Julian Assange - Asperger's??

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This could have consequences because Julian Assange has such a profile now. Assuming AS is valid (seems likely) then I can see Asperger's replaced with "Assange Syndrome".

And President Palin introducing the Neuro-Patriot Act where everyone with Assange Syndrome has to be registered.

I never said no sexual activity took place. You used the loaded word "questionable", even if you did not say illegal.



There you go again. I don't know many people who would say that "American Hegemony is the root of all evil". Stop using this as a diversionary tactic when any criticism is brought to bear, as it stifles any sensible debate. Like EnglishLuLU, I am equal opportunities when it comes to wrongdoing. My government has done some awful things but I don't take it personally when those issues are raised or use wounded national pride as a smokescreen.




Well clearly, you shouldn't use rhetorical hyperbole with me. Surely you can see that the influence exerted by the U.S. is not equal in all countries, with all of the people all of the time? There is nothing contradictory in say, leaning on a politician in Sweden and getting their way, but failing to have any leverage on the British Judiciary. I'm not saying any of this is true, merely putting it forward as an idea. Likewise the methods of influence will vary; bribes, blackmail, threats, favours, use your imagination.

Somehow the U.S. was certainly successful in persuading the German authorities in not prosecuting several CIA agents who kidnapped German citizens in Germany.

Is it not questionable?



I will try to be more direct. I still forget that the need for precision among Aspies is not just a matter of style.



It is almost certainly true that the influence of the U.S. is uneven. But that in and of itself is inconsistent with Assange's own assessments of the U.S. as a bad actor. His rhetoric is that the U.S. is a primary, if not THE primary, vector of 'bad things'. This is another bone of contention I have with his tactics. Clearly, the US bends or breaks the rules according to some impenetrable calculus, but it is also clear that ALL governments do this. Assange has, in his own words, singled out the U.S. as the primary target of his agenda. He disregards the fact the even if elements in the U.S. are corrupt, that the nation as a whole is not, and that damaging the U.S., as is his expressed desire, in fact damages more than just those elements that are indeed corrupt.



Somehow indeed, but you cannot claim that whatever leverage was applied, it was not without the Germans also acting in their own self interests as perceived by them and not the U.S. This is the falsehood of the idea that America is somehow the defacto ruler of the world, pushing its agenda down unwilling throats. Each government will act in its own self interest. The U.S. can at best convince an ally, or even an enemy, that certain actions align with the self interests of both, but the United States cannot force its will on anyone. Even the Iraq war was not possible without legal wrangling via the U.N. and other international interests (the actual legality is another topic).

No irony in this (sic)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hjnfhMZase2N4O_W7kEhcCuGtlvA?docId=55e44e1d710441dd942fcaa2e044adcb

Totally totally amazing article by Bruce Sterling on Wikileaks, published at Webstock:

http://www.webstock.org.nz/blog/2010/the-blast-shack/

Excellent article. Thanks for the link.

A few excerpts from the article, those paragraphs which are about Assange specifically; his "character"/persona, skills, qualities, etc, ( many AS ones ), as perceived by Sterling anyway! :lol, ( as opposed to the history of hacking, the National Security Assoc., the "leak" Bradley Manning, diplomats, the impact of Wikileaks generally, etc which the article also looks at ):

From "The Blast Shack" by Bruce Sterling, published by Webstock at: http://www.webstock.org.nz/blog/2010/the-blast-shack/

It is good isn't it! Brilliantly, magically, written, and full of insights into the Wikileaks phenomenon, aswell as Assange.
.

Last edited by ouinon on 22 Dec 2010, 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Indeed. There need to be more of this type of stuff. What hits the mainstream is so stripped down that nobody gets any clue to the complexities of the situation.

I knew looking in this thread one more time would be worth it. Cheers, ouinon.

In case no one else covered this, it's the AQ test and his result (if it is he) is 39, not 39%

Dude is 2 more aspie than me

His Myers Briggs result is slightly un aspie though; ENFP

As a gifted Aspie Aussie scientist, of the same generation as Assange, I feel obliged to give my opinion here: I think he is an Aspie. As a feminist theoretical physicist ex-Aussie woman who has lived in Scandanavia, I also feel obliged to give my opinion here: I suspect that 90% of virile, awkward Aussie males would break the modern Swedish law in question, simply due to cultural differences in the respect shown to women. Of course, I have never known any one actually being charged for this offence.

I found that Assanges old blog very interesting to read - http://web.archive.org/web/200710200519 ... ://iq.org/

From that and seeing him in videos- yes I think he has AS

Taking sides or judgements I cant really do yet ... but he is an intelligent thinker and perhaps it will wake up some ignorant people to the complexities and horrors that governments dirty their hands with. But then again some people dont read between the lines or think for themselves anyway.....

On the subject of analysing the smearing that the media are festooning upon him - its just bizarre and I am not really that informed and either are the media to make such judgements.

I am a curious person by nature... but I wonder if he is just doing it to gain maximum "surprise" effect rather than thinking about the follow up consequences in detail. He might think its "his plan" but it could damage the freedom on the internet - with the big nations flexing the muscles even more than they already do to muffle potential whistleblowers or sites there not fond of.

But what do I know - I'm barely functioning right now...

I have seen several cases where men have been convicted of rape under circumstances similar to those alleged in the Assange cases, in the UK, for example http://www.timesherald.com/articles/200 ... 228843.txt

Sex without consent is wrong and Australian people I have met agree.

No, I don't think so. Just because someone is smart and against the mainstream doesn't mean they have AS.

Assange is not AS

Yes, of course I agree, as a feminist. But this case is not necessarily about sex without consent. We do not know the details, and there appear to be grey areas. The point is that Sweden has a law that other countries do not. One of the U.K. judges was informed that the crime in question would NOT be considered a crime under U.K. law. Personally, I feel this makes Sweden more advanced ...