http://www.fantasylandmedia.org
Each week, we cover the stories that are just left out of the US propaganda machine. News that the people in charge, the corporations and your government want keep from the public eye.
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Alternet:
"The U.S. and its allies will do anything they can to prevent authentic democracy in the Arab world. The reason is very simple. Across the region, an overwhelming majority of the population regards the United States as the main threat to their interests.
In fact, opposition to U.S. policy is so high that a considerable majority think the region would be more secure if Iran had nuclear weapons. In Egypt, the most important country, that’s 80 percent. Similar figures elsewhere. There are some in the region who regard Iran as a threat—about 10 percent.
Well, plainly, the U.S. and its allies are not going to want governments which are responsive to the will of the people. If that happens, not only will the U.S. not control the region, but it will be thrown out. So that’s obviously an intolerable result."
-Noam Chomsky
http://www.alternet.org/story/150907/noam_chomsky%3A_'the_u.s._and_its_allies_will_do_anything_to_prevent_democracy_in_the_arab_world'/
-->These words, spoken at the 25th anniversary of FAIR, will never be printed in The NY Times. The analysis is just too close to the truth for a publication that spends most of its efforts justifying US occupations abroad. Of course, The NY Times didn't report the poll of Middle Eastern citizens either.
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McClatchy Newspapers:
"Buried in FBI laboratory reports about the anthrax mail attacks that killed five people in 2001 is data suggesting that a chemical may have been added to try to heighten the powder's potency, a move that some experts say exceeded the expertise of the presumed killer.
The lab data, contained in more than 9,000 pages of files that emerged a year after the Justice Department closed its inquiry and condemned the late Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins as the perpetrator, shows unusual levels of silicon and tin in anthrax powder from two of the five letters...
The existence of the silicon-tin chemical signature offered investigators the possibility of tracing purchases of the more than 100 such chemical products available before the attacks, which might have produced hard evidence against Ivins or led the agency to the real culprit.
But the FBI lab reports released in late February give no hint that bureau agents tried to find the buyers of additives such as tin-catalyzed silicone polymers."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/19/114467/fbi-lab-reports-on-anthrax-attacks.html
-->The NY Times recently ran a story on its Times Topics blog about Bruce Ivins. No mention of the evidence overlooked by the FBI. Nothing about Ivins made it into the print addition.
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Common Dreams:
"Justice Department Withholding Information on Controversial Legal Theory.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ), demanding the release of a secret legal memo used to justify FBI access to Americans' telephone records without any legal process or oversight.
A report released last year by the DOJ's own Inspector General revealed how the FBI, in defending its past violations of the Electronic Privacy Communications Act (ECPA), had come up with a new legal argument to justify secret, unchecked access to private telephone records. According to the report, the DOJ's Office of the Legal Counsel (OLC) had issued a legal opinion agreeing with the FBI's theory. That legal opinion is the target of the FOIA lawsuit filed Thursday...
'Congress is currently debating how to reform surveillance statutes like the PATRIOT Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act,' said EFF Senior Counsel David Sobel. 'If the FBI is claiming that it has the right to secret, unchecked access to Americans' communications records, Congress and the American public need to know that now.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/05/20-0
-->The NY Times obviously doesn't believe that Congress and the American public need to know about increased FBI surveillance of telephone records without legal process or oversight. Our newspaper of record didn't cover this story.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 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.
---------
Press TV:
"A review of the Afghan military documents revealed more than 1,100 instances of US-led forces -- including Danish troops -- having used white phosphorus (WP) grenades, rockets and bombs, the Danish daily Information reported.
According to one document, US-led forces fired 20 to 50 WP rockets at a single target. Many of the WP munitions have often been used in residential areas.
White phosphorus is a substance that burns upon coming into contact with human flesh; it sticks to the skin and continues to burn as long as there is oxygen. The result is severe and possibly lethal chemical burns.
According to international conventions the use of white phosphorus is to be restricted exclusively to areas that are not densely populated.
However, the leaked documents from Afghanistan indicate that the WP has been used as an attack weapon in populated areas, including zones where the Danish troops are deployed."
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179875.html
-->The NY Times avoids stories about American war crimes like the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas. All the news that the Pentagon thinks is fit to print.
