Julian Assange AMA on Reddit(reddit.com)
reddit.com
Julian Assange AMA on Reddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/28js8v/i_am_julian_assange_publisher_of_wikileaks_ask_me/
8 comments
There are many inherent expectations of anyone who offers to participate in an AMA. Some who agree to participate do not understand or fully understand what they are walking into, then there are those who think they are being gracious just by participating.
Hence the reactions you see. A few returning AMA guest do become quite adept at knowing what is safe to answer and how to filter chaff
Hence the reactions you see. A few returning AMA guest do become quite adept at knowing what is safe to answer and how to filter chaff
I usually wait for the interesting AMAs to show up on /r/tabled before I even bother looking at them. Much cleaner way to go through them and avoid the clutter.
See also http://www.topiama.com/ which I think was done by a HN member here.
Aah, presented in a nice Q+A format and everything. Cheers.
I think it's smart to wait a bit before replying, because there are more comments posted every minute than you can possibly read. So just let the up/down votes filter out the rubbish.
Woody Harrelson's AMA must be the worst all time - http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/p9a1v/im_woody_harrels...
At least it was theoretically Woody.
The Morgan Freeman was one of the more confusing: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1c5zxh/i_am_morgan_fre...
Mods response: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1c823w/meta_ask_us_any...
The Morgan Freeman was one of the more confusing: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1c5zxh/i_am_morgan_fre...
Mods response: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1c823w/meta_ask_us_any...
Well, the answers have been pretty boring so far. IMO.
Sincere question: Why do HN people flag this off the frontpage, because of reddit or because of Assage?
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I can't find a single question about the rape accusations. Am I blind, are moderators removing them or are people simply not interested?
They are few and far between, but this is a gem: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/28js8v/i_am_julian_ass...
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Am I the only one that finds Assange to be just an absolute self-centered ass? He's trying to turn himself into a cult leader, and runs his own "justice" site[0].
He's manipulative and just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
[0] - http://freeassangenow.org/
He's manipulative and just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
[0] - http://freeassangenow.org/
> Am I the only one that finds Assange to be just an absolute self-centered ass?
Can the same not be said about virtually every prominent politician or bureaucrat around the world? I spent a decade in DC and can think of precious few cases where this is not true.
I've known Julian since the 1990s. While he and I likely still have the same policy disagreements we argued about back then, I'd say the world would be a better place if we had more people like him and fewer of our current crop of politicians and bureaucrats in power.
Put another way, I'm not as interested in complaints about someone's personality ("he's so self-centered!" "manipulative!") as I am in the public policy work they do. That's where you might find some room for criticism here.
Can the same not be said about virtually every prominent politician or bureaucrat around the world? I spent a decade in DC and can think of precious few cases where this is not true.
I've known Julian since the 1990s. While he and I likely still have the same policy disagreements we argued about back then, I'd say the world would be a better place if we had more people like him and fewer of our current crop of politicians and bureaucrats in power.
Put another way, I'm not as interested in complaints about someone's personality ("he's so self-centered!" "manipulative!") as I am in the public policy work they do. That's where you might find some room for criticism here.
Couldn't you say the same about many eccentric and charismatic politicians?
I favour a stateless politician who truly understands the Internet over most of the others.
Edit - interesting article on sociopaths in politics:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/the-startl...
I favour a stateless politician who truly understands the Internet over most of the others.
Edit - interesting article on sociopaths in politics:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/the-startl...
we could say the same thing about sports (Michael Jordan etc), film stars etc - pretty much every field has it's share of such people.
Regardless of their arrogance, we need such people to move things forward.
Regardless of their arrogance, we need such people to move things forward.
He doesn't want to live in the Ecuadorian embassy for the rest of his life and calls for help. How incredibly selfish of him.
He would get more sympathy by publicly facing the accusations, not hiding out from everyone.
Saying on his site that Sweden is "effectively detaining him without charging him with a crime" when Sweden isn't detaining him anywhere (he's holed himself up in an embassy in London) is the type of misleading nonsense that rubs me the wrong way.
Also claiming that the UK isn't honoring his political asylum granted by another country for purposes other than why he's hiding out (the political asylum was to prevent him from becoming a political prisoner in the US and facing what he calls a "credible risk of torture, inhumane treatment, and unfair trial" here) is also misleading.
He seems to relish in martyrdom.
Saying on his site that Sweden is "effectively detaining him without charging him with a crime" when Sweden isn't detaining him anywhere (he's holed himself up in an embassy in London) is the type of misleading nonsense that rubs me the wrong way.
Also claiming that the UK isn't honoring his political asylum granted by another country for purposes other than why he's hiding out (the political asylum was to prevent him from becoming a political prisoner in the US and facing what he calls a "credible risk of torture, inhumane treatment, and unfair trial" here) is also misleading.
