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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Smithsonian Mag:
"Banksy became an international star in 2005. In August, he arrived in Israel, where he painted a series of images on the West Bank’s concrete wall, part of the barrier built to try to stop suicide bombers.
Images of a girl clutching balloons as she is transported to the top of a wall; two stenciled children with bucket and spade dreaming of a beach; and a boy with a ladder propped against the wall were poignant meditations on the theme of escape."
->Nice story on Banksy in the Smithsonian Magazine. The Banksy piece on art and revolutionary thought is a perfect way for this somewhat stodgy non-profit to update its image. And the article is just great, including Banksy's documentary, "Exit Through the Gift Shop." But when it comes to mentioning Banksy's protest in the West Bank, the wall is all about "stopping suicide bombers," and the Smithsonian can't even mention the Palestinians.
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Common Dreams:
"A Sunday edition New York Times article which traces the origins of drone strikes on three U.S. citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki, Samir Khan, and al-Awlaki's sixteen year old son Abdulrahman, presents itself as a fair and balanced narrative, but actually serves as an overall 'one-sided, selective' account, giving aid to the U.S. government's shadowy justifications for its extra-judicial killings across the world, the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights said Sunday. ...
'By the time the missile found him,' the New York Times writes, al-Awlaki, 40, 'had been under the scrutiny of American officials for more than a decade.' However, as the article goes to lengths to highlight evidence that al-Awlaki's beliefs, language and speeches were 'anti-American' and potentially incendiary– al-Awlaki never partook in acts of violence against the U.S. and was never officially indicted for a crime before he was killed by the U.S. drone missile.
This did not dissuade the U.S. government from claiming the extra-judicial authority of taking out al-Awlaki as an 'imminent' threat, nor the articles's apparent complacency with its reasoning. ...
With phrases like, "Mr. Awlaki was probably involved" the article does not present strong evidence. It does, however, succeed as an apologists version of the U.S.'s controversial drone policies—including the strike which killed al-Alwaki's sixteen year old son, Abdulrahman, who had merely 'gone to find his father.' "
-->The NY Times can always find the most positive side of the empire's war crimes. Our newspaper of record did it for the slaughter of millions in Vietnam and Iraq, and is doing it now for the US drone wars.
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Common Dreams:
"As the dismantling of public education couched as 'reform' sweeps across the country, new reporting shows the potential closing of over 100 public schools in Chicago will overwhelmingly affect black students. An analysis from the Sun-Times shows that 9 out of 10 of the students affected by the closings are black, a 'racial breakdown,' they report, 'not in line with the overall demographics of the district.' ...
Black Agenda Report managing editor Bruce Dixon decried 'the war of our elite waged to privatize public education' and lamented that the potential closing of 129 public schools in Chicago and 40 in Philadelphia last year had received scant media attention.
'It's not news because school closings and school privatization, the end game of the bipartisan policies the Obama administration, Wall Street, the US Chamber of Commerce, a host of right wing foundations and deep pockets and hordes of politicians in both parties from the president down are pushing down the throats of communities across the country, are deeply unpopular. The American people, and especially the parents, teachers, grandparents, and other residents of poorer neighborhoods where closings and privatization are happening emphatically don't want these things.' "
-->The NY Times is part of that elite consensus that wants to eliminate public schools, especially for the poor and people of color. Why waste money on them since there are no jobs? Privatize, and train the underclass for the military. like the Chicago public schools under Obama.
