Articles by RD
We found 3495 results.
Climate Change Is Here Now and It Could Lead to Global Conflict
Nicholas Stern – The Guardian,
17 Feb 2014
Extreme weather events in the UK and overseas are part of a growing pattern that it would be very unwise for us, or our leaders, to ignore, writes the author of the influential 2006 report on the economics of climate change.
→ read full articleUganda to Authorise Life Sentence for Homosexuals
Mail & Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Feb 2014
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni plans to sign a bill into law that prescribes life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, officials said Friday [14 Feb 2014], alarming rights activists who have condemned the bill as draconian in a country where homosexuality already has been criminalized.
→ read full article(Português) Portugal Ajuda a Viabilizar Entrada de Milho Transgénico na Europa
Esquerda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Feb 2014
A abstenção de Portugal e de outros três países significou dar luz verde ao cultivo do milho Pioneer TC1507, contra a vontade de 19 países e do Parlamento Europeu.
→ read full articleMale Sexual Orientation Influenced by Genes, Study Shows
Ian Sample, science correspondent – The Guardian,
17 Feb 2014
A study of gay men in the US has found fresh evidence that male sexual orientation is influenced by genes. Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight.
→ read full articleInternet Governance Too US-Centric, Says European Commission
Ian Traynor – The Guardian,
17 Feb 2014
The mass surveillance carried out by the NSA means that governance of the internet has to be made more international, the EU’s executive has declared. Setting out proposals, the EC called for a shift away from the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).
→ read full articleThird World America’s Trade Agreements
Charles Sullivan – The Picket, Shepherd University,
10 Feb 2014
If enacted, TPP will permit privately-owned corporations to have hegemony over the governments of sovereign nations.
→ read full articleUN Denounces Vatican over Child Abuse and Demands Immediate Action
Lizzy Davies and Henry McDonald – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
The Vatican has failed to acknowledge the huge scale of clerical sex abuse and has implemented policies that have led to “the continuation of the abuse and the impunity of the perpetrators”, a UN panel said on Wednesday [5 Feb 2014] in a scathing rebuke of the Holy See’s handling of the global scandal.
→ read full articleMicrosoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo Release US Surveillance Requests
Spencer Ackerman and Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
Tens of thousands of accounts associated with customers of Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo have their data turned over to US government authorities every six months as the result of secret court orders, the tech giants disclosed for the first time on Monday [3 Feb 2014].
→ read full articleOMAR: Uncovering Occupied Palestine
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
OMAR is the second film directed by Hany Alu-Assad to be a finalist among foreign language films nominated to receive an Oscar at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony on March 2nd.
→ read full articleIndustrial Band Skinny Puppy Demand $666,000 after Music Is Used in Guantánamo Torture
Sean Michaels – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
“We sent them an invoice for our musical services considering they had gone ahead and used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody,” keyboardist Cevin Key recently told CTV News.
→ read full articleTen Principles to Guide the Young Activist
Ramzy Baroud – Toward Freedom,
10 Feb 2014
They say people who live for a higher cause are happier than those who don’t. May you always find your happiness in alleviating the pain of others by standing up for what is right and honorable.
→ read full articlePakistan’s Future Is Tied to the Taliban
Tariq Ali – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
With the impending withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the time has come to talk – despite the horrific wave of bombings.
→ read full articleA Meeting with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 35 Years Ago
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
Khomeini by insisting on all or nothing against the Shah did create an Iranian transition to a new political order. In contrast the 2011 militants in Tahrir Square were content with the removal of Mubarak and promises of reforms, and ended up succumbing to a counter-revolutionary tsunami that has reconstituted the repressive Mubarak past in a more extreme form.
→ read full articleFake-Food Scandal Revealed as Tests Show Third of Products Mislabelled
Felicity Lawrence – The Guardian,
10 Feb 2014
Consumers are being sold drinks with banned flame-retardant additives, pork in beef, fake cheese, mozzarella that is less than half real cheese, ham on pizzas that is either poultry or “meat emulsion”, and frozen prawns that are 50% water laboratory tests show.
