Monday 29 July 2013

En vädjan till det svenska folket och regeringen. Av Gordon Humphrey, före detta senator i USA:s kongress

Professors blogg var först i publiceringen av f.d. senator Gordon Humphreys originalversion av inlägget An Appeal to the People of Sweden and their Government, som han skickade för publicering i Professors blogg den 24 juli 2013. Därefter följde en sammanfattning gjord av Politico, i USA. I samband med publiceringen av den engelska versionen kom vi överens med författaren om att vi skulle förbereda en svensk översättning av materialet. Den presenterar Professors blogg här nedanför; även beträffande den versionen gav oss den f.d. senatorn fösta-publicerings företräde, innan han skickade vidare till USA:s övriga media. Vi tackar Björn Brändewall, för hans medverkande i översättningen.

Emellertid instämmer vi ej med samtliga av författarens synpunkter i inlägget, tycker vi att det är ett viktigt dokument och att de svenska myndigheterna borde betrakta det med yttersta allvar – för det handlar om Sveriges eget intresse (se Why Sweden should consider asylum to Edward Snowden). Vi tackar f.d. senator Gordon Humphrey för hans artighet och hans vilja att bidra till kampanjen Svensk asyl för Edward Snowden. /Prof. Marcello Ferrada de Noli, utgivaren av Professors blogg.

x
Gordon Humphrey 
Gordon Humphrey är f d senator (1979-1990), som tjänstgjorde i utrikesutskottet, försvarsutskottet och det juridiska utskottet. Som konservativ republikan har han reagerat alltmer under de senaste åren mot vad han anser vara en växande arrogans i Washington.
 

En vädjan till det svenska folket och regeringen

Edward Snowden är en modig ”visslare”, som har utfört en stor tjänst för folket i USA och avslöjat ett häpnadsväckande lagbrott från den amerikanska regeringen. Av skäl som anförs nedan, uppmanar jag svenska folket och dess regering att erbjuda Snowden asyl.

För det första ger den amerikanska konstitutionen att ”folkets rätt att vara säkra i sina personer, hus, papper och effekter, mot oskälig husrannsakan och gripande, skall inte överträdas...” Trots denna livsviktiga garanti spionerar vår regering rutinmässigt på miljontals oskyldiga, intet ont anande medborgare, utan sannolika skäl att tro att de ägnar sig åt något orätt, och utan någon husrannsakan som utfärdats av en laglig domstol. Detta måste vara den största skandalen mot folket och deras konstitution i USA:s historia. Snowden var berättigad att avslöja den.

För det andra, så länge Snowden förblir inom räckhåll för den ryska underrättelsetjänsten svävar han och den kunskap han bär på i allvarlig fara. Även om Ryssland har gjort framsteg på många områden så agerar regeringen ännu inte konsekvent rättssäkert. Förföljelsen och fängslandet av oliktänkande – senast Andrei Navalny – tillsammans med mord på journalister som exponerar regeringens orätt, såsom Anna Politkovskaja, målar upp en tydlig bild av förtryck från makthavarna – eller från deras anhängare, som ofta har ett förflutet inom KGB.

Den ryska underrättelsetjänsten är precis som andra fast beslutsam att få vad de vill ha. För tillfället, före G20-mötet i september i S:t Petersburg och ett eventuellt möte mellan presidenterna Obama och Putin, håller de sig i skinnet. Vad som finns på Snowdens datorer är inte känt, men det är säkert att han har en hel del information i sitt huvud som den ryska underrättelsetjänsten skulle använda mot USA och andra västerländska nationer. Ju längre Snowden är kvar kvar i Ryssland, särskilt om han hamnar i medieskugga, desto mer sannolikt är det att han kommer att utsättas för försök att få honom att berätta vad han vet. Även om Snowden nyligen förklarade att inte ens tortyr kunde lyckas, kan han lätt bli drogad, till exempel.

Det ironiska är att det är Förenta staternas regering som strandsatte Edward Snowden på Moskvas flygplats genom att återkalla hans amerikanska pass, vilket gör det omöjligt för honom att lämna Ryssland. Efter trettio dagar i en transithall är det förståeligt att Snowden skulle acceptera en tillfälligt tillåtelse att få röra på sig. Samtidigt är Washington så totalt fixerade vid att fånga Snowden och statuera ett exempel av honom, att de inte verkar kunna tänka klart. Att tillåta Snowden att resa genom att återupprätta hans pass, och samtidigt inte invända mot någon asyl som erbjuds av ett land som Sverige, med sin fläckfria historik av att agera ansvarsfullt i sina angelägenheter, är en omedelbar lösning som skulle garantera säkerheten för både herr Snowden och hans kunskap.

För det tredje har Snowden anklagats av högt uppsatta amerikanska tjänstemän för förräderi, ett brott som medför dödsstraff. Förräderi kan bara hävdas när en medborgare har utfört krigshandlingar mot USA eller gett stöd och komfort till dess fiender. I detta avseende hävdar vissa anklagare att USA är i krig, de facto, med al-Qaida, och således är åtalspunkten förräderi hållbar. Även om det verkar osannolikt att regeringen faktiskt kan ställa honom inför rätta för det brottet, har Snowden enligt källor uttryckt oro för sitt liv och sin säkerhet om han skulle tvingas återlämnas till USA. Under tiden har han redan åtalats för tre brott, som kan ge honom trettio år i fängelse. Det är tydligt att Washington avser att statuera ett exempel av Snowden och kommer att gå hur långt som helst för att få tag i honom, vilket den nyligen inträffade nedtvingningen av den bolivianska presidentens flygplan vittnar om.

Oavsett vad som händer med Snowden så har Washington redan skrämt alla som skulle kunna tänkas blåsa i visselpipan mot regeringens lagbrott i framtiden. Om Snowden fängslas kommer en ogenomtränglig, kvävande ridå av tystnad att sänka sig framför dem som skulle kunna tänkas sätta samvetet främst.

