PEACE JOURNALISM PERSPECTIVE
EDITORIAL
Norway Revisited: Two Crises-An Oil Slick-And?
Johan Galtung, 10 Aug 2015 - TRANSCEND Media Service
Norway, on top of the UN indicator of good life for years, is now hit by two different crises; one for the less developed aspect and one for the more developed. Yet the citizens are protected by a massive oil slick, the biggest sovereign fund in the world, the Government Pension Fund for an aging population when oil dries out.
OTHER COMMENTARIES
SPOTLIGHT
Wilfred Burchett: The Atomic Plague
Wilfred Burchett, Fair Observer – TRANSCEND Media Service
Wilfred Burchett was the first reporter to enter the city of Hiroshima after the bombing. “I Write This as a Warning to the World” – The Daily Express, London, September 5, 1945
Our 70th Anniversary Homework: Confronting the Myths and Learning the Lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Joseph Gerson – Common Deams
The myths that the A-bombings were necessary to end the war against Japan and that they saved the lives of half a million US troops remain widely believed. The myths serve as the ideological foundation for continuing U.S. preparations for nuclear war, which in turn has served as the primary driver of nuclear weapons proliferation and the creation of deterrent nuclear arsenals.
Hiroshima Peace Declaration by Mayor Kazumi Matsui
The Japan Times - TRANSCEND Media Service
Below is the full text of the Peace Declaration delivered Thursday [6 Aug 2015] by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the USA.
Blessing the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombs
Father George Zabelka – TRANSCEND Media Service
Father George Zabelka, a Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Air Force, served as a priest for the airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and gave them his blessing. Over the next twenty years, he gradually came to believe that he had been terribly wrong; that he had denied the very foundations of his faith by lending moral and religious support to the bombings.
The 70th Anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki: Unwelcome Truths for Church and State
Gary G. Kohls, MD – TRANSCEND Media Service
70 years ago, (August 9, 1945) an all-Christian bomber crew dropped a plutonium bomb over Nagasaki, annihilating tens of thousands of innocent civilians, a disproportionately large number of them Japanese Christians. The bomb exploded directly over the massive Urakami Cathedral, the largest Christian church in the Orient.
BY TRANSCEND MEMBERS
Reflections on the 70th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings
David Krieger – Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing some 90,000 people immediately and another 55,000 by the end of 1945. Three days later, the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 people immediately and another 35,000 by the end of 1945.
Pentagon Prepares for Century of Climate Emergencies and Oil Wars
Nafeez Ahmed – Middle East Eye
US Army research reveals the military’s latest strategies to safeguard the global fossil fuel system from threat of scarcity and climate disruption.
The Need for a New Economic System – Part 3: Climate Change and the Urgent Need for Renewable Energy
John Scales Avery, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service
These considerations point to a battle that will have to be fought by the people of the world who are concerned about the long-term future of human civilization and the biosphere, against the vested interests of our oligarchic rulers. This fight will require wide public discussion of the dangers of runaway climate change. At present, our corporate-controlled mass media hardly mention the long-term dangers, such as the methane hydrate feedback loop, so the battle will have to be fought in the alternative media.
Citizens of the World: Crisis and Response
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service
Whenever the structure among States was too small to deal with the socio-economic and political challenges being faced, persons have worked for larger groupings: the United States rather than the Articles of Confederation, the European Union, the African Union, the United Nations. Today, the challenges concern the whole planet.
Divide et Impera
Uri Avnery – TRANSCEND Media Service
Binyamin Netanyahu is not known as a classical scholar, but even so he has adopted the Roman maxim Divide et Impera, divide and rule. The main (and perhaps only) goal of his policy is to extend the rule of Israel, as the “Nation-State of the Jewish People”, over all of Eretz Israel, the historical land of Palestine. This means ruling all of the West Bank and covering it with Jewish settlements, while denying any civil rights to its 2.5 million plus Arab inhabitants.
Pondering Jonathan Pollard’s Release
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service
Loyalty to the state continues to be the north star of conventional patriotism. For the citizen pilgrim solidarity with an emergent eco-humanist insurgency is the keystone of 21st century political community and ethical responsibility deserving precedence when in conflict with nationalist and tribal affinities.
ACTIVISM
Sea Shepherd Found Guilty by Danish Court of Defending Pilot Whales
Sea Shepherd News – TRANSCEND Media Service
Yesterday [6 Aug 2015] five Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers were found guilty in a Danish court of breaking the Faroe Islands Pilot Whaling Act for the “crime” of interfering in the slaughter of over 250 pilot whales on the killing beaches of Bøur and Tórshavn on July 23.
