Twenty-seven writers, journalists, film-makers, artists, academics, former intelligence officers and democrats call on the government of Ecuador in this letter to allow Julian Assange his right of freedom of speech.
THE ISOLATION OF JULIAN ASSANGE IS THE SILENCING OF US ALL
If it was ever clear that the case of Julian Assange was never just a legal case, but a struggle for the protection of basic human rights, it is now.
Citing his critical tweets about the recent detention of Catalan president Carles Puidgemont in Germany, and following pressure from the US, Spanish and UK governments, the Ecuadorian government has installed an electronic jammer to stop Assange communicating with the outside world via the internet and phone.
As if ensuring his total isolation, the Ecuadorian government is also refusing to allow him to receive visitors. Despite two UN rulings describing his detention as unlawful and mandating his immediate release, Assange has been effectively imprisoned since he was first placed in isolation in Wandsworth prison in London in December 2010. He has never been charged with a crime. The Swedish case against him collapsed and was withdrawn, while the United States has stepped up efforts to prosecute him. His only “crime” is that of a true journalist — telling the world the truths that people have a right to know.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Under its previous president, the Ecuadorian government bravely stood against the bullying might of the United States and granted Assange political asylum as a political refugee. International law and the morality of human rights was on its side.
Today, under extreme pressure from Washington and its collaborators, another government in Ecuador justifies its gagging of Assange by stating that “Assange’s behavior, through his messages on social media, put at risk good relations which this country has with the UK, the rest of the EU and other nations.”
This censorious attack on free speech is not happening in Turkey, Saudi Arabia or China; it is right in the heart of London. If the Ecuadorian government does not cease its unworthy action, it, too, will become an agent of persecution rather than the valiant nation that stood up for freedom and for free speech. If the EU and the UK continue to participate in the scandalous silencing of a true dissident in their midst, it will mean that free speech is indeed dying in Europe.
This is not just a matter of showing support and solidarity. We are appealing to all who care about basic human rights to call on the government of Ecuador to continue defending the rights of a courageous free speech activist, journalist and whistleblower.
We ask that his basic human rights be respected as an Ecuadorian citizen and internationally protected person and that he not be silenced or expelled.
If there is no freedom of speech for Julian Assange, there is no freedom of speech for any of us — regardless of the disparate opinions we hold.
We call on President Moreno to end the isolation of Julian Assange now.
List of signatories (in alphabetic order):
Pamela Anderson, actress and activist
Jacob Appelbaum, freelance journalist
Renata Avila, International Human Rights Lawyer
Sally Burch, British/Ecuadorian journalist
Alicia Castro, Argentina’s ambassador to the United Kingdom 2012-16
Naomi Colvin, Courage Foundation
Noam Chomsky, linguist and political theorist
Brian Eno, musician
Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks Ambassador and board member of The Centre for Investigative Journalism
Teresa Forcades, Benedictine nun, Montserrat Monastery
Charles Glass, American-British author, journalist, broadcaster
Chris Hedges, journalist
Srecko Horvat, philosopher, Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25)
Jean Michel Jarre, musician
John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorism officer and former senior investigator, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Lauri Love, computer scientist and activist
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, Presidential advisor
John Pilger, journalist and film-maker
Angela Richter, theater director, Germany
Saskia Sassen, sociologist, Columbia University
Oliver Stone, film-maker
Vaughan Smith, English journalist
Yanis Varoufakis, economist, former Greek finance minister
Natalia Viana, investigative journalist and co-director of Agencia publica, Brazil
Ai Weiwei, artist
Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer and activist
Slavoj Žižek, philosopher, Birkbeck Institute for Humanities
The plan? Lots of talk but where’s the plan to free Julian Assange? I say a huge crowd of Julian lookalikes storm the embassy and get him the hell out of there, hopefully to a location totally unknown by the US. Surely if there are hundreds of lookalikes there is at least a chance to get him out and distract the drones long enough to help him hide elsewhere. We need to stop talking and start doing something!
It’s sad for me to see these accomplished and respected long working intelligent and empathetic people from the Left (and elsewhere, I guess, I am not familiar with some of the signers), all of whom who are friends of social justice come together to 1) “demand that Ecuador” do more, and 2) after all these years of the outrageous imprisonment of a true political hero, choose an Internet interruption to come together and lead this Charge of the Very Light Brigade. First, the government of Ecuador, despite any recent rightward moves (co-opted by the Greater Powers? [yes]), this little Ecuador has done for all these years more for Julian Assange than the total sum of all these signers have done for Julian Assange in all these same years. Secondly, I despair that this most recent insult to Julian’s so well-known long suffering shows how weak today the so-called Left is. This is the height of the political anti-climatic. Great Britain’s the cruel and steadfast jailer, Ecuador still is his only slender life-line, his only protector that I know of, and here we have a committee, after six years of Assange’s false imprisonment, his body and spirit both confined in a British (yes) Bastille, that is willing to pay his Internet bill. His freedom? The Left?
Elizabeth Vos on the importance of Assange’s work to the alternative media sources on which we rely:
https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/04/a-retrospective-look-at-the-work-wikileaks-made-possible-as-assange-remains-silenced/
And an earlier (March 30) op-ed on how serious the situation is:
https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/03/op-ed-if-ecuador-withdraws-support-and-protection-from-julian-assange-it-will-be-a-tragedy/
Both are worth reading.
