Cassandra Fairbanks’ account of her visit to Julian in the Ecuadorean Embassy paints a truly harrowing picture of the conditions in which he is being held. Last week after receiving a message from Julian I applied to the Ecuadorean Embassy to go and see him. I have done this many times but a new regime has established involving forms and strict time windows.
The Ecuadorean Embassy claim not to have received my email with the application, which is peculiar as I received no undeliverable message and bcc copyees received it. I therefore re-sent it with a new email advising they may change the date and time if the original is not now achievable. I have heard nothing so far in response.
Chelsea Manning is currently entering her fourth week of solitary confinement for refusing to testify against Assange before a grand jury. The United States wishes to extradite Julian Assange to face charges, not of collusion with the non-existent “Russiagate”, not with a sexual offence stitch-up. They wish to charge him with publishing the evidence of extensive US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with publishing the US diplomatic cables including the one I drew on last week which prove that the US and UK conspired to establish a marine reserve around the Chagos Islands as an environmental fraud to maintain the deportation of the islanders from what is now the US nuclear and torture base.
Many tens of billions of dollars are spent every year on western security services, and they are not stupid. The use of contrived sexual allegations to detach progressive figures from their support base is well established practice. But the allegations against Assange in Sweden are long gone, never reached the stage of a charge, and fell away immediately once Assange was finally interviewed by Swedish police and prosecutors in the Embassy. The whole Russiagate fabrication has been exploded as the media confection it always was.
The false left and liberals have until now been delighted to hide behind Russiagate or Sweden to avoid asking themselves the fundamental question. Julian Assange is merely a journalist and publisher. The fundamental question is, should a journalist or publisher be locked up for life for publishing leaked documents showing war crimes? If the answer is yes, where is press freedom?
That is now the unavoidable question. The security service patsies at the Guardian, however, prefer to retail ludicrous accusations from CIA asset Lenin Moreno – accusations motivated by the revelation of Moreno’s Panamanian offshore accounts – in frenzied efforts to maintain the tactic of diversion.
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Edward Snowden is doing better in Russia than Julian Assange in a London room or Chelsea Manning or Reality Winner in US jail.
The Skripals disappeared in the UK.
Any Russian whistle blowers would be on the MSM front pages in the West now: zilch.
When a Putin does better than the WASP Establishment for Truth in the West it is clear that the latter have lot the plot.
:
Yep, RT right now is my favourite news channel – damned good documentaries too – a bit reminiscent of the halcyon days of the BBC before Thatcher turned the ‘dear old auntie’ into the establishment’s dirty whore.
Prior to RT it used to be Democracy Now!, but since their dog’s bollox massively pro-warmongering treatment of the West’s aggression against Syria, well, they lost me. I used to watch it live religiously; now they still do occasionally have interesting guests on – years ago they interviewed Craig Murray at length – so although I never watch it live now, I’ll occasionally check in ‘after the event’ to see if there were any interesting guests/topics (not related to Syria).
I actually got banned from DN!’s facebook page, and I swear that I was never profane there – an effort for me. I figure they didn’t like the links I’d occasionally include to burning stars & stripes, or may be it was the ‘signature’ I sometimes append to the ends of comments, when it seems relevant. ON the other hand it was refreshing to see that the overwhelming bulk of the comments were along the lines of mine, with several links to Moon of Alabama’s blistering attacks on DN!’s Syria treatment. Here’s the ‘signature’:-:
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“Nothing will avail to offset this virus which is poisoning the whole world. America is the very incarnation of doom. She will drag the whole world down to the bottomless pit.”
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer
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Signature:
…………………………………………………..
The creation of the United States of America has turned out to be the worst man-made catastrophe ever inflicted on human-kind; and, for that matter, most of the rest of animal-kind.
Those at Echelon, GCHQ, MI6, NSA, CIA and similar fascists reading this post and ‘signature’, are referred to the profanity used by the sadly seemingly immortal lying manipulative War-Criminal, Mass-Murderer and Traitor Dick Cheney to some Democratic Party non-entity (as pretty much all the Democrats are).
…………………………………………………..
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If you have quoted Henry Miller correctly and going by your previous rant on JC, you must be gearing up to become our next PM, Dennis, or will you stand for POTUS?
Maybe Sebastian Kneipps treatment can help you overcome the blood rushing to the head, it works for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Kneipp
O yes, Edward Snowden is living the true life of a 21st century Martha Hanson…
Someone might have posted this already.
In ‘Muellergate and the Discreet Lies of the Bourgeoisie” Craig quotes extensively from an article in Sic Semper Tyrannis by William Binney – ex-Technical Director of the NSA and Larry Johnson, ex State Department and CIA – using technical evidence to prove the Russians did not hack the DNC computers.
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2019/02/why-the-dnc-was-not-hacked-by-the-russians.html
They have now done a follow-up article in SST:
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2019/04/test-it-yourself-the-2-second-rounding-fact-pattern-in-the-dnc-emails-by-william-binney-and-larry-jo.html
William Binney and Larry Johnson offer a solid conclusion. The FBI didn’t manage to get this same point or didn’t want to get to that same (internal DNC leak) finding? I bet the latter.
94,000 reported “hate crimes” in 2018??
Really?
People were being reported for retweeting limericks, saying hateful things such as – “woman = human female”
The police are a load of idle wasters who should spend more time tackling real crime such as stabbings and domestic abuse.
The Guardian is an anti Brexit rag which is trying to stir up fear.
In any regime some actions will be classified as state secrets, despite being morally unjustifiable or illegal actions by the state itself. Once these actions are “officially” secret, releasing them into the public domain will inevitably bring down legal retribution, whatever moral stance is taken by the revealer.
Where someone decides their moral stance on an issue compels them to reveal information officially classified as secret, then they are officially breaking the law and putting themselves into direct confrontation with the state authorities. If the secrets released are another country’s state secrets, from the one where the revealer is situated, then that state will request extradition of the revealer, if the necessary treaties exist.
The only safe way to escape this dilemma is to “hide out,” in a third party country which has no extradition treaties with the country which wishes to prosecute them or chooses not to extradite them for other reasons. Rather like Snowden in Russia. There are not many countries outside the long reach of the USA. This is Assange’s dilemma.
Indeed. I can’t fault the state for seeking to enforce its laws, but that is separate from our moral judgement about the culprit. Sometimes breaking the law is the right thing to do. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences.
@ Martinned April 4, 2019 at 11:25
Until the State can enforce it’s own laws on it’s agencies and forces, it does not have the moral authority to enforce it’s laws on others, though it may well have the power.
Brazil imprisoned Lula on far less, indeed in a kangaroo court of crooks (the Brazilian ‘Justice’ system is a sham), the head crook (‘Judge’) was awarded the position of ‘Justice Minister’ by the mega-crook and war criminal Bolsonaro.
And Dilma Rouseff likewise, ‘Impeached’ in a fraudulent stitch-up, but Trump and our showers have all committed real War Crimes, to wit the worst of all, ‘Crimes Against Peace’, yet they swan around in impunity.
