Dear
Friends, Project Censored specializes
in covering the top news stories which were either ignored or downplayed
by the mainstream media each year. This Sonoma State University
research group is composed of nearly 200 faculty, students and community
experts who review about 1000 story submissions for coverage, content,
reliability of sources and national significance. The top 25 stories
are submitted to a panel of judges who then rank them in order of
importance. The results are published each year in an excellent book, available
for purchase at their website, amazon.com,
and most major book stores. A summary of this
year's list provided below proves quite revealing and most informative. The
headline of each story contains a link for those who want
to check the sources and read more. I highly recommend these very
well researched reports. A visit to the website at http://www.projectcensored.org may
also be well worth your time. Thanks to the Internet and wonderful,
committed groups like Project Censored, the news is getting out to
those who want to know. By revealing all that is going on and working
to stop the excessive secrecy, we are creating a better world,
one step at a time. Please help to spread the word, and have a great
day! With love and very best
wishes, Fred http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/ Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media
Stories of 2003-2004
#1:
Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy
Wealth inequality increased dramatically in
the United States in the late 1990s. The top 5% is now capturing an increasingly
greater portion of the pie while the bottom 95% is clearly losing ground,
resulting in the rapidly vanishing middle class. This trend is the product
of legislative policies carefully crafted and lobbied for by corporations
and the ultra-wealthy over the past 25 years. America's economic trends
have a global footprint. Today, the top 400 income earners in the
U.S. make as much in a year as the entire population of the 20 poorest
countries in Africa. A series of reports released in 2003 by the
UN warn that further increases in the imbalance in wealth throughout
the world will have catastrophic effects if left unchecked, such as the
collapse of the entire global economy.
#2:
Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Holds Corporations Accountable
Attorney General John Ashcroft is seeking
to strike down one of the world's oldest human rights laws, the
Alien Torts Claim Act (ATCA) which holds government leaders, corporations,
and senior military officials liable for human rights abuses taking
place in foreign countries. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch
(HRW) vehemently oppose the removal of this law, as it is one of the
few legal defenses victims of human rights violations can claim against
powerful organizations such as governments or multinational corporations.
By attempting to throw out this law, the Bush Administration is effectively
opening the door for human rights abuses to continue under the veil
of foreign relations diplomacy.
#3:
Bush Administration Censors Science
In Washington D.C. more than 60 of the nation's
top scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, medical experts, and former
federal agency directors, issued a statement February 18, 2004 accusing
the Bush Administration of deliberately distorting scientific results
for political ends. They are calling for regulatory and legislative action
to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. Under the current
administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has blacklisted
scientists who pose a threat to pro-business ideology, and many unqualified
scientists with close industry ties have been appointed to advisory boards.
#4:
High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians
Civilian populations in Afghanistan and Iraq
and occupying troops have been contaminated with astounding levels of
radioactive uranium as a result of post-9/11 use of tons of uranium munitions
by the U.S. Four million pounds of radioactive uranium were dropped
on Iraq in 2003 alone. Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs,
bullets, tank shells, cruise missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of
uranium that on detonation, release a radioactive dust. Once ingested,
these subatomic particles slice through DNA. With a half-life of 4.5
billion years, it is a permanent contaminant distributed throughout the
environment. Scientists from around the world testify to the huge increase
in birth deformities and cancers wherever uranium munitions have been
used. The effects of the U.S. deployment will be felt in all the neighboring
countries in the Middle East and Asia, as well as in our returning troops.
#5:
The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources
The Bush Administration's environmental
policies are destroying much of the environmental progress made over
the past 30 years. Between the "Clean Skies Initiative," a
recent policy that allows power plants to emit more than five times
more mercury and twice as much sulfur dioxide, and the "Healthy
Forests Initiative," which allows the wholesale liquidation of
ancient forests by corporate timber interests under the guise of fire
prevention, resource extraction and pollution is occurring at unprecedented
rates.
#6:
The Sale of Electoral Politics
Conflicts of interest exist between the
largest suppliers of electronic voting machines in the United States
and key leaders in the Republican Party. While the voting machines
themselves present some technical issues, the political affiliations
within the voting machine industry pose even more serious questions.
The three major companies involved in implementing the new, often faulty,
technology at voting stations throughout the country have strong ties
to the Bush Administration, Republican leaders, and major defense contractors.
