back to article Assange™ to present own TV show

Famous WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange™ says he will soon be presenting an unnamed weekly TV show via unspecified channels to a vast global audience. According to a press release "authorized by Julian"*, Assange™ is "one of the world’s most recognizable revolutionary figures ... a pioneer for a more just world and a victim …

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  1. Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
    WTF?

    and you thought...

    And you thought TV hit rock bottom when Piers Morgan got his own show...

    1. Inachu
      Devil

      Piers made it to the states because of his hard hitting questioning.

      But it seems his boxing gloves have turned into mud.

      But assange will be making his own "MEIN KAMPF"

      and soon all people will agree with him and then the new world order will start.

      1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

        Umm, you're confusing embarrassing with hard hitting. There is a difference.

        Example:

        Asking a UK MP about a mistress is embarrassing but is not quite as "in the public interest" as the press makes it out to be. Asking them about their expenses and not letting go until you have the answers, THAT is hard hitting.

        Having said that; i may not like Piers Morgan much but he has proven to provide the occasional entertainment. Assange(tm) has kept himself rigorously to a standard of boredom I have only ever seen surpassed by a Microsoft sales presentation - which, incidentally, shares that relentless focus on self enrichment...

        1. Inachu
          Meh

          HHMMPF!

          Not going to say you are wrong but I tend to agree somewhat with your reply.

  2. Rameses Niblick the Third (KKWWMT)

    TM

    "Bradley Manning, the junior US soldier who allegedly supplied the bulk of the interesting classifed material released by WikiLeaks and Assange, has been charged with a raft of "

    You missed one.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Collateral

    "......a pioneer for a more just world and a victim of political repression".

    You have to wonder how the people who are now in fear of their life, due to Assange's self promotional release of classified material, think about this one. Oh and the young ladies in Sweden, and I guess Bradley Manning .........

  4. b166er

    So he plea-bargained for the role of stooge?

  5. Dirk Vandenheuvel
    Mushroom

    Is it called "From Hero to Zero"?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pioneer for justice?

    What a hypocrite. Why is he spending so much on evading it, then?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Look up

      You're confusing justice with legal system.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Yes, and Assange confuses his interpretation of justice with a universal code of morality.

  7. AndrueC Silver badge
    Joke

    Will it be classed as an adult channel? That's usually the case when big tits are involved.

  8. Scorchio!!
    FAIL

    Memoirs, pay wall, chariddy donations, money from rags and now the famous, intergalactic Julie Assange channel. Perhaps we'll see him arrested on television... ...oh, but wait, could Jules be counting his chicken before they are hatched? After all he may find himself bunking in a Bubbery before too long. "I'm just saying".

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Julian, having your trial shown on the news does not mean you're presenting your own TV show.

  10. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Coat

    What do you mean?

    I suspect his celebrity will skyrocket now that he has a show on Telly. I mean just look at OJ Simpson and they way he... Oh right. Nevermind.

    Perhaps Julian can grab his coat, travel the globe and look for the real leakers. Not in the US though, obviously.

    1. Inachu
      Pint

      Ha!

      There will be more and more like him popping out of the woodwork and there already has!

      That neocon reporter who suggested putting out a hit on certain people or persons and then the secret service pays him a visit.

      Thats what happens when you give certain people too much power that they take it and get abusive with it and they act like they have no remorse as if they themselves think of themselves as little godlings. THAT! is the type of persons we need to watch out for.

    2. Scorchio!!
      Happy

      Re: What do you mean?

      "I suspect his celebrity will skyrocket now that he has a show on Telly. I mean just look at OJ Simpson and they way he... Oh right. Nevermind."

      I splorfed all over my keyboard and screen when I read, digested and understood a perhaps unintended implication here. I started out thinking of the televised chase of OJ. OK, fine; then I remembered the episode, in court, where OJ tried on a glove (allegedly bunching up his fist to make it too large for the glove), and I thought of Assange and a ripped condom. In court. On TV.

      No, perhaps we don't want to go there. :-)

  11. mhenriday
    Boffin

    Ah, Lewis, what a divinely-gifted satirist you are !