Some might remember the four U.S. military veterans of Vietnam who went on a fast in Washington, D.C. to oppose arming of the contras in Nicaragua by the Reagan administration. That was in the 1980’s long before the internet took off, and their fast still made a huge statement that resounded across university campuses and the media worldwide. Such a non-violent action in front of the Ecuadoran Embassy in the United Kingdom would most likely achieve the same massive results relative to public awareness, perhaps even leading to Julian Assange’s release and long overdue total freedom.
Only 27 that is really really scary.The question that should be asked is why why only 27 something is very very wrong here.This does not add up.
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gh
Just 27? Shame on the homo sapiens.
Known Unknown- To comments you posted previously, I agree 100%. For those employed in Government or elsewhere there is constant pressure to toe the line and not step out of line. Should you fail to support the positions of the powers that be, your career will be on a long winding road that leads to obscurity. However, better to have fought for change and and stayed true to your values and principles than to have caved in to the unwritten rules. To my fellow Americans: Do not sell out. Stay true to your moral compass. If we are vigilant and we are determined then I think it is still possible to one day reach critical mass and make the changes necessary to save the planet and our species.
Justiz for J A. NOW
I am done . Hi Joe Tedesky, but I have noticed that since rp died, the discussion has become more masculine and volatile. Especially I noticed Annie’s absence, and some other female voices are gone. Joe, my dad is not well, but I take him to our VA I Milwaukee WI I do not know about the rest of the country, but I can say this, the VA, in Milwaukee,Wi is really helpful. the doctors and nurses who are helping us are the best. Take care Joe
I never thought I would find a CIA employee I would admire, and here are two. Thank you for standing on behalf of whistleblowers and free speech.
Many of you who signed have restored my faith in, at least, some humanity.
As the leaden curtain of silence, omission, lies, money speak and other forms of news tyranny descends on an ever more ignorant public, there are those of who will do what we can to keep information flowing. Love you all.
It’s been evident for years that State power of the corrupt Empire needs to be curtailed. Information sharing / revealing has not changed anything.
It seems implausible to me that an Embassy can not get diplomatic baggage home !
How far to the nearest sewerage main?
I understand that London based diplomats are leading the trend towards fast, armored,
drone air taxis,is it so?
Ecuador shows itself to be just another vassal state.
It is very sad to see Mr. Assange and not root for and his cause regarding Wekeleaks. If president Correa were in office, we would not have been talking about Mr. Assange.
I think a broader problem for Assange is that, even if he were to be “released” from the Ecuadorian embassy, he is a marked man. Achieving any degree of freedom with security would be impossible, given the animosity he has created with TPTB. His only hope would be plastic surgery, and something akin to a “witness protection program”. He is a true hero, and I wish there were a lot more outrage than a letter with 27 signers. There should be millions of people in the streets of DC and London demanding justice. Trump stated during the campaign that he “loves” wikileaks. He should have some balls, and give him a job (maybe national security advisor), and honor him with the medal of freedom while he’s at it.
Dear Skip: the chief reason “millions of people in the streets of DC and London demanding justice” are absent is because they are a bunch of spineless cowards that have shown a complete apathy toward this case.
The strategy for dealing with Assange is to drag his situation along until the general public moves on to the next issue and he is forgotten. He needs to tweet to stay relevant. His survival depends upon it. It’s very discouraging to see how little support he is getting.
Picture THIS vis-a-vis world wide ‘support’ for IMPERILED people faced with illegitimate persecution.
http://www.atimes.com/article/hard-rains-gonna-fall-rohingya-refugees/
WE MUST ASK OURSELVES, WHAT IS JUSTICE ???????????????
Trump ate his own balls long ago. That’s why he’s such a pathetic coward.
The Dark Ages redux.
Since politics on a global scale are now subdued to financial powers,
it will be the financial boycott of these powers that remains as a sole
recourse to these politics.
Not only have corporations been given ‘personhood’ – they are also
entitled to buy legislators with infinite amounts of money. When one
cares to follow this un-democratic stream of funds, only few corporations
and institutional shareholders are revealed at the tip. The only language
these anti-democratic forces understand are the withdrawal from their
income sources. Nothing else than boycott has the weight to bring
about change.
The Power is Still in the Purse.
Boycott Equador. Do not travel there. Cancel your vacation. Do not buy
Equadorian products. Sanctions must work in both ways – not only
illegally imposed by these financial powers on Nations that do not
comply with their totalitarian ponzi scheme – but also as first response
by citizens who are the base of these societies.
Truth should never be silent. Let the man speak, every person has the right to. It is ever so much more important when a person speaks the truth aloud, for the truth spoken has a power all its own.
Well said Josh. What do you think of the people of England attitude when their Prime Minister lies throughout her teeth by accusing Russia of poisoning two Russians while providing zero evidence? Shouldn’t they be demanding forcefully from Miss May hard iron clad proof to back up her claims about Russia’s culpability?
Miss ur tweets Julian Arrange!!
