Articles by M
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UN Alliance of Civilizations, Istanbul Partners Forum, May 31-June 1, 2012
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
The UN Alliance of Civilization (AOC) was initiated by Kofi Annan in 2005 while he was Secretary General of the UN with the joint sponsorship of Turkey and Spain, with its principal center of operations in Istanbul.
→ read full articleIsrael to Build More West Bank Homes
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has approved construction of hundreds more settler homes on Palestinian land, even after the Israeli parliament rejected a bill to retroactively legalise some existing homes.
→ read full articleReport of the Jury on the Public Hearing on Koodankulam and State Suppression of Democratic Rights
Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
This report is based on the testimonies of persons who participated in the public hearing on Koodankulam and State Suppression of Democratic Rights, held on 14 May, 2012 in Lawrence Sundaram Hall, Loyola College, Chennai. The public hearing was organised by the Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle, a coalition of individuals and organisations formed to lend solidarity to the anti-nuclear struggle in Koodankulam.
→ read full articleSanctions Have Nothing to Do With Human Rights in Burma
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Sanctions have, in the final instance, little or nothing to do with the fact that the Burmese are oppressed and persecuted by the regime in Naypyidaw. There are western allies and/or business partners whose human rights records are equally appalling – Israel, Egypt under Mubarak, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, etc., as well as China and Vietnam – and these countries aren’t subject to any sanctions.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Uma Reflexão Sobre a Internet e a Democracia no Brasil
Thomás S. Selistre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Uma democracia real e sustentável no Brasil, assim como em qualquer outra sociedade madura, não será possível sem o papel ativo dos meios de comunicação. Quando afirmo isso, no entanto, não me refiro àqueles veículos que pertencem a grandes corporações, que sempre terão filtradas as suas pautas através de interesses de anunciantes e da elite.
→ read full articleThis Is Not Our Way
Meir Margalit – Pressenza International Press Agency,
11 Jun 2012
After the article by Melanie Lidman in The Jerusalem Post on April 30, stating that the Interior Ministry was accusing me of illegally constructing Palestinian homes demolished by the municipality, I wrote an op-ed that appeared on May 8. In it, I explained the motives underlying my behavior, and argued that it was a case of legitimate civil disobedience – required of any person with a conscience, when the state is conducting clearly immoral acts.
→ read full articleTamil Nadu: Independent Panel Finds Human Rights Violations at Kudankulam
India Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
An independent committee formed on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant to probe human rights violations by the Centre and the state government submitting its report on Monday [4 Jun 2012] said that people’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of movement were suppressed.
→ read full articleThe Health Benefits of Sungazing
Dr. Edward Group – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
The practice of sungazing closely resembles its name. At sunrise and/or sunset, when the sun is closest to the earth, sungazers stand barefoot on the earth and look directly at the sun for 10 seconds. The theory is that the sun is the force of all life, and staring at it can infuse the body with large amounts of energy.
→ read full articleGermany Swaps Nuclear for Solar and Wind Power
Oliver Lazenby – YES! Magazine,
11 Jun 2012
Germany, the world’s most aggressive adopter of renewable energy, is taking a bold leap toward a future free from nuclear energy. In March [2012], the German government announced a program to invest 200 billion euros, or approximately $270 billion, in renewables. That’s 8 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the DIW Economic Institute in Berlin.
→ read full articleFukushima: Pacific Ocean Will Not Dilute Dumped Radioactive Water
Washington's Blog – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
The floating debris will likely be carried by currents off of Japan toward Washington, Oregon and California before turning toward Hawaii and back again toward Asia, circulating in what is known as the North Pacific gyre, said Curt Ebbesmeyer, a Seattle oceanographer who has spent decades tracking flotsam.
→ read full articleCorruption Watchdog Says Business and Politics ‘Too Cozy’
Deutsche Welle – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
The anti-corruption group Transparency International says close ties between business and government across Europe have undermined economic stability. It singles out southern European countries as especially corrupt. The 63-page document showed a “strong correlation” between failure to rein in public spending and inability to tackle graft.
→ read full articleInteractive: World Nuclear Club
Mohammed Haddad and Ben Piven - Al Jazeera,
11 Jun 2012
While 14 nations host nuclear weapons, 30 countries generate atomic energy, and another 18 are building future reactors.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Rio+20: Em Busca de Um Civismo Planetário
Eduardo Febbro – Carta Maior,
11 Jun 2012
O coordenador executivo da Rio+20, Brice Lalonde analisa, em entrevista especial, os desafios e obstáculos que estão colocados para a conferência. “Uma das grandes dificuldades que temos hoje está em que dentro da cada país há pouquíssimos negociadores que pensam no planeta, na humanidade em seu conjunto. Eles pensam em seus países e em seus interesses nacionais. Há muito civismo nacional e pouco civismo planetário”, diz Lalonde.
