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| Taking a Closer Look at the Stories Ignored by the Corporate Media |
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Archive for the Month of December, 2005.
Viewing ALL NEWS articles 301 through 375 of 508.
- Bush and Pentagon will counter NBC story with the 'terror card,' a move that will play well in the heartland. It's all 'good theatre' as the Patriot Act and real civil rights abuses on the streets get lost in the shuffle. - ...it is a story of how today's major media behave with near total deference to power and its own profit motive. What we are watching, even in the seemingly small details of the coverage, is no less than the media's complicity in helping estsablish a quasi-legal framework for what was a clearly illegal abuse of government power. It is in the clearest sense the media being used as tools of state power in overriding the very laws that are supposed to confine state power. - Bush’s radio speech...will be proclaimed as the same thing of one of the moves Hitler made in Germany to strengthen corporatist Nazi Germany. - Much is unclear about the Lincoln Group, its youthful executive vice-president and his string of previous companies that have left only the faintest paper trail. Indeed, Christian Bailey may not be his real name: a number of student associates said at some point during his four years that he changed his name from Yusefovich - an unlikely surname for someone called Christian. - Hong Kong's leader has vowed to punish protesters who attacked policemen outside world trade talks on Saturday. - Two air marshals gunned down an American citizen last week in Miami, and the press swallowed the government's now-flawed explanation of a "bomb threat" hook, line, and sinker. - The newfound "outrage" belies the fact that there was no such congressional outrage when it mattered -- four, five years ago, and every single day since 9/11. The major crimes of the US government, including 9/11, remain unaddressed, or have become the subject of massive disinformation and cover-up. - What do two of the biggest national-security news stories of the century — the Valerie Plame leak scandal and the legal case of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds — have in common? - What's a Few Broken, Ignored Federal Election Laws Between Friends? (Especially When It May Even Help On That Little Matter of White House Treason?) - The U.S. policy of "extraordinary rendition" has a human face, and it is mine. - The groups argue that rising global temperatures endangers polar bears by melting the ice floes on which the giant predators prowl and hunt. - Iran is being pressurized to abandon its nuclear programme. Tel Aviv and Washington are behind this. London has joined the duo. Paris and Berlin are lending their support just as some other Western capitals are also "concerned" about Iran. - "The Iraqi people...will continue to move forward toward a sovereign Iraq, an Iraq where an elite few can no longer erect expensive and ornate palaces like these while the majority of the people suffer in fear and poverty." The whistling of the dud mortar overhead as he spoke--sending generals scrambling for cover--seemed a fitting catcall to this piece of hypocrisy. - ...death-row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal will get to plead his case in a federal appeals court early next year. In a surprise decision earlier this month, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear arguments on three important points where his Constitutional rights were violated. - Kirchner said today the IMF advice and loans in the 1990s helped lead to the country to "failure" and said the fund has neglected to help since the default when they most need the help. He said the IMF's demands acted as constraints that impeded the economic recovery... - Since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Western corporate media have deceptively reported and portrayed the Occupation as a necessary vehicle to "spread democracy" and "fight terrorism"; however the carving up of Iraq's wealth and oil assets is deliberately avoided. The media hype over "reconstruction effort" and illegitimate elections is a cover up for the colonisation of Iraq and Iraq's economy. - Call it the class war economy--a shocking transfer of wealth out of the pockets of working people and the poor and into the overstuffed bank accounts of the super-rich.
- The main issue surrounding the release of the NBC story, finding Bush directly ordered the NSA and DOD to use its data base to spy on citizens is not the substance of the story but its timing. - Cuba's comprehensive, free healthcare system has a ratio of one doctor for every 170 Cubans, compared with 188 in the US and 250 in the UK. - As the Occupation of Iraq is approaching three years, the mass murder of Iraqi civilians is not questioned, but normalised in Western conscience. President Bush reached the stage where he is able to make his own figure of Iraqi deaths, with no remorse or sadness. The war was not the result of "wrong intelligence"; the war was an illegal act of aggression, and a premeditated mass murder. "Democracy" is used as a tool to manipulate the public and justify war crimes. - This is the un-Camp David of duck decoys and oyster fests, a place where the two prosecutors of the war in Iraq amuse each other and seem poised to retire after 2008. - Leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia are criminals who have committed crimes against humanity and should be hauled up and tried for war crimes, according to two law professors. - Evo Morales, who challenges US anti-drug policies, is to be Bolivia's first Indian president and join Latin America's shift to the left after winning a large majority in Sunday's elections. - America operated a secret prison in Afghanistan as recently as last year and tortured inmates there, according to a human rights organisation. - How many Americans have "suspected ties to terrorist groups" and thus deserve “eavesdropping” as deemed appropriate by the Bushcons? It depends how you define "terrorist group." - Behind George W, there are four generations of Bushes and Walkers devoted first to using political networks to pile up and protect personal fortunes and, latterly, to using absolutely any means to gain office, not because they want to do good, but because they are what passes in American for hereditary aristocrats. In sum, George Bush stands at the apex of a pyramid of privilege whose history and social significance that, given his animosity to scholarly thought, he almost certainly does not understand. - "...he wanted to kill himself so that he could send a message to the world that conditions at Guantanamo are intolerable." - ...it sounds like Bush's super-secret illegal domestic spying program may be targeting US journalists and that may be why Bush never got it cleared by the court... - Not only is the U.S.-supported military closely allied with right-wing paramilitaries responsible for most of the human rights abuses in Colombia, it is evidently working to destabilize the Andean region by seeking to oust Venezuela’s democratically-elected president. Which raises the question: What sort of war on terror and democracy promotion is the Bush administration engaging in? - The facts about oil supply, our primary energy source, have been known for some time. The body of literature on oil supply is very compelling, but seldom makes the bestseller list. What is really surprising is the silence from the mainstream media and our elected officials about this enormous issue that has been bearing down on us for decades. - ...neoconservative activists inscribe the narrative of conflict in international relations; they inscribe it in institutions (e.g., the Project for a New American Century), language (e.g., the "axis of evil"), mindsets (e.g., Why do they hate us?), and policies (e.g., the doctrine of preemption). This strategy transforms other countries into replaceable variables. - Behind every war criminal is a criminal idea. - Scientists have for the first time found evidence that polar bears are drowning because climate change is melting the Arctic ice shelf.
