Articles by ICH
We found 2475 results.
Symmetry
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2017
A husband and wife spent their vacation at a lake where he enjoyed fishing.
→ read full articleWays of Living with ‘Alternative Facts’: An Anecdote
Richard Falk | Social Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2017
This brings me inevitably to Kellyann Conway’s reliance on ‘alternative facts’ to validate the claim that Donald Trump’s inaugural crowd was bigger than that of Barack Obama. She was contesting contrasting pictures shown by CNN and other media outlets in which even the most casual observer could tell that Trumps crowd was by far smaller.
→ read full articleTruthful
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Feb 2017
An applicant was filling out a job application.
→ read full articleRuling by Chaos
Jill Richardson | OtherWords – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Feb 2017
Trump’s made so many orders — on the environment and everything else — that it’s hard to keep track, much less resist. That’s the point.
→ read full articleTrump’s Pre-Fascism and Progressive Populist Opportunities
Richard Falk | Social Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jan 2017
The Dismal Cartography of the Pre-Fascist State – Listening to Donald Trump’s inaugural speech on January 20th led me to muse about what it might mean to live in a pre-fascist state.
→ read full articleNAPF: To Rid the World of Nuclear Weapons
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jan 2017
The statement below was drafted and endorsed by participants in a symposium held in Santa Barbara, CA in October 2016 under the auspices of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
→ read full article2017: Palestine’s Three Dark Commemorations
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Jan 2017
Israeli expansionism, United States unconditional support, and UN impotence. These factors are combining to create dismal prospects for Palestinian self-determination and for a negotiated peace that is sensitive to the rights and grievances of both Palestinians and Jews.
→ read full articleQuickies
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Jan 2017
George Bush came late to a cabinet meeting.
→ read full articleIs the Myanmar Government and Military Flirting with ‘Acts of Genocide’ against the Rohingya?
Michael G. Karnavas – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jan 2017
Take your pick of alleged crimes: persecution, rape, murder, forcible transfer, deportation, extermination, arbitrary detention and imprisonment, and arguably, apartheid. The full treatment.
→ read full articleTruthful…?
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jan 2017
Sweden has built a new bridge to an island.
→ read full articleOpen Letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jan 2017
8 Jan 2017 – The text below is an Open Letter to the next American president urging complete nuclear disarmament as an urgent priority. The letter was prepared under the auspices of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and its current list of signatories is listed below.
→ read full articleMistakes
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jan 2017
A biology teacher wanted to warn his students about the harmful effects of alcohol.
→ read full articleA Poetic Illumination at the Start of a New Year
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jan 2017
I came across a few lines of the Zen poetry of the late eighteen century Zen poet, Ryōkan. A verse from The Long Winter Night: Three Poems.
→ read full articleCondemning Israeli Settlement Expansion: UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and Secretary Kerry’s Speech
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jan 2017
To bring together China, Russia, France, and the UK on an initiative tabled by Senegal, Malaysia, and Venezuela, is sending Israel and Washington a clear message that despite the adverse developments of recent years in the Middle East the world will not forget the Palestinians, or their struggle.
→ read full articleLame Duck’s Last Quack
Michael David Morrissey – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jan 2017
Mr. O, failing miserably to fly,
Wants to give it one more try.
Sharing
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2017
A mother was preparing pancakes for her two sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3.
→ read full articleThe Future of the United States of America
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2017
31 Dec 2016 – What I most want to say is that social chaos and ecological disaster cannot be avoided without transforming basic cultural and social structures. Otherwise no economic policy will work. For structural reasons, all economic policies lead to unacceptable results.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to Myself on New Year’s Day 2017
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2017
‘Clarity,’ not ‘hope,’ is the opposite of ‘despair.’ To be awake to unpleasant, even dire, realities and resist the temptations of denial demands increasing resolve in the face of the mounting evidence that the human species is facing a biopolitical moment threatening civilizational collapse and species decline and fall as never before.
→ read full articleOpen Letter to the Japanese Prime Minister on Eve of Visit to Pearl Harbor
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2017
25 Dec 2016 – The press release and open letter to the Japanese Prime Minister concern the complex issues surrounding the ethos and politics of apology. I would have liked the statement to include an acknowledgement of accountability by the U.S. Government.
