Donald Trump, his generals, Snowden and Assange

This video from the USA says about itself:

“This is Not a Coup, But It’s Not Normal”: Trump Picks 3 Generals for Top Foreign Policy Posts

6 January 2017

As President-elect Donald Trump’s key nominees for Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions include three generals, we get response from Gordon Adams, professor emeritus at American University’s School of International Service, who recently wrote in The New York Times about “Donald Trump’s Military Government.” Confirmation hearings begin Monday, including for retired Marine General John Kelly as homeland security secretary, retired General James “Mad Dog” Mattis as defense secretary and retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

This video from the USA says about itself:

6 January 2017

In our extended conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald responds to claims NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations helped Russia, and examines what actions the Trump administration may take against him and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. “Exactly the same playbook was used against [Daniel] Ellsberg that is now being used against Snowden, which is to say, ’Don’t listen to these disclosures. Don’t regard this person as a hero for exposing our corruption and lawbreaking. Focus instead on the fact that these are traitors working with our enemies,’” says Greenwald. “And just as it was completely false in the case of Ellsberg, so too is it completely false in the case of Snowden.”

Laura Poitras’ new documentary, Risk, about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, opened in the US May 5. Shot over six years, beginning in 2011, the film treats events during the period in which Assange was under house arrest (December 2010-June 2012) in England and, subsequently, forced to take refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London (June 2012 to the present): here.

SWEDEN DROPS SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE However, British police say the Wikileaks founder would still be arrested if he left the Ecuadorian embassy in London. [Reuters]

Confidential Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) emails published by the Guardian’s Sunday sister paper, the Observer, reveal that British prosecutors warned their Swedish counterparts not to drop extradition proceedings against Julian Assange on trumped-up “sexual assault” allegations as early as 2013. Ever since, the British government has continued its vendetta against the WikiLeaks founder even though Swedish prosecutors finally abandoned their investigation in May 2017 and sought to revoke the European Arrest Warrant against him: here.

‘Is whistleblowing worth prison or a life in exile?’: Edward Snowden talks to Daniel Ellsberg: here.

Trump administration calls for permanent restoration of bulk phone communications surveillance: here.