Wikileaks - Julian Assange Discussion

31.10.2018 - CIA Coder jailed for 'Vault 7' leaks complains of 'Cruel and Unusual' Punishment
CIA Coder Jailed for 'Vault 7' Leaks Complains of 'Cruel and Unusual' Punishment

Joshua Adam Schulte, the 30-year-old former Central Intelligence Agency coder jailed in 2017 under the US Espionage Act for allegedly leaking 8,000 files to WikiLeaks, which were subsequently published under the auspices of 'Vault 7', claims he’s been made subject to solitary confinement under conditions amounting to "torture".

The revelations come in a letter to US Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York, who in December 2017 revoked Schulte's pretrial release and ordered him to be remanded without bail, a decision upheld March this year by an Appeals court.

"I am writing to you because I have been unable to contact my attorney, review my discovery, or even assist on my case in any capacity for the entire month of October. This is outrageous and clearly unconstitutional so I write to you for relief. On October 1 I was called down for a legal visit. When I arrived, I was told I was going to the ‘box' for an indeterminant amount of time while they investigated me for something they refused to tell me. So I was handcuffed in prison and led away in chairs to the notoriously inhumane torture chamber that is MCC's 9 South," Schulte said.

MCC (Metropolitan Correctional Center) staff are said to have subjected Schulte and other inmates in ‘9 South' — the prison segregation unit — to "cruel and unusual punishment". In particular, the accused former coder — who boasted a ‘top secret' clearance while at the CIA — complains of "shit-filled showers" which "leave [you] dirtier than when you entered", "flooding" of cages with "ice-cold water", being exposed to extreme cold "without blankets or long-sleeve shirts", "uncontrollable lights" that are "always on as we are sleep deprived". "No human being should ever have to experience this torture," he wrote.

Moreover, since being placed in the "torture chamber", Schulte has been refused access to his legal papers and his lawyers, preventing him from constructing a fresh bid for release prior to his eventual trial.

'Fellow Slaves'
"My day here consists of nothing but attempted meditation. My fellow slaves constantly scream, pound and claw at their cages attempting to get attention for basic needs fulfilled. I've witnessed men dragged from their cages and beaten and maced. An officer even uncuffed an inmate and told him to fight away from the cameras. Abuse runs rampant…I was strip searched and my cell was raided early in the morning on my birhday. Coincidence? Or birthday gift from the government? They will hold me in this hell forever while they do nothing. I am unconvicted. I am an American. I am a human being. How is it I should be subjected to this? Terrorists receive better treatment in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba-I have seen the footage myself," Schulte despairs.

In closing, the embattled coder asks Judge Crotty to order the Bureau of Prison "to give me back my legal work" and "access to the public defender phone to contact my lawyer during the day", as well as pens, papers, legal books, and access to medical support and blood pressure medication. He even goes so far as to argue the FBI "outright lied" in their search-warrant affidavits, and the Bureau is said to "now acknowledge roughly half" of these falsehoods.

The files Schulte is said to have disclosed to WikiLeaks were copied in 2016 from an internal Agency server, and documented a number of hacking tools used by CIA digital intrusion teams when conducting foreign surveillance. The US government still hasn't brought a case against Schulte over the leak though — and his lawyers have said dozens of staff had access to the server in question. In May, he was assigned a federal public defender after his private attorney dropped out, his family having spent most of their savings on legal fees.

However, in addition to espionage, hacking, and related crimes, Schulte's federal indictment also charges him with possession of child pornography, due to images FBI agents apparently found on his hard drive while investigating the WikiLeaks dump.

Schulte also faces charges in a sexual-assault case in Loudoun County, Virginia — the FBI claims to have found photos one of his phones, showing a woman "passed out on the floor" of his bathroom and being sexually assaulted. The unnamed woman has been referred to as Schulte's friend and former roommate, and he's charged with a felony count of object sexual penetration and a misdemeanor count of unlawful creation of an image of another.

The Virginia case was the pretext for the revocation of Schulte's bail. Prosecutors also said he violated his release conditions by accessing his email and anonymous internet network TOR.


October 29, 2018 - WikiLeaks' Assange says Ecuador seeking to end his asylum
WikiLeaks' Assange says Ecuador seeking to end his asylum | Reuters

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Monday that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum in its London embassy and hand him over to the United States, but a judge rejected his lawsuit over embassy living conditions.

Assange spoke from the embassy via teleconference at a hearing in Quito of a lawsuit challenging the Ecuadorean government requiring him to pay for medical bills, phone calls and clean up after his pet cat.

He took refuge in the embassy six years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden in a sexual assault case that was later dropped. He remains there to avoid being jailed by Great Britain for violating the terms of his bail, which he has said would result in his being handed over to Washington.

During the hearing, Assange said the new rules were a sign Ecuador was trying to push him out, and said Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had already decided to end his asylum but had not yet officially given the order.

