Articles by M

We found 35037 results.


Super- Market
Udaya R. Tennakoon – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Beloved customer
Consume! Consume!
As much as open your mouth
As much as move your body

→ read full article

6 Crimes against Nature Perpetrated by the Food Industry
Martha Rosenberg, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Treating animals like heads of lettuce—“forget it’s an animal” says one farming magazine—has created institutionalized ruthlessness toward animals, workers and the environment, harming humans who eat the products thanks to meat-related obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and greedy, short-sighted land-use policies.

→ read full article

Edward Snowden, after Months of NSA Revelations, Says His Mission’s Accomplished
Barton Gellman – The Washington Post, 30 Dec 2013

24 Dec 2013 – “For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already accomplished,” he said. “I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself.”

→ read full article

(Português) O Funesto Império Mundial das Corporações
Leonardo Boff – Carta Maior, 30 Dec 2013

Muitos como J. Stiglitz e P. Krugman esperavam que o legado da crise de 2008 seria um grande debate sobre que tipo de sociedade queremos. Erraram feio. A discussão não se deu. Ao contrário, a lógica que provocou a crise foi retomada com mais furor.

→ read full article

Glenn Greenwald Calls For Snowden Asylum at Chaos Computer Club Congress
Deutsche Welle – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

27 Dec 2013 – Glenn Greenwald delivered the keynote speech at the 30th Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg. Organizers attributed record attendance of around 8,000 to revelations from Greenwald’s most famous source, Edward Snowden. Tim Pritlove: “We need to reinvent the Internet. We need to imagine the Internet anew. Now, have fun and go save the world!”

→ read full article

(Português) Esgotos Chineses Estão a Alimentar Bactérias Que Nenhum Antibiótico Consegue Matar
Greensavers – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Por paradoxal que pareça, com o aumento da administração de antibióticos as bactérias estão a tornar-se mais resistentes, o que pode representar consequências letais. Um exemplo desta resistência é a New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase(NDM-1), uma enzima descoberta em 2010 que faz com que bactérias como a Escherichia coli e as salmonelas proliferem imunes aos antibióticos.

→ read full article

Obama’s New Normal: The Drone Strikes Continue
Amy Goodman - Truthdig, 30 Dec 2013

There has been yet another violent attack with mass casualties. This was not the act of a lone gunman, or of an armed student rampaging through a school. It was a group of families en route to a wedding that was killed. The town was called Radda—not in Colorado, not in Connecticut, but in Yemen.

→ read full article

Gun or Gandhi
Martin Arnold - TED Talks, 30 Dec 2013

Nov 25, 2013 – TRANSCEND member Martin Arnold worked at the vocational school Essen-West as a protestant vocational pastor until 2010. From 2004 to 2009 he led a project funded by the German Foundation for Peace.

→ read full article

9/11: Explosive Evidence – Experts Speak Out
911ExpertsSpeakOut – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Public Broadcasting Station, Colorado Public Television, have courageously thrust themselves at the forefront of our nation’s public service media network. This is the 1-hour version of our 1 ½ hour groundbreaking documentary.

→ read full article

Time to Be Bold and Make Peace in Syria
Jimmy Carter and Robert A. Pastor – The Washington Post, 30 Dec 2013

23 Dec 2013 – We would need Russia and the United States to agree to this approach, Iran and other regional powers to stop supporting their proxies and the United Nations to elevate this issue to a top priority. It is time to change the agenda, the preconditions and the strategy on Syria — and end the war.

→ read full article

Who Runs The World? The Subconscious(*)
Johan Galtung, 30 Dec 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Not one or a group of persons, not one or a group of countries. But they may serve as instruments for scripts engraved on the deeper recesses of their minds, not the conscious, easily retrievable ones. Scripts that are too trivial, obvious, too painful/shameful and hence repressed. Jung calls them archetypes; they often come in syndromes.