- The political financiers made an investment in the Bush family, an investment that paid off. - 8 Pioneers and Rangers face wide range of allegations - Did the Bush Administration Lie to Congress and the 9/11 Commission? - Next attack will give Globalists reason to blame "Constitution huggers," NSA spying leak part of the disinfo - On Saturday, eight "high value" Iraqis held without charge for over two years by the United States were released.They included Dr Huda Ammash, a distinguished internationally renowned, environmental biologist, Professor at Baghdad University, whose earned her PhD at the University of Missouri. Arrested by US troops, this brave, gentle woman suddenly became "Mrs Anthrax" and featured on America's assinine playing cards of their "most wanted", in the wild west, last chance saloon, Iraq became after April 2003. - Venezuela has given the world's biggest oil company, ExxonMobil, until the end of this year to enter a joint venture with the state. - Grant Goodman on Monday showed the Journal-World a recent letter he had received from a friend in the Philippines; it apparently had been opened, then re-closed with green tape bearing the seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a message that it had been opened "by Border Protection." - Over the past six years, the former House majority leader and his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests. - A survey by the Environmental Working Group released on Tuesday found 141 unregulated chemicals and an additional 119 for which the Environmental Protection Agency has set health-based limits. Most common among the chemicals found were disinfection byproducts, nitrates, chloroform, barium, arsenic and copper. - Israel’s special forces at the "highest stage of readiness". - The latest figures released by US Central Command show a dramatic rise in the number of air raids carried out in Iraq. - The days of the Raj are long gone, but multinational corporations are riding high on the trend toward globalization by taking advantage of India's educated work force and deep poverty to turn South Asia into the world's largest clinical-testing petri dish. - After a brief hiatus from the public spotlight, Neil Bush is back. Within a three-month period, Bush has shown up in Latvia, Ukraine and Georgia with Russian fugitive Boris Berezovsky, and has appeared at the side of the Unification Church's Rev. Sun Myung Moon in Taiwan and the Philippines. - The election of indigenous leader Evo Morales as president of Bolivia is being hailed by native leaders from throughout the region as a "sign of hope" for all impoverished and discriminated indigenous peoples in Latin America. - With the major stories of torture/rendition and spying on US citizens, one important revelation has slipped away virtually unnoticed - the fact that the Blair Government and the British Intelligence services had prior knowledge of the London bombings on July 7th of this year. - We know that our government is not our government anymore. We know that our Constitution is nothing more than paper, and we know that American history is bad for children. Why do we know this? Because our government is not a government, but is, in fact, a conspiracy. - As a result of decades of complacency created in part by the fog of television, and the ongoing corporatization of the government, the American people find themselves the victims of creeping fascism. Like the proverbial frog placed in a pot of warm water upon a lighted stove, we hardly notice the gradual loss of our freedoms. By the time we awaken to reality—if we ever awaken—we will find ourselves parboiled. By then it will be too late to extricate ourselves. - Is Mr. Fitzgerald following his previous conduct when he was the Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of NY ? Then he, along with Michael Chertoff, covered up the clear involvement of an FBI informant who, acting on orders of the Bureau, attempted to bomb the World Trade Center Towers in 1993.
