REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Am I the only conservative-type who thinks WikiLeaks are a GOOD thing?

POSTED BY: WULFENSTAR
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 10:36
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 8:15 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


?



"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 8:55 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


You may well be. I seem to be in a vanishingly small minority among "liberals", too, in that I see it as providing a service of sorts.

Here's the thing: the U.S. government is (and PLEASE don't start with the whole "Obama started it" BS, because it's been going on for DECADES) trying their damnedest to classify EVERY piece of information, so you can never know what they're doing, and you can't even ask why, because to give a reason would be divulging classified information.

400,000+ "classified" documents were leaked about the wars, and the Pentagon insisted that such an action would undoubtedly put our soldiers in harm's way (actually, sending them into Iraq and Afghanistan put them in harm's way, so that's a specious argument at best). Less than 3 weeks later, the Pentagon came forward and said that no real harm had been done, no really sensitive info had been divulged, and nobody was hurt by the leak.

So I have to ask... WHY was all that info "classified"? What was so secret that we weren't allowed to know about it, if it wasn't really about national security?

It seems that *embarrassing* information about our government is now deemed so important that it should become *classified* information.

So I view Julian Assange as doing a service; he's showing us that probably 95% of the classified info our government holds as secret and as its exclusive purview, is actually just stuff they don't want us asking about or knowing about, because they'd find it uncomfortable to admit to, or outright embarrassing to be questioned on.

Now, having said all that, how long will it be before Obama signs the execution order and sends Predator drones after Assange? After all, we simply can't have outsiders embarrassing us on the world stage, right?

NOTE: I don't say Obama's going to do that because he's a "socialist" or a "democrat"; I say he's going to do that because he's been told that he has the power and the right to do that. Any U.S. President would likely do the same under these circumstances (and that doesn't make it okay, either).

This Space For Rent!

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 9:09 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


See, I GET NOT releasing the names of those people helping us find Al-Queda.

I GET that. Its the same reason you never give out the names of informants. You just get them killed.

So subsitute the name with "Person X"... whatever.

I GET not showing our tactical response to the world, in that the bgs can be like "Oh, they are going to X, so lets do Y".

But, from what I've read... its mostly embareassing to those "in charge".

And thats a good thing.

I wonder if we can convince the Wikileaks guy to start naming his releases "Miranda"...

How cool, and apropo would that be?





"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 9:23 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Well, yeah - I get the whole redacting names part of it. Hell, I thought some of the other stuff should have been redacted, too - there were docs that basically said, "Well, you-know-who - you know, the one with the Irish maid and the fierce shoe-buying habit, summers in Monaco when she's not at her home in Algiers or her vacation spot in Bern..."

Okay, any decent investigator can figure out EXACTLY who that's referring to, and that's info that should be redacted.



I have a question though, Wulf: Would you be as jazzed about embarrassing "those in charge" if they were tea partiers or Republicans who were being embarrassed?

What I like about the leaks is that they show the SYSTEMIC problems inherent in our government, not a partisan view of those problems. I think Assange does a good job of showing that our government is corrupt NO MATTER WHO IS "IN CHARGE" of it, and that's what most of the world needs to see.

This Space For Rent!

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 9:33 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


"I have a question though, Wulf: Would you be as jazzed about embarrassing "those in charge" if they were tea partiers or Republicans who were being embarrassed?"

Here we have a misunderstanding of what the Tea Party is about.

YES, I would be just as "jazzed" about it.

Part of the whole movement is holding those "in power" ACCOUNTABLE for their actions, no matter who they are, no matter what "party" they represent.

Elected officials are OUR (the peoples) servants, and as such... because they have granted powers to them that can effect all of us, must be carefully monitored and controlled.

Its the only time, ever, that I will say that a person, or a group, must be watched and corrected for their actions and behavior.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 9:33 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


"I have a question though, Wulf: Would you be as jazzed about embarrassing "those in charge" if they were tea partiers or Republicans who were being embarrassed?"

Here we have a misunderstanding of what the Tea Party is about.

YES, I would be just as "jazzed" about it.

Part of the whole movement is holding those "in power" ACCOUNTABLE for their actions, no matter who they are, no matter what "party" they represent.

Elected officials are OUR (the peoples) servants, and as such... because they have granted powers to them that can effect all of us, must be carefully monitored and controlled.

Its the only time, ever, that I will say that a person, or a group, must be watched and corrected for their actions and behavior.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 11:53 AM

HERO


Quote:

Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
?


Leaks can be both good and bad. It is good to know just how bad our elected leaders are being or the mistakes they are making, or the pressures they are under. But that same information can be very bad since it can limit our ability to effectively plan, communicate, and act.

Our leaders may not get or even want frank memos that reflect true conditions for fear of what would happen should they leak. We need our leaders to know the truth about what's going on so they can act based on information that has not been but through a filter of 'what will people think'.

We also need to be able to communicate with our allies and our enemies without fear. If the Saudi King openly says 'get rid of Iran's bomb' he makes himself and his country a target of a powerful and hostile neighbor. Likewise if we go around attacking the Saudis openly for funding Al Queda then we destabilize a regime essential for Gulf security not to mention drying up the benefit of being able to 'follow the money'.

And we need to be able to act, sometimes in secret. Maybe we need to kidnap someone or bomb a compound in Pakistan, or pay off a tribal leader to gain a local advantage. Maybe we need to send a fella to talk to Iran or North Korea without the world knowing and perhaps avert a war in the process. We need to have that freedom to act, especially in times like this.

H

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:33 PM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by Hero:
And we need to be able to act, sometimes in secret.

I think whatever our govt has to do in secret is probably not worth doing.

I like Wikileaks.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:52 PM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


You know... someone with a mind to do so, could start a whole revolution....

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:52 PM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


You know... someone with a mind to do so, could start a whole revolution....

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 1:39 PM

DREAMTROVE


I'm with the Wulfman on this one, I like wikileaks.

I read that Brad Manning set up his own capture, because he thought what he did was patriotic, and wanted to question the govt. in its assertion that people shouldn't know. If he had turned himself in, it would have been an admission that there was a legit charge against him, even if he claimed innocence. But he wasn't claiming innocence, he was saying he actually did what he did, and that it was the right thing to do, so he and another hacker constructed a scenario in which he would get caught.


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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 1:55 PM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
?



