We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Julian Assange: the Untold Story of an Epic Struggle for Justice

Click here to access article by John Pilger from CounterPunch
For three years, a police cordon around the Ecuadorean embassy in London has served no purpose other than to flaunt the power of the state. It has cost £12 million. The quarry is an Australian charged with no crime, a refugee whose only security is the room given him by a brave South American country. His “crime” is to have initiated a wave of truth-telling in an era of lies, cynicism and war.

The persecution of Julian Assange is about to flare again as it enters a dangerous stage.
This courageous, independent journalist from Australia offers the most detailed history of the vilification and persecution by Empire authorities of Julian Assange that I've seen up until now. Pilger reports that in their vindictiveness they don't even abide by their own laws and legal procedures. The directors of the Empire never forget or forgive those who expose their secret crimes against humanity or refuse obedience to their diktats. Putin at first tried to get along with them, but he learned this lesson after refusing to go along with the UN resolution to bomb Libya and crush Syria. Now there are indications that our masters are going after the Ecuadorian government for protecting Assange.