Articles by RD
We found 3495 results.
At 16, Ganesh Got a Job in Qatar – Two Months Later He Was Dead
Pete Pattisson in Kathmandu and Doha – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
Nepalese workers go to Qatar to find a way out of poverty. Instead, many are trapped into 12-hour days and nights in overcrowded, filthy camps. Some never make it home alive.
→ read full articleLessons from Libya: How Not to Intervene
Alan Kuperman – Harvard Kennedy School,
23 Sep 2013
Policy Brief, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School – September 2013. Based on “A Model Humanitarian Intervention? Reassessing NATO’s Libya Campaign,” which appears in the Summer 2013 issue of International Security.
→ read full articleHugo Boss Gave the Nazis Style
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
23 Sep 2013
Russell Brand: “Also glad to grace the stage where [London mayor] Boris Johnson has just made light of the use of chemical weapons in Syria – meaning that GQ can now stand for Genocide Quips. If any of you know a little bit about history and fashion, you know that Hugo Boss made the uniforms for the Nazis – now the Nazis did have flaws, but they did look f-ing fantastic, let’s face it – while they were killing people on the basis of their religion and sexuality. “
→ read full articleTaking Exception to Exceptionalism
Bernard Weisberger – Common Dreams,
23 Sep 2013
The unchecked violence of our times must be reduced before it destroys any hopes of a decent future for humanity. If the US would take an active role as a partner in the process, rather than an armed dictator of terms from a lofty perch of morality, it would go far towards restoring the admiration the world long felt for us when our military establishment was tiny and our practice of democracy was robust.
→ read full articleLondon Whale Scandal to Cost JP Morgan $920m in Penalties
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
JP Morgan has agreed to pay about $920m in penalties to US and UK regulators over the “unsafe and unsound practices” that led to its $6.2bn losses last year. It admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement, an unusual step for a finance firm in the crosshairs of multiple legal actions.
→ read full articleThe US: World’s Policeman or Schoolyard Bully?
Bill Maher – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
Bombing seems to be our answer for everything. Since 1945, when Jesus granted America air superiority, we’ve bombed Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Serbia, Somalia, Bosnia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Yemen.
→ 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 articleMajor US Security Company Warns Over NSA Link to Encryption Formula
Charles Arthur and agencies – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
A major American computer security company has told thousands of customers to stop using an encryption system that relies on a mathematical formula developed by the National Security Agency.
→ read full articleWhy Anders Breivik Is Welcome at Our University
Ole Petter Ottersen – The Guardian,
16 Sep 2013
Anders Breivik’s application to the University of Oslo for admission to the political science study programme created interest worldwide. Breivik did not qualify for the full programme, but will be able study specific topics. Here the university’s rector explains the decision to grant him access to the course.
→ 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 articleObama’s Syria Plans in Disarray after Britain Rejects Use of Force
Paul Lewis and Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Barack Obama’s plans for air strikes against Syria were thrown into disarray on Thursday [29 Aug 2013] night after the British parliament unexpectedly rejected a motion designed to pave the way to authorising the UK’s participation in military action.
→ read full articleMicrosoft and Google to Sue over US Surveillance Requests
Rory Carroll – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Microsoft and Google are to sue the US government to win the right to reveal more information about official requests for user data. The lawsuit was announced on Friday [30 Aug 2013], escalating a legal battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies to gather data about foreign internet users.
→ read full articleMediaGuardian Lists Digital Consumer as Most Powerful Industry Figure
Jason Deans – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
The digital consumer – listed as “you” – tops MediaGuardian’s annual ranking of the UK’s 100 most powerful industry figures this year, reflecting the extent to which mobile and social media are transforming an industry traditionally dominated by moguls, editors and celebrities.
→ read full articleJust Say No to Nuclear Power – From Fukushima to Vermont
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Fukushima showed us the intolerable costs of nuclear power. The citizens of Vermont show us the benefits of shutting it down.
→ 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 articleObama, Congress and Syria
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
The president is celebrated for seeking a vote on his latest war even as his aides make clear it has no binding effect.
→ read full articleAn Attack on Syria Will Only Spread the War and Killing
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
All the signs are they’re going to do it again. The attack on Syria now being planned by the US and its allies will be the ninth direct western military intervention in an Arab or Muslim country in 15 years. Depending how you cut the cake, the looming bombardment follows onslaughts on Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Mali, as well as a string of murderous drone assaults on Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.
