officialssay

News, politics, and propaganda analysis resources

Table of some key resources

FAIR -- Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting	"FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information."
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists	"The Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science (EFNS), incorporated as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1949, publishes the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and manages other related programs from its office in Chicago. The mission of the EFNS is to educate citizens about global security issues, especially the continuing dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, and about the appropriate roles of nuclear technology."
CURSOR	"So what, then, does CURSOR aim to do? What is its mission? Well, for starters, to examine and recognize the public's wide complicity in the media's crimes of absurdity, inanity, and pandering, to take a look at our ongoing obsession with the cult of media personality (See: Budd Rugg, Media Parasite). We aim to provide links --- both local and national --- to other sites of integrity and fresh insight, sites which exhibit a depth of news analysis or criticism or scorn that is too often missing in this market; to offer colorful and truly alternative takes on the stories of the day as well as on the continually eroding media ethics and standards nationwide; to bring together in one place some of the freshest and funniest writing currently available on the web.
Truthout	Current issues, voting rights, environment, budget, children, politics, indigenous survival, energy, defense, health, economy, human rights, labor, trade, women, reform, global.
Democracy Now!	"A national, listener-sponsored public radio and TV show, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the country."
Guardian Unlimited	"The UK's most popular newspaper website"
Human Rights Watch	"Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world."
FindLaw	"FindLaw is the highest-trafficked legal Web site, providing the most comprehensive set of legal resources on the Internet for legal professionals, businesses, students and individuals. These resources include Web search utilities, cases and codes, legal news, an online career center, and community-oriented tools, such as a secure document management utility, mailing lists, message boards and free e-mail."
Electronic Intifada	"The Electronic Intifada project (EI) is an online publication produced by a small network of pro-Palestinian activists with a history of Internet and media activism, focussed on one aspect of the struggle -- the war in the media for a fair representation of the Palestinian point of view."
Greg Palast	"Palast won Britain's highest journalism honors for his 1998 undercover investigation of influence peddling within Tony Blair's cabinet --- by Enron and other US corporations. He then turned his sleuthing skills on to the Bush money trail: uncovering for BBC and The Observer the uncomfortable truths of how the Bush Administration quashed investigations of Saudi financing of terror --- and Poppy Bush's extraordinary methods for stuffing his bank account and his son's campaign coffers. Palast, winner of the Financial Times David Thomas Prize and Nominated Business Journalist of the Year (UK) for his exposing "Reverend" Pat Robertson's legally dodgy business scams, has appeared in Salon.com ("Politics Story of the Year" 2000), Harper's and The Washington Post ... yet he remains to most Americans, "The world's greatest investigative reporter you've never heard of." (Cleveland Free Times)"
Guerrilla News Network (GNN)	"Guerrilla News Network is an underground news organization with headquarters in New York City and production facilities in Berkeley, California. Our mission is to expose people to important global issues through guerrilla programming on the web and on television."
Blue Ear	"Blue Ear is a publisher of global, interactive journalism in digital and print formats. Launched as a website at the beginning of 1999, Blue Ear has become widely recognized as an innovator in publishing formats and in the practice of international journalism."
PR Watch.org	"PR Watch offers investigative reporting on the public relations industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of secretive, little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that work to control political debates and public opinion."
Corp Watch	"CorpWatch counters corporate-led globalization through education and activism. We work to foster democratic control over corporations by building grassroots globalization--a diverse movement for human rights, labor rights and environmental justice."
washingtonpost.com	"washingtonpost.com is an award-winning news, information and entertainment resource on the World Wide Web. Local, national and international users look to washingtonpost.com as the source of The Washington Post online. The site offers the day's Washington Post, continually updated news coverage, breaking stories and extensive original content, as well as a growing suite of cultural, community and commerce services that make it the definitive guide to Greater Washington."
The Nation	"The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred." -- from The Nation's founding prospectus, 1865
Consortium News	"Consortiumnews.com is a product of The Consortium for Independent Journalism, Inc., a non-profit organization that relies on donations from its readers to produce these stories and keep alive this Web publication"
Independent.co.uk	UK & world news. Robert Fisk writes for the Independent.
Christian Science Monitor	"The Christian Science Monitor is an international daily newspaper published Monday through Friday. Founded in 1908, it's now also a multimedia website, an e-mail edition, a personal digital assistant (PDA) edition, and a version for electronic books." It was founded by Mary Baker Eddy. It is a real international newspaper, not a religious periodical.
BBC News	"BBC News covers the globe."
People for the American Way	"People For the American Way organizes and mobilizes Americans to fight for fairness, justice, civil rights and the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution." Source of the report THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY: From Obscurity to Power Right-Wing Lawyers Who Are Shaping The Bush Administration's Decisions On Legal Policies and Judicial Nominations and many other resources.
Propaganda Analysis	"As generally understood, propaganda is opinion expressed for the purpose of influencing actions of individuals or groups... Propaganda thus differs fundamentally from scientific analysis. The propagandist tries to 'put something across,' good or bad. The scientist does not try to put anything across; he devotes his life to the discovery of new facts and principles. The propagandist seldom wants careful scrutiny and criticism; his object is to bring about a specific action. The scientist, on the other hand, is always prepared for and wants the most careful scrutiny and criticism of his facts and ideas. Science flourishes on criticism. Dangerous propaganda crumbles before it."
Institute for Democracy Studies	"The Institute for Democracy Studies is a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational center devoted to the study of anti-democratic religious and political movements and organizations in the U.S. and internationally."
Institute for Public Accuracy	"As a nationwide consortium of policy researchers, the Institute for Public Accuracy seeks to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for those whose perspectives are commonly drowned out by corporate-backed think tanks and other influential institutions."
Independent Media Center	"Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth."
TV Turnoff Week	"Children under 2 years old should not watch television, older children should not have television sets in their bedrooms and pediatricians should have parents fill out a "media history," along with a medical history, on office visits, according to recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics." --- Lawrie Mifflin, Pediatricians Zap Media: No Telivision for Toddlers
CounterSpin	CounterSpin is FAIR's weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. It's heard on more than 125 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada.
Free Speech Radio News	Free Speech Radio News was founded by freelance journalists ("stringers") who went on strike against the nation's oldest progressive news service -- Pacifica Network News in January 2000.
WebActive	WebActive is a site designed to offer progressive activists an up-to-date resource on the World Wide Web to find other organizations and individuals with similar values and interests.

