Articles by M
We found 37535 results.
Follow the Honey: 7 Ways Pesticide Companies Are Spinning the Bee Crisis
Michele Simon, Friends of the Earth - TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
As my new report with Friends of the Earth details, three of the leading pesticide corporations — Bayer, Syngenta, and Monsanto — are engaged in a massive public relations disinformation campaign to distract the public and policymakers from thinking that pesticides might have something to do with bee death and destruction.
→ read full articleExclusive: Emails Reveal Close Google Relationship with NSA
Jason Leopold – Al Jazeera America,
12 May 2014
6 May 2014 – Email exchanges between NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander and Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt suggest a far cozier working relationship than was implied by Silicon Valley brass after last year’s revelations about NSA spying.
→ read full articleGangster State America – Where Is America’s Democracy?
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
Government is used to impose agendas that result from the symbiotic relationship between the neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony and the economic interests of powerful private interest groups, such as Wall Street, the military/security complex, the Israel Lobby, agribusiness, and extractive industries (energy, mining, and timber).
→ read full articleSyria: “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently”
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
Since 2013 the area has been under the control of “the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant,” also referred to as “ISIL.”Public crucifixions are warnings to anyone who challenges Islamic rule because they are the enemies of Allah.
→ read full articleBattleground Ukraine
Andrei Fursov, WikiSpooks – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
A wide ranging analysis of the 2013-2014 happenings in Ukraine, its antecedents and consequences from the perspective of a senior Russian academic. A must-read for westerners seeking to understand what is really happening in both the Ukraine and the wider Anglo-US-NATO globalisation drive which it brings into sharp focus.
→ read full articleObama in Talks with “Rebel” Leader on Escalating Syrian War
Bill Van Auken, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
9 May 2014 – The Obama administration has entered into direct talks with the leader of the political front for Syria’s Western-backed “rebels” on arming them with US surface-to-air missiles, amid fresh confirmation that these forces are dominated by Al Qaeda-linked militias.
→ read full articleDoing Math
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, “Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven.
→ read full articleBRICS – Quiet Revolution of the Emerging Countries
Deutsche Welle – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
As the Ukraine crisis heightens, the so-called BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are becoming less willing to accept US world supremacy.
→ read full articleVeterans Oppose US Troop Deployments near Ukraine
Veterans for Peace – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The veterans are reacting to a decision by the Obama administration to send US troops to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as the crisis in Ukraine heats up and Russia conducts military exercises on its border with Ukraine.
→ read full articleArmenian Grievances, Turkey, United States and 1915 (I)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The Turkish government has reiterated its offer to establish a joint commission composed of Armenian, Turkish and international historians to establish an authoritative narrative. The idea that core concern is ‘historical’ misses a main point that such a traumatic series of events need to be interpreted from multiple perspectives, including that of international criminal law.
→ read full article‘Genocide’ in 1915: Law, Language, and Politics (II)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
I am arguing that the historical argument should be put to rest, and that the issues that need to be resolved relate to the legal questions surrounding the applicability of genocide, as well as the related semiotic and political questions associated what be called ‘the politics of genocide.’
→ read full articleInternational Peace Research Association at 50
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 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 articleUS Troops Land in Lithuania amid Ukraine Crisis
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
US troops arrived Saturday [26 Apr 2014] in Lithuania, part of a US contingent of 600 sent to the region to reassure NATO allies amid the escalating Ukraine crisis. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed the arrival of American forces as a “deterrence measure” in the region.
→ read full article15 Weird and Wonderful Facts about Whales
Cherise Udell, Care2 – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Whales are so obviously different from us, yet surprisingly similar in so many ways. They are extremely intelligent and social beings that share our lifespan and often our close-knit family structures. They sing, they play, they nurture, they bond and they cooperate.
