Articles by M

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International Women’s Day – 8 March
The United Nations – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

2015: Empowering Women – Empowering Humanity: Picture It! – A time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

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After Netanyahu Speech, Congress Is Officially High School
Matt Taibbi – Rolling Stone, 9 Mar 2015

Israeli Prime Minister’s visit inspires bitchy barbs and insults, and nobody came out of this week looking good except Obama because he mostly stayed off camera and kept his mouth shut. It was a depressing, circus-like demonstration of how schizoid and dysfunctional Washington politics have become.

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March: This Month in Nuclear Threat History
Jeffrey W. Mason – Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 9 Mar 2015

March 1, 1982 – President Ronald Reagan watched the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center rehearse a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and Soviet Union…

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Time Banks: A Tool for Restorative Justice and Community Strength
Beverly Bell – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Timebanking is mutual credit, where whenever somebody provides a service to a member in a timebank, they get credit, which they can redeem for that same amount of time to get something they need from someone else in the network. It’s fluid and flexible. Timebanking doesn’t have to involve a direct exchange between two people, and it doesn’t have to happen in the same span of time.

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‘A Consciousness Free of Occupation’: Bil’in Marks 10 Years of Popular Nonviolent Struggle
Haggai Matar - +972 Magazine, 9 Mar 2015

The village that managed to unite the world behind the spirit of nonviolent Palestinian protest marks not only a decade of tear gas, night raids and tragedy, but also of co-resistance and victories in its struggle against settlements, the separation barrier and the occupation.

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Ohio Students Approve Israel Divestment Vote by Landslide
Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronic Intifada – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

On Tuesday [3 Mar 2015] the student government at the University of Toledo in Ohio approved a resolution to divest from companies which profit from Israeli violations of Palestinians’ rights. The resolution passed with 21 student senators in favor and only four against.

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Robert Reich Takes On the Trans-Pacific Partnership
MoveOn.org – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest–and worst–trade deal you’ve never heard of and Republicans in Congress want to work with the Obama administration to “fast track” its passage.

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(Deutsch) Charlie und die Heuchler
Peter Vonnahme - Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 9 Mar 2015

Millionen behaupteten am 11. Januar 2015, dass sie Charlie sind („Je suis Charlie“). Die meisten von ihnen hatten bis zur Nachricht über die Ermordung der zehn Journalisten keine Ahnung, dass es eine Satirezeitschrift namens Charlie Hebdo überhaupt gibt. Dessen ungeachtet nahmen sie über Nacht eine neue Identität an.

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U.S. Missile Officer Who Ran ‘Violent Street Gang’ Gets 25 Years
Kristin Davis – Air Force Times, 9 Mar 2015

Capt. Leon Brown IV, a USAF nuclear missileer, was tried for crimes committed while leading a violent street gang and convicted of “two counts of sexual assault of a child younger than 16; distribution of marijuana and psilocybin; use of psilocybin; willful dereliction of duty; conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman; pandering; unlawful entry; and four specifications of communicating threats.” He was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and dishonorably discharged.

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Interview: Mildred Aristide, Former First Lady of Haiti
Haiti Solidarity – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Mildred Aristide is an attorney who as former First Lady of Haiti headed the country’s National AIDS Commission and authored a book on the root causes of child domestic service.

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Breedlove’s Bellicosity – Berlin Alarmed by Aggressive NATO Stance on Ukraine
SPIEGEL Staff – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

US President Obama supports Chancellor Merkel’s efforts at finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. But hawks in Washington seem determined to torpedo Berlin’s approach. And NATO’s top commander in Europe hasn’t been helping either.

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Former Guantanamo Detainee David Hicks Speaks Up
Richard Phillips, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Hicks, an Australian citizen, was captured in Afghanistan by the Northern Alliance in late 2001, sold to the US military and sent to Guantanamo Bay. He spent five and a half years in the prison hellhole where he was subjected to sleep deprivation, beatings, solitary confinement and was injected with unknown substances.

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The Cultural Heritage of Iraq and Syria: “Destroyed by Human Ignorance − Rebuilt by Human Hope”
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

There have been iconoclastic movements in the past, especially among Muslims and early Protestants holding that the spiritual world cannot (and thus should not) be represented in forms. The iconoclastic reasoning can be defended, but not the destruction of objects which represented other philosophies, cultures and levels of understanding.

