Articles by ICH
We found 2477 results.
Boycott by Academic Group Is a Symbolic Sting to Israel
Richard Pérez-Peña and Jodi Rudoren – The New York Times,
23 Dec 2013
An American organization of professors on Monday [16 Dec 2013] announced a boycott of Israeli academic institutions to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, signaling that a movement to isolate and pressure Israel that is gaining ground in Europe has begun to make strides in the United States.
→ read full articleTimothy Leary’s Liberation, and the CIA’s Experiments! LSD’s Amazing, Psychedelic History
Richard J. Miller - Salon,
16 Dec 2013
The U.S. psychedelic drug scene was kickstarted by spies and spooks, just as much as Timothy Leary and Jerry Garcia.
→ read full articleIs NATO’s Trojan Horse Riding Toward the ‘Ukraine Spring’?
Dennis Kucinich - Reader Supported News,
16 Dec 2013
While the draft of the EU “Association Agreement” is being sold as an economic boon for Ukrainian citizens, it is a massive expansion of NATO’s military position in the region. Naomi Klein’s Disaster Militarism. Ukrainians may be pro-EU, but are the EU and NATO pro-Ukrainian?
→ read full articleOfficials Say U.S. May Never Know Extent of Snowden’s Leaks
Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt – The New York Times,
16 Dec 2013
A senior N.S.A. official has told reporters that he believed Mr. Snowden still had access to documents not yet disclosed. The official, Rick Ledgett, who is heading the security agency’s task force examining the leak, said he would consider recommending amnesty for Mr. Snowden in exchange for those documents.
→ read full articleNot Too Bad
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Dec 2013
An elderly man went to the doctor for his annual checkup.
→ read full articleEscaping the Abusive State: After Snowden
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
We can and must do better, above all as citizens engaged in the protection of the sort of society we wish to live in; without civic activism of a militant character we can wave goodbye to the promise of genuine democracy.
→ read full articleNelson Mandela’s Inspiration
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
Fifteen years ago I had the extraordinary pleasure of meeting Nelson Mandela in Cape Town while he was serving as President of South Africa. His journey, like that of Gandhi, was not without its major disappointments.
→ read full articleLaziness
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
A foreman at a construction site told a new worker, “Your two colleagues carry two buckets of cement at a time…
→ read full articleIndia Creates Organic Seed Bank in Response to GMO Suicide Seeds, Farmer Debt
Christina Sarich – Nation of Change,
9 Dec 2013
Across 17 states in India there are a group of organic seed-collecting activists who have decided to take Monsanto and other Big Ag and chemical companies down in this interminable fight the old-fashioned way – by beating them at their own game.
→ read full articleTribunal Issues Landmark Verdict against Israel for Genocide
Yoichi Shimatsu - Global Research,
9 Dec 2013
1 Dec 2013 – The landmark ruling against Israel for its genocide against the Palestinian people rendered by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal is significant for several reasons.
→ read full articleHere Is Why Deconstructing Zionism Is Important
Michael Marder – Al Jazeera,
9 Dec 2013
First, the biggest threat to the wellbeing and security of Israeli Jews (and, often, by implication of Jews who live elsewhere in the world and are assumed to be the supporters of Israeli policies) is neither Iran nor Syria; it is the State of Israel itself.
→ read full articleGaza: The Unfolding Humanitarian Catastrophe
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Servivce,
2 Dec 2013
Sadly – how sadly – the Palestinian Authority and the quisling Fateh are in lockstep, fellow travelers with this miasma of shame and inhumanity. Hamas and Fateh must overcome the USraeli “divide and rule” tactics and link arms as a solid force of resistance to the illegal occupation of their homeland. Today, that must be the number one priority!
→ read full articleClashing Views of Political Reality: Chomsky versus Dershowitz
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
The book is much more than a comparison of two influential voices, one critical the other apologetic, with respect to the Israel/Palestine struggle and the subordination of private liberties to the purveyors of state-led security at home and abroad.
