My Review and the Trailer for "Steal This Story, Please!," Where This Film Can Be Seen, and More...

Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! were the first journalists at Standing Rock in 2016

Independent investigative journalist and author Jeremy Scahill

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The Trailer 

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The Awards

Please go here to see the awards that have been given thus far to Steal This Story, Please!: https://stealthisstory.org/awards

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When and Where To See

Steal the Story, Please!

Steal This Story, Please! is playing around the country. To see where the documentary is playing near you, please go here: https://stealthisstory.org/

This film will continue to be featured in Portland at Cinema 21 through May 7th. If you are local and interested, please go here to view times/dates and get tickets: https://www.cinema21.com/

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Democracy Now!

If you haven't already been watching, reading, or listening to Democracy Now!, please go here for the website: https://www.democracynow.org/

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A 30 Year Anniversary Celebration of Democracy Now! and Global Independent Journalism

If you missed this amazing celebration and would like to see it, please go here: https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2026/03/excellent-and-highly-recommended.html

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A Larger View of This Documentary

My husband I saw Steal the Story, Please! in Portland on April 27th. It is hard to describe my experience. It was so deep, so profound. Yes, the lifetime of Amy Goodman was featured. Simply awe inspiring. And the heart of the film also illuminates the vital need for and power of global independent journalism, which is indeed the "lifeblood of democracy."

We saw Amy as a child and how she came to be inspired to be one of the most extraordinary independent journalists nationally, globally, and of all times. We met her beloved dog, learned the history of her amazing father, met her 106 year old grandmother, and followed the astounding 30 year history of Democracy Now! from its inception to the present day.

We also had front row seats to Amy's travels all over the country and worldwide. We watched her go into war zones, be beaten and arrested, shine bright light on corruption wherever she found it, visit gravesites of ancestors who had died in the Holocaust, travel to where climate disasters had hit and where the fossil fuel industry was destroying a livable planet, and bring the stories of indigenous peoples, of marginalized populations, and of politicians doing the bidding of their wealthy donors rather than acting out of the best interests of We The People, all living beings, and the Earth. There are those like Jeremy Scahill — and Chris Hedges, Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, Jason Stanley, Timothy Snyder, George Monbiot, Norman Solomon, Ibram X Kendi, Henry Giroux, Angela Davis, countless worldwide indigenous voices, and on and on — that I only came to know through Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!

Again and again, and over the course of her adult lifetime, Amy Goodman has gone to where the silence is and brought forth the stories and the voices rarely or never heard on mainstream corporate funded American media. Because Amy has never been in the pockets of any wealthy donors, she has for decades embodied a profound dedication to truth and to holding the powerful accountable rather than being their voice pieces. And this is why I have been donating every month to Democracy Now! for many, many years. And this is why independent global news is so essential to the welfare of us all.

Amy Goodman if my heroine. She is among those who I most respect and am grateful for and admire and been inspired by. She is part of my inspiration to start my blog 18 years ago. And because of my exposure over the years to Amy's courage, integrity, truth-telling, and utter commitment to empowering us all as human beings, my own resilience, stamina, curiosity, and profound caring for all of life on Earth has grown and grown. 

This is so much more than simply a political post that I am doing here, now, today. Amy Goodman is among those who inspires me to act, to be informed, to speak to what I am learning again and again and again, and to do my part in alleviating the suffering in our world. Amy is among those who have inspired and empowered me to hold in growing depth both the trauma and tragedies of our world and also its amazing beauty and the love and connection and caring that is possible between us all as human beings. 

This is the larger view, something so much greater than being just "political." This is about my children and grandchildren and all of the children of all of the species on Earth. This is about our hearts, about truth and wisdom and courage, about curiosity and awareness and inspiration, about our interrelationship with all of our planetary sisters and brothers, and about being empowered to act out of the consciousness of the highest good for us all. 

The essence of what flows through Amy Goodman and the gifts that she brings to myself and our world is intertwined with my spiritual path. The bottom line is to embody and act out of compassion and love. I bow with the deepest gratitude to all who have made such a profound difference in my life. Amy Goodman is certainly among them.

This extraordinary documentary ended with Patti Smith singing People Have the Power. Tears. My heart was so opened, moved, inspired, and filled with gratitude and passion to claim my power in doing my ever growing part in the the universal struggle for a just, sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world. I'll end with this video of Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, others singing this song at the close of the 30 year anniversary special honoring Amy Goodman and others and the phenomenal Democracy Now!

May we all be inspired!

And steal this story, please!

🙏💜

Molly

One of the countless times that I have been gifted with seeing Amy Goodman

It was so wonderful to see and meet Jeremy Scahill!

