By Kellie Tranter

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is due to release its Fifth Assessment Report. It is expected to reinforce predictions of rising sea levels and of the increasing likelihood of heat waves and other extreme weather, but Australia should be paying particular attention to the estimated trajectory of likely warming and its impact on our Asian neighbours. Continue Reading…

The law is an ass, particularly when it comes to the dispute over whether journalists are entitled to keep their sources confidential before the prying eyes of their accusers.  Continue Reading…

In the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack, shocking footage of the victims of that attack were widely circulated in an effort to raise the ire of the public and spur support for military intervention. Now, a new report on that footage finds troubling inconsistencies and manipulation with the video that calls the official narrative of the attack and its victims into question. This is the GRTV Backgrounder on Global Research TV.

By Kellie Tranter

The Abbott Government’s recent sacking – without proper reasons being given – of three departmental secretaries, with others to follow, doesn’t just send a message to the Australian Public Service. It should also serve as a reminder to the general public that the public service is not operating as independently of government as it should. Continue Reading…

By Binoy Kampmark

It did not take long for the critics to pounce on the shootings at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. on September 16 as the product not so much of a disturbed mind but one who had not been sufficiently policed and excluded. 13 people were left dead, one of them being the assailant himself.

According to his employer, The Experts Inc. , Aaron Alexis had a “secret clearance”. The link in this chain is that the company in question is a subcontractor assisting Hewlett-Packard service the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet.

Alexis had been working as a computer contractor, though that also entitled him to have access to a card granting him entry into the Navy Yard and various other facilities. Such are the joys of the privatised military state that Alexis could move about at will with his Common Access Card (CAC). CEO of The Experts, Inc. Thomas Hoshko has apparently substantiated the claim.

In response to concerns expressed by our supporters and members about the errors made in some GVTs, the Party, in line with its values, has commissioned an independent review. The terms of reference are set out below.

1. Collect and submit to Bell Campbell Auditing, all material and note recollections of ‘on the move National Council meetings’ of preferences and process beginning at Greg Barnes email on preferences at 8pm 16/8/13 until the GVT submission to the AEC 17/8/13.
2. Review preference process and decisions of the National Council whereby an optimum method of preference decisions can be recommended for adoption by the party.
3. Overall review of campaign structure.
4. Please make submissions and relevant emails to [email protected]
5. Make terms of reference available at http://www.wikileaksparty.org.au

Update (Matt Watt 24/9/2013): The submissions will be accepted until September 29 2013.

By Binoy Kampmark

This is the world we accept if we continue to avert our eyes. And it promises to get much worse.

– Barrett Brown, The Guardian, Jul 2, 2013

The United States has a growing crop of political dissidents. While it may be less conspicuous than other powers in doing so – China and Russia, to take but two examples – that should hardly be surprising. When the empire gets shoddy and insecure, it will react with consternation at those who expose its links, its paranoia, its premises.

Indeed, the dedicated and somewhat obsessive Barrett Brown has truly riled officialdom, having been indicted since 2012 for allegedly trafficking in stolen identification information and aggravated identity theft (12 felony counts), threatening FBI Special Agent Robert Smith (3 felony counts), and concealing evidence (2 felony counts). Federal prosecutors via the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas were happy to file charges that, if shown, will land Brown in the nick for over a century.

By Steve Davies

I wish we could dispense with the term whistle-blower as much of the media presents whistleblowers as actors in some kind of freak show.

Strip away media sensationalism and whistle-blowing is the act of providing feedback and disclosing information that bureaucrats or other parties do not want the public to see. Continue Reading…

They are at it again, those eager policy makers keen to define what journalism actually is. To be a journalist, or not to be one, may well be the difference between punishment or protection under the latest discussions by members of the U.S. Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee was busy last week coming to a few conclusions on the subject. Some of these remain troubling.

There was a certain urgency in the air after it was revealed that the Justice Department had secretly subpoenaed some two months’ worth of telephone records spanning 21 phone lines involving editors and reporters of The Associated Press. A search warrant was also secretly used to obtain emails of a Fox News journalist (The Times and Democrat, Sep 15).