Getting Educated About WikiLeaks and the Assange/Manning Persecution

A4A Teach IN 2: The Manning Leaks

by Action 4 Assange

 

This is the second video Action 4 Assange is releasing as part of our on-going teach in series to help educate the public about Assange, his message, and his persecution. 

 

 

Please help us by sharing these videos with everybody you know. We are in a race against time to bring as much awareness to his case as possible before the second half of his extradition hearings start in September.

 

Peace and solidarity, -The A4A Team (Help Action 4 Assange get to DC to protest during Julian's rendition hearing: action4assange.com/donate)

 

Learning from the Assange Extradition Hearing Process: Debunked Claims and Procedural Irregularities

What We Learned in Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing

by Assange Defense

 

December 31, 2020

The prosecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange would be a landmark test of the First Amendment right to publish if he were brought to trial in the United States, as press freedom groups, constitutional lawyers, and newsrooms across the board have sounded the alarm about the ways in which the U.S. indictment intends to silence investigative journalism around the world. 

Experts debunked the U.S. government’s case, argument by argument. Here’s a recap ahead of the judge’s verdict on January 4th.

 

Listening Posts: Israeli Spook Company Bugs Found in Journalists' Phones

Dozens of journalists newly identified as NSO Group spyware targets

by CPJ.org

December 21, 2020

NSO Group’s advanced Pegasus spyware was identified on phones of at least 36 journalists and media executives in July and August 2020, according to the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab, which said the surveillance product was installed via a vulnerability in the iPhone messaging application. 

 

 

Most targets were affiliated with the Qatar-headquartered Al-Jazeera media network, according to Al-Jazeera English; Citizen Lab said a journalist at London-based Al-Araby TV was also targeted.

 

Assange Case Considerations: Appealing to Human Decency

Upcoming Ruling in Assange Trial Threatens More Than Just Freedom of the Press

by Steve Brown - CovertAction Magazine

January 2, 2021

 

Although important legal principles are at stake in the extradition trial of Julian Assange, for which a ruling will be handed down on January 4, it should not be forgotten that there are important human issues at stake as well. 

 

His two children could lose their father for the rest of their lives

One such issue is Assange’s health, which has progressively worsened under what seems to be cruel and even sadistic maltreatment by the British government, including the refusal of appropriate medical care and confining him in his cell for 23 hours a day, seven days a week. 

 

Opening Doors for Nuclear Disaster: Extending America's Aging Atomic Power Plants

Inviting Nuclear Disaster 

by Karl Grossman - CounterPunch

 

December 30, 2020 

 

Nuclear power plants when they began being constructed were not seen as running for more than 40 years because of radioactivity embrittling metal parts and otherwise causing safety problems. But in recent decades, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the operating licenses of nuclear power plants from 40 years to 60 years and then 80 years, and is now considering 100 years. 

 Photograph Source: Brad.K – CC BY 2.0

“It is crazy,” declares Robert Alvarez, a former senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy and a U.S. Senate senior investigator and now senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and is an author of the book Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America’s Experience with Atomic Radiation.

 

Biden Inheriting America's Death Squad Project in Afghanistan

Biden & CIA Death Squads

by Finian Cunningham - Sputnik

 

December 30, 2020 

 

CIA-backed death squads are running amok in Afghanistan, murdering civilians and terrorizing the population. When Joe Biden becomes president in three weeks, he should prioritize ending this “Murder Inc.” A newly published investigative report has uncovered a systematic assassination program conducted by the CIA in several provinces across Afghanistan.

 

© Wikipedia

In just one six-month period during 2019, it was found that over 50 civilians, including women and children, were murdered in 10 separate massacres studied, according to author Andrew Quilty. That was merely a sample of killings in one province, Wardak. 

 

Owning You: Russia Pushing America's Buttons

RUSSIAN CODE SUPREMACY MEANS THERE’S ONLY ONE SECRET THE US GOVERNMENT HAS LEFT – THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO SECRETS FROM RUSSIA

by John Helmer, Moscow

  @bears_with

 

December 21, 2020

To believe what the US State Department is saying officially, and the Department is doing, the US is now at war with Russia; withdrawing from Russia as many of its personnel as possible; keeping this quiet. 

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo made the announcement on Friday evening: “I can’t say much more as we’re still unpacking precisely what it is, and I’m sure some of it will remain classified. This was a very significant effort, and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.” 