ANGLO AMERICA
70 Years of Korean War
David Swanson – TRANSCEND Media Service
I’m inclined to think that August 10th should be formally recognized as Gulf of Tonkin War Fraud Day. But I’m not sure, because another event is in even more need of remembrance. It was the day after the death blow to Nagasaki, 70 years ago, that the victors of the most awesomest war ever chose to create a division of Korea along the 38th parallel.
Citigroup’s Unchecked Crime Wave Proves that America Is Headed in the Wrong Direction
Pam Martens and Russ Martens, Wall Street on Parade - TRANSCEND Media Service
Citigroup, the bank that played a central role in bringing America to its knees in 2008; received the largest taxpayer bailout in the history of finance to resuscitate its insolvent carcass; pleaded guilty to a felony count of rigging foreign currency trading in May and was put on a three year probation – is now under a string of manycriminal and civil investigations.
ASIA & THE PACIFIC
The Roots of Religious Conflict in Myanmar
Matt Schissler, Matthew J Walton and Phyu Phyu Thi – The Diplomat
Understanding Narratives Is an Important Step to Ending Violence – “Unsubstantiated headlines that crow of a terrorist threat in Myanmar, like those recently published by Newsweek and the Independent, are dangerous and irresponsible.”
Pope Francis: Burmese Treatment of Rohingya Minority a Form of ‘War’
Joshua J. McElwee – National Catholic Reporter
Pope Francis has again entered into controversial geopolitical territory, saying sharply Friday [7 Aug 2015] that Burmese treatment of its populous and persecuted Rohingya minority constitutes war against them.
EUROPE
Psychologist’s Work for GCHQ Deception Unit Inflames Debate among Peers
Andrew Fishman – The Intercept
7 Aug 2015 – A British psychologist is receiving sharp criticism from some professional peers for providing expert advice to help the U.K. surveillance agency GCHQ manipulate people online.
The Greek Bailout Paves the Way for the United States of Europe
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya – Mint Press News
Illusions are at play in the modern tragedy that is the Greek economic system, particularly when it comes to notions of who benefits most from the latest bailout. The Greek bailout is for Germany and Western Europe, not Greeks.
U.S. Is Destroying Europe
Eric Zuesse – Strategic Culture Foundation
In Libya, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries at the periphery or edges of Europe, U.S. President Barack Obama has been pursuing a policy of destabilization, and even of bombings and other military assistance, that drives millions of refugees out of those peripheral areas and into Europe, thereby adding fuel to the far-rightwing fires of anti-immigrant rejectionism, and of resultant political destabilization, throughout Europe, not only on its peripheries, but even as far away as in northern Europe.
MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Dubai’s Skyline Is a Monument to Oppression, Not Prosperity
Laith Shakir – Foreign Policy In Focus
Visual artist Arko Datto combines satellite images and text to paint a picture of migrant workers’ lives in the Arabian Peninsula — and his findings aren’t pretty.
PALESTINE / ISRAEL
Why Israel Is Suddenly Owning Up to Its Terrorism
Daoud Kuttab – Al Jazeera
By calling Friday’s [31 Jul 2015] arson attack a terrorist act, the Israelis are hoping to avoid the full force of international law. The senseless burning alive of infant Ali Dawabasheh, and the maiming of his family, has refocused local, regional, and world attention on the Palestinian cause.
SCANDINAVIA
Reclaiming Utoya
Aage Borchgrevink – Al Jazeera
Breivik wanted to create conflict between Norwegians and immigrant communities, but his acts had the opposite effect. The young are more positive to the new multicultural reality, and the statistics indicate that attitudes are more positive in the places where majority and minority populations live together, such
SYRIA IN DEPTH
The Brookings Institute Plan to Liquidate Syria
Mike Whitney - CounterPunch
When is regime change not regime change? When the regime stays in power but loses its ability to rule. This is the current objective of US policy in Syria, to undermine Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s ability to govern the country without physically removing him from office. The idea is simple: Deploy US-backed “jihadi” proxies to capture-and-hold vast sections of the country thereby making it impossible for the central government to control the state.
The Bravenhearts of Wadi Al Nasera, Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service
The group of Greek Orthodox nuns was kidnapped in Dec 2013 and held for three months by Jabhat al, released three months later in a prisoner exchange. This observer was honored to spend time with this charming, passionate, energetic, group of sisters on Aug/4/2015 and we discussed many subjects.