→ read full articlePeace Is the Way
Prof. Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Dec 2016
It is impossible to establish peace once and for all, and to expect that it will remain that way.
→ read full articleSo Much for ‘Understanding’
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Dec 2016
The UN. conducted a worldwide survey asking “Would you please give your honest opinion about the solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?” Not surprisingly, it was a huge failure.
→ read full articleRemembering Zsa Zsa Gabor
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Dec 2016
20 Dec 2016 – As an early teenager I came to know Zsa-Zsa Gabor and her family rather well. Indeed, her sister, Eva, lived in our New York apartment for several months. Zsa Zsa became my father’s client, and later close friend, during her high profile divorce from the pre-Trump hotel magnate, Conrad Hilton.
→ read full article(Castellano) Economía Solidaria: Clave de la Justicia, la Paz, y la Sustentabilidad
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Dec 2016
Voy a adelantar tres tesis. Por supuesto la veracidad o falsedad de ellas no se puede evaluar sin conocer los significados de las palabras que las componen. Me voy a dedicar principalmente a explicar de qué se trata, vale decir a explicar el significado de los conceptos que componen las tesis. Después, voy a pedir a los lectores evaluar según sus luces si las tesis sean ciertas o sean falsas.
→ read full articleThe Confused Russian Hacking Debate, Trump Victory, and U.S. Global State
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century,
26 Dec 2016
I have long opposed American interferences in the political life of foreign countries, believe in accepting the outcome of the dynamics of self-determination, and have long thought the United States and the rest of the world would be better off if the government accepted the discipline of international law as setting limits on foreign policy options.
→ read full articleA Socialist Economy for the 21st Century
Richard Rosen | The Next System Project – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Dec 2016
16 Dec 2016 – Richard A. Rosen explores the changes necessary for a modern definition of “socialism” and describes key concepts and issues that arise when aiming to restructure the American economy to include social and environmental sustainability in the Twenty-First Century.
→ read full articleTests & Exams
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2016
Some actual answers to test questions:
→ read full articleOn the Death of Fidel Castro
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2016
I have been bemused by the captious tone and condescending assessments of mainstream media in the West reacting to Fidel Castro’s death. The lead editorial in The Economist went on even to mock the reverence ordinary Cubans felt for Castro: “Cubans say Mr. Castro was ‘like a father” to them. They are right: he infantilized a nation. Anyone with initiative found ways to leave for exile abroad.”
→ read full articleRethinking the Arab Spring: Uprisings, Counterrevolution, Chaos, and Global Reverberations
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2016
At this point, following the election of Donald Trump as the next American president, there are likely to be significant geopolitical adjustments with related regional impacts. It is possible that cooperation between Russia and the United States will be forthcoming for the purpose of ending civil strife in Syria and Yemen, defeating religious extremism in the region, and maintaining the Iran nuclear agreement.
→ read full articleHonoring Henry Kissinger at Oslo
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Dec 2016
What is equally distressing is the Orwellian insensitivity of the Nobel authorities to the inappropriateness of treating Kissinger as though he is a highly trusted source of guidance and wisdom with respect to world peace. Kissinger has applauded the worst excesses of dictators, especially in Latin America, and backed the most immoral geopolitical policies throughout his long career.
→ read full articlePsychiatrists
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Dec 2016
A psychiatrist needed a plumber.
→ read full articleFive Years after the Arab Spring: A Critical Evaluation
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Dec 2016
A new political geography has emerged in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) after the Arab Spring. The transformative impact of the popular upheavals appeared to put an end to long-term authoritarian regimes. Today, the region is far from stable since authoritarian resilience violently pushed back popular demands for good governance and is pushing to restore former state structures.
→ read full articleTurkish Realignment: Prospects amid Uncertainty
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
3 Dec 2016 – In recent months the Turkish President, Recep Teyipp Erdoğan, and his principal advisors have not made it a secret that they are reconsidering Turkey’s relations with neighbors, with the countries of the region, and with leading geopolitical actors.