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Know the Enemy
Jon Taylor – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

A terrorist is someone
who opposes the dictates of imperialism;
an extremist is someone who defends
his country against foreign invasion.

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Saudi Arabia Becomes World’s Biggest Arms Importer amid Regional Concerns
I24News – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

8 Mar 2015 – Saudi Arabia has become the world’s largest arms importer, surpassing India, amid increased tensions in the Middle East. Spending rose to $6.5 billion, rising 54 percent as compared to last year.

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Syria, Lebanon, and the Middle East: Enabling a War-to-Peace Transition
Tatsushi Arai, PhD – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

A key to realizing these measures is a sustained, systematic effort to build public awareness and capacity. Developing Arabic instruction materials on peace building and using them to train capable trainers who can effectively disseminate relevant skills and knowledge are two of the most urgent immediate tasks to enable the rest of the suggested measures to unfold.

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Radicalisation versus Demonisation?
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Enabling Radical Initiatives under Conditions of Strategic Stalemate – In a period in which radicalisation is upheld as a matter of ever increasing political concern, there is seemingly little understanding of the condition of being a radical — other than as perceived and labelled by others according to some convention of normality.

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Students Occupy University of Amsterdam (De Nieuwe Universiteit)
De Nieuwe Universiteit – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

The general motivation behind all these demands is discontent with the current ways of management. Top-down, efficiency-oriented management damages the very thing a university should revolve around: research and education.

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(Português) Amnistia Internacional denuncia desrespeito pelos Direitos Humanos em Portugal
Visão Solidária – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

3 Mar 2015 – O relatório anual da organização de defesa dos Direitos Humanos Amnistia Internacional (AI) alerta Portugal para persistência de problemas em áreas como as condições prisionais, a discriminação de comunidades ciganas ou a violência contra as mulheres.

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Sheherazade
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

A cruel prince in 8th century Baghdad returned early from hunting and surprised his wife in the company of another man. He ordered both of them executed.

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New Zealand Spying on Pacific Allies for ‘Five Eyes’ and NSA, Snowden Files Show
Toby Manhire – The Guardian, 9 Mar 2015

5 Mar 2015 – New Zealand is spying indiscriminately on its allies in the Pacific region and sharing the information with the US and the other “Five Eyes” alliance states, according to documents from the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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A Tribute to Professor Yasuhiro Okudaira (1929–2015)
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

An Academic Defender of the Peace Constitution of Japan – This coming Sunday, on 15 March 2015, will mark the 49th day after Professor Yasuhiro Okudaira’s death.

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Washington and ISIS: The Evidence
Tim Anderson - TeleSur, 9 Mar 2015

8 Mar 2015 – Reports that US and British aircraft carrying arms to the Islamic State group – better known as ISIS – have been shot down by Iraqi forces have been met with shock and denial in western countries.

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What BRICS Plus Germany Are Really Up To?
Pepe Escobar – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Winston Churchill once said, “I feel lonely without a war.” He also badly missed the loss of empire. Churchill’s successor – the ‘Empire of Chaos’ – now faces the same quandary. Some wars – as in Ukraine, by proxy – are not going so well.

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Engineering the Perfect Baby
Antonio Regalado, MIT Technology Review – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

Scientists are developing ways to edit the DNA of tomorrow’s children. Should they stop before it’s too late? “You can do it. But there really isn’t a medical reason. People say, well, we don’t want children born with this, or born with that—but it’s a completely false argument and a slippery slope toward much more unacceptable uses.”

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Children of South Africa’s Liberation Icons Condemn Israeli Apartheid
Pambazuka News – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Mar 2015

It is the Israeli Apartheid Week in South Africa. The children of celebrated liberation heroes have come out to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, denouncing the Jewish state’s brutal colonial occupation of Palestine. The campaign is supported by 85 South African organizations and institutions.

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(Português) A Vida Secreta das Galinhas
Gabriel Gasperin - ANDA Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais, 9 Mar 2015

Os principais cientistas do comportamento animal do mundo sabem que as galinhas são animais curiosos e interessantes de serem estudados, cujas habilidades cognitivas são, em alguns casos, mais avançadas do que as dos gatos, cães e até mesmo de alguns primatas.