Interestingly none of those who signed raised the fundamental questions of transformation of Ecuadorian government into US Vassal that started even under Corea and accelerated under new president who became a good friend with Western oligarchy and new enemy of indigenous people who are being killed or arrested by opposing land take over by foreign corporations that destroys the amazon river natural environment and indigenous habitats.
Murder of Chavez marked rapid turn again Bolivarian revolution that swept South America and then domino fell, all those leaders either were removed from power of succumbed to US pressure or turned from populists into dictators while reversing to neoliberal policies to various degrees, all thank to successful Obama policies that are somewhat erratically continued by Trump.
This act of gagging of Assange, not the first, totally uncalled for since Ecuador already cut off Assange from their internet many months ago, but by jamming an external private hotspot encrypted generated for Assange by his supporters alone is an act of hostility aimed to push him out as would be denying him water or food.
This is inhumane treatment as his effective imprisonment without conviction condemned by UN , IS Euador responsibility at this point, torturing Assange on Washigton orders. Any petition that ignores this point of shared culpability of Ecuador in all this affair is simple fake posturing.
Probably the petitioners wish to avoid alienating Ecuador with criticism and merely seek to end the jamming. I wonder whether the jammer is outside the embassy, as that seems far easier to arrange. The US/UK may be blaming Ecuador to alienate them from Assange.
Incidentally, the US persecution of those who would pursue the Bolivarian revolutions began as soon as the greedy could find a profit in it, before the Mexican war, continued under TDR and Wilson to secure the Panama canal, intensified under Coolidge and Harding to secure the bananas so critical to US national security, and became official policy in the Cold War because of course no one but the USSR could possibly be behind eliminating poverty and disease there. The US policy toward Latin America is the most clear example of foreign policy corruption by money outside the Mideast. Good heavens, if we allow socialism there, soon the masses will be invading our gated communities and demanding justice in the US!
The point is that since Ecuadorian Embassy does not provide means of communication to Assange they should repudiate accusation of any complicity with Assange activities on line, but jamming his communications is criminal, violate UN charter and Geneva treaties of migration and refugees.
In fact short range jamming must be installed inside , outside would,have to be much stronger and would affect entire Embassy communications and adjacent apartments in the building which is not affected.
What is however strange that Assange did not acquire hardware to overcome this attack, like encrypted satellite phone and various comunication dvices using electrical wiring in the entire building, such a hardware one can boy legally for less than $50 , and few hundred bucks for encrypted one.
I suspect that he it is not as much as technical issue but Assange agreed to be gagged temporarily not to be thrown out of embassy and arrested.
Assange was abandoned by his rich phony friends otherwise he would have been free in Ecuador or elsewhere.
An article you won’t see in the corporate media at link below.
—————————————————————————————-
“Gaza is Soweto revisited
Israel has turned Gaza into Soweto – while Israel has become South Africa – circa 1976.”
by Andrew Mitrovica
8 hours ago
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/gaza-soweto-revisited-180401063545790.html
Stephen J. – and for the white farmers in South Africa, some families who have farmed the land since the 1700’s, they are being murdered in order to take their land away from them. The new Prime Minister of South Africa has said that he will take the land from the farmers “without compensation”.
South Africa has turned into Israel.
I haven’t hear from Andrew Mitrovica in a long time. I recall him being a straight shooter.
Naomi Klein, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Sanders and Warren– where are you guys and why haven’t you signed? I’d sign. Where can I sign?
I doubt Klein or Amy Goodman will ever sign, given that the former exoriated Assange for publishing the emails which according to her were “not newsworthy”, and the latter has drunk the kool-aid on Russiagate. It would be a political faux pas for Sanders or Warren, so you can be assured they won’t speak up. Greenwald though has already spoken about this with a tweet the day it happened, and you’re right it would be good if he lent his name to this letter.
Free Press! Free Assange!
George, I hear your upset but I gotta say, this seems like a good example of why no one wants to align with the Left. The Test Of Purity we apply is ridiculous. I watched it tear apart the Feminist Movement in the 70’s and it tore apart Dr. KIng’s campaign when he came out against the Viet Nam War and nearly all of his top supporters threw him under the bus. I certainly honor your right to be xpress your opinion but I similarly support these very smart and accomplished women’s rights to have an opinion different from mine. I just want to know why.
Unfortunately, they’re phony sheepherders who are actually tools of the system that persecutes truthtellers like Julian Assange. I know it’s hard to accept but it’s become painfully obvious in the past several years with the farce of the Obama administration.
Jessejean & Nancy-
I agree with Nancy and would also like to respond to “… but I similarly support these very smart and accomplished women’s rights to have an opinion different from mine.” The fact that Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman are smart and accomplished women, and have significant media exposure, makes it all the more disturbing that they fail to support Julian Assange. I too really want to know why. I would really like to see Amy Goodman use Democracy Now! to examine RussiaGate in detail, along with the DNC and Podesta emails that Wikileaks released. The fact that she hasn’t done this leads me to believe that she has been co-opted by the money she received from Soros and other sponsors. Her days of speaking truth to power are behind her, and it is a great loss for real progressives. If this seems like an unreasonable “test of purity” to you Jessejean, so be it.
