WikiLeaks
I like tautologies because I like them.
Permalink
Permalink
Thoughts?
I tend to think it's good - transparency is dangerous, but lack of transparency is more so.
I like tautologies because I like them.
Permalink
Permalink
As long as you trust the people leaking the information.
It could get dangerous.
It could get dangerous.
Allegedly
Permalink
Permalink
I'd like to hear dairyflat's thoughts on the matter.
Three for me, and two for them.
Permalink
Permalink
Like releasing the launch codes for the nukes?
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Permalink
Permalink
Some of the stuff available is great. I've been looking for material on North Africa.
I like this one - Sahel
This one on Tunisia is fascinating. -CORRUPTION IN TUNISIA: WHAT'S YOURS IS MINE
Another looks at how Morocco works. It seems that his kingliness Mohammed 6 has his had in the till big time. Decisions involving Omnium Nord Africain (ONA), a holding company owned by the king, are made only by the king and two of his powerful associates. As the cable says - "To have discussions with anyone else would be a waste of time," the head of the company is quoted as saying.
I was quite puzzled with one cable though. Marked as CONFIDENTIAL and most, pretty much all of it, was quotes from Moroccan newspapers... ??? l
One thing that is clear is that the US diplomats are producing some very good stuff. Big GULF between them and their political masters. Dare I say it, maybe the politicians don't ever read the stuff?
I like this one - Sahel
This one on Tunisia is fascinating. -CORRUPTION IN TUNISIA: WHAT'S YOURS IS MINE
Another looks at how Morocco works. It seems that his kingliness Mohammed 6 has his had in the till big time. Decisions involving Omnium Nord Africain (ONA), a holding company owned by the king, are made only by the king and two of his powerful associates. As the cable says - "To have discussions with anyone else would be a waste of time," the head of the company is quoted as saying.
I was quite puzzled with one cable though. Marked as CONFIDENTIAL and most, pretty much all of it, was quotes from Moroccan newspapers... ??? l
One thing that is clear is that the US diplomats are producing some very good stuff. Big GULF between them and their political masters. Dare I say it, maybe the politicians don't ever read the stuff?
Profile pic. Should you be interested. Lakhsen, on the right, lost touch with him.
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Permalink
Permalink
interesting article in the latest time magazine about it all
Permalink
Permalink
Generally speaking transparency is a good thing and hopefully this will encourage transparency but who knows. Some in the States saying how it is endangering lives, sounds to me like they're overplaying that one entirely in an attempt to cover themselves though that isn't to say that there isn't the potential for it to lead to deaths.
Overall the biggest negative is news sites being inundated with WikiLeaks stories. Whatever happened to good old stories about train robberies and hold-ups? A bit of variation is always nice.
Overall the biggest negative is news sites being inundated with WikiLeaks stories. Whatever happened to good old stories about train robberies and hold-ups? A bit of variation is always nice.
Permalink
Permalink
News only seems to come from wikileaks and Twitter now! Oh and this forum 
Allegedly
Permalink
Permalink
A full set of the as-yet-leaked documents in published here: http://cablesearch.org/
you can even search each document by key-word.
It's nice to be able to read the stuff for yourself, without relying on journliasts to tell you what it says, or whether it's important or not.
Permalink
Permalink
A full set of the as-yet-leaked documents in published here: http://cablesearch.org/
you can even search each document by key-word.
It's nice to be able to read the stuff for yourself, without relying on journliasts to tell you what it says, or whether it's important or not.
This is exactly what I like about it. Usually news is drip fed and editorialised, which means a higher concentration of power. Anything that helps people be able to think for themselves and not be spoonfed ideas is good I think.
I like tautologies because I like them.
Permalink
Permalink
Interesting how far the U.S government are going to get Assange, bloody pathetic.Azevo2010-12-10 21:22:45
We will never fully decide who has won the football.
Permalink
Permalink
Interesting how far the U.S government are going to get Assange, bloody pathetic.
So if these leaks caused the death of Kiwis in Afghanistan, that would be OK?
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Permalink
Permalink
And if these leaks stopped the US army engineering an invasion of a nation, thereby not requiring Kiwis to 'rebuild', that would be OK ?
Permalink
Permalink
Its a bit dangerous having a random guy with all this information though. Information is power after all. And some of it is secret for a reason.
But at the same time it can be good if done right. Hopefully it encourages a bit more transparency.
Allegedly
Permalink
Permalink
I think WikiLeaks will eventually bite themselves in the foot.
Governments won't sit around watching their information released forever. They're likely to toughen up any way they can.
Governments won't sit around watching their information released forever. They're likely to toughen up any way they can.