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Guardian UK:
"Transgressions by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories will be disclosed by a group of former soldiers in an internet campaign aimed at raising public awareness of military violations.
Video testimonies by around two dozen ex-soldiers - some of whom are identifying themselves for the first time - will be posted on YouTube. The campaign by Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former soldiers committed to speaking out on military practices, launches with English subtitles on Monday.
Some of the former soldiers describe the "neighbour procedure", a term for the use of Palestinian civilians, often children, as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. The procedure was ruled illegal by Israel's high court in 2005. Others speak of routine harassment of civilians at checkpoints, arbitrary intimidation and collective punishment."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/16/former-israeli-soldiers-break-silence
-->The NY Times, like most mainstream media, likes to avoid any mention of the IDF abusing Palestinians. It's just the wrong narrative. But then again, our newspaper of record didn't even cover the Winter Soldier Testimony, a three day event in Washington DC that involved hundreds of Irag War vets.
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ACLU:
"A few top congressional insiders are aiming to sneak new worldwide war authority in to a 'must pass' piece of legislation: the Defense Authorization bill.
This new war authority would give the president — any president — the power to unilaterally take our country to war wherever, whenever and however he or she sees fit. It would essentially declare a worldwide war without end.
It is shocking that Congress is entertaining such legislation at a time when many are looking to see an end to escalating conflict and abuses of power in the name of fighting terrorism."
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3195&s_subsrc=110511_AUMF&JServSessionIdr004=44caaegcy1.app220a
-->Although The NY Times did run and editorial critical of the National Defense Authorization Act, this story should have been front page news. The law's enactment would destroy another Constitutional limit on the Executive Branch, putting us ever closer to an imperial presidency.
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.
---------
Press TV:
"A review of the Afghan military documents revealed more than 1,100 instances of US-led forces -- including Danish troops -- having used white phosphorus (WP) grenades, rockets and bombs, the Danish daily Information reported.
According to one document, US-led forces fired 20 to 50 WP rockets at a single target. Many of the WP munitions have often been used in residential areas.
White phosphorus is a substance that burns upon coming into contact with human flesh; it sticks to the skin and continues to burn as long as there is oxygen. The result is severe and possibly lethal chemical burns.
According to international conventions the use of white phosphorus is to be restricted exclusively to areas that are not densely populated.
However, the leaked documents from Afghanistan indicate that the WP has been used as an attack weapon in populated areas, including zones where the Danish troops are deployed."
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179875.html
-->The NY Times avoids stories about American war crimes like the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas. All the news that the Pentagon thinks is fit to print.
---------
Guardian UK:
"Transgressions by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories will be disclosed by a group of former soldiers in an internet campaign aimed at raising public awareness of military violations.
Video testimonies by around two dozen ex-soldiers - some of whom are identifying themselves for the first time - will be posted on YouTube. The campaign by Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former soldiers committed to speaking out on military practices, launches with English subtitles on Monday.
Some of the former soldiers describe the "neighbour procedure", a term for the use of Palestinian civilians, often children, as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. The procedure was ruled illegal by Israel's high court in 2005. Others speak of routine harassment of civilians at checkpoints, arbitrary intimidation and collective punishment."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/16/former-israeli-soldiers-break-silence
-->The NY Times, like most mainstream media, likes to avoid any mention of the IDF abusing Palestinians. It's just the wrong narrative. But then again, our newspaper of record didn't even cover the Winter Soldier Testimony, a three day event in Washington DC that involved hundreds of Irag War vets.
---------
ACLU:
"A few top congressional insiders are aiming to sneak new worldwide war authority in to a 'must pass' piece of legislation: the Defense Authorization bill.
This new war authority would give the president — any president — the power to unilaterally take our country to war wherever, whenever and however he or she sees fit. It would essentially declare a worldwide war without end.
It is shocking that Congress is entertaining such legislation at a time when many are looking to see an end to escalating conflict and abuses of power in the name of fighting terrorism."