Audio Speeches and Interviews

Noam Chomsky speeches from UC Berkeley Lectures and Events Archive

These speeches are copyright © The Regents of the University of California.

Noam Chomsky: A Hemisphere of Our Own: U.S. Foreign Policy in Central America, May 14, 1984

Berkeley Language Center - Speech Archive SA 1521-1

• 1. Program (67:28)
• 2.Program and Questions (58:19)

Noam Chomsky: U.S. Middle East Policy and the American Peace Movement, May 14, 1984

Berkeley Language Center - Speech Archive SA 1521-2

• Program (47:19)
• Program (part II) (48:11)
• Program and Questions (67:57)

Recordings from New Dimensions

There are several recordings from the New Dimensions page located here. You will need to go to the page itself to access the recordings.

• Francis Boyle is a Professor at University of Illinois and an authority in international and human rights law. His faculty homepage is located here. There are 3 interviews on the page from him.
  Interview Part I
  Interview Part II
  Interview Part III
  
• Dr. Laila Al-Marajati is founder of the Muslim Women's League U.S.A. www.mwlusa.org.
  Interview
• Dennis Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary General and former head of the UN oil-for-food program. I think he resigned out of protest against the sanctions. Suggested solutions are provided.
  Interview
• Tahmeena Faryal, Pakistan-based member of RAWA (Revolutionary Association for Woman of Afghanistan). Contact information provided.
  Interview
• Christopher Simpson, associate Professor of communication, American University and author of Blowback and Science of Coercion.
  Interview
• Howard Zinn wrote "People's History of the United States," a highly regarded alternate take on American History.
  Interview
• Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics at MIT and political commentator.
  Interview
• Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy at www.accuracy.org.
  Interview
• Robert Jensen, Professor in the School of Journalism at UT and member of the nowar collective. His homepage is here.
  Interview

Miscellaneous Links

The "revolving door" between top government positions and industry

The Spoiler Issue

"The Spoiler Issue" refers to the question of whether or not to blame a third party candidate for the results of an election. The most popular example of a "spoiler" is Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential election. Many Democrats blame Ralph Nader for George W. Bush's ascension to the presidency -- i.e. Ralph Nader "spoiled" the election.

Free Software

Class War

Opium production and chemical warfare

Environmental effects of war

Nanotechnology

The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

• CASE CONCERNING THE MILITARY AND PARAMILITARY ACTIVITIES IN AND AGAINST NICARAGUA (NICARAGUA v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
• 2002/05/2 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism presents: Guns & Money: Tracking Underground Funds in a Borderless Economy
• Centre for Research on Globalisation
• Multiple Audio Links
• commentators.com
• Ramsey Clark
  • International Action Center
  • Ramsey Clark on Yugoslavia
  • Ramsey Clark on trial of Lori Berenson
  • Ramsey Clark letters

Mideast/Central Asia

Maps

Afghanistan

Articles

• Flying With The Hawks -- Jim Lobe and Tom Barry
• Francis Boyle
  • Bush's Constitutional Coup: Kangaroo Courts and Disappearances
  • U.S. under fire for treatment of detainees: critics abroad cite inhumane conditions, ambiguous legal status of prisoners (National Catholic Reporter, February 2002)
  • In Name of Security, Thousands Denied Constitutional Rights (November 2001)
  • No War against Afghanistan! (November 2001)
  • Press Publications, Interview (2001)
  • Francis Boyle interview with Bill O'Reilly September 13, 2001
• Steve Niva
  • Addressing the Sources of Middle Eastern Violence Against the United States

Military-Industrial Complex

• William D. Hartung: Military-Industrial Complex Revisited: How Weapons Makers are Shaping U.S. Foreign and Military Policies

Nuclear Policy

Organizations

• Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
• Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI)
• Federation of American Scientists
• wagingpeace.org

