Robbie and Abby Martin discuss the hypocritical and deceptive nature of mainstream and alternative media coverage of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France and why framing the event as a ‘freedom of speech’ issue is an opportunistic attempt to hijack the narrative into “the terrorists hate us for of our freedoms”. The intense global wave of Islamophobia following the attacks is examined and compared to post 9/11 hysteria.

If you want to directly download the podcast, click the down arrow icon on the right of the soundcloud display. To hide the comments to enable easier rewind and fast forward, click on the icon on the very bottom right.

This Media Roots podcast is the product of many long hours of hard work and love. If you want to encourage our voice, please consider supporting us as we continue to speak from outside party lines. Even the smallest donations help us with operating costs.

Listen to all previous episodes of Media Roots Radio here.

Follow Abby @abbymartin & Robbie @fluorescentgrey

Recorded on 1/12/15

On September 11th, 2001, the Bush administration started inoculating themselves with Cipro, the antibiotic to prevent anthrax infection. Several journalists were also told to take Cipro by government officials, yet the precautionary advice wasn’t provided to the American public.

On October 5th, Robert Stevens, writer for the Florida Sun was diagnosed with anthrax and died soon after. Two postal workers, a nurse and an elderly widow also died from subsequent infection. The journalists in the know about taking Cipro could have saved the lives of these five people.

Four more letters containing high grade weaponized anthrax were sent to Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Patrick Leahey, NBC’s Tom Brokaw, and the New York Post. Meanwhile, the Bush administration, along with many establishment journalists (including those given the early Cipro tip), spread fear by implying the anthrax letters were the ‘second wave’ of terrorism perpetrated by Al Qaeda or Saddam Hussein. Officials continued to release ‘leaks’ linking anthrax to Hussein up until the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Once the Iraq war was in full swing, the FBI announced it had its first suspect, a US government scientist named Steven Hatfill, and proceeded to smear his reputation without bringing any criminal charges against him. Hatfill eventually fought back against the agency and settled out of court for nearly nearly six million dollars.

The FBI initiated a campaign to destroy its next suspect, Dr. Bruce Ivins, a bio-weapons expert who previously consulted on the investigation into the anthrax letters, going as far as trying to bribe his hospitalized daughter and convince his son to turn him in. Allegedly, Ivins committed suicide with an overdose of Tylenol while he was under 24-hour surveillance. Since the main suspect died before facing trial, the FBI unequivocally maintains Ivins was guilty of the attacks. Yet the case relies purely on circumstantial evidence, made even weaker by the National Academy of Sciences debunking the supposed DNA evidence linking Ivins to the anthrax used in the letters.

On the newest segment of Media Roots Radio: The 9/11 Bulletin, Robbie Martin speaks in-depth with author Graeme MacQueen about the timeline and anomalies surrounding the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Born in Nova Scotia, Graeme MacQueen received his Ph.D. in comparative religion (with a specialization in Buddhism) from Harvard University. He taught in the Religious Studies department of McMaster University in Canada for 30 years. In 1989 he became founding Director of the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster, after which he helped develop the B.A. programme in Peace Studies and assisted with peace-building projects in Sri Lanka, Gaza, Croatia and Afghanistan. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters as well as several books. He is Co-editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies, and has just released his book  The 2001 Anthrax Deception: The Case for a Domestic Conspiracy.

Follow @fluorescentgrey aka Robbie Martin 

Photo by Wikimedia 

Recently I traveled to one of the most nefarious prisons in the world: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Despite repeated government pledges to close the infamous detention facility down, 149 men remained indefinitely imprisoned there.

According to a top Bush administration official, the vast majority of prisoners are innocent, and were either swept up in a dragnet or handed over in exchange for US bounties.

It’s already hard enough traveling to Gitmo as a journalist, but upon arrival I realized the experience was going to be controlled 24/7 by military escorts preventing us from going anywhere near the detainees I had come to report on.

However, I was able to speak with several top brass defense attorneys for the military commissions, a corrupt system that grants alleged terrorists less rights than civilian courts. The fact that six men are facing formal charges at the prison in relation to 9/11 & the USS Cole bombing gives the world the false impression that even alleged terrorists get their day in court. In reality, the remaining 143 men never charged with a crime may never get that luxury.

Amazingly, according to their lawyers, the detainees watch RT and Breaking the Set regularly.

My brother Robbie interviewed me about my intense experience at Gitmo for Media Roots Radio, a much more personal account than presented on my show.

Watch my on-the-ground documentary special about Guantanamo Bay here.

Follow me @AbbyMartin, and my brother Robbie @fluorescentgrey

Robbie Martin talks to Cullen Hoback, privacy advocate and creator of Terms and Conditions May Apply, a must-watch documentary about digital privacy rights, corporate/government spying collusion and the data mining economy of corporate surveillance.

Terms and Conditions May Apply premiered a few months before the world learned Edward Snowden’s name. Following the leaks, Cullen’s thesis was emboldened, so he added an addendum contextualizing them.

Watch the trailer:

Terms and Conditions May Apply

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Be sure to listen to our previous Media Roots Radio episode ‘Occupy Silicon Valley‘ for more information on the history of Silicon Valley and why there is so much missing outrage over private sector spying.

If you would like to directly download the podcast click the down arrow icon on the right of the Soundcloud display. To hide the comments to enable easier rewind and fast forward, click on the icon on the very bottom right.

This Media Roots podcast is the product of many long hours of hard work and love. If you want to encourage our voice, please consider supporting us as we continue to speak from outside party lines. Even the smallest donations help us with operating costs.

Listen to all previous episodes of Media Roots Radio here.

Follow Robbie @fluorescentgrey