Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fantasyland Media:

Fantasyland Media:
http://www.fantasylandmedia.org

Each week, we cover the stories that are just left out of the US propaganda machine. News that the people in charge, the corporations and your government want keep from the public eye.

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Guardian UK: National Security Archive
"It is more than 35 years since he was shunted out of office, but the thought of Richard Nixon's finger on the nuclear trigger still has the power to terrify.
Now it has been revealed that the highly erratic president's metaphorical digit was hovering even closer than was widely realised as his administration laid plans for an atomic strike against North Korea in 1969 following the shooting down of a US spy plane.
According to newly revealed government documents, Nixon is even believed to have ordered nuclear bombers to be put on standby for an immediate strike after North Korean jets downed the American plane as it flew over international waters collecting electronic and radio intelligence..."
-->The evidence of Nixon's finger on the nuclear trigger may well terrify those readers in other countries whose media is less censored. But in the US, there is little mention of this story, despite the fact that the National Security Archive is a university based American research institute. 
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FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
"Many PBS stations around the country will begin airing a three-part, three-hour documentary tonight (7/12/10) about Reagan-era Secretary of State George Shultz. According to the New York Times, the unusually lengthy, completely uncritical tribute is partially sponsored by corporations linked to Shultz's corporate career.
The special, Turmoil and Triumph, was funded by the Stephen Bechtel Fund and Charles Schwab. Shultz was a board member at both companies, and was president of the Bechtel Corporation from 1975 to 1982.
According to reviews, the documentary takes an overwhelmingly positive, even gushing stance. The Times' Alessandra Stanley points out, 'There is no mention that Mr. Shultz was a cheerleader for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while still on the board of Bechtel, a construction and engineering firm that won huge contracts that were later criticized by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.' "
-->PBS, like much of "public" broadcasting has had to relay on corporate money for a long time. The result were predictable, documentaries made to glorify right wing militarism and weapons manufactures. 
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Haaretz:
"Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal Friday calling for the U.S. government to end aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansions in disputed Palestinian territories. The move was immediately criticized by Jewish groups....
The report is meant as a guide for the denomination's more than 2 million members in many facets of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. It was approved with 82 percent of the vote during the church's annual general assembly in Minneapolis.
'We feel we've brought together people who previously had trouble talking about some of these issues together,' said the Rev. Karen Dimon of Northminster Presbyterian Church in North Syracuse, N.Y., and chairwoman of the committee that produced the 172-page report."
-->Even though this story is about the US Presbyterian church, The NY Times declined to cover it. The NY Times is more protective of Israel's image than newspapers published there.