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Iran President: World ‘Too Intelligent’ To Be Fooled by Netanyahu’s ‘War-Mongering’
Jon Queally - Common Dreams, 9 Mar 2015

Hassan Rouhani presses for optimism amid ongoing nuclear talks, but offers sharp retort to Israel’s prime minister.

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‘Lawfare’ and Liberation
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

In opposition to a law-oriented foreign policy for the United States are arguments of ‘American exceptionalism.’ Such arguments condition its applicability to American behavior and insist on the implementation of international law in relation to the alleged unlawful conduct of adversaries (e.g. Russia involvement in eastern Ukraine)

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(Italiano) L’ipocrisia occidentale della libertà d’espressione
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Stato-Legge, Capitale, e Cultura. Che sono al loro meglio quando indipendenti l’uno dall’altro. Lo Stato non dovrebbe interferire con il mercato, il Capitale non con la politica, né con la Cultura. Guardiamo anche solo come il Capitale cambi parti importanti della Cultura come gli sport, le arti e la scienza, trasformandoli in prodotti d’acquisto, vendita e investimento, esigendo dalle università che servano il Capitale, non la Verità.

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(Svenska-Swedish) Burma: ”Rohingyas utsätts för ett långsamt folkmord”
Ivar Andersen – Amnesty Press, 2 Mar 2015

Maung Zarni kommer från en militärsläkt och lämnade Burma för att göra karriär. Det var först i exilen han blev dissident och aktivist, och en förkämpe för landets mest utsatta minoritet – den muslimska folkgruppen rohingyas. Amnesty Press träffade Maung Zarni när han gästade Stockholm.

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(Italiano) Volti, sguardi, voci dall’India…ci invitano ad una difesa comune della terra
Elena Camino – Centro Studi Sereno Regis, 2 Mar 2015

Una carrellata di testimonianze di proteste nonviolente in India contro un modello di sviluppo distruttivo, e qualche riflessione sulle implicazioni globali della perdita di ‘natura’.

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The Von Weizsäckers, Germany’s Kennedys
Johan Galtung, 2 Mar 2015 - TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

President Richard von Weizsäcker passed away 31 January and was very much celebrated in Germany for his brilliant presidency to normalize a Germany with a troubled past, even divided on top of that. But, by and large leaving out his global perspectives mentioned below.

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How Gazan Natural Gas Became the Epicenter of an International Power Struggle
Michael Schwartz – CounterPunch, 2 Mar 2015

The Great Game in the Holy Land – After 25 years and five failed Israeli military efforts, Gaza’s natural gas is still underwater and, after four years, the same can be said for almost all of the Levantine gas.

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The Neoconservative Threat to World Order
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

26 Feb 2015 – This week I was invited to address an important conference of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Scholars from Russia and from around the world, Russian government officials, and the Russian people seek an answer as to why Washington destroyed during the past year the friendly relations between America and Russia that President Reagan and President Gorbachev succeeded in establishing.

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Who Built the Underground City of Derinkuyu?
Paul Darin - Epoch Times, 2 Mar 2015

In the Cappadocia region of Turkey there is a town called Derinkuyu; and beneath Derinkuyu there is a city, vast and deep, of ancient design, preserved to this day. The mystery of who built it and why remains, although scholars have their theories.

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The Warming World: Is Capitalism Destroying Our Planet?
Alexander Jung, Horand Knaup, Samiha Shafy and Bernhard Zand – Der Spiegel, 2 Mar 2015

25 Feb 2015 – World leaders decided in Copenhagen that global warming should be limited to 2 degrees Celsius. Achieving that target, though, would take nothing less than a miracle. With another round of climate negotiations approaching, it is becoming increasingly clear that mankind has failed to address its most daunting problem.

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Naomi Klein: ‘The Economic System We Have Created Global Warming’
Klaus Brinkbäumer – Der Spiegel, 2 Mar 2015

Can we still stop global warming? Only if we radically change our capitalist system, argues author Naomi Klein. In an interview with SPIEGEL, she explains why the time has come to abandon small steps for a radical new approach.

