Articles by UN
We found 3984 results.
(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 articleUN Independent Expert Calls For Boycott of Businesses Profiting From Israeli Settlements
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Oct 2012
A United Nations independent expert today [25 Oct 2012] called on the world body’s General Assembly, as well as civil society, to take action against Israeli and international businesses that are profiting from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
→ read full article(Italian) Premio per la Pace: Nobel o Ignobel?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Oct 2012
Entrambi, naturalmente. Ben meritato per il passato e per le relazioni interne, nella tradizione dell’Occidente che premia l’Occidente. Ma i critici hanno ragione per quanto riguarda le relazioni esterne e il presente come la stretta debitoria dei cosiddetti Stati GIPSI –Grecia, Italia, Portogallo, Spagna, Irlanda- Periferia UE- verso la Germania.
→ read full articleThe European Finance Crisis: Germany/GIPSI
Johan Galtung,
29 Oct 2012
A crisis so massive–with the health network in Greece collapsing and 50 percent of Spanish youth unemployed–begs for big causes.
→ read full article(Croatian) „Veličanstveni Magnezij“
Katherine Czapp – Weston A. Price Foundation,
29 Oct 2012
Zanemareni mineral, bez kojeg ne možemo živjeti
→ read full articleMagnificent Magnesium
Katherine Czapp – The Weston A. Price Foundation,
29 Oct 2012
The Neglected Mineral We Cannot Live Without
→ read full article(Italian) Guerre Balcaniche a 100: Quattro Strade Per Un Buon Vicinato
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Oct 2012
Discorso programmatico, Istanbul, Università di Hacettepe, 4 ottobre 2012 – Gli imperi vanno e vengono. L’Impero musulmano Ottomano fu fra i migliori mentre quello cattolico iberico e quello protestante europeo furono fra i peggiori.
→ read full article(Italian) Turchia-Cipro-Kurdi-Armenia-SIRIA*
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Oct 2012
Questo non vuol dire affatto che la Turchia sia scevra di problemi; nessun paese lo è. Il punto focale qui è su quattro problemi che coinvolgono altre nazioni: i greci, i kurdi, gli armeni e le molte nazioni presenti in Siria. Una politica come al solito in paesi omogenei, senza soluzioni contemplanti le nazionalità, equivale a corteggiare il disastro. Va su una minoranza, conquista nicchie economiche-culturali e le maggioranze la metteranno a tacere con mezzi politico-militari; come gli armeni in Turchia, gli ebrei in Germania, i cinesi nel SudEst asiatico; Tutsi-Hutu.
→ read full articleDrug Legalization in Latin America: Could It Be the Answer?
Gene Bolton - Council on Hemispheric Affairs,
22 Oct 2012
Last March [2012], Central American nations held a drug legalization summit and garnered support for this policy throughout the region. This analysis compares the potential benefits and shortcomings of drug legalization as a policy initiative to reduce overall drug crime.
→ read full articleThe Peace Prize: Nobel or Ignoble?
Johan Galtung, 18 Oct 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Oct 2012
Both, of course. Well deserved for EU’s past and for relations within, in the tradition of West rewarding West. But critics are right about relations without and the present; like debt bondage of GIPSI–Greece-Italy-Portugal-Spain-Ireland/EU periphery–to Germany.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Paz, Direitos Humanos e Desenvolvimento num Mundo Multi-Polar em Evolução
Johan Galtung, Forum Abel Varzim – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
Palestra proferida no Conselho do Forum Social dos Direitos Humanos em Nova Iorque – 1 de outubro de 2012. O foco está no desenvolvimento centrado nas pessoas – em vez de no crescimento económico centrado no sistema.
→ read full articleUNHCR Issues Guidelines on Protection of Male Rape Victims
UN Refugee Agency – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
The UN refugee agency has for the first time issued guidelines for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees staff and other aid workers on how to identify and support male victims of rape and other sexual violence in conflict and displacement situations. Access the guidelines: Working with men and boy survivors of sexual and Gender-based violence in forced displacement.
→ read full articleFormer UN Envoy Jean Ziegler on Third World Hunger: “We Let Them Starve”
Thomas M Blaser, Africa is a Country – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
‘According to the UN World Food Programme, there is enough food in the world for 12 billion people. If today people are still starving, then this is organized crime, mass murder. Every five seconds, one child under the age of ten dies, one billion people are permanently and heavily undernourished.’ Quote from Jean Ziegler, who was (2000-2008) the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and subsequently a member of the Advisory Committee to the UN Human Rights Council.
