Articles by RD
We found 3678 results.
4+ Logics of Living Together on Planet Earth
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Sep 2014
It is misleading to describe ‘world order’ as consisting exclusively of sovereign territorial states. This misimpression is further encouraged by the structure of the United Nations, whose members are states, and only states.
→ read full articleRight Livelihood Awards 2014 – ‘Alternative Nobel’ Goes to Edward Snowden
Society for the Right Livelihood Award – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Sep 2014
25 Sep 2014 – The 2014 Right Livelihood Honorary Award goes to EDWARD SNOWDEN (USA) “for his courage and skill in revealing the unprecedented extent of state surveillance violating basic democratic processes and constitutional rights”.
→ read full articleBhutan Could Be World’s First Wholly Organic Nation within a Decade
Jo Confino – The Guardian,
29 Sep 2014
Political parties in the Himalayan kingdom unite to eradicate chemical fertilisers and pesticides as part of its Gross National Happiness programme.
→ read full articleBacksliding on Nuclear Promises
The Editorial Board – The New York Times,
29 Sep 2014
The administration is making a foolish trade-off — pouring money into modernization while reducing funds that help improve security at nuclear sites in Russia and other countries where terrorists or criminals could get their hands on nuclear materials.
→ read full articleJulian Assange: ‘When you post to Facebook, you’re being a rat’
James Camp – The Guardian,
29 Sep 2014
Assange said: “Compare the mission statements of Google and the NSA – the NSA say, ‘We want to collect all private information, pool it, store it, sort it, index it, and exploit it.’ Whereas Google says, ‘We want to collect all private information, pool it, store it, sort it, and sell those profiles to advertisers.’ “Really, they’re identical. Every time you go to a party and take a picture and post that picture to Facebook, you’re being a rat. You’re being a narc.”
→ read full articleThe Myth of Religious Violence
Karen Armstrong – The Guardian,
29 Sep 2014
The popular belief that religion is the cause of the world’s bloodiest conflicts is central to our modern conviction that faith and politics should never mix. But the messy history of their separation suggests it was never so simple.
→ read full articleFatah and Hamas Agree Deal for Unity Government to Take Control of Gaza
Peter Beaumont – The Guardian,
29 Sep 2014
25 Sep 2014 – The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have reached a “comprehensive” agreement that would turn over the civil administration of Gaza immediately to officials of a Palestinian unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Breakthrough agreement negotiated in Cairo is designed to ease blockade and open way to reconstruction after Gaza war.
→ read full articleThe Fight to Keep Toxic Mining—and the World Bank—Out of El Salvador
Diana Anahi Torres-Valverde – Foreign Policy In Focus,
29 Sep 2014
Hundreds of protesters recently gathered at the World Bank to shame a gold mining firm’s shakedown of one of Central America’s poorest countries. For miners, investors, and artisans, few things are more precious than gold. But for human life itself, nothing is more precious than water.
→ read full articleJosé Mujica: Is This the World’s Most Radical President?
Giles Tremlett – The Guardian,
29 Sep 2014
Uruguay’s José Mujica lives in a tiny house rather than the presidential palace, and gives away 90% of his salary. He’s legalised marijuana and gay marriage. But his greatest legacy is governing without giving up his revolutionary ideals.
→ read full articleHow to Make Isis Fall on Its Own Sword
Chelsea E Manning – The Guardian,
22 Sep 2014
Degrade and destroy? The west should try to disrupt the canny militants into self-destruction, because bombs will only backfire.
→ read full articleNATO Makes War – NATO Is Not an Alliance for Peace
Robin Edward Poulton – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Sep 2014
NATO’s summit in Wales (September 4-5, 2014) was BAD NEWS for peace makers, and bad for all world citizens. Are the NATO Nuts going to invade Ukraine? Do they want to create a new European war? Dangerous rhetoric and dangerous ideas lead to dangerous actions.
→ read full articleThe New (Religious) Face of Civil Disobedience
Sanford Levinson – Al Jazeera America,
22 Sep 2014
A resurgent sanctuary movement may complicate the precepts of the Christian right. Conservatives and liberals might find themselves rethinking some of their views about the meaning of religious freedom and the responsibilities of good citizenship.
