Articles by UN
We found 3938 results.
Monsanto University
Darwin Bond-Graham - CounterPunch,
4 Mar 2013
The University of California: a University, or a Biotech Company?- Last month [Jan 2013] the University of California intervened in a high stakes U.S. Supreme Court case on the side of the agribusiness giant Monsanto Company by filing an amicus brief stating that the university would be materially harmed if Monsanto doesn’t prevail.
→ read full articleTranscend Peace University Online Courses
Erika Degortes – TRANSCEND Peace University,
4 Mar 2013
All-online courses on peace, conflict transformation, mediation, peace education, nonviolence and more. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the academic year 2013: Certificate Online Courses – First Term of 2013: March 12th – May 30th
→ read full articlePartyocracy-Technocracy-Autocracy-Bankocracy
Johan Galtung, 4 Mar 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Mar 2013
The merchants, of course demand their share, using their bank capital to buy political power, even to the bailout point should the losses exceed the gains. Bankocracy works through a close relative, corruptocracy, the rule of corruptors over corruptees paid for their services. Corruption is rampant. Why? Because corruption in the political system, converting money into decisions, has a close relative in the economic system, a commission.
→ read full article(Italiano) Nepal: Sei Anni di “Transizione”
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Mar 2013
Tre grandi rivolte in Asia negli scorsi decenni sono finite: la rivoluzione culturale anti-confuciana in Cina del 1967-76, la rivoluzione dei Khmer Rossi anti-Phnom Penh in Cambogia del 1975-79, e la guerra del popolo maoista anti-casta e anti-monarchia feudale in Nepal, durata 10 anni dal 13 febbraio 1996, seguita da 18 giorni di effettiva nonviolenza per le strade di Kathmandu il 6-24 aprile 2006. Il re abdicò.
→ read full articleThe Divine Farce: Corruption and Infallibility at the Vatican
Joseph Grosso – CounterPunch,
4 Mar 2013
If the report from the Italian newspaper La Repubblica is true then it turns out that the Pope resigned due to a faction of gay Vatican officials being blackmailed by outsiders. This sordid affair emerged from an investigation by a three Cardinal team that Benedict XVI set up to look into the leaking of personal correspondence by his own butler, Paolo Gabriele, who saw such leaking as a noble act in an organization dominated by infighting and corruption.
→ read full articleAfrica and AFRICOM: Neo-Imperialism and the Arrogance of Ignorance
Franklin C. Spinney - CounterPunch,
4 Mar 2013
Most Americans do not realize the extent to which the U.S. is becoming involved militarily in the welter of conflicts throughout Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa. Notwithstanding the arrogance of ignorance being reaffirmed in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, it is beginning to look like Asprey’s timeless conclusion will be reaffirmed Africa.
→ read full articleWhat’s The Problem With Iran?
Transnational Foundation-TFF – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
On Tuesday February 26, 2013 in Kazakhstan, a new round of negotiations is due between Iran and the Five Permanent UN Security Council members + Germany. We’d like to bring the following expert statement to your attention.
→ read full articleThe World as Seen from Mt Everest
Johan Galtung, 25 Feb 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
Nepal – Tibet is seen less as suppressed part of China and more as home of Tantric buddhism–a strong link to the giant neighbor to the North. Nepal’s majority is India-oriented, but the Weekly Mirror takes a world view from high up, and that highest peak, Mt Everest, is closer to China. Somebody once climbed it, “because it is there”, to get a closer look at China. The world becomes more transparent, seen from high up.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Crime and Punishment
Vidya Bhushan Rawat - CounterCurrents,
25 Feb 2013
For a moment, let us keep aside the issue of Sri Lanka and see the track record of the UN Human Rights Council. What has it done to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq where millions of children are now suffering in hunger, malnutrition and have caught up with different diseases due to chemical warfare launched by the United States and its allies?
→ read full articleRe-Imagining a World beyond Capitalism and Communism
Arundhati Roy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
Here in India, even in the midst of all the violence and greed, there is still hope. If anyone can do it, we can. We still have a population that has not yet been completely colonized by that consumerist dream. If there is any hope for the world at all, it does not live in climate-change conference rooms or in cities with tall buildings. It lives low down on the ground, with its arms around the people who go to battle every day to protect their forests, their mountains and their rivers because they know that the forests, the mountains and the rivers protect them.
→ read full articleAttacks and Death Threats Put Members of the Pastoral Land Commission in Brazil at Risk
The Right Livelihood Award Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
The Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), which has for years campaigned tirelessly to advance social justice and the rights of small farmers and the landless in Brazil, suffered three attacks on its headquarters in the state of Acre this year. The Right Livelihood Award Foundation, which in 1991 recognised the work of the Pastoral Land Commission, condemns the attacks and demands increased security for rural workers.
→ read full article(Italiano) Pensando al Mali
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
Tuareg e musulmani hanno preso molto dall’Occidente negli scorsi cent’anni; e se adesso l’Occidente cercasse di imparare qualcosa da loro? È davvero ovvio che lo stato moderno, automatizzato, industriale, finanziario-speculativo sia meglio che il nomadismo confederato da cammellieri?