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Pentagon Provocation on Russia’s Border
Bill Van Auken, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

US armored vehicles flying American flags were paraded Tuesday [24 Feb 2015] through the Estonian city of Narva, just a few hundred yards from the Russian border. The provocative action, coming on the heels of the first anniversary of the US-orchestrated coup in Kiev, underscores the potentially catastrophic implications.

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Why the Rise of Fascism Is Again the Issue
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

In a major essay, John Pilger describes a ‘Faustian Pact’ that allows the suppression of a modern fascism in the West and its reliance on propaganda as news, and the beckoning of a war that rarely speaks its name.

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33 Latin American and Caribbean States Call for a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Latin American and Caribbean states [CELAC] have once again shown a united front and a clear vision for the future of nuclear disarmament.

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Community Response: A Danish Answer to Radical Jihad
Manfred Ertel and Ralf Hoppe – Der Spiegel, 2 Mar 2015

The murders in Copenhagen have refocused attention on a thorny question for Europe: How can radical jihadists returning from Syria be reintegrated? The Danish city of Aarhus may have found an answer.

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The Federal Communications Commission Approved Net Neutrality
Inae Oh – Mother Jones, 2 Mar 2015

On Thursday [26 Feb 2015], the FCC voted to categorize the internet as a public utility and thereby uphold strong net neutrality regulations, a victory for internet consumers, blocking the creation of internet “fast lanes” for companies willing to pay more for high-speed service.

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(Italiano) Diagnosi & Prognosi: Valutazione del conflitto ucraino. Formazione da una prospettiva di pace
Naakow Grant-Hayford – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

La riuscita espansione dei codici e delle istituzioni economico-politico-militari dell’UE e della NATO nella direzione generale della Russia sin dalla fine della Guerra Fredda, confligge di nuovo apertamente, come nel caso della Georgia nel 2008, con gli interessi russi nella sua orbita immediata e ha incendiato l’Ucraina orientale.

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(Italiano) Perché è inevitabile l’estinzione del genere umano a breve termine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

L’espressione “estinzione umana a breve termine” è relativamente recente nella letteratura scientifica, ma a differenza di altre realtà che le ‘élite’ nazionali e i canali d’informazione dominanti sono riusciti a soffocare, questa continuerà a filtrare finché non inizierete a sentirla regolarmente. Perché?

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Enabling Fruitful Multiplication of Global Population
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Eliciting Massive Social Consensus by Unconstrained Reframing of Strategic Priorities – This reflects the strategic adage: ‘If you cannot beat them–then join them’ and is consistent with subtler philosophies of ‘Going with the flow’ or ‘Guiding the canoe, rather than pushing the river.’ It could also be understood as ‘Going for broke.’

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(Italiano) Quando un terrorista non è un terrorista
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Ciò che la polizia di Chapel Hill, nella Carolina del Nord ha inizialmente pubblicizzato nel mondo come ‘un litigio per un parcheggio’, è stata l’uccisione deliberata di tre giovani e devoti studenti musulmani americani per mano di un assassino, ‘nuovo ateo’ di nome Craig Stephen Hicks, motivato ideologicamente. Quello che The Economist chiama senza esitazione ‘terrorismo a Copenhagen ha implicato il tentativo di sparare a un vignettista danese che ripetutamente deride il Profeta e le convinzioni islamiche e ha implicato anche l’uccisione con arma da fuoco di una guardia di sicurezza ebrea davanti a una sinagoga.

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Rohingya and National Identities in Burma [Myanmar]
Carlos Sardiña Galache, New Mandala – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Rather than attempting to defend Rohingya claims, I argue that the notion of “national races” itself, and thus the set of assumptions hitherto determining the terms of the debate, are fundamentally false and do not facilitate any understanding of the history and present social realities of Burma.

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Push Back the Doomsday Clock!
James Albertini – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

We Are All Down Winders! March 1st is known as “Nuclear-Free & Independent Pacific Day.” It commemorates the tragic 15 megaton U.S. nuclear bomb test, code named Bravo, at Bikini atoll in the Marshall Islands of Micronesia, on March 1, 1954. Many people died in the Marshall Islands from radiation contamination and fallout downwind of the Bravo blast and the 66 additional U.S. nuclear weapon tests there.

