London Woolwich attack terrorism?

23 May 2013

Ninety-five percent of the news report headlines accused the brutal attack on the London streets as a terror attack or "act of terrorism".  Although the incident was a brutal one, I tend to disagree, what does terrorism mean and how is it defined?  Yes, the attackers yelled, "Allahu Akbar" and cited Islam during the attack, but they were also avenging the continuous UK violence against Muslims.

Terrorism is an act of violence that deliberately targets civilians as in the embassy bombings, subway bombings, the bombing of airplanes.  This term is used in the effect to distinguish the difference between how the western world "targets" civilians and how terrorists target civilians.  We use F-16's, helicopters and drones.  They blow up their bodies to take as many people with them as possible.

The London attackers are quoted as saying, "A British soldier, and eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth."  This means that the attackers focused the attack on a British soldier, not civilians.  The difference between us and "them" is in the terms.  We attack combatants are the targets not civilians on their soil and land.  Western nations continuously kill Muslim civilians, yet it is not called an act of terrorism.  The U.S. has prisoners in Guantanamo merely because of act of violence not terrorism.  Yet, we have been known to commit horrible acts of violence against the same prisoners.

Okay, the solder was not in uniform or on duty.  Yet, the western nations kill people in their sleep, in their homes, while shopping or eating at a cafe and this is not terrorism?  The U.S. has redefined the word "militant" as any military aged male in a strike zone.  It is all about the lingo.

The identification terms have been widely broadened to make killing just about anyone okay.  We don't even have to wake them up from their sleep before they are shot.  How can killing a soldier from a nation who is at war an act of terrorism?

Was not the US shock attack on Baghdad an act of terrorism?  One of the attackers said, "The only reason we killed this man is because they are killing Muslims daily."  It was an act of vengeance and retaliation.  It was an act to gain attention to the western nations about their cause to try to get people to wake up and stop their violence.

During the Reagan administration the United States funded and supported Central American milita's that murdered civilians.  Our drones terrorize the local populations so they stop to harbor those that the western nations deem to be terrorists.  There are government sanctions on trade and food to practically starve out populations in the attempt to force them to change their governments and policies.

The problem with the news and others freely using this term is that the word is packed with political, cultural and emotional punches that put the conversation to a halt and can justify just about any action that is deemed desirable.  I have looked in depth on this word when I first started covering the conflict between the Israeli's and Palestinians and still ask the same questions.

I boil it down to this, "An act of violence by any Muslim in retaliation against any violence acted against Muslims."  The news reports could have said, "Muslim hacks  UK soldier in London streets in retaliation against the killing of elderly Muslim earlier this month."

The headlines read last month something like this:  Elderly Muslim stabbed in apparent anti-Muslim hate crime."  Was there any hint of terrorism in that headline or the following paragraphs?  The answer is no there was not.  My question is this:  what makes one act a terrorist act and the other simply an Anti-Muslim hate crime?

Something to think about.

crossing borders project: Kickstarter: Portland's Homeless Shepherd's Door Fourth Roll

crossing borders project: Kickstarter: Portland's Homeless Shepherd's Door Fourth Roll

These are the last of the selected images for the workshops and we are moving forward!  Now, we gather the images into a short film to create the represented stories.  Keep in tune.

crossing borders project: Portland Shepherd's Door: Third Roll

crossing borders project: Portland Shepherd's Door: Third Roll

crossing borders project: Portland Rescue Mission: Roll Three

crossing borders project: Portland Rescue Mission: Roll Three

crossing borders project: Roll Two: Portland Rescue Mission Men's Images

crossing borders project: Roll Two: Portland Rescue Mission Men's Images

I am about to scream

We might as well be putting skeletons on our foods as a warning to those who dare to cook and eat it.

It’s unbelievable, but Monsanto and Co. are at it again. These profit-hungry biotech companies have found a way to exclusively ‘own’ something that freely belongs to us all -- our food! They’re trying to patent away our everyday vegetables and fruits like cucumber, broccoli and melons, forcing growers to pay them and risk being sued if they don’t.

But we can stop them from buying up Mother Earth. Companies like Monsanto have found loopholes in European law to get away with this, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands -- where opposition is already growing -- to call for a vote to stop Monsanto’s plans. The Avaaz community has shifted governments before, and we can do it again.

