Articles by M
We found 35073 results.
My Promise to Children
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Every day, human adults kill 35,000 of our children. We kill them in wars. We kill them with drones. We kill them in our homes. We also kill children in vast numbers by starving them to death in Africa, Asia and Central/South America because we use military violence to maintain an ‘economic’ system that allocates resources for military weapons, as well as corporate profits for the wealthy, instead of resources for living.
→ read full articleNuclear Arsenal: US to Turn Old Bombs into All-Purpose Weapons
Markus Becker and Otfried Nassauer – Der Spiegel,
11 Nov 2013
The US wants to modernize nuclear bombs stationed in Europe in a way many experts call the equivalent of creating a new weapon. Critics believe the move violates pledges by President Obama he would not develop new nukes.
→ read full articleRuthless Regimes Not Impervious to Civil Resistance: A Reply to Maged Mandour
Stephen Zunes and Jack DuVall – Open Democracy,
11 Nov 2013
Maged Mandour’s article on openDemocracy, “Beyond Civil Resistance: The Case of Syria”, argues that civil resistance has been marginalized in the Syrian insurrection because it doesn’t work against “ruthless” regimes. But history doesn’t support that conclusion.
→ read full articleMuharram: The Islamic New Year
M. Ashaq Raza – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Remember when I Karbala’s battle
Heart breaks up in pieces, crumble
Eyes fill with tears, blood scramble
(Français) Politique de Drogues : L’Émancipation Latino-Américaine
François Polet, Centre Tricontinental – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
« La seule chose que nous proposons est d’aborder le sujet, car jusqu’à présent beaucoup de pays, notamment les États-Unis, ont refusé de le faire. Cela fait 40 ans que le monde est plongé dans cette guerre aux drogues et je pense que nous devrions analyser si nous faisons la bonne chose »
→ read full articleThe Debtor’s War: A Modern Greek Tragedy
Andrew Gavin Marshall – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Large corporations have more money than most countries on earth. Their power is protected by the state, their influence unquestioned, their domination of the world’s resources, materials, culture and society is rapidly advancing, and they are – institutionally and ideologically – totalitarian.
→ read full articleWhy the Rest of the World No Longer Wants to Be Like US
Noam Chomsky - AlterNet,
11 Nov 2013
Many countries in the world see the U.S. as the single greatest external threat to their societies. In the past, the U.S. has sometimes been described sardonically – but not inaccurately – as a one-party state: the business party, with two factions called Democrats and Republicans.
→ read full articleSyria: From Fermenting Uprising to Delivering Polio
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey - Pravda,
11 Nov 2013
Sometimes it truly seems as if the demented Armageddonists and George W. Bush’s “Crusaders” have shaped a “New World Order” which has regressed to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine and Death.
→ read full articleChase Isn’t the Only Bank in Trouble
Matt Taibbi – Rolling Stone,
11 Nov 2013
There are multiple scandals blowing up right now, including a whole set of ominous legal cases that could result in punishments so extreme that they might significantly alter the long-term future of the financial services sector.
→ read full articlePopular American (USA) Culture: A Dysfunctional and Destructive Life Context
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
We are — amidst pauses and respites for comfort from pizza, beer, shopping, TV football games, and “unreality” shows — caught in a bewildering and conflicted response to the world about us. We are aware something is wrong — unfamiliar, strange, frightening – but we cannot seem to grasp its sources.
→ read full articleThe Middle East–Heading Where?
Johan Galtung, 11 Nov 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Are we witnessing a process of the USA detaching itself from an Israel bent on unlimited expansion, bribing Senators, Representatives with campaign money+? USA detaching itself from the G7 Gulf monarchies with Saudi Arabia now protesting everywhere? If so, we are living world history right now.
→ read full articleDon’t Be Distracted by One-State/Two-State ‘Debate’ on Israel – Something Much More Nefarious Is Going On
Noam Chomsky - AlterNet,
11 Nov 2013
Israel is systematically expanding with US support. The near inevitable outcome, ‘one state for two nations,’ will pose ‘an immediate existential threat of the erasure of the identity of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,’ soon with a Palestinian-Arab majority.
