Articles by M
We found 36604 results.
Anti-Nuclear Protesters to Merkel: ‘Enough Is Enough’
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
A train loaded with radioactive waste ended its controversial journey through Germany on Monday [8 Nov 2010]. Its path had been blocked by up to 50,000 protesters over the weekend, sparking violent clashes between police and anti-nuclear activists. Commentators on Monday take stock of the political repercussions.
→ read full articleColombia Has the Highest Number of Displaced People in the World
Pravda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
The Consultancy for Human Rights (CODHES) reported that of 3.7 million displaced Colombians, at least 380,000 have managed to get shelter in 36 countries due to the armed conflict in Colombia for almost five decades. “Unfortunately, many of the displaced people in the world come from Colombia,” said the director of CODHES, Jorge Rojas, based on data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “In the last two decades, the main flow of internally displaced persons seeking refuge beyond the borders comes from Colombia, where a long conflict persists with a serious humanitarian and human rights impact that affects neighboring countries and has implications for the entire region,” he affirmed.
→ read full article(Italian) “Lačò Drom” Cena
Silvia Berruto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
È morta “Cena” Huseinović. Sopravvissuta alla deportazione nel campo di sterminio di Jasenovac. All’ospedale San Giovanni Bosco di Torino stanotte si è spenta Cena Huseinović, una delle ultime testimoni Rom sopravvissute alle deportazioni nei campi di sterminio.
→ read full articleBurma: After Suu Kyi’s Release, Dangerous Time Sets In
Marwaan Macan-Markar – Inter Press Service,
15 Nov 2010
Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma’s independence hero Aung San, has been granted freedom twice before since her first imprisonment in her ancestral home in July 1989. The freedoms granted to her by the military leaders of Burma, or Myanmar, were never permanent. Thus, this early, as Suu Kyi takes her first tentative steps as a free Burmese citizen after spending 15 of the past 21 years as a prisoner in her home, concern is already being expressed about whether her freedom will be short- lived.
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Bulldozing Peace
AlternateFocus – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
Bulldozing Peace, a documentary that researches how Israel acquires Caterpillar bulldozers from the U.S. Government through its foreign aid or military aid and then converts them to war machines to demolish Palestinian homes and olive groves and build roads and walls on Palestinian lands. These activities are against the laws of the U.S.
→ read full articleWar and Conscience: Expanding the Definition of Conscientious Objection
James Dao – The New York Times,
15 Nov 2010
Since Vietnam, the military’s rules governing conscientious objector status have effectively required service members to declare themselves pacifists in order to qualify. Conscientious objection, as defined by military regulation (pdf) is “a firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms.” That phrase, “war in any form,” has meant that people who objected to war X, but not war Y, were almost certain not to receive objector status. In recent years, some service members filed for the status arguing that they were willing to serve in Afghanistan but not Iraq. Their applications failed.
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Brazil: Peace in the Favelas
Aljazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
For decades Brazil’s favelas – or shanty towns – have been a deadly battleground, where thousands died in the turf wars of rival gangsters and drug lords. But two years ago – in anticipation of the football World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Brazilian government launched a new initiative. Since then the Police Pacifying Units (UPP), have moved into 12 favelas, freeing 150,000 people from the control of the gangs and bringing a new calm to embattled neighbourhoods.
→ read full articleApproaches to Peacebuilding in Nepal: Experiments in Various Dimensions
Bishnu Pathak, Ph.D., Peace & Conflict Study Center, Nepal – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
During the Cold War, the world was largely divided into two opposing camps, capitalism and communism. Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies, has stated that nationalisms, ethnicities and religious identities in the post-Cold War era have led Western intellectuals to reconsider the role of these factors in the developing world order (Galtung 2008a: 10).
→ read full articleGerman FM Calls on Israel to Lift Gaza Siege
Haaretz – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Israel on Monday [8 Nov 2010] to lift its siege of the Gaza Strip, saying the blockade of 1.5 million people was “not acceptable.”
→ read full article“US Wants to Return Iran to Its Sphere of Imperialist Influence” — John Pilger
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
”Iran was a pillar of the American empire in the Middle East. That was swept away in 1979 when there was an Islamic revolution, and it has been American foreign policy to get that back,” he said.
→ read full articleObama in the Company of Killers
Amy Goodman - Truthdig,
15 Nov 2010
If a volcano kills civilians in Indonesia, it’s news. When the government does the killing, sadly, it’s just business as usual, especially if an American president tacitly endorses the killing, as President Barack Obama just did with his visit to Indonesia.
→ read full articleMyanmar Election Was ‘Categorically Anti-Democratic’
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
The constitution also stipulates the commander-in-chief will be above the law, and that the president must have substantial “national security experience”, something which only military officers can claim. Twenty five per cent of parliamentary seats are reserved for the military and any constitutional amendment must have more than 75 per cent of votes, making reform virtually impossible unless, of course, the generals acquiesce. The parliament is required to meet only once a year.