Many farmers and politicians are already against this -- we just need to bring in people power to pressure these countries to keep Monsanto’s hands off our food. Sign now and share with everyone to help build the biggest food defense call ever.

Excuse me, for knocking on the Monsanto thing so much but I feel that we are in "code orange" (forget the pun).  The EU is one of the last safe food regions in the world.  America is about over and has anyone tasted some of these melons?  I swear, I ate a melon that was grown in Mexico that tasted like chemicals.  

This company is literally starving the people in this world and causing cancer, fertility problems, and more.  Why can't we stand up and fight anymore?  Is our government that corrupt?

Please sign this petition and any that you see on this issue...NEVER STOP UNTIL WE CAN STOP IT.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_loc/?btknHab&v=23909

crossing borders project: First Roll Images - Portland Rescue Mission Workshop

crossing borders project: First Roll Images - Portland Rescue Mission Workshop

crossing borders project: Portland Rescue Mission History and Participants

crossing borders project: Portland Rescue Mission History and Participants

crossing borders project: 4 Days Left - Portland's Homeless Project

crossing borders project: 4 Days Left - Portland's Homeless Project

crossing borders project: Homeless and Income Inequality in America

This is an awakening to America's economic reality.  Please read the article and view the video I posted on my other blog.  It relates to the Crossing Borders Project; Portland's Homeless Project.  Pass it around and share.  We really need to wake up and make changes before we get to the point of no return.  If we are not there already.

crossing borders project: Homeless and Income Inequality in America

Bank of America Continuing their Fraud Tactics

Don't forget the problem we have had from activities from 2005 until everything went haywire in 2008 with one of the largest mortgage companies in America, The Bank of America.  They were instrumental to the failing of our economy, people loosing their homes due to non response to their customers, tagging huge fines on homeowners and literally taking homes back from even those who were current on their payments.

Although the BofA paid our government millions of dollars in paybacks, many of those who were affected did not receive any benefits from that money.  After the BofA paid this money it seems that the subject and attention was taken away from the BofA.  However, the bank continues to fail in customer communications by failing to return calls, trailing the caller from one person to another, ignore written communication and fails to answer inquiries from lawyers.  They have not changed in their mode of service nor have sharpened their loan policies.

I hear and read story after story of people who felt that they were given proper information before a new mortgage loan (I ask why would anyone go to BofA?) trusted the loan officer and had huge difficulties from the signing of their new mortgage loan.

I ask that you out there in America land, continue to ban this bank, remove your accounts and take them elsewhere, do not even attempt to get a mortgage loan or any other loan from this company.

Here are some samples of continual Fraud:

"Going into the loan application process we were VERY clear about what we could comfortably afford and said repeatedly that if those parameters would not work, to let us know and we would back out. We wanted to make certain we didn't take on something we could not afford and end up in foreclosure. We were told over and over by the loan officer that we were fine. Even when we received summaries that showed figures MUCH higher than our max agreed amount, we were assured many times that our loan officer was still "working the numbers". So taking her at her word we released our contingencies and moved forward. Then our escrow process went 30 days over, resulting in our living in a hotel as we had already given up our rental home based upon our contracted escrow closing date. I am told this can happen and was assured by the manager of our loan officer that we would be reimbursed for our expenses for having to stay at a hotel. So we made the best of a bad situation (2 young homeschooled kids, 2 large dogs, and 2 cats in a hotel room for any amount of time is NOT pleasant) and waited it out. The day before escrow finally closed we again contacted our loan officer to get our final numbers and were told she didnt have them in front of her but not to worry, they were what we wanted. So we went to sign our escrow docs. That was when we found out that our total monthly payment was $800 higher per month than our max agreed amount. "  Jan 2013

"B of A was supposed to do a forebearance or loan modification, at the same time a different office was handling the foreclosure. They sent foreclosure papers to court, without even finishing the loan modification. We were smart enough to figure out how to file a response to their foreclosure and stop it dead in its tracks, "in pro per". Next thing we know, we get a paper from B of A stating that they are no longer handling our case.. and they tacked the attorney and court fees on the loan for this next company that is taking it over. Their names are NationStar Mortgage." Dec 15, 2012

