The WikiLeaks Mastercard Spoof Is Priceless

Whatever you think of Wikileaks, this video is marvelous, and a very clever fundraising appeal.  It will give you a laugh, and if you believe in the cause, it will point you to where you can donate to help WikiLeaks fight the good fight.   It seems that Julian Assange is not only Robin Hood and The Scarlet Pimpernel wrapped up on one, he is also an advertising genius, or else he knows who to hire.

Personally,  though I applaud truth and transparency in principle, I am not always sure the revelations of WikiLeaks are useful in the long run. Yes, yes, I know that WikiLeaks contributed to the anger that sparked the Arab Spring.  But it did not create that anger, it merely fanned the flames of a fire that was already burning. Many of the leaked documents that constitute " cablegate" amount to not much more than  diplomatic gossip around the international water cooler.

Then, there is the fact that  truth-telling can lead to a lot of collateral damage  Brutal honesty is not always the best course of action and innocent people get caught in the cross-fire.  Think of all those outed CIA agents.  There is a time and a place for prevarication as well as transparency.

Plus there is something I can't put my finger on about Julian Assange that kind of creeps me out-- just a gut reaction. Call it women's intuition.

On the other hand, he is brilliant and ,on principle, I feel good about gadflys and rebellious geeks who bring down the pompous and powerful.

  A Donation to WikiLeaks?  not from me... but the WikiLeaks Mastercard spoof is definitely priceless.

Julian Assange is Wiki-Leaking All Over Town

Fox, CNN and all the sleezy tabloids  are  just having a ball with the gory details of Julian Assange's  sexual indescretions-- It is all just too tacky and TMI, and while Assange was pretty stupid to step into what may or may not have been a honey trap, set for him by God only knows who, this is certainly not rape and does not justify all the hoopla and attention it is getting.  The New York Times account at least makes an attempt at dignified journalistic reportage.

"The Swedish report traces events over a four-day period in August when Mr. Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, had what he has described as consensual sexual relationships with two Swedish women. Their accounts, which form the basis of an extradition case against Mr. Assange, state that their encounters with him began consensually, but became nonconsensual when he persisted in having unprotected sex with them in defiance of their insistence that he use a condom."

and here comes the good part

"The case has prompted widespread controversy, with supporters of Mr. Assange alleging that he is the victim, and the women are complicit, in an American-inspired vendetta seeking to punish WikiLeaks for posting hundreds of thousands of secret American documents on the Internet."

Don't we all just love a juicy sex scandal?  Yes, we do and that's what sells advertising-- and in America, that's what shapes public opinion.  Whether or not it is a conspiracy theory as Assange-ites assert or just an unfortunate confluence of circumstance only time will tell.

Wiki-Leaks has been sharing secrets online and embarrassing the rich and powerful for years-- it is a kind of Robin Hood site that reflects the new reality of the transparency and reach of the internet.  Anybody can send stuff to Wiki-Leaks for publication and lots of people do-- some of it is important and some of it not.  While America may be embarrassed by the gossipy political revelations of Cablegate, it is not, for the most part, being endangered. On the other hand, some powerful egos are being bruised  and there is definitely a new, internet based,  information paradigm in town

Whatever you think of Julian Assange, he is one smart cookie and clearly not doing what he is doing for personal gain-- I am sure that if he could be bought, he would have been by now.   Whether it is idealism or ego, he is totally changing the information landscape in a way that benefits the ordinary person.  In this internet age, information is power and Assange has the ability to give power to the people and THAT is perhaps what makes him seem so dangerous to the powers that be.

The fat lady hasn't even opened her mouth yet, but it is clear that this whole bruhaha is about a lot more than sex in Sweden and broken condoms. Julian Assange is taking a wiki-leak all over the global power elite and it is making them a little nervous. Fasten your seatbelts folks -- it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Ron Paul on Wikileaks and Delusional American Foreign Policy

Click here for latest updates on WikiLeaks Saga

 Ron Paul and I are usually poles apart politically, but we do agree on one thing--i.e. the importance of truth and transparency in a free society.  Here's a quote from what Paul had to say last week about Wikileaks and the ongoing Cablegate. situation.  I think he is right on the money.
  

"At its core, the Wikileaks controversy serves as a diversion from the real issue of what our foreign policy should be. But the mainstream media, along with neoconservatives from both parties, insists on asking the wrong questions. When presented with embarrassing disclosures about U.S. spying and meddling, the policy that requires so much spying and meddling is not questioned. Instead the media focuses on how authorities might prosecute the publishers of such information. "

Ron Paul has a lot more to say.   You can read the entire text on his website or listen to the video below.  Here's another snippet to whet your appetite.

"State secrecy is anathema to a free society. Why exactly should Americans be prevented from knowing what their government is doing in their name? In a free society we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, however, we are in big trouble. The truth is that our foreign spying, meddling and outright military intervention in the post-World War 2 era has made us less secure, not more, and we have lost countless lives and spent trillions of dollars for our trouble." 

Meanwhile, Julian Assange is readers choice for TIME's annual person of the year award and there is talk of a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize  Something quite big is in the air. I can feel it. Whatever is going on, Ron Paul is right--"in a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble "  You betcha!