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.
---------
Daily Mail UK:
"Two American missiles struck a village in south-west Iran early today. The news was given in a report by the country's Islamic Republic News Agency...
CORRECTION. This story was reported as news by InfoWars.com:
http://www.infowars.com/usuk-missiles-hit-iranian-village-day-before-hormuz-war-game/
But the actual date of the story in the Daily Mail was 2003. Thanks to a listener for catching this error.
------
Inter Press Service:
" 'Haiti is open for business.' That's what President Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly said at a recent ceremony as he and former U.S. president Bill Clinton laid a cornerstone for a giant industrial zone being built in northern Haiti.
Across the country and abroad, Martelly, his government, and their advisors – like Clinton – have been pushing the island nation as a foreign investor's dream come true...
Factory owners claim they can't pay more because of they did, their international clients...would pick up and move out. And so the Haitian government – with the full backing of the U.S. government, as recent Wikileaked cables revealed – remains the lowest wage in the hemisphere-wide 'race to the bottom.'
A study by HGW of assembly workers' expenses in the capital and at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border revealed that on an average day, workers spend more than 50 percent of an average day's wages just getting to work and back and eating their midday meal.
A recent study by the U.S.-based Solidarity Center, which is linked to the AFL-CIO trade union federation, determined that a 'living wage' for a worker with two children is 749 dollars a month – almost five times the average monthly wage."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/21
-->Bottom feeder Bill Clinton extolling the race to the bottom in Haiti? Slave wages the result of US occupation? You won't read such stories in the US media, including The NY Times.
------
The Australian:
"NEW YORK - Fourteen frustrated members of the UN Security Council pointed a finger at the US yesterday for blocking any condemnation of Israel's accelerated settlement construction in Palestinian territory.
In a move that Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin called historic, diplomats from almost all regional blocs represented on the council stepped to the microphone after closed council consultations on the Middle East to condemn the lack of progress towards a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Churkin, the council president, said the frustration over the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian talks spilled out in statements from the four European Union council members, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab group and the group of emerging powers that included India, Brazil and South Africa."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/21-4
-->The NY Times coverage of this story says a lot about our newspaper of record. Entitled "Israel Accuses 4 Countries of Meddling in Its Affairs," the news article stresses Israel's objections rather than the condemnations themselves. Hamas, as always, is characterized as "sworn to Israel's destruction." Why doesn't The NY Times characterize Israel as "sworn to expanding its apartheid state"?
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
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.
---------
Common Dreams:
"The US government should transfer Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) command of aerial drone strikes to the armed forces and clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama and in a questions and answers document. A dramatic increase in the use of CIA drone strikes underscores the need for the US to demonstrate that the CIA adheres to international legal requirements for accountability, Human Rights Watch said.
'CIA drone strikes have become an almost daily occurrence around the world, but little is known about who is killed and under what circumstances,' said James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch. 'So long as the US resists public accountability for CIA drone strikes, the agency should not be conducting targeted killings...'
'Unsupported claims by administration officials that all US agencies involved in targeted killings are complying with international law are wholly inadequate,' Ross said. 'By failing to adopt policies and practices that demonstrate compliance with international law, the US raises doubts among its allies about the lawfulness of its actions and creates a dangerous model for abusive governments.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/19-8
-->The NY Times only covers human rights reports when they are critical of Pentagon "enemies." Those reports critical of the US are routinely left out of print.
------
Per Square Mile:
"Over the last 30 years, wealth in the United States has been steadily concentrating in the upper economic echelons. Whereas the top 1 percent used to control a little over 30 percent of the wealth, they now control 40 percent. It’s a trend that was for decades brushed under the rug but is now on the tops of minds and at the tips of tongues.
Since too much inequality can foment revolt and instability, the CIA regularly updates statistics on income distribution for countries around the world, including the U.S. Between 1997 and 2007, inequality in the U.S. grew by almost 10 percent, making it more unequal than Russia, infamous for its powerful oligarchs. The U.S. is not faring well historically, either. Even the Roman Empire, a society built on conquest and slave labor, had a more equitable income distribution.
To determine the size of the Roman economy and the distribution of income, historians Walter Schiedel and Steven Friesen pored over papyri ledgers, previous scholarly estimates, imperial edicts, and Biblical passages. Their target was the state of the economy when the empire was at its population zenith, around 150 C.E. Schiedel and Friesen estimate that the top 1 percent of Roman society controlled 16 percent of the wealth, less than half of what America’s top 1 percent control."
http://persquaremile.com/2011/12/16/income-inequality-in-the-roman-empire/
-->The NY Times didn't cover these studies of gross income disparity in the United States. Most often, The NY Times is a newspaper for the 1%, not the 99%.
------
Guardian UK:
"Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline. America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. The dramatic bounce back comes as the latest government figures show wages for the majority of Americans are failing to keep up with inflation.
America's highest paid executive took home more than $145.2m, and as stock prices recovered across the board, the median value of bosses' profits on stock options rose 70% in 2010, from $950,400 to $1.3m. The news comes against the backdrop of an Occupy Wall Street movement that has focused Washington's attention on the pay packages of America's highest paid.
The Guardian's exclusive first look at the CEO pay survey from corporate governance group GMI Ratings will further fuel debate about America's widening income gap. The survey, the most extensive in the US, covered 2,647 companies, and offers a comprehensive assessment of all the data now available relating to 2010 pay."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/14/executive-pay-increase-america-ceos
-->Leave it to a foreign newspaper to outline how America's CEOs continue to rob the rest of us. Readers of The NY Times must go to the opinion page for such facts, like Paul Krugman's op-ed of November 24 entitled: "We Are the 99.9%."
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.
---------
Common Dreams:
"The US government should transfer Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) command of aerial drone strikes to the armed forces and clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama and in a questions and answers document. A dramatic increase in the use of CIA drone strikes underscores the need for the US to demonstrate that the CIA adheres to international legal requirements for accountability, Human Rights Watch said.
'CIA drone strikes have become an almost daily occurrence around the world, but little is known about who is killed and under what circumstances,' said James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch. 'So long as the US resists public accountability for CIA drone strikes, the agency should not be conducting targeted killings...'
'Unsupported claims by administration officials that all US agencies involved in targeted killings are complying with international law are wholly inadequate,' Ross said. 'By failing to adopt policies and practices that demonstrate compliance with international law, the US raises doubts among its allies about the lawfulness of its actions and creates a dangerous model for abusive governments.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/19-8
-->The NY Times only covers human rights reports when they are critical of Pentagon "enemies." Those reports critical of the US are routinely left out of print.
------
Per Square Mile:
"Over the last 30 years, wealth in the United States has been steadily concentrating in the upper economic echelons. Whereas the top 1 percent used to control a little over 30 percent of the wealth, they now control 40 percent. It’s a trend that was for decades brushed under the rug but is now on the tops of minds and at the tips of tongues.
Since too much inequality can foment revolt and instability, the CIA regularly updates statistics on income distribution for countries around the world, including the U.S. Between 1997 and 2007, inequality in the U.S. grew by almost 10 percent, making it more unequal than Russia, infamous for its powerful oligarchs. The U.S. is not faring well historically, either. Even the Roman Empire, a society built on conquest and slave labor, had a more equitable income distribution.
To determine the size of the Roman economy and the distribution of income, historians Walter Schiedel and Steven Friesen pored over papyri ledgers, previous scholarly estimates, imperial edicts, and Biblical passages. Their target was the state of the economy when the empire was at its population zenith, around 150 C.E. Schiedel and Friesen estimate that the top 1 percent of Roman society controlled 16 percent of the wealth, less than half of what America’s top 1 percent control."
http://persquaremile.com/2011/12/16/income-inequality-in-the-roman-empire/
-->The NY Times didn't cover these studies of gross income disparity in the United States. Most often, The NY Times is a newspaper for the 1%, not the 99%.
------
Guardian UK:
"Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline. America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. The dramatic bounce back comes as the latest government figures show wages for the majority of Americans are failing to keep up with inflation.
America's highest paid executive took home more than $145.2m, and as stock prices recovered across the board, the median value of bosses' profits on stock options rose 70% in 2010, from $950,400 to $1.3m. The news comes against the backdrop of an Occupy Wall Street movement that has focused Washington's attention on the pay packages of America's highest paid.
The Guardian's exclusive first look at the CEO pay survey from corporate governance group GMI Ratings will further fuel debate about America's widening income gap. The survey, the most extensive in the US, covered 2,647 companies, and offers a comprehensive assessment of all the data now available relating to 2010 pay."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/14/executive-pay-increase-america-ceos
-->Leave it to a foreign newspaper to outline how America's CEOs continue to rob the rest of us. Readers of The NY Times must go to the opinion page for such facts, like Paul Krugman's op-ed of November 24 entitled: "We Are the 99.9%."
Thursday, December 15, 2011
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.
---------
The Globe and Mail (Toronto):
"Pentagon spending bill includes sweeping detention measures. Even American citizens arrested in the United States could face perpetual detention in military prisons without charge or trial under draconian new presidential powers unless Barack Obama vetoes a massive Pentagon spending bill.
The sweeping new 'antiterrorist' measures could also ensnare Canadians or other foreigners picked up in the United States or overseas...
If Mr. Obama signs the legislation, it will make the United States 'an outlier in the international community,' legalizing indefinite detention without charge in military prisons for citizens and foreigners alike, said Andrea Prasow, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/pentagon-spending-bill-includes-sweeping-detention-measures/article2270056/
-->The NY Times ran an opinion piece criticizing this legislation. But why is there nothing in the news section about the imminent destruction of the Bill of Rights? Indefinite detentions in military prisons without charges means the end of America's rule of law. Maybe a little article about its passing might have been appropriate.
------
Guardian UK:
"The British government has been ordered to secure the release of a Pakistani man captured by SAS soldiers in Iraq and held in Afghanistan's notorious Bagram jail without trial for more than seven years.
The appeal court, ordering a writ of habeas corpus, ruled that Yunus Rahmatullah, 29, was being unlawfully detained. The SAS handed Rahmatullah over to US troops in Iraq, from where he was rendered to Bagram.
The legal charity Reprieve, which has sought to secure the man's release, described the ruling as 'historic' and 'unique.' A spokeswoman said she expected British ministers to ask the US authorities to free Rahmatullah."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-0
-->The NY Times didn't cover this story of an English court upholding habeas corpus for a Pakistani man held by US troops in Iraq. Maybe that's because The NY Times won't cover the end of habeas corpus for US citizens in America.
------
Guardian UK:
"Prosecutors painted (the "Newburgh Four") as America-hating terrorists bent on slaughter. All four followed the instructions of Hussain, who meticulously organized the scheme: from getting the missile and bombs, to reconnaissance missions, to teaching the tenets of radical Islam.
The 'Newburgh Four' now languish in jail. Hussain does not. For Hussain was a fake. In fact, Hussain worked for the FBI as an informant trawling mosques in hope of picking up radicals.
Yet far from being active militants, the four men he attracted were impoverished individuals struggling with Newburgh's grim epidemic of crack, drug crime and poverty. One had mental issues so severe his apartment contained bottles of his own urine. He also believed Florida was a foreign country.
Hussain offered the men huge financial inducements to carry out the plot – including $250,000 to one man – and free holidays and expensive cars."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/12-6
-->The specter of the FBI paying an impoverished man a quarter million dollars to go along with a fake "terror" plot puts another stain on our system of criminal justice. Just how far will the FBI go with its entrapment schemes before Americans rise up in disgust? But our national media, including The NY Times, never covers these FBI abuses. We have to read about them in an English newspaper.
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.
---------
The Globe and Mail (Toronto):
"Pentagon spending bill includes sweeping detention measures. Even American citizens arrested in the United States could face perpetual detention in military prisons without charge or trial under draconian new presidential powers unless Barack Obama vetoes a massive Pentagon spending bill.
The sweeping new 'antiterrorist' measures could also ensnare Canadians or other foreigners picked up in the United States or overseas...
If Mr. Obama signs the legislation, it will make the United States 'an outlier in the international community,' legalizing indefinite detention without charge in military prisons for citizens and foreigners alike, said Andrea Prasow, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/pentagon-spending-bill-includes-sweeping-detention-measures/article2270056/
-->The NY Times ran an opinion piece criticizing this legislation. But why is there nothing in the news section about the imminent destruction of the Bill of Rights? Indefinite detentions in military prisons without charges means the end of America's rule of law. Maybe a little article about its passing might have been appropriate.
------
Guardian UK:
"The British government has been ordered to secure the release of a Pakistani man captured by SAS soldiers in Iraq and held in Afghanistan's notorious Bagram jail without trial for more than seven years.
The appeal court, ordering a writ of habeas corpus, ruled that Yunus Rahmatullah, 29, was being unlawfully detained. The SAS handed Rahmatullah over to US troops in Iraq, from where he was rendered to Bagram.
The legal charity Reprieve, which has sought to secure the man's release, described the ruling as 'historic' and 'unique.' A spokeswoman said she expected British ministers to ask the US authorities to free Rahmatullah."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-0
-->The NY Times didn't cover this story of an English court upholding habeas corpus for a Pakistani man held by US troops in Iraq. Maybe that's because The NY Times won't cover the end of habeas corpus for US citizens in America.
------
Guardian UK:
"Prosecutors painted (the "Newburgh Four") as America-hating terrorists bent on slaughter. All four followed the instructions of Hussain, who meticulously organized the scheme: from getting the missile and bombs, to reconnaissance missions, to teaching the tenets of radical Islam.
The 'Newburgh Four' now languish in jail. Hussain does not. For Hussain was a fake. In fact, Hussain worked for the FBI as an informant trawling mosques in hope of picking up radicals.
Yet far from being active militants, the four men he attracted were impoverished individuals struggling with Newburgh's grim epidemic of crack, drug crime and poverty. One had mental issues so severe his apartment contained bottles of his own urine. He also believed Florida was a foreign country.
Hussain offered the men huge financial inducements to carry out the plot – including $250,000 to one man – and free holidays and expensive cars."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/12-6
-->The specter of the FBI paying an impoverished man a quarter million dollars to go along with a fake "terror" plot puts another stain on our system of criminal justice. Just how far will the FBI go with its entrapment schemes before Americans rise up in disgust? But our national media, including The NY Times, never covers these FBI abuses. We have to read about them in an English newspaper.
Friday, December 09, 2011
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.
---------
Agence France-Presse:
"Amnesty International on Thursday urged Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia to arrest former US president George W. Bush for violating international torture laws, during his African tour this week. Bush is touring the countries through to Monday to promote efforts to fight cervical and breast cancers, and Amnesty said the three nations have an obligation to arrest him under international law.
'All countries to which George W. Bush travels have an obligation to bring him to justice for his role in torture,' said Amnesty's senior legal adviser Matt Pollard. 'International law requires that there be no safe haven for those responsible for torture; Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia must seize this opportunity to fulfill their obligations and end the impunity George W. Bush has so far enjoyed.'
http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-urges-african-nations-arrest-george-bush-161628253.html
-->The NY Times does a lot of reporting about Amnesty International, in places like China, Iran, Egypt, Rwanda, Nicaragua. But somehow our newspaper of record overlooked this recommendation to arrest George Bush in Africa. In fact, Amnesty International has recommended that Canada arrest our former president for war crimes. Another missed story by The NY Times.
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/waronterror/canada-should-arrest-and-prosecute-george-w-bush-on-visit/
------
Inter Press Service:
"The United States has become the major stumbling block to progress at the mid point of negotiations over a new international climate regime say civil society and many of the 193 nations attending the United Nations climate change conference here in Durban.