    Putting a trade-mark icon after every instance of Mr Assange's surname is indeed a stroke of rare genius - only to be compared to those we see coming from the compromised keyboard of a certain poster to these threads who no doubt will soon show up here. Persons, however, who wish to read a less biased - if also less self-satisfied - piece on Mr Assange might instead want to consider turning to Michael Hasting's interview with him in a recent issue of Rolling Stone (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/julian-assange-the-rolling-stone-interview-20120118). But then journalism is a pedestrian trade, is it not, when compared to the products of the divine afflatus with which you seem to be filled ?...

    Henri

    1. Stuart Moore
      Go

      It's! A! Register! Tradition! You! Yahoo!

      Reminded me very much of the Yahoo! headlines. Shame there's next to nothing left there to write about.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm perfectly happy with El Reg lampooning idiocy. What bizarre mind tried to trademark their own name? What good does that do? To stop rampant piracy of a *cough* bestseller *cough*?

      The only difference between George Michael and Assange(tm) is that George Michael actually got arrested for being a w*nker..

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time in a box

    Unless Assange gets permission, (unlikely), to talk about his time in a prison cell in Sweden, I doubt he's got much chance of TV success.

    1. Scorchio!!
      Happy

      Re: Time in a box

      "Unless Assange gets permission, (unlikely), to talk about his time in a prison cell in Sweden, I doubt he's got much chance of TV success."

      I can hace Skype in my cell? ;->

    2. Local Group
      Trollface

      AC. "I doubt he's got much chance."

      Didn't you say that about Susan Boyle?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Anyone who thinks...

    ... that Wikileaks was created for anything other than Assange's ego must be on a burning platform by now.

    If there is anyone at Wikileaks interested in justice, credibility and proper journalism they should be mounting a massive publicity campaign to distance themselves from Assange ASAP, the guy is a complete fool.

    1. nexsphil

      You, sir, are a fish.

      1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

        and 100% correct. I don't care much for Wikileaks, but I can understand and respect their motives. That is something I cannot say for Assange(tm).

  14. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

    Hmmm... Those hot, hot lights...

    Will our Julian decide to wash?

    One of the titbits from reading about his association with the 'gentlemen of the press', was that he had a tendency to turn up for long meetings, in small rooms, without having bothered to shower (possibly for several days)...

    Those hot TV lights won't help. Still, I guess it's no problem if he conducts all his interviews via satellite link.

    1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      UK transport compatible..

      If my recent experience of London Underground is anything to go by he should be very compatible. I met several people who clearly missed their annual bath, twice..

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Will Bubba have his TV show using Assange?

    Will the camera show Bubba making a penetrating commentary about Assange?

    1. Scorchio!!

      Re: Will Bubba have his TV show using Assange?

      The mind boggles. However, and moving on quickly from the look of dread that I imagine would occupy his face, if the man actually gets as far as broadcasting I'm sure that he will crash and burn. It is not only written in his arrogant personality, and his lack of knowledge of how the world works, but also written in his attempts to interface with the world of news. Just listen again to the interview conducted by John Humphrys on the Today programme: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9308000/9308216.stm . There is a transcript here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9309000/9309320.stm .

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Maybe you could teach Assange?

        If you could teach Assange how to film his mind boggling maybe he could do a TV show. Otherwise the chances are either zero and no way in Hell.

        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
          Happy

          RE: Maybe you could teach Assange?

          I expect it will actually gain quite a large viewing number, in the same way those shows like "Bigger Than <insert popstar's name here>" do, mainly because you end up having to watch because you're just so gobsmacked that anyone could be so seriously "challenged". Anyone that saw the "Bigger Than Lady Gaga" episode will know what I mean when I call it exploitation of the disturbed. At least we can all have a good (if slightly uneasy) laugh as A$$nut lays out all his paranoid neurosisses with what will no-doubt be a group of just-as-reality-challenged guests. Time to stock up on popcorn!

          1. Local Group
            Thumb Down

            So you did watch the "Bigger Than Lady Gaga" episode. I always denied that you did.

            A good lawyer never asks a question he doesn't know the answer to and never predicts the performance of a witness on the stand but is prepared for anything.

