what about National and their – please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal? Oh of course, its nationals so it must be ok.
Please be fair and if you rage against one party rage against all the parties that pull equal shenanigans.
and establishing a target and nothing much more is not 'meaningful' nor is it a fight, but it is for sure a very serious attempt at being seen as proactive.
Thought this government was going to be different and transformational?
so how is it relevant to rage against National, when there ability to achieve meaningful change from opposition is nil, when the active members of this government are actively sabotaging important work through side shows and deceit
This government was never going to be different as soon as it needed NZF.
The only way to get transformational leadership is to vote Green, even then it requires that the Green vote is high enough to require significant input into the next government.
the thing is that they all do it and you rather then whinge about 'them will /should be better', they aren't.
they are in it for a paycheck, a perk or several for life and that is it. I think that soimon, jacinda and the whole heck of them would not be as successful in private business simply because they are not good, nor insipriational, nor hard workers. So politics it is. Sadly, you and i will only ever get some crooks to vote for.
I just need to vote for them once every three years and as always i will vote for what i consider the lesser evil. Which currently is Labour/Greens and to some extend even NZ First.
But what i do want from people who live of mine and your tax dollars is some guts, some conviction and some actual deeds. Currently we have none of that. We get a few band aids so that our elderlies don't freeze in their iceboxes, we get a few band aids so the environmentally inclinded shut up until the next decade and the next labour goverment ( if by hten we still have a government), and so on.
So' I will support you no matter what' does not work for me, never did never will.
And yes, in a better world we would have polititians rather then empty suits that would be pulling a shift in a back office taking calls.
Also ‘i need a hero’ is not a cheesy song, its literally a women crying out for a one night stand. It was considered a feminist song in the late seventies, you know…rather then the bullshit ….’soon you be a women soon’…:)
That's not an answer. You've simply put words in my mouth.
I wouldn't expect you (or anyone) to say "I will support you no matter what". That's absurd. Nor do I need you to like them as people (again, not what I asked).
But if the candidates available are not acceptable to you, it's reasonable to ask who is. If nobody, then what?
All you've offered is general slogans and rants. Unfortunately, governments have to be people instead. There really is no way of getting around that fact.
Sabine’s problem is that James was corporate, went politic to fight for what he believes in, but didn’t hang the suit up, throw the soap away and grow dreads.
want business, soft national and non wellington professional voters to vote left? Keep James Shaw. He’s achieving across the board
"please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal".
You seem so sure that your fantasy represents reality Sabine. Just like a number of other commentators on this blog. What evidence do you have? Surely you are not like that odious little creep Ross. He claimed he had recordings of phone conversations that would prove his deranged claims but when he finally produced some nobody but little Jamie could find anything at all that showed that he was anything other than delusional.
Now, surely you aren't like him? What is your evidence?
You are telling me that it is only under investigation?
Gosh from some of the comments on this site I had thought that they must have come to a conclusion, held a trial and that the hanging would be at dawn tomorrow.
I mean from lprent we had
"Bearing in mind that we have had the National party revealed as doing something even more dodgy (and probably illegal) last year with an allegation from their ex-party whip saying that the National party leader was involved in advising the break up of a $100k donation into $14k chunks to avoid declarations." That sounds rather more than just an investigation taking place.
Then from Mickysavage we have
"It is funny that the leader of the party being investigated by the SFO for rorting the election system should be demanding that the leader of the party who is not accused of anything should take action against the leader of a third party that appears to have been really cute with the law but has not necessarily done anything illegal." That sounds as if it is all over doesn't it?
But hey, Winston has to be protected because when he goes the CoL goes.
Now what is the actual evidence again? All that JLR released was that Bridges wanted to ensure that the donations were correctly reported.
I wouldn't care to speculate on any "splitting donations" evidence that the SFO investigation has uncovered. Likewise, the nature of NZF's very recent alleged funding indiscretions is, at this early stage, a matter of speculation only.
Some here are predisposed to rushing to judgement when it serves their (political) purpose, wouldn't you agree Alwyn?
i pointed out the company he kept well before the election, and what can one say………maybe it ain't you, but the company you keep lets us to believe that it is you.
She forgets that the aid was only 'unblocked' as it became public knowledge and there was an outcry.
The Ukraine President had actually agreed to an announcement about 'investigation into the Bidens' and said announcement was about to be made… the outcry came about a day before .
That Congresswoman, from upper NY state , once she started spouting the Trump lines, apparently her democratic opponent suddenly had a massive surge in donations made online
Ukraine got the aid because tRump had no legal authority to block it, and it was delivered without his consent.
President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11, but the State Department had quietly authorized releasing $141 million of the money several days earlier, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The State Department decision, which hasn’t been reported previously, stemmed from a legal finding made earlier in the year, and conveyed in a classified memorandum to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. State Department lawyers found the White House Office of Management and Budget, and thus the president, had no legal standing to block spending of the Ukraine aid.
all the money/debt in the world and not one bit of class, intelligence, gut feel, instincts, forsight, hindsight, any sight. Seriously Team Trump are the biggest fucking losers on the planet.
“He then confirmed the president had sought an investigation in exchange for a White House visit for Mr Zelensky – a quid pro quo (a favour in return for a favour).”
"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
“The word “bombshell” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Mr Sondland’s testimony, which represents a shift from his earlier closed-door statements, is a watershed moment in these impeachment investigations.”
Of course, your go to is partisan xtian extremist Mark "home to Kenya" Meadows, who represents one of the two most wildly gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation.
You really do have to wonder what sort of person continues to back Trump on a left wing website like this, especially when faced with steady corroborative stream of evidence and informed opinion.
I mean what’s the end game to that twisted agenda?
That quote you make is taken completely out of context. Sondland was quietly trying to cover his ass at that point, because he, and all the others in the loop, are just as deep in the shit as Trump. Sondland doesn't want to go to jail so he is spilling the beans, in an effort to curry favour. Fact is there was a criminal conspiracy Orchestrated by Trump and Giuliani to bribe the Ukraine Government to carry out a spoof "investigation", so Trump could run deflection in the forthcoming 2020 elections.
Sondland – The U.S. ambassador to the European Union testified that he and senior administration officials “followed the president’s orders” to work with Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the discredited conspiracy theory that the country helped Democrats in the 2016 election. Gordon Sondland testified that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and special envoy Kurt Volker coordinated with Giuliani at the “at the express direction of the president of the United States” to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations. Sondland said he directly communicated the “quid pro quo” arrangement to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sondland also provided House impeachment investigators with emails and texts showing that acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Perry, and others were all aware that Trump conditioned a White House meeting for Zelensky on his willingness to launch investigations. “They knew what we were doing and why,” Sondland said. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”
That is essentially a bribe. And that is an impeachable offence.
“We followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said, in a statement full of these blunt statements that fit beautifully in headlines.
“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland said of the scheme to extort Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into making public statements to back Trump’s conspiracy theories.
“A lot of senior officials,” he noted, naming names: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and their respective staffs — and he brought emails to back these accusations up. Pompeo, in particular, is implicated in discussions about the specific language they wished Zelensky to use in order to stoke lies about Biden.
\
“We followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said, in a statement full of these blunt statements that fit beautifully in headlines.
No mention of Chinese Communist Party donations to NZ1 Foundations I notice.
Sounds like the main complainer is a Nat supporter who wants his poxy 5 grand back so he can add it to the hundreds of thousands of Beijing Government money. Good on ya mate ! Hypocrit and arsehole.
He may have figured that a win or place bet on the New Zealand First (NZF) horse would have been very much an outside bet, but combined with the influence that NZF would have had over other horses in the race if one or other of the other two came in neck to neck, the return was likely to be enormous.
So NAT and LAB, combined in that post election combination, might have actually provided for a very large collect by him by way of an extra bet, but I cannot suggest this to have been his position.
The old days of first and place bets are finished, and more sophisticated punt arrangements seem to now be preferred.
But it is possible that he may have collected big on some other bet placed, or that others might have in a similar way.
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
Of course it's the right of the suspect to determine the whereabouts investigator interviews take place, especially when they've gone to court to avoid extradition, then fled like a coward to a foreign embassy, but yeah, the "fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden", how did that work out as a plan? Don't answer, I don't care for your spin.