→ read full article

Oligarchs, Demagogues and Mass Revolts … against Democracy
Prof. James Petras - Global Research, 30 Dec 2013

In ancient Rome, especially during the late Republic, oligarchs resorted to mob violence to block, intimidate, assassinate or drive from power the dominant faction in the Senate. While neither the ruling or opposing factions represented the interests of the plebeians, wage workers, small farmers or slaves, the use of the ‘mob’ against the elected Senate, the principle of representative government and the republican form of government laid the groundwork for the rise of authoritarian “Caesars” (military rulers) and the transformation of the Roman republic into an imperial state.

→ read full article

Americans Waking Up to Real Nature of US-Israel Relationship
PressTV – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Political analyst Maidhc Ó Cathail: “A lot of people may have the feeling that America’s change of attitude toward Israel is purely theatrics, but I think that’s a mistake. Americans are beginning to realize that Israel is not and has never been a strategic asset of America [and] that it has always been a liability.”

→ read full article

(Português) Snowden Aceitaria Asilo no Brasil, mas Não em Troca de Informação
AFP – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

Edward Snowden negou condicionar a entrega de dados à concessão de refúgio: “Nunca vou trocar informações por asilo, e não acredito que o governo brasileiro faria isso”. O programa da Rede Globo, “Fantástico”, disse ter entrevistado o ex-analista por e-mail através de seu advogado em Nova York, para evitar interceptações.

→ read full article

Globally Needed: A Nonkilling Musical Conscience
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

If in a song we hear the life-destructing verb to kill
Does it mean that its composers make life stand still?

→ read full article

Guidelines for Leading a Spiritual Life: Some Resolutions for the New Year
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Dec 2013

The term “spirituality” should not be limited to “ecclesiastical” contexts. “Secular spirituality” has emerged to describe non-materialistic individuals or ways-of-being that are not necessarily associated with membership or belief in a formal religion.

→ read full article

Is BDS Campaign against Israel Reaching a Turning Point?
Omar Barghouti – Al Jazeera, 30 Dec 2013

The movement calling for the boycott, divestiture and sanction of Israel is gaining momentum globally.

→ read full article

Exclusive: Secret Contract Tied NSA and Security Industry Pioneer
Joseph Menn, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

As a key part of a campaign to embed encryption software that it could crack into widely used computer products, the U.S. National Security Agency arranged a secret $10 million contract with RSA, one of the most influential firms in the computer security industry, Reuters has learned.

→ read full article

Syria: Harrowing Torture, Summary Killings in Secret Isis Detention Centres
Amnesty International – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Torture, flogging, and summary killings are rife in secret prisons run by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, an armed group that controls large areas of northern Syria, said Amnesty International in a briefing published today [19 Dec 2013].

→ read full article

(Italiano) Smettere di dare una connotazione negativa all’Occidente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Siria ha risposto alla tematica delle armi chimiche dando un premio Nobel per la Pace a una ONG impegnata nella proibizione delle armi chimiche; in linea con il testamento di Nobel, riduzione delle forze permanenti. Ma perché non condiviso con Putin, il politico che ha focalizzato la sua azione sulle armi anziché su “chi l’ha fatto” (con duecandidati validi), e inoltre su tutte le Armi di Distruzione di Massa, quando Obama non aveva altro da offrire che attacchi missilistici alle fortezze di Assad? E invece no; un paese NATO dà il premio all’Occidente, non alla Russia.

→ read full article

Ukraine: NATO’s Eastern Prize
Wayne Madsen – Strategic Culture Foundation, 23 Dec 2013

Across Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Belarus, Romania, and other countries of eastern and central Europe, the new generation of Soros agitators and provocateurs are trying to launch another series of «themed revolutions.» This time the goal is, once again, prying Ukraine away from Russia and into the EU and NATO.

→ read full article

Does Opposing Western Intervention in Syria Make the Anti-War Movement “Assad Apologists”?
Lindsey German – Stop the War Coalition, 23 Dec 2013

From Iraq to Afghanistan, from Libya to Syria, the accusation is that by opposing western intervention the anti-war movement is giving tacit support to dictators or despots: but is it?