Moreno lauds it over Ecuador, having played a ‘snake-in-the-grass’ role as a US mole, then traitorously selling out his country and countrymen and women to the Great Satan, with all kinds of financial crimes. He won’t be impeached, because part of his treachery was giving all the posts in his government to the pro-US Opposition.
The Sate enforcing its Laws.
Mike Pompeo the geographically challenged ( Venezuela is in our hemisphere) Secretary of The US Sate has issued a warning on behalf of the dear old USA to members of the International Criminal Court on behalf ot he US government.
Namely: that if they carry on with investigation of potential US War Crimes vis the USA then any members and associate members assets will be taken/frozen and they will not be allowed to visit ( never mind question ) any US member of the US government.
You prattle on about Laws and the US prattles on about a ‘ Rules based International Order’ – read that as a Rules based Order based on what the US says are the rules.
If you ( and Pompeo ) believe in the Law why is the US exempt from the same laws?
Why do they not apply Internationally?
Is the US exceptional?
I’ll ask you to once again to tell me ( as I’m nowhere near Craig’s level on this ) as to what Julian Assange has allegedly done – how he did it – where he did it and which or who’s Laws has he transgressed?
If your bezzie mate Charles wants to join in – he’s more than welcome.
Inform me of the facts.
Ken Kenn
Good post Ken.
That will be the “Hague Invasion Act”, where the US will prevent itself and allies ever having to be brought to justice for war crimes – introduced by George W Bush, best of friends with Tony Bliar, the famous war criminal.
I agree with you in principle, Martinned. As you say, breaking the law is the right thing to do but the offender must accept the consequences. However, that assumes that the maker of the laws – the State – upholds the law itself and in the case of Assange, Manning, Snowden and others, this is not the case. The State is acting both illegally as well as immorally, whereas the above whistle blowers are only acting illegally but not immorally.
Mary Pau!
We appoint our officials to carry out our will not to hatch covert plans and cause death and distrust, destruction regime change etc, around the globe.
Yes on certain matters there is a need for secrecy but whistleblowers/journalists mostly report the machinations of governments or corporations around the globe, and rightly so.
Assange, Snowden and Manning fall into the above category. They are our eyes and ears our voice against those who would pull the wool over our eyes, and they must be supported and protected by the masses, for without them, and I include Craig Murray, who has shown us the deceitfulness of the British state, we are blind to what’s really going on.
I am afraid that is not the way it works, however much we might want it to be so. Many of our representatives and their officials take decisions we would reject if consulted, across a wide range of areas. Indeed Craig himself has said he favours the view that we elect representatives to exercise their judgement on our behalf, not to carry out only the will of the electorate. This view inevitably results in elected representatives and officials making and enacting decisions which would be rejected by the majority of the electorate if they were consulted. Look at Tony Blair’s track record.
All the time this remains the actual system, the people taking the decisions will have secrets they wish to hide and the means to hide them. Anyone who finds these out and puts them into the public domain is taking a great personal risk. The morality of what they have exposed does not place them beyond the law as it stands.
In summary : law breakers must face the consequences, be their motives ever so noble. If enough people object to the law, it will, sooner or later be changed.
That said, who can say what Assange’s and Snowden’s motives really were?
For, example, in Assange’s case, could there not have been an element of the enfant terrible, cocking a snoot at the authorities as part of some curious ego trip and expecting to get away with it?
“In summary : law breakers must face the consequences, be their motives ever so noble. If enough people object to the law, it will, sooner or later be changed.”
Charles.
Even if a UNWGAD says, “Mr. Assange’s continued deprivation of liberty is a bail violation in the UK, which is, objectively, a minor offense that cannot post facto justify the more than 6 years confinement that he has been subjected to”.”
Of course the nefarious British state prizes the Great Satan’s appeasement, far more than that of the United Nation’s at its UNWGAD’s sensible findings.
Of course we all know what you think of the UN, regarding a certain oppressivd apartheid state.
Give it a rest, RoS. You’re less amusing and compelling than you seem to think.
Bostock – “…cocking a snoot”?
Oh dear.
And do you know, I usually manage it without resorting to insults and ad hominems
So…
Hypocrites all
That said, you’ve got to have some balls in play before you can be accused of playing the man instead.
So Charles Bostock, your case is that Assange, Snowden, Manning et al, broke the law by revealing state secrets, that themselves indicated that numerous laws had been broken by governments, politicians and public officials but only Assange and the other whistle blowers must pay the penalty for breaking the law. The serious malfeasors remain not only uncharged but enabled to profit from their crimes. Who the hell are you to question Assange’s and Snowden’s motivation? Your pomposity is matched only by your moral deficit.
Your Kadavergehorsamkeit is chilling.
except for the bush’s and blairs, they never seem to face any consequences. we don’t have to wonder much about your motives, you want to smear assange.
MaryPau!
A stick your head in the sand attitude, oh dear.
In pessima republica plurimae leges
I think Mary Paul has a point. The nature of society is that it is an agreement to a set of rules or laws between the citizens and the state. Our modern rights, such as they are, have developed because of the struggle between these forces. What are the limits to our legitimate rights, what precisely are our obligation in these arrangements?
Governments are naturally going to try to cover up their mistakes under the cloak of privilege or security or whatever pretext suits their aims. The citizen is naturally going to want to know about incompetence or corruption or any criminal practice, since this will affect everything from voting patterns to civil disorder all the way up to revolution. When Craig Murray exposed collusion by the British authorities in the use of torture he paid the price for this by losing his high ranking position, that was clearly unjust. In a similar way Assange and Manning are paying the price for revealing government involvement in murder and mayhem stemming from starting an unprovoked war fueled by the growth of the arms industry. Arguing about whether Julian or Chelsea are reporters or whistle-blowers or if they are motivated by ego or moral force is just diversionary semantic nonsense.
Such rights as we have were hard won by militant groups like the suffragettes and the unions. At present it seems these rights are being eroded, the price for this is the kind of prosecutions we have seen. Having said that, my view, colored by my reasonably comfortable existence, is that I don’t want a literal revolution, but I would like to see a swing back to a fairer society; it’s why Jeremy Corbyn as leader is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a price I’d be happy to pay.
@Republicofscotland
I’m not sure I’d put Assange, Snowden and Manning in the same sentence. The latter two would have almost certainly signed a US Official Secrets Act equivalent, have committed treason and, some would argue, deserve a cattle bolt in the back of the neck in a dank, dark cellar somewhere. Assange on the other hand is a journalist. What law did he actually break in publishing the stolen material?
“What law did he actually break in publishing the stolen material?”
Goodwin.
He revealed the truth, a no no, and so do other publishers yet they haven’t been hounded into bad health as Assange has.
Of course Westminster is a compliant minion of the Great Satan, so Assange if he’s forced out of the embassy will eventually find himself on the way to the US.
:
“Bolt in the neck”?!!!?
Well I think that indicates pretty strongly where you stand on those two immensely brave and courageous individuals, so why don’t you sod off.