→ read full articleSnowden: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Isn’t Telling the Truth about Mass Surveillance
Edward Snowden – The Intercept,
22 Sep 2014
Let me be clear: any statement that mass surveillance is not performed in New Zealand, or that the internet communications are not comprehensively intercepted and monitored, or that this is not intentionally and actively abetted by the GCSB, is categorically false.
→ read full articleMemo on the Evaluation of the Community Work Program
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Sep 2014
This memo stresses the importance of evaluating CWP´s compliance with its mandate to use public employment to catalyse community development. It also underlines the importance of issues in economic theory that bear on CWP´s contribution to society.
→ read full articleNaomi Klein: The Hypocrisy behind the Big Business Climate Change Battle
Naomi Klein – The Guardian,
15 Sep 2014
I denied climate change for longer than I care to admit. I told myself the science was too complicated and the environmentalists were dealing with it. And I continued to behave as if there was nothing wrong with the “elite” frequent-flyer card in my wallet. A great many of us engage in this kind of denial.
→ read full articleIraq: Yazidis’ Genocide?
René Wadlow, UN Geneva Association of Word Citizens – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Sep 2014
With the incomplete evidence at hand, I would maintain that the ISIS policy is genocide and not just a control of territory. Although the UN “track record” of dealing with genocide is very mixed, the first immediate step is for a State to raise the issue within the UN.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to Rabbi Ira Youdovin
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Serice,
15 Sep 2014
We have exchanged views frequently in the last few years, most often by way of adversary comments. I write now an ‘open letter’ because of your most recent comment objecting to my support for Steven Salaita in his campaign to have his tenure faculty appointment reinstated at the University of Illinois.
→ read full articleThe Fourth Branch – The Rise to Power of the National Security State: Who Rules Washington?
Tom Engelhardt – TomDispatch,
15 Sep 2014
As every schoolchild knows, there are three check-and-balance branches of the U.S. government: the executive, Congress, and the judiciary. That’s bedrock Americanism and the most basic high school civics material. Only one problem: it’s just not so.
→ read full articleIsis Jihadis Aren’t Medieval – They Are Shaped by Modern Western Philosophy
Kevin McDonald – The Guardian,
15 Sep 2014
We should look to revolutionary France if we want to understand the source of Islamic State’s ideology and violence. Contemporary jihadism is not a return to the past. It is a modern, anti-traditional ideology with a very significant debt to western political history and culture.
→ read full articleSteven Salaita and Zionist McCarthyism
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Sep 2014
The outcome of the Salaita case will exhibit the current balance of influence as between Zionist McCarthyism and academic freedom. That such a struggle should be in doubt is itself a national disgrace that suggests the worrisome fragility of academic freedom as reinforced by the potency of money and regressive ideology.
→ read full articleThe Sad Legacy of 9/11: Isis and Al-Qaida Are Stronger Than Ever
Ali Soufan – The Guardian,
15 Sep 2014
Thirteen years later, it’s becoming clear that we have not fought a 13-year war so much as a one-year war, 13 times. It is the sad legacy of our tactic-driven response to 9/11 that bin Ladenism has spread far beyond Osama bin Laden’s wildest dreams.
→ read full article(Italiano) Due tipi di antisemitismo
Richard Falk – Centro Studi Sereno Regis,
15 Sep 2014
Questo secondo tipo di presunto antisemitismo è una tattica impiegata per screditare i critici di Israele insistendo che non andrebbero distinti la critica di Israele e l’odio del popolo ebraico.
→ read full articleMH17 Crash Caused by ‘Objects Penetrating Aircraft from Outside’
Gwyn Topham – The Guardian,
15 Sep 2014
9 Sep 2014 – Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke up in mid-air as a result of structural damage caused by “a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside”, according to the Dutch investigators’ preliminary report.
→ read full articleFukushima Crisis Continues, Was Worse Than First Reported
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
8 Sep 2014
Nobody in the world knows how to dispose of radioactive waste safely and permanently. That’s a given. So Tokyo announced on August 29 [2014] that the Fukushima waste would be stored for 30 years in Fukushima prefect, in an “interim facility.” In Japanese, “Fukushima” means “Island of Good Fortune.”
