive's hard drives," Assange told the technology site Computer World in an article published on October 9, 2009. The Wikileaks chief continued: "Now how do we present that? It's a difficult problem. We could just dump it all into one giant Zip file, but we know for a fact that has limited impact. To have impact, it needs to be easy for people to dive in and search it and get something out of it." The Internet has been abuzz with speculations as to which bank the famous -- or notorious -- website will expose. Although Assange's hint is far from a dead giveaway, his strategic approach to publishing secrets suggests that his next target may well be Bank of America, the nation's largest bank in terms of assets.

Speaking to Andy Greenberg of Forbes, Assange said the leak -- to be unveiled early in 2011 -- "will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms." It would blow the lid off an "ecosystem of corruption," he added. The Australian-born Wikileaks chief predicted it would be as damaging as the Enron emails, which brought the powerful Houston-based energy company to its knees and led to its bankruptcy. Assange has long maintained that he is sitting on far more secret documents than he can handle at any given moment, and is generally astute in terms of winning the maximum amount of media coverage for his leaks. Having exposed explosive US secrets pertaining to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Wikileaks this week has put the US in damage control mode after revealing 250,000 classified diplomatic cables obtained from the Department of State without permission, exposing the modus operandi of American foreign relations and countless diplomatic secrets of world leaders. Stephen C. Webster contributed to this story. Read more at www.rawstory.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzp4

Amplify’d from gawker.com

John Boehner's Next Target: Ant-Covered Jesus (Updated)

Reps. John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the two leading House Republicans, have issued a warning to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery: Take down that exhibit where Jesus is covered with ants, or face "tough scrutiny" next year. [Update below]

The Catholic site CNSNews.com brought the exhibit — called "Hide/Seek," which "contains video of a Jesus statue with ants crawling on it, as well as works of art with strongly sexual themes" — to Boehner and Cantor's attention, asking what they thought of it. They could have responded, "We have other shit to do before worrying about the aesthetic merit of some art exhibit in Chinatown," but that would've been too easy. Instead we get:

"American families have a right to expect better from recipients of taxpayer funds in a tough economy," Boehner's Spokesman Kevin Smith told CNSNews.com. "While the amount of money involved may be small, it's symbolic of the arrogance Washington routinely applies to thousands of spending decisions involving Americans' hard-earned money at a time when one in every 10 Americans is out of work and our children's future is being threatened by debt. "Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January when the new majority in the House moves to end the job-killing spending spree in Washington," Smith said.

Meanwhile, Eric Cantor's flack responded: "This is an outrageous use of tax payer money and an obvious attempt to offend Christians during the Christmas season." Not quite as blatantly authoritarian a tone as Boehner's, but still a bit much. An obvious attempt to offend Christians. All of them. And considerably less discreet than the equally threatening Green Dragon.

Ant-covered Jesus screencap via Penny Star/CNSNews.com

Update:

That didn't take too long. The ant-covered Jesus is now gone. From TBD.com:

The National Portrait Gallery has removed a work of art from a GLBT-themed exhibition after it attracted conservative and religious ire for its images of homosexuality and Christianity. Director Martin Sullivan announced the removal of A Fire in My Belly by artist David Wojnarowicz after conservative news service CNS wrote yesterday that the "Christmas-season exhibit," which opened in October, used taxpayer money to indirectly fund an exhibition that includes imagery of genitalia, homoerotic situations, and Christ covered in ants.

Send an email to Jim Newell, the author of this post, at newell@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzoz

Amplify’d from gawker.com

Julian Assange Calls for Hillary Clinton's Resignation

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told an interviewer today that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should resign if she had her diplomats "engage in espionage in the United Nations." Hillary Clinton, however, is unlikely to listen to Julian Assange.

Send an email to Jim Newell, the author of this post, at newell@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gzou