A “traitor” to either the United States of World Horror, or it’s main bum-boy the United Kingdom, and a few other Western nations – all totally illegimate states according to International laws against unwarranted aggression, international laws against genocide, and being in flagrant contravention to the considerations of the Nuremberg Tribunal – and therefore any and all laws they make against the non-violent individual would be rightfully and legally null and void if there were a World body with the balls and wherewithal to apply these laws, anyway, to continue, a “traitor” to these pariah nations is a World Patriot. Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, & Julian Assange are all World Patriots – of great service to humanking without regard to nationality, or no nationality.
Those aforementioned are illegitimate states for exactly the same reasons that the World decided that NAZI Germany was an illegitimate state.
.
“Nothing will avail to offset this virus which is poisoning the whole world. America is the very incarnation of doom. She will drag the whole world down to the bottomless pit.”
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer
.
Signature:
…………………………………………………..
The creation of Israel has turned out to be the second worst man-made catastrophe ever inflicted on human-kind.
The creation of the United States of America has turned out to be the WORST man-made catastrophe ever inflicted on human-kind; and, for that matter, most of the rest of animal-kind.
The terrible natures of these two creations are NOT unrelated – one creation having been enabled by the other.
In turn, it’s well known that the United States is the bastard spawn of the United Kingdom, the first, the most successful and the most brutal of Europe’s genocidal colonisers.
Those at Echelon, GCHQ, MI6, NSA, CIA and similar fascists reading this post and ‘signature’, are referred to the profanity used by the sadly seemingly immortal lying manipulative War-Criminal, Mass-Murderer and Traitor Dick Cheney to some Democratic Party non-entity (as pretty much all the Democrats are).
…………………………………………………..
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@Dennis Revell
Please don’t misquote me. It’s not difficult. If you’re going to quote, just copy and paste.
The rest of your emotional drivel doesn’t actually answer my question. But thanks anyway.
Thankfully the United States will go under and likely will take the Zionist state with it, because if the United States got to rule the world unchallenged we’d all know what it was like to be Native American, and if the Zionist state got to rule the world unchallenged we’d all know what it was like to be Palestinian.
@ Goodwin April 4, 2019 at 17:00
US or any other ‘Official Secrets Acts’ do not trump the imperative of revealing War Crimes.
‘Just following orders’ doesn’t cut it, according to the Nuremberg Tribunal and War Crimes laws, and if any one is aware of a major crime, it is a criminal matter if they do NOT reveal it, and it is worse than useless to reveal it to the authorities or governments who ordered the atrocities..
Perhaps you are perfectly happy to have evil perpetrated in your name, as long as it doesn’t leak out – I’m not, nor are Assange, Snowden and Manning.
i would say because they are morally unjustifiable or illegal actions of the state itself.
@MaryPau!
the statement Once these actions are “officially” secret, releasing them into the public domain … (threats etc) is not valid
Worldwide there are many journalistic outlets that reveal ‘secrets’ , from statewatch.org to cryptome, alan turnbull’s secret bases, and worldwide there are many protocols on secrets with many important organisations, countries that treat a ‘newly public secret’ as a genuine new public piece of information. UKUSA, FVEY do not set world law.
I re-watched the excellent “The China Syndrome” (1970s fictional film about a nuclear reactor, for anyone who may be too young to remember) last night. All about ‘whistle blowing’ against corporate bodies for the sake of humanity, and the irresponsible and immoral depths that those corporations will stoop to in order to protect their assets. (Spoiler alert!) Good wins over evil in the end BUT at the expense of the life of the whistle blower. Some things don’t change.
Fiction made fact
I prefer the fact based movie “Silkwood” based upon the life and presumed assassination of a US nuclear plant worker , professionally exposed person, who did not expect to find traces of plutonium around her home and workplace, and complained about it to her union and the press.
She did whistleblow, and inspire later truth-seekers, Some things don’t change, inspiring surely the modern ‘not in my name’ brigade, and always remember and never forget that the ‘death’ scene in “the China Syndrome” was closely based on the demise of Karen Gay Silkwood. (lone car incident, possibly/probably provoked)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silkwood has a very high rating, Meryl Streep received awards, whilst Karen Silkwood’s family were awarded ten million dollars against her nuke plant owners in the 1980s.
@David
Thanks for the recommendation. I have never seen ‘Silkwood’ but coincidentally just a few days ago I was sorting through a collection of ‘freebie’ DVDs that were periodically issued with weekend newspapers a few years ago. Among them was a double Meryl Streep DVD of ‘Sophie’s Choice’ and ‘Silkwood’ so I shall watch it at the first opportunity.
Cheers.
I have re read the background to the Luke Harding on Manafort incident and find it all the more extraordinary. Surely as an experienced journalist he must have seen it was entirely implausible once the parties concerned issued formal denials and other people looked at the actual evidence. Why has he completely lost the plot, to the point of embarrassing himself ?
Most likely explanation is he was given the story by the secret services. He thought this is a great scoop and didn’t think it through. He does appear to have a natural hatred of Russia which may have clouded his judgement.
17mins 30secs in on this news round up for 7 minutes.
‘WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is accused of violating the terms of his asylum with Ecuador; Legal and media analyst Lionel of Lionel Media chats with RT America’s Ashlee Banks to decipher the developments.’
https://www.rt.com/shows/in-question/455491-nato-chief-befriends-trump-congress/
The group that organized this function in Athens, Greece, in support of Assange, on Australia’s national day, could do with more support:
https://unity4jgr.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/video-a-tribute-to-julian-assange-aition-cafeteria-26-1-2019/
W. Hall
Aegina, Greece
Thank-you William for the tribute to Julian. I am certain we here in the UK can support you. I hope most here will read Chris Hedges piece that summarizes recent developments: Those who stand by passively as they are persecuted will be next.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/18/chelsea-manning-and-new-inquisition
A video reminder of Iraq war crimes; ghoulish, macabre and sadistic rules of engagement in Iraq. Before I move on I will personally ensure these war criminals including Blair will be penalized and sentenced by a dutiful judiciary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelmEZe8whI
@ mark golding April 4, 2019 at 15:00
‘On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvMTRyNHpnY
It’s not only the ‘Ragheads’ they treated that way.
Paul
The CIA created Islamist groups in Kurdistan to provoke reprisals by Saddam. Their purpose simply to invade, butcher, humiliate the Iraqi people and to divide them and steal the oil.
Those CIA mercenaries started a conflict knowingly and deliberately with the assurance of complicity with Israel through the current dictator Barzani.
USUKIS intent in both 2003 and 2014 with the deployment of Daesh against Baghdad was to threaten Saudi Arabia into submission with the threat of invasion while simultaneously offering the Sauds the carrot of Damascus AND colluding with Russia to prevent that carrot from being achieved
More than a million of us marched in London against Blair’s fake war on Iraq, knowing we were being lied to but not knowing exactly how Iraq was a stepping stone to Libya Syria and the chaos of the Arab Spring
Those CIA Islamists who poked Saddam knew full well the bloody consequences of their actions and relished the slaughter , knowing full well that Israel was on their side and going to unleash decades of humiliation on the people of the Middle East.
Assange is just the bystander, the reporter who witnessed the betrayal of the Middle East by the CIA Islamists and recorded the sick violence of their friends the Zionists USUKIS .