Whether he should be sent to the states for the wikileaks dumps is one thing, after all he did sanction the leaks, and they have a lawful right to go after him for that, but in many people's eyes he'll always be tainted more for failing to front the rape allegations.
All this torture talk is wank. His reality has come home to roost, and like most times when it catches up, it hits hardest on the weak. It's like now he knows what it's like to be f*cked without consent and it's a bust. Karma?
Because they could at least get to the stage of deciding whether charges should be laid , or the case thrown out.
And of course, McFlock, in the end they did question him at the Embassy, in 2016, which they could have done all along, so clearly they felt it was worthwhile
Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area.
As for "deciding whether charges should be laid", again, if it were as clear cut as that then the British Supreme Court would have denied extradition. And Assange's legal team did a better job of making that argument than you ever have.
"Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area."
Could you expand on your reasoning, i.e. that the 2016 interview was pointless? Do you think that the interview would have been less pointless if it had been conducted in an 'unprotected area' (?), and if so, why?
The prosecutors had already informed Assange's lawyer they had enough evidence to arrest unless a second interview dramatically changed the picture.
If the interview had left the prosecutors no evidence to discontinue those proceedings extant at the time, in an unprotected area (i.e. Sweden) he would have been arrested and quickly brought before a court (as per Swedish procedure).
If the interview had made it clear the allegations were all bunk, protected area or not the proceedings would have been discontinued then and there.
The proceedings continued but did not lead to an immediate arrest and court appearance. The interview changed nothing. From a criminal procedure point of view, the interview served no purpose.
If the Swedish prosecutors believed that they had enough evidence to arrest Assange prior to the 2016 interview, and the interview changed nothing, then why didn’t the prosecutors subsequently arrest/indict Assange? After all, they've had plenty of time to prepare, and Assange hasn't been in a 'protected area' for some time.
Seems extraordinary to me that Swedish prosecutors would choose to drop their investigation into the more serious allegation (of rape) prior to the statute of limitations expiring in 2020.
"In 2013, Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition but the English Crown Prosecution Service dissuaded them from doing so."
Cliff notes from the UK court judgements:
UK procedure = complaint, investigate, charge on prima facie evidence, throughly investigate, court.
Swedish procdure: complaint, investigate prima facie (intial interview), thoroughly investigate (second interview), charge, straight to court. In both jurisdictions, going to court before you've thoroughly investigated = shafting your own case.
As for choosing to drop proceedings before the statute of limitations expires, the official comment was that so much time has passed that evidence will be less reliable. I suspect "Assange will drag out the process in the UK until the clock ticks out" was also a factor.
Oh, and if someone had lumped me with an Assange-level headache for several years and then wanted to drop it, I'd be pissed, too.
Swedish prosecutors have declined to investigate further, and the U.K. judiciary has had its pound of flesh:
“His assertion that he has not had a fair hearing is laughable. And his behaviour is that of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interests.” – Judge Snow
Time for the U.S. 'courts' to have a go.
Wonder if there'll be anything left when they're finished. Still, not our worry, eh.
2008, The Economist New Media Award
2009, Amnesty International UK Media Awards
2010, Time Person of the Year, Reader’s Choice
2010, Sam Adams Award
2010, Le Monde Readers’ Choice Award for Person of the Year
2011, Free Dacia Award
2011, Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal
2011, Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
2011, Voltaire Award for Free Speech
2012, Big Brother Award Italy 2012 “Hero of Privacy”
2013, Global Exchange Human Rights Award, People’s Choice
2013, Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts
2013, New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films Silver World Medal
2014, Union of Journalists in Kazakhstan Top Prize
2019, GUE/NGL Galizia prize
2019, Gavin MacFadyen award
The Swedish prosecutors are faced the fact that the dude ran out the clock on any chance of a successful prosecution. Don't go pretending it's a fickle decision.
As for the yanks, they suck. But so does Assange, so I'm a bit ambivalent about the entire thing. I hope the UK kicks out the extradiction request, but I'm not inclined to put much effort into condemning it.
edit: how many awards should be good for discontinuing a sexual assault investigation? Are they like supermarket purchase stickers, where you have to collect a couple of dozen before you can trade them in for a couple of crystal tumblers?
Curious – why do you "hope the UK kicks out the extradition request"? Do you think the US request is unwarranted, are you concerned about what might happen to Assange when he is extradited, or is it something else?
Reckon Sweden will have picked up a few more ‘reward stickers’ for the timely dropping of their investigation – or maybe these things just happen.
I think the US charges are generally over-inflated. Espionage Act, weren't some of them? ISTR that was pretty thin, based on supposed "encouragement" and "assistance" for Manning.
Now, if some of the charges involved allegationsd of electoral interference for 2016, I'd definitely be suspecting that maybe the yanks had a point for those.
As for the Swedes' choices, frankly I'd trust them over Assange, the yanks, or even the brits. Just my perception, though.
"You have got a lot of ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes" yep Francesca you are right on the mark there, I couldn't have put it better. Some seriously twisted world views get unleashed here, Al1en usually commenting gleefully somewhere near the top of that stinking pile….McFlock a close second.
And if he was so keen to clear his name he wouldn't have run away and hid for all those years, but at least with him being legally banged up in Belmarsh for his skipping bail, we can't blame the prosecutors for not doing their jobs properly this time.
I believe the skipping bail penalty is finished, so now he's banged up in Belmarsh because he has form for skipping bail and therefore they won't give him bail to skip again.
Love the way you conspiracy peddlers have to constantly turn logic inside out, contort it this way and that to make these nutty stories that are feed to you make some kind of vague sense…which of course they don't.
which goes back to the biggest oddity of all – if he was genuinely afraid of a covert US-invented case against him in Sweden, why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…
On the expulsion of US ambassador Heather Hodges in April 2011 by President Correa of Ecuador he said: “Mrs. Hodges has never treated our government well. Though our relations with the US are quite stable now, unfortunately, some US officials are spying on our police, trying to accuse me of corruption”.
You've clearly misunderstood the comment "why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…" which refers to running away to the UK – The u.s' closest ally.
On RNZ this morning it was impressive to hear the President of the NZ Deerstalkers Association complaining that 1080 should not be dropped by DoC at this time of the year because it might be inhumane to young deer.
Even Corin Dann had to ask the obvious question about why they are complaining about harm to deer when their whole purpose is to shoot them dead in the first place.
Minister Sage brought the discussion back to the reality of a massive mast year and actually protecting highly threatened native species.
Thats a good point. Many people die in hospital too, doesnt mean we shouldnt have them as you have to think of the actual intent rather than a minor side effect
If any govt is serious about protecting " highly threatened native species " one of the first things they would have to do is start an eradication programme of those invasive apex predators the Rainbow and Brown Trouts from our water ways and seriously look at curtailing whitebaiting in some way.
As I have said on here before I interviewed Bod McDowall about ten years ago about NZ fresh water fishes, and he said off the record that most of the large native species where headed toward extinction though environmental degradation of one form or another (mainly farming of course) introduced predators and whitebaiting.
Thanks for that, I will have to track down a copy of that book. I actually quite like Trout as a fish species, I have kept them and grown them from fry in aquariums, just as a matter of interest, and found them to have quite a bit of character, but are hyper aggressive, so not too good with other fish, and they grow extremely fast, are very territorial, all the things you wouldn't want to introduce into a foreign environment you would think.
It was like the Queen had died. It was as if the most alarming constitutional situation since 1506 had arisen.
A snowball was rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger and was certain to engulf those in its path.
Yes, the grave tones of Matthew Hooton on RNZ talking about the New Zealand First funding episode. Sorry, talking about Jacinda Ardern's responsibility around the New Zealand First funding episode.
No shrill shrieks to attract others to push the ball down the hill, just solemn mode. And gravitas furthered with, "What I’m about say I checked with a professor of constitutional law and a senior partner of a very major law firm…"
My start to genuflect interrupted by a massive involuntary chunder.
There is a situation for her to deal with. You get that in the job. Is it the biggest constitutional crisis we've ever had? Or could have?
I recognise it has political importance. That's why Hooton is trying to portray it as a game of tennis between master players on a packed centre Wimbledon Court, watched by zillions on electronica all round the world with the result seeing the extermination of all the citizens of the country of the loser.
