Peace Journalism Perspective
EDITORIAL
War and Peace in the Globalized World (Part I)
#627 | Naresh Jotwani – TRANSCEND Media ServiceMoney-on-tap gives them virtually unlimited purchasing power – and purchasing power is power. They buy the most expensive manpower and assets that money can buy, in effect behaving like “Sultans” of all that they survey. Almost anything can be purchased for a price, after all. Thus money-on-tap is the latest innovation to create the illusion of “conquering the world”.
| 1 comment | Read more... |
TRANSCEND VIDEOS
“War Is a Racket”
Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler – TRANSCEND Media ServiceWar Is a Racket is a speech and a 1935 short book, by Smedley D. Butler, a retired US Marine Corps Major General and two-time Medal of Honor recipient. Based on his extensive military experience, Butler discusses how business interests commercially benefit, profiteering from warfare. He made a nationwide U.S. tour in the early 1930s giving this speech.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
FEATURED RESEARCH PAPER
Gandhi’s Ahimsa: A Critical Review at the Critical Time of War against Terrorism
M Abdur Rahman Malik, et al. | International Journal of Business and Social Science – TRANSCEND Media ServiceAbstract: This paper will seek to understand what is meant by the term that Gandhi refers to as Ahimsa. This research will also seek to evaluate the term from both theoretical and practical angles and will establish that Ahimsa is not possible in its virtual meanings. The critique on Ahimsa and Gandhi’s ideology will also be discussed. Finally this paper will propose that the concept of Ahimsa can be of any use for humanity only if it is defined in a broader framework.
| 2 comments | Read more... |
Other Commentaries
CONFLICT RESOLUTION - MEDIATION
Who Is Right, Lyn or Pam? Using Conflict Resolution Scenario Methods to Resolve an Organisational Conflict
Ivana Milojević | Journal of Futures Studies – TRANSCEND Media Service11 Feb 2020 - Lyn and Pam (names have been changed) are co-workers in an Australian organisation. They are in the middle of a conflict that has been brought to their director’s attention. The director is not sure whether to engage with this conflict, as it appears rather trivial. Like most people do when it comes to conflicts, the director is hoping that the quarrel will dissipate and disappear on its own. Also like most people, she habitually uses a style of conflict resolution that she learned in her family of origin; she applies it to all conflicts, regardless of the context.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
SPECIAL FEATURE
Large Parts of China Relax Coronavirus Curbs, Many Places Report Zero New Cases
Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service24 Feb 2020 - Figures released by the national health authority today showed 24 out of China’s 31 provinces and regions - including Beijing, Shanghai and populous provinces such as Henan and Anhui - reported zero cases of new infections on Feb. 23, the best showing since it began publishing nationwide figures on Jan. 20. Yesterday, Sunday, President Xi hailed the positive trend, and urged businesses to resume work and safeguard jobs.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
How COVID-19 Spreads
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | U.S. Department of Health & Human Services – TRANSCEND Media Service17 Feb 2020 - Current understanding about how the virus that causes coronavirus disease spreads is largely based on what is known about similar coronaviruses. On 11 Feb the WHO announced an official name for the disease that is causing the current outbreak of coronavirus disease, COVID-19. CDC will be updating our website and other CDC materials to reflect the updated name.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
COVID-19 at Munich Security Conference
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus | WHO Director-General – TRANSCEND Media Service15 Feb 2020 - Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous… The greatest enemy we face is not the virus itself; it’s the stigma that turns us against each other. We must stop stigma and hate! ... It’s easy to blame. It’s easy to politicize. It’s harder to tackle a problem together, and find solutions together… We will all learn lessons from this outbreak. But now is not the time for recriminations or politicization. This is a time for facts, not fear. This is a time for rationality, not rumours. This is a time for solidarity, not stigma.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