“If Mr. Assange wants to stay and he follows the rules ... he can stay at the embassy as long as he wants,” said Attorney General Inigo Salvador, adding that Assange’s stay had cost the country $6 million.

Foreign Minister Jose Valencia declined to comment on Assange’s assertion that Ecuador sought to hand him over to the United States.

Judge Karina Martinez rejected the lawsuit, saying the Foreign Ministry was in charge of determining his living conditions.

Assange’s legal team said it immediately appealed the ruling.

Embassy staff had complained of Assange riding a skateboard in the halls, of playing soccer on the grounds and behaving aggressively with security personnel.

Ecuador’s government also objected to his making online commentary about sensitive political issues in other countries, including publishing opinions about the Catalonia separatist movement in Spain.

The new rules were meant to address these concerns, Salvador said.

The United Kingdom in August had assured Assange that he would not be extradited if he left the embassy, Salvador told reporters last week.

Valencia told Reuters last week that the government was “frustrated” by the lawsuit and that it would no longer intervene with British authorities on Assange’s behalf.

U.S. federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, have maintained a long-running grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks, which according to one source includes a probe into leaks of Central Intelligence Agency documents to the website.
 
November 16, 2018 - US prepares charges against WikiLeaks' Assange, Document shows
U.S. prepares charges against Wikileaks' Assange, document shows | Reuters

American prosecutors have obtained a sealed indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whose website published thousands of classified U.S. government documents, a U.S. federal court document showed on Thursday.

The document, which prosecutors say was filed by mistake, asks a judge to seal documents in a criminal case unrelated to Assange, and carries markings indicating it was originally filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia in August.

A source familiar with the matter said the document was initially sealed, but was unsealed this week for reasons that were unclear.

In a post on Twitter, Wikileaks said it was an “apparent cut-and-paste error.”

Reuters was unable to reach Assange for comment.

“The notion that federal criminal charges could be brought based on the publication of truthful information is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set,” Barry Pollack, his U.S.-based attorney, said in a statement.

U.S. officials had no comment on the disclosure in the document about a sealed indictment of Assange. It was not clear what charges he would face.

Officials in the United States have previously acknowledged that Virginia-based federal prosecutors have been conducting a lengthy criminal investigation into WikiLeaks and its founder.

Assange and his supporters have periodically said U.S. authorities had filed secret criminal charges against him, an assertion that some U.S. officials pushed back against until recently.

U.S. prosecutors are investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion by U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign. Both Trump and Moscow have denied any interference or collusion.

Wikileaks has faced scrutiny for publishing emails hacked from the Democratic Party and the campaign chairman for Trump’s rival candidate, Hillary Clinton, before the 2016 contest.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the material was obtained by Russia through hacking, and U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has charged a number of Russians and Trump associates as part of his investigation.

Mueller’s office is also questioning Trump ally Roger Stone and others in his circle over their ties to Wikileaks, according to lawyers and some of those in Stone’s orbit who have testified.

U.S. criminal charges against Assange would further put pressure on Britain to extradite the Australian national, who has been holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden in a separate sexual molestation case.

The document posted on Thursday was part of an unrelated criminal case involving a 29-year-old man charged with enticing a 15-year-old girl. In that case, the judge wrote in a detention memo that the defendant, Seitu Sulayman Kokayi, “has had a substantial interest in terrorist acts.”

Reuters was unable to trace contact details for Kokayi.

Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the prosecutors’ office that filed the document, told Reuters the court filing was an error.

Prosecutors sought to keep the charges confidential until after Assange’s arrest, the document shows, saying the move was essential to ensure he did not evade or avoid arrest and extradition.

Any procedure “short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant, and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged,” the document reads.

Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer advising Assange, said in an emailed statement it was “no surprise” that the United States was seeking to charge Assange and that Australian officials should allow Assange to return there.

Assange was initially welcomed at Ecuador’s embassy, but Ecuadorean authorities this year have begun to distance themselves. Last month, Ecuador said it would no longer intervene with Britain on his behalf.

In a statement on Friday, Wikileaks said Assange was willing to work with British officials as long he was not extradited to the United States.

The website gained prominence in 2010 after publishing a classified video showing a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. It has also released thousands of classified U.S. military documents, among other disclosures.

Mike Pompeo, now U.S. Secretary of State, called Wikileaks a “hostile intelligence service” during his tenure as Trump’ CIA chief.

Assange’s lawyers and others have said his work with Wikileaks was critical to a free press and was protected speech.

“Any prosecution ... would be unprecedented and unconstitutional and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations,” said Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Trump publicly praised Wikileaks over its disclosures during the 2016 campaign.
 
I doubt that Trump is behind this? On the other hand, I would question VP Pence's involvement and possible motives? Or, is it possible, the writer Eric Zuesse is "projecting" a false narrative?