→ read full articleHow America Made ISIS – Their Videos and Ours, Their “Caliphate” and Ours
Tom Engelhardt - TomDispatch,
8 Sep 2014
Looking back, it’s hard not to think of it as a kind of American jihadism and an attempt to establish what might have been an American caliphate in the region. In the process, the U.S. effectively dismantled and destroyed state power in the countries in which it intervened [Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya], while ensuring the destabilization of neighboring countries and finally the region itself.
→ read full articleTwo Types of Anti-Semitism
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Sep 2014
This second type of supposed anti-Semitism is a tactic deployed to discredit critics of Israel by insisting that criticism of Israel and hatred of the Jewish people should not be distinguished.
→ read full articleIsrael to Build 283 Homes on West Bank
Agence France-Presse – The Guardian,
8 Sep 2014
5 Sep 2014 – Israel has published tenders to build 283 homes in a West Bank settlement, days after announcing its biggest land grab on occupied Palestinian territory for three decades. That move drew international condemnation, even from its staunch ally, the US, and some Israeli cabinet ministers.
→ read full articleRussell Tribunal Session on Palestine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Sep 2014
On September 24 [2014] a special session of the Russell Tribunal will examine war crimes allegations against Israel arising from the 50-day Operation Protective Edge military operation that commenced on July 8th.
→ read full articleFearing Political Islam: Why Arabs Betrayed Gaza
Ramzy Baroud – Toward Freedom,
1 Sep 2014
Some Arab rulers continue to declare their strong support of Palestine and its cause. ‘Operation Protective Edge,’ however, has exposed beyond a doubt that such solidarity is just a mere show of words.
→ read full articleThe US Government Can Brand You a Terrorist Based on a Facebook Post. We Can’t Let Them Make Up the Rules
Arjun Sethi – The Guardian,
1 Sep 2014
Innocent people’s lives are being ruined. Why isn’t anyone watching the watchlist?
→ read full articleThe Outlaw State of Israel (Part I)
Richard Falk and Akbar Ganji – Al Jazeera,
25 Aug 2014
Since 1948 Israel has drawn a long list of military aggression, human rights violations and war crimes. It has become an outlaw state.
→ read full articleThe Outlaw State of Israel (Part II)
Richard Falk and Akbar Ganji – Al Jazeera,
25 Aug 2014
Unconditional US support for the state of Israel has precluded a peace settlement and destabilised the Middle East. In Part I we described the reasons that Israel has become an outlaw state. In this part we discuss US support for Israel and its consequences.
→ read full articleThree Questions for Hamas
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Aug 2014
Whether wittingly or not, the international diplomacy of the West has produced dispossession, violence, and seemingly irreconcilable conflict with disastrous and tragic consequences for the indigenous population of Palestine ever since the end of World War I.
→ read full article“Muslim Rage” and the Hypocrisy of the Western Liberal Elite
Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Aug 2014
The western liberal élite has a problem with Muslims, in particular with Muslim Rage, as Newsweek’s cover called it. It reminds me of that priceless, old misogynist quotation from Sigmund Freud: women–what do they want? What do Muslims want? They want to be part of the modern world yet they import these age-old hatreds that are so–well, primitive and unmodern. Muslims aren’t ready for civilization-primetime.
→ read full articleStrange Regional Alignments in the Gaza Massacre
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Aug 2014
Neighborly Crimes of Complicity in Gaza – The abysmal failure of the Kerry induced talks showed definitively that Israel has lost all interest in a diplomacy that promises the Palestinians a viable and independent sovereign state at the end of the road.
→ read full articleSeaWorld Shares Tumble 33% Following Blackfish Documentary
Ben Beaumont-Thomas – The Guardian,
18 Aug 2014
The negative publicity from Blackfish, a documentary film that followed the violent behaviour of an orca kept captive by SeaWorld, has caused attendance to fall at the theme parks.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden the Most Wanted Man in the World
James Bamford, Wired – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Aug 2014
In May [2014] I received an email from his lawyer, ACLU attorney Ben Wizner, confirming that Snowden would meet me in Moscow and let me hang out and chat with him for what turned out to be three solid days over several weeks. It is the most time that any journalist has been allowed to spend with him since he arrived in Russia in June 2013.