Ur alla dessa angelägenheter höjer jag en vädjan till det svenska folket och dess regering att bevilja asyl till Edward Snowden. Han är en visslare, inte en förrädare. Modigt, och till stor personlig kostnad, har han gjort sitt land och de överallt som älskar frihet och rättssäkerhet en stor tjänst.

Sverige är det idealiska asyllandet. Ert land har sedan lång tid tillbaka ett väletablerat rykte för att upprätthålla rättssäkerhet och mänskliga rättigheter. Samtidigt som ni är vänligt inställda till USA, är Sverige principfast och oberoende i sin utrikespolitik. Ändå skulle amerikanerna kunna vara lugna, förvissade om att Sverige inte skulle dra fördel av USA medan ni ger en säker asyl till Edward Snowden. Viktigt i sammanhanget är att Stockholm är blott en timmes flygtid från Rysslands gräns, med en rutt som undviker länder som kan samarbeta med USA i att stänga sitt luftrum för ett flygplan som transporterar Snowden.

Gordon Humphrey, före detta senator i USA:s kongress

Thursday 25 July 2013

Interview by Ystads Allehanda on my 70th birthday

As for today, 25 of July: Between December 2010 and July 2013 I have authored/published 200 analyses and articles devoted to the cause of justice for WikiLeaks, whistleblowing for democracy and Human Rights for Julian Assange

Journalist Nina Lind:

"The punishment was expatriation. Marcello Ferrada de Noli would never again return to his homeland, and he to never talk about what he had experienced during Pinochet. However, the first thing he did when he came to freedom in Italy was to tell everything (at the Russel Tribunal in Rome, 1974). Maybe that is why he feels so strongly about other whistleblowers."

“Becoming seventy years old it does not mean he stops - instead he nominates Julian Assange and Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Some days ago I was interviewed by Nina Lind from the Swedish Newspaper Ystad Allehanda. The interview was published today, on my 70th birthday. The original texts in Swedish in the image down bellow, under the English text. The translations to English were proofread by @Treisiroon. A separate interview made by Ystad Allehanda (journalist Urban Nilmander) on the rationale for the nominations of Julian Assange et. al. , was published by the newspaper on the 19 July 2013. Here below I post some pictures related to the struggles we conducted in early years.
x

1957

miguel-enriquez-marcello-ferrada-noli
Left-liberal best friends at 13 years old, the late medical dr. Miguel Enríquez (who with the years, developed to Marxist philosophy and pol. Leninism) and Marcello Ferrada-Noli (developed in left-libertarian  philosophy & Marxist-Humanism, and pol. social-liberalism), participated in the street demonstrations & barricades in Concepción during the April-1957 General Strike against the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
x

1961

x
friends-bautista-van-schouwen-marcello-ferrada-noli-and-miguel-enricc81quez-three-young-founders-of-the-revolutionary-left-movement-chile-here-in-santiago-feb-1962
The late medical dr. Bautista Van Schouwen (assassinated by Pinochet's Security Forces DINA), M. Ferrada-Noli (survivor of Pinochet's Prisoners Camp), and Miguel Enríquez  (died in combat against Pinochet's military): Founders of MIR in 1965; here four years earlier in Santiago de Chile.
x

1962

young socialists - 1962
Member of the leadership (Cultural Secretary) in the Socialist Party Youth organization in Concepción. Diario El Sur, 4 Oct 1962. Thereafter, as head of the 'Nucleo Espartaco', I invited friends Miguel Enríquez and Bautista Van Schouwen to enter the Socialist Youth, organization that we left in February 1964. In October 1965 we founded MIR together with cadres from Santiago, but mainly with students from the University of Concepción.
x

1965

Bautista Van Schowen & Marcello Ferrada-Noli 1965
Bautista Van Schouwen (up left) and Ferrada-Noli, at the times we founded MIR together with other cadres, in August 1965
x

1966

arrested in 1966
In the clip above, under sub-heading "Carabineers turn him over to the (Political) Investigation Bureu": "Apparently he is not carrying firearms. A Carabineers corporal searches Ferrada thoroughly" "Marcelo has experiences of situations like this one. On the 20 December 1966 he was arrested due to offensive incidents he enacted against the Police forces, during the general strike of the (Chilean) Health Workers Union". Diario Noticias de la Tarde, August 1969, reporting my arresting by the Carabineers, in the moments they turned me over to the Political Police (La Policía Política, Servicio de Investigaciones) for a one night and a half day torture. It was a Friday evening and they gave up on Saturday afternoon, but kept me arrested in the headquarters of the Political Investigations Bureau in Carrera Street. On Monday morning, Judge Broghammer ordered my solitary confinement in a cell of the Public Prison, at 70 Chacabuco Street in Concepción.  See below, "1969 - Frei's christian democratic government bans MIR and publish a national arresting-warrant against  13 MIR leaders"
x

1967

With dear friend Miguel Enríquez E. (perished in combat 1975), relaxing at the Bío-Bío river delta, near Concepción

 

1968-1969

4 agosto 1969 El Mercurio close-up
MIR goes underground after government's ban declaring our organization "subversive against the interests of the state". Thirteen MIR leaders are warranted. I am finally captured in La Florida, August 1969. The clip is from a "History" of MIR done by pro-Pinochet newspaper El Mercurio (leading Chile's paper), Santiago, published 25/8 1973, just some weeks before the coup
x
Arrested 1969 in ''strict solitary confinment''
 Christian Democratic govt of President Eduardo Frei. Judge orders "strict isolation confinement" ("en calidad de estrictamente incomunicado") of Ferrada, for "suspected participation in subversive activities of MIR"
x

1970-71

In exile in Norway and England. Returning to Chile after the democratic elected socialist President Allende granted amnesty to MIR
x

1972

Teoria y Metodo
Invited Professor at the Undersidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, I publish in Mexico Teoría y Método de la Concientización  ["Theory and Method in Developing Social-Awareness"]. It was meant as an intellectual tool for The Revolution. . .
x
x

