Articles by RD
We found 3495 results.
Why Would Bigots Attack a Jewish-Arab School in Israel That Teaches Tolerance and Mutual Respect?
Neve Gordon and Catherine Rottenberg – The Nation,
16 Jun 2014
This latest evidence of hatred is an alarming reminder of how a wonderful educational project continues to stand on precarious ground.
→ read full articleEmpire of Prisons
James P. Jordan – CounterPunch,
16 Jun 2014
How the United States Is Spreading Mass Incarceration around the World
→ read full articleThe Age of Climate Warfare Is Here. The Military-Industrial Complex Is Ready. Are You?
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
30 May 2014 – During his speech at West Point Military Academy earlier this week, President Barack Obama described climate change as a “creeping national security crisis” that will require the armed forces to “respond to refugee flows, natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food.”
→ read full articleFour Ways Edward Snowden Changed the World – And Why the Fight’s Not Over
Trevor Timm – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
Encrypted Gmail. Transparency from mobile providers. Maybe even a legal ‘revolt’ against ‘Orwellian’ surveillance. But until we get real reform, NSA and Co may survive in the shadows.
→ read full articleWho’s in Control – Nation States or Global Corporations?
Gary Younge – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
The limited ability of national governments to pursue any agenda that has not first been endorsed by international capital and its proxies is no longer simply the cross they have to bear; it is the cross to which we have all been nailed. The nation state is the primary democratic entity that remains. But given the scale of neoliberal globalisation it is clearly no longer up to that task. Minorities are blamed but the real culprit is Neoliberalism.
→ read full articleObama’s Legacy: “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff”
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jun 2014
Cautioning against militarism at West Point President on May 22nd Obama in a speech mostly notable for its reassertion of what might be best understood as imperial nationalism of global scope declared the following:
→ read full articleSolidarity Economies: A Guerrilla War against Capitalism
Beverly Bell and Jessica Hsu – Toward Freedom,
9 Jun 2014
[As Eduardo] Galeano, the Uruguayan writer, said: “Utopia lies at the horizon. When I draw nearer by two steps, it retreats two steps. If I proceed ten steps forward, it swiftly slips ten steps ahead. No matter how far I go, I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of utopia? It is to cause us to advance.”
→ read full articleA Message From Edward Snowden, One Year Later
Edward Snowden – American Civil Liberties Union,
9 Jun 2014
4 Jun 2014 – Below is an email ACLU supporters received from Edward Snowden this morning, one year to the day since The Guardian broke the first in a series of revelations exposing the breathtaking scope of U.S. government surveillance.
→ read full articleGreece – SS Songs and Antisemitism: The Week Golden Dawn Turned Openly Nazi
Helena Smith – The Guardian,
9 Jun 2014
7 Jun 2014 – Supporters of the far-right party gave Hitler salutes and sang the Horst Wessel song outside parliament last week. How Golden Dawn has taken on a sinister new tone.
→ read full articleProsecuting Syrians for War Crimes Now
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Jun 2014
Is justice served when the authority of the ICC is invoked as a political instrument to influence the outcome of a civil war? Why was there never any initiative to pursue leaders of the United States and the United Kingdom during the course of the Iraq War, which also included many incidents that seemed to qualify as crimes against humanity? Double standards?
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: Breaking Law Was Only Option, Says Whistleblower
Tom McCarthy – The Guardian,
2 Jun 2014
One year after revealing himself as the source of the biggest intelligence leak in US history, Edward Snowden appeared in a long network television interview on Wednesday [28 May 2013] to describe himself as an American patriot and to make the case that his disclosures were motivated by a desire to help the country.
→ read full article(Português) Boff: “Piketty Está Certo, Democracia e Capitalismo Não Convivem”
Leonardo Boff - Brasil de Fato,
2 Jun 2014
Para o teólogo Leonardo Boff, obra do economista francês Thomas Piketty acerta quando diz que “a desigualdade não é acidental, mas o traço característico do capitalismo”.
