Palestine Teacher in Israeli Jail for being an Activist Threat

Palestine Teacher & activist Sirien Khudiri jailed for creating facebook page http://bit.ly/12vI6qM
Palestine - Teacher and activist, Sirien Khudiri, is currently in jail awaiting charges, because the Israeli government considers her a "security risk" for opening a facebook page.

Link to change.org petition that details the case so far.
http://chn.ge/17piNve

#SaveLICH Protest Arrests

New York nurses getting arrested at a peaceful protest to save healthcare. 

#SaveLICH

New York City

New York (NY)

USA

PETITION AGAINST NEONICTOTINOIDS

Pollinators, including honeybees, are a central element of our food system and a critical pillar of our ecology. While the impact of honeybees extends far beyond the pollination of commercial agricultural crops, the monetary value of just this service is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars globally each year.

In the past decade, extreme declines in bee populations have been measured across North America and throughout Europe, prompting widespread concern from citizens, scientists, and many governments.

While many theories have been put forward for this collapse of the bee population, one of the most likely is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which attack insects’ central nervous systems causing paralysis and death, and have proven very harmful in sub-lethal quantities.

Help Elizabeth convince the Canadian Government to follow Europe’s lead and ban the use of neonicotinoids in Canada.

Sign the petition below, or download it, have as many people as possible to sign it, and mail it – postage free – to either her Ottawa or Sidney offices. With as few as 25 signatures, Elizabeth can present your petition to the government in the House of Commons.

Online Petition

10868 people have signed this petition. Add your voice to the growing number of Canadians speaking out about this issue.

Your petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to, for the sake of our bees and our food security, follow Europe’s lead, and adhere to the precautionary principle by banning the use of neonicotinoids in Canada.

#OpFreeAnons

Freeanons Solidarity Inc. is a Florida C Corporation. You may find information on the corporation at www.sunbiz.org. Our president is Nancy Norelli and our Vice President is David Brown. Ms. Norelli is a Florida lawyer and her contact information and status may be confirmed at www.flabar.org

To donate by payment service

To send us a donation by mail:
Freeanons Solidarity Inc.
2712 Northeast 184th Terrace
Aventura, Florida 33160
305.926.8245

For those wishing to donate with bitcoin, the address is: 1Byoo2ibsrhKf3XHsuEuxBStfXwGuNiRSH

• Barrett Brown:
  Help raise funds for the legal defense of Barrett Brown – American activist, author, freelance journalist and founder of distributed think tank Project PM. Each dollar raised is your vote in this important campaign for free speech and transparency on the internet – and around the world.
  - Barrett Brown Fundraiser – Bitcoin wallet 1FreeBBjTK5XXXsnjYB8foyFhGGHoajpRF

• Jeremy Hammond:
  Jeremy Hammond was arrested on allegations of access device fraud and hacking. Jeremy is being charged as the main person behind the December document liberation on U.S. security company Stratfor that was posted on Wikileaks. The money transfers into a bank account, managed by a family member, which was set up to receive solely the donating from WePay. Currently all donations go to Jeremy’s commissary account.
  - Jeremy Hammond Fundraiser

• Higinio Ochoa:
  A federal judge in Austin this past week sentenced Higinio Ochoa III aka W0rmer to 27 months in federal prison for hacking into computers of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Alabama Department of Public Safety, Houston County, Alabama and the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association.
  - Higinio Ochoa Fundraiser – BitCoin wallet 1BG16GZLpqkGBE2ocKQbi8yAy1H3s9JUHG

#OpGreenRights

The international resistance against Monsanto and the genetic manipulation of the food supply has advanced to an all new level, with countless citizens around the world taking the fight online and partaking in the Monsanto Video Revolt grassroots movement. Though scheduled to officially take place on July 24th, we’ve seen thousands of citizens around the world upload their videos exposing Monsanto from as far away as Nigeria and Thailand.

The massive response to the campaign, which I just announced last month with my friends and alternative news titans Mike Adams of NaturalNews and Dr. Edward Group of Global Healing Center, signifies a massive shift in global  response to Monsanto’s food abominations. While for years we have been sounding the alarm and growing the number of individuals who were aware of GMOs, we now have the opportunity to make history — the right way.