1973

x

m-ferrada-noli-among-extremists-attacking-the-military-with-firearms

Pro-Pinochet Newspaper La Tercera 6/10 1973: "Extremists" arrested in Quiriquina Island "for attacking the military forces with firearms" (Red arrow indicating M Ferrada-Noli)
x
Ferrada de Noli prisoner in Quriquina Island-1At Pinochet's Prisoner Camp in Quiriquina Island 1973
x
x

1977

Marcello-1977

Head of MIR's  Counter-Intelligence Unit (Scandinavian countries) fighting against Operation Condor in Northern Europe. Last operative assignment in MIR, before leaving the organization when MIR went into an opposition alliance together with the Communist Party (pro URSS) and the Christian Democratic Party

1977 - afterwards

Amnesty poster
I started to paint again, for the Resistance in Chile. This above is a ban (poster) done by Amnesty International in base of one piece ("The Waiting - for the desaparecido") showed at my personal art-exhibition at Kulturhuset in Stockholm, 1977 (organized by Amnesty). Amnesty also printed thousands of post cards with the image above, which were send (mailed) by Swedes to Pinochet, with this only question printed in the postcard, "Where are the desaparecidos"?
x
x

1979

Ex Minister Educ Edgardo Enríquez Frödden & Marcello Ferrada-Noli in Oxford 1979
Also during my second exile, here visiting Prof. Dr. Edgardo Enríquez, in Oxford U.K.  He has been Rector of the University of Concepción and Minister of Education in the Allende government. He survived imprisonment at Pinochet's Rawson Island Prisoners Camp, but left with precarious health. He was my academic mentor but also for me as a second father, since childhood. He is the father of Miguel Enríquez, my best friend in youth. Don Edgardo Enríquez Frödden lost two of his children, one killed in combat (Miguel) and the other died in  captivity under Operation Condor (Edgardo). Later in Sweden, I dedicated my doctoral thesis to both my dear father and Don Edgardo Enríquez Frödden. See below Year 1996.

1998

ferrada-noli-vs-pinochet
In exile: Trying to bring Pinochet to justice, Norway and Sweden, 2008
x

2008

marcello ferrada de noli FRA-lagen demonstration
Professors blogg active in the campaign against "FRA_lagen", the Surveillance-legislation requested by the U.S: to the Swedish Government (C Bildt, etc.). Above, in the massive anti FRA-lagen demonstration in Stockholm
x

2010

1st profeblg on justice 4 JA
My first article on the cause of justice for Mr Julian Assange
x

2012

Prof. Ferrada de Noli interviewed by RTTwo exclusive interviews with RT gave three videos, one of them also aired in Spanish.
Prof. Ferrada de Noli- Whistleblowing a 'lifeboat' for democracyMy thesis: Whistleblowing a "safe-boat for democracy"
.
Ferrada de Noli - protest at the SC
x

2013

x

Today, at my 70th birthday:

Between December 2010 and July 2013 I have authored/published 200 analyses and articles devoted to the cause of justice for WikiLeaks, whistleblowing for democracy and Human Rights for Julian Assange

HR 4 JA


x

Goodbye!

Marcello Ferrada de Noli_YA-Interview_cover-page
Ystads Allehanda, 25 July 2013: "Professor burns for democracy and for painting"

x

x

The Ystads Allehanda interview of 25/7 2013

Marcello Ferrada de Noli has lived in prisoner barracks in Chile, in stone houses in Italy and in a villa from the 1970s in Stora Herrestad (literally, “Lordship’s  grand estate ”). Wherever he moves follow with him the political struggle. Becoming seventy years old it does not mean he stops - instead he nominates Julian Assange and Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Interviewing Marcello Ferrada de Noli for his seventieth birthday is not easy. He rarely sits still for longer than ten minutes. He does not stick to a single language during the conversation. He's also not particularly interested in talking about himself.

- Everything about my life is in an article on a Wikipedia page, he says.

But Wikipedia has not just one, but three pages about Marcello. There 
one can read, among other things, that he was born in Chile to an Italian family, that he has had a career in American and Swedish universities, and that he has been imprisoned during the Pinochet regime.

Only by asking him personally, does one learn that he has a house in Stora Herrestad, in the outskirts of Ystad, one in the Swedish High Coast and one in Italy. And after he has counted on his fingers, he is able to reveal he has six children.

In a neat suit and bow tie, round glasses, and sporting a hat, he asks of the ladies present if they would allow him to retain his hat while seated at the table (we seat out in the garden). He looks precisely like the multifaceted professor he is.

It is from the upper floor of the villa in Stora Herrestad where he carries out his activities. There he has his desk with two computers, from which he publishes his tweets and blogs. On the desk I spy an extra pair of the characteristic round glasses. There in the upper floor are also his atelier-easels. He preferably paints portraits of beautiful women.

On his website Marcello Ferrada de Noli has uploaded the pictures he has painted. One of the first is a portrait of a man with whom he shared barracks at the Chilean Navy's prison camp in the 1970s [portrait recently published here]. He was imprisoned there for taking part in the creation of MIR (movement of the Revolutionary Left) and the struggle against Pinochet when he took power in Chile in 1973.

The MIR was prepared for the coup that was coming. They had a plan and Marcello Ferrada de Noli knew the exact position waiting for him. He had received military training in Cuba, and met Che Guevara.

-“The only question was whether one would dare to stand up. And so I did”, he says.

Marcello Ferrada de Noli then went into the armed resistance, but was arrested one night on his way to his hiding place.  He views captivity, as just a part of the solidarity struggle.

That was something we had to put up with. Other (non-militant) prisoners suffered, but we struggled for our MIR and therefore it was easier, he says.

Marcello Ferrada de Noli had his political awakening early. He was twelve years old, and wanted to rebel against the Catholic conservatism that characterized his upbringing. He became liberal, and soon, left-liberal. But his conservative past continued to follow him. It was that background that would permit him to be released from Pinochet’s prisoner camps. His family belonged to the power elite in Chile, and could see that he made it alive out from there.

-“This is hard to talk about. But they saved me. My mother's sister was married to a general and my brother was a judge during Pinochet. My aunt’s residence was even one of Pinochet’s secret safe houses.”

