Assange Extradition Imminent
Time is running out for Julian Assange, though it’s hard to imagine his situation getting any worse. Held in isolation in the UK, and appealing the extradition case against him, a UK judge may have delivered the final blow, which would send Assange to the United States to face multiple charges under the Espionage Act. Julian Assange is not a spy. He’s not a U.S. citizen or resident. He’s a publisher, and now a prisoner, of the world. From the Reporters Without Borders article:
“In a three-page written decision issued on 6 June, a single judge, Justice Swift, rejected all eight grounds of Assange’s appeal against the extradition order signed by then-UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2022. This leaves only one final step in the UK courts, as the defence has five working days to submit an appeal of only 20 pages to a panel of two judges, who will convene a public hearing. Further appeals will not be possible at the domestic level, but Assange could bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights.”
RSF: UK: Julian Assange dangerously close to extradition following High Court rejection of appeal
Abuse at Sea: Mariners in the #MeToo Era
Only 2% of mariners are women. The abuse they face on the high seas is a travesty. Mother Jones, in partnership with Type Investigations, produced an important cover story about this underreported phenomenon and a world most of us know little about. From the article:
“Life offshore sounds like a concept for a reality TV show: Put a group of strangers together in an isolated environment, deprive them of sleep, their families and friends, days off, and a means of escape, and then see who survives. But this is the way of life for 2 million seafarers across the world who staff the oil rigs, container ships, and car carriers that help keep the global economy moving. Offshore work is one of the most dangerous jobs in America—the fatality rate for maritime transportation workers is six times higher than that of the average U.S. worker… The roughly 24,000 women who work in the industry worldwide choose to live in an environment that often doesn’t want them to be there.”
Mother Jones: The Weight of Water: Women Mariners Abused at Sea Are Finally Breaking Their Silence
Dear FBI, this is why no one likes you.
Hating the FBI and other authorities of the state used to be the purview of leftists. Donald Trump made it fashionable to hate government agencies on the right, leading many “liberals” to defend institutions like the FBI and the CIA. Up is down. Down is up. Murtaza Hussain reminds us why state agencies are often not to be trusted.
“Yet based on the government’s own account of what led to Ventura’s arrest, there is reason to believe that his case is less a serious terrorism bust than one of the many instances in which a troubled or mentally unfit young man was groomed by undercover FBI agents to commit a crime that would not have otherwise happened.”
The Intercept: The FBI Groomed a 16-Year-Old With “Brain Development Issues” to Become a Terrorist
Unf*cker Comment of the Week
From Knudesn, an original Unf*cker, and founder/moderator of the Facebook group Unf*ckers et al.
“Socialism is like fuck. Fuck is one of the most diverse words in the English language. Its meaning is dependent upon the context of the sentence, the perspective of the speaker, the perspective of the audience members, and all combinations and permutations of any combination of these. Socialism seems to operate similarly. It can be a curse, praise, an ideal, a bogyman, and is subject to the same speaker to audience combinations as the word fuck.”