rigorousintuition.ca

Naomi Wolf wrote: ...They were tied to trees and to stakes in the ground and raped by dozens of soldiers at a time. Many of them were as young as twelve or thirteen.
Their rapists are free.
...
Generals at every level instigated this country-wide sexual assault of a generation of girls.
Their names are known. They are free.
...
Women -- and girls -- are drugged, kidnapped and trafficked by the tens of thousands for the sex industry in Thailand and across Eastern Europe. They are held as virtual prisoners by pimps. If you interview the women who spend their lives trying to rescue and rehabilitate them, they attest to the fact that these women's kidnappers and rapists are well known to local and even national authorities --
but these men never face charges. These rapists are free.

In the Bosnian conflict, rape was a weapon of war. Women were imprisoned in barracks utilized for this purpose, and raped, again at gunpoint, for weeks at a time. They could not escape. Minimalist hearings after the conflict resulted in slap-on-the-wrist sentences for a handful of perpetrators. The vast majority of rapists, whose names are known, did not face charges.
The military who condoned these assaults, whose names are known, are free.

Women who testify to having been raped in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Morocco face imprisonment and beatings, and being abandoned by their families. Their rapists almost never face charges and are free. Women who testify to rape in India and Pakistan have been subjected to honor killings and acid attacks.
Their rapists almost never face charges, are almost never convicted. They are free.

...

In other words: Never in twenty-three years of reporting on and supporting victims of sexual assault around the world have I ever heard of a case of a man sought by two nations, and held in solitary confinement without bail in advance of being questioned -- for any alleged rape, even the most brutal or easily proven. In terms of a case involving the kinds of ambiguities and complexities of the alleged victims' complaints -- sex that began consensually that allegedly became non-consensual when dispute arose around a condom -- please find me, anywhere in the world, another man in prison today without bail on charges of anything comparable.

Of course 'No means No', even after consent has been given, whether you are male or female; and of course condoms should always be used if agreed upon. As my fifteen-year-old would say: Duh.

But for all the tens of thousands of women who have been kidnapped and raped, raped at gunpoint, gang-raped, raped with sharp objects, beaten and raped, raped as children, raped by acquaintances -- who are still awaiting the least whisper of justice -- the highly unusual reaction of Sweden and Britain to this situation is a slap in the face. It seems to send the message to women in the UK and Sweden that if you ever want anyone to take sex crime against you seriously, you had better be sure the man you accuse of wrongdoing has also happened to embarrass the most powerful government on earth.

Keep Assange in prison without bail until he is questioned, by all means, if we are suddenly in a real feminist worldwide epiphany about the seriousness of the issue of sex crime: but Interpol, Britain and Sweden must, if they are not to be guilty of hateful manipulation of a serious women's issue for cynical political purposes, imprison as well -- at once -- the hundreds of thousands of men in Britain, Sweden and around the world world who are accused in far less ambiguous terms of far graver forms of assault.

Anyone who works in supporting women who have been raped knows from this grossly disproportionate response that Britain and Sweden, surely under pressure from the US, are cynically using the serious issue of rape as a fig leaf to cover the shameful issue of mafioso-like global collusion in silencing dissent. That is not the State embracing feminism. That is the State pimping feminism.

8bitagent wrote:So in Sweden, is it "rape" if the guy doesnt use a condom? thats just bad form, and does a serious disservice to REAL victims of rape.

We do get into areas where someone is purposefully infecting
others with AIDS, and there has been court cases of that. Or trying to get a girlfriend pregnant to have control over her, another issue Ive heard of.

As readers here well know, Siegelman's convictions came only after years of pre-trial prosecutorial smears, witness sexual blackmail,

"A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked her to try to prove the state's Democratic governor was unfaithful to his wife in an effort to thwart the highly successful politician's re-election," CBS's Scott Pelley reports for 60 Minutes. "Rove's attempt to smear Don Siegelman was part of a Republican campaign to ruin him that finally succeeded in imprisoning him, says the operative, Jill Simpson."

