THIS POST CENSORED BY GOVERNMENT
Journalistic Free Speech Requires FBI/CIA/Police Approval
by H. Michael Sweeney
copyright lifted, permission to reproduce granted if reproduced in full and citing proparanoid.wordpress.com with link to same
Journalism as intended by those who invented it is almost extinct
As it is for Journalism, so it is for Free Speech, Truth, and thereby, Freedom.
Original post August 17, 2011, Updated July 21, 2012
free speechREASON FOR UPDATE: Government Renews Attacks on INDYMEDIA (updates flagged red)
Click for 100 years of Propaganda (smashingmagazine.com)
What follows is an origial short article from the ProParanoid Newsletter written in the Spring of 2004, entitled CIA and FBI Targets Media Group. It deserves follow up and expansion, because the targeting of independent media continues, today. The article has been reformatted to allow a chronological presentation.
While this article is largely focusing in Indymedia to make its point, it is imperative that it be understood that virtually all non mainstream media is being targeted. Julian Assange’s targeting with bogus ‘sex crime’ charges arranged for by paid CIA female operatives as a way of punishing him for his Wikileaks exposure of government crimes is probably a more well known example, but the goal here, is to show a growing pattern of systemic assaults on freedom of speech… when not from sanctioned (sanitized) sources. And, as we will see, even they can get into trouble.
Now, the reason for update is related to several new assaults on the truth by governments, most notably our own, World-Wide. This article certainly did not slap their wrists severely enough to give them pause, it seems. In fact, one such event detailed below created a situation where, whether by coincidence or intention, THE GOVERNMENT HAS CENSORED CONTENT IN THIS POST FROM MY READERS. So please read while you still can, though there is nothing I can do to restore the part that has been censored (photographic evidence).
We should start by defining what Indymedia is. Or what it is not.
It is NOT mainstream media.
Free speech
What is mainstream media?
Mainstream media is this: Ruppert Murdoch saying “For better or worse, our company (his media conglomerate) is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values.” in a speech to the Globalist Round Table group, The Asia Society, in Nov. 1999. They are a counterpart to our Council on Foreign Relations, only instead of wanting to establish a North America Union, they want to establish an Asiatic Union. A Globalist by any other name would still smell rotten in Denmark, methinks.
It is also this: Six transcontinental corporations which own better than 90 percent of all media holding in the U.S., and with significant penetration of other World markets. They include Disney, Viacom (CBS), Time Warner (which I maintain is heavily CIA influenced), Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertlesman, and General Electric, a Defense Contractor. During the time frame of the Flight 800 shootdown by a Navy missile fired in a war game, all three major networks were owned by Defense contractors who made missile components for the Navy. Of course then, it wasn’t friendly fire, and they fired any reporter who dared say otherwise, and even gag writers for Saturday Night Live who intimated otherwise in their jokes.
In like vein, mainstream is also this: TWENTY award winning journalists prevented by corporate ownership from reporting the truth on major news stories (including Flight 800). Learn more here, which is a tempting taste from the book, Into the Buzzsaw. You won’t like what you discover about mainstream found buried beneath the sawdust. Example: “The news is what I say it is,” according to the General Manager of ‘unafraid Fox’ who refused to allow a new report unfavorable to Monsanto. Don’t get me started on Fox OR Monsanto. One or the other of them is liable to end up starting a revolution in this country.
Free speech
What else is there beyond mainstream? What about Indymedia?
If you don’t like that definition, there is an alternative; YOU can reclaim media (a useful handbook), which is exactly what Indymedia is about.
Indymedia is an international, fully independent and open Web/radio network where anyone can report news and bypass the bias and disinformation engines of 
the Fourth Estate. It tempers submissions with journalistic considerations to prevent personal bias and shoddy reporting from ruining the value. They additionally field their own staff of journalists. As result, it seems, Indymedia has been gathering a reputation to itself, earning a new red and white target for a logo. Personally, I prefer the current logo.
It was Indymedia who first reported in the U.S. about Colin Powell’s role in negotiating with coalition nations for partnership in the war against Afghanistan… more than a year before September 11! Yet this also serves to illustrate: Mainstream media regularly culls foreign press looking for news worthy of passing along. The Powell story had already been told in a mainstream Indian newspaper and the biggest newspaper in the UK, so we know they knew about it, and deliberately covered it up, even after Sept. 11 and the resulting war in Afghanistan. Talk about prior knowledge!
Actually, depending on what country you are talking about, citizens from all over the globe are reading about dirty little secrets and criminal abuse of power by governments (theirs or ours), thanks to Indymedia. It is a global success story with respect to beating mainstream at its own professed game (the truth). But that does not mean it has been smooth sailing.
Free speech
Indymedia regularly targeted by government(s)
So we should perhaps not be surprised then, to learn the the U.S .Government, in partnership with other governments (or they on their own), have officially targeted Indymedia through the actions of the dirty tricks department of CIA and FBI. Even local cops are induced to cooperate. Of course, CIA is getting help from OTHER governments, too, as we shall see. Thankfully, they got their tits caught in the ringer.
I like that image. CIA with tits. The sucklings must be quite undernourished, having been renditioned no doubt.
Let’s take a look at the time line of increasingly common, increasingly blatant, and ever escalating events:
free speech
Aug. 2000, Police block Indymedia satellite feed covering Democratic National Convention
Indymedia was starting to broadcast coverage of the Democratic National Convention from their Los Angeles studio. Not to be. Police descended and shut them down claiming there were explosives in a van in the adjacent parking some 20 feet from the Indymedia van. Funny, but there are no news reports of any such event in any news source. No bomb squad arrived.
July of 2001, police beat and arrest Indymedia journalists covering G8 Summit
This time in Genoa, Italy, while they were covering the G8 meet. They had set up a media center and broadcast facility in a closed school rented for the purpose. It was late night, and like the anti-globalism G8 protesters who had gathered in a nearby parking area, Indymedia staff was sleeping. Without warning, 150 Police attacked them melee style right where they lay and clubbed at least 60 so badly they had to be hospitalized. More than 500 were injured, one was killed, and 300 were arrested.
