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DESCRIPTION:Don't miss an evening with Jeremy Scahill on May 3 at 7 pm in 
 Sacramento!\nMary Brassell and Sacramento for Democracy\nPresent\n \nAn 
 Evening With\nJEREMY SCAHILL\nAuthor of\nBLACKWATER\nTHE RISE OF THE 
 WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY \nThursday, May 3,   7:00 PM\n 
 \nJeremy Scahill, a Polk Award-winning investigative journalist returns to 
 Sacramento. A frequent contributor to The Nation magazine and a 
 correspondent for Democracy Now, Scahill has reported extensively from 
 Iraq, the former Yugoslavia and Nigeria. He is currently a Puffin 
 Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Blackwater: The Rise of 
 the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army is his first book.\n \nAbout 
 BLACKWATER:\n“The rise of this unchecked mercenary force, as Scahill 
 understands, could presage the final stage in the collapse of American 
 democracy.”\nChris Hedges, former New York Times Middle East Bureau 
 Chief\n \n“The most important and chilling book about the death throes of 
 U.S. democracy you will read in years and a triumph of investigative 
 reporting.”\nNaomi Klein, author No Logo\n \n"Of all the insane Bush 
 privatization efforts, none is more frightening than the corporatizing of 
 military combat forces. Jeremy Scahill admirably exposes a devastating 
 example of this sinister scheme."\nMichael Moore, Academy Award Winning 
 Director\n \n“In this terrifying and thrillingly written book, Jeremy 
 Scahill introduces us to the shape of things to come, and to the kind of 
 people and corporations who are likely to govern our lives if we don't do 
 something about it pretty quickly.”\nArundhati Roy, author The God of 
 Small Things\n \n \nThursday, May 3,   7:00 PM\nUnited Methodist Church   
 2100 J St., Sacramento, CA\n(Corner of 21st and J Street)\n$5- $20 
 Suggested donation\n 
 \nhttp://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/5364\n \nMore Information 
 at:  http://www.blackwaterbook.org/\n  \nLocal Contact::  mbrassell [at] 
 riseup.net    (916) 803-3909\n \nA BOOK SIGNING OF BLACKWATER WILL FOLLOW 
 THE EVENT.\n\nMORE: \n\nAs Local Residents and Their Congressman Move to 
 Block Plans for ‘Blackwater West’ in California, Jeremy Scahill Author 
 of NY Times Bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful 
 Mercenary Army Launches Book Tour Across State April 26th – May 
 5th\n\nAward-winning Investigative Reporter Scahill’s Timely Tour to Hit 
 Santa Barbara, Oakland, Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento and Two Stops in 
 San Diego County Where the Major Defense Contractor Plans to Turn 800 Rural 
 Acres into a Security Training Camp is Facing Fiercest Opposition\n\nWHAT: 
 Blackwater the book is an in-depth expose of one of the greatest 
 beneficiaries of the “global war on terror”—a private company based 
 in the wilderness of North Carolina that has been at the forefront of a 
 secretive campaign to change forever how the US wages war. Blackwater goes 
 deep inside the personalities that founded the company, its close ties to 
 the White House, military and intelligence agencies, as well as its role in 
 the conservative movement.\n\nJust this week, the San Diego Union Tribune 
 reported the proposal by Blackwater USA to build a training center on a 
 800-acre former chicken and cattle ranch in the rural-town of Potrero in 
 San Diego County has torn apart the tiny community and brought protests by 
 those opposed to the company's government contracts in Iraq.\n\nLocal Rep. 