After one year of continual fighting and attempts of communication with BofA "So I finally called BofA and laid it all out on the line, that I was now aware that this process was a proven pattern of fraud, that I would fight them tooth and nail until the last possible moment and that I would rather see the house burn than allow their fraudulent actions lead to it's repossession. I said I would not accept anything less than an immediate modification as agreed and that I reserved the right to seek legal action in the future to recoup my other substantial related losses. Once I made my position clear it is almost as if the time to continue to defraud us was no longer worth it because we were magically approved for a modification 3 days later, after never submitting new paperwork. While it has not yet been finalized, we have expressly complied with the terms thus far and I am hopeful it is a step in the right direction. While we may never recoup all that we have lost, I am sharing this with the hope that someone else might read it and not become their next victim"

These are only a few of what I have been hearing.
Don't forget the crimes of B of A.

crossing borders project: America's Homeless

crossing borders project: America's Homeless

Fracking our Farms

(Photo Credit: “American Gasland,” artwork by River Side (marcellusprotest/Flickr))

Working the land is a difficult living. Rising costs and the encroachment of suburbs has led many farmers to seek out non-traditional sources of income. Leasing land to gas companies for hydro-fracking has become a potential lifeline for some.

Farmers who are in favor of fracking are facing opposition from environmental groups and sometimes even neighboring farms that might want to see the practiced banned. Some organic farmers are concerned with potential contamination from fracking activities that could threaten their livelihood by tainting their land.  

as much as 60 percentof land in one New York country has already been leased out. The Marcellus and Utica shale formations that are located upstate are thought to hold vast reserves of natural gas, and natural gas development is expanding.

A few farmers have become millionaires in best-case scenarios; others signed up quickly and receive only a small share of the overall royalties. Cornell researchers did, however, note that many leases are being obtained on the cheap.

Cornell professor Robert Oswald's study compared sickened wildlife to 'canaries in a coal mine.' (image credit:http://freelanceflaneur.blogspot.com)

The effects on fracking includes, possible tainted water in Wyoming, Ohio fracking caused earthquakes and may have caused some in the U.K., Hydro-frackers told the EPA that they use diesel - (what?), we may have less gas than we think, hydrofracking sickening animals and people

Below Reposted: Organic Consumer Association

A Tale
of Five Farming Families

Their names are Carol, Steve & Jackie, Susan, Marilyn & Robert, and Christine. They share a bond. Two bonds, actually: They all own, or owned, farms. And those farms, along with their own health and the health of their farm animals, have all been ruined by fracking.
 
More than 600,000 fracking wells and waste injection sites have popped up all over the country, according to ProPublica. The oil and gas industry, along with federal regulators, would have you believe that injecting trillions of gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth is harmless. Tell that to Jacki Schilke of North Dakota, who lost two dogs, five cows, chickens – and her health – after 32 oil and gas wells sprouted up within three miles of her ranch. Or Christine Moore, a horse rescuer in Ohio who sold her farm after a well went up five miles from her farm, creating an oily film on her water and making her too sick to care for her horses.
 
You’ve heard it before. No farms, no food. As one farmer said, “If they frack all the farms, there isn’t going to be any organic.”

With hundreds of thousands of fracking wells and waste injection sites in the U.S., it’s likely that our food supply already contains water, plants and animals (meat) contaminated with fracking chemicals. While we hear a lot about drinking water contamination, including people’s water catching on fire straight out of the faucet, that shouldn’t be our only concern. Contaminated crops and farm animals raised for food are also possible avenues for exposing humans to fracking chemicals.  

Of course, not all farm animals are destined for the food chain. Those unfortunate enough to live near fracking wells can tell us a lot about the potential danger from fracking chemicals to our own health. Farm animals have the same susceptibility to disease that we have, but because they are exposed continually to air, soil and groundwater, and have more frequent reproductive cycles, they exhibit diseases more quickly, presaging human health problems. A study involving interviews with animal owners who live near gas drilling operations revealed frequent deaths. Animals that survived exhibited health problems including infertility, birth defects and worsening reproductive health in successive breeding seasons. Some animals developed unusual neurological conditions, anorexia, and liver or kidney disease.

What causes those health problems? Among the hundreds of toxic chemicals used in fracking are arsenic, benzene,ethylene glycol (antifreeze), formaldehyde, lead, toluene, Uranium-238. and Radium-226. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ list of common health problems from exposure to fracking chemicals includes autism, asthma, cancer, heart disease, kidney failure, infertility, birth defects, allergies, endocrine diseases and immune system disorders. 