Assange does not record the crimes of the CIA Islamists.
Their crimes are carved into the hearts of all who have suffered under neo-con policy facilitated by the treachery of the CIA Islamist scum for their own reward.
First they came for truthers, but I said nothing because I was uncomfortable with the truth.
Then nobody knew when the round-ups began.
Except no one did come for the Truthers. On the contrary; Google and its subsidiary YouTube promoted all their stuff in searches and video suggestions.
Hall
Yes, what is that group, exactly? Their internet page is remarkably silent about that.
This site gives you the latest news on Assange around the world. As well as others who are making the headlines.
https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Hot+Topics/People+in+the+News/Julian+Assange
Information Clearing House, has been closed down, because Tom Feeley accidentally posted an article that is not true.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/04/no-chinese-troops-arrived-in-venezuela-.html#comments
Tom regularly posted articles from Craig Murray.
Next time, they will be coming for you.
Mark Golding April 4, 2019 at 15:00
I am with you Sir.
Tony
Is there anywhere in the world that has an ethical foreign policy and does not classify as state secrets, things they would prefer to hide, which would show them in a bad light? I am not saying this justifies it, just that I suspect it is universal.
True MaryPau!
However around £13 million quid of taxpayers money has been wasted on policing Assange’s stay in the embassy. Also people find it galling that Britain is doing the USA’s dirty work, and widely reinforcing the fact, that this tiny wee cluster of islands is an obedient servant to the Great Satan’s whims.
A drop in the ocean when compared to the money that is wasted, year in year out, by still applying the Barnett formula to an undeserving Scotland.
But nothing compared to what the US taxpayers forks out to prop up the oppressive apartheid state you cherish.
Is that bait or crap you’ve posted there, Charles? Suspect both.
Yes, RoS, but we’re concerned about British taxpayers, aren’t we, and not Americans. That’s the impression I get from yours at 17h29, anyway 🙂
“Yes RoS”
So you admit it then, I never thought I’d see the day.
Chas
RoS didn’t say British taxpayers,he just said Tax payers, you have quoted incorrectly.
Pete
Who else would be paying for the police operation outside the Ecuadorian embassy if not the British taxpayer?
So refund them the oil money instead, and have the balls to say that to millions of Scots faces who lived through Tory policies of the 80s
Well he should walk out then and save us all some hard earned. Like he said he would.
No, the British state should cancel the warrant as proposed by the UNWGAD, I’m sure you agree the UN knows better than the British state.
However China did send aid and logistical support. Which will infuriate the Great Satan even more.
What a crying shame.
‘Tom Feeley
@tomfeeley
Information Clearing House – News You Won’t Find On CNN – This website has been described by John Pilger as having a wonderfully free rebellious spirit
USA informationclearinghouse.info
Joined December 2007
@tomfeeley
15m
(link: http://Informationclearinghouse.info) Informationclearinghouse.info Just found out the account is suspended, have no idea why. I have been locked out of the C panel unable to access the server. Emailed and called my web host who I have been with for 20 years. No response as yet.’
If they’d shut down Breitbart (for example) would you feel the same way?
Let’s not be silly – that site contains nothing but lies.
Yes, because as crap as BB is, it’s censorship, state control, oppression.
I may not like something, but I’ll defend their right to talk crap/sense (delete as appropriate)
@ Sharp Ears April 4, 2019 at 17:07
Indeed, a great guy, and a great site. Let’s hope he get’s it back up again. He is well worth supporting, he runs the site on a shoestring.
@ Sharp Ears April 4, 2019 at 17:07
Although it seems ostensibly it may be blamed on a ‘Fake News’ story about China sending troops to Venezuela, the story was printed in good faith, and is no more justification of closing down, indeed, far less so, than twaddle about WMD leading to a Holo^aust for Iraqis., I suspect a more likely real reason may be the following story: ‘Juan Guaidó Confesses Being Behind the Sabotage of Venezuela’s Electric System’: https://www.globalresearch.ca/juan-guaido-confesses-being-behind-the-sabotage-of-venezuelas-electric-system/5673104
It was reproduced on ICH, here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51385.htm but is now inaccessible.
The Great Satan and it’s minions don’t want the cat let out of the bag, do they?
@ Sharp Ears April 4, 2019 at 17:07
I just got this email:
‘April 04, 2019
URGENT NOTE
Good Morning,
At 6am Pacific Standard Time this morning I went to our website at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info and found a notice which states “This Account Has Been Suspended.”
I have since, sent numerous emails to the company who hosts the website and made phone calls to related parties and 4 hours later I still don’t know why it has been suspended or by whom.
As long time ICH readers are aware, this is not the first time that we have encountered these problems and yes, it normally occurs when we are raising funds during our monthly appeal.
I want to reassure our readers and supporters that nothing will keep me from providing valid information, which other news sources refuse to publish. At worst, It will take me 2 or 3 days to find another website hosting company, who can provide a secure place for our service to better inform our readers.
We could use some help from someone tech savvy, who could assist us in migrating our website and help us with improving security and preventing DNS and other attacks. Please email me at [email protected] if you can help in this regard.
You can help us restore and continue service by clicking one of the links below.
To send using your credit/debit card click here.
https://informationclearinghouse.webconnex.com/donate.htm
To send $ via PayPal
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=e-X8cUcs1kxLfzs7kVKCl3oy-n8c5ceHAROY7MNfSLtA-BvLY3C7U4TOPEg29QeRt9KGxW&country.x=US&locale.x=US
I will continue to keep you updated as we progress.
Thank you for your time and your support.
Peace and Joy
Tom Feeley
The shutting down of dissenting news providers began in earnest last autumn.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/12/facebook-accused-full-frontal-suppression-dissent-after-independent-media-swept-mass
But Information Clearing House is the biggest to be removed so far. Do not expect a peep from the approved free speech advocates in public life.
:
Not to say that they don’t publish some stories that are correct, but with Al Masdar it’s hard to tell which ones they are – double checking elsewhere is always required; so I decided a long time ago that they are fundamentally crap.
.
Disturbing but not unexpected.
“…because Tom Feeley accidentally posted an article that is not true.”
So this means the Guardian and all of BBC’s news and current affairs division* is being shut down too, right?
* Along with most of the rest of the English speaking ‘mainstream.’
It looks as though informationclearinghouse.info has a problem with their web host. Guessing from a whois lookup, their web host is hosteddomain.com
This probably has nothing to do with Tom Feeley accidentally posting an erroneous article. If this were government action I’d expect the domain informationclearinghouse.info to be invalidated, but it is still registered and working. It’s the company that does the hosting that’s preventing the site from working. Therefore there is nothing preventing informationclearinghouse.info from moving their site to a different hosting company.
Don’t panic; this doesn’t appear to be a fascist takeover of the Internet; they’ll get their site back up in due course. If you’re concerned about Internet freedom, you should be much more worried about this:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/eus-parliament-signs-disastrous-internet-law-what-happens-next
I am worried about it. I saw it coming years ago. There’s more to come.