Perhaps at discovering their actions were being observed and recorded by Indimedia, Police then assaulted the IndyMedia team. Twenty Nine officers were indicted for grievous bodily harm, wrongful arrest, and even for planting evidence. Thirteen were convicted. Additionally, 45 assorted government officials, including Police, prison guards, and even doctors, were charged with physically and mentally abusing demonstrators and Indymedia staff while held in detention. It was Indymedia video evidence which assured convictions.
July of 2002, Police grenade seriously injures Indymedia reporter covering that year’s G8
While covering a different G8 Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Indymedia journalist Guy Smallman, while close in with protestors, was seriously injured by a Police grenade, and fired upon with unknown weapons. As he was in a crowd of protestors being attacked by Police we cannot claim the assault was personally directed at him, but like all journalists in such situations, you can bet press credentials were held high.
June 2004, Founding Member of Indymedia Ecuador assassinated by what were believed to be government thugs
Like the above event, not all events are solidly incriminating of governmental targeting, but the reasons for suspecting they are tied will become apparent. For instance, Lenin Cali Najera was a respected young man known for his work rescuing youngsters from the clutches of gangs, so you might think that the Ecuadorian officials would appreciate him. apparently not. He was shot to death in the jugular by men thought to be government agents by those at hand, fitting the modus operandi of paramilitary death squads. His would not be the only murder of Indymedia journalists.
It is unclear if there was any specific investigation or article written by Lenin which might shed light as to the motivation behind his murder. Any articles written by him would be in Spanish and as I do not speak Spanish, are not easily reviewed for the purpose. There seems to be no speculation about a specific article in any of the English accounts of his death, of which there are few. But at about the same time, an Indymedia article surfaced in Cyprus which led to quite a lot of trouble, lasting for several weeks before coming to a head. A blackhead, which burst wide open. And what a stench!
June 2004, CIA and US Military go head to head with Indymedia via Cypriot Police
It started when an Indymedia contributor, Petros Evdoka, published an article exposing a disinformation campaign tied to Cypriot political issues which were, thereby, being manipulated by the U.S. Department of Defense cyberwarriors of the same sort I’ve had to go head to head with in my Flight 800 shoot- down investigation. The Cyprus matter was hardly a ‘legal’ or proper thing for the military to be doing by any standards.
Someone took exception at the exposure almost immediately. Police descended upon the entire Evdoka family and questioned them mercilessly, the focus clearly how he had come by his information. In the exchange, the Police, evidently trying to underscore the seriousness of the matter and to further intimidate, inadvertently and quite unwisely stated that their raid was at the direction of CIA. Bad move, threatening a journalist, even an amateur, with information they can use against you.
That erupted into a month’s long battle between Indymedia, the Cyprus and US governments, and of course, CIA and the DOD. It eventually resulted in a victory for Indymedia. The Cyprus Government officially admitted it had yielded to US pressures to play co conspirator with CIA against Indymedia.
Oct. 2004 FBI raids Indymedia and seizes servers, shutting down massive portions of the network
After all, it is rare to ‘win’ a battle with CIA without paying a price. Revenge is a dish best served by covert counterintelligence operations from other quarters, it seems (a blind side attack). FBI moved to seize third-party Web servers hosting more than 20 international Indymedia Web services to the US, Germany, France, and UK, as well as worldwide audio streaming news services and conventional Web resources. Even in Switzerland, a neutral country not known for yesmanship, kowtowed to US pressures in a raid, there. Indymedia was served with gag orders to prevent them from reporting the incident as news. That did not work very well, apparently.
Wikpedia has a nice summary of this affair, but the highlights are this. The actual warrant called only for surrender of log files. Instead, Indymedia was shut down by confiscation of all storage mediums, prompting a barrage of criticism from groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Statewatch, IFJ, the International Federation of Journalists, and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters.
FBI strangely denied ‘involvement,’ stating that the orders were initiated at the request of the Italian government, which speculators believe was at the request of Cypriot officials, or the CIA, which maintains a strong influence in Italian affairs. No one knows where the confiscated material went, or how or even if it was used in any investigation. Gag orders would seem to circumvent your right to know. In my own life, I doubt I will EVER obey a gag order of that sort. Make me a martyr for it, if you will, .gov. News is news, and truth is truth. It shall not be gagged by mere edict of a Judge in your pocket.
June of 2005, Local Police raid Indymedia UK and once more seize and shut down servers
Police ignored laws regarding journalistic protections and arrested an Indymedia employee at the site based on a submitted article which the Police deemed to be related to vandalism against a train connected to an upcoming G8 conference.’ Once more protests by professional organizations and watchdog groups followed, this time by UK groups NUJ, the National Union of Journalists, Liberty, and Privacy International.
July 2006, Indymedia server in San Francisco hacked by Zionist
THIS IMAGE GONE BLANK BECAUSE FBI SIEZED THE SERVERS!
Update: In July 2012, I accidentally noticed the image at right in support of this section was blank. Trying to find out why, I discovered ‘Server Not Found’. So I did some digging and found that not only had the Indymedia Server used by San Francisco been seized by FBI, but that no reason was given.
It appears they had relocated their server from San Francisco after the hacking incident described below and other problems in San Francisco with authorities, to Texas. FBI served a warrant on their Host as well as a GAG ORDER, so information is scant. FBI does state that it was NOT THE US GOVERNMENT that ordered the seizure, but ANOTHER UNSPECIFIED COUNTRY, the FBI responding to an International agreement of cooperation in matters of investigation of certain crimes. What kinds of crimes? Terrorism, kidnapping, and Money Laundering. So apparently those villainous Indymedia types have discovered a way to write news stories that make people captive against their will, and to launder money associated with their ransom, and then magically became exploding underwear?
