#FREEBRAD OP-ED: BRADLEY MANNING AND QUEER COLLABORATION Rescinding Bradley Manning’s invitation to be the grand marshal of San Francisco’s big gay celebration is not what pride is all about, says Victoria Brownworth. Ask anyone, queer or straight, what they think the queerest city in America is and most will say San Francisco. The City by the Bay has been the locus of all things queer since before Stonewall. It made perfect sense, then, that San Francisco Pride would choose as its 2013 grand marshal Bradley Manning, the former Army intelligence specialist who is currently being prosecuted by the Obama administration and the Army for leaking thousands of classified documents via WikiLeaks. Many of those documents have been published and discussed extensively by top-level newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Manning has been deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and other human rights groups. In March, Manning was short-listed for the Nobel Peace Prize with support from people as diverse as Republican congressman Ron Paul of Texas and Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg. The Guardian, a U.K. newspaper, chose Manning as its Person of the Year 2012. His case has been a cause célèbre throughout Europe. But within hours of the announcement Friday that Manning would be the grand marshal, and subsequent notification of Manning himself through Courage to Resist, which raises money to support his defense, Lisa L. Williams, San Francisco Pride board president, issued a disturbing press release. Williams stated emphatically that Manning’s nomination was “a mistake and never should have been allowed to happen.” Williams also blamed a rogue member of the committee that chooses the marshals and said he “had been disciplined.” Disciplined — perhaps like Manning himself has been by the Obama administration, which has invoked the nearly century-old Espionage Act to prosecute Manning (but not any of the news outlets that have repeatedly published the documents he released) and other whistle-blowers. The S.F. Pride board allegedly received numerous complaints from gay and lesbian service members about the choice of Manning and so withdrew it, blaming an unnamed board member. Craven. The text of Williams’s press release reads like an indictment of Manning and his supporters rather than a simple “oops — we got our signals crossed.” The use of the term “disciplined” seems decidedly nonconsensual and very Bush-era. On Monday longtime San Francisco activists Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Michael Petrelis and Lisa Gedulgig held what they termed a social justice protest outside the San Francisco Pride office. Protesters wore Bradley Manning masks and carried signs saying “I Am Bradley Manning.” Daniel Ellsberg attended the protest. The Pride committee’s decision to dishonor Manning wasn’t just craven, it was — and is —reprehensible. It is absolutely anathema to what any Pride event is supposed be about, which is support for the diversity among and courage of LGBT people. The ease with which the committee backed off the choice of Manning should unnerve every single queer in America. This is what collaboration looks like. When I first read Williams’s press release, I was dumbfounded. I have been writing about Manning’s case since his arrest in May 2010. I detailed his torture at the hands of the Obama administration. I tweeted regularly how long he’d been held without charge as weeks turned to months. I elucidated the reasons why he should be given a presidential pardon and the precedent for it. But Williams, even as she allows that Manning will get his day in court, cites as fact that Manning’s actions were dangerous and asserts, “Even the hint of support for actions which placed in harms [sic] way the lives of our men and women in uniform, and countless others, military and civilian alike, will not be tolerated by the leadership of San Francisco Pride.” As Williams, speaking for the S.F. Pride committee in toto, presents it, Manning is tantamount to a terrorist, equivalent to the Tsarnaev brothers, putting the lives of countless people, military and civilian alike, at risk … Continued at http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/05/01/op-ed-bradley-manning-and-queer-collaboration
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OP-ED: BRADLEY MANNING AND QUEER COLLABORATION

Rescinding Bradley Manning’s invitation to be the grand marshal of San Francisco’s big gay celebration is not what pride is all about, says Victoria Brownworth.

