Articles by ICH
We found 2516 results.
The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
24 Feb 2014
In the course of the last four years, there has been a surge in Afghan opium production. The Vienna based UN Office on Drugs and Crime reveals that poppy cultivation in 2012 extended over an area of more than 154,000 hectares, an increase of 18% over 2011. A UNODC spokesperson confirmed in 2013 that opium production is heading towards record levels.
→ read full articleDivorcing
Dietrich Fisher – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Feb 2014
An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty five years of misery is enough.”
→ read full articleIs a Boycott of Israel Just?
Sonya Michel – International New York Times,
24 Feb 2014
B.D.S. is, in fact, a legal, moral and inclusive movement struggling against the discriminatory policies of a country that defines itself in religiously exclusive terms, and that seeks to deny Palestinians the most basic rights simply because we are not Jewish.
→ read full articleTalking Roles
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Feb 2014
Daughter: “Mother, what is an ‘extra’ in the theater?” Mother explains,
→ read full articleTerrorism with a “Human Face”: Syria Al Qaeda “Freedom Fighters” are “Not Killing Civilians”
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
17 Feb 2014
The attacks by opposition forces largely integrated by Al Qaeda terrorists can no longer be denied. What is now occurring is a re-branding of the various terrorist formations covertly support by Western intelligence. The latest slur of media disinformation consists in providing a “human face” to Al Qaeda.
→ read full articleSuicides of Bank Executives, Fraud, Financial Manipulation: JPMorgan Chase Advisor Tony Blair Is Not Involved
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
17 Feb 2014
JPMorgan Chase is the unspoken architect of fraud, corruption, not to mention the establishment of the largest Ponzi scheme in World history. The agenda is to steal and appropriate wealth through market manipulation.
→ read full articleCluster-Bomb Imperialism: The Lethal Legacy of US Interventions
Sheldon Richman - CounterPunch,
17 Feb 2014
“The tragic upsurge of violence in Iraq in recent months, including the temporary takeover of two major cities by al-Qaida, is a direct consequence of the repression of peaceful dissent by the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad and of the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation…” 40 years after America’s war of aggression against the people of Southeast Asia, American munitions continue to kill people.
→ read full articleClimate Change Is Here Now and It Could Lead to Global Conflict
Nicholas Stern – The Guardian,
17 Feb 2014
Extreme weather events in the UK and overseas are part of a growing pattern that it would be very unwise for us, or our leaders, to ignore, writes the author of the influential 2006 report on the economics of climate change.
→ read full articleOMAR: Uncovering Occupied Palestine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
OMAR is the second film directed by Hany Alu-Assad to be a finalist among foreign language films nominated to receive an Oscar at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony on March 2nd.
→ read full articleIndustrial Band Skinny Puppy Demand $666,000 after Music Is Used in Guantánamo Torture
Sean Michaels – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
“We sent them an invoice for our musical services considering they had gone ahead and used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody,” keyboardist Cevin Key recently told CTV News.
→ read full articleComputers
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
A French teacher in the USA explained to her class that in French every noun is either masculine or feminine. A student asked, “How about a computer?”
→ read full articleShould David Cameron Be Prosecuted for Recruiting Brits to Fight in Al Qaeda Ranks in Syria?
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
10 Feb 2014
A top British prosecutor has “warned that Britons who travel to join the Syrian conflict will face prosecution and potential life sentences on their return.” What she fails to address is that the British “freedom fighters” are being recruited with the full support of Prime Minister David Cameron in defiance of UK laws.
→ read full articleA Meeting with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 35 Years Ago
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
Khomeini by insisting on all or nothing against the Shah did create an Iranian transition to a new political order. In contrast the 2011 militants in Tahrir Square were content with the removal of Mubarak and promises of reforms, and ended up succumbing to a counter-revolutionary tsunami that has reconstituted the repressive Mubarak past in a more extreme form.
→ read full articleDark Lands: The Grim Truth behind the ‘Scandinavian Miracle’
Michael Booth – The Guardian,
3 Feb 2014
Television in Denmark is rubbish, Finnish men like a drink – and Sweden is not exactly a model of democracy. Why, asks one expert, does everybody think the Nordic region is a utopia?