COVID-19 Contagion: Reality and Myth
Catherine Offord | The Scientist – TRANSCEND Media Service21 Feb 2020 - Scientists’ Latest Understanding of the Facts, the Suspicions, and the Discounted Rumors of SARS-CoV-2’s Transmission from Person to Person
| 0 comments | Read more... |
COVID-19: Fighting Panic with Information
Editorial | The Lancet – TRANSCEND Media Service22 Feb 2020 - As governments and health officials worldwide grapple with the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, new developments in the accounting of and response to cases are occurring as part of a swiftly evolving crisis… There may be no way to prevent a COVID-19 pandemic in this globalised time, but verified information is the most effective prevention against the disease of panic.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
SPOTLIGHT
Julian Assange Must Be Freed, Not Betrayed
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media ServiceOn 24 FEBRUARY, Australian publisher and journalist Julian Assange FACES A COURT to decide WHETHER OR NOT HE IS TO BE EXTRADITED TO THE UNITED STATES and a living death.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Marchers Support Assange ahead of London Extradition Hearing
Jill Lawless | AP – TRANSCEND Media Service22 Feb 2020 - Hundreds of supporters of Julian Assange marched through London today to pressure the U.K. government not to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States in hearing due to begin in a London court on Monday 24 Feb. Famous backers, including Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, editor in chief of WikiLeaks Kristinn Hrafnsonn, Assange’s father John Shipton, Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters, and Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde joined the crowd.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Journalists Speak Up for Julian Assange
Posted by Antonio C. S. Rosa | Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, is currently detained in Belmarsh high-security prison in the United Kingdom and faces extradition to the United States and criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act. He risks up to 175 years imprisonment for his part in making public the leak of US military documents from Afghanistan and Iraq, and a trove of US State Department cables.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
World-Wide Journalists Condemn Court Action against Julian Assange
Posted by Antonio C. S. Rosa | Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - 1242 journalists from 99 countries (as of 21 Feb 2020 10:30 a.m. GMT) have released a joint statement today in defence of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, in the lead up to proceedings in a UK court to extradite him to the United States to face the espionage charges. The court case begins on 24 February.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Europe’s Human Rights Watchdog Opposes Assange’s Extradition
teleSUR – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States because it would have a chilling effect on press freedom, a European human rights chief said today. The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization, with 47 member states including Britain, all of which are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
TRANSCEND MEMBERS
Extradition and Trial of Julian Assange
Anthony Judge | Laetus in Praesens - TRANSCEND Media Service19 Feb 2020 - The following items have been progressively accumulated as an addendum to an earlier document elaborated as a speculative dramatisation of the legal process against Julian Assange in several Christian countries. Given the probability of his extradition, trial and conviction in the USA, a further document was produced to offer Christians the possibility of collectively determining his punishment -- in the spirit of that dramatisation.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Weaponizing Lawfare in the Philippines
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service22 Feb 2020 - Rodrigo Duterte, despite leaving by now a long trail of blood-stained abuse, retains an approval rating of more than 80%. As in the United States, we ask the question that prompted the leading thinkers in ancient Athens to abandon democracy—‘how can we trust the citizenry if they are drawn to support demagogues whose policies are self-destructive for the political community?” If not, the people, then whom? Surely, not the financial oligarchs. Plutocracy is not the answer.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Can Dems Be Part of the Solution at AIPAC?
