Ecuador has granted citizenship to Julian Assange as its government attempts to find creative ways of getting Assange out of the Ecuadorean embassy in London:
Ecuador says it has granted citizenship to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as officials try to find a way for him to leave the Ecuadorean embassy in London without risking legal action.
Assange, who is Australian, first sought refuge at the embassy more than five years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced an investigation over rape allegations. He was granted asylum, and has been holed up in the embassy ever since.
The original case against him has been dropped, but Assange remains inside the embassy. "He is still subject to arrest in Britain for jumping bail," The Associated Press notes. "He also fears a possible U.S. extradition request based on his leaking of classified State Department documents."
"Earlier this week, Ecuador said the situation was unsustainable and requested diplomatic status for Assange in hopes of springing him," NPR's Frank Langfitt reports from London. "A British government spokesman responded: 'Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice.'"
Also at The Guardian.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 14 2018, @01:46AM (4 children)
Oh, I'm not saying he's wrong about it. What I want to know is, is he another goddamn Renfield who thinks he'll become one of the elite by kissing up to them? Because I'm more afraid of people like that than the actual elite.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by pdfernhout on Sunday January 14 2018, @03:48AM (3 children)
http://conceptualguerilla.com/essays/essays-on-economics-and-ideology/wrath-of-the-millionaire-wannabes/ [conceptualguerilla.com]
"The right likes to think that every Leftist “hates” the “rich”. I suppose there are those on the Left who hate the rich, but if they do, their anger is misplaced. It’s the “wannabe’s” you have to watch out for. ... It is inconceivable to him that most of us don’t want a ten thousand dollar wristwatch. He can’t understand any ambition other than accumulating things whose primary value is that other people don’t have them. He fails to appreciate those great joys in life that don’t cost anything at all. If he discovers such joys, he sets about figuring out a way to charge for it. Some of these guys would charge you for the air you breathe, if they could figure out how to meter it. ..."
Not saying this reflects the original poster -- just reflects your point about causes for concern of people who want to join a certain "elite"...
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 14 2018, @07:06PM
*Precisely.*
Something...*happens* to people with a lot of money and material goods. It seems to take over them, like some kind of memetic parasite. Suddenly no matter how much they have, it's still not enough, and with the power and privilege and resources at their disposal, it becomes ever easier to steamroller over ever more people for ever more wealth. I don't know what causes this, and am not sure I want to find out, but it makes these people somehow no longer entirely human; more like dangerous predators.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 14 2018, @07:23PM
(Sorry, hit Submit too soon).
And, to build on your point, the wannabees are even worse because they feel that way about not just money and material goods, but power. And "power for the sake of power," as exemplified in 1984. I can't comprehend this mindset.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @09:22PM
there are those on the Left who hate the rich,
Actual Leftists (there aren't many in the Dumbocrat wing of The Corporate Party) prefer power to be distributed.
We are skeptical about concentrated power--and great wealth is certainly that.
Actual Leftists really do like the 1 Person==1 Vote thing ("Democracy"), with everyone affected by the decision getting a vote--which is equal to any other vote.
We tend to dislike the $1==1 Vote thing (Plutocracy).
but if they do, their anger is misplaced.
No. Actual Leftists don't like Oligarchy.
It’s the "wannabe's"[1] you have to watch out for
There's a lot of truth in the temporarily-embarrassed-millionaires thing.
[1] The need to use an apostrophe to make a plural is an extremely rare thing.
Where you can just add an s or an es and get something that doesn't look like something else|something weird, there's no need to use an apostrophe to make a plural.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]