→ read full articleGaza Homes ‘Uninhabitable’ as Tens of Thousands Come Back to Rubble
Jason Burke in Beit Lahia – The Guardian,
18 Aug 2014
United Nations says the level of destruction is ‘unprecedented’ as 30,000 people in Beit Hanoun alone need rehousing.
→ read full articleHashtag Genocide: Why Gaza Fought Back
Ramzy Baroud – Toward Freedom,
18 Aug 2014
Since Israel besieged Gaza with Egypt’s help and coordination, life for Gazans has become largely about mere survival. Gazans were not allowed to venture out, fish, or farm, and those who got even close to some arbitrary “buffer zone,” determined by the Israeli army within Gaza’s own borders, were shot and often killed.
→ read full articleUK Government to Block Arms Exports to Israel If Military Action Resumes
Rupert Neate – The Guardian,
18 Aug 2014
Announcement comes after lengthy dispute between leading Tories and Liberal Democrats over restriction of arms sales.
→ read full article1914: The Great War Has Become a Nightly Pornography of Violence
Simon Jenkins – The Guardian,
11 Aug 2014
The centenary has been seized as a military propaganda opportunity. So-called lessons learned have been ignored or forgotten. Britain’s commemoration of the Great War has lost all sense of proportion. It has become a media theme park, an indigestible cross between Downton Abbey and a horror movie.
→ read full articlePalestinian Open Letter to UNSG Ban Ki-moon on Gaza
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Aug 2014
Open letter to Mr. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon: stand for law and Justice or resign!
→ read full article5 Myths about Nuclear Weapons
Ward Wilson – Publishers Weekly,
11 Aug 2014
We were misled in the first instance, developed a wildly exaggerated sense of nuclear weapons’ power, and then spent forty years too frightened by the Cold War to re-examine our initial assessments.
→ read full articleHollywood Divided: Passions High as Actors and Celebrities Speak Out on Gaza
Rory Carroll – The Guardian,
11 Aug 2014
Artists voicing solidarity for Palestinians trigger backlash from industry heavyweights in a town with strong Israel connections. It is perhaps the last taboo in Hollywood but the carnage in Gaza is prompting an increasing number of artists and celebrities to do the unthinkable: criticise Israel.
→ read full article(Italiano) Dichiarazione congiunta sull’offensiva di Israele contro Gaza da parte di esperti di Diritto Internazionale
Richard Falk – Centro Studi Sereno Regis,
11 Aug 2014
La comunità internazionale deve fermare la punizione collettiva che Israele sta riservando alla popolazione civile nella Striscia di Gaza.
→ read full articleGaza Blockade Must End
Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson – The Guardian,
11 Aug 2014
The UN should mandate an end to the siege of Gaza as a first step towards a settlement. There is no humane or legal justification for how the Israeli Defence Force is conducting this war, pulverising with bombs, missiles and artillery large parts of Gaza, including thousands of homes, schools and hospitals.
→ read full articleCrimes against Humanity in Gaza: Is It Really a ‘Buffer Zone’ – Or a Bigger Plan?
Dennis Kucinich – The Guardian,
11 Aug 2014
5 Aug 2014 – It’s time to step back and ask if we want to support Israel if it wants to eject all Palestinians from their land. Late last week, the White House decried Israel’s attack on a UN school in Gaza as “totally unacceptable” and “totally indefensible”, then proceeded to approve $225m in funding for its Iron Dome.
→ read full articleWant to Have a Real Impact on Climate Change? Then Become a Vegetarian
Travis McKnight – The Guardian,
4 Aug 2014
Millennials who care about the environment should put their money where their mouths are and stop eating meat. It’s time to start a dietary revolution.