It’s time now to kick Monsanto out of the food supply and dig up the corporation’s infected roots from deep within our ever-depleting soil. Now is the time to make this a reality, as we take the fight online like never before. And unlike physical demonstrations where the mainstream media can choose to ignore them despite massive turnouts, completely blasting the net with information like never before through this Monsanto Video Revolt (connect on Facebook to get the word out) will be like posting up a billboard on the front page of virtually all social media and video upload websites.

Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/grassroots-movement-against-monsanto-explodes/#ixzz2Yh47vY2m 

Follow us: @naturalsociety on Twitter | NaturalSociety on Facebook

Obama Takes Communication Control

Obama gives himself control of all communication systems in America 

US President Barack Obama (AFP Photo/Pool/Luke Sharrett)

Tags

Internet, Obama,USA

US President Barack Obama quietly signed his name to an Executive Order on Friday, allowing the White House to control all private communications in the country in the name of national security.

President Obama released his latestExecutive Order on Friday, July 6, a 2,205-word statement offered as the “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions.” And although the president chose not to commemorate the signing with much fanfare, the powers he provides to himself and the federal government under the latest order are among the most far-reaching yet of any of his executive decisions.

“The Federal Government must have the ability to communicate at all times and under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions,” the president begins the order. “Survivable, resilient, enduring and effective communications, both domestic and international, are essential to enable the executive branch to communicate within itself and with: the legislative and judicial branches; State, local, territorial and tribal governments; private sector entities; and the public, allies and other nations.”

President Obama adds that it is necessary for the government to be able to reach anyone in the country during situations it considers critical, writing, “Such communications must be possible under all circumstances to ensure national security, effectively manage emergencies and improve national resilience.” Later the president explains that such could be done by establishing a “joint industry-Government center that is capable of assisting in the initiation, coordination, restoration and reconstitution of NS/EP [national security and emergency preparedness] communications services or facilities under all conditions of emerging threats, crisis or emergency.”

“The views of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and the public must inform the development of NS/EP communications policies, programs and capabilities,” he adds. 

On the government’s official website for the National Communications Systems, the government explains that that “infrastructure includes wireline, wireless, satellite, cable, and broadcasting, and provides the transport networks that support the Internet and other key information systems,” suggesting that the president has indeed effectively just allowed himself to control the country’s Internet access.

In order to allow the White House to reach anyone within the US, the president has put forth a plan to establish a high-level committee calling from agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon, Federal Communications Commission and other government divisions to ensure that his new executive order can be implemented.

In explaining the order, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) writes that the president has authorized the DHS "the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications."

In Section 5 of his order, President Obama outlines the specific department and agency responsibilities that will see through his demands. In a few paragraphs, President Obama explains that Executive Committee that will oversee his order must be supplied with “the technical support necessary to develop and maintain plans adequate to provide for the security and protection of NS/EP communications,” and that that same body will be in tasked with dispatching that communiqué “to the Federal Government and State, local, territorial and trial governments,” by means of “commercial, Government and privately owned communications resources.”

Later, the president announces that the Department of Homeland Security will be tasked with drafting a plan during the next 60 days to explain how the DHS will command the government’s Emergency Telecommunications Service, as well as other telecom conduits. In order to be able to spread the White House’s message across the country, President Obama also asks for the purchasing of equipment and services that will enable such.

Sources to confirm this news with:

RT News

The Examiner

#OpGuZoo: Close the zoo

Anonymous has been threatening Guzoo Animal Farm in Canada for gross neglect. Anyone mistreating animals deserves whats coming to them. #OpGuZoo

Animal cruelty will not be tolerated.

Petition to shut down the Zoo and revoke license:

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/revoke-the-guzoo-operating-license-shut-it-down

Ender's Game Boycott #OpEndersGame

Orson Scott Card, Anti-Gay Author, Responds To 'Ender's Game' Boycott Campaign

Cavan SieczkowskiThe Huffington PostJul 09, 2013

Anti-gay author Orson Scott Card has responded to plans for a boycott of the big-screen adaptation of his 1985 novel "Ender's Game," suggesting that same-sex marriage supporters should show tolerance towards those who once opposed them.

Card, a Mormon and National Organization for Marriage board member, was dubbed a homophobe as far back as 2000 when he was criticized by Salon for his anti-gay views -- which included labeling homosexuality a "deviant behavior" and saying "gay rights is a collective delusion." In the subsequent years, he penned various essays opposing equal rights. He called any government that supports same-sex marriage a "mortal enemy" that he will "act to destroy."