More likely, the server was taken at the request of Israel’s Mossad. Take a look at the rest of my original article on the hacking event, and that assumptions will make some sense: The censored photo was evidence of participation by Mossad in attacks on US News Media (Indymedia). The only places it existed on the Web were, it seems, by links to the original image at IndyMedia. By shutting down Indymedia, they automatically censored the entire Web access to the image. I would therefore assume that if I had copied the image and posted it from my own computer, FBI would now have my computer, too. Close one! Here is the original hacking incident which has apparently led to censorship:
Hacked severely by a ‘Zionist’ hacker, indeed, who left a calling card to prove his Zionist motivation. There are no direct ties to any government, but as Indymedia has been a real pain in the ass to Israeli by covering violent actions against Palestinian and like misadventures, it would not surprise me to learn Mossad was the true source of the attack. I suppose this makes me an anti-Semite by Anti Defamation League standards, for so thinking. Whatever.
But wait. It was in this time frame that San Francisco was perusing a law suite against the ADL and B’nai B’rith (a Mossad infested version of ADL) for their participation in illegal spying operations against American Citizens in cooperation with San Francisco, Portland, and 18 other Police Departments, and other entities. Indymedia was covering that with clarity. San Francisco eventually had to drop the suit because of intimidation by the ADL and other external pressures insisting it anti semitic prosecution. So perhaps my supposition of Mossad hacking is not so supposing after all?
Look at the calling card (right). I did. Note the domain littlegreenfootballs.com. This Web site has had eight registrars (places they registered the name) on 36 changes between 19 unique name servers with 63 changes on 23 unique IP addresses in six years. The ‘owner’ (a shell corporation, colours Ltd) operates 2,509 other domains. A useful set of tools to make tracking true ownership and association ‘difficult.’ The site is full of pro-Mossad ‘information.’
Update: Since my original post, and perhaps as yet another indicator that Mossad requested the FBI hit on Indymedia S.F., it turns out that littlegreenfootballs.com has changed hands yet again, and now, the content no longer has anything whatsoever to do with Israel and the Zionist material once found there.
In fact, it is a bit of a ‘mock site’ designed around a ‘shell’ or ‘skin’ I recognize as common to several CIA operated ‘commercial web sites.’ So you get a lot of ads and links that make it look like a decent, ordinary site on the edges, which are nothing but fluff and camouflage, and the disinfo in the middle. Again, what they present there is really intending to make non mainstream media look bad (today, for instance, it tries to make Alex Jones look crazy for talking about the Aurora shooting as false flag, and then proceeds to reveal information painting it as ties to Muslim terrorism.
How do we always seem to come up with these condemning terrorism details so quickly after an event? Like finding the wallet of the terrorist pilot on the street after nothing else identified with any passenger of the 9-11 aircraft survived the crash. Convenient. Back to the original article, and one more update section, below…
Oct. 2006, Police in civilian garb suspected of shooting Indymedia journalist to death
New Yorker Bradley Roland Will was killed covering a protest in Oaxaca, Mexico regarding a teacher’s strike. He and two protesters where shot to death by ‘upset residents’ who were later tentatively identified as Police by the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Despite this, Associated Press claims that some protesters were also armed and it was actually more of a shoot out than outright murder. However, this was the event which, due to the more popular media accounts as a murder, sparked what many refer to as a revolt in the State of Oaxaco by the APPO, The Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca.
September, 2009, U.S. Army violates Posse Comitatus and arrests Indymedia reporter, destroys her camera, seizes video
Members of the U.S. Army (possibly National Guard) operating illegally as deputized Police in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, arrested Indymedia reporter Melissa Hill and three other reporters covering the G20 Conference in Pittsburg. Her camera was destroyed and her media confiscated. The military was even operating the jail and running the booking operation per her YouTube interview. Unless Martial Law has been declared, it is illegal for military to engage in Police actions. This has been something the Military has been repeatedly in violation of since 1990, in a long list of states, with Oregon, California, and Texas NGs being the most frequent abusers. This abuse will be the subject of another blog.
April 2010, Police use invalid warrant to illegally raid home of Editor for Gizmodo
San Mateo Police use an invalid warrant to raid the home of an Editor for Gizmodo, destroying his front door and seizing his computers and other equipment, the warrant being exercised when the home was empty. Not only was the warrant invalid in legal terms, but the hours allowed for its use were ignored. The raid was prompted by an article written for Gizmodo. Journalists are protected from warrants seeking materials related to their work by State and Federal law.
Also April 2010, Cops and the District Attorney illegally raid a student newspaper
Seven Officers and the District Attorney entered the offices of The Breeze, a student newspaper for the James Madison University in Harrisburg, VA, and threatened to seize all computers if they did not turn over all photographs in their possession relating to a party covered by one of their reporters where violence had broken out. There was a warrant but the student journalist was quick to point out that the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 prohibited such a warrant, at which time the threats were made and the student relented. Police copied hundreds of photos to a CD, including many unrelated to the party, further in violation of their own warrant.
Dec. 2010, The French Minister of the Interior attacks Indymedia with accusations of being out to get Police
The French Minister of the Interior (like the head of the Justice Department in the U.S.) claimed Indymedia was attempting to identify Police and endanger their safety. What? I thought Police were supposed to identify themselves on request. The link is largely in french save some casual comments giving summary and personal opinion.
May 2011, Google in possible collusion with U.S. intelligence community enables assault on Indymedia viability
Google, often described as partnering with the U.S. intelligence community, modifies their search engines to de-rank Indymedia in search results. Simultaneously, a hack was attempted of Indymedia resources to augment the Google de-ranking to burry articles 20 pages deep in searches. Also simultaneously, a flood of tactically anti-Semitic comments hit the UK Indymedia resulting in accusations of ani Semitism in an attempt to discredit the organization, and a like flood of intimidating criticisms and accusations against legitimate Indymedia contributors (name calling, etc.).
free speech
What about the rest of media? Are they free from abuse of power issues?