→ read full articleBe Careful What You Wish…
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Feb 2014
A husband and wife, both sixty years old, were walking through a forest.
→ read full articleCorporation Carte Blanche: Will US-EU Trade Become Too Free?
Michaela Schiessl – Der Spiegel,
27 Jan 2014
Opposition to the planned new trans-Atlantic free trade agreement is growing. So far, criticism has focused on the fact that the deal seems directed exclusively at economic interests. Now fears are growing that corporations will be given too much power.
→ read full articleAn American Idol: The United States Should ‘Govern’ the World?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jan 2014
This post consists of a much expanded text of an opinion piece that was published by AJE on January 18, 2014; it seeks to discredit imperial and neoliberal claims that the United States is a benevolent hegemon, providing global public goods to the world as a whole, including supposed geopolitical and ideological rivals.
→ read full articleThe Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) vs. Syria’s “Moderate” Al Qaeda Terrorists
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
27 Jan 2014
The Western media has tacitly acknowledged, faced with overwhelming evidence, that the opposition rebels have not only committed countless atrocities, they were also behind the chemical weapons attack of August 21. The evolving media narrative –which coincides in a timely fashion with the Geneva 2 Peace Conference– consists in distinguishing between two categories of Al Qaeda affiliated rebel organizations.
→ read full articleImperiled Polities: Egypt and Turkey—Two Visions of Democracy
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jan 2014
The recent disturbing political turmoil in Turkey and Egypt, each in its own way, is illustrative. In both countries there are strong, although quite divergent, traditions of charismatic authoritarian leadership, reinforced by quasi-religious sanctification. Very recently, however, this authoritarian past is being challenged by counter-traditions of populist legitimacy.
→ read full articleTPP: Poison for Local Community Resilience
Richard Heinberg – Common Dreams,
20 Jan 2014
If a city, county, or state were to ban fracking within its jurisdiction, oil companies could overturn the ban and sue for millions of dollars in lost profits. Want to label GM foods? Sorry, that’s a barrier to trade. Want local schools to buy healthy food from local farmers? Nope, that might violate the rights of Big Ag. Want to protect a forest? Stand aside, you’re in the way of profits.
→ read full articleClimate Activists Slapped With Terrorism Charges for Devon Energy Protest
Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Jan 2014
10 Jan 2014 – Two climate activists who staged a protest at the headquarters of Devon Energy, a Fortune 500 company based in Oklahoma city, have been charged with a “terrorism hoax” after black powder drifted down from a banner that they unfurled.
→ read full articleRelax!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Jan 2014
On a flight from New York to Sydney, the pilot announced that they had engine trouble and would have to make an emergency landing at sea near a small uninhabited South Pacific island.
→ read full articleSewage Sludge as Fertilizer: Safe?
Jill Richardson – Food Safety News,
20 Jan 2014
Despite sludge’s relative obscurity, the newly formed Food Rights Network is taking on sewage sludge as its flagship issue. Simply put, the group says that it is not safe to grow food in sewage sludge [industrial, hospital, human excrements/waste].
→ read full articleCONFIRMED: The DEA Struck a Deal with Mexico’s Most Notorious Drug Cartel
Michael Kelley – Business Insider,
20 Jan 2014
An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels.
→ read full articleHarassment of Climate Scientists Needs to Stop
Richard Schiffman – The Guardian,
13 Jan 2014
When Michael Mann chose a career in science, he didn’t think that he would be denounced on billboards, grilled by hostile legislators on Capitol Hill and in the British House of Commons, have his emails hacked and stolen, receive letters laced with an anthrax-like white powder, and become the target of anonymous death threats.
→ read full articleThou Shalt Not Bear False Witness against Thy Government: The Case of John Kiriakou
Alyssa Rohricht - CounterPunch,
13 Jan 2014
To date, only one person has been jailed in connection to the US torture program. One man has been put behind bars for the part that the United States has played in torturing prisoners of war around the globe.
→ read full articleThe Emergent Palestinian Imaginary
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
It is often overlooked that as early as 1988, and possibly earlier, the unified Palestinian leadership has decisively opted for what I would call a ‘sacrificial’ peace. By sacrificial I mean an acceptance of peace and normalization with Israel that is premised upon the relinquishment of significant Palestinian rights under international law.