November 16, 2018 - Trump Quietly Orders Elimination of Assange
Trump Quietly Orders Elimination of Assange | Washington's Blog

On June 28th, the Washington Examiner headlined “Pence pressed Ecuadorian president on country’s protection of Julian Assange” and reported that “Vice President Mike Pence discussed the asylum status of Julian Assange during a meeting with Ecuador’s leader on Thursday, following pressure from Senate Democrats who have voiced concerns over the country’s protection of the WikiLeaks founder.” Pence had been given this assignment by U.S. President Donald Trump. The following day, the Examiner bannered “Mike Pence raises Julian Assange case with Ecuadorean president, White House confirms” and reported that the White House had told the newspaper, “They agreed to remain in close coordination on potential next steps going forward.”

On August 24th, a court-filing by Kellen S. Dwyer, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Alexandria Division of the Eastern District of Virginia, stated: “Due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure [than sealing the case, hiding it from the public] is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged. … This motion and the proposed order would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.” That filing was discovered by Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. On November 15th, he posted an excerpt of it on Twitter, just hours after the Wall Street Journal had reported on the same day that the Justice Department was preparing to prosecute Assange. However, now that we know “the fact that Assange has been charged” and that the U.S. Government is simply waiting “until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter,” it is clear and public that the arrangements which were secretly made between Trump’s agent Pence and the current President of Ecuador are expected to deliver Assange into U.S. custody for criminal prosecution, if Assange doesn’t die at the Ecuadorean Embassy first.

On November 3rd (which, of course, preceded the disclosures on November 15th), Julian Assange’s mother, Christine Ann Hawkins, described in detail what has happened to her son since the time of Pence’s meeting with Ecuador’s President. She said:

“He is, right now, alone, sick, in pain, silenced in solitary confinement, cut off from all contact, and being tortured in the heart of London. … He has been detained nearly eight years, without trial, without charge. For the past six years, the UK Government has refused his requests to exit for basic health needs, … [even for] vitamin D. … As a result, his health has seriously deteriorated. … A slow and cruel assassination is taking place before our very eyes. … They will stop at nothing. … When U.S. Vice President Mike Pence recently visited Ecuador, a deal was done to hand Julian over to the U.S. He said that because the political cost of expelling Julian from the Embassy was too high, the plan was to break him down mentally… to such a point that he will break and be forced to leave. … The extradition warrant is held in secret, four prosecutors but no defense, and no judge, … without a prima-facie case. [Under the U.S. system, the result nonetheless can be] indefinite detention without trial. Julian could be held in Guantanamo Bay and tortured, sentenced to 45 years in a maximum security prison, or face the death penalty,” for “espionage,” in such secret proceedings.

Her phrase, “because the political cost of expelling Julian from the Embassy was too high” refers to the worry that this new President of Ecuador has, of his cooperating with the U.S. regime’s demands and thereby basically ceding sovereignty to those foreigners (the rulers of the U.S.), regarding the Ecuadorian citizen, Assange.

This conservative new President of Ecuador, who has replaced the progressive President who had granted Assange protection, is obviously doing all that he can to comply with U.S. President Trump and the U.S. Congress’s demand for Assange either to die soon inside the Embassy or else be transferred to the U.S. and basically just disappear, at Guantanamo or elsewhere. Ecuador’s President wants to do this in such a way that Ecuador’s voters won’t blame him for it, and that he’ll thus be able to be re-elected. This is the type of deal he apparently has reached with Trump’s agent, Pence. It’s all secret, but the evidence on this much of what was secretly agreed-to seems clear. There are likely other details of the agreement that cannot, as yet, be conclusively inferred from the subsequent events, but this much can.

Basically, Trump has arranged for Assange to be eliminated either by illness that’s imposed by his Ecuadorean agent, or else by Assange’s own suicide resulting from that “torture,” or else by America’s own criminal-justice system. If this elimination happens inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, then that would be optimal for America’s President and Congress; but, if it instead happens on U.S. soil, then that would be optimal for Ecuador’s President. Apparently, America’s President thinks that his subjects, the American people, will become sufficiently hostile toward Assange so that even if Assange disappears or is executed inside the United States, this President will be able to retain his supporters. Trump, of course, needs his supporters, but this is a gamble that he has now clearly taken. This much is clear, even though the rest of the secret agreement that was reached between Pence and Ecuador’s President is not.

Scooter Libby, who had arranged for the smearing of Valerie Plame who had tried to prevent the illegal and deceit-based 2003 invasion of Iraq, was sentenced to 30 months but never spent even a day in prison, and U.S. President Trump finally went so far as to grant him a complete pardon, on 13 April 2018. (The carefully researched docudrama “Fair Game” covered well the Plame-incident.) Libby had overseen the career-destruction of a courageous CIA agent, Plame, who had done the right thing and gotten fired for it; and Trump pardoned Libby, thus retroactively endorsing the lie-based invasion of Iraq in 2003. By contrast, Trump is determined to get Julian Assange killed or otherwise eliminated, and even Democrats in Congress are pushing for him to get that done. The new President of Ecuador is doing their bidding. Without pressure from the U.S. Government, Assange would already be a free man. Thus, either Assange will die (be murdered) soon inside the Embassy, or else he will disappear and be smeared in the press under U.S. control. And, of course, this is being done in such a way that no one will be prosecuted for the murder or false-imprisonment. Trump had promised to “clean the swamp,” but as soon as he was elected, he abandoned that pretense; and, as President, he has been bipartisan on that matter, to hide the crimes of the bipartisan U.S. Government, and he is remarkably similar in policy to his immediate predecessors, whom he had severely criticized while he was running for the Presidency.