→ read full articleWar on the Poor in Honduras: Social Control, Gangs and the US’s Role in Remilitarizing Central America
Dawn Paley – Toward Freedom,
10 Feb 2014
Election day in Tegucigalpa kicked off on November 24th last year with the feel of a carnival, a rare sensation in a city where the vast majority of residents are faced with grinding poverty, regular gang extortion and a murder rate that is among the world’s highest.
→ read full articleSkipping: Is There Anything Wrong with Taking the Food That Supermarkets Throw Away?
Emine Saner – The Guardian,
3 Feb 2014
Three men will appear in court for allegedly ‘dumpster diving’ – taking food from a supermarket dustbin. But isn’t the crime the vast amount of food being put into skips in the first place?
→ read full articleDark Lands: The Grim Truth behind the ‘Scandinavian Miracle’
Michael Booth – The Guardian,
3 Feb 2014
Television in Denmark is rubbish, Finnish men like a drink – and Sweden is not exactly a model of democracy. Why, asks one expert, does everybody think the Nordic region is a utopia?
→ read full articleScarlett Johansson Is Right – The Face of SodaStream Doesn’t Fit with Oxfam
Vijay Prashad – The Guardian,
3 Feb 2014
Thanks to the star’s involvement with the Israeli company, illegal settlement activity is under increased scrutiny. This debate is better than silence, or than celebrity airbrushing of deep-seated problems. I welcome it.
→ read full articleHow and When to Book a Cheap Flight
Isabel Choat – The Guardian,
3 Feb 2014
New research shows that the best time to book a summer flight is as late as five weeks before your holiday, contrary to travel industry experts who advise travellers book as early as possible.
→ read full articleUS Government Privacy Board Says NSA Bulk Collection of Phone Data Is Illegal
Spencer Ackerman and Dan Roberts – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
23 Jan 2014 – The US government’s privacy board has sharply rebuked President Barack Obama over the NSA’s mass collection of phone data, saying the program defended by Obama last week was illegal and ought to be shut down.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Tells German TV That NSA Is Involved in Industrial Espionage
Reuters in Berlin – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
In a lengthy interview broadcast on the public broadcaster ARD TV on Sunday [26 Jan 2014], Snowden said the NSA did not limit its espionage to issues of national security and cited the German engineering firm Siemens as one target.
→ read full articleLiterary Project Honours Baghdad’s Devastated Bookselling District
Ellie Violet Bramley – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
Hundreds of writers and artists prepare tributes to Iraq’s historic books hub, Al-Mutanabbi Street, hit by car bomb in 2007. It’s said that when Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols in 1258, the river Tigris ran red one day with the blood of those killed, and black the next with the ink of their books.
→ read full articleLatin America Is Being Transformed by a Vision of Post-Human Rights
Oscar Guardiola-Rivera – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
From Colombia to Argentina, an ethical politics driven by protest movements is shaking up the old economic order.
→ read full articleAn American Idol: The United States Should ‘Govern’ the World?
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jan 2014
This post consists of a much expanded text of an opinion piece that was published by AJE on January 18, 2014; it seeks to discredit imperial and neoliberal claims that the United States is a benevolent hegemon, providing global public goods to the world as a whole, including supposed geopolitical and ideological rivals.
→ read full article(Français) 20e Anniversaire de la Rebellion du Chiapas
Bernard Duterme , Jérôme Baschet – Centre Tricontinental-CETRI,
27 Jan 2014
« Le goût de la liberté des zapatistes » – Historien médiéviste reconnu internationalement, Jérôme Baschet est sans doute aujourd’hui l’observateur francophone le plus proche de la rébellion des indigènes zapatistes du Sud-Est mexicain.
→ read full articleAre You Opposed to Fracking? Then You Might Just Be a Terrorist
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
Over the last year, a mass of shocking evidence has emerged on the close ties between Western government spy agencies and giant energy companies, and their mutual interests in criminalising anti-fracking activists.
→ read full articleUS Psychology Body Declines to Rebuke Member in Guantánamo Torture Case
Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
27 Jan 2014
America’s professional association of psychologists has quietly declined to rebuke one of its members, a retired US army reserve officer, for his role in one of the most brutal interrogations known to have to taken place at Guantánamo Bay, the Guardian has learned.