It would kill the net and see the end of press freedom across Europe.The net is already a weird accelerated analogue of the environment, from paradise to polluted wasteland in less than twenty years.
This would be the final barrel of toxic sludge, the total destruction of information as evolving ecology, Today the internet is less a lush rainforest of information, more a highly policed concrete concourse to the airport shopping mall. If this is what the bill does incidentally, then I’m probably safe in assuming the EU wants to achieve far more with it. This makes a bad situation intractably worse at an absolutely pivotal make or break moment. If this is what the EU has become it has almost certainly accelerated it’s own demise.
And If Europe is so intent on self destruction under the EU, one way or another, then why waste more time trying to stay in it? Let alone participate in dismantling potentially one of the most positive developments of modern history.
Why Moreno falsely believes Assange released info on him and his brother, which could lead to Assange’s eviction from the embassy.
https://defend.wikileaks.org/2018/07/23/liveblog-julian-assange-in-jeopardy/#1-mar-19
Trickle down?
What’s with all those naked people standing in th gallery anyway?
‘Assange may be expelled from Ecuadorean embassy within ‘hours to days’, govt source tells WikiLeaks’:
https://www.rt.com/news/455594-assange-wikileaks-ecuador-embassy/?
Nowt in UK Main Stream Propaganda yet…
Presumably to be immediately arrested on USA extradition warrant
The Wail has been covering it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6888435/Julian-Assange-kicked-Ecuadorian-embassy-HOURS-arrested-says-WikiLeaks.html
Twelve hours on and nothing’s happened yet. Maybe it isn’t true. Possibly a publicity stunt by Wiki, who knows.
Encouraging to see the gaslighting so firmly shut down with intelligent argument in this thread.
Anyway, I love a central unexplored irony within Julian Assange’s story. One even implied in some of the themes these hacks employ to defame Assange; that it was only his ego which made him get off his arse and do something noble.
And their ego’s made them do what? Be craven hacks for hire to war makers and world destroyers? Sorry guys, but this is the end logic of your jealousy trips. Even as a gross egotist Julian wipes the floor with the lot of you. (Too late to pretend you aren’t contenders.) Back to that irony.
It is this: all of these TV networks, story writers, editors, journalists, commentators, announcers, presenters, influencers, screen gossips and copy jockeys, they’ve all missed one of the great heroic and dramatic stories of the 21st century so far.
It really has everything:
Little guy takes on the empire almost by himself and manages (okay, with a group of plucky friends) to expose high crimes and grand lies, not by one state, but by several around the world. He has a feature film made about his life while it’s happening, helps cause the downfall of one of the great political dynasties of the empire and along the way possibly even scupper or delay several wars in the making. He’s publicly crucified for seven years for his trouble. His persecutors launch entire careers merely knocking him down while the entire state apparatus convenes, first to buy him, then to frame him and finally to break him.
But he isn’t bought. He won’t step in the frame. He doesn’t break. He’s still standing in the final scene while others who thought they had major roles can’t even be recalled by the audience. Just imagine if one of these people actually knew how to write a good story or what makes for a good one. Instead, in their haste to censor their own every waking thought (toward the furtherance of their minor careers) most have virtually guaranteed that they can’t even see it, let alone report on it, nor even capitalise on it. They’re even trying their best to un-write it!
By and large the people still believe in him though. Despite the lies, despite the celebrity sneering, despite extensive and laborious disinformation campaigns. They’d storm the embassy themselves if they thought it would do any good.
Isn’t Julian’s situation a fundamental poetic image for our present moment?
It is.
And some people, as is colorfully clear on these two pages, just thrive on Schadenfreude.
The concierge-mentality of the little bourgeois.
Nothing new about that.
“concierge-mentality”
Made me laugh.
😀
Sounds like a quote from that bourgeois scumbag Lenin. Unless it was Hitler.
Trust me, when I quote someone, I put double quotes around it, and the source after it.
So you’re wrong on both counts for that reason alone already.
“Bj”
Of course you’ve pinched it from someone, almost certainly from a continental European. The concept of a concièrge is a Continental one, deriving from the fact that many more people on the Continent lived (and continue to live) in flats. Nothing to be ashamed of, old chap!
@bj – Can you make sure you read something properly before you call its author “wrong” next time? I said it SOUNDS like a quote.
thanks j.. well said..
thanks craig… much appreciated all the work you do here.
laws are made by those in power, to maintain the power to lord it over others.. anyone naive enough to think they are meant to represent justice and fairness are really quite out of touch with the real world we live in and the way the world works..
how about some accountability? ain’t gonna happen when it comes to those high up -think blair and bush.. it will only happen to those folks further down the food chain who are revealing the corruption and ignoring of international law, like assange, manning and snowden… need i point out the laws blair and bush have broken? why aren’t they being held accountable in the msm 24/7? the same reason we read about russiagate 24/7 and integrityinitiative nada…
i read mary pauls comments and the chain on down.. i mostly agree with ken kenn, goodwin and republicofscotland comments in general…
This D Mail headline was included in a paper review on LBC earlier.
‘Julian Assange ‘will be kicked out of the Ecuadorean embassy in HOURS and arrested as the country does a deal with UK authorities’ to end his seven-year stay, WikiLeaks claims’
The presenter referred to Julian as if he is a convicted rapist/sex offender. Quite outrageous.
Live stream outside the embassy here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlqmKcPS0I8
PS It’s very boring at the moment, and it might stay that way. “Ecuador denies decision made to expel Wikileaks founder” – https://www.foxnews.com/world/ecuador-denies-decision-made-to-expel-wikileaks-founder.amp
In spite of what has been said earlier on here about the police presence outside the Embassy, and it’s cost, you can see that there is not a single police officer in attendance.
🙂
The scene seems to have purged of supporters/protesters and messages, judging from the photos of the tents etc on this earlier report.
https://www.rt.com/uk/455608-assange-wikileaks-supporters-mobilize/
Good point, thank you Sharp Ears
@ Sharp Ears April 5, 2019 at 09:00
The protesters mostly gather on the opposite side of the road, where I suspect there is still a good contingent, particularly due to the warning.
You can here some talking in the background, which I suspect is a group of JA supporters.
I’ll shoot down there later and have a check.
Watching the live stream a moment ago a Taxi stopped right in front of the camera. You could see reflected in it’s windows that the only people on the pavement opposite the embassy are the press with their cameras.
I only count 4-5 protestors. Nobody cares any more.
Oh a woman came out of the embassy and posted a letter. You must be able to make something sinister out of that!
Watching the live stream a moment ago …
@Kempe You are obviously interested in this story, to spend time watching the live stream. Do you agree that we are lucky to have rt.com available as an alternative news supplier, since the BBC website doesn’t even mention the story on its front page?
Well it’s an alternative to watching paint dry otherwise a total waste of time but it’s only (Russian) taxpayers’ money. I’d be annoyed if the BBC were wasting cash like this, they’ll no doubt carry the story if anything ever does happen.
I see the Gruniad are now running the story but the lack of interest by the media and Assange supporters reflects an overall falling off of interest generally.
