Here's Another Major Story the U.S. Mainstream Media Missed

[SkeeterVT]

THE 'SKEETER BITES REPORT
FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2006
http://skeeter-bites.blogspot.com

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THIS WEEK: Two Years After Tsunami, Billions of Dollars in Aid Remain Unspent

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As Southeast Asian nations mark the two-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami that ravaged the region, more than half of the billions of dollars raised worldwide to help survivors of the disaster has not been spent.

More than $3 billion in tsunami-aid donations by individuals and governments are still sitting in bank accounts, while thousands who lost their homes are still living in tent cities, waiting for new homes to be built.

Meanwhile, U.S. government investigators probing fraud and abuse in the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort now say that the price tag is likely to exceed $2 billion. The investigation is zeroing in on multi-million-dollar contracts awarded by the Bush administration to politically-connected large firms.

To say that this is shameful is beside the point. It's a growing scandal that could have serious economic, social and political repercussions in the not-too-distant future.

If you didn't read about the tsunami-aid scandal in The New York Times or watch reports about it on CNN or in any other major American news outlet, there's a reason why -- The story was broken by a foreign news outlet, specifically, the BBC. This blogger would not have known about it had I not listened to the BBC World Service radio.

It is yet another example of why the American public has grown sour on the mainstream news media in this country -- and why it increasingly up to bloggers such as myself and others to break news in this country that the mainstream media have failed to break.

Sincerely,
Skeeter Sanders

http://skeeter-bites.blogspot.com