→ read full articleA Small Fraction of a Man
William Rivers Pitt – Truthout,
15 Nov 2010
George W. Bush was all over my television this past week, all over the newspapers, and the feelings inspired by his sudden reappearance are almost beyond my capacity to describe…. This is the guy who turned the entire world against America after that same world embraced us so completely after September 11…. Oh yes, this is the guy who stood before the American people in January of 2003 and proclaimed that Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX gas, mobile biological weapons labs, uranium from Niger for use in a “robust” nuclear weapons program, and that Iraq enjoyed connections to al Qaeda that led directly to the attacks of September 11…. This is the guy who unleashed all the horrors of the torture chamber because the lawyers said it was OK. If the president does it, it’s not illegal, right? Nixon came up with that line, but this is the guy who took it farther than it has ever been taken before…. All I can do for now is avoid the TV, stay away from the newspapers, and pray to God on High that this small fraction of a man will soon retreat back into the ignominy from which he has emerged. There is no salvaging him, and thanks to him, there may be no salvaging America in his aftermath.
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Michael Moore on Countdown with Keith Olbermann – Nov/9/2010
Antonio C. S. Rosa, Editor - TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
“My plea if Mr. Immelt or anyone who’s watching here at GE — I will give them, for free, ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ to run on NBC as balance to all this publicity that they’ve been giving President Bush this week and his answers about how the worst thing that happened to him was Kanye West. I hope we never forget what this man did. — Michael Moore
→ read full articleJokes to Be Taken Seriously
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
Learn from the mistakes of others…
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What if…
TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
A video clip that you won’t see on CNN and Fox news: US Foreign Wars Policies are turning to be Self-Destructive – US Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for the US Presidential nomination on the Republican ticket two years ago, just gave a brief speech in the US House of Representatives showing why the US is in real trouble. It’s because its foreign wars policies are igniting hatred against Americans.
→ read full article(Castellano) Chávez: Cuba y Venezuela Han Creado un Sistema de Integración sin Precedentes
TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
El presidente Hugo Chávez expresó que Cuba y Venezuela se han convertido en la cuna de un mundo nuevo, gracias a su constante lucha, apoyo e integración para liberarse de las cadenas del capitalismo y seguir las sendas del socialismo para beneficio de sus pueblos.
→ read full article‘Anything but Free and Fair’: West Blasts Burmese Elections
Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
US President Barack Obama and several other Western leaders have condemned Sunday’s elections in Burma for being neither free nor fair. Early results show widespread success for military backed candidates, but the opposition says manipulation was rampant.
→ read full articleThe Privatization of War: Mercenaries, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC)
Jose L. Gomez del Prado – UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries,
15 Nov 2010
Beyond the WikiLeaks Files: The United Nation Human Rights Council, under the Universal Periodic Review, started on 5 November 2010 in Geneva, reviewing the human rights record of the United States. The following is an edited version of the presentation given by Jose L. Gomez del Prado in Geneva on 3 November 2010 at a parallel meeting at the UN Palais des Nations on that occasion.
→ read full article‘US World’s Biggest Arms Seller’
PressTV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
The United States has topped the list of global arms sellers, with Israel, UAE and India purchasing the bulk of arms including fighter jets, says a think tank.
→ read full articleHaitian Anger over Cholera Response
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
Haitians accuse government, the UN and aid workers of failing to protect them as water-borne disease claims 700 lives.
→ read full articleCultivating Global Strategic Fantasies of Choice
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
Learnings from Islamic Al-Qaida and the Republican Tea Party Movement: Subsequent to the success of the Republican Tea Party movement in the recent US mid-term elections, Gary Younge argued the case that the “Tea Party” does not in fact exist (The Tea Party is not new, or coherent. It’s merely old whine in new bottles, The Guardian, 7 November 2010). This elicited several hundred comments. This argument follows various observations regarding the questionable nature of the “existence” of Al-Qaida (Learning from “al-Qaida” as a source of terrorism, 2005).
→ read full articleThe Betrayal of Gaza
Noam Chomsky – New Statesman,
15 Nov 2010
The US and Israel have been acting in tandem to extend and deepen the occupation. Take the situation in Gaza. After its formal withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Israel never relinquished its total control over the territory, often described as “the world’s largest prison”. In January 2006, Palestine had an election that was recognised as free and fair by international observers. Palestinians, however, voted “the wrong way”, electing Hamas. Instantly, the US and Israel intensified their assault against Gazans as punishment for this misdeed.
→ read full articlePendulum in American Politics
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
To turn insult into injury, the US politicians continue to explain to the American people that the US government involvement in these two wars has been to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. What a way of bringing democracy and freedom to other nations which never made such a request from the outset! Proven statistics tell us that US troops have killed and maimed tens of thousands of innocent people, including women, children, the elderly and the sick exceeding one million in totality.