It's another game of knockabout tennis on a suburban or country court on a Thursday morning.
You can always tell when Hooton goes into super-hyper mode. The tone of his voice drops a decibel or two and the words come out of his mouth slow and measured. It's the brief moment when us listeners sit up and wonder what earth shattering event has just occurred… followed by a slump back into normal mode and a sigh of general deflation.
It's a tale often dispersed with faint giggles in the background emanating from Mike Williams signifying that normal discourse has temporarily halted but will shortly resume.
What is the point of Mike Williams? Seriously. You could replace him with one of those nodding dogs that sit in the rear window of your car and I doubt anyone would notice.
Hooten dangerously good at his job and Kathryn Ryan a big fan girl who gives him too much leeway to practise his art….this a full court press to push support parties below threshold and no expense is being spared…..guess all that Chinese donated money to the National Party had to find a home somewhere
"The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process."
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
And facing an effective death sentence … 175 yrs imprisonment. I suppose all those who so vociferously called him a 'rapist' here for so many years must be very pleased with themselves now.
How is Chelsea Manning doing? She still in prison?
Oh, yeah, that is exactly where she is.
North Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. … Manning is currently in jail for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange.
Right from the outset it was obvious the Swedish 'prosecution' was politically motivated and his fears of being extradited to the USA were justified. These claims, that many lefties sneered at for so long, are now proven beyond all doubt.
But now you seem to be implying that because Manning is in prison for telling the truth, therefore Assange should be as well? And because a man is a 'bit of a dick' … this now rates an effective death sentence in some concrete hell hole?
Still it's highly likely the UK is going to hand him over to the Americans , so you should be very pleased with yourself. You win; enjoy it.
We judge women who have children without husbands, who have sex without being married and there you have a responsible partner who wants the sex but no babies and he fucks it up for no reason other then himslef. Maybe really that actually needs to be seen as what it is and spoken of as is. A dumb stupid penis driven action that got himself into the biggest shitpile of the world.
As for him being handed to Trump? No i don't enjoy that, i would not enjoy that for anyone. Trump now needs someone he can offer to the altar of his base – lest they abandon him – and Assange would be good for that.
But that too is Assanges fault for literally reading the Trumpster wrong and hoping that the guy who is a sadistic fuck will give him clemency or something. So in all of your hand wringing about the fault of others, all i ask is that Assanges fuck ups should be equally be considered a reason for his current predicament.
And meanwhile Chelsea Manning is still in prison for upholding her convictions. And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
Maybe because you haven't looked. Manning may get less overt attention, but she has certainly not been ignored. Her plight as a whistleblower is equally appalling and significant.
But that's the point … you seem to have a great deal of sympathy for Manning that I share with you. But for some reason you characterise Assange as a 'dick' who is still somehow to blame for what is happening to him.
i have a great deal of Chelsea Manning as she not only did what she believed is right, but she also accepted the punishment for it. – This does not mean i think she should have gotten accused/prosecuted/judged, far from it.
As for Assange, i had a great deal of time for him until he started behaving like a dick. When one sits in a glass house one should not start throwing stones. Firstly and secondly if it is ok for Chelsea Manning to go to prison, if it is Ok for Snowden to hide in Russia then it would equally behoove Assange to use his brains every now and then rather then just demand to be treated differnently then all the others.
And yes, with his sexual partner he behaved like a dick (unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are often kept abay by using condoms or so we are told), and then subsequently ever since. For a supposedly smart man he behaved like an idiot. And he should have known that he is wanted, he should have known that the Yankees will not be kind, he should have known that he needs to treat lightly and he gave no shits about nothing. And that is part of the narrative no matter how unpleasant you may find that.
Idiocy, Stupidity, Arrogance do not protect one from harm. Personally i believe that him betting on Trump was his biggest idiotic action since fucking without that darn condom.
In all things that happen to us we are always a bit to blame. And so is he.
Ah no … it's not OK for Manning to be in prison for the rest of her life, nor for Snowden to be stuck in Russia indefinitely. But Assange is different because … sex.
By this logic all whistleblowers and journalists are required to live blameless, sex free lives in order that they remain above all possible reproach on their characters. In the meantime the actual war crimes they tell the truth about just aren't important any more.
Oh no its not ok for all of them to be in prison for the rest of their lifes as what they did was the right thing to do. Firstly.
Secondly., Snowden is in russia in exile- and he most likely knows that it will be for the rest of his life, and Chelsea was in prison – and without clemency from Obama would be there for the rest of her life, and currently is prison for refusing to testify about Assange. Personal responsability, they do it!
By my logic, all whistle blowers and journalists have enough brains, and should have enough brains to know that if it goes all wrong life as it was is pretty much over. And frankly, most of them do, and they don't end up holed up in a room in an embassy somewhere because they fear being arrested after fucking up a consensual booty call. He would have done much better demanding political asylum anywhere on this planet and demand his day in court, under the cameras of the world yadda yadda yadda….instead he was hoping for a US government that is more favorable to him, bet on Trump, and loses as everyone who works with that shitface does. Cause Trump only has clemency at heart for one person, himself. All others are simply there to advance his agenda and once that is done they have no more uses for them, And that is Assanges dilemma atm. He has outlived his usefulness.
And maybe that's just what a rapist/sexual assailant wants you to believe.
But my point was that me wanting Assange to have faced a court wasn't about "sex". It was to face up to sexual assault allegations.
And one thing that really makes me think some people would be happy for him to actually get away with rape because wikileaks is when they imply the investigation and grounds for extradition related to consensual sex rather than sexual assault.
No need to be cute, McFlock – when you write "a rapist/sexual assailant“, you mean Assange, right?
And are you suggesting that dropping the investigation now plays into Assange's hands because it creates the impression that Sweden is making way for US extradition proceedings? What a manipulative monster he is!
Could the Swedish prosecutors have sustained their investigation until the statute of limitations ran out in August 2020, maybe out of respect for the (alleged) victims? We'll never know.
IMHO it's pretty scurrilous to suggest that anyone "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" – inflammatory even.
"Maybe" it's all a big con on behalf of the US (that's what you meant by "served its purpose", right – that the charges were fabricated for the yanks?)
"Maybe" a sexual offender kept running any lying and running and ended up turning himself into a bargaining chip.
We'll never know because the guy who skipped on the Swedes in August 2010 dragged the extradition hearings out until May 2012, and now there's only a year for the most serious charges to run out the statute of limitations.
And I can't see any other relevance a list of awards has in relation to sexual assault allegations against the recipient of those awards other than to try to somehow minimise or deflect from those allegations. Feel free to come up with a decent excuse, something other than "he's such a great guy let's talk about that rather than the allegations against him". Please. Because one thing has not a damned thing to do with the other.
The thread in which I listed Assange's modest collection of awards and honours began with Adrian's comment (@5) on "Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives", and "Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation".
I appended that list of awards/honours to my comment @9:17 pm partly because of its relevance to “Press Freedom” and partly because I thought it might annoy you, but you are unflappable – no-one could think that suggesting 'some people' "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" was a sign of irritation. Nevertheless, that’s a mighty fine pearl you're working on
Of course he should have used a condom. Perhaps he is a bit of a dick. Who hasn't behaved like a dick sometime? But you seem to choose to ignore the fact that even if he'd behaved with decorum of the highest order, he still would have ended up in jail on some trumped up charge.
Does it not bother you that he is being charged while all the media outlets that published the wikileaks files remain untouched.
Doesn't it bother you that he was spied on while in the Ecuadorian embassy, that Moreno allowed the British into the embassy to remove him and incarcerate him.
If your sympathies actually lie with the women Assange was involved with they may be misplaced as they have declared they had no desire to have him charged.
Or is it simply a calvinist desire to punish, because we all must be punished.
But AFAIK nobody's ever been to the cops to accuse me of rape.
Assange chose to not use a condom when penetrating sleeping women, chose to skip bail, chose to make himself a diplomatic bargaining chip. Yes, the US case against Assange seems to me to be an overinflated pile of shit. Yes, the yanks shouldn't be holding Manning on contempt charges. Yes, a good case can be made that Snowden should receive absolution for leaking classified documents because it was in the public interest to do so.
