Is Julian Assange subversive or is he merely using the internet to highlight the incompetence of our politicians in international diplomacy?

The media frenzy & the hysterical political reaction to Julian Assange & Wikileaks have made is very difficult to objectively assess Wikileak's true intentions & whether the leaking of cables amounts to subversion & treason, or is simply a 21st century internet version of freedom of speech & information.

In all probability the truth lies somewhere in between!

Is Julian Assange an eccentric opportunistic narcissist? Will the leaks put covert operators' lives in danger? The answer to both questions are probably yes!

But, at the same time, has Assange exposed the incompetence and/or eccentricity & bad judgement of many political leaders & the many innocent lives lost as a result? The answer to this question is on the other hand definitely yes!

Whether what Wikileaks & Julian Assange are doing will benefit the cause of freedom of information around the world in the long run is hard to predict. But so is its probable exaggerated negative impact on the world of diplomacy!

At any case however, the current Wikileaks story highlights many interesting points:

• It certainly highlights the fact that the Internet can not be fully censored, and that by itself has to be a good outcome! Are the governments going to shut down various left leaning but very reputable in the west such as the New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel (and Sydney Morning Herlad in Australia)?
  
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  It also brings to question whether the western governments are only interested in freedom of speech & information as long as they control the content & scale & scope of it & their dirty laundry remains secret?
  
• In my view the Wikileaks story also once again highlights the incompetence of the US Government in handling its affairs! Isn't it interesting how the British Government documents have not been leaked to a great extent? Or the Russian, Chinese, North Korean or Iranian Governments' for that matter?

And was the over reaction & state of panic the best way governments & politicians in the west could have dealt with the situation? All that has done is that it has made Julian Assange a martyr in the eyes of most young left wing Internet savvy people in the West!

Was it necessary to make Assange a martyr of freedom of speech? On the other hand, conspiracy theories would be asking whether CIA is behind the leaks & is using Julian Assange as a scapegoat to divert the public's attention from messier issues elsewhere? Or were the leaks fed to Wikileaks from Chinese intelligence for political point scoring purposes & in order to embarrass & corner various governments in the west?

In all probability the Wikileak story will fade away in the coming weeks & the international world of diplomacy may go back to its dirty secretive covert ways.

But the world as we know it has changed & will not be the same! And Julian Assange & Wikileaks can take the credit for that!

Political rhetoric once again fails to address the critical issue: Major banks' mistreatment of small to medium size businesses

The four major banks in Australia are laughing at their customers, the Federal Treasurer & his shadow opposition spokesperson at a time when they are generating record profits whilst still enjoying government guarantees. The banks' claim of increasing funding costs seem to be disputed one minute & endorsed the next the next!

The main criticism of the banks is not the fact that they are generating record profits or whether their borrowing costs are increasing or have been stabilised as debated every second day. No one really cares if banks are making record profits! After all we are told the main reason for the GFC was the unhealthy state of most major banks!

The crucial points is this: Unfortunately whilst all the media hype & political point scoring are distracting the public by attacking the banks, the banks are continuing to squeeze the life out of most small to medium size businesses (in most sectors) by starving them of funding and/or charging them 2-3% above mortgage rates or withdrawing funding altogether!

The political point scoring & bank bashing have clouded this extremely important point. In fact it seems to be almost conveniently ignored by both the Government & the opposition whilst both sides continue to trip over each other with populist bank bashing rhetoric to appease mortgae holders.

At a time when all senior people in charge of the levers of the economy are starting to admit a two speed economy is now entrenched in Australia, the behaviour of the major banks towards non mining sectors which are still struggling to deal with the post GFC slowing down of consumer spending, floods, draught etc is unconscionable!

This is having a dual negative effect on the viability of businesses:

Firstly as mentioned businesses are being straved of extra funding or being wound up. Secondly, the the tightening of borrowing criteria is adversely affecting asset prices as propspective buyers are unable to secure funding from the major banks to buy businesses.

Ralph Norris the CEO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The banks CEOs meanwhile tend to ignore this important point in their derision of "whining customers & regressive socialist politicians" as they laugh all the way to the...mmmm....bank with their multimillion dollar salaries!

It is a timely reminder to all concerned that one of the reasons Australian banks did not get involved in the sub prime disaster & the CDOs (and other acronyms!) was because they were fat cats & had a monopolistic profitable control of Australia, not because they were prudent & managed well!