The “Natural” Foods Myth: Undermining Real Organic Products

According to the Organic Consumers Association, there is a new movement by conventional food producers to flood the market with products labeled “Natural,” and price them as if they were organic. Consumers will be tricked into thinking they are buying organic products, and paying organic prices, for conventionally produced goods.

“Natural” products are routinely produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones, genetic engineering, and sewage sludge. Goods marked “certified organic” and “USDA Organic” are not.

Retailers like Whole Foods Market, and wholesalers like United Natural Foods Inc., continue to push “natural” products at a premium price, while, in effect slowing down the growth of organics with their near market monopoly.

The Horizon brand of organic milk is going to start selling “natural” milk—conventionally produced milk, at premium  prices. The aim is to lure people away from “USDA Organic” milk, but still charge close to organic prices.

Dean Foods, which controls the Horizon brand, made a similar move when they purchased Silk Soy Milk. Silk now uses conventional soy beans, but sells Silk Soy Milk at the same price it was when the soy beans were certified organic. The technique is sheer profiteering.

Obama Signing Statement on $106 Billion War Funding Bill

The statement ignores a Congressional mandate to pressure World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards. These standards would require funded institutions to use methods to “fairly represent the value of internationally recognized workers’ rights.”

And it rejected a provision for Treasury Department to file a report on how to eliminate overlapping activities of the World Bank and IMF.

President Obama, who in the past criticized President Bush for his use of signing statements, said that he rejected these two provisions of the war spending bill because they interfere with foreign policy.

This is his sixth signing statement. By definition, signing statements change the law being signed.

Media: Stop the False Debate On Torture and the Environment–Take a Moral Stand

 

 

The Christian Science Monitor might be the last real newspaper in the country. A quote from Jerry Larson in an opinion piece about what’s wrong with newspapers:

“The best papers set the agenda in their news and opinion, offering not the tepid voice of the referee seen in the recent Obama-Cheney torture “debate,” but a strong voice of moral leadership. It was the courage of a few Southern newspaper editors, for example, that helped end segregation. They took a stand. They didn’t, in the name of “balance,” give integrationists and segregationists an equal voice.”

Newspapers refuse to take a stand on the environment as well.

A recent article in the LA Times about the destructive practice of blowing the tops off mountains for a little coal, the Times quoted “critics” of the practice as “claiming” this type of mining is destructive.

Blasting off a mountain top is destructive. It is not an opinion of the opposition. How namby-pamby can you get?

This kind of “reporting” sends readers to other sources for the real story. Stop blaming the internet!

Can You Have A Fake Class Action To Avoid A Real Class Action?

Rethink Afghanistan- The Real Cost of War

The fist video is the trailer–2 minutes. The second is 14 minutes. Really worth the time.

 

Time Warner Is Up To No Good, Again

The Time Warner building in NYC

Time Warner Cable wants to charge customers for each download to prevent cable users from downloading shows.  If you want unlimited downloading, it would cost $150 a month! (That’s up from the current $40 a month fee.)

Congressman Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) last Friday officially announced that he is drafting legislation that would “prohibit unfair tiered price structures from Internet providers.”

Time Warner claims that downloading is increasing internet infrastructure costs, but even independent analysts say the company is doing this to protect its cable fees.

Rep. Massa said the cable giant has “yet to explain how increased Internet usage increases their costs,” adding, “while I favor a business’s right to maximize their profit potential, I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region.”

But the plot thickens: Time Warner is telling customers that costs are increasing… but telling investors that costs are decreasing… 

 You can sign a petition here if you want Congress to investigate.

In 2007, Time Warner began it’s attempt to kill small press magazines by lobbying the Post Office to increase rates. They won.