But Assange shouldn't get a pass on the things he, and only he, chose to do. It's not "calvinist", it goes to the entire idea of how we treat sexual assaulters who are in positions of power. Do we give them a pass because we like their work or they are rich? Or do we treat them like we'd treat a poor person facing similar accusations?
Except he hasn't been charged with sexual assault. You can keep saying it forever, but saying it doesn't make it true.
To describe in such detail what is supposed to have happened, between two consenting adults, according to you, I find just a wee bit revolting. And actually that unnecessary description defines you more than it does Assange.
The British Supreme Court said it was true enough to make the EAW valid. If you were correct, Assange would have won the UK extradition proceedings. He did not, so chose to skip bail.
between two consenting adults,
No, between one adult and another adult who had explicitly withheld consent to condom removal.
The UK Supreme Court didnt rule on the charges validity, they just said it was procedurally valid
as they also said
"A domestic detention order was made by the Stockholm District Court in Mr Assange’s absence, and was upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal.
"A prosecutor in Sweden thereafter issued a European Arrest Warrant (‘EAW’) on 2 December 2010 pursuant to the arrangements put in place by the Council of the European Union in the Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the EAW and the surrender procedures between Member States (2002/584/JHA)(‘the Framework Decision’), which were given effect in the United Kingdom in Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’)."
It seems Brigid is closer to the truth. Dont know what a domestic detention warrant is , but doesnt 'sound like' a charge of sexual assualt.
Swedish criminal procedure is different from our or UK system.
My rough interpretation is the warrant was for the förundersökning or preliminary investigation phase, which is followed by åtals väckande or indictment which they goes to rättegång or trial
Sometime there can be förutredning or prelimininary enquiry before preliminary investigation
I gather from the current context there was no åtals väckande.
The credit goes to regulars like francesca and Bridget who have been firm and clear on this story all along. My respect goes to them.
And to be fair to everyone else … I would love nothing more than for the divisiveness and bruising this whole affair has caused to be ended and healed.
Further to the discussion yesterday about the term "indigenous".
There seems to be a broad agreement that the definition of the term seems to be related to the point at which Europeans first came across a group of people (although there may be exceptions to this).
This is the a run down on the current view as far as I am aware. Maori are indigenous to NZ but the Celtic people are not indigenous to England. Possible exceptions may include the Japanese who may or may not be regarded as indigenous to the Japanese given the existence of the Ainu people. Han Chinese may be indigenous to parts of China but not the entire country. Malays are treated as being indigenous to Malaysia (at least according to their own laws) yet are actually not the original people in the area. Shona people in Zimbabwe are indigenous but the Ndebele who live there are not possibly despite nither of them actually being the original inhabitants of the land (which are likely the San people). All First nation /American Indian people are indigeous to the entire American continent regardless of where they live. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia but not to most of the Arab World.
The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanised and keen to adopt Roman ways.
That excerpt from Wikipedia is simply used to show that the word "native" isn't restricted to people encountered by modern Europeans. Another example (this time using the term "indigenous") is the wikipedia entry "Taiwanese indigenous peoples".
Basically, the term seems to encompass the people who were first into an area compared to other ethnic groups. Eurocentrism is your spin, for whatever reason.
There are 28 pages detailing the periods, pregnancies and reason for the pregnancy (whether by rape or not) of teen girls in custody, some of whom are as young as 12. There may well be reasons for the government to track whether or not a woman is pregnant, and how far along in her pregnancy she is, but there’s no reason to track the cause of her pregnancy. It’s pretty fair to assume that they’re not doing this because they want to ensure women know all the options regarding their pregnancy. It’s almost certainly an attempt to bar them from getting abortions.
Tuesday's resolution was opposed by Israel, the United States and three Pacific island nations that depend heavily on U.S. aid and tend to vote with Washington at the UN: the Marshall Islands, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Speaking on background, an official at Global Affairs Canada said the vote sends a message that Canada does not agree with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assertion on Monday that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are "not, per se, inconsistent with international law."
Crimea occupation by Russia is illegal , but not the Nato occupation of Kososvo
Turkeys support for the puppet state of Northern Cyprus is OK , while Russias support of puppet state of South Ossetia in Georgia isnt.
The US occupation and control of Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia ( still UK territories)in the South Indian Ocean is OK despite it being illegal under UN rules about splitting of territories and evicting its resident people when Mauritius became independent. ICJ has also ruled the split was illegal.
a wiki leaks dislosure UK wanted to declare a marine reserve – the worlds largest-to prevent the Chagossians from returning , while allowing US to remain at Diego Garcia. This has now occurred
The expulsion of the Chagossians was one of the many disgusting acts of the UK government. To avoid using the phrase "permanent inhabitants" they declared them 'belongers' of Mauritius and the Seychelles and only temporary residents of BIOT
"This devise, although rather transparent, would at least give us a defensible position to take up at the UN."
Yes Nick Smith must be pissed off! A barrage of questions re the National Electoral spending tricks of the Electoral Act was the response to Nick Smith trying to trap the Minister of Justice. Brownlee tried to block the Government response. Brilliant.
And the multi-million dollar warning that should Smith or Bridges repeat outside what they said in House, they will be sued for defamation.
According to Howard, a “then-president of a studio sublabel” praised the script and then suggested Roberts play Tubman. “Fortunately, there was a single black person in that studio meeting 25 years ago who told him that Harriet Tubman was a black woman,” Howard wrote in the Times piece. “The president replied, ‘That was so long ago. No one will know that.'”
Diversity in the boardroom heads off stupid plan at the start.
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
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Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
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Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
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TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
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TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
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Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
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Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
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Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
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The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
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The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
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Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
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Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
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State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
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Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
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Wonder when he is going to bring out the NO sign again.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117577119/who-are-the-donors-behind-the-nz-first-foundation
How much damage to the environment has NZFirst caused? First the Kermadecs, now the first government to commit to meaningful climate change is sunk
what about National and their – please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal? Oh of course, its nationals so it must be ok.
Please be fair and if you rage against one party rage against all the parties that pull equal shenanigans.
and establishing a target and nothing much more is not 'meaningful' nor is it a fight, but it is for sure a very serious attempt at being seen as proactive.
Thought this government was going to be different and transformational?
so how is it relevant to rage against National, when there ability to achieve meaningful change from opposition is nil, when the active members of this government are actively sabotaging important work through side shows and deceit
This government was never going to be different as soon as it needed NZF.
The only way to get transformational leadership is to vote Green, even then it requires that the Green vote is high enough to require significant input into the next government.
the thing is that they all do it and you rather then whinge about 'them will /should be better', they aren't.
they are in it for a paycheck, a perk or several for life and that is it. I think that soimon, jacinda and the whole heck of them would not be as successful in private business simply because they are not good, nor insipriational, nor hard workers. So politics it is. Sadly, you and i will only ever get some crooks to vote for.
Except James Shaw. His selfless work on the environment can not be said to be all about the pay check.
i suspect your right about the rest though. Two second rate provincial lawyers. a fry cook and whatever the hell rimmer did.
I have no more use for him then i have for Cloe Swarbrik.
Nice suits, empty tho.
OK, so you have no time for Shaw, Swarbrick, Ardern … are there any actual human beings in NZ you would like to see on a party's list?
"I'm holding out for a hero" is a cheesy song, not a smart political strategy.
you still don't get it?
I don't need to like any of these people.
I just need to vote for them once every three years and as always i will vote for what i consider the lesser evil. Which currently is Labour/Greens and to some extend even NZ First.
But what i do want from people who live of mine and your tax dollars is some guts, some conviction and some actual deeds. Currently we have none of that. We get a few band aids so that our elderlies don't freeze in their iceboxes, we get a few band aids so the environmentally inclinded shut up until the next decade and the next labour goverment ( if by hten we still have a government), and so on.
So' I will support you no matter what' does not work for me, never did never will.
And yes, in a better world we would have polititians rather then empty suits that would be pulling a shift in a back office taking calls.
Also ‘i need a hero’ is not a cheesy song, its literally a women crying out for a one night stand. It was considered a feminist song in the late seventies, you know…rather then the bullshit ….’soon you be a women soon’…:)
That's not an answer. You've simply put words in my mouth.
I wouldn't expect you (or anyone) to say "I will support you no matter what". That's absurd. Nor do I need you to like them as people (again, not what I asked).