...in 2006 he was convicted on corruption charges.[1] There has been an ongoing controversy due to counteraccusations that his prosecution was intentionally wrongful, engineered by presidential advisor Karl Rove and officials of the U.S. Department of Justice to gain political advantage. National news media have published investigations into this claim and at least 50 attorneys general and officials, both Republicans and Democrats, have publicly expressed their skepticism over Siegelman's prosecution.[2][3] The treatment of Siegelman pending his sentencing was so harsh that it prompted an intervention by 44 former Attorneys General of various states... Link

Definition
...
Smear tactics differ from normal discourse or debate in that they do not bear upon the issues or arguments in question. A smear is a simple attempt to malign a group or an individual and to attempt to undermine their credibility.

Smears often consist of ad hominem attacks in the form of unverifiable rumors and are often distortions, half-truths, or even outright lies; smear campaigns are often propagated by gossip spreading. Even when the facts behind a smear are shown to lack proper foundation, the tactic is often effective because the target's reputation is tarnished before the truth is known. Link

Smears are also effective in diverting attention away from the matter in question and onto the individual or group. The target of the smear is typically forced to defend his reputation rather than focus on the previous issue.

Smear tactics are considered by many to be a low, disingenuous form of discourse; they are nevertheless very common.

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare, planting false reports in the media, smearing through forged letters, harassment, wrongful imprisonment, extralegal violence and assassination.

I heard about Anna Mae Aquash because people said, quietly, “Yes she was with AIM. But we think she was a snitch, that’s why she was killed”. I spend 10 years researching her life, death and friends to prove them wrong. She was not a fed, but was set-up by the FBI to appear as a threat. To AIM. Link

After my state sponsored stay at ANU, I ended up at a backpackers filled
with some of the 900 Christians from the Australian University Christian
Convergence. Most were young women and I turned, somewhat disgracefully,
into a sort of Chesterton's Hardy, the village atheist, brooding and
blaspheming over the village idiot, while they, for their part, tried
to convert me with the rise and fall their bosoms.

One of the devout was the lovely daughter of a New Castle minister.
At some point in my unintended wooing of her, she looked up, fluttered
her eyelids and said 'Oh, you know so much! I hardly know anything!'.
'That is why you believe in God," I explained. This conversational
brutality took her breath away and she swooned. I was exactly what she
secretly longed for; a man willing to openly disagree with her father. All
along she had needed a man to devote herself to. All along she had failed
to find a man worthy of being called a man, failed to find a man who would
not bow to gods, so she had chosen a god unworthy of being called a god,
but who would not bow to a man.

http://web.archive.org/web/200607121845 ... index.html

JR wrote:I think the determination among the conspiracy-aware not to be deceived, to always rise above "the sheeple," often leads to another extreme, where one can end up just as clueless in one's understanding.

After my state sponsored stay at ANU, I ended up at a backpackers filled
with some of the 900 Christians from the Australian University Christian
Convergence. Most were young women and I turned, somewhat disgracefully,
into a sort of Chesterton's Hardy, the village atheist, brooding and
blaspheming over the village idiot, while they, for their part, tried
to convert me with the rise and fall their bosoms.

One of the devout was the lovely daughter of a New Castle minister.
At some point in my unintended wooing of her, she looked up, fluttered
her eyelids and said 'Oh, you know so much! I hardly know anything!'.
'That is why you believe in God," I explained. This conversational
brutality took her breath away and she swooned. I was exactly what she
secretly longed for; a man willing to openly disagree with her father. All
along she had needed a man to devote herself to. All along she had failed
to find a man worthy of being called a man, failed to find a man who would
not bow to gods, so she had chosen a god unworthy of being called a god,
but who would not bow to a man.

http://web.archive.org/web/200607121845 ... index.html

England gets Russian journalist killed (06PARIS7904)

In November 2006 Alexander Litvinenko was fatally poisoned with radioactive Polonium-210 in London.
Alexander Litvinenko was a former Russian secret service agent, writer, dissident and public critic of the Russian secret service. He was best known as the author of “Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within” and “Lubyanka Criminal Group”

After his death there has been a multitude of theories of what happened in the media. Most of them accused Russia of the murder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_ ... n_theories

In Cable 06PARIS7904 Hofmann reports on a meeting between Russia and US on counter-terrorism. The Presidential Representative Safonov points out that “Russian authorities in London had known about and followed individuals moving radioactive substances into the city but were told by the British that they were under control before the poisoning took place.”

