Category: Civil rights

  • Plebiscite – Apruebo

    There is absolutely nothing I can do about the shoot-out between Trump and Biden, other than to commiserate with US citizens in both camps who have had to watch their American dream go down the drain. Had I been a US citizen, I would have voted, sure, but as I am not, I do not…

  • … Assange (continued)

    In my previous post I mentioned a small newspaper published in my own language that appears to be following the Assange case from day to day and that has also very succinctly highlighted the broader issues at stake. If you cannot read my language. I urge you to go to Wikileaks itself.Here it is: https://defend.wikileaks.org/extradition-hearing/

  • … Assange

    No, I’m not done yet. And the extradition hearing isn’t over. Its outcome is crucial not only for Assange, but for us all. For many people, the Trump period has been a watershed, a scales-falling-from-the-eyes event. For others, the turning point came much earlier, with Wikileaks, which is why the US authorities hate Assange so…

  • Right to information in danger

    In country after country, critical press coverage is becoming risky. Very risky. It has always been risky in countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, China… If Julian Assange, an Australian national living in Europe, is extradited to the US, freedom of the press will have become a figment of the imagination also…

  • Not me

    It’s not about Trump, you know, or at least I hope you know. In 2015, US police officers killed at least 104 unarmed black people. Out of all the unarmed people killed by the police that year, 36% were black, although black people made up only 13% of the US population. Trump was not yet…

  • Privacy

    Maybe you don’t care whether or not your movements on the Internet are being watched because you’re “not doing anything wrong”. If so, I won’t pick a quarrel with you. After all, why should you draw your curtains at night? Haven’t they seen a naked man/woman before? Or maybe you will agree that the idea…

  • Free Julian Assange

    This is to remind you of the Amnesty International petition in defence of freedom of expression. I quote AI: Julian Assange’s publication of disclosed documents as part of his work with Wikileaks should not be punishable as this activity mirrors conduct that investigative journalists undertake regularly in their professional capacity. Prosecuting Julian Assange on these…

  • Spies

    When Edward Snowden crashed into the media in 2013, the impact created more than a hiccup in the state of affairs. Do you remember what you were doing at the time? I do, and I can still feel the chill of horror that descended on the room where my colleagues and I ate our daily…

  • Homage to The Intercept

    Let me admit at once that my news source is not normally The Intercept. I prefer a rather more chatty paper, one that is not too angry, one that helps me feel that I am a member of society, not a besieged and defenceless island. The problem is that most such papers need sponsors and…

  • Nobody’s fool

    President Macron has just addressed the French people for the first time since 1 December. After weeks of violent protests, his address was anxiously awaited, not least after last Saturday when, according to Le Monde, some 136 thousand protesters of all ages and backgrounds took to the streets of France. What did you expect from…