Ask anyone, queer or straight, what they think the queerest city in America is and most will say San Francisco. The City by the Bay has been the locus of all things queer since before Stonewall.
It made perfect sense, then, that San Francisco Pride would choose as its 2013 grand marshal Bradley Manning, the former Army intelligence specialist who is currently being prosecuted by the Obama administration and the Army for leaking thousands of classified documents via WikiLeaks. Many of those documents have been published and discussed extensively by top-level newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.
Manning has been deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and other human rights groups. In March, Manning was short-listed for the Nobel Peace Prize with support from people as diverse as Republican congressman Ron Paul of Texas and Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg. The Guardian, a U.K. newspaper, chose Manning as its Person of the Year 2012. His case has been a cause célèbre throughout Europe.
But within hours of the announcement Friday that Manning would be the grand marshal, and subsequent notification of Manning himself through Courage to Resist, which raises money to support his defense, Lisa L. Williams, San Francisco Pride board president, issued a disturbing press release. Williams stated emphatically that Manning’s nomination was “a mistake and never should have been allowed to happen.” Williams also blamed a rogue member of the committee that chooses the marshals and said he “had been disciplined.”
Disciplined — perhaps like Manning himself has been by the Obama administration, which has invoked the nearly century-old Espionage Act to prosecute Manning (but not any of the news outlets that have repeatedly published the documents he released) and other whistle-blowers.
The S.F. Pride board allegedly received numerous complaints from gay and lesbian service members about the choice of Manning and so withdrew it, blaming an unnamed board member.
Craven.
The text of Williams’s press release reads like an indictment of Manning and his supporters rather than a simple “oops — we got our signals crossed.” The use of the term “disciplined” seems decidedly nonconsensual and very Bush-era.
On Monday longtime San Francisco activists Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Michael Petrelis and Lisa Gedulgig held what they termed a social justice protest outside the San Francisco Pride office. Protesters wore Bradley Manning masks and carried signs saying “I Am Bradley Manning.” Daniel Ellsberg attended the protest.
The Pride committee’s decision to dishonor Manning wasn’t just craven, it was — and is —reprehensible. It is absolutely anathema to what any Pride event is supposed be about, which is support for the diversity among and courage of LGBT people.
The ease with which the committee backed off the choice of Manning should unnerve every single queer in America. This is what collaboration looks like.
When I first read Williams’s press release, I was dumbfounded. I have been writing about Manning’s case since his arrest in May 2010. I detailed his torture at the hands of the Obama administration. I tweeted regularly how long he’d been held without charge as weeks turned to months. I elucidated the reasons why he should be given a presidential pardon and the precedent for it.
But Williams, even as she allows that Manning will get his day in court, cites as fact that Manning’s actions were dangerous and asserts, “Even the hint of support for actions which placed in harms [sic] way the lives of our men and women in uniform, and countless others, military and civilian alike, will not be tolerated by the leadership of San Francisco Pride.”
As Williams, speaking for the S.F. Pride committee in toto, presents it, Manning is tantamount to a terrorist, equivalent to the Tsarnaev brothers, putting the lives of countless people, military and civilian alike, at risk …

Continued at http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/05/01/op-ed-bradley-manning-and-queer-collaboration

#Wikileaks Posts Amazing Data Archive From #Kissinger Days - #FreeAssange #FreeBrad



Pretty interesting leaked data archive from Wikileaks, below is one gem…

Macomber: That is illegal.

Kissinger: Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at
meetings, “The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a
little longer.” [laughter] But since the Freedom of Information Act,
I’m afraid to say things like that. 

https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/P860114-1573_MC_b.html



Full archive here: http://wikileaks.org/plusd/

#Thank Manning (HD) - #FreeBrad #FreeManning

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Flood the Mail Rooms #ThankManning

PFC Manning 239 Sheridan Ave, Bldg 417 JBM-HH, VA 22211

Source: youtube.com

Bradley Manning nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2012 - #FreeBrad

Bradley Manning nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2012Enlarge
US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning (R) was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament.
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Bradley Manning, the US army officer accused of linking information to WikiLeaks, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the group The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament.

Manning is faced with charges that include aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet, theft of public property or records, transmitting defense information and fraud and related activity in connection with computers, CNN reported. The former Army private could face life in prison if convicted of these charges.

Despite his long list of charges, the parliamentary group The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament submitted a letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee for the 2012 prize for his “individual effort to have an impact for peace in our world,” the letter stated.

“The revelations – including video documentation of an incident in which American soldiers gunned down Reuters journalists in Iraq – have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about America’s overseas engagements, civilian casualties of war, imperialistic manipulations, and rules of engagement,” the letter stated. “Citizens worldwide owe a great debt to the WikiLeaks whistleblower for shedding light on these issues, and so I urge the Committee to award this prestigious prize to accused whistleblower Bradley Manning.”

Read more at GlobalPost: Tribunal recommends Bradley Manning be court martialed

Manning, 24, served the US military in Baghdad in late 2009 to early 2010 and allegedly leaked more than 700,000 secret government documents from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and a combat video that shows an Army helicopter attack in 2007, the Associated Press reported. His defense has said Manning had access to the computers with others in the workplace and was emotionally distressed since he was a gay soldier and homosexuals were barred from serving openly in the US military at the time.

The letter nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize states the former soldier deserves it since he brought to light “a long history of corruption, war crimes, and imperialism by the United States government in international dealings,” which they believe fueled the Arab Spring uprising and contributed to the withdrawal of troops in Iraq in 2011.