            There is a lot of money supporting Assange at the moment. Buying talent to advise him on how best to be seen on English tv. If you don't like him, don't dismiss his abilities. I know you aren't the prosecutor of record but calling his potential viewers "challenged" and "disturbed" and him a "paranoid neurotic" and his future guests "reality challenged" is, um, silly.

            Remember Richard Nixon's "Checkers Speech" in 1952. Nixon wasn't fighting extradition, but he changed the perception of the people about him. Assange has to sell himself to Supreme Court Justices and not the people.

            You are mistaken if you think that a good performance won't do help him plead his case. :-)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Disagree

        I listened to your John Humphries interview link.

        Previously I had thought him a bit of an arse, but the man's own words suggested otherwise. I didn't find him arrogant.

        I agree with him that if Sweden wants him extradited it should charge him. If Swedish plod just wants a chat it should go to him, especially as it had the chance to chat already when he was in Sweden.

        Uncle Sam is certainly unhappy with him, so I reckon we should make allowances for diplomatic arm twisting, smears, etc.

        Don't know about a TV show though - he's probably a bit too serious.

        1. Scorchio!!
          FAIL

          Re: Disagree

          1) The man put forward his own ideas of how to conduct criminal justice system procedures - in Sweden, never mind here - saying it should be done by video link. This is not the standard (legal) procedure for conducting interviews, a procedure that is founded on decades of feedback from practise and court findings/outcomes. It also deprives the interviewers of the usual range of techniques, including use of assessments of the non verbal of behaviour. Jules is here again guilty of taking his attachment to IT to encompass the legal system, which is in spite of his facile claims bound to terra firm, in this case that bit of earth called Sweden.

          2) He claimed he'd been around for the interview and that it could have been done, wrong; his solicitor was (erroneously, when they should have swooped on Assange) advised that the police wanted to interview him *prior* to making an arrest and charging him (this is the usual order of events both in Sweden and most other European countries; interview, then arrest and charge); mysteriously Assange left the country overnight. When his solicitor denied being in contact with the police in the UK extradition hearings, he eventually looked at his mobile phone and coughed up; they had been in contact. Assange fled the country after the police had informed his counsel that they intended to arrest him and wanted him for interview; judging by the response of his professional body it's felt that he had a hand in Assange's premature departure from Sweden.

          (You can be certain that, in the event that he is successfully extradited [and there's no reason to suppose that a properly submitted EAW will fail], charged and prosecuted his flight from Sweden will not go well for him. Presumably his legal counsel's role in the affair [now documented in a UK court as a part of the same legal procedure, do note] will fall under the same court's jurisdiction, and I have difficulty in believing that mere contempt will do his alleged offence justice.)

          3) Assange now claims that the Swedish legal system is of banana republic standard; to be a member of the EU it's necessary to conform to certain standards, legal, electoral and so on. I'm not surprised that Assange used the argumentum ad hominem, but it will not work.

          His continual deflections throughout the interview were of the fantasy, I don't have time to be interviewed by opportunists variety. Wrong; he knew before he fled that he was wanted. Everything else said after that is a feeble attempt to appeal to gullible onlookers who take his argumentum ad hominem as acceptable.

          As far as the Yanks are concerned they do not come into the question; the Swedish CJS have stated they cannot extradite Assange to the US because the EAW is not for that purpose, and offered to forgo extraditing and charging Assange if the US wants a turn; the US stated they do not as yet have firm chances, lacking an evidential link; there is no magical way for the US to whisk him out of Sweden, in spite of the conspiracy theories offered by Assange's supporters who are, oddly, declining in number. It would in fact be easier to extradite Assange from the UK than from Sweden.

          If Assange is prosecuted and sentenced for the offence of rape, I will not be surprised to find that, by the time his sentence has been served and he is released from the prison gates, the US has finally brought enough convincing evidence together to merit an arrest. How they will go about it is a matter for conjecture, just as it would if he had been held and sentenced in any other country for any offence at all.

          You may now depart for your Montana complex to mint a new conspiracy theory.