"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"



I am not what americans would call a conservative, I guess i bear the cross of socialism :-)

so I like Wikileak too. I wonder why Clinton would be against some of it, because it is not there fault they have troops in Iraq is it, so I mean would it not serve them reasonably well for the the world to know, an example that iraq had no WMD´s and the Bush administration went ahead anyway, even branded one of there own agents a traitor for saying that to her and was it a husbands knowladge, Iraq had no WMD´s

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 3:58 PM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:

Originally posted by KrelleK:

I wonder why Clinton would be against some of it, because it is not there fault they have troops in Iraq is it,



You're really missing something about American politics here. I know it's complicated, and from the outside hard to suss out.

Hillary and Bill are a team.

Clinton attacked Iraq a lot. He laid siege, bombed, and tried to invade, but he couldn't get congress scared enough.

The reason he didn't send so many troops into Kosovo was that he was holding them back in Turkey to attack Iraq.

When Clinton left office and Bush took over, there was no change of power. That's the same exact guys replacing the same exact guys under a different banner. And I mean the same exact guys. The advisory corps remains the same. And still does. Which is why we're still there.

But democrats are not the opposition to republicans, they are another kind of republican. Hell, Hillary herself was the first person in govt. to suggest a war with Iran back in what was it, '04?


Oh, just soes you know:

bearing the cross of socialism, not a good thing. You might want to do a google image search on

socialist cross

or

cross of socialism

Then ya might want to rethink that avatar idea ;)

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 10:34 PM

CANTTAKESKY


Is anyone else disturbed that Assange is so desperately hunted?

Quote:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/30/interpol-wanted-notice-jul
ian-assange


WikiLeaks: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is tonight facing growing legal problems around the world, with the US announcing that it was investigating whether he had violated its espionage laws.

Assange's details were also added to Interpol's worldwide wanted list. Dated 30 November, the entry reads: "sex crimes" and says the warrant has been issued by the international public prosecution office in Gothenburg, Sweden. "If you have any information contact your national or local police." It reads: "Wanted: Assange, Julian Paul," and gives his birthplace as Townsville, Australia.



All I can say is, if you are going to piss off a war-happy, heavily armed, and relatively wealthy country, you shouldn't have sex or look at porn. It shouldn't be this way, but apparently, it is.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 4:01 AM

HERO


Quote:

I think whatever our govt has to do in secret is probably not worth doing.


Fair enough. Do you have direct deposit for your Tax Returns? If so please post your Routing and Account numbers. While your at it please post your Social Security Number.

So you would have us post our missile codes, nuclear secrets, trial strategies, when and where we will attack and in what strength, our ongoing research and development of new technology, etc.

Lets pick one example. You argue we need to post patol routes of our soldiers in advance along with what weapons and equipment they carry. Ambush, people die.

Another example. A Afgan fella comes forward and tells us the location of bad guys. You would have us post his name and information, he dies and bad guys get away. On that note, lady witnesses a drug murder and we put her in Witness Protection so she can testify...you would have us tell the bad guys where she is so they can kill her and her family before trial, good job.

Another, lady spies for the CIA, fella in the Bush administration leaks her ID to the press...you have no problem with that. Didn't hear you round these parts defending it when it happened.

Another, you post the launch codes...bad guys use them to launch missiles...nuclear war and everybody dies, good job.

Historical, you would favor letting Hitler in on our invasion plan of Europe in 1944. You would favor letting everyone know we only had two atomic bombs to start with, but you'd also let everyone in on how to make them.

Anyway, go ahead and post your secret bank and identily info that the govt has access to and we'll start there. Then we'll see if its a good idea to keep secrets.

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
"I would rather not ignore your contributions." Niki2, 2010.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 4:06 AM

HERO


Quote:

Originally posted by canttakesky:
Is anyone else disturbed that Assange is so desperately hunted?


Yes. I think they need to add the 'dead of alive' line to his warrant. To be fair, I'd prefer him alive so we can try and execute him for espionage and maybe find out all the folks who leaked to him so they can all be tried and executed for treason and conspiracy to commit murder.

He can argue free speech all he wants...free speech don't mean you get to commit espionage any more then it allows you to go around the theater yelling 'fire'.

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
"I would rather not ignore your contributions." Niki2, 2010.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 4:33 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Wikileaks in s spook psyop run by Nazi jew George soros to keep his patsy ESPN addict Hussein Obama Soetoro in the White House by throwing Billary Clinton under da bus.

Wikileaks is doing Pentagon and Israel's work to Bomb Bomb Bomb Semites in Iran, without targeting Israel's warcrimes. Israeli Mossad Amdocs tap all phone lines in USA, including the White House, FBI, Pentagon and all police agencies.

Today CNN and Cramer alleged Wikileaks soon-to-be-released banking docs will only target Bank of America, not BushObama's kosher Golden Sacks.

The alleged rape allegations, by Wikileaks "volunteer interns" (infiltrators?), have NOT resulted in an arrest warrant from heroin smugglers at INTERPOL.

Try posting 1 Beatle's MP3 for free download, and see how fast Uncle Scam shuts down your website. But Wikileaks can post Top Secret Pentagon docs without fear of DMCA Notice?

Keyword: WikiLEAKS. As in Uncle Scam's official leaks, passed directly to NY Times, Wash Post, Commie China's Wall Street Journal.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 4:57 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by Hero:
Do you have direct deposit for your Tax Returns? If so please post your Routing and Account numbers. While your at it please post your Social Security Number.

Citizens should have privacy rights. The government, as the citizens' public servant, should be limited to transparent activities.
Quote:

So you would have us post our missile codes, nuclear secrets, trial strategies, when and where we will attack and in what strength, our ongoing research and development of new technology, etc.
I think we should not have missile codes, nuclear secrets, etc.
Quote:

You argue we need to post patol routes of our soldiers in advance along with what weapons and equipment they carry.
No. I argued that we should not have patrol routes.
Quote:

A Afgan fella comes forward and tells us the location of bad guys.
We should not be in Afghanistan.
Quote:

On that note, lady witnesses a drug murder and we put her in Witness Protection so she can testify...you would have us tell the bad guys where she is so they can kill her and her family before trial, good job.
No, citizens have privacy rights.

The rest of it goes along the same lines. My argument is not that all govt secrets should be revealed. It is that govt should not have secrets to begin with.

More to the point, none of this is the kind of info published by Wikileaks.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 5:00 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by piratenews:
Wikileaks is doing Pentagon and Israel's work to Bomb Bomb Bomb Semites in Iran, without targeting Israel's warcrimes.

I have heard this. I would like to see more evidence of these allegations.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 5:02 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Yes, I think Wikileaks is a GOOD thing. Wikileaks not only exposes OUR government, it exposes the complicity and lying of MOST governments. Wikileaks is creating a bigger stir in Spain, Pakistan and elsewhere because it reveals that politicians, military, and/or the judiciary RELY on lying to their people.... use it as a matter of course. Just as out government lies to us.