→ read full articleMother Nature Doesn’t Quit
Jim Hightower – Other Words,
11 Jun 2012
So much of Monsanto’s poison was spread in the past decade that weeds naturally developed a resistance to it. Rather than find ways to cooperate with the natural world, America’s agribusiness giants reach for the next quick fix in a futile effort to overpower nature. Their attitude is that if brute force isn’t working, they’re probably not using enough of it.
→ read full articleRelay Fast Begins in Support of Kudankulam Protesters
The Hindu – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Expressing solidarity with anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protestors, now observing a relay fast at Idinthakarai, a section of the residents of neighbouring Kooththenkuzhi commenced a similar agitation on Friday [8 Jun 2012]. After showering flower petals in the sea to mark the World Oceans Day, the villagers and their children started the relay fast at Kooththenkuzhi.
→ read full articleAstronomers Predict Titanic Collision: Milky Way vs. Andromeda
NASA Science News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
May 31, 2012: NASA astronomers say they can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Humilhação e Dignidade
Tereza Halliday - Diário de Pernambuco,
11 Jun 2012
O quadro de referência de suas pesquisas é a Teoria da Humilhação, segundo a qual diversos tipos de violência na sociedade, têm como causa o humilhar e o ser humilhado. Humilhação tem a ver com dor. A dor de não ter, quando outros têm; a dor de não ser levado em consideração; a dor de não ser respeitado por ser quem é.
→ read full article(Italian) La Repubblica E’ Fondata Sul Lavoro e Non Sulle Armi
Silvia Berruto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
A partire dai principi fondamentali della Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana tra i quali l’articolo 1 e dall’articolo 11. Nei loro rispettivi incipit:
ART.1. L’Italia è una Repubblica democratica fondata sul lavoro. […]
ART 11. L’Italia ripudia la guerra come strumento di offesa alla libertà degli altri popoli e come mezzo di risoluzione delle controversie internazionali; […]
(Portuguese) Vandana Shiva: “Financeirização da Economia Está na Raiz da Crise”
Ana Paula Salviatti – Carta Maior,
11 Jun 2012
Em entrevista à Carta Maior, a ativista indiana Vandana Shiva fala sobre suas expectativas em relação a Rio+20. Ela não acredita que a conferência da ONU consiga firmar compromissos de mudanças mais significativas em função da influência das grandes corporações. Neste cenário, defende, o papel da Cúpula dos Povos adquire maior importância.
→ read full articleForgiving Siemens: Unraveling a Tangled Tale of German Corruption in Greece
Lena Mavraka and Vasilis Papatheodorou – CorpWatch,
11 Jun 2012
To understand the pervasive corruption in Greek politics, it is necessary to examine the company that has probably paid the biggest bribes to both major parties: Siemens from Munich, Germany, a company with contracts in practically every ministry from culture to telecommunications. On November 11, 2010, Siemens turned off 35 traffic lights in central Athens in protest against Greek government fines as high as €500 million ($650 million) to settle allegations of bribery to win contracts.
→ read full articleThe Julian Assange Show: Cypherpunks
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Cyber threats, hacker attacks and laws officially aiming to tackle internet piracy, but in fact infringing people’s rights to online privacy. It’s an increasingly topical subject – and the world’s most famous whistleblower is aiming to get to the heart of it.
→ read full article
We Are the World, We are the Children (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
A constellation of stars singing Michael Jackson’s classic.
→ read full articleThe Arab Spring and the Image of Islam
Johan Galtung, 11 Jun 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Europe has a right to limit its immigration. But once there, as citizens, there is only one way: the rule of law, human rights and democracy. And democracy is more than elections: no discrimination, tolerance, transparency, dialogue of civilizations, based on respect and a minimum of knowledge, engaging in mutual learning.
→ read full articleThe Colors of the Economy
Cristovam Buarque – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Until recently, the idea of “green economy” was seen as an environmentalist fantasy without theoretical basis. With the rapid acceleration of the environmental crisis, the “green economy” gained legitimacy, although traditional economists still do not consider it because, by seeking sustainable alternatives for the process of production, it does not respect the fundamentals of present theory.