          1. Local Group
            Devil

            Oh, ha ha ha. Stop it. My sides are splitting with laughter

            "If Assange is prosecuted and sentenced for the offence of rape, I will not be surprised to find that, by the time his sentence has been served and he is released from the prison gates, the US has finally brought enough convincing evidence together to merit an arrest."

            They're feverishly working on it now. And they have been day and night. It's almost ready. Cross my heart. (wink wink nod nod)

            " How they will go about it is a matter for conjecture."

            Probably the old fashioned way: through dishonesty and pretense.

            1. Scorchio!!
              FAIL

              Re: Oh, ha ha ha. Stop it. My sides are splitting with laughter

              Oh really? Personally I am not surprised to hear that they are trying to find a link between Manning and Assange; what government would not, especially since the material taken from Manning has appeared on Assange's outlet, all the more a fortiori given that Assange was convicted on 25 counts in or around 1991 for stealing passwords from US Air force 7th Command Group in the Pentagon, hacking the police investigation into his illegal activities, and so on. He was given the lightest of sentences on grounds that he'd had a rough life (you know the sort of thing, the film Mad Max parodied it with the societal blame bit) and warned that if he was ever caught again he would be in receipt of the custodial sentence of which he would ordinarily have under (then) Australian law. The judge made a bad decision. Moreover, offenders begin small and work their way up (do notice that the handle adopted by Assange, namely Mendax, is an explicit acknowledgement of his status by him and has in it a built in excuse, along the lines of the Platonic myth).

              Assange, with his conviction on 25 counts, the way that he's been using his supposed pursuit of truth and justice to make money (the pay wall plan, relations with newspapers over 'his' data (yes, *his*!), the substantial advance he took for his memoir publication of which he *blocked*, while claiming the publisher had no right to go ahead and publish, plus his latest televisual venture, backed by no less than a Kremlin (that font of truth, democracy and justice) sponsored media outlet... ...there is a lot more here and very little space, but all in all the only person in the world who is right is Julian, who is not cash greedy, does not draw some £80,000 for his post, and has done Manning proud with a well endowed defence fund.

              Anyhow, when you have changed your nappies and dried your eyes do report back and, given that you evidently have crystal ball evidence into the US investigation, do tell the world why it is the US government did not extradite Assange in 1991 or thereabouts.

              The old fashioned way? Do adumbrate for us all please. I can think of a few options; most obviously they can have an extradition application prepared prior to his release; or arrange for most of the world to reject him, and ensure that he is delivered to a country that will look favourably on extradition to the US.

              There is absolutely no need to speculate in some labyrinthine conspiracy theory. When they have the data - and they currently say that they do not - they can grab him by the balls and yank him off to Gitmo land. Oh yes. Then you will moan and whine about how unfair this is, or some other infantile twaddle.

              Julian Assange may well at last have to pay for the things that he has done. It would seem that his erratic education, primarily from home with an emphasis on the opposite of the rule following behaviours that make people co-operate (unlike psychopaths, though I'm not saying our Jules is one) gifted him with the belief that the world ought to conform to his eccentric beliefs (do read his cod philosophy, it's available on the web), and that he does not have to be accountable.

              In short, Assange would appear to be everything that he claims to oppose (read the insider accounts on his decision making process and treatment of Wikileaks insiders), and I'm sure there are a few Afghan informants who would agree with that. If they are still alive.

  16. Local Group
    Meh

    Conspiracy Theory # 2743

    I don't know the English system but in America, the Supreme Court sits en banc. Has the week-ends off and, oh yeah, they can watch tv after dinner.

    Their take-away from the Julian Assange Hour could determine the outcome of his ordeal. The best evidence of Jullian Assange's character is Julian Assange, himself. Sometimes that witness is never called to the stand. If I weren't a card carrying paranoid schizophrenic, I'd say that some of JA's influential friends and lawyers have told him that I'd he did an interesting show, it might get some judicial revue during some judicial pop corn and judicial peanuts.

    The judges will won't be taken in by JA. But we will all see a side of him no one has ever seen, including me and a few of you.

    Julian Assange up close and in your face on tv.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Until he faces his rape charges...

