Free Republic

Julian Assange tried to contact Hillary Clinton and the White House when he realized that unredacted U.S. diplomatic cables given to WikiLeaks were about to be dumped on the internet, his lawyer told his London extradition hearing on Tuesday. Assange is being sought by the United States on 18 counts of hacking U.S. government computers and an espionage offense, having allegedly conspired with Chelsea Manning, then a U.S. soldier known as Bradley Manning, to leak hundreds of thousands of secret documents by WikiLeaks almost a decade ago. On Monday, the lawyer representing the United States told the hearing that Assange,...

Activists have successfully forced Mastercard to hold a vote by shareholders on a proposal which, if passed, could see the company monitoring payments to global far-right political leaders and white supremacist groups. The proposal aims to see Mastercard establish an internal “human rights committee” that would stop designated white supremacist groups and anti-Islam activists, such as Tommy Robinson, from getting access to money sent from donors using the company’s card payment services. It’s been conceived by US-based political activists SumOfUs, who want to escalate the battle against white supremacists and far-right groups from tech platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Patreon,...

The developer behind the game-changing, WikiLeaks inspired submission system “SecureDrop,” has allegedly committed suicide. “Second developer of WikiLeaks inspired submission system “SecureDrop”, security expert James Dolan, aged 36, has tragically died. He is said to have committed suicide. The first, Aaron Swartz, is said to have taken his own life at age 26, after being persecuted by US prosecutors,” tweeted WikiLeaks’ official Twitter account.

This week Elise Jordan, wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter's sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project (CNN clip). Last month a source provided San Diego 6 News with an alarming email hacked from super secret CIA contractor Stratfor’s President Fred Burton. The email (link here) was posted on WikiLeaks and alleged that then Obama counter-terrorism Czar Brennan, was in charge of the government's continued crackdown or witch-hunt on investigative journalists. After providing the Stratfor email to the CIA for comment, the spymaster's spokesperson responded in lightning...

U.S. Secret Service documents show that the agency played a key role in the investigation of free-information activist Aaron Swartz and watched his case closely until he committed suicide.

The case of computer whiz Aaron Swartz -- who committed suicide after federal prosecutors charged him with 13 felony fraud counts -- has become, for some, emblematic of how overzealous prosecutors are going too far in pursuit of a win. The shocking suicide -- the 26-year-old co-creator of RSS and Reddit hanged himself last month -- has led to calls to rein in the practice of overcharging defendants. Swartz could have been punished with up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines -- a greater penalty than some murderers face. And it was all for downloading millions...

If you think a twenty-something ought to be tossed in federal prison for 35 years because he tried to download some musty academic journal articles without permission, you are a lot things, but a conservative is not one of them. You might be relieved to know that Aaron Swartz, one of the internet geniuses behind RSS and Reddit.com, will not be imprisoned for a third of a century. Unfortunately, that’s because the fragile young man hanged himself after the United States attorney prosecuting the case generously offered him the alternative of pleading guilty to a felony, paying a crippling fine...

Anonymous, a band of online vigilante activists, has turned its ire on the U.S. Department of Justice, threatening to release secret, internal documents the group hacked in memory of Aaron Swartz, the Internet prodigy who committed suicide before his federal trial. “With Aaron’s death we can wait no longer. The time has come to show the United States Department of Justice and its affiliates the true meaning of infiltration. The time has come to give this system a taste of its own medicine,” read part of the message and video posted on the U.S. Sentencing Commission website, which the activist...

Aaron Swartz, 26-year-old genius, computer prodigy, co-creator of RSS and Reddit, is dead. Swartz committed suicide in the wake of relentless bullying and persecution/prosecution by Eric Holder's Department of Justice. Swartz was "driven to the edge" by the government's aggressive prosecution of a non-existent legal case. Swartz made public documents available to everyone -- this was his crime. “It’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” Put this in context. Obama's DoJ, headed by Eric Holder, refused to prosecute thr Black Panthers who violently threatened voters with billy clubs and...

What an amazing night for progressives! In Pennsylvania, progressive challenger Joe Sestak defeated Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter in the primary! In Arkansas, progressive challenger Bill Halter is neck-and-neck with corporate Democrat Blanche Lincoln and firmly advances to a run-off election in 3 weeks. Lincoln only has 43% in a Democratic primary (unbelievable!) -- voters want change, and Halter promised tonight to "finish the job" in the run-off. Can you chip in an emergency $3 to help Halter "finish the job" in the upcoming run-off? Click here! Thousands of PCCC members contributed time and money to Halter's campaign. PCCC members chipped in...

“Progressivism” is a reform movement that began in the 1890’s and has remained active to this day. At times it has had a lower profile but it has been an active force in American politics for over 100 years. So what is my beef with “Progressives” ? In part 1, I gave you the history of the movement and the names of some of its’ current members. For the second part of the answer I offer you a compilation of the Progressives in their own words: -- WOODROW WILSON, 28th U.S. PRESIDENT: “The President is at liberty, both in law...

December 11, 2003: Search By Number Gary Price points out that in their quest to become the command line of the Internet, Google has added several new features: you can now enter UPS (1Z1234567891234567) and FedEx (fedex 999999999999), patent (patent 5123123), airplane (n199ua), and FCC equipment (fcc B4Z-34009-PIR) ID/tracking numbers. Fun stuff.

From Sources: BACKDOOR FIX: 'Funds will be transferred to the Social Security Trust' if necessary... PRESIDENT'S 'HEALTHCARE' PROPOSAL SUMMARY USES WORD 'TAX' 35 TIMES... 'Increase in Fees on Brand Name Pharmaceuticals'... Broaden 'Tax Base for High-Income Taxpayers'... Orders 'Comprehensive Database' On Health Claims... FORCED: 'Raises percent of income assessment that individuals pay if they choose not to become insured'...

Obama to Netroots Nation: ‘Let’s Finish What We’ve Started’ It wasn’t lost on the 2,100 liberal activists gathered in Las Vegas at Netroots Nation for the annual four-day confab that the only Obama administration official who made the trip this time was Treasury Secretary Ray LaHood—a Republican. But in a surprise video message this morning, President Barack Obama sought to rally his progressive base. “We’re moving America forward and when we’ve come this far we can’t afford to slide backward,” Obama said, “Let’s finish what we’ve started.”

Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday. The news was first reported by the MIT newspaper The Tech, citing both his uncle and his attorney. Swartz was 26.

BOSTON (AP) — A Harvard University fellow who was studying ethics was charged with hacking into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer network to steal nearly 5 million academic articles. Aaron Swartz, 24, of Cambridge, was accused of stealing the documents from JSTOR, a popular research subscription service that offers digitized copies of more than 1,000 academic journals and documents, some dating back to the 17th century. In an indictment released Tuesday, prosecutors say Swartz stole 4.8 million articles between September 2010 and January after breaking into a computer wiring closet on MIT's campus. Swartz, then a student at the...