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.
---------
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.
---------
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.
---------
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.
---------
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.
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.
---------
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?
Thursday, April 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.
---------
Guardian UK:
"Numerous US officials are calling for a resurrection of the US Espionage Act as a tool for prosecuting WikiLeaks. The dusting-off of the old law is all but certain. But the outcome of the constitutional dust-up that is sure to follow will result in triumph or tragedy for the US bill of rights.
In 1917, in the midst of a war hysteria, the United States passed the Espionage Act. The law has nothing to do with prosecuting spies. From its inception, it had everything to do with suppressing dissent. The Great War was unpopular with many Americans, very like today's engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Make no mistake about it. The Espionage Act targeted political dissidents...
The Espionage Act wreaked havoc on the American political left, destroying the young American Socialist party and one of its most progressive unions, the Industrial Workers of the World. Many others, including intellectuals, journalists, film producers and pacifist religious figures were also prosecuted. Prison terms were long, and some political prisoners died in federal jails. The abuses under the law were legendary, and mark a sad day in US history."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-us-espionage-act
-->The US media, including The NY Times has written very little about the impending use of the US Espionage Act. Free speech in America is of much less interest to our corporate controlled press.
----------
Independent UK:
"A New Jail for Bradley Manning – But the Controversy Rages On...
The last straw may have been a letter due to appear in the next issue of The New York Review of Books, signed by almost 300 US and foreign legal scholars. It denounces Pte Manning's treatment as a violation of the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on 'cruel and unusual punishment', and on the Fifth Amendment guarantee against punishment without trial.
As a former professor of constitutional law, it notes, Mr Obama of all people should be aware of these dangers: 'The question now is whether his conduct as Commander-in-Chief meets fundamental standards of decency.'
It also gives a graphic description of how Pte Manning was held at Quantico, locked alone in his cell for 23 hours each day: "During his one remaining hour, he can walk in circles in another room, with no other prisoners present. He is not allowed to doze off or relax during the day, but must answer the question 'Are you OK?' verbally and in the affirmative every five minutes. At night, he is awakened to be asked again, 'Are you OK?' every time he turns his back to the cell door or covers his head with a blanket so that the guards cannot see his face.
At one point, he was forced to sleep naked and stand naked for inspection in front of his cell for a week. In the day, he also had to undress and wear a kind of smock – all because Pte Manning was considered a suicide risk, a claim that the prisoner himself and military psychiatrists have disputed."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/21-0
-->Readers of The NY Times might wonder what controversy was being reported on. The letter signed by 300 US and foreign legal scholars was not covered. Nor has The NY Times done a very good job specifying the degrading treatment of Bradley Manning while in prison.
----------
Foreign Policy in Focus:
"A secret operation to run guns across the border to Mexican drug cartels — overseen by U.S. government agents — threatens to become a major scandal for the Obama administration.
The operation, called 'Fast and Furious,' was run out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) office in Phoenix, Arizona. ATF sanctioned the purchase of weapons in U.S. gun shops and tracked the smuggling route to the Mexican border. Reportedly, more than 2,500 firearms were sold to straw buyers who then handed off the weapons to gunrunners under the nose of ATF.
But once across the border, the agency seemed to lose track of the weapons. Hundreds of AK-47s and Barrett .50 caliber rifles — favorites of warring drug cartels —made it easily into the hands of some of Mexico’s most ruthless crime organizations."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/20-11
-->The NY Times did not cover this story, although the events have been well documented by "CounterPunch" on the left and Fox News on the right. Perhaps the story was seen as damaging to US relations with Mexico. Foreign policy objectives of the empire routinely trump the readership's right to know.
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:
"Numerous US officials are calling for a resurrection of the US Espionage Act as a tool for prosecuting WikiLeaks. The dusting-off of the old law is all but certain. But the outcome of the constitutional dust-up that is sure to follow will result in triumph or tragedy for the US bill of rights.
In 1917, in the midst of a war hysteria, the United States passed the Espionage Act. The law has nothing to do with prosecuting spies. From its inception, it had everything to do with suppressing dissent. The Great War was unpopular with many Americans, very like today's engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Make no mistake about it. The Espionage Act targeted political dissidents...
The Espionage Act wreaked havoc on the American political left, destroying the young American Socialist party and one of its most progressive unions, the Industrial Workers of the World. Many others, including intellectuals, journalists, film producers and pacifist religious figures were also prosecuted. Prison terms were long, and some political prisoners died in federal jails. The abuses under the law were legendary, and mark a sad day in US history."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-us-espionage-act
-->The US media, including The NY Times has written very little about the impending use of the US Espionage Act. Free speech in America is of much less interest to our corporate controlled press.
