Articles by TRANSCEND Media Service
We found 28784 results.
Irenea: a Cinema for Peace and Nonviolence
Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Mar 2012
From TRANSCEND Member Prof. Nanni Salio, director of the CSSR: The Sereno Regis Study Center (Centro Studi Sereno Regis) in Turin is promoting the establishment of a multi-media educational lab meant to develop a movie culture oriented to peaceful, nonviolent and deeply respectful relationships to all living beings in the Earth’s ecosystem. The lab will be a place of search and spread of a movie culture that may help spot and recognize visible as well as invisible violence.
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Weapon of Mass Pollution: Pentagon World’s Largest Polluter (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Mar 2012
America’s mighty military presence around the world is leaving many locals with a bad taste in their mouths… quite literally. The Pentagon is accused of causing massive – and sometimes deadly – pollution. Not just in other countries, but at home too.
→ read full articleEnviro Groups Fear “Dangerously Misguided” Plan to Unleash Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
Common Dreams staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Mar 2012
Eric Hoffman of Friends of the Earth U.S. said: “The fact that Oxitec is hiding data from the public has undermined its credibility. Oxitec’s assertions cannot be trusted. Trials of its mosquitoes must not move forward in the absence of comprehensive and impartial reviews of the environmental, human health and ethical risks. Such trials must also await the establishment of a clear and well designed regulatory framework, which does not yet exist.”
→ read full articleEminent Indians Speak Out Against Harassment of Anti-Nuclear Activists in Koodankulam
DiaNuke – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Several eminent citizens, concerned about nuclear safety and the government’s campaign of slander against the Koodankulam anti-nuclear plant agitation in Tamil Nadu, have signed a public statement denouncing the government’s high-handedness against the peaceful protesters in Koodankulam. The signatories also include writers Arundhati Roy, Adil Jussawalla and Vandana Shiva. The statement is of vital public importance in view of the government’s plans to forge ahead with nuclear power expansion regardless of its safety and economic issues, and strong public opposition to new nuclear reactors.
→ read full articleIsraeli Apartheid Week Kicks Off in South Africa
The Voice of Palestine – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
The cultural week against the Israeli apartheid regime in occupied Palestine were launched in more than 13 South African cities in the context of global activities and events taking place in about 90 cities around the world. These events include university seminars, lectures, documentaries movies, photo galleries and many other activities on the apartheid system pursued by Israel.
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CNN Silences War-Skeptical Soldier (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
CNN – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Watch what happens when 28-year-old Cpl. Jesse Thorsen touches a neuralgic nerve by suggesting that Israel can take care of itself. It’s impossible to say exactly what happened to the remote feed that suddenly got lost in transmission back to CNN Central, but the minute-long video is truly worth a thousand words. The interview, which dates back to Jan. 3 2012, is symbolic of how the US Corporate Media treats dissident voices that clash with the prevailing pro-war-on-Iran bias.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Stratfor Emails Devastating
TYT Network – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
“Some 5m internal emails from Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based company that brands itself as a “global intelligence” provider, were recently obtained by Anonymous, the hacker collective, and are being released in batches by WikiLeaks. The most striking revelation from the latest disclosure is not simply the military-industrial complex that conspires to spy on citizens, activists and trouble-causers, but the extremely low quality of the information available to the highest bidder.”
→ read full articleReciprocity, Lawfare, and Self-Defense: Targeted Killing
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
There is an emergent Israeli/American controversy on the lawfulness of targeted killing. Although the policy has not yet attained the status of being a national debate, there are signs that it may be about to happen, especially in light of the Attorney General, Eric Holder’s Northwestern Law School speech on March 5, 2012 outlining the Obama’s administration’s controversial approach to targeted killing in some detail.
→ read full articleNigeria Oil Corruption Highlighted by Audits
Joe Brock and Tim Cocks, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
An important supplier to the United States because of the oil’s high gasoline content, Nigeria has attracted billions of dollars of investments from the world’s top oil companies. Yet poverty in Africa’s second biggest economy is rising, with almost 100 million people living on less than $1 a day, data released last month shows. The percentage of Nigerians living in absolute poverty – those who can afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing – has risen to around 60 percent.
→ read full articleLanguage of Politics in True Perspective
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
In view of what has been stated and based on the tangible evidence that was presented, we can fully understand that when China and the United States speak of “national defense and security” they do attribute to this phraseology an entirely different meaning, even though the sound is identical. For China, “national defense and security” means simply the “protection of the country from any possible invasion.” For the United States, “national defense and security” means merely the “preparation for the waging of never-ending wars around the world by using the most devastating weapons available.
→ read full articleChina to Export Yuan to BRICS
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
China is reportedly to begin extending loans in yuan to BRICS countries in another step towards internationalizing the national currency and diversifying from the US dollar. Brazil and South Africa were quick to react to the proposal, saying they expect the lending pledge to be included into a master agreement to be signed in New Delhi on March 29 [2012].