The punishment was expatriation. Marcello Ferrada de Noli would never again return to his homeland, and he to never talk about what he had experienced during Pinochet. However, the first thing he did when he came to freedom in Italy was to tell everything (at the Russel Tribunal in Rome, 1974). Maybe that is why he feels so strongly about other whistleblowers.

On the ground floor of the villa, on a bookshelf, there is a photograph of Marcello and Julian Assange. Last week Ystad Allehanda reported that Marcello Ferrada de Noli, in his role as professor, nominated Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to him, they struggle for democracy, and they should be honoured rather than persecuted.

In the middle of a sentence in Swedish, Marcello Ferrada the Noli begins to speak English. Two minutes later, he quotes long passages (of a German philosopher) in Italian.

But, a question about what it is that drives his political struggle, what it is that makes him to cope and endure these struggles over many decades, renders him silent for the first time in over an hour. He simply never thought about it. The closest he gets to an answer, is that he has a political conviction that people must fight politically.

- “Maybe that is because I'm a liberal. We cannot expect that others shall lead us; we must create our environment ourselves. If one loves a country, as I love Sweden, it means that one has fight for it.”

x
Marcello Ferrada de Noli 70th birthday

Wednesday 24 July 2013

An Appeal to the People of Sweden and their Government. By former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey

Breaking: Against the backdrop of the Snowden/Russia developments, former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey sent this important appeal to the Swedish authorities and people, to be first published in Professors blogg. Excerpts of the document where published afterwards by Politico. I consider his document highly relevant for the issues at stake around the human-rights situation of whistleblower Edward Snowden. A Swedish translation will soon ensue this publication./ Prof. Marcello Ferrada de Noli, publisher of Professors blogg.

Gordon-Humphrey


A Plea to the People and Government of Sweden

by Gordon Humphrey, former Senator in the United States Congress

Edward Snowden is a courageous whistle-blower, who has performed a great service for the people of the United States, revealing astonishing lawlessness on the part of the American. government.   For reasons cited below, I urge the people of Sweden and their government to offer Mr. Snowden asylum.

Firstly, the U.S. Constitution provides that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated …"  Notwithstanding this vital guarantee, our government is routinely spying on millions of innocent, unsuspecting citizens, without probable cause to believe they are engaged in wrong-doing and without the issuance of a search warrant issued by a lawful court.  This, surely, is the greatest scandal in American history against the people and their Constitution.  Mr. Snowden was justified in disclosing it.

Secondly, as long Snowden remains within easy reach of Russian intelligence services, he and the knowledge he carries are in serious danger.   While the Russian Federation has made progress in many areas, her government does not yet consistently practice the rule of law.  The persecution and imprisonment of dissidents -- Andrei Navalny being the latest -- along with murders of reporters exposing government wrong-doing, such as Anna Politkovskaya, present a clear picture of repression by those in power -- or their supporters, many of them ex-KGB.

Russian intelligence services are no less determined than others to get what they want.  For the moment, in advance of the September G20 meeting in St. Petersburg and a possible meeting between Presidents Obama and Putin, they are on their good behavior.   What resides on Mr. Snowden's computers is not known, however what is certain is, that he has a great deal of information in his head that Russian intelligence would use against the the U.S. and other Western nations.  The longer Mr. Snowden remains in the Russian Federation, particularly if he fades from view, the more likely he will be subjected to efforts to make him talk.   While Snowden recently stated not even torture could succeed, he can easily be drugged, for example.

The irony is, that the United States government trapped Edward Snowden in the Moscow airport by canceling his American passport, making it impossible for him to leave.  After thirty days in a transient lounge, it is understandable Snowden would accept a temporary pass to move about.  Meanwhile, Washington is so utterly fixated on capturing Snowden and making an example of him, it seems unable to think clearly.  Allowing Snowden to leave by restoring his passport, while raising no objection to asylum offered by a country such as Sweden, with its impeccable record of acting responsibly in its affairs, is an immediate solution that would ensure the safety of both Mr. Snowden and his knowledge.

Thirdly, Snowden has been accused by high level American officials of treason, a crime that carries a death penalty.  Treason can only be charged when a citizen has made war against the U.S. or given aid and comfort to its enemies.  In that regard, some accusers argue that the U.S. is at war, de facto, with al-Quaida, and, thus, the charge of treason is sustainable.  While it seems unlikely the government can actually try him for that crime, Snowden has been quoted as expressing concern for his life and his safety, should he be forcibly returned to the U.S.   Meantime, he has been charged with three crimes already, for which he could spend thirty years in prison.  It's clear Washington means to make an example of Snowden and will go to any length to snatch him, witness the recent forcing-down of the Bolivian president's airplane.

Whatever becomes of Snowden, Washington has already frightened anyone who might think of blowing the whistle on government lawlessness in the future.  If Snowden is imprisoned, an impenetrable, smothering curtain of silence will descend in front of those who might think of putting conscience foremost.
Out of all of these concerns, I raise a plea to the people of Sweden and their government to grant asylum to Edward Snowden.  He is a whistle-blower, not a traitor.  Courageously, at at great personal cost, he has done his country and those everywhere who love freedom and the rule of law a great favor.

Sweden is the ideal asylum.  Your country enjoys a long-established reputation for upholding the rule of law and human rights.  While friendly towards the United States, Sweden is firmly-principled and independent in its foreign policy.  Yet, Americans could rest easy, assured that Sweden would not take advantage of the U.S while providing a safe asylum to Edward Snowden.  Importantly, Stockholm is but an hour's flight from the border of the  Russian Federation, by a route that avoids countries likely to cooperate with the U.S. in closing their airspace to an aircraft carrying Mr. Snowden.

Gordon Humphrey is a former United States Senator (1979-1990), who served on the Foreign Relations Committee, Armed Services Committee and Judiciary Committee.  A conservative Republican, he has increasingly spoken out in recent years against what he regards as growing arrogance in Washington.

