WHISTLEBLOWER JEFFREY WIGAND WITH SIXTY MINUTES' MIKE WALLACE:
WIGAND TESTIFIED THAT RAT POISON WAS BEING PLACED IN CIGARETTES TO MAKE THEM MORE ADDICTIVE...AND HE WAS RIGHT!
SIXTY MINUTES WAS AFRAID TO RUN THE SEGMENT--AND WIGAND RECEIVED THREATS AND LOST HIS JOB. THE FILM "THE INSIDER" WITH RUSSELL CROW WAS MADE ABOUT WIGAND AND THE SUFFERINGS HE WENT THROUGH.
WIGAND'S ACTIONS SAVED MANY LIVES AND EXPOSED THE FACT THAT TOBACCO INDUSTRIES WERE MAKING TOBACCO MORE ADDICTIVE, DESPITE LUNG CANCER AND OTHER DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING. HIS REWARD? THIS HIGHLY-PAID INDUSTRIAL CHEMIST AND SPECIALIST LOST HIS FAMILY, HIS HOME, HIS PRESTIGIOUS POSITION, RECEIVED THREATS, AND BECAME A HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER.
BUT IT SEEMS THAT NOW WHISTLEBLOWERS SUCH AS JEFFREY WIGAND, IN THE USA, WILL LOSE THE SLIGHT PROTECTION THEY HAVE. READ THIS!!! AND ACT!!!
IS THIS THE END OF THE LINE FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS? GOD HELP US!
WITHOUT PROTECTION, CORRUPTION, WASTE,AND CRIME IN GOVERNMENT AND THE WORKPLACE CANNOT BE SAFELY REPORTED.
REF: http://www.capwiz.com/whistleblowers/issues/alert/?alertid=20736501&type=co
Senate Passes Bill That Destroys Existing Whistleblower Rights
The Senate passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372) on Friday, December, 10th, by unanimous consent. As the National Whistleblowers Center has repeatedly stated S. 372 is a bad deal for whistleblowers. There are two poison pills in the bill that fundamentally undermine the small advances in the bill. There is still time to fix the bill.
TAKE ACTION! Stop the repeal of existing whistleblower rights
For the first time ever, federal employees will not be protected for blowing the whistle on a violation of law. The excuse given to justify this dangerous rollback is that it only excludes minor violations of law. The fact is there is no such thing as a minor violation of law. Either it is violation of the law or it is not. Federal managers should not be allowed to decide what laws they can violate.
In fact, this provision overturns one of few Federal Court decisions in 30 years that ordered corrective action for a whistleblower. The provision also runs counter to every major study on how to detect fraud, including the most recent study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. These studies have found that the best way to detect fraud is to protect whistleblowers who report even suspicious activity because it is often the suspicious activity that leads to the discovery of major fraud.
TAKE ACTION! Demand that House fix the Senate bill before final passage
The second major rollback in the Senate bill is the increased power given to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Instead of reforming the broken MSPB, for the first time in history the Senate has given the Board the ability to summarily dismiss a whistleblowers case without ever having a hearing. The House resisted efforts in 1978 to give the MSPB this tremendous authority and should continue to do so today.
These two dangerous rollbacks in existing whistleblower protections can be fixed in the House and sent back to the Senate. We cannot allow another generation of whistleblowers to suffer. Urge the House to continue to stand up for real whistleblower protections and fix the Senate bill before passing it.
Whistleblowers were promised enhanced protections. We will not stand by silently and watch Congress destroy existing whistleblowers rights so that they can say they passed something for whistleblowers. Please help us protect whistleblowers by taking action and then passing this alert on to your friends and family.
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Famous Whistleblowers
(Ref: http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/whistleblower/famous/)
Several stories of famous whistleblowers abound in the U.S. press. Individuals who stand up and blow the whistle against companies and or government entities who have engaged in egregious law-breaking conduct are considered to be courageous and heroic by many Americans.
Famous Whistleblowers in U.S.
Here is a brief list of the most famous whistleblowers in recent U.S. history, but hundreds of lesser-known or even anonymous whistleblowers have come forward to reveal wrongdoing in our workplaces and government. Their actions are just as admirable.
Frank Serpico: The first (in the late '60s) and most famous police officer to report widespread corruption in a police department (New York City's), he risked his life to come forward.
Daniel Ellsberg: He risked severe pressure and retaliation from the federal government in 1971 when he leaked the "Pentagon Papers" to The New York Times, revealing the secret pretexts for the war in Vietnam. He was a U.S. State Department analyst before becoming a whistleblower.
"Deep Throat" (now known to be the late W. Mark Felt): He gave Washington Post reporters the information about then-President Nixon's involvement in the Watergate illegalities in 1972. This whistleblowing eventually led to Nixon's resignation from office and prison terms for two members of his staff.
Karen Silkwood: In 1974, she exposed serious safety violations at her workplace, a nuclear plant in Oklahoma. The film "Silkwood" is an account of her story; her death at the wheel of her car as she was driving to meet a reporter has been alleged to be a homicide.
Jeffrey Wigand: In 1996, Wigand blew the whistle on the cigarette industry when he revealed the intentional manipulation of nicotine, known as "impact boosting," by his former employer, Brown & Williamson, in an interview on the television program 60 Minutes.
Linda Tripp: She told the Office of Independent Counsel that her friend had committed perjury — starting the whole "Monica Lewinsky affair" in 1998. The Clinton administration then leaked personal information about her, and she successfully pursued a lawsuit based on this violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.
Sherron Watkins: An Enron whistleblower and former vice president, she exposed the highly irregular accounting methods being used by the company to hide the true state of its financial affairs in 2001. Enron later filed the largest corporate bankruptcy on record — too late for investors, unfortunately.
Coleen Rowley: A special agent with the FBI, she revealed the agency's inaction and mistakes that may have allowed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Are You Considering Blowing the Whistle?
==MAYBE YOU DO NOT DARE, NOW!==
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