→ read full articleThe Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
T Rajamoorthy - Global Research,
11 Nov 2013
THE free trade agreement being negotiated by the regional bloc known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has provoked widespread opposition in the countries involved in its negotiation. Today the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is rightly perceived and condemned as a US-led attempt to penetrate and dominate the economies of the region.
→ read full articleCosta Gavras’s “Capital”: A Critique of “Cowboy Capitalism”
David Walsh, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
That unprincipled, greedy men and women are largely to blame for a good deal of the world’s problems and that they ought to and can be exposed by crusading individuals is a conception that seems to guide, semi-consciously or otherwise, a number of the current films on the subject of Wall Street and related issues.
→ read full articleIreland: Israeli Products Marked with Yellow Sticker
Itamar Eichner - Ynetnews,
11 Nov 2013
Sources in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that the phenomenon is severe and it is not by chance that the BDS organization chose to express its protest with a yellow sticker – which is reminiscent of dark days of racism and incitement.
→ read full articleJohnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion to Settle Deceptive Marketing Claims
Chris Morran – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
For nearly a decade, various state and federal agencies have been looking into Johnson & Johnson’s marketing of the drugs Risperdal, Invega, Natrecor, and others, claiming the company was putting consumers at risk by paying kickbacks to doctors and pharmacists to suggest these drugs to patients and for pushing unapproved uses for these medications. Today, the Justice Dept. announced that J&J will pay out more than $2.2 billion to settle these claims.
→ read full article(Français) La Force Africaine D’Intervention Rapide Opérationnelle Avant la Fin 2013 ?
RFI – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Une Force africaine d’intervention rapide pour régler les conflits sur le continent pourrait voir le jour d’ici la fin de l’année 2013. Une déclaration faite par le président sud-africain Jacob Zuma lors d’une réunion de chefs d’Etat à Pretoria, le 5 novembre [2013].
→ read full articleEmpire under Obama, Part 3: America’s “Secret Wars” in Over 100 Countries around the World
Andrew Gavin Marshall – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Obama’s global terror campaign is not only dependent upon his drone assassination program, but increasingly it has come to rely upon the deployment of Special Operations forces in countries all over the world, reportedly between 70 and 120 countries at any one time.
→ read full articleEmpire under Obama, Part 4: Counterinsurgency, Death Squads, and the Population as the Target
Andrew Gavin Marshall – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Empire is institutional, not individual. My focus on the imperial structure during the Obama administration is not to suggest that it does not predate Obama, but rather, that Obama represents ‘continuity’ in imperialism, not “change.” This part examines the concept of ‘counterinsurgency’ as a war against the populations of Iraq, Afghanistan and spreading into Pakistan.
→ read full articleUS, Australia Face Backlash over Spy Operations in Asia
Peter Symonds, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The latest NSA leaks have exposed US and Australian listening posts in diplomatic missions throughout Asia.
→ read full articleNSA Infiltrates Links to Yahoo, Google Data Centers Worldwide, Snowden Documents Say
Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani – The Washington Post,
4 Nov 2013
30 Oct 2013 – The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.
→ read full articleIran to Follow? White House Expected to Ease Sanctions Targeting Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Pressure on Obama from Putin is part of the ‘price tag’ for Russia’s role in bailing out the American president, whose chemical weapons ‘redline’ became something of an albatross. But another reason for the relaxation is that the White House believes it needs to communicate to Damascus that prospects for better relations, and possibly even some cooperation, are not completely dead.
→ read full articleSix Ways to Keep the Government Out of Your Files
Josh Harkinson – Mother Jones,
4 Nov 2013
Pro-Tips on How to Lock Down Your Data
→ read full articleMillions against Monsanto: Five Lessons from the Battle against GMOs
Ronnie Cummins – Common Dreams,
4 Nov 2013
The rapidly growing anti-GMO Movement illustrates the powerful synergy that can develop from the combined use of social media, marketplace pressure and political action. Out-of-control corporations, media, politicians and the proverbial “one percent” can be outsmarted and outmaneuvered. And quite possibly defeated.