#7:
Conservative Organization Drives Judicial Appointments
In 2001 George W. Bush eliminated the longstanding
influence of the American Bar Association (ABA) in the evaluation of
the prospective federal judges. ABA's judicial ratings had long
kept extremists from the right and left off the bench. In its place,
Bush has been using the Federal Society for Law and Public Policy Studies--a
national organization whose mission is to advance a conservative agenda
by moving the country's legal system to the right. One of the most
important issues in the country is the control of one of the three
branches of government, the judiciary. While Presidents and Congress-members
get elected every few years, judicial appointments are for life, Our
courts deal with nearly every aspect of life; work conditions and wages,
schools, civil rights, affirmative action, crime and punishment, abortion
and the environment, amongst others.
#8:
Cheney's Energy Task Force and The Energy Policy
Cheney Energy Task Force documents turned
over in the summer of 2003 by the Commerce Department as a result of
the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Sierra Club and Judicial
Watch contain maps of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals.
The documents, dated March 2001, also contain plans of occupation and
exploitation that predate September 11, confirming suspicions that the
Bush Administration energy policy is driving U.S. military strategy.
#9:
Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. government for 9/11
Ellen Mariani became widowed when her husband
Louis Neil Mariani perished in the collision between United Airlines
flight 175 and the South Tower of the World Trade Center. In addition
to her refusal of the government's million-dollar settlement offer, Mrs.
Mariani has filed a 62 page complaint in federal district court charging
that President Bush and officials: (1) had adequate foreknowledge of
911, yet failed to warn the country or attempt to prevent it; (2)
have since been covering up the truth of that day; (3) have therefore
abetted the murder of plaintiff's husband and violated the Constitution
and multiple laws of the United States; and (4) are thus being sued under
the Civil Racketeering, Influences, and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act
for Malfeasant conspiracy, obstruction of justice and wrongful death.
#10:
New Nuke Plants: Taxpayers Support, Industry Profits
Senator Peter Domenici (R-NM), along with
the Bush Administration, is looking to give the nuclear power industry
a huge boost through the new Energy Policy Act. The Domenici-sponsored
bill will give nuclear power plants credits costing taxpayers an estimated
7.5 billion dollars, to build six new privately owned, for-profit reactors
across the country. Safety standards will be lowered and liability
will be passed on to taxpayers. This is in addition to the $4 billion
already provided for other nuclear energy programs.
#11:
The Media Can Legally Lie
In 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals ruled
that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media.
It agreed with an argument by Fox Television that, under the First
Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort
news reports on public airwaves. Under the current ruling, it is up
to the public to discover whether or not they are being lied to.
#12:
The Destabilization of Haiti
On February 29, 2004, President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide was forced into exile by American military. While U.S.
officials were eventually forced to acknowledge the kidnapping allegations,
they were quick to discredit them and deny responsibility. Meanwhile,
the circumstances that led to the current situation in Haiti, as well
as the history of U.S. involvement, are being ignored by U.S. officials
and the mainstream media.
#13:
Schwarzenegger Met with Enron's Ken Lay Years Before the California
Recall
In 2002, while the California Governor and
his deputy were attempting to re-regulate the energy industry (and get
back the $9 billion that was defrauded from California taxpayers by Enron
and other energy companies) Arnold Schwarzenegger was being groomed to
overthrow Governor Davis in a recall - and cancel plans to re-regulate
or to recoup the $9 billion. Back in May of 2001, in the midst of
California's energy crisis, Schwarzenegger met with Enron's Ken Lay to
discuss "fixing" California's energy crisis.
#14:
New Bill Threatens Intellectual Freedom in Area Studies
The International Studies in Higher Education
Act of 2003 threatens academic freedom and classroom curriculum. Under
this act, professors whose ideological principles do not support U.S.
practices abroad can have their appointments terminated, any course curriculum
containing criticism of U.S. foreign policy can be censored, and any
course deemed anti-American can be barred from the classroom.
#15:
U.S. Develops Lethal New Viruses
Scientists funded by the US government
have developed a way to make pox viruses incredibly deadly. The
stated goal of this research is to fight possible bio-terror attacks.
