This past Monday saw the deadliest “intentional” attack on Afghan civilians by the US since the start of the ten year long war in Afghanistan. An unnamed US Army staff sergeant walked a mile in the middle of the night to two different villages near his base in southern Afghanistan and murdered 16 civilians, including 9 children and 3 women.

Derrick Crowe, Political Director of Brave New Foundation, discusses how the strains of a ten year war has effected U.S. troops. Crowe also talks about how public opinion of the war has changed in the wake of the Great Recession.

Listen to the segment here. And read the rest of this post at uprising.org.

Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films & Eli Clifton, Think Progress.org join Thom Hartmann on The Big Picture. An American soldier kills 16 unarmed Afghan civilians. How will this rampage affect US-Afghan relations – and is it time we withdraw from the country altogether? Plus – a twist to this story that should leave us all concerned about the mental health of our soldiers

In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Cuentame produced a video featuring screenwriter Josefina Lopez.

You can watch the video here.

In addition to writing the successful Real Women Have Curves, Lopez also produces the Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza. Cuentame’s Story Producer, Iliana Sosa gave some context for need for the festival and how it fits into International Women’s Day. “I think that BHLIFE is long overdue. Josefina started this because there wasn’t a space in which to celebrate and recognize the important work that Latina filmmakers are accomplishing. Is a Latina filmmaker a rarity? Some would like to think so–but this important festival dispels that myth and celebrates the unique stories and perspectives that Latina filmmakers are crafting on the big screen.”

Kudos to Cuentame and Lopez for bringing attention to the rich contributions of Latina filmmakers and for honoring International Women’s Day.

Many in filmmaking are driven by more than their passion to create and entertain. They’re driven by a call for social justice. Such is the case with online content, activist, organizing entity Cuéntame. Let’s let them tell us the story of their story.

In 140 characters or less, describe your website.
¡Latino Instigators! Watch our films, make an impact and join in the powerful conversation. http://facebook.com/cuentame

The idea around Cuéntame is pretty multi-faceted. It incorporates activism, film, ground action… how did you come up with that?
We started with a simple concept. How to re-create the Latino dinner table online. How to create a community by Latinos, for Latinos and the public at large – where people would share and interact – through the media and films that we created. We knew that it was through telling the personal and everday stories that would mobilize folks and get people counted. We came up with – Cuéntame which literally translates to – “tell me your story” or “count me in”. We are into our third year, and stronger than ever!

This is an enormous undertaking. What made you so confident that it would even work?
More than a drive by confidence, it was drive by need and a sense of obligation. Not all issues affect all peoples the same – and there was a lot needed to be done in our community. For us it was important to make sure it is the community speaking out for themselves. It is their project – we mobilize around it. The desire for something like Cuéntame is almost self-evident – communities are eager to speak out and platform is something that is congenitally put to good use.

I understand that you’ve been able to make Cuéntame your full time day job. How did you pull that off?
It involved endless sleepless nights, morning shoots, 24/7 working on the side. It involved a whole lot of passion and dedication and even more: Patience! But as soon as you start seeing the impact your making, it only drives you to go further and further. Everyday we face the challenge to make sure to keep up to date with the issues and conversations within and out of the Latino community and we like to do it in a manner that is not only informative, and educational but creative, fun and engaging.

Read more at Film Independent.

Robert Greenwald discusses with former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, host of Current TV’s The War Room, on why radio show host Rush Limbaugh has come to the defense of the Kochs and what he might gain from it. Greenwald and Granholm then talk about Brave New Foundation’s soon-to-be released full-length Koch Brothers Exposed documentary which is based off the popular and widely shared online video series that helped in making the Kochs a household name.

This video is part of a series by Cuentame, called “An Honest Conversation.” In this video they interview Jorge, who speaks about his experience as a queer undocumented immigrant.

Who are the 1%?

Who is getting rich exploiting the 99%? Meet the worst of the 1%. This is a series of 1-minute videos by Brave New Films.

“The 1% in 1 Minute. These videos show the facts, plain and simple. Share them with your friends and family so Americans can understand exactly how their democracy is being taken from them.”

