Update 10/14/11: Wired and Reuters break down our burgeoning problem of government secrecy, celebrities join our petition
- New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein joins our petition at iam.bradleymanning.org
Wired reporter Kim Zetter writes about the governments increased surveillance powers, and the secret orders they use to achieve them. By secret order, the government is able to read the email of its citizens even when the citizen has never been charged. This is what happened to Jacob Appelbaum, who worked with Wikileaks. The government was able to obtain “… the IP address Appelbaum used to log into his Gmail account as well as the email and IP addresses of anyone he communicated with going back to Nov. 1, 2009”! Some of the other targets of secret government intrusion include “…WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Dutch hacker and activist Rop Gonggrijp and Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament.”
Reuter’s columnist Bernd Debusmann explains what he calls the U.S.’s problem with overclassification. He says that:
If past habits serve as a guide, many if not most of the “confidential,” “secret” and “top secret” markings will fall under the label “overclassification,” a practice that stretches back to the 1940s and has been criticized in a long string of reports by high-powered congressional commissions and academic experts.
He points out the inconsistency between the fact that President Obama has passed acts which purportedly aim to reduce overclassification, yet during the Obama Administration the numbers of documents classified each year have increased. He says that this is a systemic problem and suggests that to fix it government employees who reveal improperly classified information need to be rewarded.
Fireside: 500 days for Bradley Manning. The Alyona Show covers the unreasonable pretrial confinement of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning, that has been going on more than 500 days She also asks why the Obama administration continues to obstruct the U.N. investigator from visiting Bradley Manning.
Several celebs have recently contributed to the “I am Bradley Manning” photo campaign. Check them out athttp://iam.bradleymanning.org/notables and please take part! Send in your photo! Then, you can ask friends and your favorite icons to stand with Bradley!
It is really easy to participate and help Bradley even if you HATE getting photographed like me!!! JUST DO IT! You can be creative!
It is great that public figures support this but normal everyday people ARE WANTED to support this too! Your participation, donation and attention to the TRUTH about Our (whistle blower protecting?)administrations unethical and ILLEGAL detention of Bradley Manning for OVER 500 days!Please help in any way you can big or small, it all adds up!!! Thanks!
I am old and in ill health, but if I could put my body on the line for what I believe, I would. Instead, I contribute financially to the causes I feel are fighting for the “Rights of Man.” I contribute to the Bradley Manning Defense Fund, Courage to Resist, Wikileaks, Veterans for Peace, Occupy Wall Street, ACLU, Amnesty International, LINK TV, and Democracy Now. I suggest to anyone who is still walking the fence on the issues of the day to make a stand. Put your money where your mouth is and contribute to the causes you believe in!
wasnt it tommy J that said,,, sumpin like,, “When freedom is sacraficed for security, u have neither” our forefathers may not have been perfect,, but, at least they were thinkin of the many!! bradley , i pray u get out soon, exonerated of all falsehoods against you !!
peace n love
WE LOVE YOU BRADLEY!