Diane Perlman | Medium – TRANSCEND Media Service23 Feb 2020 - A coalition of progressive organizations is pressuring Democratic candidates to boycott the AIPAC-American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference in Washington, March 1–3, 2020. Skipping AIPAC would be a huge mistake and a loss for the candidates, the party, our democracy, and AIPAC.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Rocky and Ravi — Stories of People and Films
Dr Ravi P Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service17 Feb 2020 - When a child is born in some rural or less urbanised part of India, the parents, grandparents or some Guru in whom the family has faith, give the baby a name that they feel is appropriate to their God, season or nakshatra—-the position of some planets.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
The Shocking Death of Rwandan Gospel Singer and Dissident Kizito Mihigo
Ann Garrison | San Francisco Bay View – TRANSCEND Media Service19 Feb 2020 - The West's major media, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, the BBC, etc. have reported on the shocking death of Kizito Mihigo, a gospel singer and political dissident in the tiny Sub Saharan African country of Rwanda. But will it do anything to erode the West's support for Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the tyrant and war criminal who no doubt ordered his execution? Probably not, because Kagame is their gateway to the riches of the Congo.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Collected Essays, Volume V
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media ServiceA New Freely-Downloadable Book - The book contains articles on the serious problems that are facing the world today.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
IN FOCUS
Munich Conference Reveals East-West Divide
Pepe Escobar – Asia Times19 Feb 2020 - Few postmodern political pantomimes have been more revealing than the hundreds of so-called “international decision-makers,” mostly Western, waxing lyrical, disgusted or nostalgic over “Westlessness” at the Munich Security Conference.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
The United States Is Formally Accused of Crimes against Humanity at the International Criminal Court
teleSUR – TRANSCEND Media Service13 Feb 2020 - Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza arrived in The Hague (Netherlands) today to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the United States and its sanctions. Arreaza: 'US Coercive Measures Are Mass Destruction Weapons.'
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ACTIVISM
Mistrial Is another Blow to U.S. Coup in Venezuela–Our Work Continues
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | Popular Resistance – TRANSCEND Media Service16 Feb 2020 - Last week, we along with Adrienne Pine and David Paul were unsuccessfully prosecuted by the Trump administration for our protection of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC from April 10 to May 16, 2019. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision and so we remain innocent of the charge of interfering with the protective functions of the US Department of State. The judge declared a mistrial.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ANGLO AMERICA
Bernie Sanders to Skip AIPAC Conference on Political Reasons
teleSUR – TRANSCEND Media Service23 Feb 2020 - The Vermont senator made it clear that he will not attend the AIPAC event for political, not agenda-related, reasons. "I remain concerned about the platform that AIPAC offers to leaders who express intolerance and oppose the basic rights of Palestinians. For that reason, I will not be attending your conference."
| 0 comments | Read more... |
West Point Prof Pens Blistering Takedown of U.S. Military Academies
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos | The American Conservative – TRANSCEND Media Service17 Feb 2020 - What do you call a civilian law professor who, after successfully filing for federal whistleblower status to keep his job teaching at West Point Military Academy, proceeds to write a bombshell book about the systematic corruption, violence, fraud, and anti-intellectualism he says has been rampant at the historic institution for over a hundred years?
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Trump Pardons White Collar Ruling Class Elite Criminals
Patrick Martin | WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - Trump issued 11 pardons on Tuesday [18 Feb], expunging the lawbreaking records of billionaire financier Michael Milken, the “junk bond king,” and billionaire real estate magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers. He also pardoned former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, convicted of tax fraud and perjury, and commuted the 14-year jail term of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, impeached and then convicted on multiple corruption counts, including attempting to sell the Senate seat of Barack Obama after Obama’s election to the presidency in 2008.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Wall Street Celebrates Milken Pardon
Nick Beams | WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - The decision by Donald Trump to pardon the financial criminal Michael Milken is being celebrated on Wall Street and for good reason. He was a pioneer of the methods and financial mechanisms that have led to the greatest accumulation of wealth by the financial oligarchy ever seen in history, at the expense of the jobs and social conditions of broad sections of the working class.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ASIA--PACIFIC
Duterte Does the Right Thing for a Change
Walden Bello | Foreign Policy In Focus – TRANSCEND Media Service19 Feb 2020 - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s termination of a key military pact with the United States, the Visiting Forces Agreement, which governed the deployment of US troops in the country, has evoked varied responses. He might be the devil incarnate, but Duterte is beginning the process of ending over 120 years of colonial subjugation.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
BRICS
How India’s Modi Is Playing on Trump’s Ego to His Advantage
M.K. Bhadrakumar | Independent Media Institute – TRANSCEND Media ServiceTrump’s remarks on his India visit Feb 24-25: “We’re not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot. And he told me we’ll have 7 million people between the airport and the event. And the stadium, I understand, is sort of semi under construction, but it’s going to be the largest stadium in the world. So it’s going to be very exciting. But he says between the stadium and the airport, we’ll have about 7 million people. So it’s going to be very exciting. I hope you all enjoy it.”