I see the Gruniad are now running the story but the lack of interest by the media and Assange supporters reflects an overall falling off of interest generally.
No, by any measure, Assange’s possible expulsion from the embassy is a huge story. The sparse coverage by the UK media proves that they do not report news, they manipulate it.
@ Sharp Ears April 5, 2019 at 08:48
‘…you can see that there is not a single police officer in attendance.’
should better read ‘not a single uniformed police officer in sight’.
You can bet your last pound that if Assange walked out of the embassy he’d be arrested in minutes if not sooner. The embassy will be under surveillance.
The cheerleaders for Mr Julian Assange are in a “heads I win, tails you lose” position, aren’t they.
If Julian emerges from his self-imposed confinement , is arrested for jumping bail and is then extradited to the US after the relevant process has occurred, the cheerleaders will say “We told you so”.
If however he emerges, faces bail-jumping charges, is either fined or not fined for that , and is then either subject to extradition proceedings which he “beats” or faces no such proceedings at all, the cheerleaders will crow “Victory! It was us wot won it!!”.
Of course there would be far fewer cheerleaders if it was Russia (and not the USA) which was suspected of seeking to extradite Assange to face trial there, because Russia is good whereas the USA are always bad.
It’s a rather curious thing that extreme right-wingers actually think decent lefties _welcome_ negative outcomes, because that would supposedly give them something to complain about. I’ve seen numerous examples of this, and your mutt Anon1 does this pretty often.
Could you provide an example of glee from lefties, when something they protested against came about? I think this is just some strange projection on your part.
“Look how they protest – they must have got what they wanted!” I don’t think so.
Your self-proclaimed ability to read other people’s minds, particularly those you don’t understand, never ceases to amaze us all.
Judging by the lack of substance in all your posts, Ian, I’m not sure you have a mind to read. Insults and ad hominems are not substantive, which is why Craig doesn’t like them and has authorized the Mods to delete them.
” … the lack of substance in all your posts …” 🙂
Try posting something substantive yourself, then, and amaze us all. Instead of baiting people with cheap and shoddy non-arguments. Which, as I said, claim to express views of people you don’t actually know, or care about.Most of your baiting is thinly disguised ad hominems. Even funnier, you invoke Craig to help you clutter up his blog with diversions and unsourced assertions, as above.
Well done Ian. CB thinks that veiled ad hominem remarks can bypass the mods so he has developed them to a very high degree of sophistication, or so (s)he thinks.
What a third grade and third rate comment.
We must agree to differ, bj – I think it was top grade and first rate.
Agreed
lofl “self imposed confinement”, yeah if you don’t include the cops waiting to arrest and rendition him to the u.s. and you, being you, wouldn’t.
Others listed. I expected to see a HSBC operative listed!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_%26_Company
Does anyone know the origin of the name?
Hi Sharp Ears – keep up the good work! Answers to your question:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hakluyt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_Society
Thanks very much. I never knew the origin and never thought to look!
Interesting, cheers.
This is not a pleasant time to be a proud Englishman. Julian Assange, who did nothing but tell the truth about US state-sponsored murders, who was set up in a honey-trap in Sweden, incarcerated for years despite the European Court of Human Rights calling this imprisonment “arbitrary detention, has now become even more vulnerable due to a change of government in Ecuador. His own country, Australia, has done nothing for his welfare and our government – slave to the US – will shortly be arresting him on behalf of the US.
Russia Today has a camera trained on the Ecuador Embassy waiting for the inevitable.
Those of us who have campaigned for his freedom must redouble our efforts to ensure his safety in these wicked times. It was not the perceived English way to punish someone for speaking the truth. It was what our parents taught us to do, what the judiciary swore us to do, and what all decent people ought to do.
Fully agree John,
it was a mixture of affronted women, both of whom initiated sex with Julian, upset that he had been with the two of them in twenty four hours, and a Lesbian prosecutor, who saw a chance to make propaganda whilst bigging herself up.
Yes, poor Julian. Julian the teenager, on the doorstep of the wonderful world of sex, seduced by two depraved, sex-hungry older women who preyed on his innocence. Don’t make me laugh! The guy’s obviously got an very active libido.
omg an active libido, lock him up right charles?
Charles, whatever your take on those events, of several years ago, have a heart for the man whose sex life (and relationships) has been severely restricted by his asylum/physical status. Apart from not having been able to simply sit in the sun or go for a walk, just incredibly normal activities that we take for granted.
It is a shame that even in this modern 21st Century world, civilised governments not at war cannot solve relatively simple problems as this. In my perception, Australia, of which JA is a natural-born citizen, in particular could have played a greater role in finding a solution.
John Goss
I totally agree John and the US and UK whistleblowing acts agree with us as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower_Protection_Act
https://www.pcaw.org.uk/
Unfortunately as I found out (as a whistleblower who reported financial fraud in a regulated industry), being a whistleblower will likely end up with a person being ostracised, unable to find employment in their specific profession, or in the worst cases as we have seen with Chelsea Manning and possibly Julian Assange, being prosecuted and jailed.
Andy, I know another good man who has been fighting the MOD over his dismissal for reporting missing Class A drugs, stocks of which should be monitored and accounted for. As a doctor it was his duty to report the missing drugs which went missing before his contract began with the MOD. Instead of praising him his contract was terminated while he was on a holiday break. In essence they have ruined his life just as they have done with Julian Assange. I will say no more about this because the case, which has dragged on for years, is still not settled to my knowledge.
What has happened to justice? We must remove those in power from power together with their minions like Charles Bostock and others on here who try to defend the indefensible, and put in their place a workable government that does not just work for the rich and super-rich. Socialists and Liberals must get these thorns out of our collective side.
Goss
Define what you mean by “remove”.
@John Goss,
If we look at political power, the way in which it is used and misused, we then have to step back and look at the whole electoral/political process, and something, perhaps the biggest factor, which has direct influence on policy, decision making and most importantly – whistleblowing. This elephant in the room, is not the electorate who vote in governments to work in the best interests of the majority, but donors/lobbying groups who wield the most power.
Career politicians are prostituting themselves to the highest bidder, and the rich bidders definitely have the power to close down/destroy whistleblowers from harming their interests.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47392658
I responded to this but like so many of my posts it went into moderation.
But only for a short while.
John Pilger says:
“WikiLeaks reports that Julian Assange is on the verge of being expelled from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Please fill the street outside the embassy and protect him, and show solidarity with a courageous man, whose struggle ought to touch us all.”
https://twitter.com/johnpilger/status/1113933880128442368
Pilger is calling for public disorder. He should be arrested and charged with that offence. What is it about those chutzpah Aussies who think they can do whatever they like in the UK and not suffer the consequences?
Saying he’s calling for public disorder is more than a bit of a stretch and you know it. And that’s ignoring the merits of public disorder when confronting an enemy with a monopoly on violence which has proven over and over again that it’s unwilling to follow both it’s own law and international ones. What re-course would you suggest? Or are we supposed to all swallow the bitter medicine and thank our betters for it?