→ read full articleReferendums in Ukraine
Peter Emerson – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Democratic rights: the right of self-determination and the right of majority rule. Crimea, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Odessa…
→ read full articleFirst Troops Land in Poland as US Beefs Up Baltic Presence
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The first American troops arrived in Poland on Wednesday [23 Apr 2014], after Washington said it was sending a force of 600 there and to the Baltic states amid rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
→ read full articleGeorge Hewitt – Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South-Ossetian Conflicts
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Hewitt’s book is a solid, detailed analysis of the events and will be essential reading for those who follow the Caucasus and federal structures.
→ read full articleUS Troops Land in Latvia
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Latvia on Friday [25 Apr 2014] welcomed American troops on its soil, part of a US force of 600 sent to the region to reassure the Baltic states amid concern over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
→ read full articleAntibiotic-Resistant ‘Superbugs’ a Global Public Health Threat: WHO
Andrea Germanos – Common Dreams,
5 May 2014
A post-antibiotic era, far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st century. “Devastating” consequences from untreatable infections including diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea now pose a potential threat in every corner of the world, to any person of any age, the World Health Organization states.
→ read full articleIn The Long Run, Wars Make Us Safer and Richer
Ian Morris – The Washington Post,
5 May 2014
Since 1914, we have endured world wars, genocides and government-sponsored famines, not to mention civil strife, riots and murders. Altogether, we have killed a staggering 100 million to 200 million of our own kind. But over the century, about 10 billion lives were lived — which means that just 1 to 2 percent of the world’s population died violently.
→ read full articleUS Troops Land in Estonia
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
American troops landed in Estonia on Monday [28 Apr 2014] , rounding out the 600-man force sent by Washington to Poland and the Baltic states to allay concerns over the escalating Ukraine crisis.
→ read full articleJapan: Constitution Day Feted, Fought Over
Ayako Mie – The Japan Times,
5 May 2014
Japan’s pacifist Constitution is at a crossroads as the 67th anniversary of its taking effect was celebrated around the country on Saturday [3 May 2014]. The charter has never been amended since it entered into force in 1947, but the Diet is paving the way for potential revisions.
→ read full articleHomage to International NYT
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Why homage? Not for the news coverage; usually the news “fit to print” that do not contradict US and Israeli foreign policies. Nor for the editorials, usually on the same line and also, frankly, often boring. The homage is for the articles, essays even, at a very high level, often carrying discourses that are wide ranging, way back into the past, far into the future. We are not talking about agree-disagree but about broadness, openness, even globally.
→ read full articleObama’s ‘Strategy’ against ‘Pariah’ Russia
Pepe Escobar - Asia Times,
5 May 2014
The Kremlin, in a nutshell, has invited Washington to play realpolitik. Not Monopoly. The Obama administration, at best – and we are being very lenient here – plays checkers. Moscow plays chess.
→ read full articleSchool Compositions
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Children at school must write a composition about the topic, “When visitors come.”
→ read full articleGeological Extinction Events and Runaway Climate Change
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The worst consequences of runaway climate change will not occur within our own lifetimes. However, we have a duty to all future human generations, and to the plants and animals with which we share our existence, to give them a future world in which they can survive.
→ read full articleTwisting Putin’s Words on Ukraine
Robert Parry – Consortium News,
5 May 2014
Anti-Russian bias pervades the mainstream U.S. media in the Ukraine crisis, reflected in word choices – “pro-democracy” for U.S.-favored protesters in Kiev, “terrorists” for disfavored eastern Ukrainians – but also in how the narrative is shaped by false summaries.
→ read full articleIsrael Approved Record 14,000 Settlements during Peace Talks with Palestine – Report
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Israeli settlement watchdog, Peace Now, which issued its report on Tuesday [29 Apr 2014], said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “broke all construction records in the settlements” in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “This is an unprecedented number representing an average of 50 housing units per day or 1,540 per month,” the left-wing NGO said.
→ read full article
Romance Anonyme (Music Video of the Week)
Andre Rieu – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Andre Rieu, his orchestra choir, and the soprano Carla Maffioletti (Brazil) playing Romance Anonyme in the City of Cortona (Tuscany) Italy.
→ read full articleFree the NATO 3!