→ read full articleKeynes’ Limitations and Trump’s Disasters
Prof. Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
My recommended way forward will be to deepen Keynes’ macroeconomic analysis to make it an historical analysis of social structure leading to a communitarian reformulation of social and economic democracy. This theoretical move supports a flexible approach to practice called “unbounded organization.”
→ read full articleHarmony with Nature: Toward an Earth Jurisprudence
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
30 Nov 2016 – This post consists of my responses to four questions asked of 189 ‘experts’ around the world by a project of the UN Harmony with Nature Network. My own approach is based on the biopolitical imperative in this historical period of developing an ecological consciousness for the sake of human wellbeing, and possibly species survival.
→ read full articleTraitors
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
When relations between the Soviet Union and China soured in the early 1960s, Khrushchev met Zhou En Lai and told him,
→ read full articleWhat’s Next? Parecon, or Participatory Economics
Michael Albert | The Next System Project – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
People now fighting economic injustice have no right to decide how future people should live. But we do have a responsibility to provide an institutional setting that facilitates future people deciding for themselves what their own conditions of life and work should be. To this end, participatory economics, or parecon, describes the core institutions required to generate solidarity, equity, self-management, and an ecologically sound and classless economy.
→ read full articleA Best Selling Author
Prof. Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
Sylvia Nasar was a brilliant economics student at New York University and one of four assistants of Wassily Leontief, who had won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Economic Science for his invention of input-output analysis.
→ read full article(Castellano) Una Propuesta Muy Importante de José Luis Corragio
Prof. Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Nov 2016
Aunque parezca una exageración, creo que señala una pista a seguir para salvar a la humanidad del caos social y para salvar la biosfera de la extinción. Es muy importante.
→ read full articleHow Harmonious Might Be Our World
Adolf Pavlovich Shvedchikov – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Nov 2016
How harmonious might be our world
Full of spiritual pastoral songs
If we didn’t do wrong or go wrong,
Opportunism & Greed
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Nov 2016
Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.
→ read full articleEscaping ‘Fortress Earth’
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Nov 2016
Reading Journey to Earthland is an extraordinary experience. Paul Raskin is not only a master navigator of the complexities of our world but someone who conveys a vision of the future that manages to surmount the unprecedented challenges facing humanity at several levels of social, cultural, and ecological being.
→ read full articleFidel Castro: Revolutionary Icon Finally Defeated by Infirmity of Old Age
Richard Gott – The Guardian,
28 Nov 2016
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, revolutionary leader, born 13 Aug 1926; died 25 Nov 2016. Charismatic leader of the revolution and president of Cuba who bestrode the world stage for half a century.
→ read full articleLet It Cool Down
Prof. Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Nov 2016
A folktale from Uganda told by TRANSCEND member Stella Sabiiti. A king had a beautiful daughter. Many men asked to marry her, but the king gave them a difficult test.
→ read full articleMoralizing Military Intervention
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union there has been an upsurge of international undertakings that have claimed humanitarian justifications for military interventions in foreign societies. A second kind of justification for such interventions all of which are launched by Western countries (especially the United States) was associated with the global “war on terror.”
→ read full articleThe Salary Theory…
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
Dilbert’s “Salary Theorem” states that “Engineers and scientists can never earn as much as business executives and sales people.”
→ read full articleNow What Should We Do?
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
An Agenda for Berniecrats after the United States Election
→ read full articleSix Theses on Saving the Planet
Richard Smith | The Next System Project – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
From the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, workers, trade unionists, radicals, and socialists have fought against the worst depredations of capitalist development: intensifying exploitation, increasing social polarization, persistent racism and sexism, deteriorating workplace health and safety conditions, environmental ravages, and relentless efforts to suppress democratic political gains under the iron heel of capital.
→ read full articleAnticipating the Trump Presidency
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
It is wildly premature to think that this election signals that the American people have descended into the swamps of racism and nativism, but it will still take a vigilant opposition movement to prevent Trump’s government from imposing its horrendous agenda on our collective future.
→ read full articleUNESCO Censures Israel’s Administration of Jerusalem
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Nov 2016
In response to UNESCO resolutions adopted in October that were highly critical of Israel’s protection of sacred and cultural Islamic heritage sites in Jerusalem, there is again a fiery confrontation between Israel and this UN organ whose actions have so often touched the raw nerves of Western political sensibilities.
