Trimmed: Veterans Toss Medals to NATO Leaders

olsen_nato_medalAs a final segment for the episode of Shire TV that aired yesterday, I included footage I had captured outside of the NATO Summit last summer. There, US military veterans made history when 45 decorated soldiers tossed their medals in the direction of the barricaded McCormick Place, where the world’s military elite were meeting. Perhaps the most well known among the group returning their awards was former marine Scott Olsen, who was injured by a shot to the head from a crowd control device fired by police while breaking up an Occupy Oakland demonstration.

From the Huffington Post:

“I’d like to direct my message to the NATO representatives here in Chicago today,” said Suraia Sahar of Afghans for Peace, according to MSNBC. “For what you’ve done to my home country, I’m enraged; for what you’ve done to my people, I’m disgusted; for what you’ve done to these veterans, I’m heartbroken. I sympathize with their disappointment and being failed by the system and having their lives, their morals, and humanity toiled with.”

What appears in the episode is not the statement of each participating veteran, which spans about twenty-four minutes. Previously released on Free Concord was a longer version of the demonstration from which this segment derives, running fourty-four minutes. To follow up the content featured in the episode, I trimmed into its own video only the speeches of soldiers immediately before throwing their medals away. Below is the trimmed video, further down is text extracted from some of the more gripping and informative statements.

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ShireTV – Banned Special Edition

shiretv_fr33keeneThis past week I spent some time collecting video, writing a script, directing and editing an episode of ShireTV to air on the evening of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The public access studios were closed in observance of the federal holiday, so I stepped up to create an episode to be submitted the week prior with the assistance of the program’s usual cohost James Cleaveland. After an evening of shooting with a day to edit and publish a submittable, finished episode, I allowed one of the associate producers of the weekly show to review the finished product. This was not my first involvement with ShireTV, as I had made a guest appearance in the past. It was my first endeavor behind the camera for the show. Though numerous portions of my finished episode had to be removed for noncommercial reasons, a breaking point for whether or not an associate producer felt himself comfortable submitting the final cut revolved around the edification of the brief ending sequence. Dislike of a creative production is understandable, but as resistance was mlk_shiretvprovoked during the test screening, I knew that the uncensored version of the episode had to be released as its own production. It was decided that another producer would be sponsoring the episode with an alternative ending, and I agreed to coincide release of the uncompromised original cut with the previously scheduled airing. The unrestricted omniaudience of the internet will have access to the banned episode when it publishes here at 6:59pm. On cable will air the satisfactory, yet compromised edition of the program at 7:00pm. Organized in three segments, the show begins discussing local radio hubub in Keene from the week prior, then segues into Robin Hooding victories. The last segment is footage of US military veterans tossing back their war medals in the largest such demonstration since the Vietnam War, filmed at the 2012 NATO summit on May 20 in Chicago. (more…)

Hundreds Gather for Firearm Freedom at Capitol

2013_01_19_timemagznYesterday demonstrations were held across the US in support of firearm freedom. In Concord, hundreds attended a roughly two hour rally to oppose further restrictions on rights to self defense technologies.

Nobody was sighted counter-protesting, though at an antiabortion rally which occurred hours prior, a crowd was demonstrating in opposition. A photo from the steps of the state house was featured in a Time magazine article on the national rallies. An unedited video playlist features footage at Fr33manTVraw.

Countering Censorship with Sunshine: Hosts Ambushed After Call Dump

In early October of last year, Chalk the Police Day was celebrated internationally. Readers of this blog may remember the story of a particularly pushy bureaucrat who called the police on chalkers — only to have police join the fun!

I’ve seen Andy a few times since this encounter. He was present at the opening of the pedestrian North Bridge and also at a recent city council committee meeting that I had attended. He’s never taken the opportunity to apologize for his behavior. Even if you accidentally bump someone or their property, the courteous thing to do is to square up on the mistake. So when I heard Andy would be on WKBK’s Talkback this morning, I tuned in.

I listened as a friend call in about the video and asked if Andy had anything to say about it. He chose to say nothing beyond that he had “learned from it” and was moving on. I decided to call in and hold his feet to the fire. The audio will be available once the show’s podcast is posted. After I prompt Andy to reflect on the video and consider apologizing, my call is hung up on. Hearing the radio after the call, the hosts imply that some people ‘harass’ city officials. Derrick J called in soon after that, and asked why the hosts were characterizing others as harassing, when it was the Parks and Recreation director who had engaged in unprivileged physical contact.

Why do you think it’s appropriate to act in an official capacity while intentionally concealing your identity badge?

At that, Cynthia responded, “I don’t want to talk about this”, and he was hung up on. I called in shortly after that, and should have been recording, because my approximately 10-20 second call was not just hung up on, but dumped, meaning it was erased from broadcast. Listening to the radio, you would hear the seconds before my call, and the seconds immediately after.2013_01_andybohannon.mp4-1 (more…)

Former AG Peter Heed arrested for DWI outside Keene

The former Cheshire county attorney and even more former NH Attorney General was arrested last evening for driving while intoxicated. State police received a report of an erratic driver on Rt. 9 headed toward Keene before his vehicle was intercepted and he was arrested. Heed resigned from the highest lawyer’s office in the state following a sexual harassment allegation in 2004, and has been with the Cheshire county government’s legal team since 2006. He suddenly resigned in November 0f 2012, weeks following his reelection to the post in order to join a private firm. Heed has worked on and off as a lawyer for the state since the 1970s.

“I sincerely regret any error I may have made and I will address it in a straightforward way,” the bar-certified man stated today.