Canada Secures the Realm with $Billions for Next-Gen Warships

New frigates to project Canadian ‘power’ with cruise missiles

by Yves Engler

December 27, 2020

A recent report about the weapons on Canada’s new Navy frigates is frightening. Equally troubling is the lack of parliamentary opposition to expanding the federal government’s violent “maritime power projection” capacities. 

 

Naval News recently reported on the likely arsenal of Canada’s new surface combatant vessels, which are expected to cost over $70 billion ($213-219 billion over their lifecycle). The largest single taxpayer expense in Canadian history,the 15 vessels “will be fitted with a wide range of weapons, both offensive and defense, in a mix never seen before in any surface combatant.” 

 

You Don't Got to Move: When the Landlord is Coming

When the Landlords Say, “Fuck You” 

by David Rovics - CounterPunch

December 28, 2020 

In response to the state of Oregon’s latest extension of the partial ban on evictions, the landlord lobby here is suing for 100% of back rent.

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

 

I know it is often hard to see, but significant elements of the folks in power at various levels of government are keenly aware that we’re in a crisis, and they want to avoid a total meltdown of the social order. They often like to act blasé and in control of the situation, they like to pretend that we all believe we live in a society governed by law, where we all play by certain rules that are more or less sacred. 

 

Saying Bye, Bye to 2020: "Things Could Always Be Worse..."

It Could Always Be Worse 

by Stephen F. Eisenman - CounterPunch

 

December 31, 2020

I’ve probably received a dozen New Year’s greeting like the following:

“Good riddance 2020. Here’s to better days.”

“Happy 2021. It’s got to be better than last year!”

“2020 – a Year to forget. Let’s make 2021 a year to remember!”

From William Blake’s Illustrations for the Book of Job.

 

So naturally, I’m reminded of the joke:

Two old Jews are sitting on a park bench.

One says: “Nu, how are things?”

The other says: “Better than next year!”

Trump's Military Record

Huge Military Budgets, Covert Operations, Drones and Assassinations—but hey, at least he didn’t start another major war

by Jeremy Kuzmarov - CovertAction Magazine

 

December 30, 2020

 

By any objective measure, Donald Trump has been one of the worst presidents in American history. His administration exacerbated inequalities, fomented social divisions, encouraged nativist and white supremacist groups, gutted environmental protections, mishandled the Covid-19 crisis, and tarnished the office of the presidency in a way that no president ever has or probably ever will.

On foreign policy, Trump’s legacy is just as bad as in every other area.

Never Too Late for Impeachment: A Call to Remove Trump Immediately

Immediate Impeachment and Removal of President Donald Trump

by Ralph Nader & Bruce Fein 

 

December 27, 2020

RE: Immediate Impeachment and Removal of President Donald Trump

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader McConnell:

As we warned last year, the narrow and anemic impeachment articles filed against President Donald Trump and his rapid acquittals have emboldened him to more appalling continuing lawbreaking and worsening violations of the public trust, both impeachable offenses according to Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 65.

 

As during the Watergate crisis, the Constitution summons both Republicans and Democrats to transcend partisanship to defend our constitutional Republic from Mr. Trump’s escalating aggressions. In this landmark instance, the nation is deeply indebted to Republican Senator Barry Goldwater, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, and House Minority Leader John Rhodes for speaking unvarnished truths about impeachment to President Richard Nixon in the White House. Resignation soon followed.

 

Where Justice Goes to Sleep: ICC Fails Again on 1st World War Crimes

The International Criminal Court: Now Simply Indefensible

by Craig Murray

 

December 29, 2020

Support for the rule of international law, and for the institutions which uphold it, is one of the principles of this blog. I have therefore always been extremely keen to defend and support the International Criminal Court, despite widespread criticism that it is simply a tool for use against leaders in the developing world and other opponents of the neo-con world order. I maintained that the standard of justice and investigation in the cases it did consider was generally good, and the need was to widen its ambit.

Unfortunately, the decision of the ICC to close down its investigation into War Crimes committed by the British in Iraq is the last straw for me in continuing to harbour any hope that the ICC will ever be anything more than an instrument of victors’ justice. 

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dave Lindorff, Finian Cunningham December 31st, 2020

This Week on GR

by C. L. Cook - Gorilla-Radio.com

 

December 31, 2020

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded on this date, December 31st, 2020.

 

It’s fitting now to focus on finishings as this over-long year two thousand and twenty slouches toward its unlamented finale. And what better emblemizes the demise of the Covid Year 2020 and what it represents than the parallel curtain call of the Donald J. Trump presidency; unwanted yet stubbornly clinging to both the body politic and global consciousness burr-like, or perhaps better sticking as a wad of chewed gum on the sole of our collective boot?
 

