NY TIMES– Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

Mr. Prince, who resettled here last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.

The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest in their crowded labor camps or were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.

Read full article about Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder.

© 2011 NY Times

Photo by Flickr user US Army

ACLU– Often when the government tries to suppress information about its surveillance programs, it cites national-security concerns. But not always.

In 2008, a few years after the Bush administration’s warrantless-wiretapping program was revealed for the first time by the New York Times, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act. That act authorizes the government to engage in dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international communications without meaningful oversight. As we’ve explained before (including in our lawsuit challenging the statute), the FISA Amendments Act is unconstitutional.

In 2009, we also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn more about the government’s interpretation and implementation of the FISA Amendments Act. Last November, the government released a few hundred pages of heavily redacted documents. Though redacted, the documents confirmed that the government had interpreted the statute as broadly as we had feared and even that the government had repeatedly violated the few limitations that the statute actually imposed.

Two weeks ago, as part of our FOIA lawsuit over those documents, the government gave us several declarations attempting to justify the redaction of the documents. We’ve been combing through the documents and recently came across this unexpectedly honest explanation from the FBI of why the government doesn’t want us to know which “electronic communication service providers” participate in its dragnet surveillance program. On page 32:

There you have it. The government doesn’t want you to know whether your internet or phone company is cooperating with its dragnet surveillance program because you might get upset and file lawsuits asserting your constitutional rights. Would it be such a bad thing if a court were to consider the constitutionality of the most sweeping surveillance program ever enacted by Congress?

Read more about FBI: If We Told You, You Might Sue

© 2011 ACLU

Photo by Flickr user listentothemountains

CBS– The U.S. government and local authorities will soon be able to reach people directly on their cellphones to warn them of imminent danger or alert them about missing children – even in the middle of a widespread emergency that overloads communications systems as happened after the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said Tuesday.

The emergency alert system will be used only for critical national messages from the president, information in life-threatening situations and Amber Alerts meant to widen the search for missing or abducted youngsters, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday. He was accompanied by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate.

The system, set to launch by the end of the year in New York City and Washington, D.C., will spread to most if not all U.S. cellphones in the next few years as people replace their old phones with new devices containing a special chip that will enable them to receive the messages. They will receive the alerts free of charge.

Read full article about Cellphone Alert System Announced in NYC.

© 2011 CBS

Photo by flickr user Oracio Alvarado

MEDIA ROOTS- The root system of a tree is five times more extensive than the tree itself, reaching far underground to form a solid base for growth and nourishment. Just as this root system is integral to the survival of a tree, media is integral to the foundation and survival of a democracy.

However, the corporate consolidation and top down control of America’s current media system undermines democracy by stifling and diluting the discourse crucial to maintaining a critical and informed public.

The mainstream media establishment has conceded its journalistic integrity time and time again by catering to corporate and political interests. The people can no longer wait on Congress and the FCC to eke out miniscule reforms to the dysfunctional system in which they are embedded. Instead, the people must create alternative methods to freely communicate and exchange information.

In the bay area, such an organization has been formed. Media Roots is a grassroots, independent citizen journalism project that reports the news from outside of party lines, while providing a collaborative space of open dialogue for conscious citizens, artists and activists.

The website aggregates a variety of critical and fascinating underreported news on various subjects: local and world news; political and corporate corruption; food and health; and science and philosophy.

In conjunction with providing an ever-expanding archival base of crucial information, Media Roots also conducts original reporting on an array of important local, national and global issues. The organization produces a regular radio talk show, original video content and extensive interviews with artists, activists, journalists and inspiring Bay area locals.

The merit of citizen reporting is increasingly recognized as corporate journalism continues to fail in its intended role as the watchdogs against corruption. Many people find that their voice isn’t represented in the political dialogue and are seeking alternative media sources reporting raw, unfiltered and truthful information.

Media Roots is a valuable tool for people to begin revolutionizing the media dialogue. The organization’s aim is to build community through collaboration and participation, and its openness to feature submissions of all kinds encourages others to take an active role in the field of media.  Everyone has the ability to be a citizen journalist, and Media Roots, while maintaining strong principles of integrity that require all content to be based in sound research, provides an important outlet for others to explore their ideas and share their skills.

Since the inception of the project, Media Roots has motivated multiple people worldwide to directly engage with their communities, whether by interviewing inspirational figures or by conducting investigatory research on a range of issues. Furthermore, the organization has provided a voice for multiple active duty soldiers to speak out anonymously about their political beliefs.

Many people who get their news from the corporate media have a highly skewed perspective on what issues should be of concern to their health, family and communities. The mainstream political discourse truncates issues into oversimplified talking points that pit one political party against another, causing a deep divide in the American citizenry. Media Roots holds no party bias, and reports from the bigger picture by analyzing issues through a broad historical lens.  

