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Annette Baier wrote that: “Trust is always an invitation not only to confidence tricksters but also to terrorists, who discern its most easily destroyed and socially vital forms. Criminals, not moral philosophers have been the experts at discerning different forms of trust.” Since then, philosophers have had much to say about trust and its varieties; nevertheless, we still have a thing or two to learn from practitioners of the art of creating distrust and from those who resist them.

The class of practitioners I have in mind are populist politicians, whose fear-mongering campaigns show a masterful appreciation of the ways in which certain emotional states drive out trust and replace it with distrust. Some emotions are inimical to trust (what I call “trust-phobic” emotions) and some are conducive to distrust (“distrust-philic”), and can be used to manipulate climates of distrust — including manipulating them for political ends. It is no accident that manufactured fear and contempt feature centrally in the campaigns of populist politicians for they are both strongly trust-phobic. Populist politicians who use these tactics implicitly understand the role of what I call “affective looping” in generating and sustaining climates of trust and distrust.

Affective looping occurs when a prior emotional state provides grounds for its own continuance, or when it provides grounds for another different but allied emotional state which in turn provides grounds for the original emotional state, which further reinforces the allied emotional state, and so on, in a self-supporting loop — a loop that tends to not only sustain but also to magnify both emotional states.

It can be hard to break such loops, but when it comes to manufactured distrust, philosophers can learn much from activists, who understand that it is hearts that must be changed before minds can be changed, and who understand the role of empathy as counter to distrust-philic emotional states.

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/religion/understanding-emotions-and-breaking-the-cycle-of-distrust/11704032

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John Pilger describes the disturbing scene inside a London courtroom last week when the WikiLeaks publisher, Julian Assange, appeared at the start of a landmark extradition case that will define the future of free journalism.

THE WORST MOMENT was one of a number of "worst" moments. I have sat in many courtrooms and seen judges abuse their positions. This judge, Vanessa Baraitser – actually she isn't a judge at all; she's a magistrate – shocked all of us who were there.

Her face was a progression of sneers and imperious indifference; she addressed Julian Assange with an arrogance that reminded me of a magistrate presiding over apartheid South Africa's Race Classification Board. When Julian struggled to speak, he couldn't get words out, even stumbling over his name and date of birth.

When he spoke truth and when his barrister spoke, Baraister contrived boredom; when the prosecuting barrister spoke, she was attentive. She had nothing to do; it was demonstrably preordained. In the table in front of us were a handful of American officials, whose directions to the prosecutor were carried by his — back and forth this young woman went, delivering instructions.

The Magistrate watched this outrage without a comment. It reminded me of a newsreel of a show trial in Stalin's Moscow; the difference was that Soviet show trials were broadcast. Here, the state broadcaster, the BBC, blacked it out, as did the other mainstream channels.

Having ignored Julian's barrister's factual description of how the CIA had run a Spanish security firm that spied on him in the Ecuadorean embassy, she didn't yawn, but her disinterest was as expressive. She then denied Julian's lawyers any more time to prepare their case — even though their client was prevented in prison from receiving legal documents and other tools with which to defend himself.

Her knee in the groin was to announce that the next court hearing would be at remote Woolwich, which adjoins Belmarsh Prison and has few seats for the public. This will ensure isolation and be as close to a secret trial as it's possible to get. Did this happen in the home of the Magna Carta? Yes, but who knew?

Julian's case is often compared with Dreyfus, but historically it's far more important. No one doubts – not his enemies at The New York Times, not the Murdoch press in Australia – that if he is extradited to the United States and the inevitable Supermax, journalism will be incarcerated, too.

Who will then dare to expose anything of importance, let alone the high crimes of the West? Who will dare publish 'Collateral Murder'? Who will dare tell the public that democracy, such as it is, has been subverted by a corporate authoritarianism from which fascism draws its strength?

Once there were spaces, gaps, boltholes, in mainstream journalism in which mavericks, who are the best journalists, could work. These are long closed now. The hope is the samizdat on the internet, where fine disobedient journalism is still practised.

The greater hope is that a judge or even judges in Britain's court of appeal, the High Court, will rediscover justice and set him free. In the meantime, it's our responsibility to fight in ways we know but which now require more than a modicum of Julian Assange's courage.

This article was first published in Consortium News under the title 'Did This Happen in the Home of the Magna Carta?' and is republished with permission. You can access more of the films and journalism of John Pilger at johnpilger.com or follow him on Twitter @JohnPilger.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/john-pilger-assanges-...

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Pamela Anderson has cancelled a visit to see WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in prison due to a “personal emergency”.

The actor was due to visit Mr Assange on Tuesday, before holding a press conference outside Belmarsh Prison in southeast London.

A statement from the Don’t Extradite Assange campaign said: “Pamela has a personal emergency which has meant she has had to go home and cancel everything for the next two weeks.”

Anderson says Mr Assange has been subjected to “traumatic psychological torture”, as she urged his home country Australia to stop him being extradited to the US.

The former Baywatch star – one of Assange’s most high-profile supporters – visited him in jail earlier this year.

She recently said she was “extremely distressed at the thought of his declining state” and added that her heart broke for him.

Anderson tweeted that Mr Assange was “hanging on like a super hero” in Belmarsh, where he was sent earlier this year after spending seven years in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid extradition.