So when we started our drone attacks in Pakistan, not only did our State Department lie it's ass off, so did the Pakistani government. It was part of their plan, and they said so. Really, when any government has to lie that often and that consistently about ... well, pretty much anything its doing .... where do citizens get a say in the matter? I personally don't want to be shielded from information that might horrify me. I PAY for the government through my taxes, dammit, and I want to know what they're doing with my money!


But you have to take the material with a grain of salt. Diplomats have limited exposure, they don't always know what's gong on. So tyrants gossiping about other tyrants may not reflect the total reality of a situation.

Wikileaks is going to tackle a bank next. I'm looking forward to it.


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Thursday, December 2, 2010 6:36 AM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:

Hero:
Historical, you would favor letting Hitler in on our invasion plan of Europe in 1944. You would favor letting everyone know we only had two atomic bombs to start with, but you'd also let everyone in on how to make them.



God I don't know why I even read your posts Hero, but aside from my endless snarking, I have to say: Man, think! Use that thing that God gave you between your shoulders. It seems like your debates go right in the eyes and out the fingers in a high speed brain bypass.

Anyway, I had to tag this one as an absolute Godwin.

Sorry, bud, you lose. You just said that CTS was just like people responsible for Hitler, ergo, would be responsible for the next Hitler, ergo, was Hitler.

It's as dumb as it gets.


That aside, why do you love the govt? I mean, sure they employ you, but is that a good thing? I mean, hell, they've employed everyone here, (or do I mean enslaved) at one time or another. Are the rest of us on our knees saying "Please massa govt, please whip us some more"?

Seriously, do you *like* killing a million people in the third world each year (do you care?) Okay, maybe you don't care/disbelieve. How about this one: a million people a year dying from medical malpractice? Maybe you disbelieve that one too, but here's one you will believe: 2 million americans each year die from abortion. Do you like it that way?

I mean seriously, stop to think about what your defending, then when you decide to defend it, stop and think about *how* you are defending *what* you are defending.


A couple years back you and I had an argument about Japan, and your point was "more people would have died in a war to conquer Japan than in dropping a nuclear bomb on a girls school and killing most of the city.

My counter argument was "why invade Japan at all? Was anything positive gained out of that victory? It seems that the result was the rise of Communist China."

IIRC, the fallout of that argument was that everyone on that you clearly demonstrated a total ignorance about imperial Japan, which was probably more significant to why you lost that particular argument than any of the actual relevant points about the war which either of us brought up, and I would have thought you would have learned a lesson about sounding off in a fucking ignorant manner.

Seriously. What would spilling the knowledge of the atom bomb have done? It would have saved a lot of lives, everyone would have cowered before the USA in fear, and only those countries *capable* of building a bomb, would. That means Russia.

Sure, Japan knows how, but refuses to do it. Iran has known how for decades, but the actual doing of it is kinda difficult. The mechanisms are easy, it's reaching controlled critical mass that's the problem.

But you actually can't keep this stuff secret. People can look at what you did and reverse engineer it. Success in the world, militarily or diplomatically, or economically, in the long term, revolves around using our brains, and being respectful of others. Perhaps failure to realize this is why evil empires like the USSR fail, it's because they just piss everyone off in their supreme domination.

Your nation, such as it is, has been less of a dick than it is today. Maybe you should see to that if you want to preserve it.

Me? I *want* it to fail. I say good riddance. Bring me the independent Republic of New York. Hell, first off the bat, it would save us a quarter trillion dollars a year that the union drains from us by taking more than it gives back.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 6:40 AM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:

Originally posted by piratenews:
Wikileaks in s spook psyop run by Nazi jew George soros to keep his patsy ESPN addict Hussein Obama Soetoro in the White House by throwing Billary Clinton under da bus.

Wikileaks is doing Pentagon and Israel's work to Bomb Bomb Bomb Semites in Iran, without targeting Israel's warcrimes. Israeli Mossad Amdocs tap all phone lines in USA, including the White House, FBI, Pentagon and all police agencies.

Today CNN and Cramer alleged Wikileaks soon-to-be-released banking docs will only target Bank of America, not BushObama's kosher Golden Sacks.

The alleged rape allegations, by Wikileaks "volunteer interns" (infiltrators?), have NOT resulted in an arrest warrant from heroin smugglers at INTERPOL.

Try posting 1 Beatle's MP3 for free download, and see how fast Uncle Scam shuts down your website. But Wikileaks can post Top Secret Pentagon docs without fear of DMCA Notice?

Keyword: WikiLEAKS. As in Uncle Scam's official leaks, passed directly to NY Times, Wash Post, Commie China's Wall Street Journal.



John

Ever thought about making allies?

I'm serious. The reason Wikileaks is allowed to operate is that it agrees not to target certain powerful groups that might be able to take it out, or might be able to protect it. That's a pretty smart move. It's what I would do.

Haven't I said as much here on the board?

Also, Wikileaks makes heavy use of blackmail. They hold back on the most damaging stuff so that killing him would be a liability.

And while we're at it, about throwing billary under the bus... who gets to drive?

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 7:00 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


CTTS: you actually took something PN wrote SERIOUSLY? Oh, my...

Omigawd, so did DT! AND took Hero seriously enough to respond to him! Silly man...

You certainly have the right to piss into the wind, guys, long as you accept it will do no good...[/snark]

I’m on the fence about it. I admire someone willing to make public a lot of the important things like where the government lied to us, etc. We NEED to know that stuff, and I applaud him 100%.

But I also see the detriment to our international diplomacy...mostly I feel those idjits shouldn’t have been writing stuff about rumors, their idiotic opinions of heads of state, etc., but if they do, I don’t think it does anyone any good to have them made public.

I also think the “hunt” is bullshit. ALL of what we’re told about it is bullshit propaganda in my mind, and totally what’s to be expected of our “intelligence” service. It sickens me; I hope they don’t catch him. I wish he would be more discerning about what he leaks, but there’s nothing I can do about that.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off




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Thursday, December 2, 2010 9:20 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:


Historical, you would favor letting Hitler in on our invasion plan of Europe in 1944. You would favor letting everyone know we only had two atomic bombs to start with, but you'd also let everyone in on how to make them.





Hitler had indeed been warned about our invasion plans; he chose to ignore the warnings, thinking he knew better than his generals. This was hardly the first time this happened.