→ read full article

Nobel Peace Laureates’ Statement: Nuclear Abolition Is a Humanitarian Imperative
World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

The 13th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, meeting in Poland from 21-23 October 2013, adopted a powerful declaration on nuclear abolition as a humanitarian imperative.

→ read full article

Mandela and Vanunu – Men of Courage
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

In 1986 Vanunu, the Israeli Nuclear whistle-blower, told the world about Israel’s secret nuclear weapons. For this he served 18 years in an Israeli prison, 12 in solitary confinement, and since his release in 2004 he has been forbidden to leave Israel, speak to foreigners, and is constantly under surveillance.

→ read full article

A Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons – Mexico, Feb 2014
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

On February 13 and 14, 2014, the government of Mexico will host a conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. The global peace movement must think carefully about how best to use the opportunities offered by the Mexico conference and by other recent breakthroughs in the struggle to eliminate the danger of a catastrophic thermonuclear war.

→ read full article

China vs US ‘sea-to-shining-sea’
Pepe Escobar – Asia Times, 23 Dec 2013

The paper spelt it loudly; “If the American navy and air force always encroach near China’s doorstep, confrontation is bound to take place.”

→ read full article

Washington’s New Islamic Front: Expanded U.S. Support to Al Qaeda Rebels in Syria
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research, 23 Dec 2013

What the US and its allies are establishing are new effective “direct channels” for increasing their support to their Al Qaeda foot soldiers, essentially using the new Islamic Front as a “Go Between”. This procedure is contemplated following the apparent demise of the Supreme Military Command of the FSA.

→ read full article

Defeating the Violence in Our Food and Medicine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Apart from exposing the medical industry, there has been much effort to expose the way in which the pharmaceutical and agribusiness food industries (particularly the meat industry) have ensured that little in the way of health-enhancing advice and treatment is available to patients who risk all by subjecting themselves to a ‘doctor’.

→ read full article

N.S.A. Spied on Allies, Aid Groups and Businesses
James Glanz and Andrew W. Lehren – The New York Times, 23 Dec 2013

While the names of some political and diplomatic leaders have previously emerged as targets, the newly disclosed intelligence documents provide a much fuller portrait of the spies’ sweeping interests in more than 60 countries.

→ read full article

That Woman
Mahdi Jalili – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Dedicated to Syrian Women

→ read full article

Friendly Fire: How GCHQ Monitors Germany, Israel and the EU
Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark – Der Spiegel, 23 Dec 2013

Documents from the archive of whistleblower and former NSA worker Edward Snowden show that Britain’s GCHQ signals intelligence agency has targeted European, German and Israeli politicians for surveillance.

→ read full article

Silent Night (Music Video of the Week)
Libera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

The boys who make up the vocal band Libera have been described as “normal” and “ordinary”. However, as their recordings and performances demonstrate, the music they produce is truly extraordinary. These are truly sounds to lift the soul. The singers are aged seven to sixteen, attend different local schools in South London and come from a variety of backgrounds.

→ read full article

The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder
Alan Schwarz – The New York Times, 23 Dec 2013

The Number of Diagnoses Soared Amid a 20-Year Drug Marketing Campaign – “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels,” Keith Conners, a psychologist and early advocate for recognition of A.D.H.D., said of the rising rates of diagnosis of the disorder.

→ read full article

Northern Ireland and the Israel/Palestine ‘Peace Process’
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

I visited Belfast the last few days during some negotiations about unresolved problems between Unionist and Republican (or Nationalist) political parties, I was struck by the absolute dependence for any kind of credibility of this process upon the unblemished perceived neutrality of the mediating third party.

→ read full article

(Português) Pela Dignidade Terminológica: Um Apelo
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Reflexões rimadas traduzidas-adaptadas do original (inglês) “On terminological dignity for human beings”. A tradução é dedicada aos terminológos que se dedicam à língua portuguesa.

