Big Unflattering Stories You May Not Have Heard

The US Helped Put Saddam In Power
Okay, this one isn't so much under reported as not remembered and not often brought up (seeing as we spent a lot of time and energy getting him out of power, bringing that up would do little for the cause)

The Anthrax Attacks of 2001 Were Probably Perpetrated by an American
Bruce Ivins was an American biodefense scientist who worked for the army. He died of an overdose in July of 2008 before standing trial for killing 5 people by sending them anthrax in the mail. Thats right. That was this guy.Really, kind of a sweet looking guy. Too bad he was basically the next Tylenol killer. On top of killing people and stirring up national panic, he helped create up the pro-war sentiment that ended up landing us in Iraq. Reason you may not have heard about it? Possibly national pride, probably not wanting to further upset the 65% of Americans who believe the war is no longer worth fighting.

The Internet Is Out of Control
The government can't stop hackers. Net neutrality is still an uphill battle. Property and copyright laws are so far behind many people see no other choice than to resort to pirating. For instance I can buy a movie legally on iTunes, but unless I want to watch it on my computer screen, I have to use open source software to (hypothetically) rip a bootleg copy that will work in my DVD player.

Traditional journalism has started to rely more heavily on the "blogosphere" where facts are often even more confused and exagerated than on the networks themselves. This is because it is faster, easier and cheaper than doing real investigative work. In addition, the government doesn't even ask for a warrent to spy on citizens using the internet. Take for example Magic Lantern, and Black Widow. Reasons you may not have heard about it? I'm not sure. It might be because it is scary. It might also be that the major media companies don't want to muck up a chance at controling the net when everything settles down, so they just arn't talking about it. Or maybe nobody cares but the nerds and the corporations.

Gulf War Syndrome is Real
In December 2008, a federal report finally confirmed that the illness really does exist. Symptoms include pain problems, neurological damage, and respiratory problems among others. For years, soldiers and veterans have been reporting the illness without verification from the larger community that it was real. Why have you probably not heard the story? It was the US government's fault (not a biological weapon as some had previously assumed). The syndrome is a side effect of a widely used pesticide meant to keep bugs off the troops and equipment.