→ read full article(Italian) Sociocidio, Israele e Palestina
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
Testimonianza per il Tribunale Russell sulla Palestine – NewYork City, 7 ottobre 2012 – Sociocidio è un nuovo concetto che non ha trovato posto nel diritto internazionale positivo. Come Genocidio e Ecocidio, il Sociocidio, l’eliminazione della capacità di una società di sopravvivere e riprodursi, dovrebbe ugualmente diventare un delitto preminente contro l’umanità. La Palestina è dunque vittima di sociocidio da parte di Israele? Decisamente!
→ read full article“India’s Democracy Has Been Kidnapped” – Udayakumar
Aditi Prasad - The Sunday Indian,
15 Oct 2012
The government’s expert committee has declared the plant safe. But if the reactors are so safe, why is the Russian company not accepting the liability? Our government has agreed that if there is an accident we will pay from our own pockets – that is, pay from the taxpayers money. That is not fair. Also, the plant itself is situated on a fault line. People are saying that there will be no tsunami because the plant is 1600 kilometers away from the tsunami line. But did we expect tsunami to strike the Indian coast in 2004? There are two major slumps near the plant which can trigger a massive tsunami if there is an earthquake.
→ read full articleBalkan Wars at 100: Four Roads to Good Neighborhood*
Johan Galtung,
15 Oct 2012
Keynote Speech, Istanbul, Hacettepe University, 4 Oct 2012 – How about a federal Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia?–all within an overarching Balkan Community, doing well on all four peace tasks, building symbiosis among its beautifully diverse parts? As model for Europe and the world? Balkans of all kinds, unite! You have only your self-pity to lose.
→ read full articleThe Muslim Diaspora in Europe and the USA
Johan Galtung et al* - TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
By far the tallest diaspora in the world is Muslim: about 300 million, of them 177 M in India, 19 M in EU, 23 M in China, 16 M in Russia, and 2.6 M in the USA. This paper is about the Muslim social situation in two of the six poles: Europe and the USA.
→ read full articleTurkey – Cyprus – Kurds – Armenia – Syria*
Johan Galtung,
10 Oct 2012
Turkey is not problem-free; no country is. The focus here is on four problems involving other nations: the Greeks, the Kurds, the Armenians and the many nations in Syria. Politics as usual in homogeneous countries, with no solution for nationalities, is the same as courting disaster. A minority climbs up, conquers economic-cultural niches and the majorities will silence them politically-militarily; such as Armenians in Turkey, Jews in Germany, Chinese in Southeast Asia; Tutsis-Hutus.
→ read full article
Secret of the Seven Sisters (Shell, Exxon, BP, Mobil, Chevron, Gulf, Texaco) – Desert Storms and Fortunes (1/4)
Sunset Presse, French TV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
MUST WATCH Documentary: The Shameful Story of Oil – Exposing the Oil Cartel – Part 1 of 4
Legendado em Portugues
Secret of the Seven Sisters (Shell, Exxon, BP, Mobil, Chevron, Gulf, Texaco) – Safari in a Black Eldorado (2/4)
Sunset Presse, French TV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
The Shameful Story of Oil – Exposing the Oil Cartel – Part 2 of 4
Legendado em Portugues
Secret of the Seven Sisters (Shell, Exxon, BP, Mobil, Chevron, Gulf, Texaco) – The Dancing Bear (3/4)
Sunset Presse, French TV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
The Shameful Story of Oil – Exposing the Oil Cartel – Part 3 of 4
Legendado em Portugues
Secret of the Seven Sisters (Shell, Exxon, BP, Mobil, Chevron, Gulf, Texaco) – A Time for Lies (4/4)
Sunset Presse, French TV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
The Shameful Story of Oil – Exposing the Oil Cartel – Part 4 of 4
Legendado em Portugues
Sociocide, Palestine and Israel
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
Testimony for Russell Tribunal on Palestine – NYC, 7 Oct 2012 – Sociocide is a new concept that has not found its place in positive international law. Like Genocide and Ecocide, Sociocide, the killing of a society’s capacity to survive and to reproduce itself, should become equally and prominently a crime against humanity. A society is a self-reproducing social system. Is Palestine the victim of sociocide by Israel? Indeed!