The old saw about "only having two atomic bombs" is just pure BS. You may have heard of the "Trinity Shot" - the first nuclear explosion ever set off. That was at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Clearly, if we'd only had TWO nukes, Nagasaki would have been spared, right?

We were dropping them pretty much as fast as we could produce them, and there were plans to drop another by August 17th, and to continue on from there if necessary, with plans for a further 5 to 6 atomic weapons to be dropped on Japan.

Quote:

From Wiki (actually from a government briefing paper):

The U.S. expected to have another atomic bomb ready for use in the third week of August, with three more in September and a further three in October.[85] On August 10, Major General Leslie Groves, military director of the Manhattan Project, sent a memorandum to General of the Army George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, in which he wrote that "the next bomb . . should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather after 17 or August 18." On the same day, Marshall endorsed the memo with the comment, "It is not to be released over Japan without express authority from the President."[85] There was already discussion in the War Department about conserving the bombs in production until Operation Downfall, the projected invasion of Japan, had begun. "The problem now [August 13] is whether or not, assuming the Japanese do not capitulate, to continue dropping them every time one is made and shipped out there or whether to hold them . . . and then pour them all on in a reasonably short time. Not all in one day, but over a short period. And that also takes into consideration the target that we are after. In other words, should we not concentrate on targets that will be of the greatest assistance to an invasion rather than industry, morale, psychology, and the like? Nearer the tactical use rather than other use."[85]

Cite: 85.^ a b c "The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II, A Collection of Primary Sources," (PDF). National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 162. George Washington University. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/72.pdf.



This Space For Rent!

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 2:42 PM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
CTTS: you actually took something PN wrote SERIOUSLY?

Yep. PN prints a lot of bullshit, but he also finds a lot of information worth knowing that is overlooked by mainstream media. I believe dismissing everything he says lock, stock, and barrel just because it came from HIM is a missed opportunity.

Actually, I not only believe that about PN but also everyone here on this board, no matter how much their posts annoy me sometimes. That is why I come.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 3:38 PM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:

Originally posted by canttakesky:
Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
CTTS: you actually took something PN wrote SERIOUSLY?

Yep. PN prints a lot of bullshit, but he also finds a lot of information worth knowing that is overlooked by mainstream media. I believe dismissing everything he says lock, stock, and barrel just because it came from HIM is a missed opportunity.

Actually, I not only believe that about PN but also everyone here on this board, no matter how much their posts annoy me sometimes. That is why I come.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky



Well said.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 5:08 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Valerie wasn't CIA, she was ISA.

Which was created because now matter how much money we poured down the shithole that is the CIA, they could not perform even the most basic, simplest intelligence tasks, such as finding the blueprints of a building where hostages were kept so the strike team could plan their assault and sweep.

Couldn't, or wouldn't - too busy harrassing and murdering americans who wouldn't go with the flow and running coke to enrich themselves, I guess, but it's been a sore point with me for twenty two years that for all the money we pay the goddamn CIA they are utterly unwilling and incapable of doing the job we pay them for to the point were we had to create ANOTHER set of goons to do the job, and HIDE them from the fucking CIA.

Who then got sick and tired of risking their necks, their very lives, for hard, solid, verified SIGINT or HUMINT, only to have it dismissed out of hand because it was politically expedient to believe something else - and being hung out to dry regarding Nicaragua was the last straw for most of the few remaining.

And after what they did to Valerie - NONE of the initial crowd is ever gonna work for em again, especially since they were all secondhanded from other places to begin with and could just pretend it never happened, cause nothin was ever documented anyways.

Sure, that means next to nothing, but calling Valerie CIA is a goddamned insult to a degree you can't even comprehend - just so you know.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 9:02 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


CTTS: I don’t totally ignore anyone here, with an exception or two. I usually “scan” all posts, and I’ve even remarked on PN’s when I found them or something in them of value. As I do for everyone else. My comments were mostly in jest, and partly because any response to questions either of them give is usually nonsensical, attacking, or otherwise irrelevant to the question asked. PN sometimes puts up good info, but he rarely RESPONDS with good info, it has been my observation.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off




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Friday, December 3, 2010 9:30 AM

HERO


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Sorry, bud, you lose. You just said that CTS was just like people responsible for Hitler, ergo, would be responsible for the next Hitler, ergo, was Hitler.


He said there should be no secrets. I was merely applying his proposal to actual historical scenarios. I in no way said he was Hitler. I said that if we did as he wanted we would have had to provide Hitler with our D-Day invasion plans. The result would have cost us the war.

That is merely one example. I gave others, such as providing launch codes to the public...which would mean they go to bad guys like Al Queda.

If you don't like the example of the Atomic bomb...how about Midway. Suppose we provide the location and strength of our naval forces to the Japanese prior to Midway. They sink our fleet and likely win the war.

My argument is not that all secrects should be kept. My argument, if you look at my orginal post, is that secrets are necessary and proper while some must and should be revealed, others should never be revealed.
Quote:


Your nation, such as it is, has been less of a dick than it is today. Maybe you should see to that if you want to preserve it.

Me? I *want* it to fail. I say good riddance.


Fair enough. You want the country to fail. I suggest you read 'Without Warning' by John Birmingham. He takes the world and the eve of the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and gives you your fondest wish and simply removes America from the equation. The result is global economic collapse and two nuclear conflicts. Also the breakdown of global trade and communications and death on a massive scale. Good book, I think you'll like it.

While the downfall of America might be your fondest wish, I respectfully disagree. I think this country is the last best hope for mankind.

"America is the most peaceful, least warlike nation in modern history. We are not the cause of all the ills of the world." Reagan

"For this is the land that has never become but is always in the act of becoming. Emerson was right: America is the Land of Tomorrow."

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
"I would rather not ignore your contributions." Niki2, 2010.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 10:36 AM

CUDA77

Like woman, I am a mystery.


If you all will pardon me a minor threadjack, I just wanted to express my amazement at this thread simply for the title. Because finally, Wulf has come out of the closet and admitted he is a conservative.

He tried for so long to deny it and label himself with much broader terms like "patriot" and "American" and such, even though it was clear to everyone else what he was. And we've all been wanting for so long for Wulf to just accept who he really is. But finally he has come to grips with himself and admitted to us all what he really is. Finally he accepts himself as just another conservative.

Good on you Wulf, we're proud of you!


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Friday, December 3, 2010 10:40 AM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Quote:

Originally posted by KrelleK:

I wonder why Clinton would be against some of it, because it is not there fault they have troops in Iraq is it,



You're really missing something about American politics here. I know it's complicated, and from the outside hard to suss out.