→ read full article(Italian) Se l’ONU condanna ancora l’embargo a Cuba e i media non se ne accorgono
Gianni Minà - Latinoamerica,
15 Nov 2010
La recenti elezioni di Dilma Rousseff alla Presidenza del Brasile e di Pepe Mujica in Uruguay, così come l’undicesima vittoria in dodici anni di Ugo Chavez nelle elezioni di metà mandato in Venezuela, hanno confermato il vento progressista che spira in America latina e che, evidentemente, influenza le scelte di molti altri paesi, specie del sud del mondo.
→ read full articleThe Concept of Strategic Depth: Can the Compass Move?
Vithal Rajan – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Nov 2010
Military planners in Pakistan have landed themselves in an existential mess by backing their American allies a few decades ago to convert free-living tribals into the Taliban. They took this dangerous step to help create strategic depth in Afghanistan against any Indian offensive.
→ read full articleCivilization as a Way of Life
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Right now the West of the West, the USA, is losing not only its empire, but after .com, housing and finance bubbles comes the US$ bubble, with the federal debt increasing 3,2 billion dollars per day since 2006, the unemployed 7,300 per day since 2008 and 1,400 jobs lost in industries per day since 2006. And 2 1/2 times more money circulating, meaning printed, than before the 2008 crash (Der Spiegel, 44-2010). Worse than a failed state: a failed society. Will this make the West less arrogant, learning to pay attention to economic-social rights, to togetherness and sharing, to neither too little nor too much, to spiritual growth, to economic and political eclecticism, and democracy by dialogue? To harmony through mutual and equal benefit? The better a Western country manages to learn from the rest of the world, not only preach, the better the people will fare. And the more a non-Western country develops of its own, independent of the West, the better it will fare; not belittling what it can learn from the West for dynamism, democratic transitions and human rights.
→ read full articlePressure for an Independent Umpire in Sri Lanka
Jake Lynch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
James Bourne spoke to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Project coordinator, Professor Jake Lynch, about the political situation in Sri Lanka- and how sport can be used as an effective tool of persuasion.
→ read full articleThe Lies of Islamophobia
John Feffer - TomDispatch,
8 Nov 2010
The Three Unfinished Wars of the West against the Rest
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Joel Burns Tells Gay Teens “It Gets Better”
TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns reaches out to GLBT teens with a personal story and a message of hope.
→ read full articleCivil Society and Its Pragmatically Grateful Children (A POEM)
Dr. Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
A gift to Burmese voters
→ read full articleTwo more…
Dietrich Fishcer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
A civil servant falls downstairs in the Ministry and is badly wounded.
→ read full articleMissing Nukes from the US Air Force: Treason of the Highest Order
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya – Global Research,
8 Nov 2010
On October 27, 2010, a computer failure emerged at the FE Warren Air force Base in Wyoming. “Mr President we’ve lost control of FIFTY nuclear warheads.” Pentagon chiefs were stunned to discover that a U.S. air force base had lost control of 50 nuclear, inter-continental missiles. As multiple error codes appeared on the computer control system at FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, the Minuteman III missiles went into ‘LF Down’ status, which meant that officers were unable to communicate with them. Defence officials insisted yesterday there was never any danger of an accidental launch. But the incident was deemed serious enough for Barack Obama to be briefed on it later.
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CrossTalk: Iran a Good Guy? (participation of Robert Fisk)
Russia Today – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
On this edition of Peter Lavelle’s CrossTalk, he asks his guests how we should understand Iran’s “soft power” in the Greater Middle East. Is it under-estimated in western mainstream media?
→ read full articleInciting Mob Anger Against Me
Arundhati Roy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
On October 31, 2010 members of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which has links with neo-fascist organizations, gathered outside Roy’s home in New Dehli and chanted slogans for half an hour. The group vandalized property outside a security gate, and then broke onto the grounds of the home. Roy was not present at the time of the attack. Roy, the celebrated author of the novel The God of Small Things and of several non-fiction books, including Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers, issued this statement after the attack, drawing particular attention to the apparent collaboration of the Indian media with the mob that carried out the attack.
→ read full articleA Ghost Agreement
George Monbiot – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Everyone agrees that the new declaration on biodiversity is a triumph. Just one snag: it doesn’t appear to exist.
→ read full articleThe US, the AU and the New Scramble for Africa
Jason Hickel – Pambazuka News,
8 Nov 2010
The past few years have seen a dramatic up-tick in American diplomatic efforts in Africa, which has coincided with a decisive shift in political rhetoric about the continent. At first glance this might seem like a positive development, reflecting a more progressive attitude toward what has long been considered an unimportant global backwater. But a closer look reveals that American diplomacy in Africa is less about serving the good of African people than it is about securing the interests of private American capital. Nowhere has this been more flagrantly clear than on the lips of Michael Battle, the US ambassador to the AU.
