WikiLeaks about to hit the fan

@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Quote:
Time magazine named Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg Person of the Year for 2010. Zuckerberg, 26, owns about a quarter of Facebook's shares and is, to quote Time, "a billionaire six times over."

After pledging earlier this year to give $100 million to the Newark, N.J., school system, Zuckerberg last week joined the Giving Pledge--the effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to convince some of the country's richest to give away most of their wealth. Others that have joined the campaign include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media titan Barry Diller, CNN founder Ted Turner and filmmaker George Lucas.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2010/12/mark_zuckerberg_times_person_o.html?hpid=topnews

we are all shocked right?

I'm not sure how this is relevant, but I'd say it's good news no matter what thread it appears in.

I'm not terribly shocked. However, I tend to believe people are inherently good or want to be.

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@BillRM,

BillRM wrote:

Quote:
Just the way we and our "partners" have been able to pressure the North Koreans and Iranians to cease developing nuclear weapons?

But the North Korean and Iranian nukes aren't as big a threat to the US as is Julian Assange...right?

In the case of Iran the pressure is hurting like hell and is doing some good in the case of North Korea the only ones with real control/ties over them is China and for some reason they are still allowing them to go ahead at the moment.

But if you wish to think that we and some of the major European nations can not and are not pressuring Sweden in this matter feel free to live in your dream world.

Here is an example of US power at work...........
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The Other Banking Drama: Those Secret Swiss Accounts
Published: March 12, 2009 in Knowledge@Emory

While world markets are teetering in a global banking meltdown, another banking drama is playing out in Switzerland that could end the way private banking has been done there for centuries.

U.S. tax authorities have challenged long-standing Swiss banking secrecy laws, demanding that UBS AG release the names of 52,000 Americans suspected of opening secret accounts to evade taxes. The bank agreed to release client information on 250 U.S. citizens and pay a $780 million fine as part of a settlement, but that decision has put the entire Swiss banking system in jeopardy, according to Wharton faculty.

"Swiss banking as we have known it is dead," says Wharton professor of operations and information management Maurice Schweitzer.

Even though UBS has balked at releasing the full 52,000 names, turning over the 250 client names put a "chink" in the system that will destroy the trust of wealthy people around the world in Swiss bank accounts, he says. "Secrecy is at the heart of Swiss banking. This UBS case shakes that foundation of trust that clients had placed in Swiss banks regarding the secrecy [of] those accounts."

The only diabolical and extremely powerful entity I fear is the IRS.

Yes, if the opponents of WikiLeaks set the IRS on Sweden, it's lights out Oslo.

You're free to live in your own dream world as well, although why you would prefer your nightmares to my dreams is a puzzlement.

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@Pemerson,

Good article - thanks

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Oslo is not in Sweden.

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Oslo is not in Sweden.

Of course it's not. Foolish me, I stand corrected.

But if the IRS decides to take on Sweden it will probably stick around and overrun Denmark as well.

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@failures art,

failures art wrote:

I'm not sure how this is relevant, but I'd say it's good news no matter what thread it appears in.

I'm not terribly shocked. However, I tend to believe people are inherently good or want to be.

It's relevant in as much as Assange had twice as many votes than the other
two candidates on second and third place combined. So much for peoples votes. Zuckerberg was 10th on the list. Not sure that his accomplishments
entitle him to "man of the year" but he did give wikileaks a platform to
continue distributing information .

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@JPB,

JPB wrote:

Rep-elect West (R-FL) wrote:
And I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this and also supported him and applauding him for the efforts.

I can think of someone who should be censured, and it isn't our media.

wow, we're pretty much censored here anyway, but this takes the cake!
China here we come....

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@CalamityJane,

Quote:

It's relevant in as much as Assange had twice as many votes than the other

No doubt we will soon hear from Time about how Facebook has been a game-changer app thus the guy who gets credit for it should be man of the year. But there is an argument that Wikileaks has been an even bigger game-changer app, as it shows up what governments consider to be a flaw of the internet, and it shows how the balance of power has moved in the citizens favor and against governments.