→ read full articleWritten in Blood and Dreams – Poetry and Latin American Revolution
Andre Vltchek - CounterPunch,
25 Feb 2013
I am writing this essay in order to talk about the poetry, and about the songs, that have had such a decisive influence on the changes and revolutions in South America. We did not win because of our brains only; we won because of our hearts, and because of the great talent of our creative men and women, their ability to move others, to inspire and often to enrage the people all over the continent.
→ read full article[Tragicomic] French President François Hollande Awarded UNESCO Peace Prize
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Feb 2013
The President of France, François Hollande, will receive the United Nations cultural agency’s peace prize this year for his “valuable contribution to peace and stability in Africa,” it was announced today [21 Feb 2013].
→ read full articleTranscend Peace University Online Courses
Erika Degortes – TRANSCEND Peace University,
25 Feb 2013
All-online courses on peace, conflict transformation, mediation, peace education, nonviolence and more. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the academic year 2013: Certificate Online Courses – First Term of 2013: March 12th – May 30th
→ read full articleGMO Agribusiness and the Destructive Nature of Global Capitalism
Colin Todhunter – Global Research,
25 Feb 2013
Capitalism is based on managing its inherent crises. It is also based on the need to maximise profit, beat down competitors, cut overheads and depress wages. With each new ‘fix’, with each technology, with each new pesticide, herbicide, GM innovation, we become further removed from working in harmony with nature. Capitalism doesn’t solve its problems, it just shifts them around. And part of the great con-trick is that it attempts to pass off its endless crises and failures as brilliant successes.
→ read full articleNepal: Six Years of “Transition”
Johan Galtung, 18 Feb 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Feb 2013
Three huge revolts in Asia in the last decades came to an end: the anti-Confucian cultural revolution in China 1967-76, the anti Phnom Penh Khmer Rouge revolution in Cambodia 1975-79, and the anti-feudal monarchy anti-caste maoist People’s War in Nepal that lasted 10 years from 13 February 1996, followed by 18 days of effective nonviolence in the streets of Kathmandu in 6-24 April 2006. The King abdicated.
→ read full articleDeep in the Rectum – Western Art Is Barking at China
Andre Vltchek - CounterPunch,
18 Feb 2013
In Europe and the US, for years and decades, art has become sclerotic, toothless, and somehow synonymous with grant applications, ego trips, identical-looking museum buildings, hordes of tourists and the constant glorification of form over substance. The Western propaganda apparatus spent great energy and funds on extracting all the teeth from the artists, turning them into well groomed poodles.
→ read full articleThe Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI: Out with God’s Rottweiler
Binoy Kampmark - CounterPunch,
18 Feb 2013
As head of the Doctrine for the Congregation of the Faith, the then Cardinal Ratzinger ordered that Fr. Lawrence Murphy, who had sexually assaulted at least 200 children at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee, leave the ministry. All to the good, except that Murphy was not defrocked let alone punished or prosecuted via formal legal channels. Besides, no one was particularly interested in listening to deaf victims.
→ read full articleThe African Union, Algeria and Mali: The West’s War against African Development Continues
Dan Glazebrook - CounterPunch,
18 Feb 2013
Africa’s classic depiction in the mainstream media, as a giant basketcase full of endless war, famine and helpless children creates an illusion of a continent utterly dependent on Western handouts. In fact, the precise opposite is true – it is the West that is reliant on African handouts.
→ read full articleUN Kicks Off Year Promoting International Cooperation on Water Management
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Feb 2013
11 February 2013 – The United Nations today launched the International Year of Water Cooperation, which seeks to provide a platform for countries to collaborate in the management of this precious resource in the interest of peace and development.
→ read full articleThe Blind Theology of Militarism
David Sirota – Tahoe Daily Tribune,
18 Feb 2013
In a country whose culture so often (wrongly) portrays bloodshed as the most effective problem solver, many Americans hear this now-ubiquitous drone-war argument and reflexively agree with its suppositions.
→ read full article(Italiano) Schiavitù, Colonialismo, e la Chiesa
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Feb 2013
Parliamo di milioni di schiavi sbarcati nell’arco fra Rio a Washington con baricentro caraibico, e di altri a sud di Rio, a nord di Washington e sulla linea di costa del Pacifico dell’America Latina. Un indicibile crimine contro l’umanità.
→ read full article[Tragicomic] Pentagon Urges Delay in “Devastating” $46 Billion Budget Cuts
David Alexander and Phil Stewart, Reuters – Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb 2013
The Pentagon’s civilian and military leaders warned in dire terms on Tuesday [12 Feb 2013] that $46 billion in budget cuts due to go into effect in two weeks would erode the nation’s ability to go to war and appealed to Congress to delay the reductions.
→ read full articleTranscend Peace University Online Courses
Erika Degortes – TRANSCEND Peace University,
18 Feb 2013
All-online courses on peace, conflict transformation, mediation, peace education, nonviolence and more. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the academic year 2013: Certificate Online Courses – First Term of 2013: March 12th – May 30th
→ read full articleCondemning North Korea’s Latest Nuclear Test Is Meaningless
Buddhi Kota Subbarao - Countercurrents,
18 Feb 2013
North Korea said the test is aimed at coping with “ferocious” U.S. hostility that undermines the North’s peaceful, sovereign right to launch satellites. As expected, alarm bells started ringing in the United States. President Obama immediately called North Korea’s latest nuclear test a “highly provocative act” that threatens U.S. security and international peace.