→ read full articleObsession
Richard Wiseman – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
A psychoanalyst shows a patient an inkblot, and asks him what he sees. The patient says: “A man and woman making love.”
→ read full articleBeholding 2014
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jan 2014
2013 was not a happy year in the chronicles of human history, yet there were a few moves in the directions of peace and justice. What follows are some notes that respond to the mingling of light and shadows that are flickering on the global stage, with a spotlight placed on the main war zone of the 21st century—the Middle East, recalling that Europe had this negative honor for most of the modern era.
→ read full articleNSA Seeks to Build Quantum Computer That Could Crack Most Types of Encryption
Steven Rich and Barton Gellman – The Washington Post,
6 Jan 2014
The US National Security Agency is racing to build a computer that could break nearly every kind of encryption used to protect banking, medical, business and government records around the world, according to documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
→ read full articleThe Eleventh Hour – Decision Time
R. Teichmann – News Beacon Ireland,
6 Jan 2014
It is a well-known fact in biology that pressures of an existential nature on a species result in two possible outcomes. The first outcome is that the species evolves. It adapts by way of biological evolution to the new conditions and survives. The second is that the species does not evolve and thus perishes.
→ read full article2014: International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jan 2014
In a little noted initiative the General Assembly on November 26, 2013 voted to proclaim 2014 the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
→ read full articleSamer Issawi, Hunger Strikes, and the Palestinian Struggle
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Dec 2013
For the last three years Palestinian prisoners unlawfully detained in Israeli jails have been engaged in hunger strikes to protest administrative detention, imprisonment without indictment, charges, and access to allegedly incriminating evidence, abusive arrest procedures…
→ read full articleI Am Outraged – A Christmas Poem
Rudi Teichmann – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Dec 2013
I am outraged
Because every second children die of hunger by design
Because every second old people die lonely
Because brother fights against brother
Transatlantic Trade Agreement Threatens Environment and Health in U.S. and Europe
Erich Pica – Huffington Post,
30 Dec 2013
24 Dec 2013 – Negotiations between the United States and European Union for a free trade agreement, which resumed this week in Washington, represent one of the biggest threats we have seen in our lifetimes to an environmentally sustainable and socially just world.
→ read full articleWashington’s New Islamic Front: Expanded U.S. Support to Al Qaeda Rebels in Syria
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
23 Dec 2013
What the US and its allies are establishing are new effective “direct channels” for increasing their support to their Al Qaeda foot soldiers, essentially using the new Islamic Front as a “Go Between”. This procedure is contemplated following the apparent demise of the Supreme Military Command of the FSA.
→ read full articleNorthern Ireland and the Israel/Palestine ‘Peace Process’
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
I visited Belfast the last few days during some negotiations about unresolved problems between Unionist and Republican (or Nationalist) political parties, I was struck by the absolute dependence for any kind of credibility of this process upon the unblemished perceived neutrality of the mediating third party.
→ read full articleThe Palestinian National Movement Advances
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
The Palestinian shift toward Legitimacy Wars is a recognition that in this kind of conflict the decisive battles are generally not won by the side with the superior weaponry and technology but rather by the side that prevails in the realm of ideas and symbols of just cause.
→ read full articleSettled!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3.
→ read full articleBoycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel
Richard Pérez-Peña and Jodi Rudoren – The New York Times,
23 Dec 2013
An American organization of professors on Monday [16 Dec 2013] announced a boycott of Israeli academic institutions to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, signaling that a movement to isolate and pressure Israel that is gaining ground in Europe has begun to make strides in the United States.
→ read full articleTimothy Leary’s Liberation, and the CIA’s Experiments! LSD’s Amazing, Psychedelic History
Richard J. Miller - Salon,
16 Dec 2013
The U.S. psychedelic drug scene was kickstarted by spies and spooks, just as much as Timothy Leary and Jerry Garcia.
→ read full articleIs NATO’s Trojan Horse Riding Toward the ‘Ukraine Spring’?
Dennis Kucinich - Reader Supported News,
16 Dec 2013
While the draft of the EU “Association Agreement” is being sold as an economic boon for Ukrainian citizens, it is a massive expansion of NATO’s military position in the region. Naomi Klein’s Disaster Militarism. Ukrainians may be pro-EU, but are the EU and NATO pro-Ukrainian?