Socialist Equality Party – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
1 May 2014 – Jail terms imposed on three young men arrested at an anti-NATO protest in 2012. Last week, a Chicago judge sentenced Brian Church, 22, to five years in prison, Brent Betterly, 26, to six years, and Jared Chase, 28, to eight years. The vindictive prosecution of the three individuals with anarchist views exposes the repression and intimidation of all political opposition to the policies of the ruling class.
→ read full article(Português) É preciso fechar os zoológicos
Ivan santos – ANDA-Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais,
5 May 2014
Confinar animais em zoológicos foi e continua a ser um massacre irracional e sádico. Vários cientistas e biólogos em todo o mundo, após atentas pesquisas, concluíram que um zoológico não oferece condições adequadas para abrigar as espécies animais que têm direito a viver em liberdade em ambientes naturais.
→ read full articleLatin America: Class Struggle from Above and Below
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
To approach the role of class struggle in a dynamic mitreux we will focus exclusively on Latin America over the past two and a half decades 1990 – 2014, a period of significant changes in economic models, political regimes and class structure.
→ read full articleBritain, France Deploy Jets to Boost Baltic Patrols
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Britain and France deployed eight fighter jets on Monday [28 Apr 2014] to reinforce NATO air patrols over the Baltics as tensions rise with Russia over Ukraine.
→ read full articleAbe Taking Pacifist Constitution Away from the People
The Asahi Shimbun, Editorial – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
May 3, 2014 – Japan’s Constitution cannot be revised with a simple majority vote in the Diet. Any constitutional amendment must first be initiated through a vote of two-thirds or more of all members of each house in the Diet and then approved by the public with a majority vote in a special referendum.
→ read full articleIsrael: Anti-Palestinian Arson Attacks on the Rise
Jonathan Cook – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
A wave of violence over the past fortnight, including attacks on two mosques and a church, has shocked Israel’s large Palestinian minority. Growing ever bolder, it seems, Israeli right-wing extremists are shifting attention to Palestinian areas inside Israel. Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, have accused Israeli authorities of repeatedly turning a blind eye to the attacks.
→ read full articleRwanda: 20 Years of Trying to Cover Up the Truth In Vain
Antoine Roger Lokongo – Pambazuka News,
5 May 2014
Despite powerful backing from the West and strong media influence, there have emerged some important facts which call into question the widely-accepted narrative of what really happened in Rwanda in 1994 and the identities of those responsible.
→ read full articleHow to Keep the Internet Open and Free
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship – Common Dreams,
5 May 2014
Don’t Let Net Neutrality Become another Broken Promise – Barack Obama told us there would be no compromise on Net neutrality. We heard him say it back in 2007, when he first was running for president.
→ read full article(Français) Enfin des bonnes nouvelles d’Haïti ?
Frédéric Thomas, CETRI – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
La méconnaissance et le mépris que Martelly et l’UE affichent de concert envers les analyses et les revendications des mouvements sociaux et d’organisations haïtiens représentent l’envers d’une confiance sans borne au marché.
→ read full articleA Day That Will Live in Infamy: The Day Odessa Citizens Were Savagely Killed
Eric Sommer – Russia Today,
5 May 2014
Yesterday – May 2, 2014 – the day that Kiev radicals supported by the US government attacked and burnt to death civilians in Ukraine, is a day which will live in infamy. Those of us who grew up in the West after WWII believed that supporting anything resembling fascism was unthinkable. The moral degeneration of the US state and its NATO allies since that time is beyond belief.
→ read full articleMuch Different from What You’ve Heard – The Story of Venezuela’s Protests
Mark Weisbrot - CounterPunch,
5 May 2014
The strategy of Venezuela’s extreme right is to make the country ungovernable, so as to gain by force what they have been unable to win in 18 elections over the past 15 years. It is clear from the statements of Brazil’s former president Lula da Silva and current president Dilma Rousseff that they have no illusions about what is going on in Venezuela.
