No Single Hour

I've been listening to NPR since 2005.  No one hour so changed my life, as the segment about Covering the Manning Trial in the March 15, 2013 episode of the weekly Media show On The Media.  The rest of the episode covered the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War, and other issues related to Manning and Wikileaks.

Actually looking for the podcast, this turned out to be a 6 minute segment in a longer hour on the 10th anniversary on the Iraq War here is the full hour

Here is the full leaked audio from the trial, Manning's full statement explaining motivation and how the leaks were made to Wikileaks link

A Brief Diversion on Laura Poitras
Laura Poitras on Democracy Now! in 2012
I didn't really notice Laura Poitras until Snowden revelations, where she was the one who filmed Snowden in Hong Kong. I didnt notice her name on the short film on Manning and I completely missed her NYT OpDoc called "The Program", about her profile of NSA insider Bill Binney from August 2012 until after Snowden either.  I call 2012 the "hidden year" of NSA warnings before Snowden, because of the election and Newtown, most of America was focused on other issues until Snowden----now I just say most still are ignoring it, or Media reports it with errors and focuses on wrong issues.


After this episode I learned more about Alexa O'Brien Archives, Kevin Gosztola website, and others reporting on the Trial, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Center for Constitutional Rights, learned more about Wikileaks, and other people and cases like Jeremy Hammond, PayPal14, Barrett Brown, Aaron Swartz, Obama's War on Whistleblowers, etc.  No other hour I have listened to lead to so many other issues, people, leading me to look back at the other side of the Obama Administration.


From December 3 2012-----which I saw later in 2013
Must See Event for Manning with Mike Ratner and David Coombs

I paid more attention to drones, GITMO, deportations, and what Obama was actually doing, as opposed to solely what the Administration and media said.  

The constant and outlandish attacks from the GOP and Fox News, and the constant praise from Democrats and MSNBC, only told part of the story.  Obama was not as the GOP said a "Kenyan Muslim Socialist who wanted to destroy America" nor as the Democrats said a "liberal moderate who is constantly blocked by GOP opposition in Congress" to the effect that he can't get anything done.

It turns out Obama is really a moderate who has continued or expanded many of Bush's policies, isn't really doing to much domestically, or what he is doing is almost the least he can do, with or without GOP opposition.  I have noticed and been critical of his double speak, hypocrisies and lies, all since looking into the Manning trial, and the people and issues surrounding it. 

I joined Twitter in October 2011, shortly after Occupy Wall Street became famous in the media, and my first tweet was simply "I'm supporting Occupy Wall Street."  It was only later that I began to see more clearly that Occupy was a critic of the Obama administration.  I began blogging in December 2012, mostly as a way to write more, since Twitter limits you to 140 characters.  Most of my tweets are comments or thoughts on issues, or often collections of articles on an issue, or I link issues together into a larger issue or comment.

Most of 2013 my blog posts and tweets were focused on the economy, guns after the Newtown shooting, how crazy the GOP is, and lately more issues on NSA, foreign policy. 

TWITTER Libdem2 Twitter and Libdemwasjailed Twitter

TWITTER SEARCH

BLOGS LibdemTweets Blog and A Liberal's View Blog


some older examples show what I was focusing on before March 2013, and even after Snowden in some cases

an outlier----from January 2013, http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2013/01/mad-at-obama-happy-with-bush.html


http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2013/05/gop-admissions-and-my-comments.html

http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2013/07/romney-and-bain-versus-obama-and.html


http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2013/06/congress-is-one-on-welfare.html


Versus newer posts that criticize Obama more openly

http://libdemtweets.blogspot.com/2014/01/mlk-2014.html

http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-letter-to-president-obama.html

http://lib2view.blogspot.com/2014/02/comments.html

Shedding Light on DHS and CBP

Why I write this blog piece....http://www.onthemedia.org/story/shed-light-dhs/

NPR's weekly Media Show "On The Media" producer Sarah Abdurrahman, who yes is Muslim, wears a headscarf, is married to a Muslim and is an American citizen, tells her story of detention at the border coming into the US, on no suspicion, and without explaination.

producer Sarah Abdurrahman, her family, and her friends were detained for hours by US Customs and Border Protection on their way home from Canada. Everyone being held was a US citizen, and no one received an explanation. Sarah tells the story of their detainment, and her difficulty getting any answers from one of the least transparent agencies in the country.

Here is the initial detention story from September 2013 and here are some follow ups on getting answers from DHS and other agencies.

Bob Garfeild speaks with Lee Hamilton

Reporters talk about reporting on DHS and lack of transparency


I am writing this blog post to tell the story of Sarah's detention, and to write my own questions on the topic, to contribute to getting some answers from DHS and CBP and Congress.


These are the questions as supplied by On The Media through their tool

1. When constituents call your office with issues they are concerned about, what is the process for getting those concerns to the Congressman/Congresswoman and ultimately to Washington?

2. The Department of Homeland Security and its sub-agencies have been unwilling to go on the record with journalists about the policies for treatment of US citizens at US borders and while traveling domestically. Can you request those policies be made public and can you provide them to me?

3. Journalists and civil rights groups have reported mistreatment of US citizens by agents of the Department of Homeland Security and its sub-agencies at our borders and while traveling within the US. What are you, as a member of Congress, doing to ensure that agents on the ground are respecting the rights of US citizens?

4. Would you support a call for a public hearing with officials from the Department of Homeland Security to discuss the treatment of citizens at our borders and those traveling domestically, and to hold those officials accountable if the policies and practices of DHS and its sub-agencies violate the rights of US citizens?



My questions are

• why is CBP stopping American Citizens at the border in the first place?? 

• holding them in cold rooms like a mini Guantanamo Bay? 

• not responding to American Citizen's questions even after they have been released?

• more steps should be taken to prevent multiple searches like the story of Jane Doe---there should be a limit of searches when nothing is found

 Government resources on Border Patrol and Homeland Security

June 2012 Northern Border Fact Sheet

2011 US-Canada "Action Plan"  ---is this in effect??

2011 FAQ on US-Canada "Action Plan"

Examples of US-Canada shared law enforcement

Pre-Clearance options

Contact DHS

Online and Email for DHS

Border Security section of DHS

Civil Rights and Liberties at DHS

March 2013 GAO report on DHS Progress/Challenges in Securing US Borders

August 2013 GAO report on training Border Agents




News on Border and DHS

Nov 2013 HuffPo piece on Congressional pressure over killings by agents at Border


Border Patrol insists on secrecy for agents who kill people on Mexican side of border