→ read full articleOfficials Say U.S. May Never Know Extent of Snowden’s Leaks
Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt – The New York Times,
16 Dec 2013
A senior N.S.A. official has told reporters that he believed Mr. Snowden still had access to documents not yet disclosed. The official, Rick Ledgett, who is heading the security agency’s task force examining the leak, said he would consider recommending amnesty for Mr. Snowden in exchange for those documents.
→ read full articleNot Too Bad
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Dec 2013
An elderly man went to the doctor for his annual checkup.
→ read full articleEscaping the Abusive State: After Snowden
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
We can and must do better, above all as citizens engaged in the protection of the sort of society we wish to live in; without civic activism of a militant character we can wave goodbye to the promise of genuine democracy.
→ read full articleNelson Mandela’s Inspiration
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
Fifteen years ago I had the extraordinary pleasure of meeting Nelson Mandela in Cape Town while he was serving as President of South Africa. His journey, like that of Gandhi, was not without its major disappointments.
→ read full articleLaziness
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
A foreman at a construction site told a new worker, “Your two colleagues carry two buckets of cement at a time…
→ read full articleIndia Creates Organic Seed Bank in Response to GMO Suicide Seeds, Farmer Debt
Christina Sarich – Nation of Change,
9 Dec 2013
Across 17 states in India there are a group of organic seed-collecting activists who have decided to take Monsanto and other Big Ag and chemical companies down in this interminable fight the old-fashioned way – by beating them at their own game.
→ read full articleTribunal Issues Landmark Verdict against Israel for Genocide
Yoichi Shimatsu - Global Research,
9 Dec 2013
1 Dec 2013 – The landmark ruling against Israel for its genocide against the Palestinian people rendered by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal is significant for several reasons.
→ read full articleHere Is Why Deconstructing Zionism Is Important
Michael Marder – Al Jazeera,
9 Dec 2013
First, the biggest threat to the wellbeing and security of Israeli Jews (and, often, by implication of Jews who live elsewhere in the world and are assumed to be the supporters of Israeli policies) is neither Iran nor Syria; it is the State of Israel itself.
→ read full articleGaza: The Unfolding Humanitarian Catastrophe
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Servivce,
2 Dec 2013
Sadly – how sadly – the Palestinian Authority and the quisling Fateh are in lockstep, fellow travelers with this miasma of shame and inhumanity. Hamas and Fateh must overcome the USraeli “divide and rule” tactics and link arms as a solid force of resistance to the illegal occupation of their homeland. Today, that must be the number one priority!
→ read full articleClashing Views of Political Reality: Chomsky versus Dershowitz
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The book is much more than a comparison of two influential voices, one critical the other apologetic, with respect to the Israel/Palestine struggle and the subordination of private liberties to the purveyors of state-led security at home and abroad.
→ read full articleLeakers, Privacy Activists Find New Home in Berlin
Michael Birnbaum – The Washington Post,
2 Dec 2013
During the Cold War, Berlin was one of the most spy-ridden cities in the world. An international cadre of privacy advocates is settling in Germany’s once-divided capital, saying they feel safer here than they do in the United States or Britain, where authorities have vowed to prosecute leakers of official secrets.
→ read full articleGotcha!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
One evening, a husband brings his wife a glass of water and an aspirin.
→ read full articleGeneva 3 Talks: Iran Nuclear Negotiations 4 Dummies
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The third round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 is well under way in Geneva. They present a unique opportunity – not for the United States, but for the revival of international law and treaties – and the rejection if imperialism. Let us hope that the opportunity is not plundered.
→ read full articleThe Truth
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Young Son: “Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of India and Middle East…”
→ read full articleSleepwalking to Extinction: Capitalism and the Destruction of Life and Earth
Richard Smith, Adbusters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Capitalism is, overwhelmingly, the main driver of planetary ecological collapse. Economic systems come and go. Capitalism has had a 300 year run. The question is: will humanity stand by and let the world be destroyed to save the profit system?
→ read full articleTwo Forms of Lethal Polarization: Egypt and Turkey
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Nov 2013
I am arguing that these instances of polarization amount to a deadly virus that attacks the body politic in countries with weak constitutional traditions, especially if such societies are beset by economic disappointment and significant regional and global hostility due to ideological and political tensions.