Farmers fighting back
Thankfully, many farmers are fighting back.  Here are the tales of five farmers on the front lines of the fracking fight who are heroically sharing their tragic stories with the world in an attempt to expose the lie that natural gas is “cleaner power.” 

Carol French, dairy farmer and cofounder of Pennsylvania Landowners Group for Awareness and Solutions (PLGAS). Carol’s Bradford County farm is surrounded by nine gas wells. Earlier this month, Carol posted to the Fracking Hell Facebook group that she had just lost three calves in nine days. “I have heard from other farmers with ‘changed’ water having similar problems,” she wrote. At the September 2012, Shale Gas Outrage protest in Philadelphia, Carol told the crowd how, two weeks after their water changed, her daughter developed a fever and diarrhea that turned to blood. She lost ten pounds in seven days. Watch Carol’s speech. 

Steve and Jacki Schilke North Dakota ranchers. There are 32 oil and gas wells within three miles of Steve and Jacki’s 160-acre ranch. Jacki blames the wells for the loss of two dogs, five cows and a number of chickens, as well as the decline of her own health. Her symptoms began a few days after the wells were fracked, when a burning feeling in her lungs sent her to the emergency room. After that, whenever she went outside she became lightheaded, dizzy and had trouble breathing. At times, the otherwise fit 53-year-old, can’t walk without a cane, drive or breathe easily. She warns landowners against making deals with frackers: “They're here to rape this land, make as much money as they can and get the hell out of here. They could give a crap less what they are doing here. They will come on your property look you straight in the eye and lie to you.” Watch Jacki talk about her experience. 

Susan Wallace-Babb, Colorado rancher. One day in 2005, Susan Wallace-Babb went out into a neighbor's field near her ranch in Western Colorado to close an irrigation ditch. She stepped out of her truck, took a deep breath and collapsed, unconscious. Later, after Susan came to and sought answers, a sheriff's deputy told her that a tank full of natural gas condensate less than a half mile away had overflowed into another tank. The fumes must have drifted toward the field where she was working, the deputy said. The next morning Susan was so sick she could barely move. She vomited uncontrollably and suffered explosive diarrhea. A searing pain shot up her thigh. Within days she developed burning rashes that covered her exposed skin, then lesions. Anytime she went outdoors her symptoms worsened. In 2006, she moved to Winnsboro, Texas, a small town two hours east of Dallas. In 2007, Susan testified in Congressional hearings on the health impacts of fracking. For three years her symptoms gradually improved, until she could work in her garden and go about her normal daily routine. Then, in early 2010, Exxon launched a project in an old oil field 14 miles away and began fracking wells to get them to produce more oil. Within months, Susan’s symptoms returned. Watch Susan’s testimony at the Congressional hearings.

Marilyn and Robert Hunt, West Virginia organic farmers. The Hunts own a 70-acre organic farm in Wetzel County, where they raise goats, chickens and cattle. When the landman from Chesapeake Energy approached the Hunts to lease their mineral rights, Marilyn did some research then turned down the offer. But that didn’t stop Chesapeake from, as she told ShaleReporter.com, “stealing gas from both sides of our property.” In 2010, Chesapeake received a permit for land disposal near her property and dumped waste on her land. “The water got little white flecks in it, and we started to get sick,” Marilyn said.  “We lost a whole lot of baby goats that got gastrointestinal disorders from drinking the water.” Some of the baby chicks her daughter was raising died of nervous system failure, and the ones that survived were deformed. Interestingly, though, the cattle that drink from the spring water on the highest point of her property were spared any adverse impact, leading Marilyn to believe it was the water contaminated by the fracking waste that caused the illnesses.

Christine Moore, Ohio horse rescuer. Christine Moore and her family lived a dream life rescuing horses deep inside Ohio’s Amish country. When a well was fracked five miles from her house in January 2012, Christine went door to door, begging her neighbors not to lease their land for fracking. But most of the town, many Amish and Mennonite, didn’t listen. Two months after the well near her home was fracked, the water went bad. An oily film formed across the surface of the water in her horses’ bowls. The water inside her home, pumped from her well and filtered through a softener, began giving her severe stomachaches. She sent her horses to a no-kill shelter in upstate Ohio and, in July, sold the property to her neighbor who, according to Tuscarawas County records, has oil and gas exploration leases on multiple properties. WatchChristine describe how fracking destroyed her horse farm. 