→ read full articleImperiled Polities: Egypt and Turkey—Two Visions of Democracy
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jan 2014
The recent disturbing political turmoil in Turkey and Egypt, each in its own way, is illustrative. In both countries there are strong, although quite divergent, traditions of charismatic authoritarian leadership, reinforced by quasi-religious sanctification. Very recently, however, this authoritarian past is being challenged by counter-traditions of populist legitimacy.
→ read full articleThe Truth about Israel’s Secret Nuclear Arsenal
Julian Borger – The Guardian,
20 Jan 2014
Israel has been stealing nuclear secrets and covertly making bombs since the 1950s. And western governments, including Britain and the US, turn a blind eye. But how can we expect Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions if the Israelis won’t come clean?
→ read full articleTPP: Poison for Local Community Resilience
Richard Heinberg – Common Dreams,
20 Jan 2014
If a city, county, or state were to ban fracking within its jurisdiction, oil companies could overturn the ban and sue for millions of dollars in lost profits. Want to label GM foods? Sorry, that’s a barrier to trade. Want local schools to buy healthy food from local farmers? Nope, that might violate the rights of Big Ag. Want to protect a forest? Stand aside, you’re in the way of profits.
→ read full articleBeyond Reform: It’s Time to Shut Down the World Bank
Cyril Mychalejko – Toward Freedom,
20 Jan 2014
16 Jan 2014 – The World Bank came under fire again last week when its ombudsman revealed that the bank’s investment in a palm oil project in Honduras worsened human rights abuses and violent conflicts.
→ read full articleClimate Activists Slapped With Terrorism Charges for Devon Energy Protest
Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Jan 2014
10 Jan 2014 – Two climate activists who staged a protest at the headquarters of Devon Energy, a Fortune 500 company based in Oklahoma city, have been charged with a “terrorism hoax” after black powder drifted down from a banner that they unfurled.
→ read full articleWhy Our Debate about Surveillance Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Tom Engelhardt – Mother Jones,
20 Jan 2014
In the wake of Snowden’s revelations, we’ve been narrowly focused on whether or not we should have more security or more privacy. We need to start thinking about the problem differently.
→ read full articleObama’s NSA ‘Reforms’ Are Little More Than a PR Attempt to Mollify the Public
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
20 Jan 2014
Predictably, it is the same well-worn tactic in response to political scandal that shaped President Obama’s much-heralded Friday [17 Jan 2014] speech for “reforming” the National Security Agency in the wake of intense worldwide controversy. Bulk surveillance that caused such outrage will remain in place.
→ read full articleNSA Collects Millions of Text Messages Daily in ‘Untargeted’ Global Sweep
James Ball – The Guardian,
20 Jan 2014
The untargeted collection and storage of SMS messages – including their contacts – is revealed in a joint investigation between the Guardian and the UK’s Channel 4 News based on material provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
→ read full articleSewage Sludge as Fertilizer: Safe?
Jill Richardson – Food Safety News,
20 Jan 2014
Despite sludge’s relative obscurity, the newly formed Food Rights Network is taking on sewage sludge as its flagship issue. Simply put, the group says that it is not safe to grow food in sewage sludge [industrial, hospital, human excrements/waste].
→ read full articleGout’s on the Rise – So How Can You Avoid It?
Sarah Boseley – The Guardian,
20 Jan 2014
This excruciatingly painful condition now affects 1.6 million people in the UK. Beer can bring it on, but so can wine and even some ‘healthy’ foods.
→ read full articleMajor Parts of World Ignored by U.S. TV News in 2013
Jim Lobe – Toward Freedom,
20 Jan 2014
If people outside the United States are looking for answers why Americans often seem so clueless about the world outside their borders, they could start with what the three major U.S. television networks offered their viewers in the way of news during 2013.
→ read full articleToday [11 Jan 2014] Marks the 12th Anniversary of America’s Guantánamo Prison Disgrace
Molly Crabapple – The Guardian,
13 Jan 2014
We must reject indefinite detention and offshore prisons. We must no longer use our fear of terror to inflict terror on the world. In case anyone needs a refresher, $4.7bn has been spent running Guantánamo. Nearly 800 men have been imprisoned, many losing over a decade of their lives. Nine have died.