→ read full articlePrecision
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Nov 2013
Three boys went into a drug store.
→ read full articleSweden Closes Four Prisons as Number of Inmates Plummets
Richard Orange – The Guardian,
18 Nov 2013
Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences.
→ read full articleHuman Rights Advocate: Censor Them!
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
On November 4th, Iranian lawyer and the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate [Shirin Ebadi] announced that the United States and Europe should ban Iran from using broadcast satellites. Censor them, is what this ‘human rights’ advocate is suggesting. Shocking as this is, given Ebadi’s track record, the call for censorship comes as no surprise. She is, after all, a former judge.
→ read full articleIf…
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and Napoleon met in hell.
→ read full articleThe Great Austerity Shell Game: Here’s How the Capitalist Scam Works
Prof. Richard Wolff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
When capitalist economies crash, most capitalists request – and governments provide – credit market bailouts and economic stimuli. However, corporations and the rich oppose new taxes ‘on them’ to pay for stimulus and bailout programs. They insist, instead, that governments should ‘borrow’ the necessary funds. Since 2007, capitalist governments everywhere borrowed massively for those costly programs.
→ read full articleIreland: Israeli Products Marked with Yellow Sticker
Itamar Eichner - Ynetnews,
11 Nov 2013
Sources in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that the phenomenon is severe and it is not by chance that the BDS organization chose to express its protest with a yellow sticker – which is reminiscent of dark days of racism and incitement.
→ read full articleInvisible Horizons of a Just Palestine/Israel Future
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
4 Nov 2013 – I spent last week at the United Nations, meeting with ambassadors of countries in the Middle East and presenting my final report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly as my term as Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine comes to an end.
→ read full articleTexas Club Auctions Right to Hunt Endangered Rhino: Killing It to Save It
Michael Graczyk, AP – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Plans to auction a rare permit that will allow a hunter to take down an endangered black rhino are drawing criticism from some conservationists, but the organizer says the fundraiser could bring in more than $1 million that would go toward protecting the species.
→ read full articleDavid Cameron Makes Veiled Threat to Media over NSA and GCHQ Leaks
Nicholas Watt – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
David Cameron has called on the Guardian and other newspapers to show “social responsibility” in the reporting of the leaked NSA files to avoid high court injunctions or the use of D notices to prevent the publication of information that could damage national security.
→ read full article
Ave Maria – Schubert Classical Guitar (Music Video of the Week)
Michael Lucarelli – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Michael Lucarelli plays Franz Schuberts’s Ave Maria on classical guitar.
Filmed at the “Cathedral of the Madeleine” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
US Political Dysfunction and Capitalism’s Withdrawal
Richard D. Wolff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The classic problems of early, rapid capitalist industrialization are obvious daily in the new centers. What we learn about early capitalism when we read Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Maxim Gorky and Jack London, we see now again in the new centers.
→ read full articleMalala and Eartha Kitt: Words that Matter
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
I connect Malala and Eartha Kitt in my mind because both seized the moment to speak truth to power, probably sensing that it meant they would never be invited back [to the White House], and for Eartha Kitt it was worse than that. It seems almost certain that neither of these fearless women would have been invited in the first place if their intentions to speak out had been known in advance.
→ read full articleLearning from Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge
R. Teichmann – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
To Change Society a Cultural Revolution in Activism Is Needed
→ read full articleReport of SR on Occupied Palestine to UNGA, 29 Oct 2013
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
In the present report, while noting the continuing non-cooperation of Israel, the Special Rapporteur addresses Israel’s Operation “Pillar of Defense” and the general human rights situation in the Gaza Strip, as well as the expansion of Israeli settlements – and businesses that profit from Israeli settlements and the situation of Palestinians detained by Israel.
→ read full articleUS Politics’ True Bipartisan Consensus: Capitalism Is Untouchable
Richard Wolff – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Democrats like moderate Keynesianism. Republicans favour free markets unfettered. The crisis-ridden system is never challenged. The economic aim of both major US political parties is, in the end, the same: to protect and reinforce the capitalist system.
