Some days you think you're going crazy. Then you read your Twitter feed and realize it's not you that's crazy--it's the whole freakin' system that controls our every move that's crazy.
A human rights lawyer, Steven Donziger,
represents an indigenous tribe in Ecuador that was poisoned by massive dumping
of wastes on their otherwise pristine land by an international oil corporation.
This person should be labeled a hero, decorated with ribbons and medals, and should
be called a saint on every news show and in every print publication. But no… Donziger's story has
been mostly ignored and his reputation smeared in the mainstream media. When he
wouldn't give up his computer full of confidential information between his law
team and his clients, he was held in criminal contempt of court. But no legitimate court wanted to
convict him or try him, so the oil company "bought" itself a judge and
hopped up charges in their own kangaroo court just to punish him for being a good
guy. And get this--the US government is perfectly okay with an oil company calling the shots!
If that ain't crazy! The hero in his own words:
“Chevron caused a mass industrial poisoning in the Amazon that crushed the lives of Indigenous peoples. Six courts and 28 appellate judges found the company guilty. Fight on.” —Steven Donziger
Conviction of Steven Donziger, said one critic, “perfectly encapsulates how corporate power has twisted the U.S. justice system to protect corporate interests and punish their enemies.” Julia Conley, Six Month Sentence for Lawyer Who Took on Chevron
This past week, another court in the UK held a hearing to expedite a journalist to the US for simply reporting the truth to the world.
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges says of Julian Assange:
Assange’s “crime” is that he exposed the more than 15,000 unreported deaths of Iraqi civilians. He exposed the torture and abuse of some 800 men and boys, aged between 14 and 89, at Guantánamo. He exposed that Hillary Clinton in 2009 ordered US diplomats to spy on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and other U.N. representatives from China, France, Russia, and the UK, spying that included obtaining DNA, iris scans, fingerprints, and personal passwords, part of the long pattern of illegal surveillance that included the eavesdropping on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the weeks before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He exposed that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the CIA orchestrated the June 2009 military coup in Honduras that overthrew the democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya, replacing it with a murderous and corrupt military regime. He exposed that George W. Bush, Barack Obama and General David Petraeus prosecuted a war in Iraq that under post-Nuremberg laws is defined as a criminal war of aggression, a war crime, which authorized hundreds of targeted assassinations, including those of US citizens in Yemen. He exposed that the United States secretly launched missile, bomb, and drone attacks on Yemen, killing scores of civilians. He exposed that Goldman Sachs paid Hillary Clinton $657,000 to give talks, a sum so large it can only be considered a bribe, and that she privately assured corporate leaders she would do their bidding while promising the public financial regulation and reform. He exposed the internal campaign to discredit and destroy British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn by members of his own party. He exposed how the hacking tools used by the CIA and the National Security Agency permits the wholesale government surveillance of our televisions, computers, smartphones and anti-virus software, allowing the government to record and store our conversations, images and private text messages, even from encrypted apps.
He exposed the truth. He exposed it over and over and over until there was no question of the endemic illegality, corruption and mendacity that defines the global ruling elite. And for these truths alone he is guilty.
Chris Hedges, The Most Important Battle For Press Freedom In Our Time
So, Julian Assange, an Australian publisher who exposes corruption and murder millions of times over will be extradited from the UK to the US so the US can lock him in solitary confinement and push him even further over the edge mentally and emotionally just because he embarrassed the sadistic military-industrial complex and corrupt politicians by showing the world what's really happening.
And that's not crazy?
I'll tell you what it is--it's downright immoral, is what it is. The Assanges and Donzigers of the world are a rare breed of human being brave enough to take on the sick and twisted system, knowing they could be severely penalized for simply doing their jobs. They face their tormentors and suffer unjust punishments for the good of humanity. They are rewarded by silence or outright lies streaming from the lips of mass media "darlings" willing to do the dirty work of covering for the depravity of those in power.
We're not crazy--we're not paranoid. The system is out to get us, subdue us, and bend our will to theirs. We can't let them do this. We need to act like Julian Assange and publish the truth come what may anyway. We need to act like Steven Donziger and stand up for the marginalized and defenseless peoples of the Earth.
If we don't… We will become the very sickness they lost their freedom to fight. We will become truly crazy. And the evil status quo wins.