→ read full articleScant Oversight of Drug Maker in Fatal Meningitis Outbreak
Denise Grady, Andrew Pollack and Sabrina Tavernise – International Herald Tribune (NYT),
8 Oct 2012
The rising toll — 7 dead, 57 ill and thousands potentially exposed — has cast a harsh light on the loose regulations that legal experts say allowed a company to sell 17,676 vials of an unsafe drug to pain clinics in 23 states. Federal health officials said Friday [5 Oct 2012] that all patients injected with the steroid drug made by that company, the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., which has a troubled history, needed to be tracked down immediately and informed of the danger.
→ read full articleStudy: The Effects of Weaponized Radiation – Health Effects of Radioactive Materials (1945-1970)
Lisa MartinoTaylor, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia - TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
Abstract: This piece analyzes a covert Manhattan Project spin-off organization referred to here as the Manhattan-Rochester Coalition, and an obscure aerosol study in St. Louis, Missouri, conducted under contract by the U.S. military from 1953–1954, and 1963–1965. The military-sponsored studies targeted a segregated, high-density urban area, where low-income persons of color predominantly resided.
→ read full articleThe Gandhian Movement of Empowerment: Revolutionary Acts at the Community Level
Colin Todhunter – Global Research,
8 Oct 2012
Leprosy: Empowering Some of India’s Most Disadvantaged
→ read full articleBurma/Myanmar: Did the Government Incite the Racial Violence Targeting the Rohingya?
Dr. Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Oct 2012
Truthful reports by various inquiry commissions and missions can and will go a long way towards restoring a glimmer of hope in the world’s most persecuted minority community, if the investigators are able to get to the bottom of the recent large-scale racial violence, which left nearly 100,000 both homeless and hopeless.
→ read full articlePeace, Human Rights and Development in an Evolving World
Johan Galtung,
1 Oct 2012
Keynote Speech at the UN Human Rights Council SOCIAL FORUM – Oct 1, 2012. The focus is on people-centered development–as opposed to system-centered economic growth. And on globalization, a challenging process involving all states and regions, nations and civilizations, humans and nature–as opposed to a globalized market with only three free flows, of capital, goods and services, not labor; increasing the global economic gap.
→ read full articleFreedom of Expression = Freedom to Insult?
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Oct 2012
There are two key human rights values in this confrontation:
freedom of expression–basic, but not the only value in the world;
freedom from insult and respect for the sacred–basic, but not alone.
Conflicts between two values generally have five outcomes:
An Interview with Noam Chomsky
Ricardo Lezama – CounterPunch,
1 Oct 2012
Obama, Campus Activism, Mexico, the Middle East
→ read full articleDollar Hegemony in the Empire of the Damned
Colin Todhunter – Global Research,
1 Oct 2012
Many commentators and economists wonder if the US is able to turn its ailing economy around. The reality is that it is bankrupt. However, as long as the dollar remains the world currency, the US can continue to pay its bills by simply printing more money. But once the world no longer accepts the dollar as world reserve currency, the US will no longer be able to continue to pay its way or to fund its wars by relying on what would then be a relatively valueless paper currency.
→ read full articlePussy Riot and Amnesty International: The Decline of Political Protest
Diana Johnstone - CounterPunch,
1 Oct 2012
Last January [2012], State Department official Suzanne Nossel was named as executive director of Amnesty International USA. Ms Nossel had played a role in drafting the UN resolution on Libya, which served to justify the NATO bombing campaign that overthrew the Gaddafi regime. AI has devoted extraordinary attention to the Pussy Riot case, while totally ignoring, for instance, the threat of U.S. prosecution that led Julian Assange to seek political asylum.
→ read full articleLiving Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan
Stanford and New York Universities – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Oct 2012
This report is the result of nine months of research by the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School (Stanford Clinic) and the Global Justice Clinic at New York University School of Law (NYU Clinic).
→ read full articleMEK Delisting is a Gift to the Regime, a Disaster for the Iranian People and the U.S.
National Iranian American Council – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) deplores the decision to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. The decision opens the door to Congressional funding of the MEK to conduct terrorist attacks in Iran, makes war with Iran far more likely, and will seriously damage Iran’s peaceful pro-democracy movement as well as America’s standing among ordinary Iranians.
