Articles by TRANSCEND Media Service

We found 29282 results.


(Castellano) VI. La Democracia de Altares
Fernando Montiel T. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

En el Cáucaso las guerras del pasado y del futuro vuelven a todos geopolitólogos: en Bakú todos saben que sus compatriotas al sur de la frontera –los 35 millones en los que Fakhrinur deposita su esperanza– podrían ser la infantería de un ataque estadounidense contra Irán a cambio de que la “comunidad internacional” –es decir, Washington y sus amigos– consienta una ofensiva azerí contra Armenia por Nagorno-Karabaj.

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(Português) Bhakti Yoga: Em Busca de Um Amor Perdido
Radhanath Swami – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

O aroma de almíscar é tão sedutor que quando o nariz sensível do cervo-almiscarado macho o sente no vento, ele percorre a floresta dia e noite em busca da sua fonte e esgota-se numa busca infrutífera, sem perceber a ironia amarga: a doce fragrância que ele estava perseguindo não residia em nenhum lugar, mas dentro de si. O almíscar é produzido por uma glândula no umbigo do próprio veado: ele estava procurando fora, o que estava sempre dentro de si mesmo. Os sábios da Índia encontraram no cervo-almiscarado uma descrição apropriada da condição humana.

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Time to Say Goodbye (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Katherine Jenkins – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

No comment necessary. Just watch… and be touched.

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MEPs Agree Credit Rating Agency Crackdown
Benjamin Fox, EUobserver – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

The European Parliament on Wednesday (16 Jan 2013) voted in favour of a cross-party compromise text agreed in November which is aimed at preventing conflicts of interest, increasing competition, and reducing the reliance of businesses and governments on credit ratings.

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Eritrea: Hear No Evil
Human Rights Watch – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

Eritrea is a pariah state that crushes repression. It even sends its many people into a forced labor system, often for years. The government attracted international investors with its mineral reserves and its first mine, a joint venture with the Canadian firm Nevsun Resources, has produced hundreds of millions of dollars’ in gold since 2011. Other companies from Canada, Australia, and China are also developing projects in Eritrea. We uncovered evidence that some mine construction workers – supplied by Segun, a government-owned company – were forced laborers.

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UNESCO Recognizes Brazilian Friar’s Contribution to Social Justice in Latin America and Caribbean
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

11 Jan 2013 – The United Nations has recognized a Brazilian Dominican friar, Frei Betto, with a leading international prize for his “exceptional contribution” to building a universal culture of peace, social justice and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The author of more than 50 books, Frei Betto was born in 1944 and joined the Dominican Order at the age of 20 while studying journalism, and during the time of military dictatorship in Brazil, he was imprisoned twice, in 1964 and again from 1969 to 1973.

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The Doomsday Clock
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

21 Jan 2013: IT IS FIVE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT – The Doomsday Clock conveys how close humanity is to catastrophic destruction–the figurative midnight–and monitors the means humankind could use to obliterate itself. First and foremost, these include nuclear weapons, but they also encompass climate-changing technologies and new developments in the life sciences that could inflict irrevocable harm.

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Change Happens – But How, Why, When, Where?
Johan Galtung, 21 Jan 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

A century ago humanity, particularly in the West, was at the beginning of a major revolution, from horse culture to car culture. Today there are still 59 million horses, but more than 1 billion cars (in 1986 only half of that). In other parts of the world, like Japan and China, there was a revolution to cars, but from bicycles–Beijing went from 6 million bicycles to 4 million cars over a period of 20 years, only from 1990. From 1970 to 2010 the US share of world college enrollment dropped from 26 to 12 percent whereas the Chinese share went up from 0 to 18 percent.

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[Which version do you choose to believe?] The Happiest (and Saddest) Countries in the World
Christopher Helman, Forbes – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

[From TMS Editor: Forbes bias is toward developed countries; the ‘saddest’ ones are the poorest.]
British philosopher John Stuart Mill: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question.”

