The New York Times on Jan. 6 ran a story, "US Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks," finally giving some play to a critical issue in the WikiLeaks affair that neither supporters nor detractors of Julian Assange have been quick to examine: the impact of the leaks on dissidents under authoritarian regimes. But the story is more noteworthy for what it omits than what it reports:

The biblically-obsessed are already calling it a prophecy of the End Times. (Examiner.com, Jan. 4) (Actually, contrary to the breathless and spelling-challenged spewings of the paranoid, there is no reference to birds falling from the sky in Revelations. It is in the far less sexy pseudepigraphic Apocalypse of Elijah.) But does anyone else out there find the official explanations singularly implausible? From the PBS News Hour, Jan. 4:

Among the documents released by WikiLeaks—none of which, their supporters insist, is indiscriminate—is an August 2006 classified US diplomatic cable on the lavish wedding party thrown by Gadzhi Makhachev, political boss of the Avar ethnic group in Russia's Caucasus republic of Dagestan, for his 19-year-old son. Makhachev is a Duma member, chief of the Dagestan Oil Company, and warlord who gained fame for leading the defense of Dagestan against the incursions of Chechen guerilla fighter Shamil Basayev ten years ago. The leaked cable contains much juicy gossip on Caucasus politics, and unflattering depictions of local political figures. Despite WikiLeaks' stated policy of only releasing documents that reveal newsworthy official malfeasance, we see nothing in this lengthy cable that meets that standard. However, the text is certain to be deeply embarrassing for the US diplomatic corps in Russia and the Caucasus. Ultimately, it may say more about hidden agendas behind WikiLeaks than about US designs...

We are probably risking getting our website sabotaged by saying it, but the unthinking cult of personality that has swelled around WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is appalling on several counts. For those who can see past the groupthink glorification, it reveals another example of the dissident space traditionally held by the left being assumed by the populist right—a frightening and growing phenomenon. We will make this case primarily in the words of Assange himself, and his supporters. So, as the ubiquitous catch-phrase in his defense goes, "Don't shoot the messenger"...

Nicaragua has refused to withdraw troops from a disputed island along the river border with Costa Rica, and is asking Internet giant Google not to change its maps with respect to the contested Isla Calero. The request came from Nicaragua's foreign minister, Samuel Santos, in a letter sent to Jeffrey Hardy at Google, a copy of which was made available to the press.

On Oct. 22, Costa Rica dispatched a group of some 70 heavily armed national police to the northern border following claims of an incursion by Nicaraguan soldiers, who were reported to be causing damage to local properties. The police troops apparently found no evidence of an incursion, but Costa Rican Public Security Minister José María Tejerino said a contingent will be permanently stationed at Barra del Colorado border outpost as a preventative measure.

From Reuters, Sept. 26:

U.S. should be able to shut Internet, former CIA chief says
SAN ANTONIO — Cyberterrorism is such a threat that the U.S. president should have the authority to shut down the Internet in the event of an attack, Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said.

BP says it plans to complete the sealing of its Macondo well on Sept. 18 as subcontractor Transocean Ltd.'s "Development Driller III" rig has drilled the final 45 feet of a relief well. The well, in the Mississippi Canyon Block 252, has been sealed from above since July 15, but is being intersected from below to complete Macondo's shutdown. The relief well's drilling was halted for nearly a month, first due to weather impacts, before resuming this week. An estimated 4.9 million barrels leaked from the well, of which BP estimates it captured 800,000. (Oil & Gas Journal, Dow Jones, Sept. 17)