Poll_Blind
Poll_Blind's JournalGuardian: We are Women Against Rape but we do not want Julian Assange extradited
The European women's rights organization, Women Against Rape, has released another statement today regarding the British government's actions in the case of Julian Assange.
I've excerpted four paragraphs but the entire statement is worth reading at the link below.
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]We are Women Against Rape but we do not want Julian Assange extradited[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Whether or not Assange is guilty of sexual violence, we do not believe that is why he is being pursued. Once again women's fury and frustration at the prevalence of rape and other violence, is being used by politicians to advance their own purposes. The authorities care so little about violence against women that they manipulate rape allegations at will, usually to increase their powers, this time to facilitate Assange's extradition or even rendition to the US. That the US has not presented a demand for his extradition at this stage is no guarantee that they won't do so once he is in Sweden, and that he will not be tortured as Bradley Manning and many others, women and men, have. Women Against Rape cannot ignore this threat.
In over 30 years working with thousands of rape victims who are seeking asylum from rape and other forms of torture, we have met nothing but obstruction from British governments. Time after time, they have accused women of lying and deported them with no concern for their safety. We are currently working with three women who were raped again after having been deported – one of them is now destitute, struggling to survive with the child she conceived from the rape; the other managed to return to Britain and won the right to stay, and one of them won compensation.
Assange has made it clear for months that he is available for questioning by the Swedish authorities, in Britain or via Skype. Why are they refusing this essential step to their investigation? What are they afraid of?
In 1998 Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London following an extradition request from Spain. His responsibility for the murder and disappearance of at least 3,000 people, and the torture of 30,000 people, including the rape and sexual abuse of more than 3,000 women often with the use of dogs, was never in doubt. Despite a lengthy legal action and a daily picket outside parliament called by Chilean refugees, including women who had been tortured under Pinochet, the British government reneged on its obligation to Spain's criminal justice system and Pinochet was allowed to return to Chile. Assange has not even been charged; yet the determination to have him extradited is much greater than ever it was with Pinochet. (Baltasar Garzón, whose request for extradition of Pinochet was denied, is representing Assange.) And there is a history of Sweden (and Britain) rendering asylum seekers at risk of torture at the behest of the US.
Related:
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Ecuador president says UK has no right to lecture over Assange… after its failure to extradite Pinochet a decade ago[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Britain says it is determined to fulfill a legal obligation to send Assange to Sweden.
But Correa said London had made its own rules in the past - specifically, by not extraditing Pinochet, who was charged with multiple human rights violations.
'Pinochet was not extradited for humanitarian reasons, when there were dozens of Europeans and thousands of Latin Americans who were murdered, and tens of thousands of people were tortured during the Pinochet dictatorship,' he told reporters in the country's capital Quito. Pinochet was arrested by British police at a hospital in London in 1998 after Spain demanded his extradition for alleged torture and murder, including of Spanish citizens, during his 1973-1990 rule.
The British government decided in 2000 that the frail Pinochet was unfit to stand trial and free to fly home. He died six years later in Santiago, Chile, aged 91.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192566/Ecuador-president-says-UK-right-lecture-Julian-Assange.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
PB
Bullied NY woman sets up anti-bullying foundation
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Bullied NY woman sets up anti-bullying foundation[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]GREECE, N.Y. — The former upstate New York school bus monitor whose videotaped bullying by students spurred more than $700,000 in donations to her is using some of the funds to start her own anti-bullying foundation.
Very short article, so I only excerpted the opening paragraph. Click the link to read more!
The world is full of fabulously unexpected turns of fate, my friends: An elderly schoolbus monitor is cruelly berated and the taunts, some of them so cruel as to involve her son who committed suicide, are captured on film. Thousands, then millions watch her bear the abuse until she breaks down in tears. And every person watching remembers the tears they had to wipe away when the bullies came for them.
In a whole 'nother part of the country, one man sees the video and is driven to do something- but what? In this new age of crowdsourcing and kickstarter, he sets up an account where people can send the woman donations. Hundreds, then thousands, then hundreds of thousands, then almost a million dollars of donations flood in from all over the country and the world. The woman turns around and takes some of that money to help fund a foundation to stop bullying.
