The Alyona Show: Assange’s Last Hope, Ecuadorian Embassy?
Summary: GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack appeared on The Alyona Show on RT to talk about Julian Assange’s application for political asylum in Ecuador. Assange is facing extradition to Sweden to face questions about sexual assault allegations.
Despite the legal troubles with Julian Assange, a spokesperson with WikiLeaks says that it plans to continue exposing illegalities and corruption.
Nonprofit Quarterly: Blowing the Whistle – A Conversation with Louis Clark
Summary: This in-depth interview with GAP President Louis Clark covers the pressures of whistleblowing, and how GAP and the phenomenon have changed over the years. Clark is a founder of GAP, having been with the organization for 35 years.
Washington Post: Fast and Furious – Eric Holder Held in Contempt
Summary: Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the ‘Fast & Furious’ scandal – an Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives operation that ended up putting American guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The committee was seeking specific documents that Holder had not yet handed over relating to the incident, but yesterday, the White House used its first exertion of executive privilege to keep from handing over said documents.
Jesselyn Radack considers Obama’s use of executive privilege “ill-timed and ill-considered” in her blog post this morning.
Related Articles: New York Times, Los Angeles Times
WNYC: In Wake of CityTime Payroll Scandal, Whistleblower Protections Expanded
Summary: A bill that will extend whistleblower protections to contractors working in New York City was signed into law yesterday. The bill was passed by the city council as a response to the recent payroll scandal where the city was defrauded out of hundreds of millions by a private contractor.
Feeding the World: WaPo Summit Has it Wrong with Biotech 'Solution'
Summary: The Washington Post published a special section on food security as a follow-up to its summit last week about the struggles of feeding the world's growing population. GAP's Food Integrity Campaign critiques the offered solution of relying on large-scale industrial agriculture and genetically modified food, a claim renounced as a misleading public relations tactic.
Los Angeles Times: Is USDA Playing Chicken with Chickens?
Summary: This masthead editorial critiques the USDA's proposed plan (known as HIMP) to increase line speeds at poultry processing plants and replace government poultry inspectors with private industry workers.
Key Quote: Unlike bona fide government inspectors, plant employees will be all too aware that whenever they pull a product off the line, they're costing money to the company that employs them. So even if the owners and managers are scrupulous about not pressuring employees, there's a built-in incentive to let marginal problems pass through.
Hannah Johnson is Communications Associate for the Goveernment Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
