[pjnews] Project Censored Under-reported News Stories
PROJECT CENSORED ALERTS: Have You Had Your Plastic Today? Research scientists found breast cancer cells growing rapidly in petri dishes. They contacted the manufacturer of the petri dishes and were able to trace the growth stimulant to a change in the petri plastic formula. A plasticizer, chemically known as phthalates also had been added. Plasticizers are used as a softening agent in plastic formulas. They alter growth hormones of adults and humans, and have been termed endocrine disruptors. Besides sticking to our thyroid hormones in cells, they are found to alter the reproductive system's program for development. Many girls are now experiencing precocious puberty, growing breasts and pubic hair as early as 6-7. Boys are being born with micro-penises and undescended testicles. Plasticizers are known carcinogens and mimic hormones. They are essentially fertilizer for breast and prostrate cancer. The high level of phthalates in our bodies amazes government scientists. But why should it? We buy many of our food and beverages in plastic. Bottled drinking water uptakes plasticizers from the containers, especially when stored in a warm environment. Synopsis: Leanna Del Zompo Source: The Eel River Reporter, Spring 2002, Have You Had Your Plastic Today? By Nancy Peregrine PBS Shuts Out Independent Producers Lately the Public Broadcast System has been refusing to air films or documentaries that were made by independent producers. PBS is supposed to compensate for the inadequacies of advertiser-driven network programming by providing an alternative that expresses diversity and excellence involving creative risks, and which addresses the needs of the ignored and underserved audiences. While independents account for nearly 20% of all national programming, almost all their productions must be channeled through the same three presenting stations. Author/filmmaker B.J. Bullert reports, even if they are accomplished filmmakers; PBS gatekeepers do not consider public interest advocates to be journalists. They often label their work propaganda and assume their reporting is biased. Deadly Deception is an expose of radiation poisoning of workers and residents by General Electric nuclear weapons production that won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. PBS turned it down. PBS however, had no problem airing several documentaries underwritten by foundations promoting a conservative political agenda. Robert Richters film The Money Lenders, is about the impact of the World Bank and the IMF on developing countries. PBS turned it down and said there is a perception of bias in favor of poor people who claim to be adversely affected. Danny Schechters Falun film, Gongs Challenge to China, looks behind the story of the Chinese government's repression of a spiritual practice that claims 10 million followers worldwide. The crackdown has resulted in 50,000 arrests, pervasive torture, 120 deaths, the burning of eight million books, and widespread world media coverage. PBS once again declined to air the film. PBS has turned away countless independent filmmakers with the explanation that their work is too controversial, it comes from the wrong sources, or their production quality does not meet PBS standards. Synopsis: Casey Stenlund Source: Media File, Summer 2002, Vol.21, No. 3, PBS Shuts Out Independent Producers, by Jerold M. Starr Uruguay Hit by Economic Crisis Uruguay seems to be plunging into a deep social and political crisis parallel to that of its larger neighbor Argentina. On Aug. 25, Uruguayan Independence day, 100,000 marched in Montevideo to protest the government's economic austerity policy and capitulation to the demands of outside financing. The government decided to allow the local currency to float on June 20 causing the people to lose 25 to 30 percent of their purchasing power. The currency has lost 50 percent of its value. However, exports still have fallen by 40 percent. On July 30, the government declared a bank holiday to stop the drain on banking reserves. Since January, Uruguay's currency reserves have shrunk by 80 percent and bank deposits by 45 percent. The unemployed now number 250,000 in a country whose total population is only 3.3 million. 50 percent of new babies are born into families living below the poverty level. This economic disaster spurred a general strike on Aug. 7, shutting down the banks, government offices, and education. Students at the national university had started an unlimited strike against the government's neoliberal policy and its acceptance of the IMF demand for slashing public spending and liquidating public services. The eruption of economic turmoil forced the United States to offer a loan in the amount of $1.5 billion dollars. The loan was not sufficient enough nor was it intended to solve economic difficulties but to keep the banks from having a complete collapse. Synopsis: Omar Malik Source: Socialist Action, Sept. 2002, Uruguay Hit by
