Black and Blue

Although my legs and arms are about the size of tree trunks right about now, I decided to sign up for a membership with the Sierra Club for some happy hiking trails. The organization does amazing work with lobbying and activism on behalf of the United States' national parks, resources, and wildlife. In California, the Sierra Club along with other California groups in the Courage Campaign were able to halt the building of a Blackwater Worldwide military training camp that would have impinged on the sanctity of the San Diego area's Hauser Canyon Wilderness and Pacific Crest Trail and on local businesses. Puportedly to evade public scruitiny, Blackwater Worldwide applied for Potrero, California permits under business entities Raven Development Group and Southwest Law Enforcement. Not to be thwarted, Blackwater Worldwide decided to open up camp again in the San Diego city limits in Otay Mesa, Mexico spawning a new campaign to block the company's permanent fixture in the community. Since last year, Blackwater has been suspected of launching destructive and retaliatory attacks when it fails to get its way. The same residents of the Hauser Canyon that lobbied in the Courage Campaign experienced fires in October after pressuring the private contractor to abandon its petitions to the Potrero Board of Supervisors. A New York Times envoy in Iraq witnessed the company's mercenaries kill their dog, Hentish. Three Blonde American orphanage workers evacuating from post-election violence in Kenya have nothing but gratitude for Blackwater's rescue tactics.