'The U.S. position leads us to three or four degrees Celsius of warming, which will be devastating for the poor of the world,' said Celine Charveriat of Oxfam International.
'They are proposing a 10-year time out with no new targets to lower emissions until after 2020,' Charveriat said."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-0
-->For The NY Times, "The biggest obstacle to global progress has been countries like China and India." And the role of the United States? "America should have taken a leadership role. It did not."
------
The San Francisco Chronicle:
"Some Democratic lawmakers say that, while President Barack Obama's plan to cut payroll taxes may strengthen the U.S. economy, it may have some unintended fallout: weakening Social Security.
The lawmakers and advocacy groups say they are concerned the tax cuts may undermine political support for the retirement program, which provides benefits to almost 55 million Americans and is funded by the payroll levies.
'I don't object to putting more money in people's pockets, and there are lots of ways to do that, but not with Social Security,' said Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey, who said he will have a hard time supporting the White House plan."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-4
-->Obama purposely weakening Social Security so that he can privatize it in his second term? Why, The NY Times would never dwell on the fact that proposed tax cuts would undermine Social Security. That wouldn't favor the 1%, who want to make a killing gambling with the pensions of the working class.
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.
---------
Agence France-Presse:
"Amnesty International on Thursday urged Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia to arrest former US president George W. Bush for violating international torture laws, during his African tour this week. Bush is touring the countries through to Monday to promote efforts to fight cervical and breast cancers, and Amnesty said the three nations have an obligation to arrest him under international law.
'All countries to which George W. Bush travels have an obligation to bring him to justice for his role in torture,' said Amnesty's senior legal adviser Matt Pollard. 'International law requires that there be no safe haven for those responsible for torture; Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia must seize this opportunity to fulfill their obligations and end the impunity George W. Bush has so far enjoyed.'
http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-urges-african-nations-arrest-george-bush-161628253.html
-->The NY Times does a lot of reporting about Amnesty International, in places like China, Iran, Egypt, Rwanda, Nicaragua. But somehow our newspaper of record overlooked this recommendation to arrest George Bush in Africa. In fact, Amnesty International has recommended that Canada arrest our former president for war crimes. Another missed story by The NY Times.
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/waronterror/canada-should-arrest-and-prosecute-george-w-bush-on-visit/
------
Inter Press Service:
"The United States has become the major stumbling block to progress at the mid point of negotiations over a new international climate regime say civil society and many of the 193 nations attending the United Nations climate change conference here in Durban.
'The U.S. position leads us to three or four degrees Celsius of warming, which will be devastating for the poor of the world,' said Celine Charveriat of Oxfam International.
'They are proposing a 10-year time out with no new targets to lower emissions until after 2020,' Charveriat said."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-0
-->For The NY Times, "The biggest obstacle to global progress has been countries like China and India." And the role of the United States? "America should have taken a leadership role. It did not."
------
The San Francisco Chronicle:
"Some Democratic lawmakers say that, while President Barack Obama's plan to cut payroll taxes may strengthen the U.S. economy, it may have some unintended fallout: weakening Social Security.
The lawmakers and advocacy groups say they are concerned the tax cuts may undermine political support for the retirement program, which provides benefits to almost 55 million Americans and is funded by the payroll levies.
'I don't object to putting more money in people's pockets, and there are lots of ways to do that, but not with Social Security,' said Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey, who said he will have a hard time supporting the White House plan."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/06-4
-->Obama purposely weakening Social Security so that he can privatize it in his second term? Why, The NY Times would never dwell on the fact that proposed tax cuts would undermine Social Security. That wouldn't favor the 1%, who want to make a killing gambling with the pensions of the working class.
Friday, December 02, 2011
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.
---------
The Hill (Washington, DC):
"A top House Democrat is calling for a hearing with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke following a report that the central bank secretly committed more than $7 trillion to save banks during the financial crisis.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings (Md.) sent a letter on Monday to panel Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) requesting the committee look into how banks 'benefitted from trillions of dollars in previously undisclosed government loans provided at below-market rates.'
'Many Americans are struggling to understand why banks deserve such preferential treatment while millions of homeowners are being denied assistance and are at increasing risk of foreclosure,' Cummings said.
The request comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report that said the Fed secretly committed more than $7 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the nation’s top financial institutions, and that these banks 'reaped an estimated $13 billion of income' on the below-market rates."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/28-4
-->Financial corruption on a scale unimaginable to the 99 percent. The fleecing of America by the financial sector may have been the biggest rip-off in US history. What a shame that The NY Times didn't cover Representative Cummings' request for a hearing.
------
The Australian:
"WIKILEAKS was last night awarded a Walkley for outstanding contribution to journalism for what was described by judges as a global publishing coup that achieved 'justice through transparency'.
'WikiLeaks applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup,' the Walkley trustees said.
'Its revelations, from the way the war on terror was being waged, to diplomatic bastardry, high-level horse-trading and the interference in the domestic affairs of nations, have had an undeniable impact.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/27
-->An award similar in stature to the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism goes to Wikileaks. Too bad the US media, including The NY Times, can't bring itself to tell the US public.
------
Deeplinks Blog:
"FBI Sanctioned for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records.
An order from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has revealed the FBI lied to the court about the existence of records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), taking the position that FOIA allows it to withhold information from the court whenever it thinks this is in the interest of national security. Using the strongest possible language, the court disagreed: 'The Government cannot, under any circumstance, affirmatively mislead the Court...'
In issuing monetary sanctions against the DOJ, the court held, 'the Government’s deception of the Court was without any factual or legal basis and simply wrong.' The court noted issuing sanctions was necessary to 'deter the Government from deceiving the Court again.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/22-0
-->This important case (Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI) has uncovered a pattern of deception by the FBI when it comes to revealing surveillance documents. But The NY Times, often a staunch defender of the FBI, didn't report this story.
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.
---------
The Hill (Washington, DC):
"A top House Democrat is calling for a hearing with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke following a report that the central bank secretly committed more than $7 trillion to save banks during the financial crisis.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings (Md.) sent a letter on Monday to panel Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) requesting the committee look into how banks 'benefitted from trillions of dollars in previously undisclosed government loans provided at below-market rates.'
'Many Americans are struggling to understand why banks deserve such preferential treatment while millions of homeowners are being denied assistance and are at increasing risk of foreclosure,' Cummings said.
The request comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report that said the Fed secretly committed more than $7 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the nation’s top financial institutions, and that these banks 'reaped an estimated $13 billion of income' on the below-market rates."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/28-4
-->Financial corruption on a scale unimaginable to the 99 percent. The fleecing of America by the financial sector may have been the biggest rip-off in US history. What a shame that The NY Times didn't cover Representative Cummings' request for a hearing.
------
The Australian:
"WIKILEAKS was last night awarded a Walkley for outstanding contribution to journalism for what was described by judges as a global publishing coup that achieved 'justice through transparency'.
'WikiLeaks applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup,' the Walkley trustees said.
'Its revelations, from the way the war on terror was being waged, to diplomatic bastardry, high-level horse-trading and the interference in the domestic affairs of nations, have had an undeniable impact.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/27
-->An award similar in stature to the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism goes to Wikileaks. Too bad the US media, including The NY Times, can't bring itself to tell the US public.
------
Deeplinks Blog:
"FBI Sanctioned for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records.
An order from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has revealed the FBI lied to the court about the existence of records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), taking the position that FOIA allows it to withhold information from the court whenever it thinks this is in the interest of national security. Using the strongest possible language, the court disagreed: 'The Government cannot, under any circumstance, affirmatively mislead the Court...'
In issuing monetary sanctions against the DOJ, the court held, 'the Government’s deception of the Court was without any factual or legal basis and simply wrong.' The court noted issuing sanctions was necessary to 'deter the Government from deceiving the Court again.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/22-0
-->This important case (Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI) has uncovered a pattern of deception by the FBI when it comes to revealing surveillance documents. But The NY Times, often a staunch defender of the FBI, didn't report this story.
Friday, November 18, 2011
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.
---------
Gush Shalom:
"The bill to prohibit left-wing Israeli organizations from getting funding from foreign institutions, including governments, which Sunday got the backing of the government of Israel, is another link in the chain of anti-democratic legislation which became the hallmark of this government and its representatives in the Knesset...
The initiators of the bill argue that it is designed to prevent outside interference in the internal affairs of the State of Israel - and that while at the same time the government of Israel, through such organizations as the Israel Lobby in Washington (AIPAC) interferes openly and flagrantly in the domestic affairs of the United States, trying to determine who will be elected and who will not be elected to Congress and to the Presidency, and how elected officials should conduct the United States' policy. Until and unless the government announces the dissolution of AIPAC and ceases all interference in United States elections, assertions and complaints of 'foreign interference in the affairs of Israel' are the height of hypocrisy."
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1321271743
-->The NY Times, always a supporter of AIPAC, did not draw such parallels for its readers. That task was left to Gush Shalom, Israel's biggest peace organization.
------
Inter Press Service:
"The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published by a Washington think tank Tuesday repeated the sensational claim previously reported by news media all over the world that a former Soviet nuclear weapons scientist had helped Iran construct a detonation system that could be used for a nuclear weapon.
But it turns out that the foreign expert, who is not named in the IAEA report but was identified in news reports as Vyacheslav Danilenko, is not a nuclear weapons scientist but one of the top specialists in the world in the production of nanodiamonds by explosives.
In fact, Danilenko, a Ukrainian, has worked solely on nanodiamonds from the beginning of his research career and is considered one of the pioneers in the development of nanodiamond technology, as published scientific papers confirm."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/09-5
-->Another phony story about Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. Leave it to The NY Times to leave this pro-war propaganda unchallenged.
------
Common Dreams:
"Performing at what was probably the most secure place on the planet - an APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) dinner attended by President Obama and about 20 world leaders - Hawaiian musician Makana opened his suit jacket to reveal an “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt and then spent 45 minutes repeatedly singing his terrific, newly released protest song, 'We Are the Many.' Makana's action was assisted by the Yes Lab and Occupy the Boardroom."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/14-2
-->The NY Times didn't print this story.
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.
---------
Gush Shalom:
"The bill to prohibit left-wing Israeli organizations from getting funding from foreign institutions, including governments, which Sunday got the backing of the government of Israel, is another link in the chain of anti-democratic legislation which became the hallmark of this government and its representatives in the Knesset...
The initiators of the bill argue that it is designed to prevent outside interference in the internal affairs of the State of Israel - and that while at the same time the government of Israel, through such organizations as the Israel Lobby in Washington (AIPAC) interferes openly and flagrantly in the domestic affairs of the United States, trying to determine who will be elected and who will not be elected to Congress and to the Presidency, and how elected officials should conduct the United States' policy. Until and unless the government announces the dissolution of AIPAC and ceases all interference in United States elections, assertions and complaints of 'foreign interference in the affairs of Israel' are the height of hypocrisy."
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1321271743
-->The NY Times, always a supporter of AIPAC, did not draw such parallels for its readers. That task was left to Gush Shalom, Israel's biggest peace organization.
------
Inter Press Service:
"The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published by a Washington think tank Tuesday repeated the sensational claim previously reported by news media all over the world that a former Soviet nuclear weapons scientist had helped Iran construct a detonation system that could be used for a nuclear weapon.
But it turns out that the foreign expert, who is not named in the IAEA report but was identified in news reports as Vyacheslav Danilenko, is not a nuclear weapons scientist but one of the top specialists in the world in the production of nanodiamonds by explosives.
In fact, Danilenko, a Ukrainian, has worked solely on nanodiamonds from the beginning of his research career and is considered one of the pioneers in the development of nanodiamond technology, as published scientific papers confirm."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/09-5
-->Another phony story about Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. Leave it to The NY Times to leave this pro-war propaganda unchallenged.
------
Common Dreams:
"Performing at what was probably the most secure place on the planet - an APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) dinner attended by President Obama and about 20 world leaders - Hawaiian musician Makana opened his suit jacket to reveal an “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt and then spent 45 minutes repeatedly singing his terrific, newly released protest song, 'We Are the Many.' Makana's action was assisted by the Yes Lab and Occupy the Boardroom."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/14-2
-->The NY Times didn't print this story.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
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.
---------
Citizens for Legitimate Government:
" 'Occupy Boston' protesters in the US have stormed the Israeli consulate in the city and held a brief sit-in in the building's lobby, Press TV reports. On Friday, activists gathered calling for the liberation of Palestine, angry at Israel for intercepting an aid flotilla on its way to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Protesters chanted slogans such as, 'not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel's crimes' and 'Vive viva Palestina,' demanding the departure of Israeli consulate officials from the US."
http://www.legitgov.org/Occupy-Boston-takes-Israeli-consulate
-->Readers of The NY Times were never informed about this occupation of the Israeli Consulate. The role of The NY Times is to play down any US protest against Israel's apartheid tactics in the West Bank and Gaza.
------
Guardian UK:
"The Greek prime minister George Papandreou's loss of power is not surprising: the reaction of Greeks to the 27 October agreement with its new tranche of austerity measures and the further undermining of national independence was devastating for the government. The next day, a military parade was abandoned as protesters occupied the streets, and the president had to flee; parades elsewhere were similarly interrupted. The political elites, who felt unassailable for 30 years, now sense the popular anger and are unable to comprehend or contain it.
The call for a referendum was the irrational act of a regime that had lost touch with the people and was trying desperately to save its skin. Papandreou's gambit looked like a veiled threat to the eurozone authorities and was interpreted as such by leaders who have been strongly rebuffed in recent referendums by the French and the Dutch - where two of the core nations rejected the European constitution and ended aspirations for the creation of a European superstate based on neoliberal principles. 'Referendum', a dirty word in the corridors of Brussels, evoked the fear elites feel when the people momentarily enter the political stage."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/06/greek-spring-europe-contagion-resistance
-->So that's what is happening in Greece. Fury at the financial elite, who robbed the nation's assets and are now trying to destroy the wages and rights of working people. Why, it's just like Occupy Wall Street! But our nation's media, including The NY Times, would never make this connection for their readers. The media in the United States exists to promote the power of the 1%, not the 99%.
------
Guardian UK:
"A second Iraq war veteran has suffered serious injuries after clashes between police and Occupy movement protesters in Oakland.
Kayvan Sabehgi, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in intensive care with a lacerated spleen. He says he was beaten by police close to the Occupy Oakland camp, but despite suffering agonising pain, did not reach hospital until 18 hours later.
Sabehgi, 32, is the second Iraq war veteran to be hospitalised following involvement in Oakland protests. Another protester, Scott Olsen, suffered a fractured skull on 25 October."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/occupy-oakland-second-veteran-injured
-->The NY Times didn't bother covering this story of a second Iraq vet beaten by the Oakland Police and now in intensive care. All the news that's "fit to print," as long as it supports the narrative of corporate America. Sad that the real news of our country must be read in an English newspaper.
------
Mercury News:
Experts in police use of force shocked by Oakland video. A Youtube video depicts police firing without warning or apparent provocation at videographer Scott Campbell early thursday, Nov. 3, 2011.
A video clip is raising new questions about whether police used excessive force against Occupy Oakland participants during the fracas after last week's general strike...
Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminal justice professor who's an expert in police decision-making and use of force, said the video left him 'astonished, amazed and embarrassed.'
'Unless there's something we don't know, that's one of the most outrageous uses of a firearm that I've ever seen,' he said. 'Unless there's a threat that you can't see in the video, that just looks like absolute punishment, which is the worst type of excessive force.'