→ read full articleNSA and the Fall of the US Empire
Johan Galtung, 4 Nov 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Yet, as there is an inner circle of self-appointed elites there is also an inner circle of allies that presumably can be trusted, the “Five Eyes”: UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand; Anglo-America writ large. Who are they? A club of countries selected on a racist-culturalist basis. White and Anglo, killers of indigenous peoples all over: USA of Native Indians, Canada a little less of First Nations, Australia of Aborigines, New Zealand a little less of Māoris, UK all over–getting the others launched on that slippery slope of genocide and sociocide.
→ read full article(Português) A Grécia É um Laboratório para Aplicar as Terapias de Choque, Diz Kouvelakis
Cristina Portella – Carta Maior,
4 Nov 2013
Nenhum país europeu, como a Grécia, teve uma contração de 27% desde o início da atual crise, nem reduziu em 40% os custos do trabalho, a cifra assustadora que demonstra o ponto a que chegaram as terapias de choque neoliberais.
→ read full articlePerpetual War: How Does the Global War on Terror Ever End?
Jeremy Scahill - TomDispatch,
4 Nov 2013
The drone strike in Yemen the day Obama was sworn in served as a potent symbol of a reality that had been clearly established during his first four years in office: U.S. unilateralism and exceptionalism were not only bipartisan principles in Washington, but a permanent American institution.
→ read full articleSnowden’s Letter to German Authorities
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Sevice,
4 Nov 2013
The NSA whistleblower’s letter to chancellor Angela Merkel, the German Parliament and to federal prosecutors, according to Hans-Christian Ströebele, a German opposition lawmaker from the Green Party who visited him in Moscow.
→ read full article(Italiano) Le calamità USA: ci sono soluzioni
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
E se gli USA facessero un accordo con i cinesi e i russi? Il 50% di remissione del debito da parte cinese contro il 50% di riduzione USA dei componenti militari più offensivi – le 800 basi disseminate nel mondo – in 5-10 anni? Accompagnate da una riduzione analoga multilaterale e bilanciata nelle armi offensive per tutti e tre, approfittando dello slancio russo sulle armi chimiche?
→ read full article[Nobel Peace Laureate] Suu Kyi: ‘The Army Must Be the Foundation of the Country’
DVB – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday [25 Oct 2013] praised the British military, insisting that she wanted to learn “how a good, professional army operates” in order to take lessons back to Burma.
→ read full articlePlaying the Great Game with Intelligence: Authority versus the People
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Exposure to the disclosures and the fast footwork displayed by government in variously denying, lying, misleading, acknowledging — now ultimately reframed by “everyone does it” — has considerably sharpened public awareness of the nature of the game played by Authority with the People.
→ read full articleNSA Asked Japan to Tap Regionwide Fiber-Optic Cables In 2011
The Japan Times – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The agency’s overture was apparently aimed at gathering information on China given that Japan is at the heart of optical cables that connect various parts of the region. But Tokyo turned down the proposal, citing legal restrictions and a shortage of personnel, the sources said.
→ read full articleInvisible Horizons of a Just Palestine/Israel Future
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
4 Nov 2013 – I spent last week at the United Nations, meeting with ambassadors of countries in the Middle East and presenting my final report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly as my term as Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine comes to an end.
→ read full articleThe Rising Resistance to Obama’s Drone Wars
Amy Goodman - Truthdig,
4 Nov 2013
Attacking rescuers is a war crime. Mustafa Qadri from Amnesty International explained: “For example, some laborers in a very impoverished village near the Afghanistan border, they get targeted, eight die instantly in a tent; those who come to rescue or to look for survivors are themselves targeted.
→ read full articlePhilosophy of Violence in Operation
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
A careful study of recorded history reveals that humans in general have often tended to resolve their differences through violent wars. They have never learned that in a war everyone is a loser and no one a winner.