[pjnews] Project Censored: Under-reported news stories
Project Censored Alert: Under-reported news stories from http://www.projectcensored.org Book Buyers Win Right to Privacy In a victory for book buyers, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that bookstores are not obligated to reveal customer records to government agencies if it is determined that there is no compelling need for the information. Two years ago, Denver Police raided a trailer park and found signs of illegal drug production as well as books on the topic. The books were traced to a Denver bookstore, The Tattered Cover. Joyce Meskis, owner of the bookstore, was served with a search warrant for the store's sales records in order to determine the identity of the customers who bought the books in question. Faced with this situation, Meskis went to court in order to protect the right of privacy of her customers. After initially losing a lower court ruling, she pursued the case to the state high court that, citing the First Amendment right of an individual to purchase whatever books he or she wishes to, without fear of government intrusion, overruled the lower court's decision. The American Booksellers foundation has reported an increase in government subpoenas from bookstores since special prosecutor Kenneth Starr requested records of Monica Lewinsky's book purchases. The Colorado decision, while not binding outside of the state, remains relevant in the debate over more recent legislation such as the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to obtain information about book purchases and library loans. Synopsis: Michael Kaufmann Source: Censorship News, Spring 2002, Tattered Cover Wins, By Elizabeth Dole's Anti-Labor Stance at Red Cross With primary winner Elizabeth Dole defeating Democratic nominee Erskine Bowles in the race to fill the senate seat vacated by Jesse Helms, North Carolina has elected an administrator with a long track record of hostility toward workers. During the 1990's Dole headed the worst hostility to employee organizing in American Red Cross history. From the years spanning 1994 to 1996, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found 77 unfair labor practice charges against the organization. These included the firing of pro-union employees to bad-faith bargaining. In the mid-'90s, the Red Cross even tried to train it's clerical staff and truck drivers to handle the drawing and processing of blood, a job for highly skilled lab technicians. In 1997, the AFL-CIO Executive Council said, The Red Cross is acting more like a ruthless Wall Street firm than a time-honored national charity. With sub-contracting work to outside help, threatening to pay more to employees who are not part of the union, and forcing nurses to drive and unload the blood mobiles themselves, with Dole winning in November, the nation can now look forward to six years of a senator from North Carolina that favors big business over its workers. Synopsis: Sarah Anderson Source: In These Times, 10/14/02, Dole Drums: Liddy's no Lover of Labor, By Charles Pekow AFL-CIO Backs Lawsuits against Enron and WorldCom Earlier this year, the AFL-CIO supported a victorious lawsuit against Enron on behalf of terminated employees. Former Enron workers won $34 million in severance pay during the company's bankruptcy proceedings. In the wake of this success AFL-CIO President John Sweeney vowed a similar suit against WorldCom. In September, WorldCom decided to have its bankruptcy court make full severance payments to its workers. These lawsuits are indicative of growing public support for the labor movement. The AFL-CIO has spearheaded a campaign to educate the public on labor issues and enact pro labor legislation. A July poll by the Gallup organization found that 38% of Americans consider big business to be the 'biggest threat to the future of the country.' This is the highest number in the poll's 48 years. In an AFL-CIO survey Peter Hart found that 39% of Americans have a negative view of corporations, up from last years total of 25%. Hart also found that 50% of non-union workers would vote in favor of union representation in their workplace, up from 42% last year. Ron Blackwell, Corporate Affairs Director of the AFL-CIO, spoke out against the rising trend of corporations having no accountability for their actions. He said that executives should be held to the regulations regarding stock trading as employees and should keep their stock as long as they are with the company. He also called for restoring the Glass-Steagall Act of the FDR's New Deal, which separates the different sectors of the financial services industry. Synopsis: Josh Sisco Source: In These Times, Time and Tide, 10/14/02, by David Moberg Project Censored Sonoma State University 1801 East Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park, CA 94928 Tax deductable donations accepted http://www.projectcensored.org/contacts/donor.htm