→ read full articleLeakers, Privacy Activists Find New Home in Berlin
Michael Birnbaum – The Washington Post,
2 Dec 2013
During the Cold War, Berlin was one of the most spy-ridden cities in the world. An international cadre of privacy advocates is settling in Germany’s once-divided capital, saying they feel safer here than they do in the United States or Britain, where authorities have vowed to prosecute leakers of official secrets.
→ read full articleGotcha!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Dec 2013
One evening, a husband brings his wife a glass of water and an aspirin.
→ read full articleGeneva 3 Talks: Iran Nuclear Negotiations 4 Dummies
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
The third round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 is well under way in Geneva. They present a unique opportunity – not for the United States, but for the revival of international law and treaties – and the rejection if imperialism. Let us hope that the opportunity is not plundered.
→ read full articleThe Truth
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Young Son: “Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of India and Middle East…”
→ read full articleSleepwalking to Extinction: Capitalism and the Destruction of Life and Earth
Richard Smith, Adbusters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Nov 2013
Capitalism is, overwhelmingly, the main driver of planetary ecological collapse. Economic systems come and go. Capitalism has had a 300 year run. The question is: will humanity stand by and let the world be destroyed to save the profit system?
→ read full articleTwo Forms of Lethal Polarization: Egypt and Turkey
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Nov 2013
I am arguing that these instances of polarization amount to a deadly virus that attacks the body politic in countries with weak constitutional traditions, especially if such societies are beset by economic disappointment and significant regional and global hostility due to ideological and political tensions.
→ read full articlePrecision
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Nov 2013
Three boys went into a drug store.
→ read full articleSweden Closes Four Prisons as Number of Inmates Plummets
Richard Orange – The Guardian,
18 Nov 2013
Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences.
→ read full articleHuman Rights Advocate: Censor Them!
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
On November 4th, Iranian lawyer and the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate [Shirin Ebadi] announced that the United States and Europe should ban Iran from using broadcast satellites. Censor them, is what this ‘human rights’ advocate is suggesting. Shocking as this is, given Ebadi’s track record, the call for censorship comes as no surprise. She is, after all, a former judge.
→ read full articleIf…
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and Napoleon met in hell.
→ read full articleThe Great Austerity Shell Game: Here’s How the Capitalist Scam Works
Prof. Richard Wolff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Nov 2013
When capitalist economies crash, most capitalists request – and governments provide – credit market bailouts and economic stimuli. However, corporations and the rich oppose new taxes ‘on them’ to pay for stimulus and bailout programs. They insist, instead, that governments should ‘borrow’ the necessary funds. Since 2007, capitalist governments everywhere borrowed massively for those costly programs.
→ read full articleIreland: Israeli Products Marked with Yellow Sticker
Itamar Eichner - Ynetnews,
11 Nov 2013
Sources in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that the phenomenon is severe and it is not by chance that the BDS organization chose to express its protest with a yellow sticker – which is reminiscent of dark days of racism and incitement.
→ read full articleInvisible Horizons of a Just Palestine/Israel Future
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
4 Nov 2013 – I spent last week at the United Nations, meeting with ambassadors of countries in the Middle East and presenting my final report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly as my term as Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine comes to an end.
→ read full articleTexas Club Auctions Right to Hunt Endangered Rhino: Killing It to Save It
Michael Graczyk, AP – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Plans to auction a rare permit that will allow a hunter to take down an endangered black rhino are drawing criticism from some conservationists, but the organizer says the fundraiser could bring in more than $1 million that would go toward protecting the species.
→ read full articleDavid Cameron Makes Veiled Threat to Media over NSA and GCHQ Leaks
Nicholas Watt – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
David Cameron has called on the Guardian and other newspapers to show “social responsibility” in the reporting of the leaked NSA files to avoid high court injunctions or the use of D notices to prevent the publication of information that could damage national security.
→ read full article
Ave Maria – Schubert Classical Guitar (Music Video of the Week)
Michael Lucarelli – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
Michael Lucarelli plays Franz Schuberts’s Ave Maria on classical guitar.