→ read full articleGeopolitics and Markets – War Is Peace
Buttonwood - The Economist,
5 May 2014
28 Apr 2014 – Is there another sense in which “war is peace”, in that peace can only be maintained in an environment where both sides believe the other will go to war? At a conference last week, strategist Dylan Grice used the well-known example of the “prisoner’s dilemma.”
→ read full article(Français) La Chine soutient un traité de libre-échange en Asie-Pacifique, concurrent du TPP
Les Echos – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Pékin souhaite un vaste accord de libre-échange dans l’Asie-Pacifique, a indiqué un haut responsable mercredi [30 Avr 2014], alors que les négociations s’éternisent sur le projet concurrent de Partenariat trans-Pacifique (TPP), mené par les Etats-Unis et qui exclut la Chine.
→ read full articleNew York Times Covers Up Fascist Atrocity in Odessa
Barry Grey, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The criminal character of the US-European Union intervention in Ukraine was tragically exposed Friday [2 May 2014] when supporters of the US-installed regime in Kiev, led by neo-Nazi Right Sector thugs, set fire to the Trade Unions House in Odessa, killing 38 demonstrators. The cover-up by the New York Times, along with the rest of the “mainstream” media, makes them accomplices.
→ read full articleLibya: Ex-US Base Now Headquarters of Al Qaeda-linked Forces
Gabriel Black, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Al Qaeda fighters are now operating out of a base set up by US Special Forces near the Libyan capital of Tripoli, in the aftermath of the 2011 NATO war in Libya. This fact underscores the reactionary character of the Libyan war and Washington’s continued reliance on far-right Islamist forces in its Middle East wars.
→ read full articleNirvanaless: Asian Buddhism’s Growing Fundamentalist Streak
Anuradha Sharma and Vishal Arora – Religion News,
5 May 2014
Though fundamentalism is a term that has thus far been used mostly in relation to Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, some are beginning to use it to describe Buddhists as well. [TRANSCEND Member] Maung Zarni, an exiled Burmese who has written extensively on the ongoing violence in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, argues that there is no room for fundamentalism in Buddhism.
→ read full articleHow Mandela and S. Africa Were Freed
Danny Schechter – Consortium News,
5 May 2014
History often recounts events through the tales of “great men,” but that is rarely the complete story. South Africa’s overturning of white supremacy is a case in point, not just the personal triumph of Nelson Mandela but the victory of a global movement.
→ read full article(Português) Brasil: Em guerra contra a Nestlé
Marina Almeida, Carta Maior – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Grupo de moradores e Ministério Público querem proteger o Parque das Águas de São Lourenço, em Minas Gerais, da exploração da multinacional.
→ read full articleNuclear Experts Raise Concerns over Giant ‘Ice Wall’ at Fukushima
Andrea Germanos – Common Dreams,
5 May 2014
One of those questioning the ice wall is Dale Klein, former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman and current head of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee hired by plant operator TEPCO. “I’m not convinced that the freeze wall is the best option,” he told Kyodo News. “What I’m concerned about is unintended consequences.”
→ read full article(Castellano) Como a Obama, hay que pedirle cuentas a Vladimir Putin en materia de espionaje
Edward Snowden – Freedom of the Press Foundation,
5 May 2014
El jueves pasado [10 de abril 2014] cuestioné en directo en televisión la implicación de Rusia en el espionaje masivo. Le hice al presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, una pregunta que no puede responder negativamente de un modo creíble ningún líder que dirija un programa moderno e intrusivo de vigilancia: “¿Intercepta [su país], analiza o almacena las comunicaciones de millones de individuos?”
→ read full articleIdentification of Bullets: Human Right and Human Responsibility?
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Much is made of the implications of the arms trade and the spread of weapons, notably manufactured by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Curiously it is less evident whose weapons are used in the final killing of individuals in combat — especially the weapons used “illegally” by insurgents. The following is a brief exploration of the possibility of identifying who supplied the bullet which finally entered the body of the person maimed or killed.
→ read full articleA Shameful Chapter
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
For anyone interested in Israeli-Palestinian peace, the prospect of domestic Palestinian reconciliation is good news.