→ read full articleU.S. Government Pledges Aid to Pakistan’s Elite, Blocks Visa for Human Rights Lawyer
Mehreen Saeed – The Huffington Post,
4 Nov 2013
A majority of Pakistanis have grown increasingly angry and blame the corrupt elite for accepting U.S. aid in return for signing off on the illegal drones in their country while publicly condemning them.
→ read full article[Nobel Peace Laureate] Aung San Suu Kyi’s Comments on Muslims Expose Endemic Anti-Muslim Prejudice
Tun Khin, Huff Post – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
As a Muslim Rohingya and an advocate for human rights who spent many years campaigning for her freedom, it is hard to express the shock I felt at her words during this interview.
→ read full articleTexas Club Auctions Right to Hunt Endangered Rhino: Killing It to Save It
Michael Graczyk, AP – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Plans to auction a rare permit that will allow a hunter to take down an endangered black rhino are drawing criticism from some conservationists, but the organizer says the fundraiser could bring in more than $1 million that would go toward protecting the species.
→ read full articleStasi or NSA?
Goran Fejic – Open Democracy,
4 Nov 2013
[Tragicomedy is becoming a big joke] – Which spy agency would you choose to monitor your life?
→ read full articleBrazilians Occupying Research Lab Ignite National Debate on Animal Testing
Antonio Pasolini, Occupy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
October 18, 2013, was a landmark in the history of Brazil’s animal rights movement. On that Friday more than 100 animal rights activists occupied Instituto Royal, a laboratory that specializes in performing tests on animals for companies in the cosmetics and medical fields.
→ read full articleGlobal Power Project: Exposing the Institute of International Finance (Part 3) – Central Bankers and the IFF
Andrew Gavin Marshall, Occupy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
In Part 1 of the Global Power Project exposé on the Institute of International Finance, I examined the origins and evolution of an organization representing the interests of global banks. In Part 2, I looked at the role played by the IIF and its leadership during the European debt crisis. In this third and final part in the series, I examine the relationship between the IIF and global central bankers.
→ read full articleHow Come Uri Avnery Knows So Little about Israel, or Apartheid?
Jonathan Cook – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
What color the victims of apartheid are, what proportion of the population they constitute, whether the economy depends on their productive labor, whether the early Zionists were socialists, whether the Palestinians have a Nelson Mandela, and so on have precisely zero relevance to determining whether Israel is an apartheid state.
→ read full articlePlans for Geneva II Talks on Syria in Disarray
Chris Marsden, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The aftermath of the Obama administrations forced retreat from direct military intervention to depose Bashar al-Assad and its shift to negotiations with Iran has angered key allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, and set in motion a dramatic foreign policy realignment in Turkey. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said, “In my personal opinion, Geneva II will not happen if no opposition representatives attend.”
→ read full articleNSA Spied on Vatican and Top Catholic Cardinals, Says Italian Report
Huff Post – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The weekly magazine, Panorama, reports on Thursday [31 Oct 2013] that the NSA labeled calls in and out of Vatican offices as “leadership intentions,” “threats to the financial system,” “foreign policy objectives,” and “human rights.” Calls regarding election of the new president of the Vatican Bank, Ernst von Freyberg, were also intercepted.
→ read full articleIsrael Buys the US Congress: Sabotaging the US-Iran Peace Negotiations
Prof. James Petras - Global Research,
4 Nov 2013
As the US and the 5 other countries attempt to negotiate with Iran , they face enormous obstacles overcoming Israel ’s power over the US Congress. Over past decades Israel ’s agents have bought the loyalties of the vast majority of Congress people, training them to recognize and obey the whistles, signals and script from the war mongers in Tel Aviv.
→ read full articleIncreased American Military Presence May Undermine Good Governance Efforts in Africa
Hilary Matfess - Foreign Policy in Focus,
4 Nov 2013
Africa Is Front and Center Now for the Pentagon – Ironically, increased partnerships with the world’s foremost democracy may undermine the democratic process by reducing the importance of public opinion, increasing ‘rent seeking behavior’ in governments, and strengthening autocratic aspects of governments.
