Appeal to Kim Jong-un From Western Open-Air Prison

Planet Tokyo Appeal to Kim Jong-un From Western Open-Air Prison Totally jacked off.  That seems to be my default state, more and more. Tried to load my video edit here on Blogger (for like the third consecutive shot), but was unable to do so, as the video is in excess of 200 megabytes and the limit on Blogger is 100 mb or something like that. Wanted to sign up for Yandex, as they have video hosting, I believe.   But Yandex want my phone number. WTF for?  What is this, world-wide totalitarian surveillance in force? Decided it might be a good time to put that throw-away mobile phone voucher to use, at last.  I was supposed to use it to sign back onto the Twitter account I've been shut out of, but I have an aversion to being held to ransom for my phone number, and I've an aversion to censorship in general, so I'm not playing with the Twitter assh*les ... and I've shut down the stand-by on principle, although I'm sometimes tempted to sign on again ... but there's a whole other story in that.  It looks as though I cannot sign up for the Twitter FRAUD & CENSORSHIP lies and propaganda promoting corporate and overnment controlled public communication 'social media' platform without giving them a phone number, which I won't do. So, anyway, I think to myself, why not put that throw-away SIM to use and sign up for the Yandex video hosting, so I can get my video edit up online, without having to put it through YouTube, which I'm not fond of hooking up to, along with anything else to do with Google and their data-sucking scams.  It's bad enough that I'm here.  I really should be on Russia's VK, or somewhere.  But maybe I'd be too radical for the Russians?  LOL Yandex seemed the shot for video hosting, and I really don't care what information Russians have.  I'd sooner be spied on by Russians than Google, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It appears that I live in a totalitarian open air prison. Tried to validate the pre-paid SIM card I had, so that I could sign up for Yandex and upload my video.  But validating the pre-paid card is no go without providing a massive amount of personal data:  name, address, phone number, e-mail, and formal identification numbers (such as medical number, licence number, passport number and so forth). The card *is* pre-paid.  As such, I would argue that the telecommunications provider  is breach of contract by accpting consideration while subsequently denying service.  Where are the lawyers?  How about a big class action claim, ambulance chasers?  Where the f*ck is my service and why should I provide all this personal data, as if I were under arrest? At the end of the day, it's not like I'm not traceable.  I did not bother to VPN or to TOR, so it's not like I cannot be found if I must be found.   That being so, what the f*ck is this totalitarian prison camp demand for all this PRIVATE data, just to be able to set up a phone number on which to get verification codes to activate video hosting and social media accounts on an anonymous basis, rather than giving my private data on a platter to those that simply do not need my personal data, or to hackers (in due course). Tried to put through the pre-paid SIM on a totally phony basis, which drove me up the wall, trying to make up names, a fake birthday, having to set up a throw-away e-mail, having to search for a phony street address, having to make up a fake telephone contact number, and, finally, having to devise a fake driver's licence number. It does my head in just making up one creative anonymous user-name for things, let alone all the faking and note-taking involved in that exercise, so that I could keep track of the garbage I was making up. It turns out that you can't even set up a fake account to activate your PRE-PAID SIM because these communications carrier kapo have a direct link to what is government information and soon reject fake formal verifiable IDs, although they accepted my fake look-up address as 'verified'.  LMAO The solution, then, would be just to make up an account using real data of a real person, but I'm not up for entering into ID theft or whatever that would constitute. As criminals would have no such qualms, what exactly is the point of the government raping ordinary citizens who simply want privacy?  What's going on here?  Why are we in prison?  I just wanted to upload my 'Samurai Project' video to Yandex video hosting, on an anonymous basis ... well, as anonymous as you can be without bothering to mask one's ISP address. Once done, I couldn't delete my fake e-mail account, because the controls aren't obvious in the Russian service I used.  What's wrong with site designers?  Why would they make it hard to find a 'delete account' button and leave their service full of fake and disused e-mail addresses? Intended to delete and then to set up something a bit more sensible than the fake account I sort of just bashed out off the top of my head, but now I'm too frazzled to cope with more fake names for anonymous accounts that aren't really anonymous, and I don't fancy being stuck with an ugly sounding e-mail or Russian social media account name. North Korea or China ought to help us Western prisoners out by hosting fully anonymous services for Westerners that are sick of being spied on and private data raped.  C'mon, Kim, stick it to the US-Anglo prison warders.  LOL As I've skipped a night's sleep engrossed in more video editing, I'm not feeling so good after the video upload saga, followed by the SIM card activation citizen prisoner's nightmare.  I'm really wired, in a very unpleasant way. I'm supposed to cook, but I don't know how I'll get on doing that.  Aside from being extremely wired, I'm sort of zombied out and too agro to really want to, even though I must. This sounds strange, but it also sounds rather appealing to me:  we're having Rissoles in Stroganoff Sauce.  If I can get my sh*t together enough to make it.    We're arguing now, because I'm being hassled to cook and I'm not quite done.  The parting shot to me was:  "I hope you get arrested."   No solidarity among prisoners here.  LOL Wonder if closed prisons have faster internet?