You might think the story ends there but, of course, it's now the prologue to something greater.
And all of this...distilled from the cruel taunts of schoolchildren!
The modern parable here extends passed the elements of the story: It's about never underestimating the power that you, alone, have to change the world with a single decent act, a defense of an innocent, a goodness shared. None of us know the real impact of our kindness and compassion. We might think them little things, insignificant against the bigger evils of the world.
But it goes the other way, too: Collectively, the little acts of kindness and compassion you and I commit today can and do ripple out, harmonize, and help make our world a better place.
We should all remember that.
PB
Transnistria: The story of arms dealing from a country which does not exist.
Ever hear of "Transnistria"? No? Neither did I, until I watched this very unusual documentary. Transnistria is a very small country between Moldova and the Ukraine which has come under fire for arms dealing, including radiological (dirty) weapons. This documentary goes into Transnistria, explores the strange North Korean-like atmosphere of the country and just when you think you have a good idea where the doc is going, it takes an entirely different turn, switching gears to closely follows another reporter (not associated with the documentary crew) who also infiltrates Transnistria's strange, secretive society in order to purchase a radiological missile while pretending to be a buyer for a terrorist organization.
The beginning is interesting, the middle lags a bit but once they hookup with the second reporter the groundwork has been laid for an extremely disturbing expose into the world of arms dealing at the feet of the Russian army.
WARNING: There is one scene which I found shocking and out of place. It takes place at the one minute and ten second mark of Part 1, runs for two seconds, and shows a child soldier shooting a man on the ground. There is no other graphic material in the documentary that I noticed.
PB
"What if we had a WikiLeaks in August of 1964, when we were told the North Vietnamese fired on...
...on a U.S. ship? Which in fact was a lie. It was a concocted lie at the Pentagon. And we didn't find out about that until Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers some 6-7 years later. But what if there had been a WikiLeaks? What if someone could have gotten that information out? Told the American people at the beginning of the Vietnam War: 'My fellow Americans, you're being lied to. This was all made up."
"I think anybody who supports WikiLeaks is commiting an act of patriotism. Because it guarantees, I think, I hope, that we have a better shot the next time the bad guys try to pull one off on us."
These quotes from an excellent Keith Olbermann interview of Michael Moore. With all the slime and smearing going on, it's important to remember that if we do not have access to the truth, we will be misled by those in power.
PB
REUTERS: Assange berates United States from Ecuador embassy balcony
[center]
Credit: Reuters/Olivia Harris[/center]
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Assange berates United States from Ecuador embassy balcony[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"](Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange berated the United States on Sunday from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy where he has sought refuge from arrest, challenging President Barack Obama to end what he called a witch-hunt against his whistle-blowing website.
Speaking from within the London mission to avoid being detained by British police who want to extradite him to Sweden for questioning over rape allegations, Assange said the United States was fighting a war against outlets like WikiLeaks.
"As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all of our societies," Assange said, dressed in a maroon tie and blue shirt, flanked by the yellow, blue and red Ecuadorean flag with dozens of British policemen lined up on the pavement below.
"I ask President Obama to do the right thing: the United States much renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks," Assange said in a 10-minute speech which he ended with two thumbs up to the world's media.
More at the link! With the Obama administration's war on whistleblowers, Assange and Wikileaks are the a chilling reminder of how far "the freest nation on earth" will go to control the press. This open letter to The Guardian newspaper, entitled Rescind President Obama's 'Transparency Award' now, drafted by FBI whistleblowers Sibel Edmonds, Coleen Rowley and co-signed by (among others) Daniel Ellsberg, describes in detail this administration's attacks on transparency and journalistic freedom.
Obama will not change on his own, he must be pressured by his constituents in order to counterbalance the pressure on him from the MIC. It's that simple.