Filmed at the “Cathedral of the Madeleine” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
US Political Dysfunction and Capitalism’s Withdrawal
Richard D. Wolff – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Nov 2013
The classic problems of early, rapid capitalist industrialization are obvious daily in the new centers. What we learn about early capitalism when we read Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Maxim Gorky and Jack London, we see now again in the new centers.
→ read full articleMalala and Eartha Kitt: Words that Matter
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
I connect Malala and Eartha Kitt in my mind because both seized the moment to speak truth to power, probably sensing that it meant they would never be invited back [to the White House], and for Eartha Kitt it was worse than that. It seems almost certain that neither of these fearless women would have been invited in the first place if their intentions to speak out had been known in advance.
→ read full articleLearning from Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge
R. Teichmann – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
To Change Society a Cultural Revolution in Activism Is Needed
→ read full articleReport of SR on Occupied Palestine to UNGA, 29 Oct 2013
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
In the present report, while noting the continuing non-cooperation of Israel, the Special Rapporteur addresses Israel’s Operation “Pillar of Defense” and the general human rights situation in the Gaza Strip, as well as the expansion of Israeli settlements – and businesses that profit from Israeli settlements and the situation of Palestinians detained by Israel.
→ read full articleUS Politics’ True Bipartisan Consensus: Capitalism Is Untouchable
Richard Wolff – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Democrats like moderate Keynesianism. Republicans favour free markets unfettered. The crisis-ridden system is never challenged. The economic aim of both major US political parties is, in the end, the same: to protect and reinforce the capitalist system.
→ read full articleFukushima Fraud and Corruption: Japanese Organized Crime Involved in Recruitment of “Specialized Personnel”
Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
28 Oct 2013
The crisis in Japan has been described as “a nuclear war without a war”. In the words of renowned novelist Haruki Murakami: “This time no one dropped a bomb on us … We set the stage, we committed the crime with our own hands, we are destroying our own lands, and we are destroying our own lives.”
→ read full articleFactory Farming: The True Price of a Pork Chop
Susanne Amann, Michael Fröhlingsdorf and Udo Ludwig – Der Spiegel,
28 Oct 2013
Germany slaughters 58 million pigs a year and has built an efficient meat industry second only to the US in pork exports — but at a hidden cost to the environment and our health.
→ read full articleGood Time in the Movies
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Oct 2013
A young man told his girlfriend, “Tonight we will have a good time, I bought three movie tickets.”
→ read full articlePost-Intervention Libya: A Militia State
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
We can only wonder whether Libya as of 2013 is not better understood as a ‘militia state’ rather than a ‘failed state,’ which seems like an emerging pattern for societies that endure Western military intervention. The parallels of Libya with Iraq and Afghanistan are uncomfortably suggestive.
→ read full articleIsrael’s Politics of Fragmentation
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
If the politics of deflection exhibit the outward reach of Israel’s grand strategy of territorial expansionism and regional hegemony, the politics of fragmentation serves Israel’s inward moves designed to weaken Palestinian resistance, induce despair, and de facto surrender.
→ read full articleSmart Help
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Oct 2013
During a heavy rainstorm, you come with your car to a bus stop where three people are waiting:
→ read full articleWas it a Psyop? Nairobi Mall Deceit Abets Israeli-Western Pipeline Wars to Oust Asian Rivals
Yoichi Shimatsu - Global Research,
7 Oct 2013
The gratuitous violence and spectacular overkill by a mysterious gang of supposed “terrorists” does nothing to further the aims of either Somali nationalism or sharia law, as espoused by the original Al-Shabaab movement, which seeks the withdrawal of Kenya forces from Somalia.
→ read full articleThe Real North Korean Threat
Emanuel Pastreich – Foreign Policy in Focus,
7 Oct 2013
In North Korea, the threat of desertification should be raised to the same level as nuclear nonproliferation. I refer to the spread of deserts and semi-desert regions in North Korea as a result of the reckless logging of forests, the misuse of soil, and irresponsible farming practices. These ecological dead zones, where few plants can survive, are spreading.
