Can't Stop the Signal

There's a Web site called Wikileaks, a site for corporate whistleblowers, anonymous sources and the various informants that make investigative journalism possible. What Wikileaks does is post leaked documents anonymously, allowing these people to let the information out with some degree of safety.
Recently a Swiss bank, Julius Baer, which is based in the Cayman Islands, filed a suit trying to get the site shut down because somebody leaked documents that allegedly make the bank complicit in money laundering and other dodgy endeavors.
The bank went to a California judge and, after what appears to be some pretty shady manuevering, got the domain name shut down. Now, if you go to Wikileaks.org you get nothing.
But, since the actual servers, and IP address (http://88.80.13.160/) are not in the California judges jurisdiction, you can get to the site by typing it in directly, or going through several overseas mirror sites.
To make it even more fun, and amusing, there was this article on the New York Times Web site which describes the situation and, in the seventh paragraph provides not one but four hyperlinks for alternate routes to the site.
Journalists tend to be a little bit hostile to people who try to burn out their sources. And that First Amendment thing? They take that seriously. There's a lot of talk that there may be some unconstitutional action going on here.
Another interesting point: this whole thing about the alleged dirty dealing of Julius Baer? Not too many people might have known or cared if not for this story (which I am, I hope, helping to spread a little bit more through viral journalism).
Now, it's making headlines all over.

I only hope, and this is speaking not only as a journalist, but as an American citizen and great believer in free speech and transparency, that this kind of thing is going to keep happening, that the internet is going to continue to be harder to control, and the power will lie spread out among the millions of users, rather than falling under government or corporate control.
It's not perfect, and there are dangers, but I think the free flow of information has benefits that far outweight the risks.
Here's an attempt to censor something on the internet, which, in the words of one journalist, the Web saw as a kind of a "wound" and proceeded to heal around.

To steal a tag line from a recent sci-fi movie, "Can't stop the signal."

Cheers!

My Favorite Christmas Song

You won't hear it much on the radio, but if you go here and scroll down to the Youtube vids at the bottom of the page, you'll get it along with a very appros slide show.

It's called "Christmas in the Trenches" and it's by folk singer John McCutcheon.
It's based on a true story. It goes like this.
On December 24, 1914, somewhere on the front lines near Ypres, Belgium, British and Germans huddled down in their cold trenches and foxholes, shivering and keeping their heads down.
The Germans started hanging candles on the trees that were left standing in the area, and at some point, one of them started singing carols.
The Brits responded with a few carols of their own, and before long they were trading songs across the blasted no-man's land. Eventually one of the officers came across under a flag of truce, and the men met in the middle.
There wasn't much, but they exchanged gifts of brandy, jam, cigarettes and warm clothing. They talked about their families, had masses for the dead and, according to some of the letters home, set up a soccer match (3-2 Germany).
This reportedly went on across the Western front, in some spots lasting through the new year, for some places only until Christmas afternoon.

It's hard to imagine something like that happening today, even at the time, headquarters was furious on both sides. As McCutcheon sings, "the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame"
Still, we could wish for it.

It was a brief, strange moment, but the story is, for me, the perfect antidote for the over-commercialization of the holiday.

Learn more about the Christmas Truce here.