DHS wants to have a talk with Greg Palast for something he said on AAR.

[Beelzebud]

Palast is on Hartmann, and he says that the Department of Homeland Security wants to have an "interview" with him today, about some things he reported on the Randi Rhodes show last week.

Here's the odd part, to me.

That show was Mike Malloy's LAST show... The day after that show, Mike Malloy was fired.

Time to listen to that show when Palast was on. They must have mentioned something they weren't supposed to....

In my mind, the plot about the firing of Mike Malloy just thickened......

What the fuck is going on?

[havocmom]

1. Damn, sparky, now ya got me wishin I could stay online all day

Do give updates if ya hear anything.

[havocmom]

3. On top of that, I just encountered all sorts of bugs trying to post

above reply.

edit: typo

[Sydnie]

6. Me too

Will check back in this thread later to see what, if anything, stands out to those that listened to the interview.

[SoFlaJet]

2. yea and then maybe

they should go and talk with Ann Coulter too about some of the stuff "HE" has said

[Maat]

4. REALLY ...

that's interesting.

I believe I listened to that interview ... but I don't remember what could have been THE point of contention.

[Bozita]

5. Malloy's last broadcast was as a sub for Randi

[Beelzebud]

7. I know. Palast said they want to talk to him about somethign he said

on the Randi Rhodes program last week... Last week Mike Malloy was the host when Palast was on.

[tnlefty]

12. The last time that I heard them together they were discussing Innovative

Emergency Management, the company that didn't have a plan to evacuate NOLA and LSU Prof. van Heerden and the fact that the Prof. had advised the WH a year prior to Katrina that the levees hadn't been built properly, etc. They also discussed that the Army Corps. of Engineers and the WH knew that the levees had breeched and didn't notify anyone in the state of LA that this had occured.

They also discussed the people in one of the FEMA camps who are being treated like prisoners in their own country and Palast mentioned that Blackwater was one 'security' firm that ensures that they can't get out and that no one can get in to them.

My, my, my, I wonder what DHS is interested in talking to him about? I'm really trying to remember what all they discussed and why DHS would want to interview him.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. No shit!

The war on fair journalists just heated up.

Goddamn FASCISTS!:grr:

[Bozita]

9. How far is Portland from the Canadian border?

[acmejack]

14. 313 Miles

http://maps.google.com/maps?hs=m0z&hl=en&lr=&client=opera&rls=en&q=mileage%20Portland%20oregon%20to%20Canadian%20border&btnG=Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

edit: Can I come too?

[Beelzebud]

10. Palast said he will try to record his DHS "interview".

And said that regardless of what happens, he will let everyone know what they want to talk with him about.

[w8liftinglady]

15. I hope he has an escort...make that several escorts.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. He should record the"interview"

then post it online.

[mmonk]

13. I agree.

Always shed sunlight where others want to keep it dark.

[ralps]

16. Greg Palast thinks DHS wants to talk to him about this article at his

website- http://www.gregpalast.com/hurricane-expert-threatened-for-pre-katrina-warnings
HURRICANE EXPERT THREATENED FOR PRE-KATRINA WARNINGS

DON’T blame the Lady. Katrina killed no one in this town. In fact, Katrina missed the city completely, going wide to the east.

It wasn’t the hurricane that drowned, suffocated, de-hydrated and starved 1,500 people that week. The killing was done by a deadly duo: a failed emergency evacuation plan combined with faulty levees. Behind these twin failures lies a tale of cronyism, profiteering and willful incompetence that takes us right to the steps of the White House.

Here’s the story you haven’t been told. And the man who revealed it to me, Dr. Ivor van Heerden, is putting his job on the line to tell it.