Connecting the Dots: America’s Economic & Media Crisis

Ten Things You Should Know About Obama’s Plan (but probably don’t)

The plan:
1. Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care that will go a long way toward paying for a more efficient, more affordable health care system that covers every single American.()3
2. Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. And if your family makes less than $250,000, your taxes won’t go up one dime.(4)
3. Invests more than $100 billion in clean energy technology, creating millions of green jobs that can never be outsourced.(5)
4. Brings our troops home from Iraq on a firm timetable, finally bringing the war to a close—and freeing up almost ten billion dollars a month for domestic priorities.(6)
5. Reverses growing income inequality. The plan lets the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire and focuses on strengthening the middle class.(7)
6. Closes multi-billion-dollar tax loopholes for big oil companies. (8)
7. Increases grants to help families pay for college—the largest increase ever.(9)

8. Halves the deficit by 2013. President Obama inherited a legacy of huge deficits and an economy in shambles, but his plan brings the deficit under control as soon as the economy begins to recover.(10)
9. Dramatically increases funding for the SEC and the CFTC—the agencies that police Wall Street.(11)
10. Tells it straight. For years, budgets have used accounting tricks to hide the real costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts, and too many other programs. Obama’s budget gets rid of the smokescreens and lays out what America’s priorities are, what they cost, and how we’re going to pay for them.(12)

P.S. Turns out there are way more than 10 amazing things in Obama’s budget and we couldn’t resist sharing just a few more.
1. Stops unnecessary government subsidies to big banks, health insurance companies and big agribusinesses.(13,14,15)
2. Expands access to early childhood education and improves schools by investing in programs that make sure every child has a qualified, strong teacher.(16)
3. Negotiates for better prescription drug prices using Medicaid’s tremendous bargaining power.17
4. Expands access to family planning for low-income women.(18)
5. Caps the pollution that causes global warming, and makes polluters pay to support clean energy innovation.(19)
Sources:
1. “Climate of Change,” The New York Times, February 27, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?em
2. “Obama Calls His Budget Sweeping, Needed Change,” The New York Times, February 28, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51201&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=2
3. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=3
4. “Obama Expects Fight Over $3.55 Trillion Budget Plan,” Bloomberg News, February 28, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51203&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=4
5. “Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=5
6. “The Economic Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan,” The New York Times, March 1, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/weekinreview/01glanz.html
7. “Tax Cuts,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html
8. “Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=6
9. “Student Loans,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
10. “Obama unveils budget blueprint,” CNN, February 26, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/budget/
11. “Obama budget would boost SEC, CFTC, FBI,” Reuters, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51205&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=7
12. “Obama’s budget,” Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51206&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=8
13. “Student Loans,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
14. “Health Insurance Stocks Dive on Medicare Advantage Cuts,” The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51207&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=9
15. “Agriculture,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-agri.html
16. “Investing Wisely in Our Children,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51208&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=10
17. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=11
18. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=12
19. “Setting ‘Green’ Goals,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51209&id=15687-6722955-LQQsG0x&t=13

First Lawn, First Lunch! A History Of Organic Gardening On The White House Lawn

“Eat the View!” is a campaign to urge the Obamas to replant a large organic Victory Garden on the First Lawn with the produce going to the White House kitchen and to local food pantries.

Yes, this is the White House lawn with sheep grazing on it. There were fruit trees, a garden and a green house. The green house was knocked down to make room for the West Wing. Watch the short video for more details, then go to Eat the View! for more information on edible landscaping.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Contaminated With Murcury, New Study Finds

(Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), Jan 26, 2009

Straight to the Source )

While the FDA had evidence that commercial high fructose corn syrup was contaminated with mercury four years ago, the agency did not inform consumers, help change industry practice or conduct additional testing.

Minneapolis – Mercury was found in nearly 50 percent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to a new article published today in the scientific journal, Environmental Health. A separate study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) detected mercury in nearly one-third of 55 popular brandname food and beverage products where HFCS is the first or second highest labeled ingredient-including products by Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft and Smucker’s.

HFCS use has skyrocketed in recent decades as the sweetener has replaced sugar in many processed foods. HFCS is found in sweetened beverages, breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS. Consumption by teenagers and other high consumers can be up to 80 percent above average levels.

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms,” said IATP’s David Wallinga, M.D., and a co-author in both studies. “Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply.”

The Environmental Health article by Dufault et al. can be found at: www.ehjournal.net.

“Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup,” by David Wallinga, M.D., Janelle Sorensen, Pooja Mottl and Brian Yablon, M.D., can be found at: www.iatp.org.

