Digging Into the WikiLeaks Cables 810
A number of readers have sent in new WikiLeaks stories today, many of which focus on the content of the leaked diplomatic cables. The documents showed how the US government bullied and manipulated other countries to gain support for its Copenhagen climate treaty (though behavior from the US wasn't all negative), how copyright negotiations largely meet the expectations of critics like Michael Geist, and how Intel threatened to move jobs out of Russia if the Russian government didn't loosen encryption regulations. Perhaps the biggest new piece of information is a list of facilities the US considers 'vital to security.' Meanwhile, the drama surrounding WikiLeaks continues; Julian Assange's Swiss bank account has been frozen and the UK has received an arrest warrant for the man himself; the effort to mirror the site has gained support from Pirate Parties in Australia, in the UK and elsewhere; and PayPal was hit with a DDoS for their decision not to accept donations for WikiLeaks.
Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm waiting to read the news "Julian Assange has been arrested"
Conservatives against Wikileaks.. (Score:5, Interesting)
...don't seem to understand that the takedown of Wikileaks is a triumph of world government. It's literally the new world order responding to a threat and removing it. And they're cheering it on...
Re:Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:5, Interesting)
I kind of wish I was in a psychology course during all this...it would be interesting to examine the reactions of governments and officials to Assange. Some of the response seems like its been ripped straight from a movie or book, with thinly veiled attempts at painting the man as a terrorist. The strength of the rhetoric seems directly proportional to the level of embarrassment groked from different leaked cables.
List of US facilities? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think information should be made public for the sake of making it public. There are some things that are better off kept secret.
What troubles me most (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:US Citizens - Contact Your Representatives (Score:5, Interesting)
I’m already on my own no-fly list, and I’ll stay there until the TSA stops groping people to create a facade of security.
Re:Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:5, Interesting)
As seen with East Germany, in the end the Government can't win over a determined people. Just a question as to whether the people will wake up in time while there is still something to save. ...
How long until the US People remember the constitution and their founding fathers' courage and ideas! Get up and let your "representatives" know how you feel about the "Great Chinese Firewall" and censoring of websites in the US
Re:Ya think? (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it's more likely that his arrest will be widely publicized in the media whereas his acquittal will be swept under the rug.
The common men on the street will think he's a criminal/terrorist and the establishment will have won.
But it will be a pyrrhic victory because 100 other wikileaks-type sites will follow in their footsteps.
Re:Said it once... (Score:5, Interesting)
If you publish, you're a journalist. You may not be a -popular- journalist, but a journalist none the less. What are the professional requirements for being a journalist? Nothing.
Re:Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:dont think so, (Score:4, Interesting)
I hope so. But my country has a prideful streak, and a history of "not negotiating with terrorists." The powers that be may figure, as long as Julian is alive, this information could come out anyway. They may decide that this cat is already out of the bag. If they do think that, an obvious response would be aimed not at stopping wikileaks, but at sending a message to any others out there that are thinking of doing the same thing: publish leaks, end up dead.
Re:Is this Wikileaks day? (Score:5, Interesting)
I saw an interview with Steve Johnson [wikipedia.org] in which he said at the end of his book _Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation_ he attempted a survey of private vs. public sector innovation and concluded they're about even, or possibly government-funded ideas have a slight edge.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
TIME's Person of the year 2010 contest (Score:5, Interesting)