What Is Next For Assange

I don't really know what is the future of the founder of Wikileaks. Julian Assange now faces indefinite stay at the Equadorean embassy. He is in a catch-22 - cannot go to Sweden for court trials because of the rigid prosecution laws the country holds, and in case he leaves London, US could easily capture and take him to a even tougher US prison. They are gloomy predictions, but not difficult to imagine considering he defied the system and made transparency his ideal.  

We know Wikileaks is an organization that reveals documents, reports, all related to unethical behavior in governments and institutions. I don't see what is the problem with that. Wikileaks started out in 2007 oficially and brought important documents to light in all those years, such as the Guantanamo Bay files, US embassy cables and the Afghanistan war logs, amidst others.

The Equadorean embassy's asylum is one of the most difficult episodes of Julian Assange's life. He had better chosen that than being extradicted to Sweden, where he could endure tough judicial system, as Gottfrid Svartholm, Pirate Bay founder, has been having so far for hacking accusations. Besides that, Assange would be taken to a US prison without effort, which was already mentioned.

In the meantime he meets with Lady Gaga, films personal messages for support and finalises his next book about the future of internet. I believe he sowed the seed for a more open and realistic freedom of the press, which is something many are looking for, for example, Folha, a Brazilian newspaper, which has divulged a web link for leaks that leads up to investigation.

Although the future of Julian Assange is unclear, the Wikileaks site is working still, gathering lots of contributions regularly and requesting donations again via credit card. What he had done probably is difficult to undone, and that is a great keystone for transparency in politics in this new century. 

Responsible Tourism

Traveling as a tourist means enjoying things rapidly. Escaping from routine is like a relief for the mind and soul, though. People book accommodation, transportation, tours - if they have chance to do in advance - but sometimes forget to be responsible. That is the fact of caring about the environment at the destination.


Travelers should notice that it’s not only them that will remember the trip. The locals will remember it too. Whenever people visit different places than their own, there are positive and negative effects.


Responsible tourism tackles challenges in tourism nowadays. It started as a demand that ecological organizations would ask from societies. It grew up to guides and manuals edited by companies interested in the wellbeing of the planet.


Tourism is a lucrative business, generating almost six billions dollars in Brazil alone, in 2008. It’s going to be as lucrative as there are things to see. It makes sense to promote responsibility in tourism. All sides need to understand how to minimize their impact/actions – the tourists when bringing lots of packaging to remote areas for example, and the businesses owners, whose facilities don’t comply with energy saving rules.


Things are slowly changing. There are documented stories, like the ones at the InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel. It recently minimized its effects in the neighborhood by composting food scraps, and recycling different materials. The business is just following other hotel steps.


People are accepting these attitudes more and more. Tourists are probably going to include good deeds in their ‘to do’ lists in a future not too far (hopefully).