IATP works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. www.iatp.org

Putting the Constitution Back Together Again

Pete Seeger & Bruce Springsteen at the Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial

On Sunday, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Pete’s son, and some back up singers, led the crowd (including President Obama) in a rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.”

Tommy Sevenson of the Tuscaloosa News wrote:

“But sly old Pete, who actually hoboed with Woody during the Depression and Dust Bowl, had the crowd sing the song as it was actually written, as not only a celebration of this great land, but as a demand for workers’ and people’s rights. That is, he restored the verses that have been censored from the song over the years to make it less political:”

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn’t say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

“The ‘relief office,’ of course, refers to the ad hoc soup bowls and such set up during the Depression before the New Deal began to get the social security net we have all depended upon since the 1930s in place.”

War & Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields

Michel Chossudovsky writes for Global Research that the war in Gaza is really about Israel wanting to control Gaza’s offshore gas reserves.

“This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.

“British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon’s Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority. …

“The BG license covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map above). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.

“The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine’s gas reserves could be much larger. …

“The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under “Operation Cast Lead” was set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:

• “Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”(Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008 )
  That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas, with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the purchase of Gaza’s natural gas:”The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group) coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already in an advanced planning stage. …”

To read the entire article, click here.

How Hollywood Gets It Wrong On Torture And Interrogation: P1

No character on TV uses torture more than Jack Bauer, the hero of the FOX program “24″ which begins its 7th season on Sunday night. In Bauer’s hands torture appears to be the perfect tool to fight terrorism.Two years ago Human Rights First began to investigate how “24,” which has shown 89 scenes of torture in its first six seasons, influenced the thinking and the actions of young people in the armed services. They learned that some junior soldiers — even some interrogators at Guantanamo Bay — had copied abusive interrogation techniques they saw depicted on the program.

The Background: U.S. Policy Shifts Ushered in Abuse

Hollywood writers, of course, did not create the environment that led to the torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere; the U.S. government created this environment by authorizing coercive interrogation techniques, departing from the long-held absolute ban on torture and cruel treatment, suspending the Geneva Conventions, and by assigning soldiers to tasks for which they were not trained.

What Can Be Done: The Primetime Torture Project

Human Rights First has launched a project that seeks to limit the impact TV has on the way interrogations are conducted in the field and also the way Americans view torture. Working with military educators and prominent Hollywood producers and writers, Human Rights First is developing a training film aimed at educating junior soldiers about the differences between what they see on TV and the way they ought to act in the field. Human Rights First is also working to encourage those with control over creative content in Hollywood to consider portraying torture in a more nuanced, more responsible fashion.

Bailout Is Being “Reworked” By Obama’s Economic Team

   Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner

Buried on page A16 of today’s (Friday’s) LA Times is the front-page-worthy article explaining that the $700-billion financial bailout is being overhauled to include money for homeowners, small businesses, and municipalities, and to free up credit markets–in other words, all that the original bailout promised but failed to deliver.

Working “night and day” is Treasury secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner with the rest of President-elect Obama’s economic team. Only now, after burning through the first $350 billion, are they getting around to adding clearly defined conditions as to the use of the rest of the money so that it can be accounted for. Apparently, this time they remembered to stipulate that the money not be used for executive bonuses, retreats at resorts, holiday bonuses for executives, the use of private jets, country club memberships, and, in the case of AIG, an executive retreat at a swanky resort–all of which happened with the first half of the payout.

The first half has vanished without a trace, and without the requirement that the bailed-out firms trace it. Last month, when the Associated Press asked these firms how their public assistance was being used, they refused to answer.

Robert Fisk: Why Bombing Ashkelon Is The Most Tragic Irony

  (AP Photo/Fadi Adwan)

“That is why Gaza exists: because the Palestinians who lived in Ashkelon and the fields around it – Askalaan in Arabic – were dispossessed from their lands in 1948 when Israel was created and ended up on the beaches of Gaza. They – or their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren – are among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into the cesspool of Gaza, 80 per cent of whose families once lived in what is now Israel. This, historically, is the real story: most of the people of Gaza don’t come from Gaza.