Earlier this year, these views led to the boycott of an "Adventures of Superman" issue he co-authored. Now, LGBT group Geeks OUT is asking moviegoers to boycott Card's flick in a campaign called "Skip Ender's Game." Geeks OUT argues that by seeing the movie or purchasing merchandise associated with it consumers will only add to the science-fiction author's fortune.

But Card doesn't seem to think this is an appropriate response. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly he said:

Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state. Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute.

Those behind "Ender's Game" have distanced themselves from Card.

“Orson's politics are not reflective of the moviemakers,” an unnamed individual involved with the film told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “We’re adapting a work, not a person. The work will stand on its own.”

"Ender's Game" takes place in the future, 70 years after an alien war has left mankind in peril. A military school has been set up to train young children who will later defend the planet, one of whom is the unusually gifted Ender Wiggin. The film stars Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld. It is due in theaters Nov. 1.

Venezuela Offers Asylum to NSA Whistleblower Snowden

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on Friday in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret U.S. spy programs.

"In the name of America's dignity ... I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to Edward Snowden," Maduro told a military parade marking Venezuela's independence day.

"He is a young man who has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the United States spying on the whole world."

The 30-year-old former National Security Agency contractor is believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport.

Russian officials have kept Snowden at arm's length since he landed from Hong Kong on June 23, saying the transit area where passengers stay between flights is neutral territory and he will be on Russian soil only if he goes through passport control.

It was not immediately clear how Snowden would react to Maduro's offer, nor reach Venezuela if he accepted.

There are no direct commercial flights between Moscow and Caracas, and the usual route involves changing planes in Havana. It is not clear if the Cuban authorities would let him transit.

Given the dramatic grounding in Vienna of the Bolivian president's plane this week over suspicions that Snowden was onboard, using European airspace could prove problematic.

One alternative flight plan would involve an aircraft taking off from Moscow, refuelling in Vladivostok, and then continuing east over the Pacific to South America.

Russia has shown signs of growing impatience over Snowden's stay in Moscow. Its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that Snowden had not sought asylum in that country and needed to choose a place to go.

Moscow has made clear that the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff over his fate causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.

The White House declined to comment on Maduro's offer.

Raising the possibility of at least one other option, Nicaragua said it had received an asylum request from Snowden and could agree to it "if circumstances permit".

WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, said on Friday that Snowden had asked six more nations for asylum, bringing to about 20 the number of countries he has appealed to for protection from U.S. espionage charges.

WikiLeaks said on Twitter it would not reveal which six new countries Snowden had applied to for asylum, due to "attempted U.S. interference".

Maduro said Venezuela was ready to offer him sanctuary, and that the details Snowden had revealed of U.S. spy programs had exposed the nefarious schemes of the U.S. "empire."

"Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the U.S. government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate President Bashar al-Assad?" he asked, to applause and cheers from ranks of military officers at the parade.

"Who is the terrorist? Who is the global delinquent?"

'COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES'

Since narrowly winning a presidential election in April that followed the death of his mentor, Hugo Chavez, from cancer, Maduro has often lambasted the United States - even accusing the Pentagon and former U.S. officials of plotting to kill him.

But the former bus driver and union leader has at times also struck a much more conciliatory note, saying he is ready for better relations with Washington, based on mutual respect.

Already one of Snowden's most vocal supporters on the world stage, Maduro has sharpened his rhetoric in recent days.

It peaked after Bolivia said France, Portugal, Italy and Spain banned a plane carrying its president, Evo Morales, from using their airspace because of suspicions Snowden was aboard.

Latin America's most vocal leftist leaders denounced that as a disgrace and a serious breach of protocol, and Maduro said the CIA, the U.S. spy agency, was behind it all.

Snowden had revealed that the United States was spying on its European allies, Maduro said on Friday, and yet European leaders still caved under U.S. pressure to ground Morales' jet.

"The European people have seen the cowardice and the weakness of their governments, which now look like colonies of the United States," the Venezuelan president said.

Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, accused Maduro of making a fuss about Snowden to distract voters from a dismal economic picture at home, and a host of other problems including one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"Nicolas, you can't use asylum to cover up that you stole the election. That doesn't give you legitimacy, nor make the people forget," Capriles said on Twitter.

Speaking in Managua, President Daniel Ortega said he would gladly give Snowden asylum in Nicaragua "if circumstances permit". He did not say what those circumstances might be.

Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, has benefited greatly from financial support from Venezuela, and Ortega was a staunch ally of Chavez.

A bid by Snowden for Icelandic citizenship hit an impasse on Friday when the country's parliament voted not to debate the issue before its summer recess.

(Additional reporting by Ivan Castro in Managua, Robert Robertsson in Reykjavik, and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)

By Daniel Wallis and Deisy Buitrago

Message from Just Label It #OpLabelGEO

It's that time of year again, when we celebrate our country's birth and freedom with delicious barbecues, fun parades, and magnificent firework displays. Yet when it comes to choosing a celebratory meal, Americans are left in the dark, lacking the ability to know what they're buying and feeding their families. We all deserve to know how our food is produced, so we can make informed consumer choices. It's time for Washington to listen to American consumers, and require labeling of genetically engineered foods so that moms, dads, and countless other Americans can choose what's best for their families. This year, we've already had many successes. Connecticut became the first state to pass GE labeling legislation, with many states not far behind. The USDA extended review of the controversial 2,4-D corn, after thousands of consumers voiced their concern. And just last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to label genetically engineered salmon. There's no way we can stop now – not with this kind of momentum. This July 4th, you can lend a hand by spreading the word.  Help us reach our patriotic goal of 1776 new signatures on the FDA petition by sharing the image below with friends and family on Facebook. Stand up for your Right to Know this Independence Day - click to share this image on Facebook: The more people who see this image and take action, the more we can build pressure on the FDA and members of Congress to require labeling. Please take a minute to share this image on Facebook, and make sure all your friends and family know why it's important to label genetically engineered foods. Not on Facebook? Just click forward to send this email to your friends and family!  Thanks for all that you've done to raise awareness about labeling genetically engineered foods. Have a happy and healthy July 4th! Katey ParkerPartnerships & Media ManagerJust Label It

We're building a movement of concerned citizens – parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat. In October 2011, the Just Label It campaign was formed when the Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of all foods produced using genetic engineering. Days later, we asked citizens from around the country to join us and tell the FDA to "Just Label It." More than 1.1 million Americans have contacted to the FDA urging them to label genetically engineered foods. Ask others to sign on at www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction

Learn more at www.JustLabelIt.org

City Of Hawthorne CA website taken down

City of Hawthorne, CA, USA website has been taken down after Police Brutality & Animal Cruelty by Police Lt. Scott Swain when he killed a dog by shooting it 4 times in front of kids among other bystanders. Their is 3 possibilities, 1. The website crashed due to overload on the server because of the leak of his email & phone numbers, or Anonymous took it down in retaliation. Police Brutality, abuse of power. & animal cruelty will not be tolerated. Expect us.

(310)349-2835

((310)345-2348

kswain@cityofhawthorne.org

Op Protest Against Mainstream Media by Anon Grey

A video has been posted by "Anon Grey" to YouTube calling for all Anons to gather in protest against top mainstream medias including but not limited to: CNN, Fox, CBS, Forbes, etc. for not revealing everything the find out, having bias views, for not showing everything they capture (protests, revolts), lying, etc. Op Protest Against Mainstream Media YouTube video link: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?fb_source=message&v=72yKsxQ3Eek&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D72yKsxQ3Eek%26fb_source%3Dmessage 

#OpProtestAgainstMainstreamMedia

•No violence

•Wear mask (V for Vendetta's Guy Fawkes Mask)

•Suit preferred wear

Edward Snowden NSA Whistleblower Update

07/01/2013

Font:

-

+

Boundless Informant

The Global Hunt for Edward Snowden

Whistleblower Edward Snowden remains on the run from US authorities, leaving behind a trail of revelations. Currently believed to be in Moscow's international airport, he has become the victim of a global hunt with elements of a Cold War thriller.

At the headquarters of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Meade, Maryland, there is a giant granite memorial plaque listing the names of 171 agents killed in the line of duty, with the words "They Served in Silence" carved into the stone. It's a very American way of remembering the country's heroes.