In any event, the destruction of Assange has clearly been arranged for, at the highest levels of the U.S. Government, just as the destruction of Jamal Khashoggi was by Saudi Arabia’s Government; and, just like in Khashoggi’s case, the nation’s ruler controls the prosecutors and can therefore do whatever he chooses to do that the rest of the nation’s aristocracy consider to be acceptable.

The assault against truth isn’t only against Assange, but it is instead also closing down many of the best, most courageous, independent news sites, such as washingtonsblog. However, in Assange’s case, the penalty for having a firm commitment to truth has been especially excruciating and will almost certainly end in his premature death. This is simply the reality. Because of the system under which we live, a 100% commitment to truth is now a clear pathway to oblivion. Assange is experiencing this reality to the fullest. That’s what’s happening here.
 
angelburst29 said:
I doubt that Trump is behind this? On the other hand, I would question VP Pence's involvement and possible motives? Or, is it possible, the writer Eric Zuesse is "projecting" a false narrative?
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I hope Trump is not "behind this" but who knows. And as you say VP Pence's involvement and motives to me are not that difficult to question. I would not put it past him to be "all systems go" for hanging Assange out to dry.

angelburst29 said:
In any event, the destruction of Assange has clearly been arranged for, at the highest levels of the U.S. Government, just as the destruction of Jamal Khashoggi was by Saudi Arabia’s Government; and, just like in Khashoggi’s case, the nation’s ruler controls the prosecutors and can therefore do whatever he chooses to do that the rest of the nation’s aristocracy consider to be acceptable.

The assault against truth isn’t only against Assange, but it is instead also closing down many of the best, most courageous, independent news sites, such as washingtonsblog. However, in Assange’s case, the penalty for having a firm commitment to truth has been especially excruciating and will almost certainly end in his premature death. This is simply the reality. Because of the system under which we live, a 100% commitment to truth is now a clear pathway to oblivion. Assange is experiencing this reality to the fullest. That’s what’s happening here
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The above observations are sadly looking like the fate Julian Assange is facing.

I have been somewhat ambivalent in my feelings about Assange due to what the Cs said here:

Session12 December 2010:
Laura said:
Q: (L) Our next question is about Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Is Wikileaks what it presents itself to be? A grassroots, document leaking organization formed by a bunch of activist hackers and so forth?

A: It was briefly.

Q: (L) You say it was briefly; that means it was probably co-opted fairly early on. So, can you tell us if Julian Assange is an agent?

A: This is a question that you have already answered.

Q: (L) What I mean is, is he consciously an agent?

A: To some extent, yes. But remember programming of both the human and 4D varieties.

Q: (Perceval) Is it true that he had that meeting with the Israelis to agree that he would not release damaging documents about them?

A: Yes.

Q: (L) And what is the objective of this Sideshow?

A: You guessed it this afternoon; preparation to accept global control. Or so it is planned.
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Now that I see his fate drawing near I can't help but have feelings of disgust and sadness that the 4D STS are licking their chops to destroy him.

With all he has been through I couldn't blame him if he just wanted to check out. Also it wouldn't surprise me if they are not using HAARP-like weapons on him as well as conventional tactics.

Session 20 June 2009:
Laura said:
Q: (A**) So people are just disintegrating, and they're all hanging themselves. (Joe) Twenty four of them, all hung themselves. (A***) All under the age of thirty. (L) Well, you've got HAARP going, you've got microwave towers going, you've got cosmic waves going. (DD) I had a friend commit suicide in Tulsa last week.

A: Expect a lot more unstable behavior all over.
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The “Resistance” Struggles To Justify Support For Trump’s Prosecution Of Assange

Ever since suspicions were confirmed that the Trump administration is indeed working to prosecute and imprison WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing authentic documents, the so-called “Resistance” has been struggling to explain exactly why it is so enthusiastically supportive of that agenda. And when I say struggling, I am being very, very generous.

When news broke that a court document copy-paste error had inadvertently exposed the fact that the Trump administration is pursuing an agenda which experts of diverse political persuasions agree would have devastating effects on the freedom of the press, #Resistance pundit and DC think tank operative Neera Tanden responded by tweeting, “Never mess with karma”. As of this writing if you do a Twitter search for the words “Assange” and “karma” together, you will come up with countless Democratic Party loyalists using that concept to justify their support for a Trump administration assault on the press that is infinitely more dangerous than the president being mean to Jim Acosta.

