From TFO. Gives me hope that this will be a movie containing people acting with one another, as opposed to certain other long-awaited sequels filled with monologues in bluescreen chambers...

Then fix the statement, instead of resorting to a "you people" insult with no added content.

Unfortunately, we need to remember just how unreliable passer-by eyewitnesses really are; and the ability of your average citizen to suddenly "remember" exciting details about events, when told that those events may be been important, dangerous or controversial.

Right, because we never punish anyone after the fact to make an example out of them...

... which makes it even more important to the powers that be that Wikileaks be made example of. They can't let it stand without a response of some kind. It would be nice if the response consisted of saying "Yeah, that's right, diplomacy can be ugly stuff and every country we deal with knows it and does the same thing, carry on," and tightening up their security, but hey, I'm a dreamer.

And hey, hows about our good friends the Saudis, eh?

I seem to recall a number of economists and poli sci students in the early 90s smugly telling me all about a component of the Soviet Union's cold war "loss" and economic collapse: the US making them think they had to spend more and more in the arms race with us (zomg, USA can destroy the world 10 times over, we can only do it 5 times, build more nukes comrade!). A pretty shaky social contract, to begin with, finally got kicked in the nuts one too many times. C/D?

I would alter "do not mind" to "have no clue and don't understand the potential implications of." The end result will be a highly controlled everything, because people are neither taught nor encouraged to think about things that don't relate to their immediate button-pushing responsibilities, coupled with a fair amount of casual despair about having any control over their own lives.

Most enduser types I've talked to about such things tend to give me lines like "Ah, none of this stuff affects me," "Whaddyagonna do, they'll do what they want anyway" and "Pfff, they wouldn't do anything really bad."

Oh whew, good thing too. 'Cause as we all know, partisan politics or outright corruption could never stop a mandatory recount. That's crazy talk.

Really? Try not paying.

Did you take your brain with all its sensitive info too?

I'm sorry, citizen; you have been fired. We simply cannot allow you to leave the premises until we have proof that you've emptied your brain.
Yes, i know, insert "become management" joke here...

What it tells you, of course, is that the military wants you to keep China Is The Bad Guy And A Growing Threat in the back of your mind, in case this current Terrerist thing backfires or grows old or, who knows, is won some how... the meaningless string of words is typed up by the Pentagon and printed on a piece of letterhead that says For Immediate Release. The "independent" media takes it and parrots it across the infosphere without thought, investigation, criticism, or question... you know, those things we were told made up "journalism." Once it appears with the magic incantation AP as preface, it is now Fact and Truth. The Public Has Been Duly Informed. Go about your business, citizen.

Does this mean China isn't a threat, actual or potential? Not at all. Just cause the gummint decides to tell you something doesn't always mean it's a lie, y'know! And there must be parts of the military that have grade-A migraines watching American businesses get on its collective knees before Chinese gov't demands, again and again - if the time comes when it's necessary to seperate them, how large a crowbar will be necessary?

... and if you get looked at strangely in a gun shop, it's probably time to go ...

lolwut?

In other news, management will stop overriding IT's security concerns for the sake of convenience and/or budget, and users will stop clicking random facebook links when bored at work. Are you kidding? Which internet do you spend your time on? 'Cause in the one i frequent, most security problems are caused precisely BECAUSE of a delectable combo of unpatched vulnerabilities, and user gullibilities.

[quote]Covering CO2 under the Clean Air Act would completely hamstring American businesses,[/quote] Oh god here we go again. You know, only out of complete ignorance of what other countries are doing could you make this statement with a straight face.