→ read full articleA Global Contract: The Case for World Citizenship
Garry Davis and Greg Guma – Toward Freedom,
13 Jan 2014
The World Government of World Citizens, which was established in 1953, is both an extension of the individual and an expression of humanity as a whole. It grows from your sovereignty and mine as world citizens, and from our commitment to each other’s protection and survival.
→ read full articleLife in the Electronic Concentration Camp: The Many Ways That You’re Being Tracked, Catalogued and Controlled
John W. Whitehead – The Rutherford Institute,
13 Jan 2014
What has been most disconcerting about the emergence of the American police state is the extent to which the citizenry appears content to passively wait for someone else to solve our nation’s many problems. Unless Americans are prepared to engage in militant nonviolent resistance in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, true reform, if any, will be a long time coming.
→ read full articleJapan’s Response to Fukushima Should Worry Us All
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
13 Jan 2014
Japan has created a funhouse of distorting mirrors from which emerging information about the ongoing disaster cannot be considered credible without reliable, independent verification.
→ read full article[Crise? Austerities?] Jaguar Land Rover Reports Record Sales for 2013
Press Association, The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
Britain’s largest car manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India’s biggest carmaker, Tata Motors, has reported record-breaking global sales for 2013. Together the British brands sold 425,006 vehicles in 2013 – up 19% on 2012 – setting new sales records in 38 international markets.
→ read full articleHarassment of Climate Scientists Needs to Stop
Richard Schiffman – The Guardian,
13 Jan 2014
When Michael Mann chose a career in science, he didn’t think that he would be denounced on billboards, grilled by hostile legislators on Capitol Hill and in the British House of Commons, have his emails hacked and stolen, receive letters laced with an anthrax-like white powder, and become the target of anonymous death threats.
→ read full articleThe Emergent Palestinian Imaginary
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
It is often overlooked that as early as 1988, and possibly earlier, the unified Palestinian leadership has decisively opted for what I would call a ‘sacrificial’ peace. By sacrificial I mean an acceptance of peace and normalization with Israel that is premised upon the relinquishment of significant Palestinian rights under international law.
→ read full articleJP Morgan Chase to Pay More Than $2bn in Penalties for Madoff Ties
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
13 Jan 2014
The settlements, announced Tuesday [7 Jan 2014], included a so-called deferred prosecution agreement that allows it to avoid criminal charges. No individual executives were accused of wrongdoing. Total fines in the past three years = $28.7bn
→ read full articleObsession
Richard Wiseman – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
A psychoanalyst shows a patient an inkblot, and asks him what he sees. The patient says: “A man and woman making love.”
→ read full article(Português) Chiapas: Injustiça, Pobreza, Luta e Dignidade
Eduardo Febbro – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jan 2014
O ano velho se vai em meio a névoa. A garoa e o frio cobrem o local onde o Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional celebrou os 20 anos do levante.
→ read full articleAmerican Jihad 2014: The New Fundamentalists
Tom Engelhardt - TomDispatch,
6 Jan 2014
Imagine what we call “national security” as, at heart, a proselytizing warrior religion. It has its holy orders. It has its sacred texts (classified). It has its dogma and its warrior priests. It has its sanctified promised land, known as “the homeland.” It has its seminaries, which we call think tanks. It is a monotheistic faith in that it broaches no alternatives to itself. It is Manichaean in its view of the world. As with so many religions, its god is an eye in the sky, an all-seeing Being who knows your secrets.
→ read full articleFukushima, a Global Conspiracy of Denial
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
6 Jan 2014
Does anyone in authority anywhere tell the truth about Fukushima? If there is any government or non-government authority in the world that is addressing the disaster at Fukushima openly, directly, honestly, and effectively, it’s not apparent to the outside observer what entity that might be.