As a completely independent organization, Media Roots will never cater toward corporate sponsors or censor credible information. Because it exists outside of the rigid corporate model that capitalistic societies are accustomed to, it has a unique and unrestricted ability to spontaneously grow and flourish. Instead of competing monetarily with other independent media outlets with similar goals, Media Roots simply seeks to co-exist as an organic beacon of information in the emerging renaissance of grassroots journalism happening worldwide.

Like a tree’s widespread root system, grassroots networks of communication in all fields of media must extend far beyond the top down institutional structures created for us. The Media Roots model is not mechanized, and will continue to naturally evolve as more people participate and contribute in the project.

People must create the alternative they wish to see from the bottom up. Media Roots is paving an important path that is driven by a shared passion for media justice and the core belief that unfettered access to information is a human right.

To get involved in the project, please e-mail [email protected].

This piece was written for Project Censored’s 2012 book.

Written by Abby Martin

MR Logo by Shawn Cordeiro

MEDIA ROOTS- Recently, a man walking by my car inquired about my anti-war bumper sticker. After a short conversation, I learned that this 81 year-old peace activist, Chuck, spends every Friday evening on a high school street intersection protesting the wars. With a solid handshake and fist bump, he was on his way.

Weeks later, I spotted Chuck at an anti-war rally down the street. When I approached him, a big warm smile greeted me, followed by another solid fist bump. Having developed a curiosity about his background and anti-war stance, I asked him for an interview to which he happily agreed.

As Chuck sat on my couch over a cup of coffee, it became clear that he is a slightly shy man, not seeking recognition. “I just care about people”, he exclaimed. This is how our conversation went down.

***

MR: Tell me a little about your background so people get an idea who you are and where you come from.

C: I was born in 1930 at my home in Diamond, Washington, which is the eastern part of the state. There were seven of us kids, and my parents owned a 206 acre farm. I worked really hard as a kid, and by my early teenage years I was already running heavy equipment and had quite a bit of responsibility.

MR: Have you always been politically aware or socially active?

C: I’d always been interested in politics, but something happened during the Great Depression that opened my eyes to the ideas of fairness and greed. My father’s mortgage on the farm was $1,735. A neighbor, Mr. Rock, owned the mortgage. When it became impossible to pay, he told my father “If you can just pay one dollar, I won’t foreclose on you.” His compassion and kindness enabled us to keep the farm, but a few months later when Mr. Rock passed away, his son took over the property, foreclosed immediately and started plowing our land. Thankfully, the Federal Land Bank under Roosevelt took over the mortgage and essentially saved our farm.

MR: Was your family always politically minded?

C: We didn’t have television back then, but we listened to the radio. My parents paid attention to what was happening in the world, and liked to help others. There was a train that would come through once a week and drop off food, coal and ice. We would save some of the coal for these four homeless people who migrated during the winter. They stayed in our shed, and the bits of coal we had saved over the course of the year supplied them with enough heat to get through the cold winter months. Without a refrigerator, we’d hang our meat on the windmill outside in the winter and the hobos would come slice pieces off to cook. They never bothered anybody or asked for much, we just liked to help them out. I was always impressed with how my parents recognized that some people need help– not everyone is as fortunate as the rest of us.

I was definitely inspired by my parents, but I’ve always been socially active. In school I always stuck up for the kids who were bullied, even though I was smaller. For example, this one kid in my high school had MS or was somehow disabled. I did whatever I could to stick up for him when he was picked on, which was often. His family had an orchard down on the Snake River, and would can hundreds of quarts of peaches and apricots to sell every summer. They would always tell my family “You guys don’t pay”.

[Chuck tears up as he tells me this]

MR: That’s how the world should work– we need to help each other out. When did you become an activist? Was there a specific time or event that inspired you to start protesting?

C: I was in the Army during the Korean War, but luckily I never had to go overseas. Instead I was sent all around the country on various assignments and even ended up working at the Pentagon in Washington DC. I was one of only a handful of guys from my squad who didn’t end up dead. Being in the military never really settled with me. I didn’t understand what I was doing and why, and it felt very unorganized. After serving I became aware of our military actions, and became an outspoken critic. I suppose that evolved into physically protesting.

MR: How long have you guys been protesting on the corner?

C: We have been protesting for about four and a half years, rain or shine. I’ve only missed about three meetings. It’s not part of a larger established organization– it’s just a few of us, but we are a committed group of concerned citizens. It’s all volunteer, but it’s not a political thing. Well, it’s somewhat political, but it’s really about doing what’s right.

MR: Do you align yourself with a paticular political party?

C: Yes– I’m a Democrat.

MR: Historically, Democrats are known for being a bit more compassionate, but what do you think about the idea that maybe the lines are blurring between the two, and that both parties are just spokespersons for Big Business and private interests?

C: I still feel that Democrats are much more “tuned in” to people. It is unfortunate though, what these corporations are getting away with. It’s a damn crime. At one point I had a small construction company. I thought I was smart and had a couple hundred dollars and grew that into a labor-union based company about 200 strong. Supporting union labor gave people a voice and enabled them to make enough money to feed their families. Sometimes I would get out of bounds, and they would kick me back into shape, but it was a good relationship.

MR: I’m sure you still ended up paying a vastly larger chunk of taxes than these corporations are doing nowadays. You say that your anti-war stance is not a political thing, but you have to admit that war and politics are intertwined– they’re almost inseparable. What do you see as the main problem with America’s current political system?

C: Simple: too much greed. It’s all about the dollars. Unless you have money or political clout, you don’t have a voice. But you must still protest, because maybe you’ll be heard.

MR: Or at least make somebody think critically on their way home from work. What do you see as the main reasons why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan?

C: Oil and greed, no doubt about it. We need to get out of their countries. War creates hate and animosity. You don’t make people love you by killing them.

MR: Do you see the US trend of aggressive war over resources slowing down anytime soon? We’ve basically achieved what we went over there for: the regions are in turmoil, and US-backed governments are being implemented. Do you think that the regions will eventually be restructured?

C: I don’t think it will be effectively restructured. We just have to get the military industrial complex out of the way. The biggest thing we have in America is guns: half of our budget goes to the military.

MR: Which makes it hard to slow down. Do you think it’ll take a long sequence of events, like getting the right people in office and slowly chipping away at it, or do you think it’ll take an overnight revolution?

C: I think it’ll take the chipping away approach. We have to protest. We can’t continue to have a military presence in 130 countries. We have to slowly get those troops out of there.

We also need to write our Senators and Congressmen. Don’t send an email– write a letter or send a fax. They read those things, and it could make a difference. But you have to recruit others to do the same thing. Talk about things, spread news and hand-write lots of letters.

The key is to get the next wave of young policy makers in office. The young people are so much more progressive and open-minded. We need young leaders and we need more of what’s happening  in Wisconsin. I think that peaceful protesting is really working.

MR: Once these people get into office, how realistic is it to expect them to do the things they set out to do?

C: I think it’s very difficult. They have to be concerned with re-election, and to do so you have to know where your boundaries are.

MR: When I talk to friends who support Obama, they think I have some sort of personal agenda against him. But for me it’s not personal– I’m sure he’s a compassionate person who genuinely wanted change. But after getting into office, he really has limited control over what happens.

C: I saw something similar happen with Roosevelt. In the election of ’38, he was politically stymied. It’s exactly the same thing that’s happening now: I think Obama really wants to do the right things, in his mind and his heart. But he needs to be much more vocal.

MR: What were some of the similarities between Obama and Roosevelt?

C: He got Social Security to go through the Supreme Court and pushed for labor rights and public works projects. It was all about groups, like the Works Progress Administration. He also helped establish the idea of a minimum wage, and Washington state was the first to adopt one. These things gave people dignity. Also, back then we had these supposed enemies, the “Commies” and “Fascists” and the worker’s parties that corporations demonized. We see the same sort of fear-mongering now, but it’s “terrorists” and “Muslim extremists”. Our leaders need to make a stronger effort to push for green jobs, which could be a critical path for us.

MR: As far as Obama needing to be more vocal– He seemed to genuinely want to go in there and instigate change. So what happened? He has an opportunity every single day to get up in front of the podium in the Rose Garden and say “This needs to stop”. But he doesn’t. Is is because he’s powerless or is he trying to play it safe to ensure his re-election?

C: I think he has great intentions, and has the potential to become very powerful if he can get into another term. But for now he has to go along with the pundits because there’s so much chaos and thing going on.

It’s a difficult job, and his hands are pretty much tied. As an individual, he is respected. But it’s really difficult to get things done in Washington, all they do is talk. But I definitely agree that he could be doing a much better job.

MR: What is the key to getting this country back on track?

C: I don’t think it’ll be one specific thing. What’s happening in Wisconsin is the beginning of the revolution. We need more of that and we need to keep the pressure on ‘em. We can’t let up. And we have to offer solutions, we can’t just bitch and moan.

MR: How would you respond to people who say that protesting won’t make a difference?

C: I would say “You’re noticing, arent’ you?” We’re pressuring all the time– you have to be consistent. All those little grains of sand, the seemingly small voices, all those bodies really does make a difference.  I’m seeing more activists now than ever, and it’s encouraging. I care about people, David. I built an orphanage in Honduras, and did work with Habitat for Humanity in the Philippines. We have to throw the balance in favor of the people. Change– it needs to start with the heart.

***

Interview conducted, article written by David Solmes

Photo by Abby Martin