“But watching the news shows, you’d think that history began yesterday, that a bunch of bearded anti-Semitic Islamist lunatics suddenly popped up in the slums of Gaza – a rubbish dump of destitute people of no origin – and began firing missiles into peace-loving, democratic Israel, only to meet with the righteous vengeance of the Israeli air force. The fact that the five sisters killed in Jabalya camp had grandparents who came from the very land whose more recent owners have now bombed them to death simply does not appear in the story.

“Both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres said back in the 1990s that they wished Gaza would just go away, drop into the sea, and you can see why. The existence of Gaza is a permanent reminder of those hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who lost their homes to Israel, who fled or were driven out through fear or Israeli ethnic cleansing 60 years ago…”

To read the story, click here.

May The Holidays Bring Lots Of Cookies!

Bailout Money Used For Holiday Bonuses

Six hundred of the top bank executives received $1.6 BILLION of the tax-payer bailout in the form of bonuses.

Some of the money was cash, some was used “for personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management.”

I was appalled the other day while some of my friends complained that the 3 million auto workers wanted to keep their health care and retirement benefits during this crisis. Yet, nobody questioned benefits for the rich.

To give my friends the benefit of the doubt, they were merely parroting the media as they questioned the auto workers, while the media didn’t stress the fact that the bailout to the banks came with no strings attached.

But now the media is finally starting the squawk—at least the Associated Press is. Check out these two articles: one on how the banks’ use of the bailout money is a secret, and one on the billion and a half on bonuses.

Watch a VIDEO about this story here.

Two Flying Shoes Unite the Arab World

It seems Iraqis from the North, South, Sadr City, etc. are applauding the actions of Muntader al-Zaidi, a 29-year-old journalist, who hurled both his black dress shoes at President Bush’s head during his visit to Baghdad on Sunday. People are talking about it all over the Middle East. Read more about it here. A quote from the New York Times article:

“As Mr. Bush was speaking, Mr. Zaidi rose abruptly from about 12 feet away, reared his right arm and fired a shoe at the president’s head while shouting in Arabic: ‘This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!’

“Mr. Bush deftly ducked and the shoe narrowly missed him. A few seconds later, the journalist tossed his other shoe, again with great force, this time shouting, ‘This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!’ Again, the shoe sailed over the president’s head.”

 Go here to see a slide show of demonstrations around Iraq this week, with Iraqiswaving their shoes and protesting the U.S. occupation.

How To Get A ‘Green’ Christmas Tree

The Organic Consumers Association posted these tips on how to get a Christmas tree that won’t contaminate your home with dangerous pesticides:

1. Buy a used artificial tree. People are always buying the latest and greatest and looking to dispose of perfectly beautiful ornamentation. Check out ebay, craigslist, freecycle or your local newspaper.
2. Shopping for a tree at a big box store, large garden center or city lot usually means you’ll have no idea where the tree was grown or what chemicals were used.
3. Trees found at “cut-your-own-tree” farms and farmers’ markets usually have little to no pesticides. Find an organic local tree farm here   Just enter “Christmas tree” into the box below “What are you looking for?” and then type your zip code.

Christmas Ornament Removed From White House Tree

Salon.com reports that Seattle artist Deborah Lawrence had her Christmas ornament removed from the White House tree after Laura Bush discovered from a gossip columnist that the art on the ornament contained the Articles of Impeachment  in teeny-tiny lettering. 

Over 350 artists designed ornaments for the White House tree using the colors of the flag.

Jeremy Olshan of Salon.com writes:

“Lawrence was actually flummoxed when she first got the commission this summer. ‘I had an immediate, convulsive reaction to the request,’ she says. “Why would I want to put a smiley face of tacit approval on an administration famous for lies, greed, warmongering and religious fundamentalism?’

“Along with the impeachment resolution, Lawrence noted moments of civil disobedience and activism in Washington state: the 1919 Seattle General Strike, in which 65,000 workers walked off the job, and the 1999 WTO protests.”

But because the ornament was discovered, and in spite of its being censored, we all get to know about it. Merry Christmas!