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(Italiano) Contro la Rivoluzione Mondiale – Costruttivamente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

Un paese che reagisce con mini-rivoluzioni, nonviolenza, disobbedienza civile contro tali smaccate ingiustizie. Un paese dove la lotta di classe è sospesa per il momento; ha vinto il capitalismo e più specificamente i banchieri e i loro servitori, i politici, e ancora più specificamente il capitale finanziario-speculativo. E questo in una Spagna prossima a 40 anni di democrazia dopo 40 anni di dittatura di Franco. Costituzione + democrazia + elezioni + diritti umani (anche immobiliari) + parlamento contro il capitalismo finanziario. Deboli contro forti.

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Boo of Democracy
Udaya R. Tennakoon – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

Lament of booing
Jackals in the jungle…

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NASA Finds Long-Term Climate Warming Trend
Dr. Tony Phillips, NASA – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.

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The Religious and Social Crises and Political Consequences
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

The opening long decade of the 21st century (2000-2012) has been a period of repeated and profound economic and social crises, of serial and prolonged wars and declining living standards for the vast majority of Americans. How have people responded to this crisis?

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Self-Immolations in Tibet
China Central TV – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

Facts about the Self-Immolations in Tibetan Areas of Ngapa

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Going Nowhere through Not-knowing Where to Go
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

Whether for the individual, for factional interests, or for global governance, it is becoming increasingly clear that many experience a sense of “going nowhere”. Part of the issue lies in not knowing “where to go” in quest of whatever might have been imagined as desirable. The issue has been highlighted with respect to the young — as challenged by unemployment in an increasingly complex society — and with the long-term unemployed. It is also implicit in the situation of the terminally ill and the elderly, especially those confined to hospice care.

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Accidents at Nuclear Power Plants in India
Greenpeace – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2013

India currently has twenty nuclear reactors in operation and their safety record is far from clean.

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(Italiano) Il Dirupo, la Palude, il Pantano USA
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

C’è altro oltre il dirupo fiscale che risalta a occhio nudo… Introduciamo la sofferenza della gente, la crescita mancante e il fardello del debito, espandendo il discorso per visioni nuove… Potrebbe invece far prodigi un enorme programma ingegnoso che faccia sì che quel 16% si tiri su da solo (bootstraps), con crediti per piccole società-cooperative progettate per produrre cibo e acqua, vestiario e alloggi, sanità e istruzione, tutto a prezzi alla portata.

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Be Human
M. Ashaq Raza – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Sip by sip
Drop by drop
Drink we life’s wine…

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The Empire’s New Clothes
Socialist Worker, editorial – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Obama’s nominees to run the Pentagon and CIA underline how a Democratic president, once seen as antiwar, has rebranded U.S. imperialism.

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Against World Revolution – Constructively!
Johan Galtung, 14 Jan 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

A country rapidly de-developing, into low Third World levels, even in health. A country not only saving banks rather than people but also letting the banks get away with crimes. A country reacting with mini-revolutions, nonviolence, civil disobedience against such glaring injustices. A country where the class war is over for the time being; capitalism won and more particularly the bankers and their servants, the politicians, and even more particularly the finance-speculation capital. And this in a Spain close to 40 years into democracy after 40 years of Franco dictatorship. Constitution + democracy + elections + human rights (also to property) + parliament vs finance capitalism. Weak vs strong.

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Scientist: Top Selling Weed Killer – Monsanto’s Roundup – Linked to Infertility
Lisa Garber, Natural Society – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Roundup’s key ingredient glyphosate has ravaged the earth, our food chain, and our bodies, and is even causing infertility among the masses.

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Sorry, Darwin: – Chemistry Never Made the Transition to Biology
Bhakti Niskama Shanta Swami, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

At various times in its history, ‘spontaneous generation’ has been identified by two different concepts. They are: (a) abiogenesis, and (b) heterogenesis. Abiogenesis is the field of science dedicated to study how life might have arisen spontaneously for the first time from inorganic chemicals. On the other hand, the notion that life can arise from dead organic matter, such as the appearance of maggots from decaying meat is known as heterogenesis. For a long time major western thinkers like Newton, Harvey, Descartes and von Helmont accepted heterogenesis with full confidence.

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Oil and War
Robert Newman, Brasscheck TV – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Robert Newman gets to grips with the wars and politics of the last hundred years – but rather than adhering to the history we were fed at school, he places oil centre stage as the cause of all commotion.