Wrong link
sorr :(
https://www.change.org/p/end-julian-assange-s-isolation-poner-fin-al-aislamiento-de-julian-assange
http://getup.to/yEC7CBkt1
https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/core-member/assange/sign-the-petition
Nuff said
“A belief in American exceptionalism is a hard drug to give up”.
American belief in its exceptional exceptionalism is the drug that has been in constant supply to the US public.
For example our remarkable MSM has been proud to have been able to “immediately” determine & declare
1. Who it was who murdered JFK.
2. Who was responsible for 9/11.
3. The “fact” that Iraq had WMD’s etc. etc..
4. We were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.
5. We landed on the moon in 1969
6 Many more ?
The sadness is that “poor” MSM personnel have jobs to keep, mortgages to pay, families to feed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpPMoIv1lxI
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
It’s amazing to see Pamela Anderson as first name on the list.
She was considered as “just a Bimbo” during her acting days.
Bravo to Her !!!!!!!!
She a Good person who stops by to see him every time she’s in the country. She’s normally on her way to Russia as a Animal Rights Activist. The Russian people like her.
Here is a petition to pardon Assange(there may be others):https://www.change.org/p/donald-trump-to-pardon-julian-assange
Surely some revelation is at hand:
“William Butler Yeats, this arch-conservative, was right in is diagnosis of the XXth century, when he wrote: ‘…The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / the ceremony of innocence is drowned; / the best lack all conviction, while the worst / are full of passionate intensity.’ (The Second Coming, 1920). The key to his diagnosis is contained in the phrase ‘ceremony of innocence,’ which is to be taken in the precise sense of Edith Wharton’s ‘age of innocence’: Newton’s wife, the ‘innocent’ the title refers to, was not a naïve believer in her husband’s fidelity – she knew well of his passionate love for Countess Olenska, she just politely ignored it and staged the belief in his fidelity… In one of the Marx brothers’ films, Groucho Marx, when caught in a lie, answers angrily: ‘Whom do you believe, your eyes or my words?’
“This apparently absurd logic renders perfectly the functioning of the symbolic order, in which the symbolic mask-mandate matters more than the direct reality of the individual who wears this mask and/or assumes this mandate. This functioning involves the structure of fetishist disavowal: ‘I know very well that things are the way I see them /that this person is a corrupt weakling, but I nonetheless treat him respectfully, since he wears the insignia of a judge, so that when he speaks, it is the Law itself which speaks through him’. So, in a way, I effectively believe his words, not my eyes, i.e. I believe in Another Space (the domain of pure symbolic authority) which matters more than the reality of its spokesmen. The cynical reduction to reality thus falls short: when a judge speaks, there is in a way more truth in his words (the words of the Institution of law) than in the direct reality of the person of judge – if one limits oneself to what one sees, one simply misses the point. This paradox is what Lacan aims at with his les non-dupes errent: those who do not let themselves be caught in the symbolic deception/fiction and continue to believe their eyes are the ones who err most.
“What a cynic who ‘believes only his eyes’ misses is the efficiency of the symbolic fiction, the way this fiction structures our experience of reality. The same gap is at work in our most intimate relationship to our neighbors: we behave AS IF we do not know that they also smell badly, secrete excrement, etc. – a minimum of idealization, of fetishizing disavowal, is the basis of our co-existence.”
With or Without Passion: What’s Wrong with Fundamentalism? – Part I
By Slavoj Žižek
http://www.lacan.com/zizpassion.htm
“Presidents can’t simply order a nuclear weapons strike, you have to have several layers of people underneath who agree, so whom you are appointing to those layers of nuclear weapons systems people is important. If those few layers are people like John Bolton, then that’s a concern”. – Julian Assange (27 March 2018)
In-depth interview with Assange by Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi for la Repubblica
http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2018/03/27/news/julian_assange-192387103/?refresh_ce
https://stefaniamaurizi.it/en-wikileaks.html
Please add my name: Laurie Dobson Peace Activist and Rights Advocate, Chairman, EndUSWars.com.
Defying the UN, there is no international order of law.
Here is what lawlessness fosters, or better put supports and overlooks.
https://www.juancole.com/2018/03/israel-murder-protesters.html
Cold-blooded murder.
And then there are those who pick on Russia.
I agree with you Joe.
Yes Dave it’s criminal.
Watch the video on this link.
http://theduran.com/brilliant-paul-joseph-watson-video-exposes-fake-news-media-warning-about-fake-news/
Good link Joe. It shows there is one writer with access to all the local news networks, and they just parrot whatever they’re given to read. It reminds me of this poster:
https://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/videos/the-art-of-manufacturing-consent
“the United States has stepped up efforts to prosecute him”
“under extreme pressure from Washington and its collaborators”
So where’s the letter calling out those who are holding a gun to the heads of both Assange and Ecuador demanding THEY obey the law and the UN’s decree? Is Ecuador expected to alone keep doing all the heavy lifting forever? When has Ecuador done enough all alone while the world stands back and watches doing nothing? Has Ecuador no right to do all it can to protect itself when the whole world knows that the Pilgrims Society et all respect no limits to get their way?
