Martin Eder

U.S. INVESTIGATOR SAYS BLACKWATER THREATENED HIM WITH DEATH TO HALT STATE DEPT PROBE IN IRAQ

 

 

East County News Service

Photo, left: Carl Meyer, leader of successful "stop Blackwater" effort in Potrero at a 2008 victory celebration

July 6, 2014 (San Diego's East County)--Blackwater, the private military contractor that has sparked considerably controversy through the years, is back in the headlines.Many East County residents recall the successful battle waged by residents in rural Potrero to prevent Blackwater from building a paramilitary training camp in San Diego's backcountry. 

Potrero residents held a recall election and removed all five planning group members who voted for the Blackwater facility and staged a march through adjacent federal forest lands that would be threatened by the project, drawing international attention before Blackwater ultimately withdrew its plans.

Now, the New York Times reports that around that same time back in 2007, Blackwater blocked a State Department inquiry into allegations of violence against civilians in Iraq by the company’s personnel.  The investigation was halted after Blackwater’s top manager in Iraq threatened that he “could kill” the government’s chief investigator—and that “no one could or would do anything about it” according to State Department reports, the New York Times article states.


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A KNSJ TRIBUTE TO PETE SEEGER

 

By Martin Eder

January 28, 2014 (San Diego)--Legendary folk singer, activist,  environmentalist, leftist, songwriter, and troubadour extraordinaire Pete Seeger passed away on Monday, 27 January, 2014.

This very weekend, KNSJ held a tribute concert to  Pete Seeger thanks to our invitation of George Mann, who joined us in this musical retrospective celebration of his life. We may have been the last sing-along event of Pete's songs, while he was still alive. As part of the audience, we were uplifted by his spirit and words: "If I had a hammer, I'd singing in the morning, I'd sing it in the evening, all over this land... It's a song of justice, it's a song of freedom, it's a song of love between my brother and my sister all over this land, all over this land..."

Tuesday morning, Amy Goodman and Democracy Now spent the bulk of the broadcast celebrating the life and contributions of Pete Seeger and his cultural activism. Listeners were reminded just how important the programming of our new community radio station is to our values and our information, knowing that KNSJ is the only local station to be honoring Pete Seeger today. This tribute is but one of 1,000 reasons why we need a strong and vibrant, and culturally poignant people-powered radio.  Listen to the podcast on DemocracyNow.org at http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/28/we_shall_overcome_remembering_folk_icon?autostart=true  including interviews with Pete Seeger and video of him in concert.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.