Related Article:
Questionable Economics of Shale and Gas

Palestinian Protesters Clash with Israelis in West Bank

Associated Press/Bernat Armangue - A masked Palestinian throws back a gas canister previously shoot by Israeli forces, not pictured, during a protest to support Palestinian prisoners, outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers at a rally Tuesday in support of four imprisoned Palestinians on hunger strike, as hundreds of inmates said they were refusing food for the day in solidarity with the fasting inmates. One of the four hunger-striking Palestinians is 35-year-old Samer Issawi whose health has severely deteriorated after he has refused food, on-and-off, for more than 200 days. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

I posted this because of the previous post and my involvement with those living in the West Bank.

Palestinians have staged protests across the West Bank all week in solidarity with the 4,500 prisoners held by Israel. Four of the prisoners are staging a hunger strike and the worsening condition of one, Samer Issawi, sparked the latest round of unrest between the protesters and Israeli troops.

More

Remember:  I conduct photojournalism workshops in the West Bank, so gather your group and come and learn a ton in the real world!  Workshops

Palestinian Refugees Right to Return

Reposted from Causes.com 

 Letter from prisoner Samer al-Issawi as it came from the Ministry of Prisoners:

 I turn with admiration to the masses of our heroic Palestinian people, to our Palestinian leadership, to all forces, parties and national institutions. I salute them for standing by our fight to defend our right to freedom and dignity. I draw my strength from my people, from all the free people in the world, from friends and the families of the prisoners who continue day and night chanting for freedom and an end to the occupation. My health has deteriorated dramatically and I'm hanging between life and death.

My weak body is collapsing but still able to be patient and continue the confrontation. My message is that I will continue until the end, until the last drop of water in my body, until martyrdom. Martyrdom is an honor for me in this battle. My martyrdom is my remaining bomb in the confrontation with the tyrants and the jailers, in the face of the racist policy of the occupation that humiliates our people and exercises against us all means of oppression and repression.

 I say to my people: I'm stronger than the occupation army and its racist laws. I, Samer al-Issawi, son of Jerusalem, send you my last will that, in case I fell as a martyr, you will carry my soul as a cry for all the prisoners, man and women, cry for freedom, emancipation and salvation from the nightmare of prisons and their harsh darkness. My battle is not only for individual freedom. The battle waged by me and by my heroic colleagues, Tariq, Ayman and Ja'affar, is everyone's battle, the battle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its prisons.

Our goal is to be free and sovereign in our liberated state and in our blessed Jerusalem. The weak and strained beats of my heart derive their steadfastness from you, the great people. My eyes, which started to lose their sight, draws light from your solidarity and your support of me. My weak voice takes its strength from your voice that is louder than the warden's voice and higher than the walls. I'm one of your sons, among thousands of your sons who are prisoners, still languishing steadfastly in the prisons, waiting for an end to be brought to their plight, their pains and the suffering of their families. The doctors told me I became exposed to stroke because of the disorder of my heartbeats, the shortage of sugar and the drop in blood pressure.

My body is full of cold and I can't sleep because of the continued pain. But despite the extreme fatigue and chronic headaches, as I move on my chair, I'm trying to summon all my resources to continue on the road till its end.

There is no going back, only in my victory, because I'm the owner of Right and my detention is invalid and illegal. Do not be afraid for my heart if it will stop, don't be afraid for my hands if they will be paralyzed. I am still alive now and tomorrow and after death, because Jerusalem is moving in my blood, in my devotion and my faith.

 Palestine 16/02/2013 The above letter (in Arabic) was published on 16 February on Shirin Issawi's Page in Facebook.

Translated to English and Hebrew by Free Haifa Please share it and act everywhere to save Samer Issawi and for all the people that were imprisoned for their struggle for freedom.

Needs, Wants and Art in Florence

Hi everyone,

This is my first "real video" and I made it for One Day on Earth Project!

Gemma my intern and I worked on this together and she did a ton of work, plus all of the editing!

Clap Clap Gemma!

Please view the video at this link, share to spread the work and provide feedback!

Also, the CB Project is now preparing to conduct workshops with homeless men and sheltered women in Portland, Oregon!  We have a total of 18 participants.