THE UNITED NATIONS
Burma Government ‘Hampers’ Mandate of UN Rights Envoy
Feliz Solomon - The Irrawaddy
The Burmese government has placed prohibitive limits on the mandate of UN rights envoy Yanghee Lee during her third official visit to the country, the special rapporteur told reporters on Friday [7 Aug 2015] at the tail end of a five-day fact finding mission.
MEDIA
What the Mainstream Media Got Wrong about Gaza
Qossay Alsattari – Foreign Policy In Focus
You may have heard that “both sides” committed abuses in last Gaza war. But there’s no comparison when it comes to the scale of the violations — or the body count. According to the investigators, the war killed 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians — over half of them women and children. By contrast, six Israeli civilians and 67 soldiers were killed.
Wartime Journalism: Mohammed Omer on Gaza
Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service
Omer’s prior reporting earned him the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 2007, recognizing the excellence of his reportage on Gaza (‘a voice for the voiceless’). After receiving the award in The Netherlands, Omer on his return home received a brutal reception at the Gaza border by Israeli security guards being beaten so severely as to endure serious injury that required specialized surgery.
Journalists around the World Stand Up in Support of Netzpolitik after Outrageous ‘Treason’ Investigation
Trevor Timm – Freedom of the Press Foundation
5 Aug 2015 – Last week, the German government informed the popular news site Netzpolitik that two of its journalists were under investigation for treason for reporting on their government’s mass surveillance programs – in other words they were being investigated for doing their job.
CAPITALISM
The Quadrillion Dollar Derivative Debt and the “Bail-In”: When You Deposit Funds in a Bank, It Becomes “Their Money”
Bill Holter - Global Research
Once you deposit the money, it is no longer yours. You can argue this if you wish but we now know this is true for sure after recent “bail in” legislations passed throughout the west. When you deposit funds into a bank, it then becomes “their money” held for you …they “owe” it to you. Do not take this lightly.
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
The Real Nuclear Danger Isn’t Iran or North Korea
The most dangerous nuclear nations are the U.S. and Russia, the ones with nearly all of the weapons. “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.” — President John F. Kennedy
MILITARISM
Outsourcing the Kill Chain: Eleven Drone Contractors Revealed
Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service
3 Aug 2015 – Hundreds of private sector intelligence analysts are being paid to review surveillance footage from U.S. military drones in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to a new report from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Afghanistan: The Forever War
Rachelle Marshall – Foreign Policy In Focus
After the United States has been in Afghanistan for 14 years, 91,000 Afghans have been killed and 26,000 wounded.
EDUCATION
How to Live Wisely
Richard J. Light – The New York Times
Imagine you are Dean for a Day. What is one actionable change you would implement to enhance the college experience on campus? I have asked students this question for years. The answers can be eye-opening. A few years ago, the responses began to move away from “tweak the history course” or “change the ways labs are structured.” A different commentary, about learning to live wisely, has emerged.
ANIMAL RIGHTS / VEGETARIANISM
Dr. Walter Palmer’s Crime Must Not Be Forgotten: Killing Cecil the Lion
Captain Paul Watson – TRANSCEND Media Service
Our outrage is having a positive impact. Delta, Air France, Emirates, Air Canada and United have banned the shipment of wildlife trophies. Zimbabwe has banned lion hunting. The U.S. Congress is considering a bill to ban wildlife trophies into the U.S. Botswana has banned big game hunting. We need to keep this outrage alive and we need to focus on destroying the Safari Club International and their 50,000 sadistic members. We need to create an understanding that anyone who puts a head of an animal on the wall as a trophy should be ostracized and publicly shamed.
HISTORY
August: This Month in Nuclear Threat History
Jeffrey W. Mason – Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
August 6, 1945 – Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets piloted the 509th Composite Group’s B-29 Superfortress bomber named Enola Gay, in honor of the pilot’s mother, from Tinian in the Marianas chain of Pacific Ocean islands to Hiroshima, Japan where the enriched uranium-fueled fission bomb code named “Little Boy” was dropped over a city of a quarter million inhabitants at 8:15:17 a.m. local time.
This Week in History
Satoshi Ashikaga - TRANSCEND Media Service
August 10-16 – QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam
STORIES TO INSPIRE YOU
How Switzerland Ended Its Involvement in War
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service
For the first 200 years of its history, Switzerland was involved in many wars, first to defend itself against repeated attempts by the German emperor to reconquer the cantons that had declared themselves independent in 1291, and later to acquire more territory. Two events brought an end to this involvement in war.