→ read full articleThe Politics of Red Lines
Noam Chomsky – In These Times,
5 May 2014
Putin’s takeover of Crimea scares U.S. leaders because it challenges America’s global dominance. The world … regards the United States as a ‘pariah state’ and ‘the greatest threat to world peace,’ with no competitor even close in the polls.
→ read full articleThis Land Isn’t Your Land, This Land Is Their Land – An Empire in Decline (City by City, Town by Town)
Peter Van Buren - TomDispatch,
5 May 2014
Once upon a time, I worked as a State Department officer, helping to carry out the occupation of Iraq, where Washington’s goal was regime change. It was there that, in a way, I had my first taste of the life of the 1%. I returned to America to find another sort of regime change underway, only I wasn’t among the 1% for this one.
→ read full articleUnited Nations Expert Says There Are “Elements of Genocide” against Myanmar’s Rohingya
London Conference on Decades of State-Sponsored Destruction of Myanmar’s Ethnic Rohingya - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
“The United Nations has taken 20 years to apologise for its failure to recognise and prevent the Rwandan genocide; the international community should not repeat the same mistake in Myanmar.”
→ read full articlePalestine: Why the Peace Talks Collapsed—And Should Not Be Resumed
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
It is important that world public opinion reject as meaningless the diplomatic charade of peace talks while the fate of a people continues to be daily sacrificed on the altar of geopolitics.
→ read full articleFascists For Europe
Adam Blanden – Dissent Magazine,
5 May 2014
Those in the West who were paying attention reacted with shock and indignation when, last month, the newly formed Ukrainian provisional government welcomed a tranche of neo-fascists into its fold. The Svoboda party’s Oleksandr Sych is now Deputy Prime Minister.
→ read full articleMyanmar’s Rohingya Persecution – Frequently Asked Questions
London Conference on Decades of State-Sponsored Destruction of Myanmar’s Ethnic Rohingya – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Q: What is really happening to Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya? Why is it significant?
A: A slow burning genocide of 36-years with periodic spikes of violence and killings followed by waves of exoduses of fleeing Refugees to nearby Bangladesh, as well as Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Australia and other Western countries.
Dunya Mikhail: Politics in Service of Poetry
Solmaz Sharif – Foreign Policy In Focus,
5 May 2014
Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail talks about her experiences writing provocative poetry in two different countries.
What good luck!
She has found his bones.
The skull is also in the bag
the bag in her hand
like all other bags
in all other hands.
Hope and Despair in the Beach Refugee Camp
Ramzy Baroud – Middle East Eye,
5 May 2014
Is it possible that following several failed attempts, Fatah and Hamas have finally found that elusive middle ground? And if they have done so, why, to what end, and at what cost?
→ read full articleIt’s Not Russia That’s Pushed Ukraine to the Brink of War
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
5 May 2014
The attempt to lever Kiev into the western camp by ousting an elected leader made conflict certain. It could be a threat to us all.
→ read full articleAntimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance 2014
World Health Organization – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Antimicrobial resistance threatens the prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Governments around the world are devoting efforts to a problem so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine.
→ read full articleLove Undetectable: Andrew Sullivan on Why Friendship Is a Greater Gift Than Romantic Love
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
“A principal fruit of friendship,” Francis Bacon observed, “is the ease and discharge of the fullness and swellings of the heart, which passions of all kinds do cause and induce.” Thoreau would “sometimes awake in the night and think of friendship and its possibilities.” St. Augustine described friendship as “sweet beyond the sweetness of life.”
→ read full articleA People’s War in East Ukraine
Daniel Patrick Welch – Consortium News,
5 May 2014
Ukraine’s Western-backed coup regime in Kiev has launched an offensive against ethnic Russians in the east while a pro-regime mob used fire to kill some 31 anti-regime protesters in Odessa. Virtually all U.S. pundits favor the coup regime. Here is a different view of the conflict.