→ read full articleThe Sarin Mysteries: Syria, Sarin, and Casus Belli
Michael Parenti – Information Clearing House,
7 Oct 2013
The “Syrian freedom fighters” include men who are not even Syrian. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ISIS, an Iraqi al Qaeda outfit operating in Syria, “has become a magnet for foreign jihadists” who view the war in Syria rather as a historic battleground for a larger Sunni holy war. According to Islamic prophecy they espouse, they must establish an Islamic state in Syria as a step to achieving a global one.”
→ read full articleCan Iran Trust the United States?
Sheldon Richman – The Future of Freedom Foundation,
7 Oct 2013
People ask whether the United States can trust Iran. The better question is whether Iran can trust the United States. Since 1979 the U.S. government has prosecuted a covert and proxy war against Iran. The objective has been regime change and installation of a government that will loyally serve U.S. state objectives.
→ read full articleSkills
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Oct 2013
The radio announcer Daniel Shorr was considering working in television early in his career and asked someone what it would take to be successful there.
→ read full articleHow Syria Brought the U.S. and Iran Together
Richard Javad Heydarian – Foreign Policy in Focus,
7 Oct 2013
This year’s UN General Assembly may well be remembered as the beginning of the end for Washington’s decades-long standoff with Tehran. And none of it would have been possible if the Obama administration had gone ahead with its plan to attack Syria.
→ read full articleIsrael’s Politics of Deflection
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Oct 2013
It seems clear that international law supports Palestinian claims on the major issues in contention: borders, refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, resources (water, land), statehood, and human rights. Then why not insist on resolving the conflict by reference to international law with such modifications as seem mutually beneficial?
→ read full articleCyprus-Style Wealth Confiscation Is Now Starting to Happen All Over the Globe
Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Now that “bail-ins” have become accepted practice all over the planet, no bank account and no pension fund will ever be 100% safe again. In fact, Cyprus-style wealth confiscation is already starting to happen all around the world. Examples:
→ read full articleSyria: UNSC Resolution 2118; What Just Happened?
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – Counter Currents,
30 Sep 2013
The provision to safeguard against future use of chemical weapons is not without its irony: “Underscores that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons.” In the face of solid indication to the contrary, the Assad government was held responsible for the chemical attacks that resulted in the passing of UNSC 2118 – exonerating the culprits. A new and dangerous precedent has been set amidst the sight of relief.
→ read full articleRight!
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Someone was looking at a farm with the whole family working the field and said,
→ read full articleThe Ghouta Chemical Attacks: US-Backed False Flag? Killing Syrian Children to Justify a “Humanitarian” Military Intervention
Julie Lévesque and Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
30 Sep 2013
To date, available evidence indicates that numerous children were killed by “opposition rebels”, their bodies manipulated and filmed with a view to blaming the Syrian government for the attacks, thus sparking outrage and galvanizing worldwide public opinion in favor of another bloody, imperial US-led war.
→ read full articleRecovery Hype: American Capitalism’s Weapon of Mass Distraction
Richard Wolff - The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
You don’t have to be a Marxist to see how the 1% tries to fool us that we too are sharing in their renewed wealth. But it helps. From President Obama on down, defenders of the status quo insist that the US economy has “recovered” or “is recovering”. Some actually see the world that way.
→ read full articleThe Westgate Mall Massacre: Reflections
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
The Westgate Mall Massacre: The Rage of Fanaticism – Imagine deciding on the life or death of any person, but particularly a child, by whether or not they could name the mother of Mohammed or recite a verse from the Koran. Of course, even fanatics have a certain logic of justification that makes their acts congruent with a warped morality.
→ read full articleThe Violence of Psalm 21
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Psalm 21 and the Human Predicament – If a religious text nurtures morally unacceptable impulses that are acted upon either consciously or sub-consciously in political domains, how can these adverse influences be repudiated without purporting to claim a hegemonic status for a secular reader?
