Sunday, December 08, 2013

Project Censored - Top 25 Censored Stories from 2012-2013


Here is the list of censored and under-reported news stories from the last year from Project Censored - an effort that began in 1976 at Sonoma State College. Among the low-lights, Monsanto's GMO conspiracy, the impact of fracking on the food supply, 10 years of the Creative Commons, the "culture of cruelty" along the U.S.-Mexico border, the increasing wealth gap, the rise in hate groups, and Obama's war on whistle-blowers.

Top 25 Censored Stories from 2012-2013


The presentation of this year’s Top 25 stories extends the tradition originated by Professor Carl Jensen and his Sonoma State students in 1976, while reflecting how the expansion of the Project to include affiliate faculty and students from campuses across the country and around the world—initiated several years ago as outgoing director Peter Phillips passed the reins to current director Mickey Huff—has made the Project even more diverse and robust. During this year’s cycle, Project Censored reviewed 233 Validated Independent News stories (VINs) representing the collective efforts of 219 college students and 56 professors from 18 college and university campuses that participate in our affiliate program and 13 additional community evaluators.

25. Israel Gave Birth Control to Ethiopian Immigrants Without Their Consent


In January 2013, Israel acknowledged that medical authorities have been giving Ethiopian immigrants long-term birth-control injections, often without their knowledge or consent. Continue Reading…


24. Widespread GMO Contamination: Did Monsanto Plant GMOs Before USDA Approval?


Monsanto introduced genetically modified alfalfa in 2003—a full two years before it was deregulated, according to recently released evidence... Continue Reading…


23. Transaction Tax Helps Civilize Wall Street and Lower the National Debt


In February 2013, United States senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) introduced a bill to implement a new tax of three basis points (that is, three pennies for every hundred dollars) on most nonconsumer stock trades. Continue Reading…


22. Pennsylvania Law Gags Doctors to Protect Big Oil’s “Proprietary Secrets”


In communities affected by hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” people understand that this process of drilling for natural gases puts the environment and their health at risk Continue Reading…


21. Monsanto and India’s “Suicide Economy”


Monsanto has a long history of contamination and cover-up and in India another Monsanto cover-up is ongoing Continue Reading…


20. Israel Counted Minimum Calorie Needs in Gaza Blockade


Declassified documents reveal that the Israeli military calculated how many calories a typical Gazan would need to survive, in order to determine how much food to supply the Gaza Strip during the 2007–2010 blockade. Continue Reading…


19. The Power of Peaceful Revolution in Iceland


After privatization of the national banking sector, private bankers borrowed billions of dollars or (ten times the size of Iceland’s economy), creating a huge economic bubble that doubled housing prices and made a small percentage of the population exceedingly wealthy Continue Reading…


18. Fracking Our Food Supply


The effects of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) on food supply and the environment are slowly emerging Continue Reading…


17. The Creative Commons Celebrates Ten Years of Sharing and Cultural Creation


Creative Commons (CC) is celebrating ten years of helping writers, artists, technologists, and other creators share their knowledge and creativity with the world Continue Reading…


16. Journalism Under Attack Around the Globe


Journalists are increasingly at risk of being killed or imprisoned for doing their jobs, a situation that imperils press freedom. Continue Reading…


15. Food Riots: The New Normal?


Reduced land productivity, combined with elevated oil costs and population growth, threaten a systemic, global food crisis Continue Reading…


14. Wireless Technology a Looming Health Crisis


As a multitude of hazardous wireless technologies are deployed in homes, schools, and workplaces, government officials and industry representatives continue to insist on their safety despite growing evidence to the contrary. Continue Reading…


13. A Fifth of Americans Go Hungry


An August 2012 Gallup poll showed that 18.2 percent of Americans lacked sufficient money for needed food at least once over the previous year. Continue Reading…


12. The US Has Left Iraq with an Epidemic of Cancers and Birth Defects


High levels of lead, mercury, and depleted uranium are believed to be causing birth defects, miscarriages, and cancer for people living in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Fallujah. Continue Reading…


11. Bush Blocked Iran Nuclear Deal


According to a former top Iranian negotiator, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, in 2005 Iran offered a deal to the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom that would have made it impossible for Iran to build nuclear weapons. Continue Reading…


10. A “Culture of Cruelty” along Mexico–US Border


Migrants crossing the Mexico–US border not only face dangers posed by an unforgiving desert but also abuse at the hands of the US Border Patrol Continue Reading…


9. Icelanders Vote to Include Commons in Their Constitution


In October 2012, Icelanders voted in an advisory referendum regarding six proposed policy changes to the 1944 Constitution Continue Reading…


8. Bank Interests Inflate Global Prices by 35 to 40 Percent


A stunning thirty-five to forty percent of everything we buy goes to interest. Continue Reading…


7. Merchants of Death and Nuclear Weapons


The Physicians for Social Responsibility released a study estimating that one billion people—one-seventh of the human race—could starve over the decade following a single nuclear detonation Continue Reading…


6. Billionaires’ Rising Wealth Intensifies Poverty and Inequality


As a direct result of existing financial policies, the world’s one hundred richest people grew to be $241 billion richer in 2012. Continue Reading…


5. Hate Groups and Antigovernment Groups on Rise across US


The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate groups and antigovernment groups, released a report showing that 1,360 radical, antigovernment “patriot” groups and 321 militias actively operate within the United States Continue Reading…


4. Obama’s War on Whistleblowers


Obama signed both the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, expanding whistleblower protections, in November 2012, and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) furthering these protections in January 2013 Continue Reading…



3. Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens a Regime of Corporate Global Governance


The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), branded as a trade agreement and negotiated in unprecedented secrecy, is actually an enforceable transfer of sovereignty from nations and their people to foreign corporations. Continue Reading…




2. Richest Global 1 Percent Hide Trillions in Tax Havens


The global 1 percent hold twenty-one to thirty-two trillion dollars in offshore havens in order to evade taxes, according to James S. Henry, the former chief economist at the global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. Continue Reading…
 

1. Bradley Manning and the Failure of Corporate Media


In February 2013, United States military intelligence analyst Bradley Manning confessed in court to providing vast archives of military and diplomatic files to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, saying he wanted the information to become public “to make the world a better place” and that he hoped to “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military in (US) foreign policy. Continue Reading…

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