→ read full articlePeace Mathematics – Does It Exist?
Johan Galtung, 12 Mar 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
It does, even in print; pardon some publicity! You may start at the end with the table of contents, then, here, the book epilogue:
Enthusiast E and Skeptic S: Dialogue at a Higher Level:
S: I worried that you would put something belonging to all of us, peace, into a big machine with parameters and then the machine would produce outputs about what to do. Like economists do with something belonging to us, our own livelihood. I liked your distinction between equations and formulas, between mathematics and mathematese…
Lab Tests Find Carcinogen in Regular and Diet Coke and Pepsi
Center for Science in the Public Interest – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
New chemical analyses have found that Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Diet Coke, and Diet Pepsi contain high levels of 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a known animal carcinogen. The carcinogen forms when ammonia or ammonia and sulfites are used to manufacture the “caramel coloring” that gives those sodas their distinctive brown colors, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit watchdog group that commissioned the tests.
→ read full articleMonsanto’s Roundup Shown to be Ravaging Butterfly Population
Mike Barrett, Natural Society – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Monsanto’s Roundup, containing the active ingredient glyphosate, has been tied to more health and environmental problems than you could imagine. Similar to how pesticides have been contributing to the bee decline, Monsanto’s Roundup has been tied to the decrease in the population of monarch butterflies by killing the very plants that the butterflies rely on for habitat and food. What’s been shown to be an even greater threat to the population, though, is Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn and soybeans.
→ read full articleDon’t Bank on the Bomb
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
A fantastic report with many detailed tables.The Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers – With a Foreword by Desmond Tutu. The first major global report on the financing of companies that manufacture, modernize and maintain nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles. It identifies more than 300 banks, insurance companies, pension funds and asset managers from 30 countries that invest significantly in the, also listed, 20 major nuclear weapons producers.
→ read full articleThe War on WikiLeaks Is Now Trial by Media in Sweden
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
War by media, says current military doctrine, is as important as the battlefield. This is because the real enemy is the public at home, whose manipulation and deception are essential for starting an unpopular colonial war. Like the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, attacks on Iran and Syria require a steady drip-effect on readers’ and viewers’ consciousness. This is the essence of a propaganda that rarely speaks its name.
→ read full articleKoran Burning in Afghanistan: Mistake, Crime, and Metaphor
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
In this regard Koran burning may be as provocative in its assault on Afghan political culture as was the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi with respect to the authoritarian cruelty of the Tunisian regime presided over by the tyrannical rule of Zine El Alindine Ben Ali, who was driven from power as a direct result. When the culture screams it is time to leave!
→ read full articleTracking the Trackers: Mozilla’s Anti-Big Brother Add-On
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
The owner of Firefox, the world’s second most popular browser, is backing an add-on which would allow users to monitor in real-time how their actions are tracked and shared by various websites as they surf the net. The amount of data collected by Google, Facebook and other players less-known to the general public is astounding. But the majority of Internet users are oblivious to this fact. Mozilla’s new add-on – called Collusion – aims to change that.
→ read full article(Italian) Brescia: Primo Marzo 2012 per i Diritti di Tutti i Migranti e per i Diritti di Tutti
Silvia Berruto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Brescia*, Piazza Loggia, 1 marzo 2012
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Say NO to ACTA
laquadrature – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Learn more and take action about ACTA.
→ read full article10 Unanswered Questions on Iran and Israel
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Produced in the light of the Press Conference of President Barack Obama (6 March 2012)
and a crisis meeting of the IAEA (Vienna, 7 March 2012) seeking consensus on action against Iran. Why is the case against Iran’s capacity to produce nuclear weapons of mass destruction always presented without systematic comparison with the track record relating to Israel’s capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction?
Big 6 Oil Companies Complete a Trillion-Dollar Decade
David Wallechinsky, AllGov – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Times are good for the six largest oil companies, with profits easily surpassing the figures from before the 2008 financial meltdown. In 2011 ExxonMobil led the way with profits of $41.1 billion. Shell was in second place at $28.6 billion, followed by Chevron at $26.8 billion and BP at $23.9 billion. Total was back at $15.9 billion and ConocoPhillips trailed at $12.4 billion.
→ read full articleCancer of the Spirit
Robert Koehler – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
Can we squeeze the glory out of the word “war”? Can we talk about savage irrationality and lifelong inner hell instead? Can we talk about the wreckage of two countries? Can we talk about spiritual cancer? In the extraordinary documentary On the Bridge — an unstinting look at the reality of war and the terror of PTSD.
→ read full articleChina: Rise, Fall and Re-Emergence as a Global Power – Some Lessons from the Past
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
The study of world power has been blighted by Eurocentric historians who have distorted and ignored the dominant role China played in the world economy between 1100 and 1800.
