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Whistleblowers

False Division: Ellsberg A Hero But Today’s Whistleblowers Villians

December 18, 2013 Carey Shenkman, www.truth-out.org , , , ,
There exists a puzzling yet repeating trend among commentators, politicians, and now federal judges. It is to distinguish Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower of the Pentagon Papers (and often-hailed hero), from actors like army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and recently sentenced hacktivist Jeremy Hammond. This is notwithstanding the fact that Ellsberg vocally supports and identifies with all three. The differential treatment was first acknowledged two years ago by journalist Glenn Greenwald, responding to reports on how Manning was contrasted to Ellsberg. He called it “intellectual cowardice.” Today, the persistence of this argument highlights a continuing strategic challenge for opponents of whistleblowers of government misconduct. How can these opponents distinguish Ellsberg, a hero, from those they seek to vilify for engaging in the same character of activity?

Open Letter To Government Employees From Whistleblowers

December 12, 2013 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
Since the summer of 2013, the public has witnessed a shift in debate over these matters. The reason is that one courageous person: Edward Snowden. He not only blew the whistle on the litany of government abuses but made sure to supply an avalanche of supporting documents to a few trustworthy journalists. The echoes of his actions are still heard around the world – and there are still many revelations to come. For every Daniel Ellsberg, Drake, Binney, Katharine Gun, Manning or Snowden, there are thousands of civil servants who go by their daily job of spying on everybody and feeding cooked or even made-up information to the public and parliament, destroying everything we as a society pretend to care about. Some of them may feel favourable towards what they're doing, but many of them are able to hear their inner Jiminy Cricket over the voices of their leaders and crooked politicians – and of the people whose intimate communication they're tapping. Hidden away in offices of various government departments, intelligence agencies, police forces and armed forces are dozens and dozens of people who are very much upset by what our societies are turning into: at the very least, turnkey tyrannies.

Hedges: Shooting The Messenger

December 11, 2013 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com , , ,
There is a deeply misguided attempt to sacrifice Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond on the altar of the security and surveillance state to justify the leaks made by Edward Snowden. It is argued that Snowden, in exposing the National Security Agency’s global spying operation, judiciously and carefully leaked his information through the media, whereas WikiLeaks, Assange, Manning and Hammond provided troves of raw material to the public with no editing and little redaction and assessment. Thus, Snowden is somehow legitimate while WikiLeaks, Assange, Manning and Hammond are not. “I have never understood it,” said Michael Ratner, who is the U.S. lawyer for WikiLeaks and Assange and who I spoke with Saturday in New York City. “Why is Snowden looked at by some as the white hat while Manning, Hammond, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange as black hats? One explanation is that much of the mainstream media has tried to pin a dumping charge on the latter group, as if somehow giving the public and journalists open access to the raw documents is irresponsible and not journalism.

Barrett Brown Describes Life In Jail

November 27, 2013 Barrett Brown, www.vice.com , , ,
Like a lot of pompous, insufferable people, I didn’t watch television when I was previously “out in the world,” as my fellow inmates say. And if I were being held in a regular federal facility like a normal detainee, I wouldn't be exposed to it while incarcerated if I preferred to avoid it. This is because federal prisons (along with holding facilities where inmates await trial) are relatively humane affairs equipped with separate areas for various activities—for instance, sleeping and watching television are done in distinctly different rooms. The problem is that all the federal facilities here in the Northern District of Texas were filled up with inmates awaiting trial or sentencing when I became incarcerated. This isn’t simply because Texans are an inherently criminal bunch—although of course they are—but rather because, in addition to prosecuting actual crimes against property and persons, the federal government is also in a great big contest with the Chinese to see who can imprison the most people for bullshit non-crimes like selling drugs.

Eric Holder Says He Wouldn’t Prosecute Glenn Greenwald … Sort of

November 18, 2013 Alyssa Figueroa, www.alternet.org , , ,
In an interview with The Washington Post, Attorney General Eric Holder implied that even though he doesn’t agree with reporter Glenn Greenwald’s actions, he wouldn’t prosecute him. After stating that the Justice Department has not given up its efforts to repatriate Edward Snowden, Holder said that the department is not, however, planning to take action against Greenwald. He said: "Unless information that has not come to my attention is presented to me, what I have indicated in my testimony before Congress is that any journalist who’s engaged in true journalistic activities is not going to be prosecuted by this Justice Department. … I certainly don’t agree with what Greenwald has done. … In some ways, he blurs the line between advocate and journalist. But on the basis of what I know now, I’m not sure there is a basis for prosecution of Greenwald."