Waiting

Waiting ... Waiting ... Waiting Spent forever editing a video project. Now I'm spending forever waiting for it to upload to Blogger. To find out progress, I have to install an add-on to Firefox browser, which is ridiculous.  This shouldn't be an optional extra:  it's vital to sanity to know what's going on. Crashed at one point, so this is my second try at uploading and it's sending me bananas waiting, as well as not knowing progress. I might have to crash out and let it run for as long as it takes. What a crap internet speed I must be on. Checking out the news annoys me as much as waiting for my upload. Those that didn't get their own way in the BREXIT vote are now petitioning for another referendum and Nicola Sturgeon is all for a second referendum. The thoughts I have on the subject and on Sturgeon are best left unpublished. Every time I look at the news, I long to live under a like-minded dictatorship that is completely the opposite of  the shambles that is the West. RT News reports: "... large groups of 18- to 25-year-olds who voted to remain in the EU gathered outside Parliament and at Downing Street protesting the results of the referendum and the strict border policy. " Why are they even giving these morons a vote? Please, Britain, ship off the open borders d*ckheads to Saudi Arabia for some cultural enrichment. Thank f*ck, my video has finally loaded.  I've had all I can take of the news and of waiting for this to load. It must have been at least a half-hour of pissing me off no end. I've got all sorts of things disabled on this computer, so when I publish the video project, I'll not even know if it's viewable or not. Oh, well.  I've got a copy I can look at on this terminal. Jesus, it still hasn't loaded.  Don't know what made me think it was done.  How f*cking long can it possibly take to load something that is 4:45 minutes???????? Installed add-on.  But I can't use it without restarting the PC.  So now I can leave this thing running or I can shut down and try for the third time, after the add-on's been installed.  Think I might let it run while I sleep.  This is so sh*t.   I hate Firefox.   I want another browser. [After all of that and the f*cking wait that went on and on and on and on, I'm not even sure my project is worth posting.]