But if the candidates available are not acceptable to you, it's reasonable to ask who is. If nobody, then what?
All you've offered is general slogans and rants. Unfortunately, governments have to be people instead. There really is no way of getting around that fact.
Sabine’s problem is that James was corporate, went politic to fight for what he believes in, but didn’t hang the suit up, throw the soap away and grow dreads.
want business, soft national and non wellington professional voters to vote left? Keep James Shaw. He’s achieving across the board
OK boomer.
"please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal".
You seem so sure that your fantasy represents reality Sabine. Just like a number of other commentators on this blog. What evidence do you have? Surely you are not like that odious little creep Ross. He claimed he had recordings of phone conversations that would prove his deranged claims but when he finally produced some nobody but little Jamie could find anything at all that showed that he was anything other than delusional.
Now, surely you aren't like him? What is your evidence?
This 'matter' of splitting donations is the subject of a current SFO investigation.
The rush to judge NZF in the court of public opinion is a puzzle, but truth will out.
You are telling me that it is only under investigation?
Gosh from some of the comments on this site I had thought that they must have come to a conclusion, held a trial and that the hanging would be at dawn tomorrow.
I mean from lprent we had
"Bearing in mind that we have had the National party revealed as doing something even more dodgy (and probably illegal) last year with an allegation from their ex-party whip saying that the National party leader was involved in advising the break up of a $100k donation into $14k chunks to avoid declarations." That sounds rather more than just an investigation taking place.
Then from Mickysavage we have
"It is funny that the leader of the party being investigated by the SFO for rorting the election system should be demanding that the leader of the party who is not accused of anything should take action against the leader of a third party that appears to have been really cute with the law but has not necessarily done anything illegal." That sounds as if it is all over doesn't it?
But hey, Winston has to be protected because when he goes the CoL goes.
Now what is the actual evidence again? All that JLR released was that Bridges wanted to ensure that the donations were correctly reported.
I wouldn't care to speculate on any "splitting donations" evidence that the SFO investigation has uncovered. Likewise, the nature of NZF's very recent alleged funding indiscretions is, at this early stage, a matter of speculation only.
Some here are predisposed to rushing to judgement when it serves their (political) purpose, wouldn't you agree Alwyn?
Mod note for you here alwyn,
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-22-11-2019/#comment-1668341
I see Mr Trump is in even deeper trouble!
i pointed out the company he kept well before the election, and what can one say………maybe it ain't you, but the company you keep lets us to believe that it is you.
Oh most definitely… 😆
https://twitter.com/RepStefanik/status/1197249054754967552
Ken Starr reckons it might be time for Republican Senators to visit the White House and let tRump know that it's all over.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ken-starr-suggests-on-fox-that-gop-senators-may-need-to-make-a-trip-to-white-house-after-sondland-testimony
She forgets that the aid was only 'unblocked' as it became public knowledge and there was an outcry.
The Ukraine President had actually agreed to an announcement about 'investigation into the Bidens' and said announcement was about to be made… the outcry came about a day before .
That Congresswoman, from upper NY state , once she started spouting the Trump lines, apparently her democratic opponent suddenly had a massive surge in donations made online
Ukraine got the aid because tRump had no legal authority to block it, and it was delivered without his consent.
President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11, but the State Department had quietly authorized releasing $141 million of the money several days earlier, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The State Department decision, which hasn’t been reported previously, stemmed from a legal finding made earlier in the year, and conveyed in a classified memorandum to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. State Department lawyers found the White House Office of Management and Budget, and thus the president, had no legal standing to block spending of the Ukraine aid.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-09/state-department-freed-ukraine-money-before-trump-says-he-did
She did a really good job in raising a million dollar for her opponent NY21.
https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1197262755537010688
just read the comments, and yes she did raise over a million dollar for Tedra Cobb. Well done Elise.
Nunes is so far doing a good job in raising a few hundred thousands of dollars for his opponent in California22.
https://twitter.com/PhilArballo2020/status/1197211650836725760
ah man. one can't make this shit up.
all the money/debt in the world and not one bit of class, intelligence, gut feel, instincts, forsight, hindsight, any sight. Seriously Team Trump are the biggest fucking losers on the planet.
Oh most definitely…
EU ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies that Trump's personal lawyer "requests were a quid pro quo"
The BBC must have accidently left out the very un-quid pro quo thing he would go on to say later in the testimony.
"That was the problem, Mr. Goldman. No one told me directly that the aid was tied to anything. I was presuming it was."
Perhaps you should read the article.
“He then confirmed the president had sought an investigation in exchange for a White House visit for Mr Zelensky – a quid pro quo (a favour in return for a favour).”
"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
“The word “bombshell” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Mr Sondland’s testimony, which represents a shift from his earlier closed-door statements, is a watershed moment in these impeachment investigations.”
Oh no, no, no, no….
No amount of reading a BBC article is going to show where he walks back on his quid pro quo.
https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/1197231629279924225
Of course, your go to is partisan xtian extremist Mark "home to Kenya" Meadows, who represents one of the two most wildly gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation.
You really do have to wonder what sort of person continues to back Trump on a left wing website like this, especially when faced with steady corroborative stream of evidence and informed opinion.
I mean what’s the end game to that twisted agenda?
Or you could actually look at the content of what's being said rather than continually shooting the messenger…
That's a deliciously cute irony. lol
You really have to stop watching Faux News.
That quote you make is taken completely out of context. Sondland was quietly trying to cover his ass at that point, because he, and all the others in the loop, are just as deep in the shit as Trump. Sondland doesn't want to go to jail so he is spilling the beans, in an effort to curry favour. Fact is there was a criminal conspiracy Orchestrated by Trump and Giuliani to bribe the Ukraine Government to carry out a spoof "investigation", so Trump could run deflection in the forthcoming 2020 elections.
Sondland – The U.S. ambassador to the European Union testified that he and senior administration officials “followed the president’s orders” to work with Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the discredited conspiracy theory that the country helped Democrats in the 2016 election. Gordon Sondland testified that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and special envoy Kurt Volker coordinated with Giuliani at the “at the express direction of the president of the United States” to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations. Sondland said he directly communicated the “quid pro quo” arrangement to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sondland also provided House impeachment investigators with emails and texts showing that acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Perry, and others were all aware that Trump conditioned a White House meeting for Zelensky on his willingness to launch investigations. “They knew what we were doing and why,” Sondland said. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”
That is essentially a bribe. And that is an impeachable offence.
Be best, or be better.
Next, bye.
So many crimes.
https://twitter.com/mschmitt9/status/1196996685706203136
No mention of Chinese Communist Party donations to NZ1 Foundations I notice.
Sounds like the main complainer is a Nat supporter who wants his poxy 5 grand back so he can add it to the hundreds of thousands of Beijing Government money. Good on ya mate ! Hypocrit and arsehole.
He may have figured that a win or place bet on the New Zealand First (NZF) horse would have been very much an outside bet, but combined with the influence that NZF would have had over other horses in the race if one or other of the other two came in neck to neck, the return was likely to be enormous.
So NAT and LAB, combined in that post election combination, might have actually provided for a very large collect by him by way of an extra bet, but I cannot suggest this to have been his position.
The old days of first and place bets are finished, and more sophisticated punt arrangements seem to now be preferred.
But it is possible that he may have collected big on some other bet placed, or that others might have in a similar way.
Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9assL6mKi0
Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation
“The evidence is not strong enough to form the basis of an indictment,” says deputy director of public prosecutors
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/julian-assange-rape-investigation-sweden-dropped-914405/
Your excitement is obvious enough without the bold capitals.
Thank you Adrian. As Corré says, it's shameful and a stain on the British justice system
The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process.
"The reason for this decision is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question,"
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/assa-n18.html
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_legal_assistance_treaty
As it turns out Assange had every reason to fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden
Of course it's the right of the suspect to determine the whereabouts investigator interviews take place, especially when they've gone to court to avoid extradition, then fled like a coward to a foreign embassy, but yeah, the "fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden", how did that work out as a plan? Don't answer, I don't care for your spin.
Whether he should be sent to the states for the wikileaks dumps is one thing, after all he did sanction the leaks, and they have a lawful right to go after him for that, but in many people's eyes he'll always be tainted more for failing to front the rape allegations.