The trouble with that of course is that “karma”, as far as observable reality is concerned, is not an actual thing. It’s a Hindu religious concept that is supported by no more factual evidence than the Roman Catholic claim that a priest literally turns bread and wine into the body and blood of a Nazarene carpenter who died thousands of years ago. A Democratic pundit using the concept of “karma” to justify enthusiastic support for Trump’s fascistic attack on press freedoms is exactly the same as a Republican pundit using “God wills it” to justify the existence of poverty, and it is just as intellectually honest.
But it’s also the best argument these people have got.

I mean, think about it. There’s really no other way you can justify supporting a Trump administration agenda–an administration you claim to oppose–in a prosecution with legal implications that are severely detrimental to the free press, which you claim to support. The only way to justify it is with some vague, abstract notion that Assange is just “getting what he deserves” since the 2016 WikiLeaks publications of Democratic Party likely contributed to Trump’s electoral victory over Hillary Clinton, and the only way to reify that vague, abstract notion is with an appeal to some imaginary metaphysical principle, i.e. karma.

But, again, that is not a thing. There is no invisible eight-armed deity floating around behind the scenes arbitrating and distributing the consequences of WikiLeaks drops, and there is no rational argument that the Trump administration prosecuting Assange is desirable because Assange “deserves” it. The fact of the matter is that these people are supporting Trump’s fascism in the most toxic ways possible, they are utterly incapable of defending that support with any intellectual honesty, and the self-proclaimed “Resistance” would be more aptly named “the Assistance”.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald described this phenomenon as follows:
But the grand irony is that many Democrats will side with the Trump DOJ over the Obama DOJ. Their emotional, personal contempt for Assange – due to their belief that he helped defeat Hillary Clinton: the gravest crime – easily outweighs any concerns about the threats posed to press freedoms by the Trump administration’s attempts to criminalize the publication of documents.

This reflects the broader irony of the Trump era for Democrats. While they claim out of one side of their mouth to find the Trump administration’s authoritarianism and press freedom attacks so repellent, they use the other side of their mouth to parrot the authoritarian mentality of Jeff Sessions and Mike Pompeo that anyone who published documents harmful to Hillary or which have been deemed “classified” by the U.S. Government ought to go to prison.

…It is this utterly craven and authoritarian mentality that is about to put Democrats of all sorts in bed with the most extremist and dangerous of the Trump faction as they unite to create precedents under which the publication of information – long held sacrosanct by anyone caring about press freedoms – can now be legally punished.​

And indeed this is exactly what has been happening. Check out the joyous celebrations in online comments sections from when the news broke that the Trump administration has brought sealed charges upon Assange (here, here, or here for example) for a taste of where the “blue wave” zeitgeist is at right now. Their hatred for Assange has overpowered not only their hatred for Trump, but the most important ways in which they are meant to be resisting him.

When you find yourself supporting conflicting principles, it’s a sure sign that you were never guided by principle to begin with.
And this is really the lesson we can take from all this. The noxious strain of American liberalism which promotes Russia conspiracy theories, supports the prosecution of government transparency advocates, and only attacks Trump as an idea rather than actually resisting his actual policies was never about any principle of any kind. There were preexisting agendas against Russia, alternative media, WikiLeaks, and government transparency long before Trump took office, and all of those agendas have been systematically advanced by the powerful using the “us vs them” herd mentality of the McResistance. These people aren’t supporting the prosecution of a leak publisher because of their ideological values, they are supporting it because that’s what powerful manipulators want them to do.

Trump’s despicable prosecution of Assange, and corporate liberalism’s full-throated support for it, has fully discredited all of mainstream US politics on both sides of the aisle. Nobody in that hot mess stands for anything. If you’re still looking to Trump or the Democrats to protect you from the rising tide of fascism, the time to make your exit is now.
 
Laura said:
Trump’s despicable prosecution of Assange, and corporate liberalism’s full-throated support for it, has fully discredited all of mainstream US politics on both sides of the aisle. Nobody in that hot mess stands for anything. If you’re still looking to Trump or the Democrats to protect you from the rising tide of fascism, the time to make your exit is now.
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If Trump hasn't seen the "writing on walls" of the oval office yet maybe it is time those giving him the benefit of the doubt to think about what those words might be saying such as:

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין‬

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN"

Daniel reads the words "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" and interprets them for the king: "MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed ... and found wanting;" and "PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made… that he should rank third in the kingdom; [and] that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean (Babylonian) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom."[4]
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I think implications of those words could apply to any of us, not just Trump, who "ignore reality right and left" (in an unbiblical sense that is).
 
