Sarah Olson & Lt. Watada
Well it’s been quite a job but I have managed to move the website to a new provider. Still trying to get all the url redirect stuff figured out so be sure you have the new address bookmarked in your browser. If you have any problems with the podcast feed or blog try unsubscribing and subscribing again and that should give you the new one. I know there must be an easier way...any techies out there? Instead of 1 gig storage I’ll now have 40 gigs so that means I can have an interactive blog and you’ll be able to post! (As soon as I figure it out)
Here’s a few pictures from the Women & Media session covered in this week’s podcast:
Karen Toering,with Reclaim the Media
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, with Third World Majority is sitting on the left. I’m sorry I forgot the speaker’s name but she is the one in the podcast who said she’d only been doing this for a couple of years.
Emily with the Prometheus Radio Project waiting in line to speak.
I think this is Jennifer L. Pozner, with Women in Media & News
(I should have taken notes...let me know if I'm wrong on any of these)
Wish I could join the folks going to Washington DC this weekend. I know a caravan from The Farm in Summertown is going. Hoping to at least do my little part here on the web. STOP THE WAR NOW! BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
NO BLOOD FOR OIL! There...I feel better...Here’s hoping the turn out is huge and the media is unable to completely ignore it.
Sarah Olson was in Memphis at the National Conference for Media Reform speaking about Lt Watada (see below) in one of the workshops I attended. I missed her intro on the podcast but she’s the one asking everyone to write the army. She could face a felony charge & up to 6 months in jail. Please read about her story.
On June 22, 2006, U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada stepped forward as the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the Iraq War and occupation. He faces court martial and up to 6 years imprisonment for refusing to deploy and for speaking out against a war that he believes is illegal.
Here is his site....his court martial date is feb 5th
Bush's war is illegal
The war on trial: an Army officer risks prison to argue that Bush's war is illegal
San Francisco Bay Guardian
By Paul Rockwell
It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed — not for lying, but for telling the truth; not for breaking a covenant with the military, but for upholding the rule of law in wartime.
The court-martial of First Lt. Ehren Watada is set for Feb. 5 in Fort Lewis, Wash. The 28-year-old soldier from Hawaii is the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq.
He is charged with "missing movement" and "conduct unbecoming an officer" including the "use of contemptuous words for the President."
The story has received a fair amount of media attention, in part because the Pentagon is trying to force three journalists to testify against Watada (see "A Reporter Stands Up to the Army," 1/10/07).
(excerpt from SF Bay Guardian on Lt Watada’s website)
You can read this entire article on his site. Sara (pictured above) is one of the three journalists facing felony charges if she doesn’t cooperate with the government on this case.
This is an excerpt from Sarah that was posted on Michael Moore’s website...
'Why I Object to Testifying Against Lt. Watada' ...by Sarah Olson
The U.S. Army has cobbled together portions of my interview with Lieutenant Watada and these statements comprise the foundation of one charge of conduct unbecoming an officer. To substantiate this alleged crime, the Army has subpoenaed me to testify on behalf of their prosecution.
The dynamics of the situation are clear. When the military chooses to prosecute a soldier for expressing dissenting political positions to a member of the press, that journalist is unwittingly and inevitably forced into the middle of the conflict.
Among multiple issues this raises, it begs one central question: Doesn’t it fly in the face of the First Amendment to compel a journalist to participate in a government prosecution against a source, particularly in matters related to personal political speech?
It is my job as a professional journalist to report the news, not to act as the eyes and ears of the government. I am repelled by this approach that jeopardizes my credibility and seeks to compel my participation in muting public speech and dissenting personal opinion.
According to an article on Moore’s website by The Christian Science Monitor, 300,000 protesters are expected in Washington DC Sat. Jan 27th for a Protest Rally against the war. I bet you won’t see hardly any coverage about it on the TV news. Maybe there’ll be something on c-span. Check out U-Tube for coverage. That’s something corporate media can’t wrap their brain around...yet...we all have camera phones, video cameras and we’re posting it all to the web. If the Kennedy assassination happened in this day and age there would be no controversy about the grassy knoll...we’d watch it on you tube and find out the truth for ourselves.
Power to the people!
Peace & Love,
Val
AVALON FARMBLOG
Friday, January 26, 2007