Planet Tokyo - Asahi Breweries

Planet Tokyo audio | #1 SAMURAI [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]  Samurai - Satsuma clan Boshin War period, circa 1867 [source wikipedia] Samurai military nobility & officer cast medieval & modern Japan originally 'bushi' (to attend upon) middle & upper echelons of warrior class usually associated with a clan & their lord trained as officers in military tactics & grand strategy followed rules, known later as:  bushidō samurai numbered less than 10% of Japan's pop. their teachings in today's Japanese martial arts & modern life Kabukimono or hatamoto yakko 1573-1603 AD 'Strange Things' or 'the Crazy Ones' from 'kabuku' - to slant or to deviate composed of:  ronin or samurai or men who worked for samurai families in peaceful times who formed gangs ronin 'wave man' - 'vagrant' - 'wandering man' term originated re serf who fled master's land later used for samurai who had no master samurai with no lord or master Japanese feudal period:  1185 - 1868 AD masterless from death or fall of his master (or upon loss of master's favour or privilege) Samurai Bushido Shoshinshu   (the Code of the Samurai) eg. to commit seppuku Japanese ritual suicide - disembowelment upon loss of master one who chose not to honour code was on his own meaning:  to suffer great shame Ronin, like other samurai, wore two swords also carried bo (to 6ft staff), & walking stick (yumi) weapons, depend on ryu (martial arts school they are from) in Edo period shogunate rigid class system & laws large increase in ronin in prior ages, samurai able to move b/w masters & have occupations could marry b/w classes but in Edo period samurai were restricted forbidden another master without master's permission samurai could not legally take up a new trade looked for other ways to make living with swords ronin who sought steady employment became: mercenaries guarded trade caravans; or bodyguards for merchants Others became criminals, highwaymen, or joined organised crime served as hired muscle for gangs, gambling rings, brothels, protection rackets petty thieves, muggers thugs, bullies, cutthroats, vagrants Kamakura & Muromachi periods warriors held lands that they occupied whereas, ronin was warrior who had lost lands small-scale wars in Japan in this time opportunities for ronin to serve new masters Later Edo period bond between lord and samurai was loose some left masters & sought new lords many served a succession of masters some even became daimyo (powerful feudal lords dai 'large' - 'myo' for 'myoden', private land subordinate only to Shogun most powerful feudal rulers 10th Century to mid 19th Century Shogun general - ie military commander hereditary military dictator in Japan 1192 to 1867 shoguns were de facto rulers of Japan although nominally appointed by Emperor as formality held almost absolute power over territories, via military means shogun's office or administration = shogunate known as 'bakufu' = tent office / government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogun kabukimono flamboyant dress, vibrant colours short kimonos with light weights in hem velvet lapels wide obi (sash) elements of European clothing or women's kimono used as cloaks kabukimono uncommon hairstyles & facial hair left to grow long  katana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckrycABiJDE katana traditional Japanese samurai swords curved, single-blade, slender, circular or squared guard long grip to accommodate two hands thrust in belt-like sash (obi) victory depended heavily on fast response times sharpened edge facing up intended to: strike target in a single motion usually paired with smaller companion sword pairing is known as: the daishō only samurai could war daishō representative of: social power and personal honour of samurai companion swords: smaller wakizashi traditional Japanese sword cases = koshirae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana Kabukimono or hatamoto yakko 1573-1603 AD fancy hilts large square tsuba rounded or squared grip on sword round thing that would probably steady the grip / it is at base of sword grip, before blade look like a big button with a hole in the centre (for the sword) have pretty, ornate designs red scabbards, longer than normal scabbards are sword holders they're beautiful - many different designs, depending on culture some kabukimono (ronin or samurai) extremely long kiseru as weapons kiseru = Japanese smoking pipe traditionally used for smoking kizami finely shredded tobacco resembling hair rod with metal ends, extremely long kiseru could be carried as weapon status symbol for the owner, elaborately engraved commoners were prohibited to carry sharp weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiseru often very violent, rude cutting down people to try a new sword incidents of violence common eg. in cities Edo & Kyoto wrestling & dancing in streets common  fighting with other gangs at night thought modern yakuza originated from groups of kabukimono others believe yakuza origins in:  machi yakko (private police) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabukimono https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimyo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C5%8Dnin Bushido 'the way of the warrior' way of samurai life anologous to concept of chivalry in Europe samurai code of conduct frugality loyalty martial arts mastery honour until death Bushido from Neo-Confucianism influenced by