Articles by M
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Belounis Returns: Footballer Escapes Qatar [Slavery] at Heavy Price
Stefan Simons – Der Spiegel,
2 Dec 2013
French footballer Zahir Belounis is back in his homeland after being trapped in Qatar against his will. He only secured his departure after signing a “retroactive termination,” which has virtually ruled out any legal action against the Qatari El Jaish Sports Club. In the waiver, the 33-year-old even had to thank the club for providing his apartment.
→ read full articleThe Decline of the US (and Everyone Else …)
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The world political economy is a mosaic of cross currents: Domestic decay and elite enrichment, new sources for greater profits and deepening political disenchantment, declining living standards for many and extravagant luxury for a few, military losses in some regions with imperial recovery in others.
→ read full article(Português) Direito à Privacidade: Nova Vitória do Brasil na Cena Internacional
Flávio Aguiar – Carta Maior,
2 Dec 2013
ONU aprovou resolução sobre direito à privacidade e temas afins, inclusive na internet, apresentada conjuntamente pelo Brasil e pela Alemanha.
→ read full article
With or Without You (Music Video of the Week)
2Cellos– TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
2CELLOS Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser perform With or Without You by Bono-U2 at C Music TV’s studios in London.
→ read full articlePeacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
This is a useful collection of essays, a cooperative effort between the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa and the Centre of African Studies at Cambridge University, England including a policy seminar held at the University of Botswana.
→ read full articleUS And Iran: Seven Questions beyond the Nuclear Deal
Marwan Bishara – Al Jazeera,
2 Dec 2013
What are the ramifications of Iran’s deal with the West on Middle East politics?
→ read full article(Catalan) ‘Els Paries del Caribe’ [Haitians]
Mario Vargas Llosa – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Carta de la Pau Dirigida a l’ONU – 4 Nov 2013. La decisió converteix en apàtrides a més de 200.000 dominicans d’origen haitià. El racisme apareix quan calen bocs expiatoris que ocultin els veritables problemes.
→ read full articleWho Is Watching the Watch Lists?
Susan Stellin – The New York Times,
2 Dec 2013
The federal government’s main terrorist watch list has grown to at least 700,000 people, with little scrutiny over how the determinations are made or the impact on those marked with the terrorist label.
→ read full articleMother Agnes Mariam: In Her Own Words
Sharmine Narwani – Mideast Shuffle,
2 Dec 2013
Neither Scahill nor Jones provided any reason for their harsh “indictment” of Mother Agnes. The journalists – neither of whom have produced any notable body of work on Syria – appear to have followed the lead of a breed of Syria “activists” who have given us doozies like “Assad is about to fall,” “Assad has no support,” “the opposition is peaceful,” “the opposition is unarmed,” “this is a popular revolution,” “the revolution is not foreign-backed,” “there is no Al Qaeda in Syria,” “the dead are mostly civilians,” and other such gems.
→ read full articleCulture of War and Militaristic Culture of Peace
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
A careful study of history reveals that while people in general always opted for peace through dialogues on a mutually beneficial basis, their public officials often tended to resort to struggles and wars to get what they want.
→ read full articleCriminal Intent
Tom Greening – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Were I to be a criminal
I’d try to be original.
PMANE and People of Idinthakarai Have Nothing to Do with the Blast
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Nov 27, 2013 – We would like to clarify one more time that the PMANE does not believe in violence or bomb-making, and the people of Idinthakarai and the PMANE have absolutely nothing to do with the blast. We condemn those who are behind this mindless action and express our sincere condolences to the bereaved families.
→ read full articleGaza: The Unfolding Humanitarian Catastrophe
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Servivce,
2 Dec 2013
Sadly – how sadly – the Palestinian Authority and the quisling Fateh are in lockstep, fellow travelers with this miasma of shame and inhumanity. Hamas and Fateh must overcome the USraeli “divide and rule” tactics and link arms as a solid force of resistance to the illegal occupation of their homeland. Today, that must be the number one priority!
→ read full articleNo Aid for AIDS
Dr. M. Ashaq Raza – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Whether rich or a poor
AIDS knocking every door
BUT ……..
[Nobel Peace Laureate] Aung San Suu Kyi Is Turning a Blind Eye to Human Rights in the Name of Politics
Emanuel Stoakes – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
The Burmese politician’s visit to Australia will spark praise from politicians – an unhelpful distraction from the extremely serious abuses taking place against Muslims in her homeland.