→ read full articleWhy Is the Foreign Policy Establishment Spoiling for More War? Look at Their Donors
Dennis Kucinich – The Nation,
7 Nov 2016
War is first and foremost a profitable racket. We must not accept war as inevitable, and those leaders who would lead us in that direction, whether in Congress or the White House, must face visible opposition.
→ read full articleMusicians
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Nov 2016
A little boy rang the neighbor’s bell. “Does it disturb you that I practice the piano every day?”
→ read full articleThe Kapp Putsch and Modern Memory
Michael N. Nagler | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Nov 2016
Nonviolence in Today’s USA – Nonviolence cannot simply mean you wait for the putsch to happen, then rush to the street and non-cooperate. It has to mean a complete overhaul of the cultural factors that led to our putting more citizens in prison than any other democracy, having more guns than people and a higher rate of murder or suicide, a larger military budget than most of the world’s countries put together, and a foreign policy incapable of any but endless war.
→ read full articleClean Politicians
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Oct 2016
A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal.
→ read full articleUSA: What Are We to Think?
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Oct 2016
29 Oct 2016 – A cascade of developments should make us afraid of what seems to be emerging politically in the United States at this time. Although politicians keep telling us how great we were or will be or are.
→ read full articleVote All You Want – The Secret Government Won’t Change
Jordan Michael Smith – Boston Globe,
24 Oct 2016
The people we elect aren’t the ones calling the shots, says Tufts University’s Michael Glennon.
→ read full articleInterview on Palestine for Middle East Eye with Hilary Wise
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Oct 2016
I want above all that Palestine will not suffer the fate of other oppressed people, and be written off as ‘a forgotten struggle,’ or worse, ‘a lost cause.’ “Apartheid, annexation, mass displacement and collective punishment have become core policies of the state of Israel.”
→ read full articleNatural Rights: A Solution in the 18th Century, a Problem in the 21st
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Oct 2016
Individual and Human Rights – Let’s talk about natural rights. What shall we say? Well, let’s begin the way students in law schools begin when they brief a legal opinion to prepare for a class. They read the dissenting opinion before they read the majority opinion. Starting with the dissent is a good way to bring the issues into focus.
→ read full articleWar or Peace?
Dennis Kucinich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Oct 2016
20 Oct 2016 – The most consequential statement by Secretary Clinton in last night’s debate was her pronouncement that a no-fly zone over Syria could “save lives and hasten the end of the conflict,” that a no-fly zone would provide “safe zones on the ground” was in “the best interests of the people on the ground in Syria” and would “help us with our fight against ISIS.” It would do none of the above.
→ read full articleDrunks
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Oct 2016
Recently, a routine police patrol was parked outside a local neighborhood bar in Minnesota. Late in the evening, the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk.
→ read full articleWhy Okinawa Should Matter
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Oct 2016
12 Oct 2016 – An earlier version of this post appeared in the Japanese publication, Ryukyu Shimpo. The article is devoted to a critical discussion of Okinawa’s role in serving American and Japanese strategic interests. Since the end of World War II Okinawa has been a mostly unhappy host of American military bases, and the issue has been prominent at times on the agenda of the Japanese peace movement.
→ read full articleThe Network of Global Corporate Control
Stefania Vitali, James B. Glattfelder and Stefano Battiston | Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule ETH Zürich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Oct 2016
Abstract: The structure of the control network of transnational corporations affects global market competition and financial stability. So far, only small national samples were studied and there was no appropriate methodology to assess control globally. We present the first investigation of the architecture of the international ownership network, along with the computation of the control held by each global player. We find that transnational corporations form a giant bow-tie structure and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions. This core can be seen as an economic “super-entity” that raises new important issues both for researchers and policy makers.
→ read full articleWas the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 Wrongly Awarded?
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Oct 2016
My comment critical of the award is printed below, and is followed by an even more critical comment by Fredrik S. Heffermehl, a Norwegian jurist who has taken a special interest in the Nobel Peace Prize, especially making a great effort to call attention to the failure of the Norwegian committee that is responsible for deciding on recipients to adhere to the will and intentions of Alfred Nobel who established this most coveted of international awards at the end of the nineteenth century.