→ read full articlePolio Outbreak in Syria Threatens Whole Region, WHO Says
Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Polio has broken out among young children in northeast Syria after probably originating in Pakistan and poses a threat to millions of children across the Middle East, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday [29 Oct 2013].
→ read full articleA Physics of Peace
Prof. Victor Mansfield – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
There is an extraordinary precise resonance between emptiness and quantum nonlocality, the most important finding at the conceptual foundations of modern physics. Quantum mechanics is undeniably the best theory in the history of science. Despite that, its findings are much less influential than they should be for shaping our modern worldview.
→ read full articleHow Science Is Telling Us All to Revolt
Naomi Klein – New Statesman,
4 Nov 2013
Is our relentless quest for economic growth killing the planet? Climate scientists have seen the data – and they are coming to some incendiary conclusions. The fact that the business-as-usual pursuit of profits and growth is destabilising life on earth is no longer something we need to read about in scientific journals. The early signs are unfolding before our eyes.
→ read full article
A Whale of a Business
Frontline – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
A behind the scenes look at the ludicrous business that is captivity. This program focuses on the beacon for all captive cetaceans, Keiko. His rehabilitation and eventual release was the center of a controversy about keeping these intelligent animals in barren concrete tanks for our amusement.
→ read full articleEmbassy Espionage: The NSA’s Secret Spy Hub in Berlin
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
According to SPIEGEL research, United States intelligence agencies have not only targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, but they have also used the American Embassy in Berlin as a listening station.
→ read full articleRussia Alarmed by Fresh Reports Syrian Militants Using Chemical Weapons – FM
The Voice of Russia – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Moscow is deeply alarmed by fresh reports that extremists used chemical weapons on Syrian soil. Russia has expressed its indignation over the lack of coverage that western media have offered to the report on Syrian rebels using chemical weapons against local Kurdish community.
→ read full articleMan Buys $27 of Bitcoin, Forgets about Them, Finds They’re Now Worth $886k
Samuel Gibbs – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Bought in 2009, currency’s rise in value saw small investment turn into enough to buy an apartment in a wealthy area of Oslo.
→ read full articleNSA Whistleblower: Snowden Open to Testifying in Germany
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Edward Snowden says he is willing to cooperate with investigations into NSA spying. At a meeting with a German lawmaker in Moscow, he reportedly suggested he would be open to coming to Germany, and complained of a US ‘campaign of persecution.’ Berlin has at least signaled readiness to talk.
→ read full article[Nobel Peace Laureate} Aung San Suu Kyi and the World of Buddhist Islamophobia
Maung Zarni – Al Jazeera,
4 Nov 2013
The details of this systematic ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya which has been set in motion as a matter of state policy since 1978, and the more recent anti-Muslim mass violence, again with state impunity, generally play second fiddle in the media, to Suu Kyi’s failure to condemn it.
→ read full articleNacht Und Nebel
Tom Greening – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
“Nacht und Nebel” is what the Nazis called
the way they hid the camps,
Where Is the Ethical Leadership over Syria?
Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – Al Jazeera,
4 Nov 2013
It was tragic to see Western politicians who spoke out against military intervention get slammed for somehow being cowardly. Although their effort would not stop the killing outright, to hold back the war designs of their own leaders was a brave act.
→ read full articleRebels Conduct New Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria near Turkish Border – Report
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The rebels used chemical weapons in north-eastern Syria near the border with Turkey on Tuesday [29 Oct 2013]. The attack was reported by Kurdish defense forces who are conducting military operations against the rebels in the region.
→ read full articleBreaking Up Is Hard to Do
Silvio Waisbord – Americas Quarterly,
4 Nov 2013
Tackling Latin America’s media empires is critical for the health of democracies.
→ read full articleMyanmar’s Drive for Peace
Maung Zarni – The New York Times,
4 Nov 2013
Based on my experience working with the generals as an unofficial advocate for Western re-engagement with the country, I know that the military leaders who may be inclined to compromise hold an instrumentalist view of reconciliation. For them, peace is not a worthwhile goal in and of itself but a means to another end: financial reward.