→ read full articleThinking Mali
Johan Galtung, 11 Feb 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Feb 2013
Tuaregs and Muslims have picked up a lot from the West these last hundred years; how about the West trying to learn something from them? Is it obvious that the modern, automated, industrial, financial-speculation state is better than confederate camel nomadism?
→ read full articleTranscend Peace University Online Courses
Erika Degortes – TRANSCEND Peace University,
11 Feb 2013
All-online courses on peace, conflict transformation, mediation, peace education, nonviolence and more. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the academic year 2013: Certificate Online Courses – First Term of 2013: March 12th – May 30th
→ read full article(Italiano) Il Risveglio Arabo-Musulmano – e USA-Israele
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Feb 2013
L’area Mediorientale e Nordafricana (MENA) è arabo-musulmana con un’isola ebraica crescente in mezzo. Ex-territorio coloniale – sotto i turchi ottomani sunniti per oltre quattro secoli, e dell’occidente laico, Inghilterra-Italia-Francia, per mezzo secolo – ora sotto il colonialismo ebreo israeliano e l’imperialismo USA.
→ read full articleSlavery, Colonialism, and the Church
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Feb 2013
From Liverpool-UK, 31 Jan 2013 – We talk about millions of slaves landed in the arch from Rio to Washington with the point of gravity in the Caribbean, and some south of Rio, north of Washington and around the coast to the Pacific side of Latin America. An unspeakable crime against humanity.
→ read full articleCondemning the Murder of Cícero Guedes, Leader of the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement MST
The Right Livelihood Award Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Feb 2013
The Right Livelihood Award Foundation strongly condemns the murder of Cícero Guedes, a leader of the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement MST. The MST received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”) in 1991.
→ read full articleOpen-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on a Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Feb 2013
First Session 18-21 February 2013. Informal discussion on 7 February 2013. Reference is made to the Note Verbale dated 17 January 2013, concerning the establishment of an Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group with the mandate of progressively negotiating a draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace.
→ read full articleGood Terrorist, Bad Terrorist
Chandra Muzaffar, Countercurrents – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Feb 2013
There is terrorism that is condoned and terrorism that is condemned by Western powers and other states. If violence serves their interests, it is acceptable. If it doesn’t, the militants are targeted. In other words, there are ‘good terrorists’ and ‘bad terrorists’.
→ read full articleThe Arab-Muslim Awakening – And USA-Israel
Johan Galtung, 28 Jan 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jan 2013
The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were divided into 15 and 7 states respectively, some now members of NATO and/or EU. States seen as islamist-terrorist are in for the same: Sudan-Somalia broken into 2 and 3 parts. They are both on the list of 7, which the White House ordered the Pentagon to “take out” right after 9/11 (General Wesley Clark, Democracy Now, 2 March 2007): Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan and Somalia; seen as hostile, with state, not private central banks blocking market globalization.
→ read full article(Italiano) Il Cambiamento Avviene – Ma Come, Perché, Quando, Dove?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jan 2013
Un secolo fa l’umanità, particolarmente in Occidente, era all’inizio di una grande rivoluzione, dalla cultura del cavallo a quella dell’automobile. Oggi ci sono ancora (FAO-Organizzazione per il cibo e l’agricoltura dell’ONU, 2008) 59 milioni di cavalli, ma (2010) più di un miliardo di auto (nel 1986 solo la metà). In altre parti del mondo, come in Giappone e Cina, c’è stata una rivoluzione verso le auto, ma partendo dalle biciclette – Pechino è passata da 6 milioni di bici a 4 milioni di auto nel giro di 20 anni, solo dal 1990. Dal 1970 al 2010 la quota USA di iscrizioni universitarie su base mondiale è calata dal 26 al 12% mentre la quota cinese è salita da 0 al 18%.
→ read full article(Italiano) Il Pragmatismo della Politica Estera e il Moralismo del Movimento per la Pace: Il Divario Può Essere Colmato – Oppure Tertium Non Datur?
Johan Galtung – Centro Studi Sereno Regis,
21 Jan 2013
Per comprendere meglio dove la peace research può essere diretta, lasciatemi giustapporre l’azione degli organi governativi a quella di una particolare organizzazione non-governativa, il movimento per la pace.
→ read full articleInternational Essay Contest for Young People
Goi Peace Foundation, Japan – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jan 2013
Organized by The Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO – Theme: “The Power of Culture to Create a Better Future”
→ read full articleThe Lies of Democracy and the Language of Deceit
Colin Todhunter – Global Research,
21 Jan 2013
As a recent article has indicated, from mass bombing in Southeast Asia to employing death squads in South America, the US military and the CIA have been directly and indirectly responsible for an updated figure of an estimated ten million deaths. But it’s not called mass murder these days. Ironically, the US has hijacked the word ‘terror’ to justify its brand of tyranny through a war on terror.
