Usa Today reports "Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied about their relationship last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the cash-strapped city more than $9 million, according to records obtained by the Free Press.

The false testimony potentially exposes them to felony perjury charges, legal experts say.

Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons."

The Kilpatrick-Christine Beatty relationship and Gary Brown’s dismissal are central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope.

From the Edmonton Journal - "A stunning 15 million Canadians were repeatedly targeted by mass-marketing fraudsters in the past year and one million were victims, a major study commissioned by Competition Bureau of Canada has found. The study, the first of its kind in Canada, also debunks the myth that victims are likely to be older and poorly educated. In fact, it says, Canadians under 30 and middle-income earners are most likely to be defrauded. Based on a survey of 6,116 Canadians, the Environics study was delivered to the Competition of Bureau Canada earlier this month and posted to a government website this week."

The popular technology publication Wired.com has an interesting article about a computer security consultant claiming "A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance"

Vancouver Courier - "As an award- winning PR expert, James Hoggan knows his trade well. Now he exposes what he says is a deliberate PR campaign by industry to muddy the debate on global warming." See the full article here

BULLETIN of MEDICAL ETHICS Editor, Dr. Richard H Nicholson, No. 170 AUGUST 2001 pp. 13-17


WHISTLEBLOWING HEROES – BOON OR BURDEN?

Anthony Frais


Introduction

Justifiable whistleblowing by health care professionals should not be considered morally wrong. If hospital authorities fail to take action over legitimate reported concerns, whistleblowing is likely to be the only means available to the individual to protect patients at risk of harm. Some individuals believe it is their professional duty to whistleblow. However, whistleblowing is not always praiseworthy – it depends on the motive, on the alternative remedies available, and on how serious the matter is.
As whistleblowers generally can expect to face career damage and vilification, their actions are considered heroic and supererogatory, i.e. acts that go far beyond the bounds of duty. This paper argues that there may be circumstances where whistleblowing is neither supererogatory nor heroic. More importantly, I argue that ill-advised whistleblowing brings the practice into disrepute.
Defining whistleblowing: I classify whistleblowing as an external disclosure of perceived wrongdoing by an individual to the public via the media. It is distinct from an internal disclosure.

Modern Day Paul Reveres Ride to Washington

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,

Today, we as a people face unique dangers to our national security, to our economic security, to our nation's reputation, and to our environmental and our homeland security. The truth, unvarnished, unsanitized, uncensored, and undistilled, has been in short supply in past years on some of the issues most vital to our nation's cherished ideals, and to our hope for the future.
This is why our country needs to know about the last week's extraordinary event , “Whistleblower's Week in Washington, (WWW)." More than 50 eminent public interest organizations joined forces to present to Congress the case for protecting truth tellers who have paid very high prices as the cost for alerting the public to dangers that have proven too real to be ignored.
WWW was the very first time that whistleblowers from a broad spectrum of society, from health, to environment, to national security, have all banded together in a single meeting. The program was initiated and organized by the whistleblowers themselves. C-span covered some of the most important events of the conference.

Truth-Tellers Vital to Nations' Security

By James J Murtagh, M.D.

[Note:James Murtagh has spent 20 years as an Intensive Care Unit physician. Murtagh is the founder of "Doctors for Open Government" and also a co-organizer of Washington Whistleblower Week, WWW]

"Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." -- Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Our purpose is too urgent to ignore. Today, we face huge dangers to national security, to economic security, to our nation's reputation, and to environmental and homeland security. The truth, unvarnished, unsanitized, uncensored, and undistilled, in short supply, is vital to the nation's cherished future hopes.
50 major public interest groups are joining forces next week to prove Justice Brandeis right: truth is the best disinfectant for the diseased body politic during "Whistleblower's Week in Washington, (WWW)" May 13- 19.

After a long period of inactivity, WorldWideWhistleblowers.com is back at it again. Many changes have already taken place within the site, and there are still many exciting updates to come! In the meantime, feel free to browse through our website, check out the updated case files section, or register as a member and post in the forums.

Bill Barisoff was promoted to Speaker of the house Sept 12 ,2005 after losing his cabinet post when Gordon McAdams blew the whistle on him ~ June 2005. Gord was fired, Bill was promoted. The message is clear "few whistle blowers are rewarded!"

Few whistleblowers are rewarded, however, ignoring a whistleblower can have devastating effects.