2010-07-29, 08:39 | Link #8421 | ||
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
|
Quote:
However I read their action as a matter of principle rather than an attempt at media coup precisely because it is such an unwise action. During the helicopter video incident, they might have earned the ire of the military and the more...patriotic section of the populace, but to the rest of us they were the heroes. The military's legal harassment only strengthened their appearance as brave whistleblowers and muckrakers standing against The Man. This, however, did not reveal any potentially major miscarriage of justice, but instead may have seriously endangered lives. Even the most enthusiastic of the public that supported them will give pause. So why did they do something so stupid? That's why I read them as free speech extremists refusing to compromise no matter what. And frankly, while this incident may leave a bad aftertaste, in the long run free speech extremists are a much less terrible bunch than the self-appointed defenders of our national security, who in a sense have been responsible for more losses of life than we could legitimately approximate. Quote:
As for the other point see my response above. |
||
2010-07-29, 10:48 | Link #8423 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: East Cupcake
|
Quote:
To be a little facetious, which would you prefer? Someone that strives to always tell the truth (or at least give you as much information as they can so that you can form some sort of meaningful opinion), or someone who deliberately lies to you (or at least presents information is such a way as to influence you) in order to affect your opinion from the onset? Wikileaks may or may not have gone too far in this specific case, and their good intentions could mistakenly pave a road to "hell", but damn if I don't personally prefer hearing some real facts about the world (even if I or my loved ones could be potentially harmed) rather than the pasteurized drivel that comes out of 90+% of the media on the right or the left. |
|
2010-07-29, 11:09 | Link #8424 | |
Banned
Join Date: May 2006
Age: 39
|
Quote:
His videos weren't edited in any way? LOL. Or his website photos not completely illogical? LOL? Doesn't present information in such a way as to influence you? LOL. Colbert exposed this idiot. He is just like Breitbart. Assange is not even American. This shit won't harm his country. Hopefully his mole gets put away for a number of years for serving this propagandist foreigner. |
|
2010-07-29, 11:19 | Link #8425 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: East Cupcake
|
Fair enough. Everyone does wish to influence your/our opinion. So I did overstate this point.
Assange may have committed offence: ADA Quote:
On this point, I do agree. It is one thing for a civilian to show others material leaked to them, it is something else entirely for a soldier to actually leak material. |
|
2010-07-29, 11:25 | Link #8426 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
|
Quote:
In principle, I would want information to be freely available to all. People cannot make useful decisions without as much relevant information as possible. That said, people are not created equal, and some information in the wrong hands is likely to cause more harm than good. In such instances, I would think twice before releasing such sensitive information to all and sundry. These are decisions that senior editors at news agencies are supposed to ponder over every day. Most of the time, it's just the same old, boring routine of sorting out newsworthy stories from the chaff. But every now and then, a case comes along that demands more editorial judgment. In most credible news organisations, this process is (supposed to be; I readily concede that news agencies, like people, are not created equal, either) taken very seriously. As for Julian Assange? Well, let me just say that I don't have a high opinion of his tactics. I find it amusing how some self-appointed champions of justice use the same methods as their opponents, and yet claim to be unbiased and objective. It's like we always say: One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. There is always an agenda — it's only a question of whether you support it, or not. |
|
2010-07-29, 14:56 | Link #8427 | |
思想工作
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Vereinigte Staaten
Age: 32
|
Doraneko, that article you posted was quite interesting. I did not know that Cantonese was used in Central China in that time period, but based on other writings I've seen, and also given the differences in Japanese "on-yomi"from modern Chinese, it makes sense taht a variant of Cantonese would have been spoken.
Quote:
India is significant because they didn't have such unification, and because of their (tragic) colonial history, had to adopt English. IMO it would have been better for them to develop their own "Mandarin." |
|
2010-07-30, 01:19 | Link #8428 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
|
Quote:
The best way to find information is from the ground zero, though there are risks involved (what action doesn't). Sometimes you will trip on stuff you actually find useful. If anyone of you used Wikiscanner, some of the stuff raise a number of questions on credibility and quality of the information we are routinely provided. Also, it proves to an excellent source of information to how some people behave - i.e : try tracking the article of Lee Kuan Yew and watch the edits, then die laughing. Treat Wikileaks as a gauge of damage control and open-source information for OSINT. I go there to find articles for my school project last semester, and occasionally, stuff people usually don't want me to know. I don't give a shit about the founder and his politics, I just want information without sifting through thousands of articles on the net or running requests on boards.