A Call For A Crowdsourced Worldwide Wave Of Action ~ #www

November 16, 2013 , , , , , , , , ,
Let's pick a three-month span, perhaps throughout this coming spring, and unite our collective actions into an unprecedented Worldwide Wave that cannot be ignored by anyone. Let's crowdsource a relentless global wave of action that protests the corrupt, while also rallying around and celebrating effective alternatives and solutions to the vast problems we are confronted by. Imagine thousands of nonviolent guerrilla armies swarming corrupt targets and rallying for viable solutions for a sustained three-month cycle. If we begin preparing now, a massive spring offensive can lead to a summer of transformation. Staying true to the vital nature of the movement, you lead, in your own way. Pick whatever issues concern you most and run with them, knowing that likeminded people throughout the world will also be fighting in solidarity, in whatever way they can, at the same time you are. This time the police state will not be able to crush us. We will not have stationary targets. We will be everywhere, fluid and evasive. The movement will be an unstoppable crowdsourced, decentralized and autonomous revolutionary force. We will engage in a diversity of nonviolent tactics, from large-scale mobilizations to small daily acts. Most of you already know the actions and tactics that are needed. Our ability to take part in civil disobedience is multiplied by our ability to easily record the actions on video and spread them throughout the Internet. By flooding social media with these inspiring videos, we will create a positive feedback loop that translates into more action on the ground. Radical change is urgently needed, so let's make transforming the world the cool thing to do. Let's create a culture of transformation. Let's blaze a contagious nonviolent wave of action through mass consciousness, signaling the end of the old world, ushering in a new paradigm. Now is the time.

Popular Resistance Newsletter – We Need To Know The Truth

November 15, 2013 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org , , , , ,
Knowledge is essential for popular power. In fact, it is access to knowledge and accurate information that will aid our liberation from this ruthless plutocracy. Even former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski agrees, although he does so as a warning to his fellow elites. In a recent speech, he described the “accelerating social change driven by ‘instant mass communications such as radio, television and the Internet.’” Brzezinski warns his fellow members of the power structure that there is a “rise in worldwide populist activism;” that this “persistent and highly motivated populist resistance . . . has proven to be increasingly difficult to suppress” and that as a result of this “universal awakening of mass political consciousness” they cannot exert “external control” over the masses.

Jeremy Hammond Sentenced To Maximum Sentence, 10 Years

November 15, 2013 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
Hammond at sentencing: "The acts of civil disobedience and direct action that I am being sentenced for today are in line with the principles of community and equality that have guided my life. I hacked into dozens of high profile corporations and government institutions, understanding very clearly that what I was doing was against the law, and that my actions could land me back in federal prison. But I felt that I had an obligation to use my skills to expose and confront injustice—and to bring the truth to light. Could I have achieved the same goals through legal means? I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed. When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s own citizens or the international community."

Free Jeremy Hammond! Come To His Sentencing Friday.

November 14, 2013 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , ,
Twitter this: FREE #JeremyHammond! Pack the Courtroom on 11/15/13! Show Support for Jeremy at His Sentencing http://freejeremy.net/giant-banner/pack-the-courtroom-show-support-for-jeremy-at-his-sentencing/ As many of you know, Jeremy has pled guilty to one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for leaking documents from the private security firm StratFor. His sentencing will be held on Friday, November 15, at 10 AM. He faces up to ten years in prison for a politically-motivated act of civil disobedience from which he personally gained nothing, and which he only hoped would make the world a better place. Help fill the courtroom. He and the judge need to see as many supporters as possible. Sentencing is always an emotional event, and it is incredibly encouraging for him to see friendly faces in the gallery.