→ read full articleTop 10 Unproven Claims for War against Syria
Dennis Kucinich – Huffington Post,
23 Sep 2013
Here are some key questions which President Obama has yet to answer in the call for congressional approval for war against Syria. This article is a call for independent thinking and congressional oversight, which rises above partisan considerations.
→ read full articleDentist Economics
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
Betty goes to a dentist and asks him how much it will cost to extract a wisdom tooth. “Eighty Euros,” the dentist says.
→ read full articleToo Big to Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever Before
Michael Snyder – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
The six largest banks in the United States have gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years. Meanwhile, 1,400 smaller banks have disappeared from the banking industry during that time. What this means is that the health of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley is more critical to the U.S. economy than ever before.
→ read full articleThe Myth of the “Free Market” and How to Make the Economy Work for Us
Robert Reich – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Sep 2013
One of the most deceptive ideas continuously sounded by the Right is that the “free market” is natural and inevitable, existing outside and beyond government. So whatever inequality or insecurity it generates is beyond our control.
→ read full articleHow the Syrian Chemical Weapons Videos Were Staged
James Corbett, Mother Agnes Mariam, and Prof Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research,
23 Sep 2013
In the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack, shocking footage of the victims of that attack were widely circulated in an effort to raise the ire of the public and spur support for military intervention. Now, a new report on that footage finds troubling inconsistencies and manipulation with the video that calls the official narrative of the attack and its victims into question.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Tamil National Alliance Wins Landslide Victory in First Local Elections since Civil War
Michael Edwards and wires – Australia Network News,
23 Sep 2013
Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party has secured 30 seats in the 38-member Northern Provincial Council. A coalition of parties representing president Mahinda Rajapaksa won seven seats, while a Muslim party won one.
→ read full articleGay Rights in Russia and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Michael Averko - Global Research,
23 Sep 2013
Since the enactment of Article 6.13.1, Russia has hosted two international sporting events (the World University Games and the IAAF World Championships), without any report of abuse against LGBT athletes or spectators. In comparison to these two sports events, the winter Olympics receives greater attention, thereby making it a more attractive event for advocacy promotion.
→ read full articleResolving the Syrian Chemical Weapons Crisis: Sunlight and Shadows
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Sep 2013
Not only did Vladimir Putin exhibit a new constructive role for Russia in 21st statecraft, spare Syria and the Middle East from another cycle of escalating violence, but he articulated this Kremlin initiative in the form of a direct appeal to the American people. For Putin to be so forthcoming, without being belligerent, was particularly impressive.
→ read full articleFairness
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Sep 2013
Two colleagues went to a restaurant and ordered fish. The waiter brought a plate with a bigger and a smaller fish.
→ read full articleSyria: Obama’s Surprising (and Confusing) Latest Moves
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Sep 2013
President Obama’s August 31[2013] remarks from the White House Rose Garden will long be remembered for their strangeness, but the final interpretation of their significance will have to await months if not years. There are three dimensions, at least, that are worth pondering.
→ read full articleThe Spreading Wings of Islamophobia in Egypt
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Sep 2013
The Orwellian features of the military takeover in Egypt have received attention, although the use of language to evade unwanted truth continues because incentives to do so persist. What, we might ask, is the el-Sisi concept of inclusiveness? At present, the only plausible answer is ‘my way or the highway.’
→ read full articleGlobalizing Homeland Security
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Aug 2013
It is not just one thing that should worry us about the authoritarian tendencies of the Obama presidency, but one thing after another. The cumulative effect of it all. The latest sign of the times was the August 19th detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner, at Heathrow Airport under the British anti-terrorist law for nine hours.
→ read full articleOn Bradley Manning & America
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Aug 2013
I am posting on this blog two important texts that deserve the widest public attention and deep reflection in the United States and elsewhere. I would stress the following:
→ read full articleEgypt: Extreme Polarization and Genocidal Politics
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Aug 2013
In these morbid days, there are some home truths that are worth reflecting upon. What Happened After Tahrir Square?