→ read full articleConflict Resolution: From Gandhi to Galtung
Anupma Kaushik – The Gandhi Foundation,
21 Jan 2013
Johan Galtung clarifies that peace research is based on the assumption that peace is as consensual a value as health. He further states that interdisciplinary and multilevel approaches are needed for peace research besides adoption of symmetry. Peace research needs to draw from all corners of the world and in order to understand an issue the researcher needs to see it from either side but the solution should not be based on the assumptions of one party alone.
→ read full articleUNESCO Recognizes Brazilian Friar’s Contribution to Social Justice in Latin America and Caribbean
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jan 2013
11 Jan 2013 – The United Nations has recognized a Brazilian Dominican friar, Frei Betto, with a leading international prize for his “exceptional contribution” to building a universal culture of peace, social justice and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The author of more than 50 books, Frei Betto was born in 1944 and joined the Dominican Order at the age of 20 while studying journalism, and during the time of military dictatorship in Brazil, he was imprisoned twice, in 1964 and again from 1969 to 1973.
→ read full articleChange Happens – But How, Why, When, Where?
Johan Galtung, 21 Jan 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jan 2013
A century ago humanity, particularly in the West, was at the beginning of a major revolution, from horse culture to car culture. Today there are still 59 million horses, but more than 1 billion cars (in 1986 only half of that). In other parts of the world, like Japan and China, there was a revolution to cars, but from bicycles–Beijing went from 6 million bicycles to 4 million cars over a period of 20 years, only from 1990. From 1970 to 2010 the US share of world college enrollment dropped from 26 to 12 percent whereas the Chinese share went up from 0 to 18 percent.
→ read full article(Italiano) Contro la Rivoluzione Mondiale – Costruttivamente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jan 2013
Un paese che reagisce con mini-rivoluzioni, nonviolenza, disobbedienza civile contro tali smaccate ingiustizie. Un paese dove la lotta di classe è sospesa per il momento; ha vinto il capitalismo e più specificamente i banchieri e i loro servitori, i politici, e ancora più specificamente il capitale finanziario-speculativo. E questo in una Spagna prossima a 40 anni di democrazia dopo 40 anni di dittatura di Franco. Costituzione + democrazia + elezioni + diritti umani (anche immobiliari) + parlamento contro il capitalismo finanziario. Deboli contro forti.
→ read full article(Italiano) Il Dirupo, la Palude, il Pantano USA
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jan 2013
C’è altro oltre il dirupo fiscale che risalta a occhio nudo… Introduciamo la sofferenza della gente, la crescita mancante e il fardello del debito, espandendo il discorso per visioni nuove… Potrebbe invece far prodigi un enorme programma ingegnoso che faccia sì che quel 16% si tiri su da solo (bootstraps), con crediti per piccole società-cooperative progettate per produrre cibo e acqua, vestiario e alloggi, sanità e istruzione, tutto a prezzi alla portata.
→ read full articleOscar Worthy Propaganda – Zero Dark Thirty: Torturing the Facts
Majorie Cohn - CounterPunch,
14 Jan 2013
Law professor Marjorie Cohn writes of the two disturbing characteristics of Zero Dark Thirty, the latest pro-CIA, pro-torture film to roll out of Hollywood.
→ read full articleAgainst World Revolution – Constructively!
Johan Galtung, 14 Jan 2013 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jan 2013
A country rapidly de-developing, into low Third World levels, even in health. A country not only saving banks rather than people but also letting the banks get away with crimes. A country reacting with mini-revolutions, nonviolence, civil disobedience against such glaring injustices. A country where the class war is over for the time being; capitalism won and more particularly the bankers and their servants, the politicians, and even more particularly the finance-speculation capital. And this in a Spain close to 40 years into democracy after 40 years of Franco dictatorship. Constitution + democracy + elections + human rights (also to property) + parliament vs finance capitalism. Weak vs strong.
→ read full articleThe Cancer Cash Cycle: The Causes of Cancer and Ill Health
Colin Todhunter – Global Research,
14 Jan 2013
Cancer is big business. Despite massive public screening campaigns and talk of cures, cancer rates continue to soar, and certain companies not only profit from making the chemicals that cause cancer but also from selling the drugs that treat it.
→ read full articleSri Lankan Buddhist Chauvinists Provoke Violence against Muslims
Gamini Karunasena and Wasantha Rupasinghe, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jan 2013
President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government is again giving tacit support to communal provocations against Sri Lanka’s minorities in a bid to divide working people amid the country’s deepening economic and social crisis. This time, Muslims have become the main target of chauvinist groups.
→ read full articleRemembering Lasantha: Now They Come For “Everyone”
Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jan 2013
Now, more than ever, with the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the vacuum left by Lasantha’s death and his importance can be felt by anyone who is concerned about human rights, democracy, rule of law, and, of course, the independence of the judiciary. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge , better known as Lasantha, was brutally assassinated four years ago. Lasantha noted in his last editorial, “I hope my murder will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration”.
→ read full articleThe US Cliff, Swamp, Quagmire
Johan Galtung,
7 Jan 2013
There is more than the fiscal cliff to meet the naked eye… Let us bring in the suffering of the people, the missing growth and the debt burden, expanding the discourse for new visions… A huge imaginative program for the 16 percent to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps, with credits for small companies-cooperatives designed to produce food and water, clothing and housing, health and education, all at affordable prices might do miracles.