→ read full articleBeholding 2014
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jan 2014
2013 was not a happy year in the chronicles of human history, yet there were a few moves in the directions of peace and justice. What follows are some notes that respond to the mingling of light and shadows that are flickering on the global stage, with a spotlight placed on the main war zone of the 21st century—the Middle East, recalling that Europe had this negative honor for most of the modern era.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden, Whistle-Blower
Editorial Board - The New York Times,
6 Jan 2014
When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law, that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government.
→ read full articleNAFTA: 20 Years of Regret for Mexico
Mark Weisbrot – The Guardian,
6 Jan 2014
Mexico’s growth has been weak since the ‘free trade’ deal was signed, and it missed out on the region’s poverty reduction. It was 20 years ago that the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico was implemented.
→ read full articleSnowden Affair: The Case for a Pardon
Editorial Board – The Guardian,
6 Jan 2014
We hope that calm heads within the present administration are working on a strategy to allow Mr Snowden to return to the US with dignity, and the president to use his executive powers to treat him humanely and in a manner that would be a shining example about the value of whistleblowers and of free speech itself.
→ read full article2014: International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jan 2014
In a little noted initiative the General Assembly on November 26, 2013 voted to proclaim 2014 the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
→ read full article“Surveillance Breeds Conformity”: Salon’s Glenn Greenwald Interview
Natasha Lennard - Salon,
6 Jan 2014
3 Jan 2014 – “A human being who lives in a world where he thinks he is always being watched is a human being who makes choices not as a free individual but as someone who is trying to conform to what is expected and demanded of them.”
→ read full articleNSA ‘Hacking Unit’ Infiltrates Computers around the World – Report
Joanna Walters – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
Details of how the division, known as Tailored Access Operations (TAO), steals data and inserts invisible “back door” spying devices into computer systems were published by the German magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday [29 Dec 2013]. • NSA: TAO a ‘unique national asset.’
→ read full articleI Worked on the US Drone Program. The Public Should Know What Really Goes On
Heather Linebaugh – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
Few of the politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue how it actually works (and doesn’t).
→ read full articleThe Deal of the Year: Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Is Good News for All
Riccardo Alcaro – Al Jazeera,
30 Dec 2013
Opponents of the US-Iran nuclear deal have much to gain from it.
→ read full articleThe People Who Challenged My Atheism Most Weren’t Priests, but Homeless Addicts and Prostitutes
Chris Arnade – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
I’ve been reminded that life is not as rational as Richard Dawkins sees it. Perhaps atheism is an intellectual luxury for the wealthy.
→ read full articleSamer Issawi, Hunger Strikes, and the Palestinian Struggle
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Dec 2013
For the last three years Palestinian prisoners unlawfully detained in Israeli jails have been engaged in hunger strikes to protest administrative detention, imprisonment without indictment, charges, and access to allegedly incriminating evidence, abusive arrest procedures…
→ read full articleEnigma Codebreaker Alan Turing Receives Royal Pardon
Caroline Davies – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
Alan Turing, the second world war codebreaker who took his own life after undergoing chemical castration following a conviction for homosexual activity, has been granted a posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his death.
→ read full article(Português) O Funesto Império Mundial das Corporações
Leonardo Boff – Carta Maior,
30 Dec 2013
Muitos como J. Stiglitz e P. Krugman esperavam que o legado da crise de 2008 seria um grande debate sobre que tipo de sociedade queremos. Erraram feio. A discussão não se deu. Ao contrário, a lógica que provocou a crise foi retomada com mais furor.
→ read full articleInternet Privacy As Important As Human Rights, Says UN’s Navi Pillay
Haroon Siddique – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, has compared the uproar in the international community caused by revelations of mass surveillance with the collective response that helped bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa.
→ read full articleAlan Turing’s Pardon Is Wrong
Ally Fogg – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
To single out Turing is to say all the other persecuted gay men are not so deserving of justice because they were less exceptional.
→ read full articleWho Can Halt the Crisis in South Sudan?
Alex Vines – The Guardian,
30 Dec 2013
The world’s youngest state is heading towards civil war, but there’s little that outsiders can do.
→ read full articleNoam Chomsky: Governments Are Power Systems, Trying to Sustain Power
Natasha Lennard - Salon,
30 Dec 2013
29 Dec 2013 – The polymath looks back on this year’s NSA revelations and ahead to the earth’s destruction. “Governments are power systems. They are trying to sustain their power and domination over their populations and they will use what means are available to do this.”