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Mr. Tambourine Man (MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Bob Dylan – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1964 – A Classic

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TPP Chief Negotiators to Meet in Mid-March in Hawaii
Jiji Kyodo – The Japan Times, 2 Mar 2015

The chief negotiators’ meeting is being arranged from March 9 to 15, according to the sources. The 12 TPP negotiating countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, USA, Japan and Vietnam.

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Peace and Freedoms for Indian Women in the Digital Era
Dr. Stephen Gill – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Happy International Women’s Day on 8 March! On the one hand, women in India are at the peak of their success like Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister of India. On the other hand, the vast majority is suffering silently. Violence and prejudice against them are dying, but the rate is painfully slow.

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US Offering Its ‘Assistance’ to Push GMOs on Africa: Report
Andrea Germanos – Common Dreams, 2 Mar 2015

U.S. is ‘assisting African nations to produce biosafety laws that promote agribusiness interests instead of protecting Africans.’

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German Newspaper BILD Gets inside US-NATO-Nuland Planning Session
Fort Russ – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Feb 19, 2015 – The Bild headline: “Cold Feet” “Bullshit,” “Angst” – What US Politicians REALLY think about the Germans in the Ukraine Crisis. Nuland set the tone at the prelude to the evening: “We can fight against the Europeans, we can fight with rhetoric against them.”

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Chinese Diplomat Tells West to Consider Russia’s Security Concerns over Ukraine
Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

27 Feb 2015 – Western powers should take into consideration Russia’s legitimate security concerns over Ukraine, a top Chinese diplomat has said in an unusually frank and open display of support for Moscow. Qu Xing, China’s ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to “abandon the zero-sum mentality” with Russia.

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(Svenska-Swedish) Debattartikel: Sverige och EU – stöd demokrati i Burma, inte diktaturen!
Svenska Burmakommittén – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Burma är fortfarande en diktatur. Trots att Sverige och EU har uttalade mål att stödja demokratisering i landet signaleras istället stöd för samma gamla politiska elit, genom tystnad om människorättsbrott, bistånd till statliga myndigheter, handelsavtal och lyfta sanktioner. Omvärlden måste visa att man står på de demokratiska krafternas sida.

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Radioactive Fukushima Water Leak Was Unreported for Months: Official
Arata Yamamoto - NBC News, 2 Mar 2015

25 Feb 2015 – The operator of Japan’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant admitted it failed to report a radioactive rainwater leak from the facility for about 10 months.

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(Português) Baleeiras Japonesas: Um Choque para o Sistema
George Monbiot – ANDA-Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais, 2 Mar 2015

Uma das maiores piadas na área de conservação é a afirmação vinda do governo japonês de que está praticando “pesca científica de baleias”. Todas as mortes causadas por sua frota de lançadores de arpões acontecem sob o pretexto de serem “pesquisa”, já que esta é única justificativa disponível sob regras internacionais.

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Lay Down Your Arms
The Nobel Peace Prize Watch – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

The secrecy surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize has been misused and must cease. This is one of several demands that the newly formed association “Lay Down Your Arms” has sent to the three bodies responsible for awarding the Peace Prize: the Nobel Committee in Oslo, the Parliament that chooses the committee, and the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, which has the superior responsibility to ensure that all selections conform with Alfred Nobel’s stipulations.

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Johan Galtung: Transition from a Unipolar to a Multipolar Octagonal World
World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Feb 17, 2015

Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU. He is author of over 160 books on peace and related issues, including ‘50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives,’ published by the TRANSCEND University Press-TUP.

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Year of the Sheep, Century of the Dragon?
Pepe Escobar - TomDispatch, 2 Mar 2015

Seen from the Chinese capital as the Year of the Sheep starts, the malaise affecting the West seems like a mirage in a galaxy far, far away. On the other hand, the China that surrounds you looks all too solid and nothing like the embattled nation you hear about in the Western media.

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Why Do We Fear Challenging Authority?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph. D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

I want to ask you three questions: Are you scared to make your own judgment (irrespective of the number of others, including experts, who make a similar judgment)? Are you scared to be labelled a ‘conspiracy theorist’ if you believe something contrary to the official (that is, the elite) narrative? And why?