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Laura said:
Trump’s despicable prosecution of Assange, and corporate liberalism’s full-throated support for it, has fully discredited all of mainstream US politics on both sides of the aisle. Nobody in that hot mess stands for anything. If you’re still looking to Trump or the Democrats to protect you from the rising tide of fascism, the time to make your exit is now.
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Trump was vetted by the PTB way before he became president.
Those who were not, got pushed aside by their parties, like Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders.

This is exactly why I feel that Trump was allowed to get past the primaries. If they didn't want him as a candidate, it would be simple to either pull a movement like what the DNC did to Sanders or put the focus on some stupid scandal.
Heck, even Howard Dean was dropped like a rock just by taking audio from one of his campaign speeches and making it sound "crazy" by modifying the volume of his scream.

I'm also a bit dissapointed with Assange though. He poo poohed 9-11 as nothing important at the time and promised huge revelations about the banking system. We didn't get much of that info. The 'Vault' was also a disappointment. I still feel that he is a 'limited hangout'. It's like Trump being a 'limited outsider'- you need to have someone out there with a voice that pretends to be representing the alternative groups that DO have legitimate questions/issues.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1066055644095102977
‘Last diplomat he knew’: Ecuador ousts London envoy, fuels rumors of Assange’s imminent eviction
Published time: 22 Nov, 2018 23:45
Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno has terminated the credentials of his UK ambassador, who has been at the center of negotiating the fate of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, as concerns mount over the whistleblower's safety.

The decree, with which Moreno effectively sacked Ecuador’s London ambassador Abad Ortiz, was published by WikiLeaks on Wednesday. The document does not offer any explanation as to why Ortiz, who had been his country’s ambassador to the UK since 2015, is now being permanently recalled. Nor does it name a successor for the outgoing diplomat. The decree is effective immediately.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1065682607109754881

WikiLeaks tweeted that Abad, appointed to the office under President Rafael Correa, was the last diplomat the long-term self-exiled editor knew in the embassy. “All diplomats known to Assange have now been transferred away from the embassy,” the whistleblowing site claimed.

READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief

This new and sudden twist in the Assange saga has been met with concern by his supporters, with some suggesting that Moreno is doing Washington's bidding by removing people who might have stood by Assange and opposed his potential handover to the British police – which is expected to bring about a swift extradition to the US. The dismissal has been called “a silent pro-US coup.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1065685409718358016

One user argued that sending off diplomats Assange might have bonded with and surrounding him with complete strangers is a form of “psychological torture.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1065704545333010434

Assange’s prolonged stay in Ecuador’s London embassy, where he has enjoyed protection from possible arrest and persecution in the US since 2012, has been hanging in the balance since the election of Moreno in 2017. Moreno, a former ally of Correa, has distanced himself from the anti-American policy of his predecessor and sought to reboot relations with the US. Ecuador is looking for US support in getting $3.9bn in international loans, and there have been reports that Washington's assistance would be conditional to Ecuador’s handling of the Assange case.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1065680248581357568

There have also been reports of intense negotiations between senior UK and Ecuadorian officials over the prospects of Assange's eviction. The Times reported in summer that the talks were held at Foreign Office level. While Moreno has described Assange as “more than a nuisance” and “an inherited problem,” he repeatedly stated that Ecuador would not withdraw its protection unless the whistleblower breaches a set of stringent rules, which restrict his freedom of expression and visitation rights.

The rules, which Assange described as violating his fundamental rights and freedoms, were laid out in August, demanding he stays away from discussing politics and pays for his own medical and other expenses. Late October, an Ecuadorian court rejected Assange’s appeal to revise the “protocol.”
 
November 10, 2018 - As CNN, Media Cry Over Acosta, Trump is Free to Prosecute Assange for Airing US War Crimes
https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/11...ee-to-prosecute-assange-for-airing-us-crimes/

If you’ve been following the travails of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange recently, you’ll know that moves are afoot by the US and Ecuadorian governments to try and draw a line under this eight year standoff. What’s essential to know about this situation is the very point which our bought-and-paid-for corrupt mainstream media industry are not telling us – that Assange is caught at a crossroads in the history, holding the line for real press freedom. Whichever way this story goes will be a defining moment for the concept of the Fourth Estate.

Rather disingenuously, US officials are repeatedly referring to WikiLeaks as “a non-state hostile intelligence service” (as if saying it enough times will make it real). Like most statements coming out of the mouth of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, this too is a bold-faced lie. US officials, along with their legion of constitutional lawyers, know very well that Wikileaks is in fact a publisher, which means the organization falls squarely under basic press freedom protections. What the corrupt wing of US Establishment and its syndicate partners are cynically attempting to do is to rewrite the law, effectively amputating a key provision of their own constitution. To allow such an affront to America’s founding principles to stand unchallenged will surely hasten the demise of the United States as a Constitutional Republic, and aid it steadily along the path of an embryonic fascist technocracy where any dissent or challenge to the authority of the state is no longer allowed, much less protected by prima facie law.