→ read full articleThe Geopolitics of Shimon Peres’ Legacy
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Oct 2016
Basically, the question posed is whether to celebrate Peres’ death as that of a man dedicated to peace and reconciliation or to portray him as a wily opportunist, a skillful image-maker, and in the end, a harsh Zionist and ambitious Israeli leader.
→ read full article(Castellano) ¿Hay una Crisis Chilena?
Prof. Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Oct 2016
6 Oct 2016 – “Chile vive una muy profunda crisis de confianza de todas las instituciones.” La opinión arriba citada no es la opinión de cualquiera. Es la opinión de quien fue el Ministro de Economía en la transición del gobierno militar al gobierno civil de 1990.
→ read full articleThe Enigma That Was Shimon Peres
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Oct 2016
My own experience of the man was direct, although rather superficial, but it did give me greater confidence to trust my reservations about his impact and influence, which collides with the adulation that he has inspired among American liberals, in particular.
→ read full articleCould Turmeric Really Boost Your Health?
Michael Mosley – BBC Magazine,
3 Oct 2016
20 Sep 2016 – Bold health claims have been made for the power of turmeric. Is there anything in them? There are at least 200 different compounds in turmeric, but there’s one that scientists are particularly interested in. It gives this spice its colour. It’s called curcumin.
→ read full articleA Warming of US/Turkish Relations?
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Sep 2016
There are continuing concerns in Washington and Ankara about whether and to what degree United States-Turkey relations can be restored; it depends on the behavior of the two governments, and likely will be influenced by the outcome of the American presidential elections.
→ read full articlePoor Driver
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Sep 2016
After a summit meeting, Reagan, Brezhnev and Deng Xiaoping were being driven to the airport in a limousine.
→ read full articleInterview on Israel, Palestine, and Peace
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Sep 2016
14 Sep 2016 –The U.S. Government and Israel have signed a military assistance agreement promising Israel $38 billion over the next ten years, the largest such commitment ever made. Again, we should grieve over the extent to which ‘reality’ and morality is sacrificed for the sake of the ‘special relationship’ while looking the other way whenever the Palestinian ordeal is mentioned.
→ read full article(Castellano) Las Bajas Jubilaciones en Chile
Prof. Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Sep 2016
“Nuestro mayor problema político es la falta de imaginación”. –Michel Foucault ~ La apuesta de la economía social y solidaria es que la misma lógica cálida que rescata a los victimas del sistema es capaz de transformar el sistema.
→ read full articleThe Uses and Abuses of Uncertainty: The Case of Turkey
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Sep 2016
9 Sep 2016 – One of the paradoxes of the digital age with its real time awareness is the degree to which information overloads clouds our imagination with cheaply achieved and false clarity, which in political contexts is often the Mad Men work of selective interpretation or deliberate manipulation.
→ read full articleClinton versus Trump: How It Might Matter for the Middle East
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Sep 2016
If voting for an American president was only about the Middle East, I would rate the candidates as a tossup, but it isn’t. When the American domestic scene is taken into account, as well the rest of the world, Clinton holds the clear edge unless one feels so disgusted her candidacy as to write in Bernie Sanders on the ballot or cast a vote of conscience for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. I remain uncertain as to which of these choices to make.
→ read full articleUS-NATO-Turkey Invasion of Northern Syria: CIA “Failed” Turkey Coup Lays Groundwork for Broader Middle East War?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | Global Research – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Sep 2016
Public opinion was led to believe that relations with the US had not only deteriorated, but that Erdogan had vowed to restore “an axis of friendship” with Moscow, including “cooperation in the defence sector”. This was a hoax. The failed coup was indeed supported by the CIA, but the failure was coordinated with President Erdogan. It was an intelligence op which was meant to fail and mislead public opinion.
→ read full articleSouth African Elections 2016
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
Bloomberg frames the expected reforms as the efficient causes that will generate prosperity and employment. That investors are already expecting higher profits is framed as good news for the poor. The proposition that more investor-friendly reforms (on top of the many South Africa has already had) will serve the common good is treated as a given needing no proof; as if it were a joke that had already been told; as if those who did not understand the joke and did not know when to laugh, or did not know whether to laugh or cry, were not so much mistaken as left out of the conversation, deprived of voice.