→ read full articleUN Official Slams WikiLeaks Suspect Manning’s Treatment
Agence France Press-AFP – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
US authorities’ treatment of WikiLeaks suspect Private Bradley Manning was “cruel and degrading,” the UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Ernesto Mendez said Monday [5 Mar 2012]. “I believe Bradley Manning was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the excessive and prolonged isolation he was put in during the eight months he was in Quantico,” he told AFP, referring to the US military prison near Washington.
→ read full articleTroubled Waters: How Mine Waste Dumping is Poisoning Our Ocean, Rivers, and Lakes
Earthworks & MiningWatch Canada – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2012
A new investigative report from Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada documents how mining companies are using the world’s waterways as dumping grounds for their toxic mine wastes. These mine wastes, or tailings, can contain up to three dozen dangerous chemicals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, and cyanide. Each year, mining companies dump over 180 million tonnes of these hazardous mine wastes into rivers, oceans, and lakes – that’s more than 1.5 times the amount of waste that US cities send to landfills each year.
→ read full articleIceland’s Ex-PM on Trial over Banks Crisis
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
The former prime minister of Iceland has gone on trial in a special court in Reykjavik on charges of negligence over his handling of the country’s 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of the country’s banking system.
→ read full articleFrom Empire to Global Fascism
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
A disconnect between speech and action is Obama’s trade mark. A key to his global fascism: instead of acknowledging wrongs of US foreign policy, he hides his extra-judicial killings with drones and JSOC’s (Joint Special Operations Command) in, maybe, 120 countries. Covert, CIA, less overt, Pentagon; with little Congress control. JSOC has been operating an extra-legal “kill-capture” campaign that a former counterinsurgency adviser calls “an almost industrial scale counterterrorism killing machine”.
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Inside MONSANTO
Denkmal Film - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Scientists Speak the Truth
→ read full articleLibya ‘Close to Disintegration’ – PM
The Voice of Russia – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Speaking on the first anniversary of the anti-Gaddafi revolution in Misurata Monday, interim Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abdeljalil warned of complete national disintegration if the rival tribes and clans that had laid hands on Gaddafi’s arsenals continued to refuse to submit to the authority of the central government.
→ read full article8 March: International Day of Women – Women as Peacemakers
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
8 March is the International Day of Women first proposed by Clara Zetkin (1857-1933) at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen in 1911. Zetkin, who had lived some years in Paris and active in women’s movements there, was building on the 1889 International Congress for Feminine Works and Institutions held in Paris under the leadership of Ana de Walska.
→ read full articleNobel Peace Laureate Calls For Ceasefire and Nonviolent Solution to the Conflict in Syria
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
“The only people who can solve Syrian problems are the Syrians themselves. The international community must insist that all international and human rights laws be upheld by the Syrian government and that they enter a dialogue with all opposition groups whose voices have a right to be heard and not ‘silenced’ by persecution, torture and/or killings.”
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Government Promises, Ground Realities
International Crisis Group – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Nearly three years since declaring victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the government has weakened democratic institutions, deepened ethnic polarisation and aggravated the country’s long-standing impunity for human rights violations. The former warzones in the north and east are heavily militarised and controlled from Colombo, while disappearances, killings, torture, gender-based violence and other abuses continue with impunity throughout the island. Sri Lankans who speak out about the situation risk reprisal.
→ read full articleBahrain Delays UN Investigator Visit
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Government requests torture investigator to delay visit, while strengthening restrictions on visits by rights groups. The UN human rights office in Geneva said on Thursday [1 Mar 2012] that Bahrain had formally requested that the visit of the special rapporteur on torture be delayed until July. Bahrain, an ally of the United States and home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, is ruled by the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa family, and has been under pressure to institute political and rights reforms since its violent crackdown on the uprising.
→ read full articleMonsanto Pays 93 Million to Victims in Settlement
Cassandra Anderson, Natural Society – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
February 27, 2012 – Monsanto tentatively agreed to a $93 million settlement with some residents of Nitro, West Virginia. Nitro is a small town that got its name from manufacturing explosives during WWI. It was also the site of a Monsanto chemical plant that manufactured 2,4,5-T herbicide that was half of the Agent Orange recipe. Monsanto has now set a precedent for settling claims, and hopefully some good attorneys will seize the opportunity in order to hold Monsanto accountable.
→ read full articleColombia’s Quest for Peace and Justice
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Between April 21 -23 [2012], the National Patriotic Council will convoke thousands of activists from most of the major urban and rural social movements and trade unions, human rights groups and indigenous afro-colombian movements, who will meet to unify forces and launch what promises to be the most significant new political movement in recent history. The democratization of Colombia requires the growth of independent social movements, judicial investigation and prosecution of ex narco-President Álvaro Uribe and his closest collaborators, and needs to extend to the present Santos regime.
→ read full articleCheerleading Is No Revolution: “Democracy in Burma”
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Cheerleading is no revolution. That society is not going anywhere humanistic. The current discourse of revolutionary changes is nothing but a self-interested spin from vultures and vampires of all stripes and colours, native and foreign.