They will never say that about Edward Snowden, the biggest whistleblower in recent American history. Nevertheless, he is now a hero for many, because he burst America's dream of total data control.

Snowden has been traveling around the world carrying four laptops filled with secret documents since the end of May, when he flew from Hawaii to Hong Kong and eventually on to Moscow, leaving behind a trail of global revelations. He exposed the NSA's Prism program, which uses data from Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Skype; he revealed the role played in surveillance by the British intelligence agency GCHQ, whose Tempora program extracts data from hundreds of fiber-optic cables; and now he has also revealed the NSA's spying activities in Germany. New revelations seem to emerge by the day.

Since then Snowden has been engaged with US authorities in a global hunt with elements of a Cold War thriller -- only this time with 21st-century technology. He's also being pursued by hundreds of journalists, millions upon millions of viewers and presumably no small number of agents. This 30-year-old system administrator has already set off minor and major diplomatic tremors, because the revelations also show the extent to which allied countries spy on each other. The insights into its eavesdropping operations have embarrassed the United States in its relationship with China and Russia, as well as helping enemies and humiliating friends, who must now fear that their own spying activities will be scrutinized.

Snowden probably couldn't imagine all of this happening when, on May 20, he left his apartment in Hawaii and boarded a flight to Hong Kong. He was carrying a small, black suitcase containing the laptops, on which thousands of highly classified documents were stored. He told his girlfriend that he would be back soon, and he told his employer he needed to take some time off.

Snowden had been working in Hawaii for the security firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which does work for the NSA, for almost three months -- and he had access to America's biggest secrets. Although Snowden was a school dropout, he was also ambitious. When he enlisted in the army, he said that he was a Buddhist and committed to non-violence. The CIA and the NSA hired him because of his skillful handling of data networks.

Catapulted Out of Anonymity

In Hong Kong, Snowden took a room at the Mira, a five-star hotel in the Kowloon district. His choice of the Chinese special administrative region as a hideout was carefully calculated. He believed that he was safe there from the clutches of both American and Chinese authorities. He was also familiar with the city and had an acquaintance there. It was from Hong Kong that he launched a series of revelations that would shock America and the world before long.

He had already chosen a cohort in Glenn Greenwald, a blogger for Britain's Guardian newspaper. Greenwald, a former lawyer, lives with his partner and their 10 dogs in Rio de Janeiro. He's been advocating the disclosure of government secrets for years, and is seen as a passionate champion of transparency and someone who doesn't make compromises. Greenwald was the man Snowden now needed, so he asked him to come to Hong Kong.

Greenwald, a colleague from theGuardian and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras arrived on June 1. Snowden gave them elaborate directions to meet, and used a Rubik's cube to identify himself. The trio questioned their informant for almost a week. Then, on June 5, theGuardian published the first revelation, the story of a secret court ruling that showed that the US government had forced the telecommunications company Verizon to hand over telephone data for thousands of US citizens. The Prism surveillance program was disclosed the next day, followed by revelations about a similar program used worldwide, known as "Boundless Informant."

The disclosures coincided with the first meeting between the two most powerful men in the world. On June 7, US President Barack Obama invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Sunnylands Ranch in California. It was hot, 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit), and to the annoyance of the Chinese, their hosts had added the subject of cyber security to the agenda at the last minute. Obama told Xi that he would like to see a world order in which everyone played by the same rules. It was an admonition, from those who feel victimized, against the presumed malefactors in the cyber war -- the Chinese.

Although the Americans had taken notice of the revelations in theGuardian, they didn't know that a man on the other side of the Pacific was about to disclose even more secrets.

The video in which Snowden, a previously unknown system administrator, catapulted himself out of anonymity into the public eye, transforming from an everyman into the world's most wanted person on June 9, is 12 minutes and 35 seconds long. It had been clicked on 1.7 million times soon after its release.

The man in the video is young and pale, is wearing angular glasses and has a three-day beard. He speaks clearly, slowly and confidently. He says he has no intention to hide, because he hasn't done anything wrong. When asked why he didn't want to remain anonymous, Snowden replies: "The public is owed an explanation."

Snowden describes the NSA as a super-agency, a giant octopus that accesses massive amounts of data worldwide. He also explains that he decided to become a whistleblower when he realized that what he was experiencing on a regular basis were abuses, and that the more he wanted to talk about it, the more he was ignored and told that it really wasn't a problem.