EXCELLENT — Reflections on The Documentary "Steal the Story, Please", Which Is Playing NOW In Portland and Nationwide, and Our Collective Need to Embody a Profound Commitment To Truth

Amy Goodman was the first journalist at the Standing Rock protest in 2016

One of countless times that I have seen Amy Goodman 

The Documentary Steal the Story, Please is playing nationwide, including right now in Portland at Cinema 21. Please go here to see times/dates and to purchase tickets for Portland's showing and also to find times in your area: https://stealthisstoryplease.official.film/. 

I've known that Amy Goodman would be touring with the documentary and am deeply disappointed that I have missed the window to buy tickets to see her here in Portland today. I try to never miss Amy when she comes to town! That said, I am also so excited that Ron and I will be seeing this film Monday night. I know that it will be excellent!

I have been listening to, watching, and reading Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for decades. Amy is a national and international treasure and is among those human beings who I most admire, respect, am grateful for, and love. I love her. I love the profound difference that Amy has made across our nation and world. I love her courage and integrity, her brilliance and wisdom, her utter and profound commitment to truth, her unrelenting commitment to going to where the silence is, and to exposing and holding the powerful accountable rather than being their voice pieces. Amy is not bought, not in the pockets of anyone, and is exemplary and not rivaled in the excellence of her independent journalism. Few people have inspired, informed, and empowered me more than Amy Goodman and the countless voices that she has brought forward on Democracy Now! — https://www.democracynow.org/.

This was also illuminated in the 30 year anniversary celebration of Democracy Now! that occurred on March 23rd. So incredibly inspiring! I wrote about and shared this amazing celebration of independent global news here: https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2026/03/excellent-and-highly-recommended.html.

The contrast between independent global news and corporate funded mainstream American media is stark. I am aware that many believe that they are hearing everything that they need to know to be informed by listening to or watching NPR/OPB, MS Now, CNN, ABC, CBS, etc. However, what I have learned over time — and especially since the horrors of 9/11 threw me into my own profound search for truth —  is that any resource which is in any way connected to corporate funding is compromised and limited in bringing us the deeper truths and facts that are essential for us to know. 

We would not be experiencing endless wars, endless catastrophic climate crises, excruciating and ever growing poverty and wealth inequality, the dehumanization and brutal oppression directed at immigrants and other minorities, epidemics of houselessness and addictions and depression, and the many faces of suffering and trauma and violence that are so prolific in American culture and beyond had we been truly informed over the past many years. 

Instead we humans would have gathered together in powerful and fierce solidarity to say NO MORE! and act to stop the insane madness.

Just imagine how different our world would be today had we been empowered decades ago to recognize the links of so many resources of information — to Wall Street and the Big Banks, to the fossil fuel industry and the military industrial complex, to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, to the prison industrial complex and the animal agricultural industries, to AIPAC and Israel, to the politicians in both major political parties who are in the pockets of their wealthy donors, and on and on. Just imagine how we would be changed, transformed, gathered in solidarity rather than polarized if we actually recognized the forces that were screwing us over! Again and again and again!

Amy Goodman and the countless other people she has had on Democracy Now! have had a radical influence on my life. So many of those who she has profiled — like Jeremy Scahill, Chris Hedges, Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, Jason Stanley, Timothy Snyder, George Monbiot, Norman Solomon, Ibram X Kendi, Henry Giroux, Angela Davis, countless worldwide indigenous voices, and on and on — are rarely and most often never heard or seen on corporate mainstream media because of their threat to the toxic status quo. 

Quotes to reflect on:

• Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. —Albert Einstein
• One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. — Carl Jung
• During times of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary. — George Orwell
• The most violent element in society is ignorance. — Emma Goldman
• Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. — Paulo Freire
• The day we see the truth and cease to speak it is the day we begin to die. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Radical simply means grasping things at the root. — Angela Davis

It is my ongoing hope and prayer that more and more of us will come to courageously embody a profound commitment to truth. This is what Amy Goodman and many other amazing human beings have inspired me to embrace for so many years now. And it is knowing these deeper truths that inspires me to do my part in exposing the forces of delusion, hatred, and greed that cause so much profound suffering in our world and to act to alleviate the suffering of our planetary sisters and brothers by how it is that I live my life. I am filled with eternal gratitude.

We all need each other. We are all in this together. May we increasingly recognize that which keeps us impaired in our capacity to be informed, to act, and to care so deeply about the welfare of us all. This takes a lot of effort and courage in a society which chronically and dangerously works to keep us distracted, disinformed, and divided. We can change this. We can transform ourselves individually and collectively and the dangerous trajectory that we are on. We can join together in solidarity in the great universal struggle for a just, peaceful, equitable, and caring world. May it be so. 🙏

Bless us all, no exceptions...