→ read full articleChernobyl’s Arch: Sealing Off a Radioactive Sarcophagus
Nick Meo – BBC News,
2 Dec 2013
One of the biggest engineering projects in history, it has been likened to a gigantic metal igloo, built to seal off hundreds of tons of nuclear fuel and dust buried inside reactor number four, which in 1986 blew up and burned for 10 days. Everything about the project is epic: the size, the 1.5bn euro (£1.2bn) cost, the technical problems of working on a radioactive building site.
→ read full articleRevealed: Australian Spy Agency Offered to Share Data about Ordinary Citizens
Ewen MacAskill, James Ball and Katharine Murphy – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
2 Dec 2013 – Australia’s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden. The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share “medical, legal or religious information”.
→ read full article
Matt Damon on Howard Zinn’s Civil (dis)Obedience
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Matt Damon, a lifelong friend of Howard Zinn and his family, read excerpts from a speech Howard Zinn gave in 1970 as part of a debate on civil disobedience. He is not asking you to participate and be proactive but when you hear this you might anyway. The problem is not Civil Disobedience, but Civil Obedience.
→ read full articleTaking Me to Court Won’t Stop BDS
Jake Lynch, New Matilda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The More Informed People Are About Israel-Palestine, the More Likely They Are to Sympathise With the Palestinians – This week in Australia’s Federal Court I am defending my right not to participate in institutional arrangements with Israeli higher education, in response to the call by Palestinian civil society for an academic and cultural boycott.
→ read full articleUN Advances Surveillance Resolution Reaffirming ‘Human Right to Privacy’
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
The United Nations moved a step closer to calling for an end to excessive surveillance on Tuesday [26 Nov 2013] in a resolution co-sponsored by Brazil and Germany after leaked documents from Edward Snowden revealed that the agency had spied on their political leaders.
→ read full articleIceland Defies Banks and Advances $1.2bn Debt Relief Plan
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Iceland’s government has announced that it will be writing off up to 24,000 euros ($32,600) of every household’s mortgage, fulfilling its election promise, despite overwhelming criticism from international financial institutions.
→ read full article(Français) Économie Verte : Marchandiser la Planète Pour la Sauver ?
Bernard Duterme – Centre Tricontinental,
2 Dec 2013
La « démarchandisation » des ressources, du vivant, de la planète, de la vie sociale, de l’éducation, des cultures, des biens communs… revient comme un leitmotiv. Reste à se compter, c’est-à-dire à identifier – au-delà des théorisations en chambre, des appels affectés à l’action et de la multiplication des initiatives alternatives locales – les acteurs sociaux et politiques capables de peser dans les principaux rapports de force, sur les enjeux fondamentaux et les orientations de l’économie mondiale.
→ read full article3 Early Signs You Have Kidney Stones
Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
As the term implies, a kidney stone is a hard deposit, which can be located anywhere in the urinary tract from the kidneys to the bladder. Stones form when urine is too concentrated, allowing crystals to form. What they’re made of determines which of four types they are.
→ read full articleThe War on Democracy
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
A stunning new report compiles extensive evidence showing how some of the world’s largest corporations have partnered with private intelligence firms and government intelligence agencies to spy on activist and nonprofit groups. Environmental activism is a prominent though not exclusive focus of these activities.
→ read full article(Português) Estados Unidos-América Latina: O Fim de Uma Era?
Dalia González Delgado/Granma – Patria Latina,
2 Dec 2013
A frase provocou aplausos e um alvoroço na mídia. “A era da Doutrina Monroe terminou”, afirmou John Kerry, o mesmo que há sete meses se referiu à América Latina como o “quintal” dos Estados Unidos. Essa doutrina, concebida em 1823 e sintetizada na frase “América para os americanos”, tem servido como sustento ideológico para as intervenções unilaterais de Washington em qualquer país, sempre que “seus interesses” estivessem em “risco”.
→ read full article(Italiano) Galtung: è un impero di assassini, il mondo ora si ribella
Libre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Il mondo si sta ribellando agli Usa: lo scandalo Datagate conferma che il centro dell’impero sta perdendo il controllo della periferia. Nel suo libro “This Town”, Mark Leibovich ritiene improbabile che il conglomerato politica-media di Washington riesca a trovare soluzioni a calamità tanto drammatiche come quelle che oggi ha di fronte Obama.
→ read full articleThe Global Economy–Heading Where?
