Transvestite atheist admits link to Wikileaks case!

MIT graduate admits link in leak case:

A recent MIT graduate acknowledged yesterday that he met and exchanged multiple e-mails with the Army private accused of providing thousands of classified war records to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, but he adamantly denied any role in the massive intelligence leak.

"Admits link"? Really? I also talked to Bradley Manning on AIM a dozen times last year. About military- and intelligence-related topics, too. Does that make me "linked" now?

For the record, he never mentioned anything that suggested he was planning any kind of leak. He'd frequently talk about his job as an intelligence analyst, which he said he sometimes found frustrating, but he never seemed excessively stressed about it.

bradass87: in public eye, US intel services are mysterious; in the real world, intelligence is a goofy, clunky, and annoying process, slowly adapting and getting streamlined

bradass87: used to be the cream of the crop... now its outdated non-backward compatible suites of buggy software that were originally used for civilian purposes, then modified for military but not exactly thoroughly tested
bradass87: then they get contractors who dont know anything about computers to teach it...
bradass87: and its all OKAY, because we cant exactly complain out in the open because the software which bugs out is often times on machines which are stamped with big red SECRET stickers

I didn't really take any of this very seriously, and tended to think of him as just one of those people who brags about things like that on the internet. He didn't send me anything that was classified, and the only reason he initially contacted me was because he found my videos (this was back in February of 2009) and felt that we had similar interests and views: web development, atheism, gay rights and the like.

bradass87: i did a search on info theory, books, videos, etc... bought books on it, watched some of your videos... then i saw your more personal stuff and figured you were on the same page

The last time I spoke with him was in August of 2009 before I stopped using my other screen name; the last thing he sent me was a video on "how to start a cult", which he said was "very very similar to basic training". I don't know what happened with him between then and his initial leaks, although I'm sure it would have been interesting if I had kept in touch with him. According to reports, he had been demoted for punching someone and was already pending discharge for an "adjustment disorder". He did mention that he would be deploying to Afghanistan around November to January, although on a later occasion he said he would be deployed to Iraq, and I wonder if that may have had something to do with his decision. But in the time that I knew him, he often said he just wanted to help ensure that everyone involved stayed safe. He seemed to put a lot of thought toward possible resolutions to foreign conflicts.

bradass87: im more concerned about making sure that everyone, soldiers, marines, contractor, even the local nationals, get home to their families
bradass87: i feel a great responsibility and duty to people... its strange, i know

bradass87: im an analyst, i shadow a brigade commander... also, the shia majority in the location we are going doesn't want to screw around with the US... theyre stockpiling fresh weapons... because the moment they leave, they plan on removing sunnis out of the region to the southeast and northeast of baghdad
bradass87: im trying to figure out a way to prevent a civil war the second we leave

Perhaps the leaks were his way of trying to work toward that end, but I can only guess. He still never struck me as the kind of person who would resort to that, though I didn't know him very well. I thought he was just another fan of my videos - when the news broke that he was arrested, his name never even triggered my memory until I saw his conversations with Adrian Lamo and remembered his screen name.

After I mentioned this odd coincidence on Twitter, someone from Gawker contacted me and wanted to ask me some questions about him. They seemed to be mostly interested in his sexuality and gender identity, which I felt had no real relevance to anything he did, but they insisted it was important, and later quoted me in their article:

But on February 21st, 2009, Manning contacted well-known trans videoblogger ZJ via AOL Instant Messenger. At the time, ZJ was hardly known; she had about 300 subscribers. "He just said he enjoyed my videos," ZJ said. "He told me that me and him were on the same page." From February to August 2009, Manning and ZJ had about 12 instant message conversations. During that time, ZJ never suspected that Manning was trans or gay. "He introduced himself as 'Brad' and male. I thought he was just a regular guy." Maybe Manning was attracted by the topics ZJ discussed—aethism, gay rights, computer science/programming—but it seems likely his identification with ZJ ran deeper than that. "He told me he enjoyed my more personal material that I did," ZJ said. Manning never indicated he was planning a leak, and ZJ lost touch with him when she changed instant messenger handles.

To be clear, they never actually asked me if I was trans before they posted that. (All the speculation over Manning's gender identity seems completely pointless and, as far as I know, wrong.) They also didn't ask if he was gay, and I never said that he wasn't. A reporter with the Daily Mail recently contacted me to verify my quote from the article - for what reason, I can only imagine (but don't really want to).

And that's the extent of my involvement with this whole ridiculous situation... so far. Seriously, the people I meet.