Molly

This Is An Opportunity to Remember Who We Are — AND A Dharma Talk This Sunday by Alexa Redner That Is Available to Everyone

For over a year now I've been participating in a women's Sangha on Tuesday evenings led by Alexa Redner and held at Portland Insight Meditation Center in Portland. What a gift! Although Ron and I don't make it every week, we are always grateful when we do attend Sunday morning dharma talks at PIMC. And we'll definitely be going this Sunday when Alexa will be the lead teacher. Please know that these dharma talks are also available to everyone everywhere online. I am so profoundly grateful for Alexa Redner and all of my beloved teachers. 

With Metta,

🙏💜

Molly

To view a whole listing of previous dharma talks

at PIMC, including from Alexa, my therapist 

Doug Pullin, and others please go here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbQZ0jEQzwKvR354utoX11w

Please go here for more information:

https://www.portlandinsight.org/

A message from Alexa Redner:

Hello all my (inner) space explorer friends, This past week I have been obsessed with the 4 astronauts who went to explore the dark side of the moon. Their courage blew my mind. This week I have asked myself, "What do I want to get as close as possible to before I die? What is my version of leaving the Earth's atmosphere to get closer to what I want to understand completely?" For me, before I die I want to get as close as possible to the awakened mind and heart, so that I can use my life in meaningful ways. The work of freeing the heart from deeply engrained conditioning and roots of suffering sometimes feels as daunting, uncertain and unfathomable as shooting to the moon. When I watch my fellow humans doing unfathomable feats of courage rooted in wholesome aspiration I get excited. Just look at the power of the human mind. We can go to the moon and back! Our hearts and minds can open even farther and wider than that... Watching all those youtube videos of the astronauts in the little spaceship together, their love for one another was palpable. They were in it together. And when they looked down at the Earth from the vantage point of space, their message was clear: "You guys are talking to us because we're in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you're on a spaceship called Earth...In all of this emptiness...you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together. This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing--and that we've got to get through this together."-- Artemis II Astronaut Victor Glover

Sunday, April 19th from 10-12amPT  This weekend I'll be exploring the theme of "Cultivating the Courageous Heart" for the Sunday Meditation and Dharma Talk in-person and online at Portland Insight Meditation Community

This Sunday at Portland Insight Meditation Center (Online & In Person)

Whatever our religious or spiritual tradition, it is my belief and experience that it is deeply important to expand and deepen our spiritual practices, our sources of support and solidarity, and our ways in which we engage in self-care — and especially during these frightening, painful, and traumatic times.

I am sharing just one gathering within my spiritual community that will be happening this Sunday and occurring both in person and online. There are several different teachers every Sunday who present at our Sangha. This next one on February 1st will be led by Doug Pullin, who also happens to be my longtime therapist.

Wherever we seek support, may it be with resources who empower us to more deeply cultivate and be peace. Bless us all, no exceptions.🙏Molly

This Sunday: Douglas Pullin

Sunday, February 1

10:00am - 12:00pm

Offered In-Person & Online via Zoom

​

Please join us this Sunday, February 1, as Resident Teacher Douglas Pullin offers a Dharma talk on Cultivating and Being Peace: From Inner Practice to Engaged Life.

 

Peace is often imagined as something we need to create, yet the Buddha taught that peace is revealed as we learn to meet life with wisdom, equanimity, and loving-kindness. In this talk, we’ll explore how being at peace with impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness supports a deeper sense of ease — one that can hold both joy and sorrow. We’ll reflect on everyday practices for pausing, breathing, and softening reactivity; working gently with the five hindrances; and responding to anger, fear, and sadness with compassion rather than judgment. We’ll also consider peace as a living continuum — from inner steadiness to relational practice to engaged presence in the world — and invite each person to explore what their own path of peace might look like in this season of life.

Portland Insight Meditation Center (PIMC, where Ron and I were married) is located at 6536 SE Duke Street, Portland, OR 97206.

Please go here for more information: https://www.portlandinsight.org/

Event on January 21st: Cheryl Strayed to Moderate Portland Town Hall With Attorneys General From 5 States

 An important event in Portland this

Wednesday evening. I’m going!

— Molly

By 

• Beth Slovic | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The beloved author of “Wild” and “Tiny Beautiful Things,” Cheryl Strayed, will moderate a talk next week in Portland with attorneys general from five states, including Oregon.

Billed as a town hall, the Jan. 21 event at Revolution Hall will feature attorneys general Dan Rayfield of Oregon, Rob Bonta of California, Anne Lopez of Hawaii, Aaron Frey of Maine and Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

All are Democrats who have repeatedly challenged President Donald Trump’s executive orders and other actions in court.

A month into office last year, Trump already faced at least six lawsuits from Oregon and other states over everything from birthright citizenship to gender-affirming health care.

The 6 p.m. event is free and there is a sign-up online with more information.