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3195&s_subsrc=110511_AUMF&JServSessionIdr004=44caaegcy1.app220a
-->Although The NY Times did run and editorial critical of the National Defense Authorization Act, this story should have been front page news. The law's enactment would destroy another Constitutional limit on the Executive Branch, putting us ever closer to an imperial presidency.
Thursday, May 05, 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.
Press TV:
"The Egyptian foreign minister has called on the US to recognize Palestine as a state, as Palestinian factions are preparing to sign a unity deal.
Nabil al-Arabi urged the visiting US Congressman Steve Chabot on Sunday to 'press Washington to recognize Palestine as a state' in line with previous statements by the US administration about a two-state solution, Egypt's official news agency, MENA, quoted him as saying.
The issue came into view as Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshaal, will meet Fatah leader and acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on May 4 to sign the Egyptian-brokered deal."
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177763.html
-->The NY Times avoids printing stories that have to do with the international movement to recognize Palestine as a state. It didn't cover this story.
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Common Dreams:
"Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has repeatedly challenged the Obama Administration’s policy on Libya, today made the following statement after a Libyan spokesman announced that a NATO missile attack on a residence in Tripoli killed Saif al-Arab, the youngest son of Colonel Gaddafi, and three of Gaddafi’s grandchildren. According to the spokesman, Gaddafi and his wife were in the home, but survived the attack. Saif al-Arab was reported to be a 29 year-old student and a civilian.
'NATO's leaders have blood on their hands. NATO's airstrike seems to have been intended to carry out an illegal policy of assassination. This is a deep stain which can never fully wash. This grave matter cannot be addressed with empty words. Words will not bring back dead children. Actions must be taken to stop more innocents from getting slaughtered.'
'Today’s attack underscores that the Obama Doctrine of so-called humanitarian intervention appears to be a cover for regime change through assassination and murder,' said Kucinich."
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/30
-->The NY Times did not cover Kucinich's remarks, nor even bother naming Saif al-Arab, the son killed in the assassination attempt.
---------
The New York Times Dec. 17, 1890:
"The Death of Sitting Bull - Story Of The Old Medicine Man's Last Fight. The Desperate Struggle to Resist Arrest That Ended In The Killing Of The Wily Old Plotter And His Son, With Other Indians.
Fort Yates, N.D., Is is evident that there was, cruel as it may seem, a complete understanding, from commanding officer to the Indian police, that the slightest attempt to rescue Sitting Bull should be a signal to send the old medicine man to the happy hunting grounds.
Major MLaughlin and Capt. Fechet had been informed by Gen. Miles on Saturday that the time to strike had come, and on Sunday Troops F and G Eighth Cavalry, and a company of infantry, proceeded by about twenty of the Indian police, started to the southwest to capture the chief of the recalcitrants...
The camp was already astir; at least 100 of the savages were stripped and in battle array and their ponies painted and bridled. The police were immediately surrounded by a jabbering, threatening band of reds, and the outlook for a massacre was excellent. The leader of the police, however, quieted the Sioux warriors to some extent by insisting that they had merely come down to camp to parley with Sitting Bull and fix up a general settlement of all difficulties. After talking with the old medicine man a few minutes, the police suddenly formed a cordon around Bull, gave a signal to the troops, leveled their Winchesters at the savages, and started on a run. They succeeded in getting him on a horse and moved off northward toward the cavalry.
The Indians were at first confused, and did not open fire on the police at the outset, else every one of the officers would have been killed. Very quickly, however, under the leadership of Blackbird, the son of Sitting Bull, the Sioux, with a hideous yell, charged on the police. Three of the police fell dead, and several others others were so badly wounded that they have since died.
About this time a detachment of cavalry rode up at a gallop and opened a furious fusillade upon the charging savages, who were quickly stampeded and run westward to the Grand River. Sitting Bull fell at the first volley, the shot having been fired by one of the police. As soon as he saw the Indians moving toward him Bull made a desperate attempt to join them, but the police, obeying their instructions to the letter, made a good indian of him without delay. The police then ran to cover, and the cavalry began firing at the reds with a Hotchkiss and a Gatling gun, the savages having retreated out of reach of the small arms. There were seven Sioux killed, among them Blackbird and Crowfoot, sons of Sitting Bull, the latter being a boy of but twelve years..."