→ read full article(Italiano) Un Augurio per l’Anno Nuovo: Andare Oltre!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jan 2013
Sì, andare oltre, trascendere! – ecco il nostro messaggio, per il nuovo anno o meno. Prendete le sparatorie nelle scuole USA. Il vice-presidente della National Rifle Association (NRA) in TV: “la sola persona che può fermare un cattivo con un’arma è un buono con un’arma”. Affermazione che ha toccato molte corde. C’è conferma dall’alto: questa è la politica estera USA. L’unico modo per fermare un cattivo paese con le armi è un buon paese con le armi; l’unico modo di fermare il cattivo terrorismo dal basso è il buon terrorismo di stato dall’alto. Equilibrio di forze, innumerevoli basi, cercare e distruggere.
→ read full articleNet Worth of World’s Richest Rose by $241B In 2012
Bloomberg News – Chicago Tribune,
7 Jan 2013
The richest people on the planet got richer in 2012, adding $241 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 100 wealthiest individuals.
→ read full articleResignation Letter
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jan 2013
1 January 2013. I believe I was mislead regarding the professional environment at Universiti Brunei Darussalam during the recruitment process, and due to the on-going attempts to gag me on the persecution and slaughter of minorities, including Muslim minorities, in the country of my birth [Burma], I no longer wish to be subject to this level of extreme and unprofessional academic censorship. I need to work at a professional institution where the word ‘politics’ is mentionable, social conscience livable, and compassion honourable.
→ read full articleApologize Then Call It a Day: Big Banks and Drug Money
Helen Redmond - CounterPunch,
7 Jan 2013
Take responsibility, apologize, pay a fine for your drug crimes and then call it a day. Go home to family who will forgive you for doing business with so-called “narco-terrorists.” Prison time? Felony record? Asset forfeiture? No. Not for drug trafficking executives of laundromat/banks that are “too big to fail” or jail. Ending the war on drugs would not only save human lives and billions of dollars, it would free up law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute banks whose real crimes are far worse than laundering drug money.
→ read full articleA New Year’s Wish: Go Beyond!
Johan Galtung,
31 Dec 2012
Yes, go beyond, transcend!–that is our message, New Year or not. Take the US school shootings. The National Rifle Association’s vice president on TV: “The only person who can stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun”. That statement struck many cords. This is US foreign policy. The only way to stop a bad country with arms is a good country with arms; the only way to stop evil terrorism from below is good state terrorism from above. Balance of power, countless bases, search and destroy.
→ read full article(Italiano) Violenza Strutturale, Pace e Disabilità
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Dec 2012
Lo “sviluppo” dai villaggi tradizionali agli stati moderni comporta costruire gerarchie attorno all’ onnipotente logica dello Stato, all’onnipresente logica del Capitale e all’onnisciente logica della Scienza. Tutti successori di Dio, che monopolizzano le sfide. Non per nulla molti migrano nei villaggi.
→ read full articleViolence in the Institutional and Cultural DNA of the United States of America
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Dec 2012
The two of the three pillars of the United States were the ethno- and genocide of the native people and the enslavement of African people — yes, the other is honorably the Enlightenment ideals of equality (of property-owning while males). Both as an economic system and as an ideological edifice, USA is one of the most violent places on earth.
→ read full articleThe Paradox of Cuban Agriculture
Miguel Altieri and Fernando Funes-Monzote – Monthly Review,
31 Dec 2012
When Cuba faced the shock of lost trade relations with the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s, food production initially collapsed due to the loss of imported fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, parts, and petroleum. The situation was so bad that Cuba posted the worst growth in per capita food production in all of Latin America and the Caribbean. But the island rapidly re-oriented its agriculture to depend less on imported synthetic chemical inputs, and became a world-class case of ecological agriculture.
→ read full article(Italiano) Contro una Terza Guerra Mondiale: Costruttivamente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Dec 2012
Da Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany – La probabilità di una devastante Terza Guerra Mondiale non è zero, ma molto lontana dal 100%. Esploriamo perché.
→ read full articleStructural Violence, Peace–And the Handicapped
Johan Galtung, 24 Dec 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Dec 2012
“Development” from traditional villages to modern states means building hierarchies around omnipotent State logic, omnipresent Capital logic and omniscient Science logic. God’s successors all, monopolizing challenges. Not strange that many migrate to villages. First conclusion: Handicapped of all kinds unite! You have only your “normals” to lose. Second: relate to “normal” people on as equal terms as possible. Third: take on the challenge to construct a more inclusive society where your way of being different is an enrichment, a plus.
→ read full articleAgainst a Third World War-Constructively!
Johan Galtung,
17 Dec 2012
From Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany – The probability of a devastating Third World War is not zero, but very far away from 100%. Let us explore why.
→ read full articleHow the IDF Targeted Civilians: Shattered Lives in Gaza
Eva Lewis and James Marc Leas - CounterPunch,
17 Dec 2012
Eva Lewis and James Marc Leas return from the Occupied Territories having witnessed shattered lives, broken dreams and dead bodies.
→ read full article(Português) Bradley Manning: ‘Estava certo de que ia morrer naquela cela animalesca’.
Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian – Diário do Centro do Mundo,
17 Dec 2012
Durante os últimos dois anos e meio, passados por ele em uma prisão militar, muito foi dito sobre Bradley Manning, mas nada foi ouvido dele. Isso mudou na semana passada quando o jovem recruta de vinte e três anos, acusado de vazar documentos secretos para o WikiLeaks, testemunhou em seu julgamento sobre as condições de sua detenção.
→ read full article(Italiano) Combattere l’Antisemitismo – Costruttivamente!
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Dec 2012
Definire pubblicamente “antisemiti” intellettuali come Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Richard Falk, Günter Grass, Judith Butler, Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Richard Dawkins, Mairead McGuire, Noam Chomsky e altri è una falsa calunnia di persone per nulla antisemite, con prospettive importanti. Il discorso “corretto” non ci porta da alcuna parte: [1] Israele ha sempre ragione; [2] i critici d’Israele hanno sempre torto.
→ read full articleThe ICC and Colombia: Massacres under the Looking Glass
Daniel Kovalik - CounterPunch,
17 Dec 2012
The International Criminal Court (ICC) just published [Nov 2012] its Interim Report on Colombia. The ICC’s conclusion in the report is that the worst crimes of the Colombian military – the “false positive” killings in which the military killed around 3,000 innocent civilians and dressed them up to appear as guerillas – “occurred with greatest frequency between 2004 and 2008.”
→ read full articleDec 10, 2012 – Human Rights Day
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Dec 2012
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted on 10 December 1948. The date has since served to mark Human Rights Day worldwide. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has been awarded the Guinness World Record for having collected, translated and disseminated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into more than 380 languages and dialects: from Abkhaz to Zulu. It is thus the most translated document – indeed, the most “universal” one in the world.
→ read full articleWhy Humanitarian Interventionism is a Dead End – Beware the Anti-Anti-War Left
Jean Bricmont - CounterPunch,
10 Dec 2012
The fundamental ambiguity of the anti-anti-war left lies in the question as to who are the “we” who are supposed to intervene and protect. One might ask the Western left, social movements or human rights organizations the same question Stalin addressed to the Vatican, “How many divisions do you have?” A favorite theme of the anti-anti-war left is to accuse those who reject military intervention of “supporting the dictator”, meaning the leader of the currently targeted country.
→ read full article(Italiano) ONU: Due Imperi in Crollo – E Poi Che Cosa?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Dec 2012
C’è la Storia nel voto ONU del 29 novembre 2012: 138 SÌ all’attribuzione di status di “stato osservatore non-membro ONU”, solo 9 NO, e 41 astensioni. Oltre la politica del Medio Oriente, il voto rispecchia i limiti dell’impero globale USA e di quello regionale d’Israele: 138 paesi ne sfidano la morsa e favoriscono il cambiamento, 41+9=50 no, per varie ragioni. Un voto cruciale su un tema cruciale è un test cruciale. Chi vuole che cosa?
→ read full articleFighting Anti-Semitism–Constructively!
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Dec 2012
To label public intellectuals like Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Richard Falk, Günter Grass, Judith Butler, Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Richard Dawkins, Mairead McGuire, Noam Chomsky and others “anti-Semitic” is false libel of persons in no way anti-Semitic, with important perspectives. The “correct” speech carries us nowhere: [1] Israel is always right; [2] Israel’s critics are always wrong.
→ read full articleTwo Years of Cablegate as Bradley Manning Testifies for the First Time
Julian Assange, Editor-in-Chief and Founder, WikiLeaks – Huffington Post,
3 Dec 2012
Thu, Nov 29th [2012], Bradley Manning testified for the first time since his arrest two and a half years ago in Baghdad. Today also marks the two-year anniversary of the first front pages around the world from Cablegate, an archive of 251,287 U.S. State Department diplomatic cables — messages sent between the State Department and its embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions around the world.
→ read full article(Italiano) La Storia del Passato. E il Futuro?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Dec 2012
Che idea meravigliosa, la storia della pace! Qualcosa su cui quasi tutti vorrebbero imparare, l’arte della pace! Come per la storia della salute, del cibo e dell’amore, anziché la storia delle guerre, delle malattie e della fame, dei generali, dei re e degli imperi. Si tratta della storia di qualcosa che può ispirare le persone, fra cui anche gli/le statisti/e, a far meglio.
→ read full articleUN: Two Empires Crumbling – And Then What?
Johan Galtung, 3 Dec 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Dec 2012
There is History in the UN 29 November 2012 vote: 138 YES to giving Palestine the UN status as “nonmember observer state”, only 9 NO, and 41 abstentions. Beyond Middle East politics the vote also mirrors the limits to the US global, and the Israeli regional, empires: 138 defy their grip and favor change, 41+9=50 do not, for various reasons. A crucial vote on a crucial issue is a crucial test. Who wants what?
→ read full articleUNHCR Welcomes Brazilian Residency for Angolan and Liberian Refugees
UN High Commission for Refugees – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Nov 2012
The UN refugee agency on Friday [9 Nov 2012] welcomed Brazil’s recent decision to grant permanent residency to nearly 2,000 former Angolan and Liberian refugees. Brazil’s Ministry of Justice issued a decree on October 26 confirming the new status for this group. Brazil is the first country in Latin America and outside of the Africa region to adopt UNHCR’s recommendations.