→ read full article

The Washington Post and Amazon are “Doing Business with the CIA”
Norman Solomon - Global Research, 23 Dec 2013

News media should illuminate conflicts of interest, not embody them. But the owner of the Washington Post is now doing big business with the Central Intelligence Agency, while readers of the newspaper’s CIA coverage are left in the dark.

→ read full article

It’s the Government, Stupid: Appraising Ethiopia’s Saudi Arabia Policy
Alemayehu F. Weldemariam and Hassen Mohammed - TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

Since November 13, 2013, Saudi Arabia has been deporting Ethiopian migrant workers after committing unspeakable atrocities by security forces and vigilantes. The total number of deportees so far has reached a staggering 130,000 and is expected rise up to 150,600 within a few days.

→ read full article

The Palestinian National Movement Advances
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

The Palestinian shift toward Legitimacy Wars is a recognition that in this kind of conflict the decisive battles are generally not won by the side with the superior weaponry and technology but rather by the side that prevails in the realm of ideas and symbols of just cause.

→ read full article

Settled!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3.

→ read full article

Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel
Richard Pérez-Peña and Jodi Rudoren – The New York Times, 23 Dec 2013

An American organization of professors on Monday [16 Dec 2013] announced a boycott of Israeli academic institutions to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, signaling that a movement to isolate and pressure Israel that is gaining ground in Europe has begun to make strides in the United States.

→ read full article

Global Capitalism is the Real Enemy: Why Environmentalists Should Support Working Class Struggles
Stephanie Mcmillan - CounterPunch, 23 Dec 2013

First, we must recognize the fact that global capitalism is driving ecocide.

→ read full article

Fred Halliday
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

It is useful to have an overview of the life and thought of others working in the same vineyards of political analysis and conflict resolution. Fred Halliday was such a co-worker.

→ read full article

Lynne Stewart, Our Lady Mandela
Gary Corseri – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

She is ten feet tall… and dying in her cage.
While Obama and Cameron take “selfies,”
shedding crocodile tears,
our Lady Mandela gazes over
the path she has made by her walking.

→ read full article

Johan Galtung – Russell Tribunal on Palestine, New York
Antonio C. S. Rosa | Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Dec 2013

What is Sociocide?

→ read full article

Vandana Shiva & Jane Goodall on Serving the Earth & How Women Can Address Climate Crisis (1 of 2)
Amy Goodman – Democracy NOW!, 16 Dec 2013

Dec 4, 2013 – At the recent International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative Summit, Jane Goodall and Vandana Shiva discuss their decades of work devoted to protecting nature and saving future generations from the dangers of climate change.

→ read full article

Vandana Shiva & Jane Goodall on Serving the Earth & How Women Can Address Climate Crisis (2 of 2)
Amy Goodman – Democracy NOW!, 16 Dec 2013

Dec 4, 2013 – At the recent International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative Summit, Jane Goodall and Vandana Shiva discuss their decades of work devoted to protecting nature and saving future generations from the dangers of climate change.

→ read full article

Timothy Leary’s Liberation, and the CIA’s Experiments! LSD’s Amazing, Psychedelic History
Richard J. Miller - Salon, 16 Dec 2013

The U.S. psychedelic drug scene was kickstarted by spies and spooks, just as much as Timothy Leary and Jerry Garcia.

→ read full article

George Galloway Speaks with Mother Agnes of the Cross on Syrian Situation
Gallowayist – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

30 Nov 2013 – Episode 3 of Sputnik with George Galloway and Gayatri on Russia Today.

→ read full article

(Português) Fórum Mundial dos Direitos Humanos Reúne Mais de 5 Mil em Brasília
Najla Passos – Carta Maior, 16 Dec 2013

Com a presença de 5.987 pessoas de diferentes segmentos sociais de diversos países, o Fórum Mundial dos Direitos Humanos foi aberto nesta terça (10 Dez), em Brasília, na data em que se comemora o Dia Internacional dos Direitos Humanos e os 65 anos da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos.