Hillary and Bill are a team.

Clinton attacked Iraq a lot. He laid siege, bombed, and tried to invade, but he couldn't get congress scared enough.

The reason he didn't send so many troops into Kosovo was that he was holding them back in Turkey to attack Iraq.

When Clinton left office and Bush took over, there was no change of power. That's the same exact guys replacing the same exact guys under a different banner. And I mean the same exact guys. The advisory corps remains the same. And still does. Which is why we're still there.

But democrats are not the opposition to republicans, they are another kind of republican. Hell, Hillary herself was the first person in govt. to suggest a war with Iran back in what was it, '04?


Oh, just soes you know:

bearing the cross of socialism, not a good thing. You might want to do a google image search on

socialist cross

or

cross of socialism

Then ya might want to rethink that avatar idea ;)



well I guess i thought the democrats and republicans was somewhat opposite of each other, but as you say, its hard to suss out :-)

and well about the socialism well it was thought as an avatar idea, just thingking it would be best for Denmark to get a socialist government again, the other we have for the moment, well it does not go that well :-) but in a little under a year, if they do not decide to get us to vote earlier than needed, we are going to have an election, and then we can hope they decide for the red rose should lead again.(the mark of the socialistdemocrats i guess it could translated into.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 10:48 AM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by canttakesky:
Is anyone else disturbed that Assange is so desperately hunted?

Quote:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/30/interpol-wanted-notice-jul
ian-assange


WikiLeaks: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is tonight facing growing legal problems around the world, with the US announcing that it was investigating whether he had violated its espionage laws.

Assange's details were also added to Interpol's worldwide wanted list. Dated 30 November, the entry reads: "sex crimes" and says the warrant has been issued by the international public prosecution office in Gothenburg, Sweden. "If you have any information contact your national or local police." It reads: "Wanted: Assange, Julian Paul," and gives his birthplace as Townsville, Australia.



All I can say is, if you are going to piss off a war-happy, heavily armed, and relatively wealthy country, you shouldn't have sex or look at porn. It shouldn't be this way, but apparently, it is.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky



I must say that if he really has done something like that(the sex crime)then yes he should be punished for it, but I must say that I find the timing somewhat questionable, he sends out a bunch secret documents which has been leaked to him by people, and then he ends up on charges of rape, not saying I know anything, just seems a little fishy

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Friday, December 3, 2010 10:51 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


"I must say that if he really has done something like that(the sex crime)then yes he should be punished for it, but I must say that I find the timing somewhat questionable, he sends out a bunch secret documents which has been leaked to him by people, and then he ends up on charges of rape, not saying I know anything, just seems a little fishy"

I agree.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Friday, December 3, 2010 11:01 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Hello,

As odd as it may sound, I remember an episode of Star Trek: TNG that touched upon the wikileaks issue.

I believe the episode was called 'Pegasus.' The Enterprise was sent to recover a lost ship called the Pegasus because it held sensitive technology. The ship turned out to be inside a large asteroid. While the Enterprise was inside the asteroid investigating the wreck, a Romulan ship came by and 'accidentally' collapsed the cavern entrance, sealing the asteroid.

Picard learned that the Pegasus had been secretly testing a special cloaking device that removed ships from the physical realm. (Thus they could pass through solid objects.) The development of cloaking technology was expressly forbidden by treaty with the Romulan Empire.

Salvaging the device, Picard used it to escape the asteroid. However, he did not escape the asteroid on the side that would be invisible to the Romulans. Instead, he passed out on the side that the Romulan ship could see. Then he decloaked, and transmitted a message to the Romulan ship saying that his government would be in touch with the Romulan government over this incident.

Now, Picard most likely could have escaped the situation without alerting the Romulans, leaving them mystified about his escape. His choice of actions amounted to leaking classified data about Federation activities that cast the Federation in a bad light.

I have to admit that, at the moment Picard did this, I found it bewildering and infuriating. Why risk Romulan-Federation relations unnecessarily?

In an unrelated episode, Picard revealed his reasoning during a discussion with Wesley Crusher about an Academy incident coverup.

"A Starfleet Officer's first duty is to the Truth," he said.

One may agree or disagree, of course. My thoughts on this have evolved over time. It is only recently that I drew a corrolary between this science fiction episode and the wikileaks phenomenon. Essentially, if you approve of Wikileaks, then you approve of Picard's actions in the episode. If you disapprove of Wikileaks, then you disapprove of Picard's actions.

And if you have mixed feelings on the issue, then you're a lot like me.

--Anthony

Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 11:54 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_hi_te/wikileaks

WikiLeaks struggled to stay online Friday as governments and hackers hounded the organization across the Internet, trying to deprive it of a direct line to the public. Like a fugitive moving from house to house, WikiLeaks changed the name of its Web site after a U.S. company stopped directing traffic to wikileaks.org. French officials then moved to oust it from its new home.

"The first serious infowar is now engaged. The field of battle is WikiLeaks. You are the troops," tweeted John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the online free-speech group Electronic Frontier Foundation. His message was reposted by WikiLeaks to its 300,000-odd followers....

Wikileaks.ch, is owned by the Swiss Pirate Party, formed two years ago to campaign for freedom of information. Its officials said they gave Assange information on how to seek asylum in Switzerland.



I find this so very disturbing.

Indeed, wikileaks.org is no longer functional. But you can find the site at wikileaks.ch .

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Friday, December 3, 2010 2:31 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


From The Age website

Quote:

Is Julian Assange the digital age's Che?
Martin Flanagan
December 4, 2010

THE Guardian accompanied its publication of the latest WikiLeaks disclosure with a Q&A with editor Alan Rusbridger, which contained the most interesting comment I have seen concerning the website's founder, Julian Assange. It came from Hannibal123 and was less than wholly literate but the insight that struck me was that Assange is, or will come to be seen as, the Che Guevara of the information age.

This is not to say that I see Che Guevara as a romantic hero. As a Cuban government minister, Guevara signed death warrants for political prisoners - some sources say hundreds, others thousands. Supporters of gay marriage who think fondly of Guevara should investigate the fate of Cuban homosexuals at that time. But an aspect of Guevara's story caught the public imagination in a big way, making him part of the memory of the 1960s along with JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.

Guevara's end could be seen as utterly anti-climactic. He was executed in 1967 by agents of the Bolivian government acting with American support after he tried to incite a revolution in that country, which the populace had no interest in. Nonetheless, Guevara is remembered as a marker of his time, one whose life embodied certain of its major tensions. I suspect Assange, who has something of Andy Warhol about him, will end up a similar figure.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Three times now he has embarrassed the most powerful government in the world. Assange's critics point out that he hasn't embarrassed the Russian or Chinese governments, and that if he did he wouldn't last long. The idea grows apace that he is anti-American, that this is an attack on the US.