He seems to relish in martyrdom.
I don't care about him relishing in martyrdom but the rape allegations are serious business in many ways, so yes if those are true then his actions would be hideous.
The problem is that I don't know if they are true and that they essentially don't take away from WikiLeaks mission and Assange's part in it - as horrible as those allegations are.
Who should be given the benefit of the doubt? I would argue the weak.
Who are the most vulnerable and weak in this whole issue? The women Assange allegedly took advantage of against their will? Probably.
A man shedding and successfully marketing the ugly truths of very powerful people? Probably.
It's a complicated world and not only that, it seems as if the game has been rigged from the get go (by all powerful parties) so I don't feel like I could allow myself strong judgement.
The problem is that I don't know if they are true and that they essentially don't take away from WikiLeaks mission and Assange's part in it - as horrible as those allegations are.
Who should be given the benefit of the doubt? I would argue the weak.
Who are the most vulnerable and weak in this whole issue? The women Assange allegedly took advantage of against their will? Probably.
A man shedding and successfully marketing the ugly truths of very powerful people? Probably.
It's a complicated world and not only that, it seems as if the game has been rigged from the get go (by all powerful parties) so I don't feel like I could allow myself strong judgement.
The woman Assange allegedly raped is currently refusing to cooperate with the prosecutor and police. She is even refusing to sign her own testimony. The unsigned testmony states however that she was "half-asleep" when Assange initiated sex, which is what the prosecutor is using to charge Assange for lesser degree rape.
Her intention, as far as public statements has been, is quite clear. She wanted him tested for HIV. She had asked him, but he refused, so a few days later she went to the police to ask if they could force him to take a HIV.
I remember reading that she simply felt tricked by the prosecutor/police when the media circus started with the arrest warrant and extraditions. If we want to take her side (which should do), then what would the correct course of actions be?
Her intention, as far as public statements has been, is quite clear. She wanted him tested for HIV. She had asked him, but he refused, so a few days later she went to the police to ask if they could force him to take a HIV.
I remember reading that she simply felt tricked by the prosecutor/police when the media circus started with the arrest warrant and extraditions. If we want to take her side (which should do), then what would the correct course of actions be?
He comes off that way to me as well, but I still really support some of the initiatives he's worked towards. To a lesser extent, I find RMS to have similar traits. Some of his statements carry quite the air of arrogance and self-importance, but I think he's done enough for caused that I really believe in that I'll always listen to what he has to say regardless of personality.
I've always found this response interesting - I guess it suggests the character assassination attempts against him worked.
The issues surrounding the alleged rape feel weird to me, it's easy to discredit someone (especially in the United States) by mentioning anything about sex. It seems wrong to target someone soliciting information for media purposes who themselves isn't breaking the law (assuming of course he didn't rape anyone - that's why these kind of allegations are particularly insidious). It kind of reminds me of the Snowden leak about the NSA using web history and porn habits against Islamic fundamentalists to discredit them.
I think he was talking to the media and a lot of his original conversations were clear, articulate and measured. He was building a powerful brand which upset people in the US so he was targeted to get him out of the way - and to cloud search results/stories about him with the rape allegations. If this truly was the intent, it appears to have worked.
I think it's interesting that what drove him to working on this stuff was the fact that his research in the US was retroactively classified (they used to do a lot of this kind of thing with early cryptography patents and research). From what I've read he was frustrated by this and felt it was an improper use of government secrecy.
I'd imagine if the rape allegations really were fabricated in some way (or at least distorted) there would be some fear in facing them - since that's a lot of geopolitical power against you. Seems like a difficult situation.
The issues surrounding the alleged rape feel weird to me, it's easy to discredit someone (especially in the United States) by mentioning anything about sex. It seems wrong to target someone soliciting information for media purposes who themselves isn't breaking the law (assuming of course he didn't rape anyone - that's why these kind of allegations are particularly insidious). It kind of reminds me of the Snowden leak about the NSA using web history and porn habits against Islamic fundamentalists to discredit them.
I think he was talking to the media and a lot of his original conversations were clear, articulate and measured. He was building a powerful brand which upset people in the US so he was targeted to get him out of the way - and to cloud search results/stories about him with the rape allegations. If this truly was the intent, it appears to have worked.
I think it's interesting that what drove him to working on this stuff was the fact that his research in the US was retroactively classified (they used to do a lot of this kind of thing with early cryptography patents and research). From what I've read he was frustrated by this and felt it was an improper use of government secrecy.
I'd imagine if the rape allegations really were fabricated in some way (or at least distorted) there would be some fear in facing them - since that's a lot of geopolitical power against you. Seems like a difficult situation.
I guess it suggests the character assassination attempts against him worked.