Johan Galtung, 2 Dec 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Friends of USA: give sound advice; but de-americanize, keep distance. The global economy is heading East and South: BRCS+, with a stagnant EU. Growth with distribution, not stagnation with inequality.
→ read full articleDoes the Road to Mideast Peace Run through Tehran?
Juan Cole, Informed Comment – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
It is not too soon to begin considering what the Middle East would look like if relations between Iran and the West (the United States and Europe) were to improve.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks: TPP Secretive Corporate Deal to Establish Special Closed Door Courts for Big Business
Thomas Mc Donagh – The Democracy Center,
2 Dec 2013
The WikiLeaks revelations have shone a new light on the TPP agreement. The deal revealed plans to expand the tribunals that deal with what is called ‘investor-state dispute settlement’. These are closed-door courts that take direct aim at the ability of governments across the world to enact environmental, public health and other protections for their citizens.
→ read full article(Français) BDS : Lettre de soutien au Pr. Jake Lynch, remise à l’Ambassade d’Australie (Text also in English)
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, France – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Ci-dessous la lettre de soutien au Pr. Jake Lynch, que nous sommes allés remettre ce mercredi 27 novembre [2013] à l’ambassade d’Australie à Paris, tandis que se tenait à Sydney la première audience de fixation au tribunal fédéral, concernant la plainte déposée par un cabinet d’avocats israéliens contre cet universitaire australien.
→ read full articleClashing Views of Political Reality: Chomsky versus Dershowitz
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The book is much more than a comparison of two influential voices, one critical the other apologetic, with respect to the Israel/Palestine struggle and the subordination of private liberties to the purveyors of state-led security at home and abroad.
→ read full articleAttempts to Silence Environmentalists Continue
Dr. David Suzuki, EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
A recent report by human rights organization Global Witness documents the murders of more than 700 environmental and indigenous-rights activists over the past decade—more than one killing a week, on average. They reviewed databases, academic studies and news reports, and consulted with the UN and other international agencies.
→ read full articleLeakers, Privacy Activists Find New Home in Berlin
Michael Birnbaum – The Washington Post,
2 Dec 2013
During the Cold War, Berlin was one of the most spy-ridden cities in the world. An international cadre of privacy advocates is settling in Germany’s once-divided capital, saying they feel safer here than they do in the United States or Britain, where authorities have vowed to prosecute leakers of official secrets.
→ read full articleBDS: Letter of Support to Prof. Jake Lynch Delivered to the Australian Embassy
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, France – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
We, French teachers, academics, researchers and intellectuals, wish to inform you of our support for Prof. Jake Lynch (of Sydney University), who has been subjected to legal proceedings by Israel, for refusing to collaborate with the Israeli occupier.
→ read full articleWhy Don’t We Try to Understand and End Human Violence?
Robert J. Burrowes – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Most of us want to use violence when it suits us and to ‘get away with it’ when we do. This is why most of us find ways to inflict our violence in socially legitimized ways or we do it in relative secrecy. Apart from inflicting violence on our own children and the natural environment, society has created whole sectors of activity in which ‘legitimized violence’ can be inflicted.
→ read full article(Italiano) Niscemi, la Mafia e il MUOS
Antonio Mazzeo – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
Il processo di militarizzazione e la proliferazione di basi USA e NATO in Sicilia hanno contribuito così a rafforzare il potere economico e politico delle organizzazioni criminali, propostesi sin dallo Sbarco Alleato del 1943 come un partner credibile di Washington per il controllo sociale dell’Isola. La costruzione della base missilistica nucleare a Comiso o i programmi “Mega” a Sigonella per consolidare il suo ruolo strategico nel Mediterraneo hanno assicurato affari milionari alle aziende contigue a Cosa Nostra.
→ read full articleGaza: Life and Death under Israel’s Drones
Jonathan Cook – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
There are many things to fear in Gaza: Attacks from Israel’s Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter jets, growing isolation, blackouts from power shortages, polluted drinking water, rivers of sewage flooding the streets, and the anxiety-inducing constant buzz of the remotely piloted aircraft – better known as “drones” – that hover in the skies above.
→ read full articleWhy We Shop: The Neuropsychology of Consumption
Bret S. Stetka, MD & Kit Yarrow, PhD, Medscape – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The reasons for shopping might seem simple: acquiring goods that provide enjoyment, assist with everyday life and activities, or meet a cultural expectation (eg, gift-giving). But the work of neuroscientists and consumer psychologists suggests that the motivations driving purchasing and consuming are more complex.