→ read full articleChemical Weapons in Syria Provide an Opportunity for Making Peace
Robin Edward Poulton, PhD – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Sep 2013
If Syria pulls back from the chemical red line and accepts some form of sanction, then the Wahabists and Jihadists and Iraqi Sunnis should pull back across the frontiers and accept some form of sanction. It is unclear why NATO forces are supporting extremist Sunni Al-Qaeda look-alikes in Syria, while fighting them in Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and recently in Mali.
→ 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 articleNSA Paid Millions to Cover Prism Compliance Costs for Tech Companies
Ewen MacAskill in New York – The Guardian,
26 Aug 2013
• Top-secret files show first evidence of financial relationship
• Prism companies include Google and Yahoo, says NSA
• Costs were incurred after 2011 Fisa court ruling
Bradley Manning’s Excessive Sentence
Editorial Board – The New York Times,
26 Aug 2013
35 years is far too long a sentence. Government lawyers presented vague and largely speculative claims that Private Manning’s leaks had endangered lives and “chilled” diplomatic relations. Much of what he released was of public value, including a video of a military helicopter shooting at two vans and killing civilians, including two Reuters journalists.
→ read full articleDavid Miranda, Schedule 7 and the Danger That All Reporters Now Face
Alan Rusbridger - The Guardian,
26 Aug 2013
As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing. A transit lounge in Heathrow is a dangerous place to be.
→ read full articleAlan Rusbridger: “I would rather destroy the copied files than hand them back to the NSA and GCHQ”
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Aug 2013
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, talks about the UK and international law, the future of journalism, and the David Miranda affair.
→ 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 articleGlenn Greenwald: Detaining My Partner Was a Failed Attempt at Intimidation
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
The detention of my partner David Miranda “under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act of 2000″ by UK authorities will have the opposite effect of the one intended. Even the Mafia had ethical rules against targeting the family members of people they felt threatened by. The Guardian’s lawyer was able to speak with David and told me that he was in very good spirits and quite defiant, and he asked the lawyer to convey that defiance to me. I already share it, as I’m certain US and UK authorities will soon see.
→ read full articleShortsighted Thinking on Israeli Settlements
The Editorial Board – NYT International Herald Tribune,
19 Aug 2013
On Monday [12 Aug 2013], Israel released a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be released Tuesday. A few hours before that it published bids for the construction of more than 1,000 housing units in West Bank settlements — a move to mollify right-wingers who oppose the prisoner release. This balancing act is not just untimely but a fresh cause for pessimism about the prospects for successful peace negotiations.
→ read full articleNew York Banking Regulator Targets Bitcoin and Other Virtual Currencies
Reuters – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
New York’s top banking regulator is considering issuing regulatory guidelines for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, according to a memo posted on its website on Monday [12 Aug 2013]. Last year, the FBI reported that Bitcoin was being used by criminals to move money around the world.
→ 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 articleGoogle: Don’t Expect Privacy When Sending to Gmail
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
Critics call revelation ‘a stunning admission’ as Google makes claim in court filing in attempt to head off class action lawsuit.
→ read full articleThe NSA Is Turning the Internet into a Total Surveillance System
Alexander Abdo and Patrick Toomey – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
11 Aug 2013 – Now we know all Americans’ international email is searched and saved, we can see how far the ‘collect it all’ mission has gone. Another burst of sunlight permeated the National Security Agency’s black box of domestic surveillance last week.
→ read full articleExcitement, but Anxiety too, as Uruguay Sets Liberal Path with New Cannabis Law
Uki Goni – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Uruguay’s liberal President Jose Mujica put political weight behind drug law reform, and money from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation is helping push through congress. Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Bolivia, emboldened by Uruguay’s move and frustrated over their failure to beat illegal cartels in the region, will be looking carefully at how the reform fares.
→ read full articleI Only Regret That I Have But One Life to Give for My Country: Yours
Tom Engelhardt - TomDispatch,
12 Aug 2013
The Crime of the Century – Hey, let’s talk spying! In Surveillance America, this land of spookery we all now inhabit, what else is there to talk about? In a sense, Manning and Snowden could be said to have “defected” — from the U.S. secret government to us. However informally or individually, they could nonetheless be imagined as the people’s spies.