----------
Independent UK:
"A New Jail for Bradley Manning – But the Controversy Rages On...
The last straw may have been a letter due to appear in the next issue of The New York Review of Books, signed by almost 300 US and foreign legal scholars. It denounces Pte Manning's treatment as a violation of the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on 'cruel and unusual punishment', and on the Fifth Amendment guarantee against punishment without trial.
As a former professor of constitutional law, it notes, Mr Obama of all people should be aware of these dangers: 'The question now is whether his conduct as Commander-in-Chief meets fundamental standards of decency.'
It also gives a graphic description of how Pte Manning was held at Quantico, locked alone in his cell for 23 hours each day: "During his one remaining hour, he can walk in circles in another room, with no other prisoners present. He is not allowed to doze off or relax during the day, but must answer the question 'Are you OK?' verbally and in the affirmative every five minutes. At night, he is awakened to be asked again, 'Are you OK?' every time he turns his back to the cell door or covers his head with a blanket so that the guards cannot see his face.
At one point, he was forced to sleep naked and stand naked for inspection in front of his cell for a week. In the day, he also had to undress and wear a kind of smock – all because Pte Manning was considered a suicide risk, a claim that the prisoner himself and military psychiatrists have disputed."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/21-0
-->Readers of The NY Times might wonder what controversy was being reported on. The letter signed by 300 US and foreign legal scholars was not covered. Nor has The NY Times done a very good job specifying the degrading treatment of Bradley Manning while in prison.
----------
Foreign Policy in Focus:
"A secret operation to run guns across the border to Mexican drug cartels — overseen by U.S. government agents — threatens to become a major scandal for the Obama administration.
The operation, called 'Fast and Furious,' was run out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) office in Phoenix, Arizona. ATF sanctioned the purchase of weapons in U.S. gun shops and tracked the smuggling route to the Mexican border. Reportedly, more than 2,500 firearms were sold to straw buyers who then handed off the weapons to gunrunners under the nose of ATF.
But once across the border, the agency seemed to lose track of the weapons. Hundreds of AK-47s and Barrett .50 caliber rifles — favorites of warring drug cartels —made it easily into the hands of some of Mexico’s most ruthless crime organizations."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/20-11
-->The NY Times did not cover this story, although the events have been well documented by "CounterPunch" on the left and Fox News on the right. Perhaps the story was seen as damaging to US relations with Mexico. Foreign policy objectives of the empire routinely trump the readership's right to know.
Thursday, April 21, 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.
---------
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
"The budget proposal released last week by Rep. Paul Ryan includes tax cuts for the wealthy, tax hikes for the middle class, drastic cuts in spending and a radical restructuring of Medicare that would shift most of the cost of healthcare to seniors. Its dubious claims of deficit reduction rely on fatally flawed assumptions and inexplicable projections (Center for Budget & Policy Priorities)
But much of the media coverage about the plan has presented Ryan's proposal as a serious solution to long-term budget problems, or at least the starting point of a serious conversation about the topic...
In Time magazine, readers learned that Paul Ryan--described as having 'jet black hair and a touch of Eagle Scout to him--has unveiled an ambitious package of huge budget cuts designed to dig the country out of its crippling debt crisis. For Ryan, reining in spending is nothing less than an act of patriotic valor'... He's been making the media swoon for months now, as the January 25 New York Times made clear: 'He is the guy with the piercing blue eyes, love for heavy metal on his iPod and a reputation among Democrats, including President Obama, as a Republican who has put forward budget ideas that are thoughtful and serious, if not in sync with their own.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/12-8
-->Our nation's corporate media simply loves the far right, especially when it comes to cutting workers' benefits to support tax cuts for the rich.
-----------
The Guardian, UK:
"A senior United Nations representative on torture, Juan Mendez, issued a rare reprimand to the US government on Monday for failing to allow him to meet in private Bradley Manning, the American soldier accused of being the WikiLeaks source and held in a military prison. It is the kind of censure the UN normally reserves for authoritarian regimes around the world.
Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said: 'I am deeply disappointed and frustrated by the prevarication of the US government with regard to my attempts to visit Mr Manning.'
Manning's supporters claim that the US is being vindictive in its treatment of Manning, who is held at the marine base at Quantico, Virginia, in conditions they describe as inhumane."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/11/bradley-manning-juan-mendez-torture
-->The NY Times didn't print this story, nor mention Juan Mendez's comments. Government torture is often given short shrift by the official publication of the empire.
----------
Public Citizen:
"Plastic surgeons cover up new evidence of human cancer from implants.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery hosted a members only webinar essentially urging members to inaccurately downplay the risks of breast implant related cancer when speaking to female patients...