Van Heerden isn’t the typical whistleblower I usually deal with. This is no minor player. He’s the Deputy Director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center. He’s the top banana in the field — no one knew more about how to save New Orleans from a hurricane’s devastation. And no one was a bigger target of an official and corporate campaign to bury the information.
snip
:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :shrug:

[tnlefty]

20. Care to share any insight on why this would be of interest to DHS?

Going after the whistleblower and/or the reporter? Somehow I don't believe that it is to get to the bottom of it to the benefit of us mythical little people.

[rman]

35. From the Federal/FEMA response to Katrina, i think it's obvious

they saw it as a national security matter rather than a national disaster. They treated the victims not as victims but as a threat to law and order, even hiring mercenaries (Blackwater) to deal with it, as they do in Iraq. I think DHS's interest in this is just an extension of that.

[Generic Other]

21. He exposed IEM the private contractor who was in charge of evac?

as Bush cronies. They are still in charge down there, aren't they? Contracted by FEMA?

[Marie26]

23. It seems like the

dirty little secret is that there was no evacuation plan. IEM, w/no experience in evacuation,
got a million-dollar contract from FEMA to plan NO's evacuation - most probably as a
reward for fat campaign donations. But it appears that IEM never actually produced a plan
or distributed it to first responders. No one can even find a copy of the evacuation plan
now - probably because it was never produced.

Despite this incompetence, the contracts still keep rolling in for IEM. From their press
releases:


- IEM and Employees Receive American Red Cross "Circle of Humanitarians" Award (August

30, 2006) :eyeroll:

- IEM Selected as State of Louisiana IT Contractor (August 8, 2006)

- DHS Senior Federal Official Joins Local Disaster Consulting Firm (July 5, 2006)

("Scott Wells, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Coordinating Officer
(FCO) for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, has joined the company as a Senior Consultant for
Disaster Response Operations." So the guy who failed at coordinating the Katrina response
has joined IEM to fail again.)

- IEM to Study Response to Hurricane Katrina (November 17, 2005) - receiving another
FEMA contract to study their own incompetent plan.

- IEM to Help Improve Preparedness for Chemical Weapons Emergencies under Multi-Year
Contract with FEMA (October 17, 2005)

What's weird is that this emergency management company also deals in information
technology and defense support. In that way, it follows the pattern of other Bush crony
companies like Choicepoint, Dyncorp, Halliburton etc. Each begins to expand far beyond their original purpose in order to accomodate all the new contracts Bushco. is sending them. So, IEM
not only does La's evacuation plan, but also manages IT Offices & military exercises. There's something very shady about this company.

[Generic Other]

24. Palast mentioned Choicepoint as having been contracted

to collect info on citizens for future evacs.

I remain convinced Malloy said or did something on this show that got him yanked.

Now Palast being questioned by HS? It really is fishy, isn't it?

[Marie26]

29. FEMA Director Paulson said the same

thing on Meet the Press a week ago. Tim Russert asked him how FEMA had addressed the widespread fraud, wasted resources & misuse of funds after Hurricane Katrina. And Paulson proudly replied that FEMA had contracted w/Choicepoint to identify every citizen after an evacuation (w/o addressing any of the other parts of the question). Basically, FEMA has given yet another big fat contract to Choicepoint instead of doing anything to help protect people. I felt like throwing something at the TV. Russert is of course clueless & he didn't even follow up.

Here's Choicepoint's new no-bid FEMA "identity verification" contract -

"FEMA outsources identity verification for disaster assistance" - July 24, 2006 - "FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said the verification work has been awarded to ChoicePoint, a company that has multiple credentialing and identification contracts with the federal government. DHS' procurement office arranged the contract, Walker said."
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0706/072406j1.html

"FEMA grilled on ID checks contract" - http://www.topix.net/content/newscom/2939916006197274032735912686511469624720

FEMA already had a contract w/Choicepoint during Hurricane Katrina to check claims, and Choicepoint failed miserably. The government's own General Accounting Office released a report this year that BLAMED CHOICEPOINT for the fraud & waste! ("Kutz said the GAO's review determined the contractor hired by FEMA to verify identities – ChoicePoint Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga. – was ineffective.") http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/katrina/20060426-1440-katrina-fraud.html So Paulson is re-hiring the company that allowed fraud to stop fraud! I guess it makes as much sense as hiring IEM to investigate its own failed evacuation plan.

