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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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.
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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?
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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."