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19284774
-->Again, absolutely no coverage by The NY Times.
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.
---------
Citizens for Legitimate Government:
" 'Occupy Boston' protesters in the US have stormed the Israeli consulate in the city and held a brief sit-in in the building's lobby, Press TV reports. On Friday, activists gathered calling for the liberation of Palestine, angry at Israel for intercepting an aid flotilla on its way to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Protesters chanted slogans such as, 'not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel's crimes' and 'Vive viva Palestina,' demanding the departure of Israeli consulate officials from the US."
http://www.legitgov.org/Occupy-Boston-takes-Israeli-consulate
-->Readers of The NY Times were never informed about this occupation of the Israeli Consulate. The role of The NY Times is to play down any US protest against Israel's apartheid tactics in the West Bank and Gaza.
------
Guardian UK:
"The Greek prime minister George Papandreou's loss of power is not surprising: the reaction of Greeks to the 27 October agreement with its new tranche of austerity measures and the further undermining of national independence was devastating for the government. The next day, a military parade was abandoned as protesters occupied the streets, and the president had to flee; parades elsewhere were similarly interrupted. The political elites, who felt unassailable for 30 years, now sense the popular anger and are unable to comprehend or contain it.
The call for a referendum was the irrational act of a regime that had lost touch with the people and was trying desperately to save its skin. Papandreou's gambit looked like a veiled threat to the eurozone authorities and was interpreted as such by leaders who have been strongly rebuffed in recent referendums by the French and the Dutch - where two of the core nations rejected the European constitution and ended aspirations for the creation of a European superstate based on neoliberal principles. 'Referendum', a dirty word in the corridors of Brussels, evoked the fear elites feel when the people momentarily enter the political stage."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/06/greek-spring-europe-contagion-resistance
-->So that's what is happening in Greece. Fury at the financial elite, who robbed the nation's assets and are now trying to destroy the wages and rights of working people. Why, it's just like Occupy Wall Street! But our nation's media, including The NY Times, would never make this connection for their readers. The media in the United States exists to promote the power of the 1%, not the 99%.
------
Guardian UK:
"A second Iraq war veteran has suffered serious injuries after clashes between police and Occupy movement protesters in Oakland.
Kayvan Sabehgi, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in intensive care with a lacerated spleen. He says he was beaten by police close to the Occupy Oakland camp, but despite suffering agonising pain, did not reach hospital until 18 hours later.
Sabehgi, 32, is the second Iraq war veteran to be hospitalised following involvement in Oakland protests. Another protester, Scott Olsen, suffered a fractured skull on 25 October."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/occupy-oakland-second-veteran-injured
-->The NY Times didn't bother covering this story of a second Iraq vet beaten by the Oakland Police and now in intensive care. All the news that's "fit to print," as long as it supports the narrative of corporate America. Sad that the real news of our country must be read in an English newspaper.
------
Mercury News:
Experts in police use of force shocked by Oakland video. A Youtube video depicts police firing without warning or apparent provocation at videographer Scott Campbell early thursday, Nov. 3, 2011.
A video clip is raising new questions about whether police used excessive force against Occupy Oakland participants during the fracas after last week's general strike...
Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminal justice professor who's an expert in police decision-making and use of force, said the video left him 'astonished, amazed and embarrassed.'
'Unless there's something we don't know, that's one of the most outrageous uses of a firearm that I've ever seen,' he said. 'Unless there's a threat that you can't see in the video, that just looks like absolute punishment, which is the worst type of excessive force.'
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19284774
-->Again, absolutely no coverage by The NY Times.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
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.
---------
Business Insider:
"Marine Says Oakland Used Crowd Control Methods That Are Prohibited In War Zones. As the events that led to Oakland protester Scott Olsen's head injury continue to unfold and investigations begin, we thought it important to offer some perspective.
This comment is from a former Marine with special operations in crowd control. He points out that shooting canisters such as those that likely hit Scott Olsen is prohibited under rules of engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan...
'How did a cop who is supposed to have training on his weapon system accidentally SHOOT someone in the head with a 40mm gas canister? Simple. He was aiming at him. I'll be the first to admit a 40mm round is tricky to aim if you are inexperienced but anyone can tell the difference between aiming at head level and going for range. The person that pulled that trigger has no business being a cop. He sent that round out with the intention of doing some serious damage to the protestors...' "
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-28/news/30331670_1_protester-gas-masks-lethal-force
-->Contrast this analysis to most of what the mainstream media gave us after Scott Olsen was stuck down. Perhaps the worst example is the coverage of the Washington Post after the attack. DC's premier newspaper carried a picture of an Oakland policeman patting a stray kitten.
------
IPS News:
"While the administration of Barack Obama vows to hold the Iranian government 'accountable' for the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, the legal document describing evidence in the case provides multiple indications that it was mainly the result of an FBI 'sting' operation...
Both that language and the absence of any statement attributed to Arbabsiar (the accused) imply that the Iranian-American said nothing about assassinating the Saudi ambassador except in response to suggestions by the informant, who was already part of an FBI undercover operation.
The DEA informant, as the FBI account acknowledges in a footnote, had previously been charged with a narcotics offense by a state in the U.S. and had been cooperating in narcotics investigations – apparently posing as a drug cartel operative – in return for dropping the charges. The document is notably silent on whether the conversation was recorded.
A former FBI official familiar with procedures in such cases, who spoke to IPS anonymously, said the FBI would normally have recorded all such conversations touching on the possibility of terrorism. The absence of quotes from any of those meetings suggests that they do not support the case being made by the FBI and the Obama administration."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105458
-->Another phony plot hatched by the FBI, with flimsy evidence and a witness trying to beat a drug rap. On such lies, the empire launches its illegal wars of preemption. Isn't it a crime that our nation's media, including The NY Times can't dig a little deeper into a story like this?
------
Think Progress:
"NYT Bureau Chief To Appear On Panel For Islamophobic Organization’s Film...The New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Ethan Bronner, has stirred up controversy over recent speaking engagements. But an announcement on the 92nd St. Y’s website shows that Bronner is now scheduled to appear on a panel hosted by the Clarion Fund, an Islamophobic organization, to discuss the 'threat of a nuclear Iran'...
Bronner and the 92nd Street Y are free to associate themselves with whatever organizations they choose. But the fact that the Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief is lending his name to a Clarion Fund event, and the promotion of a film which advocates for military action against Iran, raises further questions about Bronner’s growing record of engaging in activities which could produce the appearance of a conflict of interest or undermine the impartiality of his reporting.
The Clarion Fund...distributed the inflammatory anti-Muslim documentary 'Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West' to 28 million swing state voters before the 2008 presidential election."
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/10/26/353954/ethan-bronner-clarion-fund-islamophobic/
-->Ethan Bronner is one of The NY Times principal reporter on the Israel/Palestine conflict. He promotes islamophobia on the side. No conflict of interest there! At a Vassar appearance two years ago, he expressed admiration for the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, calling them "people who make history."
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.
---------
Business Insider:
"Marine Says Oakland Used Crowd Control Methods That Are Prohibited In War Zones. As the events that led to Oakland protester Scott Olsen's head injury continue to unfold and investigations begin, we thought it important to offer some perspective.
This comment is from a former Marine with special operations in crowd control. He points out that shooting canisters such as those that likely hit Scott Olsen is prohibited under rules of engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan...
'How did a cop who is supposed to have training on his weapon system accidentally SHOOT someone in the head with a 40mm gas canister? Simple. He was aiming at him. I'll be the first to admit a 40mm round is tricky to aim if you are inexperienced but anyone can tell the difference between aiming at head level and going for range. The person that pulled that trigger has no business being a cop. He sent that round out with the intention of doing some serious damage to the protestors...' "
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-28/news/30331670_1_protester-gas-masks-lethal-force
-->Contrast this analysis to most of what the mainstream media gave us after Scott Olsen was stuck down. Perhaps the worst example is the coverage of the Washington Post after the attack. DC's premier newspaper carried a picture of an Oakland policeman patting a stray kitten.
------
IPS News:
"While the administration of Barack Obama vows to hold the Iranian government 'accountable' for the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, the legal document describing evidence in the case provides multiple indications that it was mainly the result of an FBI 'sting' operation...
Both that language and the absence of any statement attributed to Arbabsiar (the accused) imply that the Iranian-American said nothing about assassinating the Saudi ambassador except in response to suggestions by the informant, who was already part of an FBI undercover operation.
The DEA informant, as the FBI account acknowledges in a footnote, had previously been charged with a narcotics offense by a state in the U.S. and had been cooperating in narcotics investigations – apparently posing as a drug cartel operative – in return for dropping the charges. The document is notably silent on whether the conversation was recorded.
A former FBI official familiar with procedures in such cases, who spoke to IPS anonymously, said the FBI would normally have recorded all such conversations touching on the possibility of terrorism. The absence of quotes from any of those meetings suggests that they do not support the case being made by the FBI and the Obama administration."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105458
-->Another phony plot hatched by the FBI, with flimsy evidence and a witness trying to beat a drug rap. On such lies, the empire launches its illegal wars of preemption. Isn't it a crime that our nation's media, including The NY Times can't dig a little deeper into a story like this?
------
Think Progress:
"NYT Bureau Chief To Appear On Panel For Islamophobic Organization’s Film...The New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Ethan Bronner, has stirred up controversy over recent speaking engagements. But an announcement on the 92nd St. Y’s website shows that Bronner is now scheduled to appear on a panel hosted by the Clarion Fund, an Islamophobic organization, to discuss the 'threat of a nuclear Iran'...
Bronner and the 92nd Street Y are free to associate themselves with whatever organizations they choose. But the fact that the Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief is lending his name to a Clarion Fund event, and the promotion of a film which advocates for military action against Iran, raises further questions about Bronner’s growing record of engaging in activities which could produce the appearance of a conflict of interest or undermine the impartiality of his reporting.
The Clarion Fund...distributed the inflammatory anti-Muslim documentary 'Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West' to 28 million swing state voters before the 2008 presidential election."
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/10/26/353954/ethan-bronner-clarion-fund-islamophobic/
-->Ethan Bronner is one of The NY Times principal reporter on the Israel/Palestine conflict. He promotes islamophobia on the side. No conflict of interest there! At a Vassar appearance two years ago, he expressed admiration for the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, calling them "people who make history."
Friday, October 28, 2011
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.
---------
NPR:
"Villagers in Afghanistan say they were forced to walk ahead of Afghan and U.S. Soldiers along roads in areas believed to be mined by the Taliban.
National Public Radio reports villagers said the Afghan and U.S. troops pulled them from their homes one evening in early September and forced them to walk in front of the troops for more than a mile in the Panjwai district, southwest of Kandahar city.
No one was injured, but if the incident happened, it would appear to violate the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of civilians, NPR said."
http://www.military.com/news/article/report-us-afghan-troops-forced-locals-to-walk-mined-road.html
-->The only recent mention of the Panjwai district in The NY Times is an op-ed article written by an Army Special Forces major and a visiting fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The title of his piece is "This War Can Still Be Won."
------
Minnesota Independent:
"President Obama’s 2012 campaign has a new senior adviser — a former lobbyist for the company pushing the Keystone XL pipeline, who also lobbied for Comcast throughout the period that the media conglomerate was seeking approval for its merger with NBC-Universal.
The campaign hired Broderick Johnson of the lobbying firm Bryan Cave LLP this week. According to U.S. House of Representatives records, Johnson lobbied to 'support submission of a presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline' in the final quarter of 2010.
Environmentalists are upset with the pipeline and with Pres. Barack Obama’s unwillingness to reconsider the project."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/25-5
-->The NY Time's coverage of this appointment was all about Mr. Johnson's wife temporarily leaving NPR. Mr. Johnson was described as an "ear to the ground for the campaign’s political and constituency operations.” What pipeline lobbying?
------
Globe and Mail:
"WINTERTHUR, Switzerland - Here’s a gift to Occupy Wall Street protesters around the world: you now have scholarly proof that banks control the world.
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, also known as ETH, have published a paper that argues just 147 companies account for a large chunk of the total economic value of all the transnational companies around the world. No exact dollar figures, but it’s obviously a vast sum.
Among the top 50 corporations, 45 operate within the financial industry. Barclays PLC is the most powerful, according to the ETH study, followed by such well-known names as JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG, and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. The United States takes home first prize with 24 companies cracking the researchers’ top 50 list"
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/25-2
-->The NY Times, a staunch supporter of the rich as well as the international banking system that serves them, would never print a story like this.
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.
---------
NPR:
"Villagers in Afghanistan say they were forced to walk ahead of Afghan and U.S. Soldiers along roads in areas believed to be mined by the Taliban.
National Public Radio reports villagers said the Afghan and U.S. troops pulled them from their homes one evening in early September and forced them to walk in front of the troops for more than a mile in the Panjwai district, southwest of Kandahar city.
No one was injured, but if the incident happened, it would appear to violate the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of civilians, NPR said."
http://www.military.com/news/article/report-us-afghan-troops-forced-locals-to-walk-mined-road.html
-->The only recent mention of the Panjwai district in The NY Times is an op-ed article written by an Army Special Forces major and a visiting fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The title of his piece is "This War Can Still Be Won."
------
Minnesota Independent:
"President Obama’s 2012 campaign has a new senior adviser — a former lobbyist for the company pushing the Keystone XL pipeline, who also lobbied for Comcast throughout the period that the media conglomerate was seeking approval for its merger with NBC-Universal.
The campaign hired Broderick Johnson of the lobbying firm Bryan Cave LLP this week. According to U.S. House of Representatives records, Johnson lobbied to 'support submission of a presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline' in the final quarter of 2010.
Environmentalists are upset with the pipeline and with Pres. Barack Obama’s unwillingness to reconsider the project."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/25-5
-->The NY Time's coverage of this appointment was all about Mr. Johnson's wife temporarily leaving NPR. Mr. Johnson was described as an "ear to the ground for the campaign’s political and constituency operations.” What pipeline lobbying?
------
Globe and Mail:
"WINTERTHUR, Switzerland - Here’s a gift to Occupy Wall Street protesters around the world: you now have scholarly proof that banks control the world.
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, also known as ETH, have published a paper that argues just 147 companies account for a large chunk of the total economic value of all the transnational companies around the world. No exact dollar figures, but it’s obviously a vast sum.
Among the top 50 corporations, 45 operate within the financial industry. Barclays PLC is the most powerful, according to the ETH study, followed by such well-known names as JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG, and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. The United States takes home first prize with 24 companies cracking the researchers’ top 50 list"
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/25-2
-->The NY Times, a staunch supporter of the rich as well as the international banking system that serves them, would never print a story like this.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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.
---------
Citizens for Legitimate Government:
"The United States has deployed hundreds of troops along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan's tribal region, Press TV reported. Reinforced with gunships and heavy weaponry, some 500 of the forces had been stationed near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan's North Waziristan region, a senior Pakistani government official told our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Sunday. The official went on to explain that the motive behind the move was yet unknown, but that the deployment could be part of a military drill to later launch a ground assault against the Taliban-allied Haqqani network of militants."
http://www.legitgov.org/US-mobilizes-forces-along-Pakistan-border
-->Another country about to get invaded by US forces. Obama has spread his "War on Terror" into so many countries that counting them becomes a chore. And the job of The NY Times has been, as always, to hide these attacks before they happen, and then to create public support once US troops go in. The NY Times did not cover this story.