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An Expensive Speech
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

President Obama, who is being insulted, humiliated and obstructed in his most cherished policy move, the agreement with Iran, would be superhuman if he did not brood on revenge. Even a movement of his little finger could hurt Israel grievously. Does Netanyahu care? Of course he cares. But he cares more about his reelection. Much, much more.

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Gemalto Doesn’t Know What It Doesn’t Know
Jeremy Scahill – The Intercept, 2 Mar 2015

25 Feb 2015 – Gemalto, the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, launched an internal investigation after The Intercept six days ago revealed that the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ hacked the company and cyberstalked its employees. In the secret documents, provided by Edward Snowden, the intelligence agencies described a successful effort to obtain secret encryption keys used to protect hundreds of millions of mobile devices across the globe.

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Review of ‘Confessions of a Terrorist – A Novel’
Anita McKone – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

In this novel, Jackson raises the confronting question: Is the fear and insecurity of Western societies and their violent abuse of people of other countries and cultures causing a violent defensive reaction? In which case, are Westerners the ones who need to de-‘radicalise’ their extremist capitalist and militarist ideologies and behaviour in order to reduce fearful extremist responses to these?

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Slavoj Žižek: A Note on Syriza – Indebted Yes, but Not Guilty!
Slavoj Žižek, Potemkin – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

The idea one gets from our media is that the Syriza government in Greece is composed of a bunch of populist extremists who advocate “irrational” and “irresponsible” populist measures. It is, on the contrary, EU politics which have been, and continue to be, obviously irrational.

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Myanmar (Burma): Rights That Should Be Upheld
Soe Myint – Mizzima Media, 2 Mar 2015

In a sense the historical roots of the term “Rohingya” are irrelevant and the discussion moot, because any ethnic group has the basic right to self identify. It is one of the human rights the UN is supposed to uphold.

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NATO Finds Arab Backdoor to Arm Kiev
Finian Cunningham – Strategic Culture Foundation, 2 Mar 2015

The tiny UAE with its $13 billion military budget is a NATO arsenal par excellence. The weapons sales deal is just a backdoor for NATO to embark on further warmongering in Ukraine and toward Russia.

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[Nobel Prize Economic Sciences] Joseph Stiglitz Stands against Trade Agreements
Pressenza Int’l Press Agency – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Feb 25 2015 – The United States is trying to impose a strong investment pact within two big, so-called “partnership” agreements that are now being negotiated, one bridging the Atlantic, the other the Pacific. The TPPs are going to be about regulation. Corporations have an interest at lowering regulatory standards that protect the environment, protect consumers, protect workers, and protect health.

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Reading the Greek Deal Correctly
James K. Galbraith – Common Dreams, 2 Mar 2015

Alexis Tsipras stated it correctly. Greece won a battle and the war continues. But the political sea-change that SYRIZA’s victory has sparked goes on. Greece has already changed; there is a spirit and dignity in Athens that was not there six months ago. Soon enough, new fronts will open in Spain, then perhaps Ireland, and later Portugal, all of which have elections coming.

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This Week in History
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

March 2–8 – Quote of the Week: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

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Establish a UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy
Article 19 – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

5 Feb 2015 – The undersigned organisations, a coalition of international non-governmental organisations working to protect human rights, write to encourage your government to support the creation of a new Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy at the Human Rights Council (HRC) 28th ordinary session in March [2015].

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Cyber-Security Firm: NSA-Linked Spyware Found in Hard Drives Worldwide
Lauren McCauley – Common Dreams, 2 Mar 2015

The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists. They said the Equation Group “worm” was closely linked to Stuxnet, the cyberweapon the U.S. used to attack Iran’s uranium enrichment facility.

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Testing Nuclear Weapons in the Marshall Islands
David Krieger – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

The islands were alive
with the red-orange fire of sunset
splashed on a billowy sky.

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‘100yrs to Repair Gaza’: Oxfam Says Blockade Remains, Aid Almost Non-Existent
Russia Today - TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

27 Feb 2015 – Reconstructing Gaza could take an entire century, if Israel doesn’t stop the siege, leading charity Oxfam warned. And that’s just the time frame for essential projects. The NGO’s regional director calls the situation “deplorable.”