→ read full articleAnother Pulitzer for Reporting Classified Info
Cora Currier – Columbia Journalism Review,
5 May 2014
16 Apr 2014 – The Pulitzer committee’s decision to give its public service award this year to the Washington Post and the Guardian for their stories on government surveillance has elicited a few predictable reactions from those who believe that the source of the NSA material—Edward Snowden—is not a whistleblower, but a criminal.
→ read full articleMyanmar’s Genocide of Rohingya Must End
London Conference on Decades of State-Sponsored Destruction of Myanmar’s Ethnic Rohingya – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
Unspeakable crimes are being carried out against innocent humans: children, women and men by the country’s government and racist extremists. Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya (of whom there are more than 1 million inside the country and another million around the world) have been singled out for systematic destruction.
→ read full article
Israel – Stone Cold Justice Four Corners
Australian Broadcasting Corporation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
The Israeli army is both respected and feared as a fighting force. But now the country’s military is facing a backlash at home and abroad for its treatment of children in the West Bank, occupied territory.
→ read full articleThe New Interventionists: Civil Society Activists
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Debates about intervention are inevitable in an interdependent world order in which ideals of territorial sovereignty clash with the interests and values of hegemonic political actors. There are no either/or solution for the dilemmas posed. What seems preferable is a contextual assessment tempered by humility arising from the experience of past interventions.
→ read full articleAnzac Day: A Fitting Codicil to a Century of War
Jake Lynch – New Matilda,
28 Apr 2014
Military spending and mythology in Australia have taken on a life of their own. Perhaps we can use 2014 and 2015 to switch our critical faculties back on, and use our freedom and democracy to loosen the grip of the military-industrial complex and our deference to warmongers across the Pacific. That would be a fitting codicil to a century of war.
→ read full articleThe Russian World Is Coming to Europe
Boris Mezhuev - Izvestia,
28 Apr 2014
President Putin’s Direct Line on April 17 [2014] offered a wonderful opportunity for reflecting on the present and the future of European civilization by making it plain that he still considers Europe to be a single integrated civilization stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok. But Russia cannot possibly accept the idea of NATO inching toward its borders. The problem with this treaty on collective security is that it ignores Russia’s interests.
→ read full articleInternational Peace Research Association at 50
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 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 articleInternational Peace Pilgrimage to Syria via Iran
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Ann Patterson and I were honoured to participate in the International Peace Pilgrimage to Syria via Iran, 5-14 April, 2014. During an international delegation to Syria last year, we had both promised to return to Syria, and we also fulfilled a long-held intention to visit Iran.
→ read full articleUkraine and the Grand Chessboard
Pepe Escobar – Asia Times,
28 Apr 2014
Ukraine is for all practical purposes broke. The Kremlin’s consistent position for the past three months has been to encourage the European Union to find a solution to Ukraine’s dire economic mess. Brussels did nothing. It was betting on regime change to the benefit of Germany’s heavyweight puppet Vladimir Klitschko, aka Klitsch The Boxer.
→ read full articleRachel Brett – Snakes and Ladders: A Personal Exploration of Quaker Work on Human Rights at the United Nations
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Hodgkin started organizing British Quakers for peace and reconciliation work and in 1915 went to the US to start the Fellowship of Reconciliation, drawing especially on his Quaker contacts. While Quakers have always been active in FOR, they have also created specifically Quaker institutions working for peace such as the two Quaker UN Offices.
→ read full articleThe Long-Term Future
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Genetically we are very similar to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but their world has been replaced by a world of quantum theory, space travel, gene splicing, and information technology. Thus human emotions, which have remained relatively unchanged, are often inappropriate for our present way of life. In the future, the problem of anachronistic emotions is certain to become even more acute.
→ read full article(Português) Reflexões sobre a morte induzida a animais
Juan Agustín Gómez, Ánima – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Depois de alguns anos de prática na clínica de pequenos animais, foi-se desenvolvendo em mim uma crescente inquietude acerca deste tema. Sempre achei necessário ter uma posição, uma atitude coerente e sobretudo honesta frente a esta situação onde tantas vezes me vi envolvido.
