http://www.fantasylandmedia.org
News fashioned by the people in charge, the corporations and your government. Each week, we cover the stories that are just left out of the US propaganda machine.
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"Massive UN Vote in Support of Lifting US Embargo on Cuba
UNITED NATIONS - The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row in favor of lifting the 46-year-old US trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, as Havana hoped for better ties with a new US administration.
[The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row Wednesday to demand an end to the 46-year-old US trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, with only three countries saying no...
Some 185 of the assembly's 192 members approved a resolution, which reiterated a "call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures (such as those in the US embargo) in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law."
The United States, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution, while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.
The margin of support for ending the embargo has grown steadily since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favor of the resolution. The figure was 179 in 2004, 182 in 2005 and 184 in 2007."
-->The NY Times actually covered this story, the first time in the 17 year history of the UN vote condemning the embargo. In a five sentence story entitled "New Spin on Cuba Embargo Resolution" (was there an old spin from the NY Times?), the emphasis was put on the fact that the Cuban embargo was older than Obama.
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"WASHINGTON - October 28 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy is pressing his efforts to head off an avalanche of Wall Street bailout bonuses. Recent reports indicate bonuses and other compensation packages paid by financially troubled firms receiving government assistance could reach into the tens of billions of dollars.
Today he released a letter sent to Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asking that the Full Committee move quickly to investigate how bailout funds are being spent by the financial service companies participating in Treasury's capital purchase program.
"It would be an affront to taxpayers and shareholders alike if Wall Street executives cashed in on the bailout. We must prevent the diverted directly or indirectly of bailout funds to bonuses and exorbitant compensation packages," he said."
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2008/10/28
-->Such an "affront to taxpayers" didn't get Kucinich's request for an investigation into the NY Times. In fact, the US media completely ignored this story. Perhaps the intensity of the anti-bailout fervor may have scared the corporate dominated press.
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"Final Text of Iraq Pact Reveals a US Debacle
WASHINGTON - The final draft of the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces agreement on the U.S. military presence represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W. Bush administration than previously thought, the final text reveals.
The final draft, dated Oct. 13, not only imposes unambiguous deadlines for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by 2011 but makes it extremely unlikely that a U.S. non-combat presence will be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/10/23-3
-->The NY Times had a different take on this story. Debacle? Crushing defeat? Not at all, despite the fact that Iraq is pushing the US out long before we wanted to leave. The NY Times termed the pact a "significant breakthrough after months of halting negotiations."
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"BAGHDAD - The U.S. military has warned Iraq that it will shut down military operations and other vital services throughout the country on Jan. 1 if the Iraqi government doesn't agree to a new agreement on the status of U.S. forces or a renewed United Nations mandate for the American mission in Iraq.
Many Iraqi politicians view the move as akin to political blackmail, a top Iraqi official told McClatchy Sunday."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/10/27-2
--> The NY Times predictably left this story out. Breakthroughs just sound better for the United States than political blackmail.