→ read full articleFailures of Militarism in Countering Mega-Terrorism
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
27 Aug 2016 – A critique of the American response that is based on a ‘war’ rather than a law enforcement paradigm. An argument is then made to adapt international law to new modalities of conflict while at the same time learning the right lessons from the repeated militarist failures of transnational counterterrorism.
→ read full articleStart with Worker Self-Directed Enterprises
Richard D. Wolff | The Next System Project – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
Richard Wolff describes a next economic system centered on worker-directed cooperatives. To transition to a non-capitalist system we must change the “who and the why of key economic decision making.” To do so he proposes changes at the “basic enterprise level” by “making workers their own bosses.”
→ read full articleArithmetic
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
Little Billy returns home from school and says he got an F in arithmetic.
→ read full articleThe Sky above Turkey
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
23 Aug 2016 – It seems so important at this time for the sake of the future of Turkey that the West look at the country and its political circumstances in a far more balanced way than how the situation has been portrayed since the coup. How to explain this imbalance is another matter that should be explored at some point, but for now is largely put aside.
→ read full articleIndividual and Human Rights
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Aug 2016
Take a cue from the days when Jesus could say “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” In those days money belonged to sovereigns and sovereigns used their financial privileges to defray their expenses, mainly the expenses of waging wars. Now banks and other financial institutions have privileges that the sovereign people should have and should use to make social rights real rights.
→ read full articleHuman Rights after the Failed Coup in Turkey
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Aug 2016
It is probably wise to separate human rights concerns from an appraisal of Turkish constitutional democracy. It is quite possible that present tendencies toward a more inclusive democracy will continue, and at the same time, denials of human rights are almost certain to persist, and justify scrutiny and vigilance.
→ read full articleBeyond Jewish Identity: Exceptionalism Revisited
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Aug 2016
20 Aug 2016 – The problem with Jewish identity is Jewish identity! By this I mean, the hegemonic forms of Jewish exceptionalism to which most Jews are enthralled, including a provocative insistence on willed disaffiliation in a few rate instances… Instead of Jewish exceptionalism (or American exceptionalism) the call of this bio-political moment is for species exceptionalism.
→ read full article‘Dreaming of Freedom:’ Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
8 Aug 2016 – This is a collection of reflections by child prisoners in their own words, edited by Norma Hisham. It is a successor to her earlier volume of Palestinian prison recollections. I post below some blurbs that convey the importance of Dreaming of Freedom and the text of my Foreword. As much as anything I have read, these texts convey the reality of the experience of all Palestinians living under occupation or as exiles or as a subjugated minority.
→ read full articleWill Russia Reject Neoliberalism?
Paul Craig Roberts and Michael Hudson – CounterPunch,
15 Aug 2016
Paul Craig Roberts and Michael Hudson explain why hooking Russia’s fate to Western neoliberalism would doom the country’s sovereignty.
→ read full articleMusicians
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
Ben Zanders, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, led an audience of 1000 at a conference…
→ read full article(Castellano) Intento de Golpe de Estado en Turquía, Nueva Constitución en Chile
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
¿Qué es lo que es la democracia? Según el realismo critico la palabra “democracia” –y cualquier otra palabra—es una herramienta de acción social. Hablar es actuar. Esgrimir la palabra “democracia” es una acción. Debe ser una acción responsable. Sucesos actuales en Turquía y en Chile subrayan la importancia práctica de esta perspectiva teórica.
→ read full articleAftermath of Political Ruptures: Iran, Egypt, Turkey
Richard Falk | Social Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
12 Aug 2016 – This post offers a commentary of recent dramatic developments within Turkey and the largely critical international media and diplomatic responses. It compares international reactions to political ruptures in Iran (1979) and Egypt (2011, 2013), and encourages greater public attention to the importance attached by the Turkish citizenry to the defeat of the coup attempt and more sympathy with the kind of political leadership provided by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since the coup attempt of July 15th.