→ read full articleGotcha!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
One evening, a husband brings his wife a glass of water and an aspirin.
→ read full article
GMO-Free Hawaii: ‘Big Island’ Bans Biotech Companies
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Nov 22, 2013 – A Hawaian island has passed a law banning companies which produce genetically modified food from operating on its territory. Modified crops will also be restricted to indoor structures, and experimenting with new types of plants has been prohibited.
→ read full articleQatar World Cup: Over How Many Dead Bodies?
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey – Pravda,
25 Nov 2013
Qatar, one of the richest countries in the world, just because it sits on massive resources of hydro-carbons, and the pariah of the international community with its alleged funding and aiding of terrorist groups in Chechnya, Libya and Syria, has been accused in a recent report of abusing migrant workers and having a deplorable safety record. Is this what FIFA stands for?
→ read full articlePrivate Firms Selling Mass Surveillance Systems around World, Documents Show
Nick Hopkins and Matthew Taylor – The Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
One Dubai-based firm offers DIY system similar to GCHQ’s Tempora programme, which taps fibre-optic cables. Private firms are selling spying tools and mass surveillance technologies to developing countries with promises that “off the shelf” equipment will allow them to snoop on millions of emails, text messages and phone calls, according to a cache of documents published on Monday [18 Nov 2013].
→ read full articleStay: The Social Contagion of Suicide and How to Preempt It
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
“In my experience, outside the idea that God forbids it, our society today has no coherent argument against suicide. Instead, many self-described open-minded, rationalist, sophisticated thinkers emphatically defend people’s right to do it. How did those in the modern world – who fight death so fiercely elsewhere – come to accept or at least leave unchallenged an ideology that kills”?
→ read full article(Italiano) Il Medio Oriente: diretto dove?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Siamo di fronte a un processo di distacco USA da un Israele lanciato verso un’illimitata espansione, che corrompe senatori e deputati con denaro e magari altro per le loro campagne? A un distacco USA dalle monarchie del Golfo e del G7 con l’Arabia Saudita che ora inscena proteste ovunque? Se così, stiamo vivendo in diretta un punto di svolta della storia mondiale.
→ read full articleAfrican Continent: Contrasts and Paradoxes
Pierre Celestin Bakunda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
When one analyses the bankruptcy of the African continent, one could wonder why since its independence of 1960s, it did not produce effective elite to manage their countries accordingly.
→ read full articleZuma Silent on Sri Lankan Human Rights Abuses
Ruki Fernando – Mail & Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
The Canadian and Mauritian heads of state and more than half the leaders of the 53 Commonwealth Heads of Government boycotted the 2013 meeting held in Sri Lanka. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said that it should not be held in Sri Lanka. South African President Jacob Zuma, by contrast, was among the heads of state who refused to consider a boycott against Sri Lanka, to speak out about human rights abuses or to show symbolic solidarity with the victims.
→ read full article(Castellano) NSA Intentó Acceder al Sistema Operativo Linux
TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
La Agencia de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos (NSA) le demandó a Linus Torvalds, fundador de Linux, crear “puertas traseras” para acceder al sistema, según reveló su padre, el eurodiputado finlandés Nils Torvalds.
→ read full articleViolence against Women: Walls That Imprison
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
It is available worldwide evidence that violence against women exists to an alarming degree. It is an attack upon their bodily integrity and their dignity. As NGO representatives stressed, we need to place an emphasis on the universality of violence against women, the multiplicity of its forms and the ways in which violence, discrimination against women, and the broader system of domination based on subordination and inequality are inter-related.
→ read full articleThe Warsaw Walkout and the Climate Movement
Sasha Reid Ross, Earth First! Newswire - TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The story is now part of climate history. Yesterday [21 Nov 2013], as climate talks degraded into a sideshow for the coal industry, more than 800 conference participants walked out. Wearing T-shirts adorned with the word, Volveremos (We will return), the activists handed in their registration badges and abandoned the United Nations Climate Change Summit.
→ read full articleThe M23 Surrenders: A Pyrrhic Victory in Eastern Congo
David Zarembka – Foreign Policy In Focus,
25 Nov 2013
Given the roots of the ongoing conflict in North Kivu, military victory amounts to exchanging one group of exploiters for another.
→ read full articleRiots in Saudi Arabia: ‘The Kingdom Expels the Same People It Exploited’
Mansi Hassoun – France24,
25 Nov 2013
Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are considered clandestine when they lack either a residency permit allowing them to work or a ‘sponsor’ [like other countries in the region, Saudi Arabia uses the ‘kafala’ system, according to which each worker must be taken charge of by a ‘kafil’, or a sponsor].
