Slashdot Mirror
WikiLeaks Will Unveil Major Bank Scandal
Atmanman writes "When WikiLeaks announced it was releasing 251,287 US diplomatic cables, we all thought we knew what was meant by its earlier ominous words that, 'The coming months will see a new world, where global history is redefined.' It now appears the organization is sitting on a treasure trove of information so big that it has stopped taking submissions. Among data to be released are tens of thousands of documents from a major US banking firm and material from pharmaceutical companies, finance firms and energy companies."
Expose the corruption and tyranny of our ruling classes for all to see, and let the bastards be damned!
I write sci-fi for metalheads
Now this is the kind of stuff I want to see. I already know basically what the government is doing and how things are going in the wars on the ground, what I don't know is what the pharmaceutical companies and banks have been hiding.
Wikileaks is embarassing everyone who deserves it. I approve.
...a lot of people recently said that Wikileaks has become an anti-US organization. We should probably wait and see what they actually release, but perhaps this news shows otherwise? Or is the fact that they are going to release data on US based corporations just going to be viewed as more evidence of an anti-US sentiment?
You should probably clarify that you meant anti-US government as they might actually be providing the citizens a lot more transparency than previously thought possible. When a US company is targeted, both the government and the people might be happy -- especially if it's tax evasion or violation of laws. Here's a good snippet when they run down which industries they might have dirt on:
Continuing then: The tech industry?
We have some material on spying by a major government on the tech industry. Industrial espionage.
U.S.? China?
The U.S. is one of the victims.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that everyone would like the offenders of industrial espionage to be dragged out in the open. Especially the United States government.
Anti-US, pro-US, who cares? This is going to get interesting and the knife is going to cut everybody.
I'm really going to break down laughing if Wikileaks hosts dirt on Amazon, their knew hosting provider with EC2!
My work here is dung.
Well, reality has a well established liberal bias.
Well, or you could point out how the US's drive for globalization and (what they call) "free trade" is basically destroying everybody's economy because it's largely predicated on utterly meaningless economic theory. It's a race to the bottom, and apparently nobody has figured this out.
It was the banking practices of US banks which directly caused the financial crisis, because they mixed up the imaginary, funny-money (bad US consumer debt) with the real money. And, when people discovered the funny-money had no value, the value of the real money tanked because it was now based on the funny money. The US essentially commoditized and exported bankruptcy.
That's right America, it's your fucking fault.
Complaining that Wikileaks is anti-US is really an ad hominem argument. Just because they may be anti-US, doesn't mean what they have revealed it any less legitimate.
Yeah, that's why senior administration officials are calling for Assange's head. Because he made it all up.
It's really pathetic when people consider the truth to be political. I think it's far more likely that you're upset that your worldview has turned out to be a lie.
Life will go on unchanged. They will still get their buy-out.
Exactly. After the obscenity that was the mortgage scandal, did anything change? Nope, and the greedy bastards responsible even got a shitload of free money from The Taxpayers...
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
messing with governments gets mixed up in equivalency and nationalism and generates more heat than anything actually useful. iran is already saying wikileaks is an american plot
http://www.presstv.ir/details/153259.html
something that hurts the usa should be a subject of celebration in the iranian government, right? no. because people are so mixed up in their prejudices, any reveal of what a government did or said can always be conveniently reexplained with some creative thinking such that your prejudices are never really examined. whether pro-usa, or anti-usa, your opinion of the usa is completely unaffected by wikileaks, as iranian spin shows
wikileaks clearly shows that the great satan is not the one who hates them and wants their destruction: all their neighboring countries secretly push the usa to topple iran, while those countries say nothing publicly. that's what wikileaks shows. this challenges the narrative of the great satan plotting your downfall, and so proof that the great satan is not a great satan. therefore, wikileaks must be explained away with plots and conspiracies, where julian assange is actually an agent of the CIA. it would be hilarious, if maintaining the prejudicial narrative weren't such a deadly serious effort by those who love, or hate, the usa, for prejudicial reasons. so it's a complete wash: wikileaks has zero effect on the usa's standing in the world, or in the minds of committed pro-usa or anti-usa partisans.