Mr Assange was jailed for 50 weeks in May for breaching his bail conditions after going into hiding to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex offence allegations.

He faces 18 charges in the US, including allegations that he conspired to break into a Pentagon computer and worked with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

Earlier, a court heard how Mr Assange has been unable to work on his extradition case because he has been given an unsuitable computer in prison.

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2019/11/19/pamela-anderson-julian-...

Assange's "case" has already been decided by the UK-US cabal of psychopaths, INCLUDING biased JUDGES who are supposed to be for "justice". The only hope left is that Mr Rupert Murdoch starts to ask for (DEMAND !!!) Assange's freedom. His weight through his columnists would force the hands of our idiotic psychopathic leaders, from Johnson to Trump and our own Scummo... One can hope that the old man would see value, even if there was none, in an act of altruism. ANYONE NOT DEMANDING FOR ASSANGE'S FREEDOM IS COMPLICIT IN HIS DETERIORATING PREDICAMENT...

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Swedish authorities have discontinued an investigation into a rape allegation against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, after a review of the evidence.

The deputy chief prosecutor, Eva-Marie Persson, said the complainant’s evidence was deemed credible and reliable, but that after nearly a decade, witnesses’ memories had faded.

“After conducting a comprehensive assessment of what has emerged during the course of the preliminary investigation I then make the assessment that the evidence is not strong enough to form the basis for filing an indictment,” Persson said. An appeal against the decision could be made to the office of Sweden’s attorney general, she added.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/19/sweden-drops-julian-assang...

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ANYONE NOT DEMANDING ASSANGE'S FREEDOM IS AGAINST PRESS FREEDOM...

Sweden’s decision to drop an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange has both illuminated the situation of the WikiLeaks founder and made it more pressing. He must be defended against extradition to the United States in a case that digs at the foundations of freedom and democracy in both Britain and the US, and could see him sentenced to a total of 175 years.

Mr Assange is in Belmarsh prison, where he served a 50-week sentence for skipping bail. He had entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid arrest when Sweden asked Britain to extradite him for questioning. Though he denies any wrongdoing, that investigation was appropriate. Prosecuting authorities have said the complainant’s evidence was credible and reliable, but that the passage of time – Mr Assange entered the embassy in 2012 – meant that witnesses’ memories had faded.

The path has now been cleared for the US charges against him. They are entirely different. They relate to the secret military and diplomatic files provided by Chelsea Manning, which exposed appalling abuses by the US, and corrupt and brutal behaviour by other governments. These were covered by the Guardian, the New York Times and others, providing the public with important and necessary information. The Guardian, like others, strongly opposed Mr Assange’s subsequent decision to publish unredacted documents in bulk. But the material’s importance remains indisputable.

The Obama administration decided against pursuing Mr Assange under the Espionage Act, realising the threat to first amendment rights. Donald Trump enthused about his organisation on the 2016 campaign trail: “I love WikiLeaks,” he announced, after it published Democratic party emails stolen by Russian state hackers. But his administration has chosen to prosecute Mr Assange, and to do so explicitly on charges of publishing classified information through WikiLeaks.

Press freedom advocates in the US have rightly described this decision as “terrifying” and a “dire threat” to reporters, particularly given Mr Trump’s relentless assaults upon the media. But Sajid Javid, then home secretary, signed the extradition order and the matter is with the courts. The full proceedings will begin in February.

The case against extradition is strengthened by the nature of the US penal system – particularly given concerns about Mr Assange’s health – and the shameful treatment of Ms Manning. The army whistleblower was held in solitary confinement for years. Though her sentence was commuted by Barack Obama, she has been jailed again, for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury assumed to relate to Mr Assange’s case.

This is not a question of how wise Mr Assange is, still less how likable. It is not about his character, nor his judgment. It is a matter of press freedom, and the public’s right to know. It is unclear whether it would be safe to extradite Mr Assange to the US. It is certain that it would not be right.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/20/the-guardian-view-...

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The investigations in Sweden against Assange were always phoney... But the Guardian stuck to the fake legality of such. Now that the "charges" (there were never charges, only investigation with Assange going to Sweden) have been dropped, the Guardian is (semi-)realising, with a hand on its heart (or arse), that the whole thing was a charade to extradite Julian Assange to the USA, destroying the "freedom of the press" so dear to the Guardian's hypocrisy on many a subject...

Pilger took aim at a Guardian editorial published this week, which made the case for not extraditing the Australian to the US, where he could face 175 years behind bars for possession and dissemination of classified information.

The BAFTA award-winning documentary filmmaker has offered his interpretation of what the editorial actually meant.

What the Guardian was really saying was this: ‘We are the fourth estate, the bearers of true liberal principles, the guardians of sacred rights. Such as the right to suck up to power. The right to invade countries and the right to smear those who expose our double standards and, if necessary, the right to destroy them,’” he said. 

If Julian were to succumb to the cruelty he has endured, week after week, month after month, newspapers like the Guardian would share the responsibility.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/474181-pilger-blasts-guardian-assange-coverage/

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On this site, we think of you daily, Julian, even if we don't place an obvious comment about your plight. Most of our posts have a snipet mentioning you:

FREE ASSANGE TODAY !!!!!!!