→ read full articleThe Wahhabi-Likudnik War of Terror
Pepe Escobar – Asia Times,
25 Nov 2013
For the moment though, enough of Orwellian newspeak. What happened in Beirut was a terror attack, cheered by Israel, and fully enabled by Saudis; a graphic display by the Likudnik-House of Saud axis.
→ read full articleCorporate Lobbyists Flood Warsaw Climate Talks
Amy Goodman - Truthdig,
25 Nov 2013
“This is perhaps the most corporate climate talks we have ever experienced. But what’s different this time is the level of institutionalization, the degree to which the Polish government and the U.N., the UNFCCC, have welcomed this with open arms and have actively encouraged it.”
→ read full articleNSA Asked Linus Torvalds to Install Backdoors into GNU/Linux
Christian Engström, Infopolicy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
19 Nov 2013 – The father of Linus Torvalds, Nils Torvalds, is a Member of the European Parliament for Finland. This week he took part in the EP’s hearing on the ongoing mass surveillance and brought a revelation: The United States security service NSA has contacted Linus Torvalds with a request to add backdoors into the free and open operating system GNU/Linux.
→ read full article(Português) Por Que Deixamos Varsóvia
Jamie Henn, YES! Magazine – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Ao retirarem-se das negociações climáticas, movimentos por justiça global mandaram recado: não aceitaremos mais farsas. E voltaremos mais fortes. Pela primeira vez, parece que realmente sabemos quem são os inimigos. É a indústria de combustíveis fósseis – e estamos começando a ir atrás deles seriamente, fazendo de campanhas de desinvestimento à obstrução de dutos.
→ read full articleWal-Mart Asks Workers to Donate Food to Its Needy Employees
Business Insider – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
“That Wal-Mart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to donate food to other low-wage workers — to me, it is a moral outrage.” Wal-Mart has been criticized for paying low wages to its 2.2 million employees. It turned a profit of $15.7 billion last year.
→ read full articleFukushima Fallout Damaged the Thyroids of California Babies
Chris Busby, Ecologist – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
A new study finds that radioactive Iodine from Fukushima has caused a significant increase in hypothyroidism among babies in California, 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
→ read full articleAmbition Silences Myanmar’s Freedom Icon
Roger Mitton – The Manila Times,
25 Nov 2013
Throughout history, prominent political and even religious leaders and institutions have kept silent about enormities which they had vehemently opposed in the past. So it is right and just for many human rights advocates across the globe to attack Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi for her public acquiescence in the persecution of Muslims in her country.
→ read full articleGeneva 3 Talks: Iran Nuclear Negotiations 4 Dummies
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The third round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 is well under way in Geneva. They present a unique opportunity – not for the United States, but for the revival of international law and treaties – and the rejection if imperialism. Let us hope that the opportunity is not plundered.
→ read full articleOwen Jones & Mother Agnes: A Lesson on Conciliatory “Leftists”
Phil Greaves – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
[Outrageous] – Following the news that Mother Agnes Miriam, a nun who heads the Musalaha (reconciliation) initiative in Syria, was due to speak at the Stop The War conference in London, two journalists also due to speak at the event, Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones, decided to withdraw participation unless Mother Agnes was removed from the speaking list.
→ read full articleSyrian Nun Seen as Threat to War Resistance
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
25 Nov 2013
Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross is a Carmelite nun and mother superior of the Monastery of James the Mutilated in Qara, Syria, which has a community of three monks and twelve nuns. Born in Lebanon in a refugee camp 61 years ago, she is Palestinian on her father’s side and has worked in Syria for about 20 years. She is the spokesperson for the Catholic Information Center in Beirut, where the Musalaha Initiative also has its office.
→ read full article‘Royal Concierge’: GCHQ Monitors Diplomats’ Hotel Bookings
Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark – Der Spiegel,
25 Nov 2013
When diplomats travel to international summits, consultations and negotiations on behalf of governments, they generally tend to spend the night at high-end hotels. When they check-in, in addition to a comfortable room, they sometimes get a very unique form of room service that they did not order: a thorough monitoring by the British Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ in short.
→ read full articleSome People Are Gay: How Do We Get Over It?
Sumeet Grover – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The word ‘gay’ has come to symbolise far too many images of people than what it originally meant. It has become one of the most offensively progressive terms in the English language, where it suggests much more than ‘light-hearted and carefree’ or simply suggesting the sexual orientation of some men.