→ read full articleWe Are All Connected: Hearing the Message of Indigenous Tribes
Deni Leonard, Occupy – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Aug 2013
In the current United States, from the Indigenous point of view, it is as though a chief can have 99 buffalos for himself while he looks down at the community trying to live on one buffalo. This is a model for community or Tribal extinction.
→ read full articleObama’s Diplomatic Blunder, the Cowardice of Western Democracies and What Sweden Should Do
Board Members, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research-TFF – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Aug 2013
President Obama’s decision to cancel the meeting with Putin is yet another indicator of Washington’s intellectual weakness and the U.S. empire’s future dissolution. People like Assange, Manning and Snowden should be seen as heroes and treated with respect. Before the Swedish prime minister meets Obama he should announce that Sweden is willing to host Snowden.
→ read full articleEmail Service Used by Snowden [Lavabit] Shuts Itself Down, Warns against Using US-Based Companies
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
A Texas-based encrypted email service recently revealed to be used by Edward Snowden – Lavabit – announced yesterday [8Aug 2013] it was shutting itself down to avoid complying with unjust secret US court orders to provide government access to its users’ content. Edward Snowden: ‘Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and the rest of our internet titans must ask themselves why they aren’t fighting for our interests the same way’.
→ read full articleRichard Dawkins’ Tweets on Islam Are As Rational As the Rants of an Extremist Muslim Cleric
Nesrine Malik – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
My Eid was interrupted by Richard Dawkins tweeting about how few Nobel prizes Muslims have won. His logic rings a bell …
→ read full articleGoogle Chrome Security Flaw Offers Unrestricted Password Access
Charles Arthur – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Plain text logon details for email, social networks and company systems stored in browser’s Settings panel. One security manager said: “The fact you can view the passwords means they are stored in reversible form which means that the dark coders out there will be writing a Trojan to steal that password store as we speak.”
→ read full articlePlease Read Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 on Your Vacation, Mr. President
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Senator Obama’s objection to ‘a dumb war’ won him nomination. As commander-in-chief, he has reneged on opposing militarism.
→ read full articleThe Number of the Beast
Carlos Sardiña Galache – Southeast Asia Globe,
12 Aug 2013
The anti-Muslim 969 movement is fuelling the fire of religious discontent in Myanmar. Just as it is casting off its shackles, a spectre is haunting the nation – Buddhist extremism.
→ read full articleObama’s Abuse of the Espionage Act Is Modern-Day McCarthyism
John Kiriakou – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Shame on this president for persecuting whistleblowers with a legal relic, while administration officials leak with impunity. In early 2012, I was arrested and charged with three counts of espionage and one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. (I was only the second person in US history to be charged with violating the IIPA, a law that was written to be used against rogues like Philip Agee.)
→ read full article(Português) O Discurso da Servidão Voluntária
Flávio Ricardo Vassoler – Carta Maior,
12 Aug 2013
O darwinismo social de nosso capitalismo não sentencia que aquilo que sobrevive e sobrepuja é a única força possível – e válida? Sendo assim, por que as vítimas deveriam se identificar com outras vítimas? Daniel Balint reproduz o discurso da servidão voluntária, “contanto que eu possa escarrar o meu ódio contra o outro que é tão impotente quanto eu mesmo”.
→ 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 articleAbe Sanctions Government Funding to “Freeze” Fukushima with Giant Ice Wall
Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Aug 2013
Ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics, Japanese Anime, or Game of Thrones; the cunning solution to the ongoing emergency in Fukushima. Now that TEPCO has been shown to be inept, Abe and his government have sanctioned the funding of a 1.4 Km wall of ice to surround the building that holds Reactors 1 to 4.
→ 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 articleManning, Snowden and Assange Were the Ones Who Took Risks to Expose Crime
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
But those who planned the wars, those who committed war crimes, those who conduct illegal spying, for now, walk free.
→ read full articleJP Morgan to Pay $410m in Penalties for Manipulating Electricity Prices
Associated Press in Washington – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
JP Morgan has agreed to the penalty, although the company disputes the violations. The penalty includes $285m for the federal government, and $125m for ratepayers. The agency recently levied a $453m penalty on Barclays, Britain’s second-largest bank, for manipulating electricity prices in California and other western states. Barclays is disputing the allegations.