__________________
|
|
2010-07-30, 01:29 | Link #8429 |
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
|
Police seize $1.7bn worth of marijuana in California
Yes. Your reading it right. $1.7bn worth of weed. Weed lovers are gonna have a heart attack.
__________________
|
2010-07-30, 11:06 | Link #8430 | |
Sensei, aishite imasu
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Hong Kong Shatterdome
|
Quote:
Perhaps. But I'm certainly not going to apologize for finding wikileaks lack of concern/sloppiness on this matter atrocious. They were in no rush to release these documents. There really isn't an excuse for them to have better sifted through their documents and censored/cut documents from the release if they gave something specific like the name/residence of an informant. |
|
2010-07-31, 17:57 | Link #8431 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Age: 44
|
America's oldest family farm for sale
Ok. I know it's hard to compete with the Supermarkets but I still think they should continue. They are shaming their ancestors. 2010-1635 = 375 years that's a LOT! Damn sons and grandsons don't want the business.
__________________
|
2010-07-31, 18:02 | Link #8432 | |
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
2010-07-31, 20:51 | Link #8433 | |
Evil Vampire
Join Date: Jan 2010
|
Quote:
|
|
2010-07-31, 21:53 | Link #8434 | |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
2010-08-01, 04:10 | Link #8435 | |
Rawrrr!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: CH aka Chocaholic Heaven
Age: 40
|
Quote:
I wonder if studies have been made on how much is consumed on total, and on what would be the share of Marijuana in the agricultural sector for California to be self sufficient?
__________________
|
|
2010-08-01, 12:46 | Link #8436 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
|
Growing up, one is indeed the loneliest number
Quote:
|
|
2010-08-01, 14:29 | Link #8437 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
2010-08-01, 14:47 | Link #8438 | |
In scientific terms only.
|
Quote:
The issue is particularly grating because my parents married and had children at a very late age. My father is 63 years old and, because of recent financial struggles and a not-wise decision to buy a new home at the height of the 2007 housing bubble, is still working. He doesn't have too much saved in his retirement account, either. My mother of 50 works as well, but my parents made the decision of refraining from pulling money from her retirement accounts. This puts a lot of pressure on my siblings and I because we would have to face the challenge of providing for their parents much earlier than most would. Moreover, they've expressed a lot of discontent with traditional nursing homes, and I wouldn't want to have to do that to them. In fact, they both wish to return to Vietnam to be with the rest of their family, and to possibly hire a housekeeper. They've both tried to tell me that it's an unfeasible goal, but I'd like to do that for them. Admittedly, this puts me in a tough spot when it comes to higher education and its costs. Oh boy, that's going to take some wrangling. |
|
2010-08-01, 16:32 | Link #8439 | |
Rawrrr!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: CH aka Chocaholic Heaven
Age: 40
|
Quote:
As a firstborn, I've observed the peculiar fates of my peers, unrealized single children, and couldn't help but be terrified by many of the "what if" scenarios... And both as a Swiss and as a Tsinoy, I've seen perhaps both ends of the old age care spectrum... But perhaps the greatest tragedy for continentals, is that after two generations of Single Child Policy, there won't be anymore uncles, aunts and cousins...
__________________
|
|
2010-08-01, 16:46 | Link #8440 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
|
Quote:
Under the law we are required to do so, however most of my generation (between 20-30) just only do the bare minimum of giving money every month, then when they are ill, just lob them into the nearest nursing home - we will just pay for that. The loneliness stems from long-time communications between the parents and kids, not the number of children the former has. It isn't like playing the stock market of "divide and conquer" where you laterally spread your assets just in case one makes an unexpected loss; your children aren't supposed to be monetary investments in the first place.
__________________
|
|
Tags |
current affairs, discussion, international |
|
|