Indymedia is not the only one to suffer such ills. While it is popular to see mainstream media as controlled, they do sometimes get out of hand with their Masters and end up causing problems. Sometimes a little corrective conditioning is required to remind them where their hearts should really lay. Here is a partial list of a growing epidemic of Police and government assault on journalistic free speech. I fear it is only a matter of time before Congress will once more attempt to censure free speech entirely with a Sedition law which makes any criticism of government, even with evidence of wrongdoing, a Federal crime. It has already been attempted in form.
More than 1,100 journalists and support staff have been killed over the last ten years while at their job. Below follows a very brief list which represents about an hour’s effort to locate and document. While it is a global phenomenon most commonly found in association with a Globalist agenda or in an oppressive regime, I have tried to focus mostly on U.S. examples. The bulk came from a single source. You can easily find more, as seen in the surprisingly good two pages of video reports by Russian’s RT Network, and this page detailing all known incidents in Egypt.
April 8 2003, Al Jazeera’s office in Bagdad rocket attacked by a US warplane
The DOD had been given its coordinates by Al Jazeera in exchange for assurances it would not be attacked. Correspondent Tareq Ayyoub was killed while reporting live on details of a firefight some distance from his balcony. His coverage did not include or illustrate local combatants being present, but the US insists the attack was due to fire from his building.
Also April 8 2003, US Abrams tank opens fire on hotel where more than 100 journalists are located
The Palestine Hotel is where non embedded international journalists were under armed quarantine ‘for their protection.’ The attack hit the Reuters office on the 15th floor killing two cameramen. The U.S. military again claimed self defense, despite counter claims by multiple news agencies present including a French team which video taped the incident. The Pentagon countered that non embedded journalists should get out of Dodge, an implied threat gently worded. Embedded Journalism, when unbalanced with non embedded, is a controlled media.
March 2004, US Soldiers shoot 2 journalists dead at a checkpoint, Reuters cameraman shot by US fire filming combatants
The Pentagon claims the shootings were within the ‘rules of engagement,’ fail to mention a tank collided with the vehicle they were in.
Jan and March of 2004, three Reuters staffers and two Al Jazeera reporters detained and brutalized by U.S. forces
In the case of Reuters, it was immediately after they had filmed a crash of a U.S. Chopper.
Nov. 2009, Man arrested for taking video of public statement for possible news worthiness
Quite odd because he had already filmed the same participants the day before, and both knew and accompanied them to the two-day event.
June 2010, Police harass, beat, arrest journalist covering G20
Jesse Rosenfeld was abused without provocation as he was held by two officers and hit by a third because one officer did not believe his press credentials were genuine. Journalist Jesse Rosenfeld reports for the Gaurdian, Now Magazine, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, The Montreal Mirror, and CBC Radio Canada.
And, my personal favorite, and the best possible place to end the article with a bang:
April 2011, Maui Times Publisher assaulted by bounty hunters and then Police for video interview
Not Wanted (from dogthebountyhunter.com) Thank You
Publisher Tommy Russo was covering with (video) matters relating to the TV Reality show “Dog the Bounty Hunter” (which I firmly believe is a CIA propaganda exploit, it being true that CIA runs a school for bounty hunters as I document in my book set, Fatal Rebirth) when he was confronted by a member of the show’s security team (a BIG guy), who is adamant he stop video NOW. Russo identifies himself as media and asserts his right to video in public any public event, and that’s when the big guy bashes him in the face without warning.
Russo tries to call Maui Police. While trying to call 9-11 for help, the security man takes his camera (phone) it and throws it while hitting Russo in the mouth. It is a crime to interfere with a 9-1-1 call. After regaining the phone, multiple dogs are screaming at him as he is trying once more to talk to the 9-1-1 operator, all happening while the Police actually show up. All they see is a lot of shouting at one guy, so he must be the bad guy, right?
Exact replay: A cop then attacks Russo as well, without warning of any kind, ostensibly for the same cause, that he was attempting to document everything on video. Their claim is because it was ‘an agressive movement. ’ The movement? He turned (rotated) toward the officer to whom he was responding, who punched him and grabbed his phone for the third time, again.
Moral might be: shoot a gun, not a camera when they are that big and ornery :}
free speech
What can you do as a citizen to reclaim media?
Simple. Be the media. Learn about Indymedia. Keep a video capable device with you, always. You never know when you will be at the right place at the right time. I wound up sitting in the middle of a Police Command Post during an unrighteous Police shooting of an elderly man, and heard the lies they foisted on the public in the process. They were informed in the Command Post that the man had a .22 cal starter’s pistol (fires blanks), but they told media he was armed with two other larger weapons. Hopefully you will never have to experience anything as dramatic and traumatic as that, but the point is, be ready to tell the truth because you cannot count on Police or media to do so in your absence.
If YOU want to know the truth, you must also be wiling to SHARE the truth with others, or you don’t deserve to complain when you don’t get it.
When you see Police or any other form of violence, get it on video, and make verbal comments as you go on details as to where and what circumstances, etc. Some communities (fascist rule) prohibit video taping cops. I don’t care it there is a law against it or not. If they are behaving badly, the law and any court daring to enforce it be damned. You can make that choice for yourself. With or without video, write it up and submit it to Indymedia, and get any video on YouTube (you can reference the video at YouTube in your article).
Final update: In looking for the San Francisco server, I also discovered more than a dozen more examples of independent media assaults undertaken by government. Most were server seizures, but there were also physical assaults, and in one instance, arrest and prosecution for felonies and other charges for simply being present covering a breaking news story of a crime in progress (if you call a sit in a crime)… essentially charging the reporter and camera crew with the same crime as those effecting the story. What is wrong with this picture? Oh, I forgot. They took the picture, so you don’t get to see it!
End of speech.
End of article.
End of free speech in journalism?