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@CalamityJane,

Forgive me, I'm not familiar with how Time mag makes their selection. I was unaware that they opened it up for public vote. In the past has public vote been the only criteria in selecting the PotY? That said, when was the voting period?

Are you suggesting a conspiracy against Assange from Time Mag? He's on the cover this week. Paints him pretty positively, and paints the USG pretty poorly.

To be honest, I though Assange would get the PotY as well (perhaps because of timing), but think Zuckerburg is a legitimate pick. Following last year's pick, I think Assange has had less influence overall than Moot. In fact, it's arguable that most of Assange's tech support has come from Anonymous. In short, Assange would have been basically the same pick as last year in many ways.

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@CalamityJane,

Depending on how much fallout/change/impact wikileaks has over the next 12 months, I can see Assange as MotY next year. I agree with those who say he should apply at least some discretion in what he puts out there, but MotY hasn't always been given to White Knights.

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@hawkeye10,

If internet openness is the thing the PotY should be rewarded on, then someone explain how Assange would deserve it more than people like Al Franken or Ron Paul who actively fight for net neutrality? I don't think Assange deserves credit for the work of others.

It's still a battle right now. Something to watch over the next two years.

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@failures art,

Well, Time Magazine writes this: "While Time Magazine does conduct a user-generated poll each year to determine their "Person of the Year," it's not as democratic a process as a true social media survey might be."

So, obviously, the majority votes don't count necessarily. I am not opposed
to Zuckerberg, especially since he's given wikileaks a platform, whereas Amazon and Mastercard succumbed to government pressure. Strategically
Zuckerberg was a good (second) choice.

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@JPB,

JPB,
yes that's exactly what they (time mag) said too.

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@CalamityJane,

What do you mean by "strategically?"

Also, unless Time altered it's policy this year, what is there to suggest that the selection of Zuckerburg is strategic? And what do you perceive is the objective of said strategy?

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@failures art,

failures art wrote:

And what do you perceive is the objective of said strategy

not getting audited

or gunned down in the street Razz

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Julian Assange is listed as a runner-up for Time Magazine's Person of the Year:

Quote:

Person of the Year 2010
Mark Zuckerberg

Runners-Up
The Tea Party
Hamid Karzai
Julian Assange
The Chilean Miners

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@hawkeye10,

Quote:

After pledging earlier this year to give $100 million to the Newark, N.J., school system, Zuckerberg last week joined the Giving Pledge--the effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to convince some of the country's richest to give away most of their wealth. Others that have joined the campaign include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media titan Barry Diller, CNN founder Ted Turner and filmmaker George Lucas.

But to what extent is there a philantrophic motive?

Other motives are--

1--Not to risk ruining their children by leaving them the sums they might do.

2--To become highly thought of.

3--To short circuit the government's priorities in the allocation of scarce resources according to their fancy.

Perhaps leaving it to the government is the correct thing to do. After all it is the government which has provided the population with the money to buy the products these men offer and the infrastructure on which they operate.

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Samuel Johnson said--"The more contracted power is, the more easily it is destroyed."

As the attacks on Mr Assange are in the name of contracting power into a small circle they might be seen as a recipe for instability.

It is obvious Johnson was right from the evidence of the stability of democracies and the repressive methods used by those governments where power is contracted into small enclaves is clear evidence of their insecurity.

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@spendius,

Wow, you just define the repub party over the last decade (actually, starting in 1994) to a "T"......nice!

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@failures art,

failures art wrote:

What do you mean by "strategically?"

Also, unless Time altered it's policy this year, what is there to suggest that the selection of Zuckerburg is strategic? And what do you perceive is the objective of said strategy?

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Not to speak for CJ but if you think that everything going on in the world spins around a center inhabited by Julian Assange, you would likely see this a strategic move on some force's part.

The Forces of Transparent Truth arrange so it's Zuckerman thus taking some of the heat off Assange while still promoting the cause.

The Forces of Shadowy Secrets arrange it so anyone but Assange is given the "honor" and let's face it, Zuckerman is just anothe face of The Man.

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