WikiLeaks.

I asked one of my roommates what she thought of the controversial website this morning and she responded, “Wait, what’s WikiLeaks?” The site has become huge in the past few months, if not days. Yet, it has slipped past the radar of many educated college students. Even the majority of those that are aware of its existence seem to get confused when the specifics of the site are discussed. But, seeing the impact this site is having on the world, it is definitely something everyone should know about.

Below is a brief guide to WikiLeaks, jam-packed with helpful links to help you understand the goings on of the Internet’s most controversial site (so be sure to click away).

What is it?

The site itself began in 2006. Wikileaks has published classified and private documents, submitted by secret sources, from the contents of Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account to the Afghan War Diary, which documented the War in Afghanistan from 2004-2009.

WikiLeaks receives all of its information from “people who have access to controversial or classified documents, who either send them electronically or through the mail.” The editors of the site then determine what information is important or significant and publish it on the site.

Why is it controversial?

What should be kept secret and what should be made public? And, who is to determine the difference? Since the release of the Pentagon Papers in the ’70s, people have been asking that question.

The site doesn’t just publish U.S. documents, although the U.S. leaks have certainly garnered a ton of attention. WikiLeaks publishes secret information from all different countries. Their goal is to “[improve] transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations.”

Several days ago, WikiLeaks upped the ante of their website by announcing that they would publish classified U.S. diplomatic cables. The first of the documents have now begun to travel around the internet and to countless media outlets. And, the contents of the documents are definitely not going to help U.S. diplomatic relations.

What’s at risk?

What does this mean for the next two years? Will there be massive changes in America or will the country suffer an endless and aggravating partisan tug-o-war over legislation?

Several weeks ago, the top issues going into the election were the economy, the deficit, and health care. Now that the election is over, it’s interesting to revisit these issues and figure out what the atmospheric shift means.

The Economy
On December 31, the tax cuts that were created during the Bush presidency will be reassessed. Obama claims he will be open to conversation with Republicans concerning an extension, but has given no word on a compromise. Considering it would be difficult for many of the current legislators to create a comprehensive bill during the lame duck period, the most plausible solution would be a one-year extension of the Bush-era cuts. This will not really help or hurt the economy, but will lead to further conversation concerning the economic future of America.

The Deficit
It’s difficult to address the future of the deficit. In a matter of two years, it would be impossible for a drastic change to occur concerning our nation’s debt. Also, since the Democrats have a majority in the Senate, the Republicans have a majority in the house, and Obama has the power of the veto, it will be difficult for any huge legislation to pass.

Health Care
The Republicans will most likely attempt to repeal the Obama administration’s health care reform plan. The House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner (R-Ohio) stated that the Republicans intend to repeal the bill, but slowly and carefully. The repeal will most likely be symbolic, considering Obama will not agree to it. But, it will affect the public’s view of the bill.

At the end of the day, the midterms have served as a major hurdle in Obama’s legislation plans. And, they have forced the Democrats to begin preparing for the 2012 elections… already.

What do you think about the results of the midterms elections?

Well, these days, getting into politics is easy. Real easy. All you have to do is follow these simple steps, and you’ll be on your way to public office in no time!

-    Get a group of your friends together and start up a massive money-laundering scheme on campus. It’ll look great on your resume, especially if you want to run for office in New Jersey!

-    Head to Argentina on your spring break and find yourself a local to hook up with. Oh, but be sure not to tell your current BF that you’re heading outta town. Mark Sanford did it; it seems voters like a sensitive person who isn’t afraid to show emotion.

-    Resign from your position as secretary of your school’s student government before your term is up in order to pursue a presidential bid. Hey, it’s working for Sarah Palin; the (gotcha) media circus around her is just what every politician wants. If you can get the campus paper on your tail, you’re golden!

-    Got a single room? That’ll come in handy for a career-boosting sex scandal. Set up a tripod or offer your RA money for booty. It worked like a charm for President Bill Clinton, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey, so it should be a shoe-in for your future political career.

-    Speaking of McGreevey, come out of the closet! In our progressive era, fab politicians are a logical next step.

-    When you do eventually get to be president of the student government, dabble in unethical political practices. A good place to start? Try to auction off a vacant council seat, get caught in a corruption scandal, then use the campus paper as a platform to defend yourself (and soak up the spotlight while you’re at it). If you can master this in two months or less, you could become the next Governor of Illinois!

Please note: Whatever you do, DON’T pull a Mark Foley. Everything else is fair game, though. And the more media attention you get as you rise to political stardom, the better. After all, in politics, there’s no such thing as bad press….or wrong doing.

Some childhood trends do NOT need a movie.

Lady Gaga must be cold…

Whoa there, Halle Barry!