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REPOST/UPDATE Free Speech Requires FBI/CIA/Police Approval
Aug 17
Posted by Author H. Michael Sweeney
THIS POST CENSORED BY GOVERNMENT
Journalistic Free Speech Requires FBI/CIA/Police Approval
by H. Michael Sweeney copyright lifted, permission to reproduce granted if reproduced in full and citing proparanoid.wordpress.com with link to sameJournalism as intended by those who invented it is almost extinct
As it is for Journalism, so it is for Free Speech, Truth, and thereby, Freedom.
Original post August 17, 2011, Updated July 21, 2012
free speechREASON FOR UPDATE: Government Renews Attacks on INDYMEDIA (updates flagged red)
Click for 100 years of Propaganda (smashingmagazine.com)
What follows is an origial short article from the ProParanoid Newsletter written in the Spring of 2004, entitled CIA and FBI Targets Media Group. It deserves follow up and expansion, because the targeting of independent media continues, today. The article has been reformatted to allow a chronological presentation.
While this article is largely focusing in Indymedia to make its point, it is imperative that it be understood that virtually all non mainstream media is being targeted. Julian Assange’s targeting with bogus ‘sex crime’ charges arranged for by paid CIA female operatives as a way of punishing him for his Wikileaks exposure of government crimes is probably a more well known example, but the goal here, is to show a growing pattern of systemic assaults on freedom of speech… when not from sanctioned (sanitized) sources. And, as we will see, even they can get into trouble.
Now, the reason for update is related to several new assaults on the truth by governments, most notably our own, World-Wide. This article certainly did not slap their wrists severely enough to give them pause, it seems. In fact, one such event detailed below created a situation where, whether by coincidence or intention, THE GOVERNMENT HAS CENSORED CONTENT IN THIS POST FROM MY READERS. So please read while you still can, though there is nothing I can do to restore the part that has been censored (photographic evidence).
We should start by defining what Indymedia is. Or what it is not.
It is NOT mainstream media.
Free speech
What is mainstream media?
Mainstream media is this: Ruppert Murdoch saying “For better or worse, our company (his media conglomerate) is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values.” in a speech to the Globalist Round Table group, The Asia Society, in Nov. 1999. They are a counterpart to our Council on Foreign Relations, only instead of wanting to establish a North America Union, they want to establish an Asiatic Union. A Globalist by any other name would still smell rotten in Denmark, methinks.
It is also this: Six transcontinental corporations which own better than 90 percent of all media holding in the U.S., and with significant penetration of other World markets. They include Disney, Viacom (CBS), Time Warner (which I maintain is heavily CIA influenced), Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertlesman, and General Electric, a Defense Contractor. During the time frame of the Flight 800 shootdown by a Navy missile fired in a war game, all three major networks were owned by Defense contractors who made missile components for the Navy. Of course then, it wasn’t friendly fire, and they fired any reporter who dared say otherwise, and even gag writers for Saturday Night Live who intimated otherwise in their jokes.
In like vein, mainstream is also this: TWENTY award winning journalists prevented by corporate ownership from reporting the truth on major news stories (including Flight 800). Learn more here, which is a tempting taste from the book, Into the Buzzsaw. You won’t like what you discover about mainstream found buried beneath the sawdust. Example: “The news is what I say it is,” according to the General Manager of ‘unafraid Fox’ who refused to allow a new report unfavorable to Monsanto. Don’t get me started on Fox OR Monsanto. One or the other of them is liable to end up starting a revolution in this country.
Free speech
What else is there beyond mainstream? What about Indymedia?
If you don’t like that definition, there is an alternative; YOU can reclaim media (a useful handbook), which is exactly what Indymedia is about.
Indymedia is an international, fully independent and open Web/radio network where anyone can report news and bypass the bias and disinformation engines of
the Fourth Estate. It tempers submissions with journalistic considerations to prevent personal bias and shoddy reporting from ruining the value. They additionally field their own staff of journalists. As result, it seems, Indymedia has been gathering a reputation to itself, earning a new red and white target for a logo. Personally, I prefer the current logo.
It was Indymedia who first reported in the U.S. about Colin Powell’s role in negotiating with coalition nations for partnership in the war against Afghanistan… more than a year before September 11! Yet this also serves to illustrate: Mainstream media regularly culls foreign press looking for news worthy of passing along. The Powell story had already been told in a mainstream Indian newspaper and the biggest newspaper in the UK, so we know they knew about it, and deliberately covered it up, even after Sept. 11 and the resulting war in Afghanistan. Talk about prior knowledge!
Actually, depending on what country you are talking about, citizens from all over the globe are reading about dirty little secrets and criminal abuse of power by governments (theirs or ours), thanks to Indymedia. It is a global success story with respect to beating mainstream at its own professed game (the truth). But that does not mean it has been smooth sailing.
Free speech
Indymedia regularly targeted by government(s)
So we should perhaps not be surprised then, to learn the the U.S .Government, in partnership with other governments (or they on their own), have officially targeted Indymedia through the actions of the dirty tricks department of CIA and FBI. Even local cops are induced to cooperate. Of course, CIA is getting help from OTHER governments, too, as we shall see. Thankfully, they got their tits caught in the ringer.
I like that image. CIA with tits. The sucklings must be quite undernourished, having been renditioned no doubt.
Let’s take a look at the time line of increasingly common, increasingly blatant, and ever escalating events:
free speech
Aug. 2000, Police block Indymedia satellite feed covering Democratic National Convention
Indymedia was starting to broadcast coverage of the Democratic National Convention from their Los Angeles studio. Not to be. Police descended and shut them down claiming there were explosives in a van in the adjacent parking some 20 feet from the Indymedia van. Funny, but there are no news reports of any such event in any news source. No bomb squad arrived.
July of 2001, police beat and arrest Indymedia journalists covering G8 Summit
This time in Genoa, Italy, while they were covering the G8 meet. They had set up a media center and broadcast facility in a closed school rented for the purpose. It was late night, and like the anti-globalism G8 protesters who had gathered in a nearby parking area, Indymedia staff was sleeping. Without warning, 150 Police attacked them melee style right where they lay and clubbed at least 60 so badly they had to be hospitalized. More than 500 were injured, one was killed, and 300 were arrested.