All this torture talk is wank. His reality has come home to roost, and like most times when it catches up, it hits hardest on the weak. It's like now he knows what it's like to be f*cked without consent and it's a bust. Karma?
Come on
If the Swedes had been interested in bringing Assange to "justice" They would have pursued all avenues
They didn't, and let the whole thing go dormant for 9 years
You have got a lot of
ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes
"pursued all avenues".
Why "pursue" if there's no chance of arrest and trial?
Because they could at least get to the stage of deciding whether charges should be laid , or the case thrown out.
And of course, McFlock, in the end they did question him at the Embassy, in 2016, which they could have done all along, so clearly they felt it was worthwhile
Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area.
As for "deciding whether charges should be laid", again, if it were as clear cut as that then the British Supreme Court would have denied extradition. And Assange's legal team did a better job of making that argument than you ever have.
"Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area."
Could you expand on your reasoning, i.e. that the 2016 interview was pointless? Do you think that the interview would have been less pointless if it had been conducted in an 'unprotected area' (?), and if so, why?
The prosecutors had already informed Assange's lawyer they had enough evidence to arrest unless a second interview dramatically changed the picture.
If the interview had left the prosecutors no evidence to discontinue those proceedings extant at the time, in an unprotected area (i.e. Sweden) he would have been arrested and quickly brought before a court (as per Swedish procedure).
If the interview had made it clear the allegations were all bunk, protected area or not the proceedings would have been discontinued then and there.
The proceedings continued but did not lead to an immediate arrest and court appearance. The interview changed nothing. From a criminal procedure point of view, the interview served no purpose.
If the Swedish prosecutors believed that they had enough evidence to arrest Assange prior to the 2016 interview, and the interview changed nothing, then why didn’t the prosecutors subsequently arrest/indict Assange? After all, they've had plenty of time to prepare, and Assange hasn't been in a 'protected area' for some time.
Seems extraordinary to me that Swedish prosecutors would choose to drop their investigation into the more serious allegation (of rape) prior to the statute of limitations expiring in 2020.
Cliff notes from the UK court judgements:
UK procedure = complaint, investigate, charge on prima facie evidence, throughly investigate, court.
Swedish procdure: complaint, investigate prima facie (intial interview), thoroughly investigate (second interview), charge, straight to court. In both jurisdictions, going to court before you've thoroughly investigated = shafting your own case.
As for choosing to drop proceedings before the statute of limitations expires, the official comment was that so much time has passed that evidence will be less reliable. I suspect "Assange will drag out the process in the UK until the clock ticks out" was also a factor.
Oh, and if someone had lumped me with an Assange-level headache for several years and then wanted to drop it, I'd be pissed, too.
Spare a thought for the alleged rape victim(s), denied their day in court. Ah well, the Swedish and U.K. justice systems did their best.
🙄 you were talking about the CPS.
Swedish prosecutors have declined to investigate further, and the U.K. judiciary has had its pound of flesh:
Time for the U.S. 'courts' to have a go.
Wonder if there'll be anything left when they're finished. Still, not our worry, eh.
The Swedish prosecutors are faced the fact that the dude ran out the clock on any chance of a successful prosecution. Don't go pretending it's a fickle decision.
As for the yanks, they suck. But so does Assange, so I'm a bit ambivalent about the entire thing. I hope the UK kicks out the extradiction request, but I'm not inclined to put much effort into condemning it.
edit: how many awards should be good for discontinuing a sexual assault investigation? Are they like supermarket purchase stickers, where you have to collect a couple of dozen before you can trade them in for a couple of crystal tumblers?
Curious – why do you "hope the UK kicks out the extradition request"? Do you think the US request is unwarranted, are you concerned about what might happen to Assange when he is extradited, or is it something else?
Reckon Sweden will have picked up a few more ‘reward stickers’ for the timely dropping of their investigation – or maybe these things just happen.
Assange faces US extradition hearing as Sweden drops rape probe
https://www.ft.com/content/90853d64-0acf-11ea-b2d6-9bf4d1957a67
I think the US charges are generally over-inflated. Espionage Act, weren't some of them? ISTR that was pretty thin, based on supposed "encouragement" and "assistance" for Manning.
Now, if some of the charges involved allegationsd of electoral interference for 2016, I'd definitely be suspecting that maybe the yanks had a point for those.
As for the Swedes' choices, frankly I'd trust them over Assange, the yanks, or even the brits. Just my perception, though.
"You have got a lot of ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes" yep Francesca you are right on the mark there, I couldn't have put it better. Some seriously twisted world views get unleashed here, Al1en usually commenting gleefully somewhere near the top of that stinking pile….McFlock a close second.
And Adrian, clinging on to the rear 'til the very end.
“Come on”
And if he was so keen to clear his name he wouldn't have run away and hid for all those years, but at least with him being legally banged up in Belmarsh for his skipping bail, we can't blame the prosecutors for not doing their jobs properly this time.
I believe the skipping bail penalty is finished, so now he's banged up in Belmarsh because he has form for skipping bail and therefore they won't give him bail to skip again.
Well you wouldn't trust him not to run away again, would you? Not even if he took large amounts of other people's money to use as a bail bond.
And to repeat what I’ve stated on here before, he shouldn’t be extradited to the u.s.a, but deported back to Australia.
Yep, the the good old sycophantic UK doing the bidding of the Trump administration .
Who benefited from his Clinton emails dump. Strange old world, eh?
Love the way you conspiracy peddlers have to constantly turn logic inside out, contort it this way and that to make these nutty stories that are feed to you make some kind of vague sense…which of course they don't.
It would be quite funny if it wasn't so sad.
lol
which goes back to the biggest oddity of all – if he was genuinely afraid of a covert US-invented case against him in Sweden, why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…
You know very well that Ecuador, at the time that Assange sought refuge in their embassy, was not USA's 'closest ally'.
You really are grasping at the finest scrap of straw now.
On the expulsion of US ambassador Heather Hodges in April 2011 by President Correa of Ecuador he said: “Mrs. Hodges has never treated our government well. Though our relations with the US are quite stable now, unfortunately, some US officials are spying on our police, trying to accuse me of corruption”.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/10/13/ecuador-us-intelligence-against-rafael-correa/
You've clearly misunderstood the comment "why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…" which refers to running away to the UK – The u.s' closest ally.
no, the country he went to after his lawyer was told that formal charges were likely after the second interview.
Going to ground in an embassy was just stupid.
On RNZ this morning it was impressive to hear the President of the NZ Deerstalkers Association complaining that 1080 should not be dropped by DoC at this time of the year because it might be inhumane to young deer.
Even Corin Dann had to ask the obvious question about why they are complaining about harm to deer when their whole purpose is to shoot them dead in the first place.
Minister Sage brought the discussion back to the reality of a massive mast year and actually protecting highly threatened native species.
OMG
Thats a good point. Many people die in hospital too, doesnt mean we shouldnt have them as you have to think of the actual intent rather than a minor side effect
And no complaints from him about it being inhumane for target species.
If any govt is serious about protecting " highly threatened native species " one of the first things they would have to do is start an eradication programme of those invasive apex predators the Rainbow and Brown Trouts from our water ways and seriously look at curtailing whitebaiting in some way.
As I have said on here before I interviewed Bod McDowall about ten years ago about NZ fresh water fishes, and he said off the record that most of the large native species where headed toward extinction though environmental degradation of one form or another (mainly farming of course) introduced predators and whitebaiting.
Bob McDowall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_McDowall
Giant Kōkopu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi3FfJEusaQ
An ecological bully.
Thanks for that, I will have to track down a copy of that book. I actually quite like Trout as a fish species, I have kept them and grown them from fry in aquariums, just as a matter of interest, and found them to have quite a bit of character, but are hyper aggressive, so not too good with other fish, and they grow extremely fast, are very territorial, all the things you wouldn't want to introduce into a foreign environment you would think.
Quite a large difference between a quick death from a bullet and writhing in pain kicking you guts for hours!!
Not anti 1080 but just thought I'd give you the hunters probable perspective.
open it for hunting. Deer is good eating. 1080 aint'.
It was like the Queen had died. It was as if the most alarming constitutional situation since 1506 had arisen.