→ read full articleHorror of North Korean Prison Camps Exposed at U.N. Panel Hearing
Ju-min Park and Michelle Kim, Reuters – Townhall,
26 Aug 2013
Public executions and torture are daily occurrences in North Korea’s prisons, according to dramatic testimony from former inmates at a U.N. Commission of Inquiry that opened in South Korea’s capital on Tuesday [20 Aug 2013].
→ read full articleSnowden’s Post-Asylum Relevance
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Aug 2013
The Snowden issues remain important, and it is too soon to turn aside as if the only question was whether the U.S. Government would in the end, through guile and muscle, gain control of Snowden.
→ read full articleWhat If a Russian Snowden?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Aug 2013
‘Political Crimes’ Are Non-Extraditable and Snowden’s Transfer to the United States for Prosecution Would Have Been a Setback for Human Rights and International Law
→ read full articleWhen Polarization Becomes Worse than Authoritarianism Defer Democracy
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Aug 2013
We may be living at a historical moment when democracy as the government of choice gives rise to horrifying spectacles of violence and abuse. These difficulties with the practice of democracy are indirectly, and with a heavy dose of irony, legitimizing moderate forms of authoritarian government.
→ read full articleReviving the Israel-Palestine Negotiations: The Indyk Appointment
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Aug 2013
Appointing Martin Indyk as Special Envoy to the upcoming peace talks was to be expected. It was signaled in advance. And yet it is revealing and distressing.
→ read full articleHalliburton Admits Guilt in Gulf of Mexico Cover-Up
Richard Smallteacher - CorpWatch,
29 Jul 2013
Halliburton has admitted that it destroyed evidence after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. The company has agreed to pay a $200,000 fine, make a donation of $55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and accept three years of probation.
→ read full article
What Hiroshima & the Iraq War Have in Common
Prof. Michio Kaku – Russia Today,
29 Jul 2013
Oksana Boyko is joined by Dr Michio Kaku, a world-renowned theoretical physicist, author, thinker and visionary. The technological revolution of the 20th century has brought the world unprecedented prosperity as well as unimaginable horrors. Will science liberate humanity or shackle it like never before?
→ read full articleGeopolitical Winds Blow in China’s Direction
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Jul 2013
Among those who comment influentially from the sidelines of power, there are new trends visible in thinking about American foreign policy.
→ read full article(Português) Por Que a Indústria Farmacêutica Evita Curar
Richard J. Roberts, Nobel da Medicina – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Jul 2013
“As farmacêuticas bloqueiam medicamentos que curam, porque não são rentáveis”. O Prémio Nobel da Medicina Richard J. Roberts denuncia a forma como funcionam as grandes farmacêuticas dentro do sistema capitalista, preferindo os benefícios económicos à saúde, e detendo o progresso científico na cura de doenças, porque a cura não é tão rentável quanto a cronicidade.
→ read full articleGlobal Big Brother and the Snowden Hollywood Chase
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Jul 2013
We will miss the most crucial point of Snowden’s ‘crimes’ if we do not devote our attention to these fundamental political challenges directed at human security, democratic ways of life, and a pluralist world order. To be distracted by the circus of the Snowden chase any longer is to play along with a shameless geopolitical caper!
→ read full articleSyrians Fleeing War at Rate Not Seen Since Rwandan Genocide: U.N.
Michelle Nichols, Reuters – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Jul 2013
The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria has escalated to an average of 6,000 a day during 2013 – a rate not seen since the genocide in Rwanda nearly two decades ago, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday [16 Jul 2013].
→ read full article‘Football for All’: Dutch Stand Up for Gay Players’ Rights
Jörg Kramer and Michael Wulzinger – Der Spiegel,
15 Jul 2013
Next month, the Dutch national football team’s coach plans to take a stand for the rights of gay players at the Amsterdam Gay Pride parade. Activitists in Germany, where no professional players are out, hope their football officials will follow his lead.
