Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Has Passport Confiscated 197
Taco Cowboy writes "The Australian founder of the whistleblower website Wikileaks had his passport confiscated by police when he arrived in Melbourne last week. While Assange has made himself particularly unpopular with the US military by publishing video of attacks on civilians in Iraq, he's been something of a thorn in the side for the Australian government too. Last year, Wikileaks published a list of websites which were to be banned under the government's proposed Internet filter. While the aim of the filter is to block extreme pornography and the like, the blacklist included a number of more prosaic sites such as those of a travel company and a dentist.
Move along. Nothing to see here (Score:5, Informative)
The dentist site was censored with a reason (Score:5, Informative)
Wouldn't you censor a dentist that has a sign like this? [blogspot.com]
Re:For a Whole Fifteen Minutes (Score:1, Informative)
First they march you through hundreds of miles of jungle without food or water,
then they shoot you,
then they disembowel you,
then you lose.
-- Gandhi, had the Japs won WW2
Re:For a Whole Fifteen Minutes (Score:2, Informative)
I don't see nothing in the Second Amendment that says I shouldn't be able to protect myself and my family with the firearm of my choice just because of a little armed robbery.
It's not in the 2nd amendment. It's in the 5th amendment: No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law
Re:For a Whole Fifteen Minutes (Score:3, Informative)
Did everyone suddenly skip over the line where it says it will be cancelled?
While it was returned 15 minutes later, Assange said he was told it would be cancelled.
Wikileaks != Wikipedia (Score:5, Informative)
Why is this tagged "Wikipedia"? Wikileaks is a completely separate site and organization. Do you think that "protons" are "protozoa" are the same thing just because they start with he same four letters?
Re:For a Whole Fifteen Minutes (Score:3, Informative)
Just FYI - The Commonwealth of Nations is pretty open, and is not a British controlled organisation. I guess the point I'm making is that just because Australia is a member of the Commonwealth, doesn't mean anything at all about their political and legal system necessarily, at least within certain limits - the commonwealth is pretty forgiving. Basically the commonwealth just needs you to be a democracy (the rules are a little lax), and more importantly have a decent legal system and not be racist. The Harare Declaration [wikipedia.org] is basically all that is needed to join the commonwealth :
* We believe that international peace and order, global economic development and the rule of international law are essential to the security and prosperity of mankind;
* We believe in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief, and in the individual's inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political processes in framing the society in which he or she lives;
* We recognise racial prejudice and intolerance as a dangerous sickness and a threat to healthy development, and racial discrimination as an unmitigated evil;
* We oppose all forms of racial oppression, and we are committed to the principles of human dignity and equality;
* We recognise the importance and urgency of economic and social development to satisfy the basic needs and aspirations of the vast majority of the peoples of the world, and seek the progressive removal of the wide disparities in living standards amongst our members.
Note the entire lack of accepting the British Queen as head of state. Also, there are two countries which were never British colonies at all which are now in the commonwealth (Rwanda and Mozambique).
The main obvious effect of the commonwealth is simply easier visa and work permit aquisition in other member countries. There's also the commonwealth games, which is (at least in the UK) probably the second biggest non-single sport sporting event.
Re:I'm becoming... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:For a Whole Fifteen Minutes (Score:3, Informative)
Your post is funny, kind of, but there's a few things I'd like to address.
First, becoming a felon removes ALL of your gun rights. Not just the ones regarding automatic firearms. You can't own so much as an air pistol in some places if you're a convicted felon.
Second, becoming a convicted felon is far easier than most people would believe possible. I have an acquaintance who is a convicted felon because of too many speeding tickets. He has a passion for fast motorcycles and on his 3rd 100+ MPH ticket they convicted him of a felony. In Montana. How does a lust for speed justify a felony conviction that removes your right to vote, right to have firearms, and many other constitutional protections?
Third, many felons are non-violent. Your crack about "armed robbery" is both mis-informed and prejudice to the core. There are a lot of people wandering around, I'm not one of them, with felony convictions for bad checks, marijuana possession, speeding tickets, and other tom-foolery that has nothing to do with violent crime.
I understand the humor you were reaching for in your post, but it falls flat when you have some knowledge about the subject.