→ read full articleFukushima Fraud and Corruption: Japanese Organized Crime Involved in Recruitment of “Specialized Personnel”
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
28 Oct 2013
The crisis in Japan has been described as “a nuclear war without a war”. In the words of renowned novelist Haruki Murakami: “This time no one dropped a bomb on us … We set the stage, we committed the crime with our own hands, we are destroying our own lands, and we are destroying our own lives.”
→ read full articleFactory Farming: The True Price of a Pork Chop
Susanne Amann, Michael Fröhlingsdorf and Udo Ludwig – Der Spiegel,
28 Oct 2013
Germany slaughters 58 million pigs a year and has built an efficient meat industry second only to the US in pork exports — but at a hidden cost to the environment and our health.
→ read full articleGood Time in the Movies
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
A young man told his girlfriend, “Tonight we will have a good time, I bought three movie tickets.”
→ read full articlePost-Intervention Libya: A Militia State
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
We can only wonder whether Libya as of 2013 is not better understood as a ‘militia state’ rather than a ‘failed state,’ which seems like an emerging pattern for societies that endure Western military intervention. The parallels of Libya with Iraq and Afghanistan are uncomfortably suggestive.
→ read full articleIsrael’s Politics of Fragmentation
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
If the politics of deflection exhibit the outward reach of Israel’s grand strategy of territorial expansionism and regional hegemony, the politics of fragmentation serves Israel’s inward moves designed to weaken Palestinian resistance, induce despair, and de facto surrender.
→ read full articleSmart Help
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
During a heavy rainstorm, you come with your car to a bus stop where three people are waiting:
→ read full articleWas it a Psyop? Nairobi Mall Deceit Abets Israeli-Western Pipeline Wars to Oust Asian Rivals
Yoichi Shimatsu - Global Research,
7 Oct 2013
The gratuitous violence and spectacular overkill by a mysterious gang of supposed “terrorists” does nothing to further the aims of either Somali nationalism or sharia law, as espoused by the original Al-Shabaab movement, which seeks the withdrawal of Kenya forces from Somalia.
→ read full articleThe Real North Korean Threat
Emanuel Pastreich – Foreign Policy in Focus,
7 Oct 2013
In North Korea, the threat of desertification should be raised to the same level as nuclear nonproliferation. I refer to the spread of deserts and semi-desert regions in North Korea as a result of the reckless logging of forests, the misuse of soil, and irresponsible farming practices. These ecological dead zones, where few plants can survive, are spreading.
→ read full articleThe Sarin Mysteries: Syria, Sarin, and Casus Belli
Michael Parenti – Information Clearing House,
7 Oct 2013
The “Syrian freedom fighters” include men who are not even Syrian. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ISIS, an Iraqi al Qaeda outfit operating in Syria, “has become a magnet for foreign jihadists” who view the war in Syria rather as a historic battleground for a larger Sunni holy war. According to Islamic prophecy they espouse, they must establish an Islamic state in Syria as a step to achieving a global one.”
→ read full articleCan Iran Trust the United States?
Sheldon Richman – The Future of Freedom Foundation,
7 Oct 2013
People ask whether the United States can trust Iran. The better question is whether Iran can trust the United States. Since 1979 the U.S. government has prosecuted a covert and proxy war against Iran. The objective has been regime change and installation of a government that will loyally serve U.S. state objectives.
→ read full articleSkills
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Oct 2013
The radio announcer Daniel Shorr was considering working in television early in his career and asked someone what it would take to be successful there.
→ read full articleHow Syria Brought the U.S. and Iran Together
Richard Javad Heydarian – Foreign Policy in Focus,
7 Oct 2013
This year’s UN General Assembly may well be remembered as the beginning of the end for Washington’s decades-long standoff with Tehran. And none of it would have been possible if the Obama administration had gone ahead with its plan to attack Syria.
→ read full articleIsrael’s Politics of Deflection
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Oct 2013
It seems clear that international law supports Palestinian claims on the major issues in contention: borders, refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, resources (water, land), statehood, and human rights. Then why not insist on resolving the conflict by reference to international law with such modifications as seem mutually beneficial?
