Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the videos below
Updated: Oct. 11, 2017
As Catalonia Plans Independence from Spain, Julian Assange Advises Organizers on Secure Messaging
Democracy Now! on Oct 10, 2017
https://democracynow.org – Barcelona’s Mayor Ada Colau is calling for Spain to remove thousands of state police who have been deployed to Catalonia ahead of tonight’s expected declaration of independence by regional President Carles Puigdemont, possibly triggering intervention by Spanish forces. We speak with WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange, who has been advising those pushing to secede on how to communicate securely even as the state pushes back.
Julian Assange Marks 5.5 Years Inside Ecuadorean Embassy as UK & US Refuse to Confirm Arrest Warrant
https://democracynow.org – As we speak with WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange, he shares an update on when he may be able to leave the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has sought refuge and political asylum for more than five years. Earlier this year, Swedish prosecutors have dropped an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Assange, which he denies and calls a pretext for his ultimate extradition to the United States to face prosecution under the Espionage Act.
Julian Assange on Roger Stone & Accusations About WikiLeaks and Trump Campaign Ties to Russia
https://democracynow.org – Microsoft has joined Facebook in saying it is investigating whether Russian operatives paid for “inappropriate” pro-Trump ads on its Bing search engine and other platforms. Social media giant Facebook has said a Russian company placed thousands of ads on their network at a cost of more than $100,000, including some that targeted states crucial to Trump’s victory. Last week, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said it reached the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, CIA Director Mike Pompeo has blasted Wikileaks as a hostile intelligence service that is often abetted by state actors like Russia, and Trump adviser Roger Stone declined to confirm to the House Intelligence Committee that he was directly in contact with WikiLeaks about damaging information on then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. We get response from Julian Assange, the founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks.
***
Updated: Oct. 11, 2017
A Way Out for Spain and Catalonia?
TheRealNews on Oct 10, 2017
The Catalan leadership has stopped short of declaring independence from Spain, calling instead for talks with the Spanish government. We speak to Fusion host Nando Vila and Professor Sebastiaan Faber of Oberlin College.
See also:
Catalonia’s Paradox by Josep Maria Antentas
From the archives:
Cold War Then. Cold War Now. by William Blum
John Pilger: There Is Such Risk At The Moment
Swedish Prosecutors Drop Case On Julian Assange + Assange: I Will Not Forgive Or Forget
Dandelion Salad 
Pingback: Lee Camp and Stella Assange: When Will Julian Be Freed? – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: If There is No Freedom of Speech for Julian Assange, There is No Freedom of Speech for Any of Us by John Pilger – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: John Pilger: Blocking Internet Access for Julian Assange is a War on Freedom of Speech – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Faking It by William Bowles – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Leave Jill Stein Alone by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Chris Hedges and Robert Scheer: The Silencing of the Left – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: The Strange World of Russian Trolls by William Blum – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Clinton, Assange and the War on Truth by John Pilger – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Trump’s Media Furore… US Democracy On Thin Ice by Finian Cunningham – Dandelion Salad
Updated: Oct. 11, 2017
Added a new video report, “A Way Out for Spain and Catalonia?”
A helpful discussion. The problem is really the bigoted ‘conservatives’ in Madrid. Mariano Rajoy Brey is a lame-duck, frankly. Moreover, the disgraceful violence in evidence shows the world what their reactionary old guard are like ~ quite obviously unfit to govern responsibly. The last thing we want or need is for Spain to plunge backward into another episode of the fascist nightmare.
Clearly, the referendum ploy was an important symbolic act for Catalunya, but because so many abstained it is neither wholly representative nor is it entirely robust or justified within the judicial European context. So, dialogue is the only solution, but as Madrid refuses to cooperate, we face impasse. The EU needs to intervene, and exert its constitutional and legal prerogatives.
Thanks for watching it, David.
Also posted a link to this article which goes into much detail: Catalonia’s Paradox by Josep Maria Antentas, http://socialistproject.ca/bullet/1495.php
Thanks Lo, will read it tomorrow.
Excellent article, a very complex business…many thoughts on this, not the least about the benefits of ‘regional banks’ and long-term ‘autonomous alliances’ (nested allegiances based on distributive circular accounting with appropriate checks and balances….)
Thanks for reading it, David.
You chose your headline wisely. The Amy I knew ten years ago has slid into newspeak of the mainstream media. Julian said at the end “if the U.S. left is not absolutely obsessed with what is happening there (Catalonia) and the redefinition that is occurring of the nature of the relationship between population and state, well, I mean, I have no time for you.” and nor do I. Democracy happens when the citizens speak and the politicians listen. We have gone a long way from any form of democracy where the citizen has no voice.
Thanks, Dennis.
Yes, Assange was quite annoyed by the end of this interview where Amy attempted to interrupt him throughout.
And yes, democracy is “when the citizens speak and the politicians listen.”
Julian Assange speaks well about this critical issue.
It is a dangerously precipitous moment. We ignore at our peril what is at stake here ~ namely, not only the efficacy of (constitutional) law, but arguably the more important, fundamental matter of human-rights within the greater political, administrative framework of the EU ~ and its wider ecological and social implications.
Moreover, we should not under-estimate the generational significance, both culturally and historically, of Spain’s colonial impact throughout the world….together with the Spanish establishment’s long affiliation with various institutions and ‘orders’ of the Roman Catholic Church ~ like the clandestine and sinister ‘Opus Dei….’ These socially-engineered linkages of profane power to ‘religiously motivated’ leverage points are well-documented, controversial and potentially lethal.
The hereditary loyalty of the Spanish Crown, and the fascist old-guard’s conditioned obedience to profoundly oppressive, ‘conservative’ and pervasively hegemonic & misogynist controls, in combination with the operative psychological methodologies of the Society of Jesus, are all essential and necessary ingredients to a proper evaluation of what is erupting here; especially in the greater context of globalized financial interests and indigenous common-land issues….
Catalunya itself is rooted culturally in old Occitania; an ancient linguistic and almost mysterious Mediterranean entity, with an anthropological pedigree that can be traced from the Balkans through Italy as far as the Berber (later Arab) Kingdoms of the Maghrib and the ‘Land of the Atlas.’
Grown-up conversations are not just desirable but vital. Our civilization depends on our willingness to engage intelligently and coherently. I agree with Julian’s position. The ‘mainstream’ US is a gossiping madhouse of epic vulgarity. There must be something excessively toxic, debilitating and delirious in the prescriptive drugs-of-choice consumed by these gibbering classes.
‘Roger Stone’ is a classic specimen, an impeccably tasteless example of posturing self-advertisement with suspect allegiances.