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 to keep from the public eye.
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Truth Out:
"Why is the New York Times peddling Iranophobia?
At long last, the United States and Iran are engaged in serious talks about Iran's nuclear program. But instead of celebrating the fact that President Obama is keeping his campaign promise of diplomatic engagement with Iran, the New York Times has told its readers that Iran's Supreme Leader can't be trusted when he says Iran will never pursue a nuclear weapon.
The reason? Because Iran's leaders are Shiites, and Shiites have a religious doctrine called "taqiyya," which allows them to lie. No scholar or analyst was cited by the New York Times in support of this argument, which should have been a red flag for Times editors in an article on the leadership of a country against which the United States has threatened war.
Last Saturday - the same day the United States and Iran were having 'constructive and useful' discussions on Iran's nuclear program in Istanbul, according to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton - The New York Times published a piece titled, 'Seeking Nuclear Insight in Fog of the Ayatollah's Utterances,' over the byline of James Risen."
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8628-the-us-and-iran-are-talking-why-is-the-new-york-times-peddling-iran-islamophobia
-->The NY Times is repeating the type of pro-war propaganda we read before the US invasion of Iraq. The Israeli Lobby certainly has the ear of our newspaper of record, which uses its reporting to poison the minds of US citizenss.
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Salon:
In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s summary execution one year ago, many predicted that the War on Terror would finally begin to recede. Here’s what has happened since then:
* With large bipartisan majorities, Congress renewed the once-controversial Patriot Act without a single reform, and it was signed into law by President Obama; Harry Reid accused those urging reforms of putting the country at risk of a Terrorist attack.
* For the first time, perhaps ever, a U.S. citizen was assassinated by the CIA, on orders from the President, without a shred of due process and far from any battlefield; two weeks later, his 16-year-old American son was also killed by his own government...
* With large bipartisan majorities, Congress enacted, and the President signed, a new law codifying presidential powers of worldwide indefinite detention and an expanded statutory definition of the War on Terror.
* Construction neared completion for a sprawling new site in Utah for the National Security Agency to enable massive domestic surveillance and to achieve 'the realization of the total information awareness program created during the first term of the Bush administration.'
* President Obama authorized the use of 'signature' drone strikes in Yemen, whereby the CIA can target people for death 'even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known.' "
-->Where is our national media as America descends into a totalitarian state? We are becoming an empire ruled by big business, and of course, big business already owns all the media.
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Common Dreams:
"The Social Security trust fund is in strong financial standing and the overall program could be further strengthened, say experts and lawmakers, with a simple increase of the current payroll tax cap which is currently set at $110,000. The trustee's annual financial report was released on Monday.
Most mainstream news and media outlets reported the trustee's report as a 'doomsday' scenario for the benefit program, which was created in 1935 and today supports 55 million Americans, including 38 million retired workers, 6 million widows, widowers and orphans, and 11 million disabled workers. But those reports belie a simple solution to improve the longevity and solvency of the program, and speak to a trend of poor-quality reporting when it comes to the issue of Social Security.
'The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000. Right now, someone who earns $110,100 pays the same amount of money into Social Security as a billionaire. That makes no sense,' said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus. He also chairs the Senate aging subcommittee."
-->There is no more dishonest reporting in the US than the stories written about Social Security. Of course, Wall Street wants to control the billions going to retired Americans, and take its cut for setting up individual retirement accounts. Again the richest of our citizens will end up impoverishing the working people of our country.