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Democracy and the Secret State: The Deception and Terrorisation of Populaces from the Era of Gladio to the War on Terror
Adeyinka Makinde – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

“You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, unknown people far from any political game. The reason was quite simple – to force the people to turn to the state for greater security.” — Vincenzo Vinciguerra
The nature, necessity and scope of the miscellany of powers exercised by the state over the nation is in one sense arguably as contentious in the contemporary circumstances of the Western world as it was in the distant pre-democratic medieval past.

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Optimum Population in the Future
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

What is the optimum population of the world? It is certainly not the maximum number that can be squeezed onto the globe by eradicating every species of plant and animal that cannot be eaten. As we strive to achieve peace throughout the world, and to eliminate the suffering caused by poverty, hunger and preventable disease, we should remember that all these goals will be more attainable with a global population of moderate size.

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Mali: Hijacked Autonomy, Outsized Ambitions, French Intervention
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

It may be fairly easy for the French forces to take the three major cities of the north, much of whose population has already fled. North Mali is roughly the size of France. Much of the rural areas have little or no population. It has always been difficult, even during the colonial period, to create an infrastructure and an administration. There are fears that the Islamic groups will move toward Niger or Burkina Faso, both fragile States. One knows how an armed conflict starts but rarely how it ends.

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On my Soul
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Rhymed Reflection

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1st International Active Nonviolence Film Festival
Pressenza Int’l Press Agency – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

30 Cities around the World to Take Part – Promoted by the humanist organisation World without Wars and Violence, the festival aims to create a space of coming together, of free creation committed to the culture of nonviolence.

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Role of Religion in the World Community
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

As the saying goes, there are two sides of a coin. On one hand, Religion could be viewed as a blessing and a source of inspiration. On the other hand, Religion could be seen as a source of trouble and confusion that may turn many into becoming prejudiced and skeptical. A careful analysis of this conclusion will enable us to see why Religion is viewed as having one side that is positive and constructive and another other side that is negative and destructive.

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War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
Institute for Public Accuracy – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

A Media Education Foundation production. Featuring Norman Solomon. Narrated by Sean Penn. War Made Easy cuts through the dense web of spin to probe and scrutinize the key “perception management” techniques that have played huge roles in the promotion of American wars in recent decades. This guide to disinformation analyzes American military adventures past and present to reveal striking similarities in the efforts of various administrations to justify, and retain, public support for war.

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(Português) Países Ricos Perdem a Maioria no PIB Mundial em 2013
José Eustáquio Diniz Alves, EcoDebate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

O ano de 2013 vai marcar um acontecimento histórico. Pela primeira vez na história, o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) dos países em desenvolvimento vai ultrapassar o PIB dos países desenvolvidos, segundo dados do Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI).

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Seeing Light: The Blogger’s Delight
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

While reflecting on my prior blog lamenting the challenges of sustaining civility amid tumult and controversy, I came to appreciate my own partial captivity in realms of darkness. The negativities I tried to discuss are the shadow land of my blog experience, which is more essentially lived in the sunshine of new and renewed friendship, solidarity, mutuality, and the new emotional and spiritual resonances of our era, what I would call, in the absence of greater precision, the emergence of ‘digital love.’

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Sri Lankan Buddhist Chauvinists Provoke Violence against Muslims
Gamini Karunasena and Wasantha Rupasinghe, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government is again giving tacit support to communal provocations against Sri Lanka’s minorities in a bid to divide working people amid the country’s deepening economic and social crisis. This time, Muslims have become the main target of chauvinist groups.

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Flatulence Is a Problem Aired
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

The third edition of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential (1990) was reviewed for The Guardian by John Vidal under the title Flatulence is a Problem Aired (The Guardian, 7 February 1992). The review was introduced by the phrase: John Vidal finds the authors of a definitive guide to all the world’s ills treading an ever thinner line between the sublime and ridiculous. At that time the review could be seen as a highly skillful journalistic exercise in what has since been recognized as characteristic of negative campaigning.

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2012 Summary of the Cultural Boycott of Israel
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

The year 2012 was an amazing year full of many successes in the campaign for the cultural boycott of Israel. This summary focuses on the cultural boycott with an emphasis on musical artists and groups. The fall of South African apartheid was preceded by the movement by artists of conscience to boycott “Sun City.” A similar anti-apartheid movement is rapidly growing; and musicians increasingly do not want to perform in Israel.

