Censored News?
November 2011
Some of the items reported below might be considered censored
news. In fact, the first one is from a website run by an organization
called "Project Censored." Often news is just not widely
reported. In other words, sometimes there is no active effort
to stop the reporting of a story, but there is little reporting
of it nonetheless--even when it would seem to be of some importance.
This can be due to the complexity of the story, which makes
it tough to report and so ignored. It can also be because the
"story" is not interesting enough for the public, and
so it does not help the ratings or readership of the reporting
organization. It also seems likely that reporter and institutional
bias prevents the reporting of some stories. In any case, here
are some news items you may not have read about.
Google Was Spying on Us?
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) investigated Google late
last year, looking into allegations that they were collecting
peoples passwords, emails and other information. They did so
from unsecured Wi-Fi networks businesses and in homes, both in
the United States and around the world. It was claimed by Google
that the data collection was accidental, and happened as their
"Street View" cars drove around. In October of 2010
a FTC letter to Google attorney Albert Gidari said the investigation
was being dropped. It isn't clear why it was dropped, but as
reported by Project Censored:
Less than a week before the FTC’s decision to drop
the inquiry, President Obama attended a $30,000-a-person Democratic
Party fundraiser at the Palo Alto, California home of Google
executive Marissa Mayer (Carlson). Also, Google’s former
head of public policy, Andrew McLaughlin, joined the Obama administration
as the deputy chief technology officer in mid-2009. Other Obama
administration officials include Eric Schmidt, Google’s
chief executive, who serves as a member of the President’s
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Underreported Unemployment
What is the real unemployment rate? We can speculate as to
the reasons why the government reports things the ways they do,
but it is clear that they choose not to report all of those who
are without jobs as part of the unemployment figures. Of course,
it would not make sense to include retired people or those who
just don't want to work, but also excluded are those who simply
ran out of unemployment benefits, and those who are on payrolls
but working very few hours. ShadowStats.com, which tracks various
measures of unemployment (including measures which used to be
sued by the government and were changed), shows true unemployment
to be as high as 16.2% to 22.9%, depending on the statistics
used. Perhaps more significant is their note that total employment
is lower than it was 10 years ago, despite a larger population.
Given that it is the government which reports the unemployment
figures, and that they choose to underreport them, this story
is perhaps the one most appropriately called "censored news."
Super Bacteria Are Coming
Did you know that over 25,000 people in Europe die each year
from bacterial infections. Drugs are unable to fight many of
the new strains of bacteria, and the situation is becoming critical
according to the WHO (World Health Organization). According to
a report from the BBC;
Without a concerted effort, people could be dealing with
the "nightmare scenario" of a worldwide spread of untreatable
infections, says the WHO.
One example is the New Delhi or NDM-1 superbug recently
found in UK patients.
They brought the infection back with them from countries
like India and Pakistan, which they had visited for medical treatment
and cosmetic surgery.
Dubbed "super bugs," these new strains are resistant
to most of the newer and most powerful antibiotics available.
Many scientists involved in tracking and studying these new diseases
say action needs to be taken quickly by health authorities worldwide.
The spread of diseases can happen faster than ever because of
the ease and frequency of air travel.
Suicidal Soldiers
Would you have guessed that more soldiers died from suicide
last year than from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? It was
the second year in a row that this has been the case. In 2010
462 US soldiers were killed in combat, while 468 killed themselves.
As reported on Good.is;
One of the problems hindering the military's attempt to
address soldier suicides is that there's no real rhyme or reason
to what kind of soldier is killing himself. While many suicide
victims are indeed afflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
after facing heavy combat in the Middle East, many more have
never even been deployed. Of the 112 guardsmen who committed
suicide last year, more than half had never even left American
soil.
"If you think you know the one thing that causes people
to commit suicide, please let us know,” Army Vice Chief
of Staff General Peter Chiarelli told the Army Times, "because
we don't know what it is."
I will have more censored news (or underreported news in any
case) soon.
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