Articles by M
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In Contrast to Huffington Post, the New York Times Misleads the Readers on Myanmar Government’s Central Role in the Rohingya Pogroms
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
It is in fact Burma or Myanmar military leadership that has self-consciously pursued what amounts to genocidal policies towards the Rohingya, in fact, a borderland people of Burma like Karen, Chin, Kachin, Rakhine, etc, whose roots spread across new boundaries of the post-WWII nation-states.
→ read full articleASEAN and the New Orwellianism
Dr. Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Human rights harm Asean harmony.
Profits unite, human rights divide.
Thank you, Mr. Orwell.
“War is Peace”, no more.
Washington’s Back-to-the-Future Military Policies in Africa: America’s New Model for Expeditionary Warfare
Nick Turse - TomDispatch,
17 Mar 2014
Despite repeated assurances by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) that military activities on the continent were minuscule, a 2013 investigation by TomDispatch exposed surprisingly large and expanding U.S. operations — including recent military involvement with no fewer than 49 of 54 nations on the continent.
→ read full articleThe Rich Complain That We Do Not Love Them
Roberto Savio, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said “The rich are different from you or me”, yet in his days, in the early years of the 20th century, the rich were not subject to public scrutiny, and were generally an object of envy, not resentment. Fast forward to the 21st century and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
→ read full articleTruth and Reconciliation Commission: Trap or Trajectory for Sri Lanka?
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
17 Mar 2014
Recommendations: • Independent international investigation into mass atrocities that took place throughout the armed conflict in the island of Sri Lanka. • Immediate steps to stop the structural genocide of the Tamil nation, particularly the demographic changes through land grabbing, military occupation, Sinhala settlements process and sexual violence against Tamil women…
→ read full articleUK: Tony Benn Dead – ‘Five Questions on Power’ and Other Memorable Quotes
Ewan Palmer – International Business Times,
17 Mar 2014
14 Mar 2014 – Tony Benn, the veteran Labour politician and left wing campaigner, has died at his home at the age of 88, his family confirmed. “When you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split?”—Tony Benn
→ read full articleSwiss Step Up Arms Exports, Peacefully
Ray Smith, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Switzerland’s army doesn’t go to war – but its military equipment does. In 2011, Saudi Arabia used Swiss Piranha tanks to crack down on protests in Bahrain. Libyan rebels used Swiss ammunition against Muammar Gaddafi’s troops, and Syrian rebels have been throwing Swiss hand grenades against President Bashar Assad’s soldiers. Swiss assault rifles were exported to Ukraine and have now been used against civilians.
→ read full articleGlobal Military Spending Is Now an Integral Part of Capitalism
Richard Seymour – Gulf News,
17 Mar 2014
The idea of a ‘peace dividend’ is gone, high levels of military spending are an entrenched part of the global landscape.
→ read full articleMuch Bank Crime, Little Punishment
Danny Schechter – Consortium News,
17 Mar 2014
Wall Street banks made a bundle on securitized subprime mortgages until the bubble began to burst in 2007 inflicting devastating harm on average people around the world. Yet, despite government rhetoric to the contrary, the key culprits have escaped punishment.
→ read full articleUkraine and the Danger of Nuclear War
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
World War I had its roots in the fanatical and quasi-religious nationalist movements that developed in Europe during the 19th century. Nationalism is still a potent force in today’s world, but in an era of all-destroying weapons, instantaneous worldwide communication, and global economic interdependence, fanatical nationalism has become a dangerous anachronism.
→ read full articleAll Give and No Take
George Monbiot – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Do those negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have any interest in democracy? Here’s a test. Nothing threatens democracy as much as corporate power. Nowhere do corporations operate with greater freedom than between nations, for here there is no competition. With the exception of the European parliament there is no transnational democracy, anywhere.
→ read full articleUS to UN: We Can Disregard Int’l Human Rights Treaty
Andrea Germanos – Common Dreams,
17 Mar 2014
US tells human rights panel that treaty that bans torture, arbitrary killings and detention doesn’t apply to its military operations. The grilling happened Thursday [13 Mar 2014] in Geneva during the first of a two-day session held by the 18-member UN Human Rights Committee.