→ read full articlePope Francis Visit to Palestine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jun 2014
Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land raises one overwhelming question: ‘what is the nature of religious power in our world of the 21st century?’ ‘Can it have transformative effects’?
→ read full articleHomophobia Is Deep-Rooted, Rife – And Ultimately Doomed
Owen Jones – The Guardian,
2 Jun 2014
The more conservative the man, the stronger the impulse to wash away gay contact – which is a menace to their identity. A society free of sexism and homophobia won’t just emancipate women and gay men: it will free straight men, too.
→ read full articleFukushima Daiichi Begins Pumping Groundwater into Pacific
Justin McCurry – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
21 May 2014 – The operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has started pumping groundwater into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to manage the large volume of contaminated water at the site. Tokyo Electric Power said it had released 560 tonnes of groundwater pumped from 12 wells located upstream from the damaged reactors.
→ read full articleThe Pentagon Report on Snowden’s ‘Grave’ Threat Is Gravely Overblown
Julian Sanchez – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
NSA defenders still won’t tell the whole truth, but a newly revealed damage assessment offers a window into government damage control – not any actual damage done by Snowden.
→ read full article10 Reasons to Go Vegan That Have Nothing to Do with Animal Rights
Lindsay McDougall – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
Do you want to go meat free but are sick of the animal rights crowd? Can’t remember a single stat about sustainable land use? Then try these alternative reasons (excuses) on for size.
→ read full articleVirus Experiments Risk Unleashing Global Pandemic, Study Warns
Ian Sample – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
Several groups of scientists around the world are creating and altering viruses. But in a report published on Tuesday [20 May 2014], researchers at Harvard and Yale universities argue that the benefits of the work are outweighed by the risk of pathogenic strains escaping from laboratories and spreading around the world.
→ read full articleFirst Dog on the Moon on … surveillance, everywhere
First Dog on the Moon – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
Think the NSA doesn’t know you are reading this cartoon, right now? Think again.
→ read full articleKidnapped Girls Become Tools of U.S. Imperial Policy in Africa
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 May 2014
The “humanitarian” U.S. military occupation of Africa has been very successful, thus far. Imagine: the superpower that financed the genocide of six million in Congo, claims to be a defender of teenage girls and human rights on the continent.
→ read full article[Grotesquely Pornographic] Sunday Times Rich List: “Astonishing Year” for Britain’s Most Wealthy
Jordan Shilton, WSWS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 May 2014
The headline on May 18 [2014] was that the number of billionaires in Britain had surpassed 100 for the first time. With a total of 104 billionaires, Britain has witnessed the emergence of more than 20 new billionaires over the past year and has the highest concentration of billionaires of any country.
→ read full articleSecrets, Lies and Snowden’s Email: Why I Was Forced to Shut Down Lavabit
Ladar Levison – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
For the first time, the founder of an encrypted email startup that was supposed to insure privacy for all reveals how the FBI and the US legal system made sure we don’t have the right to much privacy in the first place.
→ read full articleThe Truth about “Traditional” Japanese Whaling
Paul Watson – Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,
26 May 2014
Japan argues that whaling is a cultural tradition practiced by the Japanese for centuries and believe they have an inherent right to continue this tradition. But how traditional is it? There is no racial or cultural justification for slaughter. None. Especially for a practise that is not, and has never been, a tradition.
→ read full article[An Antithesis of Peace Journalism]: 1,000 Days of Syria – Turning War Journalism into a Game
Simon Parkin – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
How an American journalist is attempting to tell the story of Syria’s violence through an online adventure game. Swenson describes 1,000 Days of Syria, which is freely available to play on the internet, as “part electric literature; part newscast; and part choose-your-own-adventure.”
→ read full articleOn Citizenship in the 21st Century
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 May 2014
Reading Robert Paehlke’s carefully crafted essay on global citizenship provides the occasion both for an appreciation of his approach and some doubts about its degree of responsiveness to the urgencies of the present or more specifically its adequacy in relation to the call for ‘transformative vision and praxis’ that lies at the heart of the ‘Great Transition Initiative.’