Gordon Humphrey,
Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
24 of July 2013

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey endorses our arguments on a Swedish asylum for Snowden



In email the former U.S. senator sent to me:

“Edward Snowden acted correctly in exposing a massive program of spying on American citizens in violation of the U.S. Constitution”


By Prof. Marcello Ferrada de Noli


Former Senator Gordon Humphrey published in Politico his opinion on why Sweden should grant asylum to Edward Snowden ("Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey: Sweden should take Edward Snowden").

The rationale given in Politco reproduces main arguments contained in my document Why Sweden should consider asylum to Edward Snowden, known outside regular readers of Professorsblogg thanks to a Twitter done by WikiLeaks 7/14/13 about the post (see down below). The arguments in Professorsblogg and in Politico referred to a) the asylum-granting tradition of Sweden (observed particularly by past Swedish governments); b) the comparatively more favourable conditions Sweden may offer in terms of shorter distance and safer transportation from Moscow.

Politico 7/17/13: “Humphrey said Sweden would be the “ideal country” for the NSA leaker because it is only a one hour flight from the Russian border and “no overflight is necessary of countries likely to cooperate with the U.S. in forcing down an aircraft carrying Mr. Snowden to asylum.”

Professors blog 7/13/13: “The shortest distance & secure-route argument: There is also the logistics dimension of the problem, in the context of alleged perils of a long flight across Europa and the Atlantic. This problem is solved if travel will be done to “neighbouring” Sweden. Geographic realities are obvious in this line of reasoning.

In an email the ex-Senator sent to me on the 18 of July, he states,

"Congratulations on your well-reasoned arguments in favor of Sweden granting asylum to Edward Snowden.

For you information, I am a former Senator in the United States Congress, and I have recently and publicly stated, that Edward Snowden acted correctly in exposing a massive program of spying on American citizens in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
x
1s+2nd para GordonHumphrey email 18.7-2013

x

Importance of former Sen Humphrey's stance in the Swedish context

The article in Politico with the stance declared by a notable Republican politician and former U.S. Senator is very important in the context to rally support in the Swedish public (hence, towards the centre/right-wing coalition in the Swedish government) for the petitions we have made on asylum for Snowden.

In fact, the appeals for a Swedish asylum for Snowden have come from all the political spectra in Sweden. To the best of my knowledge, the very first appeal ("Give Snowden asylum, and call back Obama's Nobel Peace Prize", in Swedish) was authored by Anna Troberg, head of the Swedish Pirate Party. Interestingly in the context, another pioneer petition came from notablemembers of one of the ruling parties, The Liberals  (Folkpartiet). See Björn Brändewal’s declarations in Swedish Liberal Party at Kalmar requesting asylum for Edward Snowden. Interview in Professors Blogg 7/19/13.

Also, this is a human-rights issue beyond partisan politics. An illustration: Lars Ohly, a known left-of-centre profile and former leader of the Left Party (Vänster) has authored together with right-of-centre author Frederik Segerfelt an opinion article in Expressen 7/19/13 headed  “That is why Sweden should grant asylum to Snowden” (in Swedish). For his part, Swedish professor colleague Stefan Svallfors told me by the phone 7/23/13, that he has sent a letter to Cecilia Malmströn (former Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs and currently European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission), asking her to advocate for an European asylum for Mr Snowden.

For my part, I am now sending a petition and documentation to Ms. Birgitta Ohlsson, Minister for European Union Affairs in the Swedish government. Soon to be published in Professorsblogg.
x


WikiLeaks

To the best of my knowledge, WikiLeaks would not have endorsed a Swedish alternative as a plausible asylum possibility for Snowden; If so,  their position it is fully understandable.

Nevertheless, Professorsblogg thanks WikiLeaks for the courtesy of making a twitter of the post containing my suggestion.

x
WL twitter profblgg ESnowden
x

I have in fact understanding for a dubbio-ragionevole [reasonable doubt] characterization about the odds of this option. That the current Swedish government controlled by Carl Bildt  would endorse such initiative (granting Snowden asylum), or that they would offer a serious solution for the London deadlock in the Assange “case”, are highly questionable.

This in the context of the unjustified treatment that some Swedish authorities have had on issues around a whistleblowing activity they wrongly perceive as "anti"-U.S."; and in particular, the unfounded accusations against the publishing anti-secret organization WikiLeaks, done by representatives of the Swedish Armed Forces on public television. In fact, WikiLeaks AND Mr Julian Assange were accused by Mr Mike Winnerstig, Deputy Director of Research at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (under the Swedish Ministry of Defence), of "blackmailing" Sweden (Sweden National Television, main news program Aktuellt 2/29/12). That on the base of the U.S. diplomatic cables published by WL. [See  Chapter "Plan “Z”, Phase 6: Swedish State Television explaining “why” WL should be viewed as detrimental for the “interests of our nation”: in Plan Z: the latest anti-Wikileaks national campaign in the Swedish media. Saving Minister C Bildt?

I have also wondered how come that this "beyond-partisan" support - although still incipient - which has been developed in Sweden towards Mr Snowden's whistleblowing, has never occurred in Sweden towards the whistleblowing associated with WikiLeaks. The anti-WikiLeaks stance in Sweden, often masked in attacks against the person of Mr Assange, has been compact, and also "beyond-partisan". Why? Most possible, I would believe,  because WikiLeaks exposed the wrong doings of Sweden's political elite and their secret commitments with U.S.

On the other hand, Sweden has strong legislation - World strongest, I believe -regarding protection for whistleblowing. This, together with a long and noble tradition as asylum nation, is enough motivation to pursue this campaign for a Swedish shelter to Mr Snowden. Swedish politics is now developing in a more progressive direction and it is highly unlikely that Mr Carl Bildt will retain power after September 2014. After that, who knows, perhaps Sweden will do WikiLeaks and Mr Assange justice, and will provide shelter also to their noble enterprise.
x
x

Sunday 21 July 2013

The PESCI-THESES

In Italian PESCI means “fishes”. “Sette Pesci” (seven fishes) is a Southern-Italian dish representing the "Seven virtues". In geopolitical terms "P.E.S.C.I." comes to represent the opposite, a global disarray of seven plagues. So, what/who is PESCI ?