'Yes, it's classically a malignant tumor, but...when we were discussing ways to talk to the media, we decided that we would call this a condition...I would recommend that you use the same terms with your patients rather than disturb them by saying this is a cancer, this is a malignancy. The best word is this is a condition...' "
-->The NY Times did a health story on March 21 entitled "A Decade of Boosting Breast Size." No mention of the efforts by plastic surgeons to mislead their clients on the dangers of breast cancers.
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.
---------
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
"The budget proposal released last week by Rep. Paul Ryan includes tax cuts for the wealthy, tax hikes for the middle class, drastic cuts in spending and a radical restructuring of Medicare that would shift most of the cost of healthcare to seniors. Its dubious claims of deficit reduction rely on fatally flawed assumptions and inexplicable projections (Center for Budget & Policy Priorities)
But much of the media coverage about the plan has presented Ryan's proposal as a serious solution to long-term budget problems, or at least the starting point of a serious conversation about the topic...
In Time magazine, readers learned that Paul Ryan--described as having 'jet black hair and a touch of Eagle Scout to him--has unveiled an ambitious package of huge budget cuts designed to dig the country out of its crippling debt crisis. For Ryan, reining in spending is nothing less than an act of patriotic valor'... He's been making the media swoon for months now, as the January 25 New York Times made clear: 'He is the guy with the piercing blue eyes, love for heavy metal on his iPod and a reputation among Democrats, including President Obama, as a Republican who has put forward budget ideas that are thoughtful and serious, if not in sync with their own.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/12-8
-->Our nation's corporate media simply loves the far right, especially when it comes to cutting workers' benefits to support tax cuts for the rich.
-----------
The Guardian, UK:
"A senior United Nations representative on torture, Juan Mendez, issued a rare reprimand to the US government on Monday for failing to allow him to meet in private Bradley Manning, the American soldier accused of being the WikiLeaks source and held in a military prison. It is the kind of censure the UN normally reserves for authoritarian regimes around the world.
Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said: 'I am deeply disappointed and frustrated by the prevarication of the US government with regard to my attempts to visit Mr Manning.'
Manning's supporters claim that the US is being vindictive in its treatment of Manning, who is held at the marine base at Quantico, Virginia, in conditions they describe as inhumane."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/11/bradley-manning-juan-mendez-torture
-->The NY Times didn't print this story, nor mention Juan Mendez's comments. Government torture is often given short shrift by the official publication of the empire.
----------
Public Citizen:
"Plastic surgeons cover up new evidence of human cancer from implants.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery hosted a members only webinar essentially urging members to inaccurately downplay the risks of breast implant related cancer when speaking to female patients...
'Yes, it's classically a malignant tumor, but...when we were discussing ways to talk to the media, we decided that we would call this a condition...I would recommend that you use the same terms with your patients rather than disturb them by saying this is a cancer, this is a malignancy. The best word is this is a condition...' "
-->The NY Times did a health story on March 21 entitled "A Decade of Boosting Breast Size." No mention of the efforts by plastic surgeons to mislead their clients on the dangers of breast cancers.
Thursday, March 31, 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:
WAMC/NPR interviewed Professor David Courtwright this Monday on US involvement in Libya. Dr. Courtwright assured listeners that our cause was just, and that "protecting innocent civilians" had the backing of world opinion. And since the US had no other motive for instituting a no fly zone in Libya, our government had to act. No question about it.
While Dr. Courtwright had worries about a protracted civil war in Libya, he never went back to his initial conclusion that the US had a moral imperative to initiate military action.
-->Dr. Courtwright's analysis is part of what Chris Hedges calls "the death of the liberal class," which is the title of his latest book. As a professor of history, Dr. Courtwright could certainly have come up with some other US motives in Libya, including controlling the oil, establishing of more US bases in the Middle East, and getting rid of an old enemy, Colonel Gaddafi. But the good professor could not, at least while maintaining his comfortable position as an NPR expert. Such is the sellout of our academic, liberal class to the military, industrial, corporate complex. NPR itself spends most of its time supporting the twin deceptions of American political life, that we live in a vibrant democracy, and that US wars abroad are always waged for moral reasons.
----------
Veterans Today:
"Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey has announced her country is developing a project to open up all crossings to the Gaza Strip, which has been suffocating for the last five years from an Israeli blockade.
She also said if Egypt would agree to open the Rafah crossing to bring in building materials and commodities, her country would be ready to restore it.
The statements came Monday during a meeting with several high-profile politicians in Europe staged by the European-Palestinian relations council.
