Daily Archives: September 15, 2020

2020-09-15: News Headlines

_____ (2020-09-15). Day Five: Julian Assange Case. popularresistance.org Paused last week due to a COVID19 scare, Julian Assange's extradition hearing resumed today with witness testimony from Eric Lewis, chairman of the board of Reprieve and a lawyer who "represents Guantanamo and Afghan detainees in litigation, seeking redress and accountability for torture and religious abuse while in US custody." | Lewis confirmed that before being asked to provide expert testimony on this case, he opined in the press that he believes Assange shouldn't be extradited or prosecuted, and while he handled the facts objectively in providing his witness statement, those are still his views today.

Craig Murray (2020-09-15). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 9. globalresearch.ca Things became not merely dramatic in the Assange courtroom today, but spiteful and nasty. There were two real issues, the evidence and the procedure. On the evidence, there were stark details of the dreadful regime Assange will face in US …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-15). Assange's Fifth Day at the Old Bailey: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures. dissidentvoice.org Having had a coronavirus scare towards the end of last week, necessitating a brief suspension of proceedings for September 11, the extradition proceedings for Julian Assange resumed with Eric Lewis. The chairman of the board of Reprieve, who has cut his teeth on representing Afghan detainees in US custody and those in Guantánamo, has not …

Medea Benjamin (2020-09-15). Gorgon Stare: A "Persistent Eye in the Sky" May Be Coming to a City Near You. mintpressnews.com The military and the drone manufacturers, principally General Atomics, are arguing that the technology has advanced far enough that flying 79-ft. wingspan, six-ton drones over populated areas and alongside commercial air traffic is safe.

Staff (2020-09-15). The Devolution of America. therealnews.com Stir Crazy! Episode 88: Today we are joined by TRNN climate reporter Aman Azhar, TRNN managing editor Lisa Snowden-McCray, and climate and housing organizer Rachel Eve Stein. Hosted by Kim Brown.

_____ (2020-09-15). New Hotline For Postal Service Whistleblowers. popularresistance.org The United States Postal Service provides safe, timely communication for all Americans. Increasingly, that includes supporting U.S. elections by handling mail-in ballots, a function of vital importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. But unprecedented turmoil has shaken the institution in recent months. Concerns are mounting that administrative changes could undermine the agency's basic mission: to deliver all Americans' mail safely and on time. This dedicated effort is being undertaken to ensure that POGO is able to help investigate and advocate for reforms relative to critical and essential Postal Service functio…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-14). Day 5 of Assange trial: Wikileaks' publication of Afghan War Logs was basis for ICC case. peoplesdispatch.org Today's witness presented by the defense, Eric Lewis, tried to impress upon the fact that once Assange could be subjected to arbitrary detention methods and highlighted the tremendous contributions of Wikileaks in advancing an ICC investigation of the US…

_____ (2020-09-14). Trump's War On Journalism Takes Center Stage. popularresistance.org In the last half-century, journalists James Bamford, Ben Bradlee, Seymour Hersh, and Neil Sheehan were each threatened with prosecution under the Espionage Act. But the U.S. government never followed through with Espionage Act charges against a journalist until 2019, when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and charged. | Trevor Timm, the executive director for the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), told a magistrate court judge, "[President Donald] Trump's administration is moving to explicitly criminalize national security journalism, and if this prosecution is allowed to go forward, dozens of rep…

sputniknews (2020-09-14). The Cause of Julian Assange Is the Cause of Freedom — Free Assange Now. sputniknews.com Julian Assange is a victim of torture, grotesque character assassination, and shameful judicial procedures that amount to vengeful persecution, not a fair and proportional prosecution.

RT (2020-09-14). Assange extradition hearing adjourned after videolink failure, court fails to explain cause of problems. rt.com Hot on the heels of a coronavirus scare, Julian Assange's extradition hearing was postponed on Monday following a farcical videolink failure which meant the court could not hear the testimony of a prominent witness. | The court was hearing from witness Eric Lewis, an experienced US lawyer, when out of the blue it was interrupted by a Fox News video about WikiLeaks. The source of the unexpected interruption was never revealed and the court went into recess in a bid to resolve the technical difficulties. | Lewis was expected to give evidence that Assange would face a "flagrant denial of justice" if put on trial…

WSWS (2020-09-14). Australian government, Labor opposition silent on sadistic British show-trial of Julian Assange. wsws.org The Australian political and media establishment has largely responded to the vicious attacks on Assange's legal and democratic rights by pretending that they are not occurring.