Needs, Wants and Art in Florence from Susan Brannon on Vimeo.

EMERGENCY MEETING SALEM, OREGON: Write a email

 
Please read this important message from Oregonians for Farm & Food Rights regarding proposed canola production in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Attend the hearing on Jan. 23 or submit your written comment to the Oregon Department of Agriculture by Jan. 25. 

Last fall, many of you testified against allowing canola production in the Willamette Valley. Thank you! Unfortunately, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) hasn't heard our message so we need your help again.  Even though only six farmers spoke in support of canola at last fall’s hearing, and 34 farmers said they would be directly harmed by canola, the ODA is still moving forward to allow canola production in the Williamette Valley. 

Please attend the public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 23rd, 9 am at the Salem Fairgrounds, in Salem, Oregon, at Cascade Hall. Bring a friend.  Bring a farmer! Submit your testimony and support your farmers.  We need to stand up to the ODA and let them know the public is watching.
  
The Willamette Valley is one of the world’s last five great seed-growing regions.  An unprecedented coalition of farmers – vegetable seed, wheat, clover, grass seed,  organic farmers, fresh produce growers, and even sugar beet seed farmers – have banded together to try to stop the harmful introduction of this crop in their region.  Our farmers truly need your help.  Our food system needs your help.
 
If you are unable to attend the hearing, please send in a written comment by Jan. 25 at 5pm. Written comments can be mailed to: Canola Hearings Officer, Department of Agriculture, 635 Capitol Street NE, Salem, OR 97301 or sent via email to: canola-rulemaking@oda.state.or.us.
 
Learn more about the impact canola would have in the Williamette Valley atwww.farmandfoodrights.org. Scroll down the homepage for a map and directions to the public hearing on Jan. 23.

SAMPLE EMAIL:

If only six farmers spoke in support of canola at last fall’s hearing, and 34 farmers said they would be directly harmed by canola why are you still allowing the production of Canola in the Valley?  Our country is supposed to be a Democracy and it is our taxes that keep you working.  You are paid to represent the majority of the people in your region, and it is clear that the majority does NOT want Canola production next to the local farmers in one of the world’s last five great seed-growing regions that grow vegetable seed, wheat, clover, grass seed,  organic farmers, fresh produce growers, and even sugar beet seed farmers.

I ask of you to save the economy in the Willamette by not allowing the contamination of Canola.
I ask you to represent the people and not the corporations and dollar.

Big Problems at the Sun London

This is an example of good journalism:  (sarcasm noted) Yet the tabloid keeps going and going and going...

A Sun reporter, understood to be Anthony France, has become the 22nd journalist from the News International tabloid to be arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into inappropriate payments to public officials between 2004 and 2011.

The Metropolitan police said that a journalist, a 39-year-old man, was arrested on Thursday morning in Hertfordshire by detectives from Operation Elveden, on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and suspected conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office. He has been taken to a station in north London.

The journalist is the Sun reporter France, according to a News International source.

Two serving police officers were also arrested at 6am on Thursday, bringing the number of individuals detained as part of Operation Elveden to 56.

Read more

Major papers' longform meltdown : Columbia Journalism Review

No one equates story-length with quality. Let’s start with that concession.

But still. Story-length is hardly meaningless when you consider what it takes to explain complex problems, like say, the financial crisis, to the broader public. Or when you consider what it takes to lay out the evidence needed to properly support a story that makes explosive allegations against a powerful institution. It takes space.

Put another way, there’s a reason David Barstow’s landmark expose of bribery and high-level cover-ups at WalMart ran to more than 7,000 words.

So, all in all, it’s more than instructive to check in on longform newspaper writing, and the start of a new year isn’t a bad time to do it.

And it’s pretty to shocking to see what’s become of the time-honored form since the newspaper industry’s great unraveling started a decade ago.

The Los Angeles Times, for instance, published 256 stories longer than 2,000 words last year, compared to 1,776 in 2003—a drop of 86 percent, according to searches of the Factiva database. The Washington Post published 1,378 stories over 2,000 words last year, about half as many as 2003 when it published 2,755. The Wall Street Journal, which pioneered the longform narrative in American newspapers, published 35 percent fewer stories over 2,000 words last year from a decade ago, 468 from 721.