→ read full article(Castellano) Javier Bardem sobre la masacre en Gaza
Javier Bardem – El Diario,
4 Aug 2014
25 Jul 2014 – Solo las alianzas geopolíticas, esa máscara hipócrita de los negocios -por ejemplo, la venta de armas- explican la posición vergonzosa de EEUU, la UE y España.
→ read full articleCruelties of Ceasefire Diplomacy
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Aug 2014
Devastation and violence has continued in Gaza, with Palestinians deaths now numbering over 1000 (overwhelmingly civilians) and Israeli deaths latest reported at being 43 (almost all military personnel). Such casualty figures and disparities raise questions of state terrorism in a stark manner.
→ read full articleAs the Gaza Crisis Deepens, Boycotts Can Raise the Price of Israel’s Impunity
Rafeef Ziadah – The Guardian,
4 Aug 2014
If governments refuse to act on Gaza, we must emulate the methods that isolated South Africa during apartheid.
→ read full article(Português) Galeano: Pouca Palestina Resta. Pouco a Pouco, Israel Está Apagando-a do Mapa
Eduardo Galeano – TRANCEND Media Service,
4 Aug 2014
Desde 1948, os palestinos vivem condenados à humilhação perpétua. Não podem sequer respirar sem autorização. Têm perdido a sua pátria, as suas terras, a sua água, a sua liberdade, tudo. Nem sequer têm direito a eleger os seus governantes.
→ read full articleJavier Bardem: Genocide in Gaza
Javier Bardem – El Diario,
4 Aug 2014
In the horror happening right now in Gaza there is NO place for distance or neutrality. It’s a war of occupation and extermination waged against a people with no means, confined in a minimum territory, with no water, and where hospitals, ambulances, and children are targets and presumed to be terrorists.
→ read full articleModern-Day Slavery – Qatar World Cup: Migrants Wait a Year to Be Paid for Building Offices
Robert Booth, and Pete Pattisson in Doha – The Guardian,
4 Aug 2014
Monday 28 July 2014 – Migrant workers who built luxury offices used by Qatar’s 2022 football World Cup organisers have told the Guardian they have not been paid for more than a year and are now working illegally from cockroach-infested lodgings.
→ read full articleJoint Declaration on International Law & Gaza – Final List of Endorsers
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Aug 2014
With only a voluntary effort the Joint Declaration on International Law in relation to the Gaza Attacks by Israel has elicited an encouraging response from legal experts from around the world, including some of our most distinguished colleagues. Others without formal legal credentials have also indicated their support, and expressed their desire to endorse the Joint Declaration.
→ read full articlePortugal Uses EU Bailout Cash to Shore Up Troubled Banco Espírito Santo
Chris Johnston – The Guardian,
4 Aug 2014
Portugal injected almost €5bn into Banco Espírito Santo on Sunday [3 Ago 2014] night to stave off the collapse of the country’s biggest bank following a series of financial scandals.
→ read full articleModern-Day Slavery – Trapped in Qatar: The Migrants Who Helped Build the ‘Tower of Football’
Robert Booth, and Pete Pattisson in Doha – The Guardian,
4 Aug 2014
Despite World Cup host’s promises to improve life for foreign labourers, many still live desperate lives in the shadow of unimaginable riches.
→ read full articleBoth Israelis and Palestinians Are Losers in This Conflict
Daniel Barenboim – The Guardian,
28 Jul 2014
There can be no military solution. Both sides need to acknowledge the other’s suffering and their rights.
→ read full article(Português) Povos de todo o mundo exigem fim do genocídio israelense contra palestinos
Leonardo Wexell Severo – Brasil de Fato,
28 Jul 2014
Em repúdio à carnificina, as grandes avenidas da Alemanha, Argélia, Colôm¬bia, Egito, França, Grécia, Indonésia, Ir¬landa, Estados Unidos e Turquia, entre outras dezenas de países, foram tomadas por multidões vestindo o vermelho, ver¬de, preto e branco da bandeira palestina.
→ read full articlePalestinian Recourse to the International Criminal Court: The Time Has Come
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jul 2014
The political plausibility of invoking the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of criminality directed at Israel increases with each passing day.