We heart fab and cheap sunglasses.

Wow, our government is really stupid.

Katy Perry needs a new stylist.

Get ready to pee in flight.

And for online news.

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Try a polyurethane condom!

How to make an appropriate magazine cover.

Not getting enough sleep? Try these tips.

Forever 21 launches a bathing suit line!

I thought I was watching Chicago, but instead I was tuned in to MSNBC. It’s a story that journalists are calling “jaw-dropping,” “shocking,” and “appalling.”

Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevic was arrested this morning by federal authorities on charges of corruption. He has allegedly been attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated US Senate seat to the highest bidder. The US Attorney’s office in Illinois released an affadavit this morning claiming that Gov. Blagojevic was overheard on wiretaps attempting to “sell or trade” the former senator’s seat in Congress for “personal” benefits. Both he and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were indicted this morning and are expected back in federal court later this afternoon.

In addition to allegedly trying to sell Obama’s former Senate seat, Blagojevic is accused of witholding state aid from The Tribune Company (which filed for bankruptcy yesterday), until the Chicago Tribune agreed to fire staff members who had been critical of him in the past. Sha-dy.

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced at a press conference that Gov. Blagojevic’s actions have begotten “a new low” in politics, and “[His] conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.” Yeowza!

The allegations come on the heels of the aforementioned bankruptcy of one of the premeire media companies in the United States. As an ironic twist of fate, running against the famously corrupt image of Illinois politics was a prominent platform issue of Blagojevic when he was running for governor. If convicted, Blagojevic would be the second Illinois governor in two years (and fourth all-time) to be imprisoned for a crime, after former Governor George Ryan was sent to jail in 2006 for racketeering. In the meantime, several prominent Illinois politicians and authorities are calling for a special election to fill Obama’s Senate seat, so as to minimize the corruption of the position.

Bankruptcy, corruption, press, courts, Chicago, and all that jazz.

“Historically there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis, whereas alcohol and tobacco together are responsible for an estimated 150,000 deaths per annum in the UK alone.”

In fact, the only thing that makes pot a dangerous drug stems (haha, stems) from the fact that it isn’t legal: the crime that surrounds it, all that crazy sh*t people are lacing it with these days, etc. By making pot legal, people would be able to regulate it and keep it safe.

Not to mention stimulate the economy and create more jobs: people to grow it, people to sell it, people to regulate it, people to supply all the stoned kids with enough Cheez Its and Twinkies to get through the day…

Seriously, marijuana could keep this country from a depression! (And if it doesn’t, it could make the depression more bearable…or hilarious!)

Down with that dangerous alcohol!

Bring on the cannabis!

It’s Wednesday – basically the worst day of the week. You feel like you have done so much already, yet you still have so much of the week left to go. Depressing, eh?And today is even worse! There is literally nothing going on on the internet. I have spent the past 35 minutes looking for fun things to keep me occupied during this awful Stats lecture and all I could find that didn’t involve the bleak economy and the fact that everyone is about to get royally f–ked is this:

The New Penny!

The government has decided to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday by printing new designs on the back of the penny. Maybe this is their way to take the focus off the fact that the only money anyone has right now is pennies? Or maybe they are trying to make the penny more appealing for people to use in drinking games? (Lord knows I’ve lost hundreds of dollars worth of quarters by now…)

I mean, I get it, but it’s the PENNY. The most useless coin ever. Isn’t it bad enough that the poor guy has to be the face of this thing? Now we have to remind everyone?

And, HELLO, it costs more to make a penny than the damn thing is worth!

I just can’t wait for everyone to start collecting these things like they did when the state quarters came out. In 10 years those collections will be worth…$.04!!

If you find anything more interesting for me to be doing with my time right now, let me know via the comments. All this “margin of error” bullsh*t is putting me to sleep.

If you haven’t heard, Russia decided to go wave their giant international schlong around in the Georgian region of South Ossetia last week. And then, since Georgia’s military consists of two tanks and a three-legged dog, they decided to just run all over the damn place – go for the gold, perhaps. Oh, hey, how topical.

Russia, what gives? Were you thinking that everyone was too enthralled with the Olympics to notice? We’re not blind, Russia. We see you over there. Mr. “I’m only the Prime Minister” Putin, wipe that snide smile off your face, you’re not fooling anyone. We are ready for swift, decisive action. It’s not like we’re too busy chumming it up with the women’s volleyball team or anything.

Russia, really, we’re sorry you haven’t had a bona fide invasion in sixty-odd years. We know your country is huge and hard to invade. We know you just want to sit in your snow palaces and chortle heartily as the fascist armies starve to death on the tundra. But could you at least have waited until the world-wide quadrennial moment of community was over? Man, we really had some spirit going on.

