Today a military judge will rule on the Bradley Manning Wikileaks case. If Private Manning is convicted on the “aiding the enemy” charge, he could face life without the chance of parole in a military prison. Regardless if you feel Manning is guilty or innocent, this could have a serious impact on investigative journalism and how much we know about what our government is doing. It’s a big deal.
Category: free speech
Helen Thomas 1920 -2013
Journalist Helen Thomas died yesterday at the age of 92. A tenacious and outspoken trailblazer for many young female reporters, Thomas covered the White House for over fifty years. Her career unfortunately ended in controversy but I will forever remember and thank her for this exchange with then White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. If only all journalists approached their jobs like Helen did. 
Dear Malala: I am writing this letter to explain why we tried to kill you
In a bizarre development, a senior member of the Pakistani Taliban has written a letter to Malala Yousafzai explaining why the Taliban tried to murder the then 15 year-old school girl. The handwritten, rambling, 4-page letter (which jumps around from British colonialism to pointing out that Henry Kissinger is Jewish) insisted that she was not targeted because of her support for education, but because of her “smearing campaign” against the Taliban. Last Friday Malala delivered a very inspiring speech at the United Nations supporting girls’ education and received a standing ovation. It’s as though the Taliban just realized that they need to launch a PR campaign to fix their misogynistic image.
Americans and surveillance
Turkey has her ‘Standing Man’, America has her ‘Sitting Man’.
Standing Man in Turkey-AP
A historic week at the Supreme Court
Here’s a few photos from this morning at the Court: 
Rep. Peter King calls for prosecuting Glenn Greenwald
With the latest developments on Syria and red lines, you might have missed a member of Congress calling for a reporter to be prosecuted for doing his job. Appearing on CNN, Rep. Peter King said that journalists who reported the leaks of the NSA’s surveillance program should be prosecuted. Later on Fox News he singled out the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, claiming that Greenwald would release the names of CIA operatives. Greg Sargent has Greenwald’s response here.