VID (9 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj-gpuLkm9M [YouTube]
Julian has spent over a year surrounded by London Met police servicing a sealed U.S. grand jury indictment. The court martial of WikiLeaks source U.S. Private Bradley Manning is now in its 5th. week. Recently WikiLeaks was instrumental in helping N.S.A. whistleblower Edward Snowden escape the long arm of the U.S. secret surveillance state. Edward & WikiLeaks staffer Sarah Harrison are presently in the terminal of Russian airport as they seek sanctuary. This is a statement released by Edward Snowden in Moscow on July 1st.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/01-13 Those of us who gathered on the 3rd. are a mixed bunch. Some are Catholic Workers who offer shelter to refugees fleeing U.S. sponsored warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and throughout Africa. Some are South Americans who lived under U.S. sponsored tyrannies in Chile and Colombia. Some are long time anti-war & civil liberties activists. For others, offering solidarity to Julian, Bradley, Edward, Ecuador & WikiLeaks has been their first experience of activism.
We have built a solidarity community of sorts over these long two years of persecution of Julian and Bradley, through multiple court appearances and embassy vigils, through the abandonment of these courageous men by the peace & human rights careerists and bureaucrats in London town.
Aware that we are on the eve of the Ashes, we made a sign that read "Assange 42 not out!" and also a sign referencing the significance of 42 as "the answer to life, universe & everything" in "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aboZctrHfK8 [YouTube] We played music, sang songs and shared a cake baked especially for the occasion with the WikiLeaks crew.
The atmosphere of the gathering outside the embassy was impacted by the extraordinary events of the previous night when Spanish, Portugese, Italian & French governments competed in sycophancy by closing air space to the President of Bolivia on request by the U.S. The U.S. was panicked that Edward Snowden may be on the Bolivian Presidential plane flying from Moscow.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/bolivia-un-evo-morales-plane Closer to home, the Ecuadorian embassy also announced it had uncovered a bugging device in the embassy building.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/04/ecuador-names-embassy-bug-surveillance A local mother and child undertaking their daily walk from school waved from across the road and yelled "Is it his birthday?" They smiled as we answered and sang "Happy Birthday" in Spanish and English. A glimmer of common humanity breaking through a stand off scene visually dominated by cops & corporate media.
Today July 4th. the U.S. celebrates its birthday with fireworks and anti-colonial retro imagery. Meanwhile the liars & killers
run amok in control of the levers of state. Those who expose the truth are in chains or running for their lives.
This following report on the ongoing trial of Bradley Manning is instructive on what issues are at play.
VID (9 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj-gpuLkm9M [YouTube]
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Forcing down Evo Morales's plane was an act of air piracy
04.07.2013 21:39
Forcing down Evo Morales's plane was an act of air piracy
Denying the Bolivian president air space was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world
Imagine the aircraft of the president of France being forced down in Latin America on "suspicion" that it was carrying a political refugee to safety – and not just any refugee but someone who has provided the people of the world with proof of criminal activity on an epic scale.
Imagine the response from Paris, let alone the "international community", as the governments of the west call themselves. To a chorus of baying indignation from Whitehall to Washington, Brussels to Madrid, heroic special forces would be dispatched to rescue their leader and, as sport, smash up the source of such flagrant international gangsterism. Editorials would cheer them on, perhaps reminding readers that this kind of piracy was exhibited by the German Reich in the 1930s.
The forcing down of Bolivian President Evo Morales's plane – denied airspace by France, Spain and Portugal, followed by his 14-hour confinement while Austrian officials demanded to "inspect" his aircraft for the "fugitive" Edward Snowden – was an act of air piracy and state terrorism. It was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world and the cowardice and hypocrisy of bystanders who dare not speak its name.
ARTICLE CONTINUED........
by John Pilger
PHOTO - WL & Ecuadorian Ambassador join the party
06.07.2013 06:42
photo
Venezuela and Nicaragua offer asylum to Edward Snowden
06.07.2013 09:02
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daneil Ortega, made the asylum offers on Friday, shortly after they and other Latin American leaders met to denounce the diversion of a plane carrying the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, due to suspicions that Snowden might have been on board.
The invitations came as Snowden sent out new requests for asylum to six countries, in addition to the 20 he has already contacted, according to WikiLeaks, which claims to be in regular contact with the former National Security Agency contractor.
Most of the countries have refused or given technical reasons why an application is not valid, but several Latin American leaders have rallied together with expressions of solidarity and welcome.
ARTICLE CONTINUED.....
Snowden update
VID (7 mins) Young Turks on Illegal NSA Spying
07.07.2013 07:33
Young Turks
More from Edward Snowden
08.07.2013 20:20
he addresses what's been said about him over last 2 weeks
Greenwald accompanying article
from Glenn Greenwald
London Mayor Boris- 4 million quid spent on surrounding Assange "waste of money"
09.07.2013 20:10
Boris
Meanwhile at a Moscow airport.....
10.07.2013 06:34
Meanwhile