Like I asked you yesterday but you ignored, what’s the worse calibre of crime in your opinion, skipping bail (seems how that’s the only definitive crime Assange committed that we can reference, and ignoring the supposed procedure now the charges the bail related to has been dropped) or the murder of thousands of innocents? If the answer is the former, it only adds to the conclusions we can draw about the sort of person with seemingly limitless time and energy for defending the indefensible on here.
Charles, if your handlers are reading this, please encourage him to try harder, he doesn’t even sound like the same species as a reasonable human being at this point.
No one appears to have taken any notice of him.
Not for the first time.
Blimey Charles – get off your low horse.
Here’s a poser for you and your mate Martinned.
It would be your duty if you witnessed a crime to report it to the police – would it not?
Assange and his Wikileaks organisation were handed a video of a crime being committed by the US.
He reported it to the public – you know the public that the State apparatus that is allegedly protecting
from crime and/or terrorism.
He had a duty to report it as you or I would as a witness.
As an aside I watched Glenn Greenwald on Newsnight with Auntie Kirsty.
If you could bottle contempt for a fellow journalist it would be champagne.
Kirsty kept uttering ‘ People will be concerned ‘ without mentioning who these ‘ people ‘ were and it certainly wasn’t the
the unwashed masses I can assure you.
A wittering ex head of ‘The Security Services ‘ appeared as well to basically tell the public ( the same public she
and her spook mates were supposed to be protecting ) that it was none of the people’s business what the spooks got up to and how they gather their evidence.
The rows of ‘ reporters ‘ lined up outside the Embassy should be interviewed purely because two of their camermen were
murdered in the released video and asked why they are not sympathetic to Assange?.
The same journalists made a right song and dance about the Saudis and their fellow journalist in the embassy murder – so why the selectivity?
Gutless and Greenwald’s contempt is well deserved by a useless cowardly bunch of presenters of the governments news.
The US shouts Jump! and the British ask – How high?
What “crimes” were being committed by the USA ? Is it not only you and your ilk who persist in using the word “crimes” ?
Here’s that crime; the murder of a Reuters journalist, those who tried to assist and the serious injury of two young children:
“Let’s shoot.
Light ’em all up.
Come on, fire!
Keep shoot, keep shoot. [keep shooting]
keep shoot.
keep shoot.
[…]
Oh, yeah, look at those dead bastards.
Nice.”
https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/
The ‘ crimes ‘ that the ICC are looking into.
The ones’ that the allegedly Democratic US State is blocking as if they were Mafia Bosses and
not an alleged Democracy.
The one’s that you support.
They ask – Jump! and you ask – how high?
Sky News was reporting last night that Assange is due to be expelled from the embassy “within hours to days” (?).
Most MSM quiet, no mention on R4 Today this morning (up to 7:15 at least) and nothing on the Guardian, though, admittedly, I haven’t bust a gut trying to find it there.
Live video from the embassy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlqmKcPS0I8
@Craig – “The fundamental question is, should a journalist or publisher be locked up for life for publishing leaked documents showing war crimes? If the answer is yes, where is press freedom?”
I disagree with couching it like that. The fundamental question is how can those guilty of war crimes be brought to justice.
That includes several other questions:
* the mentioned question about the harassment of those who expose war crimes, which is an instance of the serious crime of being an accessory to war crimes after the fact – and those responsible for such harassment should also be brought to justice
* the question of deterrence
* the question of reparations
* the political and judicial questions about why those guilty of war crimes have not yet been brought to justice, despite the paper presence in the statute books of laws against war crimes
N_
Have you not heard of the Hague Invasion Act, which protects all citizens of the US and its allies, from ever being dragged into the ICC?
We make the rules which others have to follow – we don’t actually have to follow those rules ourselves.
Not to mention the US State Department reluctance to extradite US citizens, despite reciprocal agreements. Pro rata, the UK government extradites three times as many of its citizens to the US than are sent the other way. The worst example is that of Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide. The Indian government attempted for more than two decades to have him extradited from the US to face charges over the Bhopal chemical plant disaster, Anderson died in 2014.
The USA and Israel – two all year round villains on this blog – are not States Parties to the International Criminal Court.
What is less often mentioned is that Russia, China, and Cuba are not States Parties either.
Curious, that.
The settled media consensus is that JA and Chelsea Manning endangered lives by releasing facts about US war crimes. They therefore deserve harsh punishment. But this media logic never extends to the people who wrecked Iraq and Libya and brought about an explosion in Islamist terrorism. Instead Dubya, Hillary, Blair and co are wistfully represented as the kind of responsible statespeople we should be longing to have back in power.
You are forgetting the white supremacist racist thug Netanyahu.
Xavi
Is that when we “deliver democracy” to people in far off lands – by bombing them?
So you only delete off-topic comments when they’re mine. Thanks for confirming.
Stop whining, FFS.
Not nearly on the same scale as you and Donald “muh literally Hitler!” Trump. How’s that coming along by the way?
This has been coming for a long long time. Whilst I have a great deal of sympathy for Julian, I have to ask myself why he’s in this position that he finds himself in right now? Presumably he’s a clever guy. Presumably, staff at Wikileaks and many of it’s followers are smart people too, so my questions are; why didn’t they see this day coming and why didn’t they do anything to prevent current events?
I wrote on this board many months ago that Assange has to get out of there and should likely be smuggled out using doppelgangers, picnic hampers or whatever, he had to get out.
But nobody else seems to have thought about this so the thing is my final (for now) question about this is; is this a deliberate manouvere by Wikileaks to reach this point? Have they purposely went out of their way to engineer todays events for some as yet unknown reason?
He should never be in this position in the first place, particularly given the change in Ecuadorian circumstances. Where did the common sense and foresight go?
Tertullian:”The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church “
RT were reporting earlier that the Ecaudorian Government are possibly expelling Assange from the Embassy and using WikiLeaks espose of the President’s alleged corruption as it’s reason ie hacking his emails etc etc.
They also report that this should not actually be possible but nevertheless they have a live feed from the embassy on screen.
Just wondering if you had any thoughts/knowledge on this?
The Russian state would make better use of its money if, instead of subsidising RT’s live feed in London, it enhanced video surveillance in Moscow and made sure the cameras were working properly. In that way opposition journalists and politicians might feel safer – and indeed be safer – when they walk the streets of Moscow at night or attempt to enter the lobby of their apartment block.
Perhaps they use the same contractors as our government, who spends a fortune on surveillance of the taxpayers paying for it.
Yet when it might come in useful – for instance, a group of thugs beat to death some poor newspaper seller by the name of Ian Tomlinson – right in the centre of London on the occasion of a mass demonstration – none of them captured a single image!
Most unfortunate, and almost impossible to imagine, wouldn’t you say? A capital positively bristling with them, and yet it was left to a passing Aussie tourist to provide the necessary documentation.
Absolutely agree, Glenn. The case for enuring that video surveillance actually works is every bit as important as the need for extensive video surveillance to be in place. We agree yet again!
BTW I dimly recall that the newspaper seller died of a heart attack rather than having been “beaten to death”? But everyone to his own narrative, I guess……
Charles.
