Image by Truthout.org via Flickr
with Chris Hedges
teleSUR English on Nov. 23, 2015
In this episode of Days of Revolt, host Chris Hedges discusses the militarization of higher education institutions with journalist Alexa O’Brien. They uncover the trail of money and influence from the national security state to college programs. Hedges and O’Brien identify the ways in which this apparatus has long been in effect, and what it could mean for the future.
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by Alexa O’Brien
alexaobrien.com
November 15, 2013
‘I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right.’ – Jeremy Hammond
Today, Jeremy Hammond was sentenced to ten years in prison and three years of supervised release for hacking into the computers of the private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor).
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Ideas At The House on Sep 16, 2013
US Journalist and activist Alexa O’Brien and Australian commentator Robert Manne are joined by video conference with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Guardian Journalist Glenn Greenwald and Chelsea Manning’s Lawyer David Coombs on stage at the Sydney Opera House (moderated by Bernard Keane of Crikey).
Powerful governments are waging a war on whistleblowers and those involved in publishing their material. Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, Manning has been convicted of espionage and is awaiting sentencing, and Julian Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador but cannot step outside its London Embassy. It’s clear that the actions of whistleblowers and their publishers – ‘traitors’ as they are known to some – have come at a significant personal cost, and while the human drama of these stories is engrossing, the focus should be on the very real issues they’ve raised: surveillance, press freedom, privacy, secrecy, and accountability.
The roles of governments and corporations in the future of the internet, and their use and abuse of data, have been put under the global spotlight. In the wake of Manning, Snowden and Wikileaks, we finally have the scope to properly debate the need for government transparency and the trade-off between privacy and security.
Watch our expert panel discuss the implications of the war on whistleblowers for the main actors, and the consequences if that war is lost for the rest of us.
by John Pilger
johnpilger.com
8 August 2013
Image by Vertigogen via Flickr
The critical moment in the political trial of the century was on 28 February when Bradley Manning stood and explained why he had risked his life to leak tens of thousands of official files. It was a statement of morality, conscience and truth: the very qualities that distinguish human beings. This was not deemed mainstream news in America; and were it not for Alexa O’Brien, an independent freelance journalist, Manning’s voice would have been silenced. Working through the night, she transcribed and released his every word. It is a rare, revealing document.
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democracynow on Jul 31, 2013
www.democracynow.org – The sentencing hearing for Army whistleblower Bradley Manning begins today following his acquittal on the most serious charge he faced, aiding the enemy, but conviction on 20 other counts. On Tuesday, Manning was found guilty of violating the Espionage Act and other charges for leaking hundreds of thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks. In beating the “aiding the enemy” charge, Manning avoids an automatic life sentence, but he still faces a maximum of 136 years in prison on the remaining counts. Continue reading
Image by Vertigogen via Flickr
OccupyIndieMedia
Pace University, New York City
June 8, 2013
Left Forum #LF2013 event “Bradley Manning and Whistleblowers” with Chase Madar, Thomas Drake, Jesselyn Radack, Shayana Kadidal and Alexa D. O’Brien. Continue reading
by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
February 11, 2013 Continue reading
Dandelion Salad 