Censored 2012 (24 page)

PB has recently taken root in Canadian and US soils. Chicago’s 49th Ward, for example, uses this process to distribute $1.3 million of annual discretionary funds. The ward’s residents have praised the opportunity to make meaningful decisions, take ownership over the budget process, and win concrete improvements for their neighborhood—from community gardens and sidewalk repairs to street lights and public murals. The initiative proved so popular that the ward’s alderman, Joe Moore, credits PB with helping to reverse his political fortunes.

The wave is not stopping in Chicago, either. Elected officials and community leaders elsewhere—from New York City to San Francisco, and from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Springfield, Massachusetts—are considering launching similar initiatives.

1
. Peter Block,
Community: The Structure of Belonging
(San Francisco: Berrett-Kohler, 2008), 29–31.

2
. James B. Quilligan, “The Commons and Global Commons Trust,”
Kosmos Journal
, Spring 2011,
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/_webapp_3957294/The_Commons_and_Global_Commons_Trust
.

3
. John S. Atlee and Tom Atlee, “Democracy: A Social Power Analysis,” Co-Intelligence Institute,
http://co-intelligence.org/CIPol_democSocPwrAnal.html
.

4
. Robert Jensen, “Journalism and Democracy in a Dead Culture: An Interview with Robert Jensen,”
Counter Currents
, March 15, 2011,
http://www.countercurrents.org/jensen150311.htm
. Also see Mark Deuze, “Liquid Journalism,”
Political Communication Report 1
6, no. 1 (2006):
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~pcr/1601_2005_winter/roundtable_Deuze.htm
.

5
. Tom Atlee, “Learning to BE Evolution,” Co-Intelligence Institute, 2003,
http://www.co-intelligence.org/Evolution-Learning2BEvol.html
.

6
. Robert Ornstein and Paul Ehrlich,
New World, New Mind: Changing the Way We Think to Save our Future
(London: Methuen, 1989).

7
. Johanna Vehkoo, “What is Quality Journalism and How It Can Be Saved,” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/44957170/What-is-Quality-Journalism-and-How-Can-It-Be-Saved
.

8
. Joel De Rosnay,
The Symbiotic Man: A New Understanding of the Organization of Life and a Vision of the Future
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000).

9
. Tom Atlee, “Exploring the Dynamics of Polarization,” Co-Intelligence Institute, July 2004,
http://www.co-intelligence.org/polarizationDynamics.html
.

10
.
Joseph McCormick and Tom Atlee in conversation, The Transpartisan Alliance, March 1, 2011,
http://network.transpartisan.net
.

11
. Ibid.

12
. Leif Utne, “The Radical Middle,”
Utne Reader
, September/October 2004,
http://www.utne.com/2004-09-01/the-radical-middle.aspx
.

For more information on these and other Censored stories, as well as authors and contributors to this chapter, see
http://projectcensored.org
.

by Mickey Huff with Project Censored Interns

Dr. Carl Jensen, the founder of Project Censored, once wrote, “Weapons may have won the Revolutionary War but it was words that have created the longest lasting democracy in history.” The founding fathers recognized the necessity and importance of honest and accurate communication in a democratic society and subsequently sought to protect the institution of the free press with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Carefully crafted words underlie the importance of communication—the spreading of ideas in order to educate the public—which greatly influenced the trajectory of America and continues to into the future.

For thirty-five years, Project Censored has contended that if journalism—the protected trade of the free press—is the rough draft of history, then it is crucial that those tasked with recording it get their stories straight the first time. It follows that only an accountable, vibrant, and unfettered free press is capable of supporting a true democracy—one that is functional and can stand the test of time. When the corporate media does not, or will not, cover important stories that matter to the public, then Project Censored will highlight such disparities.
In doing so, we beseech the mass media outlets to “try, try again” to keep the public informed. Of course, even if the corporate media outlets do not reform their coverage, we at Project Censored will try and try again, in more ways than ever before, to exemplify free press principles and work to replace a dying system of private and for-profit journalism with one that operates in the public interest.

Each year, Project Censored uses the same criteria to choose our top twenty-five stories for the year, to consider whether the corporate media has reported on, or explored in detail, any of the stories previously mentioned within our yearly sourcebook. We consider if any of these previously underreported stories have become part of the larger public record and, if they have, to what degree and with what biases. Let’s take a look at last year’s top stories, as well as a few significant stories from years prior, to see if these significant yet underreported stories have gained any ground in mass media coverage—or, to see if Yogi Berra’s classic sentiment still holds true: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

Update by Sy Cowie

Story #1 in
Censored 2011
covered the growing movement to replace the US dollar as the standard international reserve currency. The desire and will of the United States to use its military unilaterally and without the constraint of international law and institutions has created a backlash among nations whose aims are at odds with those of the US. The dominance of the US dollar in the international monetary system allows the US to borrow money on highly advantageous terms. This ability to borrow is an essential part of the economic structure which allows the US to spend more on its military than the rest of the world combined. This massive military machine allows the US to intervene virtually anywhere in the world and for any reason it sees fit. Nations such as Russia, China, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, to name a few, are increasingly seeing the dominance of the dollar in international trade as simply a mechanism that gives the US disproportionate economic power. This economic advantage is used by the US to bankroll a militarily
aggressive foreign policy which is often not to the benefit of nation-states who do not share US foreign policy goals.

