If you have time for only one thing, listen to this remarkable panel discussion from Australia, The war on whistleblowers and journalism, at
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/19/war-on-whistlelblowers-and-journalists.
(Bradley Manning is now Chelsea Manning)
THE PANELISTS ARE – – WOW!
- Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder
- Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who published the NSA (National Security Agency) information leaked by Edward Snowden
- Alexa O’Brien, one of the very few journalists who sat through and wrote about the military trial of Chelsea (Bradley) Manning
- David Coombs, Chelsea Manning’s lawyer
- Robert Manne, Australian commentator
- Bernard Keane, Australian writer, host of the panel.
Near the end of the discussion, panelist Robert Manne says there are people inside CORPORATIONS who can leak information. He was talking in relation to oil and gas companies / climate change. (Manning and Snowden blew the whistle on GOVERNMENT atrocities.) . . Yes, there are the corporate people who can help, AND
It seems to me that SCIENTISTS are in an excellent position to get information into public hands – – information that is NEEDED to help stop the insanity of what we are collectively doing to the planet, with climate change at the top of the list.
Manne emphasizes Assange’s belief: courage is contagious. You can see it: Daniel Ellsberg is acknowledged by Snowden; Manning’s bravery was influential on Snowden and more immediate. There are lesser-known whistle-blowers in the wake of Manning and Snowden.
We are seeing scientists in the biotech arena starting to speak up (maybe the March Against Monsanto has helped empower them). Now we need scientists in these other arenas (climate change, for example) to “leak”!
It is easier to be courageous if you know that you have support behind you. Keep that in mind when figuring out how to assist corporate employees and scientists.
An important reason to pass the above link to the Panel Discussion on to others:
when you see and hear these people, you know they are thoughtful people of courage who are working to serve OUR interests.
There are huge efforts to undermine their credibility, turn them into weirdos, or sexual perverts, or sick people (I monitor a google feed of “news” stories re “Assange”. 90% of it is garbage.) We can help protect the whistleblowers and the good journalists; more people have to see for themselves, to be able to distinguish what is the truth about them.
Megan wrote: Funny how the perception of the movement is painted in a radical fashion, when it is truly born from love and adoration of the planet.