→ read full articleSecret Cooperation: Israel Deploys Nuclear Weapons on German-Built Submarines
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
A German shipyard has already built three submarines for Israel, and three more are planned. Now SPIEGEL has learned that Israel is arming the submarines with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The German government has known about Israel’s nuclear weapons program for decades, despite its official denials.
→ read full articleSeeds of Doubt: Brazilian Farmers Sue Monsanto
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Five million Brazilian farmers are locked in a lawsuit with US-based biotech giant Monsanto, suing for as much as 6.2 billion euros. They say that the genetic-engineering company has been collecting royalties on crops it unfairly claims as its own.
→ read full articleIceland Economy Grows At Fastest Pace in Four Years
Niklas Pollard, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Iceland’s economy expanded in the first quarter at its fastest pace since its near-meltdown, powered by a surge in exports, tourism and domestic consumption. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year to put annual economic growth at 4.5 percent in the period, the highest since the first quarter of 2008, data from the statistics office showed on Friday [8 Jun 2012].
→ read full articleThe US Army’s Flawed Resilience-Training Study: A Call for Retraction
Roy Eidelson and Stephen Soldz – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
In a report released today [4 Jun 2012] by the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, two psychologists call upon the US Army to retract or publicly correct a recent research report that claims the Army’s $140 million Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) resilience program “works.” The psychologists Roy Eidelson and Stephen Soldz argue that the study design is flawed and that the results do not justify the researchers’ favorable conclusions.
→ read full articleWindmills Play a Big Role in Easing Power Situation in Tamil Nadu
The Hindu – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Since May 25 [2012], windmills have contributed 31 to 34 per cent of the total power consumed in the State every day.
→ read full articleSpiritual Cooperation: A Possibility or Farfetched Dream?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
In international politics, relations of trade and commerce among nations are known, but spiritual cooperation?
→ read full articleQuotes
TMS Editor,
11 Jun 2012
Whenever I’m caught between two evils, I take the one I’ve never tried.
→ read full articleThe War of Lies
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
THIRTY YEARS ago this week [8 Jun 2012], the Israeli army crossed into Lebanon and started the most stupid war in Israel’s history. Almost all wars are based on lies. Lies are considered legitimate instruments of war. Lebanon War I (as it was later called) was a glorious example. From beginning to end (if it has ended yet) it was a war of deceit and deception, falsehoods and fabrications. THE LIES started with the official name: “Operation Peace in Galilee”.
→ read full articleKiller Insect Virus Helping to Decimate World’s Bee Population
Common Dreams staff - TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
A new study published in the journal Science has revealed that, in addition to the destruction of natural habitats and the widespread use of industrial chemical pesticides, the global bee die-off witnessed in recent years is also caused by a deadly virus carried by bloodsucking parasitic mites.
→ read full articleAnother Day, More People Drone-Bombed
Jim Albertini – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
We now know that, after our leaders decide who should be killed from photos and flimsy evidence, they then follow up by bombing the funerals of those they’ve killed, assuming that whoever shows up for the funeral must also be a terrorist. How low can the U.S. Go? It is unlikely that, from the most powerful nation on earth, the leaders will ever be hauled off to the International Court of Justice for trials, and so we have a world in which the hatreds are compounded daily.
→ read full article
Earth’s Most Threatened Tribe
Survival International – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Colin Firth Launches Campaign To Save Them. Many Awá are still uncontacted, and they are running for their lives. “One man has the power to stop the loggers: Brazil’s Minister of Justice. But it’s just not his priority. Let’s push it up his list.”
→ read full articleFour Futures
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
Although the problems facing the world in the 21st century are both severe and difficult they do have solutions, which are vehemently opposed by the power holders of today, who control both governments and mass media. Indeed this opposition by power holders, who profit from the status quo, is the main reason why rational solutions to global problems have not yet been found.
→ read full articleGermany Sets New Solar Power Record, Institute Says
Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity – equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity – through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday [25-26 May 2012], the head of a renewable energy think tank said.
→ read full articleKoodankulam: Aruna Roy’s Letter to Sonia Gandhi
Aruna Roy - TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
May 23, 2012 – Dear Mrs. Gandhi,
I have already forwarded two petitions on 21st January and 20th April 2012 to bring the matter regarding the protests against the non observation of norms in the nuclear plant at Kudankulam; the clamping down on protestors. Place for dissent is shrinking in India, which is a matter of great concern.