It’s beyond ironic that WikiLeaks’ former fan Donald Trump could now be weapons-free to prosecute Julian Assange for exposing among other things, US war crimes in Iraq. Naturally, the media are aloof to this development. Based on their own laissez-faire treatment of this important issue, it would appear that CNN and other apologists at the New York Times and the Washington Post, are more than happy to nudge America and Europe further down this dystopian path. Anyone with a hint of sobriety on this issue will have already noticed how the increasingly cozy ‘working relationship’ between media corporations and the state (and deep state) are indicative of the res publica embodied in the orthodox definition of fascism as corporatism as first illustrated at Mussolini’s concept of “corporativismo,” a syndicate of corporate monopolies facilitating the merger of state and corporate interests, each working in unison towards mutual corporate outcomes, and at the expense of the public interest. In this way, the US media are the real fascist enablers in today’s America.

Besides the obvious issue of the freedom of the press to publish, it all comes down to this fundamental question asked by US State Dept. whistleblower Peter Van Buren this past summer:

[A]t what point does the right of the people to know outweigh the right of the government to keep information from view? ​
There’s another important realpolitik point to consider here. It would appear that Julian Assange also holds key to the infamous DNC email scandal, which is a foundational pillar propping-up the Establishment’s disjointed #Russiagate narrative. Assange has openly stated that the DNC emails were in fact leaked and not ‘hacked by the Russians’ as the mainstream pundits dutifully repeat ad nauseam, hence, his testimony might help to prove that the DNC was not ‘hacked by the Russians and given to Assange’ as the US media incessantly repeat as an a priori assumption. For this reason, the vaunted Mueller investigation has purposefully not asked either Assange nor his associate Craig Murray who has made no secret of this, to speak or provide an affidavit regarding this important detail in the story. To do so would likely upend the entire two-year charade of the “Special Counsel” in search of that unicorn called Russian Collusion. More than that, it could effectively delegitimize and collapse a large section of the US political and media power structure, although this seems to already be happening as their house of cards continues to fold under the cumulative weight of decades of lies and malfeasance.

Meanwhile, dubious mainstream media outlets like CNN are seizing every opportunity to virtue signal about the ‘free press under attack,’ supposedly via Trump’s ongoing spat with CNN’s self-promoting reporter Jim Acosta, and Trump’s comments that dishonest media outlets are an “enemy of the people.” Trump’s bombast aside, CNN and their ilk should know that when a news organization promotes fake dossiers as articles of fact, or is trafficking politically-motivated lies and suppositions on a daily basis, misinforming the public, obfuscating hard facts on Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Iran in order to promote illegal wars – then their wing of the “free press” no longer serves the interests of the public, and therefore can rightly be regarded as malignant. We can contrast this with WikiLeaks who has an unblemished record having provided nothing less than hard facts and solid data for over a decade. The irony for the legacy media is, by denying and covering for their own corrupt nature and institutional malaise, they are only hastening their own inevitable demise. Any thinking person gets it, and yet it’s almost comical to watch many high-profile media operatives pretend as if they are selfless champions of free speech and expression. The idea of it is simply beyond the pale now.

Through all the milieux, the media have conveniently omitted Assange’s grave plight from their news cycles, and are instead running a long campaign to demonize and criminalize him, apparently in revenge to their belief that Assange and Wikileaks are responsible for the failing presidential run of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump’s surprise victory over their pre-annointed candidate. This aspect alone speaks volumes of the petty and myopic mindset which dominates the western corporate media at present. It’s pretty clear that CNN and others members of the media syndicate either have no concept of what the Fourth Estate really means in constitutional terms, or they do know this perfectly well but still choose to side with mutual interests of the deep state and corporation. Either way, it’s an extremely disturbing folly to witness.

Onlookers should be under no illusion as to what’s at stake. It is not out of the realm of possibility then to speculate that the US Establishment or its allies, would lay a scheme to remove Assange from the equation. Last week, Julian’s mother, Christine Assange, issued the following warning and plea for help for her son who is being arbitrarily detained for 7 years now in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Listen:

Published on Nov 3, 2018 (7:52 min.)

Despite the willful ignorance and obfuscation of this story by CNN and the mainstream gaggle, there are some mainline publications at least beginning to acknowledge the gravity of his exigent predicament, although it’s still far from adequate considering the severity of the situation.
The Economist reports…

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. But it looks as if the Trump administration really is going after WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the self-styled transparency campaigner who runs it from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has been holed up for five years evading extradition to Sweden to face a rape allegation.

As a candidate, Donald Trump said he loved WikiLeaks for helping his campaign by publishing embarrassing e-mails from the Democratic National Committee, hacked by the Russians. Now he is in the White House, he views leaks less indulgently. On April 20th the attorney-general, Jeff Sessions, declared that the arrest of Mr Assange had become “a priority”. He added: “We are going to step up our efforts, and are already stepping up our efforts, on all leaks.” The Department of Justice is said to be preparing charges against Mr Assange.