-->Another time and another place in US history. But the assassination bears an eerie resemblance to our own troubled time. When will those savages ever learn?
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 Egyptian foreign minister has called on the US to recognize Palestine as a state, as Palestinian factions are preparing to sign a unity deal.
Nabil al-Arabi urged the visiting US Congressman Steve Chabot on Sunday to 'press Washington to recognize Palestine as a state' in line with previous statements by the US administration about a two-state solution, Egypt's official news agency, MENA, quoted him as saying.
The issue came into view as Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshaal, will meet Fatah leader and acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on May 4 to sign the Egyptian-brokered deal."
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177763.html
-->The NY Times avoids printing stories that have to do with the international movement to recognize Palestine as a state. It didn't cover this story.
---------
Common Dreams:
"Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has repeatedly challenged the Obama Administration’s policy on Libya, today made the following statement after a Libyan spokesman announced that a NATO missile attack on a residence in Tripoli killed Saif al-Arab, the youngest son of Colonel Gaddafi, and three of Gaddafi’s grandchildren. According to the spokesman, Gaddafi and his wife were in the home, but survived the attack. Saif al-Arab was reported to be a 29 year-old student and a civilian.
'NATO's leaders have blood on their hands. NATO's airstrike seems to have been intended to carry out an illegal policy of assassination. This is a deep stain which can never fully wash. This grave matter cannot be addressed with empty words. Words will not bring back dead children. Actions must be taken to stop more innocents from getting slaughtered.'
'Today’s attack underscores that the Obama Doctrine of so-called humanitarian intervention appears to be a cover for regime change through assassination and murder,' said Kucinich."
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/30
-->The NY Times did not cover Kucinich's remarks, nor even bother naming Saif al-Arab, the son killed in the assassination attempt.
---------
The New York Times Dec. 17, 1890:
"The Death of Sitting Bull - Story Of The Old Medicine Man's Last Fight. The Desperate Struggle to Resist Arrest That Ended In The Killing Of The Wily Old Plotter And His Son, With Other Indians.
Fort Yates, N.D., Is is evident that there was, cruel as it may seem, a complete understanding, from commanding officer to the Indian police, that the slightest attempt to rescue Sitting Bull should be a signal to send the old medicine man to the happy hunting grounds.
Major MLaughlin and Capt. Fechet had been informed by Gen. Miles on Saturday that the time to strike had come, and on Sunday Troops F and G Eighth Cavalry, and a company of infantry, proceeded by about twenty of the Indian police, started to the southwest to capture the chief of the recalcitrants...
The camp was already astir; at least 100 of the savages were stripped and in battle array and their ponies painted and bridled. The police were immediately surrounded by a jabbering, threatening band of reds, and the outlook for a massacre was excellent. The leader of the police, however, quieted the Sioux warriors to some extent by insisting that they had merely come down to camp to parley with Sitting Bull and fix up a general settlement of all difficulties. After talking with the old medicine man a few minutes, the police suddenly formed a cordon around Bull, gave a signal to the troops, leveled their Winchesters at the savages, and started on a run. They succeeded in getting him on a horse and moved off northward toward the cavalry.
The Indians were at first confused, and did not open fire on the police at the outset, else every one of the officers would have been killed. Very quickly, however, under the leadership of Blackbird, the son of Sitting Bull, the Sioux, with a hideous yell, charged on the police. Three of the police fell dead, and several others others were so badly wounded that they have since died.
About this time a detachment of cavalry rode up at a gallop and opened a furious fusillade upon the charging savages, who were quickly stampeded and run westward to the Grand River. Sitting Bull fell at the first volley, the shot having been fired by one of the police. As soon as he saw the Indians moving toward him Bull made a desperate attempt to join them, but the police, obeying their instructions to the letter, made a good indian of him without delay. The police then ran to cover, and the cavalry began firing at the reds with a Hotchkiss and a Gatling gun, the savages having retreated out of reach of the small arms. There were seven Sioux killed, among them Blackbird and Crowfoot, sons of Sitting Bull, the latter being a boy of but twelve years..."
-->Another time and another place in US history. But the assassination bears an eerie resemblance to our own troubled time. When will those savages ever learn?
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