-----Original Message----- From: John Hermann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: John Hermann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, 3 September 1999 7:19 AM Subject: MAI - the world's most censored story >Economic Reform Australia >ERA EMAIL NETWORK > >Source: INFOSNEWSSERVICE > http://www.ainfos.ca/ >________________________________________________ > >Threats to U.S. sovereignty through secret 'Multinational Agreement on >Investment' Top Project Censored's 1999 list of 10 most censored stories > >ROHNERT PARK, CALIF - Some developments in the course of history have such >potential to impact nations and humans that it would be irresponsible to >ignore them. > >Yet few mainstream news organizations have reported on the Multilateral >Agreement on Investment (MAI), which would set in place a vast series of >protections for foreign investment. According to reports in the alternative >press, the MAI would threaten national sovereignty by giving corporations >near equal rights to nations. This agreement has the potential to place >profits ahead of human rights and social justice, and that is why our >judges named this story the No.1 censored or under reported story of 1998 > >MAI, hatched in secret negotiations that began in 1995 among the U.S. and >28 other nations, could thrust the world economy much closer to a system >where international corporate capital would hold free reign over the >democratic values and socioeconomic needs of people. The MAI will also have >devastating effects on a nation's legal, environmental and cultural >sovereignty. It will force countries to relax or nullify human, >environmental and labor protection to attract investment and trade. >Necessary measures such as food subsidies, control of land speculation, >agrarian reform and health > >and environmental standards can be challenged as "illegal" under the MAI. >This same illegality is extended to community control of forests, local >bans on use of pesticides, clean air standards, limits on mineral, gas and >oil extraction, and bans on toxic dumping. > >The stories, plus timely articles and reviews about the media and a >resource guide are included in the new Project Censored Yearbook: Censored >1999: The News That Didn't Make the News. [For review copies, contact Seven >Stories Press, 212-995-0908] > >The apparent goal of the latest international trade negotiations is to >safeguard multinational corporate investments by eliminating democratic >regulatory control by nation states and local governments, the authors report. > >More radical than NAFTA or GATT, MAI would thrust the world much closer to >a transnational laissez-faire system where international corporate capital >would hold free reign over the democratic wishes and socioeconomic needs of >people. > >Mostly ignored by mainstream press, in-depth coverage of this issue was >offered in the following sources: IN THESE TIMES, "Building the Global >Economy," Jan. 11, 1998, by Joel Bleifuss; DEMOCRATIC LEFT, "MAI Ties," >Spring 1998, by Bill Dixon; TRIBUNE DES DRIOTS HUMAINS, "Human Rights or >Corporate Rights?" April 1998, Volume 5, No.s 1-2, by Miloon Kothari and >Tara Krause. > >The winners of what are commonly referred to as the Pulitzer Prize of >investigative reporting were announced today at a ceremony at Sonoma >State University, where Project Censored is based. > >Prof. Peter Phillips, director of the program, said the annual project is >conducted by more than 125 faculty, student researchers and interns, and >community experts. The final 25 censored stories are ranked in order of >significance by a panel of national judges including members of the media, >authors and educators. > >Phillips said he hopes to see a network of alternative press sharing >significant stories the public needs to know as control of mainstream >media, and therefore, what most people know, falls into the control of an >increasingly reduced number of corporate board rooms. > > > THE TOP 10 UNDER-REPORTED STORIES OF 1998 ARE: > >1. SECRET INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT UNDERMINES THE SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS: > The Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) plans to set in place >protections for foreign investment by giving corporations near equal rights >to nations, pressuring nations to to relax or nullify human, environmental >and labor protection in order to attract investment and trade. Sources: IN >THESE TIMES, "Building the Global Economy," January 11, 1998, by Joel >Bleifuss; DEMOCRATIC LEFT, "MAI Ties," Spring 1998, by Bill Dixon; TRIBUNE >DES DRIOTS HUMAINS, "Human Rights or Corporate Rights?" April 1998, Volume >5, No.s 1-2. > >2. CHEMICAL CORPORATIONS PROFIT OFF BREAST CANCER: > Leaders in cancer treatment and information are the same chemical >companies that also produce carcinogenic products. Sources: RACHEL'S >ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH WEEKLY, "The Truth About Breast Cancer," Dec. 4, >1997, by Peter Montague; THE GREEN GUIDE, "Profiting Off Breast