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(Português) Brasil É Segundo Maior Consumidor Mundial de Ritalina
Globo News - TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Chamada a ‘droga da obediência’ para ‘curar’ crianças hiperativas ou com débito de atenção, pode causar morte súbita ou torna-las predispostas à dependência de drogas no futuro. Provoca um ‘efeito zumbi’ nas crianças e não é uma solução mas sim um paliativo com consequências funestas.

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Remembering Lasantha: Now They Come For “Everyone”
Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2013

Now, more than ever, with the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the vacuum left by Lasantha’s death and his importance can be felt by anyone who is concerned about human rights, democracy, rule of law, and, of course, the independence of the judiciary. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge , better known as Lasantha, was brutally assassinated four years ago. Lasantha noted in his last editorial, “I hope my murder will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration”.

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Losing Control: A Blogger’s Nightmare
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

When I started this blog a couple of years ago, the thought never entered my mind that I would need to defend the terrain. Although I knew my views were controversial on some issues, I assumed that those who disagreed strongly would stay away, losing interest, or express their disagreements in a spirit of civility. To a large extent this has been true, with the glaring exception of Israel/Palestine.

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Technology Addiction
Joel S. Hirschhorn – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

A survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to technology. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sex, sleep, cigarettes, and alcohol. A recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that 44 percent of cell phone owners had slept with their phone next to their bed. Worse, 67 percent had experienced “phantom rings,” checking their phone even when it was not ringing or vibrating.

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(Castellano) La Amenaza Haitiana
Eduardo Galeano, Antimilitarizacion – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Como de costumbre, el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas repite que mantendrá la ocupación militar de Haití porque debe actuar “en caso de amenazas a la paz, quebrantamientos de la paz o actos de agresión”. ¿A quién amenaza Haití? ¿A quién agrede? ¿Por qué Haití sigue siendo un país ocupado? ¿Un país condenado a vigilancia perpetua? ¿Obligado a seguir expiando el pecado de su libertad, que humilló a Napoleón Bonaparte y ofendió a toda Europa?

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The Power Principle – I: Empire
Scott Noble, Metanoia Films – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

This documentary is about the foreign policy of the United States. It is the first of three parts that demonstrate the importance of the political economy, the Mafia principle, propaganda, ideology, violence and force. Featured in the films are Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, John Stockwell, Christopher Simpson, Ralph McGehee, Philip Agee, [TRANSCEND member] Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, John Perkins, James Petras, John Stauber, Russ Baker, Howard Zinn, William Blum, Nancy Snow, William I. Robinson, Morris Berman, Peter Phillips, Michael Albert, and others.

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The Power Principle – II: Propaganda
Scott Noble, Metanoia Films – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

This documentary is about the foreign policy of the United States. It is the second of three parts that demonstrate the importance of the political economy, the Mafia principle, propaganda, ideology, violence and force. Featured in the films are Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, John Stockwell, Christopher Simpson, Ralph McGehee, Philip Agee, [TRANSCEND member] Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, John Perkins, James Petras, John Stauber, Russ Baker, Howard Zinn, William Blum, Nancy Snow, William I. Robinson, Morris Berman, Peter Phillips, Michael Albert, and others.

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Whose Side is God, god, g_d On?
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Lessons from 19th Century Imperialism – The following is a listing of some of the enduring lessons that came to mind as I reflect on the endless mass violence and wars of our times. With Gladstone’s words ringing in my ears, I offer them to you.

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(Italiano) Un Augurio per l’Anno Nuovo: Andare Oltre!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Sì, andare oltre, trascendere! – ecco il nostro messaggio, per il nuovo anno o meno. Prendete le sparatorie nelle scuole USA. Il vice-presidente della National Rifle Association (NRA) in TV: “la sola persona che può fermare un cattivo con un’arma è un buono con un’arma”. Affermazione che ha toccato molte corde. C’è conferma dall’alto: questa è la politica estera USA. L’unico modo per fermare un cattivo paese con le armi è un buon paese con le armi; l’unico modo di fermare il cattivo terrorismo dal basso è il buon terrorismo di stato dall’alto. Equilibrio di forze, innumerevoli basi, cercare e distruggere.