→ read full articleNo More Rage against the Machine
Mark LeVine - Aljazeera,
8 Nov 2010
Where is the anger at the horrors revealed in the latest Wikileaks Iraq war logs? Dishearteningly unsurprising. This somewhat awkward phrase is, to my mind, the best description of the emotional and moral impact of Wikileak’s release of 400,000 classified US military documents.
→ read full articleBring on the Learning Revolution!
TED Talks – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish..
→ read full articleThe Party Game Is Over. Stand and Fight
John Pilger – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
There is no other way now. Direct action. Civil disobedience. Unerring. Read Shelley and do it.
→ read full article(Italian) Brescia. La lotta di Arun, Jimi, Rachid, Sajad, Singh e Abdalla sulla Gru Continua
Silvia Berruto – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Arun, Jimi, Rachid, Sajad, Singh e Abdalla sono ancora sulla gru del cantiere della metropolitana In Piazza Cesare Battisti-Via San Faustino. Dopo cinque notti oggi è il sesto giorno di protesta.
→ read full articleCholera Catastrophe Spreads in Haiti
Kim Ives – Global Research,
8 Nov 2010
The epidemic is really expected to explode when it reaches the 1.5 million people living in some 1500 tent cities sprinkled from the capital to Léogane. The tent camps lack sanitation and are regularly flooded by torrential rain storms. Water used for cooking and washing often contains sewage, cholera’s principal vector. Doctors and medicine have been pouring in from Haiti’s neighbors. Cuban Ambassador to Haiti Ricardo Garcia Napoles has traveled to Mirebalais, St. Marc and other towns to help organize the response of Cuba’s hundreds of in-country doctors to the crisis. The South American alliance UNASUR is dispatching a planeload of medicine and equipment to fight the epidemic on Oct. 27, with medical teams to follow soon. Brazil said it was making an additional grant of $2 million for medicine.
→ read full articlePeace in Business Ventures
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
If we were to examine the products of some of the business ventures in the world we would discover that some are meant to lead and preserve peace while others are structured to create and promote war.
→ read full articleThe New American Isolationism: The Cost of Turning Away from War’s Horrific Realities
William J. Astore - TomDispatch,
8 Nov 2010
A new isolationism is metastasizing in the American body politic. At its heart lies not an urge to avoid war, but an urge to avoid contemplating the costs and realities of war. It sees war as having analgesic qualities — as lessening a collective feeling of impotence, a collective sense of fear and terror. Making war in the name of reducing terror serves this state of mind and helps to preserve it. Marked by a calculated estrangement from war’s horrific realities and mercenary purposes, the new isolationism magically turns an historic term on its head, for it keeps us in wars, rather than out of them.
→ read full articleGuantánamo, Exception or Rule? All-American Justice for a Child Soldier at Obama’s Gitmo
Chase Madar - TomDispatch,
8 Nov 2010
Child Soldiers and Juvenile Offenders: The Khadr case should have been a bit queasy-making for us Americanos. Hasn’t there been a surge of concern for child soldiers in book clubs and church groups across the land? Turns out, however, that this long-distance compassion goes up in smoke at closer range. The second a child soldier points his gun at an American, not another African, it’s adiós victimized child, hello hardened terrorist.
→ read full articleHaiti: Refugee Camps May Model Future Society
Elizabeth Senatus and Beverly Bell – Toward Freedom,
8 Nov 2010
While it should never be the case that a high percentage of the Haitian population remains living in refugee camps ten months after the earthquake, still camp residents have managed to create in a few of those camps a small-scale model of the type of future society that many would like to see. Their camps have achieved democratic participation by community members, autonomy from foreign authority, a focus on meeting the needs of all, dignified living conditions, respect for rights, creativity, and a commitment to gender equity.
→ read full article‘Holy Cows’ to Produce Britain’s Most Expensive Milks
Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent – Telegraph,
8 Nov 2010
The most expensive milk in Britain, produced by cows living at a Hare Krishna farm set up by Beatle George Harrison, is to go on sale for the first time.
→ read full articleMissing the New Renaissance? No Room at the In?
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Nov 2010
Produced on the occasion of a conference of the Scientific and Medical Network to launch a compilation: A New Renaissance: transforming science, spirit and society (2010).
→ read full articleSmall but Beautiful: Exquisite
Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Far from your typical photography competition, Nikon Small World reveals the hidden beauty of tiny things. The annual shortlist zooms in on the complexities of life under a powerful lens. This year’s collection includes close-up shots of a mosquito heart, a wasp nest and even soy sauce.
→ read full articleDrug Company Whistleblower Wins Big
Aljazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
US woman to receive $96m in “biggest whistleblower award ever” after GlaxoSmithKline is fined for selling faulty drugs.
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American War
YoungBrotherMusic – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
American War is a folk-rock, Americana, classic, anti-war song created in three versions, by John Hart Young of the Young-Brother Band with Richard Del Maestro co-producing and performing.