Thank you Consortiumnews for the opportunity to publicly support an act of freedom against tyranny. It’s not often in modern times that an individual has the opportunity to take a public stance against such injustice. As a child studying history, I was often impressed by single individuals standing against overwhelming power, and I calculate that if one cannot have the courage to confront such overt injustice; then all is lost.
That’s exactly right Bob!!
And, TY to all of these very brave people who signed on to this document!!
Julian’s case in Sweden was dubious and it subsequently was legally proven to be a railroad job. And, the United Nations has called his incarceration a sham to such extent, that he even deserves reparations for the time of his incarceration. So, I was looking for representatives from the NY Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian who may have also signed on to this document. It would only seem natural to me in this obvious circumstance that if they had any dignity and integrity for the citizens of the world, along with their obligation to the integrity of their industry, then they would understand that they hold a major stake in speaking out for all of our Rights To Free Speech. (.. and not just their own when it suits themselves..) Did I somehow miss their names in the 27 names that are listed on this document?
.. Or should I deduce that their failure to speak is because: “Truth Isn’t Speech — Money Is..”
I also sincerely hope that Julian and his family are all doing OK (..health wise, etc..) . They all have suffered the for far too long for his simply reporting the crimes and corruption in governments that have repeatedly and annually failed to listen to their own citizens. ( i.e.: the citizens have consistently voted for peace..)
In Occupied France during WWII, the common expression was “.. Give Me Your Watch, And I Will Tell You The Time..” .. And especially for this year with this being the Centennial Of The Armistice, maybe we should be marching on the NY Times, WaPo, and the Guardian, along with FOX, CNN, etc., not just for the necessity of peace – but also for the obligation and necessity of truth to the public.
..Correction in my quick typing, I meant to say perennially, and not annually.
Great post!
We should indeed be marching on the corporate media outlets. We should also be calling for a massive boycott of their publications and broadcasts. Non-cooperation with the imperial machine is the best way to shut it down.
Thanks to all of you. Very special…
For the readers on this site, I’ve been reading and recommending this very important book which goes a long way toward explaining our predicament…
http://www.greanvillepost.com/2018/03/29/the-rape-of-russia-the-cias-yeltsin-coup-detat/
I am happy to read this list of names, that includes a few journalists and former insiders who strive to hold the powers-that-be accountable. This is a clear and glaring sign, a brief opening to the all-seeing Eye. Too bad such a courageous people, who have fought giants to preserve themselves and their culture, has given-in to what can only be imagined as vicious pressure. But, really how can it be otherwise in this time we’re in? Who will witness this naked display that says, as loudly as any braying ass, we will silence any and all who stand against us? And how many will see it this way, once the flickers of lies morph fully to flames? And what will remain when this brief opportunity, too, passes?
Radioactive dust will remain for a very long time……
Assange’s case recently went to court in Britain and was essentially about the petty business of bail violations. His arrest warrant has long since had no moral validity because he is no longer wanted by Sweden. Any reasonable judge would accept this but the judge in this case didn’t. She reserved judgement for a few days and came back squarely on the side of the British and American deep state. The question is; was she got at and who got at her and why did she capitulate?
john wilson – and the case had no “legal” validity as the charges were trumped up in the first place. All the women, who both had consensual sex with Julian Assange, wanted assurance of was that he didn’t have AIDS. They were never claiming he raped them. This judge should have dismissed the case as Assange was wrongly charged in the first place, but, as you stated, she was probably gotten to. I hope when all is said and done that the very people who have been instrumental in holding him there are put in jail for the rest of their wicked lives.
Are there no retired British lawyers who would help Assange? Surely there must be someone. I know there must be some law on the books that would release him.
Probably she wasn’t “got at” at all. Being part of the establishment she was well aware that Assange is public enemy #3 (after Trump and Putin) and knew that granting him his freedom would make her a pariah among her peers and likely end her career in the public service.
Do you really think the intelligence agencies have to regularly send around goons to “instruct” and threaten public employees to do their bidding? Every workplace has rules, both the written and unwritten variety. Work at a place for any length of time and the unwritten rules reveal themselves. A very basic example: picture the newsroom at any major media outlet in North America or Europe. Do you expect to see posters on the wall telling the staff to always present Israel in a good light? Does management send memos around telling journalists how to slant their reporting? No, off course not. If they work there they know exactly what the editorial line is and if they want to continue working there they don’t rock the boat.
It’s disheartening to see so many people concocting in their minds cloak and dagger skullduggery and explicit conspiracies to explain almost every event or situation involving the state and its departments or ministries. This is intellectual laziness, sorry there is no other way to say it. Outright strong-arming folks and explicitly telling them to follow dodgy or illegal procedures is the last thing deep state operatives would do as it would implicate them and their handlers. Not a good strategy.
It is more likely that honest people with principles and a strong moral compass and personal code of ethics are weeded out in the hiring and promotion process. The people who reach levels where they might be expected to do the deep state’s bidding were promoted into those posts for a reason. They know what the rules are and what is expected of them and they have no pangs of conscience or doubts about the legality of the duties they perform.
No system is perfect of course, hence whistleblowers, leakers and others who expose the corrupt nature of the establishment in its desperate bid to undermine and destroy people and groups it considers threats. But I suspect a significant majority of judges, agents etc. toe the line and do what is expected of them. No threats, coercion or blackmail required.