------
Guardian UK:
"Israel plans new settlement of 2,600 that will isolate Arab East Jerusalem. Britain, the EU and the UN condemn Israel's decision as provocative and a further threat to the peace process"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/16/israel-settlement-isolate-arab-jerusalem
-->Isabel Kershner's article in The NY Times, described these settlement plans as "awkwardly timed," and went on to describe Netanyahu's reasoning for building in Arab East Jerusalem. Then came a paragraph by the spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry. No mention of Britain, the EU, or the UN condemning the new settlements.
------
The NY Times:
"President Obama said Friday that he had ordered the deployment of 100 armed military advisers to central Africa to help regional forces combat the Lord’s Resistance Army, a notorious renegade group that has terrorized villagers in at least four countries with marauding bands that kill, rape, maim and kidnap with impunity.
The deployment represents a muscular escalation of American military efforts to help fight the Lord’s Resistance Army, which originated as a Ugandan rebel force in the 1980s and morphed into a fearsome cultlike group of fighters. It is led by Joseph Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet known for ordering village massacres, recruiting prepubescent soldiers, keeping harems of child brides and mutilating opponents."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/africa/barack-obama-sending-100-armed-advisers-to-africa-to-help-fight-lords-resistance-army.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=us%20troops%20uganda&st=cse
-->The NY Times has identified another Hitler like monster in Central Africa. Send in the US Troops! Turns out there has been a lot of oil discovered in Uganda, but why include that in any NY Times analysis? The empire only wages war for the most idealistic of reasons, at least according to our newspaper of record.
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.
---------
Citizens for Legitimate Government:
"The United States has deployed hundreds of troops along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan's tribal region, Press TV reported. Reinforced with gunships and heavy weaponry, some 500 of the forces had been stationed near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan's North Waziristan region, a senior Pakistani government official told our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Sunday. The official went on to explain that the motive behind the move was yet unknown, but that the deployment could be part of a military drill to later launch a ground assault against the Taliban-allied Haqqani network of militants."
http://www.legitgov.org/US-mobilizes-forces-along-Pakistan-border
-->Another country about to get invaded by US forces. Obama has spread his "War on Terror" into so many countries that counting them becomes a chore. And the job of The NY Times has been, as always, to hide these attacks before they happen, and then to create public support once US troops go in. The NY Times did not cover this story.
------
Guardian UK:
"Israel plans new settlement of 2,600 that will isolate Arab East Jerusalem. Britain, the EU and the UN condemn Israel's decision as provocative and a further threat to the peace process"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/16/israel-settlement-isolate-arab-jerusalem
-->Isabel Kershner's article in The NY Times, described these settlement plans as "awkwardly timed," and went on to describe Netanyahu's reasoning for building in Arab East Jerusalem. Then came a paragraph by the spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry. No mention of Britain, the EU, or the UN condemning the new settlements.
------
The NY Times:
"President Obama said Friday that he had ordered the deployment of 100 armed military advisers to central Africa to help regional forces combat the Lord’s Resistance Army, a notorious renegade group that has terrorized villagers in at least four countries with marauding bands that kill, rape, maim and kidnap with impunity.
The deployment represents a muscular escalation of American military efforts to help fight the Lord’s Resistance Army, which originated as a Ugandan rebel force in the 1980s and morphed into a fearsome cultlike group of fighters. It is led by Joseph Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet known for ordering village massacres, recruiting prepubescent soldiers, keeping harems of child brides and mutilating opponents."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/africa/barack-obama-sending-100-armed-advisers-to-africa-to-help-fight-lords-resistance-army.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=us%20troops%20uganda&st=cse
-->The NY Times has identified another Hitler like monster in Central Africa. Send in the US Troops! Turns out there has been a lot of oil discovered in Uganda, but why include that in any NY Times analysis? The empire only wages war for the most idealistic of reasons, at least according to our newspaper of record.
Friday, October 14, 2011
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.
---------
The NY Times:
"A man named Hero was here. So was Germ. There was the waitress from the dim sum restaurant in Evanston, Ill. And the liquor store worker. The Google consultant. The circus performer. The Brooklyn nanny.
The hodgepodge Lower Manhattan encampment known as Occupy Wall Street has no appointed leaders, no expiration date for its rabble-rousing stay and still-evolving goals and demands. Yet its two weeks of noisy occupation has lured a sturdily faithful and fervent constituency willing to express discontentment with what they feel is an inequitable financial system until, well, whenever.
They arrived by design and desire. Or by sheer serendipity."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/nyregion/wall-street-occupiers-protesting-till-whenever.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=wall%20street%20protest&st=cse
-->Nothing like The NY Times for smug condescension. Our newspaper of record has refined it to a fine art when reporting on any social movement that questions the dominance of the filthy rich and Wall Street. This story is not news; it is propaganda for the ruling class.
------
Guardian UK:
"Occupy Wall Street protest: NYPD accused of heavy-handed tactics Force criticised by protesters, who claim they were deliberately led on to road before being penned in and arrested
The New York police department has come under criticism for heavy-handed tactics during the Occupy Wall Street march over Brooklyn bridge, after more than 700 protesters were held for several hours.
Activists, as well as commentators following the protest against inequality and corporate excess, claim the response of the city's police force to the peaceful event was vastly out of proportion. Almost 1,000 people have been arrested in two weeks – substantially more than the number of financiers who led the world into the 2008 economic meltdown.
As Salman Rushdie put it in a tweet: 'The world's economy has been wrecked by these rapacious traders. Yet it is the protesters who are jailed.' "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/02/occupy-wall-street-nypd-tactics
-->Newspapers in other countries often do not serve the elites. And how much more news their readers actually get. First The NY Times avoided any stories of the Wall Street movement. Then came the ridicule. Readers of The NY Times should know what comes next: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” -Mahatma Gandhi
------
River Keeper
"New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation's Rush to Fracking Continues with Release of Draft Regulations. DEC retracts previous commitment to allow fracking environmental review to inform draft regulations.
This week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) released draft regulations for industrial gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by means of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” These come on the heels of DEC’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“SGEIS”) on fracking released earlier this month.
A core principle of the state’s environmental review statute is for environmental reviews to inform draft regulations...By issuing regulations at the same time as the SGEIS, DEC is depriving the public of the right to have their input on the mitigation measures suggested in the SGEIS fully considered before the agency proposes the regulations that would implement them.
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/09/30
-->The NY Times didn't cover this story which involves the DEC's capitulation to the fracking industry.
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.
---------
The NY Times:
"A man named Hero was here. So was Germ. There was the waitress from the dim sum restaurant in Evanston, Ill. And the liquor store worker. The Google consultant. The circus performer. The Brooklyn nanny.
The hodgepodge Lower Manhattan encampment known as Occupy Wall Street has no appointed leaders, no expiration date for its rabble-rousing stay and still-evolving goals and demands. Yet its two weeks of noisy occupation has lured a sturdily faithful and fervent constituency willing to express discontentment with what they feel is an inequitable financial system until, well, whenever.
They arrived by design and desire. Or by sheer serendipity."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/nyregion/wall-street-occupiers-protesting-till-whenever.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=wall%20street%20protest&st=cse
-->Nothing like The NY Times for smug condescension. Our newspaper of record has refined it to a fine art when reporting on any social movement that questions the dominance of the filthy rich and Wall Street. This story is not news; it is propaganda for the ruling class.
------
Guardian UK:
"Occupy Wall Street protest: NYPD accused of heavy-handed tactics Force criticised by protesters, who claim they were deliberately led on to road before being penned in and arrested
The New York police department has come under criticism for heavy-handed tactics during the Occupy Wall Street march over Brooklyn bridge, after more than 700 protesters were held for several hours.
Activists, as well as commentators following the protest against inequality and corporate excess, claim the response of the city's police force to the peaceful event was vastly out of proportion. Almost 1,000 people have been arrested in two weeks – substantially more than the number of financiers who led the world into the 2008 economic meltdown.
As Salman Rushdie put it in a tweet: 'The world's economy has been wrecked by these rapacious traders. Yet it is the protesters who are jailed.' "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/02/occupy-wall-street-nypd-tactics
-->Newspapers in other countries often do not serve the elites. And how much more news their readers actually get. First The NY Times avoided any stories of the Wall Street movement. Then came the ridicule. Readers of The NY Times should know what comes next: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” -Mahatma Gandhi
------
River Keeper
"New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation's Rush to Fracking Continues with Release of Draft Regulations. DEC retracts previous commitment to allow fracking environmental review to inform draft regulations.
This week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) released draft regulations for industrial gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by means of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” These come on the heels of DEC’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“SGEIS”) on fracking released earlier this month.
A core principle of the state’s environmental review statute is for environmental reviews to inform draft regulations...By issuing regulations at the same time as the SGEIS, DEC is depriving the public of the right to have their input on the mitigation measures suggested in the SGEIS fully considered before the agency proposes the regulations that would implement them.
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/09/30
-->The NY Times didn't cover this story which involves the DEC's capitulation to the fracking industry.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
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.
---------
Antiwar.com:
"During August recess this year, 81 members of Congress went on a junket to Israel funded by the Israel lobby group AIPAC (well, funded by the American Israel Education Fund, but they are really one and the same) to " learn first-hand about one of our closest friends and allies." While the representatives insist they got a balanced view, their itinerary belies that claim: 95% of their time was spent hearing the Israeli government point of view, with only one token meeting with Palestinian reps.
CODEPINK has filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Committee stating that these trips—and the upcoming ones scheduled for December–violate the Congressional prohibition on traveling with a lobby group. We feel these Potemkin voyages are part of AIPAC’s grand plan to control and monopolize Congress, which is not just unethical, but dangerous. Their bias reinforces a disastrous U.S. policy of unconditional support for Israel that obstructs peace and runs counter to our national interests."
http://original.antiwar.com/mbenjamin/2011/09/16/congress-sees-middle-east-through-aipac-colored-glasses/
-->The NY Times would never run a story about an ethics complaint against AIPAC. In fact, our newspaper of record consistently slants stories to favor Israel and its powerful US lobby.
------
The NY Times:
"When members of the loose protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street began a march from the financial district to Union Square on Saturday, the participants seemed relatively harmless, even as they were breaking the law by marching in the street without a permit.
But to the New York Police Department, the protesters represented something else: a visible example of lawlessness akin to that which had resulted in destruction and violence at other anticapitalist demonstrations, like the Group of 20 economic summit meeting in London in 2009 and the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999...
So even as the members of Occupy Wall Street seem unorganized and, at times, uninformed, their continued presence creates a vexing problem for the Police Department.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/nyregion/wall-street-demonstrations-test-police-trained-for-bigger-threats.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=Anthony%20Bologna&st=cse
-->"Vexing problems" for the NY Police is how The NY Times characterizes the beatings and pepper spraying that have been used on Wall Street demonstrators over the last week. This, of course, follows days of absolute silence in our nation's media about a protest many times the size of any Tea Party rally. The NY Times regularly put Tea Party protests on the front page.
------
The Telegraph:
"Protesters hit with pepper spray by NYPD officer.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters have been marching on and occupying parts of Lower Manhattan's financial district since the 17th of this month. The group are trying to bring attention to the behaviour of banks and financial institutions and what protesters say is their role in creating the problems the US economy is facing now.
Generally the protests have been peaceful but a video posted on YouTube from Saturday's event appears to show a uniformed NYPD officer calmly approaching a small group of penned in female protesters and dousing them with pepper spray before walking away.
The women immediately begin screaming and holding their faces.
Some activist websites have now named this man and are calling on supporters to email the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg to demand he face charges."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8790877/Protesters-hit-with-pepper-spray-by-NYPD-officer.html
-->Wouldn't it be amazing if The NY Times could present exactly what had happened, and why the protesters were marching? But our newspaper of record is run by Wall Street interests and often sacrifices the people's right to know what is happening in their own city.
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.
---------
Antiwar.com:
"During August recess this year, 81 members of Congress went on a junket to Israel funded by the Israel lobby group AIPAC (well, funded by the American Israel Education Fund, but they are really one and the same) to " learn first-hand about one of our closest friends and allies." While the representatives insist they got a balanced view, their itinerary belies that claim: 95% of their time was spent hearing the Israeli government point of view, with only one token meeting with Palestinian reps.
CODEPINK has filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Committee stating that these trips—and the upcoming ones scheduled for December–violate the Congressional prohibition on traveling with a lobby group. We feel these Potemkin voyages are part of AIPAC’s grand plan to control and monopolize Congress, which is not just unethical, but dangerous. Their bias reinforces a disastrous U.S. policy of unconditional support for Israel that obstructs peace and runs counter to our national interests."
http://original.antiwar.com/mbenjamin/2011/09/16/congress-sees-middle-east-through-aipac-colored-glasses/
-->The NY Times would never run a story about an ethics complaint against AIPAC. In fact, our newspaper of record consistently slants stories to favor Israel and its powerful US lobby.
------
The NY Times:
"When members of the loose protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street began a march from the financial district to Union Square on Saturday, the participants seemed relatively harmless, even as they were breaking the law by marching in the street without a permit.
But to the New York Police Department, the protesters represented something else: a visible example of lawlessness akin to that which had resulted in destruction and violence at other anticapitalist demonstrations, like the Group of 20 economic summit meeting in London in 2009 and the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999...
So even as the members of Occupy Wall Street seem unorganized and, at times, uninformed, their continued presence creates a vexing problem for the Police Department.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/nyregion/wall-street-demonstrations-test-police-trained-for-bigger-threats.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=Anthony%20Bologna&st=cse
-->"Vexing problems" for the NY Police is how The NY Times characterizes the beatings and pepper spraying that have been used on Wall Street demonstrators over the last week. This, of course, follows days of absolute silence in our nation's media about a protest many times the size of any Tea Party rally. The NY Times regularly put Tea Party protests on the front page.
------
The Telegraph:
"Protesters hit with pepper spray by NYPD officer.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters have been marching on and occupying parts of Lower Manhattan's financial district since the 17th of this month. The group are trying to bring attention to the behaviour of banks and financial institutions and what protesters say is their role in creating the problems the US economy is facing now.
Generally the protests have been peaceful but a video posted on YouTube from Saturday's event appears to show a uniformed NYPD officer calmly approaching a small group of penned in female protesters and dousing them with pepper spray before walking away.
The women immediately begin screaming and holding their faces.
Some activist websites have now named this man and are calling on supporters to email the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg to demand he face charges."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8790877/Protesters-hit-with-pepper-spray-by-NYPD-officer.html
-->Wouldn't it be amazing if The NY Times could present exactly what had happened, and why the protesters were marching? But our newspaper of record is run by Wall Street interests and often sacrifices the people's right to know what is happening in their own city.
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.
---------
Daily Mail/UK:
"UK Unions Plot a Winter of Discontent as They Ballot More Than a Million Workers for Biggest General Strike Since 1926.
Millions of workers including police, firefighters, health workers, teachers and prison officers could strike over bitter pension row Unions describe potential walk-out as 'unprecedented' in scale and 'the biggest fight of our lives' Unison says they will be 'vilified' for striking but urges members to 'stay strong'...
Mr Prentis accused the Government of an 'unprecedented' attack on workers with its 'audacious and devious' pension reforms.
Mr Prentis said that exhaustive talks had not worked for the unions: 'We've been patient, we've co-operated, but there comes a time when we say enough is enough because, if we don't, they'll be back for more.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/14-3
-->The corporate championing NY Times doesn't do many articles about labor unrest. Readers of The NY Times are routinely kept in the dark about the strength and persistence of the the labor movement worldwide. Stories like this one might fire up America's working people to resist the destruction of their wages, pensions and standard of living.