→ read full articlePentagon Report: Scope of Intelligence Compromised by Snowden ‘Staggering’
Jason Leopold – The Guardian,
26 May 2014
The Guardian has obtained a copy of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s classified damage assessment in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against the Defense Department earlier this year.
→ read full articleGlenn Greenwald: How the NSA Tampers with US-Made Internet Routers
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
19 May 2014
The NSA has been covertly implanting interception tools in US servers heading overseas – even though the US government has warned against using Chinese technology for the same reasons, says Glenn Greenwald, in an extract from his new book about the Snowden affair, No Place to Hide.
→ read full articleHow Thailand Is Contributing to the Misery of Burma’s Persecuted Rohingya
Editorial Board – The Washington Post,
19 May 2014
This is a sad case of Thailand’s navy attempting to extinguish reporting rather than the misery that the reporting exposed. It is wrong to punish the journalists. But this misguided attempt at coercion is doubly wrong because it attempts to hide the shameful treatment of a people, the Rohingya, who are already suffering far too much.
→ read full articleEU Court Backs ‘Right to Be Forgotten’: Google Must Amend Results on Request
Alan Travis and Charles Arthur – The Guardian,
19 May 2014
Individuals have right to control their data and can ask search engines to remove results, says European court.
→ read full articleGlobal Warming: It’s a Point of No Return in West Antarctica. What Happens Next?
Eric Rignot – The Guardian,
19 May 2014
Last week [12 May 2014] saw a ‘holy shit’ moment in climate change science. A landmark report revealed that the collapse of a large part of Antarctica is now unstoppable.
→ read full article12 Shocking Facts about the Dangers of Psychiatric Drugs
Dr. Edward F. Group, Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 May 2014
The disorders range from depression and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) to bipolar and anxiety disorders. The sordid story behind how these medications work, how they come to market, and how they interfere with the lives of users is a complicated web.
→ read full articleQatar Promises to Reform Labour Laws after Outcry over ‘World Cup Slaves’
Ian Black, Owen Gibson and Robert Booth – The Guardian,
19 May 2014
Officials said they would replace the country’s “kafala” sponsorship system, which tethers workers to a single employer, who can therefore treat his workforce with impunity, pending the approval of a draft law.
→ read full articleMichael Sam Is First Openly Gay NFL Player as St Louis Rams Draft Pick
Martin Pengelly – The Guardian,
12 May 2014
Michael Sam, the college defensive end who made headlines earlier this year by coming out, is set to become the first openly gay player to play in the National Football League. Sam was picked in Saturday’s [10 May 2014] final round of the NFL Draft, by the St Louis Rams.
→ read full articleDanger of Drones Highlighted by Near Collision with Airliner in Florida
Associated Press – The Guardian,
12 May 2014
Jim Williams of the Federal Aviation Administration’s unmanned aircraft systems office acknowledged the incident on Thursday [8 May 2014, citing it as an example of the risks posed by drones.
→ read full article(Português) As revelações de O Capital no Século XXI
Paul Mason, The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
Sucesso internacional, livro de Thomas Piketty expõe engrenagens que produzem desigualdade e pobreza, sugere alternativas e desafia: elites aceitarão debatê-las?
→ read full articleCitizens versus Subjects in a Democratic Society: The American Case
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
In my understanding silence is passivity as a way of being. Silence can be much more than the avoidance of speech and utterance, and is most poignantly expressed through evasions of body, heart, and soul.
→ read full articleAntivirus Software Is Dead, Says Security Expert at Symantec
Samuel Gibbs – The Guardian,
12 May 2014
Information chief at Norton developer says software in general misses 55% of attacks and its future lies in responding to hacks.
→ read full articleKagame: Murderer of Millions in Congo and Rwanda
Glen Ford – Black Agenda Report,
12 May 2014
Notables from around the globe pay homage to Rwandan President Paul Kagame as if he were the savior of Africa. “For 20 years, Kagame has posed as the soldier who stopped the Rwandan genocide, when all evidence and logic point to him as the main perpetrator of the crime.”