 Bob Filner says he is exploring legislation that would block a 
 controversial proposal for a major defense contractor's training camp in 
 the backcountry community of Potrero.\n\nWHO: Jeremy Scahill is a Puffin 
 Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and a frequent contributor to The 
 Nation magazine. He has won numerous awards, including the prestigious 
 George Polk Award. While a correspondent for the national radio and 
 television show “Democracy Now!,” Scahill reported extensively from 
 Iraq through both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Traveling around 
 the hurricane zone in the wake of Katrina, Scahill exposed the presence of 
 Blackwater mercenaries in New Orleans and his reporting sparked a 
 Congressional inquiry and an internal Department of Homeland Security 
 investigation.\n\nWHERE AND WHEN:\n\nThursday April 26th\nSanta Barbara, 
 CA\nIsla Vista Theater 7PM\n\nSaturday April 28\nOakland, CA\nFirst 
 Congregational Church in Oakland 7:30PM\n\nMonday, April 30\nLos Angeles, 
 CA\nNativity Episcopal Church 6700 West 83rd St. 7:30PM\n\nTuesday, May 
 1\nSan Diego, CA\nUnitarian Church, 4190 Front Street, San Diego 
 7PM\n\nWednesday, May 2\nLa Mesa, CA\nLa Mesa Community Center 4975 
 Memorial Drive, 7PM\n\nThursday, May 3\nSacramento, CA\nFirst United 
 Methodist Church 2100 J St., 7pm\n\nSaturday, May 5\nFresno, CA\nNorth Fork 
 Town Hall 6 pm\n\nFor more information, visit: 
 http://www.blackwaterbook.com\n\nBlackwater:\nThe Rise of the World’s 
 Most Powerful Mercenary Army\nBy Jeremy Scahill\nNation Books / March 20, 
 2007\nISBN 1-56025-979-5 / 480 pp./ $26.95 / 
 hardcover\n\n***********\n\nhttp://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070414-9999-1m14black.html\n\nFilner 
 wants review of Blackwater\nHe considers bill to stop Potrero plan\n\nBy 
 Anne Krueger\nSAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER\n\nApril 14, 
 2007\n\nRep. Bob Filner says he is exploring legislation that would block a 
 controversial proposal for a major defense contractor's training camp in 
 the backcountry community of Potrero.\n\nLand owned by the Charles and Alma 
 Kruetzkamp revocable trust is in escrow to Blackwater USA, a private 
 security firm that wants to build a training center in Potrero.\n\nThe 
 proposal by Blackwater USA to build a training center on a former chicken 
 and cattle ranch has torn apart the tiny community and brought protests by 
 those opposed to the company's government contracts in Iraq.\n\nFilner, 
 D-San Diego, told The Associated Press that although his district includes 
 Potrero, company officers did not contact him until after they met with 
 county planners, and after the local planning group unanimously approved a 
 preliminary proposal.\n\nHe told the AP that he is exploring legislation 
 that would block the deal pending further review by the House Oversight and 
 Government Reform Committee, which has included Blackwater in its review of 
 Iraqi war contractors.\n\n“They're under investigation in a couple of 
 different ways, and I just want to make sure that, if there's something 
 they're doing wrong, we need to know about it before they go further on 
 this project,” Filner said.\n\nRep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, represents 
 most of the East County, but Filner's district includes a narrow strip of 
 the county along the U.S.-Mexico border. The 824-acre project site is near 
 the boundary between the two congressional districts.\n\nAnne Tyrrell, a 
 spokeswoman for Blackwater, said company officials are still trying to 
 determine in which district the project is located. She said Blackwater 
 staff have been trying to arrange a meeting with Filner and are willing to 
 meet with any other elected official.\n\n“We welcome the opportunity to 
 speak with (Filner) as soon as possible,” she said.\n\nHunter spokesman 
 Joe Kasper said a staffer was invited to a meeting last May with Blackwater 
 representatives and county Supervisor Dianne Jacob. Kasper said the meeting 
 was an information session for the elected officials.\n\nHunter, who until 
 January was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, received a 
 $1,000 donation in 2004 from Blackwater founder Erik Prince. Hunter, now 
 running for president, favors the company, Kasper said.\n\nJacob said she 
 met in her El Cajon office with representatives from Blackwater at Hunter's 
 request. She said the company had not yet settled on a site for the 
 training center or filed an application with the county planning 
 department.\n\n“I was asked by Duncan if I would meet with the Blackwater 
 folks and I said I would,” Jacob said. “I didn't know who they were and 
 I didn't know what they did.”\n\nShe said she has not met with company 
 officials since then. Jacob said she is prohibited from expressing an 
 opinion about the project because it might come before the Board of 
 Supervisors.\n\nBlackwater has hired Nikki Clay, former chairwoman of the 
 San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, as a consultant. Clay said her job 
 is to help make local contacts as the company moves forward with its 
 proposal.\n\nThe Sacramento office of Clay's consulting firm represents San 
 Diego County, but Clay emphasized that the two offices remain 
 separate.\n\nBlackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has a 7,000-acre training 
 center there and recently opened an 80-acre facility in Mount Carroll, 
 Ill.\n\nThe company has received hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of 
 government contracts for security work in Iraq.\n\nIt's the focus of a 
 best-selling book by independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, and of a 
 documentary critical of Iraqi defense contractors.\n\nBlackwater's training 
 center in Potrero would have about 300 students and 60 employees. It would 
 include eight rifle ranges, three pistol ranges, four ship simulators, a 
 driving track and a helipad.\n\nThe Potrero planning group, an advisory 
 body to the county on land-use matters, voted 7-0 in December in favor of 
 an early proposal brought by Blackwater.\n\nSince then, opposition to the 
 project has grown and more than 300 of Potrero's approximately 850 
 residents have signed a petition opposing the training center. Residents 
 say they don't want the noise and traffic the center would bring.\n\nCounty 
 officials said Blackwater's proposal will take at least two years to 
 process and ultimately will be decided by the Board of 
 Supervisors.\n\n###\n \n \n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/04/17/18400563.php
SUMMARY:An Evening With Jeremy Scahill in Sacramento
LOCATION: United Methodist Church 2100 J St., Sacramento, CA\n(Corner of 21st and J 
 Street) 
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/04/17/18400563.php
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