True in most cases. Most human communication on policy decisions which is not strictly rational or legitimately motivated could be called conspiracy, so it is not far from any improper act of government. So the theories are not necessarily “intellectual laziness.” In this case, certainly there is US conspiracy to pressure Ecuador and UK, as it has pressured all other countries since WWII to go along with its secret wars and agendas. Doubtless dozens are involved, with bribery and threats.
All judges have a back channel of influence known to law firms. Mr. Wilson notes that the judge deferred judgment on minor issues, and returned on the side of secret policy decisions contrary to the apparent public interest. Sounds like secret government work to me, through the back channel to the judge. But of course many judges need no influence to keep them on the wrong track, as you very properly note.
Known Unknown – I don’t think anybody is talking about “cloak and dagger skullduggery”, I don’t think anyone meant the judge was taken down a dark corridor and a knife was held to her throat. But as Anon said, she did defer judgment, and it is quite probable that she did confer with others on the matter, just to make sure that her Reasons for Judgment are headed in the right direction.
But I do agree with this comment you made:
“It is more likely that honest people with principles and a strong moral compass and personal code of ethics are weeded out in the hiring and promotion process. The people who reach levels where they might be expected to do the deep state’s bidding were promoted into those posts for a reason. They know what the rules are and what is expected of them and they have no pangs of conscience or doubts about the legality of the duties they perform.”
The compliant stooges you refer to are aware of the strong arm tactics they could face if they dissent from what the authorities expect from them. Even the Mafia prefers to rely on threats; but the iron fist in the velvet glove is used often enough to make the threats effective. Everyone knows what happens to one who openly defies authority, and that fear in the background of their minds determines their compliant behavior. Assange is one of the instructive examples used to silence other prospective whistle blowers. What is happening to him could happen to you is the implicit message.
Spot on could not of said it better
You said it! This is the world in which we live. Psycological blackmail is hard to prove. Though Debbie Wasserman Schultze’s spy ring in Congress was probable pretty effective.
Nearly all judges disregard the law in nearly all decisions, seeking no more than excuses for their prejudices.
Those who become judges are tribalists: Jewish, Italian, and female judges never judge against one of their kind.
They are rabid partisans: Repubs never judge against the rich, government, officials, or business vs. persons.
Female judges rely only upon the gossip of other females, so they are surrounded with partisan gossips.
They all seek only money, follow and obey the money, respect only money, and do what the money says.
Where there is no valuing or standard of truth or justice, there is no truth or justice.
Thanks be to Gold! for oligarchy control of mass media, and its great gift, the modern cult of corruption.
The sacred values of the West – ignorance, selfishness, hypocrisy, and malice – lead to its exceptional virtues: lying, cheating, stealing, bullying, harassment, and vandalism. Glory be to Gold!
Excellent comments! Right on Anon.
Intense pressure needs to be put on the British government. They have absolutely no reason to hold Julian Assange hostage. I don’t understand why the entire population of Britain is not marching on Parliament and insisting on his release. What has happened to the British people?
It’s not just Britain. It’s the world. 99% of the 99% is ruined. Members of the 98% are like the plugged in ones in The Matrix. They will actually turn on you if you confront them with freedom and the need to fight for it. An army of 1% of the 99% means that global fascism will not fail – until God steps in. If you prefer to leave him out of the picture, then fine. Then what you’re left with, if that was reality, is curtains for humankind.
I imagine that the people of the UK see the US as a bullying big brother who may be useful in some future crisis, who must not be provoked. No doubt their mass media hint at reasons for compliance if they see a profit therein, as in trade relations. Likely many would protest if the people of the US did so.
Just as the Novichok poisoning story was based on a recent episode of Strike Back, perhaps this is the stage setting for the scenario to follow the latest episode of Taken: Season 2, Episode 9 Verum Nocet
First Aired: March 30, 2018
Hart must find a way to stop an exiled former journalist from leaking the names of government assets abroad before innocent lives are taken.
The “former” journalist referred to in the episode is the “Assange” character, who is vilified for having leaked names of operatives who were subsequently killed. This has not happened in the “real world” but the narrative on TV is the one the proles are meant to believe and support, so when the extraction occurs – probably in the near future – the narrative in the MSM will coincide with the narrative from the TV series. Just like those nasty Russkies who were responsible for the Novichok in Strike Back.
Wait until the film with the walrus mustachioed hero who saves America by winning a nuclear war arrives. Then you’ll know what the next plan looks like.
I only have Netflix and it seems every show they produce slips in some form of propaganda, sometimes completely out of sequence to the show. I’ve heard that those actually pulling the strings feel that their crimes are forgiven if they tell their victims what they are going to do in advance.
It’s called “Predictive Programming”. A later occurrence in real life of any
fictional situation will then be responded to as to the original fictional
event.
I fully support the aims of this petition. Considering the political and humanitarian implications of Assange’s detention it is odd that only 27 signatures were gathered. I can think of a few noteworthy individuals who have expressed support for Assange but whose signatures do not appear on the document. Was this an oversight or is there another reason?
Agreed. It’s odd and disappointing. Then again, The Liberal class has died. The Left that it was a part of is still dying and the Left left of that is fast disappearing as betrayal ramps up. Has anyone seen what happened to Sibel Edmonds? Scary.
