Information Awareness

Government information that used to be based on science is being suppressed, censored, and distorted to reflect the political agenda of the Bush administration.

Shooting the messenger: Report on layoffs killed January 3, 2003

“The Bush administration, under fire for its handling of the economy, has quietly killed off a Labor Department program that tracked mass layoffs by U.S. companies.

The statistic, which had been issued monthly and was closely watched by hard-hit Silicon Valley, served as a pulse reading of corporate America’s financial health.

There’s still plenty of economic data available charting employment trends nationwide. But the mass-layoffs stat comprised an easy-to-understand overview of which industries are in the greatest distress and which workers are bearing the brunt of the turmoil.”

White House Budget Office Thwarts EPA Warning on Asbestos-Laced Insulation December 29, 2002

“The Environmental Protection Agency was on the verge of warning millions of Americans that their attics and walls might contain asbestos-contaminated insulation. But, at the last minute, the White House intervened, and the warning has never been issued.

The announcement to warn the public was expected in April. It was to accompany a declaration by the EPA of a public health emergency in Libby, Mont. In that town near the Canadian border, ore from a vermiculite mine was contaminated with an extremely lethal asbestos fiber called tremolite that has killed or sickened thousands of miners and their families.

Ore from the Libby mine was shipped across the nation and around the world, ending up in insulation called Zonolite that was used in millions of homes, businesses and schools across America.

A public health emergency declaration had never been issued by any agency. It would have authorized the removal of the disease-causing insulation from homes in Libby and also provided long-term medical care for those made sick. Additionally, it would have triggered notification of property owners elsewhere who might be exposed to the contaminated insulation....

Interviews and documents show that just days before the EPA was set to make the declaration, the plan was thwarted by the White House Office of Management and Budget, which had been told of the proposal months earlier.

Both the budget office and the EPA acknowledge that the White House agency was actively involved, but neither agency would discuss how or why....

Both agencies refused Freedom of Information Act requests for documents to and from the White House Office of Management and Budget.”

W.R. Grace & Co., owner of the mine which produces the toxic ore found in Zonolite insulation said there was no proof that the insulation was dangerous. The company has settled hundreds of lawsuits claiming death or illness from Zonolite exposure.

Big Brother Doctors Health Info December 18, 2002

“A government fact sheet that long promoted condoms as ‘highly effective’ in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases now offers a more neutral summary of the pros and cons of condom use....

Until this summer, [the fact sheet] said that women who had abortions face no increased risk of breast cancer. Now, it says the evidence is not clear.... In the case of breast cancer and abortion, the National Cancer Institute removed a fact sheet from its website that said ‘the current body of scientific evidence suggests that women who have had either induced or spontaneous abortions have the same risk as other women for developing breast cancer.’

The posting specifically dismissed studies to the contrary, citing methodological problems.

In its place, a neutral rendering appears that says some studies find a link and others do not. The fact sheet promises to convene a conference on the issue early next year.”

Versions of the health pages before the changes were made can be found at the excellent The Memory Hole Web site.