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to the People of Brazil
Edward Snowden – Folha de S. Paulo,
23 Dec 2013
These programs were never about terrorism: they’re about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They’re about power. Many Brazilian senators agree, and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens.
→ read full articleBrazil Salutes Chico Mendes 25 Years after His Murder
Jan Rocha and Jonathan Watts – The Guardian,
23 Dec 2013
That Dec. 22 murder, far from killing off the forest conservation campaign, has boosted its profile throughout the country and across the world, influencing a generation of conservationists and policymakers. Mendes is now a symbol of the global environment movement.
→ read full articleNorthern Ireland and the Israel/Palestine ‘Peace Process’
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
I visited Belfast the last few days during some negotiations about unresolved problems between Unionist and Republican (or Nationalist) political parties, I was struck by the absolute dependence for any kind of credibility of this process upon the unblemished perceived neutrality of the mediating third party.
→ read full articleThe Palestinian National Movement Advances
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
The Palestinian shift toward Legitimacy Wars is a recognition that in this kind of conflict the decisive battles are generally not won by the side with the superior weaponry and technology but rather by the side that prevails in the realm of ideas and symbols of just cause.
→ read full articleBoycott 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 articleMajor US Academic Body Backs Boycott of Israeli Educational Institutions
Harriet Sherwood – The Guardian,
23 Dec 2013
A prestigious US academic body has joined a growing movement to boycott Israel in protest at its treatment of Palestinians, in a move both welcomed and condemned in a bitterly divisive international arena.
→ 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 articleACT Gay Marriage Law Is Ruled Invalid by High Court of Australia
Daniel Hurst – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
Judges rule same-sex marriage law could not sit concurrently with the federal Marriage Act and therefore ‘is of no effect’.
→ read full articleSpy Agencies in Covert Push to Infiltrate Virtual World of Online Gaming
James Ball – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
NSA and GCHQ collect gamers’ chats and deploy real-life agents into World of Warcraft and Second Life.
→ read full articleCanada to Claim North Pole as Its Own
Associated Press in Toronto – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
UN submission will seek to redefine Canada’s continental shelf to capture more Arctic oil and gas resources.
→ read full articleLloyds Banking Group Fined Record £28m in New Mis-Selling Scandal
Jill Treanor and Jennifer Rankin – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
Pressure on staff to get ‘a grand in your hand’ or face demotion led to bonus-induced selling frenzy, FCA says.
→ read full articleOpen Letter to Intelligence Employees after Snowden
Thomas Drake, Daniel Ellsberg, Katharine Gun, Peter Kofod, Ray McGovern, Jesselyn Radack, Coleen Rowley – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
By Former Whistleblowers – Blowing the whistle on powerful factions is not a fun thing to do, but it is the last avenue for truth, balanced debate and democracy. There IS strength in numbers. Courage is contagious.
→ read full articleJP Morgan Facing $2bn Fine for Involvement in Madoff Ponzi Scheme
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in the US, is facing another multi-billion dollar fine, this time deriving from its involvement with notorious Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernard Madoff.
→ read full articleIndian LGBT Activists Outraged as Supreme Court Reinstates Gay Sex Ban
Jason Burke – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
First there was surprise, then shock, then anger. By nightfall thousands across India had taken to the streets in spontaneous protests against an unexpected supreme court decision on Wednesday [11 Dec 2013] reversing a judgment that had decriminalised gay sex in the country.
→ read full articleHow Journals like Nature, Cell and Science Are Damaging Science
Randy Schekman, 2013 Medicine Nobel Laureate – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
The incentives offered by top journals distort science, just as big bonuses distort banking. I am a scientist. Mine is a professional world that achieves great things for humanity. But it is disfigured by inappropriate incentives. The prevailing structures of personal reputation and career advancement mean the biggest rewards often follow the flashiest work, not the best.
