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WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

nytimes.com

61–70 of 266 posts

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#61
post #45

When you comment that these cables are mundane in nature, you are assuming that you yourself are indicative of the audience as a whole. If you do not believe that millions upon millions of people will read this, you are mistaken. And many, if not the vast majority, of these readers will have previously been in the dark as to the information contained therein. So to them, this is not mundane; it's extraordinary. Furth…

> When you comment that these cables are mundane in nature, you are assuming that you yourself are indicative of the audience as a whole.

I don't think they're mundane -- some are quite amusing, such as the Afghan vice president trousering $52 million.

> If you do not believe that millions upon millions of people will read this, you are mistaken.

I'm sure millions will read them.

> And many, if not the vast majority, of these readers will have previously been in the dark as to the information contained therein.

It's not so much that they're in the dark about the information, it's that they have an unrealistic view of how world affairs are conducted. This might be because they're naive, or because their nationalist sentiments cause them to believe their own country acts more virtuously on the world stage than countries actually do, or whatever. Or it may just be because most people don't pay much attention to world affairs.

But for whatever reason, if someone's bubble is pricked and they later understand world affairs better, that person is more rational. And improving rationality worldwide is likely to be in the long term interest of the human species.

> So to them, this is not mundane; it's extraordinary.

Then hopefully it will cause them to update their worldview.

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#62

Earlier WikiLeaks releases seemed to expose atrocities and human rights abuses by the US military and government, which represents at least a partial justification. What end does this release serve?

Exposure of the underhanded means that the US uses to gather intelligence, for one. Attempting to steal the credit card numbers and biometrics of UN officials violates two UN conventions (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cable...). Attempting to steal the DNA of Western African leaders is even creepier (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/...).

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#63
post #54

It is bizarre that a PFC had access to so much intelligence.

It's all secret or noforn. If he was working as an analyst, he'd likely be badged for it. It also depends on his particular job responsibilities. My guess is that he was cleared to access a document archive for his day-to-day operations and started grabbing random stuff when he figured out a way to transport the data. There's no rhyme or reason to what was leaked, it's looks like wholesale whatever could be retrieved so it was likely a fire-sale type data grabbing.

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#64
post #50
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have we discussed ViewText here? I'm impressed. I think I may start using this instead of readability.

I don't think so, other than me posting links on HN threads for articles that need it (such as this NYT article). But thanks! It's mostly based on readability, not 100% though. I ported Readbility (JavaScript) to C#.

Is it okay if I link to it from historious for formatting webpages?

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#65

Is there a torrent anywhere with the actual text of the cables? Wikileaks itself is being DDOSed, and none of the news sites are reprinting anything but summaries.

From a comment on reddit:

Complete docs are not up yet ... The full schedule is as follows:

The first batch of documents that will be in part released Sunday night and the rest Monday will include "lively commentaries" by American diplomats on, among others, Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Af...ghan President Hamid Karzai, and Libya's Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

On Tuesday, documents will be released relating to Guantanamo and North and South Korea.

Wednesday will be Pakistan's turn.

Thursday will be dedicated to Canadians and their "inferiority complex".

Claims of corruption in Afghanistan will be aired Friday. Saturday will be about Yemen, and Sunday, China.

http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/ecxhp/the_guardi...

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#66
post #45

When you comment that these cables are mundane in nature, you are assuming that you yourself are indicative of the audience as a whole. If you do not believe that millions upon millions of people will read this, you are mistaken. And many, if not the vast majority, of these readers will have previously been in the dark as to the information contained therein. So to them, this is not mundane; it's extraordinary. Furth…

Agreed. These revelations are not so scandalous by US standards but may well lead to the collapse of governments in some other countries, for which the US will be blamed.

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't the US take them?

Because congress is afraid that they will break out of prison and kill people. The ones that are getting released probably don't want to come to the States anyway on account of lynch mobs. On a side note, I was clearly mistaken and this includes the one we tried to get Slovenia to take. After the full-body scanners and COICA I'm getting a little on edge about my support of Obama.

How many lynchings have occurred in the US in the past 30 years?

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#68
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't the US take them?

because then they would have the right to a trial there is a reason Gitmo was established

Shouldn’t everyone you want to lock up have the right to a trial? What’s your point?

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#69
post #48
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All pages, one click: http://viewtext.org/article?url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/...

Have we discussed ViewText here? I'm impressed. I think I may start using this instead of readability.

Looking at the most popular URLs on ViewText, only HN users know about it.

On another note: "it's" instead of "its" in the description made me scowl.

Re: WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

#70
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think so, other than me posting links on HN threads for articles that need it (such as this NYT article). But thanks! It's mostly based on readability, not 100% though. I ported Readbility (JavaScript) to C#.

Is it okay if I link to it from historious for formatting webpages?

Yup! That's really the intended use, for others to provide links to articles from within their apps. That's what I did for http://ihackernews.com (HN for iPhone/Android).
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