Dave Lindorff is an award-winning journalist, author, and founding member of the media collective, ThisCantBeHappening.net. Lindorff’s book titles include, ‘The Case for Impeachment: Legal Arguments for Removing President George W. Bush from Office’ and ‘This Can’t Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy.’ 

 

Listen. Hear.

 

Lindorff's recent article, ‘A Red State Secession Movement from the US of A is a Great Idea!‘ encourages Republicans intent on the continuation of a Trump, or Trump-like presidency, to “Go For It!”

Dave Lindorff in the first half.

And; it’s been almost two months since the unelected government of Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia mobilized full military attacks against the country’s northernmost province of Tigray. Press coverage of the humanitarian crisis in the making has been scant in the West, while contextual analysis is almost entirely absent. 

Abiy convinced the African Union his “Operations to Restore Law and Order” would quickly end and stabilize the country, but two months on his promises stand in stark contrast to “facts on the ground”; facts that include the indiscriminate aerial bombardment and artillery shelling of cities, civilian massacres by the soldiery, and a massive and growing refugee crisis.

Finian Cunningham is a long-time and prolific journalist who worked as an editor and writer for major U.K. media outlets The Mirror, Irish Times, and Independent. The two-time Serena Shim Award for Uncompromising Integrity in Journalism recipient’s articles on international affairs appear at numerous online outlets, including at Sputnik, where I found his new article, ‘BBC Glosses Ethiopia Horror’.

Finian Cunningham and loosing a CIA Frankenstein on Ethiopia in the second half.

And; CFUV Radio broadcaster and host of Plant Powered Radio, Janine Bandcroft is off this week. So first, Dave Lindorff and leave takings at long last of Donald Trump and the end of the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

 

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

Hiding the Extra-Judicial Killing of Michael Reinoehl

Washington state judge blocks release of public records in the police killing of Michael Reinoehl

by Kevin Reed - WSWS

 

December 30, 2020 

A Washington state Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order on December 16 blocking the release of use-of-force records and body camera footage related to the September 3 execution of Michael Reinoehl by a task force headed by US marshals.

The ruling by Thurston County Court Judge Carol Murphy granted a motion from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to stop the planned release to reporter CJ Ciaramella of the records in the brutal shooting death of Reinoehl. The judge agreed with the sheriff’s office that the public disclosure of the records would “undermine the integrity of Thurston County’s criminal investigation and irreparably damage vital governmental functions.”

Peanuts for Americans, Billions More to Israel

The US Money Tree: The Untold Story of American Aid to Israel

by Ramzy Baroud - The Palestine Chronicle

 

December 30, 2020

On December 21, the United States Congress passed the COVID-19 Relief Package, as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill meant to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As usual, US representatives allocated a massive sum of money for Israel.

 

While unemployment, thus poverty, in the US is skyrocketing as a result of repeated lockdowns, the US found it essential to provide Israel with $3.3 billion in ‘security assistance’ and $500 million for US-Israel missile defense cooperation.

 

Applying Gloss to the Ethiopian Slaughter: BBC Touches Up Tyrant's Public Image

BBC Glosses Ethiopia Horror

by Finian Cunningham - Sputnik

 

December 28, 2020

A feel-good headline on the BBC this week reads: “How a pariah and Nobel laureate became friends”. It was referring to the leaders of Eritrea and Ethiopia, as if their “friendship” was some kind of benign development to be lauded. 

 

The feature article opens with: “In a sign of the changing political fortunes of a man who was once a pariah, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has proven to be a staunch ally of Ethiopia's Nobel Peace Prize winner and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, giving his troops much-needed support to fight the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Tigray.” 

 

Bring It On! A New American Republic

Go for it Republicans! A Red State Secession Movement from the US of A is a Great Idea!

by Dave Lindorff - This Can't Be Happening

December 16, 2020

‘And here’s to the state of Mississippi
Where underneath their border the devil draws no line
If you drag their muddy rivers nameless bodies you will find
The calendar is lying when it reads the present time.
Oh, here’s to the land
you tore out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself
another country to be part of.’ — Phil Ochs 

 

Map of post- secession USA and the new right-wing RSA 

(map produced by Dave Lindorff) 

 

Texas Republican Party Chair Allen West has joined blow-hard right-wing radio whackjob Rush Limbaugh in suggesting that Republican-governed states (like Texas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi and others) should “band together” and secede from the Union.