→ read full articlePeace in Colombia?
Johan Galtung, 25 Nov 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
In this conference a highly counter-productive word is being used: postconflict, instead of post-violence. Do not confuse them: violence means hurting-harming; conflicts are incompatible goals. “Postconflict” sounds like all is solved with the end of violence, oblivious to reducing flagrant inequality, to harmony through empathy, trauma reconciliation, and capacity for ongoing conflict resolution.
→ read full articleG77 Walk-out at COP19 as Rich Countries Use Delaying Tactics
Claudia Ciobanu, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The G77+China group of 133 developing countries negotiating a new international deal at COP19 in Warsaw to combat climate change walked out of the talks in the wee hours of Wednesday morning [29 Nov 2013] to protest developed countries’ reluctance to commit to loss and damage.
→ read full articleUS and UK Struck Secret Deal to Allow NSA to ‘Unmask’ Britons’ Personal Data
James Ball – The Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
• 2007 deal allows NSA to store previously restricted material
• UK citizens not suspected of wrongdoing caught up in dragnet
• Separate draft memo proposes US spying on ‘Five-Eyes’ allies
Australian Spying on Indonesian President Provokes Diplomatic Storm
Peter Symonds, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Angry Indonesian officials threatened to retaliate after a leaked document yesterday [18 Nov 2013] revealed that the Australian Signals Directorate illegally tapped the phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and other members of his inner circle. Jakarta has already recalled its ambassador to Canberra.
→ read full article
‘I Saw Rebels Beheading Men for Religion’ – Syrian Cleric
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
RT talks to mother Agnes Mariam, founder of monastery in Qara in Syria and witnessed what the people went through when the first sparks of trouble ignited the war.
→ read full articleAyn Rand’s Vision of Idiocy: Understanding the Real Makers and Takers
Sean McElwee - Salon,
25 Nov 2013
Sorry, but making a profit off something that’s useless to society is not morally superior to helping others. Because the wealthy are no longer willing to use their wealth for good, they have decided to glorify the wealth itself as good.
→ read full articleCivilization as a Global Configuration of Silences: Recognizing Silence of a Higher Order
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The concern here is whether the matters on which there is collective silence can be understood as being configured “globally” in some way — such as to sustain civilization in an unsuspected manner. This approach contrasts with any assumption that civilization is primarily characterized by the pattern of what is openly and fruitfully said.
→ read full articleLove and Math: Equations as an Equalizer for Humanity
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
“Mathematics is the source of timeless profound knowledge, which goes to the heart of all matter and unites us across cultures, continents, and centuries.” Georg Cantor, creator of the theory of infinity, wrote: “The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom.” Mathematics teaches us to rigorously analyze reality, study the facts, follow them wherever they lead. It liberates us from dogmas and prejudice, nurtures the capacity for innovation.
→ read full articleCarbon Emissions on Tragic Trajectory
Stephen Leahy, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Burning of fossil fuels added a record 36 billion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere in 2013, locking in even more heating of the planet.
→ read full articleJohn F. Kennedy
Oliver Stone – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
History is a struggle of the memory. But when the counter evidence cannot be introduced into that memory, then we are closer to a Soviet-era propaganda mindset, in which the mainstream media, in their consensus to cover this up as if it were a Reichstag Fire, deeply discredit our country and continue to demean our common sense. We must question those who tell us what to think.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: The Time for an International Investigation Is Now
JS Tissainayagam, Asia Correspondent – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
An international investigation into Sri Lanka’s war crimes is long overdue. It is time for the rest of the Commonwealth and the international community to stop treating Sri Lanka with kid gloves and follow the lead of Mauritius whose prime minister said world leaders must act because Sri Lanka’s total lack of accountability was unacceptable.
→ read full article(Português) Experimentação em Animais
Ricardo Laurino – ANDA Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais,
25 Nov 2013
Talvez uma frase de Thomas Edison, famoso cientista americano, resuma por que cada vez mais pessoas desaprovam a experimentação animal: “a não violência nos leva à mais alta ética, a qual é o objetivo de toda a evolução. Até pararmos de ferir outros seres vivos, seremos ainda selvagens”.
→ read full articleJPMorgan Says ‘Mea Culpa’ in $13 Billion Record Settlement with U.S.
