M.I.A. visits Julian Assange in prison: "It's about truth–and that's something people have to uphold and fight for"
wsws.org | 2019-10-14
Speaking at a press conference outside Belmarsh late Saturday afternoon, M.I.A.–Sri Lankan-born Mathangi 'Maya' Arulpragasam–condemned Assange's tormentors, indicting the US and UK governments, the courts and the corporate media.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/14/belm-o14.html

A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-10-14
Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens. In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its citizens in overseas theatres. Mamdouh Ahmed Habib, a dual Australian-Egyptian national, was detained in Pakistan …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/10/a-coalition-of-support-parliamentarians-for-julian-assange/

Protest in New Zealand six months after Assange's arrest
wsws.org | 2019-10-14
The Socialist Equality Group's Tom Peters denounced the New Zealand government's support for US imperialism and the persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/14/nzas-o14.html

Prominent Australian parliamentarian declares extradition of Julian Assange to US "totally unreasonable"
wsws.org | 2019-10-14
Barnaby Joyce admitted this morning that the attempt to extradite Assange is a flagrant attack on his rights as an Australian citizen.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/14/joyc-o14.html

Assange: Enema of the State
John Kendall Hawkins | counterpunch.org | 2019-10-14
Crikey, he gives them the shits. Hillary once said — even before the 2016 election — "Can't we just drone him?" Maybe you're thinking she was just joking, like Obama that time at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2010, when he cracked that he'd take out the Jonas Brothers with a Predator drone strike,…
counterpunch.org/2019/10/14/assange-enema-of-the-state/

The Sudden Martyrdom of the Government Whistleblower
Maj. Danny Sjursen | truthdig.com | 2019-10-14
This piece originally appeared on The American Conservative. | Few see the irony in the corporate mainstream media's love affair with the anonymous whistleblower in President Trump's alleged Ukraine-gate affair. Yet everyone should. | The whole impeachment charade, and that's what it is, rests on the paradoxical and ahistorical assertions that 1) the president's phone call with Ukraine's leader is Trump's worst crime, and 2) the "liberal" press has always supported government whistleblowers. Both…
truthdig.com/articles/the-sudden-martyrdom-of-the-government-whistleblower/

US impeachment inquiry: State Department official testifies in defiance of Trump ban
wsws.org | 2019-10-14
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is the first Trump administration official to testify before the House Intelligence Committee since the White House declared its policy of noncooperation with the impeachment inquiry.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/14/impe-o14.html

Spain Court Sentences 9 Catalan Leaders to 13 Years in Jail
telesurenglish.net | 2019-10-14
Spain's Supreme Court Monday sentenced nine Catalan independence leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid, triggering protests across the region. | RELATED: | Catalans Call for Independence on 2nd Anniversary of Referendum | Three other defendants, who were also on trial for their involvement in the October 2017 referendum held in spite of a ban and a short-lived independence declaration, were found guilty only of…
telesurenglish.net/news/Spain-Court-Sentences-9-Catalan-Leaders-to-13-Years-in-Jail-20191014-0003.html

Tampa Bay demands Supreme Court uphold LGBT job rights
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-10-14
Tampa, FL – On October 7 and 8, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied against the lack of federal job protections for LGBT workers. On October 8, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began discussions on three cases that relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against job discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," in order to decide whether sexual orientation and gender identity are also protected under Title VII. Tampa Bay SDS held two rallies in response to this, as a part of a National SDS call to action. SDS demanded that…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/10/14/tampa-bay-demands-supreme-court-uphold-lgbt-job-rights

Catalan leaders convicted by Spain's Supreme Court for secession attempt
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-10-14
Spain's supreme court has convicted 12 former Catalan politicians and activists for their roles in the secession movement of 2017.The court sentenced former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds.Journalists waiting outside the court (AP/Paul White)The 12 were tried for their actions in a 2017 attempt by Catalonia to break away from Spain following an independence referendum that Spain declared illegal.Grassroots pro-secession groups have previously said that if any of the defendants were found guilty they would organise protests and "peaceful civil disobedienc…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2019/10/14/catalan-leaders-convicted-by-spains-supreme-court-for-secession-attempt/

Six months since the brutal arrest of WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2019-10-12
While Assange is subjected to what amounts to torture in a British prison, the war criminals he has done so much to expose walk free.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/12/pers-o12.html

Here's an Idea: Don't Pay Them
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2019-10-12
Here's an Idea: Don't Pay Them…
thenation.com/article/trump-ukraine-pompeo/

In the Ukraine Scandal, Trump Won't Be Taking the Fall Alone
Joan Walsh | thenation.com | 2019-10-11
In the Ukraine Scandal, Trump Won't Be Taking the Fall Alone…
thenation.com/article/trump-ukraine-pence-pompeo-mulvaney/