→ 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 articleWhat Google Knows About You
Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Aug 2013
Imagine there’s a list somewhere that contains every single webpage you visited, everything you searched for, address you looked up, email you sent, chat message, YouTube video you ever watched. Each entry is time-stamped. With all that imagined, can you think of ways a hacker with access to it could use against you? Now go to google.com/dashboard, and see it all become reality.
→ read full articleUruguay Votes to Create World’s First National Legal Marijuana Market
Associated Press in Montevideo - The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
1 Aug 2013 – Legislators in the ruling coalition said putting the government at the centre of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed marijuana sales could save money and lives.
→ read full article(Português) O Mundo Orwelliano da NSA
James Bamford, New York Review of Books – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Aug 2013
Onde internet e telefonia globais são interceptadas? Como Obama manteve espionagem ilegal de Bush? Por que esquema faz lembrar “1984″?
→ read full articleXkeyscore: NSA Tool Collects ‘Nearly Everything a User Does On the Internet’
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
• XKeyscore gives ‘widest-reaching’ collection of online data
• NSA analysts require no prior authorization for searches
• Sweeps up emails, social media activity and browsing history
• NSA’s XKeyscore program – read one of the presentations
Syria’s Exodus: A Refugee Crisis for the World
Martin Chulov and Mark Rice-Oxley – The Guardian,
29 Jul 2013
“When we look at the prospects, one that we all have to face is that this conflict is creating a large risk of sectarian cleansing. This is how Srebrenica happened, how Rwanda happened, by gradually building up this enormous wave that leads to catastrophic consequences. This is the [crisis] that makes me lose sleep.”
→ 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 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 articleAmerica’s Real Subversives: FBI Spying Then, NSA Surveillance Now
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
29 Jul 2013
As the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington approaches, commemorating that historic gathering where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I have a dream” speech, it is important to recall the extent to which King was targeted by the government’s domestic spying apparatus.
→ read full articleThe Six Types of Atheist
Andrew Brown – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
A new study in the US seeks to break down atheists into distinct categories. Which one do you fall into?
→ 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 articleNSA Warned to Rein in Surveillance as Agency Reveals Even Greater Scope
Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
NSA officials testify to angry House panel that agency can perform ‘three-hop queries’ through Americans’ data and records.
→ read full articleThe Crux of the NSA Story in One Phrase: ‘Collect It All’
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
The actual story that matters is not hard to see: the NSA is attempting to collect, monitor and store all forms of human communication.
→ read full articleWhat the Empire Didn’t Hear: US Spying and Resistance in Latin America
Benjamin Dangl – Toward Freedom,
22 Jul 2013
US imperialism spreads across Latin America through military bases and trade deals, corporate exploitation and debt, and a vast communications surveillance network into the region’s streets and halls of power. Yet more than McDonald’s and bullets, an empire depends on fear, and fear of the empire is lacking these days in Latin America.
→ read full articleGoldman Sachs Profits Double in Second Quarter
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
Goldman Sachs doubled its profits in the second quarter as the bank benefited from gains in fixed income, currency and commodity trading revenue. The Wall Street giant set out its latest quarterly earnings Tuesday [16 Jul 2013] morning announcing net income of $1.93bn, compared with $962m a year earlier. Net revenue, including net interest income, rose 30% to $8.61bn from $6.6bn last year.
→ read full articleFukushima Continues
William Boardman - Reader Supported News,
15 Jul 2013
The first thing to know about the danger from the radioactive mass remaining in the three reactors that melted down at Fukushima is that nobody knows how much radioactive material there is, nobody knows how much uranium and plutonium it contains, and nobody knows how to make it safe – so no one knows how great the continuing danger is.
→ read full articleThe NSA/GCHQ Metadata Reassurances Are Breathtakingly Cynical
John Naughton – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
Over the past two weeks, I have lost count of the number of officials and government ministers who, when challenged about internet surveillance by GCHQ and the NSA, try to reassure their citizens by saying that the spooks are “only” collecting metadata, not “content”. Only two conclusions are possible from this: either the relevant spokespersons are unbelievably dumb or they are displaying a breathtaking contempt for their citizenry.
→ read full article
Rapper Yasiin Bey (Aka Mos Def) Force Fed under Standard Guantánamo Bay Procedure
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jul 2013
In this four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, US actor and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure. Warning: Some Viewers May Find These Images Distressing – Guantánamo inmates are submitted to this horrible procedure TWICE DAILY.