however, the corporations, they need unmasking. a lot of people in the usa have this phony narrative of their poor neighbors and their government being the enemy of their prosperity. the real enemy of their prosperity: corporations. there is nothing wrong with capitalism, but corporatism is not capitalism. corporatism is buying off the government to permanently warp the markplace against the smaller players and to entrench your dominant position in it. the government is not the enemy, corporations are. the greatest enemy capitalism has ever known, in fact, is not communism, but corporatism, in all of economic history, the big players have always warped the markplace in their direction. yet so many fools believe this phony narrative of the government and poor people being the enemy of capitalism, and large corporations heroes, or at worst, harmless victims on the sidelines, of evil government regulations (that are written by those same corporations)
so hopefully, a reveal of how corporations are your real enemy, not your government, might open some foolish eyes, for once, i hope
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
If the media had been doing their job WikiLeaks would not be needed.
But since the media is in bed with government and industry, this is what it takes.
I don't really care if they're anti or pro American. This is a true Revolution to be remembered in future time. If all these documents are, indeed, real, then we may be watching the true Revolution of Freedom -- the discovery that our democracy has grown to be something riddled with shit and corruption. The question that I pose is: What's next?
/all/, but *most*) democracy isn't working and will not work in the near future. What IS __THE NEXT STEP__?
Democracy is still the best ideal that I believe we have. I am talking worldwide, not just in the US. What is the valid alternative? Alternatives that I often discuss with my friends are alternatives that establish different democratic hierarchies and especially voting restrictions. However, this ideal that I often propose to them is just not feasible for many reasons (mainly: Human non determination, Human misuse of resources, implicit discrimination and violation of human rights). What is our alternative? Where do we go from here? I'm sure many disagree, but it seems to many that most (notice not
For starters, WikiLeaks seems to be going there. Freedom is a must have. Transparency is essential. Not everywhere, as some things must be made secret, but the fear of being discovered -- much like is happening now -- can force people to "behave". This is a true revolution if it gets spread and if it really gets worldwide. We must use this to our well being, we must show people that Freedom is essential and that a Democracy without proper freedom and ethically correct behavior isn't good. That IS the next step -- a Free, Ethically Correct Democracy. Unfortunately, that is the exact ideal that we can't reach, because even losers vote -- and losers can't vote decently. Plus, even if we didn't allow losers to vote, who is to say they didn't stop being losers? Plus, who isn't to say that "non losers" can't be bought or vote wrongly? Who isn't to say that the politicians that "ethically correct people" elect change their position and become "evil"?
The World keeps going forward, but we're walking backwards -- and we don't seem to be willing to go forward...just check the possible comments and troll ratings I'll get instead of a logical and healthy debate.
Have you heard about SoylentNews?
American Exceptionalism is the sadly more and more common belief that America, by its very nature, can do no wrong. It is Manifest Destiny written on a global scale. When we kill, torture, rape and rob, it is okay because what we do is for the Highest Good, therefore, if we torture, it must be the right thing to do. When we spy on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs, it is for their own good. If we do it, it is right, just, good, and in fact, both necessary and Fated to Happen. We are God's chosen, his favorites, just look at the evidence: would he have made us the best, richest, most powerful nation on Earth if we weren't his special favorites? God Bless America, and no one else!
This is what a growing number of Americans seem to believe. Scream and yell all you want. We don't hear you because we don't have to listen. That is one of the perks of being powerful, you simply do not have to listen to or pay attention to most of your detractors because they are not living in the same world as you are.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
FWIW, the most recent leaks, the State cables, were pretty embarassing to other nations and, surprisingly, flattering to US diplomats.
Yemeni President joking about whisky, in a Muslim nation? Boned.
Saudi King saying the West should bomb Iran? Uh-oh.
Wikileaks isn't anti-US at all.
Sure, most of the stuff released there puts the US in a bad light. But you know what? Wikileaks didn't actually do any of those things. They just let the world know about it. You think we'd be a better nation if nobody knew about any of this stuff?
Not me my friend.