- "It's strange how easily we forget. COINTELPRO; industry's arson, insurance fraud & strategic PR campaigns to divide & conquer its opposition of responsible citizens. ELF and its alleged crimes are far more likely to be one or all of the above rather than "us." - The fast-food giant tries to appease migrant farmworkers while doing everything possible to keep its labor costs dirt-cheap. - These 24 people should have been freed in December 2004 (not that they ever should have been in jail), but remained jailed (and, based on what we know of other cases, quite likely in solitary confinement) for nearly a full year in order to "ease the political pressure." I wonder if they agreed to sacrifice a year of their lives for that noble goal. - You’d think the fact Porter Goss, head broom sweeper at the CIA, recently told the Turkish government the United States plans to attack Iran and Syria would be headline splashing news in the New York Times and the Washington Post. But although the news was carried in the Turkish press, it elicited hardly a murmur here in America... - The composition of the next Iraqi government will not...be primarily determined by the votes that were cast on December 15. Rather, the regime in Baghdad will be decided by dealing-making and US arm-twisting to ensure that its leading figures implement Washington’s demands. Above all, US plans involve opening up the Iraqi oil industry to foreign investors, crushing the anti-occupation insurgency and establishing permanent American military bases to extend US influence more broadly in the Middle East. - The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. In the largest display of military might since the Second World War, the United States and its indefectible British ally have embarked upon a military adventure, which threatens the future of humanity. - The strike by transit workers is an event of international significance. Defying massive fines and even the threat of jail, the strike represents a direct challenge to a super-rich Wall Street elite that is accustomed to imposing its economic interests and its will not only on New York City, but on the world.
- A bill on Gov. Bob Taft's desk right now is drawing a lot of criticism...One state representative said it resembles Gestapo-style tactics of government, and there could be changes coming on the streets of Ohio's small towns and big cities. - Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident, a series of videotapes show. - Barzan, Saddam's half-brother and co-defendant, repeatedly interrupted the court, protesting at one stage that much of what he was saying was being edited out of video footage of the trial which is being broadcast on televisions with a 20-minute delay. - Yesterday I received an email from the journalist Mike Whitney informing me that if he does not remove a statement he made about Blackwater and the so-called Abu Ghraib scandal the mercenary corporation will sue him for defamation. - Sunni Arabs alleged Tuesday that last week’s parliamentary elections were fraudulent, especially in Baghdad province, and they said if the irregularities are not corrected, new balloting must be held in Iraq’s largest electoral district. - Although the truth about Gander may never be known, the evidence pointing to a government cover-up is another example in a long line of suspicious airplane accidents and other suspected terrorists events where the U.S. government frustrates an honest and forthright investigation into the causes, hiding behind what family members day is a false veil of national security. - Some 70% of the world's Christmas ornaments and other paraphernalia now originate in officially atheist mainland China. Tinsel, Santas, mistletoe and artificial trees of every shape and hue are churned out at a relentless pace by thousands of factory workers in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. - "This is the biggest cut in the history of the federal student loan program," said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for public and private colleges and universities. - Vice President Dick Cheney didn't suffer for lack of comfort on the cavernous cargo plane that he rode into Iraq and Afghanistan this week. - The new national surveillance network for tracking car journeys, which has taken more than 25 years to develop, is only the beginning of plans to monitor the movements of all British citizens. The Home Office Scientific Development Branch in Hertfordshire is already working on ways of automatically recognising human faces by computer, which many people would see as truly introducing the prospect of Orwellian street surveillance, where our every move is recorded and stored by machines. - Amid soaring CEO compensation, a number of companies are paying extra sums to cover executives' personal tax bills. Many companies are paying taxes due on core elements of executive pay, such as stock grants, signing bonuses and severance packages. Others are reimbursing taxes on corporate perquisites, which are treated as income by the Internal Revenue Service. They run the gamut from personal travel aboard corporate jets to country-club memberships and shopping excursions. - The racist violence that exploded in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla on December 11 has exposed the ugly face of Australian society. Intense social pressures generated by the prolonged assault by the Howard government and its Labor predecessors on living standards have erupted in a malignant and reactionary form. A violent and drunken mob—draped in Australian flags, singing the national anthem and chanting nationalist and racist slogans—sought out, abused and physically assaulted anyone who appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin. - In reality, the primary reason they have been selected is because of their immense personal fortunes. From the viewpoint of the editorial offices of the mass media in America, wealth and power dazzle and impress, and should be duly acknowledged. It matters not that these Persons of the Year travel in an orbit thoroughly disconnected from the lives of the overwhelming majority of the world’s population. - If Jesus Christ were to return to earth and the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit were to slay the greater part of mankind, the first thing the media would do would be to find out how the markets had reacted. The next would be to ring Sir Digby Jones, the head of the Confederation of British Industry, for a comment. - An Ominous Neocon Gathering - Dan Olmstead, Autism's Dick Tracy - American prisons are full of wrongfully convicted persons. Many were coerced into admitting to crimes they did not commit by prosecutors’ threats to pile on more charges. Others were convicted by false testimony from criminals bribed by prosecutors, who exchanged dropped charges or reduced sentences in exchange for false testimony against defendants.
Pages for December, 2005
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