→ read full article

New Evidence of Contra-Cocaine Scandal
Robert Parry – Consortium News, 16 Dec 2013

Special Report: Since journalist Gary Webb died in 2004, the story that destroyed his life has slowly come into clearer focus, revealing how President Reagan’s beloved Contras really were enmeshed in cocaine trafficking. On this ninth anniversary of Webb’s suicide, new corroboration has emerged.

→ read full article

Spy Agencies in Covert Push to Infiltrate Virtual World of Online Gaming
James Ball – The Guardian, 16 Dec 2013

NSA and GCHQ collect gamers’ chats and deploy real-life agents into World of Warcraft and Second Life.

→ read full article

Some Examples of Genocide
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Last Monday [9 Dec 2013], 65 years ago, the United Nations adopted a convention prohibiting genocide. It therefore seems appropriate to recall some examples of genocide, many of which have occurred since 1948.

→ read full article

Peace as a Break between Wars and Preparation for New Wars
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Of course, there should be a reason why wars continue to take place, especially when the population as a whole never wants to experience the tragedies of such events by all means.

→ read full article

The Nobel for Peace – An Expanding Scandal
Fredrik S. Heffermehl, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

A March 2012 decision by the Swedish authority supervising foundations is a ticking box of dynamite under the Nobel Peace Prize. Even presented in an official, open document, the decision has not reached the general public and become the news story it actually is.

→ read full article

Mother Agnes: “Nobody is Safe-Foreign Forces Need to Stop Fueling Violence in Syria”
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Dec 10, 2013 – RT’s Meghan Lopez speaks with Mother Agnes-Mariam de la Croix, founder of the James the Mutilated Monastery in Syria, who says that the videos show the chemical weapons were used by Syrian rebels.

→ read full article

Is America’s ‘Passionate Attachment’ to Israel Coming to an End?
Maidhc Ó Cathail, The Passionate Attachment – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

In an analysis piece entitled “Israel’s New Strategic Position,” Stratfor’s George Friedman claims that Tel Aviv has already lost its stranglehold over the U.S. political system.

→ read full article

Women Lead to Peace in Syria
CODEPINK – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria, continues to ignore the call by prominent international organizations for women to be fully represented at the peace table. Resolution 1325 states that the UN must recognize the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

→ read full article

Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial
Matt Taibbi – Rolling Stone, 16 Dec 2013

12 Dec 2013 – Lost amid the hoopla over JP Morgan Chase’s record-setting $13 billion settlement was news of another monster court resolution – a $2.46 billion judgment, the largest ever awarded after trial in a securities fraud class action case, handed down against a HSBC acquisition.

→ read full article

A Man and an Ant
Udaya R. Tennakoon – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

An ant
In a hurry
Runs alone

→ read full article

Israel and Apartheid: Confused? You Will Be
Mira Bar Hillel – The Independent, 16 Dec 2013

Accused of enacting ‘apartheid’ itself, in the past Israel aided the South African regime. Maps show how the Israelis plan to create bantustans for the Nomadic Bedouin in its southern Negev region. Tens of thousands of them would be forced into ghettoes to make way for new Jewish towns and military zones. A-word, anyone?

→ read full article

Open Letter to Intelligence Employees after Snowden
Thomas Drake, Daniel Ellsberg, Katharine Gun, Peter Kofod, Ray McGovern, Jesselyn Radack, Coleen Rowley – The Guardian, 16 Dec 2013

By Former Whistleblowers – Blowing the whistle on powerful factions is not a fun thing to do, but it is the last avenue for truth, balanced debate and democracy. There IS strength in numbers. Courage is contagious.

→ read full article

Syria’s War: The Next Phase
Tony Cartalucci – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

While the initial conflict was disingenuously portrayed as the spontaneous militarization of unarmed protesters fighting against a “brutal regime,” in reality Al Nusra was already inside the country and operating on a national scale. The US State Department itself would reveal this in its December 2012.

