“The woke Left is coming after me for peeing on a tree during my college days,” state Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich) told me not long ago.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) spends around $40 million every year on litigation intended to prevent the disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

“In determining whether to defend an agency's nondisclosure decision,” according to the guidelines issued by Attorney Merrick Garland in 2022, the DOJ supposedly “will not defend nondisclosure decisions that are inconsistent with FOIA” or the “presumption of openness” that should be applied.

On March 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 7521, the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act." The bill, which would attempt to ban the social media app TikTok unless its Chinese owners, ByteDance, sell it to non-Chinese owners, faces an uncertain future in the Senate, but President Joe Biden says he'll sign it if it passes.

“Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax” was the Daily Herald’s headline above a story last week about several mayors of upper-income suburban communities complaining about a proposed tax cut. I don’t know if the mayors quite understand this, but headlines like that are basically an in-kind campaign contribution to the governor and the Democratic super-majority.

Below are links to Mohamed Elmaazi's coverage of the two-day final hearing held on February 20 and 21, 2024, to decide Julian Assange's fate – whether he will be sacrificed to U.S. extradition for further abuse, torture, and possible death. Or will he be released from the threat of this U.S.-contrived abuse of power and political prosecution?

In Part I of Richard N. Haass' book The Bill of Obigations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, the author expresses that there is “mounting evidence that this rights-based democracy is failing.” In its Part II, 10 habits for good citizens are presented as a Bill of Obligations, analogous to the first 10 amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights. “American democracy will work and reform will prove possible only if obligations join rights at center stage.” The 10 obligations are: Be Informed; Get Involved; Stay Open to Compromise; Remain Civil; Reject Violence; Value Norms; Promote the Common Good; Respect Government Services; Support the Teaching of Civics; and Put the Country First.

Governor JB Pritzker proposed some changes to the state’s pension system during his budget/State of the State speech last month that will likely please the New York City-based bond-rating agencies by giving them something they want, as well as his fellow Democrats by freeing up some money to spend on other things.

Two press conferences held after Governor JB Pritzker’s budget address last week didn’t receive much news-media attention. As the saying goes, coverage follows conflict, and the two pressers were far more subtle and polite in their criticisms of the governor’s plan than those held by Republicans, so they were mostly overlooked. But clear undercurrents were visible during both events, one held by the Legislative Black Caucus and the other by the Legislative Latino Caucus. And unlike the Republicans, those two caucuses actually have considerable sway over the state’s lawmaking process.

Day 2 of 2 Day Hearing to Allow Julian Assange to Move Forward with His Appeal in the UK Courts

During a hearing at the British High Court of Justice, the United States government responded to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s request for an appeal by explicitly and forcefully arguing that Assange was no “ordinary journalist” who deserved human rights protections.

Lawyers supporting extradition repeated the questionable assertion that the extradition treaty between the U.S. and the United Kingdom does not protect anyone from being extradited to America for “political offenses,” like “espionage.”

Julian Assange Protestors Photo by Mohamed Elmaazi

Regarding Julian Assange's adjudication status for U.S. alleged crimes related to Wikileak's publishing U.S. government whistleblower's disclosures of U.S. government war crimes, it's been over three years since U.K.'s District Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s extradition decision was issued in January 2021. Baraitser actually rejected the U.S. government's demand for Assange's extradition on the basis that there was a “substantial risk” of suicide if Assange was subjected to U.S. jail or prison conditions. However, in 2021 Baraister also rejected all of Assange’s other arguments against extradition. 

February 20, 2024 Assange's legal defense team Barristers Mark Summers KC and Edward Fitzgerald KC presented in the U.K. appeals court seven grounds for challenging the ruling.

If the High Court accepts some or all of the appeal grounds as being at least “arguable” they will set a future date for Assange’s appeal to be heard. But if the High Court judges reject the defense arguments, Assange will have exhausted all of his domestic avenues of appeal.

Crimes exposed by the WikiLeaks publications that are central to this case include “torture,” “[extraordinary] rendition,” and “drone strikes” that killed scores of civilians.

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