→ read full articleThe Peace Trinity (A POEM)
S.P. Udayakumar – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
A Birthday Gift for Professor Johan Galtung
→ read full articleTime for a New Theory of Money
Ellen Brown – Yes! Magazine,
1 Nov 2010
By understanding that money is simply credit, we unleash it as a powerful tool for our communities.
→ read full articleA Worse Record than Saddam’s
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown – The Independent,
1 Nov 2010
Now imagine good Muslims worldwide, who know all about universal rights, but can see that there is no universal accountability, that Third World despots are made to pay while others earn millions writing autobiographies and lecturing the world on good leadership and governance…. Hundreds of savvy, smart, keenly aware young people email me from various Muslim states asking: “What’s the point? They say one thing and do the opposite. They say they want to help us and kill our people. Why should we trust the British and Americans?”… What do our army commanders and American leaders advise me to tell these disenchanted Muslims?… Those who took us into this war are not obliged to explain themselves, not liable. In that they are worse than the dictator they toppled. Not comfortable that thought, but true.
→ read full articleThe Nobel Family Dissociates Itself from the Economics Prize
Jorge Buzaglo – Real-World Economics Review,
1 Nov 2010
On October 11th Peter Nobel, a lawyer and descendent of Alfred Nobel, issued a statement dissociating the Nobel family from the so called Nobel prize in economics. Below is my translation of Nobel’s statement.
→ read full articleOn Being Zionist, Jewish, Jew – Or Not
Gilad Atzmon – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
The following is an email that was sent to me by an American Jew a few days ago. This is a very interesting text that exposes the depth of the Jewish Diaspora’s identity complex: Tribalism, shame, self hatred, pride and embarrassment…
→ read full articleLatin America: Crises, Upheavals, Roads to Twenty-First Century Capitalist Development
Prof. James Petras – Global Research,
1 Nov 2010
A wealth of data based on extensive field interviews, statistical studies published by international development agencies, reports by economic consultancies and business and investment houses, as well as discussions with independent social movement leaders provides ample documentation to argue that Latin America has taken multiple roads to 21st century capitalism, not socialism or anything akin to it.
→ read full articleOn Luck
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
A little girl lived in a small hut in the forest, with a leaking roof that let the rain through, and thin walls where the wind and snow blew through.
→ read full articleJohan Galtung Is Awarded the Korean Peace Prize
Prof. Dietrich Fischer, Nov 1 2010 – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Johan Galtung, born in Oslo, Norway, on 24 October 1930 has been awarded the Korean DMZ Peace Prize for 2010, “for his long-lasting work for world peace and Korean reunification”, as the selection committee stated.
→ read full articleHaiti Was Forgotten Too Soon
The Independent, Editorial – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
It was only 10 months ago that the international spotlight was focused on the misery of Haiti after an earthquake killed at least 200,000 people. But 10 months is a long time in the aid world. Recent reports of an outbreak of cholera, which has already killed more than 250 people, are a reminder that once the spotlight of attention shifts, disaster-stricken countries are too often left more or less to their own devices. That this contagious disease has already moved into the overcrowded capital, Port-au-Prince, claiming several lives there, is another ominous development.
→ read full articleNo More Charades
Jared Genser – Los Angeles Times,
1 Nov 2010
Myanmar will hold ‘elections’ on Nov. 7, but they will be neither free nor fair. The U.S. should denounce them and continue to press for real change.
→ read full articleEthics in Business Education
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
If we were to give a rapid glance at the last 6,000 years of recorded history, we would soon discover that most problems in the world stem from the government. Needless to say, the source of such problems may vary from one country to another. The most common one could be easily traced to questionable behavior in business transactions.
→ read full articleThe Violence Debate: Teaching the Oppressed How to Fight Oppression
Ramzy Baroud – Global Research,
1 Nov 2010
These factors must be contemplated seriously and with humility, and their complexity should be taken into account before any judgments are made. No oppressed nation should be faced with the demands that Palestinians constantly face. There may well be a thousand Palestinian Gandhis. There may be none. Frankly, it shouldn’t matter. Only the unique experience of the Palestinian people and their genuine struggle for freedom could yield what Palestinians as a collective deem appropriate for their own. This is what happened with the people of India, France, Algeria and South Africa, and many others nations that sought and eventually attained their freedom.
→ read full articleThe Shifting Balance of Power
William Pfaff – Truthdig,
1 Nov 2010
An epoch of Western world political domination is coming to an end. This is not simply an end to imperialism (new or old), but quite possibly the beginning of a probably long decline in the West’s primacy in industry, technology and scientific innovation.
→ read full articleDaniel Ellsberg: Secrets – Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
UCtelevision – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
University of California Santa Barbara – Oct 25, 2002 — In 1971 Defense Department analyst, former U.S. Marine company commander and anti-Communist Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the media. In this talk, Ellsberg presents an explosive inside account of how and why he helped bring an end to the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon’s presidency. He also talks about the current potential for war with Iran and why he feels that would be a major mistake for the United States.