Under Att. Gen. Gonzales, Choicepoint also received the contract to compile records for the Justice Dept., even after the company's data breaches & failures were widely reported. ("Senator questions FBI on ChoicePoint contract - Leahy wants to know why DOJ's still doing business with breached firm." -
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110248,00.html)

Choicepoint & IEM have the same pattern of repeatedly getting contracts from FEMA & DHS, despite massive failures in almost every area. On IEM's website, they also tout the merits of using computer data-mining for evacuations. There is something very fishy there, & I suspect it's partly corruption/kickbacks, and partly that using these private companies allows DHS to do things that it cannot legally do itself.

[Nikki Stone 1]

28. He was discussing this on Malloy's last show

A VERY powerful show

[Oilwellian]

17. Here's link to show

August 29th....1:22 into show. Listening now.

http://www.whiterosesociety.org/Rhodes.html

[mikelgb]

19. I've been listening

nothing i can hear that would warrant firing and DHS interiews

[mikelgb]

18. Does White Rose have archives of this yet?

or does someone have a transcript?

edit: thanks

[MzNov]

22. I thought his firing was very suspicious timing too

I heard MM's entire last powerful Katrina related show. Greg Palast has said many things against DHS, not just on AAR, but that very same night, Palast's documentary on Katrina was run on Link TV with Amy Goodman. So he wasn't just saying stuff on AAR with Mike, he was telling MM and Randi exactly what he told America via his documentary.

I agree, the entire thing just smells.

:mad:

[tnlefty]

25. Do you remember when Amy Goodman broke into Palast's commentary

on the 'private security agencies' - Blackwater in his case that kept people from interviewing the Katrina evacuees? She mentioned that another 'security' agency, Global?, or some such had denied her access to interview or talk with them? I've been racking my brain all afternoon to try to figure what would be more 'interesting' to DHS and I don't know.

HUD denying people back into housing units that weren't flooded? What the hell are they so interested in?

[MzNov]

30. maybe people trying to move back into townhouses

that were not even touched by Katrina or the levee breaks. They won't even let them go into these places that are perfectly OK!

[tnlefty]

31. I think it was a housing project that HUD states that residents can't

return to, Lafitte, maybe? What I do remember is that these public housing buildings were described as some of the best built structures in the area, they weren't floolded, but residents weren't allowed to return and that HUD had scheduled them for bulldozing. They are very close to the business district and reasonably close to the "tony" French Qtr.

[Chimichurri]

26. Very interesting!

[Nikki Stone 1]

27. Palast: The Feds knew MONDAY night that the levees were broken

This made the levees a FEDERAL problem, not a state problem. The Fed should have taken over Monday night.

Essentially, Palast described a crime of the American government against its people. And he did it on Malloy's last show. So Malloy gets fired and Palast gets a call from DHS (which includes FEMA).

Hmm.....

[tnlefty]

32. But he also discussed this on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, and

he produced a mini-documentary on it, so why just Malloy being fired and Palast being interviewed? Perhaps I'm dense but I'm just not getting it!

[rman]

36. Perhaps because Malloy has a larger audience

I think more people listen to AAR than to Democracy Now.
The sophistication in todays propaganda and censorship is that it is not so overt that it becomes so obvious that to many people notice it. So they don't sensor everything, it's not absolute, they just prevent truth from getting out of hand. Malloy may have crossed the line here.

[Beelzebud]

33. After listening to the archive, I think you have it nailed.

This is chilling, to say the least...

Free Speech? Looks like that is now gone too...

[M0rpheus]

34. The first thing that popped into my head

Was exactly this.
FEMA knew the levys were boing to fail.

That part of the interview really haunts me.