→ read full article(Português) O capitalismo global está destruindo a raça humana
Paul Craig Roberts – Carta Maior,
17 Mar 2014
Fora as armas nucleares, o capitalismo é a maior ameaça que a humanidade já enfrentou. Ele levou a ganância a um patamar de força determinante da história.
→ read full article
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Three Years Later, Who is Responsible?
The Real News Network – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Mar 10, 2014 – Nuclear power engineer Arnie Gunderson and journalist Chiho Kaneko discuss a lawsuit to hold General Electric and other reactor manufacturing companies responsible and the Japanese public’s attitude toward nuclear energy.
→ read full articleInformation on Aspects Related to the Fukushima Nuclear Reactors Three Years after the Accident
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
A great amount of information on “Fukushima” has been released since the day of the accident. The information below is only a few pieces of them, published or broadcasted by Japanese mass media in March 2014.
→ read full article3 Years after Fukushima: How Survivors’ Mental Health Continues Deteriorating
Brandon Baker, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
“After the Chernobyl disaster children were diagnosed many years later,” she told the BBC. “My boys may be fine now, but if there is any risk I need to find out as soon as possible.” She’s not comfortable relying on the government for information. Just two weeks ago, Japanese officials announced plans to restart reactors that were closed after the incident, calling nuclear energy a “vital source” of power.
→ read full articleWashington Has Set the World on a Path to War
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Why is Washington so opposed to Crimean self-determination? The answer is that one of the main purposes of Washington’s coup in Kiev was to have the new puppet government evict Russia from its Black Sea naval base in Crimea. Washington cannot use the government Washington has installed in Ukraine for that purpose if Crimea is no longer part of Ukraine.
→ read full articleForests around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly
Rachel Nuwer – Smithsonian Magazine,
17 Mar 2014
It wasn’t just people, animals and trees that were affected by radiation exposure at Chernobyl, but also the decomposers: insects, microbes, and fungi.
→ read full articleThe New Great (Threat) Game in Eurasia
Pepe Escobar – Asia Times,
17 Mar 2014
In Ukraine, the West supported an unconstitutional putsch against an elected government perpetrated, among others, by fascist/neo-nazi storm troopers (Svoboda, Right Sector) instrumentalized by US intelligence. This is just the latest instance in the serial rape of “international law”.
→ read full articleThe Group of 77 at Fifty. Congratulations!
Johan Galtung, 17 Mar 2014 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
For one who has worked much on the theory and practice of change from systems of hierarchy to systems of equity, June 15 1964 will never be forgotten. Those at the bottom of the world system of states, fragmented away from each other by colonial and imperial structures, marginalized, exploited, came together, 77 of them, and formed–not a very revolutionary word–a Group.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Full Video Interview 10 Mar 2014
Russia Today - TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Speaking remotely from Russia on Monday 10 Mar 2014, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden told attendees at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas that encryption is still a powerful deterrent against government surveillance. (1:01:23)
→ read full articlePeople Over Profit: Why These Two Small Countries Stood Up to Big Mining
Robin Broad, John Cavanagh – YES! Magazine,
17 Mar 2014
If the governments of Costa Rica and El Salvador can resist the mining industry, maybe we all can. Would a government of a poorer country ever choose to say “no” to short-term economic profits because of concern for long-term environmental impacts? Surprise: that is precisely the case with at least two national governments that have said no to certain kinds of mining.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Discusses NSA Leaks at SXSW: ‘I Would Do It Again’
Jon Swaine and Jemima Kiss – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
He encouraged ordinary internet users to protect themselves against surveillance by encrypting both their hard drives and their online activity, describing encryption as “the defence against the dark arts in the digital realm”. He also advised people to browse the web anonymously using the Tor system.
→ read full articleBeyond Ukraine: Russia’s Imperial Mess
SPIEGEL Staff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Russia’s occupation of Crimea has violated international law and created a new crisis among world leaders. Now the EU and the US are fighting over the best means to address Russia’s reawakened expansionary ambitions.
→ read full articleLegal Fund for Academic Boycott of Israel
Jake Lynch, Australians for BDS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
UPDATE March 17, 2014 – Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Director of Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies [and TMS advisor], has been taken to the Federal Court of Australia due to his support of the Palestinian call for academic boycott of Israel. The court case is now entering a crucial phase. Over 250 of you have made a donation to the legal fund so far. Please make your donation here—however small. Thank you!