The Crash and Burn Future of Robot Warfare
Nick Turse – TomDispatch,
4 Jun 2012
Drones may be effective in terms of generating body counts, but they appear to be even more successful in generating animosity and creating enemies. A decade’s worth of futility suggests that drone warfare itself may already be crashing and burning, yet it seems destined that the skies will fill with drones and that the future will bring more of the same.
→ read full articleEating This Could Turn Your Gut into a Living Pesticide Factory
Dr. Mercola – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Monsanto’s genetically modified “Bt corn” has been equipped with a gene from soil bacteria that produces the Bt-toxin, a pesticide that breaks open the stomach of insects and kills them. This pesticide-producing corn entered the food supply in the late 1990’s and the horror stories have started piling up. Last year, doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec found Bt-toxin in the blood of 93% of pregnant women tested; 80% of umbilical blood in their babies; and 67% of non-pregnant women.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks, War Crimes and the Pinochet Principle
Amy Goodman – Truthdig,
4 Jun 2012
Judge Garzon and Julian Assange have taken on entrenched power, whether government, military or corporate. Bradley Manning stands accused of the same. In differing degrees, their lives have forever changed, their careers, their freedoms and their reputations threatened or destroyed. This week, Hillary Clinton will be making the first official trip to Sweden in years. Why? What role is the U.S. government playing in Assange’s case?
→ read full articlePeople Struggle for Survival: Nuclear Power Corporation of India Plays Hide and Seek
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
The NPCIL plays hide and seek with the lives and safety of millions of Indian citizens. They argue that the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) “is a ‘third party document’ and therefore, without the prior consent of the third party, the same cannot be shared with anyone.” Although they are holding the SAR in a ‘Fiduciary Capacity,’ they cannot share it with the people of India.
→ read full articleJohn Pilger on the Importance of the Assange Affair
Dagens Nyheter – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
On 30 May 2012 Britain’s Supreme Court turned down the final appeal of Julian Assange against his extradition to Sweden. On the eve of the judgment, Sweden’s leading morning newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, interviewed investigative journalist John Pilger, who has closely followed the Assange case. The following is the complete text of the interview, of which only a fraction was published in Sweden.
→ read full articleSecret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will
Jo Becker and Scott Shane – The New York Times,
4 Jun 2012
This was the enemy, served up in the latest chart from the intelligence agencies: 15 Qaeda suspects in Yemen with Western ties. The mug shots and brief biographies resembled a high school yearbook layout. Several were Americans. Two were teenagers, including a girl who looked even younger than her 17 years.
→ read full articlePsychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure’
Benedict Carey – The New York Times,
4 Jun 2012
A draft of the letter has already leaked online and has been reported. “You know, it’s the only regret I have; the only professional one,” Dr. Spitzer said of the study, near the end of a long interview. “And I think, in the history of psychiatry, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a scientist write a letter saying that the data were all there but were totally misinterpreted. Who admitted that and who apologized to his readers.” He looked away and back again, his big eyes blurring with emotion. “That’s something, don’t you think?”
→ read full articleBilderberg Meetings Final List of Participants
Bilderberg Meetings – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Chantilly, Virginia, USA, 31 May-3 June 2012
→ read full articleUnthought as Cognitive Foundation of Global Civilization
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Implications of God, Debt, Overpopulation, Waste, Negligence, Encroachment and Death? This is an exploration of the possible nature of an immense cognitive “hole” — far “beneath” the conventional thought processes characterizing society, relationships and communication. The approach is partly inspired by the work of John Ralston Saul (The Unconscious Civilization, 1995), partly that of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (The Phenomenology of Perception, 1945), and partly that of Carl Jung on the collective unconscious.
→ read full articleBeyond the Politics of Invisibility: Remembering Not to Forget Palestinian Hunger Strikers
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
With a certain amount of fanfare in Israel and Palestine, although still severely underreported by the world media and relatively ignored by the leading watchdog human rights NGOs, it was observed with contradictory spins that the Palestinian hunger strikes had been brought to an end by agreement between the strikers and Israel.
→ read full articleEco Warriors, Arise to Rio’s Earth Summit!
Prof. Vandana Shiva – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
A paradigm shift is desperately needed. And it will not come from those who have created the crisis and who are looking for new ways to extend the life of the greed economy by commodifying and privatising all life on earth. They will come to Rio+20 to paint the “greed economy” green, and call it the “green economy”. And they will have powerful governments on their side.
→ read full articleEgypt: Is Democracy Still Possible?