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Damascus and the Tariqa (The Way by Initiation)
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

The small non-violent movements in Syria such as the “Stop the Killing! We want to build a country for all Syrians” while stressing useful issues are still overshadowed both by the government and the violent opposition forces. Yet could such groups play a larger role if they received more non-governmental support from outside? Governments seem to have resigned themselves to the force of arms or to watch and wait. Can peace groups working together actively strengthen Syrian non-violent alternatives?

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Swiss Bank Wegelin to Close After US Tax Evasion Fine
BBC News – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Switzerland’s oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes. Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities. It said that once this was completed, it “will cease to operate as a bank”. The bank had admitted to allowing more than 100 American citizens to hide $1.2bn from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years.

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Justifying Assassination
Los Angeles Times, editorial – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon eloquently lamented that “I can find no way around the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws.” This page has made the same point in urging the administration to release the Office of Legal Counsel memorandum. If it is going to act as judge, jury and executioner, the least it can do is divulge its legal reasoning.

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U.S. Arms Sales to Asia Set to Boom on Pacific “Pivot”
Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

U.S. sales of warplanes, anti-missile systems and other costly weapons to China’s and North Korea’s neighbors appear set for significant growth amid regional security jitters.

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Resignation Letter
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

1 January 2013. I believe I was mislead regarding the professional environment at Universiti Brunei Darussalam during the recruitment process, and due to the on-going attempts to gag me on the persecution and slaughter of minorities, including Muslim minorities, in the country of my birth [Burma], I no longer wish to be subject to this level of extreme and unprofessional academic censorship. I need to work at a professional institution where the word ‘politics’ is mentionable, social conscience livable, and compassion honourable.

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US Patriot Missile Battery Crews Arrive in Turkey
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

5 Jan 2013 – A group of 27 US troops has arrived in Turkey to operate NATO Patriot surface-to-air (SAM) missile batteries. At least six of those will be deployed along the country’s border with Syria.

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Latvia’s Economic Disaster as a Neoliberal Success Story – A Model for Europe and the US?
Jeffrey Sommers and Michael Hudson – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Today’s most highly celebrated anti-labor success story is Latvia, where labor did not fight back, but simply emigrated politely and quietly. Latvia has a two-part tax on wages and social benefits that are near the highest in the world, while real estate taxes are well below US and EU averages. Meanwhile, capital gains are lightly taxed, and the country has become successful as a capital flight and tax avoidance haven for Russians and other post-Soviet kleptocrats that has permitted Latvia to “afford” de-industrialization, depopulation and de-socialization.

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The Power Principle – III: Apocalypse
Scott Noble, Metanoia Films – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

This documentary is about the foreign policy of the United States. It is the third of three parts that demonstrate the importance of the political economy, the Mafia principle, propaganda, ideology, violence and force. Featured in the films are Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, John Stockwell, Christopher Simpson, Ralph McGehee, Philip Agee, [TRANSCEND member] Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, John Perkins, James Petras, John Stauber, Russ Baker, Howard Zinn, William Blum, Nancy Snow, William I. Robinson, Morris Berman, Peter Phillips, Michael Albert, and others.

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Economic Predictions for 2013
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Since the time of Adam Smith, self-interest has been the mainspring of human economic activity. What is required today is a change of values, so that instead of being motivated by selfishness, people throughout the world will work for the common good.

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How The New York Times Erases Israel’s Crimes
Robert Ross, The Electronic Intifada – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

The New York Times keeps the American public in the dark about the true nature of Israel’s occupation. According to The New York Times, there is no siege of Gaza, no occupation of the West Bank, and never was there a Nakba (the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine). Three recent articles erase these key Israeli crimes from the historical record.

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The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Noam Chomsky – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Who exactly sees Iran as the gravest security threat? The “Iranian threat” is overwhelmingly a Western obsession, shared by Arab dictators, though not Arab populations. As numerous polls have shown, although citizens of Arab countries generally dislike Iran, they do not regard it as a very serious threat. Rather, they perceive the threat to be Israel and the United States; and many, sometimes considerable majorities, regard Iranian nuclear weapons as a counter to these threats.