Aruna Viswanatha, David Henry & Karen Freifeld, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
But even after the settlement, the bank faces at least nine other government probes, covering everything from its hiring practices in China to whether it manipulated the Libor benchmark interest rate. It may still also face criminal charges linked to mortgage matters. The bank said last month it had set aside $23 billion to cover litigation expenses.
→ read full articleThe Battle of the Titans
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
This is not merely a fight between Israel and the US. Nor is it only a fight between the White House and Congress. It is also a battle between intellectual titans. (I commented at the time that both sides were right, and that this is a unique dog-tail relationship. I even quoted the old Jewish joke about the rabbi who tells a plaintiff that he is right, and then says the same to the defendant. “But they can’t both be right!” remonstrates his wife. “You are right, too!” he answers.)
→ read full articleThe Bloody Disaster of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan Is Laid Bare
Simon Jenkins – The Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
Bombs and militia violence make clear the folly of Britain’s wars – the removal of law and order from a nation is devastating.
→ read full article‘Syria Is Not a Revolution Any More – This Is Civil War’
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports from Turkey and Syria – The Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
Rivalry between rebels and Islamists has replaced the uprising’s lofty ideals, leaving veteran commanders despairing. The goals of the first war – freedom, Islam, social equality of some sort – were replaced by betrayal, defeat and anger towards rival militias, jihadis and foreign powers fighting in Syria.
→ read full articleThe U.S. National Security State-CIA Killed J.F.K. in 1963
Jim Albertini – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Kennedy was killed by multiple shooters with the killing shot coming, not from the school book depository building in the rear, but from the front, behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll. Dr. Robert N. McClelland, MD, the surgeon that treated Kennedy, stated frankly that the killing shot came from the front causing a massive exit wound in the right side of the President’s skull.
→ read full articleJust 90 Companies Caused Two-Thirds of Man-Made Global Warming Emissions
Suzanne Goldenberg – Mother Jones,
25 Nov 2013
The climate crisis of the 21st century has been caused largely by just 90 companies that produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions since the dawning of the industrial age. The companies range from investor-owned firms—household names such as Chevron, Exxon, and BP—to state-owned and government-run firms.
→ read full article(Castellano) ‘Los Parias del Caribe’ [Haitianos]
Mario Vargas Llosa – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Carta de la Paz Dirigida a la ONU – 4 Nov 2013. El racismo aparece cuando hacen falta chivos expiatorios que oculten los verdaderos problemas.
→ read full articleThe Truth
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Young Son: “Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of India and Middle East…”
→ read full articleNew York Times Mourns Death of Al Qaeda-Linked Syrian Opposition Fighter
Alex Lantier, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The article, titled “Death of Pragmatic Leader Further Muddles Syrian Rebellion,” exemplifies the Orwellian character of the US media. Examining the Times piece critically, what emerges is a devastating picture of how the US media embedded itself in a layer of Al Qaeda allies, falsely promoting a bloody US-backed proxy war in Syria fought by far-right Islamist forces as a “democratic” uprising.
→ read full articleFight or Flight: Chilean Socialism 1- Indonesian Fascism 0
Andre Vltchek – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Jakarta is a concept, an enormous experiment on human beings. What happens to a poor country that is hit by a brutal military coup, then thrown to religious zealots, and forced to live under the heel of extreme capitalism and fascism? You get your Indonesian model: almost no production, a ruined environment, collapsed infrastructure, endemic corruption, not even one sound intellectual of international caliber, and frankly speaking, a ‘functionally illiterate’ population, ignorant about the world, about its own history, and about its own position in the world.
→ read full articleSome People Are Gay: How Do We Get Over It?
Sumeet Grover – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The word ‘gay’ has come to symbolise far too many images of people than what it originally meant. It has become one of the most offensively progressive terms in the English language, where it suggests much more than ‘light-hearted and carefree’ or simply suggesting the sexual orientation of some men.
→ read full articleIn Afghanistan, ‘Security Deal’ Means US Occupation Forever
Sarah Lazare – Common Dreams,
25 Nov 2013
In addition to immunity, US demands right to enter Afghan homes in ‘bi-lateral security agreement.’ If you reduce the amount of occupation forces but keep them there forever, then the occupation continues and the war on people’s everyday lives is not actually over — no matter what the US government or mainstream media tells us.
→ read full articleThe Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty Is the Complete Opposite of ‘Free Trade’
Mark Weisbrot – The Guardian,
25 Nov 2013
The TPP would strip our constitutional rights, while offering no gains for the majority of Americans. It’s a win for corporations.