Click through to see the rest! From the site:

KNOW THE FACTS

In just the last generation, the richest 1% almost quadrupled their incomes.

The average wealth of the 1% is 225 times bigger than the wealth of the typical household – the highest it’s ever been.

Three decades ago, CEOs made about 40 times as much as an average worker – now CEOs make almost 200 times as much as regular employees.

Last year, half of Americans earned less than $26,000 while CEOs at top 500 companies raked in an average of $11 million.

Over the past decade, earnings for middle-class Americans actually fell. In fact, working Americans’ wages are now a lower percentage of our economy than they’ve ever been.

The divide between the richest and the poorest is worse in America than it is in nearly all of Europe and Asia and much of Africa. It’s about as bad as in Rwanda and Serbia – and it’s bad for our economy.

The 1% is not an accident – it is the result of policies our government chose to pursue.

Robert Greenwald from Brave New Films joins Ed Schultz on his radio program to discuss the criticism of President Obama’s apology for the burning of Korans in Afghanistan.

For more information on the growing anger in Afghanistan over the Koran burnings, check out the Huffington Post article co-authored by Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe.

Cuéntame (Spanish for count me or tell me your story) is a new initiative that seeks to encourage Latinos to tell their stories.

“An Honest Conversation” is their LGBT video series. They include the coming out stories of Latina lesbians and an undocumented gay Latino.

The video of Ronnie, however, holds the most interest for me since I can relate to so much of his story.

He was bullied in the Army for being gay. Mercifully, I did not have that experience in the Marine Corps.

We do, however, share an understanding of the challenges in coming out about being gay and having HIV to our Latino family and friends.

Kudos to Ronnie for overcoming so many hurdles, including HIV. I wish him well.

Almost a week after they were scheduled to be evicted forcibly from their home, the De Los Santos family is still living in the Riverside house they bought in 2002 — and then re-occupied last December — surrounded by a small group of sympathizers from groups like Occupy LA and Occupy Riverside.

The family is requesting that government-owned corporation Freddie Mac renegotiate their mortgage, which they feel was foreclosed upon prematurely, and allow them to pay their debt. “I have the money to pay,” said De Los Santos to The Huffington Post. But according to Freddie Mac, there is no mortgage or loan to be modified.

“This mortgage was foreclosed upon in mid-November 2010, and it was finished at that point,” stated Brad German, Freddie Mac’s senior director for public relations, speaking to The Huffington Post. “The mortgage was foreclosed upon. It is not in hibernation, it’s a done deal. This mortgage was extinguished,” said German, adding, “Pretty much this has turned into a PR stunt.”

End of story? Not likely.

Last December when Arturo and Magdalena De Los Santos and their four children reoccupied the foreclosed home, from which they had been evicted six months earlier, they say they did it to force Freddie Mac to come to a settlement that will enable them to return home legally.

Arturo is a fourth-generation Mexican-American from Texas and a former Marine; Magdalena is an immigrant from Acapulco, Mexico. Arturo has worked for the same company for 21 years as a supervisor. “I make good money,” he said. Ten years after purchasing their dream house, this middle-class family finds itself in limbo, fighting to remain in the home where they raised their four children: Brandon, 12; Sasha, 10; Kevin, 8; and Millie, 7.

Today, the De Los Santos family is part of a group of activists led by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), an organization that confronts Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae over their roles in the foreclosure crisis. The De Los Santos family story was reported by The Huffington Post last Tuesday, when a five-day notice to vacate their home, issued by the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, expired. Since then, they and their supporters have been waiting for the expected forcible evacuation.

“We wanted to express our support in a nonviolent way,” Peter Kuhns, an organizer with ACCE, told The Huffington Post. “We want to be present at the moment it happens.”

They were not the only ones waiting — Freddie Mac is waiting as well. On Friday, Freddie Mac sought a court order asking the Riverside Sheriff to enforce the eviction order.

“The company has apparently decided to have the family removed at all costs,” said Kuhns.

De Los Santos insists on his offer to pay what he owes, to resume making mortgage payments and be allowed to remain legally in the home. “I make enough money,” he stated repeatedly.

And this may have been his problem.

Read the rest of Arturo’s story at Huffington Post.