Shinto & Zen Buddhism allowing violent existence of samurai to be tempered by wisdom & serenity developed: 1500s to 1900s possibly dating back to 10th Century Nabeshima Naoshige daimyo of Hizen 1538 - 1618 proved himself in battle 1570 assisted Takanobu at Saga Castle which was surrounded by 60,000 Otomo clan army versus Naoshige only 5,000 suggested night raid on enemy camp & successfully routed them inherited position from Takanobu (on death) "... it is shameful for any man to die without having risked his life in battle, regardless of rank ..." Seppuku (stomach cutting) Japanese ritual suicide / disembowelment originally reserved for samurai part of bushido honour code either voluntary, not to fall into enemy hands (torture) or as capital punishment for serious crime or bringing shame/dishonour performed as part of elaborate ritual before spectators plunge short blade (tanto) into abdomen from left to right, slicing abdomen open ritual standardised 17th century prior to standardisation, ritual much more painful on standardisation, kaishakunin ('second') appointed duty of kaishakunin to behead the ritual suicide agent at moment of agony kaishakunin is called 'kaishaku' ('nin' is person) suicide ritual agent spared prolonged death ritual is preserved in modern martial art:  iaido ritual varies, depending on fencing school all have steps in common: 1.  sit or stand close enough with katana to strike 2.  if seated, movements are ritualised 3.  when samurai performs seppuku he returns tanto dagger back to its place kaishakunin uses katana to strike back of neck of dying samurai Katana double handed grip for: precision & strength to cut must be precision controlled, cutting only half neck of samurai Intent to: leaving skin to hold head attached to body in single slash of katana Kaishakunin slowly, silently shakes blood on blade of katana movement known as:  chiburi katana returned to scabbard (movement called noto) while kneeling towards samurai corpse remains kneeling position as sign of deep respect to samurai in state of zanshin (total awareness) before standing & bowing to samurai corpse Execution Seppuku - some rituals no disembowelment just movement of dagger, stick or fan across stomach followed by beheading kaishakunin then becomes execution & seppuku becomes beheading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaishakunin jigai = suicide modern Japanese for suicide:  jisatsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabeshima_Naoshige [ALL SAMURAI INFO FROM WIKIPEDIA] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8t0KTOeMPw Last Samurai Samurai Class Abolished 1867  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgAAlE_4oc I'm liking all this samurai stuff.  It seems brave and admirable, but I don't think I'd make a good samurai.  I couldn't do the seppuku and I'd probably run away if attacked, but it must be really exhilarating to handle beautiful weapons quickly and effectively. Not sure how much samurai info I'll remember.  Don't yet have a feel for Japanese. The names of things are difficult for me. But I'll remember:   katana. Normally, I don't drink (even socially) ... which is just as well, because alcohol and me is not a good mix. Felt like I drink today, when I saw one being cracked open.  Looked inviting, and I like bubbles.  Having an Asahi Breweries beer (apparently, one of 4 largest Japanese brewers, founded in Osaka in 1889).   Tastes very light, even to a non-drinker.  Nice, though.   I'd planned to watch a heap of videos, but I'm not sure I can catch up with everything I want to watch. Attention span isn't what it should be; I can only handle small bits of info ... and I like pictures a lot.  LOL Dinner's easy, so it doesn't matter if I wind up pissed:  Thai Chicken Green Curry pre-cooked (frozen).  Just need rice and it's good to go after defrost and heat, and dollop of my fabulous home-made yoghurt.

Investigative Journalist, John Pilger: US Preparation for Conflict - China on High Alert

HIGH ALERT: CHINA Response to US Aggresssion John Pilger on the Threat of World War Three (Going Underground) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahEdcuxlN1o SUMMARY (BASIC) John Pilger on the Threat of World War Three (Going Underground) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahEdcuxlN1o AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Classically America-first populist in  Donald Trump or the absolute embodiment of the system that has run seamlessly since 1945 (Hillary Clinton) Sanders - voted to destroy Yugoslavia - voted to put Edward Snowden on trial - called Hugo Chávez (Venezuela) a dictator Pilger: Let's get the quote exactly right.  He was asked about Chávez and he called Chávez a "dead communist dictator" Pilger: I don't think there's anything in Senator Sanders' foreign policy that offers any encouragement to any of us. [...] Sanders has offered health care to the only developed country that doesn't have a proper healthcare system. He wants to do something about the barons of Wall Street.  Good luck.  