→ read full articleOn NSA Claims about Misreporting of Two Slides
Glenn Greenwald – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander asserted yesterday [29 Oct 2013] that two “Boundless Informant” slides we published were misunderstood and misinterpreted. Several US journalists (needless to say) instantly treated the NSA’s claims as gospel even though they (a) are accompanied by no evidence, (b) come in the middle of a major scandal for the agency at home and abroad and (c) are from officials with a history of lying to Congress and the media.
→ read full articleU.N. Will Censure Illegal Spying, But Not U.S.
Thalif Deen, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
A draft resolution currently in limited circulation – a copy of which was obtained by IPS – criticises “the conduct of extra-territorial surveillance” and the “interception of communications in foreign jurisdictions”. But it refuses to single out the NSA or the United States, which stands accused of spying on foreign governments, including political leaders in Germany, France, Brazil, Spain and Mexico, among some 30 others.
→ read full articleIs Glenn Greenwald the Future of News?
Bill Keller – The New York Times,
4 Nov 2013
The disruptive power of the Internet raises profound questions about what journalism is becoming, about its essential character and values. This week’s column is a conversation — a (mostly) civil argument — between two very different views of how journalism fulfills its mission: Bill Keller and Glenn Greenwald.
→ read full article(Castellano) Los Gobiernos Sudamericanos Deben Apoyar el Derecho de los Hondureños a la Soberanía y Elecciones Libres
Mark Weisbrot - Rebelión,
4 Nov 2013
Como señaló el presidente Rafael Correa de Ecuador en 2009, el golpe de Washington en Honduras también fue una amenaza para la región, así como lo es su colaboración con el gobierno resultante para prevenir que se den elecciones democráticas.
→ read full articleHow the NSA Is Infiltrating Private Networks
Barton Gellman, Todd Lindeman and Ashkan Soltani – The Washington Post,
4 Nov 2013
This graphic shows how the NSA and GCHQ break into those internal networks, using Google’s as an example. Less is known about Yahoo’s networks, but the NSA operations are thought to be similar.
→ read full articleReports That NSA Taps into Google and Yahoo Data Hubs Infuriate Tech Giants
Dominic Rushe, Spencer Ackerman and James Ball – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Google and Yahoo, two of the world’s biggest tech companies, reacted angrily to a report on Wednesday [30 Oct 2013] that the National Security Agency has secretly intercepted the main communication links that carry their users’ data around the world.
→ read full articleIs Brazil the New Regional Champion of Democracy?
Prof. Oliver Stuenkel – Americas Quarterly,
4 Nov 2013
Don’t confuse Brasília’s stepped-up profile with U.S.-style democracy promotion.
→ read full articleMonsanto and Pepsi Trying to Stop GMO Labeling Law in Washington State
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
A Washington State ballot measure to label food featuring genetically modified crops is under fire as food and chemical corporations pour millions of dollars against the campaign.
→ read full article
Ave Maria – Schubert Classical Guitar (Music Video of the Week)
Michael Lucarelli – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Michael Lucarelli plays Franz Schuberts’s Ave Maria on classical guitar.
Filmed at the “Cathedral of the Madeleine” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Malala and Nabila: Worlds Apart
Murtaza Hussain – Al Jazeera,
4 Nov 2013
The only people to be recognized for their suffering in this conflict are those who fall victim to the Taliban. Malala for her struggles was to be made the face of the American war effort while innumerable little girls such as Nabila will continue to be terrorized and murdered as part of this war without end. There will be no celebrity appearances or awards ceremonies for Nabila. At her testimony almost no one even bothered to attend [5 congressmen].
→ read full articleUS Political Dysfunction and Capitalism’s Withdrawal
Richard D. Wolff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The classic problems of early, rapid capitalist industrialization are obvious daily in the new centers. What we learn about early capitalism when we read Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Maxim Gorky and Jack London, we see now again in the new centers.
→ read full articleSyria: Open Letter to the American People
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
I visited Syria in May 2013. Despite the ongoing violence, I found it to be a land of hope. I met tribal and religious leaders, political dissidents and grieving parents and widows. In Syria there are millions of ordinary folk risking their lives for a peaceful, reconciled and united Syria they can all love.