_____ (2020-09-14). Dr. Strangelove's Spoon Benders: How the U.S. Military Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. strategic-culture.org It is the belief held by top officials within the U.S. military industrial complex that their ideology of appropriate morality is to prevail and that one must use these mind-over-matter techniques to achieve the ultimate goal, "the power to manipulate reality", that global dominance can be achieved without wiping out the world."MindWar must be strategic in emphasis, with tactical applications playing a reinforcing, supplementary role. In its strategic context, MindWar must reach out to friends, enemies, and neutrals alike across the globe…through the media possessed by the United States which have the capabilit…

sputniknews (2020-09-13). Edward Snowden Criticizes Amazon For Hiring Former Director of US National Security Agency. sputniknews.com In 2013, the former NSA contractor leaked a cache of top secret US intelligence documents revealing a massive surveillance campaign of Americans. Among other things, the documents revealed that the intelligence agency illegally accessed information on millions of people in the US and across the world, even snooping on world leaders.

Kevin Gosztola (2020-09-13). Trump's 'War on Journalism' Takes Center Stage at Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing. globalresearch.ca In the last half-century, journalists James Bamford, Ben Bradlee, Seymour Hersh, and Neil Sheehan were each threatened with prosecution under the Espionage Act. But the U.S. government never followed through with Espionage Act charges against a journalist until 2019, when …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-13). Trial Week 1: Witnesses state Assange did nothing illegal. peoplesdispatch.org In the first week of Julian Assange's extradition trial in London, witnesses sought to bring out the political nature of the prosecution against Assange, despite the prosecution's attempt to make it appear otherwise. They also pointed out the opaque nature of the Wikileaks indictment in the United States, with evidence against Assange yet to be shared to the public, and the threat the case poses to press freedoms.

_____ (2020-09-13). US Demands Hinder Spanish Probe Into Security Firm That Spied On Assange. popularresistance.org There will be no judicial cooperation forthcoming from the United States unless a Spanish judge reveals his information sources in an investigation into alleged espionage against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. | Judge José de la Mata of Spain's High Court (Audiencia Nacional) has sent a request for judicial cooperation to US authorities as part of his probe into a Spanish private security company named UC Global S.L. and its owner David Morales, on allegations that this firm secretly recorded Assange's private meetings with lawyers, politicians, relatives…

Zoe PC (2020-09-13). "The number one demand on the streets of Colombia is for justice" peoplesdispatch.org Massive protests have broken out in Colombia following the torture and murder of Javier Ordóñez by the police. Nicolás Arias of Colombia Informa talks about what led to this outburst, the demands being raised and the structural violence of the state…

Sarah Cords (2020-09-13). How a US Army Whistleblower Revealed 'the Apparatus of a Police State'. commondreams.org Soldiers with the Mississippi National Guard watch a crowd of protesters at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on June 6, 2020. (Photo: The National Guard/Flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/army_whistleblower.jpg

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-12). The Assange Trial, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com ~ | "Assange isn't a journalist! He has an agenda!" | Every journalist in the world has an agenda. It just happens that most journalists have fame, wealth and esteem as their agenda while Assange's agenda is, in his own words, "crushing bastards". | It's crazy how there are still people who try to claim Assange isn't a journalist. He is, and it's not even debatable. Publishing information that informs the public about what's going on in the world is exactly the thing that journalism is. | ~ | The mainstream press have been far, far less critical of immensely powerful world-dominating government agencies than they…

RT (2020-09-12). Julian Assange: The Trial of the Century. dissidentvoice.org George Galloway makes cystal clear what is a no-brainer: Julian Assange revealing war crimes is the real reason for extradition. Unable to be convicted for journalism, he stands accused of trumped-up charges in what is the trial of the century.