→ read full articlePrivacy Betrayed: Twitter Sells Multi-Billion Tweet Archive
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Mar 2012
Twitter has sold billions of archived tweets believed to have vanished forever. A privacy row has erupted as hundreds of companies queue up to purchase users’ personal information from the new database. Every time you use social networks you become mere product – it’s an idea we will all have to get used to. So, should we give up worldly goods and hide in a Tibetan monastery till the end of our days, or start putting up a fight to protect our privacy?
→ read full articleTribalism, Racism and Projection (Part 1)
Gilad Atzmon – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
In this paper and the one to follow, I expose the misleading aspect that is, unfortunately, inherent to some ‘anti’ racist ideologies. I will elaborate on the role of anti racism in maintaing both Zionism and the Left discourse.
“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” ― Anaïs Nin
Tribalism, Racism and Projection (Part 2)
Gilad Atzmon – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
In this part I explore the misleading role of Jewish politics (both Zionist and anti Zionist) within the ‘anti racist’ campaign.
→ read full articleFrance to EU: Stop Monsanto’s Corn
Common Dreams staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
France has asked the European regulators to suspend the authorization to plant Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) MON810 corn. France’s ecology minister says the decision is based on studies showing GM crops “pose significant risks for the environment.”
→ read full articleMetaphorical Insights from the Patterns of Academic Disciplines
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
This document explores use of a particular metaphor from physics as a means of articulating understandings of openness and closedness in support of individual or collective identity. It follows from consideration of pattern language in a more general argument (Way Round Cognitive Ground Zero and Pointlessness: embodying the geometry of fundamental cognitive dynamics, 2012) of which it is is Annex D.
→ read full articleLimits to Growth and Fractional Reserve Banking
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
Economists (with a few notable exceptions) have long behaved as though growth were synonymous with economic health. If the gross national product increases steadily most economists express approval and say that the economy is healthy. If the growth rate should fall, economic illness would be diagnosed. However, it is obvious that on a finite Earth, neither population growth nor economic growth can continue indefinitely.
→ read full articleJapan’s Spiritual Crisis
Johan Galtung, 27 Feb 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
This author published with Ikuro Anzai, ‘Nippon wa Kikikan’, Is Japan in a Crisis? And the answer was yes, a spiritual crisis. Japan sold its soul to Washington, and is left in a spiritual vacuum; neither US nor Japan. Walking through the marvelous bullet train, Shinkansen, only sad, grey, tired faces; no laughter, no enhancing conversation seen or heard.
→ read full articleBan Ki-moon Hails Latin American Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone on 45th Anniversary
UN News Centre- TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
14 February 2012 – On the 45th anniversary of the treaty that created a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the pact as an example of how regional initiatives can advance global norms on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of atomic energy.
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ACTA Blueprint for a Global Takeover of the Internet (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
occupyvancouvermedia – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
ACTA – The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is yet another treaty being developed by the global elite in an attempt to censor the internet and block the free flow of information.
→ read full articleSaving Khader Adnan’s Life and Legacy
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
It is a great relief to those millions around the world who were moved to prayer and action by Khader Adnan’s extraordinary hunger strike of 66 days that has ended due to Israel’s agreement to release him on April 17 [2012].
→ read full articleGreece: The Epicenter of Global Pillage
Stephen Lendman – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
Predatory bankers make serial killers look good by comparison. Their business model creates crises to facilitate grand theft, financial terrorism, and debt entrapment. They steal all material wealth and then some, and systematically rob investors and strip mine economies for self-enrichment. They demand they get paid first and hold nations hostage to assure it, turn crises into catastrophes and leave mass impoverishment, high unemployment, neo-serfdom, and human wreckage in their wake.
→ read full articleTop Social Media Websites Caught Censoring Controversial Content
Washington’s Blog – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Feb 2012
Facebook pays low-wage foreign workers to delete certain content based upon a censorship list. For example, it deletes accounts created by Palestinian resistance groups. Digg was caught censoring stories which were controversial or too critical of the government. See this and this. Now, even social media site Reddit – which helped launch the anti-Sopa Internet blackout and publicize GoDaddy’s slimy Sopa support – is doing the same thing.
→ read full articleHappy Savages
Robert Koehler – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
“John is a savage, but a happy, amenable savage.” Thus intones the voice on a ’50s-era newsreel clip in the documentary, showing footage of seven male Marshall Islanders who have been brought to the United States for radiation testing. “John is mayor of Rongelap Atoll. John reads, knows about God and is a pretty good mayor.” The film does a stunning job juxtaposing examples of our smug ignorance of South Sea culture with the reality of what we did to it. John the happy savage is actually John Anjain, who is one of many former residents of Rongelap Atoll interviewed in the film. He talks about his thyroid cancer, the thyroid cancer of three of his children and one grandson, and about the death of another son from leukemia.
