Hidden News
2011
It seems that the publics insatiable appetite for the latest
celebrity gossip or dramatic trials of doctors-to-the-stars takes
up much of the time on conventional news networks, and so we
have a lot of what we might call "hidden news." Even
the newspapers often fail to report on what's happening around
the world if it is not a single and simple event that has some
entertainment value. Thus, it is time for a few more items you
may have missed....
Gun Rights for Felons
For the record, I am not an anti-gun activist. In fact, I
would prefer that we have the right to buy guns, keep them in
the house and carry them for personal protection. But I do worry
about some people having guns, so I found it a bit disturbing
to read the following in a Mother Jones article;
Since 1995, more than 3,300 felons and people convicted
of domestic violence misdemeanors have regained their gun rights
in the state—430 in 2010 alone—according to the analysis
of data provided by the state police and the court system. Of
that number, more than 400—about 13 percent—have subsequently
committed new crimes, the analysis found. More than 200 committed
felonies, including murder, assault in the first and second degree,
child rape and drive-by shooting.
It seems reasonable that a part of the sentence or parole
requirement for violent criminals be that they can't have guns.
The Military in Our Streets?
We find this underreported news story from Project Censored;
Recent “Continuity of Government” planning has
quietly removed time-honored constitutional protections, and
increased the militarization of civilian law enforcement. For
the first time in US history, military troops are allowed to
do police actions (vs local law enforcement) in US cities. There
is good reason for the constructive friction between existing
law enforcement agencies so that power is distributed in a democracy,
and local law enforcement is responsible to local citizens.
Recently the US Army established an active-duty brigade
trained to manage civil unrest and crowd control. Historically
this has been illegal according to the longstanding Posse Comitatus
statues. It should concern us all that there has been a loss
of local authority and sustained preparations for the possibility
of martial law.
Foreign Aid for What?
Whether or not we are for against foreign aid, we like to
think that it at least is used to help the poor of developing
countries. But is it? This excerpt is from a recent article on Oxfam.org.
Oxfam found that billions of dollars in international aid
which could have transformed the lives of people in the poorest
countries in the world was instead spent on unsustainable, expensive
and sometimes dangerous aid projects, as international donor
governments used aid to support their own short-term foreign
policy and security objectives.
Since 2001 there has been a growing trend of aid being
used to win “hearts and minds” in conflicts. Unfortunately,
this aid is often poorly conceived, ineffective, and in some
cases has turned beneficiaries and aid workers into targets for
attack, Oxfam said. This type of aid often by-passes the poorest
people and dangerously blurs the line between civilian and military
activity.
Oil Wars and More
I have two hidden news items from The Lighthouse, a newsletter
from the Independent Institute. The first is about a new book
and some of the findings reported in it;
The United States gets only about 10 percent of its oil
from the Persian Gulf, but it spends more than $334 billion per
year to defend that region. If that cost were incorporated into
gasoline prices, Americans would pay $5 more per gallon of gas,
according to one estimate. Those eager to learn more about the
hidden costs of U.S. defense subsidies for foreign oil will feel
as if they've hit a gusher when they read the richly insightful
new book, No War for Oil: U.S. Dependency and the Middle East,
by Ivan Eland...
Some will claim that if the United States did nothing in the
region we would have supply issues with oil. I don't think there
is any evidence of this. What would these countries do with their
oil if they didn't want to sell it here? They would sell to other
countries, which in turn would buy less from their other suppliers,
who would then have more to sell to the US. To think that oil
could be denied to any buyer is like pouring water in a bowl
and saying that you don't want any to go to the other side. Any
temporary disruptions would probably drive the price up by a
dollar or two per gallon, but that is less than the $5 per gallon
premium paid for through taxation to support these military actions.
Extraordinary Rendition
I found this hidden news on the website run by Media Freedom International;
Despite the recent U.S. budget crisis, the Obama administration
seemed to find it reasonable to build a new massive and rather
pricey prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. The estimated cost of the
project is between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000 according to
an announcement on FedBIzOps.Gov, a website used to announce
privatized spending projects. The detention facility will include
detainee housing with the capability to hold up to 2,000 detainees
with extensive security systems and an administrative facility.
Why build prisons outside of the United States? That's where
we start to see why some news is meant to be hidden;
The concept of “indefinite detention” was previously
foreign to our system of government, and now may be the indefinite
future of captives in prisons such as the future prison in Bagram.
Not only does the military’s classification privilege make
the validity of detaining over 2,000 people questionable, but
there has also been approval of detainment in Bagram without
any habeas corpus rights.
Based on recent actions by the administration, it seems likely
that even U.S. citizens may be subject to extraordinary rendition
and unconstitutional treatment. That makes this something that
should have been widely reported in traditional news outlets.
But it seems that once again, when it comes to matters of national
security, reported hesitate to do anything which might challenge
the authority of US leaders of either major party.
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