→ read full articleUruguay’s President José Mujica: No Palace, No Motorcade, No Frills
Jonathan Watts – The Guardian,
16 Dec 2013
The 78-year-old ‘world’s poorest president’ is a former member of the Tupamaros, notorious in the 1970s for bank robberies, kidnappings and distributing stolen food and money among the poor. He was shot by police six times and spent 14 years in a military prison, much of it in dungeon-like conditions.
→ 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 articleApple, Google, Microsoft and More Demand Sweeping Changes to US Surveillance Laws
Dan Roberts and Jemima Kiss – The Guardian,
9 Dec 2013
AOL, Twitter, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple and LinkedIn to call for reforms to restore the public’s trust in the internet.
→ 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 articleMandela: Never Forget How the Free World’s Leaders Learned to Change Their Tune
Chris McGreal – The Guardian,
9 Dec 2013
Among those eulogising Mandela are people who once damned him as a terrorist and supported apartheid.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden Revelations Prompt UN Investigation into Surveillance
Nick Hopkins and Matthew Taylor – The Guardian,
9 Dec 2013
The UN’s senior counter-terrorism official is to launch an investigation into the surveillance powers of American and British intelligence agencies following Edward Snowden’s revelations that they are using secret programmes to store and analyse billions of emails, phone calls and text messages.
→ 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 articleIt’s Outrageous to Accuse the Guardian of Aiding Terrorism by Publishing Snowden’s Revelations
Ben Emmerson – The Guardian,
9 Dec 2013
The Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, is due to appear before the House of Commons on Tuesday [3 Dec 2013]. Unlike the directors of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, who gave evidence recently, Rusbridger will not be provided with a list of questions in advance.
→ read full articleWhy Is Sweden Closing Its Prisons?
Erwin James – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
Sweden’s prison population has dropped so dramatically that the country plans to close four of its prisons. What lessons can the UK learn?
→ read full articleIs Bitcoin about to Change the World?
Alex Hern – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
If you want to buy drugs or guns anonymously online, virtual currency Bitcoin is better than hard cash. Canny speculators have been hoarding it like digital gold. Now the world’s leading bankers are even talking about as a rival for real money. How does it work, where can you get it and is it the future?
→ read full articleCanada Let NSA Spy on G20 Summit, Says Report
Reuters in Ottawa - The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
Canada allowed the US National Security Agency to conduct widespread surveillance during the 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto, according to a media report that cited documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
→ 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 article[Nobel Peace Laureate] Aung San Suu Kyi Is Turning a Blind Eye to Human Rights in the Name of Politics
Emanuel Stoakes – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
The Burmese politician’s visit to Australia will spark praise from politicians – an unhelpful distraction from the extremely serious abuses taking place against Muslims in her homeland.
→ read full articleRevealed: Australian Spy Agency Offered to Share Data about Ordinary Citizens
Ewen MacAskill, James Ball and Katharine Murphy – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
2 Dec 2013 – Australia’s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden. The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share “medical, legal or religious information”.
→ read full articleUN Advances Surveillance Resolution Reaffirming ‘Human Right to Privacy’
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
The United Nations moved a step closer to calling for an end to excessive surveillance on Tuesday [26 Nov 2013] in a resolution co-sponsored by Brazil and Germany after leaked documents from Edward Snowden revealed that the agency had spied on their political leaders.
→ read full article(Français) Économie Verte : Marchandiser la Planète Pour la Sauver ?
Bernard Duterme – Centre Tricontinental,
2 Dec 2013
La « démarchandisation » des ressources, du vivant, de la planète, de la vie sociale, de l’éducation, des cultures, des biens communs… revient comme un leitmotiv. Reste à se compter, c’est-à-dire à identifier – au-delà des théorisations en chambre, des appels affectés à l’action et de la multiplication des initiatives alternatives locales – les acteurs sociaux et politiques capables de peser dans les principaux rapports de force, sur les enjeux fondamentaux et les orientations de l’économie mondiale.
→ read full articleThe War on Democracy
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
2 Dec 2013
A stunning new report compiles extensive evidence showing how some of the world’s largest corporations have partnered with private intelligence firms and government intelligence agencies to spy on activist and nonprofit groups. Environmental activism is a prominent though not exclusive focus of these activities.
→ 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 article