Perhaps at discovering their actions were being observed and recorded by Indimedia, Police then assaulted the IndyMedia team. Twenty Nine officers were indicted for grievous bodily harm, wrongful arrest, and even for planting evidence. Thirteen were convicted. Additionally, 45 assorted government officials, including Police, prison guards, and even doctors, were charged with physically and mentally abusing demonstrators and Indymedia staff while held in detention. It was Indymedia video evidence which assured convictions.
July of 2002, Police grenade seriously injures Indymedia reporter covering that year’s G8
While covering a different G8 Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Indymedia journalist Guy Smallman, while close in with protestors, was seriously injured by a Police grenade, and fired upon with unknown weapons. As he was in a crowd of protestors being attacked by Police we cannot claim the assault was personally directed at him, but like all journalists in such situations, you can bet press credentials were held high.
June 2004, Founding Member of Indymedia Ecuador assassinated by what were believed to be government thugs
Like the above event, not all events are solidly incriminating of governmental targeting, but the reasons for suspecting they are tied will become apparent. For instance, Lenin Cali Najera was a respected young man known for his work rescuing youngsters from the clutches of gangs, so you might think that the Ecuadorian officials would appreciate him. apparently not. He was shot to death in the jugular by men thought to be government agents by those at hand, fitting the modus operandi of paramilitary death squads. His would not be the only murder of Indymedia journalists.
It is unclear if there was any specific investigation or article written by Lenin which might shed light as to the motivation behind his murder. Any articles written by him would be in Spanish and as I do not speak Spanish, are not easily reviewed for the purpose. There seems to be no speculation about a specific article in any of the English accounts of his death, of which there are few. But at about the same time, an Indymedia article surfaced in Cyprus which led to quite a lot of trouble, lasting for several weeks before coming to a head. A blackhead, which burst wide open. And what a stench!
June 2004, CIA and US Military go head to head with Indymedia via Cypriot Police
It started when an Indymedia contributor, Petros Evdoka, published an article exposing a disinformation campaign tied to Cypriot political issues which were, thereby, being manipulated by the U.S. Department of Defense cyberwarriors of the same sort I’ve had to go head to head with in my Flight 800 shoot- down investigation. The Cyprus matter was hardly a ‘legal’ or proper thing for the military to be doing by any standards.
Someone took exception at the exposure almost immediately. Police descended upon the entire Evdoka family and questioned them mercilessly, the focus clearly how he had come by his information. In the exchange, the Police, evidently trying to underscore the seriousness of the matter and to further intimidate, inadvertently and quite unwisely stated that their raid was at the direction of CIA. Bad move, threatening a journalist, even an amateur, with information they can use against you.
That erupted into a month’s long battle between Indymedia, the Cyprus and US governments, and of course, CIA and the DOD. It eventually resulted in a victory for Indymedia. The Cyprus Government officially admitted it had yielded to US pressures to play co conspirator with CIA against Indymedia.
Oct. 2004 FBI raids Indymedia and seizes servers, shutting down massive portions of the network
After all, it is rare to ‘win’ a battle with CIA without paying a price. Revenge is a dish best served by covert counterintelligence operations from other quarters, it seems (a blind side attack). FBI moved to seize third-party Web servers hosting more than 20 international Indymedia Web services to the US, Germany, France, and UK, as well as worldwide audio streaming news services and conventional Web resources. Even in Switzerland, a neutral country not known for yesmanship, kowtowed to US pressures in a raid, there. Indymedia was served with gag orders to prevent them from reporting the incident as news. That did not work very well, apparently.
Wikpedia has a nice summary of this affair, but the highlights are this. The actual warrant called only for surrender of log files. Instead, Indymedia was shut down by confiscation of all storage mediums, prompting a barrage of criticism from groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Statewatch, IFJ, the International Federation of Journalists, and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters.
FBI strangely denied ‘involvement,’ stating that the orders were initiated at the request of the Italian government, which speculators believe was at the request of Cypriot officials, or the CIA, which maintains a strong influence in Italian affairs. No one knows where the confiscated material went, or how or even if it was used in any investigation. Gag orders would seem to circumvent your right to know. In my own life, I doubt I will EVER obey a gag order of that sort. Make me a martyr for it, if you will, .gov. News is news, and truth is truth. It shall not be gagged by mere edict of a Judge in your pocket.
June of 2005, Local Police raid Indymedia UK and once more seize and shut down servers
Police ignored laws regarding journalistic protections and arrested an Indymedia employee at the site based on a submitted article which the Police deemed to be related to vandalism against a train connected to an upcoming G8 conference.’ Once more protests by professional organizations and watchdog groups followed, this time by UK groups NUJ, the National Union of Journalists, Liberty, and Privacy International.
July 2006, Indymedia server in San Francisco hacked by Zionist
THIS IMAGE GONE BLANK BECAUSE FBI SIEZED THE SERVERS!
Update: In July 2012, I accidentally noticed the image at right in support of this section was blank. Trying to find out why, I discovered ‘Server Not Found’. So I did some digging and found that not only had the Indymedia Server used by San Francisco been seized by FBI, but that no reason was given.
It appears they had relocated their server from San Francisco after the hacking incident described below and other problems in San Francisco with authorities, to Texas. FBI served a warrant on their Host as well as a GAG ORDER, so information is scant. FBI does state that it was NOT THE US GOVERNMENT that ordered the seizure, but ANOTHER UNSPECIFIED COUNTRY, the FBI responding to an International agreement of cooperation in matters of investigation of certain crimes. What kinds of crimes? Terrorism, kidnapping, and Money Laundering. So apparently those villainous Indymedia types have discovered a way to write news stories that make people captive against their will, and to launder money associated with their ransom, and then magically became exploding underwear?