→ read full articleResearchers Confirm: When NSA Watches Your Metadata, It Is Watching You
Sarah Lazare – Common Dreams,
17 Mar 2014
Stanford University researchers have confirmed what civil liberties advocates have warned since the NSA scandal broke: metadata surveillance is a window to highly sensitive personal information, including medical issues, financial history, and even marijuana cultivation.
→ read full articleThe Systematic Repression of the Rohingya Minority Continues
Maung Zarni – The Dissident Blog,
17 Mar 2014
In my view, despite growing evidence, the international community has avoided calling this “genocide” because none of the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council have the appetite to forego their commercial and strategic interests in Myanmar to address the slow-burning Rohingya genocide.
→ read full articleWhy Do I Persist?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
I have been asked recently why do I persist in working hard for the things that I believe in, knowing that I will die in the next several years, and am almost certain not to be around for the catastrophic future that seems to cast its dark shadow across the road ahead, and can only be removed by a major transnational movement of the peoples of the world.
→ read full articleThe Plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya
Editorial Board – Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar 2014
The U.N. says the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, are one of the most persecuted groups in the world. Recently violence has escalated according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Two attacks in January left an estimated four dozen Rohingya dead in a village in Rakhine. Myanmar’s response has been to deny that it happened.
→ read full articleThe Children of Japan’s Fukushima Battle an Invisible Enemy
Toru Hanai and Elaine Lies, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it’s like to play outside – fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives. Koriyama recommended shortly after the disaster that children up to two years old not spend more than 15 minutes outside each day. Those aged 3 to 5 should limit their outdoor time to 30 minutes or less.
→ read full article(Italiano) Ucraina-Crimea-Georgia: l’Occidente e la Russia
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
In modo anche più importante, la linea divisoria dell’Impero romano fin dal 395, confermata dallo scisma fra cristianesimo cattolico e ortodosso nel 1054, si riflette nella storia estremamente complessa dell’Ucraina. Odessa è a ovest, Donets a est, Ucraina a ovest, più russa a est. E Kiev, la capitale – culla della Russia, Rus – nel mezzo. Un paese spaccato in due, due uniti in uno: entrambi veri.
→ read full articleYellowstone Announces End to 2014 Bison Slaughter Following One-Man Blockade
Buffalo Field Campaign, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Comfrey’s action demonstrated strong public opposition to the buffalo slaughter. The day following Jacob’s blockade, Yellowstone National Park issued their only press release for this year’s controversial bison operations, announcing that Yellowstone had no further plans to capture this season. “My action raised enough public awareness that Yellowstone announced a cease to their operations the following day,” Jacobs said.
→ read full article(Français) Le partenariat transatlantique risque d’accentuer les poursuites contre les États
EurActiv – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Des investisseurs réclament plus d’1,7 milliard d’euros à la Grèce, à l’Espagne et à Chypre. Le phénomène pourrait s’aggraver si l’accord du partenariat transatlantique avec les Etats-Unis était ratifié en l’état.
→ read full articleLifeism: Beyond Humanity
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Lifeism is very relevant to our relentless savaging of life across the world. We need to identify with life — this is the most important identity. Identification with gender, ethnicity, race, nations is secondary. We are first and foremost creations of life.
→ read full articleWhat We Can Learn from Child Soldiers
Jonathan Rozen, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Because he was a child, Moses Otiti was the only one to survive. For the next 12 months, he was forced to serve the LRA as a soldier. “The reason why they didn’t kill me was because they were really [looking for] people who were young…they really wanted to groom them as soldiers who can fight the battle against the government,” he told IPS.
→ read full articleAn Online Magna Carta: Web Inventor Berners-Lee Calls for an Internet Bill of Rights
Jemima Kiss – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
The inventor of the world wide web believes an online “Magna Carta” is needed to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its users worldwide. Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that the web had come under increasing attack from governments and corporate influence and that new rules were needed to protect the “open, neutral” system.