→ read full articleA Green Light for Atomic Power: German Parliament Extends Nuclear Plant Lifespans
Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Opponents of nuclear powered suffered a setback in Berlin on Thursday [28 Oct 2010] as the federal parliament approved legislation that would effectively repeal Germany’s planned withdrawal from atomic power. Now nuclear plants can stay open an average of 12 years longer than originally planned.
→ read full articleAnd the real enemy is …
Lamis Andoni - Aljazeera,
1 Nov 2010
The US will continue to fail to convince Arabs that Iran, not Israel, poses the greatest threat to regional stability…. Washington is truly delusional if it thinks it can defeat Iran by convincing Arabs that its pro-Israeli agenda could bring peace and stability, let alone justice to the region.
→ read full articleThe Paradox of Capitalism
Prabhat Patnaik – Monthly Review,
1 Nov 2010
But Keynes wrote a long time ago. He should have seen the inner working of the system better (after all Marx, who died the year Keynes was born, saw it), but perhaps his upper-class Edwardian upbringing came in the way. But what does one say of people who, having seen the destitution-“high growth” dialectics in the contemporary world, still cling to the illusion that the logic of compound interest will overcome the “economic problem of mankind”? Neo-liberal ideologues of course propound this illusion, either in its simple version, which is the “trickle down” theory, or in the slightly more complex version, where the State is supposed to ensure through its intervention that the benefits of the growing mass of goods and services are made available to all, thereby alleviating poverty and easing the struggle for subsistence.
→ read full articleFrom Quantitative Easing (QE) to Moral Easing (ME)
Anthony Judge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
A Stimulus Package to Avert Moral Bankruptcy? Commentary on the release via WikiLeaks of 400,000 documents regarding the reality on the ground in Iraq — as reported by troops in the field — has called into question the moral foundation of the intervention by the coalition forces in their various incarnations and manifestations in the Iraq-Afghanistan area (Multi-National Force – Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force 7 , NATO Training Mission – Iraq, Coalition of the Willing, International Security Assistance Force).
→ read full articleNehru On Gandhi, Views On Political Culture
Prem Misir – The Gandhi Foundation,
1 Nov 2010
Nehru admired Gandhi’s constant focus on the ‘right way’ of doing things; using the correct methods for doing things. Stress on using the right means to achieve ends was one of Gandhi’s great contributions to public life. Where most people think about ends, it seems strange that Gandhi would concentrate on means; but it is an extraordinary way of thinking; thinking linked to the moral law of truth that may have hugely impacted India.
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George Galloway on the Iraq War: Success or Blunder?
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Was toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime worth the enormous cost paid by millions of Iraqis? And where do Iraqis go to seek justice and compensation for this illegal war waged by Bush and Blair?
→ read full articleIsrael and Palestine in True Perspective
Charles Mercieca - TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Does believing and responding to these facts make one an anti-Semite in your eyes?
→ read full articleBP Dispersants ‘Causing Sickness’
Dahr Jamail - Aljazeera,
1 Nov 2010
Investigation by Al Jazeera online correspondent finds toxic illnesses linked to BP oil dispersants along Gulf coast.
→ read full articleThe WikiLeaks Iraq Logs: A Protocol of Barbarity
Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Do we now know everything there is to know about this war? Do such attempts to make the war easier to comprehend, with seemingly endless numbers of incident reports and figures, offer us any new insights? Is it even worthwhile to add another 400,000 pages of documents to the existing flood of books, reports and other documentation? Two institutions that are archenemies appear to think that the answer is yes.
→ read full articleMikhail Gorbachev: Victory in Afghanistan is ‘Impossible’
The Telegraph – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Nov 2010
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, has warned that Afghanistan risks turning into another Vietnam, telling NATO that victory is impossible. Mr. Gorbachev, who pulled Russian troops out of Afghanistan in 1989 after a 10-year war, said the US had no alternative but to withdraw troops.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Press Conference – 1 of 3
Presstv – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
WikiLeaks press conference in London, 23 Oct 2010, with Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Public Interest Lawyers and Iraqi Body Count.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Press Conference – 2 of 3
Presstv – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
WikiLeaks press conference in London, 23 Oct 2010, with Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Public Interest Lawyers and Iraqi Body Count.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Press Conference – 3 of 3
PressTV – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
WikiLeaks press conference in London, 23 Oct 2010, with Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Public Interest Lawyers and Iraqi Body Count.
→ read full articleThe UN, Peace and Peace Education
Johan Galtung, 25 Oct 2010 - TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
Voksenåsen, Oslo: Ladies and gentlemen, what an honor to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the United Nations on my own 80th birthday, this 24 October 2010, being invited to deliver the Dag Hammarskjöld lecture! My own health is good, how about the 15 years younger UN?
→ read full articleHAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JOHAN!
Antonio C. S. Rosa, Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
On Sunday, Oct 24, 2010, Prof. Johan Galtung celebrated his 80th birthday. In name of de TRANSCEND Network and all TMS readers I would like to greet and congratulate him for a precious, extraordinary life dedicated to peace, nonviolence, social justice and sanity.