    ...he is not a hero of any sort.

    Man up, Julian.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yeah right

      Yeah, and you'd do the same, would you? I think not.

      1. Local Group
        Trollface

        If it wasn't for 'man up',

        he wouldn't be facing rape charges.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        If I were innocent, I'd certainly not do my damnedest to evade the long arm of the law and refuse to give a statement and answer questions.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Non-celebrity get me out of here?

    I would love a "non-celebrity get me out of here episode" where you could vote to keep Assange(tm) locked up in a damp concrete bunker. You could also do a followup where you'd host a big guy called Bubba with Assange(tm) after mounting the shower soap dispensers about a foot off the ground, but that may happen anyway when Assange(tm) hits prison..

    For added irony, donate the proceeds to Wikileaks..

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How odd.

    On Slashdot (browsing at level 4 and above) it seems the general consensus is that whatever his personal failings, he's done A Good Thing for freedom and openess - and deserves support.

    Here on El Reg it's just haterz!

    1. Scorchio!!
      Meh

      "How odd.

      On Slashdot (browsing at level 4 and above) it seems the general consensus is that whatever his personal failings, he's done A Good Thing for freedom and openess - and deserves support."

      It sounds to me as if you are an advocate for the consensus theory of truth. If the people believe it, then it must be true. Shades of the 1930s all over again.

      Must go, I'm off to the 5 minutes hate.

      1. Local Group

        Don't rush.

        You get credit for 3 minutes here.

        1. Scorchio!!

          Re: Don't rush.

          "You get credit for 3 minutes here."

          I'm on double bubble; I forgot to take my prozium this morning.

  20. Local Group
    Meh

    Time for an update.

    "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange finds network to air his TV show — Kremlin-backed RT

    Assange, currently under house arrest, will begin talk show on English-language network in March"

    New York Daily News Jan 25

    1. Scorchio!!

      Re: Time for an update.

      Just in the interests of truth and completeness:

      "The Kremlin launched the RT network as Russia Today in 2005 as a counterpart to CNN in reaching international viewers in Europe. Detractors, though, consider the network a tool of Russian propaganda.

      "Has Julian Assange ever heard the story of the Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky," Claudia von Salzen, a journalist with Germany's Der Tagesspiegel, tweeted, according to the BBC. "He died in jail after accusing officials of fraud.""

      https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-finds-network-air-tv-show-kremlin-backed-rt-article-1.1011581

      As we all know the former USSR has a state Duma packed with former KGB and FSB placemen favoured by Putin. I would find this opportunism risible, were it not for the fact that Alexander Litvinenko was assassinated by means of polonium (the trail literally led back to Russia and the accused was 'elevated' to be a member of said Duma so that he cannot be extradited), the attempt on Gordievsky's life, the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, and many, many other people who exposed the activities of people in the Russian government and Duma; Litvenenko's disclosures are said to have impacted directly on the former Lt Col of KGB, Putin. Litvenenko's story is very interesting; he was charged with the task of uncovering corruption, only he went too far for some.

      I wonder how Assange sleeps at night, as I remember the disclosure of Afghan informant data, right down to the GPS data, and his cold, insightless remarks about informers in general. In front of witnesses. Oh sure, Assange is one of the good guys, right? Including his help from an anti semitic Russian; and the list goes on.

      1. Local Group
        Pint

        Far out, Scorchio! You are the man.

        And I thought my conspiracy theories were bad. Yours are real led zeppelins. Woo. Hoo! (Let's have a beer sometime.)

        So the Russians are going to eliminate the guy that embarrassed America? And before America is forced to make some very unpleasant moves against Assange. Moves which will create very negative PR for America which will last a long time. Putin ain't that dumb.

        Here's my latest conspiracy theory: If Sweden extradites Assange to America, it will get a boycott by the world wide gay community which, during the downturn in the global economy, is nothing to

        sneeze at. With their immense discretionary spending, the gay community can make or break a small vacation spot not far from the Arctic Circle.

        Kool, huh?

        1. Local Group
          Meh

          Scorchio! I'm impressed with your extraditable info..

          Maybe you'll share with me your opinion of the Uri Brodsky case.