Permalink
Permalink
Wikileaks will undoubtedly have archive copies in various places. release now is inevitable. It's just a matter of whether or not the public will still have an appetite for reading the leaks in a years' time... they've released 1218 documents already, which is less than 1% of the total volume that wikileaks has, so it might be years before it's all been released, if they keep drip feeding it.
Permalink
Permalink
Interesting how far the U.S government are going to get Assange, bloody pathetic.
So if these leaks caused the death of Kiwis in Afghanistan, that would be OK?
They're already in danger, I doubt there will be any information making the "enemy" want to kill NATO troops even more.Azevo2010-12-10 23:39:13
We will never fully decide who has won the football.
Permalink
Permalink
I am all for the release of information. 
Permalink
Permalink
I am all for the release of information.
me too.
Permalink
Permalink
I've got a list of all those in witness protection,and the addresses. Might just release that information
Allegedly
Permalink
Permalink
Can someone explain to me this whole thing?
Permalink
Permalink
OK, here's the abbreviated version:
This internet based outfit called wikileaks has, for some time, established a reputation for being prepared to release information into the public domain that other outlets (media, government departments) would not release. It's a reputation that has been built up over a series of events, I think some of their early sutff was actually about the Church of Scientology.
Anywas, details aside, as time has gone by, more an dmore "whilstle blowers" have passed on stuff to wikileaks, knowing that it will be uploaed to the internet - preserving the anonymity of the leaker. It's like an online clearing house for inside informtion.
NOW, about a couple of months ahgo, a member of the US military passed on a massive pile of classified documents to the wikileaks guys. Since about a month ago wikileaks has been slowly releasing the information within this "pile" piece by piece to the media and other online sites.
The "pile" is basically digital copies of correspondence between US diplomats all over the globe. Most of it is copies of their daily/weekly reports that the embassy staff send back to the US.
So, some governments are pretty upset about this release, why?
1. The docuemnts are classified, so not supposed to be read by the public anyways
2. the documents might contain information that should not be shared with parties hostile to the US and their allies (such as locations of military targets yadda yadda)
3. the documents contain very "frank" descriptions of people and activities in a rather abbreviated manner. They don't always reflect official policy. However, some people might assume that they reflect "hidden agendas", whether or not they do is part of the mystery.
So, some folks are pretty unhappy about the release of information
Other folks think it's good
Permalink
Permalink
Can someone explain to me this whole thing?
'Secret' information relating to governments around the world (among other things) is being leaked and then published on wikileaks.
Certain people, especially governments involved, are getting up in arms over the whole incident and making bold claims, such as that the leaks threaten national security (pretty sure we've heard that one before).
Completely coincidentally, the head of wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested in London as he is due to face charges of rape in a Swedish kangaroo court.
Hope that all makes sense.
Permalink
Permalink
Two minutes too late it would seem. 
Permalink
Permalink
yours was definately the abbreviated version... mine was not. I lied.
Permalink
Permalink
The thing the U.S government is really sh*tting themselves over is some of that information could collapse one of the biggest banks operating in the U.S at the moment (Bank of America I think). Thats what Assange has hinted at having which got the U.S Govt really pissed off.Azevo2010-12-11 11:35:21
We will never fully decide who has won the football.
Permalink
Permalink
I can understand why some would think that this is great, but where does one draw the line? What about all ones personal information? Thats the problem I have.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
Permalink
Permalink
I can understand why some would think that this is great, but where does one draw the line? What about all ones personal information? Thats the problem I have.
What personal information? The information the U.S was gathering up from the leadership in the U.N? I don't think they published or even have that information.
We will never fully decide who has won the football.
Permalink
Permalink
The thing the U.S government is really sh*tting themselves over is some of that information could collapse one of the biggest banks operating in the U.S at the moment (Bank of America I think). Thats what Assange has hinted at having which got the U.S Govt really pissed off.[/QUOTE]
...as in....
[quote]The big fear inside Bank of America, says Gasparino, is that the documents will lead back to (BofA-owned) Countrywide Financial, and show that the subprime loans that Countrywide gave out to high-risk applicants were fraudulent.
dairyflat2010-12-14 12:55:56...as in....
[quote]The big fear inside Bank of America, says Gasparino, is that the documents will lead back to (BofA-owned) Countrywide Financial, and show that the subprime loans that Countrywide gave out to high-risk applicants were fraudulent.
"And if these gigabits of memos show that those were fraudulent loans that were given, especially during a housing bubble, Bank of America could be on the hook for billions of dollars. And that's what the big fear is in Bank of America."
That said Forbes have a comment "To be clear, there�s no clear confirmation that the upcoming release will focus on Bank of America."
Profile pic. Should you be interested. Lakhsen, on the right, lost touch with him.
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20
Permalink
Permalink