→ read full articleEdward Snowden and Laura Poitras Take on America’s Runaway Surveillance State
Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras – The Nation,
12 May 2014
On April 30 [2014], in a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, the Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation awarded their annual Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and filmmaker Laura Poitras.
→ read full articleArmenian Grievances, Turkey, United States and 1915 (I)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
The Turkish government has reiterated its offer to establish a joint commission composed of Armenian, Turkish and international historians to establish an authoritative narrative. The idea that core concern is ‘historical’ misses a main point that such a traumatic series of events need to be interpreted from multiple perspectives, including that of international criminal law.
→ read full article‘Genocide’ in 1915: Law, Language, and Politics (II)
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
I am arguing that the historical argument should be put to rest, and that the issues that need to be resolved relate to the legal questions surrounding the applicability of genocide, as well as the related semiotic and political questions associated what be called ‘the politics of genocide.’
→ read full article(Castellano) Como a Obama, hay que pedirle cuentas a Vladimir Putin en materia de espionaje
Edward Snowden – Freedom of the Press Foundation,
5 May 2014
El jueves pasado [10 de abril 2014] cuestioné en directo en televisión la implicación de Rusia en el espionaje masivo. Le hice al presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, una pregunta que no puede responder negativamente de un modo creíble ningún líder que dirija un programa moderno e intrusivo de vigilancia: “¿Intercepta [su país], analiza o almacena las comunicaciones de millones de individuos?”
→ read full articlePalestine: Why the Peace Talks Collapsed—And Should Not Be Resumed
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 May 2014
It is important that world public opinion reject as meaningless the diplomatic charade of peace talks while the fate of a people continues to be daily sacrificed on the altar of geopolitics.
→ read full articleIt’s Not Russia That’s Pushed Ukraine to the Brink of War
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
5 May 2014
The attempt to lever Kiev into the western camp by ousting an elected leader made conflict certain. It could be a threat to us all.
→ read full articleThe New Interventionists: Civil Society Activists
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Apr 2014
Debates about intervention are inevitable in an interdependent world order in which ideals of territorial sovereignty clash with the interests and values of hegemonic political actors. There are no either/or solution for the dilemmas posed. What seems preferable is a contextual assessment tempered by humility arising from the experience of past interventions.
→ read full articleA Vindication for the Public: The Guardian and Washington Post Win the Pulitzer Prize
Edward Snowden – Freedom of the Press Foundation,
28 Apr 2014
I am grateful to the committee for their recognition of the efforts of those involved in the last year’s reporting, and join others around the world in congratulating Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman, Ewen MacAskill, and all of the others at the Guardian and Washington Post on winning the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
→ read full articleWe Need an Apartheid-Style Boycott to Save the Planet
Desmond Tutu – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
10 Apr 2014 – We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters.
→ read full articleWhy US Fracking Companies Are Licking Their Lips over Ukraine
Naomi Klein – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
From climate change to Crimea, the natural gas industry is supreme at exploiting crisis for private gain – what I call the shock doctrine.
→ read full articleVladimir Putin Must Be Called To Account on Surveillance Just Like Obama
Edward Snowden – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
On Thursday [17 Apr 2014], I questioned Russia’s involvement in mass surveillance on live television. I asked Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, a question that cannot credibly be answered in the negative by any leader who runs a modern, intrusive surveillance program: “Does [your country] intercept, analyse or store millions of individuals’ communications?”
→ read full articleSole US Nuclear Weapons Waste Storage Site Still Closed and Hot
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
28 Apr 2014
Nobody’s ever tried to fix an underground radiation accident before. More than two months after plutonium and americium leaked from the supposedly leak-proof underground nuclear weapons waste storage facility in New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy still does not know what caused the leak almost half a mile underground.
→ read full article(Português) Putin deve prestar contas em matéria de espionagem tal como Obama
Edward Snowden – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
A 10 de abril, questionei em direto na televisão o envolvimento da Rússia na espionagem em massa. Fiz uma pergunta ao presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, que não pode ser respondida negativamente de um modo credível por qualquer líder que dirija um programa moderno e intrusivo de vigilância: “[O seu país] interceta, analisa ou armazena as comunicações de milhões de indivíduos?”
