The top 25 censored stories of 2008

[Ste]

The top censored news stories so far of the year. Major news that the Corporate Media refused to report. "They" do their best to keep us in the dark.

1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person” - The Military Commissions Act allows ANYONE REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP (this includes American Citizens) to lose the right of habeus corpus and be renditioned to the alternative military tribunals instead of U.S. courts. You could sit in a "Gitmo" facility somewhere in the world for years before you were given a "military tribunal." All it takes is for Bush or Cheney to label you a "military combatant" and it's done. No "proof" is necessary. The law prohibits detainees once inside from appealing to the traditional American courts until after prosecution and sentencing. linky

2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law - The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007, allows President Bush to order the military (AND take command of state based National Guards without any recourse from the state authorities) and use them to "suppress public disorder." I bet the white segregationists are kicking themselves in the butt for not setting this mechanism up prior to the days of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. This law repeals the Posse Comitatus Act which has enabled the United States to be the one country in the world who did not enact martial law when citizen unrest occurred. Instead of martial law, the "citizen unrest" resulted in major changes in civil rights for blacks in the U.S.A. Some, in our government would prefer to put a tank in Washington Square to chase any demonstrators away. Next stop, Communist China anyone? There was no major discussion in Congress concerning this lay and the media has remained quiet on the ramifications of this legislation on our democracy. linky

3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources - "In February 2007 the White House announced the formation of the US African Command (AFRICOM), a new unified Pentagon command center in Africa, to be established by September 2008. This military penetration of Africa is being presented as a humanitarian guard in the Global War on Terror. The real objective is, however, the procurement and control of Africa’s oil and its global delivery systems.
The most significant and growing challenge to US dominance in Africa is China. An increase in Chinese trade and investment in Africa threatens to substantially reduce US political and economic leverage in that resource-rich continent. The political implication of an economically emerging Africa in close alliance with China is resulting in a new cold war in which AFRICOM will be tasked with achieving full-spectrum military dominance over Africa. " linky

4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements - “It is in nobody’s long-term interest to have a global economy that perpetuates social, economic, and environmental injustice.” (Oxfam) With the current frenzied debate over illegal immigration these Free Trade Agreements are a major source of creating poverty in Central and South America and FORCES people to try to find work in the USA in order to simply feed their families. And the people who have to work for a living, no matter the country, will learn the hard way that this is corporate written legislation that will lower the standard of living for workers everywhere. linky

5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq - Maybe this is the "real truth" behind what Bush and Cheney label US liberation and democracy in Iraq. linky

6 Operation FALCON Raids - "While mass militarized police roundups make little sense as a method of apprehending fugitives, the FALCON program does make sense as a means of effectively setting up a chain-of-command structure that radiates from the Justice Department and relocates the levers of control to Washington where they can be manned by members of the administration. Whitney warns that the plan behind the FALCON program appears to have been devised to enhance the powers of the “unitary” executive by putting state and local law enforcement under federal supervision, ready for the institution of martial law." linky

7 Behind Blackwater Inc. - Mercenaries--private contractors--are the second largest (and extremely expensive) force in Iraq. These contractors operate with little or no legal contraint, have no oversight, and their deaths are politically expedient because there are no death tolls kept for the mercenaries. Some see Blackwater as the Private Army of Bush and Cheney. Blackwater is now operating withing the United States and were used in Louisianna (many fresh from Iraq) after Katrina hit. linky

8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India - Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, and Wal-Mart are the corporate forces behind the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (KIA). "The KIA allows for the grab of India’s seed sector by Monsanto, of its trade sector by giant agribusiness ADM and Cargill, and its retail sector by Wal-Mart. " The details of this agreement are still "secret" even to India's senior politicians and their scientific community. Apparently Prime Minister Singh will sacrifice India’s agriculture sector to pay for concessions in the nuclear field by the U.S. In the meantime, at least 28,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and folks are fighting to keep GM seed out of India, fearing the loss of their native plants. linky

9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure - Looks like the USA wants to take us to "Midevil" times when folks did not have the right to travel freely. The new toll takers will be Wall street investors, Australian bankers, and Spanish contractors. One -three roadways in Virginia are already leased out for 100 years. Investment firms (such as Golman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the infamous Carlyle Group) are approaching state officials in order to pick up the infrastructure at the lowest price possible to maximize profits. These investors usually insist on "noncompete" clauses which prevent the state government from expanding or improving nearby roads. This is insane. If tolls are to be charged the profits should be taken by the state to build and maintain our roadways. not fatten some fat cat's pocket. linky

