Free Josh Wolf

free joshua wolfEarlier this week, Joshua Wolf, a 24-year-old freelance journalist and blogger, became the first journalist to be jailed for refusing to disclose information in a court of law since Judith Miller. These are hardly the “Scooter” Libby “Flame” top secrets revealed over a snazzy Georgetown meal, however, as Wolf would be the first to proclaim that he is no friend of the administration.Wolf had been blogging his experience here, until the 1st of August, when, as his mother wrote: “Although the July 20th hearing seemed promising, today the judge, Judge Alsop ruled against all motions including 5th amendment rights, rights coming under freedom of the press, against bail or a stay. Josh is in Dublin federal prison, in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay.”

It makes no difference that the video he withheld was of self-proclaimed anarchists at an anti-G8 summit — the “crime” it supposedly captured was a “riot” that grew out of the protest. Surely, one would think there were other camerapeople documenting the event.

This is a direct attack on freedom of speech and the expression of dissent that one often hears about in countries with extensively repressive governments such as China. Surely an appeal will be filed and the case will go to the 9th Circuit, but it may not be until next summer.

The SF Chronicle attests to these journalistic freedoms in an editorial titled “Free Josh Wolf.”

Portions of Bush Presidential Memoirs Leaked!

Apparently, the decider-in-Chief is “really excited” about collecting not-yet-demolished remnants from his 8-year disaster, also known as a “nightmare of a vacation,” to publish as a memoir. I can’t wait to see the Amazon pitch to “buy this title along with Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef’s: Memoir of a Taliban diplomat held at Guantanamo and SAVE $$!

Letterman’s got the top 10 chapter titles here.

Suspected titles of memoir here.

Not to be missed, these intensely graphic and detailed ruminations on “What I Did on My Vacation From Reality.”

And finally, as if the Letterman top 10 wasn’t enough, I’m happy to host a preview of the best-selling documentary “Bushisms.”

U.S. Radio Goes Global With Yahoo! Widgets

Surprised to find a Radio SAWA widget today, while scrolling through the latest additions to the Yahoo! Widget Engine Gallery (download the Engine / View the Gallery).

Simply load into your widget engine and it will begin streaming… great way to touch up on your Arabic. (Sawa’s Web site: Arabic | English)

Bengali speaker? Try the Bangla Live New Radio widget, which offers BBC Bangla, Voice of America Bangla, Radio Japan Bangla and BBC Asian Network.

Take it even further East with Radio Tuner Singapore and tune into 23 Singapore-based radio stations streaming in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.

Plenty more radio ’round-the-world in desktop widget format here.