→ read full articleAs We Sweat Government Surveillance, Companies Like Google Collect Our Data
Dan Gillmor – The Guardian,
28 Apr 2014
The depressing news just seems to be getting worse. Google confirmed this week what many people had assumed: even if you’re not a Gmail user, your email to someone who does use their services will be scanned by the all-seeing search and the advertising company’s increasingly smart machines.
→ read full articleAnswer Offered By Seymour Hersh Gets Little Public Attention
William Boardman ¬– Reader Supported News,
21 Apr 2014
Benghazi Mystery Explained!?! – Report from London links CIA Covert Op with Turkey, Syria
→ read full articleWhat to Celebrate in Rwanda’s Genocide Anniversary
Editorial Board – The Christian Science Monitor,
7 Apr 2014
April 3, 2014 – The 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide should focus as much on how the African nation worked toward reconciliation through forgiveness as on the mass slaughter itself.
→ read full articleNonviolent Geopolitics: Law, Politics, and 21st Century Security*
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Apr 2014
In this short essay, my attempt will be to articulate a conception of a world order premised on nonviolent geopolitics, as well as to consider some obstacles to its realization.
→ read full articleLeak the CIA Report: It’s the Only Way to Know the Whole Truth about Torture
Trevor Timm – The Guardian,
7 Apr 2014
Unless, of course, you think spies redacting 6,300 pages of their own sins is transparency. Look how much leaks told us this week.
→ read full articleIsraeli Boycott Case: Sydney Academic’s Lawyers Say Claims Are Pumped Up
Michael Safi – The Guardian,
31 Mar 2014
25 Mar 2014 – Lawyers for a Sydney University academic who is accused of unlawful discrimination for his boycott of Israel say the case against [TMS advisor, TRANSCEND member] Jake Lynch is full of “pumped-up claims” that are “embarrassing in the legal sense, and embarrassing in the non-legal sense”.
→ read full articleOnline Dating for Lesbians: Has Dattch Rewritten the Rules?
Eleanor Margolis – The Guardian,
31 Mar 2014
The award-winning UK-based app Dattch says it’s the first of its type designed specifically for women. So has it improved the online dating experience for lesbians?
→ read full articleHere’s How We Take Back the Internet
Edward Snowden – TED Talks,
24 Mar 2014
Mar 18, 2014 – Appearing by telepresence robot, Edward Snowden speaks at TED2014 about surveillance and Internet freedom. The right to data privacy, he suggests, is not a partisan issue, but requires a fundamental rethink of the role of the internet in our lives — and the laws that protect it. “Your rights matter,” he say, “because you never know when you’re going to need them.”
→ read full articleMicrosoft Tightens Privacy Policy after Admitting to Reading Journalist’s Emails
Alex Hern – The Guardian,
24 Mar 2014
After outrage from privacy campaigners, the tech firm will now seek legal advice before examining the contents of customers’ inboxes.
→ read full articleThe Obsolescence of Ideology: Debating Syria and Ukraine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Mar 2014
To insist that the left/right distinction obscures more than it reveals is not the end of the story. To contend that ideology is unhelpful as a guide for action is not the same as saying that it is irrelevant to the public debate.
→ read full articleUS Tech Giants Knew of NSA Data Collection, Agency’s Top Lawyer Insists
Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
24 Mar 2014
NSA general counsel Rajesh De contradicts months of angry denials from big companies like Yahoo and Google.
→ read full articleFukushima’s Shameful Cleanup
The Editorial Board - International New York Times,
24 Mar 2014
A pattern of shirking responsibility permeates the decommissioning work at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. An increasing proportion of the 3,000 contract laborers at Fukushima are poorly trained, with little technical expertise or knowledge of radiation.