→ read full articleStop Watching Us: The Video
Electronic Frontier Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Oct 23, 2013 – StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA.
→ read full articleSpain Summons US Ambassador over Claim NSA Tracked 60m Calls a Month
Paul Hamilos – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
28 Oct 2013 – The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has summoned the US ambassador to explain the latest revelations by Edward Snowden, which suggest the National Security Agency tracked more than 60m phone calls in Spain in the space of a month.
→ read full articleIsrael: Taking Apartheid Apart
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Is Israel an apartheid state? This question is not going away. It raises its head every few months. Recently I had the opportunity to discuss this subject with an expert, who had lived in South Africa throughout the apartheid era. I learned a lot from this.
→ read full articleThe ‘German Camp’: Jihadists from Germany Set up Base in Syria
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
A growing number of German jihadists are heading to Syria to join the rebels in their fight against President Bashar Assad. According to German intelligence, some 200 Islamists from across the country have gathered in northern Syria in what’s been dubbed the “German Camp.”
→ read full articleThe Geopolitics of Education for Peace
Johan Galtung, 28 Oct 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Thinkers so diverse as Nietzsche and Gandhi saw the military as exemplary because of the ésprit de corps and willingness to sacrifice, even their own lives. For Gandhi the kshatriya (military) caste was a model: he wanted non-violent warriors, with the same perseverance, also indispensable in mediation.
→ read full articleThe US Should Pay Its UNESCO Dues
Nigel Cameron – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
The US refuses to pay up because of Palestinian membership in Unesco. It’s a horribly misguided approach.
→ read full articleToxic Overflow of Thousands of Fukushima Tanks Following Heavy Rains
Lauren McCauley – Common Dreams,
28 Oct 2013
Highly radioactive water crested the walls of some 1,000 storage tanks at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility after plant officials underestimated the amount of rainfall Sunday [20 Oct 2013].
→ read full articleMeditating on the War
Tom Greening – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
On January 16,
whoever is running this ashram
turned up the heat—
America’s Orphaned Diplomacy
Moritz Laurer – Foreign Policy In Focus,
28 Oct 2013
America’s money-soaked political system simultaneously bolsters the military-industrial complex and undermines diplomacy.
→ read full articleUS CEOs Break Pay Record as Top 10 Earners Take Home At Least $100m Each
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
For the first time ever, the 10 highest-paid chief executives in the US received more than $100m in compensation last year, and two took home billion-dollar paychecks, according to a leading annual survey of executive pay.
→ read full articleGlenn Greenwald and the $250 Million “Angel Investor”
Jonathan Franklin – Information Clearing House,
28 Oct 2013
The yet-unnamed media project will be bankrolled by Pierre Omidyar, the 46-year-old billionaire founder of eBay. Omidyar, who was considering buying The Washington Post this year, decided that for the same price – $250 million – he could build his own investigative journalism outfit.
→ read full articleGang Rape in India, Routine and Invisible
Ellen Barry and Mansi Choksi – International Herald Tribune-NYT,
28 Oct 2013
In Mumbai Case, a Group of Assault Suspects Had Little Fear of the Law
→ read full articlePeres Suffering from Portnoy’s Complaint?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
At a cocktail party last year, Peres was overheard telling Vice President Biden, “Who knows if there is a god or not? But if so, I doubt he deals in real estate!” Biden appeared shocked, quickly summoning a waiter for replacement glasses of scotch, hoping to cheer the president of Israel up a bit. “He needs to be more philosophical,” Biden said, reporting on his “psychoanalytic session” with Peres.
→ read full articleMalala and Eartha Kitt: Words that Matter
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
I connect Malala and Eartha Kitt in my mind because both seized the moment to speak truth to power, probably sensing that it meant they would never be invited back [to the White House], and for Eartha Kitt it was worse than that. It seems almost certain that neither of these fearless women would have been invited in the first place if their intentions to speak out had been known in advance.