Abdallah Hendawy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
There is no doubt that Egyptians have stepped miles onto the realm of democracy. They struggled and won unprecedented rights and gains but there is also no doubt that the fight for democracy is still far from where present day Egypt stands at the moment.
→ read full articleSave Us from the Saviours
Slavoj Žižek, London Review of Books – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Europe and the Greeks – In his Notes towards the Definition of Culture, T.S. Eliot remarked that there are moments when the only choice is between heresy and non-belief – i.e., when the only way to keep a religion alive is to perform a sectarian split. This is the position in Europe today. Only a new ‘heresy’ – represented at this moment by Syriza – can save what is worth saving of the European legacy.
→ read full articleBenefits of Aloe Vera
Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Everybody knows aloe vera is great for cuts and sunburns, even bug bites. It’s been called the “First Aid” plant. But what about the rest of the body: are there benefits for your insides too? Aloe vera is one of the oldest and most popular medicinal plants known to man. It’s mentioned in ancient documents, including the New Testament, where it was used with other herbs for embalming!
→ read full article
(Portuguese) Causa para a Abolição das Touradas Recebida pelo Primeiro-Ministro de Portugal
Antonio C. S. Rosa, editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Pela primeira vez a sociedade portuguesa que não gosta e defende o fim das corridas de touros foi ouvida pelo poder político. A audiência com o Primeiro-Ministro Passos Coelho surgiu na sequência de uma iniciativa do Governo destinada a eleger a causa mais popular em Portugal. A abolição das touradas foi a causa vencedora com a esmagadora maioria dos votos, revelando uma vontade social inequívoca dos portugueses em abolir este espectáculo que implica o sofrimento e o maltrato em público de milhares de animais.
→ read full article(Italian) Torino, 30 Anni di Centro Studi Sereno Regis. Ecologia e Nonviolenza
Giuseppe Iasparra, EcoDalleCittà – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
I vicini di casa di casa di Eco dalle Città compiono 30 anni di attività. Dal 1° al 3 giugno si svolge a Torino, in via Garibaldi 13, la festa per il trentennale del Centro Studi Sereno Regis. On line il programma della festa e la nostra intervista a Nanni Salio, presidente del Centro Studi.
→ read full articleNuclear Nirvana
S. P. Udayakumar – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
If you do feel like pulling your hair off
when they deprive you of your daily bread,
If you do feel like screaming your head off
when they chip away at your wellbeing,
If you do feel like kicking up a storm
when they deny your identity and freedom,
The Julian Assange Show: Occupy Movement (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
The Occupy movement has united hundreds of thousands across the world to fight social and economic inequality. In the latest edition of Assange’s very own interview programme Julian Assange meets with prominent Occupy activists who say their collective efforts target global institutions.
→ read full articleTrust Deficit: People’s Struggle at Koodankulam
S.G. Vombatkere, CounterCurrents – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
A cursory glance at the Site Evaluation Report shows that its 12 pages are of limited legibility, with no title page, no authorship, no ownership, no publisher, no date, no index, and no names of the site selection committee. With it bearing no authorship, no publisher, no names, etc., could this “orphan” SER be an attempt to dodge responsibility for a haphazard site selection carried out by this highly scientific and technical department staffed by the best brains in India?
→ read full articleJournalist and Educators
Thomás S. Selistre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
The creation of a real and sustainable democracy in Brazil, as in any other mature society, will not be possible without the active role of the media. But now, when I say media, I do not mean the outlets owned by big corporations, which will always filter the information through the interests of the propaganda and the elite. I talk about an alternative journalism, that uses the internet as a tool to express itself and interact with the world.
→ read full articleConsequences and Costs of War (Graphic Illustration)
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Reflections on the costs and consequences of war and violence.
→ read full articleDiscovering the Most Brutal Enemies of our Earthly Community
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
As the scholastics indicated: Quidquid contingens est causam habet – Whatever comes into being must have a cause. People across every continent are going through crucial pain of one kind or another. Such pain did not pop up from the midst of nowhere. Since in this world only people make things happen for the better or the worse, we may safely conclude that the origin all the problems facing the world could be traced to people.
→ read full articleWhat Can Be Done About Syria? Tragedy and Impotence
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
The dilemma exposes the weakness of empathetic geopolitics in a world that continues to be dominated by territorially supreme sovereign states with insecure and antagonistic minorities. In the Syrian situation this tragic reality is revealed in all its horror, complexity, and contradictions. It is unacceptable to remain a passive spectator in a media wired world where events are reported visually almost as they are occurring, or immediately thereafter.