 

The geopolitical aftermath of the Berlin-Wall fall - an event that marked the end of the Cold-War era - meant a series of transformations in the international political society. One of these was the emerging of a Political-military Establishment Serving Corporate-business Interests, and of a trans-national character. This has to do with EU-democracies, for instance Sweden, in which the government's elite systematic indulges in decision-making favouring the interest of such supra-national constellation (PESCI), instead of preserving the national interests of the country and the integrity of its citizens.


Prominent right-wing leaders in different countries, now openly serve the interest of a corporate system which many of them also form part, as shareholders or board members. Traditional "class-struggle" is nowadays negated in most of world societies, after the formerly ideological confrontation between Capitalism and Socialism in the frame of the Cold War came to and end, abruptly. PESCI has also introduced fundamental changes in the culture and academic life of its country-members, not seen in the old "Imperialism" era. A most remarkable feature is that, globally considered, this "over-the-national-borders" identification of interest, class-ideology, and personal economic involvement of those in power, has NOT conveyed a reciprocal internationalism among organizations at grass-root level. These peoples are instead manipulated to pseudo-chauvinist positions, which avert popular control over their governments - de facto collaborating with a "foreign constellation of power". Main implementations in this collaboration taking place in Intelligence gathering, joint military operations, financing and banking, and protective legislation towards PESCI's economic interests.


The evolution of the environmental movement, and the replace of "class-struggle" for "Religion Faith" alleged international conflicts, or "gender confrontation" instead of gender-equality -- are issues also to be analyzed later in the Pesci Theses.

 

These world developments - and the vacuum left by traditional oppositional left-parties or "anti-imperialist" movements, suggest the need of uniting Libertarian, Let-Liberal, and Pirate-Party movements, and followers of the emergent Whistleblowing movement inspired by WikiLeaks, into a broad political Human-Rights front. This political effort should aim to enhance political awareness in a world society alienated by government-controlled social-networking and subliminal-implanted consumerism.

 

By Marcello Ferrada de Noli
[This material will be updated consecutively. Some texts found in twitter-format in appendix below]



x

Thesis I. The Berlin Wall geopolitical aftermath & end of Cold-War: PESCI as mutation of US Expansionism

The Berlin Wall geopolitical aftermath, which marked the end of the Cold-War era, gave a series of transformations in the international political society. One of these was the emerging of a trans-national Politic-military Establishment Serving INTERNATIONAL Corporate financial & business Interests. Prominent right-wing leaders in different countries to serve the interest of a corporate system they form part of. Traditional "class-struggle" nowadays  negated in most of world societies, as the formerly ideological confrontation between Capitalism and Socialism in the frame of the Cold War.
 
What is P.E.S.C.I.?

In Italian PESCI means “fishes”. “Sette Pesci” (7 fishes) is a Southern-Italian dish representing the "Seven virtues"

In geopolitical terms “P.E.S.C.I.” represent the opposite, like a global disarray of seven plagues. So, what/who is PESCI?

“P.E.S.C.I.” stands for “Political-military Establishment Serving Corporative Interests”. Further, PESCI is a global organization; not only residing in the US.

“Establishment” to include MSM (Main stream media) and military as well as civilian authorities, independent if “democratic” elected, co-opted or designated in a PESCI-designated coup



x

Thesis II. On the differences between PESCI and the traditional US Politic-Economic Expansionism

 

There are central differences between the concepts PESCI and so called ”US Imperialism”:

1) PESCI has a “multinational” leadership; ”national” interests ceased  to exist 
I.e., facts indicate that C Bildt’s ”Swedish” foreign policy (determining Sweden’s military strategy as well as Intelligence and military operations) is NOT inspired or implemented in the national interests of Sweden. Those foreign policy decisions made by Minister Bildt follows paramount PESCI interests, NATO’s interest.

Another example is the multinational cooperation in the production of Swedish weaponry (the ”Swedish” JAS attack plane, in fact a Swedish/UK/US joint venture).

2) a FINANCIAL PART of the corporative system

Another difference between “US Imperialism” and “PESCI” is that leaderships in the governments in the PESCI constellation are at the same time a FINANCIAL PART of the corporative system (the ultimate PESCI decision-power) that their local governments serve.

3) International Top-level coordination forums

Unlike traditional “US Imperialism”, with base in Washington (and Wall Street), where satellite local governments were kind of underpaid marionettes, PESCI has top-level coordination forums. See for instance the half-known Bildergerg Group.

4) The lame democratic and Union's opposition

Another difference. Under the current PESCI era, traditional “left” or “trade union” opposition has been rather lame, unlike it was during the anti-Imperialist movement of the 60-80’s.

We missed PESCI developing in front of our nose, while rather indulged on “global warming” discussions instead of focusing in the particularities of this financial-politic-military globalization.

Would this explain that several ”environmental” parties in EU turn showing (environment aside) they in fact support PESCI-pro legislations?



x

Thesis III. An emerging libertarian movement

 

So, would this anew emerging LIBERTARIAN fighting spirit evoked for instance by the deeds of WkiLekas, Assange, Manning and Snowden, rescue democracy?
Von Clausewitz said ”war is the continuation of politics”. But we have seen all across recent years that wars were rather the continuation of greed (PESCI’s greed).

Von Clausewitz true aphorism properly reads ”War is the continuation of Politik by Other means” (military). However, I would say a political movement can win a war, without an army, without military means.

The question being, is whistleblowing a movement? And if so, is it a political one?

In ”Historical meaning of WikiLeaks” I postulated that WL social support has been converted in political force.

A crucial political question is now what the whistleblowing movement would be aiming to achieve STRATEGICALLY:

Do they aim only to expose the system's wrong doings? Or criticize the system's political or economic fundaments? Or further, to try Changing the system?

Why would I talk on “whistleblowing movement” rather than on ”persons-whistleblowers”? For obviously a potential for effectual political change in a society could be (eventually) achieved insofar Whistleblower-episodes become a political movement. And with a social support, strong and active enough to be converted into a political force. Only after this political force is identified (as singular for the movement), can a political organization be established.