Canceroe >Oct. 1998, by Allison Sloan and Tracy Baxter. > >3. MONSANTO'S GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEEDS THREATEN WORLD PRODUCTION: > Delta Land and Pine Company and the US Department of Agriculture have been >awarded a patent on a technique that genetically disables seed, causing >farmers to buy new seed each year instead of saving old ones. Sources: MOJO >WIRE Title: "A Seedy Business" >http://www.motherjones.com/news-Wire/broydo.html Date: April 7, 1998, by >Leora Broydo; THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE #92, "New Patent Aims to Prevent >Farmers From Saving Seed," by Chakravarthi Raghavan EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL >Title: "Terminator Seeds Threaten an End to Farming," Fall 1998, by Hope >Shand and Pat Mooney; THE ECOLOGIST, "Monsanto: A Checkered History" and >"Revolving Doors: Monsanto and the Regulators," Sept./Oct. 1998, Vol. 28, >No. 5, by Brian Tokar. > >4. RECYCLED RADIOACTIVE METALS MAY BE IN YOUR HOME: > Under special government permits, "decontaminated" radioactive metal is >being sold to manufacture everything from knives and forks and belt buckles >to zippers, eyeglasses, dental fillings and IUDs. Source: THE PROGRESSIVE, >"Nuclear Spoons," October 1998, by Anne-Marie Cusac > >5. U. S. WEAPONS LINKED TO THE DEATHS OF A HALF A MILLION CHILDREN: > Although the United States defames the Iraqi government for damaging the >environment and ignoring U.N. Security Council resolutions, it has itself >engaged in covert wars in defiance of the World Court, and left behind a >swath of ecological disasters in its continuing geopolitical crusade. Since >the end of the Gulf War, about 1.5 million Iraqis have died as a result of >US/UN sanctions, about one-third of the children, says the Rev. Dr. Robert >M. Bowman, an air force lieutenant colonel. Sources: SAN FRANCISCO BAY >GUARDIAN, "Made in America,oe Feb. 25, 1998, by Dennis Bernstein; I.F. >MAGAZINE, "Punishing Saddam or the Iraqis, March/April 1998, by Bill Blum; >SPACE AND SECURITY NEWS, "Our Continuing War Against Iraq," May 1998, by >the Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF (retired). > >6. UNITED STATES NUCLEAR PROGRAM SUBVERTS U.N.'S COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN >TREATY: > When scientists in India conducted a deep underground test on May 11, >it was seen as a violation of the United Nation's Comprehensive Test Ban >Treaty. However, two months before, the United States carried out a test >that went largely unnoticed by the American media. Underground experiments >aren't the U.S. Government's only method of subverting the Treaty, says The >Nation. On the same day as the U.S. test, Russia conducted a subcritical >test at its site at Novaya Zemlya. In defending the experiment to the >press, Russian officials pointed to the U.S. test. Source: THE NATION, >"Virtual Nukes-When is a Test >Not a Test?" June 15,1998, by Bill Mesler. > >7. GENE TRANSFERS LINKED TO DANGEROUS NEW DISEASES: > The world is heading for a major crisis in public health as both >emergent and recurring diseases reach new heights of antibiotic resistance. >A major contributing factor to the emergence of at least 30 new diseases >over the past 20 years, just might be the transfer of genes between >unrelated species of animals and plants which takes place with genetic >engineering, according to Third World Resurgence. Sources: THIRD WORLD >RESURGENCE, #92, "Sowing >Diseases, New and Old," by Mae-Wan Ho, and Terje Traavik; THE ECOLOGIST, >"The Biotechnology Bubble," May/June 1998, Vol. 28, No. 3, by Mae-Wan Ho, >Hartmut Meyer and Joe Cummins. > >8. CATHOLIC HOSPITAL MERGERS THREATEN REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS FOR WOMEN: > Nationwide hospital mergers with Roman Catholic church medical >facilities are threatening women's access to abortions, sterilization, >birth control, in vitro fertilization, fetal tissue experimentation, and >assisted suicide. In 1996, over 600 hospitals merged with Catholic >institutions in 19 states. Source: Ms.,"Women's Health: A Casualty of >Hospital Merger Mania?oe July/August 1998, BY Christine Dinsmore > >9. U.S. TAX DOLLARS SUPPORT DEATH SQUADS IN CHIAPAS: > In Jalisco, Mexico, more than a dozen young men were kidnaped and >tortured. Salvador Jimenez Lopez, died, drowning in his own blood when his >tongue was cut out. The group responsible for these and other atrocities >are allegedly members of the Mexican Army Airborne Special Forces Groups >(GAFE)-a paramilitary >unit trained by U.S. Army Special Forces. Sources: SLINGSHOT, "Mexico's >Military: Made in the USA," Summer 1998, by Slingshot collective; DARK >NIGHT FIELD NOTES/ZAPATISMO, "Bury My Heart At Acteal," by Darrin Wood. > >1O. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDENT ACTIVISTS GUNNED DOWN ON CHEVRON OIL FACILITY IN >NIGERIA: > On May 28,1998, Nigerian National soldiers were helicoptered by Chevron >employees to the Chevron owned oil facility off the coast of Nigeria in >order to attack student demonstrators who had occupied a barge anchored to >the facility. After an onslaught of attacks, two students lay dead, and >several others were wounded. Sources: ERA ENVIRONMENTAL TESTIMONIES, >"Chevron in Nigeria,oe July 10, 1998, by Environmental Rights >Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria; PACIFICA RADIO, "Drilling and Killing: >Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship" Pacifica Radio/www.pacifica.org, >September 1998, by Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill. > > >CENSORED STORIES # 11-25 OF 1998 > >#11. PRIVATE PRISON EXPANSION BECOMES BIG BUSINESS Source: TURNING THE TIDE >"The Prison Industry and The Global Complex" Summer 1998. > Private prisons are one of the fastest growing sectors of the prison >industrial complex. Under contract by the government to run jails and >prisons, and paid a fixed sum per prisoner, corporate firms operate as >cheaply and efficiently as possible to insure a profit. This means lower >wages for staff, no unions, and fewer services for prisoners. Substandard >diets, extreme overcrowding, and abuses by poorly trained personnel have >all been documented as practices of this private business approach to >incarceration. > ># 12. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS RECEIVED CONTAMINATED POLIO VACCINE BETWEEN >1955 AND 1963 Sources: CHICAGO LIFE, "Ticking Time Bomb", October 1997 by >Vicky Angelos, and http://www.sightings.com/health/salk.htm, > "The Forty Year Legacy of Tainted Polio Vaccine", May 14, 1998 by >Harold Stearley The once hailed 'miracle' vaccine was contaminated by a >virus called Simian Virus 40 (SV40) between the years of 1955 and 1963. The >virus hid in the renal cells of the monkeys which were used to make the >vaccine. SV40 has been linked to rare, incurable cancers such as >ependymomas (brain tumors), mesotheliomas (pleural tumors, usually of the >lung), and osteosarcomas (bone malignancies). > ># 13. CHINA VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET Source: TOWARD FREEDOM, >"China's War on Women", March/April 1998 by Natasha Ma. > Throughout most of history, Tibetan women have enjoyed greater equality >with men than have their Asian neighbors. Since China's invasion of Tibet >in 1959, they have been at the forefront of the nonviolent struggle for >independence-nearly half of the protests staged over the last decade have >been led by nuns. During that time, however, thousands of Tibetan women >have been arrested, incarcerated, sexually abused, tortured, and publicly >executed. > ># 14. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS COMPROMISE AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM Source: >THE NATION, "The Buying of the Bench", January 26, 1998 by Sheila Kaplan. > America's justice system is being compromised by campaign contributions >to judges from special interest groups and Corporate Political Action >Committees (PACS). > ># 15. SWAT TEAMS REPLACE CIVILIAN POLICE: TARGET MINORITY COMMUNITIES >Source: COVERT ACTION QUARTERLY, "Operation Ghetto Storm: The Rise In >Paramilitary >Policing", Fall 1997 by Peter Cassidy. > In the twenty-five years since the creation of the first Special >Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams in Los Angeles, police forces >across the United States have become increasingly militarized. >Paramilitary police teams originally only operated in urban areas, but >in recent years the number of special task forces throughout the >country, including rural police departments, has dramatically >increased. > ># 16. MERCENARY ARMIES IN SERVICE TO GLOBAL CORPORATIONS Sources: CAQ, >"Mercenary Armies & Mineral Wealth, Fall 1997, No. 62 by Pratap Chatterjee, >and >MULTINATIONAL MONITOR, "Guarding the Multinationals", March 1998 by Pratap >Chatterjee. > In many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for >private policing services from the local army; or have hired outside >security companies to harass nationals who protest against the >environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent >a growing number of new corporate security operations around the >world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies, and >local death squads. > ># 17. U.S. MEDIA PROMOTES BIASED COVERAGE ON BOSNIA Sources: CAQ >"Misinformation: TV Coverage of a Bosnian Camp", Fall 1998, No. 65 by >Thomas Deichmann, and CAQ "Seeing Yugoslavia Through A Dark Glass", Fall >1998, No. >65 by Diana Johnstone. > A visit to the camps of Omarska and Trnopolje by a British team from >Independent Television (ITN) on August 5, 1992 gave rise to the image of >the Serbs as the new Nazis of the Balkans. A widely published photo taken >by ITN >pictured an emaciated Muslin behind barbed wire with comrades imprisoned >behind him. ITN's photo was not, however, as accurate as it seemed. The men >in the photo were not standing behind barbed wire. In fact the Hague >Tribunal confirmed that there was no barbed wire surrounding the Belesn 92 >at Trnopolje. The emaciated Muslim shown with his shirt off was in fact a >very ill man selected to be featured in the photo. Trnopolje