A snowball was rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger and was certain to engulf those in its path.
Yes, the grave tones of Matthew Hooton on RNZ talking about the New Zealand First funding episode. Sorry, talking about Jacinda Ardern's responsibility around the New Zealand First funding episode.
No shrill shrieks to attract others to push the ball down the hill, just solemn mode. And gravitas furthered with, "What I’m about say I checked with a professor of constitutional law and a senior partner of a very major law firm…"
My start to genuflect interrupted by a massive involuntary chunder.
Even NoRightTurn thinks its her problem, you wouldnt call him a right wing shrill would you?..
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/11/winston-is-pms-problem.html?m=1
There is a situation for her to deal with. You get that in the job. Is it the biggest constitutional crisis we've ever had? Or could have?
I recognise it has political importance. That's why Hooton is trying to portray it as a game of tennis between master players on a packed centre Wimbledon Court, watched by zillions on electronica all round the world with the result seeing the extermination of all the citizens of the country of the loser.
It's another game of knockabout tennis on a suburban or country court on a Thursday morning.
You can always tell when Hooton goes into super-hyper mode. The tone of his voice drops a decibel or two and the words come out of his mouth slow and measured. It's the brief moment when us listeners sit up and wonder what earth shattering event has just occurred… followed by a slump back into normal mode and a sigh of general deflation.
It's a tale often dispersed with faint giggles in the background emanating from Mike Williams signifying that normal discourse has temporarily halted but will shortly resume.
What is the point of Mike Williams? Seriously. You could replace him with one of those nodding dogs that sit in the rear window of your car and I doubt anyone would notice.
lol wensleydale
Hooten dangerously good at his job and Kathryn Ryan a big fan girl who gives him too much leeway to practise his art….this a full court press to push support parties below threshold and no expense is being spared…..guess all that Chinese donated money to the National Party had to find a home somewhere
"The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process."
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/assa-n18.html
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_legal_assistance_treaty
As it turns out Assange had every reason to fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden
Read for godsake
And facing an effective death sentence … 175 yrs imprisonment. I suppose all those who so vociferously called him a 'rapist' here for so many years must be very pleased with themselves now.
How is Chelsea Manning doing? She still in prison?
Oh, yeah, that is exactly where she is.
North Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. … Manning is currently in jail for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning
No people simply point out that the man is a bit of dick, and may even be a little bit at fault for getting himself into that position.
Right from the outset it was obvious the Swedish 'prosecution' was politically motivated and his fears of being extradited to the USA were justified. These claims, that many lefties sneered at for so long, are now proven beyond all doubt.
But now you seem to be implying that because Manning is in prison for telling the truth, therefore Assange should be as well? And because a man is a 'bit of a dick' … this now rates an effective death sentence in some concrete hell hole?
Still it's highly likely the UK is going to hand him over to the Americans , so you should be very pleased with yourself. You win; enjoy it.
We judge women who have children without husbands, who have sex without being married and there you have a responsible partner who wants the sex but no babies and he fucks it up for no reason other then himslef. Maybe really that actually needs to be seen as what it is and spoken of as is. A dumb stupid penis driven action that got himself into the biggest shitpile of the world.
As for him being handed to Trump? No i don't enjoy that, i would not enjoy that for anyone. Trump now needs someone he can offer to the altar of his base – lest they abandon him – and Assange would be good for that.
But that too is Assanges fault for literally reading the Trumpster wrong and hoping that the guy who is a sadistic fuck will give him clemency or something. So in all of your hand wringing about the fault of others, all i ask is that Assanges fuck ups should be equally be considered a reason for his current predicament.
And meanwhile Chelsea Manning is still in prison for upholding her convictions. And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
Maybe because you haven't looked. Manning may get less overt attention, but she has certainly not been ignored. Her plight as a whistleblower is equally appalling and significant.
But that's the point … you seem to have a great deal of sympathy for Manning that I share with you. But for some reason you characterise Assange as a 'dick' who is still somehow to blame for what is happening to him.
i have a great deal of Chelsea Manning as she not only did what she believed is right, but she also accepted the punishment for it. – This does not mean i think she should have gotten accused/prosecuted/judged, far from it.
As for Assange, i had a great deal of time for him until he started behaving like a dick. When one sits in a glass house one should not start throwing stones. Firstly and secondly if it is ok for Chelsea Manning to go to prison, if it is Ok for Snowden to hide in Russia then it would equally behoove Assange to use his brains every now and then rather then just demand to be treated differnently then all the others.
And yes, with his sexual partner he behaved like a dick (unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are often kept abay by using condoms or so we are told), and then subsequently ever since. For a supposedly smart man he behaved like an idiot. And he should have known that he is wanted, he should have known that the Yankees will not be kind, he should have known that he needs to treat lightly and he gave no shits about nothing. And that is part of the narrative no matter how unpleasant you may find that.
Idiocy, Stupidity, Arrogance do not protect one from harm. Personally i believe that him betting on Trump was his biggest idiotic action since fucking without that darn condom.
In all things that happen to us we are always a bit to blame. And so is he.
Ah no … it's not OK for Manning to be in prison for the rest of her life, nor for Snowden to be stuck in Russia indefinitely. But Assange is different because … sex.
By this logic all whistleblowers and journalists are required to live blameless, sex free lives in order that they remain above all possible reproach on their characters. In the meantime the actual war crimes they tell the truth about just aren't important any more.
oh boy!
Oh no its not ok for all of them to be in prison for the rest of their lifes as what they did was the right thing to do. Firstly.
Secondly., Snowden is in russia in exile- and he most likely knows that it will be for the rest of his life, and Chelsea was in prison – and without clemency from Obama would be there for the rest of her life, and currently is prison for refusing to testify about Assange. Personal responsability, they do it!
By my logic, all whistle blowers and journalists have enough brains, and should have enough brains to know that if it goes all wrong life as it was is pretty much over. And frankly, most of them do, and they don't end up holed up in a room in an embassy somewhere because they fear being arrested after fucking up a consensual booty call. He would have done much better demanding political asylum anywhere on this planet and demand his day in court, under the cameras of the world yadda yadda yadda….instead he was hoping for a US government that is more favorable to him, bet on Trump, and loses as everyone who works with that shitface does. Cause Trump only has clemency at heart for one person, himself. All others are simply there to advance his agenda and once that is done they have no more uses for them, And that is Assanges dilemma atm. He has outlived his usefulness.
..ual assault.
The Swedish investigation into the alleged rape / sexual assault by Assange has been dropped – maybe it has served its purpose.
And maybe that's just what a rapist/sexual assailant wants you to believe.
But my point was that me wanting Assange to have faced a court wasn't about "sex". It was to face up to sexual assault allegations.
And one thing that really makes me think some people would be happy for him to actually get away with rape because wikileaks is when they imply the investigation and grounds for extradition related to consensual sex rather than sexual assault.
No need to be cute, McFlock – when you write "a rapist/sexual assailant“, you mean Assange, right?
And are you suggesting that dropping the investigation now plays into Assange's hands because it creates the impression that Sweden is making way for US extradition proceedings? What a manipulative monster he is!
Could the Swedish prosecutors have sustained their investigation until the statute of limitations ran out in August 2020, maybe out of respect for the (alleged) victims? We'll never know.
IMHO it's pretty scurrilous to suggest that anyone "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" – inflammatory even.
I mean maybe Assange.
"Maybe" it's all a big con on behalf of the US (that's what you meant by "served its purpose", right – that the charges were fabricated for the yanks?)
"Maybe" a sexual offender kept running any lying and running and ended up turning himself into a bargaining chip.
We'll never know because the guy who skipped on the Swedes in August 2010 dragged the extradition hearings out until May 2012, and now there's only a year for the most serious charges to run out the statute of limitations.
And I can't see any other relevance a list of awards has in relation to sexual assault allegations against the recipient of those awards other than to try to somehow minimise or deflect from those allegations. Feel free to come up with a decent excuse, something other than "he's such a great guy let's talk about that rather than the allegations against him". Please. Because one thing has not a damned thing to do with the other.
The thread in which I listed Assange's modest collection of awards and honours began with Adrian's comment (@5) on "Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives", and "Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation".