So, would this anew emerging LIBERTARIAN fighting spirit evoked for instance by the deeds of WkiLekas, Assange, Manning and Snowden, rescue democracy?

x

Thesis IV. On the Origins of State-Feminism in Sweden. Drastic changes in cultural and academics norms, and the re-establishment of pseudo-science in the PESCI era

 

[Excerpts from a previous analysis n Professorsblogg]
x
When the Cold War came to an end, the subsequent disintegration of the socialist bloc echoed heavily in Sweden. International balance was lost. The ruling politicians were tipped by gravity towards the only geopolitical end point that survived.
x
The Americanization of Swedish political culture developed fast and uncontested. Government became business. Social welfare became private monopoly. Millions of Swedes were suddenly detached from their secure social system, and the traditional left capitulated to the enemy without combat. It was then that their political struggle was replaced by the more comfortable (and profitable) gender confrontation. To hide their lack of ideological conviction, or combat spirit, the opportunistic left sold their lie to the public: Women, together with men, are not suffering because of a greedy system of profit – women are suffering because of men. And since the system is no longer the enemy, the system very much becomes the ally. Radical feminism became state feminism.
x
This was the beginning of the cultural and intellectual impoverishment of modern Sweden. Cultural programmes were replaced by alienating superficial pseudo-entertainment. Scientific empirical methods at Swedish universities were replaced by “qualitative research”, an easy, cheap, and “pseudo” method which consists of drawing “scientific” conclusions from interviews with a dozen people, women for the most part, who share their “impressions” to the interviewing “researcher”, a woman for the most part. True scientific research in Sweden dropped off ominously, as did the scholarly requirements placed on new researchers.[4]
x
Sound, medically verifiable clinical diagnoses were replaced by pseudo-clinical constructs such as “stress-induced”  frozen pelvis and “burnout” (“utbrändhet”) [5]. The latter served to give long-term “sick leaves” to hundreds of thousands of individuals, for the most part women. Sweden became the European nation with the highest incidence of mentally ill people, this according to international statistics for people on sick leave for “mental” diagnoses, to which psychological problems and the fashionable mental diagnosis “work stress” belonged. The “utbrändhet” diagnosis, later known as “utmattningssyndrom” reached an epidemic-like  distribution only in Sweden, all which comfirmed its cultural character [6].

Some years later, and as I predicted in “The emperor’s burn-out clothes” [7] it was demonstrated that a) while stress levels in society (and at the workplaces in particular) have not diminished at all in Sweden at the end of the 90′s (the stress level in society had rather increased, b) sick leaves “caused” by work-related psychological stress (“burnout”) , especially among Swedish women, have notably decreased and finally practically disappeared. Ergo, The purported causal correlation between “increasing work and societal stress” and “burnout (utbrändhet)” was demonstrated to be as fake as the fashion diagnoses [5] invented by researchers associated at that time to the Karolinska Institute.
x
The real winners became the Pharmaceutical industry [8] and the private “therapy clinics” often owned by the above researches themselves. However, in the scandalous promotion of such “burnout” diagnoses it was involved official Sweden, the social democratic government, feminists spoke persons, feminist journalists at the mainstream media [9], the feminist-controlled Swedish Psychiatric Association [10], and even the National Board of Health (Socialstyrelsen) [11]. All these brought shame to the country and contributed collectively to shake Sweden’s credibility in the international community.

x
The the new “qualitative research”
x
The forced retreat of the scientific method from its position of dominance in Swedish academia and research, and the productivity vacuum left behind, was rapidly filled by the new “qualitative research” method and the re-emergence of psychoanalytical categories.  None of these intellectual approaches would have been possible without the re-emerging, religion-inspired (religion-pretexted) Western confrontation with the Arab world.
x
The imperialistic seizing of oil resources in the Middle East, pretexted by the Kuwait and Iraq wars of the Bush dynasty, occasioned a political and at times tiny military response from sectors of the Arab societies made known to us – by edict of our governments – as the Islamic threat, a religious and belligerent fundamentalist movement aimed at the destruction of Western cultural institutions and their replacement with Islamic rule. Cultural racism made its entrance into Swedish politics.[12]
x
The new presence of religion as a factor in this cultural confrontation (“our religion contra their religion”) in turn made possible the renaissance of vintage non-scientific ideologies such as Freudianism. But while religious thought is conversation between people and their god, Freudianism is conversation between people and their navels. Freudians and religious activists share the idolatry of the subjective – “idealism” contra “materialism” as they vulgarly put it. Nevertheless, the scientific method is alien to both.
x
The pretentiously obsessive treatment of female sexuality in Sweden, the pretentiously exhibitionist need to vent intimate details of one’s life such as in the ‘talk about it’ campaign, the pretentious hero treatment of women who accuse men of rape in normal consensual circumstances, and so forth: this indicates either deviancy or despair. It’s the isolated individual without the support of a normal family, a normal friend, a normal system. It is the absence of the old feeling of “security” that neocapitalist Sweden did not replace.
x
During most of the last century, Swedish men and woman were educated in the solidarity of their state institutions, from where they found solutions to their societal problems. The Swedish system, not quite socialist, not quite capitalist, was a balance between West and East. When the Berlin Wall was torn down, so was the social welfare system in Sweden. Individuals became atoms without a social orbit and their reference point became themselves. Egoism had been reborn.
x
For the radical and state feminists, the choice of the “qualitative” approach ornamented by Freudian categories was not accidental but essential: the qualitative method was their one and only epistemological option. It is only with the use of an imposed “take it or leave it” faith-based, non-empirical method that feminism could make their master thesis of a “patriarchal” cause of all the misfortunes of women in society, starting with those of their own, prevail. No need to bother with empirical, rational replication – feelings (for the most part bitterness) are sufficient. Translated for the medical debate:
x
“In order to qualify as having a disease, it is not relevant whether symptoms are medically verifiable. What is relevant is the “experience”, what patients feel innermost, their own subjective notion of being ill”.[13]
x
Swedish women ceased to be individuals in the context of social equality. They were now “victims” instead. And they should be compensated for centuries, for thousands of years, of ferocious intellectual rape, structural violence and economic abuse by all men. For radical "feminism", gender equality ceased to be an option.
x
x
x
Notes and references
x
4. As an illustration: instead of the seven scientific articles required in old times by the Karolinska Institutet to obtain a doctorate degree, now it is enough with only one published article, one accepted, and two still in draft!