→ read full articleIt Starts In Quebec: Our Revolution of Love, Hope and Community
Ethan Cox, rabble.ca – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
In almost every report on the social movement now sweeping Quebec, including my own, words like conflict, crisis and stand-off figure prominently. Anger is omnipresent. The anger of protesters, the anger of government, the anger of those supposedly inconvenienced. Pundits scream about mob rule, anarchy in the streets and the dissolution of society as we know it.
→ read full articleThe Houla Massacre: Opposition Terrorists “Killed Families Loyal to the Government”
Marat Musin – Global Research,
4 Jun 2012
“When the rebels seized the lower checkpoint in the center of town and located next to the local police department, they began to sweep all the families loyal to the authorities in neighboring houses, including the elderly, women and children. Several families of the Al-Sayed were killed, including 20 young children and the family of Abdul Razak. Then they presented the murdered [corpses] to the UN and the international community as victims of bombings by the Syrian army, something that was not verified by any marks on their bodies.”
→ read full articleThe Rendition Project
Rendition Research Team, University of Kent – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Researching the Globalization of Rendition and Secret Detention – Welcome to The Rendition Project website. This site is the product of a collaborative research project between Dr Ruth Blakeley at the University of Kent and Dr Sam Raphael at Kingston University, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council.
→ read full articleHow to Get Rid of Anti-Semitism!
Gilad Atzmon - TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
To suggest that anti-Semitism can ever be explained, rather than condemned, is insensitive and, frankly, bizarre.
→ read full articleCelebrate “World Oceans Day” on June 8 and Protect the Mother Ocean
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
PMANE Plans Special Prayers, Floral Tributes and Cultural Programs in Coastal Villages
→ read full articleWithholding Water: Cholera, Prejudice, and the Right to Water in Haiti
Deepa Panchang, Other Worlds – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Scientists have shown that the cholera pathogen came to Haiti with foreign UN troops who carried the bacteria in their bodies, and whose military base was dumping its sewage into a nearby river. The imported disease has claimed more than 7,000 lives and continues to ravage communities across Haiti… despite billions in post-earthquake aid dollars.
→ read full articleMali: Refugee Flows and Increased Hunger Point To Need for a Mali Federation
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
The creation of a federation of north and south Mali rather than having the country split into two independent States with uncertain frontiers could be a measure acceptable to both the MNLA and the government of Bamako. A federal constitution could maintain the unity of the country while at the same time providing the needed autonomy to the north and a preservation of the Tuareg way of life.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Democracia, o Novo Fantasma dos Mercados
Slavoj Žižek, London Review of Books – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2012
Num artigo publicado na London Review of Books, o filósofo esloveno sustenta que “só uma nova ‘heresia’ – representada hoje pela Syriza – pode salvar o que valha a pena do legado europeu: a democracia, a confiança nas pessoas, a solidariedade igualitária”. Recordamos que o Manifesto de Solidariedade com a Grécia continua a receber adesões.
→ read full articleImmemorial Day – No Peace for Militarized U.S.
Bill Quigley - Common Dreams,
28 May 2012
Peace today is a nearly impossible challenge for the United States. The U.S. is far and away the most militarized country in the world and the most aggressive. Unless the U.S. dramatically reduces its emphasis on global military action, there will be many, many more families grieving on future Memorial days.
→ read full articleFrench Ban of Monsanto GM Maize Rejected By EU
Adam Vaughan – The Guardian,
28 May 2012
France’s attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU’s food safety body on Monday [21 May 2012]. In response to scientific evidence submitted by France backing its bid to ban the GM maize, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that “there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment” to support a ban.
→ read full articleWashington’s Hypocrisies
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
The US government is the second worst human rights abuser on the planet and the sole enabler of the worst–Israel. But this doesn’t hamper Washington from pointing the finger elsewhere. The US State Department’s “human rights report” focuses its ire on Iran and Syria, two countries whose real sin is their independence from Washington, and on the bogyman- in-the-making–China, the country selected for the role of Washington’s new Cold War enemy.
→ read full articleGM Crops: Protesters Go Back To the Battlefields
Leo Hickman – The Guardian,
28 May 2012
A decade ago anti-GM protesters tore up fields and Britain roundly rejected so-called ‘Frankenfood’. Now, as researchers trial new crops, activists are once more squaring up to the scientists. But have the arguments changed?