------
The Independent/UK:
"America's homeless crisis washes up in Obama's birthplace. Some live in tents, others in cars – but Hawaii would rather their extreme poor lived on the mainland. Guy Adams reports from Honolulu on a crackdown the US doesn't want the world to see.
Beverly Paracuelles wakes up each morning to a view of palm trees, golden sands, and azure tropical seas. She spends her days wandering along the world-famous beaches of Oahu's northern shore. But don't go telling her that life must be a dream.
Home for the 54-year-old former nursing assistant is neither one of the ocean-view mansions, nor the $600-a-night hotel rooms which dot Hawaii's most populated island. Instead, it's a battered Toyota van. Inside, in an area that measures six by eight feet, she must eat, sleep, and store all of her worldly goods..".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americas-homeless-crisis-washes-up-in-obamas-birthplace-2356870.html
-->The NY Times generally avoids the brutal ramifications of the class war being waged against working people in America. Since its pages are full of advertisements geared towards the winners of this class war, the very rich, The NY Times prefers pictures and stories of Honolulu's sunny beaches and spectacular views.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/travel/return-to-kailua-hawaii.html?scp=2&sq=Honolulu%20homeless&st=cse
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.
---------
Daily Mail/UK:
"UK Unions Plot a Winter of Discontent as They Ballot More Than a Million Workers for Biggest General Strike Since 1926.
Millions of workers including police, firefighters, health workers, teachers and prison officers could strike over bitter pension row Unions describe potential walk-out as 'unprecedented' in scale and 'the biggest fight of our lives' Unison says they will be 'vilified' for striking but urges members to 'stay strong'...
Mr Prentis accused the Government of an 'unprecedented' attack on workers with its 'audacious and devious' pension reforms.
Mr Prentis said that exhaustive talks had not worked for the unions: 'We've been patient, we've co-operated, but there comes a time when we say enough is enough because, if we don't, they'll be back for more.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/14-3
-->The corporate championing NY Times doesn't do many articles about labor unrest. Readers of The NY Times are routinely kept in the dark about the strength and persistence of the the labor movement worldwide. Stories like this one might fire up America's working people to resist the destruction of their wages, pensions and standard of living.
------
The Independent/UK:
"America's homeless crisis washes up in Obama's birthplace. Some live in tents, others in cars – but Hawaii would rather their extreme poor lived on the mainland. Guy Adams reports from Honolulu on a crackdown the US doesn't want the world to see.
Beverly Paracuelles wakes up each morning to a view of palm trees, golden sands, and azure tropical seas. She spends her days wandering along the world-famous beaches of Oahu's northern shore. But don't go telling her that life must be a dream.
Home for the 54-year-old former nursing assistant is neither one of the ocean-view mansions, nor the $600-a-night hotel rooms which dot Hawaii's most populated island. Instead, it's a battered Toyota van. Inside, in an area that measures six by eight feet, she must eat, sleep, and store all of her worldly goods..".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americas-homeless-crisis-washes-up-in-obamas-birthplace-2356870.html
-->The NY Times generally avoids the brutal ramifications of the class war being waged against working people in America. Since its pages are full of advertisements geared towards the winners of this class war, the very rich, The NY Times prefers pictures and stories of Honolulu's sunny beaches and spectacular views.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/travel/return-to-kailua-hawaii.html?scp=2&sq=Honolulu%20homeless&st=cse
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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.
---------
The NY Times Book Review:
Eric Ormsby reviews a new book about Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, whose king had visions of "spearheading a holy war to topple Islam, recover Jerusalem from the 'the infidels' and establish himself as the 'King of Jerusalem.'"
Ormsby writes that, "Da Gama shared these dreams, but like his hard-bitten crew, rouges, or criminals to a man, he coveted the fabled riches of the East..."
In all, Ormsby describes the Western contact with the Muslim world as a "dismal record of greed, savagery and fanaticism, especially - but not exclusively -on the part of European explorers."
But such admissions of Western greed and savagery are reserved for 1497. He concludes his review with a tribute to enlightened Western morals. "Nevertheless, the real clash today is not between Christianity and Islam, nor between opposing civilizations, but between our own resolutely secular and consumerist culture and a rigid and absolutist mindset outraged by the prosperity Western 'infidels' enjoy."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/books/review/holy-war-by-nigel-cliff-book-review.html
-->The Muslim world doesn't hate us because we are stealing their oil and making the Middle East a living hell. They hate us because we can go to McDonald's and buy a Big Mac. Even in the Book Review, The NY Times must uphold the ridiculous lies of the American empire.
------
Salon:
"The ACLU decided to use the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attack to comprehensively survey the severe erosion of civil liberties justified in the name of that event, an erosion that -- as it documents -- continues unabated, indeed often in accelerated form, under the Obama administration. The group today is issuing a report entitled A Call to Courage: Reclaiming Our Liberties Ten Years After 9/11; that title is intended to underscore the irony that political leaders who prance around as courageous warriors against Terrorism in fact rely on one primary weapon -- fear-mongering: the absence of courage -- to vest the government with ever-more power and the citizenry with ever-fewer rights.
Domestically, the 'War on Terror' has been, and continues to be, a war on basic political liberties more than it is anything else. The particulars identified in this new ACLU report will not be even remotely new to any readers here, but given the organization's status among progressives as the preeminent rights-defending group in the country, and given the bird's-eye-view the report takes of these issues, it is well worth highlighting some of its key findings."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/07-6
-->The NY Times has been uninterested in the looking at America's "War on Terror" in this way. Ever supportive of the empire, our newspaper of record didn't even print the ACLU's ten year report.
------
The Guardian:
"SNS, a prominent business-funded think tank, issued a report last Wednesday that sharply reversed its normal pro-market stance. The entry of private operators into state-funded education, it argued, had increased segregation and may not have improved educational standards at all.
'The empirical evidence showing that competition is good is not really credible, because they can't distinguish between grade inflation and real gains,' Dr Jonas Vlachos, who wrote the report on education, told the Observer.
The report had a huge impact. It was a top story on Swedish television, and was hotly debated the next day in the newspapers. How the debate plays out will be watched carefully by education experts in the UK, where 24 free (private) schools, built on the Swedish model, opened this year."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/10/sweden-free-schools-experiment
-->This report on Swedish education was not picked up by The NY Times. Why is the story important? Because the destruction of public education and the handing over of schools to private corporations is worldwide. The NY Times and NPR, ever eager to please their corporate sponsors, have been big supporters of corporate or "charter" schools here in the US. Studies that cast doubt on the wisdom of privatizing public schools is routinely ignored.
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.
---------
The NY Times Book Review:
Eric Ormsby reviews a new book about Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, whose king had visions of "spearheading a holy war to topple Islam, recover Jerusalem from the 'the infidels' and establish himself as the 'King of Jerusalem.'"
Ormsby writes that, "Da Gama shared these dreams, but like his hard-bitten crew, rouges, or criminals to a man, he coveted the fabled riches of the East..."
In all, Ormsby describes the Western contact with the Muslim world as a "dismal record of greed, savagery and fanaticism, especially - but not exclusively -on the part of European explorers."
But such admissions of Western greed and savagery are reserved for 1497. He concludes his review with a tribute to enlightened Western morals. "Nevertheless, the real clash today is not between Christianity and Islam, nor between opposing civilizations, but between our own resolutely secular and consumerist culture and a rigid and absolutist mindset outraged by the prosperity Western 'infidels' enjoy."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/books/review/holy-war-by-nigel-cliff-book-review.html
-->The Muslim world doesn't hate us because we are stealing their oil and making the Middle East a living hell. They hate us because we can go to McDonald's and buy a Big Mac. Even in the Book Review, The NY Times must uphold the ridiculous lies of the American empire.
------
Salon:
"The ACLU decided to use the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attack to comprehensively survey the severe erosion of civil liberties justified in the name of that event, an erosion that -- as it documents -- continues unabated, indeed often in accelerated form, under the Obama administration. The group today is issuing a report entitled A Call to Courage: Reclaiming Our Liberties Ten Years After 9/11; that title is intended to underscore the irony that political leaders who prance around as courageous warriors against Terrorism in fact rely on one primary weapon -- fear-mongering: the absence of courage -- to vest the government with ever-more power and the citizenry with ever-fewer rights.
Domestically, the 'War on Terror' has been, and continues to be, a war on basic political liberties more than it is anything else. The particulars identified in this new ACLU report will not be even remotely new to any readers here, but given the organization's status among progressives as the preeminent rights-defending group in the country, and given the bird's-eye-view the report takes of these issues, it is well worth highlighting some of its key findings."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/07-6
-->The NY Times has been uninterested in the looking at America's "War on Terror" in this way. Ever supportive of the empire, our newspaper of record didn't even print the ACLU's ten year report.
------
The Guardian:
"SNS, a prominent business-funded think tank, issued a report last Wednesday that sharply reversed its normal pro-market stance. The entry of private operators into state-funded education, it argued, had increased segregation and may not have improved educational standards at all.
'The empirical evidence showing that competition is good is not really credible, because they can't distinguish between grade inflation and real gains,' Dr Jonas Vlachos, who wrote the report on education, told the Observer.
The report had a huge impact. It was a top story on Swedish television, and was hotly debated the next day in the newspapers. How the debate plays out will be watched carefully by education experts in the UK, where 24 free (private) schools, built on the Swedish model, opened this year."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/10/sweden-free-schools-experiment
-->This report on Swedish education was not picked up by The NY Times. Why is the story important? Because the destruction of public education and the handing over of schools to private corporations is worldwide. The NY Times and NPR, ever eager to please their corporate sponsors, have been big supporters of corporate or "charter" schools here in the US. Studies that cast doubt on the wisdom of privatizing public schools is routinely ignored.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
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.
---------
Guardian:
"Shock video of UN soldiers apparently raping a Haitian teenager raises questions about why these 'peacekeepers' are there at all
The video is profoundly disturbing. It shows four men, identified as Uruguayan troops from the UN mission in Haiti (Minustah), seemingly in the act of raping an 18-year-old Haitian youth. Two have the victim pinned down on a mattress, with his hands twisted high up his back so that he cannot move. Perhaps the most unnerving part of the video is the constant chorus of laughter from the alleged perpetrators; to them, apparently, it's just a drunken party."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/03/minustah-un-haiti-abuse#history-link-box
-->The NY Times avoids stories about the occupation of Haiti and the desperate living conditions of the population. Keeping the workers of Haiti in abject poverty benefits too many large US corporations.
------
Guardian:
"Secret Libyan files claim MI6 and the CIA aided human rights violations. Intelligence helped Gaddafi regime track and apprehend dissidents, according to files seized from Tripoli offices.
Files found in Tripoli offices claim MI6 and the CIA were complicit in human rights violations by the Gaddafi regime. British and US intelligence agencies built up close links with Muammar Gaddafi and handed over detailed information to assist his regime, according to secret files found in Libyan government offices.
The documents claim that MI6 supplied its counterparts in Libya with details on exiled opponents living in the UK, and chart how the CIA abducted several suspected militants before handing them over to Tripoli."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/03/secret-libyan-files-mi6-cia
-->If the US is in Libya to protect the Libyan people, why was the CIA handing over information on dissidents to Gaddafi? The NY Times, ever eager to promote the official Pentagon version of events, did not cover this story.
------
Huffinton Post:
"The (Center for American Progress) report, 'Fear Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,' demonstrates that a small group of self-proclaimed experts, Frank Gaffney, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Steve Emerson, backed by a host of foundations and donors, many of which also fund the (Israeli) lobby, have put Islamophobia on the map.
To put it simply, without these 'experts,' their donors, and Fox News (their media mouthpiece) you would never have heard that a Muslim community center (the 'Ground Zero Mosque') was being constructed in New York City. And the center certainly would not have become a major news story. Nor would Republican (and even a few Democratic) candidates for president, Congress, and even village councils be called upon to condemn Islam and 'Sharia Law' or face being labeled a supporter of terrorism. Nor would Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum have made hatred of American Muslims such an integral part of their campaigns...
But it's also very dangerous, as the Norway slaughter attests. The strangest thing about the killings is that they happened in Norway. Reading this report, you have to wonder why it hasn't happened here. Yet."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/who-funds-all-the-muslim-_b_937979.html
-->When it comes to hate mongering from the Israeli Lobby, the NY Times is nowhere in sight. It didn't cover this report.
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.
---------
Guardian:
"Shock video of UN soldiers apparently raping a Haitian teenager raises questions about why these 'peacekeepers' are there at all
The video is profoundly disturbing. It shows four men, identified as Uruguayan troops from the UN mission in Haiti (Minustah), seemingly in the act of raping an 18-year-old Haitian youth. Two have the victim pinned down on a mattress, with his hands twisted high up his back so that he cannot move. Perhaps the most unnerving part of the video is the constant chorus of laughter from the alleged perpetrators; to them, apparently, it's just a drunken party."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/03/minustah-un-haiti-abuse#history-link-box
-->The NY Times avoids stories about the occupation of Haiti and the desperate living conditions of the population. Keeping the workers of Haiti in abject poverty benefits too many large US corporations.
------
Guardian:
"Secret Libyan files claim MI6 and the CIA aided human rights violations. Intelligence helped Gaddafi regime track and apprehend dissidents, according to files seized from Tripoli offices.
Files found in Tripoli offices claim MI6 and the CIA were complicit in human rights violations by the Gaddafi regime. British and US intelligence agencies built up close links with Muammar Gaddafi and handed over detailed information to assist his regime, according to secret files found in Libyan government offices.
The documents claim that MI6 supplied its counterparts in Libya with details on exiled opponents living in the UK, and chart how the CIA abducted several suspected militants before handing them over to Tripoli."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/03/secret-libyan-files-mi6-cia
-->If the US is in Libya to protect the Libyan people, why was the CIA handing over information on dissidents to Gaddafi? The NY Times, ever eager to promote the official Pentagon version of events, did not cover this story.
------
Huffinton Post:
"The (Center for American Progress) report, 'Fear Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,' demonstrates that a small group of self-proclaimed experts, Frank Gaffney, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Steve Emerson, backed by a host of foundations and donors, many of which also fund the (Israeli) lobby, have put Islamophobia on the map.
To put it simply, without these 'experts,' their donors, and Fox News (their media mouthpiece) you would never have heard that a Muslim community center (the 'Ground Zero Mosque') was being constructed in New York City. And the center certainly would not have become a major news story. Nor would Republican (and even a few Democratic) candidates for president, Congress, and even village councils be called upon to condemn Islam and 'Sharia Law' or face being labeled a supporter of terrorism. Nor would Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum have made hatred of American Muslims such an integral part of their campaigns...
But it's also very dangerous, as the Norway slaughter attests. The strangest thing about the killings is that they happened in Norway. Reading this report, you have to wonder why it hasn't happened here. Yet."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/who-funds-all-the-muslim-_b_937979.html
-->When it comes to hate mongering from the Israeli Lobby, the NY Times is nowhere in sight. It didn't cover this report.
Thursday, September 01, 2011
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.
---------
Politico:
"We may never know for sure, but there is a growing consensus that a natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing is linked to earthquakes. For example, Arkansas has experienced a swarm of earthquakes in the aftermath of hydraulic fracturing (also called “fracking”) for natural gas. Other regions of the country where fracking is taking place, Texas, West Virginia, and New York, have also witnessed a series of quakes in the vicinity of these drilling sites.