The hunt was on.

Avoiding Extradition

Snowden's hiding place was discovered a few hours later, but he had already disappeared and gone to the apartment of a Hong Kong acquaintance.

Meanwhile, he was in contact with journalists from the South China Morning Post. After a conversation with Snowden, they revealed that the NSA had also hacked into the servers of telephone companies in China and Hong Kong and had collected millions of text messages.

Snowden apparently hoped to avoid extradition by provoking Chinese rage against the Americans. And he needed to do something, because Washington had already started to apply pressure. Although it has no extradition treaty with China, Hong Kong is largely autonomous and signed its own extradition treaty with the United States in 1996. US politicians were already demanding that Snowden be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law."

"People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions," Snowden told the South China Morning Post. But he also sensed that he wasn't safe in Hong Kong. Where else could he go?

At that moment two men entered the equation who wanted some of the whistleblower's fame to rub off on them: Rafael Correa and Julian Assange.

Ecuador soon announced that it was considering an asylum application by Snowden. It isn't as if Ecuadorian President Correa is a fan of transparency. In fact, a new, restrictive media law has just been enacted in his country. But Correa suffers from the fact that Ecuador is too small a stage for his political ambitions.

On June 16, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange stood on the balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, together with Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño. He said nothing but waved to his supporters. In interviews, however, Assange called Snowden a hero and recommended that he seek asylum in Latin America.

Assange has been stuck in London for more than a year now. Police officers are waiting outside the embassy to arrest him and extradite him to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. His room at the embassy isn't much bigger than a jail cell. It contains a table, a few chairs, a bookshelf and a single bed. The room is so gloomy, Assange said, that he ordered a sun lamp to simulate natural sunlight. He also has a treadmill and receives occasional visits from a personal trainer. Otherwise, he spends his time watching old episodes of "The West Wing" and "Twilight Zone."

Assange runs the now divided organization from his temporary home at the embassy. But he hasn't had any scoops in a long time, now that the flow of leaks has dried up. The situation in London is slowly becoming hopeless, and escape seems impossible. Since Snowden exposed himself as a whistleblower, it has become clear to Assange that this is his chance to get back into the game, draw attention to his fate and put one over on America.

US Military Blocks Entire Guardian website for troops stationed abroad

The US military has blocked access to the Guardian’s website for troops in the Middle East and south Asia, after disclosures about widespread US surveillance.

On Friday, the Pentagon and the US army told the Guardian that automated content filters installed on Department of Defense (DoD) networks to prevent the unauthorized dissemination of classified information had blocked access to selected aspects of the Guardian’s website.

But in for troops in Afghanistan, the Middle East and south Asia, the restriction applies to the entire website.

“This is a theater-wide block,” reads a page that loads when troops in Afghanistan using the Defense Department’s non-classified internet protocol (NIPR) network attempt to access the Guardian online.

“There are many reasons why this site might be blocked. It may be blocked for your protection, the protection of DoD assets or blocked based on Usfor-A [US forces command-Afghanistan] information systems security policy enclosure 18, Centcom regulation 25-206, joint ethics regulation (JER) 5500.7 or DAA directives,” the routed site reads.

Usfor-A is the US component to the Nato command in Afghanistan known as Isaf. It is unclear if the block on the Guardian’s website applies to non-American personnel in Afghanistan, but if they use the DoD’s networks to get online, non-American servicemembers would not be able to access the Guardian website either.

But the block does not come from Isaf. It comes from US central command, the command responsible for US military operations in the Middle East and south Asia.

“US central command is among other DOD organizations that routinely take preventative measures to safeguard the chance of spillage of classified information on to unclassified computer networks, even if the source of the information is itself unclassified,” said US army Lt Col Steve Wollman, a spokesman for central command. “One of the purposes for preventing this spillage is to protect Centcom personnel from inadvertently amplifying disclosed but classified information.

“Additionally, classified information is not automatically declassified simply because of unauthorized disclosure,” Wollman continued.

“Classified information is prohibited from specific unclassified networks, even if the information has already been published in unclassified media that are available to the general public, such as online news organizations.”