→ read full article(Italiano) La geopolitica dell’educazione alla pace*
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Pensatori così diversi come Nietzsche e Gandhi consideravano esemplari i militari a causa dello spirito di corpo e della disponibilità al sacrificio, perfino della propria vita. Per Gandhi la casta kshatriya (militare) era un modello: egli voleva guerrierinonviolenti, con la stessa perseveranza, indispensabile anche nella mediazione.
→ read full articleSpecial Report – Help Wanted in Fukushima: Low Pay, High Risks and Gangsters
Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Tetsuya Hayashi went to Fukushima to take a job at ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. He lasted less than two weeks.
→ read full article‘Unacceptable’: Mexico Slams US Spying on President
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
The Mexican government says it “categorically condemns” email spying, after SPIEGEL reported that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show the US gained access to the email of former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
→ read full articleGermany Summons US Ambassador Over Claim NSA Bugged Merkel’s Phone
Philip Oltermann – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
24 Oct 2013 – Allegations that US spying has reached highest level of government met with outrage and disappointment in Germany. Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has called the US ambassador to a personal meeting to discuss allegations that US secret services bugged Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.
→ read full articleWhy Washington Can’t Stop: The Coming Era of Tiny Wars and Micro-Conflicts
Tom Engelhardt - TomDispatch,
28 Oct 2013
Despite this stunning global power equation, for more than a decade we have been given a lesson in what a military, no matter how overwhelming, can and (mostly) can’t do in the twenty-first century, in what a military, no matter how staggeringly advanced, does and (mostly) does not translate into on the current version of planet Earth.
→ read full articleMonsanto versus the Associated Press, Round Two
Willy Blackmore, TakePart – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
A new AP story focuses on the biotech company’s response to a report on the impact its chemicals have had in Argentina.
→ read full articleLearning from Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge
R. Teichmann – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
To Change Society a Cultural Revolution in Activism Is Needed
→ read full articleLibya ‘Awash with Weapons’ – PM
Belfast Telegraph – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Libya’s prime minister said he is “swimming against the current” in a country awash with militias and weapons as Libyans mark the second anniversary of the killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Ali Zidan spoke to journalists in Tripoli, more than a week after he was seized and briefly held captive by a mix of militiamen.
→ read full articleBlack Market for Counterfeit Goods Rakes in $500 Billion Yearly
ABC News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Counterfeit goods — from luxury handbags to DVDs — are a huge problem. Trade groups claim criminals steal copyrighted material worth half a trillion dollars every year. Counterfeit goods account for nearly 10 percent of worldwide trade, an estimated $500 billion annually, according to the World Customs Organization.
→ read full article
Paxman Pocketet by Brand (Must Watch)
BBC Newsnight – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Oct 23, 2013 – Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman in a hostile interview is clobbered by Russell Brand about [not] voting, revolution and changed consciousness.
→ read full articleSlavery in Qatar
The Canadian Charger – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
Almost all of the Qatari labor force is made up of foreign workers. These workers are indentured to a Qatari sponsor and cannot leave the country or change employment, get a driver’s license, or rent a home without the sponsor’s consent. Will FIFA stick with Qatar as the site of the 2020 world cup? It shouldn’t.
→ read full articleIran Gives Russia Copy of US ScanEagle Drone as Proof of Mass Production
Saeed Kamali Dehghan – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Iran has given Russia a copy of a US spy drone as proof that its elite forces have reverse-engineered and mass produced the American unmanned aerial vehicle they claim to have captured a year ago.
→ read full articleAll Animals Are Equal
Peter Singer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
If the experimenter is not prepared to use an orphaned human infant, then his readiness to use nonhumans is simple discrimination, since adult apes, cats, mice, and other mammals are more aware of what is happening to them, more self-directing and, so far as we can tell, at least as sensitive to pain, as any human infant.
→ read full articleHow Europe Failed Azerbaijan
Aslan Amani – Open Democracy,
28 Oct 2013
Since Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe in 2001, the country’s grim human rights record has only become worse. The Council’s and EU’s ambiguous reactions to the October 9 presidential election raise new questions about Europe’s role in Azerbaijan’s transition to democracy.
→ read full article