→ read full articleThe Vegans Are Winning. It’s OK to Give In – And Still Eat Mcdonald’s Sometimes
Emma Brockes – The Guardian,
24 Mar 2014
Veganism’s benefits have been sold, bought, taken mainstream. You’re probably eating animal-free more often than you thought.
→ read full articleIndia Remains the Biggest Arms Buyer
Business Standard – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Mar 2014
India remains the biggest buyer of arms in the world, importing nearly three times as many weapons as its nearest competitors China and Pakistan over the last five years, a Swedish think tank said on Monday [17 Mar 2014].
→ read full articleThe Truth about Venezuela: A Revolt of the Well-Off, Not a ‘Terror Campaign’
Mark Weisbrot – The Guardian,
24 Mar 2014
John Kerry’s rhetoric is divorced from the reality on the ground, where life goes on – even at the barricades. It’s not just the poor who are abstaining – in Caracas, it’s almost everyone outside of a few rich areas like Altamira. The only place where the opposition seems to be garnering broad support is Washington.
→ read full articleThe Caribbean People Have a Legitimate Claim for Slavery Reparations
Cecily Jones – The Guardian,
24 Mar 2014
The economic and social poverty of parts of the region are a lasting legacy of slave trading.
→ read full articleWireless Electricity? It’s Here
Matthew Ponsford and Nick Glass - CNN,
17 Mar 2014
The idea of eliminating cables would allow us to re-design things in ways that we haven’t yet thought of, that’s just going to make our devices and everything that we interact with, that much more efficient, more practical and maybe even give brand new functionality.
→ read full articleGlobal Military Spending Is Now an Integral Part of Capitalism
Richard Seymour – Gulf News,
17 Mar 2014
The idea of a ‘peace dividend’ is gone, high levels of military spending are an entrenched part of the global landscape.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Discusses NSA Leaks at SXSW: ‘I Would Do It Again’
Jon Swaine and Jemima Kiss – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
He encouraged ordinary internet users to protect themselves against surveillance by encrypting both their hard drives and their online activity, describing encryption as “the defence against the dark arts in the digital realm”. He also advised people to browse the web anonymously using the Tor system.
→ read full articleWhy Do I Persist?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Mar 2014
I have been asked recently why do I persist in working hard for the things that I believe in, knowing that I will die in the next several years, and am almost certain not to be around for the catastrophic future that seems to cast its dark shadow across the road ahead, and can only be removed by a major transnational movement of the peoples of the world.
→ read full articleThe Plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya
Editorial Board – Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar 2014
The U.N. says the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, are one of the most persecuted groups in the world. Recently violence has escalated according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Two attacks in January left an estimated four dozen Rohingya dead in a village in Rakhine. Myanmar’s response has been to deny that it happened.
→ read full articleAn Online Magna Carta: Web Inventor Berners-Lee Calls for an Internet Bill of Rights
Jemima Kiss – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
The inventor of the world wide web believes an online “Magna Carta” is needed to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its users worldwide. Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that the web had come under increasing attack from governments and corporate influence and that new rules were needed to protect the “open, neutral” system.
→ read full articleBritain’s Five Richest Families Worth More Than Poorest 20%
Larry Elliott – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
Oxfam report reveals scale of inequality in UK as charity appeals to chancellor over tax. The scale of Britain’s growing inequality is revealed today [17 Mar 2014] by a report from a leading charity showing that the country’s five richest families now own more wealth than the poorest 20% of the population.
→ read full article“Snowden Told Me the NSA Set Fire to the Web. Silicon Valley Needs to Put It Out.”
Christopher Soghoian – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
How to move beyond our SXSW talk: revenge of the nerds, one everyday security tool at a time.
→ read full articleNASA-Funded Study: Industrial Civilisation Headed For ‘Irreversible Collapse’?
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
17 Mar 2014
A new study sponsored by Nasa has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution. Noting that warnings of ‘collapse’ are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that “the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history.”
→ read full articleBreaking Free: Choosing a Better Human Future
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
I have long believed that prospects for a hopeful human future depend on radical and visionary feelings, thought, and action… Citizenship, then, becomes enacted in time and is not conceived only as a dimension of space as, for instance, in opting to be ‘a world citizen.’