→ read full articleRevisiting Nuclear Industry Failures on Third Anniversary of Fukushima Disaster
Dr. Rianne Teule, Greenpeace – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
The nuclear industry is trying its hardest to make us forget by downplaying the impacts of the accident, ignoring the fact that the Fukushima reactors are still not under control and claiming that lessons have been learned. Nothing is further from the truth. So business continues as usual and in many countries the same mistakes are being made that played a role in Fukushima.
→ read full articleGMOs: Ban Them or Label Them?
Ronnie Cummins, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Since the controversial introduction in the mid-nineties of genetically engineered (GE) food and crops, and the subsequent fast-tracking of those crops by the federal government—with no independent safety-testing or labeling required—there has been a lively debate among activists, both inside and outside the U.S., about how to drive these unhealthy and environmentally destructive “Frankenfoods” off the market.
→ read full articleHuman Security and Human Rights Harmonious to Inharmonious Relations
Dr. Bishnu Pathak – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Abstract – Human security and human rights are universal phenomena, poor to rich and individual to all people in the universe. Human security and human rights are harmonious to inharmonious natures. Human security is state to people-centered notion, whereas human rights are human-centered more.
→ read full articleCreativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Crucial Difference Between Success and Mastery
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Mastery requires endurance. Mastery, a word we don’t use often, is not the equivalent of what we might consider its cognate — perfectionism — an inhuman aim motivated by a concern with how others view us. Mastery is also not the same as success — an event-based victory based on a peak point, a punctuated moment in time. Mastery is not merely a commitment to a goal, but to a curved-line, constant pursuit.
→ read full articleInternational Peace Research Association at 50
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Known as IPRA, founded in 1964 in London–and this author, 34 at the time, is the only surviving founder. IPRA rotates every two years from one peace research center to the other, and is now in very competent Turkish hands. And what is more natural than having the 50th anniversary for the hub of peace studies in that hub of the world, Istanbul, 10-14 August this year!! Hurry up, register!!!
→ read full articleDisaster Militarism: Rethinking U.S. Relief in the Asia-Pacific
Foreign Policy In Focus - TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Disaster relief has increasingly become part of the justification for increased U.S. troop deployments in the Asia-Pacific region.
→ read full articleWhy You Should Eat Fermented Foods
Delia Quigley, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Every culture in the world has some form of fermented foods they eat with meals to aid in digestion. It isn’t necessary to eat very much, just enough to provide the proper enzymes to help break down food and make the nutrients available for absorption in the small intestine.
→ read full articleSafe!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
The head of a Mexican drug cartel recently took three suitcases full of money to a Swiss bank and demanded to see the bank president. He asked him,
→ read full articleArchbishop Tutu Adds Voice to Israeli Apartheid Week
Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
“In South Africa, we could not have achieved our democracy without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the apartheid regime. I associate myself with the objectives of the 10th international Israeli Apartheid Week.”
→ read full articleWomen, Education and Peace
Surya Nath Prasad, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
The author dedicates this article to all women of the world on the eve of UN International Day of Peace. Dr. Prasad advises to foster in education and women an essential portion of our perception of life with fearless enthusiasm for improvement of the moral and physical state of mankind by profound and sound education for women’s freedom and against women’s sequestration and war.
→ read full articleNASA-Funded Study: Industrial Civilisation Headed For ‘Irreversible Collapse’?
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
A new study sponsored by Nasa has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution. Noting that warnings of ‘collapse’ are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that “the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history.”
→ read full article$3 Billion for Ukraine to Go Straight to…Russia
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, CNBC – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
As Western leaders prepare a bailout package for embattled Ukraine, they face a startling irony: Thanks to the almost bizarre structure of a bond deal between Ukraine and Russia, billions of those dollars are almost certain to go directly into the coffers of the Putin government.
→ read full articleSpanish Government Abolishes Prosecutions under Universal Jurisdiction Laws
Alejandro López, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Spain’s right-wing Popular Party (PP) government has placed a ban on attempts to pursue justice for crimes under universal jurisdiction laws. PP spokesman Alfonso Alonso declared it was necessary to eliminate universal jurisdiction because it “only brings conflict.”
→ read full article(Português) Amazonas: como os índios vão testar turismo ecológico
Instituto Socioambiental – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Em experimento inédito, comunidades do Rio Negro criam projeto para pesca turística que não devasta nem natureza, nem cultura — mas gera ocupações, serviços e renda compartilhados. Iniciativa nasceu da luta de organizações e lideranças indígenas, com apoio do Ministério Público, para retirar pescadores ilegais da região.