I just found this: “Silencing of Assange Sparks Historic Ten-Hour Online Vigil To #ReconnectJulian”:
https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/03/special-report-silencing-of-assange-sparks-historic-ten-hour-online-vigil-to-reconnect-julian/
The above petition, happily, doesn’t represent the sum total of protest by those with platforms.
“Today, under extreme pressure from Washington and its collaborators, another government in Ecuador justifies its gagging of Assange …”
While the U.S., U.K., & friends are certainly willing and able to apply “extreme pressure” when necessary, the administration of Ecuadorean president Lenin Moreno may not have been so hard to convince. Despite being elected from the same party as his predecessor Rafael Correa, Moreno has been showing himself to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing on many issues beyond Assange’s status, betraying his democratic mandate in favor of obedience to Washington’s wishes.
Where is Sean Penn, Eddie Vedder, Javier Bardem, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo..WTF. Never will I believe that these actors have anything to offer OUTSIDE a soundstage. If John Lennon were alive, he would call them all PUS@&’s.
I’m really disappointed in Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Edward Snowden, Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman.
None of the journos who work for Nazi-enabler Pierre Omidyar can disappoint me. They’d have to have integrity first. Amy Goodman, who pushes the White Helmets are heroes bullcarp, can’t disappoint me. She’d have to have integrity for that. I don’t like Naomi Klein (who blames ‘everything’ on God and the Christian Bible), but I am not prepared to say that she lacks integrity.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/europe/ecuador-julian-assange/index.html
What past stories of Julian Assange are you thinking of? The made up ones on the msm? Do tell Mr. Smith?
Zachary Smith – your slip is showing.
The CNN article suggests that Assange “failed to commit to” a written agreement, but not that he violated such an agreement. It may not be unreasonable of Ecuador to ask that he not attribute to himself statements seriously affecting Ecuador’s foreign relations without their approval, while under their diplomatic cover Such statements could be made via other Wikileaks staff or volunteers perhaps with vague references to a board of directors..
CNN?! Really?! Please go to @wikileaks on twitter and you can see the tweet regarding the claim of an (non-existent) “agreement”. The claim that this “agreement” exists is false. No such “agreement/contract/promise, etc.” exists. Ask for copy of said “agreement” to be please be published. It won’t be because there isn’t one Thank you.
I’d assume this is a temporary measure to allow things to cool down a bit. As for the rest:
A deal is a deal is a deal. Given past stories of Assange’s behavior, I’m going to assume he broke the written agreement.
The British are the villains in this story, and from all accounts I’ve been able to read, the UK government has turned stark raving mad. Blaming Ecuador merely diverts attention from the real ***holes in this story.
That’s a good point. The petition ought to have called out the UK government’s leading role in Assange’s cruel detention. Encouraging Equador’s government to do more is all well and good, but Equador is a small, poor and vulnerable country in an area where the United States has a long and sordid history of strong-arming and brutalizing ‘dissident’ states so dumping all the blame on Equador’s doorstep is a bit shortsighted.
Look what is happening to Russia (a nuclear power) regarding imaginary “election tampering”. If Ecuador hadn’t acted in 2016 when it cut Assange off the internet the first time, it might have been hammered with similar “sanctions” as Russia. Or worse. When the communication connections were finally reestablished, it seems reasonable to me to assume recent reports are correct about an agreement for Assange to behave in the future.
Ecuador’s problem is that it is involuntarily playing the role of Prison Guard. The corrupt and filthy Brits are complicit in what amounts to solitary confinement and torture of Assange. Assange’s mental stability is going to suffer on account of his mistreatment. Imagine Assange’s situation if Ecuador hadn’t intervened. No nation is perfect, but in this case Ecuador is wearing the White Hat. The protesters ought to be paying LOTS more attention to the Black Hats.
Mr.Smith: There was no written agreement, there was no deal (written agreement). That is according to Wikileaks, who have never lied to us regarding anything on their site.
Can you give us a link that confirms what you are saying? I do not find it on the WikiLeaks site.
How about you provide the written agreement.
WikiLeaks
Verified account
@wikileaks
Follow @wikileaks
Claims made by Ecuador’s public affairs office that @wikileaks editor @julianassange is under an obligation to not report or comment on human rights violations or political arrests, or that such reportage is interferring in the internal affairs of a state, are false.
9:44 AM – 2 Apr 2018
This has all the hallmarks of a “deep state” operation as new information about the relationship between Wikileaks and Cambridge Analytica is about to be exposed. Unlike his predecessor Correa, who had more popular support, Moreno can be blackmailed.
Had you heard of Cambridge Analytica before they approached you?
“No. Many people and organisations are always trying to contact WikiLeaks, and we are also trying to contact many of them, as all serious media organisations do. What we don’t do, unless there is a journalistic partnership, is tell people about our upcoming publications. Cambridge Analytica is not a journalistic outlet, that’s why we rejected their contact”.
So that was the first contact for you.