What Fourth Amendment? Court ruling says FBI snooped on private data of MILLIONS of Americans
rt.com | 2019-10-11
The phone records, emails, and data of millions of American citizens collected by the NSA haven't just been sitting in a vault somewhere. Rather, they've been searched and pored over by the FBI, apparently unconstitutionally. | According to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court ruling, issued last year and declassified this week, the FBI has been searching through records collected by the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance program. By searchi…
rt.com/usa/470676-fbi-spy-millions-americans/

Trump nominates John Sullivan as US ambassador to Russia
rt.com | 2019-10-11
US President Donald Trump has nominated Deputy Secretary of State John Joseph Sullivan as the new ambassador to Russia. If confirmed by the Senate, he will fill the spot vacated by the departure of Jon Huntsman. | Sullivan, 59, has served as deputy secretary since May 2017. He was acting secretary of state in March and April 2018, following the resignation of Rex Tillerson and the confirmation of current Secretary Mike Pompeo. | Most of his previous government experience has been in law, rather than diplomacy. Early on in his career, Sullivan clerked for a Fifth Circuit appeals judge and Supreme Court Justice…
rt.com/usa/470725-sullivan-ambassador-russia-nomination/

CIA spied on Julian Assange 24/7 in Ecuadorian embassy
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-10-10
The CIA was given 24/7 video and audio surveillance of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while he lived under asylum at…
thegrayzone.com/2019/10/10/cia-spied-on-julian-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy/

A Declassified Court Ruling Shows How the FBI Abused NSA Mass Surveillance Data
Trevor Aaronson | theintercept.com | 2019-10-10
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that the FBI may have violated the rights of potentially millions of Americans — including its own agents and informants — by improperly searching through information obtained by the National Security Agency's mass surveillance program. | U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, who serves in the District of Columbia and the FISA court, made his sweeping and condemnatory assessment in October 2018 in a 138-page ruling, which was declass…
theintercept.com/2019/10/10/fbi-nsa-mass-surveillance-abuse/

The Supreme Court Needs to Protect Trans People from Discrimination
Robin Savannah Carver | progressive.org | 2019-10-10
progressive.org/dispatches/SCOTUS-trans-people-deserve-job-protection-carver-191010/

Reaction to Jock Palfreeman's illegal detention continues to grow
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-09
civil rights Pip HinmanIssue 1240 Bulgaria political prisoner paroleOctober 9, 2019On October 7, three Bulgarian judges from the Supreme Court of Cassation decided they would need up to two months to review…
greenleft.org.au/content/reaction-jock-palfreeman%E2%80%99s-illegal-detention-continues-grow

Divided Supreme Court Hears Landmark LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination Case
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-09
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in three cases that will determine whether LGBTQ people can be fired from their jobs due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Among the court's conservative justices, only Neil Gorsuch appeared open to prohibiting such workplace discrimination. One of the cases centers on a transgender woman from Michigan named Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job at a funeral home in 2013. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision in the three cases by early next summer. We speak to James Esseks, director of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, who attended Tu…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/9/supreme_court_lgbtq_sex_discrimination_cases

The Espionage Act Is Again Deployed Against a Government Official Leaking to the Media
Alex Emmons | theintercept.com | 2019-10-09
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced its eighth prosecution under President Donald Trump for leaking sensitive information to the media, expanding a crackdown on press disclosures that began during the Obama administration and has only accelerated under Trump. | In an eight-page indictment unsealed on Wednesday, prosecutors alleged that Henry Kyle Frese, a 30-year-old counterterrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency, accessed intelligence reports unrelated to his job and discussed their contents with two reporter…
theintercept.com/2019/10/09/the-espionage-act-is-again-deployed-against-a-government-official-leaking-to-the-media/

'Political Interference in the Whistleblower Disclosure Process Is Horrifying' – CounterSpin interview with Dana Gold on whistleblower protection
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2019-10-08
Janine Jackson interview the Government Accountability Project's Dana Gold about whistleblower protection for the October 4, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/political-interference-in-the-whistleblower-disclosure-process-is-horrifying/

"We Have to Mass Mobilize": Laverne Cox & Chase Strangio Sound the Alarm on Major LGBTQ SCOTUS Cases
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-07
At the start of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in three cases to determine whether LGBTQ people can be fired from their jobs due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, as well as race, color, national origin and religion, but the Trump administration claims the law does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The cases mark the first time the Supreme Court will rule on LGBTQ rights since conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh re…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/7/trans_rights_us_supreme_court_hearings

Dana Gold on Whistleblower Protections, Craig Aaron on Net Neutrality Setback
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-10-04
Media…
fair.org/home/dana-gold-on-whistleblower-protections-craig-aaron-on-net-neutrality-setback/