→ read full articleBarcelona Manifesto for Peace
Fundación Carta de la Paz – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
September 21, 2012 – International Day for Peace. On the occasion of the First International Congress on Building Peace in the 21st Century held in Barcelona from 23rd-25th April 2012, the organising committee recognises the contributions, presentations, papers and pre-congress preparatory work and offers the following manifesto:
→ read full article(Castellano) Manifiesto Barcelona por la Paz
Fundación Carta de la Paz – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
21 de septiembre 2012 – Día Internacional de la Paz. Con motivo del Ier Congreso Internacional Edificar la Paz en el siglo XXI celebrado en Barcelona los días 23, 24 y 25 de abril del 2012, el Comité Científico, recogiendo las aportaciones, las comunicaciones y las ponencias que se han presentado y los trabajos precongresuales, da a conocer el siguiente Manifiesto:
→ read full articleBorn Free and Equal
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
The UN Human Rights Office has released a new publication on sexual orientation and gender identity in international human rights law. It sets out the source and scope of some of the core legal obligations that States have to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
→ read full articleA Day of Peace: For the Americas
Johan Galtung, 24 Sep 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
Straight to the key problem in the theory and practice of peace: Are we thinking of the negative peace of cease-fire and no violence (as distinct from nonviolence), or are we thinking of the positive peace of cooperation for mutual and equal benefit, empathy for emotional harmony, reconciliation of past traumas, and resolution capacity for an endless agenda of future conflicts? Are we thinking of using nonviolence? Or of persuading, or forcing, those with serious grievances to lay down their arms and reintegrate peacefully in civilian life?
→ read full articleGrowing Up a Proud Racist in Burma
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Sep 2012
Like millions of my fellow Buddhist Burmese, I grew up as a proud racist. For much of my life growing up in the heartland of Burma, Mandalay, I mistook what I came to understand years later as racism to be the patriotism of Burmese Buddhists. Our leading and most powerful institutions, schools, media, Buddhist church and, most importantly, the military, have succeeded in turning the bulk of us into proud racists.
→ read full articleSABONA: From Kindergarten to Geopolitics
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Sep 2012
Some global bullies invented a new play: the nuclear game. One child had the monopoly for some time, refusing to give it up to that big kindergarten called the UN. Then other children came, and more, and more. What to do? Give all the weapons to the UN for destruction and then celebrate their demise from earth.
→ read full article(Portuguese) O Mapa Hexagonal do Mundo Multipolar
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Sep 2012
Como é que enfrentamos, intelectualmente, o mundo de hoje?
→ read full article
Playing For Change Day 2012 (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
PFCfoundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Sep 2012
21 September 2012 – International Day of Peace. What if you had one day to change the world with music? On 22 September 2012, musicians and fans will come together on Playing For Change Day with a shared intention of doing something positive for the world and supporting music education for kids everywhere.
→ read full articleUS National Defense Act and a Global Peace Agenda
Johan Galtung,
10 Sep 2012
The Democratic National Convention, DNC, floated into oblivion with no debate–Soviet style, hallelujah, amen–,with no mention of overt wars with 5-6 Muslim countries; of covert wars by drones and SEALs-US Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Teams with many others; and the war on terror. Like the Republican National Convention, RNC, squeezing out Ron Paul, who argued for no bases, no wars, no support to Israel. Nor was the National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, visible.
→ read full articlePopular ‘Buddhist’ Racism and the Generals’ Militarism
Maung Zarni – Democratic Voice of Burma,
10 Sep 2012
As a Mandalay-born dissident with deep roots in Buddhism, I find it revolting that thousands of Buddhist monks, human rights dissidents and the public in my hometown of Mandalay staged an anti-Rohingya rally this past weekend [2 Sep 2012]. Where has the vociferous human rights rhetoric gone when it comes to the persecuted Rohingyas?
→ read full articleBritain’s Barbaric ‘Special Relationship’ With Arab Dictators
Finian Cunningham - PressTV,
3 Sep 2012
The image of British Prime Minister David Cameron greeting Bahrain’s King Hamad on the steps of 10 Downing Street on August 23, 2012 conveys a subtle message of Britain’s presumption of global superiority. It also betrays the real role of Britain’s rulers in the suppression of democracy and human rights around the world.