Please go here for the original announcement: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2026/01/cheryl-strayed-is-bringing-together-five-states-attorneys-general-in-portland.html

'Get the F*ck Out': Mayor Frey Blasts ICE After Fatal Minneapolis Shooting

Weeping and enraged with the horrors of it all. This is just pure madness!!! I will be attending emergency protests (see below) in Portland called for this evening. We must stand up to this state sponsored terrorism! — Molly

Illustration by Riley Levine

Today's shocking shooting reopened the city's deepest wounds.

Lincoln Square

Jan 7

Minneapolis has become the place where America’s lies about itself go to die.

Five years ago, the world watched a police officer kneel on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds. The footage shattered whatever illusions remained about policing, race, and state violence in the United States. The country reached a breaking point not because Minneapolis was unique — but because it was honest. The violence was visible. The power was undeniable.

Early Wednesday morning, Minneapolis reached another tipping point.

This time, it wasn’t city police. It was president Trump’s private goon squad — Immigration and Customs Enforcement — operating under the command of Greg Bovino. In the city’s Central neighborhood, ICE agents shot and killed a Minnesota woman, turning an “immigration” operation into a fatal act of state violence against a civilian.

Within the hour, the familiar script began.

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin rushed to provide rhetorical cover, claiming “rioters” had blocked ICE agents with a vehicle and were “trying to run them over,” labeling the confrontation an act of “domestic terrorism.” The language was deliberate. The goal was immediate: shift blame, justify force, and preempt any form of accountability.

After kicking off operations in Los Angeles, what amounts to a federally sanctioned private police force has moved into cities like Chicago, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Denver. Under the guise of immigration enforcement and border control, Trump’s new Gestapo has been turned inward, against the American people.

What began as deportation operations — most notably the removal of Kilmar Obrego Garcia to El Salvador — has grown into something far darker. This is no longer about immigration. American citizens are being targeted, brutalized, and now killed for attempting to protect their own communities.

The shooting immediately drew a large crowd of protesters and law enforcement. Reports from the scene described an area sealed off as ICE agents deployed chemical agents as they attempted to escape, transforming a residential neighborhood into a militarized zone.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz addressed the situation cautiously as details emerged:

“My public safety team is working to gather information on an ICE related shooting this morning.

We will share information as we learn more. In the meantime, I ask folks to remain calm.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was far less restrained.

In a press conference, visibly frustrated and angry, Frey said, “They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos in our streets and in this case, quite literally, killing people.”

Addressing early federal attempts to frame the shooting as self-defense, Frey was blunt.

“They’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” he said. “Having seen the video myself, I’m going to tell everyone directly … that is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.”

Then came the line that will echo far beyond today.

“There is little, again, I can say that will make this situation better,” Frey said. “But I do have a message for our community, our city, and I have a message for ICE—to ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”

Minneapolis didn’t choose to be America’s conscience. It became one because power keeps revealing itself there — clearly, brutally, and on camera. From George Floyd to this morning’s shooting, the pattern is unmistakable: when the state believes it can act without consequence, Minneapolis is where that belief collapses.

Another tipping point has arrived.

And once again, the country must decide whether it will look away, or finally reckon with what it sees.

________

Evan Fields is a veteran who writes the Fourth and Democracy and Weekly Wrap newsletters for Lincoln Square. Subscribe to his News from Underground Substack.

Please go here for the original article: https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/get-the-fck-out-mayor-frey-blasts

Michael Moore: One Week After “No Kings,” What Comes Next?

Protesters march down Broadway in Manhattan on Saturday, October 18th

 By Michael Moore

Friends,

Last weekend, you sent me thousands of pictures from your local No Kings protests. Minneapolis to Miami, Pittsburgh to Paris, you showed up to fight fascism and defend democracy.

My associate producer, Charlotte Albrecht, attended the NYC protest in Times Square, where over 350,000 people gathered and marched 33 blocks to Union Square. Teenagers, parents pushing strollers, immigrant workers, union members, activists — whether draped in an American flag or decked out in a keffiyeh, toting a cardboard sign or wielding a glossy print out, waddling around in an inflatable unicorn or sporting a “Zohran for NYC” t-shirt — a mass of people pouring down 7th Avenue, to the tune of tubas and tambourines, a thousand cacophonous chants about every issue under the sun.

But we walked away with the sense that people want more. You want more.

Imagine if the 7 million people who showed up on No Kings Day demanded more. What if we painted a picture of the world we want to live in. Not just “No Kings” or “No Trump.” Not just telling everyone what we’re against, but showing everyone what we are for.

Make no mistake — in the face of a lawless and criminal administration that’s currently building a Gestapo-like police force that can detain, arrest and deport citizens and non-citizens alike, we should not take for granted our ability to get 7 million Americans out into the streets.

But what if we woke up tomorrow and demanded what we really want?

Think about it, friends. More to come.

Please go here for the original article: https://substack.com/home/post/p-176869016