The new virus kills all mice even if they have been given antiviral
drugs along with a vaccine that would normally protect the victim from
death.
#16:
Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens
With little media comment, federal, state
and local agencies have begun working as partners in the collection,
analysis, and dissemination of intelligence information. Under
the "Global Intelligence Working Group" (that oversees the
new network) police departments receive increased funding for surveillance
activity. This has resulted in the recent COINTELPRO-style instances
of police infiltration of groups critical of government policies.
#17:
U.S. Government Represses Labor Unions in Iraq in Quest for Business
Privatization
According to the Wall Street Journal,
the Bush Administration has "sweeping plans to remake Iraq's economy
in the US image." The US is calling for the privatization
of state-owned industries such as oil and water. But it has chosen
not to overturn Sadaam-era edicts that outlaw unions. Every day the
economic policies of occupying authorities create more hunger among
Iraq's working people, transforming them into a pool of low-wage, semi-employed
labor, desperate for jobs at any price.
#18:
Media and Government Ignore Dwindling Oil Supplies
Even industry executives affirm that oil is
close to reaching, or may have already reached, its highest levels of
production potential. Once the peak is reached, oil prices will start
to rise (as they have every year since 2000). As oil decline accelerates,
prices will rise even faster, with devastating effects to the US economy. Over
the years, U.S. leaders, bowing to oil industry pressure, have not worked
to develop viable alternatives (as they have done in Europe).
#19:
Global Food Cartel Fast Becoming the World's Supermarket
Agribusiness and supermarket alliances are
transforming the agri-food system into a powerful network of transnational
corporations. They now have the power to control the world's food supply
at every stage of food production. As fewer corporations control food
production, traditional farming is becoming a high-tech form of serfdom. Lack
of competition is leading to higher prices, lower choice and quality,
and employee abuse.
#20:
Extreme Weather Prompts New Warning from UN
In 2003, The UN's World Meteorological
Organization reported unprecedented levels of extreme weather and climate
occurrences all over the world. The report emphasized an alarming
increase in global warming and pointed to the impact of human activity.
The significance of this particular report is that the highly respected
UN organization is known for its normally conservative predictions
and statements.
#21:
Forcing a World Market for GMOs
The Bush Administration is trying to force
Europe to drop trade barriers against genetically modified organisms
(GMOs). Meanwhile, the agricultural biotechnology industry is focusing
even more intently on developing countries, where regulations governing
their use are generally more lax. At the same time, biotech promoters
continue to suppress studies that show GMOs may have adverse effects
on health and the environment.
#22:
Censoring Iraq
After the fall of Saddam, Paul Bremer told
journalists they were now "free to criticize whoever, or whatever,
you want." But when negative critiques of U.S. policies appeared
in the Iraqi media, Bremer quickly placed controls on its content. And
rather than hiring a media outlet to run the Iraqi media (or simply allowing
the news groups already there to continue reporting), the Pentagon chose
a defense contractor to define the news.
#23:
Brazil Holds Back in FTAA Talks, But Provides Little Comfort for
the Poor of South America
The Free Trade Area of the America's (FTAA)
could become the biggest trading block in history, expanding NAFTA
to 34 countries from Canada to the bottom of South America. This
deal is unlikely to meet its January 2005 deadline, now that the second
largest player in the negotiations, Brazil, is holding back. However,
Brazilian President Lula has begun, of his own volition, to institute
his own brand of FTAA austerity policies that are sure to drive the
poor of the region deeper into poverty.
#24:
Reinstating the Draft
The Selective Service System (SSS), the
Bush Administration, and the Pentagon have been quietly moving to fill
draft board vacancies nationwide in order to prepare for a military
draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. Several million
dollars have been added to the 2004 SSS budget. Meanwhile, through
an on-going militarization of public school systems, the Pentagon has
begun efforts to double the number of Latinos in the U.S. military
by 2006.
#25:
Wal-Mart Brings Inequality and Low Prices to the World
The vision of the international division of
Wal-Mart is one where Wal-Mart becomes a global brand, just like McDonald's
or Coca- Cola, monopolizing the global retail market. The next five or
six years could see about 5,000 to 6,000 Wal-Mart stores outside of the
United States. Wal-Mart is Americanizing retailing around the world
and exercising an inordinate amount of economic power.
If you haven't seen
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