→ read full article(Portuguese) Modelo Econômico Venezuelano Combina Socialismo e Mercado
OperaMundi – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Sep 2012
Estratégia de Chávez coloca o Estado como principal instrumento do desenvolvimento econômico, mas abre espaço para alianças com o capital privado e o empreendedorismo.
→ read full articleAttacking Iran: A Disaster for the Region and the World
Johan Galtung,
3 Sep 2012
The Israeli attack seems imminent. Richard Silverstein circulates a leaked “shock and awe” strategy of Benjamin Netanyahu / Ehud Barak hard zionism to decapitate, paralyze Iran; and Alon Ben‑Meir, an expert on Middle East politics, says Israel is not bluffing. A Middle East nuclear free zone that would include Iran and Israel. 64 percent of Israelis are in favor; like in Iran, provided Israel participates. Negotiate an agreement of that type and there would be a sigh of relief all over!–and both countries would be embraced.
→ read full articleBurma’s ‘Niggers’
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Sep 2012
President Thein Sein, what really is your analysis of the plight of Burma’s “Bengali Kulars” (or the Burmese equivalent of “niggers”)?
→ read full articleU.S. Arms Sales Make Up Most of Global Market
Thom Shanker – International Herald Tribune-NYT,
3 Sep 2012
Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion last year, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market, valued at $85.3 billion in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks and Free Speech
Michael Moore and Oliver Stone – International Herald Tribune-NYT,
27 Aug 2012
If Mr. Assange is extradited to the United States, the consequences will reverberate for years around the world. Mr. Assange is not an American citizen, and none of his actions have taken place on American soil. If the United States can prosecute a journalist in these circumstances, the governments of Russia or China could, by the same logic, demand that foreign reporters anywhere on earth be extradited for violating their laws. The setting of such a precedent should deeply concern everyone, admirers of WikiLeaks or not.
→ read full articlePeace-Building? Are You Kidding!!!
Punam Yadav, Nepali Advocate – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Aug 2012
I still have a vivid memory of my interview with a Cabin Restaurant Worker. When people talk about peace process, peace building, conflict resolution, transitional justice, restoration of peace, or the compensation for conflict victims in Nepal, only thing comes to my mind is that woman whom I met in 2006 when I was writing my Masters thesis.
→ read full articleConspiracies: Theories and Hypotheses
Johan Galtung, 27 Aug 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Aug 2012
Conspiracies exist. They are a part of social reality, have always been, and will always be; as confirmed conspiracy theories, as unconfirmed conspiracy hypotheses, as suspicions, as allegations. The conspiracy-labeling carries all the characteristics of a conspiracy, using the cultural power of the media to steer the discourse away from important issues. Unacceptable.
→ read full articleWhat’s Gone Wrong At The Guardian?
Ali Abunimah – Al Jazeera,
21 Aug 2012
Hiring Joshua Trevino, who endorsed the killing of Gaza flotilla members, is a worrying step for journalism. Treviño is a Republican Party operative, paid political consultant and ideologue for hire. But while some may not like those attributes, they would not make him unique among columnists. What does distinguish Treviño is his propensity to call for violence. Endorsing the killing of unarmed civilians…
→ read full articleHamsun, Ibsen, and Their Utopias
Johan Galtung,
20 Aug 2012
We are celebrating the two greatest Norwegian poets in this beautiful town they had in common. Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) had his farm here, and Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was apprentice in an apothecary. And you have given me the honor of concluding this festival with some words about their relevance for our world today.
→ read full article(Italian) La Mappa Esagonale del Mondo Multipolare
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Aug 2012
Qualche tempo fa la mappa geopolitica si basava sul conflitto diretto Est-Ovest, sulle due super-potenze USA/URSS e rispettive alleanze, con i neutrali-nonallineati trattati da categoria residuale. Il mondo era bipolare. L’implosione dell’URSS lo rese unipolare, con l’”unica super-potenza sopravvissuta”: 2-1 = 1. O così ci fu raccontato. Oggi abbiamo quattro stati molto grandi: i tre maggiori per popolazione, Cina-India-USA, e il maggiore per superficie, Russia. E la UE, regione con cinque stati di media grandezza: UK-Francia-Germania-Italia-Spagna. Ma c’è un altro polo sulla mappa geopolitica: l’Islam.
→ read full article