Manning has been in prison for over a year and was court martialed on all charges last Friday, the military said in a statement, CNN reported. A military judge will be appointed to provide the date for the date for his arraignment, motion hearings and trial.

#Wikileaks Julian Assange’s Christmas address from Ecuador embassy in London (Full Speech) #FreeBrad #FreeAssange #FreeAnons

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LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange emerged for a rare public address Thursday, praising jailed U.S. soldier Bradley Manning in an address delivered from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

Addressing supporters on a cold and wet English evening, the 41-year-old Australian looked fit and healthy despite half a year spent in trapped inside the small apartment he shares with Ecuador’s diplomatic staff.

He gave no hint that he would end the standoff, which has seen him spend six months as a fugitive from European justice, saying he was holed up at the embassy for fear of the U.S. investigation into his activities.

“While this immoral investigation continues, and while the Australian government will not defend the journalism and publishing of WikiLeaks, I must remain here,” he said.

While the U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into WikiLeaks’ spectacular disclosures of U.S. secrets, Assange is currently wanted by police over allegations of sexual assault stemming from a trip to Sweden in mid-2010.

Many WikiLeaks supporters have suggested that the allegations are a ploy to extradite Assange, first to Sweden and then to the U.S. The Swedish government and Assange’s alleged victims deny it, saying they are simply seeking justice.

Assange’s address name-checked a series of jailed figures, including Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and alleged Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond. But the biggest cheers came when he praised Bradley Manning, the alleged source of WikiLeaks’ most earth-shaking revelations.

He said the 25-year-old “has maintained his dignity after spending more than 10 percent of his life in jail, some of that time in a cage, naked and without his glasses.”

Manning, who was arrested in 2010, currently faces trial on 22 charges, including aiding the enemy. Testimony in pre-trial hearings has recently focused on the conditions under which he was detained — including times at which he was forced to strip naked and at least one incident in which he says he was made to stand at attention while nude.

Source: youtube.com

Accused Wikileaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning Testifies He Thought Would “Die in Custody” - #FREEBRAD

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Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has testified for the first time since he was arrested in May 2010. Speaking Thursday at a pretrial proceeding, Manning revealed the emotional tumult he experienced while imprisoned in Kuwait after his arrest in 2010, saying, “I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to die.’ I thought I was going to die in a cage.” As part of his testimony, Manning stepped inside life-sized chalk outline representing the six-by-eight foot cell he was later held at the Quantico base in Virginia and, and recounted how he would tilt his head to see the reflection of a skylight through a tiny space in his cell door. Manning could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious of 22 counts against him. His trial is expected to begin in February. He has offered to plead guilty to a subset of charges that could potentially carry a maximum prison term of 16 years. We get an update from Michael Ratner, who was in the courtroom during Manning’s appearance. Ratner is president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

To watch the entire weekday independent news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, search our vast archive, or to find more information about Democracy Now! and Amy Goodman, visit http://www.democracynow.org.

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Source: youtube.com

Julian Assange Speech At #Ecuador Embassy 19-08-2012 - #WikiLeaks #FTW #FreeBrad

Julian Assange Speech below at the Ecuador Embassy:

“Can you hear me?

I am here today because I cannot be there with you today but Thank you for coming Thank you for your resolve, and your generosity of spirit.

On Wednesday night, after a threat was sent to this embassy, and the police descended on this building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it, and you brought the world´s eyes with you.

Inside this embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming up into the buildings through the internal fire escape, but I knew that there would be witnesses, and that is because of you.

If The UK did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, that is because the world was watching.
The next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend those rights that we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark before the Embassy of Ecuador, and how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world, and courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.

And so, to those brave people. I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and granting me political asylum.

And so I thank the government, and the particular Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, who have upheld the ecuadorian Constitution and it´s notion of universal citizenship, in their consideration of my asylum.

And to the ecuadorian people for supporting and defending this Constitution.

And I also have debt of gratitude to the staff of this embassy, whose families live in London, and who have shown me hospitality and kindness despite the threats that they we all received.

This friday there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of Latin America in Washington DC, to address this very situation.

So I am greatful to the people and governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, and to all of the other Latin American countries who have cone to defend the rights to asylum.

To the people of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia, who have supported me in strength, even when their governments have not. And to those wiser heads in government who are still fighting for justice. Your day will come.

To the staff, supporters and sources of WikiLeaks, whose courage and commitment and loyalty has seen no equal.

To my family and to my children who have been denied their father. Forgive me. We will be reunited soon.

As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression, and the health of all our societies.