→ read full articleWhen BBC Calls, Don’t Answer
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jul 2014
That is, don’t answer, if you are a certified critic of Israeli policies and practices.
→ read full article(Castellano) Galeano: Ya poca Palestina queda. Paso a paso, Israel la está borrando del mapa
Eduardo Galeano – Sin Permiso,
28 Jul 2014
Desde 1948, los palestinos viven condenados a humillación perpetua. No pueden ni respirar sin permiso. Han perdido su patria, sus tierras, su agua, su libertad, su todo. Ni siquiera tienen derecho a elegir sus gobernantes.
→ read full articleGaza Interview
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jul 2014
[Prefatory note: This is an interview with a knowledgeable Greek journalist covering a range of issues associated with the Gaza ordeal] – “Blood on American Hands”: Richard Falk on Palestine
→ read full articleGoogle Doesn’t Want You to Limit Its Ability to Follow You around the Internet
Dan Gillmor – The Guardian,
28 Jul 2014
Behind our screens, tech companies are racing to extract a price for what we read and watch on the web: our personal information.
→ read full articleOn ‘Human Shielding’ in Gaza
Nicola Perugini and Neve Gordon – Al Jazeera,
21 Jul 2014
The Israeli army has tried to justify striking civilian areas. For Palestinians living in Gaza today, simply spending time in their own homes, frequenting a mosque, going to a hospital or to school has become a dangerous enterprise since any one of these architectural edifices can become at any moment a target.
→ read full articleNo Exit from Gaza: A New War Crime?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jul 2014
As the casualty totals continue to mount while the world looks on in stupefied inaction, the attacks go on; at the very least, from a humanitarian perspective, there should be a global outcry demanding that children, mothers, and those sick and disabled be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip until current hostilities end. Yet this is a gap in international humanitarian law and refugee law.
→ read full articleI, Spy: Edward Snowden in Exile
Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill – The Guardian,
21 Jul 2014
He doesn’t drink, he’s reading Dostoevsky and, no, he doesn’t wear a disguise. A year after blowing the whistle on the NSA, America’s most wanted talks frankly about his life as a hero-pariah – and why the world remains ‘more dangerous than Orwell imagined’.
→ read full articleAmerica: Where the “Good Guys” Torture – A Nation of Cowards?
Rebecca Gordon - TomDispatch,
21 Jul 2014
Once upon a time, if a character on TV or in a movie tortured someone, it was a sure sign that he was a bad guy. Now, the torturers are the all-American heroes. There is a word for people whose first concern is always for their own safety and who will therefore permit anything to be done in their name as long as it keeps them secure. Such people are sometimes called cowards.
→ read full articleTormenting Gaza
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jul 2014
There is so much regional turbulence at present that it is unlikely to hope for anything more than scattered verbal denunciations from authorities in the region preoccupied with other concerns, but given the gravity of the situation, attention needs to be refocused on the Palestinian ordeal.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Urges Professionals to Encrypt Client Communications
Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill – The Guardian,
21 Jul 2014
Whistleblower says NSA revelations mean those with duty to protect confidentiality must urgently upgrade security. Watch Snowden’s interview with the Guardian in Moscow.
→ read full articleA Nurse at Gitmo Refuses to Force Feed Any More Prisoners – Others Should Too
Cori Crider – The Guardian,
21 Jul 2014
What the US military does to detainees at Guantánamo is shocking. Perhaps change can come from within.
→ read full articleNobel Literature Laureate Nadine Gordimer Dies Aged 90
David Smith – The Guardian,
21 Jul 2014
Nobel-prize-winning chronicler of apartheid died peacefully in Johannesburg on Sunday [13 Jul 2014].
→ read full articleThe Last Days of Che Guevara: A Graphic Novel – Book Review
Paul Buhle – Toward Freedom,
21 Jul 2014
No iconic, rebellious image of anyone from the 1960s, it is safe to say, looms larger than that of Che Guevara, even today, so long past his death. Che is the one in museums, and on towels in Italy, posters in Vietnam, statues and assorted monuments in Venezuela and so on.