In the process of fracking, water and toxic fluid is injected deep underground at high pressure into rocks in order to actually create micro-earthquakes. These mini-quakes, in turn, release the gas trapped deep in the rock, allowing it to bubble to the surface. The United States Geological Survey thinks the earthquake swarms that follow are caused less by the fracking itself than by the reinjection of wastewater from fracking, blasted under high pressure into the ground. The wastewater can act as a lubricant, while also providing pressure that can lead to a quake."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/25-3
-->The NY Times has not explored fracking and the resulting propensity for earthquakes in areas that have been drilled. But then again, The NY Times has defended nuclear energy for decades, primarily because large business interests are behind it.
------
Common Dreams:
"US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he will introduce legislation when Congress reconvenes to strengthen and preserve Social Security.
Since it was signed into law 76 years ago this month, Social Security has kept millions of senior citizens, widows, orphans, and the disabled out of poverty. To keep Social Security strong for another 75 years, Sanders’ legislation would apply the same payroll tax already paid by more than nine out of 10 Americans to those with incomes over $250,000 a year.
Joined at a press conference by leaders of Vermont seniors organizations, Sanders also cautioned that Social Security may be in jeopardy as a powerful new congressional 'super committee' looks for ways to cut deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next decade."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/25-8
-->There is no more dishonest debate in America than the one over Social Security. The NY Times did not cover this simple solution introduced by Bernie Sanders. Tax the wealthy a little more for Social Security and the supposed problem with the program disappears.
------
Pro Publica:
"With housing prices dropping sharply, and foreclosure filings against more than 1 million properties in the first half of this year, the Obama administration is scrambling for ways to help homeowners.
One place they won't be looking: An estimated $30 billion from the bailout that was slated to help homeowners but is likely to remain unspent.
Of the $45.6 billion in Trouble Asset Relief Program funds meant to aid homeowners, the most recent numbers available show that only about $2 billion has actually gone out the door.
The low number reflects how little the government's home loan modification and other programs have actually helped homeowners deal with the foreclosure crisis."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/25-11
-->When it came down to helping Wall Street or Main Street, Bush and Obama were on the same page. The NY Times did not cover this story that clearly demonstrates how both major parties work against the interests of the middle class.
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.
---------
Politico:
"We may never know for sure, but there is a growing consensus that a natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing is linked to earthquakes. For example, Arkansas has experienced a swarm of earthquakes in the aftermath of hydraulic fracturing (also called “fracking”) for natural gas. Other regions of the country where fracking is taking place, Texas, West Virginia, and New York, have also witnessed a series of quakes in the vicinity of these drilling sites.
In the process of fracking, water and toxic fluid is injected deep underground at high pressure into rocks in order to actually create micro-earthquakes. These mini-quakes, in turn, release the gas trapped deep in the rock, allowing it to bubble to the surface. The United States Geological Survey thinks the earthquake swarms that follow are caused less by the fracking itself than by the reinjection of wastewater from fracking, blasted under high pressure into the ground. The wastewater can act as a lubricant, while also providing pressure that can lead to a quake."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/25-3
-->The NY Times has not explored fracking and the resulting propensity for earthquakes in areas that have been drilled. But then again, The NY Times has defended nuclear energy for decades, primarily because large business interests are behind it.
------
Common Dreams:
"US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he will introduce legislation when Congress reconvenes to strengthen and preserve Social Security.
Since it was signed into law 76 years ago this month, Social Security has kept millions of senior citizens, widows, orphans, and the disabled out of poverty. To keep Social Security strong for another 75 years, Sanders’ legislation would apply the same payroll tax already paid by more than nine out of 10 Americans to those with incomes over $250,000 a year.
Joined at a press conference by leaders of Vermont seniors organizations, Sanders also cautioned that Social Security may be in jeopardy as a powerful new congressional 'super committee' looks for ways to cut deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next decade."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/25-8
-->There is no more dishonest debate in America than the one over Social Security. The NY Times did not cover this simple solution introduced by Bernie Sanders. Tax the wealthy a little more for Social Security and the supposed problem with the program disappears.
------
Pro Publica:
"With housing prices dropping sharply, and foreclosure filings against more than 1 million properties in the first half of this year, the Obama administration is scrambling for ways to help homeowners.
One place they won't be looking: An estimated $30 billion from the bailout that was slated to help homeowners but is likely to remain unspent.
Of the $45.6 billion in Trouble Asset Relief Program funds meant to aid homeowners, the most recent numbers available show that only about $2 billion has actually gone out the door.
The low number reflects how little the government's home loan modification and other programs have actually helped homeowners deal with the foreclosure crisis."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/25-11
-->When it came down to helping Wall Street or Main Street, Bush and Obama were on the same page. The NY Times did not cover this story that clearly demonstrates how both major parties work against the interests of the middle class.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
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.
---------
Politico:
"The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules.
Earlier this summer FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski agreed to erase the post WWII-era rule, but the action Monday puts the last nail into the coffin for the regulation that sought to ensure discussion over the airwaves of controversial issues did not exclude any particular point of view. A broadcaster that violated the rule risked losing its license...
Monday’s move is part of the commission’s response to a White House executive order directing a 'government-wide review of regulations already on the books' designed to eliminate unnecessary regulations.
...Genachowski said in a statement that the move was aimed at promoting 'a healthy climate for private investment and job creation.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/22-7
-->The FCC and Obama killing off the Fairness Doctrine wasn't newsworthy enough to make it into The NY Times, despite the fact that our newspaper of record describes every betrayal of working people as necessary for investment and job creation.
------
ZietNews:
"Ok, those Germans are just showing off now. Not only has the nation announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants and started the construction of 2,800 miles of transmission lines for its new renewable energy initiative, but now the village of Wildpoldsried is producing 321% more energy than it needs! The small agricultural village in the state of Bavaria is generating an impressive $5.7 million in annual revenue from renewable energy...
The village’s green initiative first started in 1997 when the village council decided that it should build new industries, keep initiatives local, bring in new revenue, and create no debt. Over the past 14 years, the community has equipped nine new community buildings with solar panels, built four biogas digesters and installed seven windmills with two more on the way. In the village itself, 190 private households have solar panels while the district also benefits from three small hydro power plants, ecological flood control, and a natural waste water system.
All of these green systems means that despite only having a population of 2,600, Wildpoldsried produces 321 percent more energy than it needs – and it’s generating 4.0 million Euro (US $5.7 million) in annual revenue by selling it back to the national grid. It is no surprise to learn that small businesses have developed in the village specifically to provide services to the renewable energy installations."
http://www.zeitnews.org/energy/german-village-produces-321-more-energy-than-it-needs.html#.TlC9ZPDkoU8.facebook
-->The NY Times is not interested in such ecological scenarios for the future of America. There are few stories printed about alternatives to big oil.
------
Ralph Nader for Common Dreams:
"It was only a matter of time before the 'pull down' NAFTA and WTO trade agreements on U.S. wages and jobs would be followed by 'pull down' contract demands by U.S. corporations on their unionized workers toward levels of non-unionized laborers...
Mr. Lowell McAdam (Verizon's CEO) would surely have trouble feeling the pain of his workers who brave the elements storm or shine to afford him a salary of over 1.5 million dollars PER MONTH plus perks and benefits.
Watching Verizon profits soar year after year, noticing Verizon stock rise faster than its competitors, knowing that the company's top five executives took in over $250 million between them in the last four years, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) took their members on strike on August 7, 2011...
These workers pay their taxes. While the tax lawyers for their bosses have figured out how to turn Verizon into a vast tax escapee. According to the super-accurate Citizens for Tax Justice, Verizon Communications made a total of $32.5 billion dollars in pretax U.S. profits during 2008, 2009, 2010. Far from paying the maximum federal corporate income tax rate of 35 percent on these ample profits, Verizon's federal income tax was negative $951 million or negative 2.9 percent!"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/23-5
-->The NY Times contribution to this ripoff of Verizon's workforce? Full page ads, paid for by Verizon, that claim worker contracts should "reflect the changing times." Like US corporations making billions while workers get nothing.
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.
---------
Politico:
"The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules.
Earlier this summer FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski agreed to erase the post WWII-era rule, but the action Monday puts the last nail into the coffin for the regulation that sought to ensure discussion over the airwaves of controversial issues did not exclude any particular point of view. A broadcaster that violated the rule risked losing its license...
Monday’s move is part of the commission’s response to a White House executive order directing a 'government-wide review of regulations already on the books' designed to eliminate unnecessary regulations.
...Genachowski said in a statement that the move was aimed at promoting 'a healthy climate for private investment and job creation.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/22-7
-->The FCC and Obama killing off the Fairness Doctrine wasn't newsworthy enough to make it into The NY Times, despite the fact that our newspaper of record describes every betrayal of working people as necessary for investment and job creation.
------
ZietNews:
"Ok, those Germans are just showing off now. Not only has the nation announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants and started the construction of 2,800 miles of transmission lines for its new renewable energy initiative, but now the village of Wildpoldsried is producing 321% more energy than it needs! The small agricultural village in the state of Bavaria is generating an impressive $5.7 million in annual revenue from renewable energy...
The village’s green initiative first started in 1997 when the village council decided that it should build new industries, keep initiatives local, bring in new revenue, and create no debt. Over the past 14 years, the community has equipped nine new community buildings with solar panels, built four biogas digesters and installed seven windmills with two more on the way. In the village itself, 190 private households have solar panels while the district also benefits from three small hydro power plants, ecological flood control, and a natural waste water system.
All of these green systems means that despite only having a population of 2,600, Wildpoldsried produces 321 percent more energy than it needs – and it’s generating 4.0 million Euro (US $5.7 million) in annual revenue by selling it back to the national grid. It is no surprise to learn that small businesses have developed in the village specifically to provide services to the renewable energy installations."
http://www.zeitnews.org/energy/german-village-produces-321-more-energy-than-it-needs.html#.TlC9ZPDkoU8.facebook
-->The NY Times is not interested in such ecological scenarios for the future of America. There are few stories printed about alternatives to big oil.
------
Ralph Nader for Common Dreams:
"It was only a matter of time before the 'pull down' NAFTA and WTO trade agreements on U.S. wages and jobs would be followed by 'pull down' contract demands by U.S. corporations on their unionized workers toward levels of non-unionized laborers...
Mr. Lowell McAdam (Verizon's CEO) would surely have trouble feeling the pain of his workers who brave the elements storm or shine to afford him a salary of over 1.5 million dollars PER MONTH plus perks and benefits.
Watching Verizon profits soar year after year, noticing Verizon stock rise faster than its competitors, knowing that the company's top five executives took in over $250 million between them in the last four years, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) took their members on strike on August 7, 2011...
These workers pay their taxes. While the tax lawyers for their bosses have figured out how to turn Verizon into a vast tax escapee. According to the super-accurate Citizens for Tax Justice, Verizon Communications made a total of $32.5 billion dollars in pretax U.S. profits during 2008, 2009, 2010. Far from paying the maximum federal corporate income tax rate of 35 percent on these ample profits, Verizon's federal income tax was negative $951 million or negative 2.9 percent!"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/23-5
-->The NY Times contribution to this ripoff of Verizon's workforce? Full page ads, paid for by Verizon, that claim worker contracts should "reflect the changing times." Like US corporations making billions while workers get nothing.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
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.
---------
McClatchy Newspapers:
"WASHINGTON — When congressional cost-cutters meet later this year to decide on trimming the federal budget, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could represent juicy targets. But how much do the wars actually cost the U.S. taxpayer?
Nobody really knows. The National Priorities Project estimates the total financial cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at over $1.23 trillion (http://costofwar.com. Nobody really knows.
Yes, Congress has allotted $1.3 trillion for war spending through fiscal year 2011 just to the Defense Department. There are long Pentagon spreadsheets that outline how much of that was spent on personnel, transportation, fuel and other costs. In a recent speech, President Barack Obama assigned the wars a $1 trillion price tag.
But all those numbers are incomplete. Besides what Congress appropriated, the Pentagon spent an additional unknown amount from its $5.2 trillion base budget over that same period. According to a recent Brown University study, the wars and their ripple effects have cost the United States $3.7 trillion, or more than $12,000 per American."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/16-3
-->Most American's know that our federal and state budgets are terribly out of balance. This Brown University study explains why our government is broke, and it's the war, stupid. The NY Times did not cover this story.
------
National Security Archive:
"TOP SECRET CIA 'OFFICIAL HISTORY' OF THE BAY OF PIGS: REVELATIONS...In perhaps the most important revelation of the entire official history, the CIA task force in charge of the paramilitary assault did not believe it could succeed without becoming an open invasion supported by the U.S. military. On page 149 of Volume III, Pfeiffer quotes still-secret minutes of the Task Force meeting held on November 15, 1960, to prepare a briefing for the new President-elect, John F. Kennedy: 'Our original concept is now seen to be unachievable in the face of the controls Castro has instituted,' the document states. 'Our second concept (1,500-3000 man force to secure a beach with airstrip) is also now seen to be unachievable, except as a joint Agency/DOD action.'
This candid assessment was not shared with the President-elect then, nor later after the inauguration..."
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB355/index.htm
-->Interesting to learn that the CIA lied to President Kennedy about the Bay of Pigs invasion. Just how many of our foreign policy decisions are made by the CIA rather than by our elected officials? The question will never occur to readers of the NY Times; our newspaper of record didn't print this story.
------
Free Press:
"AT&T's plan to take over T-Mobile is about gouging consumers, destroying a competitor and firing an estimated 20,000 American workers.
We at Free Press have warned about this from day one. Now, one of AT&T's own lawyers has confirmed it. He inadvertently leaked a letter that reveals the merger has nothing to do with expanding AT&T's coverage to 97 percent of the country – the main argument the company has made to gain Washington’s support – and everything to do with eliminating the cheaper T-Mobile option from the marketplace (and laying off half of its workforce) to pad company profits.
The truth is out. Every AT&T argument about the supposed benefits of this merger has now been proven wrong. As AT&T's case unravels, we must keep up the pressure and urge Washington to stop supporting a deal that is so harmful to workers, consumers and our economy."
http://act2.freepress.net/go/5575?akid=2759.8935889.ToPRpf&t=3
-->The NY Times is not interested in narratives that are critical of giant corporations. Nor is NPR. The coverage by both "liberal" news sources is heavily weighted by AT&T's official statements on the merger.
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.
---------
McClatchy Newspapers:
"WASHINGTON — When congressional cost-cutters meet later this year to decide on trimming the federal budget, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could represent juicy targets. But how much do the wars actually cost the U.S. taxpayer?
Nobody really knows. The National Priorities Project estimates the total financial cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at over $1.23 trillion (http://costofwar.com. Nobody really knows.
Yes, Congress has allotted $1.3 trillion for war spending through fiscal year 2011 just to the Defense Department. There are long Pentagon spreadsheets that outline how much of that was spent on personnel, transportation, fuel and other costs. In a recent speech, President Barack Obama assigned the wars a $1 trillion price tag.
But all those numbers are incomplete. Besides what Congress appropriated, the Pentagon spent an additional unknown amount from its $5.2 trillion base budget over that same period. According to a recent Brown University study, the wars and their ripple effects have cost the United States $3.7 trillion, or more than $12,000 per American."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/16-3
-->Most American's know that our federal and state budgets are terribly out of balance. This Brown University study explains why our government is broke, and it's the war, stupid. The NY Times did not cover this story.
