In the News

[Jubal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19751695

Meanwhile in Canada...

[Pentagathus]

Hehehe.

[debux]

"One day... illegal cheese trafficking will move more millions than all existing illicit drugs put together, just wait and see..."

[Gen_Glory]

haha a have a canadian friend here who is peeved enough with the canada jokes, might just have to annoy some more

[Ladyhawk]

What do you guys think of Julian Assange??

[Skull]

What do you guys think of Julian Assange??

Free him.

[Othko97]

http://rt.com/news/assange-condom-no-dna-277/
I'll just leave this here.

[comrade_general]

Who?

[Othko97]

Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.

[Jubal]

The master of my college had the best summary of Julian I've heard:
"He's a very undignified flag-carrier, in my opinion, for a very important issue"

[debux]

I found this... dunno, cute French beekeepers in Ribeauville abuzz over blue honey

And slightly back on topic, I think it's totally possible and safe to say that they are major powers involved behind the whole accusations against Assange. The man is a modern hero, and hopefully doesn't become a martyr defending a just cause.

[Jubal]

I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's a hero - and some of his opinions I strongly disagree with (for example, I don't think governments should be forced to release every document they ever have ever, simply because there is some consideration of the safety of their troops, police, or even general public to think about).

[debux]

Didn't know of that statement of his (nor do I share it really), however, I don't like the fact that some nations are so reluctant on hiding everything they have (like those recorded conversations between powerful people expressing their own opinion on some issues) But I still think it's a great job what he's doing. That's why I find it rather heroic of how he had the guts of standing up against so many people, when most of us would chicken out when having such a chance of revealing so many confidential files.

[Jubal]

I'd say it's brave, not heroic.

Brave just implies he has guts - which is true. Heroic implies both that the action was brave and challenging, and that it was undoubtedly in the right and had an overall beneficial effect. I'm really not sure that is or was the case.

Essentially, there are some bad reasons why conversations are kept secret - for example, because nations are torturing people or planning illegal wars or cynically manipulating situations to their own gain. In these cases, it is clearly a good thing when someone exposes it. On the other hand, diplomacy played with all the cards showing is a much more dangerous game. It allows countries to find pretexts for war much more easily, it could include transmissions of weaponry blueprints or troop movements that could put innocent people in danger (not just the troops, eg "Ooh, this cable shows us our enemies are planning to move all their troops to this area. We can then bomb the civilian towns over that way without repercussions"). It's also important that people are able to speak their mind when planning policy, so that governments can hear a range of opinions and get a good outcome. If political scientists or policy experts know their views will be leaked they will be less likely to say anything at all, weakening policy and giving worse outcomes. It makes diplomatic solutions harder to achieve to problems as well as politicians of different countries cannot make difficult deals without everyone knowing, potentially increasing the risk of problems being solved via military means.

The problem I have with Assange is that he doesn't distinguish - he just sees the first sentence of the previous paragraph, decides secrecy is evil, and then releases everything. It's bravery, I'll give him that, but it's not heroism.

[comrade_general]

He ain't no Fox Mulder that's for sure.