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Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

“Syrians Speak” would be a more accurate title for this valuable collection of essays, poems, drawings, posters, and photos by intellectuals and artists. The artistic response to the Syrian uprising is far more than a litany of turmoil; it illustrates the accelerated experiences of a people, many of whom have been fighting for their survival.

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After Thousands of Years, Earth’s Frozen Life Forms Are Waking Up
Maddie Stone – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

What’s happening in Siberia’s thawing permafrost and Greenland’s melting glaciers sounds borderline supernatural. Ancient viruses, bacteria, plants, and even animals have been cryogenically frozen there for millennia—and now, they are waking up.

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CitizenFour – Full Documentary
Laura Poitras & Glenn Greenwald, LeakSource – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

The film, which has been hailed as a real-life thriller, chronicles Snowden’s effort to securely contact Poitras and Glenn Greenwald in 2013 and meet them in Hong Kong, where Poitras filmed Snowden discussing the thousands of classified NSA documents he was leaking to them, and his motives for doing so. The film takes its title from the pseudonym Snowden used when he contacted Poitras in encrypted emails that were revealed in her documentary.

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The Circus: How British Intelligence Primed Both Sides of the ‘Terror War’
Nafeez Ahmed – Middle East Eye, 2 Mar 2015

‘Jihadi John’ was able to join IS for one simple reason: from Quilliam to al-Muhajiroun, Britain’s loudest extremists have been groomed by the security services.

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The Loving Husband
TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

A man had two tickets for the best seats of the Rugby World Cup Final.

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Multiculturalism and Its Dilemmas
Immanuel Wallerstein – Toward Freedom, 2 Mar 2015

And then there are in-migrations of wealthy persons from the Global North into zones where they buy out the desirable land, raise costs generally, and force groups that had been previously there into marginal existences. This is now happening around the globe in zones that are climatically more desirable.

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How to Pay for Social Programmes
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Chapter Eight of: Economic Theory and Community Development – Where we are going with our analysis: What we need is not so much a new economics as a new psychology. We need alignment with the common good. We need community.

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Banksy In Gaza: Haunting Images among Ruins of War
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

27 Feb 2015 – The English graffiti artist has taken his politically charged message to the bombed-out neighborhoods of Gaza, where a series of murals amid a backdrop of devastation attempts to give voice to the desperation felt by Palestinians.

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Nonviolent Communication
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Psychologist Marshall Rosenberg (born 1934) was invited to speak at a meeting of a group of young Palestinians in a refugee camp on the West Bank. The Israeli police had recently entered the camp to quell protests. The ground was strewn with tear gas shells labeled “Made in USA”.

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(Português) Internet de banda larga como ‘bem público’ nos EUA
Esquerda – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Mar 2015

Por três votos contra dois, a neutralidade da rede ganhou uma importante batalha nos EUA contra os grandes distribuidores e produtores de conteúdos online.

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Fresh Nuclear Leak Detected at Fukushima Plant
OneIndia – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water to the sea, the plant’s operator announced on Sunday [22 Feb 2015], highlighting difficulties in decommissioning the crippled plant.

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The Great SIM Heist: How Spies Stole the Keys to the Encryption Castle
Jeremy Scahill and Josh Begley – The Intercept, 23 Feb 2015

19 Feb 2015 – American and British spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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Secrecy around Police Surveillance Equipment Proves a Case’s Undoing
Ellen Nakashima – The Washington Post, 23 Feb 2015

An FBI-imposed gag order about the StingRay, a sophisticated surveillance device that mimics cell towers, endangers some criminal cases when its use is questioned by defendants or judges.

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Alive and Bleeding
Robert C. Koehler – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

“We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians — they’re in this fight with us. But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs, whether…”

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Gaza Homes Flooded after Israel Unbolts Dam Gates
Falastin News Palestine – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

Scores of Palestinian family homes east of blockaded Gaza were flooding after the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) opened dam gates at dawn Sunday [22 Feb 2015]. This is not the first time Israeli occupation authorities have opened the Gaza Valley dams.