Wollman confirmed that the block applies not only to troops in Afghanistan, but for those deployed anywhere in central command’s area of operations, which includes the Middle East, south Asia, and the command's headquarters in Florida.

The US military’s online filters for classified information are not new. In 2010, the air force’s protectors of “network hygiene” blocked access to the websites of news organizations that published classified material purloined by radical transparency group WikiLeaks, including the New York Times, the Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde and Der Spiegel.

But not every news website that published classified material detailing the breadth of National Security Agency surveillance is blocked on military networks in Afghanistan. The Washington Post website, which hosts some of the same classified information published by the Guardian -– as well as classified slides about the Prism internet-content collection program that the Guardian has not published – is unrestricted.

It is unclear how long central command’s ban on the Guardian website will last. Wollman did not respond to a question about why the Washington Post’s website is accessible.k

San Diego Chalk Protester Found NOT Guilty

SAN DIEGO —  A jury announced a verdict Monday in the case of a 40-year-old man charged with 13 misdemeanor vandalism counts for writing protest messages in sidewalk chalk in front of three Bank of America branches in San Diego.

Jeffrey David Olson is not guilty on all counts, the jury said.

Jeffrey Olson and his attorney, Tom Tosdal, after his acquittal on vandalism charges

Olson’s attorney argued during the trial — which garnered national attention — that his client was engaging in a legal protest and was not maliciously defacing of property.

Defense attorney Tom Tosdal argued that vandalism law required jurors to find something was “maliciously defaced.”

“His purpose was not malicious. His purpose was to inform,” Tosdal said of his client.

“I’m really relieved this has been an incredible situation,” said Olson.

Olson spoke to Fox 5 as he walked out of the courtroom.  He did not deny that he scrawled the anti-bank messages and artwork outside the banks between April and August of last year.

“Sometimes I would write no thanks big banks, with a buster bar.  Sometimes I would write Shame on BofA,” said Olson.

Olson said he started his message campaign because big “Wall Street banks nearly drove our economy into the ditch.”

“I realized that, there was basically a criminal racket operating on my block, and I didn’t find that acceptable,” Olson said after today’s verdict.

Olson said he was relieved by the jury’s decision. He said he had a hard time dealing with the fact that he was charged with vandalism.

“It’s shocking, it’s really shocking,” Olson told reporters. “I never thought in a million years that using washable sidewalk chalk on a city sidewalk could be considered vandalism. That was unfathomable to me.”

The prosecution of Olson brought condemnation of the City Attorney’s Office from Mayor Bob Filner, who called it a waste of time.

Tosdal said it was an “enormous waste of public resources.” He said bank officials demanded the prosecution because they didn’t like his client’s message.

‘We had a prosecutor who was out of control,” said Tosdal.  ”The city attorney and he was doing the bidding of Bank of America.”

However, Deputy City Attorney Paige Hazard told jurors that there are ways to get one’s message out, and the defendant intentionally chose to break the rules.

If he’d used the chalk just a couple of times, he wouldn’t have ever been caught, but “he went back again and again and again,” she said.

Hazard said Olson had to make “a real nuisance of himself” to attract the attention of law enforcement.

The San Diego City Attorney’s Office issued a statement saying it respected the jury’s verdict and noting that it “receives about 20,000 criminal cases annually, referred to us by the San Diego Police Department.”

“This case was referred to our office by SDPD and was issued by prosecutors in the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit. That unit is charged with, among other things, working closely with SDPD’s Graffiti Strike Force. Our prosecutors never treated this case as anything more than a graffiti case,” the statement reads. “As with most graffiti cases, Mr. Olson was offered reduction to an infraction after completing volunteer work service cleaning up graffiti. His refusal of that offer resulted in the trial and his successful defense.”

The statement goes on to note that graffiti” remains vandalism in the state of California. Penal Code section 594 (a) prohibits maliciously defacing, damaging or destroying the property of another. Under the law, there is no First Amendment right to deface property, even if the writing is easily removed, whether the message is aimed at banks or any other person or group. We are, however, sympathetic to the strong public reaction to this case and the jury’s message.”

Olson urged people to close their accounts with Wall Street banks and move their money to a local nonprofit community credit union.

“If you’re mad about this, if you think this wasn’t fair what happened to me, close your Wall Street bank account,” Olson said. “The jury sent a real strong message that the First amendment is alive and well in San Diego.”