The Narco News Bulletin

"Time to Dig Into That Jar"

Please Join Me in Donating to The Fund for Authentic Journalism to Keep Narco News Publishing

By Bill Conroy
The Fund for Authentic Journalism

May 22, 2008
This report appears on the internet at http://www.narconews.com/Issue53/article3105.html

In a few weeks, if it's not already in your mailbox, those of you who live in the United States should be receiving an "economic stimulus" rebate check from the U.S. government. The return of this small portion of your hard-earned money taken previously by Uncle Sam is supposed to be spent, so say the powers that be, on material consumption in order to spur the economy out of its dour mood.

Well, I for one don't want to give a boost to some parts of this economy - particularly those responsible for feeding us poison and polluting our environment and diminishing our lives.

I'm going to take this opportunity to put the money to better use than has been the case to date under the misguided leadership of our ill-esteemed leaders who reign over the corruption that got us into this economic tailspin in the first place.

So part of my money is going to help fund the shoe-string operations of Narco News, in the hope that it will spur an economy supportive of a bright sunshine that ultimately withers away the dictatorship of secrecy and exploitation that now propels the engines of state.

Now some of you might not be due an unexpected refund from the purse of government - or may have already committed that money to another cause. But you have to have some coins stuffed away in a jar somewhere, put aside for a rainy day. This is now the time to dig into that jar, because sunshine can be purchased for a small price, if we pull together to keep Narco News in play, shining a light on the dark corners of our lands across the Americas.

Please join me in making a donation, today, online:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

Or by sending a check:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA

I admit to being pushed to the point of resignation at times in covering the drug war - along the border, where life seems to be of less value than a tax refund; or in Colombia, where phony, self-serving ideologies pave the way for drug policies that promote greed, fear and death; or in the air space over Mexico and South Florida, where government covert operations facilitate the delivery of tons of cocaine to our streets in order to promote more misery in foreign lands.

At times, I wonder, honestly, if anyone out there really cares anymore. I wonder what it takes to nudge the needle just enough to register a pulse in our America - where cynicism and consumerism are found at every turn.

But then I see the hard work Al Giordano has done at Narco News over the past eight years, keeping it alive to break the authentic news stories from Latin America even when his work has been in such demand at The Field and other publications as one of the most sought after first-string political reporters of the 2008 presidential campaign in the United States. On both sides of the border, he's tirelessly revealing the hope that is moving millions toward a bottom-up commitment to making better world; and I see the work of the hundreds of co-publishers at Narco News, who - despite, I'm sure, being afflicted at times by the similar doubts that plague me - continue to push on, to tell the stories of the peoples of Oaxaca, of Chiapas, of Atenco, of the thousands of detained immigrants in the United States, of the indigenous communities who are standing up for their human rights at great risk across the hemisphere. And as I take all this in, all this reflected on the digital heartbeat of Narco News each day, I begin to take heart and see that I cannot afford the selfish preoccupation with my own isolation and desperation. I am part of something bigger, something better that is happening all around me, if only I reach out and touch it, and more importantly, support and nurture it.

So I recommit. I will not be dissuaded. I will believe. And I will sacrifice to stoke this change, not by spending even more money on a fast-food economy of war (as our leaders seem to think we must), but by putting my money and my heart into any hope for a better world. Narco News, in my book, is part of that solution, and for that reason, it must survive.

Again, you can contribute easily right now via the Internet:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

Or make out a check to The Fund for Authentic Journalism and send it by snail mail to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA

I have resolved to not give Caesar's money back to Caesar, but rather, to spend what I can on the community wishing well, where the magic of hope still springs from the ground. I'd ask you to join me in this effort.

Bill Conroy
Journalist