In a speech made a few days before Mr Sessions’s announcement, the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, excoriated WikiLeaks as “a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia”. Mr Pompeo’s wrath had been incurred after the release by Mr Assange’s outfit of information about some of the CIA’s surveillance tools. Mr Pompeo, like his boss, had previously been a WikiLeaks fan, regularly tweeting its revelations last summer to attack Hillary Clinton…

Continue this passage at The Economist

All of this leads us back to the initial categorical imperative. Is right to allow the US Establishment use the Assange case in order to rewrite freedom of the press laws in the West? It’s possible that they may not have to, as they will simply achieve this by fiat, under a regime of state intimidation which will effectively hang over the Assange narrative should they achieve their goal of incarcerating him in an US federal penitentiary, or God forbid any tragic outcome which might befall him by way of his current predicament.

Know that anyone could be (and has in the past been) Julian Assange; any publisher, any journalist, any writer, any poet, any professor, any artist, or any citizen. In that sense, we are all Julian Assange.

For these reasons, we should all be concerned with the plight of Julian Assange, and should speak out now in support of his own human rights. In doing so, you’ll also be advancing the right to free speech and press freedom.

That is, the right to publish and be damned.
 
goyacobol said:
If Trump hasn't seen the "writing on walls" of the oval office yet maybe it is time those giving him the benefit of the doubt to think about what those words might be saying such as:

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין‬

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN"



I think implications of those words could apply to any of us, not just Trump, who "ignore reality right and left" (in an unbiblical sense that is).
Click to expand...
I looked up the link to "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" and found the continuation of the Wiki article.
Writing on the wall
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The Chaldean wise men are unable to read the writing on the wall, let alone interpret it, but Daniel does so by supplying vowels in two different ways, first so the words are read as nouns, then as verbs.[5] The nouns are monetary weights: a mənê, equivalent to a Jewish mina or sixty shekels (several ancient versions have only one mənê instead of two), a təqêl, equivalent to a shekel, and p̄arsîn, meaning "half-pieces".[6] The last involves a word-play on the name of the Persians (pārās in Hebrew), suggesting not only that they are to inherit Belshazzar's kingdom, but that they are two peoples, Medes and Persians.[6] Daniel then interprets the words as verbs, based on their roots: mənê is interpreted as meaning "numbered", təqêl, from a root meaning to weigh, as meaning "weighed" (and found wanting), and pərês(פְּרַס‬), the singular form of p̄arsîn, from a root meaning "to divide", denoting that the kingdom is to be "divided" and given to the Medes and Persians.[7] If the "half-pieces" means two half-shekels, then the various weights—a mənê or sixty shekels, another shekel, and two half-shekels—add up to 62, which the tale gives as the age of Darius the Mede, indicating that God's will is being worked out.[8]
[...]
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It is basically an example about connecting the dots and seeing the unseen. The above article is about Belshazzar's Feast
Belshazzar's feast
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, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel) tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and writes on the wall. The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they are unable to read the writing. The queen advises him to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel reminds Belshazzar that his father Nebuchadnezzar, when he became arrogant, was thrown down until he learned that God has sovereignty over the kingdom of men. Belshazzar had likewise blasphemed God, and so God sent this hand. Daniel then reads the message and interprets it: God has numbered Belshazzar's days, he has been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians.
That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean (Babylonian) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.​
— Daniel 5:30–31[1]​
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The story of how the Powers treat Assange is part of af cruel, arrogant rulership, and it will not last
 
11.26.2018 - US Prosecutors oppose request for Unsealing possible Assange charges
U.S. prosecutors oppose request for unsealing possible Assange charges | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo

Federal prosecutors have told a United States District Court judge that they oppose a request by a journalists' group for the unsealing of any pending U.S. criminal indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and declined to admit whether such charges exist.

In a filing submitted on Monday to Judge Leonie Brinkema, prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia said a recent disclosure in a court document filed in an unrelated criminal case that prosecutors had obtained a sealed indictment against Assange was an “unintentional error.”

Prosecutors said the erroneous filing does not constitute a confirmation or denial by them as to whether sealed criminal charges against Assange exist, and argued that neither the U.S. constitution nor U.S. common law “require that the government provide such a confirmation or denial.”

On Tuesday, Judge Brinkema is scheduled to hear arguments in a case brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has applied for the unsealing of court records “including the docket and any criminal complaint, indictment or other charging document” related to any sealed U.S. charges against Assange.

Prosecutors and a federal grand jury based in Alexandria for several years have been investigating Assange, WikiLeaks and other individuals associated with the website, though no public charges have been filed.

The Administration of President Barack Obama decided not to file criminal charges against Assange or WikiLeaks on the grounds that the website was arguably as protected as more traditional media outlets by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Republican candidate Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks for disclosing hacked message traffic embarrassing to his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. But later, officials of President Donald Trump’s administration condemned WikiLeaks as a “hostile intelligence service.”
 
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