→ read full articleECHELON Today: The Evolution of an NSA Black Program
Tom Burghardt, Antifascist Calling – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jul 2013
While the public is angered by the illegal, unconstitutional nature of NSA programs which seize and store data for retrospective harvesting including the content of phone calls, emails, geolocational information, bank records, credit card purchases, travel itineraries, even medical records, in secret, the historical context of how, and why, this vast spying apparatus came to be is often given short shrift.
→ read full articleHow Microsoft Handed the NSA Access to Encrypted Messages
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, Laura Poitras, Spencer Ackerman and Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
• Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism
• Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch
• Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls
• Company says it is legally compelled to comply
The Snowden Video Sequel and Brazil Fallout
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
In the first video we published, Snowden indicated that his primary motive was to shine light on the ubiquitous global surveillance apparatus being secretly constructed by the US and its allies in order to prompt a meaningful worldwide debate. It’s hard to contest that substantial progress has been made in fulfilling this objective.
→ read full article(Português) As Redes de Espionagem Secreta das Democracias Ocidentais
Eduardo Febbro – Carta Maior,
15 Jul 2013
O episódio infame que fez com que o avião do presidente Evo Morales fosse bloqueado em Viena com base em um rumor infundado lançado pela Espanha, segundo o qual o ex-agente da NSA norteamericana, Edward Snowden, se encontrava a bordo é a consequência de uma caçada humana lançada pelo Ocidente em nome de um novo delito: a informação. Os “aliados” se espionam entre si e espionam o mundo. Quando alguém resolve denunciar a ditadura tecnológica universal torna-se um delinquente.
→ read full articleHow Cryptography Is a Key Weapon in the Fight against Empire States
Julian Assange – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression. That is the message in my book, Cypherpunks. But the movement for the universal availability of strong cryptography must be made to do more than this. Our future does not lie in the liberty of individuals alone. The cypherpunks have yet to do their greatest work. Join us.
→ 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 articleEgypt, Brazil, Turkey: Without Politics, Protest Is at the Mercy of the Elites
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
From Egypt to Brazil, street action is driving change, but organisation is essential if it’s not to be hijacked or disarmed.
→ read full articleThe Military Coup in Egypt: Challenges of the Transition
Dr. Lakhdar Ghettas, Cordoba Foundation of Geneva – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jul 2013
The ousting of President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian army is a military coup d’état pure and simple. Morsi’s ousting qualifies for a military putsch which is by definition the illegal removal of the head of the state by the army or a faction within it, or the security services, through the use of force or the threat to using it.
→ read full articleWhales Flee from Military Sonar Leading to Mass Strandings, Research Shows
Damian Carrington – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
Whales flee from the loud military sonar used by navies to hunt submarines, new research has proven for the first time. The studies provide a missing link in the puzzle that has connected naval exercises around the world to unusual mass strandings of whales and dolphins.
→ read full article10 Causes of Bad Breath
Dr. Edward F. Group – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jul 2013
Bad breath plagues everyone at some time or another. If you are aware of it, hopefully you try to get rid of it, or at least try to hide it. If you are not aware of it, you may be wondering why people keep their distance.
→ read full articleJames Clapper, EU Play-Acting, and Political Priorities
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
3 Jul 2013 – The NSA revelations continue to expose far more than just the ongoing operations of that sprawling and unaccountable spying agency. Let’s examine what we have learned this week about the US political and media class and then certain EU leaders.
→ read full articleSyria’s [Armed] Rebels in Rift with Aleppo’s [Nonviolent] Civil Opposition
Edward Dark – Al Monitor,
8 Jul 2013
Aleppo’s civil opposition has been swept aside as hard-line armed groups assert their power in the city.
→ 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 articleWhen States Monitored Their Citizens We Used to Call Them Authoritarian. Now We Think This Is What Keeps Us Safe
Suzanne Moore – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
The internet is being snooped on and CCTV is everywhere. How did we come to accept that this is just the way things are?
→ read full articleThe NSA’s Mass and Indiscriminate Spying on Brazilians
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
As it does in many non-adversarial countries, the surveillance agency is bulk collecting the communications of millions of citizens of Brazil.
→ 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 articleBradley Manning Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize
Mairead Corrigan-Maguire – The Guardian,
1 Jul 2013
As a peace prize winner myself, I am nominating Manning for this honor for his work to help end the Iraq War and other conflicts. I hope American leaders will embrace the U.S. constitution, and base their national and foreign policies on ethical values, human rights and international law.