→ read full article

Heating Your Home Office Almost for Free
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

[Note from TMS editor: I post this video because I have tested the efficacy of the Flower Pot Heater in my own office/apartment. IT WORKS!]

→ read full article

Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

I personally hope we do not choose to have a truth commission, and hope that we can move on as a people and society to a better future. Perhaps in its place we could deploy the resources into training and job creation to give people opportunities for work.

→ read full article

UN Claims Uruguay Not Allowed to End Marijuana Prohibition
Alex Newman, New American – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

UN narcotics bureaucrats, whose generous tax-funded salaries depend on the perpetuation of the war on various plants and substances, have responded with outrage and concern. The controversial global body is now under fire after claiming that Uruguay’s recent decision to end marijuana prohibition violates “international law.”

→ read full article

Undercover Video Exposes Alleged Cruelty at Digiorno Dairy Supplier
Lindsay Abrams - Salon, 16 Dec 2013

DiGiorno, the nation’s largest it’s-not-delivery frozen pizza industry, has cut ties with Wiese Brothers Farm after a video surfaced depicting alleged abuse of the farm’s dairy cows.

→ read full article

The Stomach-Churning Reason That Meat Is So Cheap
Lindsay Abrams - Salon, 16 Dec 2013

Rolling Stone Lifts the Veil on Animal Abuse at Factory Farms – It covers, in horrific detail, the extent to which meat and dairy producers will go to raise the estimated 9 billion broiler chickens, 113 million pigs, 33 million cows and 250 million turkeys consumed each year in the U.S.

→ read full article

Japan’s New ‘Fukushima Fascism’
Harvey Wasserman, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

The site has been infiltrated by organized crime. There are horrifying signs of ecological disaster in the Pacific and human health impacts in the U.S. But within Japan, a new State Secrets Act makes such talk punishable by up to ten years in prison.

→ read full article

Mandela: The Man and the Movement
Amy Goodman - Truthdig, 16 Dec 2013

Mandela was a devoted friend of Fidel Castro, who always supported the ANC. The U.S., on the other hand, did not remove Mandela from its “terrorist watch list” until 2008, 14 years after he was elected president of South Africa.

→ read full article

(Português) Ninguém É Gay Por Escolha!
Silvana Macedo, Debates Culturais – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Esta semana recebi em meu consultório um rapaz de 19 anos que queria se curar de sua homossexualidade.

→ read full article

JP Morgan Facing $2bn Fine for Involvement in Madoff Ponzi Scheme
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian, 16 Dec 2013

JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in the US, is facing another multi-billion dollar fine, this time deriving from its involvement with notorious Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernard Madoff.

→ read full article

Metaphors to Die By
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Correspondences between a Collapsing Civilization, Culture or Group, and a Dying Person – Produced on the occasion of the G8 Dementia Summit (London 2013) attended by world leaders after participating in commemoration of the death of Nelson Mandela.

→ read full article

Officials Say U.S. May Never Know Extent of Snowden’s Leaks
Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt – The New York Times, 16 Dec 2013

A senior N.S.A. official has told reporters that he believed Mr. Snowden still had access to documents not yet disclosed. The official, Rick Ledgett, who is heading the security agency’s task force examining the leak, said he would consider recommending amnesty for Mr. Snowden in exchange for those documents.

→ read full article

Leaked: Pussy Riot, Greenpeace Activists Will Be Freed Under Amnesty
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

The members of the Pussy Riot punk band, Greenpeace activists and protesters jailed after the May 2012 Bolotnaya demonstration will be freed in an amnesty dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, Russian media report. Russia celebrates the 20th anniversary of the country’s Constitution on December 12.

→ read full article

Uruguay Becomes First Country to Legalize Marijuana Trade
Malena Castaldi and Felipe Llambias, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Uruguay became the first country to legalize the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana on Tuesday [10 Dec 2013], a pioneering social experiment that will be closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalization.