One indication of the indiscriminate forces being whipped up by the affair surfaced on a website called TOPIX which this week ran the question: Should the Yanks kill Julian Assange? Mr Humbert, from Irvine in California, wrote, ''The US should say to Australia, either you hand this treasonous scum's head on a stick with his ball stuffed in his mouth or we break diplomatic relations.''

Yank Oliver, from Sudbury in Canada, went further: ''That would stand as a good warning for other Aussies not to betray their allies.'' But neither went as far as Dr Zauius from Sudbury in Canada: ''Strike team needs to be dispatched to Sweden. I am wondering why they have not handed him over. Perhaps it is time to examine the Swiss (sic) in serious detail.''

Meanwhile, the Turks are blaming the Israelis for the leaks and the Iranian government is blaming the American government. In this, the Iranian president found - perhaps not surprisingly - support from those in Russia described by The New York Times as ''hardliners'' who are speculating ''that hawks in the Pentagon had leaked the documents to discredit President Barack Obama, or that the cables were fakes cooked up to mislead foreign governments''.

Assange's next target is a bank. Right now, there aren't too many nations in the world where banks are not offensive to the public. Wait until that one hits the streets, or should I say screens, because this is also a revolutionary (or perhaps, evolutionary) moment in the history of the media.

The big news stories of our time are being broken by someone using the internet who relies nonetheless on five of the old media world's most reputable brands - The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El Pais. Reputation still counts for something.

The argument against Assange is that he has ''blood on his hands''. It ill behoves anyone who supported the invasion of Iraq to talk about people having blood on their hands. Or are they like Pontius Pilate? Can they wash their hands clean of their actions?

Moreover, in response to the claim by an American admiral that Assange had blood on his hands, The New York Times noted on Monday: ''Despite that dire warning, Robert Gates, the defence secretary, told Congress in October that a Pentagon review 'to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence sources and methods compromised by the disclosure' of the war logs by WikiLeaks.''

The Victorian state election is like something written by Charles Dickens compared to the story of Julian Assange. Interpol has issued a warrant for his arrest. The Australian government has bought in, ordering an investigation of his past. People in apparently responsible positions are calling for his assassination. What happens now will be a defining drama of our times.

Martin Flanagan is a senior writer


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Friday, December 3, 2010 3:34 PM

DREAMTROVE


Hero

I was just snarking. If you wanted to not sacrifice the argument, you should have used Al Qaeda. Said "CTS's policy could enable Al Qaeda." I would think that would be bogus or incorrect, but it wouldn't be the Godwin that "CTS style policies are what enabled Hitler" which is an obvious Godwin.

Remember, you don't have to actually compare someone to nazis to lose by Godwin, it just has to be an irrational connection that draws extreme parallels.

Quote:


Fair enough. You want the country to fail. I suggest you read 'Without Warning' by John Birmingham. He takes the world and the eve of the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and gives you your fondest wish and simply removes America from the equation. The result is global economic collapse and two nuclear conflicts. Also the breakdown of global trade and communications and death on a massive scale. Good book, I think you'll like it.



Thanks. I might take a look. I think the premise that America is a stabilizing peace keeping force is absurd, but I'm willing to listen to rational arguments.

It the US federal govt. I see as destructive, not the states of America, which I think would go on without their govt. Each state is equipped with a defense force at least as strong as Israel, I don't think there would be serious fallout from the remove of DC from our daily lives.

I think Japan is the land of perpetual tomorrow, we would do well to listen to those who mock America. We are rapidly falling behind, but we have far too much hubris to admit it so that we can work on the problem.

I have this argument more with the left than the right, and usually over education. Our system is not good enough just because we say it's good enough. In a global economy, the stability of our economy, currency, and markets, the strength of our education and industry, these are not subjective measures that have no comparison on Earth. If we get trounced by S. Korea, Japan, China and India, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We were so sure that we were good enough that we didn't bother to evolve. Ergo, we will become extinct. At the moment, I think our govt. is way too much of an impediment to that evolution, and we would evolve much faster without it.

I'm not saying I want the US to be overthrown by China, I think that's a worst case scenario. I would say that I think the US could learn a thing or two by studying those who are outperforming us on economic growth, education, and industry. Right now, that's damn near everyone.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 3:53 PM

DREAMTROVE


Krell

Red Rose means Labour to me. Is that logical? I got that it wasn't an avatar, but cross of socialism was unfortunate, I get that in a second language you miss it. I assumed you googled it and got the joke.

Does Denmark still have its own currency? I remember they were resistant to joining the EU at first, it looked like there was hope for a continued independent Denmark. I think there may still be. If I was there, that would probably be my main voting issue, provided no one was running on the platform of destroying the Earth and killing the people on it.

Alas, here, both parties tend to be selling that they *would* destroy the earth and kill the people on it, globally as well as locally.

Politics are a tricky thing. If you look carefully at the debates here, everyone here hates both the Dems and the GOP. But when people bring up wedge issues like Abortion, Gay rights, etc. then people can easily be moved into partisan blocks and start defending one party and attacking the other. But if we take a step back, we realize that we have more in common with each other, and nothing in common with either party.


To help explain it, people have put forth various models, here, and I'm just going to try to illustrate:

Imagine if you will a two-dimensional political spectrum:

Left to right, you have the X axis. On the left, you have the caring giving liberal and on the right, you have the protecting cautious conservative. It's commonly put like this:
If the left ruled supreme, everyone would have everything they asked for, and we'd all be broke in no time. Ultimately it would be impossible for anyone to create anything that involved more than one person.
If the right ruled supreme, we would never lose what we have, but there would be no change or progress, and some might get left in the cold.
People can argue with those caricatures, but that's the trend, and everyone is somewhere on that spectrum.

Now, add a second Y dimension, where Authoritarian is at the top, and Independent is at the bottom. Everyone here would be somewhere in the lower half, even those who others call Authoritarian. Our govt. would be at the top, somewhere in between Iran and North Korea

Now you have this two dimensional map.

Democrats and Republicans would both be way up near the top on Authoritarian, and we could argue which was higher, but they're both higher than anyone here.

Democrats would be 1 point to the left, and Republicans 1 point to the right.

Here's why:

We have a two party system. If someone is one step to the left, they get all of the votes on the left. No one else can get into the debates, so there's no third party of note, and so there's no reason for a democrat to ever be two steps to the left of center. Same thing for the Republicans on the right.