Plenty of people thought Assange was full of him self well-before the rape accusation (that pionar didn't even mention) or any other supposed character assassination.
It's not particularly hard to get a negative impression of him from his own writings, from his hype-man behavior for Wikileaks, his mercenary approach to selling access to media organizations, or from various first-hand accounts of people that worked with him.
Plenty of people thought Assange was full of him self well-before the rape accusation (that pionar didn't even mention) or any other supposed character assassination.
It's not particularly hard to get a negative impression of him from his own writings, from his hype-man behavior for Wikileaks, his mercenary approach to selling access to media organizations, or from various first-hand accounts of people that worked with him.
Can you substantiate any of that with evidence?
Substantiate what? My personal feelings? I don't think that one can provide evidence for one's "feel" of a person.
The specific charges. If you don't like him you should have just said that. Do you call everyone you don't like a "self-centered cult-leader"?
I said he's attempting to be one. My rationale for that is his statements that make him seem to be basking in martyrdom. See my comments above in reply to another comment.
I call people I feel to be self-centered self-centered. I call people who try to convince other people that they're an innocent messenger for truth while demonizing anyone who says anything bad about them a wannabe cult leader.
I call people I feel to be self-centered self-centered. I call people who try to convince other people that they're an innocent messenger for truth while demonizing anyone who says anything bad about them a wannabe cult leader.
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I want to ask him if he is bitter at all that Edward Snowden is more popular now and he is yesterday's news. But I won't...
He replied a related question [1] and seems to be quite supportive of Ed Snowden.
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/28js8v/i_am_julian_ass...
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/28js8v/i_am_julian_ass...
Reddit is an awful place full of awful rules and awful people and plenty of censorship and manipulation of topics and comments , manipulated by real people and also bots they have created to monitor conversations.
They shadow ban topics and comments to create an illusion of fair conversation.
They have the collective ego of being relevant but are nowhere near the level of facebook or twitter or instagram. Or even Yahoo news.
They are just an annoying little site that keeps popping up like that poop that just won't flush , that's reddit , the shit that won't flush , reddit is about as relevant as myspace.
AMA seems to be the last grasp that reddit has , and why do you need reddit for that ?
They shadow ban topics and comments to create an illusion of fair conversation.
They have the collective ego of being relevant but are nowhere near the level of facebook or twitter or instagram. Or even Yahoo news.
They are just an annoying little site that keeps popping up like that poop that just won't flush , that's reddit , the shit that won't flush , reddit is about as relevant as myspace.
AMA seems to be the last grasp that reddit has , and why do you need reddit for that ?
Apparently Reddit is relevant enough to have gotten you to hijack the comment thread for a political story so you could post a critique.
You're bitter at something so you're lashing out. It will pass.
You're bitter at something so you're lashing out. It will pass.
Judging by your comment history, you seem to exist here just to make derogatory remarks about reddit. Could be time to move on to more fertile ground before your account goes [dead]. Reddit isn't really my kinda thing so I don't go there (except now and again for a particular sub-reddit I find topical for me at this time).
Find a community you do enjoy engaging with, ignore the ones that spike your blood pressure. Life is too short.
Find a community you do enjoy engaging with, ignore the ones that spike your blood pressure. Life is too short.
You do know Hacker News shadow bans users, has a list of certain domains that are outright banned, and has a moderation team that occasionally kills stories, right?
Don't forget the title editing hours after posting, invalidating at least some comments.
Is the list of banned domains public? I'd love to know what is ban-worthy on HN.
This is as close as we've got: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044
As pg says at the beginning of the comment, if you want to know if a particular domain is banned, just submit something and see if it's dead immediately.
FWIW, this comment and my previous one aren't a complaint: I think that most of this is a good thing. I _do_ think the mods kill some important stories, and I think the flamewar filter is terrible, but I'm glad for a lot of it, and wish there was more.
As pg says at the beginning of the comment, if you want to know if a particular domain is banned, just submit something and see if it's dead immediately.
FWIW, this comment and my previous one aren't a complaint: I think that most of this is a good thing. I _do_ think the mods kill some important stories, and I think the flamewar filter is terrible, but I'm glad for a lot of it, and wish there was more.
Thank you. After all this time I'm still amazed. There's always a kind HN reader around with specific knowledge. :-)
Reddit is wonderful for fostering fringe communities and inspiring others to become a part of a subculture, whatever it might be. If you're comparing it to fb, tw, or ig, you've already missed the point of its existence.
Agreed. For me the whole point of reddit is that there is a subreddit for (almost ?) every subject you can think of.
Reddit is like the world,there is the best and the worst.There are awesome subs like there are stupid/porn/horrible/hatefull subs.You only get what you seek on reddit.
Sometimes I need more time just to write a two sentence email reply. Give Julian the time he needs.