→ read full article

Aloha Nelson Mandela!
Jim Albertini – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Mandela was a political activist and agitator. He did not shy away from controversy and he did not seek — or obtain — universal approval. Before and after his release from prison, he embraced an unabashedly progressive and provocative platform.

→ read full article

Not Too Bad
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

An elderly man went to the doctor for his annual checkup.

→ read full article

The Earth Dialogues Geneva Declaration on Action for a Peaceful and Sustainable World
Green Cross International – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

We, the participants of the Earth Dialogues 2013 are deeply concerned by the failure of the world community to act decisively to avert the mounting risks of ecological, environmental and climatic disaster.

→ read full article

O Holy Night (Music Video of the Week)
Libera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

The boys who make up the vocal band Libera have been described as “normal” and “ordinary”. However, as their recordings and performances demonstrate, the music they produce is truly extraordinary. These are truly sounds to lift the soul. The singers are aged seven to sixteen, attend different local schools in South London and come from a variety of backgrounds. Although they are boys and they sing, they do not think of themselves as choirboys, but rather as an alternative kind of boy band.

→ read full article

Scientists Sign Declaration That Animals Have Conscious Awareness-Just Like Humans
Higher Perspectives – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

An international group of prominent scientists has signed The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness in which they are proclaiming their support for the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are — a list of animals that includes all mammals, birds, and even the octopus.

→ read full article

Reports on Syrian Paramilitary Groups
The Carter Center – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

The reports are part of the Center’s Syria Conflict Mapping Project, which analyzes the unprecedented volume of online citizen-generated information about the conflict in an effort to better inform peace-building efforts.

→ read full article

(Português) Veja Como a NSA Acessa Seu Gmail
Alberto Sicilia, Principia Marsupia – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Procuramos explicar de maneira simples como funcionam os dois programas do governo dos Estados Unidos que recolhem os nossos dados na Internet.

→ read full article

France Fuels Sectarian Killing in the Central African Republic
Finian Cunningham - PressTV, 16 Dec 2013

Hollande is distorting the facts. The carnage in the CAR erupted after heavily armed French soldiers began patrolling the streets. French troops are not preventing mayhem; they are inflaming it.

→ read full article

Washington Drives the World toward War
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Exceptionalism Killing America’s Soul – A person might wonder what is exceptional and indispensable about a government that is a reincarnation of Nazi Germany in every respect. People propagandized into the belief that they are the world’s special people inevitably lose their humanity.

→ read full article

New Documents Show How the NSA Infers Relationships Based on Mobile Location Data
Ashkan Soltani and Barton Gellman – The Washington Post, 16 Dec 2013

Everyone who carries a cellphone generates a trail of electronic breadcrumbs that reveal a wealth of information about who we are, where we live, who our friends are and much more. The NSA is collecting location information in bulk — 5 billion records per day worldwide — and using sophisticated algorithms to assist with U.S. intelligence-gathering operations.

→ read full article

War No More
Francisco Gomes de Matos – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

A poem-plea dedicated to Johan Galtung.

→ read full article

Why You Should Be Outraged About the TPP
Luke Bacon - NewMatilda, 16 Dec 2013

Openness in negotiation is a key component of democratic politics. Without it, the public can’t make sound decisions. The anti-democratic nature of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

→ read full article

Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad
William R. Polk – The Atlantic, 16 Dec 2013

William R. Polk offers an updated report on the grim prospects in Syria. Like his previous offerings, it is long and detailed—but as with the others, it offers both a coherent perspective and a myriad of facts and insights you will not find elsewhere.

→ read full article

How Journals like Nature, Cell and Science Are Damaging Science
Randy Schekman, 2013 Medicine Nobel Laureate – The Guardian, 16 Dec 2013

The incentives offered by top journals distort science, just as big bonuses distort banking. I am a scientist. Mine is a professional world that achieves great things for humanity. But it is disfigured by inappropriate incentives. The prevailing structures of personal reputation and career advancement mean the biggest rewards often follow the flashiest work, not the best.

