October 2005

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Project Censored 2006 Top 25

Twenty-five stories under-reported by corporate media in the last year, as judged by Project Censored, Sonoma State University, 1801 East Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, CA 94928, 707/664-2500, www.projectcensored.org. The honorees, including Peacework, will be celebrated on October 22, 2005 at Sonoma State University.

1. A recent congressional report argues that US government secrecy has reached a level that compromises the principles of democratic rule. Access to Executive branch documents is systematically denied, both to the public -- and to congress.

2. During the 2004-2005 cycle, media failures in the Iraq War included the massacre of non-combatants during the invasion of Fallujah (please see Peacework, December 2004), and dismissals of the high civilian Iraqi mortality rate since the beginning of the war.

3. As in 2000, coverage of the 2004 presidential election trivialized real debate; including the controversial polling results, the predicted ballot machine defects, and access disparities based on race and ethnicity.

4. Cutting edge technologies magnify the potential for civil surveillance as federal authorities utilize powers granted in the war on terrorism.

5. The US government used the presence of American troops and advisors following the 2004 tsunami to set up new military bases throughout Southeast Asia.

6. The 2004 "Oil for Food Scandal," which placed the blame on UN administrators alone, ignored the involvement of the US and England - the most active UN participants in the corruption - beginning in the early 1990s.

7. Internationally, 2004 was the deadliest year for reporters ever recorded. And those who report independently face a level of intimidation and coercion from the Pentagon and their own employers that eclipse even that experienced during the first Gulf War.

8. Before exiting Iraq, coalition leader Paul Bremer issued100 orders that reconstruct Iraq law and supercede incoming Iraqi authority. It includes allowing foreign corporations to buy up Iraqi oil rights and override traditional Iraq farming practices.

9. Iran has begun setting up an international oil exchange in Eurodollars that could challenge the global supremacy of US oil currency. US response to this dilemma may depend on the US relationship with China.

10. The "Mountaintop Removal" mining strategy, which permanently destroys surrounding ecosystem and communities, is becoming stepped up nationwide.

11. Sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, the new federal plan to screen children for mental health will override parental consent for medication and treatment.

12. Private military contractors are recruiting human rights violators from other countries to act as police, prison guards, and interrogators in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba.

13. According to a recent report, aid from rich countries to poorer countries is lower than it has been in 40 years. Meanwhile industrialized nations are slow to honor even the small pledges that they currently make.

14. "Tort Reform" coverage in 2004 and 2005 ignored the larger implications of the legislation: sealing off already limited access to the courts by the poorest litigants.

15. Academic freedom in the classroom is coming under fire as influential critics of liberal arts education are aggressively promoting polices that cut off funding to college and university curricula with which they disagree.

16. A secret agreement between Canada and the US could subordinate Canadian sovereignty and legal authority to that of US military command.

17. In violation of written agreements, US (and private) military build up at bases in Ecuador and Colombia may be preparation for conflict with Venezuela and is being used to aggressively suppress local popular movements.

18. Naked Short Selling and Liquidity Fraud is a boon for fraudulent stock traders and companies but threatens economic stability and small business entrepreneurs.

19. New York children's center allowed researchers access to orphaned, HIV-positive children, as young as 6-months, for use in drug treatment trials.

20. American Indians, for years paid millions less than their white neighbors for government access to the same natural resources, are suing for long term compensation.

21. New government "guest worker" plan is a windfall for US corporations at the expense of protections or benefits for migrant workers.

22. Nanotechnology offers exciting possibilities, and lucrative business opportunities, but despite troublesome results from initial tests, congressional spending for research and development provides almost nothing to investigate potential hazards.

23. Human rights reports indicate that the systematic abuse, intimidation and mistreatment of child detainees in Israel and Palestine demonstrate a growing global problem.

24. The US-armed Ethiopian government is carrying out and encouraging human rights violations against indigenous groups in its quest to open foreign access to valuable natural resources such as oil and gold.

25. Under funded, crippled by special interests, and ignored by the White House, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been relegated to bureaucratic obscurity.

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