------
National Security Archive:
"TOP SECRET CIA 'OFFICIAL HISTORY' OF THE BAY OF PIGS: REVELATIONS...In perhaps the most important revelation of the entire official history, the CIA task force in charge of the paramilitary assault did not believe it could succeed without becoming an open invasion supported by the U.S. military. On page 149 of Volume III, Pfeiffer quotes still-secret minutes of the Task Force meeting held on November 15, 1960, to prepare a briefing for the new President-elect, John F. Kennedy: 'Our original concept is now seen to be unachievable in the face of the controls Castro has instituted,' the document states. 'Our second concept (1,500-3000 man force to secure a beach with airstrip) is also now seen to be unachievable, except as a joint Agency/DOD action.'
This candid assessment was not shared with the President-elect then, nor later after the inauguration..."
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB355/index.htm
-->Interesting to learn that the CIA lied to President Kennedy about the Bay of Pigs invasion. Just how many of our foreign policy decisions are made by the CIA rather than by our elected officials? The question will never occur to readers of the NY Times; our newspaper of record didn't print this story.
------
Free Press:
"AT&T's plan to take over T-Mobile is about gouging consumers, destroying a competitor and firing an estimated 20,000 American workers.
We at Free Press have warned about this from day one. Now, one of AT&T's own lawyers has confirmed it. He inadvertently leaked a letter that reveals the merger has nothing to do with expanding AT&T's coverage to 97 percent of the country – the main argument the company has made to gain Washington’s support – and everything to do with eliminating the cheaper T-Mobile option from the marketplace (and laying off half of its workforce) to pad company profits.
The truth is out. Every AT&T argument about the supposed benefits of this merger has now been proven wrong. As AT&T's case unravels, we must keep up the pressure and urge Washington to stop supporting a deal that is so harmful to workers, consumers and our economy."
http://act2.freepress.net/go/5575?akid=2759.8935889.ToPRpf&t=3
-->The NY Times is not interested in narratives that are critical of giant corporations. Nor is NPR. The coverage by both "liberal" news sources is heavily weighted by AT&T's official statements on the merger.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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.
---------
There is no more dishonest reporting in the US media than what we have witnessed in the past month regarding the budget crisis. News about the nation's deficit is written by the Wall Street propagandists and passed off as reasonable analysis. Progressive voices are marginalized, so that working people are never reminded of the real reasons behind our nation's financial troubles.
Reason one: in the 1950's and 1960's, for every tax dollar collected from individuals, $1.50 was collected from corporations. At the present, for every dollar collected from individuals, $.25 is collected from corporations. Many of our largest, most profitable corporations pay nothing at all.
Reason two: in the 1950's and 1960's, the top tax rate paid by wealthy Americans was 91%. At the present, the very rich pay a top rate of 35%. Dividends and capital gains, the source of income for most multimillionaires, is pegged at 15%.
Reason three: the bailout of Wall Street speculators and the banks was closer to three trillion than the 750 billion reported in our media. Some has been repaid, but the worldwide give-away to the world's financial institutions is only now coming to light.
Reason four: the continuing wars in the Middle East and our nation's empire will cost three trillion in the decade, far more than is reported in the Pentagon budget.
None of this has anything to do with Social Security, Medicare, Pell Grants, teacher salaries, or the costs of environmental protections. In fact, all four reasons represent a type of criminal capitalism that will only get worse.
The very rich control Obama, the Congress, and almost all the media. There is no reason to think that corporations or the very wealthy will have to pay their fair share of taxes. In fact, the Estate Tax, is under continued assault by our nation's lawmakers. Billionaires want to leave all their obscene wealth to their children, while most of the nation's children face minimum wage or unemployment.
Since the very rich control US decision making, there is little chance that future Wall Street speculation will be regulated. In fact, the US is 96th out of 135 countries of the world in terms of income distribution, closest to Mexico and Iran. Unlike more progressive industrialized countries, the richest Americans have billions to speculate with, and virtually no incentive to restrain themselves. All will be bailed out by the US Treasury, so why worry?
Finally, endless wars mean endless profits to those in the criminal capitalist system. Haliburton is an example of a company that makes obscene profits from the wars the company creates and perpetuates. From Lyndon Johnson to Dick Cheney, Halliburton has had a hand in shaping foreign policy. The same is true of other corporations, like big oil, that profit from occupying foreign countries and exploiting their natural resources.
What will change any of this short of national rebellion?
------
The NY Times:
"Now, coming off one of his worst weeks since taking office, Mr. Obama is nearing a decision on whether he really meant that. Is he willing to try to administer the disagreeable medicine that could help the economy mend over the long term, even if that means damaging his chances for re-election?
The Federal Reserve’s finding on Tuesday that there is little prospect for rapid economic growth over the next two years was the latest in a summer of bad economic news. One administration official called the atmosphere around the president’s economic team 'angry and morose.'
'The problem for Obama is that right now, the United States is either at a precipice or has fallen off it,' said David Rothkopf, a Commerce Department official in the Clinton administration. 'If he is true to his commitment to rather be a good one-term president, then this is the character test. In some respects, this is the 3 a.m. phone call.' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/us/politics/10obama.html?hp
-->Leave it to the NY Times to frame Obama's sellout of working people as a noble attempt to administer "disagreeable medicine" for the common good.
------
Daily Mail:
"Tony Blair is to face scathing criticism from the official inquiry into the Iraq War for the role he played in leading Britain into one of its biggest foreign policy fiascos in modern history. The Mail on Sunday has been told that the former Prime Minister will be held to account on four main failings:
Bogus claims that were made about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. Not telling the British public about his secret pledge with George Bush to go to war. Keeping the Cabinet in the dark by his ‘sofa government’ style. Failing to plan to avoid the post-war chaos in Iraq."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020625/Iraq-inquiry-Tony-Blair-held-account-Chilcot-report-war.html
-->Not only did the NY Times omit this story in its print edition, but our newspaper of record has never brought up the failure of our current administration in investigating Bush era lies and war crimes. In the "land of the free," the media, the Pentagon, and both parties conspire to protect the empire from bad publicity.
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.
---------
There is no more dishonest reporting in the US media than what we have witnessed in the past month regarding the budget crisis. News about the nation's deficit is written by the Wall Street propagandists and passed off as reasonable analysis. Progressive voices are marginalized, so that working people are never reminded of the real reasons behind our nation's financial troubles.
Reason one: in the 1950's and 1960's, for every tax dollar collected from individuals, $1.50 was collected from corporations. At the present, for every dollar collected from individuals, $.25 is collected from corporations. Many of our largest, most profitable corporations pay nothing at all.
Reason two: in the 1950's and 1960's, the top tax rate paid by wealthy Americans was 91%. At the present, the very rich pay a top rate of 35%. Dividends and capital gains, the source of income for most multimillionaires, is pegged at 15%.
Reason three: the bailout of Wall Street speculators and the banks was closer to three trillion than the 750 billion reported in our media. Some has been repaid, but the worldwide give-away to the world's financial institutions is only now coming to light.
Reason four: the continuing wars in the Middle East and our nation's empire will cost three trillion in the decade, far more than is reported in the Pentagon budget.
None of this has anything to do with Social Security, Medicare, Pell Grants, teacher salaries, or the costs of environmental protections. In fact, all four reasons represent a type of criminal capitalism that will only get worse.
The very rich control Obama, the Congress, and almost all the media. There is no reason to think that corporations or the very wealthy will have to pay their fair share of taxes. In fact, the Estate Tax, is under continued assault by our nation's lawmakers. Billionaires want to leave all their obscene wealth to their children, while most of the nation's children face minimum wage or unemployment.
Since the very rich control US decision making, there is little chance that future Wall Street speculation will be regulated. In fact, the US is 96th out of 135 countries of the world in terms of income distribution, closest to Mexico and Iran. Unlike more progressive industrialized countries, the richest Americans have billions to speculate with, and virtually no incentive to restrain themselves. All will be bailed out by the US Treasury, so why worry?
Finally, endless wars mean endless profits to those in the criminal capitalist system. Haliburton is an example of a company that makes obscene profits from the wars the company creates and perpetuates. From Lyndon Johnson to Dick Cheney, Halliburton has had a hand in shaping foreign policy. The same is true of other corporations, like big oil, that profit from occupying foreign countries and exploiting their natural resources.
What will change any of this short of national rebellion?
------
The NY Times:
"Now, coming off one of his worst weeks since taking office, Mr. Obama is nearing a decision on whether he really meant that. Is he willing to try to administer the disagreeable medicine that could help the economy mend over the long term, even if that means damaging his chances for re-election?
The Federal Reserve’s finding on Tuesday that there is little prospect for rapid economic growth over the next two years was the latest in a summer of bad economic news. One administration official called the atmosphere around the president’s economic team 'angry and morose.'
'The problem for Obama is that right now, the United States is either at a precipice or has fallen off it,' said David Rothkopf, a Commerce Department official in the Clinton administration. 'If he is true to his commitment to rather be a good one-term president, then this is the character test. In some respects, this is the 3 a.m. phone call.' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/us/politics/10obama.html?hp
-->Leave it to the NY Times to frame Obama's sellout of working people as a noble attempt to administer "disagreeable medicine" for the common good.
------
Daily Mail:
"Tony Blair is to face scathing criticism from the official inquiry into the Iraq War for the role he played in leading Britain into one of its biggest foreign policy fiascos in modern history. The Mail on Sunday has been told that the former Prime Minister will be held to account on four main failings:
Bogus claims that were made about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. Not telling the British public about his secret pledge with George Bush to go to war. Keeping the Cabinet in the dark by his ‘sofa government’ style. Failing to plan to avoid the post-war chaos in Iraq."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020625/Iraq-inquiry-Tony-Blair-held-account-Chilcot-report-war.html
-->Not only did the NY Times omit this story in its print edition, but our newspaper of record has never brought up the failure of our current administration in investigating Bush era lies and war crimes. In the "land of the free," the media, the Pentagon, and both parties conspire to protect the empire from bad publicity.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
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.
---------
Politisk.tv2:
"The Foreign Minister was met with calls that Norway must recognize a Palestinian state when he visited the Labour Youth League summer camp Thursday.
During the second day of Labour Youth League summer camp at Utøya the Labour Party's young hopefuls got a visit by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Sidsel Wold and Norwegian People's Aid Kirsten Belck-Olsen, discussed the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the Foreign Minister.
'The Palestinians must have their own state, the occupation must end, the wall must be demolished and it must happen now, said the Foreign Minister to cheers from the audience.'
http://politisk.tv2.no/nyheter/st%C3%B8re-om-israel-palestina-konflikten-%E2%80%93-okkupasjonen-ma-opph%C3%B8re-muren-ma-rives-og-det-ma-skje-na/
-->What was going on at that Norwegian youth camp before Breivik's murderous attack? Why were its participants chosen for assassination? The US media, including The NY Times doesn't mention a word about the camp's pro Palestinian events that week. In fact, Breivik's numerous pro-Zionist statements are also completely ignored. The NY Times' article about Breivik's influences doesn't mention Zionism, BDS or Israel even once. Yet Breivik's numerous references to Israel tell a different story. "A public statement in support of Israel against Muslim aggression should be issued, and the money that has previously been awarded to Palestinians should be allocated partly to Israel's defense..."
---------
Salon:
"For much of the day yesterday, the featured headline on The New York Times online front page strongly suggested that Muslims were responsible for the attacks on Oslo; that led to definitive statements on the BBC and elsewhere that Muslims were the culprits. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin wrote a whole column based on the assertion that Muslims were responsible, one that, as James Fallows notes, remains at the Post with no corrections or updates...
Now that we know the alleged perpetrator is not Muslim, we know, by definition, that Terrorists are not responsible; conversely, when we thought Muslims were responsible, that meant, also by definition, that it was an act of Terrorism. What it says is what we've seen repeatedly: that Terrorism has no objective meaning and, at least in American political discourse, has come functionally to mean: violence committed by Muslims whom the West dislikes, no matter the cause or the target."
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/23/nyt/index.html
-->The NY Times quoted Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation. "If it does turn out to be someone with more political motivations, it shows these groups are learning from what they see from al-Qaida." So, if what happened in Norway is not Terrorism, just local "political extremism," it is still the fault of al-Qaida.
---------
Common Dreams:
"Congressman Dennis Kucinich took to the House floor again today to defend seniors from unfair attempts to cut Social Security benefits. Kucinich has previously pointed out that Social Security is financially sound and should not be connected to the federal deficit debate.
'The latest attack on elderly beneficiaries of Social Security is a scheme by which seniors' Cost-of-Living benefits would be cut through something called a Chained Consumer Price Index. The C.P.I., chained, involves a formula which recalculates the Cost-of-Living.
'The theory behind the Chained C.P.I. is that as the Cost-of-Living goes up, consumers, in this case seniors, buy cheaper products. For example, if poor seniors cannot afford to buy and eat steak, but can only afford to buy cheaper cat food, their Cost-of-Living benefit would be chained to the cost of the cat food, because it's cheaper than steak.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/07/22-2
-->There is no more dishonest media stores than the ones describing the need to cut Social Security to trim the deficit. As if Social Security were draining the governments coffers, rather than supporting the wars in the Middle East and tax cuts for the wealthy. Workers pay in much more Social Security taxes than goes out to retirees, and they have since the middle of the 1980's. Obama is proposing to take even from working people's retirement payments to fund his continuing wars. Of course, Obama's dream is to hand Social Security to Wall Street, what Clinton and Bush tried to do before him.
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.
---------
Politisk.tv2:
"The Foreign Minister was met with calls that Norway must recognize a Palestinian state when he visited the Labour Youth League summer camp Thursday.
During the second day of Labour Youth League summer camp at Utøya the Labour Party's young hopefuls got a visit by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Sidsel Wold and Norwegian People's Aid Kirsten Belck-Olsen, discussed the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the Foreign Minister.
'The Palestinians must have their own state, the occupation must end, the wall must be demolished and it must happen now, said the Foreign Minister to cheers from the audience.'
http://politisk.tv2.no/nyheter/st%C3%B8re-om-israel-palestina-konflikten-%E2%80%93-okkupasjonen-ma-opph%C3%B8re-muren-ma-rives-og-det-ma-skje-na/
-->What was going on at that Norwegian youth camp before Breivik's murderous attack? Why were its participants chosen for assassination? The US media, including The NY Times doesn't mention a word about the camp's pro Palestinian events that week. In fact, Breivik's numerous pro-Zionist statements are also completely ignored. The NY Times' article about Breivik's influences doesn't mention Zionism, BDS or Israel even once. Yet Breivik's numerous references to Israel tell a different story. "A public statement in support of Israel against Muslim aggression should be issued, and the money that has previously been awarded to Palestinians should be allocated partly to Israel's defense..."
---------
Salon:
"For much of the day yesterday, the featured headline on The New York Times online front page strongly suggested that Muslims were responsible for the attacks on Oslo; that led to definitive statements on the BBC and elsewhere that Muslims were the culprits. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin wrote a whole column based on the assertion that Muslims were responsible, one that, as James Fallows notes, remains at the Post with no corrections or updates...
Now that we know the alleged perpetrator is not Muslim, we know, by definition, that Terrorists are not responsible; conversely, when we thought Muslims were responsible, that meant, also by definition, that it was an act of Terrorism. What it says is what we've seen repeatedly: that Terrorism has no objective meaning and, at least in American political discourse, has come functionally to mean: violence committed by Muslims whom the West dislikes, no matter the cause or the target."