The Revolutionaries In Our Midst

November 11, 2013 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com ,
On Friday the 28-year-old activist will appear for sentencing in the Southern District Court of New York in Manhattan. After having made a plea agreement, he faces the possibility of a 10-year sentence for hacking into the Texas-based private security firm Strategic Forecasting Inc., or Stratfor, which does work for the Homeland Security Department, the Marine Corps, the Defense Intelligence Agency and numerous corporations including Dow Chemical and Raytheon. Four others involved in the hacking have been convicted in Britain, and they were sentenced to less time combined—the longest sentence was 32 months—than the potential 120-month sentence that lies before Hammond. Hammond turned the pilfered information over to the website WikiLeaks and Rolling Stone and other publications. The 3 million email exchanges, once made public, exposed the private security firm’s infiltration, monitoring and surveillance of protesters and dissidents, especially in the Occupy movement, on behalf of corporations and the national security state. And, perhaps most important, the information provided chilling evidence that anti-terrorism laws are being routinely used by the federal government to criminalize nonviolent, democratic dissent and falsely link dissidents to international terrorist organizations. Hammond sought no financial gain.

Sarah Harrison In Germany Speaking Out For Snowden & Whisleblowers

November 6, 2013 Sarah Harrison, www.wikileaks.org http://wikileaks.org/ , , ,
WikiLeaks’ battles are many: we fight against unaccountable power and government secrecy, publishing analysis and documents for all affected and to forever provide the public with the history that is theirs. For this, we are fighting legal cases in many jurisdictions and face an unprecedented Grand Jury investigation in the United States. WikiLeaks continues to fight for the protection of sources. We have won the battle for Snowden’s immediate future, but the broader war continues. Already, in the few days I have spent in Germany, it is heartening to see the people joining together and calling for their government to do what must be done – to investigate NSA spying revelations, and to offer Edward Snowden asylum. The United States should no longer be able to continue spying on every person around the globe, or persecuting those that speak the truth.

Jeremy Hammond Defense Presents Letters Of Support Ahead Of Sentencing

November 5, 2013 Ed Pilkington, www.theguardian.com ,
Lawyers acting for Jeremy Hammond, the Chicago-based hacktivist facing up to 10 years in prison for releasing internal emails from the private intelligence agency Stratfor, have lodged 265 letters of support with the federal judge who will determine his sentence on 15 November. The letters call on judge Loretta Preska of the US district court for the southern district of New York to show leniency towards Hammond, a former member of the hacking network Anonymous who has become a cause célèbre for hacktivists, civil libertarians and those concerned about the rights of whistleblowers. They include 36 submissions from leading data experts and freedom of information campaigners.

More Snowden-Like NSA Whistleblowers Coming

November 3, 2013 Jacob Chamberlain, www.commondreams.org ,
In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Raddack revealed that an influx of NSA whistleblowers, inspired by Snowden, are now knocking on the doors of her organization. According to Radack, several more whistleblowers have approached the Government Accountability Project (GAP)—the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization where she is the director of National Security and Human Rights—since Snowden's story broke earlier this year. “There definitely could be more revelations in addition to those that Snowden has revealed and that are continuing to come out,” she told ABC News. The Obama administration's "war on whistleblowers" is backfiring, said Radack.

Kafkaesque World Of Data Mining By The NSA, Search Engines And Social Media

November 1, 2013 Gilbert Mercier, www.newsjunkiepost.com/ , , , ,
"In the surreal world we live in, reality has become stranger than fiction. The information super highway could have produced a completely transparent world, yet the elusive corporate and governmental nexus of Big Brothers has surrounded itself with layers of opacity, secrecy and deception. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens are probed, exposed and have become open books to organizations such as the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and corporations that run search engines and social media. In one case, it is done in the name of security and prevention of terrorist attacks, in the other it is done in the name of commerce. Factual and fictional have become so blurred that many dreams have a more logical structure than current events. It is as if reality is trapped, like a fly in a spider web, in the matrix of a nightmarish and grotesque virtual construct. Perhaps the best way to understand this layered reality — both hyper-connected and paradoxically disconnected — is to look into fiction, especially the work of Franz Kafka."

Wall Street Whistleblower Awarded $14 Million

October 12, 2013 Mark Karlin, www.truth-out.org
An undisclosed Wall Street whistleblower was just awarded $14 million for information that led to the recovery of millions of dollars in investor funds. Without the tip, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might not have uncovered the Wall Street fraud. SEC whistlebower monetary awards were made possible by a provision in the Dodd-Frank Act that set up a fund to encourage individuals to step forward with information about financial crimes and regulatory violations. The law also requires that the SEC maintain the confidentiality of the whistleblower.
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