I'm glad the untouchable people who harm the country I love just might get called to task for the things they've done. The end result will be a stronger (and hopefully more accountable) America.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
I'm sorry, but having someone steal something and then give it to you doesn't make it "public domain" or "public information", it just makes you an accomplice to the theft.
If it is information about massive fraud and criminal enterprise against the public (and let's face it, that's exactly what it is going to be), it makes you an accomplice to a fucking hero.
All I can say it "It's about F'ing time." Go Wikileaks Go!
For years, we have had to put up with our privacy and our rights being stolen. Now we even have to appear naked to fly. Our privacy is always under attack, and yet we are told "it's for our own good" either by the governments that assault us, or the corporations that rip us off and sell our personal data to each other.
FINALLY the time has come that governments and corporations are under the same microscope as the average joe. The internet has become the great equalizer. And notice how governments and corporations bristle at the mere thought that *their* privacy is being invaded, while they continue to casually rape us.
Yes, when it's the governments/corporations that have their privacy assailed, "ohhh the guy is a terrorist" "Assage must be imprisoned" "DDoS isn't good enough for him, hanging's too good for him!", etc..., meanwhile, few are DDoS'ing the RIAA, TransUnion, Equifax, et al.
THIS IS OUR REVOLUTION. And it's about time. Grab your pitchforks. Heads must roll.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
You can't do foreign policy without secret cables flying around. You can't fight wars without intelligence.
You can't have government accountability with state secrets. I'd rather have the government accountability.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
It is impossible to monitor Wikileak's integrity or transparency. Do you think if Mr. Whistleblower's documents regarding Country X are not posted that Mr. Whistleblower is going to go to the established media and complain about that?
If it's bad for Wikileaks to operate without transparency, it's also bad for the US government and corporations to operate without transparency. Wikileaks is a partial solution to the latter problem. The former problem is quite easily solved. If you have information that Wikileaks won't publish, there's no shortage of ways of getting data on the internet anonymously.
Who is Assange to judge and / or label corporations or individuals?
He's a man with a conscience. It's the responsibility of all men with consciences to use them. That means calling out those who do wrong.
Now I'd agree that Assange is on an ego-trip, but who in international politics is not?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
This is not a discussion of China or Russia. Why bring them into this? Would it even help at all if I said all militant nationalism is disgusting? I doubt it. Like a child screaming, "But Charly did it!" when caught in wrongdoing, you seek to deflect blame by calling attention to the failings of others.
How is America willing to honestly face its past? In what way, exactly, have we been honest, brave, forthright, and fair in facing our past of criminal genocide against entire native populations? Has anyone gotten forty acres and a mule? What have we redressed? I mean, you can come up with at least one example, right?
Now, please don't get me wrong. I love this country and I love my fellow citizens, and I think we have been a great nation, and can be again. But I am not a sad enabler of my beloved's worst habits and traits. I am a true patriot, willing to go out on a limb and point out the cold, hard, and ugly facts, for the benefit of my country. A false friend will tell you only what you want to hear. Someone who really cares about you will tell you the truth, even if it hurts.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Does the average individual in America today have more power to control his destiny than his counterparts in other first world nations? To me, it seems the average individual in America is struggling just to get by, has no health care, is poorly educated compared to the rest of the world, has fewer real functional rights, and less opportunity to succeed.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Stimpy: Remeber the royal anthem of the kilted yaksmen!
Our country reeks of trees
Our yaks are really large
And they smell like rotting beef
carcasses...
And we have to clean-up
after them
And our saddle sores are
the best.
We proudly wear women's
clothing.
And searing sand blows up
our skirts.
Ren & Stimpy: And buzzards,
they soar overhead.
And poisonous snakes will devour
us whole.
And our bones will bleach in
the sun.
Stimpy: That's it
Ren & Stimpy: And we will
probably go to ****.
And that is our great reward
For being the - uh - roy-yal
Canadian kilted yaksmen
Stimpy: Come on everybody
Our country reeks of trees
Our yaks are really large
And they smell like rotting
beef carcasses
And we have to clean-up
after them
And our saddle sores are
the best
We proudly wear women's
clothing
And searing sand blows up
our skirts
And buzzards, they soar
overhead
And poisonous snakes will devour
us whole
And our bones will bleach in the sun
And we will probably go to ****
And that is our great reward
For being the - uh - roy-yal
Canadian kilted yaksmen
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
No. It is the belief that the US is better than other countries. Not perfect, just better.