→ read full articleSwastika as Dynamic Pattern Underlying Psychosocial Power Processes
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
This speculative exploration is not about the problematic (neo) Nazi use of the Swastika, nor is it about the use of the Swastika as a traditional symbol much valued in many cultures of the world. However it does suggest further insights into why the Swastika has been recognized in such contexts and why those contrasting uses merit further reflection.
→ read full article
Cambodia’s Orphan Business
AlJazeeraEnglish – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Increasing numbers of tourists including well-intentioned volunteers keen to help war-torn Cambodia are volunteering in the country’s orphanages. People & Power investigates the concept of “voluntourism” which is inadvertently doing more harm than good to Cambodian children, as well as the disturbing trend of exploitation by some companies that organise volunteers or run orphanages.
→ read full articleA Last (Chemical) Gasp for Bees?
Shannan Stoll – YES! Magazine,
28 May 2012
Colony collapse disorder threatens food crops valued at $15 billion a year. New research says farm chemicals put our food system at risk. Newly published scientific evidence is bolstering calls for greater regulation of some of the world’s most widely used pesticides and genetically modified crops.
→ read full articleDharma Traditions’ Perspective Enhances Religious Leaders’ Statement to G8
Keshava Sharma, ISKCON News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Religious leaders gather in Washington, D.C. to issue joint statement to the world’s political leaders. The final statement reflected the shared values of the various religious traditions that were present, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Baha’i, Shinto, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain.
→ read full article
The Myth of the Rich as Job Creators (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
TED Talks, Nick Hanauer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
In the talk, Hanauer, an early investor in Amazon.com and a multimillionaire, argued that income inequality was a detraction to a healthy economy and scoffed at the familiar rightwing talking point that the wealthy are the de-facto ‘job creators’ in the marketplace. “When businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it’s a little like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around.”
→ read full articleLawyer in Hell
TMS Editor,
28 May 2012
A lawyer died and was delivered into the devil’s hands. “You will be spending eternity here, but I’ll let you pick your own room from three I’ll show you,” the devil said.
→ read full articleDr. Robert Spitzer Apologizes to Gay Community for Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study
John M. Becker, Truth Wins Out – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Today [25 Apr 2012], in a letter to Dr. Ken Zucker obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out, Dr. Robert Spitzer made an unprecedented apology to the gay community — and victims of reparative therapy in particular — for his infamous, now-repudiated 2001 study that claimed some “highly motivated” homosexuals could go from gay to straight.
→ read full articleSite Evaluation Report – Analysis
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
There is hardly any mention of desalinations plants, the transportation of the nuclear waste and other crucial issues. To sum up, this SER reads like a practical joke being played upon the innocent people of southern Tamil Nadu and southern Kerala. The PMANE rejects this so called SER and demands the NPCIL to share the real, complete and updated Site Evaluation Report with the people of India along with the Safety Analysis Report as per the orders of the CIC.
→ read full articleHundreds of Words to Avoid Using Online if You Don’t Want the Government Spying On You
Daniel Miller – Mail Online,
28 May 2012
(And They Include ‘Pork’, ‘Cloud’ and ‘Mexico’) – Department of Homeland Security forced to release list following freedom of information request. Agency insists it only looks for evidence of genuine threats to the U.S. and not for signs of general dissent.
→ read full articleEthiopia: Are the Islamists Coming?
Alemayehu Fentaw – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
It is imperative to bear in mind that it is the marginalization and suppression of Muslims by the Ethiopian Christian State in the past that bred extremism. The current interference by the secular tyrant in the internal affairs of the Muslim community won’t help if not to exacerbate the situation.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Seguir em Frente…
Paulo Coelho – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Sempre é preciso saber
quando uma etapa chega ao final.
Algerian MPs Boycott Parliament Session
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Opposition legislators boycott inaugural session of parliament, claiming fraud in election held earlier this month. For Algeria, the only country in North Africa left largely untouched by last year’s so-called “Arab Spring” revolts, a prolonged boycott by the MPs could complicate a reform of the constitution which President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised for this year.
→ read full articleFORUM: Why People in Tamil Nadu Are Protesting Nuclear Energy
Prof. Monisha Dasgupta – Center for South Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa,
28 May 2012
Power Games: Why people in Tamil Nadu are protesting nuclear energy – S.P. Udayakumar is a member of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy and the National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movements. He is one of the leaders of the non-violent protests against the Koodankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu.