| 0 comments | Read more... |
EUROPE
Portugal: Parliament Approves the ‘Death with Dignity’–Euthanasia Right
teleSUR – TRANSCEND Media Service20 Feb 2020 - Despite protests from fundamentalist religious groups, Portugal's Parliament today took the first step in favor of the decriminalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill people. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has also to approve the law.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
PALESTINE - ISRAEL
Israel’s Propaganda War Waged through TV Shows
Yara Hawari – Al Jazeera12 Feb 2020 - Israel's latest propaganda war is being waged through slick TV shows on various media service providers such as Netflix and HBO. There has recently been a surge in programmes venerating the Israeli secret services while demonising Palestinians as threats to global security and erasing their history. Netflix's The Messiah is just the latest.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Christian Zionist Archaeology: A Tool of Palestinian Subjugation
Mimi Kirk – Al Jazeera16 Feb 2020 - Archaeological projects in Palestine led by US evangelical Christians contribute to Palestinian dispossession.
| 1 comment | Read more... |
SYRIA IN CONTEXT
As Usual, Western Media Grossly Distort Syria’s Conflict
Editorial | Strategic Culture Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service21 Feb 2020 - It is by now untenable for Western corporate media to spin the fictional narrative about “moderate rebels” fighting against a “cruel dictatorship”. The dominant component is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly Al Nusra Front, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, like Islamic State. Unable any longer to launder the bloody image of the terrorists and retail them as “moderate rebels”, the mainstream media are now laying on the “humanitarian emotion” as a way to undermine the sovereign right of the Syrian Army to defeat and rid the country of the terror scourge.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ENVIRONMENT
Australia World’s Leading Polluter of Greenhouse Gas Per Capita
Dr Gideon Polya – TRANSCEND Media Service18 Feb 2020 - The Australian Government’s backing of new coal mines, new gas exploitation, new highways, two new gas-fired power stations, and new coal-fired power stations flies in the face of science and of an ever-worsening Climate Emergency reflected in catastrophic bushfires and apocalyptic wild life loss. Unfortunately the fossil fuel Lobby has the political upper hand, most notably in climate criminal America under climate change denialist Donald Trump and in its pro-coal, pro-gas lackey Australia.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ORGANIC, GMO, GENETIC ENGINEERING
‘Victory for Farmers’ as Jury Awards Grower $265 Million in Damages from Drift of Monsanto’s Dicamba
Andrea Germanos | Common Dreams – TRANSCEND Media Service17 Feb 2020 - German chemicals giant Bayer announced today its intention to "swiftly appeal" a U.S. jury's decision to award a Missouri peach farmer over $265 million in compensation for years of crop losses as a result of drifting dicamba weedkiller. "This verdict is just the tip of the iceberg."
| 0 comments | Read more... |
REVIEWS
Painting a True Christ
Edward Curtin | Behind the Curtain – TRANSCEND Media ServiceA Review of Terrence Malick’s Film “A Hidden Life”- Franz, a devout Roman Catholic, is deeply disturbed by the rise of Hitler and the thought of participating in his immoral killing machine.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
INSPIRATIONAL
Compassion
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media ServiceMother Teresa was bandaging an old man with an advanced stage of leprosy.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
POETRY FORMAT
What You Need to Be Warm
Neil Gaiman – TRANSCEND Media ServiceA baked potato of a winter’s night to wrap your hands around or burn your mouth. A blanket knitted by your mother’s cunning fingers. Or your grandmother’s.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
ORIGINAL LANGUAGES
(Français) Le sort de Snowden, Manning, Harrison et Assange devrait susciter la même indignation mondiale que celle de Mandela
Geoffroy de Lagasnerie | Investig’Action – TRANSCEND Media Service13 Fév 2020 - L’association Carta Academica a remis le 29 janvier à Bruxelles ses premiers Academic Honoris Causa à Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden et Sarah Harrison. Durant la cérémonie, le philosophe Geoffroy de Lagasnerie a expliqué qu’ils incarnent tous les quatre ce que Derrida appelle le « destin de l’humanité ».
