Tag Archives: politics

WikiLeaks: Good inflow or Bad Plumbing?

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Entry #80 – As the hunt for WikiLeaks‘ Founder Julian Assange came to an end some days ago, so did my hunt for the website (okay it only took me a minute, honest!). Could you blame me for typing ‘wikileaks.com’ in the first place? Well thanks to Google I didn’t have to search for long. You would think that a website that publishes Top Secret information for the public would choose a web address (or URL) that isn’t…well…Top Secret! But for geeks and hackers alike, they can tell at a glance that http://213.251.145.96/ is the WikiLeaks website (You can thank me later). The reason why I couldn’t resist blogging about this website is that it stole the front pages of a couple local Nigerian newspapers last Friday (and later I’ll tell you what was ‘leaked’ ). Now that you’ve probably had a glance at the controversial website I’d like to go through some of the pros and cons I found.

Good inflow: The Pros 

  • WikiLeaks aims to publish the important hidden truths that most governments in the world wouldn’t want you (the public) to know about.  
  • The site claims to verify its facts before publishing in order to sustain its credibility as a reliable source of information and not one of false rumours and sensational news.
  • Anonymity is promised to anyone who wants to submit top-secret information to the site for publishing.
  • Over 100 replica websites with various inconspicuous web addresses have been created in case any government decided to pull the plug on the website.

Bad Plumbing: The Cons

  • It is assumed that you understand terms like ‘cable’. For clarity sake a cable is another way of referring to a confidential group e-mail containing highly sensitive information (see Slate.com)
  • It does not take responsibility for the impact of the confidential information it publishes e.g. Hackers crashing popular consumer sites like Visa, Mastercard and PayPal because these companies pulled out of the Wiki-relationship following the founder’s arrest (see Sowetanlive)
  • The recent revelation in THIS DAY newspaper on December 10, 2010 exposed questionable lapses in the governing style of the Nigerian president, Goodluck E. Jonathan (GEJ). It was reported that the former US Ambassador instructed Jonathan on whom to associate with and whom to terminate (see THISDAYOnline). This comes at a time when the national elections are just round the corner in the first quarter of 2011. In my opinion GEJ is the only presidential candidate who appears to have integrity, exhibits humility and wants to bring about real change to Nigeria. 

It seem like WikiLeaks has finally reached the pinnacle of its popularity since its first ever launch in 2006. The verdict (good or bad) on Julian Assange probably wouldn’t stop further leaks from being published. There is no telling what other revelations the public will eventually get to know about. I personally look forward to more leaks if they will force governments and high-profile organizations to get their act together 😉

The Getaway: starring Prince Charles, Lady Camilla & Angry Mob

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I decided to surf the Net for the latest news (my favorite news channel) and I was shocked to learn about the attack in Central London experienced by Lady Camilla and the Plant Whisperer aka Prince Charles.

Thankfully neither of the couple was hurt but the car took quite a kicking from angry young protesters. Why did they decide to vent their anger on the unlucky pair? Sources reported that the British government had approved plans to spike up tuition fees. I can see why students would get a little pissed off. They’re already up to their knees in debt and this bold move by the coalition government would bring the debt level up to their necks! Imagine working a 9 to 5 job and spending a third of your working life paying off all the debt you accumulated during university. I don’t think Prince Charles is to blame, nor is Camilla, but perhaps the protesters feel the Royals are just passive about the whole thing. Silence or ‘doing nothing’ could be seen as support for whatever the British government decide to impose on its economy.

The other key thing to remember is that the protesters are well aware that Prince Charles is exempt from paying taxes…because the royal family do not pay taxes – that’s for the ‘commoners’.

The coalition government, like any other government, is obviously under pressure to find a way to boost the funds in the country’s piggy bank so fiscal policies involving Taxation would seem a good way to go. However I’ll be sitting with my bag of popcorn as I watch how on earth the British Parliament is going to wriggle itself out of this mess. If arresting all the protesters is their grand solution then they’d better start building more prison facilities pronto! 

Sources: Sky News, USAtoday

Letter to the Nigerian President

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Dear Mr. President,

I know you are bogged down with a lot of political and socio-economic issues at the moment, the least of which you are yet to find solutions for or even attempt to show any interest in solving (e.g. Lack of constant power supply, daily traffic congestion, armed robbery, etc). However, I have some questions that need answering and though they may seem trivial to you they mean a lot to me…

What happened to Green Sands shandy? And what happened to Fanta Chapman? Could you bring back Tandi Guarana and Dr Pepper? Could you also tell the brewers of ’33’ export lager beer to change the freaking name to something other than a number? It would make ordering at the bar a whole lot easier when I’m pissed (half drunk). In fact, could you also put an embargo on any further name changes made by ‘Zain’ telecommunications? They’ve gone from Econet-VMobile-Celtel-Zain in less than 5 years and its getting confusing.

Is Ajinomoto really not good for my cooking? Could you intervene in the Mob wars between the rival Noodle gangs on my car radio? Indomie, Mimi and O-noodles have 1 ad every other 10 minutes 24/7 and it’s driving me insane! Is Agege bread really that soft and if so would you endorse it? I ‘form’ (pose, act-up) a lot so when I eat Agege bread sometimes at work I need assurance that I’m not going below a certain standard of class.

Could you ban unsolicited motorcyclists aka OKADA riders? They have swarmed our roads and have become a public nuisance with their complete disregard for the highway code. And while you’re at it, could you please abolish Saturday banking? I cherish my weekends and I strongly believe that 7.30am to 5.30pm from Mon-Fri is sufficient punishment in this present economy.

I know this is a long shot but would you consider giving tax-rebates and/or relief like they do in the UK? I see a lot of taking going on but giving back something to me for my blood and sweat would be nice. This is not ‘awoof’, just look at it more like a discount on my taxes.

While I’m on the subject of giving back to the community, could you allow the national budget to include training art schools for our terribly amateur actors? The Nigerian movie industry, unlike our developing economy, is under-developed. We are yet to see home-grown movies worthy to be called blockbusters e.g. movies like Lord of The Rings, Titanic, T2 and even The Dark Knight could one day be done over here if you invest accordingly – After all, like the saying goes ‘3rd mainland bridge wasn’t built in a day’.

I hope you will find time to answer these pressing issues. I do not mind if you let the VP handle some of these questions as I strongly believe he is equally capable. I look forward to hearing from you fairly soon.
Yours sincerely,

 

..xTx..