More likely, the server was taken at the request of Israel’s Mossad. Take a look at the rest of my original article on the hacking event, and that assumptions will make some sense: The censored photo was evidence of participation by Mossad in attacks on US News Media (Indymedia). The only places it existed on the Web were, it seems, by links to the original image at IndyMedia. By shutting down Indymedia, they automatically censored the entire Web access to the image. I would therefore assume that if I had copied the image and posted it from my own computer, FBI would now have my computer, too. Close one! Here is the original hacking incident which has apparently led to censorship:
Hacked severely by a ‘Zionist’ hacker, indeed, who left a calling card to prove his Zionist motivation. There are no direct ties to any government, but as Indymedia has been a real pain in the ass to Israeli by covering violent actions against Palestinian and like misadventures, it would not surprise me to learn Mossad was the true source of the attack. I suppose this makes me an anti-Semite by Anti Defamation League standards, for so thinking. Whatever.
But wait. It was in this time frame that San Francisco was perusing a law suite against the ADL and B’nai B’rith (a Mossad infested version of ADL) for their participation in illegal spying operations against American Citizens in cooperation with San Francisco, Portland, and 18 other Police Departments, and other entities. Indymedia was covering that with clarity. San Francisco eventually had to drop the suit because of intimidation by the ADL and other external pressures insisting it anti semitic prosecution. So perhaps my supposition of Mossad hacking is not so supposing after all?
Look at the calling card (right). I did. Note the domain littlegreenfootballs.com. This Web site has had eight registrars (places they registered the name) on 36 changes between 19 unique name servers with 63 changes on 23 unique IP addresses in six years. The ‘owner’ (a shell corporation, colours Ltd) operates 2,509 other domains. A useful set of tools to make tracking true ownership and association ‘difficult.’ The site is full of pro-Mossad ‘information.’
Update: Since my original post, and perhaps as yet another indicator that Mossad requested the FBI hit on Indymedia S.F., it turns out that littlegreenfootballs.com has changed hands yet again, and now, the content no longer has anything whatsoever to do with Israel and the Zionist material once found there.
In fact, it is a bit of a ‘mock site’ designed around a ‘shell’ or ‘skin’ I recognize as common to several CIA operated ‘commercial web sites.’ So you get a lot of ads and links that make it look like a decent, ordinary site on the edges, which are nothing but fluff and camouflage, and the disinfo in the middle. Again, what they present there is really intending to make non mainstream media look bad (today, for instance, it tries to make Alex Jones look crazy for talking about the Aurora shooting as false flag, and then proceeds to reveal information painting it as ties to Muslim terrorism.
How do we always seem to come up with these condemning terrorism details so quickly after an event? Like finding the wallet of the terrorist pilot on the street after nothing else identified with any passenger of the 9-11 aircraft survived the crash. Convenient. Back to the original article, and one more update section, below…
Oct. 2006, Police in civilian garb suspected of shooting Indymedia journalist to death
New Yorker Bradley Roland Will was killed covering a protest in Oaxaca, Mexico regarding a teacher’s strike. He and two protesters where shot to death by ‘upset residents’ who were later tentatively identified as Police by the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Despite this, Associated Press claims that some protesters were also armed and it was actually more of a shoot out than outright murder. However, this was the event which, due to the more popular media accounts as a murder, sparked what many refer to as a revolt in the State of Oaxaco by the APPO, The Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca.
September, 2009, U.S. Army violates Posse Comitatus and arrests Indymedia reporter, destroys her camera, seizes video
Members of the U.S. Army (possibly National Guard) operating illegally as deputized Police in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, arrested Indymedia reporter Melissa Hill and three other reporters covering the G20 Conference in Pittsburg. Her camera was destroyed and her media confiscated. The military was even operating the jail and running the booking operation per her YouTube interview. Unless Martial Law has been declared, it is illegal for military to engage in Police actions. This has been something the Military has been repeatedly in violation of since 1990, in a long list of states, with Oregon, California, and Texas NGs being the most frequent abusers. This abuse will be the subject of another blog.
April 2010, Police use invalid warrant to illegally raid home of Editor for Gizmodo
San Mateo Police use an invalid warrant to raid the home of an Editor for Gizmodo, destroying his front door and seizing his computers and other equipment, the warrant being exercised when the home was empty. Not only was the warrant invalid in legal terms, but the hours allowed for its use were ignored. The raid was prompted by an article written for Gizmodo. Journalists are protected from warrants seeking materials related to their work by State and Federal law.
Also April 2010, Cops and the District Attorney illegally raid a student newspaper
Seven Officers and the District Attorney entered the offices of The Breeze, a student newspaper for the James Madison University in Harrisburg, VA, and threatened to seize all computers if they did not turn over all photographs in their possession relating to a party covered by one of their reporters where violence had broken out. There was a warrant but the student journalist was quick to point out that the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 prohibited such a warrant, at which time the threats were made and the student relented. Police copied hundreds of photos to a CD, including many unrelated to the party, further in violation of their own warrant.
Dec. 2010, The French Minister of the Interior attacks Indymedia with accusations of being out to get Police
The French Minister of the Interior (like the head of the Justice Department in the U.S.) claimed Indymedia was attempting to identify Police and endanger their safety. What? I thought Police were supposed to identify themselves on request. The link is largely in french save some casual comments giving summary and personal opinion.
May 2011, Google in possible collusion with U.S. intelligence community enables assault on Indymedia viability
Google, often described as partnering with the U.S. intelligence community, modifies their search engines to de-rank Indymedia in search results. Simultaneously, a hack was attempted of Indymedia resources to augment the Google de-ranking to burry articles 20 pages deep in searches. Also simultaneously, a flood of tactically anti-Semitic comments hit the UK Indymedia resulting in accusations of ani Semitism in an attempt to discredit the organization, and a like flood of intimidating criticisms and accusations against legitimate Indymedia contributors (name calling, etc.).
free speech
What about the rest of media? Are they free from abuse of power issues?