BIOGRAPHIES
Fidel Castro Ruz (Born 13 Aug 1926)
Biography – TRANSCEND Media Service
Marxist Cuban political leader Fidel Castro led the Cuban Revolution and served as president of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. In 1959 Castro used guerilla warfare to successfully overthrow US puppet Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista and was sworn in as prime minister of the new Cuban revolutionary state. He served as prime minister until 1976, when he became president.
POETRY FORMAT
Hiroshima Spring
Gary Corseri – TRANSCEND Media Service
Under the flush of cherry,
in air as mild as breath,
by the Ota’s tributary–
five crooked fingers reaching
into the Inland Sea–
In Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service
The heat of summer is oppressive.
Children pass by in groups, chattering.
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
(Português) Descoberta a Provável Causa da Adicção – E Não É o que Você Pensa
Johann Hari – Brasil Post
O oposto de Adicção, portanto, não é sobriedade. É conexão humana. Existe uma alternativa. Você pode criar um sistema desenhado para ajudar os adictos a se reconectar com o mundo – e, assim, deixar a adicção para trás.
(Português) Dinamarca – O primeiro país que, por lei, só terá agricultura orgânica
Alice Branco – TRANSCEND Media Service
Agosto 6, 2015 – A Dinamarca está se preparando para ter uma agricultura totalmente sustentável. Este é um dos projetos que o atual governo tem intenção de por em prática a de transformar a agricultura dinamarquesa em 100% orgânica.
(Italiano) Hiroshima e Nagasaki: 70 anni di menzogne e ipocrisie
Nanni Salio – Centro Studi Sereno Regis
agosto 7, 2015 – Ogni anno, nella ricorrenza dei bombardamenti nucleari di Hiroshima e Nagasaki, 6-9 agosto, assistiamo all’alternarsi di menzogne, mezze verità, e tentativi di far luce su quanto è accaduto in quei giorni.
(Français) 25 vérités de l’économiste Thomas Piketty sur la dette grecque
Salim Lamrani, Investig’Action – TRANSCEND Media Service
3 août 2015 – L’auteur de l’ouvrage Le capital au XXIe siècle dénonce l’hypocrisie de la troïka et du Fonds monétaire international au sujet de la question de la dette.
(Italiano) Il Giappone rivisitato
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service
Guerra, colonialismo, atrocità sono state considerate l’essenza del Giappone, accidentali in Germania. Ecco all’opera il razzismo occidentale: impunità per i bianchi, non per i gialli. Giudicato dalle potenze coloniali occidentali i cui crimini coloniali gridano al cielo rispetto a quel che fece il Giappone. Me compreso, che ho attribuito il colonialismo occidentale al Giappone. Chiedo scusa.
(Português) Guerras e Recessão: As Promessas da Pax Norte-Americana
Emir Sader, Carta Maior – TRANSCEND Media Service
Os países que resistem aos imperativos do capital é que estão no começo de um novo ciclo, de construção de um mundo baseado na solidariedade.
SHORT VIDEO CLIPS
Should Palestinians Visit Nazi Concentration Camps?
MoralCourageChannel – TRANSCEND Media Service
A Palestinian professor takes his students to visit Auschwitz – not to adopt the Zionist narrative, but to learn more about the conflict’s roots. Upon their return, the professor’s car is blown up. See why he persists, how one student was affected by the trip and, most surprising, who else wants to go.
Don’t Worry Be Happy (MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Bobby McFerrin – TRANSCEND Media Service
Released in Sep. 1988, the song’s title is taken from a famous quote by Meher Baba. Dancers: Bobby McFerrin, Robin Williams and Bill Irwin.
SATIRE
World Welcomes US Border Walls
News From Somewhere – TRANSCEND Media Service
T. Ronald Dump, one of 68 (and counting) contestants for the Republican presidential nomination, proposed a wall only for the border between the US and Mexico. But, as 67 other Republican contenders quickly argued, it would be relatively easy for Mexican rapists and drug dealers to travel to Canada and then invade the US across the northern border, so a northern wall was needed also.
JOKE OF THE WEEK
Truthful
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service
Someone was walking with the devil. The person in front of them bent down and picked something up.
“Militaries are the ultimate manifestation of direct, structural and cultural violence—a cancer that must be extirpated from humanity.” — Antonio C. S. Rosa, M.A.
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