| 0 comments | Read more... |
(中文 – Chinese) 世卫组织总干事在慕尼黑安全会议上的讲话
世卫组织总干事谭德塞博士 – TRANSCEND Media Service此时此刻，需要事实，而非恐惧。 此时此刻，需要理性，而非谣言。 此时此刻，需要团结，而非污名化。
| 0 comments | Read more... |
(Português) Ética e Espiritualidade face aos desastres ecológicos atuais
Leonardo Boff – TRANSCEND Media Service15 fev 2020 - As grandes chuvas com inundações desastrosas que afetaram muitas cidades do Brasil e paralelamente os incêndios fenomenais na Austrália, seguidos imediatamente de inesperadas inundações, constituem sinais inequívocos da Terra de que nela algumas mudanças importantes estão ocorrendo. É praticamente consenso de que estas mudanças para pior se devem à ação irresponsável dos seres humanos (a era do antropoceno).
| 0 comments | Read more... |
(Português) Harrison Ford Muda Alimentação pelo Bem do Planeta
David Arioch | Vegazeta – TRANSCEND Media Service20 fev 2020 - Durante sua participação no programa The Ellen DeGeneres Show, o ator Harrison Ford disse que decidiu fazer mudanças na sua alimentação pelo bem do planeta. O anúncio foi feito um ano após ele criticar líderes mundiais que ignoram o impacto das mudanças climáticas. Ford revelou que já não consome mais nenhum tipo de laticínios ou carne, com exceção de peixe, e que tem priorizado os vegetais.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
(Português) Civetas são alimentadas à força para produzir o café mais caro do mundo
Giovanna de Castro - ANDA Agência de Notícias de Direitos AnimaisOs animais são mantidos em gaiolas apertadas e sujas. O café é fabricado a partir das fezes desses mamíferos na Indonésia e vendido por €500 ou US$700 ou 2.330 Reais o kilo.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Cartoon: 2020 Senate Republican Class Photo
Joe Kandra and Kathie MM | Engaging Peace – TRANSCEND Media ServiceRepublican Democracy
| 0 comments | Read more... |
IN-DEPTH VIDEOS
Tariq Ali Speaks Out on Assange’s Case and US Wars
AcTVism Munich – TRANSCEND Media ServiceIn this 4 Feb 2020 speech in a public rally for Julian Assange at the Royal National Hotel in London, author, writer, filmmaker and public intellectual Tariq Ali speaks about Julian Assange and contextualizes his case by focusing on U.S. wars pointing out the double standards observed when it comes to the application of international law. Ali emphasizes the importance of collective action around the plight of Julian Assange.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Author of US Biowarfare Law: Studies Confirm Coronavirus Weaponized
Spiro Skouras – TRANSCEND Media Service22 Feb 2020 - Prof. Francis Boyle, the expert author of the US Biowarfare Act, which became law, uncovers four separate studies confirming as ‘smoking gun’ evidence that the COVID19 was in fact weaponized. He also discloses the true origin of the virus and the extent of the involvement of the US government. This is a must see interview as Boyle reveals never before disclosed information
| 0 comments | Read more... |
SHORT VIDEO CLIPS
More than 1300 #JournalistsSpeakUpForAssange
JournalistsSpeakUpForAssange – TRANSCEND Media Service24 Feb 2020 - More than 1300 #JournalistsSpeakUpForAssange and demand that #Assange be released immediately from #prison, that the #UK government and judiciary refuse to permit a politically-motivated #extradition, and that the #US government drop the charges of #espionage.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
Another Brick in the Wall (Music Video of the Week)
Pink Floyd – TRANSCEND Media ServiceThe official video for Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd taken from the album ‘The Wall’ originally released in 1979.
| 0 comments | Read more... |
JOKE OF THE WEEK
Eye Sight
Unknown – TRANSCEND Media ServiceA man goes to his doctor and says, “Please help me, doctor. I think my eyesight is really worsening.”
| 0 comments | Read more... |