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Welcome 2013
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

The more we rise in consciousness, the more we see the world as a part of our family. The expansion of the individual consciousness is a certain remedy not only for the individual, but also for the society. When we say the world is our family and think and act in that spirit, most of the problems we confront and call insurmountable will wither away. One does not need to be a genius to understand this simple dictum of life.

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Putin Second to ‘Nobody’ on World’s Most Powerful List – Thinktank
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

International political thinktank Eurasia Group has ranked Russian President Vladimir Putin second on its list of the world’s most powerful people. The first position is held by ‘Nobody,’ reflecting the perception of a world without a clear leader.

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The Right to Live Peacefully
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

If the Right to Life and the Right to Peace we combine
a new, deeply humanizing right will be yours and mine…

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Hitler Won
Tom Greening – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Hitler won.
He has converted the Jews,
Palestinians, Russians, Chechens,
Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans,
even his nemesis, the
Holy Americans…

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Goal of Israel Lobby in America
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2013

Since this presentation deals with the Israel Lobby in the United States, we need to focus thoroughly on this group, which seems to have developed a strong grip on virtually every senator and congressman, including the US President. This group has one main objective, namely, the welfare and safeguard of the State of Israel. So far the Israeli lobby succeeded to get what it wanted, especially for the USA to let Israel confiscate Palestinian territory.

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An Open Letter of Response to CRIF (Counsèil Représentif des Institutions juives de France)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

I am shocked and saddened that your organization would label me as an anti-Semite and self-hating Jew. It is utterly defamatory, and such allegations are entirely based on distortions of what I believe and what I have done. To confuse my criticisms of Israel with self-hatred of myself as a Jew or with hatred of Jews is a calumny.

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In Further Memory of Edward Said
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Always, always

That voice
remains
is gone
needed…

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For Nonkilling Education: A Plea to Humankind
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Rhymed Reflections

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Christmas
Sumeet Grover – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Tinsel around the house
And the fireplace is warm, …

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Photo Gallery: The Best of Picture This 2012
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Throughout the year, Spiegel Online sifts through photos taken around the world for its “Picture This” feature. As 2012 draws to an end, here’s a look back at some of the most colorful, humorous and moving images that have been selected.

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The Libor Swindle
Andre Damon, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

22 Dec 2012 – The latest sweetheart settlement with a major international bank, in this case involving criminal activities that financial regulators describe as “epic,” has once again lifted the lid on the cesspool of corruption otherwise known as the world financial system. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, admitted this week to systematically rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the benchmark global interest rate to which hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial contracts are tied. It did so to increase its profits and conceal its financial problems.

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Celebration of Struggle Starts in Kudankulam on New Year 2013
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

New Year 2013 @ Kudankulam: Celebrating Resistance, Asserting Freedom. Idinthakarai village, which has been the nucleus of the Kudankulam anti-nuclear power plant struggle, welcomed hundreds of people who have come to celebrate New Year with the local communities spearheading the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE).

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The Lie that Prosecuting Bank Fraud Will Destabilize the Economy Is What Is REALLY Destroying the Economy
Washington’s Blog – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Failing to Prosecute White Collar Crime Guarantees a Weak and Unstable Economy … and Future Financial Crashes – After all, the main driver of economic growth is a strong rule of law.

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Multi-phase Weaponisation of Replica Guns for Children
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

It is simply not plausible to understand events in Connecticut this Friday [14 Dec 2012] without having a conversation about guns in a country where more than 84 people a day are killed with guns, and more than twice that number are injured with them…. Americans are no more prone to mental illness or violence than any other people in the world. What they do have is more guns: roughly, 90 for every 100 people.

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Drone Warfare: Terrorism with a Bigger Budget
Amanda Mullins, Defiance Citizens for Change – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

In the last four years, the use of unmanned drones to engage in so-called “targeted killing” has escalated dramatically. In Pakistan alone, US drone strikes have increased fivefold during the Obama administration, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks US drone strikes.

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Executives at Collapsed Iceland Bank Jailed For Fraud
Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday [28 Dec 2012] for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.

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US Deploying Troops to 35 African Countries
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Soldiers based out of Fort Riley, Kansas’ 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division will begin training in March 2013 in order to prepare for a project that will send troops to as many as 35 African nations, the Associated Press reports.