PB
3 reasons Obama and Romney aren't talking about Afghanistan (+2 Mr. Fish cartoons)
The Week:3 reasons Obama and Romney aren't talking about Afghanistan
PB
Well-Rounded: Sun Stays Nearly Spherical, Even When It Freaks Out
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Well-Rounded: Sun Stays Nearly Spherical, Even When It Freaks Out[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]The 11-year solar cycle swoops between peaks of intense magnetic activity—apparent as sunspots, coronal loops and flares—and relative quiescence, when the sun's face is free of blemishes. New research shows that despite this tumult, the sun remains remarkably constant in its globular shape—findings that have left researchers scratching their heads.
Earth's closest star is one of the roundest objects humans have measured. If you shrank the sun down to beach ball size, the difference between its north-south and the east-west diameters would be thinner than the width of a human hair, says Jeffery Kuhn, a physicist and solar researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "Not only is it very round, but it's too round," he adds. The sun is more spherical and more invariable than theories predict.
Not the world's longest article so I only excerpted two paragraphs. Short, but I though it was interesting.
I fear the shit out of the Sun. I don't trust the Sun. The fucker is one giant continuous pile of nuclear explosions. That always struck me as being flakier than a volunteer at a hemp festival. News such as the article provides is somewhat comforting for my condition.
PB
Megaupload case: New Zealand court wants FBI evidence
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Megaupload case: New Zealand court wants FBI evidence[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]US authorities must show evidence of internet piracy before Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom is extradited, a New Zealand court has ruled.
Justice Helen Winklemann said that the defence team needed access to the evidence ahead of the extradition hearing, due in March.
Mr Dotcom denies FBI claims he copied and distributed music, films and other content on a huge scale.
Following his arrest in January the case has been beset by delays. In June a judge ruled that the warrant for the initial raid on his mansion and the way evidence was seized were illegal.
Any kind of delays in the extradition of Dotcom work against the US government's already tenuous case.
I wrote about this previously:
Kim Dotcom Goes on Mega-Offense Against U.S. Copyright Case
PB
US, UK Betray Basic Values To Get Assange At Any Cost
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]US, UK Betray Basic Values To Get Assange At Any Cost[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]While I've covered numerous aspects of Wikileaks, I've shied almost entirely away from the arrest of Julian Assange and the extradition fight to have him sent to Sweden, as well as the questions involving asylum in Ecuador. For the most part, I considered those things to be outside the scope of what's normally interesting around here. Whether or not you think the claims of what he did in Sweden were legitimate or trumped up, it was wholly separate from what he did with Wikileaks. That said, with the news today that Ecuador has, in fact, granted asylum to Assange, there are a few tidbits that have made the story extra interesting.
First up, is the absolutely astounding and shocking news -- as released to the public by the Ecuadorian embassy -- that the UK literally threatened to enter the embassy in order to get Assange and ship him to Sweden:
If you don't follow diplomatic and embassy issues, this might not seem like a big deal, but it's huge. While it's mostly a myth that embassies are considered the sovereign territory of the countries they represent, under the Vienna Convention, the UK has agreed that such premises "shall be inviolable" and that its agents "may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission." The UK's very direct threat here s that it would ignore that international agreement just to get Assange. That the UK would be willing to take such an incredibly drastic step to extradite Assange seems completely disconnected from the nature of the accusations against him. It would also put UK diplomats at risk around the globe, as other countries would note that it did not respect the Vienna Convention, so why should they?
Well worth clicking on the link to read the full article! The article goes into the enormous pressure the US is putting on the UK behind-the-scenes in order to get Assange into a position where they can take custody of him. Leaked StratFor e-mails indicate that the U.S. has a sealed indictment against Assange, something Obama's DoJ refuses to confirm or deny. However, just today a former British ambassador confirmed that the Obama administration is putting immense pressure on the UK to get Assange for them, including his possible seizure from the Ecuadorean Embassy. Once he has been extradited to Sweden, the Swedish government could turn him over to the United States.
Julian Assange and the Ecuadorean government have both offered to allow questioning at the Ecuadorian embassy and Assange also indicated he would be willing to travel to Sweden to answer any questions as long as the Swedish government could assure him they would not extradite him to the United States for a completely unrelated matter to their investigation.
In telling responses, the Swedish government has flatly rejected both options.
The Europen women's organization Women Against Rape said it appeared the zeal with which Assange is being gone after appears more related to executing a political agenda than protecting women't safety.
PB
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