→ read full article(Italiano) Mari cinesi e isole: soluzioni?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Conferenza all’Università di Nanchino – Proverbio cinese: meglio che dare a un affamato grave del pesce è insegnargli a pescare. Cioè, non solo soluzioni ma anche come risolvere i conflitti.
→ read full articleThe Ukraine Crisis and the Political Lies of the Media
Alex Lantier, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Not a single critical voice can be found within the so-called mainstream media. The newspapers and television news programs are filled with lies, anti-Russian propaganda, and—preparing for the possibility that the crisis escalates out of control—apologetics for war.
→ read full articleA Vindication for the Public: The Guardian and Washington Post Win the Pulitzer Prize
Edward Snowden – Freedom of the Press Foundation,
28 Apr 2014
I am grateful to the committee for their recognition of the efforts of those involved in the last year’s reporting, and join others around the world in congratulating Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman, Ewen MacAskill, and all of the others at the Guardian and Washington Post on winning the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
→ read full articleWall Street Greed: Not Too Big for a California Jury
Ellen Brown, Web of Debt – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Sixteen of the world’s largest banks have been caught colluding to rig global interest rates. Why are we doing business with a corrupt global banking cartel?
→ read full articleTolerating Israel’s Land Grabs
Lawrence Davidson – Consortium News,
28 Apr 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry’s Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have reached their predictable collapse, but the U.S. news media still shies away from blaming Israeli intransigence and expansionism – nor advocating stern action against the land grabs.
→ read full articleUS Drone Pilots Are ‘Stressed’ and ‘Demoralized’ – Official Report
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
19 Apr 2014 – The US Government Accountability Office has produced a scathing report detailing the Air Force’s mismanagement of its active-duty drone pilots, who are responsible for the most demanding and deadly missions in the entire US military.
→ read full articleNew York Times Tries to Whitewash Publication of Faked Ukraine Photos
Alex Lantier, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
The New York Times responded yesterday [23 Apr 2014] to the exposure of its fabricated report alleging that Russian Special Forces are stirring up protests in east Ukraine against the pro-Western regime in Kiev. An article Tuesday [22 Apr 2014], titled “Scrutiny over Photos Said to Tie Russia Units to Ukraine,” is a clumsy attempt at damage control.
→ read full article(Français) Créer un Fonds Monétaire EuroBRICS (EuroBRICS monetary fund ou EBMF)
Agoravox – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Les pays du BRICS ont annoncé récemment qu’ils entendaient mettre en place dans les prochains mois l’équivalent du FMI et de la Banque mondiale dans le cadre de l’association qu’ils ont décidé de créer entre eux il y a environ un an.
→ read full articleCriminal Investigation of Nobel Peace Prize
Fredrik S. Heffermehl – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
The management of the Nobel Peace Prize has become a case for the Norwegian police, following a request for criminal investigation from 16 prominent Scandinavians, parliamentarians, lawyers, authors and peace activists to the authority on economic crime, the ØKOKRIM.
→ read full articleIf Not Now, When? Unite Against Imperialism!
Andre Vltchek – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
There are plenty of discouraged, scared voices of people who have already given up and come to the conclusion that the Empire is too powerful, too determined, and unstoppable. Hopelessness, fear and defeatism – this is how the Empire wants you to feel. Do not! Defeat is only purposefully encoded in the propaganda that is being spread by the West. In reality, nothing is lost.
→ read full articleWe Need an Apartheid-Style Boycott to Save the Planet
Desmond Tutu – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
10 Apr 2014 – We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters.
→ read full articleBrazilian President Champions Internet Privacy
Xinhua – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Speaking at the opening of the NETMundial (WorldNET) conference she convened following revelations last year that U.S. security agencies used the Internet to spy on heads of state, ordinary citizens and corporations around the globe, Rousseff said such misuse of the web was “unacceptable.”
→ read full articleFukushima No. 1 Boss Admits Plant Doesn’t Have Complete Control over Water Problems
Yuka Obayashi, Reuters – The Japan Times,
28 Apr 2014
Abe Told an Olympic Committee Meet Situation Was Under Control – The manager of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has admitted to embarrassment that efforts have failed to bring under control the radioactive water, eight months after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the world the matter had been resolved.