→ read full articleThis Peaceful Position Takes Courage
Mel Frykberg – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Oct 2010
A former captain in the Israeli Air Force, previously an ardent Zionist who lost many members of his family in the Holocaust, has been labelled a psychopath and denounced by many Israelis for the moral stand he has taken against the Israeli occupation.
→ read full article(Italian) Marchio Legacoop sui Global Hawk delle Forze Armate USA
Antonio Mazzeo – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
Il 24 settembre 2010, il Comando d’ingegneria navale del Dipartimento della Marina militare degli Stati Uniti d’America ha assegnato alla società ravennate i lavori per realizzare a Sigonella un megacomplesso per le attività di manutenzione dei Global Hawk, i sofisticati aerei di spionaggio telecomandati delle forze armate USA e NATO, buona parte dei quali destinati ad operare dalla base siciliana. La CMC avrà tempo 820 giorni per completare quella che è stata definita dal Pentagono come un’opera d’«importanza strategica» per gli interessi USA in Europa, Africa e Medio oriente.
→ read full articleNobel’s Pro-Military Agenda and the Future World Order
Yoichi Shimatsu – New America Media,
25 Oct 2010
These are chilling words coming from the chairman of the Nobel Peace Committee:
At a NATO-sponsored conference of European parliamentarians last year, Jagland spoke tough words: “When we are not able to stop tyranny, war starts. This is why NATO is indispensable. NATO is the only multilateral military organization rooted in international law. It is an organization that the U.N. can use when necessary—to stop tyranny, like we did in the Balkans.” His reference was to the NATO bombing campaign, invasion and occupation of the now-terminated Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia in the late 1990s. To summarize his message: If, anywhere in the world, tyrants cannot be overthrown by peaceful means, war is inevitable—and NATO will wage that war.
→ read full articlePeace Research and Peace Activism
Jake Lynch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
“When peace research was launched as an academic field… the idea from the beginning was that this should be an applied social science with a value commitment: peace by peaceful means”. So writes Johan Galtung, in Searching for Peace, of the founding of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), in 1959.
→ read full articleFrom Rabbi Yosef to Marx
Gilad Atzmon – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
In case the Goyim cannot find a purpose in their life, Israeli senior Sephardi Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is there to help them out. In his Saturday sermon Rabbi Yosef revealed that the sole purpose of Gentiles is to serve Jews. “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world.” The Rabbi was also kind enough to provide the Goyim with some precise tasks. “Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why gentiles were created.”
→ read full article(Italian) Johan Galtung: A Ottant’anni, Innamorato della Pace
Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
Nel corso del convegno che il Centro Studi Sereno Regis ha organizzato in collaborazione con il CISP (Centro Interateneo di Studi per la Pace) presso la Fondazione Einaudi l’8 ottobre scorso, abbiamo festeggiato il traguardo degli ottant’anni che Johan Galtung compie il 24 ottobre. Durante l’intera giornata, Galtung ha avuto modo, ancora una volta, di offrire una lezione di passione, intelligenza, creatività che contraddistinguono il suo lunghissimo percorso di ricerca, educazione e azione per la pace e la nonviolenza.
→ read full articleBolivia: ‘Never Before Have We Seen Such Changes’
Green Left Weekly – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
Alina Canaviri Sullcani is a Bolivian indigenous peasant now visiting Australia. Canaviri is active in Santa Cruz as a leader of the National Federation of Indigenous Peasant Women of Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa” and the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party led by President Evo Morales. She spoke at the Latin America solidarity conference in Melbourne over October 8-9, 2010. Green Left Weekly’s Federico Fuentes spoke to Canaviri on the process of change in Bolivia being led by Morales, the country’s first president from the indigenous majority.
→ read full articleMaking Ignorance Chic
Maureen Dowd – The New York Times,
25 Oct 2010
Casanova’s rule for seduction was to tell a beautiful woman she was intelligent and an intelligent woman she was beautiful…. As Palin tweeted in July about her own special language adding examples from W. and Obama: “ ‘Refudiate,’ ‘misunderestimate,’ ‘wee-wee’d up.’ English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!”…. In Marilyn’s America, there were aspirations. The studios tackled literary novels rather than one-liners like “He’s Just Not That Into You” and navel-gazing drivel like “Eat Pray Love.” Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” paired cartoon characters with famous composers. Even Bugs Bunny did Wagner. But in Sarah’s America, we’ve refudiated all that.
→ read full articleUS: The Dishonest Broker
Avi Shlaim – Aljazeera,
25 Oct 2010
There are many reasons for America’s failure to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians but the most fundamental one is that it is a dishonest broker. As a result of its palpable partiality towards Israel, America has lost all credibility in the eyes not only of the Palestinians but of the wider Arab and Muslim worlds. The so-called peace process has been all process and no peace. Peace talks that go nowhere slowly provide Israel with just the cover it needs to pursue its expansionist agenda on the West Bank. The asymmetry of power between Israel and the Palestinians is so great that only a third party can bridge the gap.