Indymedia is not the only one to suffer such ills. While it is popular to see mainstream media as controlled, they do sometimes get out of hand with their Masters and end up causing problems. Sometimes a little corrective conditioning is required to remind them where their hearts should really lay. Here is a partial list of a growing epidemic of Police and government assault on journalistic free speech. I fear it is only a matter of time before Congress will once more attempt to censure free speech entirely with a Sedition law which makes any criticism of government, even with evidence of wrongdoing, a Federal crime. It has already been attempted in form.
More than 1,100 journalists and support staff have been killed over the last ten years while at their job. Below follows a very brief list which represents about an hour’s effort to locate and document. While it is a global phenomenon most commonly found in association with a Globalist agenda or in an oppressive regime, I have tried to focus mostly on U.S. examples. The bulk came from a single source. You can easily find more, as seen in the surprisingly good two pages of video reports by Russian’s RT Network, and this page detailing all known incidents in Egypt.
April 8 2003, Al Jazeera’s office in Bagdad rocket attacked by a US warplane
The DOD had been given its coordinates by Al Jazeera in exchange for assurances it would not be attacked. Correspondent Tareq Ayyoub was killed while reporting live on details of a firefight some distance from his balcony. His coverage did not include or illustrate local combatants being present, but the US insists the attack was due to fire from his building.
Also April 8 2003, US Abrams tank opens fire on hotel where more than 100 journalists are located
The Palestine Hotel is where non embedded international journalists were under armed quarantine ‘for their protection.’ The attack hit the Reuters office on the 15th floor killing two cameramen. The U.S. military again claimed self defense, despite counter claims by multiple news agencies present including a French team which video taped the incident. The Pentagon countered that non embedded journalists should get out of Dodge, an implied threat gently worded. Embedded Journalism, when unbalanced with non embedded, is a controlled media.
March 2004, US Soldiers shoot 2 journalists dead at a checkpoint, Reuters cameraman shot by US fire filming combatants
The Pentagon claims the shootings were within the ‘rules of engagement,’ fail to mention a tank collided with the vehicle they were in.
Jan and March of 2004, three Reuters staffers and two Al Jazeera reporters detained and brutalized by U.S. forces
In the case of Reuters, it was immediately after they had filmed a crash of a U.S. Chopper.
Nov. 2009, Man arrested for taking video of public statement for possible news worthiness
Quite odd because he had already filmed the same participants the day before, and both knew and accompanied them to the two-day event.
June 2010, Police harass, beat, arrest journalist covering G20
Jesse Rosenfeld was abused without provocation as he was held by two officers and hit by a third because one officer did not believe his press credentials were genuine. Journalist Jesse Rosenfeld reports for the Gaurdian, Now Magazine, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, The Montreal Mirror, and CBC Radio Canada.
And, my personal favorite, and the best possible place to end the article with a bang:
April 2011, Maui Times Publisher assaulted by bounty hunters and then Police for video interview
Not Wanted (from dogthebountyhunter.com) Thank You
Publisher Tommy Russo was covering with (video) matters relating to the TV Reality show “Dog the Bounty Hunter” (which I firmly believe is a CIA propaganda exploit, it being true that CIA runs a school for bounty hunters as I document in my book set, Fatal Rebirth) when he was confronted by a member of the show’s security team (a BIG guy), who is adamant he stop video NOW. Russo identifies himself as media and asserts his right to video in public any public event, and that’s when the big guy bashes him in the face without warning.
Russo tries to call Maui Police. While trying to call 9-11 for help, the security man takes his camera (phone) it and throws it while hitting Russo in the mouth. It is a crime to interfere with a 9-1-1 call. After regaining the phone, multiple dogs are screaming at him as he is trying once more to talk to the 9-1-1 operator, all happening while the Police actually show up. All they see is a lot of shouting at one guy, so he must be the bad guy, right?
Exact replay: A cop then attacks Russo as well, without warning of any kind, ostensibly for the same cause, that he was attempting to document everything on video. Their claim is because it was ‘an agressive movement. ’ The movement? He turned (rotated) toward the officer to whom he was responding, who punched him and grabbed his phone for the third time, again.
Moral might be: shoot a gun, not a camera when they are that big and ornery :}
free speech
What can you do as a citizen to reclaim media?
Simple. Be the media. Learn about Indymedia. Keep a video capable device with you, always. You never know when you will be at the right place at the right time. I wound up sitting in the middle of a Police Command Post during an unrighteous Police shooting of an elderly man, and heard the lies they foisted on the public in the process. They were informed in the Command Post that the man had a .22 cal starter’s pistol (fires blanks), but they told media he was armed with two other larger weapons. Hopefully you will never have to experience anything as dramatic and traumatic as that, but the point is, be ready to tell the truth because you cannot count on Police or media to do so in your absence.
If YOU want to know the truth, you must also be wiling to SHARE the truth with others, or you don’t deserve to complain when you don’t get it.
When you see Police or any other form of violence, get it on video, and make verbal comments as you go on details as to where and what circumstances, etc. Some communities (fascist rule) prohibit video taping cops. I don’t care it there is a law against it or not. If they are behaving badly, the law and any court daring to enforce it be damned. You can make that choice for yourself. With or without video, write it up and submit it to Indymedia, and get any video on YouTube (you can reference the video at YouTube in your article).
Final update: In looking for the San Francisco server, I also discovered more than a dozen more examples of independent media assaults undertaken by government. Most were server seizures, but there were also physical assaults, and in one instance, arrest and prosecution for felonies and other charges for simply being present covering a breaking news story of a crime in progress (if you call a sit in a crime)… essentially charging the reporter and camera crew with the same crime as those effecting the story. What is wrong with this picture? Oh, I forgot. They took the picture, so you don’t get to see it!
End of speech.
End of article.
End of free speech in journalism?
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Posted in Astronomy, Conspiracy, Journalism, Political Commentary
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Tags: Freedom of speech, IndyMedia, Journalism