Reports and Analyses

• NRDC Nuclear Notebook: U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2002

Articles

• Francis Boyle
  • Bush Nuclear Policy Violates International Law. Again.
  • The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence
  • Francis Boyle testimony in Trident Ploughshares Report of Proceedings, Greenock 1999
  • Francis Boyle interview on Democracy Now! 8/27/98 about Khartoum, Sudan pharmaceutical plant bombing

Enron

• Simon Caulkin: The dark side of capitalism. Observer, 3 February 2002
• Reuters: Senator Says White House Slow with Enron Details

Bush/Ashcroft/Federalist Society and Erosion of Rights

• The American Empire: A Banana Republic? 25 January 2002
• A Coup Against the American Constitution 14 November 2001
• A Banana Republic
• Congressman John Conyers statement of 16 November 2001: "Collectively, the Administration has swept away the independent judiciary, the right to a public trial, the right to an appeal, the right to counsel, due process, equal protection and habeas corpus. Not bad for two week's work."
• Bill Berkowitz: "AmeriSnitch" The Progressive, May 2002

Greg Palast articles

• Guardian Unlimited
  • Opec chief warned Chavez about coup May 13 2002
  • Don't believe everything you read in the papers about Venezuela April 17 2002
  • You'll get skinned alive February 03 2002
  • Enron: not the only bad apple February 01 2002
  • With David Pallister: FBI claims Bin Laden inquiry was frustrated November 07 2001
  • Time to cry for Argentina August 12, 2001
• Alice Cherbonnier: Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Tours U.S. to Promote His New Book Baltimore Chronicle
• Greg Palast audio speech in Berkeley

Joint inquiry hearings into September 11

"A briefing prepared for senior government officials at the beginning of July 2001 contained the following language, 'Based on a review of all-source reporting over the last five months, we believe that UBL will launch a significant terrorist attack against U.S. and/or Israeli interests in the coming weeks. The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning' "

"Chairman Graham, Chairman Goss, before I proceed with my statement, I want to make clear to you and the members of these two Committees that the information I am going to present has been cleared for public release. As you know, much of the information the Joint Inquiry Staff has been examining is highly classified. Over the last two months, we have been working with the Intelligence Community in a long and arduous process to declassify information we believe is important to the public's understanding of why the Intelligence Community did not know of the September 11 attacks in advance. By late last night, we were able to resolve all but two issues.

"The Director of Central Intelligence has declined to declassify two issues of particular importance to this Inquiry:

"* Any references to the Intelligence Community providing information to the President or White House; and

"* The identity of and information on a key al-Qa'ida leader involved in the September 11 attacks."

Unsorted Links

Caught on Film: The Bush Credibility Gap • Parental role in developing political sophistication • Propaganda Analysis • Fallacy Files • The Constitution of the United States of America • Francis Boyle: Bush's coup d'etat against the US Constitution • watergate.info • Bush's Links to Enron • Harpweek Presents The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson • JURIST: The Law Professors' Network impeachment resources • Cornell Law School LII Backgrounder on Impeachment • CorpWatch • opensecrets.org • petitiononline.com • Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting • Center for Public Integrity • Institute for Public Accuracy • Christian Science Monitor • BBC news • Washington Post • Human Rights Watch • United Nations • zpg.org • Universal Declaration of Human Rights • Amnesty International • The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence • Universal Health Care Action Network • CoveringTheUninsured.org • Citizens for Tax Justice • robots.net • Knuth on software patents • Free Software Foundation • Electronic Frontier Foundation • 1984 • Brave New World • Palestine Monitor • Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations • indictsharon.net • AMPAL • UnknownNews.net • HowStuffWorks • American Humanist Association • Linguistic Society of America • Pew Center on Global Climate Change • The Nation • TomPaine.com • EpistemeLinks.com Topics index • antiwar.com • THE FILE ROOM • Colombia Mobilization • CAIR • The Unseen Gulf War by Peter Turnley • Leaving Shallow Footprints: From the Sustainable Communities Project • Miscellaneous energy facts from David Agnew • The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, by Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, December 1992 • Excerpts From Iraqi Document on Meeting with U.S. Envoy (April Glaspie meeting with Saddam Hussein)

Some books

Non-Fiction

1. Boyle, Francis Anthony. Foundations of World Order: The Legalist Approach to International Relations, 1898-1922. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.
2. Boyle, Francis A. The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence. Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2002.
3. Caldicott, Helen. The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex. New York: The New Press, 2002
4. Chomsky, Noam. The Culture of Terrorism. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1988.
5. Dworkin, Ronald. Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
6. Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War. Ed. Anthony Arnove. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000.
7. Palast, Greg. The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. London: Pluto Press, 2002.
8. Phillips, Kevin. Wealth and Democracy, a Political History of the American Rich. Broadway Books, 2002. May 15 2002 NPR Interview with Kevin Phillips.
9. Ratner, Steven R. and Jason S. Abrams. Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
10. Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
11. Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

News

Media reform

Public Opinion

Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

International Policy

Defense Information

Nuclear Issues

Human Rights

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Last modified: Sun Sep 28 14:52:29 CDT 2003