[Fwd: Fwd: Reporter Palast Slips Clutches of Homeland Security]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fwd: Reporter Palast Slips Clutches of Homeland Security
Date:
From:
To: Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...>, Larry Ahearn <LARRYA1966@...>
References: @...>

Begin forwarded message:

> This is update from Greg Palast ...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Greg Palast [mailto:palast@...]
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:04 PM
> *To:* Wasley, Maureen
> *Subject:* Reporter Palast Slips Clutches of Homeland Security
>
>
> REPORTER PALAST SLIPS CLUTCHES OF HOMELAND SECURITY
>
>
>
> September, 14, 2006
>
> Forget the orange suit. Exxon Mobil Corporation, which admits it was > behind the criminal complaint brought by Homeland Security against me > and television producer Matt Pascarella, has informed me that the oil > company will no longer push charges that Pascarella and I threatened > "critical infrastructure."
>
> The allegedly criminal act, which put us on the wrong side of > post-9/11 anti-terror law, was our filming of Exxon's Baton Rouge > refinery where, nearby, 1,600 survivors of Hurricane Katrina remain > interned behind barbed wire.
>
> I have sworn to Homeland Security that we no longer send our footage > to al-Qaeda -- which, in any case, can get a much better view of the > refinery and other "critical infrastructure" at Google maps > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL21hcHMuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS9tYXBzP2Y9cSZhbXA7aGw9ZW4mYW1wO3E9NDA0NStTY2VuaWMrSHd5LCtCYXRvbitSb3VnZSwrTEErNzA4MDUmYW1wO2llPVVURjgmYW1wO3o9MTUmYW1wO2xsPTMwLjQ4NzE0MywtOTEuMTY5MTQzJmFtcDtzcG49MC4wMTY1MzEsMC4wNTQyNDUmYW1wO3Q9ayZhbXA7b209MSZhbXA7aXdsb2M9QQ%3D%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...>.
>
> Given Exxon's back-down, I hope to confirm with Homeland Security, > Baton Rouge, that charges will be dropped today.
>
> Matt and I want to thank you, our readers and viewers, for your > extraordinary and heartfelt responses. Public support undoubtedly led > Exxon to call off the feds. >
> Of course, this was never about our tipping off Osama that Louisiana > contains oil refineries. This has an awful lot to do with a petroleum > giant's sensitivity to unflattering depictions of their plants which > are major polluters along Louisiana's notorious "Cancer Alley." >
> I've learned that, in April last year, Exxon brought a similar > Homeland Security charge against Willie Fontenot, an assistant to the > Attorney General of Louisiana. Fontenot was guiding a group of > environmental studies pupils from Antioch College on a tour of Cancer > Alley. Exxon's complaint about the "national security" threat posed > by their photos of the company's facility cost Fontenot his job.
>
> The issue is not national security but image security. You can get > all the film you want from Exxon of refineries if you'll accept nice, > sanitized VPRs (video press releases) of clean smokestacks surrounded > by happy herons.
>
> What's dangerous is not that reporters will end up in Guantanamo; the > insidious effect of these threats is to keep networks from filming > government and corporate filth, incompetence and inhumanity. Besides > the Exxon foolishness, our camera crew was also blocked from filming > inside the notorious Katrina survivors trailer encampment.
>
>
> Furthermore earlier that same day, a FEMA contractor had grabbed our > camera, in mid-interview, when polite but pointed questions exposed > their malfeasance.
>
> As with Exxon, the bar from filming at the refugee camp and in the > offices of the government contractor were presented to us as a > "Homeland Security" matter. >
>
> After the September 11 attacks, CBS Newsman Dan Rather said, "George > Bush is the President. �Wherever he wants me to line up, just tell me > where."
>
> Reporters who step out of line, who ask uncomfortable questions and > film uncomfortable scenes, soon find their careers toasted, as Dan can > attest to.
>
>
> One of George Bush's weirder acts in office (and that's saying a lot) > was to move FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose main > job is to save us from floods and earthquakes, into the control of the > Department of Homeland Security. Exxon's refineries, once "pollution > source points" scrutinized by government watchdogs, are now "critical > infrastructure" protected by federal hounddogs.
>
> As the front lines in the War on Terror expand from Baghdad to Baton > Rouge, we find that America has been made secure only against hard > news and uncomfortable facts.
>
>
> Again, our sincere thanks and gratitude for your support. Cakes with > files have been consumed.
>
> - Greg Palast, New York
>
> *****
>
> Many of you have asked for copies of the film which threatened > national security. In response to your requests, with the permission > of LinkTV > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL2xpbmt0di5jb20v&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...>, > we are making "Big Easy to Big Empty: the Untold Story of the > Drowning of New Orleans" available on DVD. The disc will also include > an interview of reporter Greg Palast by Democracy Now's > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kZW1vY3JhY3lub3cub3JnLw%3D%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...> > Amy Goodman plus an excerpt from Palast's bestseller, Armed Madhouse > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ncmVncGFsYXN0LmNvbS9tYWRob3VzZS9pbmRleC5waHAvb3JkZXItdGhlLWJvb2sv&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...> > on the topic, "Class War and Hurricane Katrina."
>
> For a copy of the film, I am asking for a modest, tax-deductible > donation to our foundation, the Palast Investigative Fund > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL2dyZWdwYWxhc3QuY29tL3ByZW1pdW1zLmh0bQ%3D%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...>. > The fund supports our work and pays our legal fees.
>
>
>
>
> /Y//ou may change your email address or unsubscribe from the > newsletter member page > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ncmVncGFsYXN0LmNvbS9tYWlsaW5nL21lbWJlci8%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...>. > (If you don't have a password for the member page, you can have one > sent to you > <http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ncmVncGFsYXN0LmNvbS9tYWlsaW5nL21lbWJlci9mb3Jnb3RfcHdkLnBocA%3D%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=MzI0OTk%3D&CampaignID=32&CampaignStatisticsID=12&Demo=0&Email=mwasley@...>.)/ ---

--
Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
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