To His Majesty King Charles III,

On the coronation of my liege, I thought it only fitting to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to commemorate this momentous occasion by visiting your very own kingdom within a kingdom: His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh.

You will no doubt recall the wise words of a renowned playwright: "The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath."

Ah, but what would that bard know of mercy faced with the reckoning at the dawn of your historic reign? After all, one can truly know the measure of a society by how it treats its prisoners, and your kingdom has surely excelled in that regard.

Your Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is located at the prestigious address of One Western Way, London, just a short foxhunt from the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. How delightful it must be to have such an esteemed establishment bear your name.

It is here that 687 of your loyal subjects are held, supporting the United Kingdom's record as the nation with the largest prison population in Western Europe. As your noble government has recently declared, your kingdom is currently undergoing "the biggest expansion of prison places in over a century", with its ambitious projections showing an increase of the prison population from 82,000 to 106,000 within the next four years. Quite the legacy, indeed.

As a political prisoner, held at Your Majesty's pleasure on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign, I am honoured to reside within the walls of this world class institution. Truly, your kingdom knows no bounds.

During your visit, you will have the opportunity to feast upon the culinary delights prepared for your loyal subjects on a generous budget of two pounds per day. Savour the blended tuna heads and the ubiquitous reconstituted forms that are purportedly made from chicken. And worry not, for unlike lesser institutions such as Alcatraz or San Quentin, there is no communal dining in a mess hall. At Belmarsh, prisoners dine alone in their cells, ensuring the utmost intimacy with their meal.

Beyond the gustatory pleasures, I can assure you that Belmarsh provides ample educational opportunities for your subjects. As Proverbs 22:6 has it: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Observe the shuffling queues at the medicine hatch, where inmates gather their prescriptions, not for daily use, but for the horizon-expanding experience of a "big day out" — all at once.

You will also have the opportunity to pay your respects to my late friend Manoel Santos, a gay man facing deportation to Bolsonaro's Brazil, who took his own life just eight yards from my cell using a crude rope fashioned from his bedsheets. His exquisite tenor voice now silenced forever.

Venture further into the depths of Belmarsh and you will find the most isolated place within its walls: Healthcare, or "Hellcare" as its inhabitants lovingly call it. Here, you will marvel at sensible rules designed for everyone's safety, such as the prohibition of chess, whilst permitting the far less dangerous game of checkers.

Deep within Hellcare lies the most gloriously uplifting place in all of Belmarsh, nay, the whole of the United Kingdom: the sublimely named Belmarsh End of Life Suite. Listen closely, and you may hear the prisoners' cries of "Brother, I'm going to die in here", a testament to the quality of both life and death within your prison.

But fear not, for there is beauty to be found within these walls. Feast your eyes upon the picturesque crows nesting in the razor wire and the hundreds of hungry rats that call Belmarsh home. And if you come in the spring, you may even catch a glimpse of the ducklings laid by wayward mallards within the prison grounds. But don't delay, for the ravenous rats ensure their lives are fleeting.

I implore you, King Charles, to visit His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh, for it is an honour befitting a king. As you embark upon your reign, may you always remember the words of the King James Bible: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). And may mercy be the guiding light of your kingdom, both within and without the walls of Belmarsh.

Your most devoted subject,

Julian Assange

A9379AY

... [I]n light of an effort to paint him as a bad boss, engaged in "systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering," according to an NPR quote of a lawyer for former Carlson producer Abby Grossberg, who is suing Carlson for sexism and harassment.

In the video, as Carlson is venting about his experience with the Dominion lawyer, each time a staffer helps Carlson with something, as in aiding him disengage from the set as they probably have done hundreds of times, Carlson interjects into his rant a thank-you for each helping action and includes the person's name.

Says Carlson, grousing about the lawyer: "...That slimy little m*********er sitting across from me — oh [as a female assistant hands him a cloth to wipe off his makeup] You're the best."

Making a mock grimace toward the assistant: "And I wasn't talking about you. It's just the opposite."

"You're gonna give me a complex," the off-camera woman joked.

"No, I'm not," Carlson responded, as the grimace melts into a slight smile. "Cause you've never been this affirmed in your life?"

His face covered as he is wiping off makeup and apparently still speaking to the same assistant, Carlson said: "Thank you, Alex. Have a happy weekend."

As he's aided by more staffers, Carlson continued his rant: "It was so unhealthy, the hate — thank you, Theresa — the hate that I felt for that — thank you, Todd."

And so it went, discussing with an off-camera man, Carlson expressing his attitude toward the lawyer and trying to squelch his own feelings of hatred.

[...]

Attempting an attack, Media Matters shows a video of Carlson expressing hostility and vulgarity.

But the video also shows a man who, except for the choice of words, seems very similar to the personality we see on television.

He is kind, he is animated (even in the Media Matters video launching into that goofy giggle he has), and despite recounting a terrible professional experience and his attempts to control his emotions over it, he personally remembers to express gratitude for each relatively minute, repetitive action taken for him.

It's no wonder affection and respect for Tucker Carlson are increasing in his absence.