→ read full article(Portuguese) O ACTA Ameaça a Net
Esquerda.net – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Quem nunca ouviu um CD emprestado, viu um DVD de um amigo, recorreu a uma biblioteca? A partilha de bens culturais sempre existiu. Na era digital, tem especificidades próprias, mas é falso que a cópia de um ficheiro não autorizado seja um ‘roubo’. Os Estados Unidos assinaram o ACTA em outubro [2011], assim como a Austrália, o Canadá, a Coreia do Sul e o Japão. A 26 de Janeiro [2012], 22 países europeus e a Comissão Europeia assinaram-no igualmente. Entraria em vigor depois de seis Estados signatários o terem ratificado. Nenhum o fez até à data. E, se depender das populações, tudo indica que nenhum o fará.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Banned From UN Conference on WikiLeaks
Common Dreams staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
WikiLeaks has lodged a strong protest with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for “banning’’ it from an international conference it is hosting at its headquarters in Paris on the impact of the whistle-blower website’s activities. It said the U.S. organizers of the two-day conference, which opened on Thursday [16 Feb 2012], had “stacked’’ it with WikiLeaks’ opponents and “blocked all speakers from WikiLeaks, stating that the decision to censor WikiLeaks representation was an exercise in ‘freedom of expression… our right to give voice to speakers of our choice’’.”
→ read full articleWhen Is An ‘NGO’ Not An NGO? Twists and Turns Beneath the Cairo Skies
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
A confusing controversy between the United States and Egypt is unfolding. It has already raised tensions in the relationship between the two countries to a level that has not existed for decades. It results from moves by the military government in Cairo to go forward with the criminal prosecution of 43 foreigners, including 19 Americans, for unlawfully carrying on the work of unlicensed public interest organizations that improperly, according to Egyptian law, depend for their budget on foreign funding.
→ read full articleThe Big Green Question
George Monbiot – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Is environmentalism compatible with social justice? Journalists writing for the corporate press, with views somewhere to the right of Vlad the Impaler and no prior record of concern for the poor, suddenly become their doughty champions when the interests of the proprietorial class are threatened. If tar sands cannot be extracted in Canada, they maintain, subsistence farmers in Africa will starve. If Tesco’s profits are threatened, children will die of malaria. When it is done cleverly, promoting the interests of corporations and the ultra-rich under the guise of concern for the poor is an effective public relations strategy.
→ read full articleWho is Threatening Whom? 45 US Bases Surround Iran
Information Clearing House – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Each star on the map is a US base. But just to be clear, Iran is the one that is threatening the US.
→ read full articlePrivate Prison Company to Demand 90% Occupancy
Noel Brinkerhoff & David Wallechinsky, AllGov – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has reached out to 48 states as part of a $250 million plan to own existing prisons and manage their operations. But in return CCA wants a 20-year contract and assurances that the state will keep the prisons at least 90% full.
→ read full articleSaving Khader Adnan’s Life Saves Our Own Soul
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
The world watches as tragedy unfolds beneath its gaze as Khader Asnan enters his 63rd day as a hunger striker in an Israeli prison being held under an administrative detention order without trial, without charges, and without any indication of the evidence against him.
→ read full articleWorld Day of Social Justice: The People’s Revolution is On the March
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
The United Nations General Assembly, on the initiative of Nurbch Jeenbrev, the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the U.N. in New York, has proclaimed 20 February as the “World Day of Social Justice”.
→ read full articleMali’s Plan to Probe Child Labour in Gold Mines
Africa News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
‘Our research found that children in Mali start working as young as six years old. Many child laborers are denied an education or drop out of school. Some children come to the mines without their parents and suffer economic or sexual exploitation,’ Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Minister of Mines, Amadou Cisse.
→ read full articleFalse Flag? Bombing Puts India’s Trade Ties with Iran to the Test
Mayank Bhardwaj, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
“There are U.N. sanctions which India honours, those don’t cover the export of a vast range of products which India can export to Iran,” Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said. “If the EU and the U.S. both want to stop exports to that country, please tell me why I should follow suit? Why shouldn’t I take up that business opportunity?” Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center said that India will find it increasingly difficult to placate both Iran, on the one hand, and the United States and Israel on the other.
→ read full articleWashington’s Insouciance Has No Rival
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Washington is now in the second decade of murdering Muslim men, women, and children in six countries. Washington is so concerned with human rights that it drops bombs on schools, hospitals, weddings and funerals, all in order to uphold the human rights of Muslim people. You see, bombing liberates Muslim women from having to wear the burka and from male domination.
→ read full articleDelhi Bomb Blast and India’s Options
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
The bomb blast in New Delhi on 13 February 2012 has certainly raised India’s stakes in highly contested debate on international terrorism. The combination of its domestic policy matrix, its approach to extremism and radicalism, and its external policies and posturing will put India in a tough place in crafting decisions which may be difficult but necessary.