→ read full article(Italian) Coltivare la Pace, Prevenire la Violenza…
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Nov 2012
… era il titolo del simposio al Virginia Tech di Blacksburg, Virginia-USA, dal 17 al 19.11.2012. Come si coltiva la pace? con la cooperazione a beneficio reciproco e uguale; armonia mediante empatia; conciliazione dei traumi, ripulendo il passato e costruendo un futuro; risolvendo i conflitti mediante le 3 C. Fattibile, possibile; mediante studi per la pace, con teoria e pratica.
→ read full articleMyanmar’s Step-By-Step Approach toward Rohingya Genocide and Ethni-cide
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Nov 2012
I would call the military’s policy towards the Rohingya “structural genocide”, a systematic and sustained act of policy maintained and pursued, irrespective of which general or ex-general is in charge. Welcome to our ugly majoritarian neo-Fascist democracy run by militarists!
→ read full articleCan U.S. Citizens End Israel’s Legal Impunity?
Stephen Zunes – YES! Magazine,
26 Nov 2012
Each time international law has attempted to censure Israel for its recent violations of human rights, the United States has stepped in to stop the process. If anyone is in a position to do something about this, it’s the U.S. public.
→ read full articleKenya: Push to Meet 2013 Male Circumcision Targets
UN IRIN – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Nov 2012
With just over one year left to achieve its target of having some 1.1 million men circumcised as part of HIV-prevention efforts, Kenyan male circumcision programmes are ramping up efforts to bring more men into clinics, compensating them for their time and encouraging them to bring friends in for the procedure.
→ read full articleThe History of the Past – And the Future?
Johan Galtung,
26 Nov 2012
The Glorious Art of Peace by John Gittings, NYC: Oxford University Press, 2012 – What a wonderful idea, the history of peace! Something most people want to learn about, the art of peace! Like the history of health, food and love, as opposed to the history of wars, illness and hunger, of generals, kings and empires. This is the history of something that can inspire people, statesmen-women among them, to do better.
→ read full articleIn-Depth: Top 10 Neglected Refugee Crises
UN-IRIN, ReliefWeb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Nov 2012
Below, IRIN takes a look at some of the most neglected refugee and displacement crises around the world.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Eleições em Israel, Ataque a Gaza
Nuno Moniz, Esquerda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Nov 2012
O Governo de Israel decidiu novamente virar o seu internacionalmente patrocinado poderio militar para a Faixa de Gaza com duas mensagens. Uma para a comunidade internacional e a segunda para os eleitores em Israel: confiem em nós porque não temos medo de fazer chover bombas em Gaza.
→ read full article(Italian) Un Cambiamento a Washington?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Nov 2012
Da Washington, DC – 6 novembre 2012, notte dell’elezione. La democrazia USA è un sistema bipartitico che sta diventando uno stato monopartitico? Se è così, gli altri paesi stiano attenti! Non imitino. La democrazia è di più che solo elezioni. È anche trasparenza e dialogo. Per un reale cambiamento.
→ read full articleCultivating Peace, Preventing Violence…
Johan Galtung, 19 Nov 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Nov 2012
… was the title of the Symposium at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia-USA 17-19 Nov 2012. How do we cultivate peace? • through cooperation for mutual and equal benefit; • harmony through empathy; • traumas conciliation, clearing the past and building a future; • by solving conflicts through the 3 Cs. Feasible, possible; through peace studies, theory and practice.
→ read full articleGeorge Galloway, British MP | Full Address
Oxford Union Society – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Nov 2012
George Galloway gives his address to the Oxford Union Society – October 15th 2012. The Oxford Union Society is the world’s most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. It has been established for 189 years, aiming to promote debate and discussion not just at Oxford University, but across the globe.
→ read full articleThe World Failed Sri Lanka. And Continues to Do So.
Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch - TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Nov 2012
What we know about those final days is stunningly awful. This International Crisis Group report and this UN Commission of Inquiry report describe a months-long massacre of innocent civilians caught between Tamil Tiger insurgents on one side and government forces on the other. The insurgents used civilians as human shields, and the government decided to shoot through those shields to get to the Tigers. Hundreds of thousands of people were trapped in an area the size of Central Park, subjected to daily mortar fire and indiscriminate killing.
→ read full articleThe 16 Smartest People on Earth
Dina Spector and Shlomo Sprung, Yahoo News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
IQ is a problematic measure of intelligence. Many have never been tested, while others have taken the test many times to improve their scores. Still, psychologists consider it the best measurement of intelligence out there. So who has the highest score?
→ read full articleBurma’s Buddhism: A Tale of “Form without Substance”
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
Do not mistake Myanma’s thousands of Golden Temples and Pagodas and thousands of Saffron Robed men, that is, form, for the real practice of Buddhism, that is, the practice of Metta or universal loving kindness for all sentient beings. That, of course, is except Rohingya and Muslims.
→ read full article(Italian) La Crisi Finanziaria Europea: Germania/GIPSI
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
Una crisi così massiccia – con il sistema sanitario in Grecia al collasso e il 50% della gioventù spagnola disoccupata – richiede grandi cause.