→ read full articleHas the NSA’s Mass Spying Made Life Easier for Digital Criminals?
Tom Brewster – The Guardian,
10 Mar 2014
In flooding the internet with malware, and by increasing wariness of data sharing, the NSA’s actions have had a negative impact on the fight against cybercrime. The US has done an enormous amount of damage. There is a basic level of trust that has been lost because the US was supposed to be a trusted keeper of everything, but it turned out they were subverting it with every chance they got.
→ read full articleDecember 2013 – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
5 Mar 2014 – This is my last report as Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestine as my term is coming to an end after six years. The mandate is important as a source of information pertaining to the realities of occupation from the perspective of international humanitarian law and international criminal law
→ read full articleEdward Snowden’s Written Testimony to the European Parliament
Edward Snowden – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
The NSA granted me the authority to monitor communications world-wide using its mass surveillance systems, including within the United States. I have personally targeted individuals using these systems. I know the good and the bad of these systems, and what they can and cannot do, and I am telling you that without getting out of my chair, I could have read the private communications of any member of this committee, as well as any ordinary citizen. I swear under penalty of perjury that this is true.
→ read full articleDiets High in Meat, Eggs and Dairy Could Be as Harmful to Health as Smoking
Ian Sample – The Guardian,
10 Mar 2014
A diet rich in meat, eggs, milk and cheese could be as harmful to health as smoking, according to a controversial study into the impact of protein consumption on longevity.
→ read full articleGigabytes Gone Wild
Neil Richards and Jonathan King – Al Jazeera America,
3 Mar 2014
Big data has outpaced our legal system’s ability to control it — we need a new ethics for a new digital age.
→ read full articleFracking Siberia: Gazprom Teams Up With Shell
Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Mar 2014
Gazprom of Russia has begun fracking in western Siberia with Anglo-Dutch giant Shell to tap a reserve of oil under a 2.3 million square kilometer expanse. Ironically Russia Today, a state run television station, has been actively broadcasting protests against the fracking industry in Europe, where companies like Chevron have been aggressively trying to get a toehold in countries like Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
→ read full articleNSA Robots Are ‘Collecting’ Your Data, Too, and They’re Getting Away With It
Bruce Schneier – The Guardian,
3 Mar 2014
Yahoo webcam users are the latest victims of agency eavesdropping – and whether it’s done by human or algorithm, it’s still eavesdropping.
→ read full articleSyria: What to Do Now
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Mar 2014
It is not only that the interventionists, and perhaps the anti-interventionists are motivated by a convergence of humanitarian/moral considerations with geostrategic ambitions, but that the nature of these hidden calculations are discussed in governmental circles behind locked doors and transcribed in secret policy memoranda.
→ read full articleUK – Optic Nerve: Millions of Yahoo Webcam Images Intercepted by GCHQ
Spencer Ackerman and James Ball – The Guardian,
3 Mar 2014
• 1.8m users targeted by UK agency in six-month period alone
• Optic Nerve program collected Yahoo webcam images in bulk
• Yahoo: ‘A whole new level of violation of our users’ privacy’
• Material included large quantity of sexually explicit images
Qatar’s Foreign Domestic Workers Subjected to Slave-Like Conditions
Rebecca Falconer – The Guardian,
3 Mar 2014
Foreign maids, cleaners and other domestic workers are being subjected to slave-like labour conditions in Qatar, with many complaining they have been deprived of passports, wages, days off, holidays and freedom to move jobs, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
→ read full articleOmar and the Israeli Checkpoint: The Essential Story That Is Rarely Told
Ramzy Baroud – Toward Freedom,
3 Mar 2014
Omar is a 7-year-old boy from Gaza. His family managed to obtain the necessary permits that allowed him to cross the Erez checkpoint to Jerusalem, through the West Bank, in order to undergo surgery. On the way back, the boy and his father were stopped at the Qalanidya checkpoint, separating occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank.
→ read full article(Français) Halte au « BRICS bashing »!