→ read full articleA Tale of Two Cities: Istanbul and Rome
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jul 2014
Symbolically and culturally Istanbul deserves to be privately christened as the global capital of the 21st century. It is only world city that qualifies by virtue of its geographic and civilizational hybridity, Western by history and experience, Eastern by culture and location, Northern by stage of development, modernism, and urban dynamism, Southern by affinities, outreach, and partial identification.
→ read full articleBlood Test Breakthrough in Search for Alzheimer’s Cure
Sarah Boseley – The Guardian,
14 Jul 2014
Test for 10 proteins predicts onset of disease over 12 months in those with mild memory loss with 87% accuracy.
→ read full articleRemembering Fouad Ajami
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jul 2014
For me Fouad Ajami’s legacy is that of ‘sleeping with the enemy.’ And it is an enemy that is politically, morally, and legally responsible for millions of deaths, displacements, and devastating losses.
→ read full articleClimate Refugees: An Entire Island Nation Is Preparing to Evacuate to Fiji Before They Sink Into the Pacific
Gwynn Guilford, Quartz – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jul 2014
The seas around Kiribati’s 32 atolls are rising 1.2 centimeters a year—about four times faster than the global average—thanks to the flux of ocean currents. Some residents expect the sea to subsume their homes within 20 or 30 years.
→ read full articleShifts in the Climate Change Debate: Hope and Suspicion
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jul 2014
The intense lobbying efforts by climate deniers, reinforced in the United States by a right wing anti-government tsunami that has paralyzed Congress, succeeded in blocking even modest market-based steps to induce energy efficiency.
→ read full articleIsis Announces Islamic Caliphate in Area Straddling Iraq and Syria
Mark Tran and Matthew Weaver – The Guardian,
7 Jul 2014
Jihadist group challenges al-Qaida as it changes name to Islamic State and pledges to free Palestine in video.
→ read full articleFacebook Denies Emotion Contagion Study Had Government and Military Ties
Samuel Gibbs – The Guardian,
7 Jul 2014
Researchers say the study was not funded by Minerva Research Initiative, which engaged scientists in national security issues.
→ read full articlePentagon Preparing for Mass Civil Breakdown
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
30 Jun 2014
Social science is being militarised to develop ‘operational tools’ to target peaceful activists and protest movements.
→ read full articleRevealed: Asian Slave Labour Producing Prawns for Supermarkets in US, UK
Kate Hodal, Chris Kelly and Felicity Lawrence – The Guardian,
30 Jun 2014
Thai ‘ghost ships’ that enslave, brutalise and even kill workers are linked to global shrimp supply chain, Guardian investigation discovers.
→ read full articleChina’s Subversive Propaganda War against the Dalai Lama
Gerardo E. Martinez-Solanas – Open Democracy,
30 Jun 2014
The Chinese government is engaged in an intense propaganda war to disrupt or prevent the Dalai Lama’s visits to every country he travels to.
→ read full articleWhy Would Bigots Attack a Jewish-Arab School in Israel That Teaches Tolerance and Mutual Respect?
Neve Gordon and Catherine Rottenberg – The Nation,
16 Jun 2014
This latest evidence of hatred is an alarming reminder of how a wonderful educational project continues to stand on precarious ground.
→ read full articleEmpire of Prisons
James P. Jordan – CounterPunch,
16 Jun 2014
How the United States Is Spreading Mass Incarceration around the World
→ read full articleThe Age of Climate Warfare Is Here. The Military-Industrial Complex Is Ready. Are You?
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
30 May 2014 – During his speech at West Point Military Academy earlier this week, President Barack Obama described climate change as a “creeping national security crisis” that will require the armed forces to “respond to refugee flows, natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food.”
→ read full articleFour Ways Edward Snowden Changed the World – And Why the Fight’s Not Over
Trevor Timm – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
Encrypted Gmail. Transparency from mobile providers. Maybe even a legal ‘revolt’ against ‘Orwellian’ surveillance. But until we get real reform, NSA and Co may survive in the shadows.
→ read full articleWho’s in Control – Nation States or Global Corporations?