→ read full articleCyprus-Style Wealth Confiscation Is Now Starting to Happen All Over the Globe
Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Now that “bail-ins” have become accepted practice all over the planet, no bank account and no pension fund will ever be 100% safe again. In fact, Cyprus-style wealth confiscation is already starting to happen all around the world. Examples:
→ read full articleSyria: UNSC Resolution 2118; What Just Happened?
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – Counter Currents,
30 Sep 2013
The provision to safeguard against future use of chemical weapons is not without its irony: “Underscores that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons.” In the face of solid indication to the contrary, the Assad government was held responsible for the chemical attacks that resulted in the passing of UNSC 2118 – exonerating the culprits. A new and dangerous precedent has been set amidst the sight of relief.
→ read full articleRight!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Someone was looking at a farm with the whole family working the field and said,
→ read full articleThe Ghouta Chemical Attacks: US-Backed False Flag? Killing Syrian Children to Justify a “Humanitarian” Military Intervention
Julie Lévesque and Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
30 Sep 2013
To date, available evidence indicates that numerous children were killed by “opposition rebels”, their bodies manipulated and filmed with a view to blaming the Syrian government for the attacks, thus sparking outrage and galvanizing worldwide public opinion in favor of another bloody, imperial US-led war.
→ read full articleRecovery Hype: American Capitalism’s Weapon of Mass Distraction
Richard Wolff - The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
You don’t have to be a Marxist to see how the 1% tries to fool us that we too are sharing in their renewed wealth. But it helps. From President Obama on down, defenders of the status quo insist that the US economy has “recovered” or “is recovering”. Some actually see the world that way.
→ read full articleThe Westgate Mall Massacre: Reflections
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
The Westgate Mall Massacre: The Rage of Fanaticism – Imagine deciding on the life or death of any person, but particularly a child, by whether or not they could name the mother of Mohammed or recite a verse from the Koran. Of course, even fanatics have a certain logic of justification that makes their acts congruent with a warped morality.
→ read full articleThe Violence of Psalm 21
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Psalm 21 and the Human Predicament – If a religious text nurtures morally unacceptable impulses that are acted upon either consciously or sub-consciously in political domains, how can these adverse influences be repudiated without purporting to claim a hegemonic status for a secular reader?
→ read full articleTop 10 Unproven Claims for War against Syria
Dennis Kucinich – Huffington Post,
23 Sep 2013
Here are some key questions which President Obama has yet to answer in the call for congressional approval for war against Syria. This article is a call for independent thinking and congressional oversight, which rises above partisan considerations.
→ read full articleDentist Economics
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
Betty goes to a dentist and asks him how much it will cost to extract a wisdom tooth. “Eighty Euros,” the dentist says.
→ read full articleToo Big to Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever Before
Michael Snyder – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
The six largest banks in the United States have gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years. Meanwhile, 1,400 smaller banks have disappeared from the banking industry during that time. What this means is that the health of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley is more critical to the U.S. economy than ever before.
→ read full articleThe Myth of the “Free Market” and How to Make the Economy Work for Us
Robert Reich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
One of the most deceptive ideas continuously sounded by the Right is that the “free market” is natural and inevitable, existing outside and beyond government. So whatever inequality or insecurity it generates is beyond our control.
→ read full articleHow the Syrian Chemical Weapons Videos Were Staged
James Corbett, Mother Agnes Mariam, and Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
23 Sep 2013
In the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack, shocking footage of the victims of that attack were widely circulated in an effort to raise the ire of the public and spur support for military intervention. Now, a new report on that footage finds troubling inconsistencies and manipulation with the video that calls the official narrative of the attack and its victims into question.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Tamil National Alliance Wins Landslide Victory in First Local Elections since Civil War
Michael Edwards and wires – Australia Network News,
23 Sep 2013
Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party has secured 30 seats in the 38-member Northern Provincial Council. A coalition of parties representing president Mahinda Rajapaksa won seven seats, while a Muslim party won one.
→ read full articleGay Rights in Russia and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Michael Averko - Global Research,
23 Sep 2013
Since the enactment of Article 6.13.1, Russia has hosted two international sporting events (the World University Games and the IAAF World Championships), without any report of abuse against LGBT athletes or spectators. In comparison to these two sports events, the winter Olympics receives greater attention, thereby making it a more attractive event for advocacy promotion.
→ read full article