American Mainstream Media TV…News????

No commentary tonight. “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

Tonight, in a moment of weakness while visiting with relatives, I made the mistake of bothering to listen to a mainstream media TV evening news broadcast. Those of you who read this blog regularly will be well aware that I do spend a bit of time monitoring the news of the day, so why should I not watch a major U.S. TV evening news broadcast? Well, here are the “minor” stories of the day that they just could not manage to find 15 seconds to mention:

• Israel launched multiple attacks on Palestine, including with airplanes, killing eleven, several civilians.
  
• Hezbollah, the Lebanese political party that represents the country’s Shi’a (at least one-third of the Lebanese population), said it would block the election of a Lebanese president unless it is given one-third of the cabinet seats in the country’s confessional government and blamed the U.S. for obstructing a solution.
  
• Bush ruled out talking with Syria.
  
• In Kenya, 200,000 people have been displaced by violence resulting from the disputed election.
  
• The president of the U.S.- and Ethiopian-supported Somali force that claims to be the legitimate government of Somalia collapsed and has gone to Ethiopia.
• In the air wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 34 close air support missions were flown in Afghanistan and 58 close air support missions were flown in Iraq.
  
• Venezuelan President Chavez reshuffled his cabinet in preparation for a “new stage” in his revolution, evidently designed to moderate it, make it more practical, and attract middleclass support.
  
• The U.S. Minerals Management Service announced that it will accept bids for oil concessions in the environmentally sensitive Chukchi Sea between Alaska and Siberia.
  
• North Korea pledged to strengthen its “war deterrent.”
  
• Pakistani police are rounding up members of Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.
  
• Unrest over food shortages and rising prices is increasing in Afghanistan.
  
• ABC has blocked Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich from its upcoming New Hampshire debate.
  
• Musharraf announced that investigators would not be allowed to interview the Pakistani politicians—all allied with Musharraf--named by Benazir Bhutto just before her murder as prime suspects in a plot against her. Musharraf also made the judgment that Bhutto’s accusations were “baseless.”
  
• There was an assassination attempt on a Sadrist member of parliament.
  
• The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency has appealed for $238 million in relief aid, saying that the population of Gaza is living under conditions of “feudal siege.”
  
• Turkish surveillance planes violated Iraq’s border.
  
• Hamas announced readiness for an “unconditional” dialogue with Fatah.
  
• Musharraf has agreed to allow U.S. Special Forces operate inside Pakistan.
  
• Khamenei publicly opposed establishing relations with the U.S. and stated that Iran is the “main factor” behind American failures in the Mideast.
  

My thanks to BBC, Middle East Times, al Jazeera, the New York Times, Air Force Link, Uskowi on Iran, Pakistan Politics, Truthdig, Emergency Times, Iraq Slogger, and Inter Press Service for providing the above items.

I won’t explain any of the above—at least, not tonight. Those who pay attention to real news will be able to fit these news items into context. Those who don’t but would like to can find some good sources on the sidebar of this blog. As for whether or not anyone actually thinks any of the above news items were worth reporting to Americans…well, let’s hear your opinion!