→ read full articleWhy 21st Century Capitalism Can’t Last
Bhaskar Sunkara – Al Jazeera America,
28 Apr 2014
The response to French economist Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” has been surprising, to say the least. Though the Amazon best-seller is well written and artfully translated from French by Arthur Goldhammer, the 696-page text is filled with enough charts and footnotes to occupy experts for months.
→ read full articleMarshall Islands Sues Nuclear Powers for Failure on Disarmament
The Associated Press – Al Jazeera America,
28 Apr 2014
“I personally see it as kind of David and Goliath, except that there are no slingshots involved,” said David Krieger, president of the California-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Krieger is acting as a consultant in the case. There are hopes that other countries will join the legal effort, he said.
→ read full articleBristol Museum: Remembering the British Empire in India
Sumeet Grover – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Exhibiting this painting in the present-day goes against the art for a culture of peace, and glorifies a ‘culture of occupation’. For this reason alone, I would urge the Bristol Museum to decommission this painting. The British Empire was culturally, morally and economically deteriorative to India than being a ‘force for good’.
→ read full articleWhoopi Goldberg Debuts as Marijuana Columnist
Agence France-Presse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Goldberg opted to focus on how pot has helped her cope with massive headaches induced by glaucoma, an eye disorder that can lead to blindness. “It helps my head stop hurting, and with glaucoma your eyes ache, and she takes the ache out. It’s wonderful,” she said. “The high is different, too. It feels like a gentle, warm breeze at the beach.
→ read full articleWords, Words, Words
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
In Israeli politics, the word “peace” has become poison. “Political settlement” is the vogue term. It is meant to say the same but of course, it doesn’t. “Peace” means much more than the formal end of warfare. It contains elements of reconciliation, of something spiritual. “Political settlement” means nothing but a document formulated by lawyers and signed by politicians.
→ read full articleBeneath the Ukraine Crisis: Shale Gas
Nat Parry – Consortium News,
28 Apr 2014
Behind the geopolitics pitting Russia against the West – and the ethnic tensions tearing Ukraine east and west – another backdrop for understanding this deepening conflict is the big-money competition for Ukraine’s oil and natural gas.
→ read full articleWhy US Fracking Companies Are Licking Their Lips over Ukraine
Naomi Klein – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
From climate change to Crimea, the natural gas industry is supreme at exploiting crisis for private gain – what I call the shock doctrine.
→ read full articleHow a Smile Saved Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Life: A Soul-Lifting Meditation on Our Shared Humanity
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Care granted to the sick, welcome offered to the banished, forgiveness itself are worth nothing without a smile enlightening the deed. We communicate in a smile beyond languages, classes, and parties.
→ read full articleCollateral Damage
Tom Greening – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
No one has asked me, but if they did
like Pilate I’d wash my hands of it.
University Cooperation for Equity and Empathy
Johan Galtung, 28 Apr 2014 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
The joint search for common ground is fascinating. And that leads us to a deeper field for university cooperation: joint exploration of epistemology, the criteria for valid knowledge. Imagine a four-week cooperative seminar with many universities about how to think (re-search), speak (also teach) and act (praxis) in the fields of international relations and epistemology; great NEWS!
→ read full articleBrazil’s ‘Internet Bill of Rights’ a Victory for Web Freedom
Lauren McCauley – Common Dreams,
28 Apr 2014
Tim Berners-Lee, Father of the Internet, says law will ‘unleash a new era—in which the rights of citizens in all countries are protected by a Digital Rights Charter’.
→ read full articleIndia: Stakes for Elections 2014 – Secularism or Democracy
Mazher Hussain – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Finally we seem to have succeeded in dividing India, a country of a billion plus, into just two groups. Both groups claim to be secular… It is time people of India realize that in their mad scramble to vote for or against secularism, they should not end up sacrificing the very core essence of our nation: Democracy.
→ read full article