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/23/nyt/index.html
-->The NY Times quoted Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation. "If it does turn out to be someone with more political motivations, it shows these groups are learning from what they see from al-Qaida." So, if what happened in Norway is not Terrorism, just local "political extremism," it is still the fault of al-Qaida.
---------
Common Dreams:
"Congressman Dennis Kucinich took to the House floor again today to defend seniors from unfair attempts to cut Social Security benefits. Kucinich has previously pointed out that Social Security is financially sound and should not be connected to the federal deficit debate.
'The latest attack on elderly beneficiaries of Social Security is a scheme by which seniors' Cost-of-Living benefits would be cut through something called a Chained Consumer Price Index. The C.P.I., chained, involves a formula which recalculates the Cost-of-Living.
'The theory behind the Chained C.P.I. is that as the Cost-of-Living goes up, consumers, in this case seniors, buy cheaper products. For example, if poor seniors cannot afford to buy and eat steak, but can only afford to buy cheaper cat food, their Cost-of-Living benefit would be chained to the cost of the cat food, because it's cheaper than steak.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/07/22-2
-->There is no more dishonest media stores than the ones describing the need to cut Social Security to trim the deficit. As if Social Security were draining the governments coffers, rather than supporting the wars in the Middle East and tax cuts for the wealthy. Workers pay in much more Social Security taxes than goes out to retirees, and they have since the middle of the 1980's. Obama is proposing to take even from working people's retirement payments to fund his continuing wars. Of course, Obama's dream is to hand Social Security to Wall Street, what Clinton and Bush tried to do before him.
Friday, July 22, 2011
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.
---------
KGW News Channel 8 in Portland:
"A Seattle nuclear watchdog group is accusing the federal government of failing to keep the public informed of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In the days following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the U.S. began monitoring radiation from Japan's leaking nuclear power plants.
Most of the public attention went to the air monitoring which showed little or no radiation coming our way. But things were different on the rain water side.
'The level that was detected on March 24 was 41 times the drinking water standard,' said Gerry Pollet from Heart of America Northwest. He reviewed Iodine 131 numbers released by the Environmental Protection Agency last spring.
'Our government said no health levels, no health levels were exceeded.When in fact the rain water in the Northwest is reaching levels 130 times the drinking water standards,' said Pollet."
http://www.kgw.com/home/Group-says-feds-downplayed-radiation-in-NW-rainwater-125419388.html
-->The NY Times didn't bother reporting this story, probably because it involved our government understating the effects of Fukushima on the American public. However, The NY Times has its own bias in favor of Nuclear energy which can be seen in its reporting over the last twenty years. "The New York Times continues to be, as it was a half-century ago when nuclear technology was first advanced, a media leader in pushing the technology, which collapsed in the U.S. with the 1979 Three Mile Island and 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents. The Times has showered readers with a variety of pieces advocating a nuclear revival, all marbled with omissions and untruths."
-Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the SUNY, and media critic on nuclear energy coverage.
---------
Inter Press Service:
"When weeklong negotiations on the control and regulation of the global arms trade were concluded last week, there was one missing link in the proposed treaty: riot control equipment used recently against peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Jordan.
The Arms Trade Treaty, which is expected to be finalized and signed next year, is either ambiguous or excludes weapons of repression, including rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas canisters, and high voltage electric-shock stun guns...
The London-based Amnesty International (AI) warned that if certain types of security and police equipment such as non-military firearms, including riot guns, crowd control vehicles, shotgun ammunition and tear gas, are not clearly covered by the ATT, 'many governments will not prevent such arms being supplied and used for serious violations of human rights.'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/18-7
-->The NY Times did not cover this failure of the Arms Trade Treaty to cover weapons used to suppress peaceful demonstration. Of course, The NY Times covers very few peaceful demonstrations in the world, unless they are endorsed by the Pentagon.
---------
The Hill - Washington, DC:
"One out of more than 800 Palestinian children charged with throwing stones in the West Bank over a six-year period was acquitted, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
Ninety-three percent of the 834 under-18s who were convicted were given prison sentences by the Israeli military courts, including 19 children aged 12 and 13. The sentences ranged from a few days to 20 months. The imprisonment of Israeli children under the age of 14 is not allowed...Most of the minors were aged 16 and 17, but 255 were 14 or 15, with 34 under 14.
Only five cases were brought to a full trial compared to 624 which ended with a plea bargain. 'Judges order the vast majority of minors to be held in custody until the end of the criminal proceedings, forcing plea bargains. This is because even if the minor is eventually acquitted, he will spend a longer period of time in custody during the course of a full trial than the length of punishment if he pleads guilty in a plea bargain,' said B'Tselem.
B'Tselem interviewed 50 Palestinian minors for the report. Many described being arrested in the middle of the night, denied access to their families or lawyers and mistreatment. Only two of the children interviewed for the report, No Minor Matter, had an adult present during questioning."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/18/israel-detained-835-palestinian-minors
-->The NY Times didn't report this study by B'Tselem, the Israeli peace group. The abuse of Palestinian children by Israel is not something The NY Times wants its readers to know. All the news that fits the pro Israel slant of our newspaper of record.
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.
---------
KGW News Channel 8 in Portland:
"A Seattle nuclear watchdog group is accusing the federal government of failing to keep the public informed of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In the days following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the U.S. began monitoring radiation from Japan's leaking nuclear power plants.
Most of the public attention went to the air monitoring which showed little or no radiation coming our way. But things were different on the rain water side.
'The level that was detected on March 24 was 41 times the drinking water standard,' said Gerry Pollet from Heart of America Northwest. He reviewed Iodine 131 numbers released by the Environmental Protection Agency last spring.
'Our government said no health levels, no health levels were exceeded.When in fact the rain water in the Northwest is reaching levels 130 times the drinking water standards,' said Pollet."
http://www.kgw.com/home/Group-says-feds-downplayed-radiation-in-NW-rainwater-125419388.html
-->The NY Times didn't bother reporting this story, probably because it involved our government understating the effects of Fukushima on the American public. However, The NY Times has its own bias in favor of Nuclear energy which can be seen in its reporting over the last twenty years. "The New York Times continues to be, as it was a half-century ago when nuclear technology was first advanced, a media leader in pushing the technology, which collapsed in the U.S. with the 1979 Three Mile Island and 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents. The Times has showered readers with a variety of pieces advocating a nuclear revival, all marbled with omissions and untruths."
-Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the SUNY, and media critic on nuclear energy coverage.
---------
Inter Press Service:
"When weeklong negotiations on the control and regulation of the global arms trade were concluded last week, there was one missing link in the proposed treaty: riot control equipment used recently against peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Jordan.
The Arms Trade Treaty, which is expected to be finalized and signed next year, is either ambiguous or excludes weapons of repression, including rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas canisters, and high voltage electric-shock stun guns...
The London-based Amnesty International (AI) warned that if certain types of security and police equipment such as non-military firearms, including riot guns, crowd control vehicles, shotgun ammunition and tear gas, are not clearly covered by the ATT, 'many governments will not prevent such arms being supplied and used for serious violations of human rights.'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/18-7
-->The NY Times did not cover this failure of the Arms Trade Treaty to cover weapons used to suppress peaceful demonstration. Of course, The NY Times covers very few peaceful demonstrations in the world, unless they are endorsed by the Pentagon.
---------
The Hill - Washington, DC:
"One out of more than 800 Palestinian children charged with throwing stones in the West Bank over a six-year period was acquitted, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
Ninety-three percent of the 834 under-18s who were convicted were given prison sentences by the Israeli military courts, including 19 children aged 12 and 13. The sentences ranged from a few days to 20 months. The imprisonment of Israeli children under the age of 14 is not allowed...Most of the minors were aged 16 and 17, but 255 were 14 or 15, with 34 under 14.
Only five cases were brought to a full trial compared to 624 which ended with a plea bargain. 'Judges order the vast majority of minors to be held in custody until the end of the criminal proceedings, forcing plea bargains. This is because even if the minor is eventually acquitted, he will spend a longer period of time in custody during the course of a full trial than the length of punishment if he pleads guilty in a plea bargain,' said B'Tselem.
B'Tselem interviewed 50 Palestinian minors for the report. Many described being arrested in the middle of the night, denied access to their families or lawyers and mistreatment. Only two of the children interviewed for the report, No Minor Matter, had an adult present during questioning."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/18/israel-detained-835-palestinian-minors
-->The NY Times didn't report this study by B'Tselem, the Israeli peace group. The abuse of Palestinian children by Israel is not something The NY Times wants its readers to know. All the news that fits the pro Israel slant of our newspaper of record.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
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.
---------
Guardian UK:
"The family of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed in Gaza while protesting against house demolitions in 2003, on Monday claimed the Israeli military authorities withheld video evidence during the Corries' civil lawsuit and misled US officials on crucial details.
Craig Corrie, Rachel's father, told a press conference in Jerusalem that the footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of his daughter's death submitted to the court was "incomplete". Additional video material obtained by the family showed Rachel's body in a different spot to the place identified by some military commanders, he said.
He also alleged that the Israeli military had misled US officials on the position of Rachel's body when she was killed.
Rachel, from Olympia, Washington state, was killed while attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah area of Gaza from being demolished by Israeli troops in March 2003. Her family and other activists who witnessed the incident say she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/corries-accuse-israelis-death
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/04-0
-->The NY Times didn't report this story. Any other trial of foreign soldiers accused of killing an American citizen would certainly have gotten more notice in our newspaper of record. But Israel is a special case for The NY Times, and both its reporters have special relationships to the apartheid state.
---------
Committee to Stop FBI Repression:
"With a courtroom packed so there were no empty seats, Carlos Montes plead 'Not Guilty' to six felony charges in court on July 6, 2011. Defense attorney Jorge Gonzales said the Los Angeles District Attorney is using 'selective enforcement' to target Carlos. The U.S. government is using a 42-year-old charge from 1969 to prosecute Carlos Montes today for a weapon and an ammunition charge, and four charges of perjury on his weapons permits.
The FBI and LA Sheriff’s SWAT team broke down the door and raided Carlos Montes’ home in May. It is clear from the statements of local police and law enforcement officials on July 6 that the FBI is leading the charge in targeting Carlos. Carlos Montes said outside court, 'This attack on me is a pretext. They are using it to attack me because of my political activity – denouncing U.S. intervention in Colombia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Palestine.' "
http://www.stopfbi.net/2011/7/9/carlos-montes-pleads-“not-guilty”-next-court-date-set-august-12
-->The NY Times has never covered the arrest and prosecution of Carlos Montes, even though the facts of the case point to FBI harassment and selective enforcement of various laws. Our newspaper of record usually waits at least a decade before this type of news becomes fit to print.
---------
The Hill - Washington, DC:
"The Social Security Administration estimates that a proposal floated by the Obama administration would put 245,000 people into poverty, according to an analysis released by liberal senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday.
That level of impact would be felt by 2050 if a proposal to change the way inflation is measured is adopted, Sanders announced. The change to the way SSA would calculate the Consumer Price Index has been floated in debt ceiling talks between Congress and the White House. The White House has suggested revising CPI for both the tax code, in order to generate more revenue, and for benefits.
Social Security Administration’s Office of Retirement Policy estimated that by 2030, according to the report prepared for Sanders, there would be 173,400 more people living in poverty in the United States. Benefits for those who are 80-89 would drop by $960 a year. Benefits for women would fall by 3.5 percent overall while men’s benefits would drop by 2.9 percent. By 2050, seniors in the 80-89 age bracket would see benefits fall by $1,200 a year.
'I am especially disturbed that the president is considering cuts in Social Security after he campaigned against cuts in 2008,' Sanders said. 'The American people expect the president to keep his word.'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/10
-->The NY Times didn't report this study by Burnie Sanders. In general, The NY Times has shied away from explaining how much Obama's Social Security changes would hurt senior citizens. And stating the obvious, that Obama is not keeping his word to the American people, would never sit well with The NY Times corporate board of directors. Wall Street, of course, stands to gain billions by robbing working people of their retirement incomes.
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.
---------
Guardian UK:
"The family of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed in Gaza while protesting against house demolitions in 2003, on Monday claimed the Israeli military authorities withheld video evidence during the Corries' civil lawsuit and misled US officials on crucial details.
Craig Corrie, Rachel's father, told a press conference in Jerusalem that the footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of his daughter's death submitted to the court was "incomplete". Additional video material obtained by the family showed Rachel's body in a different spot to the place identified by some military commanders, he said.
He also alleged that the Israeli military had misled US officials on the position of Rachel's body when she was killed.
Rachel, from Olympia, Washington state, was killed while attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah area of Gaza from being demolished by Israeli troops in March 2003. Her family and other activists who witnessed the incident say she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/corries-accuse-israelis-death
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/04-0
-->The NY Times didn't report this story. Any other trial of foreign soldiers accused of killing an American citizen would certainly have gotten more notice in our newspaper of record. But Israel is a special case for The NY Times, and both its reporters have special relationships to the apartheid state.
---------
Committee to Stop FBI Repression:
"With a courtroom packed so there were no empty seats, Carlos Montes plead 'Not Guilty' to six felony charges in court on July 6, 2011. Defense attorney Jorge Gonzales said the Los Angeles District Attorney is using 'selective enforcement' to target Carlos. The U.S. government is using a 42-year-old charge from 1969 to prosecute Carlos Montes today for a weapon and an ammunition charge, and four charges of perjury on his weapons permits.
The FBI and LA Sheriff’s SWAT team broke down the door and raided Carlos Montes’ home in May. It is clear from the statements of local police and law enforcement officials on July 6 that the FBI is leading the charge in targeting Carlos. Carlos Montes said outside court, 'This attack on me is a pretext. They are using it to attack me because of my political activity – denouncing U.S. intervention in Colombia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Palestine.' "
http://www.stopfbi.net/2011/7/9/carlos-montes-pleads-“not-guilty”-next-court-date-set-august-12
-->The NY Times has never covered the arrest and prosecution of Carlos Montes, even though the facts of the case point to FBI harassment and selective enforcement of various laws. Our newspaper of record usually waits at least a decade before this type of news becomes fit to print.
---------
The Hill - Washington, DC:
"The Social Security Administration estimates that a proposal floated by the Obama administration would put 245,000 people into poverty, according to an analysis released by liberal senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday.
That level of impact would be felt by 2050 if a proposal to change the way inflation is measured is adopted, Sanders announced. The change to the way SSA would calculate the Consumer Price Index has been floated in debt ceiling talks between Congress and the White House. The White House has suggested revising CPI for both the tax code, in order to generate more revenue, and for benefits.
Social Security Administration’s Office of Retirement Policy estimated that by 2030, according to the report prepared for Sanders, there would be 173,400 more people living in poverty in the United States. Benefits for those who are 80-89 would drop by $960 a year. Benefits for women would fall by 3.5 percent overall while men’s benefits would drop by 2.9 percent. By 2050, seniors in the 80-89 age bracket would see benefits fall by $1,200 a year.
'I am especially disturbed that the president is considering cuts in Social Security after he campaigned against cuts in 2008,' Sanders said. 'The American people expect the president to keep his word.'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/10
-->The NY Times didn't report this study by Burnie Sanders. In general, The NY Times has shied away from explaining how much Obama's Social Security changes would hurt senior citizens. And stating the obvious, that Obama is not keeping his word to the American people, would never sit well with The NY Times corporate board of directors. Wall Street, of course, stands to gain billions by robbing working people of their retirement incomes.
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