Now sure, they may talk a lot of nonsense which sounds very left and right, that's just pandering to some extremists just to make sure those guys actually vote.

As for the other dimension, the authority vs. independent, that never gets debated at all. It doesn't have to, there are only two parties, and two points on a graph are a straight line. This has enabled both parties to float to a super authoritarian level that has no support from the people, because the parties set the debate, and they always set it on the left-right axis.

This helping at all?


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Friday, December 3, 2010 3:57 PM

DREAMTROVE


Anthony

I remember that ep. Good analogy. The only thing I might add as a slight stickler is that Assange is not American, whereas Picard was Starfleet, so Picard is committing a betrayal that Assange is not, so someone might have an issue with Picard that does not carry over here. I supported Picard's position. The problem between the Federation and the Romulans was not one of technology, it was one of trust. The same is true here, and we are hemorrhaging trust all over the place. We might want to see to that.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 4:05 PM

DREAMTROVE


No one wants to test out alliance with Australia, as your govt. has already made overtones that it would rather an alliance with Japan, but that's a side issue.

Assange has undoubtedly made allies, and I suspect that if it were Russia or China bombing people into oblivion, he'd be attacking them. Also, he has the added advantage that we have still somewhat of a free press here, and so he can be assured that Americans will here the message in a way that he would not be so sure re: China or Russia.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 7:42 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Anthony

I remember that ep. Good analogy. The only thing I might add as a slight stickler is that Assange is not American, whereas Picard was Starfleet, so Picard is committing a betrayal that Assange is not, so someone might have an issue with Picard that does not carry over here. I supported Picard's position. The problem between the Federation and the Romulans was not one of technology, it was one of trust. The same is true here, and we are hemorrhaging trust all over the place. We might want to see to that.



Hello,

I wonder if there are people who would approve of wikileaks but condemn the people who give them documents.

On the one hand, if no one broached trust, then wikileaks wouldn't exist.

On the other hand... to whom do these leakers owe their loyalty? Is it to their employer? To their government? To the citizenry? To humanity at large?

And what if the leakers are leaking for purely selfish reasons? Is the effort marred by the motive? Can they be condemned while the publication of their materials is hailed?

Is it like a folder full of Nazi medical experiments? Something to be condemned as an atrocity even whilst we prize the data?

Sticky wicket, that.

--Anthony



Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 8:07 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
"I must say that if he really has done something like that(the sex crime)then yes he should be punished for it, but I must say that I find the timing somewhat questionable, he sends out a bunch secret documents which has been leaked to him by people, and then he ends up on charges of rape, not saying I know anything, just seems a little fishy"

I agree.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

He is not accused of rape. He's accused (emphasis on "accused") of not using a condom during consensual sex.

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Friday, December 3, 2010 11:12 PM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
He is not accused of rape. He's accused (emphasis on "accused") of not using a condom during consensual sex.


*headdesk*
At least I know for a fact that ONE soon to be Interpol agent isn't gonna be that stupid - crazy, perhaps, but Yuriko is anything but stupid.

As for the leakers...
Quote:

"His Majesty made you a major because he believed you would know when not to obey orders."

Nuff Said.

-F

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 1:47 AM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Anthony

I remember that ep. Good analogy. The only thing I might add as a slight stickler is that Assange is not American, whereas Picard was Starfleet, so Picard is committing a betrayal that Assange is not, so someone might have an issue with Picard that does not carry over here. I supported Picard's position. The problem between the Federation and the Romulans was not one of technology, it was one of trust. The same is true here, and we are hemorrhaging trust all over the place. We might want to see to that.



I know that episode, and I would not say picard was comitting a betrayal of the federation, it was the other guy and his little group that had started the research in cloaking with phasing capabillity, which the federation had promissed the romulan star empire they would not do, in was it the treaty of Algernon or something close to it(a peace treaty)

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 2:09 AM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Krell

Red Rose means Labour to me. Is that logical? I got that it wasn't an avatar, but cross of socialism was unfortunate, I get that in a second language you miss it. I assumed you googled it and got the joke.

Does Denmark still have its own currency? I remember they were resistant to joining the EU at first, it looked like there was hope for a continued independent Denmark. I think there may still be. If I was there, that would probably be my main voting issue, provided no one was running on the platform of destroying the Earth and killing the people on it.

Alas, here, both parties tend to be selling that they *would* destroy the earth and kill the people on it, globally as well as locally.

Politics are a tricky thing. If you look carefully at the debates here, everyone here hates both the Dems and the GOP. But when people bring up wedge issues like Abortion, Gay rights, etc. then people can easily be moved into partisan blocks and start defending one party and attacking the other. But if we take a step back, we realize that we have more in common with each other, and nothing in common with either party.


To help explain it, people have put forth various models, here, and I'm just going to try to illustrate:

Imagine if you will a two-dimensional political spectrum:

Left to right, you have the X axis. On the left, you have the caring giving liberal and on the right, you have the protecting cautious conservative. It's commonly put like this:
If the left ruled supreme, everyone would have everything they asked for, and we'd all be broke in no time. Ultimately it would be impossible for anyone to create anything that involved more than one person.
If the right ruled supreme, we would never lose what we have, but there would be no change or progress, and some might get left in the cold.
People can argue with those caricatures, but that's the trend, and everyone is somewhere on that spectrum.

Now, add a second Y dimension, where Authoritarian is at the top, and Independent is at the bottom. Everyone here would be somewhere in the lower half, even those who others call Authoritarian. Our govt. would be at the top, somewhere in between Iran and North Korea

Now you have this two dimensional map.

Democrats and Republicans would both be way up near the top on Authoritarian, and we could argue which was higher, but they're both higher than anyone here.

Democrats would be 1 point to the left, and Republicans 1 point to the right.

Here's why:

We have a two party system. If someone is one step to the left, they get all of the votes on the left. No one else can get into the debates, so there's no third party of note, and so there's no reason for a democrat to ever be two steps to the left of center. Same thing for the Republicans on the right.

Now sure, they may talk a lot of nonsense which sounds very left and right, that's just pandering to some extremists just to make sure those guys actually vote.

As for the other dimension, the authority vs. independent, that never gets debated at all. It doesn't have to, there are only two parties, and two points on a graph are a straight line. This has enabled both parties to float to a super authoritarian level that has no support from the people, because the parties set the debate, and they always set it on the left-right axis.