His fans old and new are gaining an appreciation that he is the real deal.

And he is missed.

• Wearing Woman-Face
• UK Prime Minister makes stunning and brave admission that women do not have penises
• Wisconsin high school under fire after trans woman, 18, 'exposed their male genitalia to four freshmen girls, 14, in locker room showers'
• RILEY GAINES: I was hit in the face by a man dressed as a woman and threatened by a racist mob for daring to speak out against an extreme trans movement
• UK: Biological women set to be protected by change to equality law
• New Zealand's PM doesn't know what a 'woman' is: 'Um ... People define themselves' he says in flustered response to reporter

• Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren's in a pickle: Pretending to be Native will continue to haunt her in upcoming elections
• White prof resigns after being accused of pretending to be immigrant 'woman of color' online and making racist remarks
• Transexual man claims to be 'transracial', says he 'feels Filipino'
• This should end well: Delaware students can now choose their own race
• Meet the black American teenager who believes she's actually white, and thus has every right to be racist towards black people
• Rachel Dolezal, white activist who 'self-identified as black,' charged with welfare fraud & perjury

US banking crisis deepens

Regional lender PacWest Bancorp has become the latest American bank to be caught up in the worst crisis in the sector since 2008. The bank has confirmed it is in talks with potential partners and investors about strategic options, following a 60% stock rout.

Shares in the bank nosedived in after-hours US trading on Wednesday over reports the Los Angeles-based lender was mulling a sale. PacWest's shares were down as much as 48% in early trading on Thursday.

"The bank has not experienced out-of-the-ordinary deposit flows following the sale of First Republic Bank and other news," PacWest stated on Wednesday. "Our cash and available liquidity remain solid and exceeded our uninsured deposits," it added.

According to the lender, discussions with potential buyers and investors "are ongoing" and the company will continue "to evaluate all options to maximize shareholder value."

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that PacWest has been considering a breakup or a capital raise. A buyer would potentially have to book a big loss marking down some of the bank's loans, sources said.

PacWest's Wednesday selloff followed US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement that authorities were closer to containing the turmoil that has gripped the banking sector. Powell claimed that the government seizure and sale of struggling First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase was "an important step toward drawing a line under that period of severe stress" for regional lenders.

First Republic became the fourth US lender to collapse this year, following Silvergate Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank.

Meanwhile, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, Tim Waterer, told Bloomberg that the Fed's statement offers little in the way of confidence for the market. "Despite the best efforts by Jerome Powell to calm the market, there is nothing to suggest that the banking crisis is at an end," he claimed.

Wall Street Rattled by Selloff, Trading Halts at Two Small Banks

For many traders, the timing couldn't be worse.

On the eve of the Federal Reserve decision, multiple volatility halts in PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp were seen as disturbing. Both shares were down at least 15% in Tuesday trading. The financial industry weighed heavily on the S&P 500 Index, which sank almost 2% at one point.

Bearish hedge-fund traders were present in a bout of selling that later prompted long-only investors to sell too, according to a note from John Flood, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

"Wall Street is quickly hitting the sell button as banking turmoil appears it is not going away anytime soon," said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. "Risk appetite did not stand a chance as traders focused on lingering doubts over the regional banks, rising recession odds, and growing risks that the US could default on its debt next month."

All of these factors combined are only deepening a sense of uneasiness among investors about the Fed's conundrum.

In addition to the financial strains stemming from bank failures, officials remain caught between stubbornly high inflation and data pointing to an economic downturn — such as Tuesday's JOLTS record of job openings that fell to the lowest in nearly two years.

Debt Ceiling

To make matters worse, there's brewing angst over the US debt ceiling — which only adds to the whole discussion on whether the Fed should pause after hiking in May to prevent a more severe economic recession.

While swaps are still pricing in a quarter-point Fed rate increase this week, traders trimmed their bets on a subsequent hike — while amping up wagers on cuts before the year is over.

With all those elements in play, it shouldn't come as a surprise that bonds got heavily bid Tuesday — especially after the selloff of the previous session. Two-year rates, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, plunged as much as 21 basis points to below 4%.

Meantime, Treasury bill yields for June topped 5% in the wake of a warning from Janet Yellen that the US government could run into debt-ceiling limitations as soon as the start of next month.

• Netherlands to shut down 3,000 farms to comply with EU rules despite UN warning of looming global food shortages
• Top US egg farm destroyed in massive fire, supermarkets were already suffering shortages
• Huge fire at farm kills 50,000 hens, exacerbating New Zealand's egg shortage
• UK egg shortage caused by supermarkets refusing to pay production price, farmers warn shortages will worsen

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• THREE of Mexico's oil facilities hit by fires in one day (Feb 2023)
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• Huge blast hits major oil refinery in latest hit to Russian infrastructure, fuels suspicions of sabotage (Dec 2022)
• Explosion in Mexico destroys at least 30 buildings, leaves 1 dead, 15 injured - gas pipeline leak thought to be the cause (Oct 2022)
• Fire engulfs railway and homes in Mexico after fuel truck crashes (Oct 2022)