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Neville Alexander, Unbounded Organisation, and the Future of Socialism
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

In the late 1980s, as apartheid neared its end, Neville Alexander called on educators to “…shape consciousness in ways that are looking forward, in ways that are preparing people for a liberated, non-racial, democratic, and socialist South Africa.” Is Neville Alexander’s life’s work a contribution to a revolution that is still happening?

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UBS Libor Manipulation Merits a Death Penalty
William D. Cohan, The National Memo – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

There is no point in mincing words: UBS AG, the Swiss global bank, has been disgracing the banking profession for years and needs to be shut down.

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(Italiano) Violenza Strutturale, Pace e Disabilità
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Lo “sviluppo” dai villaggi tradizionali agli stati moderni comporta costruire gerarchie attorno all’ onnipotente logica dello Stato, all’onnipresente logica del Capitale e all’onnisciente logica della Scienza. Tutti successori di Dio, che monopolizzano le sfide. Non per nulla molti migrano nei villaggi.

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The Mayan Apocalypse and Gell-Mann’s Curve
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

How are we to explain the fact that the population curve is not an exponential? We can turn to Malthus for an answer: According to his model, population does not increase exponentially, except under special circumstances, when the food supply is so ample that the increase of population is entirely unchecked, In his “Essay on the Principle of Population”, population pressure appears as one of the main causes of war.

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Violence in the Institutional and Cultural DNA of the United States of America
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

The two of the three pillars of the United States were the ethno- and genocide of the native people and the enslavement of African people — yes, the other is honorably the Enlightenment ideals of equality (of property-owning while males). Both as an economic system and as an ideological edifice, USA is one of the most violent places on earth.

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Matt Taibbi: How Did HSBC Executives Avoid Jail?
Democracy NOW! – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

The banking giant HSBC has escaped indictment for laundering billions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and groups linked to al-Qaeda. Taibbi says. “Here we have a bank that laundered $800 million dollars of drug money and they can’t find a way to put anybody in jail for that? That sends an incredible message, not just to the financial sector, but to everybody. It’s an obvious, clear double standard where one set of people gets to break the rules as much as they want and another set of people can’t break any rules at all without going to jail.”

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The P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2012
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting-FAIR – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Recalling Some of the Stinkiest Media Moments of the Year [2012]

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A Request to Dissolve the Indian Parliament
The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

We, the following citizens of India, have just completed 500 days of our peaceful protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. Although our people have been struggling peacefully and nonviolently and democratically for 500 days, the Central government and the State government have not given our struggle its due importance or serious consideration to our demands. Instead they persist with their plan of commissioning the project at any cost just to please their Russian, American and French masters.

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Nile Gathering in Aswan, Egypt, 10-29 Jan 2013
The Nile Project – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

The world’s longest river runs through 11 countries (Congo DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt) and touches the lives of 400 million people. The Project’s mission is to connect the people of the Nile basin through a cultural dialogue that evokes Africa’s iconic river as a shared ecosystem.

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Why Are There So Few Peace Psychology Courses Taught?
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

What Can We Do To Change This? Although we have no exact figures on the number of courses in peace psychology that are taught in undergraduate and graduate psychology departments the United States, it seems to me on the basis of available materials that there it is at best a limited number.

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To Friends All Over: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!
Johan and TRANSCEND – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Permit me a little report on where we are in TRANSCEND. So you will pardon me a sense of “mission accomplished”, even if those words were abused by somebody unmentionable.

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Losing Faith? Belgium to Charge Church of Scientology with Fraud and Extortion
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

After a long lasting legal battle Belgium prosecutors demand to label the Church of Scientology as a criminal organization and charge it and its leaders with extortion, fraud, privacy breaches, and the illegal practice of medicine.

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Verizon Patents Targeted Advertising Method That Determines If Viewers Are Laughing, Cuddling, Sleeping or Singing
Steve Donohue, Fierce Cable – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Verizon has filed a patent application for targeting ads to viewers based on information collected from infrared cameras and microphones that would be able to detect conversations, people, objects and even animals that are near a TV.