Discussions included British MP Lord Andrew Phillips, member of European Parliament Alexandra Faith, MEP Derek Vaughan from Wales, and Swiss MP Geri Müller.
For his part, Lord Andrew Phillips, who headed the delegation, said world silence was to blame for Israel's obstinacy, saying that Tel Aviv understands that silence over recent attacks has provided a green light for more attacks."
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/03/24/swiss-president-announces-plans-to-break-gaza-siege/
-->The NY Times included a story about the Swiss President recently, but it involved the preservation of a 14th Century Chateau in Geneva. No mention of the preservation of 1.5 million Palestinians. The US media, complicit in the blockade of Gaza, would never let US citizens know of the international resistance to these war crimes.
----------
The Chronicle of Higher Education:
"The international campaign for an academic boycott of Israel claimed its first success on Wednesday when the University of Johannesburg Senate voted to pull out of a two-year-old joint research project with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to battle algae that are infesting the South African city's reservoir.
The vote means that the University of Johannesburg is the first academic institution in the world to formally cut ties with an Israeli university as a result of pressure by supporters of the international boycott campaign...
The University of Johannesburg's Petition Committee, which led the campaign, said in a prepared statement that the Senate had also found 'significant' evidence that Ben-Gurion's research and other projects supported the Israeli military and, in particular, its occupation of Gaza."
http://chronicle.com/article/South-African-University-Is/126882/
-->Although the Chronicle mostly quoted Israeli professors who were opposed to the boycott, at least the story was covered. What is the excuse of The NY Times? Here is what the Guardian UK had to say: "Leading advocates of an academic boycott of Israel have stepped up their campaign calling for an 'outing' of Israeli universities which support their government's policy on the occupied territories.
Nearly 300 academics from around the world have published an open letter calling for leaders of Israeli universities to lay their political cards on the table and reveal whether they support the government's policies on the border conflict..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/25/highereducation.uk
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:
WAMC/NPR interviewed Professor David Courtwright this Monday on US involvement in Libya. Dr. Courtwright assured listeners that our cause was just, and that "protecting innocent civilians" had the backing of world opinion. And since the US had no other motive for instituting a no fly zone in Libya, our government had to act. No question about it.
While Dr. Courtwright had worries about a protracted civil war in Libya, he never went back to his initial conclusion that the US had a moral imperative to initiate military action.
-->Dr. Courtwright's analysis is part of what Chris Hedges calls "the death of the liberal class," which is the title of his latest book. As a professor of history, Dr. Courtwright could certainly have come up with some other US motives in Libya, including controlling the oil, establishing of more US bases in the Middle East, and getting rid of an old enemy, Colonel Gaddafi. But the good professor could not, at least while maintaining his comfortable position as an NPR expert. Such is the sellout of our academic, liberal class to the military, industrial, corporate complex. NPR itself spends most of its time supporting the twin deceptions of American political life, that we live in a vibrant democracy, and that US wars abroad are always waged for moral reasons.
----------
Veterans Today:
"Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey has announced her country is developing a project to open up all crossings to the Gaza Strip, which has been suffocating for the last five years from an Israeli blockade.
She also said if Egypt would agree to open the Rafah crossing to bring in building materials and commodities, her country would be ready to restore it.
The statements came Monday during a meeting with several high-profile politicians in Europe staged by the European-Palestinian relations council.
Discussions included British MP Lord Andrew Phillips, member of European Parliament Alexandra Faith, MEP Derek Vaughan from Wales, and Swiss MP Geri Müller.
For his part, Lord Andrew Phillips, who headed the delegation, said world silence was to blame for Israel's obstinacy, saying that Tel Aviv understands that silence over recent attacks has provided a green light for more attacks."
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/03/24/swiss-president-announces-plans-to-break-gaza-siege/
-->The NY Times included a story about the Swiss President recently, but it involved the preservation of a 14th Century Chateau in Geneva. No mention of the preservation of 1.5 million Palestinians. The US media, complicit in the blockade of Gaza, would never let US citizens know of the international resistance to these war crimes.
----------
The Chronicle of Higher Education:
"The international campaign for an academic boycott of Israel claimed its first success on Wednesday when the University of Johannesburg Senate voted to pull out of a two-year-old joint research project with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to battle algae that are infesting the South African city's reservoir.
The vote means that the University of Johannesburg is the first academic institution in the world to formally cut ties with an Israeli university as a result of pressure by supporters of the international boycott campaign...
