Every so often we like to get muddy with a new topic that strays outside the world of fungi, wellness and well-being. This week, it is ultimately a subject of human consciousness, Julian Assange.
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As I write, Assange is being flown to Saipan to plead guilty of violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in the UK and allow him to return home to Australia.
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His charges have been largely contested by supporters as the law itself was created to be used against US government officials.
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The original dump of cables of which he is being charged for stretch 14 years to 2010, and created all sorts of trouble for the military industrial complex, the US and its allies.
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And it was the Military Industrial Complex he was taking aim at. In his own words:
Assange exposed the brickwork beneath the plaster of a superstructure created for endless war, supported by a financial super-elite and backed by governments around the world.
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The media is the filter through which we experience the world, formulate our beliefs and share conversation with our wider circle. It formulates thought and is ultimately a wider form of control. Wikileaks blew through that.
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Rather bizarrely, Assange squatted in the Ecuador embassy London, who had no extradition treaty with the US. A prolonged period of pressure from the US government to have him extradited followed.
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He could often be found on Chess.com passing the time away under his own handle. He also cryptically tweeted a chessboard graphic unaccompanied by any text, showing a move from the Capablanca vs Marshall chess game of 1918 – considered one of the greatest defensive games of all time.
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In Belmarsh Prison, his health deteriorated, including suffering a stroke in 2021. He was under 23 hour lockdown for 5 years. Such harsh treatment, combined with the indefinite length of time he could serve, would destroy the will of most.
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His supporters will sight this a win for transparency and democracy, policy rage baiters in the US and UK, most exposed to Wikileaks will call it a capitulation to an information terrorist.
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Followers of Q will look at date stamps and note he was released the same day as a post from 6 years ago. Those embers still burn. Make of it what you will.
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But perhaps most importantly, the man who lifted the veil on the world of politics, weapons and evolution of the 'great game' is alive and free.
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May it long stay that way.