→ read full articleCIA Spies and Tortured Lies
Amy Goodman - Truthdig,
17 Mar 2014
“With Sen. Dianne Feinstein we’re seeing another ‘Merkel Effect,’ where an elected official does not care at all that the rights of millions of ordinary citizens are violated by our spies, but suddenly it’s a scandal when a politician finds out the same thing happens to them.”
→ read full articleVoices Blast Dow Chemical’s ‘Agent Orange’ Seed Warfare
Lauren McCauley – Common Dreams,
17 Mar 2014
Pending approval of the GE Seeds, Dow prepares to roll out seed-herbicide combination package, spelling ‘catastrophe’ for farms and farmers.
→ read full articleHaiti/Honduras: Same System, Different Players*
Charlie Hinton – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Since the days of the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. has considered all of Latin America its exclusive “back yard.” It’s maintained a regionally consistent imperial policy to guarantee subservient governments and business arrangements that submit fully to the discipline of global financial markets at the expense of democracy and human rights.
→ read full articleThe Taliban Fight for Religious and Cultural Identity
Mathilde Simon – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
Afghan Women as Symbols of Group Identity and Power Relations – This article studies the Taliban’s emphasis on women bodies as a symbol of their identity, which has been violated several times by foreign occupations imposing their own conception of human rights on Afghan culture.
→ read full articleThe UN Is Not Above the Law
Lauren Carasik @ajam – Al Jazeera America,
10 Mar 2014
The US should support accountability claim for the cholera epidemic in Haiti.
→ read full articleGod Bless Putin
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Binyamin Netanyahu is very good at making speeches, especially to Jews, neocons and such, who jump up and applaud wildly at everything he says, including that tomorrow the sun will rise in the west. The question is: is he good at anything else?
→ read full articleJulian Assange “We Are Headed Towards a Transnational Dystopian Total Surveillance Society”
Mox News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
March 07, 2014 MSNBC News
→ read full articleHacking Team Spy Software Identified on U.S. Servers
Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Two U.S. companies – Linode of New Jersey and Rackspace of Texas – have been hosting surveillance software designed by Hacking Team of Italy, according to a new report. The software was allegedly been used by governments in Ethiopia, Morocco, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to track dissidents.
→ read full articleZap! Australian Scientists Look at Lasers to Cull Space Junk
Pauline Askin, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
It may sound like science fiction but an Australian team is working on a project to zap orbital debris with lasers from Earth to reduce the growing amount of space junk that threatens to knock out satellites with a “cascade of collisions”.
→ read full articleIndependence of Scotland from a Crimean Perspective
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Emerging Strategic Logic of the New Century Understood Otherwise? – The question is what might be learned from the Crimea situation of relevance to that of Scotland. Is a new mindset being used to frame such situations — one which merits a degree of attention? Is there a case for a more systemic perspective rather consideration of such crises in an ad hoc, fire-fighting mode?
→ read full articleSilent Grace: A Film Review
Sumeet Grover – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Silent Grace is an award-winning 2004 film, directed by filmmaker Maeve Murphy. It documents a disturbing chapter of Northern Ireland’s nonviolent dirty protests and hunger strikes by republican female prisoners in 1980 that were never made public.
→ read full article(Castellano) Uruguay: Mujica defiende legalización del aborto y matrimonio igualitario
TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
El presidente de Uruguay, José Mujica, concedió una entrevista al diario brasileño O Globo publicada este domingo [9 Mar 2014] en donde aseguró que la legalización de la marihuana, el aborto y el matrimonio entre personas del mismo género son políticas para reconocer la realidad y los hechos en la actualidad.
→ read full articleResisters of Sykes-Picot Land Grab Perform Key Fighting Roles in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Lots of them were never even religious. They are drug addicts who get high and lose their fear of dying so they are dangerous to confront. The “imported Jihadists” die in high numbers because they ignore the battlefield realities. Their average number of dead is estimated to be five times the number of Hezbollah casualties, three times the number of PFLI fighters, and twice the number of casualties than the regular Syrian army.
