Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,
which US Embassy would you most like to be posted at?
Ask a hard one. Amsterdam, of course.
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I actually think what's happening to Assange is news. There's not much to it, but it is something that's happening now, unlike the stuff in the cables, which is mostly actually quite old, and have had alternate sources that mean they're hardly surprising. I mean do I really need any more detail than the thousands upon thousands of links provided in IraqBodyCount to convince me that the war in Iraq is immoral and out of control? We've actually already been exposed over the last 10 years to a lot of stuff that gives us reason to find the cables to simply be "more evidence of what we knew". Furthermore, it's not like what is said in the cables is "truth". It's just "the opinions of diplomats and various other secretly communicating officials". I don't know that Iran taught Al Quaeda how to make suicide bombs now, I just know that what the diplomats think aligns with a whole lot of press releases the Army made over the last 5 years. It could still be highly speculative bullshit. The same goes for Iran's nuclear program. Yes, now we know that *some* diplomats think what we have constantly been told by newspapers over the last 10 years is true. They could be totally wrong. It's not like I couldn't have found out that Saudi is constantly agitating for the US to have a crack at Iran - they've said so publicly a number of times, just in more "diplomatic" terms (ironically).
So yes, it's interesting, more grist for the pacifist mill, and an interesting insight into the language of classified documents, but actually, any time I feel like sharing a revelation in there, I hit the "wasn't there a whole thread about this back in 2008?".
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I personally hate how public discourse these days pits one project against another. I want the tunnel and the highway and the CBD link. They've all got benefits, even though clearly some are more beneficial than others. Tolling does make sense if it's a way to make these projects happen, and isn't funneled into private hands (which will want it that way well after it's paid itself off). The CBD link will already be tolled, just through tickets that you must purchase to use the trains. If a lot more people use the trains because of the link, then that's paying for the link.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to HORansome,
It is cautious to hold him in remand, but the flight risk does seem quite real for reasons the judge gave. He's not British, and he did enter the country without going through any passport control, which suggests he could leave the same way.
I actually think he's safer in custody at the moment. That's the flipside of all this secretive ghosting around that he does - that he could easily disappear, and everyone might think he's just gone to ground, when in fact he's been 'rendered'.
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I'm feeling kind of sweet right now, most likely for reasons unrelated to Assange at all, but it does make me doubt the evil of speculating on the outcomes of his court case. What's wrong with the odd idle conspiracy theory to lay your prejudices out plain? I reckon he's a victim of a postmodern conspiracy.
I like to make it clear that I feel this way because I know virtually nothing about postmodernism and am highly resistant to finding out anything more. They don't want me to know, so it would be futile.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Russell Brown,
Hopefully, the judge will reconsider that decision in a week, but all this pointing to every single thing as evidence of conspiracy is giving me a headache.
Your headache was planted years ago, and is just a foretaste of what will be unleashed if the secret keys are released.
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I didn't pick up on that. So you're at least one step up the career ladder.
Or you're really, really good, whereas I'm just good.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Tim Hannah,
Unless all that is a planned double fake out to make me doubt it’s a honey trap, of course.
Or it was a seat of the pants operation, full of amateurs doing their best, and hey presto, right now, look who's in police custody facing sex crimes charges...
I don't know enough about the way spooks work to know whether you'd expect all honeytraps to have highly trained agents from Quantico* doing the actual shagging.
*Edit: Indeed even a spook n00b knows that it wouldn't be the FBI doing it...doh.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Neil Morrison,
Cult leader may be a bit harsh but why is it every cult leader invariably has something dodgy going on in their sex life.
It's one of the big perks of being a cult leader. Dodgy sex. So it must be true.
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Though it would have to go down as one of the worst planned and executed honey traps of all time.
How's that? The shit hits the fan just as he releases all his cables, immediately undermining the moral authority of them with people who are inclined to believe allegations pre-trial. Seems like good timing (although I still think that's just because it suits the prosecution, rather than a deep conspiracy. But I don't know).
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