Can someone explain the Wikileaks thing so I can understand what it is...

[CurtEastPoint]

who 'owns' it, the impact, etc. I'm dense about this. Thank you in advance.

[ananda]

1. The public now "owns" it.

nt

[CJCRANE]

2. All the cards are on the table.

No more poker face.

[aquart]

3. Of course, no one plays cards that way.

Which is where the phrases "close to the vest" and "poker face" come from.

Because you can't win if you tell the other player you know his tell. And you can't win if you let the other player know your hand.

And you can't win if you don't understand the game.

[CJCRANE]

5. Exactly.

But it all depends what your hand is when you're forced to show your cards (to continue the metaphor).

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

10. Win ? This game won't be won, it's just how bad the people loose.

Using up resources, pollution, killing, loss of freedoms and on and on. They really don't want a win, just more consumption, not a better society or world, just keep out of their way and keep spending all that you have.

[MH1]

4. i seriously doubt those were all the cards, in any case. n/t

[CJCRANE]

6. Good point. nt

[CurtEastPoint]

7. OK... still not getting it. And I know it's not about card games.

Thanks.

[CJCRANE]

8. It's about secret diplomatic communications (State Dept cables)

which are no longer secret because Wikileaks has published them.

Hence the metaphor about poker. Poker only works as a game if your hand isn't known to the other players.

[TexasObserver]

9. I can.

The government classifies everything about certain topics, such as its wars, so it can be the only source of information about the wars. It can put out whatever story it wants, and punish anyone in government who releases classified information which contradicts the official story. By this method, government can control the message of war, and completely distort it and diplomatic relationships.

The government is also very sloppy about its secrecy, entrusting access to vast amounts of data to relatively new, young troops. One such young troop downloaded a ton of such information and got it Wikileaks, whose leader is now the subject of a worldwide hunt by US intel forces, dead set on disappearing him and stopping his actions. The young troop is held in some godforsaken hell hole, and will likely never see freedom again. The government is especially mean to anyone who actually does the public good and tells on the government for being bad.

Now that the US intel is pulling out all the stops to get the Wikileaks leader, including using bogus criminal charges, Wikileaks is pushing back with more released documents.

Fearful citizens clamor about in support of the government, terrified that something bad might happen if government can't keep from them the truth about their wars.

[Autumn]

11. Good analysis . I can see that it's nothing at all like the

Bush administration outing Valarie Plame. I have seen several people equating the two.

[gateley]

12. Well done. nt

[Pavulon]

14. Irony is most of this information will spur defense spending

on boost phase interceptors, saudi defense contracts, and has no bearing on the war as it is right now. I would have purchased stock in GD, United Defense, Raytheon and others had the change been given.

Watch a basket of defense contractor stocks over the next few months, they will be going up.

[CurtEastPoint]

15. Thank you, TO. Well explained.

Now I know what the impact of this is.

[Catherina]

13. A Brief History of Wikileaks (Who Owns It)

- January 2007: WikiLeaks.org is launched by "Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and startup company technologists, from the U.S., Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa." The organization's original mandate was to "(expose) oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behaviour in their governments and corporations."


- March 2008: WikiLeaks publishes documents originating from the Church of Scientology's Office of Special Affairs, including the official procedure of how to detect "thetans" in the religion's adherents. The church demanded WikiLeaks to take down the documents citing a breach of copyright law; in response, WikiLeaks unloads thousands of more memos.


- September 2008: Republican_vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account is compromised by a member of Anonymous, an online group of hackers, in the final months of the presidential campaign. Personal emails are posted to WikiLeaks, and questions are raised about whether Palin used the personal account to flout public records laws.


- November 2009: WikiLeaks posts emails and other documents hinting at collusion among U.K. scientists at East Anglia University's Climate Research Unit to withhold data. Climate-change skeptics said the emails were proof that scientists had overblown the potential impact of global warming. The controversy sparked three investigations into research practices at the university, all of which found no wrongdoing but urged more transparency and public accountability among scientific communities.


- December 2009: The draft agreement from the Copenhagen Climate Conference that would abort the_Kyoto accord and limit the UN's role in future negotiations is posted to WikiLeaks. Developing nations criticize the agreement as favouring wealthy countries. The summit plunges into disarray and a much-watered down accord is agreed to afterward.


- April 2010: A video of a U.S. Apache helicopter killing Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists is posted to WikiLeaks. While the U.S. had never denied that the civilians and journalists were killed, the graphic footage of the horrors of war quickly goes viral online.


....

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/WikiLeaks+leaking+ship+that+keeps+rising/3896554/story.html#ixzz16cQicg2A