10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief - Vultures--distressed-debt investors--are paying pennies on the dollar to obtain the debts of third world countries and then demanding full payment from the impoverished country. For example, Zambia was negotiating with Poland to reduce their $40 million debt to $3 million. Instead a vulture swoops in (Donegal International) and pays Poland less than $4 million for Zambia's debt. Donegal is now insisting that Zambia pay them the entire $40 million. Zambia had hope to invest in nurses, teachers, and build some basic infrastructure in their country and they were close to finalizing the agreement with Poland. However investors in Donegal convinced Poland to sell them the debt. Donegal is suing Zambia for the entire $40 million. Zambia may be forced to sue their national resources to benefit the English Donegal investors and the Zambian people will continue to earn less than $1 per day. linky

15-25

11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan linky
12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops linky
13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants linky
14 Impunity for US War Criminals linky
15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code” linky
16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11 linky
17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations linky
18 Mexico’s Stolen Election linky
19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda linky
20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists linky
21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments linky
22 North Invades Mexico linky
23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq linky
24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President linky
25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy? linky



Lots of interesting reading.

[pa_broon74]

There was a program on the telly about story number 10. I think it was panorama...

They tried to interview the guy who owns Denegal Int, I have to say, in the grand scheme of things; the guy was a total fucking worm. The annoying thing was, as I recal he was totally with out remorse, he thought what he was doing was ok simply because he was operating within international law.


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Didn't catch anything.

[damz]

saw the bin laden thing on the news once, pretty huge fucking news but only shown once and never repeated, same with the voice in the video's being faked and the fact that he was suffering from organ failure in 2000 and was likely dead already.
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[Mister James]

[colin1]

so what on that list do you think is made up ?

I think censoring isnt quite the right description. News stories have to be about recent events, easy to explain and be fully substantiated. A lot of the things in the list would be boring to many people, as its about underlying power balances, and subtle dodgy dealings.

In the interests of 'balance' and reporting of an event, has to be accompanied by an offical white wash. Or more usually, a compromise will be made between the official version, and the version that actually happened but cant be completely proved.

Its not that journalists are intentionally censoring the news.

The news is being managed so that censorship isnt necessary.

For example, In Iraq, an enitre city called Fallujah was laid waste in revenge for the killing of a handful of defence contractors.

We now know that defence contractors in Iraq were operating above the law and with complete disregard to Iraqi lives if they perceived a threat. Its entirely possible that the reason those handful of contractors were killed was for some act they had done.

We now know of an occasion when blackwater employees fired on civilians when they were not under attack, and were exempt from any legal consequences.

So an entire city was destroyed in response to the deaths of some trigger happy americans.

I'm not even sure if Nazi Occupying powers were quite that ruthless.

American lives are so precious, that many thousands must die if one is killed.

Of course this sort of thing just provokes more outrage amongst civilians and swells the insurgents ranks.

Conspiracy may not be the right word.

Its more case of pulling the veil of lies away from offical accounts of what is happening in the world.

Conspiracy sounds like a small clandestine operation by a few individuals.

This stuff is more about global dominance, involving leaders who are slyly increasing their power and influence by amazingly ruthless means. They cant be open about this as someone might object, and so have different justifications, cover stories and assorted lies to conceal and distract from what they are up to.

The kind of people who rise to the top, are people who will do whatever it takes to increase their power that they can get away with. They probably even believe that they are doing the right thing.

If america wants to invade a country no one is going to stop it. We forget that when Nazi Germany invaded countries, they often had a cover story or justification too.

Conspiracy suggests a possible hidden truth.

Actually the truth is a huge exposed thing that they are trying to cover with a smokescreen of bullshit. Most people just see the smokescreen, but the huge thing behind isnt that hard to see if you just look through the smoke. You might not be able to make out exactly what is going on behind the smokescreen but you can get the broad outline.

American politicians have much closer links to business than British ones, so they work in the interests of big business.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[pa_broon74]

The vast majority of people are apathetic toward these kind of stories, it just doesn't affect them so they don't care. Put a penny on the price of petrol and they care because it makes them poorer.

All of those stories are shocking in varying degrees, but they don't directly affect Joe Shmoe in front of his telly, but wouldn't go out and buy a Guardian on the strength of any of the stories mentioned.

Call it auto-censoring.


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Didn't catch anything.

[Mister James]

[colin1]

[colin1]

[Itchy]

[Mister James]

[Mister James]

[igiyf]

mister james have you even watched any videos relating to global conspiracy?im curious

[Paivi]

[Itchy]

[colin1]

[Mister James]

[colin1]

[Mister James]

[Mister James]

[igiyf]

i understand what you are saying james, what about assertions that can be proven?i mean things that cant lie..self evident truth...if i were to present some to you..would you turn a blind eye to that?

[colin1]

[Kris]

[colin1]

[bazza]