Read More....
Major papers' longform meltdown : Columbia Journalism Review

Transparency Isn't Treason: NY Times Journalist questions charge

PFC Bradley Manning. Photograph: AFP/Brendan Smialowski/Getty

Susan Brannon

20 January 2013

I agree with the New York Times editor Margaret Sullivan and the Los Angeles Times editorial regarding the charges against Bradley Manning.  Our Press freedom is at stake, those how would be our sources is at stake and journalists who help keep our governments accountable to its citizens through investigative reporting are at stake.  In the end, our freedom is at stake.  With these types of open ended interpretations of our laws, then anyone could be viewed as "aiding our enemy" with the call for treason. If a journalists finds important information that the public has the right to know, and a high level government official does not like the "news" then what was written can be twisted and viewed in a way that could lead to "aiding the enemy". 

Manning did not have evidence of contact with "hostile nations or terrorists"...in fact, how that that phrase be viewed? Am I as a journalist, who has entered into Gaza, Jenin, Ramallah considered having contact with "hostile nations"?  I was reporting the news plain and simple.  I went into Jenin after 40 days of incursion and bombing of tons of homes to report what had happened.  Yes, I admit I did speak to some Palestinians, and that is not a crime.  I interviewed people who were eye witnesses to what happened while all news agencies were blocked form entering.  Actually, I snuck inside during near the end of the 40 day incursion, bullet proof vest and all.  Could our American government now say that I may have both "aided the enemy and had contact with hostile nations?  The contact depending on which side is the "right" side, actually.  I had contact on both sides, I spoke with the IDF, Mozan, those on the ground.  Umm, what enemy did I aid?  I wonder.

Repost: Bradley Manning Website

Last week in Fort Meade, MD, government prosecutors said that if PFC Bradley Manning had released documents to the New York Times instead of WikiLeaks, they would still charge him with indirectly ‘aiding the enemy,’ which carries a life sentence.

This would be unprecedented: never before has a soldier been sent to jail for ‘aiding the enemy’ as a result of giving information to a news outlet. Government prosecutors argue that Manning needn’t have intended to aid the enemy; merely that he knew Al Qaeda could use the information is enough. This would turn all government whistle-blowing into treason: a grave threat to both potential sources and American journalism.

Following this contention in court, the Los Angeles Times called on the government to drop the ‘aiding the enemy’ charge, writing in an editorial, “That charge strikes us as excessive in the absence of evidence that Manning consciously colluded with hostile nations or terrorists.”

Since then, even higher-profile media members have condemned the military’s pernicious claim and the precedent it would set. In an email in which she explained she couldn’t speak on behalf of her newspaper but could comment as a lifelong journalist and a former newspaper editor, New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan said,

“The implications for press freedom in the Bradley Manning prosecution trouble me, as does the federal government’s unprecedented targeting, in recent years, of whistleblowers and those who leak to the press.  The issues certainly aren’t black and white, but if the public expects the press to do its crucial job in our democracy, people ought to be more worried than they apparently are.  And I agree with the Los Angeles Times editorial that the “aiding the enemy” charge, which could result in a life sentence, is excessive.”

New York Times columnist and former executive editor Bill Keller said, “I think the treatment of Manning feels heavy-handed and out of proportion to actual harm done.”

In Michael Calderone’s story for the Huffington Post, “Manning Case Raises Troubling Questions For Journalists,” about the implications of this argument, the Washington Post’s Dana Priest said, “they don’t want other people to get the idea that they should be doing this,” and that it’ll have a “chilling effect on sources.”

Glenn Greenwald wrote for the Guardian, “[the government’s argument] can be – and almost certainly will be – just as easily applied to the vast majority of leaks on which investigative journalism has always relied.”

Mainstream news outlets, Greenwald said,

“might want to take a serious interest in this fact and marshal opposition to what is being done to Bradley Manning: if not out of concern for the injustices to which he is being subjected, then out of self-interest, to ensure that their reporters and their past and future whistle-blowing sources cannot be similarly persecuted.”

So why does the government continue to prosecute this way? Keller said, “It’s been clear from the outset that the government decided to make a lesson of Bradley Manning,” and that “the extreme conditions of his early confinement and the aiding-the-enemy charges suggest a deep animus toward Bradley.”

As the government works to discourage future leakers and to tighten security, it also classifies exponentially more documents every day. This harms the very people Bradley Manning wanted to inform in the first place: the American people.