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(Deutsch) Machtkämpfe – Eine antimilitaristische Sicht auf den Krieg in der Ukraine (Part-Teil 1)
Vadim Damier – graswurzelrevolution, 23 Feb 2015

Im November 2014 hat der Moskauer Sozialwissenschaftler Dr. Vadim Damier in Veranstaltungen in acht deutschen Städten vor zahlreichen ZuhörerInnen seine alternative Sicht auf den Krieg in der Ukraine dargelegt. Der GWR-Autor und Anarchosyndikalist hat uns sein Redemanuskript zum Abdruck angeboten. Wir dokumentieren den redaktionell überarbeiteten Text in zwei Teilen.

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(Deutsch) Machtkämpfe um die Ostukraine: Eine antimilitaristische Sicht auf den Konflikt (Part-Teil 2)
Vadim Damier – graswurzelrevolution, 23 Feb 2015

Im Januar 2015 flammten die blutigen Kämpfe zwischen ukrainischen Truppen und russlandnahen Separatisten in der Ostukraine wieder verstärkt auf. Mehr als 4000 Menschen wurden in diesem Krieg bisher getötet, Hunderttausende sind auf der Flucht. Dem Protest vieler Angehöriger zum Trotz verkündete die ukrainische Regierung eine Verstärkung ihrer Truppen und eine Teilmobilmachung. Eine Einstellung aller Kampfhandlungen ist nicht in Sicht.

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Anti What? The Hoax of Rising Antisemitism in Europe
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

Anti-Semitism is on the rise. All over Europe it is raising its ugly head. Jews are in danger everywhere. They must make haste and come home to Israel before it is too late. True? Untrue? NONSENSE!

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The Atlantic Ignores Muslim Intellectuals, Defines “True Islam” As ISIS
Murtaza Hussain – The Intercept, 23 Feb 2015

In the piece, author Graeme Wood makes the case that the militant group represents a highly authentic version of Islam. Far from being an aberrant or deviant offshoot of traditional Islamic beliefs, it is described as being a faithful expression of them — representing “a coherent and even learned expression of Islam.”

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The Struggle of Venezuela against ‘A Common Enemy’
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

There are straightforward principles and dynamics at work here. Washington wants to get rid of the Venezuelan government because it is independent of US designs for the region and because Venezuela has the greatest proven oil reserves in the world and uses its oil revenue to improve the quality of ordinary lives.

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The Assassination of Greece
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

The Greek government is currently locked in a life and death struggle with the elite which dominate the banks and political decision-making centers of the European Union. What are at stake are the livelihoods of 11 million Greek workers, employees and small business people and the viability of the European Union.

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(Português) SwissLeaks: revelações sobre um sistema de fraude fiscal internacional
Fabrice Lhomme e Gérard Davet - Le Monde, 23 Feb 2015

19 Fev 2015 – Os números são de tirar o fôlego. A série de reportagens publicada pelo jornal Le Monde, espetacular e inédita, é fruto de investigações realizadas entre Paris, Washington, Bruxelas e Genebra, e revela os bastidores de um grande sistema de evasão fiscal aceito, e até encorajado, pelo britânico HSBC, o segundo maior banco do mundo, através da sua filial suíça HSBC Private Bank.

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How to Read Intelligently and Write a Great Essay: Robert Frost’s Letter of Advice to His Young Daughter
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

«Take it easy with the essay whatever you do. Be as concrete as the law allows in it — concrete and experiential. Don’t let it scare you. Don’t strain. Remember that any old thing that happens in your head as you read may be the thing you want. If nothing much seems to happen, perhaps another reading will help.»

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Myanmar’s [Burma’s] Buddhist Terrorism Problem
Usaid Siddiqui – Al Jazeera America, 23 Feb 2015

18 Feb 2015 – The country’s Rohingya minority is one of the most persecuted groups in the world. Burmese activists and leaders such as Suu Kyi must stand up for the human rights of the Rohingya community.

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US Imperialism and the Catastrophe in Libya
Joseph Kishore, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Feb 2015

Prior to the intervention of NATO, there were no sectarian murders of Christians in Libya and Islamist militias tied to Al Qaeda were small groups with no broader influence. These forces were armed and promoted when, in 2011, the Obama administration and its allies in Europe, led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, took the decision to topple Gaddafi.

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