Couldn’t the one-sided massacre of civillians in a thinly veiled land grab along with grotesque human rights violations have waited at least until after the BMX competition? Maybe?

Not like anyone’s surprised, of course. Government people have a pretty terrible record of ruining the fun of decent, normal human beings. Let’s have a look back at some of their more belligerent moments:

- The upcoming Democratic convention

I love politics: the back-and-forth verbal fencing, the earnest campaign volunteers with bake sales, the YouTube dance remixes of embarassing gaffes. It’s all so invigorating! And I love huge mobs of people all standing around in the same place — that’s just a fun thing, right? So the Democratic convention should really be a nonstop festival of fun and games.

Except that someone couldn’t keep it in his pants for five minutee, and so now we’ll all have to worry about these domestic issues. Can’t we just have a stress-free convention for once? Last time, it was “damnit! why did we choose such a creepy, bland old man to run for the White House”; now it’s “damnit! I just can’t concentrate on the forces of change that are sweeping the country — I need to know where else Edwards’ dick has been!”

- The 1936 Summer Olympics

These aren’t the only Olympics that stupid jerks have managed to screw up. You know who opened the 1936 Summer Olympics? Adolf Hitler, better known as the worst guy ever. I don’t know who thought it’d be a good idea to invite that cranky douchebag, especially when we had so many awesome people like Jesse Owens showing up (giving racism the “knock-out punch” All right!) Like, can you imagine being there, watching the Olympics on your hand-crank TV, and going “Wait, what? Who? Is that…?” Yeah. I know. It is.

- The Cold War

This is really inexcusable. While most of us were trying to have the Sixties (and Seventies, and Eighties…), a bunch of old guys who like making up acronyms thought it would be funny if we all just trembled in fear of apocalyptic firestorms that would explode out of our toilets. It wasn’t funny, old guys, though I understand how frustrating it must be not to be getting any in the age of Free Love. Big props to the folks at NORAD, though, for keeping tabs on Santa Claus; if only we’d spent the rest of our national defense budget on jolly fat toymakers, maybe we could have played Scrabble with the Viet Cong instead of shooting at them. Oh, well.

- The Dinosaurs

Damnit! Dinosaurs make the worst decisions. You know what I bet? I bet the mass extinction of the coolest creatures ever to tread this earth had nothing to do with a meteor or climate change or volcanic eruptions. I bet the Dinosaur Council of Dinosaurs ended up passing some bill that was like “Hey, let’s all go stop eating food and see what happens”. I bet that’s exactly what they did, because the Dinosaur Council had no foresight, and then they went extinct and now we will never see a Tyrannosaurus Rex in downtown NYC during rush hour. I hate the stupid Dinosaur Council!

This year’s Beijing Olympics are possibly the most politicized Olympics to go down on the planet in decades. It’s always ugly when politics enter into something supposed to be as pure an ideal as the excellence of sport, but the polluted skies over Beijing aren’t the only source of dirt and grime these days.

Everyone knows about the furious and polarizing debates and protests over Tibet. It’s hardly news anymore that there are monks on the march, and Chinese police cracking down on them. What I find even more disturbing, however, is the crushing influence of the Chinese government over people’s free speech. When so-called public opinion polls emerge saying that over 90% of all Chinese people are wholeheartedly in favor of every aspect of the Chinese government, as I’ve been reading about in the New York Times, you know something’s wrong.

No country likes their government that much, unless they’re too frightened to say differently. And now, this strong tendency to crack down on opposing opinions has gone one step further: it entered the olympics.

Princeton student Joey Cheek, class of 2011, a world champion speed skater and former Olympian (who was only going to the Olympics to support his team) has had his visa revoked by the Chinese government. The reason? Cheek is an outspoken activist for the genocide in Darfur, and has been critical of China’s many investments in the Sudan. Cheek had no intention of bringing his politics to the arena, but the Chinese government won’t tolerate any opposition, including the mere possibility. Meanwhile, the official dudes of the Olympic committee are refusing to defend the student, basically saying it’s out of their jurisdiction.

So much for the spirit of the Olympics.

I always used to think that cities were granted the privilage of hosting the Olympics for good behavior — having a well-developed nation with well-cared for citizens and a clear position supporting human rights and all that good stuff. Hence, the olympics that I’ve seen in my lifetime have all taken place in relatively developed nations — the U.S., Italy, Greece, Australia, and the upcoming Great Britain.

China, however, still has many troubling issues to address in terms of its position on human rights. Why has it been given the gift of the Olympics if it’s still bullying anyone who speaks critically of it? Here’s hoping the coming Olympics will be a showcase of athletic prowess and not governmental might.