→ read full article

(Русский-Russian) Евромайдан – новое слово в цветных революциях
Правда – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

12 декабря 2013 – Напряжение в Киеве, кажется, спадает: милиция освобождает город и государственные учреждения от активистов очередной увядающей цветной революции.

→ read full article

Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Refusing to be Enemies: Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent Resistance to the Israeli Occupation (Reading, UK: Ithaca Press, 2011). The book of Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta comes at an opportune time when the US Secretary of State John Kerry is making a concerted effort to mediate in the Israeli-Palestine tensions.

→ read full article

The West Needs to Bite Ukraine Off from Russia at All Costs
Pravda – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

12 Dec 2013 – Tension in Kiev seems to be subsiding. The city police are vacating the city and government agencies from activists of another fading color revolution. Ara Stepanyan, the executive secretary of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues, talked about it in a live feed.

→ read full article

Analysis of STRATFOR Leaks Misrepresents Nonviolent Movements
Stephen Zunes, WarIsACrime - TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Many of us were becoming concerned that, despite some very valuable contributions he and his colleagues at CANVAS have made to the field, Srdja Popovic appeared to be increasingly into self-promotion and lacking much discernment regarding those with whom he was willing to work.

→ read full article

Fresh Doubts about Syria’s Sarin Guilt
Robert Parry – Consortium News, 16 Dec 2013

Exclusive: A new analysis, buried in a UN report, reveals that one of the two missiles at the center of the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, which nearly led to a U.S. military attack, showed no evidence of Sarin, further undermining Official Washington’s certainty that the Syrian government was to blame.

→ read full article

Stop Giving the West a Bad Name!
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Syria responded to the chemical arms issue by giving a Nobel Peace Prize to an NGO for the prohibition of chemical weapons; in line with Nobel’s testament, reduction of standing forces. But why not shared with Putin, the politician who focused on the arms not on “who done it” (with two good candidates), and WMD to boot, when Obama had nothing but missile attacks on Assad strongholds to offer? But no; a NATO country gives a prize to the West, not to Russia.

→ read full article

Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi
Nitin Mehta- The Gandhi Foundation, 16 Dec 2013

The death of Nelson Mandela at the age of 95 has moved people all over the world. The outpouring of grief is similar to the one when Mahatma Gandhi died. It is one of those inexplicable quirks of history that both these giants who shaped the modern world started their long march for justice in South Africa.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Dove vanno gli Stati Uniti d’America?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Dec 2013

Da dove possono provenire controforze di rinnovamento capaci di spostare il paese su un’altra rotta? Economicamente: non si riesce a ripeterlo abbastanza: sollevare i ceti più bassi, dando loro speranza e dignità, portandoli dentro l’economia e soprattutto cambiando l’ethos dell’ economia dall’arricchimento dei ricchi all’empowerment dei poveri.

→ read full article

NSA Uses Google Cookies to Pinpoint Targets for Hacking
Ashkan Soltani, Andrea Peterson and Barton Gellman – The Washington Post, 16 Dec 2013

The agency’s internal presentation slides, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, show that when companies follow consumers on the Internet to better serve them advertising, the technique opens the door for similar tracking by the government. The slides also suggest that the agency is using these tracking techniques to help identify targets for offensive hacking operations.

→ read full article

Escaping the Abusive State: After Snowden
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Dec 2013

We can and must do better, above all as citizens engaged in the protection of the sort of society we wish to live in; without civic activism of a militant character we can wave goodbye to the promise of genuine democracy.

→ read full article

Bibi and Bandar Badger Obama: Better Six Billion than Six Trillion!
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Dec 2013

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—along with certain Arab League countries, plus Turkey and Israel, have this past week reportedly committed themselves to raising nearly $6 billion to “beef up” the just-hatched Islamic Front (IF) in Syria.

→ read full article