→ read full articleMisreading the Snowden Affair
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jul 2013
So far in the Snowden Affair it is small Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, that have risked the ire of the United States by pursuing independent policies with respect to Snowden, and acting correctly from the perspective of law and morality.
→ read full articleWhen Privacy Jumped the Shark
Frank Rich – New York Magazine,
8 Jul 2013
Note to Edward Snowden and his worrywarts in the press: Spying is only spying when the subject doesn’t want to be watched. R.I.P. the contemplative America of Thoreau and of Melville; this is the America [world?] that puts a prize on networking, exhibitionism, fame, shopping, hooking up, seeking instant entertainment and information, and finding the fastest car route—not to mention being liked (or at least “liked”) and followed by as many friends (or “friends”) and strangers as possible, whether online or on basic cable.
→ read full articleProtecting Snowden
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jul 2013
What seems most dismaying about the Snowden affair is the prosecutorial zeal of the Obama presidency, supposedly liberal in its outlook on matters of personal freedom and the values of constitutional government. What Snowden has done is so clearly ‘a political crime,’ if it is a crime at all, and in recognition of this there has existed since the French Revolution been seen as inconsistent with the generally desirable policy of inter-governmental cooperation in the apprehension of suspected criminals.
→ read full articleBig Brother, Not Snowden and Greenwald, Is the Story
Sheldon Richman – The Future of Freedom Foundation,
1 Jul 2013
“Instead of being adversaries to government power … [the media of Washington, D.C., are] … servants to it and mouthpieces for it.” Snowden and Greenwald have not “aided the enemy” — unless the American people are the government’s enemy. What they have done is embarrass the Obama administration by exposing criminal activity.
→ read full articlePolitical Infernos: United States, Turkey, Egypt
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jul 2013
A New Political Inferno: Polarization of Immature Democracies – Most importantly, some forces of opposition despair of ever succeeding by democratic procedures, while others pin their hopes on the next election, or the one after that.
→ read full articleOccupy Movements Around the World: How Is Brazil’s Different?
Gianpaolo Baiocchi and Michael D. Kennedy - HuffPost,
1 Jul 2013
Spain’s Indignados. Egypt’s Tahrir Square. The U.S.’ Occupy Wall Street. Now, Turkey’s Occupy Gezi and Brazil’s own distinctive movement. “Horizontalist” movements like these, which emphasize direct democracy and collective decision making over specific parties, transcend the political spectrum.
→ read full articleSyria: The “Western Faces” Behind the Terror
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich – Global Research,
1 Jul 2013
Perpetuating Adversaries to Kill Each Other Is a Time-Tested Tactic – As former Israeli Intelligence Chief Amos Yaldin told the Israel Policy Forum in February 2013: “And this military [Syrian], which is a huge threat to Israel, is now also weakening, disintegrating. We still have a risk of [Syria] becoming an Al-Qaida country, a Somalia-type country — but from military point of view this is less dangerous than the Syrian regular army.”
→ read full articleThe Whistleblower’s Guide to the Orwellian Galaxy: How to Leak to the Press
Nicholas Weaver, Wired – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Jun 2013
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article ran in Wired Opinion last month (“Hear Ye, Future Deep Throats: This Is How to Leak to the Press”). It has been updated given recent events and reflects the author’s new findings about government recording of mail.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden and Whistleblowers: ‘The Truth Sets You Free’
Interviews by Leo Benedictus, Leo Hickman and Richard Norton-Taylor – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
Edward Snowden’s leaks about the NSA’s electronic surveillance make him one of the most damaging whistleblowers in history. But what drives loyal employees to reveal the truth? And how do they live with the backlash?
→ read full articleSpecial Rapporteur’s Report on Occupied Palestine, 10 June 2013
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Jun 2013
What follows below is the text of the report presented on 10 June 2013 to the Human Rights Council. It offers an overview of the situation from the perspective of human rights and international humanitarian law in occupied Palestine. Both Israel and the United States boycotted the session, presumably to express their displeasure with the report and my role as Special Rapporteur.