          I'm sure you know all the ins and outs of the Israeli Mossad agent arrested in Poland in 2010, extradited to Germany, released on bail and returned to Israel pending etc. etc. There was a recent story that Germany wants him returned and has issued a warrant for his arrest.

          Will Israel honor that warrant? Will they fake his death -- lost at sea -- no corpus delicti? Will Israel have to kill him after his threat to spill the beans if he is handed over?

          http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=203790

          You're the expert witness about extraditables. Thank you in advance. :o)

          1. Scorchio!!
            FAIL

            Re: Scorchio! I'm impressed with your extraditable info..

            Silly puppy. The context was Assange's use of Kremlin sponsored news media; I drew people's attention to the behaviour of Russian state agencies, the fact that the Duma is stacked with KGB placemen, and so on; the point is that Assange is as a result of this connection as tainted as that which he claims to fight.

            I'm not interested in your non sequitur ramblings which, by definition, are unconnected with the current matter; Assange and his use of Kremlin backed news media, and the tainted connections therefrom with assassinations of Russian journalists and former senior KGB officers charged with dealing with corruption in the Russian state. As I said, you must learn to blow your own nose.

            1. Local Group
              Big Brother

              You are patience itself.

              (Can I blame Apple's iPad for much of my incoherence?  One can't solve the problems of our planet or describe the universe touch typing inside a 4 1/2" X1 1/2" box?)

              I never meant to suggest that Putin, the latest incarnations of the KGB, or any other PsTB in Russia did not, do not, or will not use assassination as a tool to maintain power or prevent other nations from besting them.  IGWS.  I take it you are shocked that Polonium was used on Litvinenko. I imagine that is the threat to all agents of the KGB who would consider betraying their outfit: not just assassination, but by radioactivity.

              Again I must use the analogy of "flogging round the fleet".  In the 19th century to insure discipline of the sailors, striking an officer of the English Navy was punished by perhaps 200 lashes of the cat administered in a long boat, which was rowed along side all the ships in the flotilla, while all hands on all boats were made to witness the flogging.  A cuppa Polonium tea sounds pretty nice in comparison.

              Two points about Assange: first, I don't see anything unrealpolitik about letting someone on a nation's hit list survive, while that person is getting media attention revealing some embarrassing actions taken by rival nation.  The US is going to have to go to court to extradite Assange into the

              dock.  Citizens around the world are going to be unhappy with that.  More bad PR for America. Why would Russia nip that flower in the bud?

              Insofar as political assassination goes, didn't the US eliminate Allende? And Diem? And who will ever forget the army of 100,000 sent to assassinate Saddam?

              Finally, my friend, with your contempt for Assange, you are making the oldest mistake in the history of history.  You are shooting the messenger.

              "Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of lashing out at the (blameless) bearer of bad news. In earlier times, messages were usually delivered in person by a human envoy. Sometimes, as in war, for example, the messenger was sent from the enemy camp. An easily provoked combatant receiving such an overture could more easily vent anger (or otherwise retaliate) on the deliverer of the unpopular message than on its author.  In modern usage, the expression still refers to any kind of punishment meted out to the person bringing bad news, but has taken on an ironic dimension as well.   "Attacking the messenger" is a subdivision of the ad

              hominem logical fallacy." (wikipedia)

              Assange may or may not be an unbathed a**hole.  I'll wait before deciding. But it is the embarrassing revelations made about various governments that the tsunami of anger at Assange is meant to obscure.   "Pay no attention to those revelations and allegations behind the silver curtain.

              The blonde, unwashed man holding them is a fiend."

              I have a theory (some might call it a tin foil hat theory) that makes Litvinenko and Polonium seem like  Seurat's 'Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte'.  But I don't have room for it here.

              Hope you are well.

              1. Scorchio!!

                Re: You are patience itself.

                My point is that Assange is tainted by this, since he is using a Kremlin sponsored outlet. Nothing more; as someone who has a lot of experience of the cold war, assassinations and much of the other stuff they did does not surprise me. If you look at the current wave of uprisings in countries formerly supplied by the USSR you can see some of the fading kicks of the bi-polar political mechanism that used to keep the world in check.