Media Claims That America Is “Center-Right” Contradicts Reality

Blogger David Sirota commissioned an interesting study: how many times, since Barack Obama’s election, have media pundits insisted that America is “center-right?”

As you can see from the chart, the statement “This is a center-right country,” spiked after the election(box 1 on the chart) —which saw not only the election of Obama, but the Democrats gaining seats in both houses of Congress.

Sirota writes, “The media has exponentially increased the amount of times it claims that this country is a “center-right nation” – at the very same time public opinion data shows the country is a decidedly center-left nation.”

Election data, too. Just a short while ago, conservative pundits and the McCain campaign were calling Obama a “socialist.” Now that he’s been elected, the media says this is affirmation that the country is “conservative.” Watch the video for more.

No One Shakes Bush’s Hand At G20 Summit

The commentator here says, “This may be a case of ‘what goes around comes around’…”  Not so. That  would mean Bush is in jail, being held without charges being brought against him, and tortured routinely. Let’s not be naive about his true legacy–it’s more than being a “bully,” it’s about being a criminal.

How To Boil a Frog With Less Water

“The boiling frog story states that a frog can be boiled alive if the water is heated slowly enough — it is said that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will never jump out. The story is generally told in a figurative context, with the upshot being that people should make themselves aware of gradual change lest they suffer a catastrophic loss.”

Report indicates climate change to affect water supply planning
Valley Courier Online – Alamosa, CO, USA

Water supply falling short; rationing may be necessary
Press-Enterprise – Riverside, CA, USA

Water conservation is part of future
Lake Oswego Review – Lake Oswego, OR, USA

Water leak drains county water supply
Clay County Progress – Hayesville, NC, USA

State might curtail water supply to Long Beach, other So Cal cities
Contra Costa Times – Walnut Creek, CA, USA

Lawsuit ruling edges Tarrant, Dallas districts closer to Oklahoma water supply
Dallas Morning News – Dallas, TX, USA

Two reservoirs nearly dry, so officials juggle sources
Honolulu Advertiser - Honolulu, HI, USA

Water rights for Auburn dam could be revoked
San Jose Mercury News – CA, USA

Palm Beach announced recently that it will test West Palm Beach water for contaminants. The city recently sent a letter to water users about the last quarter of 2007 when high levels of trihalomethane were registered. And last year, the city disinfected the water supply for several months with free chlorine after a fecal bacteria outbreak.

Palm Beach Daily News – CA, USA

“The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) issued a press release explaining that a new Bush administration rule signed on Halloween–trick or treat?–made thousands of factory farms exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution…According to the NRDC, the new rule:

Creates a loophole allowing facility operators to avoid permits by claiming they won’t have a discharge.

Adopts a scheme that allows facilities to avoid certain environmental enforcement. For instance, if an operator certifies that the facility won’t have a discharge, environmental authorities will ignore enforcement action, even if the facility discharges to the nation’s waters.”

The Daily Green

All the headlines and the Palm Beach quote are from sources published October 28-30, 2008. The Daily Green quote is from November 3, 2008.

(posted by R. T.)

President Tricks Environment, Treats Factory Farms: Daily Green – USA

The Yes Men Give the American People News They Want

Thousands of these fake NYT papers were handed out on Wednesday, November 12, 2008, all around New York City by The Yes Men.

The real NYT was quick to name it a “spoof”, but I think this comment from the NYT’s own blog really hit at the core of why the fake paper was distributed:

“It’s obvious that the spoof was done as a message that the mass media is complicit in perpetuating and contributing to the war, the environmental crisis and also the economic crisis with skewed and biased information which favours corporate interests. The mass media is not a neutral player in global politics – far from it. … Whoever did it has a politically progressive worldview which favour social justice and human rights. The mass media – the NY Times – does not, by and large. This is not a prank – it is a direct action critique of media complicity with corporate agendas which perpetuate colonial wars and corporate hegemony.” (by Paul York–and from his spelling of “favours” I’m guessing he’s British)

Here’s the fake NYT online, if you want to read all the headlines. Very creative. Even the banner ads are progressive.