10 thoughts on “Saturday’s Papers

    1. f_lawless

      Get thee to an olde English dictionary! Thine use of “wherefore” bringeth much displeasure to mine eyes.

      1. Cú Chulainn

        ‘Tis grievous insult, yet, verily, Tis by brain freeze accident and not by design.. soothe thy lugs with gentle pentameter..

  1. Cú Chulainn

    And, unlike mere mortals who are nabbed with €10k+ of drugs and thrown in gaol, I see young Mr. Ballymaloo is getting yet one more chance to avoid a custodial. It makes a mockery of the justice system.

    1. Lilly

      I don’t think so Cu when you consider his age and that it’s a first offence. With a bit of luck, he’ll learn from his mistake and sort himself out.

  2. italia'90

    Why so much media silence?

    Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. He emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He is perhaps best remembered for his postwar words, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out…”

    Where are the true journalists I ask you?

    “I visited Julian Assange in Belmarsh. He’s counting the steps he walks in his solitary confinement cell & imagining that he is walking across Europe. Asks future visitors to tell him distances between towns on route so he can keep track. #longwalktofreedom #DontExtraditeAssange”
    — John Rees, Oct 29, 2019 (@JohnWRees)

    https://twitter.com/JohnWRees/status/1189230484812902401

    “THE FBI TRIED TO MAKE ICELAND A COMPLICIT ALLY IN FRAMING JULIAN ASSANGE

    “5 November 2019

    “Former Icelandic Interior Minister tells Independent Australia how he blocked U.S. interference in 2011 in order to defend WikiLeaks and its publisher Julian Assange. Sara Chessa reports.

    “A MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR wakes up one summer morning and finds out that a plane full of United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents has landed in his country, aiming to carry out police investigations without proper permission from the authorities.

    “How many statesmen would have the strength to say, ‘No, you can’t do this’, to the United States? Former Icelandic Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson, in fact, did this — and for the sake of investigative journalism. He understood that something wrong with the sudden FBI mission in Reykjavik, and that this had to do with the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks and its publisher Julian Assange. . . .

    “But this was not only about defending Iceland´s sovereignty. According to Mr Jónasson, during this process, he had been informed that the FBI showed up in Reykjavik with the aim of framing Julian Assange. . . .

    “Mr Jónasson says:

    “‘Kristinn Hrafnsson is highly respected in Iceland. But for WikiLeaks and whistleblowers in general, I think it will depend – as indeed anywhere – on the public, which in the end is the guardian of freedom, including the freedom of the press. You can have excellent laws and constitutions, and they are, for sure, needed, but it is almost non-relevant if society is asleep. You need people to speak up.’

    “This is for Mr Jónasson the main point also in Assange’s case:

    “‘WikiLeaks was bringing out the truth, revelaing crimes which should have been taken to court. This has been prevented. So the charges brought against the publisher are, in reality, charges against free speech and freedom of the press. The American police and secret services are trying to create an atmosphere of impunity, where they can do anything. Even when they landed here, they were showing contempt for democracy.

    “‘What they are doing to Assange is in opposition to the American Constitution and the principles of human rights, they claim they are protecting.’

    “He is not alone in his considerations, given what the UN Special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, said some months ago regarding Assange.

    “The former Icelandic Interior Minister is aware of this and quotes the statement by Melzer:

    “‘In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law … The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!’

    “‘These are heavy words,’ Mr Jónasson says. . . .

    “‘All this for carrying out investigative journalism.’

    “In 2016, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also stated Assange should walk free. However, he is in a London prison, waiting for the U.S. extradition hearing scheduled for February 2020. Meanwhile, the sexual misconduct allegations in Sweden (never turned into charges) are not involved with his current imprisonment.

    “When Mr Jónasson is asked who can do something to make governments align with the UN request, he again brings into play the people:

    “‘All depends on us. There is not such a thing as spectators. Everybody is taking a part — sitting quiet is taking part!’”

    The FBI tried to make Iceland a complicit ally in framing Julian Assange
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/the-fbi-tried-to-make-iceland-a-complicit-ally-in-framing-julian-assange,13277

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