→ read full article(Castellano) Tercer Simposio Mundial: Los Humanistas Proponen Campaña Latinoamericana por la Reducción del Gasto Militar en la Región
Nelsy Lizarazo, Mundo Sin Guerras y Sin Violencia – Pressenza Int’l Press Agency,
12 Nov 2012
Tomás Hirsch, humanista chileno, lanzó la propuesta humanista para trabajar en una gran campaña latinoamericana para la reducacción del gasto militar en América Latina y Caribe y reorientar ese gasto hacia la salud, la educación y la calidad de vida de nuestras poblaciones. Avanzaremos en esta propuesta y les invitamos a todos y todas a sumar a ella, concluyó Hirsch.
→ read full articleProject Aims to Transfer Brazilian Know-How in Support of Cotton Farmers
UN Food and Agriculture Administration (FAO) – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
South-South cooperation for rural development, stronger agricultural livelihoods. Brazil and FAO signed a new South-South cooperation agreement today [17 Oct 2012] worth $20 million that aims to channel Brazilian expertise in cotton production to other developing countries.
→ read full article(Italian) Studi per la Pace Con Mezzi Pacifici
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
Gli studi per la pace sono importanti, tanto quanto quelli sulla salute. Nasciamo inclini a rifiutare la sofferenza, sia essa dovuta a violenza o a malattia, e a cercare il benessere, lo si chiami pace, o salute. Ma non nasciamo con la conoscenza e la competenza, la teoria e la pratica.
→ read full article2012 – International Year of Cooperatives
United Nations – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
Cooperatives are not just an economic phenomenon but also a philosophy. It is an entrepreneurial model which is based on values such as equality, solidarity and reciprocity – and democracy, “a model which brings market logic together with social inclusion, making solidarity the focus of concern.”
→ read full articleWhat Does the World Bank Have to Do with Burma’s Wars, Conflicts and Atrocities?
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Nov 2012
The war in Kachin State has everything to do with the World Bank which funded and promoted the idea of “cross-border energy free market”.
→ read full articleA Change in Washington?
Johan Galtung,
8 Nov 2012
Is the US democracy a two-party system becoming a one-party state? If so, other countries beware! Do not imitate. Democracy is more than just elections. It is also transparency and dialogue. For real change.
→ read full articleConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
UN General Assembly – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948
→ read full articlePeace Studies by Peaceful Means
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
Peace studies matter; same as health studies. We are born with the inclination to reject suffering, be it from violence or disease, and to seek wellbeing, call it peace, call it health. But we are not born with the knowledge and skills, theory and practice
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Militarizing the Land and Terrorizing the Minds
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
Nearly four decades of asymmetric war between the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil guerrillas ended in a bloodbath that was seen by some as “unacceptably high”. Such statements arouse a cynical curiosity as to what could be an “acceptable level of bloodbath” and confirmed that the State’s victory was achieved by massacring hundreds of thousands of Tamils.
→ read full articleSan Diego’s Drone Industry Doubles in Size
Gary Robbins – North County Times,
5 Nov 2012
The industry, which is centered in North County, generated at least $1.3 billion locally in 2011 and directly and indirectly supported 7,135 jobs. The report says the true impact could be far higher due to classified programs that are not included in public records. Most of the business can be tied to two defense giants — Northrop Grumman of Rancho Bernardo, which specializes in Global Hawk UAVs, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of Poway, which is best-known for Predators.
→ read full articleUN Relief Agency Estimates 1.8 Million Haitians Have Been Affected By Hurricane Sandy
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
2 November 2012 – Some 1.8 million Haitians have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, the United Nations relief agency said today after its first assessment of the situation in the region, adding that food security remains an urgent concern in the Caribbean nation.
→ read full articleWho and What Gains from Myanmar’s Genocide of the Rohingya and Other Muslims?
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
The site of massive violence and arson of Rohingya and other Muslim neighborhood in Kyauk Hpyu happened to be the site where China is planning a Special Econ and Technological Zone. Why bother with mass eviction and typical Myanmar land grab when you have locally produced Genocide against the Rohingya and other Muslim inhabitants as a tool of ‘developmental policy’?
→ read full articleMyanmar Travel Reassurances to Westerners
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Oct 2012
President Thein Sein himself – incidentally, a very sincere, soft-spoken and harmless personality – has assured our Ministries that you will not hear gunshot fires, nor will you see boat loads of fleeing “Kulars or niggers” – much less their social media-circulated doctored images of mutilated corpses, charred belongings, and burnt houses. (Off the record: These damn human rights activists tend to sensationalize stories and exaggerate atrocities – it’s just another case of ethnic cleansing. We have other really important business in Myanmar: BUSINESS).
→ read full articleCivil Society Intervention as a Geopolitical Instrument
Hannes Hofbauer – Strategic Culture Foundation,
29 Oct 2012
What would happen if Russian foundations would intervene in Western European civil societies? How would the European Union, for example, react, if Russian of Chinese financial support would be given to – let’s say – groups for national self-determination. It is for sure that Brussels would immediately stop the flow of money from outside, for example from Moscow. Moscow is doing exactly the same, but Western media and politicians are defaming the restriction for being «undemocratic» representing «Soviet-type politics». USAID is the first to close down its office end of September 2012.
→ read full article