We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the United States of America. Will it return to and reaffirm the values it was founded on? Or will it lurch off the precipice, dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world, in which journalists falls silent under the fear of prosecution, and citizens must whisper in the dark?

I say it must turn back. I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. United States must disolve is FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff, or our supporters. The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful.

There must be no more foolish talk about prosecuting any media organization, be it WikiLeaks or the New York Times.
The US administrations war on whistleblowers must end.

Thomas Drake, and William Binney, and John Kirakou and the other heroic US whistleblowers must-the must-be pardoned and compesated for the hardships the have endured as servants of the public record.

And to the Army Private who remains in a military prison in Fort Leavenworth Kansas, who was found by United Nations to have endured months of torturous detention in Quantico Virginia, and who has yet-after two years in prison to see a trial, he must be released.

Bradley must be released.

And if Bradley Manning really did as he is accused, he is a hero, an example to all of us and one of the world´s foremost political prisoners. Bradley Manning must be released.

On Wednesday, Bradley Manning spent his 815th day of detention without trial. The legal maximum is 120 days

On Thursday, my friend Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre, was sentenced to three years in prison for a tweet. On Friday, a Russian band were sentenced to two years in jail for a political performance.

There is unity in the oppression. There must be absolute unity and determination in the response.

Thank you.”

Bradley Manning Support Network » National Call-in Week November 15th-18th! - #FreeBrad #FreeManning #FreeBradley - #Wikileaks

Occupy military phone lines! Let the UN meet with Bradley!

Bradley Manning

Please join us, and our partners, on this important action every day this week. We’ll update this page Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with contact info for more people we need to influence.

On October 18 2011, UN chief investigator on torture issues, Juan Mendez, confirmed that the Department of Defense has blocked his requests for an unmonitored meeting with PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower. Mendez requested the meetings so that he could investigate what occurred during the 10 months that Bradley Manning was kept isolated in the military brig at Quantico, VA, under conditions condemned as illegal by 300 top U.S. legal scholars.

The White House has so far refused to respond to our requests for explanation as to why Mendez is not being allowed to complete an investigation. Our petition on the White House website, http://www.wh.gov/40y, calls for the Administration to stop blocking Mendez’s attempts to conduct an official visit as required by his office. The petition achieved the number of signatures necessary for a response on October 13th, yet still has not been addressed.

We want to put pressure on the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff to comply with the United Nations’ demand. Juan Mendez has requested unmonitored meetings with Bradley so as to insure that international protocol for prisoner treatment and justice are followed. (The UN’s original statement on this issue is here.)

Please make two phone calls for Bradley:

  • Call Secretary of the Army Public Affairs Officer Lt. Anne Edgecomb: 703-697-3491
  • Call Army Chief of Staff Public Affairs Officer Lt. Col Alayne Conway: 703-693-4961

When you call, please urge Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond T. Odierno to respect the UN Convention Against Torture and to allow UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez to conduct an official visit with Bradley Manning.

After calling, you can also e-mail them:

  • If you live outside of the United States, you can call the US embassy or consulate in your country and ask them to note your request. You can find US embassies here.

Then please spread the word! Ask your friends and family to call as well by sharing this action on Facebook and Twitter and by emailing them the link to this page.

Thank you for supporting Bradley. Check this page Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for additional numbers and e-mails of people we need to reach in our defense of Bradley’s rights.

Background information:

Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old US Army intelligence analyst, is accused of sharing a video of the killing of unarmed civilians—including two Reuters journalists—by a US helicopter in Baghdad.  He is also charged with blowing the whistle on the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and embarrassing US diplomatic cables (including the Guantanamo Files). The video and documents have illuminated details of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights abuses and atrocities, and the role that spying and bribes play in international diplomacy.

Prior to his transfer to Fort Leavenworth, PFC Manning had been held in solitary confinement in the military brig of Quantico, VA for ten months. While in prison in Quantico, Manning was not allowed to exercise, with the exception of being allowed to walk shackled for one hour each day.  He was denied exposure to sunlight. He was not allowed to sleep between 5am and 8pm, and he had to respond verbally to guards every five minutes.  Although the Quantico officials said these rules were necessary because of a “Prevention of Injury” order, the brig’s own psychiatrists confirmed that Bradley was not suicidal.  In March of 2011, Quantico officials began forcing Bradley to strip naked each night before bed, and to sleep in a “suicide smock.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, opened an investigation into PFC Manning’s treatment conditions. Unfortunately, he was denied the ability to make an official visit to investigate the situation. Although PFC Manning has been transferred to a new prison, Mendez is still requesting to visit PFC Manning to complete his investigation as required by his position as chief UN officer on torture. His requests continue to be denied.

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