The problem is that 'better' is a function of behaviour.
'We can do bad things because we're good people' is not a coherent argument, because you're only good people to the extent that you don't do bad things.
You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
What a distorted view of American history.
The U.S. rose to power because people of European decent used superior military technology to commit genocide against the natives of land that was both highly fertile and well-forested. (Wood was the oil of the time.) After forming their own nation, those people continued to use slavery and theft to power their economy's expansion up until they were well industrialized. (Via, it ought to be noted, numerous patent violations.)
While the powers of Europe tore each other up in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, WWI, and WWII, Americans kept stealing land from Indians (and later, from Hawaiians, Filipinos, and other people with fewer guns) and exploiting people of African ancestry and building a strong industrial base. American experienced booms after WWI and WWII by exporting goods to war-ravaged Europe; as the British Empire declined, the U.S. was set to step into the vacuum for a few decades. (I suspect, though, that in the histories a thousand years from now, the U.S. will be a footnote to the British Empire the way Constantinople is a footnote to Rome.) The U.S. then dissipated itself on the "Cold War", running up enormous debt in a dick-size competition with the U.S.S.R.
Don't get me wrong: I'm a fan of the all-American idea of constitutional representative democracy, and proud that the bootprints on Luna are American. And we are the country that taught the world to rock-and-roll, thank you very much. But this "American exceptionalism" nonsense is an ahistorical, anti-intelelctual embarrassment.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
well then I'd say that is a reasonable indication that yes, they DO have an anti-US agenda.
Speaking first as a patriotic American, frankly, my first priority is to fix corruption here in the US. If WikiLeaks was publishing stuff from all nations, I would be primarily interested in the stuff about the US. Because I am a patriot. Because corruption reduces GDP. Because I want America to excel in GDP growth. (regarding the GDP-focus; my hobby-to-the-brink-of-religion is economic research)
Speaking as a pragmatic globalist, consider the correlation to monopolies. Small monopolies that have little power are not very hazardous. Large monopolies with lots of power are more hazardous. Anti-trust law focuses on the large monopolies because they have the greatest negative impact. That is rational. Similarly, the US has the most power on the global stage. I think that's a fine thing, being an American -- politically incorrect though it may be, it's good to be the king. However, being in that position means that any corruption or foul play on our part is subject to greater scrutiny. Just like big monopolies, that is a rational thing. Corruption in the US has a much bigger effect on the world than, for example, corruption in France. It only makes sense to focus on the most potent hazard, which is a combination of amount of corruption and ability to influence events. Our ability to influence is so massively outsized that it takes less corruption to make us a greater hazard.
Take your pick: Patriotic American me is happy with all the US-oriented WikiLeaks stuff because it is my house and I have a duty to help keep it clean. Pragmatic Globalist me understands that my country has a greater obligation to end corruption because we have more influence on world events.
Is WikiLeaks biased against the US? I don't care, as long as they keep publishing the US stuff -- that is the stuff that is most important to me. Frankly, Americans who feel otherwise strike me as unpatriotic.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Who said we can do no right? That is ludicrous, no one said it. Perhaps you missed the part where I said I am an American, and that I love our country, that I am a patriot, and that we as a nation can be truly great once more?
God damn all knee jerk defensive excuses. America, please, fucking sit down, shut up, and take a little constructive criticism without being a whining baby about it. Face up to your imperfections like an adult. Learn to say "I'm sorry" and "I'll do better next time."
You know who latches on to the idea that America is the greatest nation? Tiny little frightened people with no self esteem. People who do things, people who are secure, people who know what and who they are DO NOT NEED to feel that their country is the bestest everest.
I mean, seriously, who gives a fuck if it is or isn't the best country ever? How does that impact you? If it is a suck-ass country, does that make you a suck-ass person? If it is an awesome country, does that mean you are awesome? How immature, who bases their self esteem on what they think of their country?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton