The Shortwave Report 08/11/17 Listen Globally! (tags)
A weekly 30 minute review of international news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio and the internet. With times, frequencies, and websites for listening at home. 3 files- Highest quality broadcast, regular broadcast, and slow-modem streaming. NHK Japan, Spanish National Radio, Radio Havana Cuba, and Sputnik Radio.
Blackwater Founder in Deal to Sell Company to LA-Based Investors (tags)
Erik D. Prince, founder of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has reached a deal to sell his embattled firm to a small group of investors based in Los Angeles who have close ties to Mr. Prince, according to people briefed on the deal.
Miriam Raftery of East County Magazine: Taking It to the Web (tags)
When San Diego East County journalist Miriam Raftery found the local community weeklies unwilling or unable to publish the kinds of journalism she wanted to do — from exposés of corporations like Blackwater to up-to-the-minute wildfire alerts — she turned to the Internet and started the online East County Magazine. Now over two years old, East County Magazine has won 32 independent journalism awards and broken several major stories.
Obama Watch: August 11, 2009 (tags)
Six months of O'BS, the current president, is more than enough time to make the promised "change" and the only change is for the worse for the workingclass. There are now daily news reports of the horrors perpetrated by the Democrat O'BS.
Scahill: President Obama, Why Did You Pay Blackwater $70 Million in February? (tags)
For those already outraged at the AIG bonus scandal, here is a fact that should add more fuel to the fire: The Obama administration has paid the mercenary firm formerly known as Blackwater nearly $70 million to operate in Iraq and, according to The Washington Times, may keep the company on the payroll months past the official expiration of its Iraq contract in May. I reviewed Blackwater's recent transactions with the Obama State Department and discovered a $45 million payment to Blackwater on February 4, 2009 for "protective services-Iraq." It is described as a "funding action only." Here is the interesting part: The estimated "Ultimate Completion Date" is 5/07/2011.
Tues 3/17: Movement to Stop Blackwater Like Training Center in Riverside Grows (tags)
A private company, the Procinctu Group, has received approval for a “Blackwater-like” warfare training facility in Homeland, CA dubbed “The Ranch,” including shooting ranges, driving tracks, and live-fire training. The site is situated next to an established church retreat in a residential agricultural area that the developers say will be perfect for training because it looks “like Afghanistan.”
3/17: Veterans Group Joins Protest to Stop Blackwater -Like Training Center in Riverside (tags)
A private company, the Procinctu Group, has received approval for a “Blackwater-like” warfare training facility in Homeland, CA dubbed “The Ranch,” including shooting ranges, driving tracks, and live-fire training. The site is situated next to an established church retreat in a residential agricultural area that the developers say will be perfect for training because it looks “like Afghanistan.”
Local Residents to Protest Plans for Paramilitary Training Center in Riverside, CA (tags)
LOCAL RESIDENTS ASK: WHY WAS THIS PRIVATE PARAMILITARY FIRM APPROVED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS? Protest Planned Against Procinctu Plans to Build Private Military Training Center on Tuesday, January 27 Residents Hopes to Halt Construction of "The Ranch" Inspired by Successful Battle Against Blackwater's Plans in San Diego County WHERE: Outside the Riverside County Administrative Center, at 4080 Lemon Street, Riverside CA WHEN: 8:30 to 9:30 AM, Tuesday January 27, 2009 Protest outside Riverside County Administrative Center 11:00 a.m: Protesters will move inside to express concerns to Riverside County Board of Supervisors general meeting during Oral Communication
Locals Continue Battle Against Blackwater on the Border (tags)
Blackwater Opponents Announce Two Upcoming Public Events Community Forum on Tuesday, June 10th and Wednesday, June 11th Rally Outside Front Door of Blackwater's New Site Jeremy Scahill, Renowned Author of International Bestseller "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" Special Guest Speaker Community Groups Charge Blackwater Misused Federal Court to Muscle into Cal-Mex Border Site and Call for Facility Including Shooting Range to Be Shut-Down "No to Baghdad on the Border" New Facility 500 Yards From International Border Will Exacerbate the Potential for Increased Human and Civil Rights Violations to Both Migrants and Members of Border Communities
San Diego, June 10th - Jeremy Scahill speaks on Blackwater (tags)
Scahill will have a new presentation on Blackwater with a critique of the U.S. media, saying that the role of Blackwater as an unaccountable combat force not only abroad but in the U.S. as well is just one of many stories that aren’t being covered properly in the mainstream press.
Mon 6/9 Jeremy Scahill Returns to LA, As So-Cal Continues to Battle Blackwater on Border (tags)
As So-Cal Battles Blackwater Training Facility on Cal-Mex Border, Jeremy Scahill is VISITING LOS ANGELES for talk, discussion, and book signing for the release of the fully updated paperback edition: WHEN: MONDAY, JUNE 9TH AT 7:00 PM WHERE: Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Westminster Chapel 3300 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010 (@Berendo Street, 2 blocks west of Vermont Ave.)
New Blackwater Controversy on the U.S.-Mexico Border (tags)
A proposed project run by the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide is once again kicking up political hay on the US-Mexico border. Earlier rebuffed in its attempt to open a large training camp in the rural San Diego County community of Potrero, Blackwater now finds itself in a battle over the company's bid to open a training facility for the US Navy. Like Potrero, the latest controversy has pried open a Pandora's Box of thorny issues ranging from border relations to the Iraq war. The current dispute centers on Blackwater's plans to manage a 48-student school in San Diego County's Otay Mesa on the US-Mexico border and just down the road from US Border Patrol offices. According to Blackwater's plans, the site will offer indoor shooting instruction and simulated ship training to improve the anti-terrorist skills of naval personnel.
DN! Blackwater on the Border (tags)
Just two months after local opposition thwarted its effort to build a massive outdoor training facility near San Diego, the private military company Blackwater USA is being accused of secretly trying to build a new one just blocks from the US-Mexico border. Blackwater received approval for the 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, California, by filing for permits using the names of two subsidiaries.
4/25: Con. Protests New Blackwater Development Near Cal-Mex Border (tags)
“Residents of San Diego County rejected Blackwater’s proposed mercenary training facility in Potrero, and I cannot imagine that San Diegans will feel any differently about Otay Mesa,” said Congressman Filner. “The use of civilian-defense contractors is irresponsible, and should be stopped immediately. Not only are they unaccountable to the Military, the State Department and Congress; they are civilians serving in combat and combat-training. Many have been wounded or have wounded others, and yet, they are not veterans; there is no safety net when they come home. It is criminal to ask civilian men and women to perform the role of the military when they lack the support necessary to return to their civilian lives. The paramilitary-style training conducted at these facilities has no place in our backyards!”
Blackwater California Bid is Withdrawn (tags)
Blackwater Worldwide dropped its plans yesterday to build a military and law enforcement training camp in East County, San Diego, ending a storm of controversy over the security contractor's presence in the county.
Blackwater pulls application for Potrero training center (tags)
Blackwater Worldwide officials have announced they are pulling their application to build a training center on an 842-acre site in the East County community of Potrero.
In one of the company's most bizarre recent actions, on December 1 Blackwater paratroopers staged a dramatic aerial landing, complete with Blackwater flags and parachutes--not in Baghdad or Kabul but in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium during the halftime show at the San Diego State/BYU football game. The location was interesting, given that Blackwater is fighting fierce local opposition to its attempt to open a new camp--Blackwater West--on 824 acres in the small rural community of Potrero, just outside San Diego.
cia busted, blackwater busted, and a suicide shooter today (tags)
are we seeing a pattern yet?
Blackwater Faces New Death and Injury Claims and Drug Allegations (tags)
The estates of two more Iraqis killed when Blackwater USA personnel allegedly opened fire on civilians in Nisoor Square in Baghdad on Sept. 16 and an injured survivor of the incident joined the pending civil litigation against the private military contractor late Monday.
Blackwater aims high with unmanned aircraft (tags)
For nearly two years, Blackwater has been developing an airship to tap a growing government demand for aerial surveillance and security - from patrolling U.S. borders and coastal waters to guarding military bases in hostile lands.
Blackwater and the Brothers Krongard: How Cookie Crumbled (tags)
Accused of blocking an investigation into Blackwater, State Department IG Howard Krongard told Congress that his brother Buzzy has no ties to the military contractor. Buzzy says different.
The empire’s operatives exposed: The Krongards, 9/11, and Blackwater/Iraq (tags)
New bombshell testimony before Congress has revealed that Alvin B. “Buzzy” Krongard, the former CIA executive director connected to 9/11 insider trading, is a consultant and advisory board member of Blackwater USA, the New World Order’s leading intelligence-related corporate mercenary death squad now under investigation for war crimes, murder, arms smuggling, and fraud in Iraq.
Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's Brothers (tags)
Every day, new revelations emerge in the mounting scandal rocking the Bush Administration and the mercenary company Blackwater Worldwide. Much of the attention focuses on the now infamous shooting spree in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed and twenty-four wounded. FBI investigators are now alleging that fourteen were victims of unjustified and unprovoked shooting--some were shot while they were fleeing. Investigators also say they found nothing to substantiate Blackwater's claims of being fired on by Iraqis. This comes a month after a US Army investigation determined there was "no enemy activity involved" and labeled the shootings a "criminal event." But while Blackwater gets hammered in the press, the behind-the-scenes actions of the company's paymaster, the State Department, grow more scandalous by the minute.
Blackwater's California Wildfire Relief Efforts Backfire With Local Residents (tags)
While hundreds of thousands of citizens were fleeing Southern California's wildfires in October, Blackwater USA was charging back in. While the fires still burned, executives from the private security firm personally delivered food and supplies to displaced residents and eventually set up temporary housing. But don't accuse Blackwater of taking advantage of the disaster for the purposes of self-promotion. The company insists that it is just a friendly corporate citizen.
Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's loopholes (tags)
REMINDER: Jeremy Scahill, will be speaking in the Los Angeles area, at the United Teachers of LA, 3303 W. Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA, at 7:00 pm on Friday, Nov. 16th and at the First Unitarian Church of Studio City, 12355 Moorpark, Studio City, CA at 7:00 pm on Saturday, Nov. 17th, each with author Dahr Jamail, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. For more information call: 213-309-2713.
Fri 11/16 & Sat 11/17: Authors Scahill & Jamail- Blackwater & Beyond the Green Zone (tags)
Two Evenings with Two of the Most Dynamic Voices of the New Generation of Independent Unembedded Journalists: Dahr Jamail and Jeremy Scahill: Appearing Together in LA Area For Two Nights - Book Signing to Follow Friday, November 16th and Saturday, November 17th
Full Spectrum Mercenaries: Blackwater Goes to Mexico (tags)
If and when private security contractor Blackwater USA and its heavily-armed operatives are forced to pull out of Iraq as the result of the September 16th rampage in downtown Baghdad when its employees massacred up to 28 Iraqis, Mexico could be a profitable option for the North Carolina-based company.
Blackwater ‘Fire Relief’ a PR Campaign to Win Hearts and Minds, Timed Influence Voters (tags)
s Blackwater ‘Fire Relief’ Part of Larger PR Campaign to Win Hearts and Minds and Timed to Influence Local Voters? Potrero Residents/Fire Victims Speak-Out in Wake of Up Coming Recall Election - Referendum Could Put End to Blackwater West Project– Deadline to Mail Ballots to Voters in Just Two Weeks Conflict of Interest Questions Raised as Mercenary VP Allowed Through Sheriff’s Blockade With Supplies While Community-Based Relief Efforts for Potrero and Immigrant Residents of Surrounding Area Were Thwarted or Delayed
Kalifornia Dreamin' A False Flag Fire Drill (tags)
Captain Eric H. May, the Internet intelligence writer and commander of Ghost Troop, sends along a Halloween surprise for people who are spending the holiday caught up in the Web. Some will consider his hypothesis on what happened in California a trick, and some a treat. Everyone, though, will agree that his analysis sends out sparks and fuels the fire of our imagination!
Blackwater moving to San Diego (tags)
sound familiar?
A Town Beseiged: Potrero Residents Battling Blackwater Now Suffer Ravages of Wildfire (tags)
Potrero, California, the town that has gained national attention for standing up against Blackwater Worldwide's plan to build a private military-style training camp in their pristine backcountry community east of San Diego, now faces an even more formidable force. The Harris wildfire which began outside Potrero early Sunday morning has ravaged the small rural community, where many residents remain trapped without supplies four days after the fire began.
Torture, Paramilitarism, Occupation and Genocide (tags)
The ugly face of US imperialism
Like Cowboys in the Wild West (tags)
Special rules are obviously in force for Blackwater. Prince rejected the criticism that his operatives acted like cowboys in the Wild West.
Blackwater's Run for the Border (tags)
There are signs that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that came under intense scrutiny after its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq in September, is positioning itself for direct involvement in U.S. border security. The company is poised to construct a major new training facility in California, just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. While contracts for U.S. war efforts overseas may no longer be a growth industry for the company, Blackwater executives have lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America's borders.
Contracting Out the War in Iraq (tags)
After Blackwater USA’s recent street shoot out in Baghdad, which resulted in as many as 17 civilian deaths, the role of mercenaries in Iraq has received extra attention in the media. Although they have played a key role in the occupation of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, these “private security contractors” have for the most part flown under the public radar. For example, the debate over a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq usually centers around the 160,000 military personnel occupying the country. But what about the estimated 182,000 private contractors now deployed in Iraq? During the 1991 Gulf War, the troop-to-private contractor ratio was about 60 to 1. Now they outnumber uniformed troops, more than doubling the actual size of the occupation force. Private contractors in Iraq do everything from cooking food and doing the laundry to driving trucks and building bridges. Using them on such a vast scale is part of the privatization of the war, which is not only politically convenient, but results in massive profits for the companies involved. As of July 2007, there were more than 630 war contracting companies working in Iraq for the U.S. government.
Blackwater Training US Police (tags)
The mercenary firm Blackwater USA is well known for the controversy involving its "shoot first, ask no questions" policy in Iraq.
Locals Confront Blackwater at Their Gates as, Iraq Concludes Blackwater Committed Murder (tags)
As the Iraqi prime minister’s office determined that Blackwater USA shootings on September 16th in Baghdad was deliberate murder resulting in 17 civilian deaths, local opponents confronted Blackwater at the gates of the proposed “Blackwater West” site in Potrero, a tiny town in east San Diego county. Organizers estimated that over 300 people took part in the weekend's event, marching a mile from the rally site to the gates of Blackwater West.
Blackwater USA Faces Congress and Wrath of Tiny CA Town (tags)
As US Congress Committee on Oversight and Government holds hearings on the use of private security contractors in Iraq--including testimony from Blackwater USA Chairman Erik Prince--local opponents of Blackwater USA are planning a major rally, for the first time at the gates of the proposed Blackwater West site, on Saturday, October 6th through Sunday, October, 7th.
Blackwater cancels planned expansion (tags)
RALEIGH, N.C. — In more fallout from the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead, Blackwater USA apparently has stopped its expansion projects.
As Blackwater Comes Under Fire in Iraq, So-Cal Turns Up Heat to Stop Blackwater West (tags)
As US Congress and Iraqi government officials probe recent killings of civilians by the notorious private contractors in Baghdad, local opponents to the expansion of Blackwater USA will stage a major rally and encampment at the gates of the proposed “Blackwater West” site in Potrero, a tiny town in east San Diego county on Saturday, October 6th - Sunday, October, 7th. The event will happen just days after Blackwater founder Erik Prince is scheduled to testify before the US Congress.
Stop Blackwater West Demo Oct. 6 & & (tags)
Encampment and Demonstration to Stop Blackwater West from building a training facility in San Diego County
mercenaries without borders (tags)
privatisation of armies and security are a utter defeat of freedom and democracy. Read why.
Cheney rules
Coming To A State Near You: Blackwater Air Force (tags)
As if having them run around Iraq like loose cannons wasn't bad enough, Blackwater is building an Air Force. Via Scholars & Rogues:
Blackwater Mercenaries on the USA-Mexico Border (tags)
very scary
Blackwater: The Christian Right and the War on America (tags)
the civil war that england has been after for a long time now you WILL sell out america, and worship lords and kings again, or you will die
Local Opposition to Blackwater West Takes Fight Statewide (tags)
Opposition to Blackwater USA's Plans for New Private Military Base Near Potrero a Tiny Rural Town East of San Diego Heats Up... Local Democratic Club Joined by Their Congressman Takes Fight Statewide Announces They Will Submit Resolution to Stop ‘Blackwater West’at California Democratic Party State Convention This Weekend in San Diego Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Potrero Residents, Environmentalists, and Peace Activists to Speak Out in Support of Measure Outside SD Convention Center Saturday, April 28th at 8:30AM
A Review of Chris Hedges' American Fascists (tags)
Christian Right efforts to make America a theocratic fascist state
As Opposition to 'Blackwater West' Grows, Author of Bestseller Blackwater Tours CA (tags)
As Local Residents and Their Congressman Move to Block Plans for ‘Blackwater West’ in California, Jeremy Scahill Author of NY Times Bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army Launches Book Tour Across State April 26th – May 5th
This is an impressive crowd (tags)
of war profiteers
Real Reports of Katrina Relief: Sept. 29th Rita Edition (tags)
Yesterday I drove to the Algiers Red Cross distribution point which is located in the southern section of the Algiers neighborhood near the middle-class white section of town. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a frowning young man in a khaki shirt and black hat with a sidearm and corporate logo prominently displayed.
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
Fascist mass murderers and torturers that participated in the "dirty" wars against leftists in Latin America are being contracted by Blackwater to apply their disgusting techniques on the Iraqi people. The scum of the Earth are coming to Iraq!
The Real Butchers of Baghdad: G. W. Bush and His Army of Corporate Mercenaries (tags)
Now the real reason that Bush refused to sign onto the International Court and worked so diligently to evade the Geneva Convention comes to light.