(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I was when I realised the latest batch of leaked WikiLeaks documents didn’t give away any of my secrets.
I might not have been spying on foreign governments or plotting nasty things against other countries but I do have a secret stash of Drambuie that I’m quite fond of and I’d hate for that information to get into the wrong hands. Or glasses.
News reports say the United States might be facing something of an uphill battle if they want to charge WikiLeaks head honcho Julian Assange over his leaking of all those oh-so-sensitive documents.
However, he is now on Interpol’s most-wanted list after those rape allegations in Sweden.
No one actually knows where the Aussie-born Assange is right at this very moment but the experts say the reason America would have such a hard time charging him if he ever pops up in the States is that there would have to be proof he was not only in contact with representatives of a foreign power but also intended to provide them with secrets.
For example, an email to some foreign power (like my husband) telling them a juicy secret (like the Drambuie’s in the cupboard behind the glass fruit bowl).
That might be the case, but I’m sure the “authorities” would be keen to take him on a waterboarding tour of that ever-so-popular tourist spot: Guantanamo Bay.
The whole thing’s been interesting and while I’m as fascinated as the next nosey bugger at some of the information that has been leaked, a lot of it has been more hype than substance.
I think we are all intelligent enough to know that yes, powerful countries are eavesdropping on the business of other countries. However, I don’t necessarily believe we need to have every detail of their nosiness confirmed: it doesn’t do anything to stop potential spying (they will just get better at hiding the evidence) and creates a lot of scandal, suspicion and bad feeling.
Even worse, it gives the tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists more to obsess about.
How important do you reckon beauty is to a website?
As a way of promoting Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft has launched the Wuglies: the search for our ugliest website.
Go to thewuglies to check out the nominations and vote for your favourite ugly site.
The wining Wugly will get a much-needed design makeover.