Posts by Simon Grigg
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to BenWilson,
I'd be amazed if he's extradited from Sweden to the USA.
I agree, but I find the likelihood that the UK would hand him over under fresh warrants for extradition far less amazing.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Russell Brown,
Except, as the Guardian reported, the same Swedish law that allows suspects to be placed in custody allows obliges the system to deal with the matter with great dispatch -- like, two weeks.
The stumbling block is that he needs to get to Sweden to benefit from Swedish law. We already know that this extradition to Sweden, regardless of what happens on Tuesday, could take years even without an appeal to the European Court.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Neil Morrison,
There was a substantial peaceful change in the direction of US politics.
I'm not sure that the families in Waziristan who have suffered a substantial uptick in missiles falling into their villages since the end of 2008, nor the people of West Papua who have now found that the Indonesian special forces facing them are trained and armed by the US after the Bush-era block on this was lifted would really be with you on that one, Neil.
An allegation as preposterous as it is self-serving.
I don't for a moment buy into the story and I find the smears and outing of these women appalling, but you would have to remove the events of the last decade and the attempt to poison Castro's beard amongst other things from the historic record before I would buy 'preposterous'.
-
From Al-Jaz / Frost.
Perhaps I'm easily swayed by legal-speak but large parts of what Assange's brief is saying seems fairly reasonable to my untrained ears.
I'm not sure if any of us could endure the 7 years he claims this may take to resolve.
Or perhaps the Swedes drop the warrant and the US issues one simultaneously to get him in front of that alleged Grand Jury in Virginia. Given the last decade and what led to the current uproar in Spain, I don't think that's an impossibility or a wild conspiracy theory in the works.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Yes, not at all familiar with how it works here.
given the number of very old acts that the BC tour here, one could be forgiven for thinking that their primary purpose was to entertain the ageing swarms of retired British sailors and shopkeepers who have found true love on the shores of some of the less attractive southern beach resorts with a girl a quarter their age (and her extended family).
Or perhaps to reassure young Thai bands that all English acts are flatulent, past it and pose no threat.
That is if it wasn't for the other stuff they do, most of which it seems involves kids with no strings attached.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to BenWilson,
To be fair, given the rules up here I'm not sure if I would be allowed to write about such things, tainted or not, without seeing the inside of a cell.
My blog was briefly blocked in the kingdom during the bad stuff a few months back. I liked that.
But, without fear of incarceration I can say I'd rather have a king that plays the tenor sax and clarinet, records albums of the same with his jazz band (quality unknown), publishes pretty good books of the images he takes with the Leica M6 he carries everywhere, and, best of all, used to hang with Elvis, than any of the plonkers in the United Kingdom.
-
We got The Buzzcocks, The Charlatans and Sasha here in BKK this year courtesy of the BC - much appreciated but a more contemporary band or two would be rather cool.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to BenWilson,
Constitutional monarchies are surely still OK though :-)
The British one, through its Council often sends out, or invites in, DJs and bands. I quite like that bit. I would've been thrilled if the State Dept had sent The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys or Chuck D around the planet as cultural ambassadors.
-
Hard News: The Wellington Cables, in reply to Neil Morrison,
historical or political importance
Maybe it's just me but I'd argue that much of what was released fairly comfortably fits those parameters. Or would you rather not know, Neil?
-
If wikileaks claims no other victories I'm throwing my lot in with them just for this:
THE point of Wikileaks became clear last night after viral attacks on credit card websites stopped someone from buying Chris de Burgh's The Storyman.
Pro-Wikileaks activists brought down the Visa and Mastercard sites just as Martin Bishop, from Stevenage, was about to do a 'one click' purchase of the Irish singer's 2006 assault on basic human decency.
US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said: "I would like to apologise to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for threatening to have him slightly killed. I now see what he was trying to achieve and I applaud him.