→ read full article(Italiano) Eppur si muove! – Il caso dell’educazione alla pace in Messico
Johan Galtung & Fernando Montiel T. – TRANSCEND Media Servivce,
25 Nov 2013
E ora? Beh, dopo sei anni di “guerra alla droga” (che in realtà ha 42 anni, ha iniziato nel 1971 sotto Pres. Nixon. Sei anni è conteggio del governo messicano ‘ufficiale’) aggiungiamoci giusto circa centomila persone uccise, trentamila sparite, milioni di traumatizzati, un quarto dei messicani che vivono negli USA come profughi economici, sei su dieci che vivono in povertà, e dieci milioni di questi, su una popolazione di 120 milioni, vivono in miseria, e avremo così un’immagine aggiornata della situazione.
→ read full articleJapanese Govt’s Websites Hacked by Anonymous over Dolphin Hunt
Tokyo Times – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Various Japanese government websites, including the prime minister’s, have been cyber attacked by Anonymous. “STOP these slaughters IMMEDIATELY, or get ready to face the extent of our wrath,” was the online message. The group has given this warning to put an end to dolphin slaughter and has 22 websites on their hit list.
→ read full articleNorway Admits It Carried Out Phone Surveillance for NSA
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Norway’s intelligence services said they, not the US National Security Agency, collected data on more than 33 million phone conversations in Norway over the space of one month last year.
→ read full article(Castellano) Brasil Insiste en Crear “Una Nueva Arquitectura de Control en la Red”
TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Brasil, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, subrayó este miércoles [20 Nov 2013] la necesidad de crear una nueva arquitectura de control en la red digital, tomando en consideración que Estados Unidos intenta frenar la iniciativa sobre vigilancia conjunta de Alemania y Brasilia en el seno de ONU.
→ read full articleInside Emergency Damascene Shelters
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Palestinian Sisters as Keepers of Their Brothers – This brief update it seeks to highlight the esprit de corps, solidarity, resistance, and good will among Palestinians here in Damascus who were forced from Yarmouk and other camps and how they are huddled and preparing for a harsh winter which one senses these frigid nights it not far off.
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☢ Fukushima: Beyond Urgent ☢ (Must Watch 11 min. Video)
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Oct 29, 2013 – What experts say about the Fukushima nuclear accident.
→ read full articleA Conversation with Jeremy Hammond, American Political Prisoner Sentenced to 10 Years
Vivien Lesnik Weisman – Huffington Post,
25 Nov 2013
On September 10 [2013] I visited Jeremy Hammond at Manhattan Correctional Center where he had been incarcerated for 18 months. Mr. Hammond, who was denied bail, was also disallowed all visitors, including family members. I am the first journalist with whom Mr. Hammond met since his arrest in March 2012. This interview was held months before sentencing. At the request of Mr. Hammond’s attorneys, who feared his words would be used at sentencing against him, I delayed publishing.
→ read full articleWHO 2014 Violence Prevention Meeting Report
Joam Evans Pim – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The Center for Global Nonkilling, a member of the World Health Organization’s Violence Prevention Alliance, participated Nov. 11-15 in the 6th Milestones in a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention Meeting, organized in Mexico City by the country’s ministries of Health, State and Foreign Affairs.
→ read full articleSleepwalking to Extinction: Capitalism and the Destruction of Life and Earth
Richard Smith, Adbusters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Capitalism is, overwhelmingly, the main driver of planetary ecological collapse. Economic systems come and go. Capitalism has had a 300 year run. The question is: will humanity stand by and let the world be destroyed to save the profit system?
→ read full article
Strawberry Fields Forever (Music Video of the Week)
Carlos Bonell – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Carlos Bonell – Guitar. Masterpiece by John Lennon & Paul McCartney
→ read full article5 Reasons to Never Eat Shrimp Again
Leah Zerbe – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
“Shrimp is one of the most — if not the most — damaging fisheries around,” says Andy Sharpless, CEO of Oceana, the world’s largest conservation group focused solely on oceans. Shrimp farms are breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses.
→ read full articleSix Powers Clinch Breakthrough Deal Curbing Iran’s Nuclear Activity
Parisa Hafezi and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Aimed at easing a long festering standoff, the interim pact between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia won the critical endorsement of Iranian clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. U.S. President Barack Obama said the deal struck after marathon, tortuous and politically charged negotiations cut off Tehran’s possible routes to a nuclear bomb.
→ read full article