He's not going to be president. Pilger US is in a frenzy of preparation for a conflict of some kind. Conflict of some kind can lead to war of the real kind, against: China & against Russia, on two fronts RUSSIA Greatest (US-led) build-up of forces since WWII has happened in Eastern Europe and in the Baltic States. US expansion & military preparation HAS NOT BEEN REPORTED IN THE WEST UKRAINE Since the US paid for for & controlled US coup in that country Ukraine has become an American preserve CIA Theme Park - CIA are all over it - special forces are all over it - American business is all over it - Joe Biden's son is appointed to various Ukraine fracking companies Full American interest has gone to a country that is Russia's borderland through which the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in the early 1940s with the cost of something like 27 million lives Imagine the equivalent in the US:  the border with Mexico, the border with Canada Refers to Russia's cuban situated missiles which almost resulted in WWIII The USA, which constitutionally has the freest media in the world, these war preparations against Russia and against China HAVE NOT BEEN MENTIONED. When China is mentioned, it's about China's 'aggressive moves' in the South China Sea. It's interesting how the public is being primed to accept so-called 'aggressive' moves by China WHEN, IN FACT, THEY'RE CLEARLY DEFENSIVE MOVES USA MILITARY BASES THREAT The United States has something like 400 major bases encircling China, starting in Australia, going through Asia, Japan & Korea Looking at Shanghai is Okinawa, which has 32 American military installations Japan has 130 in all Okinawa is about the size of Long Island Imagine Long Island as a Chinese base, looking straight at New York; that's the equivalent Reporter Do you think multinational corporations and Wall Street would allow -- they haven't allowed a full-scale war from President Obama against Beijing and surely ... Pilger: I don't know.  ... China is America's first trading partner.  It is a trading partner. Most of the things that Americans wear are made in China.  ... China has almost replaced Japan in that sense:  the great manufacturing centre of the world. America has this close business relationship with China.  I don't know, is the answer to that. ... What I think is interesting and dangerous, and I don't think it's been recognised is the ascendency of military thinking -- the Pentagon in Washington.  Recently, the State Dept. broke its silence on this and said to the Defence Dept:  let us handle the diplomacy, let us handle the relations with countries, you do the military side of things (paraphrasing) ... an extraordinary outburst coming from an official in the state department, where there is great frustration about this ubiquitous power now of the military, and this seems to be embodied in this Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, who seems to go from conference to conference -- G7; now he's gone to Singapore threatening countries. TRUMP Trump has said he doesn't want to go to war with China or with Russia. Trump wonders why America is all over the world.  He wonders about the power of NATO. This is 'heresy'. (As at 4 June 2016) - US has sent guided missile ships in last two weeks into disputed zone in South China Sea For the first time Chinese fighter jets were scrambled; a week or so later, an American spy plane was intercepted by planes. So many wars begin accidentally, or by mistake. We had one of America's leading and most interesting generals, James Cartwright, talk about this recently. DANGER OF PREEMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKES James Cartwright talked about the 'hair trigger system', which now gives the leaders of the country (ie USA), really minutes, in which to decide whether they will launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack or whether they will respond to a pre-emptive nuclear attack. ... at a conference in Virginia, former U.S. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright acknowledged that "there's the potential that you could, in fact, generate a scenario where, in a bolt from the blue, we launch a pre-emptive attack and then use missile defense to weed out" Russia's remaining missiles launched in response. "We're going to have to think our way out of this," he said. "We're going to have to figure out how we're going to do this." [2013 Source] HAIR-TRIGGER ALERT  roots in Cold War http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/hair-trigger-alert CHINA - ON HIGH ALERT One of the most worrying aspects is that China clearly has taken on-board that CHINA IS BEING SERIOUSLY THREATENED. Up to now China has kept it's nuclear weapons have been kept on low alert:  that is, the weapon and the warhead have been kept separately.  Whereas, the US and Russia have always kept their nuclear weapons on high alert.  The literature that's available now suggests that China is on NUCLEAR HIGH ALERT. Just last week (circa 4 June 2016), Chinese submarines armed with nuclear weapons went on patrol in the Pacific for the first time. NONE OF THIS IS EVEN MENTIONED IN THE AMERICAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Assange - Brexit Club Live Stream: Future of the EU After Brexit

WikiLeaks ASSANGE Brexit Club Live Stream:  Future of the EU After Brexit https://youtu.be/kASShAK1ksI BREXIT CLUB @WikiLeaks Might have to watch some of this tomorrow. I'm listening to an RT News interview with John Pilger, that's discussing the preparation of US war against Russia and China. I couldn't resist taking a peek. The LSE guy on the sofa seems interesting.  Good so far. Audio's a bit hard to listen to, but it improves at the 0:4:25 mark, some commenter says. I've never watched anything this long.  Not sure I'll get through all of this.   Someone needs to cut this up and post the good bits.

