134 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
134 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 45
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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"PROJECT CENSORED" TOP 10 STORIES OF 1996
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(Source: "Metro Times" 3/26/97-4/1/97)
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(Thanks to a CN reader for the following.)
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10.) Facing Food Scarcity: Projected 90 million more people per
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year on planet. Problem: the world's stock of rice, wheat, corn
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and other grains has fallen to the lowest level in two decades.
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"Solution?" Poor countries will have to feed their own people,
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without help from wealthier nations. Will Bill Clinton "feel
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their pain?"
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9.) U.S. Troops Exposed To Depleted Uranium During Gulf War:
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Highly toxic depleted uranium was used by Gulf War forces as both
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armor-piercing bullets and as tank armor. U.S. Army is said to
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have an as-yet unreleased report.
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8.) Big Brother Goes High-Tech: New technologies are gaining on
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civil liberties on an increasing scale. Hundreds of huge
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databases are linking up and sharing "cyber-gossip."
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7.) Cashing In On Poverty: Pawnshops, check-cashing outlets,
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rent-to-own stores, finance companies and high-interest mortgage
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lenders prey on the disadvantaged. These predators are often
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bankrolled by such as Ford, Citibank, NationsBank and American
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Express. In turn, stocks go up and yuppie puppies are pleased.
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6.) New Mega-Merged Banking Behemoths = Big Risk: In U.S., top
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1 percent of households controls almost one-third of the nation's
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net worth. 71.5 percent of U.S. banking assets are now
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controlled by the 100 largest banking organizations. Fewer banks
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controlling more and more wealth means smaller, community banks
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get squeezed out -- making it harder and harder for small
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borrowers to get loans.
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5.) Corporate Crime: Whitewash At The Justice Department: In
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1987 alone, 50,000 to 70,000 workers died prematurely from
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on-the-job exposure to toxins. Yet while such corporate/white
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collar crime costs America 10 to 50 times *more* than street
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crime, the Justice Department shows little interest in the
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problem. Of more than 51,000 federal criminal indictments in
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1994, only 250 involved criminal violations of the nation's
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environmental, occupational health and safety, and consumer
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product safety laws.
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4.) The PR Industry's Secret War On Activists: The Public
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Relations (PR) industry, by dipping into the deep pockets of
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their giant corporate clients, vastly directs and controls
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thought and policy. Watch out for "astroturf" campaigns --
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strange "citizen groups" (really a false front) lending support
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to corporate and elite causes. *True* dissenting voices tend to
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get muffled in the process.
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3.) Big Perks For Wealthy Hidden In Minimum Wage Bill: Among
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provisions hidden in the bill, weakening of retirement and
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pension protection. "Welfare reform" expands the supply of
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low-wage applicants without expanding the supply of jobs. Wages
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are essentially held down.
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2.) Shell's Oil, Africa's Blood: Despite Royal Dutch/Shell
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Group's intimate links to the Nigerian government, Shell seems
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to have ignored worldwide pleas that it use its influence to stem
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judicial violence in that African nation. In fact, Shell likely
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helped instigate the violence. Shell's drilling in Nigeria
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destroyed farmlands. When Ken Saro-Wiwa and the 300,000-member
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Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People targeted Shell with
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mass protests, there was a crackdown. Internal documents show
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that Shell was more than a passive player in the affair.
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1.) Nuclear Proliferation In Space: In October (apparently
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1997), NASA plans to launch a space vehicle to Saturn. The
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Cassini probe will carry 72 pounds of deadly plutonium-238.
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Enroute, the probe will whip around Earth at 42,300 mph, 312
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miles above the planet's surface. What if there is an accident
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(certainly not unlikely)? Five billion people *could* receive
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dangerous levels of radiation exposure. Solar power technology
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would eliminate risk, yet NASA and corporate/government friends
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ignore that solution. NBC (General Electric) and CBS
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(Westinghouse) are "strangely" silent about it all on their
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nightly "news" shows.
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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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(DIS)HONORABLE MENTION
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======================
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Stories In The "Project Censored" Top 25 For 1996
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** Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Is Meaningless Economic Measuring
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Stick.
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** rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone In Milk) -- Milking The Public.
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** Teen "Drug Crisis" Is A Myth.
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** Derivatives: Risky Business
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** Corporate America Spends Big Bucks On Pro-China Public
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Relations.
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** Refrigerator Revolution and Repairing the Ozone.
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** Tuna, Free Trade and Cocaine.
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(The "Project Censored" book is published yearly. *CENSORED:
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The News That Didn't Make The News: The 1997 Project Censored
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Yearbook*. Published by Seven Stories Press. Available through
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your local bookstore or phone 1-800-596-7437.)
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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