What’s in Betty Medsger’s ‘ The Burglary’? Crow-bars, COINTERLPRO and Naughty FBI Spy Games.

what lives in a book

inked leaves unfurling words

secrets detecting

&

 Hmm, how’s that poem working for you? May not make the publishing book grade, but it does the introduction rites job today. Sort of. Books are strange things. Never know just what you’ll find between their covers–hard copy or electronic, it makes no difference when the words are what make the mental meat of the matter. I have no clue how good or bad Medsger’s brand spanking new book reads. Yet. It’s literally a NEW release by Random House-as in publication dated yesterday.  Ironically the historical story it features is decades old. New book for an old untold story about American citizens taking things into their own hands in order to get to the truth of what matters.  According to the interview on Democracy Now! this morning, the newspaper media nearly failed them. The truth was very HOT to handle. Some political folks so feared the FBI that they turned their backs on the right to information regarding illegal activities by the FBI. One mailing of copied documents never reached its destination. Can we say “intercepted”? Or maybe just an honest mistake on the part of the postal service. I wouldn’t bet a penny on that.

Clearly history is repeating itself in current events. The stakes are just as high regarding freedom and civil liberties. A portion of the public is very paranoid. J. Edgar Hoover would be proud of the media spin on all things of politics regarding the military industrial complex and corporate personhood for inducing much paranoia–according the old documents stolen and “released.” Some times it’s just no fun having a theory proven. My next observation might seem like a side issue, but it’s not. How many ‘cop’ shows are on television? How many feature all sorts of fancy surveillance techno toys? How many feature terrorist threats week after week? How many evoke sympathy for the hardworking agents no matter what their flaws? Have you gotten used to the sound of gunfire from watching crime shows on television? Ever notice the lack of emotion from the people doing the shooting and the characters giving and recieving the news that someone has been killed?

Side note: At the opposite end are the medical heroes who do everything they can to save lives and then seem to suffer a sense of loss when their patients die. Hmm. I’ve yet to encounter any such doctor in my life experience. I’ve managed to send a couple running in a panic. I guess that proved those well educated individuals were human after all.

“Excuse me, doctor, but that’s not his sense of humor.  At the moment, he really thinks you’re all aliens out to kill him. He’s a lot stronger than he looks. I advise exercising caution when handling.” Watch doctor run back to ER room.

Back to the regular word flow:

I wonder if there’s a television program in the works about TSA folks in order to show us just how good all their intentions are as they intimidate, strip search, x-ray, hassle and belittle people everywhere with impunity in order to keep people safe.  The irony of TSA is a steak so thick an axe is needed to cut the meat.

What’s your paranoia meter reading? I know people who freak out every time there’s a plane crash and others who fear the sight of police people wearing gun holsters. I also know a fair number of folks who don’t give a flying f&*^ about anything except their daily routine and money-making. As long at those boats are not rocked, all is well in their universe.

Is there a safety lock somewhere?

Is this piece fully loaded?

Careful with the drones~

Make sure they fly right~

Status quo depends on the system flowing, flowing, flowing…..

*

The Context:

Stealing J. Edgar Hoover’s Secrets

The New York Times

The Book:

The Burglary by Betty Medsger

click cover for Random House

*

The Motive:

“It Was Time To Do More Than Protest”

democracynow·

Published on Jan  8, 2014

http://www.democracynow.org – One of the great mysteries of the Vietnam War era has been solved. On March 8, 1971, a group of activists — including a cabdriver, a day care director and two professors — broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. They stole every document they found and then leaked many to the press, including details about FBI abuses and the then-secret counter-intelligence program to infiltrate, monitor and disrupt social, political movements, nicknamed COINTELPRO. Calling themselves, the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI, no one was ever caught for the break-in. The burglars’ identities remained a secret until this week when they finally came forward to take credit for the caper that changed history. Today we are joined by three of them — John Raines, Bonnie Raines and Keith Forsyth; their attorney, David Kairys; and Betty Medsger, the former Washington Post reporter who first broke the story of the stolen FBI documents in 1971 and has now revealed the burglars’ identities in her new book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI.”
Watch part 1 of this interview: http://youtu.be/GMWuJipChs0

For more of the interview and links to related items –> http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/8/it_was_time_to_do_more

&

Radio:

NPR  coverage –> http://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260302289/the-secret-burglary-that-exposed-j-edgar-hoovers-fbi

How’s your day? What’s in your mailbox? Have you fumigated lately?

Yes, I am looking forward to reading Medsger’s book.

RevolutionResource.org

Agitate, Educate, and Organize ~OO~

Deceleration

Environmental justice news and analysis for San Antonio and the the South Texas bioregion.

Incidental Makyo

a place for reflective expression.

Shechaim's News of the Day

Warfarin, Coumadin, Jantoven, Eliquis, Aspirin?

Free Alabama Movement

National Movement Against Mass Incarceration and Prison Slavery

Books Can Save A Life

"Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive." Barry Lopez

The Greenery

Ideas That Grow and Bloom

The Case for Global Film

'in the picture': Films from everywhere and every era

LRInspire

Wellness Leadership Education

Tales from the Conspiratum

Warning: This site may contain conspiracies

Make No Bones About It

‘Do not be afraid of the truth’ -John Trudell

Beyond Extreme Energy

No new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Renewable energy NOW.

Mugilan Raju

Prime my subconscious, one hint at a time

Portraits of Wildflowers

Perspectives on Nature Photography

Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations

Reviews of Vintage Science Fiction (1945-1985)

Cynthia Reyes

The blog of Canadian author Cynthia Reyes

1EarthUnited

Uniting the world, One Love at a time. :D

The Stay-at-home Scientist

Science, Gardening, Work-Life Balance

People Powered Machines

Our business is committed to saving energy, reducing emmissions and waste.

drwilda

Just another WordPress.com site

Tubularsock

". . . first hand coverage, second hand news"

MesAyah

Melodic hiphop meets deep reflections about life and death

Army at Wounded Knee

A blog dedicated to documenting through primary sources, the Army's actions at Wounded Knee

yadadarcyyada

Vague Meanderings of the Broke and Obscure

Ekostories by Isaac Yuen

Nature | Culture | Self

Red Wolf Journal

A literary compass for finding your voice..."You turn toward me, your lips move, wanting to speak."--Stephen Dobyns, "Wolves In The Street"

poet4justicedotwordpressdotcom

The poet can reach where the sun cannot. -HINDU PROVERBThe greatest WordPress.com site in all the land!

"OUR WORLD"

Working together to make the world a better place to live! A fine WordPress.com site

Spirit In Action

Change IS coming. WE can make it GOOD.

Rezinate's Blog

Just another WordPress.com site

Through the Peacock's Eyes

Insights for Spiritual Living

Heila

Nothing's the Same after October 7th

the zen space

a space for zen words

We Write Poems

a community of people reading & writing poems, moving words

shelbycourtland

Bringing Social Issues To The Forefront

R. L. Culpeper

Sapere Aude

THE ONENESS of HUMANITY

For Peace On Earth In This Generation

InkPaperPen

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

Eléctrica in the Desert

News, photos, stories, and trouble from the borderland

Coco J. Ginger Says

Poems and stories of love & heartbreak.