This helping at all?




we still have our own currency.

well denmark has a bunch of parties that is somewhat spread out between socialism(the left wing), and liberalism/conservatism(the right wing), usually a 2-3 maybe 3-4 parties goes together to make a government, right now the government is a alliance between the Left-party(which is actually more to the right, so the name is slightly misguiding)and the Conservatives, with a strong support from the Danish Folk-party.

but what I hope we get is one that is made of Socialisticdemocrats, Socialistic folkparty, and the Unity-list, and Radical Left-party.

and Socialisticdemocrats could i guess be somewhat resembled to the Labour, maybe it´s a little more to the left than labour is

I have not googled the cross thing yet(now I have) if it was what I think it is(the hagecross/swastika), then NO! that was not what I meant.

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 4:06 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


"well denmark has a bunch of parties..."

Hello,

It must be too early in the morning for my brain. I read this and thought, "Denmark sounds like a fun place."

--Anthony

Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 6:43 AM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:


"well denmark has a bunch of parties..."



lol

prolly true.


Krell,

what's your take on the Cameron govt? Is it similar to what you have in Denmark today?

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 1:28 PM

KRELLEK


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Quote:


"well denmark has a bunch of parties..."



lol

prolly true.


Krell,

what's your take on the Cameron govt? Is it similar to what you have in Denmark today?



Well regarding the "Party" well danish young people are pretty well known for partying alot.

not entirely sure how the new british government is working, but I guess it is somewhat close, in the danish government there is also perhaps a sligth to much nationalism(comming from Danish folk-party)at least to my thinking. They also approved of the certain caricature cartoon drawings of a certain prophet, due to the freepress/freespeach thing, but I just think it was misuse of that/those freedoms to do so.

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Saturday, December 4, 2010 1:37 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
No one wants to test out alliance with Australia, as your govt. has already made overtones that it would rather an alliance with Japan, but that's a side issue.


Actually, Australia jumps when the US says jump. That's how we have ensured our alliance over the past 60 years. Every time US in involved with some conflict, we're there too. We're your best buddies

Some of us would prefer to go the way of New Zealand, and have actually think for ourselves when it comes to involvement in military conflict, which somehow doesn't seem to be possible with successive governments regardless of their political leanings. It's true that our trade alliances (rather than military) have moved to Asia in the past 30 years. Quite rightly seeing as though that's the region we live in.

Quote:

AS THE net closes around WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the notorious whistleblower has accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of betraying him as an Australian citizen in her eagerness to help the United States attack him and his organisation.

Ahead of his imminent arrest - over an alleged sexual assault in Sweden - Mr Assange yesterday broke cover to lash out at the Gillard government, comparing his treatment to that of former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Photo: Mark Chew

''I am an Australian citizen and I miss my country a great deal,'' Mr Assange wrote in a live question-and-answer session on the website of UK newspaper The Guardian.

''However … the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, have made it clear that not only is my return impossible but they are actively working to assist the United States government in its attacks on myself and our people.''

Mr Assange's cyber retaliation against the government's condemnation of his decision to publish thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables came as:

■ Mr McClelland yesterday slammed Mr Assange's actions as potentially life endangering and ''incredibly irresponsible and reprehensible''.

■ Government authorities around the world worked overtime to determine if Mr Assange could be charged with a crime related to the leaks.

■ WikiLeaks data analyst James Ball revealed a cache of documents relating to Australia was to be released late next month.

■ The WikiLeaks website battled to stay online as governments in several countries tried to block it.

■ British authorities said Mr Assange, believed to be hiding in the UK, could be arrested at any time on the Swedish warrant.

■ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to issue yet another apology, this time declaring her ''deep respect and admiration'' for the British military after US criticism of their efforts in Afghanistan was published.

Mr Assange, 39, said his treatment by the federal government raised questions about what it meant to be an Australian citizen. ''Are we all to be treated like David Hicks at the first possible opportunity merely so that Australian politicians and diplomats can be invited to the best US embassy cocktail parties?''

Prominent human rights lawyer Julian Burnside told The Sunday Age Mr Assange's reference to Mr Hicks was apt, given the government's apparent enthusiasm to assist the US rather than an Australian citizen.

But he said he ''wouldn't be surprised'' if Mr Assange had committed an offence, given he almost certainly knowingly assisted with the publication of classified documents when the first wave of 250,000 sensitive US diplomatic cables was posted on WikiLeaks last Monday.

Ms Gillard has asserted that Mr Assange's actions were illegal. A taskforce of Australian soliders, intelligence officers and officials is investigating whether he has breached any Australian laws.

Mr McClelland yesterday said Mr Assange might not be welcome back in Australia if he is convicted over the leaks. He confirmed Australia was providing ''every assistance'' to US authorities in their investigation.

''Some of these documents [have] … the potential to put an individual's safety or national security at risk,'' Mr McClelland told The Sunday Age. Should Mr Assange be arrested, he will be offered consular assistance.

The WikiLeaks drop has caused enormous diplomatic problems for the US, with Senator Clinton describing it as ''an attack on the world''. Some senior US politicians have called for Mr Assange's arrest as a terrorist; others for his execution.

Mr Assange said on The Guardian website that he had stepped up security around his hiding place following threats.

So far, the only charges that may be brought against Mr Assange relate to an alleged sex assault in Sweden. Mr Assange's lawyer in London, Mark Stephens, said that neither he nor Scotland Yard had received the new arrest warrant from Sweden. Mr Assange has denied the sex assault allegations.

Meanwhile, Mr Assange's Melbourne-based son Daniel has defended his father's decision to publish the diplomatic cables, declaring that attempts to silence him and WikiLeaks are pointless.

The 20-year-old software developer's comments were posted on an American blogger's website yesterday in response to the blogger's calls for the former Box Hill High student to be physically harmed or kidnapped in a bid to flush out his father.

With JILL STARK, AGENCIES



http://www.theage.com.au/national/pm-has-betrayed-me-assange-20101204-
18ks8.html



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Saturday, December 4, 2010 2:35 PM

DREAMTROVE


Krell

But it *is* a free speech issue. I agree that being anti-islamic is xenophobic, but you can't allow sensitivity to let the religious extremists in your country limit free speech. Believe me, America can tell you where that leads

That said, sounds okay to me then, as long as you don't let Brussels tell you can and can't do, keep the Krona strong and don't let your govt. pass any EU directives as law or you will become an imperial possession of an unelected dictatorship, and we can tell you how that is also


Australia,

You can either be the country of Rupert Murdoch or the country of Julian Assange. Take your pick. That's what the world is seeing from Australia right now. It's been a long time since Mick Dundee.


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