→ read full articleContext Matters: Turkey after the Failed Coup
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Aug 2016
Part of the prescribed contextualization, given Turkish realities, is to avoid premature international appraisals, admit underlying uncertainties, and allow enough imaginative space to enable a hopeful future for Turkey.
→ read full article
Beat It – Solo Guitar Arrangement (Music Video of the Week)
Michael Jackson | Miguel Rivera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Aug 2016
I decided to start working on this arrangement because it was a great challenge. When you listen to the chorus of the original song, you can hear the main riff sounding together with the Michael’s vocal melody and, of course, drums, bass and other instruments. My objective was to play all of these parts together.
→ read full articleGrowing Justice: Transcending the Oppressive History of Our Food System
Michelle Stearn | The Next System Project – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
Transforming our system into one rooted in provision means more than just creating new organizations that aim to do well for the community; it will require that we rewrite the beliefs, exchanges, and rules of our own interactions.
→ read full articleClimate Change Activism: A Post-Mortem
John Michael Greer | The Archdruid Report – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
It’s not inappropriate to ask what happened to all the apparent political momentum the climate change movement had ten or fifteen years ago, and why a movement so apparently well organized, well funded, and backed by so large a scientific consensus failed so completely. In my experience, at least, if you raise this question among climate change activists, the answer you’ll get is that there was a well-funded campaign that deployed disinformation against them. So?
→ read full articleTrump vs. Clinton vs. Sanders: The Blind Leading the Blind Leading the Blind
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
My thesis is that the proposals put forward by Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders offer no solutions to the fiscal crisis of the state, and partly for this reason do not and cannot promise social integration. I am not complaining. I am just trying to do my part as a philosopher to help generate better ideas, ideas that will work.
→ read full articleNever Thought of That…
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
Gee!
→ read full articleIs Genocide a Controversial International Crime?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
Why ‘Genocide’ is still a Controversial Crime? In this strikingly original, strange, and brilliant book, Philippe Sands raises a haunting question among a tangle of other intriguing issues discussed throughout East-West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity (New York: Knopf, 2016).
→ read full articleHow the United States Government Obstructs Peace for Palestine/Israel
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jul 2016
The United States Government has not only taken Israel’s side in diplomatic negotiation between Israel and Palestine, but has actively opposed all moves toward the establishment of an independent sovereign state for the Palestinian people (meaning that the American endorsement of the two-state mantra as the consensus formula for peace was a deliberate official lie).
→ read full articleNarrating Turkey at a Time of National Crisis
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jul 2016
In times of tension, it is particularly important for the defense of what is good and identification of what would worsen the status quo, to strive for balanced assessments, always hoping for the best, while trying to identify and oppose any and all steps toward coercive authoritarianism. I have had the same reaction to conversations in the United States with friends who deem the country to have become ‘fascist.’
→ read full articleA Farmer and His Horse
Prof. Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jul 2016
How a Seemingly Bad Luck Can Turn Out to Be a Good Luck
→ read full articleThe Nice Terror Attack: Mind at the End of Its Tether
Howard Richards – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
Nice is an opportunity to work on learning what we should be trying to learn anyway: how to live in peace with one another. As Baruch Spinoza pointed out in 1677 –and it was already old news then—anybody can kill anybody. Nice dramatizes the fact that peace through law enforcement is not feasible. Anybody can kill people with a truck, and there is no way to deploy police everywhere to stop that from happening. Peace is a table with four legs: justice, justice, justice, and justice.
→ read full articleAn Unlikely AMEXIT: Pivoting Away from the Middle East
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
Unfortunately, for America and the peoples throughout the Middle East the US seems incapable of extricating itself from yet another geopolitical quagmire that is partly responsible for generating extra-regional terrorism of the sort that has afflicted Europe in the last two years.
→ read full articleHeaven and Hell
Prof. Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
St. Peter showed a visitor heaven and hell.
→ read full articleSmearing BDS Supporters
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jul 2016
The misappropriation of anti-Semitism as a propaganda weapon to smear pro-Palestinian activists, especially those supportive of the BDS Campaign. Also the issues of representation by explaining the formal differences between the PLO and PA, which do not seem presently consequential in my understanding.
→ read full article