→ read full articleThe War on Emotions is Driving Us Insane
Anita McKone – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Have you ever been provoked by someone into fear, anger or pain, and then blamed, punished or humiliated for feeling and expressing these feelings? This is a form of psychological torture which has very serious consequences. Here are three stories that demonstrate how commonly this form of torture occurs in human society.
→ read full articleU.S. Foreign Assistance: More Guns than Butter
James Kennedy – Foreign Policy In Focus,
10 Mar 2014
Aid to foreign militaries is quickly eclipsing development assistance in the U.S. foreign aid budget. Even as President Obama has promised to get the country off a permanent war footing, the United States continues to deliver more and more money, guns, equipment, and training to foreign military and police forces around the globe.
→ read full articlePsychology Association’s Torture Link Fails “Do-No-Harm” Ethics
Roy Eidelson and Trudy Bond – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
As we look to the future, we wonder whether the profound tragedy of Guantanamo might have been diminished if psychologists there had held fast to our profession’s do-no-harm principles and refused to countenance human rights abuses, and if psychology’s leadership had done the same.
→ read full articleThe Economic Cost of Violence Containment
Institute for Economics and Peace – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
One of the major challenges in developing policies aimed at increasing peace is the difficulty of being able to accurately gauge the benefits that result from peace. Recognising this, the Institute for Economics and Peace has developed a new and ground breaking methodology to estimate the cost of violence to the global economy, including calculations for 152 countries that detail the costs of thirteen different types of violence.
→ read full articlePropaganda Rules the News
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Glenn Greenwald points out the independence that RT, a Russian media organization, permits Abby Martin who denounced Russia’s alleged invasion of Ukraine, compared to the fates of Phil Donahue (MSNBC) and Peter Arnett (NBC), both of whom were fired for expressing opposition to the Bush regime’s illegal attack on Iraq.
→ read full articleBreaking Free: Choosing a Better Human Future
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
I have long believed that prospects for a hopeful human future depend on radical and visionary feelings, thought, and action… Citizenship, then, becomes enacted in time and is not conceived only as a dimension of space as, for instance, in opting to be ‘a world citizen.’
→ read full articleCalifornia Bill Would Ban Orca Shows at Seaworld
Michael Martinez - CNN,
10 Mar 2014
A California state legislator is proposing to ban the captivity of killer whales for entertainment at SeaWorld in the wake of CNN’s controversial documentary Blackfish. “It is time that we embrace that the long-accepted practice of keeping orcas captive for human amusement must end,” state Assemblyman Richard Bloom, a Democrat from Santa Monica, said at a press conference Friday [7 Mar 2014] at the city’s oceanfront pier.
→ read full article(Castellano) La OEA se solidarizó con Venezuela en una decisión histórica
TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Con 29 votos a favor y tres en contra, de Estados Unidos, Canadá y Panamá, la organización regional abre así el camino para condenar la violencia y descarta de este modo que una comisión observadora vaya a Venezuela para constatar la situación producto de la violencia fascista, como se había propuesto anteriormente.
→ read full articleVegan Myths Debunked
EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
You’ve heard it all before: Vegans are so pasty and unhealthy—they certainly can’t be getting enough protein! And you have to have pockets full of cash to even think about going vegan. Right? Wrong. This infographic explains.
→ read full articleThank You, Haiti! Thank You, Cuba!
Marilyn Laglois – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
It’s time to show some appreciation and support for the people of two neighboring Caribbean islands. January 1, 2014 was the 210th and 55th anniversary of two major revolutions— one in Haiti and the other in Cuba— that can help us wake up and reclaim our humanity.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Bring Up the Bodies
The Economist – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Creeping Towards an International Inquiry into War Crimes – Evidence of past atrocities keeps turning up in Sri Lanka.
→ read full article400 Youths Arrested at White House Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline
EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
2 Mar 2014 – Today more than 1,200 youths from across the country marched to the White House to protest the Keystone XL pipeline. 400 youths were arrested while participating in a nonviolent civil disobedience sit-in, the largest youth act of civil disobedience at the White House in a generation.
→ read full articleUkraine-Crimea-Georgia–the West and Russia
Johan Galtung, 10 Mar 2014 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
The dividing line of the Roman Empire from 395, confirmed by the schism between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity in 1054, is reflected in Ukraine’s extremely complex history. Odessa is in the West, Donets in the East, Ukrainian in the West, more Russian in the East. And Kiev–origin of Russia, Rus–the capital, in the middle. One split in two, two united in one: both true.