→ read full article(Italian) La (Dis)Informazione a Senso Unico
Marinella Correggia, Il Manifesto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Si Ripete la Stessa Operazione Mediatica: Come Per la «Guerra Umanitaria» in Libia
→ read full articleThou Shalt Not Kill (Thyself)
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
I believe that the people of Israel – the Israeli nation – have the will to survive. But in order to survive, they must wake up from their apathetic stupor and change course – turning towards peace based on the two-state solution, separating the state from religion and building a new social order.
→ read full articleEuropean Parliament Resolution on Parliament’s Position on the 19th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
14 Feb 2012 – The European Parliament,
→ read full article
Arts, Culture and Peacebuilding (Video of the Week)
Dominik ‘Nik’ Lehnert | XCHANGEperspectives – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
In this video Basti, Frank and Nik reflect on Xchange Perspectives’ work in South Sudan since 2005. Dominik ‘Nik’ Lehnert is TRANSCEND Media Service’s Video Production Assistant.
→ read full articleSS = Scout Snipers: US Marines Adopt Nazi Goons Emblem
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
This picture showing a US Marine scout sniper team posing in front of what appears as a flag of the notorious Nazi organization SS, has surfaced online. The Marine Corps confirmed that the embarrassing photo taken in Afghanistan is real.
→ read full articleNir Rosen on Syria’s Protest Movement
Al Jazeera staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Journalist Nir Rosen recently spent two months in Syria. As well as meeting members of various communities across the country – supporters of the country’s rulers and of the opposition alike – he spent time with armed resistance groups in Homs, Idlib, Deraa, and Damascus suburbs. He also travelled extensively around the country last year, documenting his experiences for Al Jazeera.
→ read full article
Exposed: Scientology’s Secret Child Labour Camp
7 News, Australia – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
The true Australian headquarters of the Church of Scientology are located in the Sydney suburb of Dundas. The RPF base – which stands for Rehabilitation Project Force – is where Scientologists are sent for punishment and training, for crimes that most of us would regard as trivial.
→ read full article‘Global Square’: WikiLeaks-Backed Activist Platform Launching in March
Common Dreams staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
WikiLeaks Central announced a “Call to Coders” Tuesday [14 Feb 2012] as they prepare for the March launch of the “first massive decentralized social network in the history of the Internet.” The goal of the Global Square is to perpetuate and spread the creative and cooperative spirit of the occupations and transform this into lasting forms of social organization, at the global as well as the local level.
→ read full articleGM Food Is a Commercial Flop in Europe
The Green Times – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
Greenpeace announced in Brussels recently that annual industry figures to be released early next week are expected to confirm the commercial failure of genetically modified (GM) food in Europe.
→ read full articleMonsanto Guilty of Chemical Poisoning in France
Marion Douet, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
A French court on Monday [13 Feb 2012] declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto(MON.N) guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.
→ read full articleFrom Syria to Haiti: Another Showcase of Western Hypocrisy
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Haitian justice decided not to prosecute Haitian dictator ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier for human rights crimes during his grueling regime. The so called free west is not going to do anything about Baby Doc Duvalier, just as it will not act against the medieval monarchies of Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. If human rights were the issue, Baby Doc would be front page news, the top story in the news. He isn’t. He’s our guy. Not like that scoundrel Assad who is not our guy. The first is OK, the latter has to go. Now you know why.
→ read full articleFor a Latin America Free from Colonialism – The Malvinas Islands Are Argentinean
Socorro Gomes, World Peace Council – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
The decision made in several multilateral forums – such as Mercosur, Unasur and Alba – with a view to support the Argentinean claim so that England returns to negotiations, therefore complying with the United Nations resolutions on the issue, constitutes a significant fact in Latin American solidarity. In defense of a peaceful continent, free from colonialism and foreign military bases.
→ read full articleGermany Refuses to Sign Copyright Treaty
Monsters and Critics – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Germany will not sign an international copyright treaty, despite having already agreed to it in principle, government sources in Berlin said Friday [10 Feb 2012], after protests over its implications for internet users. Tens of thousands were expected to take part in protests in 60 German cities on Saturday [11 Feb 2012], while the international coordinator of the campaign group Stopp ACTA told dpa that it expected 150,000 to 200,000 protests to take place worldwide.
→ read full articleLiberal Constipation
George Monbiot – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Conservatism is linked to low intelligence; but the real idiots are the progressives letting it win. Self-deprecating, too liberal for their own good, today’s progressives stand back and watch, hands over their mouths, as the social vivisectionists of the right slice up a living society to see if its component parts can survive in isolation.
→ read full articleBradley Manning Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Oklahoma Peace Organization
Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
A second organization (the first being The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament) has now nominated Bradley Manning for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research (OCCPR) announced on Tuesday [7 Feb 2012] that it has nominated US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning for the Nobel Peace Prize. Accused whistleblower deserves the prize for casting light on war crimes committed in Iraq, nomination states.