The Met doesn’t want lateral thinking police officers, no it wants thugs, similar to that of Guardia Civil in Spain, who assaulted innocent people, like that of Mr Tomlinson here in Britain.
Yesterday at the show/kangaroo court trial of the Catalan leaders. When questioned by the defence not one Guardia Civil officer could recall another officer using violence against anybody on the day of the Catalan referendum, even though countless footsge of it exists online.
Perhaps you like the approach of our good friends, the Chinese government?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/04/world/asia/xinjiang-china-surveillance-prison.html
They really know how to get things done.
RoS – “The Met doesn’t want lateral thinking police officers, no it wants thugs”
That’s really not fair; coppers are a varied bunch. But the organisation seems to channel certain mindsets towards certain departments; there are certainly thugs on hand for certain tasks. To be fair to the Met, my experience is that a lot of policing has been greatly improved in recent years; you’re more likely to have trouble due to police inflexibly observing procedures, and a lot less likely to suffer from particular officers’ prejudice.
Maybe so Clark, I’m looking at it from a top point down with CD in mind.
Glenn
You’re puzzling me a little. First you complain that there was either no video surveillance (or if there was, that it wasn’t working) to record how the newspaper seller died, and then you appear to deplore effective video surveillance by referring disapprovingly to the Chinese use of it. Have I missed something?
RoS
From video surveillance in London to Catalan separatist rallies in one hop. You are nothing if not an internationalist. Or perhaps “gadfly” and “diverter” or “whatabouter” might be better descriptions?
Glenn
Or even the big elephant in the room regarding the events in Salisbury in Narch last year. What it means is that there is selective use of surveillance and it is ignored when it doesn’t suit the state.
The trouble is that these surveillance / CCTV systems are private sector, so whatever they collect becomes the property of the company, and thus can be bought by the highest bidder.
This seems fundamentally wrong; the company didn’t create the data or videos or whatever; they merely collected it from the public – you could argue that they misappropriated it. There needs to be legislation; all such data must become public property of some sort upon collection.
Ian Tomlinson is the only person ever to die of a ruptured spleen by falling forwards onto a flat pavement. In reality he was viciously jabbed in the back with pointed end of a baton, the coroner did what was expected of him.
An hour ago.
“A statement from Mr Assange’s legal team has came in. ”
“It reads: “Expelling Julian Assange would be illegal, violate international refugee law and be an attack on the UN which has repeatedly called for Assange to be able to walk free.”
The obedient minion of the Great Satan (USA) Britain, likes to present itself as democratic and that it takes herd of UN decisions.
However the Chagos ruling and the sheer and utter unwillingness to listen to and abide by the UNWGAD’s report on Assange, shows another side of Britain.
The British hierarchy are determined to arrest Assange, process him and then hand him over to the Great Satan.
Yes, to “take herd of UN decisions”. I know that such decisions are taken by the herd and usually reflect herd thinking, but this is ridiculous… 🙂
If you live or work in London and are able to get along to the Ecuadorian embassy Emmy Butlin has something to say to you.
“Thanking our brothers and sisters who stood overnight guarding Assange outside the Embassy! We call supporters to join our daytime solidarity vigil from 10:30 onwards till the evening. New vigils planned for Saturday and Sunday for working people. Keep your eye on my timeline.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/greekemmy?lang=en
Remember they’re coming for Assange, but it’s really us they’re attacking our access to information and the right to post it.
Oh and this, which is very close to its goal.
https://www.change.org/p/free-julian-assange-before-it-s-too-late
This has over 100,000 signatures.
https://www.change.org/p/end-julian-assange-s-isolation
Whistleblowers and real investigative journalists need protecting. They are our eyes and ears.
Thus spake Republicoscotland, far away from the “action” and with a good alibi for not attending himself (actually, if he felt strongly enough he could go down for the day…….)
Oh you have changed gravatars again! And IP addresses too? Getting to be a habit.
CB’s comments have a new Identicon, mean that CB submitted a different e-mail address.
CB does not use a Gravatar, and this site gives no public indication of IP address.
Thanks for that info. CB must possess multiple e-mail addresses or perhaps there are several commenters on here using the same ‘handle’. It is quite noticeable.
[ Mod: The email addresses are all minor variations. CB is probably trying to circumvent keyword moderation. ]
“Julian Assange is merely a journalist and publisher.”
I know I should not take a sentence out of context but it provokes a comment which makes the adverb “merely” an example of litotes. Certainly Wikileaks is the only publisher on the planet that checks its facts so thoroughly that up to now it has never been wrong. That cannot be said of any UK or US news channel or newspaper.
Moreno must have had his offshore accounts filled to the coffers to have taken this controversial step. Should Julian Assange’s asylum be revoked it would create a precedent for other embassies to act likewise. I was hoping for a Labour government to secure his release from this arbitrary detention. I was hoping the Brexit pantomime might be the conduit for the election.
A quick off-topic question re avatars: I can see this blog uses Gravatar, I assume that the others are generated based on what people put into the email field (which doesn’t appear to be validated)?
So it’s validated to the extent that it you need to have something@something, but the address doesn’t have to be a real one. (Sorry mods, just curious)
Freddy, you’re right on both counts. A Gravatar is a “Globally Recognised Avatar”; the service is from WordPress.com / Automattic, and you can create one here:
http://en.gravatar.com/
The geometric patterns are called Identicons, a feature of the WordPress (.org) blog software, and are generated from the submitted e-mail address.
Thanks Clark, appreciated.
An hour ago.
“A UK Foreign Office spokesman has said: “We do not comment on speculation. This is a matter for the government of Ecuador.”
“Julian Assange is in the embassy of his own choice and has always been free to leave.”
The usual bollocks from the FCO, they know fine well Assange is arbitrarily detained.
It could be the Ecuadorian embassy is waiting till late on to evict Assange, when there’s a good chance the crowd will be at a minimum, and fewer cameras will see him (Assange) being frogmarched into a police van.
“Julian Assange is in the embassy of his own choice and has always been free to leave.”
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This sounded familiar, and then I realized that the spiders in my tiny back yard are always insisting that “That fly is in the web of its own choice and has always been free to leave.”
“The usual bollocks from the FCO, they know fine well Assange is arbitrarily detained.”
Voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest, I think you mean.
Voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest? For what crime ? Jumping bail when the case for the original arrest has been withdrawn. No request from Sweden for extradition =no need for bail. Got it ?
Actually, he is avoiding unlawful arrest. As I have already pointed out, It is CPS policy to drop bail-breaking charges when the originating charges have been dropped, as they have in this particular case.
The discussion should now be about why the CPS and police are disregarding their own policy and acting politically. If the MSM had the same discussion, we would quickly get to the bottom of Assange’s predicament. And I expect that some people in high places would be more than a little bit embarrassed.
” there’s a good chance the crowd will be at a minimum, ”
What less than the four that have been there most of the day?
The press do seem to have given it up as a bad job though.
Check out my 18.55pm comment, click the link and watch Baugh smith of Frontline Club talk in amongst a decent sized crowd.
I guess you mean Vaughn Smith. Can’t find your post and I can’t find anything regarding Smith and Assange that is later than 2016.