BREXIT - European Arrest Warrant (EAW) Scrapped?

WikiLeaks JOHN PILGER Julian Assange's Indefinite Detention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmGBNp8X_t4 WikiLeaks: Brexit Scrapping European Arrest Warrant Against Assange ​Europe 11:09 24.06.2016 The United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union means that the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against founder and editor-in-chief of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks Julian Assange should be scrapped, the website said Friday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, decided to support Brexit, while about 16.1 million opposed it.     #Brexit means the scrapping of the European Arrest Warrant used as the excuse to detain Assange without charge in the UK for 5.5 years     — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 24 июня 2016 г. The EAW is a warrant that is valid through all members of the European Union. Assange launched the WikiLeaks website in 2006. Since then, the site has released millions of classified diplomatic documents from around the world on espionage practices, war crimes, torture and many other human rights violations. Assange has been residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 out of fear of being extradited, first to Sweden where he has been accused of sexual assault, and ultimately to the United States where he could face espionage charges for publishing secret documents through his website. http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160624/1041866762/assange-brexit-arrest-warrant.html C  O  M  M  E  N  T Wow, this is exciting. Assange could be free soon! Looks like I'll have to find another US target? Wonder how Viktor Bout's getting along? ;) --- The way this displays in my browser is leaving me feeling like I'm on acid. LOL Everything looks really strange, no matter how I adjust. I'm not sure what I've done to the display, but I'm finding it hard to feel 'at home'. If I lean right back in the chair and look at this from a long distance, the display looks totally different. Wonder if the Blogger programmers have done something to their templates? Everything looks too vertically stretchy (spacey) when published.  I don't like it. ---  Just viewed the codes again.  It's not me.  It's Blogger.  It keeps throwing up autocodes I don't want.  Apart from the annoyance factor of having to edit out the crap codes to get the display I want, it's a relief.  Thought I'd been hacked or something.  LOL Tried to find a remedy, but I'm not sure what this Blogger auto code insertion thingy is called. Not sure if it's the HTML options.  As in, maybe it should be set to 'Show HTML literally' versus 'Interpret typed HTML'.  I don't know the difference.  The explanations don't help.  This is really annoying. [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

#Hillary2016: Stand By for More Dirt on US Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton (Democrats)

WikiLeaks ARTICLE SOURCE:  Salon Friday, Jun 24, 2016 06:15 AM AEST Despite 4 years trapped in embassy, Assange says WikiLeaks has “very big year” ahead At NYC event, Assange said WikiLeaks has big new leaks, and warned a Hillary Clinton presidency "means endless war" Ben Norton June 19, 2016 marked the fourth year that Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of whistleblowing journalism organization WikiLeaks, has been trapped in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Several events were organized this week in cities throughout Europe, Latin America and the U.S. to commemorate this anniversary, and to bring attention to the escalating war on whistleblowers and journalists. Assange spoke via videostream at an event in New York City on Wednesday (video below). He stressed in his message that he has been effectively detained by the U.K. for five and a half years, even though he has never been charged with a crime. In February, the U.N. ruled that Assange is being arbitrarily and illegally detained, and is due compensation for the “different forms of deprivation of liberty.” Despite the hardship, nevertheless, Assange was excited about the months ahead. “It’s going to be a very big year for WikiLeaks,” he said. Assange implored the audience to “get ready to gather around” in order “to protect our ability to be publishing.” “It will be very necessary in the coming months,” the WikiLeaks editor stressed. Many of the upcoming releases, he said, concern Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “I’ve come to know Hillary quite well,” Assange joked. WikiLeaks has released thousands of Clinton’s emails, and he has read many of them. “She is an extremely ambitious liberal interventionist hawk,” he explained. This is, of course, no surprise, he added, but the extreme degree of her belligerence is often not understood. Clinton “was the leading figure behind the destruction of Libya,” he said, echoing comments he said in an interview with Salon in February. “If Hillary Clinton gets into office, it means endless war,” Assange