Gary Younge – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
The limited ability of national governments to pursue any agenda that has not first been endorsed by international capital and its proxies is no longer simply the cross they have to bear; it is the cross to which we have all been nailed. The nation state is the primary democratic entity that remains. But given the scale of neoliberal globalisation it is clearly no longer up to that task. Minorities are blamed but the real culprit is Neoliberalism.
→ read full articleObama’s Legacy: “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff”
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jun 2014
Cautioning against militarism at West Point President on May 22nd Obama in a speech mostly notable for its reassertion of what might be best understood as imperial nationalism of global scope declared the following:
→ read full articleSolidarity Economies: A Guerrilla War against Capitalism
Beverly Bell and Jessica Hsu – Toward Freedom,
9 Jun 2014
[As Eduardo] Galeano, the Uruguayan writer, said: “Utopia lies at the horizon. When I draw nearer by two steps, it retreats two steps. If I proceed ten steps forward, it swiftly slips ten steps ahead. No matter how far I go, I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of utopia? It is to cause us to advance.”
→ read full articleA Message From Edward Snowden, One Year Later
Edward Snowden – American Civil Liberties Union,
9 Jun 2014
4 Jun 2014 – Below is an email ACLU supporters received from Edward Snowden this morning, one year to the day since The Guardian broke the first in a series of revelations exposing the breathtaking scope of U.S. government surveillance.
→ read full articleGreece – SS Songs and Antisemitism: The Week Golden Dawn Turned Openly Nazi
Helena Smith – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
7 Jun 2014 – Supporters of the far-right party gave Hitler salutes and sang the Horst Wessel song outside parliament last week. How Golden Dawn has taken on a sinister new tone.
→ read full articleProsecuting Syrians for War Crimes Now
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jun 2014
Is justice served when the authority of the ICC is invoked as a political instrument to influence the outcome of a civil war? Why was there never any initiative to pursue leaders of the United States and the United Kingdom during the course of the Iraq War, which also included many incidents that seemed to qualify as crimes against humanity? Double standards?
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: Breaking Law Was Only Option, Says Whistleblower
Tom McCarthy – The Guardian,
2 Jun 2014
One year after revealing himself as the source of the biggest intelligence leak in US history, Edward Snowden appeared in a long network television interview on Wednesday [28 May 2013] to describe himself as an American patriot and to make the case that his disclosures were motivated by a desire to help the country.
→ read full article(Português) Boff: “Piketty Está Certo, Democracia e Capitalismo Não Convivem”
Leonardo Boff - Brasil de Fato,
2 Jun 2014
Para o teólogo Leonardo Boff, obra do economista francês Thomas Piketty acerta quando diz que “a desigualdade não é acidental, mas o traço característico do capitalismo”.
→ read full articlePope Francis Visit to Palestine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jun 2014
Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land raises one overwhelming question: ‘what is the nature of religious power in our world of the 21st century?’ ‘Can it have transformative effects’?
→ read full articleHomophobia Is Deep-Rooted, Rife – And Ultimately Doomed
Owen Jones – The Guardian,
2 Jun 2014
The more conservative the man, the stronger the impulse to wash away gay contact – which is a menace to their identity. A society free of sexism and homophobia won’t just emancipate women and gay men: it will free straight men, too.
→ read full articleFukushima Daiichi Begins Pumping Groundwater into Pacific
Justin McCurry – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
21 May 2014 – The operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has started pumping groundwater into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to manage the large volume of contaminated water at the site. Tokyo Electric Power said it had released 560 tonnes of groundwater pumped from 12 wells located upstream from the damaged reactors.
→ read full articleThe Pentagon Report on Snowden’s ‘Grave’ Threat Is Gravely Overblown
Julian Sanchez – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
NSA defenders still won’t tell the whole truth, but a newly revealed damage assessment offers a window into government damage control – not any actual damage done by Snowden.
→ read full article10 Reasons to Go Vegan That Have Nothing to Do with Animal Rights
Lindsay McDougall – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
Do you want to go meat free but are sick of the animal rights crowd? Can’t remember a single stat about sustainable land use? Then try these alternative reasons (excuses) on for size.
→ read full article