Original Sources:
Chris Hedges, “The American Empire Is Bankrupt,”
Truthdig
, June 15, 2009,
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bankrupt/
; Michael Hudson, “De-Dollarization: Dismantling America’s Financial-Military Empire: The Yekaterinburg Turning Point,” Global Research, June 13, 2009,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=13969
; Fred Weir, “Iran and Russia Nip at US Global Dominance”
Christian Science Monitor
, June 16, 2009,
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0616/p06s12-woeu.html
; Lyubov Pronina, “Medvedev Shows Off Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’ at G-8,” Bloomberg, July 10, 2009,
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeFVNYQpByU4
; Edmund Conway, “UN Wants New Global Currency to Replace Dollar,”
Telegraph
(UK), September 7, 2009,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/currency/6152204/UN-wants-new-global-currency-to-replace-dollar.html
; Jose Arturo Cardenas, “Latin American Leftists Tackle Dollar with New Currency,” Agence France-Presse, October 16, 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jisHEg79Cz8uRtYfZR6WK4JmWsIg
.

Update:
The gradual decline of the preeminence of the dollar in the global economic system is widely covered in the global business press, but is rarely discussed in the US corporate media. The US corporate media only reports on the reasons why the dollar cannot be replaced while rarely mentioning movements for its replacement. The concept
that other nations might be reluctant to finance US military adventures by holding US debt and supporting the dollar remains under covered.

The one aspect of this story that has been covered in the US corporate media is the desire of the Russian Federation and China to weaken US global hegemony by undermining the dominance of the dollar. In his Sunday talk show on CNN, Fareed Zakaria claimed Russia and China had “declared war” on the dollar by trading between themselves in their own currencies. Zakaria went on to mention the UN report, calling for the replacement of the dollar as the reserve currency with something “more stable.” He noted that if the US dollar was not the reserve currency, US debt “could become much, much worse.” This segment of Zakaria’s show was titled “What in the World?” It ignored the more complex and controversial issues of US military spending as a major cause of the debt, and its effects on nations like China and Russia. The reporting has silenced the voices of nations who want power to be balanced. Instead, the reporting focuses on what is best to keep the US in control despite the effects this has on other powers.

Sources:
Fareed Zakaria,
Fareed Zakaria GPS
, CNN, December 19, 2010,
http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1012/19/fzgps.01.html
; Manmohan Singh, interview by Fareed Zakaria,
Fareed Zakaria GPS
, November 22, 2009,
http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/22/fzgps.01.html
.

Update by Kira McDonough

The US military is responsible for the most egregious and widespread pollution of the planet, yet this information and accompanying documentation goes almost entirely unreported. In spite of the evidence, the environmental impact of the US military goes largely unaddressed by environmental organizations and was not the focus of any discussions or proposed restrictions at the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. This impact includes uninhibited use of
fossil fuels, massive creation of greenhouse gases, and extensive release of radioactive and chemical contaminants into the air, water, and soil.

Original Sources:
Sara Flounders, “Add Climate Havoc to War Crimes: Pentagon’s Role in Global Catastrophe,” International Action Center, December 18, 2009,
http://www.iacenter.org/o/world/climatesummit_pentagon121809
; Mickey Z., “Can You Identify the Worst Polluter on the Planet? Here’s a Hint: Shock and Awe,”
Planet Green
, August 10, 2009,
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/identify-worst-polluter-planet
html; Julian Aguon, “Guam Residents Organize Against US Plans for $15B Military Buildup on Pacific Island,”
Democracy Now!
, October 9, 2009,
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/9/guam_residents_organize_against_us_plans
; Ian Macleod, “US Plots Arctic Push,”
Ottawa Citizen
, November 28, 2009,
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/navy+plots+Arctic+push/2278324/story.html
; Nick Turse, “Vietnam Still in Shambles after American War,”
In These Times
, May 2009,
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4363/casualties_continue_in_vietnam
; Jalal Ghazi, “Cancer—The Deadly Legacy of the Invasion of Iraq,”
New America Media
, January 6, 2010,
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=80e260b3839daf2084fdeb0965ad31ab
.