warned. “We are in fact already, under Obama, in endless war, but I think it will significantly ramp up under Hillary Clinton.” And “with a Democratic president in office, there is no strong Democratic opposition” to these policies, he noted. Assange added that, at the end of the day, the differences between Clinton and her opponent, presidential candidate Donald Trump, will not have a big impact on the U.S. empire. “I’m not sure it makes much difference which president” is in office, he said. Rather, the roughly 3,000 people appointed by the president are those who control how the U.S. empire operates. And the people whom Clinton chooses to surround herself with are hawkish liberal interventionists themselves. Of those who work under her, Assange said, Clinton demands “total sucking up” and constant flattery. She “surrounds herself with people who don’t really challenge her.” It’s “a liberal interventionist who surrounds herself with liberal interventionists,” he described it, citing figures like Anne-Marie Slaughter, another so-called humanitarian interventionist. The New York Times, which endorsed Clinton for president, pointed out that she is even more hawkish than her Republican rivals. The U.S. newspaper of record described her as “the last true hawk left in the race.” A digital Library of Alexandria Assange was joined at the event by a panel of renowned journalists and activists, including Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, Democracy Now founder Amy Goodman, The Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, among others. Amy Goodman, who moderated the discussion, said it is amazing that, despite the sanctions, assassination threats and effective imprisonment Assange has endured for years, WikiLeaks remains strong. “How have you kept WikiLeaks going?” she asked. “I don’t know,” Assange joked in reply. He said it has only been possible thanks to the help he has gotten from the WikiLeaks staff and from people throughout the world. Assange added that he has had many “false friends,” who have betrayed him or were cowardly and timid in time of need. But he also thanked those who have supported WikiLeaks’ work. Besides, if he weren’t doing it, someone would take his place and continue the work, Assange argued. Goodman followed up, asking him what he is proudest of. Assange said it is simply keeping Wikileaks alive. “We have built a grand project, in some ways a grand dream,” he said, likening it to a contemporary digital Library of Alexandria. WikiLeaks has actually now published more documents while Assange has been detained than it did before. “And we have not fired a single person,” he added. Assange also spoke highly of The Intercept, the publication co-founded by Jeremy Scahill and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who worked with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. “It’s use it or lose it,” Assange told Scahill, expressing support The Intercept’s work. The media Assange had pretty harsh words for the rest of the media. He noted that the Pentagon has 20,000 people involved in public relations. The defense department writes thousands of propaganda stories each year “that they give away for free to the press.” Meanwhile, WikiLeaks’ documents have largely been ignored by the English-language press, although they are much more frequently cited in the international media, Assange said. “We’re happy to accept the ‘bad boy’ label,” he joked. “We are completely beyond the pale as far as a lot of the mainstream” press goes, Assange continued. But “we perceive those outlets to be beyond the pale” too. “They destroy history; they contain it in themselves; they privatize it.” “History does not belong to journalists; history does not belong to a media organization,” he argued. Assange added, “history does also not belong to whistleblowers,” even though they can be “the most important part” in helping to create it. “History belongs to human civilization to understand in order to better itself,” he stressed. The U.S. government The WikiLeaks editor vociferously challenged the U.S. government’s claim that his organization’s work has harmed national security. “It’s all rubbish; it’s just all garbage,” Assange said. “The information that we have published has never led” to anyone facing violence. The government has tried “desperately” to find a single case of a U.S. official being harmed, he noted, but has come up with nothing. In a lighter moment, Assange also noted that, while he has major problems with the U.S. government, the U.S. “does have some good things going for it.” He said he quite likes U.S. culture, and applauded the country’s enormous diversity. “London is a city-state” on the other hand, he lamented; it’s an “inbred system.” When asked about the June 23 vote on Brexit, the referendum on whether the U.K. should leave the E.U., Assange said it might not be so bad to do so. He noted the E.U. frequently acts “in service of transnational capital.” He read from a 2008 cable released by Wikileaks in which William Hague, then shadow foreign secretary for the Conservative Party and later first secretary of state and foreign secretary, stressed that any prime minister inevitably “learns of the essential nature of the relationship with America.” “We want a pro-American regime. We need it. The world needs it,” Hague said. Assange also criticized Sweden, noting that, while it is sometimes applauded for its social democratic government, it is one of the world’s largest per capita exporter of arms, and the only country that does rendition on its own people.   