An Extended Statement on Julian Assange
Assange's release was not important enough to "make the cut" for News, only "tweets" and other Social Control Media nonsense.
Earlier today we published "Three Points About Julian Assange Plea Deal" and we've since then had more time to study and discuss the matter (mostly over IRC).
First of all, the press coverage has been rather appalling - a rehash of many recycled old lies. I responded to these last month.
Second, much of the coverage deals with political aspects, which extend to other moves by the Biden administration. This oughtn't be painted as a Trump/Obama/Bush/Hillary (HRC) thing and the decision is unlikely to have been made by Biden and/or his deputies. The case, which concerns alleged espionage, is about the military for the most part. The military does not really care which political party is in charge; both major parties support war and abhor accountability.
Finally, in order to keep this short, let's be cautiously happy while at the same time not reluctant to express the unpopular view that there's bad news "in the details". The US may have set a precedent (mostly in the UK), wherein it's possible to prosecute some foreign (non-US) national for exposing US war crimes, even outside the US. This is dangerous. This is ripe for abuse. It'll lead to a lot of self-censorship, i.e. a lack of accountability for people who commit war crimes. █