The result shows, that they were not under control. Why didn’t the UK stop people smuggling radioactive material into London? Or at least watch them closely enough, that something like this can’t happen?
Instead they call the Russian authorities back, who might have been able to foil the assassination. This could be interpreted as support for the murderers of Litvinenko.
Be that as it may, as it stands the UK is directly or indirectly responsible for the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

On 20 January 2007 the British police announced they identified Andrey Lugovoy as the assassin. Two months later, the British Foreign Office officially submitted a request to the Government of Russia for the extradition of Lugovoi to face criminal charges in the UK.

Russian authorities have formally refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoy.
Another cable reveals there are constitutional and other legal prohibitions against the extradition of Russian citizens.
Instead they offered to put Mr Lugovoy on trial in Russia if the evidence is forwarded to them.

That was in 2007 and there has not been a trial.
_________________________________________________________________________

Related cables:

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2006/12/06PARIS7904.html

http://213.251.145.96/cable/2007/05/07MOSCOW2429.html

The GOR is highly unlikely to extradite former FSB officer Andrey Lugovoy to Britain, citing constitutional and other legal prohibitions against the extradition of Russian citizens. Official and unofficial Russian reaction to the May 22 British announcement that Lugovoy would be charged with the murder of Aleksandr Litvinenko has been nearly uniform in rejecting the UK request that he stand trial in London. The MFA held out the prospect of further cooperation in the investigation, while citing the impossibility of extradition, but other Russian commentators were more categorical, suggesting that the British charges were politically motivated. A few opposition voices called for Lugovoy to voluntarily submit to British justice. The British Embassy expects a further worsening in the UK-Russia and EU-Russia relationships.

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/08/09MADRID869.html

Litvinenko tipped off Spanish security officials on the locations, roles, and activities of several “Russian” mafia figures with ties to Spain. He allegedly provided information on Izguilov, Zahkar Kalashov, and Tariel Oniani to GOS officials during a May 2006 meeting.

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/09/07MOSCOW4599.html

Andrey Lugovoy fills number two position on Liberal Democratic Party of Russia’s ticket.
The Kremlin had pushed Lugovoy onto the LDPR list in order to somehow provide him with protection.

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/07/08LONDON1837.html

Aldred said the cost of the fall-out to HMG from the Litvinenko issue was an end to close cooperation with Russian intelligence (FSB) on counterterrorism and other global issues.

Brown and Medvedev made little progress on the issue of diplomatic visas, which are still being restricted by both countries as part of the fall-out from the Litvinenko case.

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/10/08LONDON2643.html

The UK has had more experience lately than most western European countries with Moscow’s ire, going back to the Litvinenko poisoning case

http://213.251.145.96/cable/2006/12/06HAMBURG85.html

Summary: Hamburg State Police (LKA) confirmed December 14 that Dmitry Kovtun had left positive traces of polonium 210 in Hamburg prior to his departure from Hamburg for London on November 1. A senior official in the Federal Interior Ministry in Berlin also confirmed the reports and noted the ongoing investigation. Hamburg police continue to examine where Kovtun was and what he did while in Germany, but are not yet able to confirm if Kovtun was transporting polonium or if he had been contaminated through contact with the substance prior to his arrival in Hamburg on October 28.

http://213.251.145.96/cable/2006/12/06PARIS7755.html

speculation

Quote for lulz:
Independent (UK newspaper): Did you murder Aleksandr Litvinenko?
Andrey Lugovoy: Prior to answering such a deep and thought-out question, …

Other topics in the cable (06PARIS7904):

US and Russia agree on engaging the private sector in counter-terrorism.

Russia (Safonov) cites a scientist regarding terrorism as an indicator for larger problems.

US suggests they direct the Sandia National Laboratories in Mexico to undertake terrorist scenario modeling. They already worked with Russia on nuclear safety and biological weapons threats.

The CIA failed to provide Russia with all the requested information on the kidnapped and killed Russian diplomats in Iraq within six months. Although that is portrayed as something positive in the cable:
“CIA had already met all but one of the Russian information requests that had been made since June of 2006.”

