Putin V the West

[john walker]

#28 Your general pessimism that underlines a lot of your posts and your negativity towards the U.K. That is just my opinion as you asked.

[James Curry]

John is there a lot to be positive about in the UK? We probably have one of the most corrupt governments in western europe.

[Ivan Cloherty]

John is there a lot to be positive about in the UK? We probably have one of the most corrupt governments in western europe.

Well your negativity certainly shines through, surprised you haven't hot-footed it to one of your utopias, pretty sure your anti-British sentiments would be welcomed by some EEC politicians, you may even have a career as a spokesperson for them extolling their virtues and join their gravy train. There is a vast difference in being probably inept and probably corrupt, perhaps you could join the hordes of hairdressers and taxi drivers who know how to solve to country's problems, but somehow never seem to throw their hat in the ring and enter politics to right all the perceived wrongs

[john walker]

James #32 I look at the more positive side of things, most of Europe is as bad. what I can not do much about I tend not to dwell on. I also think on a more local level we are quite fortunate, As in you do not have to bribe the local planning officer for planning permision and even the thought of trying to bribe a policeman when stopped for some minor midemeanor will get you into a lot of trouble.There are many other minor examples of corruption in other European countries which are just looked on as being another inconvenient tax. Whistle blowers appear to inform on misdeeds at local and national levels regularly and the press publish the wrongdoings often. Those that are caught are blamed and shamed and regularly imprisoned. Unfortunately that does not happen as often as it should as in the cases of some recent politicians. Those that expose the misdeeds and those that publish them are not murdered or dissapeared. Myself and many others including yourself on this site have lived and worked all round the World and could have settled elsewhere. I like others returned to this country because it is home. There is a lot wrong with it , more importantly there is a dam sight more that is right with it,

[cappy]

i cannot in all honesty understand why this man comes on the site day after day with negativity on just about every thing ....he appears to love anything which shows my country and anything at all in a sad and downtrodden way ......the attitude he displays ...must in all honesty be an acute sign of an attention craving sad person seeking solace from his own darkness FFS grow up.... Doubting Bleedin Thomas one of JCs disciples comes to mind.... cappy R683532

[Louis the fly]

Although I agree with nearly all the points you have raised John there is one detail I cannot agree with.
Julian Assage has been held in the UK's highest security prison for approx. 3 years with murderers, rapists and terrorists.
His crime, being a whistle blower revealing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The British government has agreed to his extradition to the US where if successful he will spend the rest of his life in a super max prison. His own country of birth, Australia has refused to help him.
What message does this send to other potential whistle blowers?

[Ivan Cloherty]

What message does this send to other potential whistle blowers?

Louis I have no objection to whistle blowers per-se if good comes from it, but did not this persons so called whistle blowing put a lot of lives in danger and it is alleged subsequent deaths in some instances

[Johnny Kieran]

The thing with whistle blowing is, if you do it, you must accept the consequences. Maybe they were state secrets he blew? but it's certainly bit him in the bum. Think before blabbing is the best bet.

[john walker]

Louis there are very distinct lines in the laws of the countries that this guy served in and the countries He blew the whistle in. They start with probably the Laws when you sign the official secrets acts or pledge your allegiance to the the Head of state and the country you are about to serve. He served for a period of time and used that time to accrue information that He had sworn to keep secret and then used that information to the detriment of those He had sworn to serve .I still believe in many other countries other than the U.K. He would have been murdered or just dissapeared. Was it the Chilean embassy that originally gave Him political asylum for a prolonged period ? At the same time the U.S.A. were pobably putting one hell of a lot of diplomatic/ political/ financial pressure on the Chilean goverment to just give Him up to what many would call his just desserts. At the end of the day I believe He commited treason which I also understand has a death sentence as a consequence in the U.S.A. I do not agree with such a harsh penalty for anybody which was very embarrassing for the Americans in particular and other governments in general, His actions would have consequences for others but has no comparison with say giving away atomic secrets or similar. There are all sorts of sins that can be forgiven or covered up in a lot of countries unfortunatly or fortunatly treason is not one.

[Louis the fly]

A few brief details, he did not serve in the military or hold a government role. No treason, no official secret act.
He was a reporter and founder of Wikkileaks. He took refuge in Ecuadorian embassy to avoid possible extradition to US. His only crime in U.K. Not answering bail hearing. The videos he revealed show civilians being shot and killed by US troops. An embarrassment for US for the world to see. No American involved has been charged with war crimes for the deliberate killing of civilians in the videos Assange revealed.