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Tell Me Why (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Genesis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Dec 2012

Mothers crying in the street
Children dying at their feet
Tell me why, ooh tell me why
People starving everywhere
There’s too much food, but there’s none to spare
Tell me why, oh tell me why …

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Johan Galtung on Goldman Sachs and the Protocols
Al Jazeera, The Stream – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Gilad Atzmon: Johan Galtung confirms that many people believe that Goldman Sachs actions are not that different from the reality described in the Protocols of The Elders of Zion. Protocols also refer to Jews’ control of the press. According to Galtung we see a lack of debate on that matter.

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(Português) Para Viver Além de Narciso
Entrevista a Inês Castilho – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Lia Diskin [membro da TRANSCEND] disseca ultra-individualismo das sociedade submissas aos mercados, mas aposta nos novos valores da juventude e numa política despartidarizada.

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(Italiano) Contro una Terza Guerra Mondiale: Costruttivamente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Da Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany – La probabilità di una devastante Terza Guerra Mondiale non è zero, ma molto lontana dal 100%. Esploriamo perché.

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Responding to the Unspeakable Killings at Newtown, Connecticut
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

The template of response has become a national liturgy in light of the dismal pattern of public response: media sensationalism of a totalizing kind, at once enveloping, sentimental, and tasteless (endless interviewing of surviving children and teachers, and even family members of victims), but dutifully avoiding deeper questions relating to guns, violence, and cultural stimulants and conditioning.

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Imaginative Reconfiguration of a post-Apocalyptic Global Civilization
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Engaging Cognitively With the Illusion of the “End of the World”

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The Freedom of the Press Foundation
Daniel Ellsberg – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Today [23 Dec 2012], I join with a group of colleagues and friends to announce The Freedom of the Press Foundation. This new foundation crowd-sources funding for a number of tireless, courageous and underfunded freedom of press organizations, including WikiLeaks.

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‘Bug-Splats’
George Monbiot – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Some dead children are mourned; others are dehumanised. Barack Obama’s tears for the children of Newtown are in stark contrast to his silence over the children murdered by his drones.

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Switzerland’s UBS Becomes Second Bank to Settle LIBOR Rate-Rigging Probe
AP-The Washington Post – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Swiss bank UBS agreed Wednesday [19 Dec 2012] to pay $1.5 billion in fines for trying to manipulate a key interest rate that affects borrowers around the world.

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(Português) Com Menos Armas, Brasil Tem Três Vezes Mais Mortes a Tiro que os EUA
UOL Notícias – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Apesar do número bem inferior de armas de fogo em circulação na população do que nos Estados Unidos, o Brasil registrou, em 2010, 36 mil vítimas fatais de tiros. O montante é 3,7 vezes o registrado pelos americanos, que tiveram 9.960 mortes, colocando o país no topo dos que mais registram óbitos por arma de fogo no mundo.

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The UK/Swedish/US Governments Are Complicity in Mental Torture of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Co-Founder
Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

I appeal to the Australian government, Human rights defenders, brave media, and people who love freedom and truth to break the ‘silence ‘ and stand up for the rights of Julian Assange to assurance he will get the change to answer all accusations against him in UK or Sweden and the assurance he will not be extradited to USA where he could meet the same ‘cruel and inhuman’ treatment as pt. Bradley Manning.

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Perspective of the Most Violent Nation in the Civilized World
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

Over the past few decades, the United States has emerged to become the most violent nation in the civilized world. This did not happen overnight. In fact, we can trace this nation’s source of violence to the draft of its Constitution, which has now emerged to become the nation’s dangerous enemy.

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Human Rights: A Letter to Santa Claus?
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 48 nations voted for adoption, while 8 nations abstained from voting. Not a single state voted against the Declaration. Of course we have to earn a living, but in addition, all of us have the duty to work actively, to the best of our abilities, to save humanity’s future and the biosphere.

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After Newtown: Shifting the Structure and Culture of Violence towards Peace
Marianne Perez de Fransius – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

A look at the structural and cultural violence underneath the Sandy Hook attack and action steps to move towards peace.

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Michael Cremo Brings Vedic Perspectives to the Scientific Table
Madhava Smullen, ISKCON News – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2012

A new book shows that it is possible to present Vedic perspectives on consciousness, human origins and human antiquity in modern scientific discourse. The book is a collection of twenty-four papers that Drutakarma presented at major international scientific conferences, mostly on archeology, from 1994 to 2009.

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