→ read full article(Italian) Marines USA in Afghanistan con le bandiere delle SS
Antonio Mazzeo – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Dieci marines in posa, sorridenti, in tenuta d’assalto con tanto di fucile-mitragliatore al braccio. Tutti tiratori scelti, cecchini di un reparto speciale inviato nell’inferno afgano. Al centro, in alto, la bandiera a stelle e strisce degli Stati Uniti d’America. Sotto, più grande, una bandiera blu con in mezzo le SS stilizzate della famigerata Schutzstaffel, la polizia segreta militare nazista.
→ read full articleToxic Electronic Waste Grows by 40 Million Tonnes a Year — Poisons Kids in Africa
Stephen Leahy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Mountains of hazardous waste grow by about 40 million tons every year. This waste, mostly from Europe and North America, is burned in developing countries like Ghana in a hazardous effort to recover valuable metals.
→ read full articleAttacks on Iran, Past and Present
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Today’s Iranians are highly intelligent and cultured, and famous for their hospitality, generosity and kindness to strangers. Over the centuries, Iranians have made many contributions to science, art and literature, and for hundreds of years they have not attacked any of their neighbors. Nevertheless, for the last 90 years, they have been the victims of foreign attacks and interventions, most of which have been closely related to Iran’s oil and gas resources. The first of these took place in the period 1921-1925, when a British-sponsored coup overthrew the Qajar dynasty and replaced it by Reza Shah.
→ read full articleArgentina Appeals to UN over British Military Buildup in South Atlantic
Global Research News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
On February 7 [2012] Argentine President Cristina Fernandez accused Britain of militarizing the South Atlantic Ocean by deploying a cutting-edge warship and a nuclear-powered submarine off the coast of the Falklands Islands, known to Argentina and the rest of Latin America as Las Malvinas. The deployment of Prince William on a military mission to the islands late last week further antagonized Argentina, with President Fernandez describing the royal scion as being garbed in the “uniform of a conquistador.”
→ read full articleThe Menace of Present & Future Drone Warfare
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
This nonproliferation approach has been accompanying by three massive forms of deception that continues to mislead public opinion and discourage serious debate about the benefits of nuclear disarmament even at this late stage: First, the fallacious implication that the states that do not possess nuclear weapons are currently more dangerous for world peace than the states that possess, develop, and deploy these weapons of mass destruction, and have used them in the past; secondly, …
→ read full articleUnited States’ Record of Vetoes at the UN Security Council
Arab Studies Institute – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
A Quick Listing of The United States’ Record of Veto Use at the United Nations – 1972–2011
→ read full article
Haiti: Where Did the Money Go? (Part 1 of 5)
FilmAt11tv – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
In January 2010, a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. The international community, including one out of two Americans, pledged billions of dollars in aid, yet the nation has seen little improvement. Three hundred thousand died, nearly two million live in ramshackle tent cities. Cholera has swept through the population, killing thousands and hospitalizing many others. Only about 2% of the rubble has been cleared. Is this what you expected when you pledged your aid dollars? Independent journalists Film@11.tv journeyed to Haiti in November 2010 to see the situation for themselves, and dig into the burning question: what happened to all that money?
→ read full article
Spanish Judge Defends Probe into Franco-Era
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
The world-renowned Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has defiantly rejected charges of abuse of power for opening an investigation into Franco-era crimes.
→ read full articleReport of the Head of the League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria for the Period 24 Dec 2011 to 18 Jan 2012
League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
By resolution 7436 of 2 November 2011, the Council of the League of Arab States adopted the Arab plan of action annexed thereto, welcomed the Syrian Government’s agreement to the plan, and emphasized the need for the Syrian Government to commit to the full and immediate implementation of its provisions.
→ read full articleWill Iran Be Attacked?
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
As Karl Marx said, money turns everything into a commodity that can be bought and sold. All other values are defeated–honor, integrity, truth, justice, loyalty, even blood kin. Nothing remains but filthy lucre. In the course of the conversation I asked [Warren Nutter] how Washington got so many other governments to do its bidding. He answered, “Money.” I asked, “You mean foreign aid?” He said, “No, bags of money. We buy the leaders.” Purchasing the leadership of their enemies or of potential threats was the Roman way. As long as the dollar rules, Washington’s power will rule.
→ read full articleThe Division of Nigeria – Who Gains?
Chika Onyenezi – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
The political game has begun; failed leadership, failed management of resources, failed security system. One day we will have no option but a foreign intervention, then like meat, Nigeria will be torn apart by vultures. The war for oil, war for control, a base in West Africa, expansion of AFRICOM, definitely Washington is on that part.
→ read full articleMedia Statement on the ISAAA GM Crop Lobby 2012 Report
Greenpeace – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
Wed 8 Feb 2012, Sydney: Greenpeace responded today to a report on the perceived success of genetically modified (GM) crops around the world, which was published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a bio-tech industry lobby organisation. “Contrary to claims in the report, GM crops remain a global failure with only about 1% of global farmers cultivating GM crops.” said Greenpeace campaigner Éric Darrier.