I appended that list of awards/honours to my comment @9:17 pm partly because of its relevance to “Press Freedom” and partly because I thought it might annoy you, but you are unflappable – no-one could think that suggesting 'some people' "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" was a sign of irritation. Nevertheless, that’s a mighty fine pearl you're working on
Started.
Nested ten deep, the subthread subject matter had moved into very different territory.
Of course he should have used a condom. Perhaps he is a bit of a dick. Who hasn't behaved like a dick sometime? But you seem to choose to ignore the fact that even if he'd behaved with decorum of the highest order, he still would have ended up in jail on some trumped up charge.
Does it not bother you that he is being charged while all the media outlets that published the wikileaks files remain untouched.
Doesn't it bother you that he was spied on while in the Ecuadorian embassy, that Moreno allowed the British into the embassy to remove him and incarcerate him.
If your sympathies actually lie with the women Assange was involved with they may be misplaced as they have declared they had no desire to have him charged.
Or is it simply a calvinist desire to punish, because we all must be punished.
I'm frequently a bit of a dick.
But AFAIK nobody's ever been to the cops to accuse me of rape.
Assange chose to not use a condom when penetrating sleeping women, chose to skip bail, chose to make himself a diplomatic bargaining chip. Yes, the US case against Assange seems to me to be an overinflated pile of shit. Yes, the yanks shouldn't be holding Manning on contempt charges. Yes, a good case can be made that Snowden should receive absolution for leaking classified documents because it was in the public interest to do so.
But Assange shouldn't get a pass on the things he, and only he, chose to do. It's not "calvinist", it goes to the entire idea of how we treat sexual assaulters who are in positions of power. Do we give them a pass because we like their work or they are rich? Or do we treat them like we'd treat a poor person facing similar accusations?
Except he hasn't been charged with sexual assault. You can keep saying it forever, but saying it doesn't make it true.
To describe in such detail what is supposed to have happened, between two consenting adults, according to you, I find just a wee bit revolting. And actually that unnecessary description defines you more than it does Assange.
Francesca put it perfectly.
"ugly anger but no argument"
The British Supreme Court said it was true enough to make the EAW valid. If you were correct, Assange would have won the UK extradition proceedings. He did not, so chose to skip bail.
No, between one adult and another adult who had explicitly withheld consent to condom removal.
The UK Supreme Court didnt rule on the charges validity, they just said it was procedurally valid
as they also said
"A domestic detention order was made by the Stockholm District Court in Mr Assange’s absence, and was upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal.
"A prosecutor in Sweden thereafter issued a European Arrest Warrant (‘EAW’) on 2 December 2010 pursuant to the arrangements put in place by the Council of the European Union in the Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the EAW and the surrender procedures between Member States (2002/584/JHA)(‘the Framework Decision’), which were given effect in the United Kingdom in Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’)."
https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2011-0264-press-summary.pdf
It seems Brigid is closer to the truth. Dont know what a domestic detention warrant is , but doesnt 'sound like' a charge of sexual assualt.
Swedish criminal procedure is different from our or UK system.
My rough interpretation is the warrant was for the förundersökning or preliminary investigation phase, which is followed by åtals väckande or indictment which they goes to rättegång or trial
Sometime there can be förutredning or prelimininary enquiry before preliminary investigation
I gather from the current context there was no åtals väckande.
Apologies, UK High court. He had a lot of (ultimately futile) hearings.
153:
Yeah, welcome back. Its same same here and that kind of comment passes for a notion of justice for some.
Good to hear some sense about Assange's situation Red Logix.
The credit goes to regulars like francesca and Bridget who have been firm and clear on this story all along. My respect goes to them.
And to be fair to everyone else … I would love nothing more than for the divisiveness and bruising this whole affair has caused to be ended and healed.
the swedes hid in an embassy for years to avoid due process?
oh my.
Further to the discussion yesterday about the term "indigenous".
There seems to be a broad agreement that the definition of the term seems to be related to the point at which Europeans first came across a group of people (although there may be exceptions to this).
This is the a run down on the current view as far as I am aware. Maori are indigenous to NZ but the Celtic people are not indigenous to England. Possible exceptions may include the Japanese who may or may not be regarded as indigenous to the Japanese given the existence of the Ainu people. Han Chinese may be indigenous to parts of China but not the entire country. Malays are treated as being indigenous to Malaysia (at least according to their own laws) yet are actually not the original people in the area. Shona people in Zimbabwe are indigenous but the Ndebele who live there are not possibly despite nither of them actually being the original inhabitants of the land (which are likely the San people). All First nation /American Indian people are indigeous to the entire American continent regardless of where they live. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia but not to most of the Arab World.
Is that view correct?
So your main point is … to cut through to the chase …why cant 1948 be counted as the cutoff date for being indigenous .
You are not really interested in the Ndebele are you?
Do the "Celtic people" still exist as a cultural group in England?
But when the Romans went in, the Celts could be regarded as "indigenous" or "native" in the common use of the term, e.g.:
That excerpt from Wikipedia is simply used to show that the word "native" isn't restricted to people encountered by modern Europeans. Another example (this time using the term "indigenous") is the wikipedia entry "Taiwanese indigenous peoples".
Basically, the term seems to encompass the people who were first into an area compared to other ethnic groups. Eurocentrism is your spin, for whatever reason.
lastly: Wictionary:
And then they steal the children.
https://twitter.com/Rewire_News/status/1195441343662825474
There are 28 pages detailing the periods, pregnancies and reason for the pregnancy (whether by rape or not) of teen girls in custody, some of whom are as young as 12. There may well be reasons for the government to track whether or not a woman is pregnant, and how far along in her pregnancy she is, but there’s no reason to track the cause of her pregnancy. It’s pretty fair to assume that they’re not doing this because they want to ensure women know all the options regarding their pregnancy. It’s almost certainly an attempt to bar them from getting abortions.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a26985261/trump-administration-abortion-period-tracking-migrant-women/
they have stolen over 5000 children and nary a noise.
I guess its ok, these are the children and babies of undesirables, and 'her fucking emails' .
Interesting news.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/un-palestinian-vote-canada-israel-us-1.5365637
World oddities .
Crimea occupation by Russia is illegal , but not the Nato occupation of Kososvo
Turkeys support for the puppet state of Northern Cyprus is OK , while Russias support of puppet state of South Ossetia in Georgia isnt.
The US occupation and control of Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia ( still UK territories)in the South Indian Ocean is OK despite it being illegal under UN rules about splitting of territories and evicting its resident people when Mauritius became independent. ICJ has also ruled the split was illegal.
a wiki leaks dislosure UK wanted to declare a marine reserve – the worlds largest-to prevent the Chagossians from returning , while allowing US to remain at Diego Garcia. This has now occurred
The expulsion of the Chagossians was one of the many disgusting acts of the UK government. To avoid using the phrase "permanent inhabitants" they declared them 'belongers' of Mauritius and the Seychelles and only temporary residents of BIOT
"This devise, although rather transparent, would at least give us a defensible position to take up at the UN."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Chagossians
Thanks Peter. Question Time today:
Yes Nick Smith must be pissed off! A barrage of questions re the National Electoral spending tricks of the Electoral Act was the response to Nick Smith trying to trap the Minister of Justice. Brownlee tried to block the Government response. Brilliant.
And the multi-million dollar warning that should Smith or Bridges repeat outside what they said in House, they will be sued for defamation.
Question 9 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=210160
And https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12287240
Great "seemed like a good idea at the time" moments from history #5739: Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman when the project first floated 25 years ago.
Diversity in the boardroom heads off stupid plan at the start.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Kia Ora 1 News.
I new a couple who had a daughter on that flight it stuffed them up.
And they try and brand me A troll.
Its great to see people cleaning up the rubbish in Tangaroa.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I think it's great that people in jail for less than 3 years get back the right to vote. 59 % them are Maori that was suppressing Maori in my view.
One must take care of there drinking Wai take care of all Wai a cheap testing kit is cool.
I can see how much Mana Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Culture has been blessed with .
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora breakfast show.
Edd TV.
Are there no positive Tangata Whenua stories.????????????.
I think every City should have a company that has a Charter to provide employment for people who are discriminated against in mainstream business .
Data is the new gold it needs to be controlled to protect the many from the greedy
Ka kite Ano