→ read full article6 Causes of Flatulence
Dr. Edward F. Group, Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jul 2013
Just as everyone goes to the bathroom, everyone also passes gas; it’s simply a biological reality. Your body is able to absorb a limited amount of the gas it ingests or produces. The rest has to come out somewhere.
→ read full articlePentagon Bracing For Public Dissent over Climate and Energy Shocks
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Top secret US National Security Agency (NSA) documents disclosed by the Guardian have shocked the world with revelations of a comprehensive US-based surveillance system with direct access to Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants. New Zealand court records suggest that data harvested by the NSA’s Prism system has been fed into the Five Eyes intelligence alliance whose members also include the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
→ read full articleThe Whistleblowers Are the New Generation of American Patriots
Gary Younge – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
The violation of civil liberties in the name of security has had a profound impact on those who came of age after 9/11.
→ read full articleWhat is Andropause?
Dr. Edward F. Group, Global Healing Center – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Jun 2013
The phenomena of the biological clock isn’t exclusive to women, it seems men also are prone to age related changes in hormone levels, sexual function, physical features, and quality of life. These changes, dubbed “andropause” (and sometimes “male menopause”) are due to a progressive decrease in testosterone production.
→ read full article(Português) Brasil: O Preço da Gota d’Água
Luís Leiria, Esquerda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Jun 2013
Vinte centavos de aumento fizeram transbordar “um pote até aqui de mágoa”, como diz a canção do Chico Buarque. Mas o Brasil não é agora um país rico? De que se queixam, então? De 20 centavos? Não, não é de 20 centavos (apenas), tal como os turcos não se queixam (só) da destruição do Parque Gezi de Istambul.
→ read full articleSteve Wozniak: ‘I felt about Edward Snowden the way I felt about Daniel Ellsberg’
Tania Branigan – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Apple co-founder says he admires Edward Snowden as much as Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg. He said he had been brought up to believe that “communist Russia was so bad because they followed their people, they snooped on them, they arrested them, they put them in secret prisons, they disappeared them. We are getting more and more like that.”
→ read full articleRewilding Made Simple – An Animated Guide
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Jun 2013
Could the destruction of the natural world be reversed? Could our bare hills once more support a rich and thriving ecosystem, containing wolves, lynx, moose, bison, wolverines and boar? Does our wildlife still bear the marks of the great beasts that once roamed here? George Monbiot narrates an animation on the enchanting subject of rewilding.
→ read full articleGuantánamo Force-Feeding Does Not Trouble Prison Doctors
Associated Press – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Calls for the doctors who force-feed hunger-striking prisoners at Guantánamo Bay to refuse to perform the practice on ethical grounds have got nowhere, a spokesman for the prison said on Thursday [20 June 2013]. No doctors, nurses or corpsman had balked at feeding the prisoners or even voiced a concern about the military’s policy of using what’s known as enteral feeding to prevent any of the hunger strikers starving to death, said Navy Captain Robert Durand.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: Saving Us from the United Stasi of America
Daniel Ellsberg – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
Snowden’s whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an ‘executive coup’ against the US constitution.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: The Whistleblower behind the NSA Surveillance Revelations
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows.
→ read full articleGuantánamo Doctors Must Refuse to Force-Feed Hunger Strikers – Physicians
Paul Harris in New York – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
“Military physicians should refuse to participate in any act that unambiguously violates medical ethics,” wrote Dr George Annas, Dr Sondra Crosby and Dr Leonard Glantz, in a three-page article outlining an ethical case against force-feeding of the detainees. All three are senior medical professors at Boston University.
→ read full articleGuide to Your Metadata
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Jun 2013
Below, explore some of the data collected through activities you do every day. What you can tell using metadata – A case study of the Petraeus scandal.
→ 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 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 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 article(Português) FMI Assume Ter Subestimado os “Estragos” Causados pela Austeridade na Grécia
Esquerda – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Jun 2013
Políticas austeritárias acabaram por conduzir a Grécia a uma recessão sem fim à vista, reconhece o Fundo Monetário Internacional num documento citado pelo The Wall Street Journal. O organismo liderado por Christine Lagarde admite ainda que a dívida grega não era sustentável.
→ read full article