Julian Assange has left Belmarsh prison....

[Strelnikov]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-69145409

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/2 ... rt-hearing

He has to do this odd bit of legal Kabuki in Saipan (closest US court to Austrailia) where he has to plead guilty to one change and then his five years in Belmarsh will count as time served. And remember, that was mostly in solitary confinement. Then he flies back to 'Straya and this nonsense ends.

You look at the press coverage and nobody is pointing out the legally obvious element, that had Assange gone on trial in the US, that the 1917 Espionage Act would have eaten the First Amendment alive. And that means the death of the tottering US news media, because reporting on any whistleblower is then fraught with endless legal traps that any normal editor would say "no". So the US government blinked and saved itself a lot of legal trouble.

[suckadmin]

"he's so dreamy"

Screenshot_20240626_065547_Chrome.jpg (183.66 KiB) Viewed 9867 times

[journo]

He's been on Quetiapine, brand name: Seroquel for at least a few years.
Source: https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/07 ... to-appeal/

Likely forced to take it, or too depressed to even care what he was taking.

I know what that looks like, and it looks like a puffy, listless face.

It also feels like constant mild dysphoria.

It also significantly decreases cognitive function, dramatically shortens lifespan, and also increases the longevity and severity of psychosis (over time), despite it's purpose.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... 247486.pdf https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16449697/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21920710/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22340278/

People on it tend to die in their 50s or 60s, it's that unhealthy of a psych drug.

Hopefully he is weaning himself off it, but likely some cognitive damage has already been done and he's going to be more dim than before. That drug is no joke, it's among the worst.

[ericbarbour]

You look at the press coverage and nobody is pointing out the legally obvious element, that had Assange gone on trial in the US, that the 1917 Espionage Act would have eaten the First Amendment alive. And that means the death of the tottering US news media, because reporting on any whistleblower is then fraught with endless legal traps that any normal editor would say "no". So the US government blinked and saved itself a lot of legal trouble.

Which is exactly the legal climate in other countries that "pretend to have free speech", like the UK, Israel, New Zealand or Australia. They don't have an explicit First Amendment law and probably never will, because anything you say might "OFFEND" someone. Especially if you piss in the cornflakes of someone high-up in their paranoid seekret-agent establishments. Exactly what Assange, Snowden and Manning did, along with many others. They have a remarkable tendency to end up in prison or exile. First Amendment or not.

Whistleblowing is ok if you're sniping at a corporation or a wealthy raconteur. But HOW DARE YOU mock the secret alphabet agencies. Even in the US, where the Constitution is apparently as "flexible" as any other set of rules. Prove me wrong.

[ericbarbour]

He's been on Quetiapine, brand name: Seroquel for at least a few years.
......
It also significantly decreases cognitive function, dramatically shortens lifespan, and also increases the longevity and severity of psychosis (over time), despite it's purpose.

You know what the "authorities" would say: "But it's not as bad as its predecessors, like Haldol or Thorazine or Compazine!"

Drugs that make people feel good, like cocaine or amphetamines, are "evil" because people abuse them. Antipsychotics are "evil" because governments abuse them.

[Archer]

He's been on Quetiapine, brand name: Seroquel for at least a few years.
Source: https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/07 ... to-appeal/

Likely forced to take it, or too depressed to even care what he was taking.

I know what that looks like, and it looks like a puffy, listless face.

It also feels like constant mild dysphoria.

It also significantly decreases cognitive function, dramatically shortens lifespan, and also increases the longevity and severity of psychosis (over time), despite it's purpose.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... 247486.pdf https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16449697/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21920710/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22340278/

People on it tend to die in their 50s or 60s, it's that unhealthy of a psych drug.

Hopefully he is weaning himself off it, but likely some cognitive damage has already been done and he's going to be more dim than before. That drug is no joke, it's among the worst.

Dopamine receptor antagonists sound nasty, from what I've read. Hopefully it's not just psychiatric abuse. He'd probably be better off with the opposite sort of drug e.g. amphetamine, methylphenidate, etc. Something to sharpen him up instead of an anti-psychotic that will turn him into a mindless, sedated, brain-damaged zombie. Zombies don't make very good dissidents.