→ read full articleReflections on the Great Palestinian Prison Hunger Strikes of 2012
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Ché Guevara was once asked what was at the root of his revolutionary commitment. His response, which we should all take some moments to reflect upon, “it is about love.” Reading the words of Khader Adnan (‘Open Letter to the People of the World’) and Thaer Halahleh (‘Letter to my Daughter’), or the comments of Hana Shalabi’s mother and sister, or Bilal Diab’s father, led me to recall Guevara’s illuminating comment.
→ read full articleWhat is New in the Palestine/Israel Conflict
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
The Israeli/Palestine conflict has changed its character in fundamental respects during the last couple of years.
→ read full articleLimited Liability – Nuclear Energy’s ‘Mother of all Subsidies’
Stephen Leahy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
The nuclear energy industry only exists thanks to what insurance experts call the “mother of all subsidies”, and the public is largely unaware that every nuclear power plant in the world has a strict cap on how much the industry might have to pay out in case of an accident. In Canada, this liability cap is an astonishingly low 75 million dollars. In India, it is 110 million dollars and in Britain 220 million dollars. If there is an accident, governments – i.e. the public – are on the hook for all costs exceeding those caps.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Parlamento Europeu Vota Contra as Patentes Sobre Plantas e Animais
Sustentabilidade é Acção – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
«O Parlamento Europeu aprovou ontem [12 maio 2012] uma resolução pedindo ao Instituto Europeu de Patentes para parar a concessão de patentes ao melhoramento genético convencional de plantas e animais. A resolução foi apresentada conjuntamente pelos deputados de vários partidos e foi aprovada com ampla maioria.
→ read full articleModernity’s Other and the Transformation of the University – I
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Society as a whole and the university as a leading part of society need to revive some of the norms of African society prior to European contact. One could say the same about traditional norms in other parts of the world. I mention Africa because we are here.
→ read full articleOn Not Visiting an Orphanage in Cambodia
Jill – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
In Cambodia, visiting orphanages is listed as a tourist attraction on Tripadvisor, right up there with temples, museums and restaurants. Imagine if you had been rescued form an abusive or neglectful environment and had to retell (or hear someone else retell) your painful story every night. I don’t think there is any brand of therapy that would recommend daily public rehashing followed by compulsory dancing as a method of recovery.
→ read full articleSupporting Young Syrians Who Say “Stop the Killing”
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
A group of young nonviolent Syrians have created a movement, “Stop the Killing,” not related to a political party or a confessional religious group, but which wishes to unite those of good will to stop the violence and to develop a society in which all can contribute. Therefore, we who are outside Syria, send our support and willingness to cooperate.
→ read full articleWhen the State Seizes Industry
Jason Farbman – Socialist Worker,
28 May 2012
The dynamics that produced a wave of nationalizations in Argentina and Bolivia–and how the process is playing out differently in each country.
→ read full articleA Political Blow to Austerity in Europe
Socialist Worker, Editorial – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Europe’s political situation has become more volatile as the economy deteriorates. The rejection of austerity by voters in Greece and France and the deepening turmoil of Spain’s unraveling banks are two faces of Europe’s political and economic crises–and they point to new potential for resistance.
→ read full articleBenefits of Equality
John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Taking advantage of their superior weaponry, Europe, the United States and Japan rapidly carved up the remainder of the world into colonies, which acted as sources of raw materials and food, and as markets for manufactured goods.
→ read full articleWhen the Respectable Become Extremists the Extremists Become Respectable
Prof. James Petras – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
By any historical measure, whether it involves international law, human rights conventions, United Nations protocols, socio economic indicators, the policies and practices of the United States and European Union regimes can be characterized as extremist.
→ read full articleThe Julian Assange Show: Rafael Correa
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
This week, Julian Assange talks to the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Correa is a left wing populist who has changed the face of Ecuador. But unlike his predecessors he holds a Ph.D. in economics. According to US embassy cables, Correa is the most popular President in Ecuador’s democratic history.
→ read full articleGod’s Divine Maternal Qualities: Buddhism and Christianity in Perspective
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2012
Ascetical writers tell us that God is both Father and Mother. This means that in God’s essence we find the perfection of all paternal and maternal qualities.
→ read full article(French) Représentants du Mouvement Abolitionniste des Corridas au Portugal Ont Eté Reçus par le Premier Ministre
MACP – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 May 2012
Le dernier mardi (8/mai/2012) le mouvement abolitionniste des corridas au Portugal a vécu un jour historique: ses représentants ont été reçus par le Premier Ministre chez sa résidence officielle, le Palais de S. Bento.
→ read full article