→ read full articleJapanese Investigator Says Lessons of Fukushima Disaster Ignored
Kristine Kwok in Tokyo – South China Morning Post,
10 Mar 2014
8 Mar 2014 – According to the foundation’s research, the government and Tepco operated under the belief that nuclear plants were completely safe. Before the earthquake, government regulators and Tepco avoided addressing the potential risks because this would cause “unnecessary anxiety and misunderstanding” among the public, Funabashi wrote in a paper published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
→ read full articleNobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Deported from Egypt En Route to Gaza
Peace People – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
On 5th March, 2014 Mairead Maguire and Ann Patterson, members of the Peace People, N. Ireland were deported from Egypt as they attempted to enter the country in order to join an international delegation of 100 women wishing to visit Gaza via the Egyptian Rafah Border.
→ read full articleStraighten Up or You’re Dead: The Case for Black Lesbians in South Africa
Fairuz Mullagee and Ernest Booys – Pambazuka News,
10 Mar 2014
In post-apartheid South Africa, sexual violence has become a socially endorsed punitive project for maintaining patriarchal order. Black township lesbians have not benefited from legal protection because of important weaknesses in the justice system. These need to be addressed.
→ read full articleThe Conundrum of ‘Democratic’ Coups
Lawrence Davidson – Consortium News,
10 Mar 2014
The U.S. government says it wants to spread “democracy,” a questionable claim considering the history. Think Iran-1953, Guatemala-1954, Chile-1973, Haiti-1991/2004, etc. Just this past year, the U.S. has embraced coups against elected presidents in Egypt and now Ukraine.
→ read full articleHas the NSA’s Mass Spying Made Life Easier for Digital Criminals?
Tom Brewster – The Guardian,
10 Mar 2014
In flooding the internet with malware, and by increasing wariness of data sharing, the NSA’s actions have had a negative impact on the fight against cybercrime. The US has done an enormous amount of damage. There is a basic level of trust that has been lost because the US was supposed to be a trusted keeper of everything, but it turned out they were subverting it with every chance they got.
→ read full articleHas Blackwater Been Deployed to Ukraine?
Damien Gayle – Daily Mail,
10 Mar 2014
9 Mar 2014 – Notorious U.S. mercenaries ‘seen on the streets of flashpoint city’ as Russia claims 300 hired guns have arrived in country.
→ read full articleForbes 400 List of World’s Richest People Highlights Growth of Social Inequality
Ed Hightower, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
* The world’s 85 richest people have more wealth than the poorer half of the world’s population combined. Some 2.4 billion people live on less than $2 per day.
* In the United States, 95 percent of all income gains between 2009 and 2012 went to the wealthiest 1 percent of the population.
Covert Drone War: UN Report Identifies 30 Drone Strikes That Require ‘Public Explanation’
Alice K Ross – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism,
10 Mar 2014
1 Mar 2014 – A UN counter-terrorism expert has published the second report of his year-long investigation into drone strikes, highlighting 30 strikes where civilians are reported to have been killed.
→ read full articleUganda: Scientific Statement from the Ministry of Health on Homosexuality
Pambazuka News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
A team of top scientists appointed by the government to give an opinion on homosexuality is unanimous that this sexual orientation is natural and has existed in Africa and everywhere in the world since time immemorial. It is strange for President Museveni to claim he relied on this expert report to assent to the draconian anti-gay bill.
→ read full articleDecember 2013 – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
5 Mar 2014 – This is my last report as Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestine as my term is coming to an end after six years. The mandate is important as a source of information pertaining to the realities of occupation from the perspective of international humanitarian law and international criminal law
→ read full articleSteeped in Its Bloody History, Again Embracing Resistance
Andrew Higgins – International New York Times,
10 Mar 2014
An excellent historical perspective on the depth of Russia’s ties in the Crimea. Required reading.
→ read full articleThe Washington Post Uses Biased Experts to Promote Propaganda on Venezuela
Murtaza Hussain – The Intercept,
10 Mar 2014
That the sources of this supposedly expert analysis are funded by corporations and governments openly hostile to the Venezuelan government, and which have even attempted its overthrow in the past, would appear to be a fairly glaring omission.