                The rest is just so much wittering to me. I'm not interested, except that I merely replied to your point, citing the connection that now exists between an information pirate and a parliament of people that have pirated freedom and even lives.

                Do you understand what I am driving at now? There's no need to give me non sequitur BS about Allende. Of course it's true, but does not touch my point one whit. You keep dragging unrelated material in to no avail. As to your lecture on the argumentum ad hominem, I do have a degree in philosophy and that entails a lot of lectures in logic. So you again waste time.

                Damn, I find myself wishing this were Usenet; at least then I could kill file you. Good night.

                1. Local Group

                  You are right, Scorchio

                  And I am wrong. I do witter. And drag around unrelated material. I apologize for it.

                  I hang out here because all the comments are intelligent and funny. I do get carried away from time to time. History and economics, are what I know best. There aren't a lot of forums devoted to them, so I find myself wittering on subjects I probably shouldn't. There it is. Throw the kill switch. I can take it.

                  I'll agree with you that Assange is tainted by his relationship with Russian Television. Or will be when it is a reality and not just something reported by the media. Neither you nor I can know what

                  he had in mind when he approached them. It can't have been to influence any of the justices on the English Supreme Court, as that court convenes on Wednesday. Assange still has an appeal to the Court on Human Rights after that. Perhaps he was advised to save his powder for that Court and not to depend on the English one.

                  If the tv maneuver isn't to influence the judges in Strasbourg, then it must be his ego to which you've already alluded.

                  In any case, Assange's motives beg these questions: is this putative relationship with Russian tv a tactic to prevent his extradition to Sweden and then to the US and 30 years in an orange jump suit in Gitmo? And do you know anyone who would not make a deal with devil to avoid that punishment?

        2. Scorchio!!
          FAIL

          Re: Far out, Scorchio! You are the man.

          "And I thought my conspiracy theories were bad. Yours are real led zeppelins."

          I don't know WTH you are blabbering about; it is the case that British government and police resources were dedicated to tracing the polonium. The trail led back to Russian passenger aircraft and are among the main planks of evidence provided by the British police in the extradition request. If you look carefully at analyses available from the BBC news pages it will become apparent that pointy headedness is not needed to deduce that the resources required to produce the polonium exceed that of private individuals or crime corporations. This was a state venture.

          Litvenenko was lured to a cafe/restaurant and for a brief moment failed to maintain close obs on his refreshements. The story of polonium trail observed by British police, both to and from the cafe/restaurant, is there for even the laziest to read. Have you not read about it? I sometimes really do wonder. Clue; radioactive production agencies each have a signature, and this is very specific; these facilities are very expensive; their use is restricted and monitored.

          Now look at Lt. Col Litvenenko's (KGB) history. In his latter days he had been charged with investigating corruption, and a part of his enquiries covered the activities of former Lt. Col Putin (KGB). Litvenenko was asked to produce an assessment of Putin, and obliged. It was apparently enough to have Putin angered.

          As to the promotion of Lugovoi (also former KGB) to the state Duma, it's both a reward and a means of keeping him from extradition; members of the Duma may not, under Russian law, be extradited.

          Meanwhile the Russian government deny involvement and blame what is commonly (and mistakenly) known as MI6: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8560016.stm Do not also the references to polonium.

          It is a mistake to make such a denial because the British int & sy services have not been able to kill people for a very long time, probably since the war.

          I won't waste my time on the non sequitur reasoning and other silliness (deliberate and accidental) in your succeeding paragraphs.

          Your nappies need changing.

          See also:

          http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8820603/Will-Alexander-Litvinenkos-killers-get-away-with-it.html

          http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/02/npl_litvinenko_scanner/

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_up_Russia:_Terror_from_within

          Be sure to watch the video report:

          http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7494142.stm

          Immunity from extradition:

          http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7155013.stm

          For further reading on Russian assassinations do a grep on Georgy Markov and on assassinations of and by Chechen personnel in Austria. Assassinations are neither new nor any big deal, to the Russians at least. Do the searches yourself. I will not blow your nose again. HTH. HAND.

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