Gérard Wolf - Le Monde,
3 Mar 2014
Certes, dans les BRICS (Brésil, Inde, Russie, Chine et Afrique du Sud), comme dans d’autres marchés émergents, la croissance est moindre que celle envisagée il y a deux ans. Mais soyons réalistes.
→ read full articleAmnesty International Accuses Israeli Armed Forces of Possible War Crimes
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Mar 2014
Human rights group says soldiers have killed dozens of Palestinians with virtual impunity in West Bank.
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God Loves Uganda – Trailer
Ford Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Mar 2014
The feature length documentary God Loves Uganda is a powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with sexuality values imported from America’s fundamentalist Christian Right.
→ read full articleSochi 2014: Does Sochi Success Signal a New Russia?
Richard Conway – BBC,
24 Feb 2014
23 Feb 2014 – Russia Top Medal Table as Olympics Come To an End. The tagline of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games was “Hot, Cool, Yours”, but another slogan on display here, the phrase “Russia – Great, New, Open” provides a better insight.
→ read full articleTaking Your Brain for a Walk: The Secret to Delaying Dementia
Ian Sample – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
Regular brisk walking three times a week increases the size of brain regions linked to planning and memory, a study has shown.
→ read full articleUS Support for Regime Change in Venezuela Is a Mistake
Mark Weisbrot – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
The US push to topple the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro once again pits Washington against South America. On Sunday [16 Feb 2014], the Mercosur governments (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela) released a statement and described “the recent violent acts” in Venezuela as “attempts to destabilize the democratic order”. They made it abundantly clear where they stood.
→ read full article(Português) Zizek: Há mais do que fúria na Bósnia
Slavoj Žižek – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
O que as explosões na Bósnia confirmam é que ninguém jamais conseguirá superar paixões étnicas impondo a elas uma agenda liberal: o que uniu os manifestantes foi uma mesma radical exigência de justiça. O passo seguinte e mais difícil será organizar os protestos num novo movimento social que ignore as divisões étnicas; e organizar novos protestos.
→ read full articleG8 New Alliance Condemned as New Wave of Colonialism in Africa
Claire Provost, Liz Ford and Mark Tran – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
A landmark G8 initiative to boost agriculture and relieve poverty has been damned as a new form of colonialism after African governments agreed to change seed, land and tax laws to favour private investors over small farmers. Ten countries made more than 200 policy commitments, including changes to laws and regulations after giant agribusinesses were granted unprecedented access to decision-makers over the past two years.
→ read full articleWriting the Snowden Files: ‘The Paragraph Began to Self-Delete’
Luke Harding – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
Was it the NSA? GCHQ? A Russian hacker? Who was secretly reading his book on Snowden while he wrote it, wonders Luke Harding. Something odd happened. The paragraph I had just written began to self-delete. The cursor moved rapidly from the left, gobbling text. I watched my words vanish. When I tried to close my OpenOffice file the keyboard began flashing and bleeping.
→ read full article9 Shocking Dangers of Fluoride Exposure
Dr. Edward F. Group, Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Feb 2014
Ingested in high doses, fluoride is indisputably toxic; it was once commonly used in rat poison. So why is it in our drinking water? Using non-fluoride toothpaste can immediately reduce your fluoride exposure. Maintaining healthy iodine levels can help protect the thyroid from fluoride.
→ read full articleAre the Robots about to Rise? Google’s New Director of Engineering Thinks So…
Carole Cadwalladr – The Guardian,
24 Feb 2014
Ray Kurzweil popularised the Teminator-like moment he called the ‘singularity’, when artificial intelligence overtakes human thinking. But now the man who hopes to be immortal is involved in the very same quest – on behalf of the tech behemoth.
→ read full articleUgandan Anti-Gay Law Is Huge Step Backwards, Says Barack Obama
Associated Press – The Guardian,
17 Feb 2014
President Barack Obama on Sunday [16 Feb 2014] warned Uganda over its plans to further criminalise homosexuality, saying it would “complicate our valued relationship”.
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