The US side said “there was a pressing need for the G-8 to establish uniform criteria for designating terrorists and terrorist groups.” Considering the wars and occupation of countries because of terrorism it is baffling there apparently isn’t a generally accepted definition on what we are actually fighting.

Stephen Morgan wrote:

vanlose kid wrote:from the bbc interview last night (:

JA: “I’m informed that there will be, within the next 24 hours or so, another leak of information, deliberately, from either the Swedish prosecution service or some organizations that have managed to obtain selected material. Nothing that we have.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12015140?u ... um=twitter
*

Hoist by his own petard. He who lives by the leak dies by the leak. And cetera.

Ben D wrote:

Stephen Morgan wrote:

vanlose kid wrote:from the bbc interview last night (:

JA: “I’m informed that there will be, within the next 24 hours or so, another leak of information, deliberately, from either the Swedish prosecution service or some organizations that have managed to obtain selected material. Nothing that we have.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12015140?u ... um=twitter
*

Hoist by his own petard. He who lives by the leak dies by the leak. And cetera.

Thanks for that astute observation Stephen, though the wheels of karma may turn slowly, they do turn surely,...whatsoever men sow, that they shall reap. Etc.

vanlose kid wrote:

Ben D wrote:

Stephen Morgan wrote:

vanlose kid wrote:from the bbc interview last night (:

JA: “I’m informed that there will be, within the next 24 hours or so, another leak of information, deliberately, from either the Swedish prosecution service or some organizations that have managed to obtain selected material. Nothing that we have.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12015140?u ... um=twitter
*

Hoist by his own petard. He who lives by the leak dies by the leak. And cetera.

Thanks for that astute observation Stephen, though the wheels of karma may turn slowly, they do turn surely,...whatsoever men sow, that they shall reap. Etc.

either that or JA and WL have inside sources in Sweden, giving them notice beforehand.

anyway, if JA and WL is a scam as you seem so certain of then so are the charges, and the karma thing makes no sense, right? or do you mean that fake karma and real karma are identical? what do you mean, really? do your thoughts on this cohere?

whatever.

*

Ben D wrote:

vanlose kid wrote:

Ben D wrote:

Stephen Morgan wrote:

vanlose kid wrote:from the bbc interview last night (:

JA: “I’m informed that there will be, within the next 24 hours or so, another leak of information, deliberately, from either the Swedish prosecution service or some organizations that have managed to obtain selected material. Nothing that we have.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12015140?u ... um=twitter
*

Hoist by his own petard. He who lives by the leak dies by the leak. And cetera.

Thanks for that astute observation Stephen, though the wheels of karma may turn slowly, they do turn surely,...whatsoever men sow, that they shall reap. Etc.

either that or JA and WL have inside sources in Sweden, giving them notice beforehand.

anyway, if JA and WL is a scam as you seem so certain of then so are the charges, and the karma thing makes no sense, right? or do you mean that fake karma and real karma are identical? what do you mean, really? do your thoughts on this cohere?

whatever.

*

Hi vanlose kid, karma is a universal principle as I understand it, analogous to the physical law of 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'. I don't understand the concept of fake karma, nor have I ever heard of it before, could you please explain it to me?

vanlose kid wrote: hi, the concept of fake karma is based on the fact that you believe that the entire WL business and Assange are fake, stage managed, whatever. now if that is the case then the rape accusations, jailing, bail hearings, extradition requests are fake. and if that is the case there is no question of Assange being hit by karma, unless you posit fake karma. – just following your line of thought through, basically.
*

*

JA: “I’m informed that there will be, within the next 24 hours or so, another leak of information, deliberately, from either the Swedish prosecution service or some organizations that have managed to obtain selected material. Nothing that we have.”

I still don't understand what you mean by false karma, I'm only seeing the karmic connection between Assange dealing in leaked information, and the fact that information about him is now being leaked deliberately.

norton ash wrote:

I still don't understand what you mean by false karma, I'm only seeing the karmic connection between Assange dealing in leaked information, and the fact that information about him is now being leaked deliberately.

"This one goes to eleven."