was not a >concentration camp, it was a refugee and transit center. Many Muslims >traveled there for >protection and could leave whenever they wished. > ># 18. MANHATTAN PROJECT COVERED UP EFFECTS OF FLUORIDE TOXICITY Source: >WASTE NOT, "Fluoride, Teeth and the Atomic Bomb", September 1997 by Joel >Griffiths and Chris Bryson. > Recently declassified government documents have shed new light on the >decades-old debate over the fluoridation of drinking water, and have added >to a growing body of scientific evidence concerning the health effects of >fluoride. Much of the original evidence about fluoride, which suggested it >was safe for human consumption in low doses, was actually generated by >"Manhattan Project" scientists in the 1940s. New evidence shows that >researchers were ordered to cover-up evidence of the dangers of fluoride >and it's levels of toxicity to >avoid lawsuit by exposed civilians. > ># 19. CLINTON'S ADMINISTRATION LOBBIED FOR RETENTION OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN >CHILDREN'S TOYS Source: MULTINATIONAL MONITOR, "Out of the Mouths of >Babes", June 1998 by Charlie Gray. > The Clinton Administration and the Commerce Department have >lobbied on behalf of U.S. toy and chemical manufacturers against >proposed new European Union (EU) restrictions which would >prevent children's exposure to toxic chemicals released by polyvinyl >chloride (PVC) toys such as teething rings. > ># 20. DEVELOPERS BUILD ON FLOOD PLAINS AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE Source: MOTHER >JONES, "Rain Check", March/April 1998, vol. 23 issue 2 by Marc Herman. > According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), some 10 >million people in the U.S. currently live on floodplains, and developers >are rapidly building more homes in these areas. Of these households at risk >of flooding, only one fourth actually carries insurance; the rest will rely >on federal disaster relief funds if their homes are flooded. Many of these >people face repeated flooding, and the American taxpayer is paying the tab. > ># 21. GLOBAL OIL RESERVES ALARMINGLY OVER ESTIMATED Source: SCIENTIFIC >AMERICAN, "The End of Cheap Oil", March 1998 by Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. >Laherrere. > Colin J. Campbell and Jean H.Laherrere, two independent oil-industry >consultants, predict that global production of conventional oil will start >to decline within the next ten years, and be unable to keep up with demand >thereafter. Their analysis contradicts oil-industry reports which suggest >we have another 50 years worth of cheap oil to sustain us. As the >independent report points out, economic and political motives cause >oil-producing companies and countries to publish the inflated figure, and >this affects all of us. > ># 22. ACADEMIA AT RISK AS TENURED PROFESSORS VANISH Sources: ON CAMPUS, >"The Vanishing Professor", September 1998 by Barbara McKenna. > The bedrock of higher education, the tenured full-time faculty, have >become an endangered species. According to the American Federation of >Teachers (AFT), the number of tenured full-time faculty is rapidly >decreasing on college campuses. Full-time faculty are being replaced by >part-time faculty who are paid two-thirds what tenured professors earn, and >receive substandard benefits. At least 43% of college instructors >nationwide are now part-time faculty. The hiring of part-time lecturers >increased by 266% between 1979 and 1995. > ># 23. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT CHARGED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS >AGAINST THE SHOSHONE NATION Source: NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY: THE NATION'S >NATIVE JOURNAL, "BLM fines Western Shoshone. >$564,00 Despite OAS Request", May 1998, Vol. 12, No.. 9 by Pat Calliotte. > A decades-old dispute with the Bureau of Land Management has led the >Western Shoshone tribe to take the conflict to an international level. The >OAS' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has asked the United States >to "stay" all actions pending further investigations; but, according to >News From Indian >Country (NFIC), the BLM has "not responded" to documents supporting Western >Shoshone land rights. > >#24. COCA COLA FAILS TO MEET RECYCLING PLEDGE >Source: EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, "Coca Cola: Recycling Outlaw", Winter 1998 by >Marti Matsch. > In 1990 Coca Cola made a promise to use its recycled plastic >bottles in new production as it has successfully done in Europe and >numerous other countries. Eight years later they have yet to follow >through with that promise. This failure to act has kept the price of >recycled PET bottles low in the market place and discouraged expanded >PET recycling programs nationwide. > >#25. ABC BROADCASTS SLANTED REPORT ON MUMIA ABU-JAMAL >Sources: REFUSE AND RESIST, "A Case Study in Irresponsible Journalism", by >C. Clark Kissinger and Leonard Weinglass. > On May 7 and 8, 1998, KGO-TV, an ABC affiliate in San Francisco, >broadcast a two-part series attacking the