Chelsea Manning's Emotional Letter of Thanks to Her Fellow Inmates

by Nomad

In January this year, President Barack Obama commuted the 35-year sentence of Chelsea Manning Under the President's order, Manning's sentence will expire on May 17, 2017.
As a soldier in the US military, Chelsea Manning, (formerly known as Bradley) was court-martialed for leaking secret military and government documents to WikiLeaks.

His release will hopefully bring to a close a sorry chapter for whistleblowers around the world. Given the current administration's attitude on hunting and eliminating leakers, the Manning saga is especially troubling.

Leaks

The material leaked by Manning included the Baghdad airstrike video "Collateral Murder", which showed two American helicopters firing on a group of 10 men in the Amin District of Baghdad. As Wikipedia notes:

Two were Reuters employees there to photograph an American Humvee under attack by the Mahdi Army. Pilots mistook their cameras for weapons. The helicopters also fired on a van, targeted earlier by one helicopter, that had stopped to help wounded members of the first group. Two children in the van were wounded, and their father was killed.

Manning was also responsible for the "Cablegate" leak of 251,287 State Department cables, written by 271 American embassies and consulates in 180 countries, dated December 1966 to February 2010. The leaks, which revealed the private thoughts of those handling international relations, were considered at the time to be damaging to America's international image. Here is a top ten list of bombshells found in the leaked documents.

In his testimony before the court, Manning apologized for his actions saying

"I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions, I was dealing with a lot of issues."

Sanity Sunday- Three by Melody Gardot

by Nomad

The artist of this week's musical sanity break, Melody Gardot, is by special request. Thanks for the suggestion!

It is easy to see why the New Jersey-born Gardot has been compared to that of Nina Simone. In fact, her influences are an eclectic mix from Latin music artists such as Caetano Veloso to Janis Joplin and George Gershwin. She certainly has a classy sound.

And, like all true nomads, Gardot considers herself a "citizen of the world".

First up is one I have dedicated to the president. It is called "Cry Wolf."

Film Friday- "4.1 miles"

by Nomad

The tranquil Greek island of Lesbos is only 4.1 miles from the Turkish coast. For this reason- a geographic detail- this island has become the scene of a critical link in the refugee crisis story: the destination for thousands of Syrians and Middle-Eastern refugees who dare to make the perilous crossing.

Greek documentary filmmaker, Daphne Matziaraki, who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area, returned home to Greece in the fall of 2015 to film this story.

Her film, "4.1 miles" records, in graphic detail, what most of us have only heard about but can't hardly being to imagine.
The film was nominated for a 2017 Academy Award.

  

In an interview, Matziaraki explained that this humanitarian crisis involves more than one side. The Greek people- who, as the saying goes, have no horse in this race, are being severely tested as well.

Regardless of the hardship Greeks have endured from the financial crisis, for a long time my home country has by and large been a peaceful, safe and easy place to live. But now Greece is facing a new crisis, one that threatens to undo years of stability, as we struggle to absorb the thousands of desperate migrants who pour across our borders every day. A peak of nearly 5,000 entered Greece each day last year, mainly fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.

The 1999 Moscow Apartment Bombings and the Rise of the Man President Trump Admires

by Nomad

In September 2009, American novelist, journalist, and a veteran war correspondent Scott Anderson wrote this: 

It is a riddle that lies at the very heart of the modern Russian state, one that remains unsolved to this day. In the awful events of September 1999, did Russia find its avenging angel in Vladimir Putin, the proverbial man of action who crushed his nation's attackers and led his people out of a time of crisis? Or was that crisis actually manufactured to benefit Putin, a scheme by Russia's secret police to bring one of their own to power?

What makes this question important is that absent the bombings of September 1999 and all that transpired as a result, it is hard to conceive of any scenario whereby Putin would hold the position he enjoys today: a player on the global stage, a ruler of one of the most powerful nations on earth.

The riddle he refers to has, today, been largely forgotten by the world press. Yet, understanding what happened in Moscow in 1999  may be a vital question that Americans need to think about.

Four Quotes by Gore Vidal about Politics and the Public

by Nomad