→ read full articleGaza: 7th Year of Unlawful Blockade (UN HRC SR Press Release)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Jun 2013
I am posting a press release of yesterday, 14 June 2013, to take note of the start of the seventh year of the Israeli blockade. After the Mavi Marmara incident, 31 May 2010 and the more recent November ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Gaza government there was an undertaking to ease the blockade with respect to the flow back and forth of people and goods, but the situation remains desperate for the civilian population of Gaza.
→ read full articleWhose ‘Two State’ Solution? End Game or Intermission?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Jun 2013
In pondering this dismal landscape of peace talk without peace, one wonders what became of ‘the roadmap’ and ‘the Quartet.’ It may be a small blessing that their irrelevance is being tacitly acknowledged. These creations never seemed more than a thin and deceitful veil thrown over a one sided American control over Israel/Palestine diplomacy.
→ read full articleAncient Gay History
Frank Rich – New York Magazine,
10 Jun 2013
… is really just yesterday. My surrogate parent Clayton Coots was one of countless closeted men who didn’t live long enough to see this moment.
→ read full articleNew World Order Secrecy: Who Will Be Attending the Bilderberg Meeting? What Will Be Discussed Behind Closed Doors?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky – Global Reseach,
10 Jun 2013
It is An Anglo-Western European-North American Venue with participants from 21 Western countries (i.e Western Europe, US and Canada). With the exception of British born Polish Minister of Finance, Jacek Rostowski, there are no participants from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East (with the exception of Turkey). There are 14 women out of 140 participants.
→ read full articleHere’s How We Built a Movie Theater for the People – And Why the MPAA Says It’s #1 in the World
Michael Moore – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Jun 2013
Listed as #1 is the historic State Theatre of Traverse City, Michigan, an incredible movie palace which I restored and now run as a nonprofit theater – along with a few hundred great volunteers!
→ read full articleFormer Drone Operator Says He’s Haunted by His Part in More Than 1,600 Deaths
Richard Engel - NBC News,
10 Jun 2013
Former drone operator Brandon Bryant says he felt like he became a “heartless” “sociopath” under the drone program. He remembers watching one of the first victims bleed to death and coming to work, seeing pictures of targeted individuals on the wall and musing, “Which one of these f_____s is going to die today?”
→ read full articleHow Democratic Is Turkey?
Steven A. Cook, Michael Koplow – Foreign Policy,
10 Jun 2013
Not as Democratic as Washington Thinks It Is – The ferocity of the protests and police response in Istanbul’s Gezi Park is no doubt a surprise to many in Washington. Turkey, that “excellent model” or “model partner,” repeated ad nauseum, misrepresents the complex and often contradictory political processes underway in Turkey.
→ read full articleResponding to the Syrian Challenge
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Jun 2013
My essential argument is that until the parties engaged in hostilities on both sides recognize their inability to achieve a political victory by way of the battlefield, and external actors acquiesce in this recognition, there can only take place an unproductive and wrongheaded coercive diplomacy of partisanship, supporting the claims of the anti-Assad side.
→ read full articleNoam Chomsky — ‘Everyday Anarchist’
Michael S. Wilson, Modern Success – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Jun 2013
The Modern Success Interview – If workers are more insecure, they won’t do things, like asking for better wages and better benefits. And that’s healthy for the economy from a certain point of view, a point of view that says workers ought to be oppressed and controlled, and that wealth ought to be concentrated in a very few pockets.
→ read full articleEnding Perpetual War? Endorsing Drone Warfare?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Jun 2013
That President Obama chose on 23 May [2013] to unveil his second term cautionary approach to counter-terrorism at the National Defense University epitomized the ambiguity of the occasion. The choice of venue was itself a virtual guarantee that nothing would be said or done on that occasion that challenges in any fundamental way the global projection of American military power.
→ read full article