→ read full articleA Look at Africa’s Anti-Gay Laws
Denis Nzioka – Pambazuka News,
10 Mar 2014
A trend is forming from African nations – which already criminalize same sex acts, albeit, through laws inherited from colonial masters – to further put in place legislation that amplify, further criminalize and increase punishment for same sex acts.
→ read full articlePoverty
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Recently a zoo offered jobs to unemployed workers to disguise themselves as animals and play in the cages.
→ read full articleDid Nonviolence Fail in Egypt?
Mark Engler and Paul Engler – Foreign Policy In Focus,
10 Mar 2014
The Egyptian Revolution is a perfect case study for both the power and the limits of nonviolent mass movements.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden’s Written Testimony to the European Parliament
Edward Snowden – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
The NSA granted me the authority to monitor communications world-wide using its mass surveillance systems, including within the United States. I have personally targeted individuals using these systems. I know the good and the bad of these systems, and what they can and cannot do, and I am telling you that without getting out of my chair, I could have read the private communications of any member of this committee, as well as any ordinary citizen. I swear under penalty of perjury that this is true.
→ read full article(Português) Brasil-Europa: Cidadania e Confidencialidade na Internet
Forum Abel Varzim – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
O Brasil e a União Europeia concordaram na segunda-feira, 24 de fevereiro de 2014, em lançar um cabo submarino de comunicação em fibra ótica de Lisboa [Portugal] a Fortaleza [Brasil] para reduzir a dependência nos Estados Unidos, depois que Washington espionou Brasília e várias capitais europeias.
→ read full articleMemo to Judge: Really?? – What We Owe the Oak Ridge Three
Ralph Hutchison, OREPA – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
On February 18 [2014] we heard it from a federal judge—there are two variations. The first: There are plenty of ways for you to protest and deliver your message without breaking the law. The second: If you people would just put this time and energy into working for the change you want in the political system, you might get the change you seek. Both sentiments are either disingenuous or naïve.
→ read full article(Italiano) Pakistan: e adesso che cosa fare?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Islamabad, Ministero degli Esteri (28 febbraio 2014) – Il punto basilare è che il Pakistan non otterrà quella merce detta “pace” in Kashmir, Afghanistan e Asia Centrale perseguendo solo i finie i mezzi di Washington e di qualche élite locale. Perché sbocci la pace bisogna considerare pure gli obiettivi di altre parti; e sono molti.
→ read full articleAmerica’s Staggering Hypocrisy In Ukraine
Robert Parry – Consortium News,
10 Mar 2014
The United States has invaded or otherwise intervened in so many countries that it would be challenging to compile a complete list. Just last decade, there were full-scale U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, plus American bombing operations from Pakistan to Yemen to Libya. So, what is to make of John Kerry’s pronouncement that Russia’s military intervention in the Crimea section of Ukraine – at the behest of the country’s deposed president – is a violation of international law that the United States would never countenance?
→ read full article(Português) Ucrânia: entre máfias e o expansionismo militar
Alejandro Nadal - La Jornada, México,
10 Mar 2014
Mesmo que não desemboque em uma guerra, o conflito na Ucrânia e na Crimeia marcará de maneira decisiva as relações internacionais nos próximos anos.
→ read full articleGender, Conflict and Peace
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
We celebrate Women’s Day on March 8 every year. Have we really progressed on this front? Is there any real empowerment of women? As I work in areas of conflict transformation and peacebuilding, my focus on women in conflict situations and peacebuilding processes is natural.
→ read full articleCrop Diversity Decline ‘Threatens Food Security’
Mark Kinver - BBC News,
10 Mar 2014
Fewer crop species are feeding the world than 50 years ago – raising concerns about the resilience of the global food system, a study has shown.
→ read full articleRemember That Famous Study about Obedience to Authority? Here’s How Stanley Milgram Got It Wrong
Andy Lee Roth – YES! Magazine,
10 Mar 2014
According to conventional wisdom, psychologist Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment revealed that human beings are hardwired to obey authority. But author Gina Perry looked at Milgram’s data—and she’s not convinced.
→ read full article