WikiLeaks has blown the lid off many things in 2010 – including the US view of George Osborne.Batman
Description of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin by US sources in Moscow. The cable observed: "Medvedev continues to play Robin to Putin's Batman." Comic-book fans will know there have been five Robins, which, at two terms as president each, suggests Putin could be pulling the strings for another 40 years.
Hitler
According to Colombia's former president Alvaro Uribe the threat to Latin America posed by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez is analogous to that of Adolf Hitler in 1930s Europe. In the cable, dated 6 December 2007, he described Chávez as seeking to build a "personal empire" of "new socialism". And of course Chávez has his own weekly chat show, just like Hitler did.
The Necessary Gravitas
Quality lacked by George Osborne, according to a cable from October 2008, when it was decided that David Cameron rather than Osborne should deliver a key speech because "polling indicated that Osborne was seen as lightweight and inexperienced, in part due to his high-pitched vocal delivery". (And in part due to his inexperience, and the fact he was a bit of a lightweight.)
OpenLeaks
Splinter site set up by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a former associate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He told reporters: "We felt that WikiLeaks was developing in the wrong direction." OpenLeaks differs from its father site in taking leaks directly from the whistleblower to a trusted selection of news organisations.
Emperor Without Clothes
Description of Nicolas Sarkozy from a cable released on the first day of leaks. The source was parroting a Le Monde article referring to Sarkozy's failure to produce a turnaround in the French economy. Sarkozy was also described as possessing an "authoritarian personal style", possibly because he insists on wearing a prison guard's outfit and carrying a cane.
Hacktivist
The use of "non-violent" but frequently illegal "digital tools" to pursue political ends. Hacktivists supporting WikiLeaks tend to be part of the group known as Anonymous, which orchestrated retaliatory attacks on, among others, Mastercard and Visa's websites after they refused to process donations to the whistle-blowing site.
Voluptuous Blonde Description of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's Ukrainian nurse, 38-year-old Galyna Kolotnytska, who travels with him everywhere because only she "knows his routine".
Teflon
Nickname given to the German chancellor, as in Angela "Teflon" Merkel, so called because "so little sticks to her". The original, more scientific nickname Polytetrafluoroethylene disappointingly failed to catch on.
Operation Payback
Originally a response to attacks on file-sharing websites orchestrated by opponents of internet piracy, Anonymous's Operation Payback has now morphed to become a defence of the WikiLeaks site and founder Assange. Worth viewing in the context of previous Anonymous actions, such as Operation Titstorm, an attack on Australian legislators attempting to censor pornography, and "YouTube porn day", which is probably self-explanatory.
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