The University of Johannesburg's Petition Committee, which led the campaign, said in a prepared statement that the Senate had also found 'significant' evidence that Ben-Gurion's research and other projects supported the Israeli military and, in particular, its occupation of Gaza."
http://chronicle.com/article/South-African-University-Is/126882/
-->Although the Chronicle mostly quoted Israeli professors who were opposed to the boycott, at least the story was covered. What is the excuse of The NY Times? Here is what the Guardian UK had to say: "Leading advocates of an academic boycott of Israel have stepped up their campaign calling for an 'outing' of Israeli universities which support their government's policy on the occupied territories.
Nearly 300 academics from around the world have published an open letter calling for leaders of Israeli universities to lay their political cards on the table and reveal whether they support the government's policies on the border conflict..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/25/highereducation.uk
Thursday, March 24, 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.
---------
Reuters:
"Israel's expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and eviction of Palestinians from their homes there is a form of ethnic cleansing, a United Nations investigator said on Monday.
United States academic Richard Falk was speaking to the UN Human Rights Council as it prepared to pass resolutions condemning settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The 'continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem combined with the forcible eviction of long-residing Palestinians are creating an intolerable situation' in the part of the city previously controlled by Jordan, he said.
This situation 'can only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing,' Falk declared.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/21-3
-->Ethnic cleansing only makes the pages of The NY Times when it concerns a regime the US government considers hostile to its interests. A long time protector of Israel's image in America, our newspaper of record would never cover this accusation, despite the fact that it was made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights.
----------
The Guardian, UK:
"The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder.
Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks.
According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest.
That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the 'kill team' opened fire."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/21/afghanistan-trophy-photos-us-soldier
-->Although The NY Times covered this story, specifics about the killings were sanitized. The "boy" lured to his death becomes a "civilian...who appears to be dead." The photos of the victims are "inflammatory" because the faces of the soldiers "look disconcertingly satisfied." Perhaps the headline says it all: "Photos Stoke Tension Over Afghan Civilian Deaths," as if this were all a problem in public relations.
----------
NPR:
This week, WAMC/NPR covered a story about America's nuclear fears by interviewing a psychologist at George Washington University. The psychologist concluded that Americans are subject to these unreasonable fears because radiation cannot be seen and lends itself to hysterical responses. In addition, the US public can't separate nuclear bombs from nuclear energy, a totally different concept.
What to do to allay these irrational fears? The psychologist recommends desensitizing the public with field trips to nuclear reactors. That way, people will get used to this form of energy and their fears will diminish.
Perhaps local elementary schools around the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant would be interested. Their baby teeth already have greater concentrations of radiation then children living 100 miles away from the facility. Why not see first hand the plant that is spreading radiation in their bodies?
Leave it to NPR to treat citizens' fears of nuclear energy as pathology.
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.
---------
Reuters:
"Israel's expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and eviction of Palestinians from their homes there is a form of ethnic cleansing, a United Nations investigator said on Monday.
United States academic Richard Falk was speaking to the UN Human Rights Council as it prepared to pass resolutions condemning settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The 'continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem combined with the forcible eviction of long-residing Palestinians are creating an intolerable situation' in the part of the city previously controlled by Jordan, he said.
This situation 'can only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing,' Falk declared.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/21-3
-->Ethnic cleansing only makes the pages of The NY Times when it concerns a regime the US government considers hostile to its interests. A long time protector of Israel's image in America, our newspaper of record would never cover this accusation, despite the fact that it was made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights.
----------
The Guardian, UK:
"The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder.
Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks.
According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest.
That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the 'kill team' opened fire."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/21/afghanistan-trophy-photos-us-soldier
-->Although The NY Times covered this story, specifics about the killings were sanitized. The "boy" lured to his death becomes a "civilian...who appears to be dead." The photos of the victims are "inflammatory" because the faces of the soldiers "look disconcertingly satisfied." Perhaps the headline says it all: "Photos Stoke Tension Over Afghan Civilian Deaths," as if this were all a problem in public relations.
----------
NPR:
This week, WAMC/NPR covered a story about America's nuclear fears by interviewing a psychologist at George Washington University. The psychologist concluded that Americans are subject to these unreasonable fears because radiation cannot be seen and lends itself to hysterical responses. In addition, the US public can't separate nuclear bombs from nuclear energy, a totally different concept.
What to do to allay these irrational fears? The psychologist recommends desensitizing the public with field trips to nuclear reactors. That way, people will get used to this form of energy and their fears will diminish.
Perhaps local elementary schools around the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant would be interested. Their baby teeth already have greater concentrations of radiation then children living 100 miles away from the facility. Why not see first hand the plant that is spreading radiation in their bodies?
Leave it to NPR to treat citizens' fears of nuclear energy as pathology.
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