_____ (2020-09-12). Rubberhose Cryptography and the Idea Behind Wikileaks: Julian Assange as a Physics Student. strategic-culture.org Niraj LAL | The last dinner that Julian Assange had in relative freedom, 18 June 2012, was takeaway pizza and cheap red wine with a couple of the Wikileaks team and myself in a small flat in London, discussing possible trajectories of American politics for the coming decade. The next morning he walked into the Ecuadorian Embassy to claim political asylum; he hasn't seen sunlight unguarded since. | I first met Julian in the Redmond Barry Physics Lecture Theatre ten years earlier, in 2002, on our first day at the University of Melbourne. The lecturer, the affable Professor Geoff Opat with curly hair and thick-rimme…

Tom Coburg (2020-09-12). Assange extradition hearings see the defence expose the real reasons for his prosecution. thecanary.co Formal hearings for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange commenced on Monday 7 September 2020. Over three days, the defence fielded witnesses and … | By | Formal hearings for the extradition of

_____ (2020-09-12). DHS Official: Department Wanted To Down Play Far-Right Violence. popularresistance.org On September 9, the news came out that a whistleblower within the Department of Homeland Security had filed a complaint about the department's Trump-appointed leadership instructing him to downplay the threat represented by white supremacists and play up the dangers posed by anarchists and anti-fascists. Yet it has largely escaped notice how Joe Biden and other Democrats have embraced Donald Trump's talking points about anarchists and anti-fascists.

Sarah Cords (2020-09-12). How a U.S. Army Whistleblower Revealed 'the Apparatus of a Police State'. progressive.org In the 1960s, the military had been illegally spying on protesters until Christopher Pyle, a former Army intelligence officer, spoke out.

sputniknews (2020-09-12). Snowden Responds to POTUS' 'Pardon' Comment, Urges to End 'War on Whistleblowers'. sputniknews.com Edward Snowden is accused of espionage and leaking secret National Security Agency documents, exposing to the world a domestic surveillance program in the United States that collected telephone and Internet data from citizens.

Anya Parampil (2020-09-11). Challenging pro-war Pelosi: candidate Shahid Buttar on Assange, Latin America, & Palestine. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with House candidate Shahid Buttar, who is Nancy Pelosion issues of war and whistleblowers. They discuss Buttar's position on Julian Assange, Latin America, Israel, and more.

Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof (2020-09-11). Trump's 'War On Journalism' Takes Centerstage At Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing. commondreams.org Demonstrators protest outside of the Old Bailey court in central London on September 7, 2020, as the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resumes again. (Photo: Tolga Akmen / AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/journalismisnotacrime.jpg

CP Editor (2020-09-11). 175 Years in a U.S. Prison? Extradition Trial of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Begins in London. counterpunch.org

T.J. Coles (2020-09-11). The War on Your Mind: A Brief History of the U.S. Surveillance-Intelligence Complex. globalresearch.ca The recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vindicated the contractor-turned-whistleblower, Edward Snowden, by ruling that the National Security Agency's blanket data collection was unlawful and likely After Snowden alerted the world, t…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-11). Iran's Army Air Defense intercepts one US plane, two drones. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 11 (MNA) — During the Zolfaghar-99 military exercise on Fri., one US plane and two drones, that had violated the law and entered Iranian Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) illegally, were intercepted by homemade Karrar drone.

sputniknews (2020-09-11). US Senate Intelligence Committee Requests DHS Data After Whistleblower Complaint. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The US Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting that it submits all intelligence assessments related to a whistleblower's complaint that the Trump administration allegedly mishandled data.

Linda Greenhouse (2020-09-11). A Court Just Slammed the Guant√°namo Gate Shut. commondreams.org "The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has just slammed the Guant√°namo gate shut," writes Greenhouse. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gitmo_3_0.jpeg

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-11). NYT's Krugman Pilloried on 9/11 Anniversary for Claiming No 'Mass Outbreak of Anti-Muslim Sentiment' in US After 2001 Attacks. commondreams.org Anti-Muslim hate crimes soared after 9/11, and thousands of Muslims in the U.S. were detained—and some tortured—in George W. Bush's futile anti-terror dragnet. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/hate_0.jpg