Aaron Schwartz Someone in the audience asked about electronic activist Aaron Schwartz. Assange said he had empathized a lot with Schwartz, and understood the pain he went through. The government’s harsh crackdown on Schwartz, after he made millions of documents and scholarly articles freely available on the internet, ultimately led to his suicide. “Aaron Schwartz was largely the victim of the crackdown against WikiLeaks,” Assange said. Assange recalled being afraid of speaking with Schwartz during the government’s investigation, because “there was such intense focus on me,” and he didn’t want to bring it to Schwartz. Assange said he regrets that now. Civil rights activists have spoken of how the effect of COINTELPRO, grand juries and FBI investigations was to “atomize people,” Assange noted. “There can be terrible side effects of that.” “An unusual power” Assange remains optimistic, however. He even managed to find a silver lining in his unfortunate situation. “There are some consolations to being an accused person and detained unlawfully,” Assange said. People who are accused develop “an unusual power” — and, he added, “there is no more severe accusation than being accused by a superpower.” ARTICLE SOURCE:  Salon http://archive.is/5o7Xq [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] http://falkvinge.net/2013/01/04/two-swedes-renditioned-to-the-us-possibly-to-death-penalty-in-secrecy-and-without-lawyers-knowledge/ Two Swedes Renditioned To The US, Possibly To Death Penalty, In Secrecy And Without Lawyers’ Knowledge Process of Law – Henrik Alexandersson Mid-November, two Swedish citizens with Somali origins were renditioned from Djibouti to a prison in the United States of America. According to the US, they are hardened terrorists. According to other people, they tried to leave the terrorist-branded organization al-Shabaab. What’s true there is unclear. But that’s not the point that makes us interested in the story. An representative of United States Intelligence Services is reported to have told the two Swedes that “We’re waiting for permission from Swedish authorities to take you to the United States”. This is something that the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs first didn’t want to be associated with, and later declines any and all forms of comment. Here, we have a natural and special interest, as the two men are Swedish citizens. Are they suspected of committing an act which carries criminal penalties in Sweden – and if so, should they not be indicted and prosecuted in Sweden? Or has the Swedish government given the USA a carte blanche to “take care of” two Swedish citizens in the name of the war on terror – and if so, on what grounds? (Further, the suspicions concern acts committed in Somalia, where the US doesn’t have jurisdiction.) Suspicions of terror or not – the process of law must be respected, and international law followed. The government has no right to throw people into dark dungeons without a proper trial. We have a right to demand some form of damn order here. This affair has a distinct image of not having respected due process. This image is further strengthened by the fact that the two Swedes’ lawyers and relatives were kept in the dark for several weeks about what had already happened. If Sweden has agreed to rendition two people – Swedish citizens or not – to the United States of America within the context of what’s known as extraordinary renditions, this affair goes far beyond the questions about the formal due process. In such a case, it’s necessary to ask how much the Swedish governments’ promises are worth, when they promise to not extradite people to countries where they risk torture or death. This is a question that’s current and relevant in other cases, for example, regarding the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. This affair smells really bad… Read More: Washington Post [in English], Svenska Dagbladet [in Swedish]. UPDATE: The lawyer of the two Swedes was informed of the rendition on December 7, about three weeks after the fact. When the lawyer was informed, and only then, were relatives informed. This has eerie similarities with banana-republic “disappearances”. This article was originally published in Swedish on Hax’ blog. Translated into English by Rick Falkvinge. http://falkvinge.net/2013/01/04/two-swedes-renditioned-to-the-us-possibly-to-death-penalty-in-secrecy-and-without-lawyers-knowledge/ C  O  M  M  E  N  T Sweden isn't all 'feminist foreign policy', Abba, IKEA ... or otherwise all that it would seem.