→ read full articleCitizen Protests, Government Repression Mount in Haiti
Beverly Bell – Common Dreams,
25 Oct 2010
Activists interviewed say their call for MINUSTAH’s departure is based on the force’s violence, its ineffectiveness in accomplishing its mission, the waste of money, and the undemocratic and colonial nature of the operation in a sovereign nation. The actions have been convened by a coalition including a media network, human rights and housing rights groups, and committees from various camps. Asked what she and others in Haiti’s social movement want, Jetty Jenet said, “We’re calling out for help to make the authorities hear us. We’re all dying.” For nine months, Jetty has had no income and has lived with her children under a plastic tarp in Cité Soleil. “But we’re people, too.”
→ read full articleThe Tide Has Changed in Gaza: A Musical Lesson on Humanity
Ramzy Baroud – Toward Freedom,
25 Oct 2010
If one tried to fit music compositions into an equivalent literary style, Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble’s latest release would come across as a most engaging political essay: persuasive, argumentative, rational, original, imaginative and always unfailingly accessible. But unlike the rigid politicking of politicians and increasingly Machiavellian style of today’s political essayists – so brazen they no longer hide behind illusory moral façades – the band’s latest work is also unapologetically humanistic.
→ read full articleScots
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
A Scottish daughter proudly announced to her father, “Today I saved two dollars, I ran after the street car.”
→ read full articleSorry, New York Times: The bee die-off case is not closed
Tom Laskawy – Grist,
25 Oct 2010
Let’s be clear: The study itself makes no conclusive claims about the causes of colony collapse disorder. Eban quotes from the paper that the research does not “clearly define” that the virus/fungus combination is “a marker, a cause, or a consequence of CCD.” A scientist interviewed by Eban very helpfully offers the metaphor of HIV to describe what’s going on with bees. HIV doesn’t kill you — it’s the opportunistic infections and diseases that follow HIV’s dismantling of a sufferer’s immune system that do. In the case of bees, the virus/fungus combo are most likely the follow-on infections that kill off an already weakened hive.
→ read full articleHaiti Dispatch: Inside Sean Penn’s Tent City
Mac McClelland – Mother Jones,
25 Oct 2010
First thing I learned: Whatever you do, don’t go near the latrines.
→ read full articleThe Biggest Document Leak in History Exposes Real War
Bureau of Investigative Journalism – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
The data reveals how hundreds of civilians were killed by coalition forces in unreported events. There are numerous claims of prison abuse by coalition forces even after the Abu Ghraib scandal. The files also paint a disturbing portrait of widespread torture in Iraqi detention facilities. As the war progresses the documents record a descent into chaos and horror as the occupation sparked civil war. In case after case, the logs record thousands of bodies, many brutally tortured, dumped on the streets of Iraq.
→ read full articleWhither goes our loyalty: To Italy as Italians, or Israel as Jews?
Bianca Ambrosio - Haareetz,
25 Oct 2010
Jews living in the Diaspora face a controversial dilemma when it comes to national sentiment: Is it better to prioritize the state in which we live or to focus on belonging to the State of Israel? Such a quandary becomes particularly relevant when elections in our countries of residence occur and Jews – as all other citizens – are asked to elect our national leaders. We must consider whether it is more important to choose the government that will best serve the country in which we live, or to vote principally in consideration of how the future government will treat the State of Israel.
→ read full articleTunisia Ratifies International Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs
Cluster Munition Coalition – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
The Republic of Tunisia ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 28 September 2010 during the United Nations General Assembly. Tunisia is the first country in the Middle East/North Africa region to formally ratify the treaty, which took effect as binding international law on 1 August 2010.
→ read full articleWhen Banks Are the Robbers
Amy Goodman - Truthdig,
25 Oct 2010
The big banks that caused the collapse of the global finance market, and received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts, have likely been engaging in wholesale fraud against homeowners and the courts. But in a promising development this week, attorneys general from all 50 states announced a bipartisan joint investigation into foreclosure fraud.
→ read full articleNigeria: Shell Oil’s ‘License to Kill’?
Abena Ampofoa Asare – Pambazuka News,
25 Oct 2010
Following a controversial ruling by US Judge José A. Cabranes of the Manhattan-based federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals that transnational corporations ‘cannot be held responsible for torture, genocide, war crimes and the like’, Abena Ampofoa Asare discusses the challenges for establishing responsibility and valuing human rights over profit.
→ read full articleNew Law Bans Illegal Wood from EU Markets
WWF – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Oct 2010
The EU Regulation on Illegal Logging cleared its final legislative hurdle on Monday [18 Oct 2010], following the adoption of the proposed draft by the Council of Ministers, effectively issuing a ban on illegal timber. In July, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a crack down on illegal timber, voting 644-25 in favor of the legislation.
→ read full article