Related Articles:
From Press Freedom to Prison Systems, Everything Assange Touches Gets Illuminated https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/from-press-freedom-to-prison-systems
America's Unending Persecution of Whistleblowers https://scheerpost.com/2021/10/29/john-kiriakou-on-daniel-hale-and-americas-unending-persecution-of-whistleblowers/
The Most Important Battle For Press Freedom In Our Time https://scheerpost.com/2021/10/28/hedges-the-most-important-battle-for-press-freedom-in-our-time/
Julian Assange Extradition Hearing https://popularresistance.org/on-contact-julian-assange-extradition-case/
Billionaire Reveals Virtual Reality Experience Called "Mainstream Media" https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/billionaire-reveals-virtual-reality
Prisoner Gives a Guantanamo Court The First Account of CIA Abuse https://www.rsn.org/001/prisoner-gives-a-guantanamo-court-the-first-account-of-cia-abuse.html
Six Month Sentence for Lawyer Who Took on Chevron https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/01/six-month-sentence-for-lawyer-who-took-on-chevron-provokes-anger/
Exxon CEO Accused of Lying About Climate Science to Congressional Panel https://www.rsn.org/001/exxon-ceo-accused-of-lying-about-climate-science-to-congressional-panel.html
Assange and Donziger Attacked (video) https://www.portable.tv/series/redactedtonight?v=86fddabd-b3a0-440c-8970-e9f45f48c2c8
Our Courts Also Have a Big Corruption Problem https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/05/our-courts-also-have-big-corruption-problem/
Documents Show How US Government Used Social Media To Interfere in Venezuela https://jacobinmag.com/2021/10/us-venezuela-election-campaign-intervention-influence-maduro-mud-social-media-facebook
As seen on Twitter:
The wrong person is in prison. #FreeAssangeTODAY pic.twitter.com/sb8IoBE0lm
— Comrade Misty is Putin’s Buddy 🍀 (@SarcasmStardust) October 29, 2021
"Loretta Preska, the judge who did Chevron’s bidding in the case against activist Steven Donziger, has a history of conflicts of interest and pro-corporate rulings. And she's not alone — corporate influence and conflicts of interest are rampant in the courts."#FreeDonziger https://t.co/V04ewJB0B8
— 🔥 End Corporate/Duopoly Rule (@jeffsguardian) November 1, 2021
***
From Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund:
The age of trickle-down tax-cut economics is coming to an end!
President Biden and Congressional leaders have just released the Build Back Better legislation that we have been working on for months. It’s historic legislation that will recover the revenue lost in the tax handouts given to the rich and corporations by the Trump-GOP tax scam in 2017―and make bold investments in working families and the environment.
Right now, members of the House are under pressure to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill (it’s already passed the Senate) before all 50 Democratic votes in the Senate are even secured for the Build Back Better legislation. In order to guarantee passage of this historic agenda, we’re demanding the House hold the line: No vote on infrastructure without assurance that Build Back Better will pass the Senate!
Here’s what the Build Back Better bill will do:
It will invest in universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year olds, make high quality childcare more affordable, expand Medicaid home care to keep older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes while paying care workers a fair wage, expand Medicare to cover hearing, extend the Child Tax Credit that is providing monthly cash payments to 35 million families, invest in clean energy and combat the climate crisis.
This bill is 100% paid for by closing tax loopholes used by the rich and corporations, requiring a 15% minimum tax to stop wealthy corporations from dodging their fair share of taxes, taxing firms that enrich shareholders rather than invest in workers, catching rich tax cheats that are evading $160 billion in taxes every year, creating a special higher tax rate for the ultra-wealthy, and more.
Small businesses and people making under $400,000 a year won’t pay any more in taxes.
This is the most important shift in our country’s priorities in a generation―ending trickle-down tax-cut economics for the rich and finally investing in our families and communities. Let’s get this across the finish line!
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
***
In less than a week, the Biden administration plans to restart the horrible, Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy in border cities that the Biden administration advises all U.S. citizens to avoid going there because they are so potentially dangerous.
This policy illegally denies safety to families in the U.S. and sends them back to danger -- where the State Department recommends U.S. citizens avoid due to crime and kidnapping. Families are then forced to wait for months on end, with little to no resources, in makeshift tent homes, sometimes with children with disabilities like cerebral palsy or epilepsy.
The consequences have been devastating: over 7,000 people have been kidnapped or victims of violent attacks after being turned back from seeking safety in the U.S.
Restarting this racist policy is immoral and inhumane.
President Biden promised to restore an immigration system that welcomes
people with dignity, but he is doing the opposite:
Demand that the Biden administration stop forcing families back into danger.
Tell biden: stop Remain In Mexico
If Remain in Mexico restarts in November, families who have trekked to our front door seeking safety may be forced to make an impossible decision: separate from your children for the chance they will be free from danger, or await your asylum trial together in a city where migrants are highly susceptible to being kidnapped, extorted, or killed.
So far, over 70,000 migrants seeking safety have been sent back to these border cities, including at least 16,000 babies, children, and teenagers.
People deserve access to basic human needs and to claim asylum in the U.S. We need to do everything possible to stop Remain in Mexico from returning. Join me today and take action for babies, children, pregnant people, and families who want a future free from violence and tragedy in the U.S.
Tell biden: stop Remain in Mexico
We can’t let Remain in Mexico jeopardize the lives of children and families looking for a safer tomorrow. President Biden must live up to his promise to restore asylum.
Thanks for all you do,
Erin Mazursky, Organizing Director
Families Belong Together