→ read full articleIsrael-USA vs Iran: Talk Peace!
Johan Galtung, 13 Feb 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
When Israelis were asked “what would be better: for both Israel and Iran to have the bomb, or for neither to have it, 65 percent of Israeli Jews said neither. And a remarkable 64 percent favored the idea of a nuclear-free zone, even when it was explained that this would mean Israel giving up its nuclear weapons.” (IHT, 16 Jan 2012). Vox populi vox Dei.
→ read full articleTurkey’s Foreign Policy: Zero Problems with Neighbors Revisited
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
We can only hope that Turkey stays the Dautoglu course, pursuing every opening that enables positive mutual relations among countries and using its diplomatic stature to encourage peaceful conflict resolution wherever possible. Rather than viewing ‘zero problems’ as a failure, it should be a time to reaffirm the creativity of Turkish foreign policy in the course of the last decade that has shown the world the benefits of soft power diplomacy, and a pattern that other governments might learn from while adapting to their own realities.
→ read full article(Portuguese) ACTA: Processo de Censura na Internet Tropeça em Países Europeus
Esquerda.net – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2012
A República Checa seguiu o caminho da Polónia e tornou-se agora o segundo país da União Europeia a suspender a ratificação do ACTA [Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement], o tratado que, a pretexto do combate à contrafação, ameaça a livre expressão na Internet. Um acordo que, segundo o relator do PE para o assunto, foi negociado “através de manobras nunca vistas”, o que o fez demitir-se da tarefa.
→ read full articleBahrain and the Arab Spring
Socialist Worker – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
The small island nation of Bahrain sits in the Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. When the Tunisian and Egyptian uprising toppled U.S.-backed dictators last year, all of the region’s dictatorships trembled, including Bahrain. The winds of change inspired Bahrain’s downtrodden, and the country’s monarchy barely managed to maintain its grip on power.
→ read full articleThe Assange Case Means We Are All Suspects Now
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
This week’s Supreme Court hearing in the Julian Assange case has profound meaning for the preservation of basic freedoms in western democracies. This is Assange’s final appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct that were originally dismissed by the chief prosecutor in Stockholm and constitute no crime in Britain. The consequences, if he loses, lie not in Sweden but in the shadows cast by America’s descent into totalitarianism.
→ read full article(Italian) Il Dovere-Diritto Di Essere Liberi. E’ un progetto-intervento di acculturazione e empowerment collettivi
Silvia Berruto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
All’interno del più ampio progetto culturale “Collettivamente memoria”, che mi intestardisco a portare avanti da cinque anni, l’anno scorso è nata l’idea di un progetto-intervento per misurare i cambiamenti negli atteggiamenti e nell’azione collettivi in un’ipotesi di percorso che ho chiamato “IL SOGNO DI UNA COSA.IL DOVERE-DIRITTO DI ESSERE LIBERI. In un contesto condiviso di rispetto delle regole valide per tutti”.
→ read full article
Gen. Wesley Clark and the Truth about the Middle East (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Democracy NOW! – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
Wesley Clark recounts what was told to him a few days after 9/11.
→ read full articleSupport for BDS [Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions] National Conference at the University of Pennsylvania
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
I commend the conveners for taking this initiative in the face of efforts to intimidate and confuse by those who systematically oppose debate and free inquiry concerning the various dimensions of the Israel/Palestine conflict and its bearing on American foreign policy. I have long supported the BDS as a constructive and creative movement that raises awareness and mobilizes support for the Palestinian struggle to achieve a sustainable peace based on international law and a sense of justice.
→ read full articleThe Seed Emergency: The Threat to Food and Democracy
Vandana Shiva – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
Patenting seeds has led to a farming and food crisis – and huge profits for US biotechnology corporations. The seed is the first link in the food chain – and seed sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty. If farmers do not have their own seeds or access to open pollinated varieties that they can save, improve and exchange, they have no seed sovereignty – and consequently no food sovereignty. The deepening agrarian and food crisis has its roots in changes in the seed supply system, and the erosion of seed diversity and seed sovereignty.
→ read full articleOne Year On: My Mother as a Protester and A Few Other Dilemmas
Ahmed Badawi, Postcard from Egypt– TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
At the risk of stating the obvious, think of revolution not as a single event but as a period of waves. After an initial disturbance, a swell gathers momentum, forms into a crest, breaks just before it hits the shore, creates a splash, dissipates and then starts to move in the opposite direction, breaks on another shore, retreats and then builds up again, and so on and so forth until the revolutionary energy is consumed and a new equilibrium is reached.
→ read full articleFederalism Risk Assessment
Bishnu Pathak, PhD – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2012
Today, 40 percent of the world population lives under the rule of a federal state, but 60 percent under unitary. 30 (16% out of 192 UN members) matured, emergent, and micro-federations practice federalism. They are comprised not only of powerful and developed nations, but developing countries as well.
→ read full article