5. "Frozen pelvis" is instead a physical condition caused by infection or carcinoma. The Swedish version of "burnout" is called "utbrändhet or "utmattningssyndrom" (see Ref 6 below). The first public exposure of the pseudo-diagnose "utbrändhet" is found in my DN-debatt article "Utbrändhet, mest en modetrend", Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, 2000-10-20

6. M. Ferrada-Noli "Utmattningssyndrom är en kulturellt betingad diagnos unik för Sverige". Dagens Medicin 2007-10-03.

7. M. Ferrada-Noli, "Kejsarens utbrända kläder". Sociologisk forskning. 2004-1 [1]

8. M. Ferrada-Noli. Om skandalen kring antidepressiva , Second-Opinion


Id.



Svenska Dagbladet

x


Appendix 1. Twitters by @professorsblogg 20-21 July 2013

x
Allow me some frank Libertarian messages to/about a System I have called "P.E.S.C.I."; starting next Twitter. #Assange #Manning #Snowden #WikiLeaks

What is P.E.S.C.I.? In Italian PESCI means “fishes”.“Sette Pesci” (7 fishes)is a Southern-Italian dish representing the 7 virtues

In geopolitical terms "P.E.S.C.I."represent the opposite, like a global disrray of seven plagues. So, what/who is PESCI ?

"P.E.S.C.I."stands 4 "Pol.militar Establishment Serving Corporate Interests". Further, PESCI is a global Org, not only in US

“Establishment” also includes MSM and satellit's  &military &civilian authorities, independent if “democratic” elected, co-opted or designated in a SYSTEM’s coup

#Assange #Manning #Snowden #WikiLeaks Please continue reading this Twitter series throug @professorsblogg because hashtags taking some space

There are central diffs. btwn the concepts PESCI &"US Imperialism":1) P has a "multinational" leadership;"national"interests ceased 2 exist 

I.e., facts indicate that C Bildt’s ”Swe” foreing pol (determining Swe milit strateg. &ops) NOT in Swe national interests,but P’s #Snowden

Another example is the multinational cooperation in the production of weaponry (the ”Swedish”JAS attack plane, in fact Swe/UK/US joint vent)

2) Other diff. btwn“US Imperialism” & “PESCI” is that govt leaderships are a FINANCIAL PART of the corporative system that their govts serve

IPESCI's  satellite govt's leaderships are a FINANCIAL PART of the corporatist system that their government serve
3)Unlike traditional“US Imperialism”,where localGovts were kind of  underpaid marionettes, PESCI has top-level coordination forums http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group

4)Under the current PESCI era, traditional “left” or “trade union” opposition is rather lame, unlike it was during the anti-Imperialist mov.

We missed PESCI developing in front of our nose,while rather indulged on “global warming” tlk insteadOf financial-pol.military globalization

Would this explain that several ”environmental” parties in EU turn showing they (environment aside) in fact support PESCI-pro legislations?

So, would this anew emerged LIBERTARIAN fighting spirit evoked by the deeds of #Assange #Manning #Snowden #WikiLeaks rescue democracy?

PESCI, listen up: Von Clausewitz said, "war is the continuation of politics". But we have sees that all recent wars were the continuation of greed (yours)
x
Von Clausewitz true aphorism was"War is the continuation of Politik by other means"(military). I say a political movement can win a war, without an army
x
The question being, is whistleblowing a movement? And if so, is it a political one? #WikiLeaks #Assange #Snowden
x
In"Historical meaning of #WikiLeaks"I postulated that WL soc.support has been converted inPol.force http://professorsblogg.com/2011/12/26/historical-meaning-of-wikileaks-and-swedish-myths-on-julian-assange/ … #Snowden #Assange
x
Crucial pol. quest is now what the whistleblowing mov. would aim 2achieve STRATEGICALLY. 2Expose, criticize or tryCHANGE THE SYSTEM?#Snowden
x
Why “whistleblowing mov”instead"persons-whisteblowers"? Potential 4 pol change only insofar WhistlBlow-episodes become pol.movement


PESCI, listen up: These young people supporting #Assange #Manning& #Snowden, is the dream of a future Ideology; you are a nightmare of thePast

They are Unamuno; You are Franco’s Gral. Millán-Astray.They said"venceréis pero no convenceréis". You responded "Viva la muerte!"

You killed Che & Allende, & my best friends Miguel Enríquez http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Enr%C3%ADquez & Bautista, betrayed by a priest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bautista_van_Schouwen_Vasey

You have killed your enemies as well as your friends, your soldiers. You make orphans & parents left 2 sorrow for life

You killed 58,209 & wounded 153,303 US soldiers in Vietnam; U silenced 2death 1 million Vietnamese. But U couldn't silence Vietnam #Manning

You killed 4,488 & wounded 32,222 Americans in Iraq, and took 190,000 Iraqi lives. And you did not silence Iraq

PESCI, you & C Bildt lied to us about "weapons of mass destruction"; where not instructions given to you by the Bilderberg Group?

You, PESCI, you are just after recruiting new Bilderberg Group's vassals.
You can trick young Swedes to shine in Facebook, your spying trap."Yes you can" feed them w/McDonald & Coke, but yourself do not drink that.

You instead drink the oil of my soil; you eat the child of my womb.You then send a helicopter, & U laugh while aiming your guns at my street
x
You kill journalists that are not blond. And hijab mothers, & innocent sons. You think you are your God, untraceable.

But ethics watches you. #Manning watched your killing; others watch the priest that blesses your Crimes.Thanks Brad,thanks sincerely #Assange

x
And thanks #WikiLeaks, and thanks all the good souls that enabled the production of “Collateral Murder” #Assange #Manning
x