“Yes. There is an organization that is much more significant than Cambridge Analytica, which is the SCL Group, of which Cambridge Analytica is part. The SCL Group does a lot of work for the UK military and intelligence sector and has been involved in numerous elections over the last 20 years, they brag in 60 countries. It is partly government, partly commercial work. There is still an important question to be resolved, which is how much of the SCL Group’s activities in other countries’ elections are on behalf of the UK state, or otherwise subsidized in some way by the UK state, and how many are simply field service operations for political parties in those states”.
If you aren’t allowed to testify before the UK Parliament’s Committee, will you go public with the documents?
“We’ll see. Having been unlawfully detained by the United Kingdom in violation of two UN rulings for nearly eight years, I am in significant conflict with the UK state and the broader establishment which runs the state.”
– Julian Assange (27 March 2018)
In-depth interview with Assange by Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi for la Repubblica
http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2018/03/27/news/julian_assange-192387103/
Thanks for the link, Abe.
It seems that the recent US accusations against Russia have lit off a firestorm of obvious and uniquely bold actions by the formerly reserved and unattached British government which were obviously not so reserved and unattached. The Brits seem to have been emboldened and they have shown their hand. They feel comfortable in allowing the sympathetic US influenced press to launch new attacks on Russia searching Russian airplanes and accusing Russia of gassing citizens. They seem eager to try to find every excuse to blame Russians for the recent events.
Perhaps they feel like they are on the verge of reestablishing their former global hegemonic empire and have designs on controlling the global response to the new terror threat Russia.
The Brits had their way with the New World Colonies in North America. They reaped bounties and controlled the colonies with an Iron Fist. They spread across the oceans and formed an empire on the entire world in which the sun never set upon the English Empire.
Not sure if I would trust these folks to engage in the pursuit of justice. Hundreds of years of Hegemony have revealed their other ambitions to rule the World.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48862.htm
The history of The East India Company should enlighten those who see Britain as a peaceful Monarchy casually covered in the western press in love and admiration for it’s cute young monarchists.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/east-india-company-original-corporate-raiders
“All of these players, these politicians are nothing more than puppets, they don’t serve the people there is no real democracy, they serve the rich and powerful who run the world and that would be the bankers who control the money supply. The bankers make huge amounts of money….wars are great for them and ultimately they control the politicians.
Psychopaths are running the world.” – Ken O’Keefe
That was a fantastic link story, and since the book was supposedly to be published in 2016 I made a frantic search for it. Turns out the author is still working on it.
Thanks for the tip!
And Cambridge Analytica has bragged that it also invented the non-existing “deep state” exclusively for election-propaganda purposes. Judging from Chumpsky’s comment that invention is still very successful. “Deep State” is a fantasmorgy.
Would your prefer Military Industrial Complex.
Thanks, Abe!
Good to be able to read our brilliant analyst – and now political prisoner – Assange.
e.g.=
“Do you think you will ever travel the world again as a free man?
ASSANGE:
“It’s a matter of culture and politics, in a sense it’s up to public opinion. At a certain level of conflict, all rules and standards break down. You see that in case of the conflict in Iraq, for example, but it is also true for very high-profile legal cases, where there is state interest. That is true for me as well. What should be a legal process has turned into a political process, so that’s why it’s up to public opinion, because my arbitrary detention is a political matter”.
yes, indeed, Julian –
“At a certain level of conflict, all rules and standards break down.”
with this sentence, Assange deconstructs what’s going on in this country too – we have a justice system that includes, IMO, the Nuremberg conventions – and in spite of that we committed Abu Graib and Guantanamo.
Not to mention the unequal application of the rule of law depending on ones financial circumstances unless the ACLU or some other dogooder manages to intercede to provide the application of those rules.
As Julian says even good laws will not protect against powerful political forces which seem to find a way to exert their influence…..
It seems likely that the US/UK either
1. installed the jammer outside the embassy; or
2. are doing the jamming at the nearby cell towers and disguising this with a story about a jammer.
If so, US/UK are blaming Ecuador in hope of causing a rift between Ecuador and Assange or his supporters. Ecuador is certainly under threat from the US, and perhaps pretending to cooperate with the US. So it is best to pursue the US/UK for these violations.
Alternate internet access means: (1) An RF or IR beam between dishes to a nearby building, or modulated laser; (2) Small satellite dishes to existing services; (3) diplomatic channels if simply trying to appear cooperative with the US; (4) A courier between the embassy and an access point.
Yes, people are allowed to see him. They could deliver him a kit of electronics that plugs into his laptop. There are wifi dongles with directional antennas, IR, and laser modems, etc. All it takes is money. The embassy is in the heart of London, so jamming ALL nearby wifi access points (there are buckets of them in London) would be against the law. Jamming hspda/3G/4g equally illegal. It should be as easy as pointing a wifi directional antenna or (3/4g antenna) at a window (and having a login).
It’s nearly impossible to affect only one device with a jammer, unless he’s carrying it around on his back, and also nearly impossible to control its footprint.
Hope you’re correct and communication gets restored.
We all need the power of the pen…
and I don’t like censorship.
Why are these powerful people so afraid of the leaks?
Are they just trying to keep wrong-doing hidden?
I mean our “leaders” are supposed to serve the people who put them into office and pay their salaries.
They are not given license to do things in our name that they fear disclosing because if we learned about it we would NOT feel well served…..
Just saying….