international movement to prevent >the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia, a black activist, has been on >death row in the state of Pennsylvania for 16 years for the killing of a >Philadelphia police officer in 1981. KGO claimed to do an objective review >of the case. The final broadcast >presented a very one-sided story. > > >PROJECT CENSORED 1998 NATIONAL JUDGES > >DR. DONNA ALLEN, president of the Women's Institute for >Freedom of the Press; founding editor of Media Report to Women; >co-editor: Women Transforming Communications: Global >Perspectives (1996) > >BEN BAGDIKIAN,* professor emeritus and former dean, >Graduate School of Journalism, University of California-Berkeley; >former editor at the Washington Post; author of Media Monopoly, and >five other books and numerous articles > >RICHARD BARNET, author of 15 books, and numerous articles >for The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, and Progressive > >SUSAN FALUDI, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist; author of >Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women > >DR. GEORGE GERBNER, dean emeritus Annenberg School of >Communications, University of Pennsylvania; founder of the >Cultural Environment Movement; author of Invisible Crises: What >Conglomerate Media Control Means for America and the World, >and Triumph and the Image: The Media's War in the Persian Gulf > >JUAN GONZALEZ, Award-winning journalist and columnist for >the New York Daily News > >AILEEN C. HERNANDEZ, President of Urban Consulting in San >Francisco; Former commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment >Opportunity Commission > >DR. CARL JENSEN, founder and former director of Project >Censored; author, Censored: The News That Didn't Make the >News and Why, 1990 to 1996, and 20 Years of Censored News >(1997) > >SUT JHALLY, professor of communications, and executive >director of The Media Education Foundation, University of >Massachusetts > >NICHOLAS JOHNSON,* professor, College of Law, University of >Iowa; former FCC Commissioner (1966-1973); author of How To >Talk Back To Your Television Set > >RHODA H. KARPATKIN, president, Consumers Union, non- >profit publisher of Consumer Reports > >CHARLES L. KLOTZER, editor and publisher emeritus, St. Louis >Journalism Review > >NANCY KRANICH, associate dean of the New York University >Libraries, and member of the board of directors of the American >Library Association JUDITH KRUG, director, Office for >Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association; editor; >Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom; Freedom to Read Foundation >News; and the Intellectual Freedom Action News > >FRANCES MOORE LAPPE, co-founder and co-director, Center >for Living Democracy > >WILLIAM LUTZ, professor of English, Rutgers University; former >editor of The Quarterly Review of Doublespeak; author of The >New Doublespeak: Why No One Knows What Anyone's Saying >Anymore (1966) > >JULIANNE MALVEAUX, Ph.D., economist and columnist, King >Features and Pacifica radio talk show host > >JACK L. NELSON,* professor, Graduate School of Education, >Rutgers University; author of 16 books and over 150 articles >including Critical Issues in Education (1996) > >MICHAEL PARENTI, political analyst, lecturer, and author of >several books including: Inventing Reality; The Politics of News >Media; Make Believe Media; The Politics of Entertainment; and >numerous other works > >HERBERT I. SCHILLER, professor emeritus of communication, >University of California, San Diego; lecturer; author of several >books including Culture, Inc. and Information Inequality (1996) > >BARBARA SEAMAN, lecturer; author of The Doctors' Case >Against the Pill, Free and Female, Women and the Crisis in Sex >Hormones, and others; co-founder of the National Women's Health >Network. > >ERNA SMITH, chair of the journalism department at San >Francisco State University, author of several studies on mainstream >news coverage on people of color > >SHEILA RABB WEIDENFELD,* president, D.C. Productions, >Ltd.; former press secretary for Betty Ford > >HOWARD ZINN, professor emeritus of political science at Boston >University, author of A People's History of the United States, You >Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times >and numerous other books and articles. > >* Indicates having been a Project Censored Judge since its founding in >1976. > >Peter Phillips Ph.D. Sociology Department/Project Censored >Sonoma State University 1801 East Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park, CA >94928 707-664-2588 > >March 4, 1999 FILE #044S Contact: Susan Kashack, Director of >News & Information > >For an electronic copy before March 24, e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] This news release will be posted to >www.sonoma.edu/projectcensored on March 24. > ><><><>><><><><><><><><><><> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- This is the Neither public email list, open for the public and general discussion. 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