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    by Sean Mc Aughey
Sean Mc Aughey is a former University of Ulster Student's union President and has worked in public relations.
He is now a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to the Blanket, which describes itself as “a journal of protest and dissent”.
His material is published unedited on this page.
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Leading Human Rights Solicitor "Shut Down” by Law Society

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Direct news input story index

At Least 32% of U.S. Mass Shooters Trained to Shoot by U.S. Military
10 May 2023; posted by the editor - General, Features, International, United States

By David Swanson
It’s been two years since I wrote on this topic. At that time, at least 36% of U.S. mass shooters had been trained by the U.S. military. Since then, a grand total of nobody at all has written on the topic.

 
Read more...
Tags: mass shootings, David Swanson, United States
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Direct news input items

At Least 32% of U.S. Mass Shooters Trained to Shoot by U.S. Military
10 May 2023; posted by the editor - General, Features, International, United States


By David Swanson
It’s been two years since I wrote on this topic. At that time, at least 36% of U.S. mass shooters had been trained by the U.S. military. Since then, a grand total of nobody at all has written on the topic.

 
Read more...
Tags: mass shootings, David Swanson, United States
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“Contempt Citation” to be served for War Crimes
13 Feb 2023; posted by the editor - International, United States


Washington, D.C. area - On February 14th, 2023, Valentine’s Day, organizers of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal and their supporters will serve a “Citation for Contempt” on the corporate offices of Raytheon in Arlington, Virginia for failing to comply with a “Subpoena” previously served on them on November 10, 2022. Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Atomics have all been served and “Indicted” for their complicity in aiding and abetting the United States government in committing War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Bribery, and Theft. This action on Valentine’s Day is called “Melt Your Cold, Cold Heart.” Simultaneous actions will occur in San Diego, CA; New York City; Asheville, NC; and Syracuse, NY.
Read more...
Tags: Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, Lloyd Austin, war crimes
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Roger Waters Questioned in Depth About Ukraine, Russia, Israel, U.S.
06 Feb 2023; posted by the editor - Features, Interviews, International


Roger Waters can rightly claim to be the mastermind behind Pink Floyd. He came up with the concept of and wrote all the lyrics for the masterpiece “The Dark Side of the Moon”. He wrote the albums “Animals”, “The Wall” and “The Final Cut” single-handedly. On his current tour “This Is Not A Drill”, which comes to Germany in May, he therefore wants to express that legacy to a large extent and play songs from Pink Floyd’s classic phase. The problem: Because of controversial statements he has made about the war in Ukraine and the politics of the state of Israel, one of his concerts in Poland has already been cancelled, and in Germany Jewish and Christian organizations are demanding the same.
Read more...
Tags: Roger Waters interview, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Poland, USA, World Without War
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Irish Neutrality League launches on UN International Day of Peace
21 Sep 2022; posted by the editor - General, International, Ireland


The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) announced today that the Irish Neutrality League (INL) was formally launched, coinciding with the United Nations International Day of Peace, Wednesday 21st September.
Read more...
Tags: Irish Neutrality League, Irish Anti-War Movement, war, peace, militarisation
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Idiot Anti-Nukers Will Only Have Seconds to Say They Were Right
27 Apr 2022; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
There’s a lot of funny stuff in politics, but the most ludicrous has got to be these holdovers from the 1980s running around warning that we could all die in a nuclear war. The idiots have not realized that nobody cares, that they look like morons, and that they’ll only have seconds in which to point out that they were right. What sort of awards do they expect to be given in the space of a half a minute?
Read more...
Tags: nuclear war
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Through the lens . . .
20 Apr 2022; posted by the editor - Opinion


If the current Russian administration considers that the sanctions imposed by countries of the world due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine are meaningless, then Russia is also saying by the same token that it considers those countries as meaningless.
Read more...
Tags: Ukraine, Russia
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OMG, War Is Kind of Horrible
14 Mar 2022; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson

For decades, the U.S. public seemed largely indifferent to most of the horrible suffering of war. The corporate media outlets mostly avoided it, made war look like a video game, occasionally mentioned suffering U.S. troops, and once in a blue moon touched on the deaths of a handful of local civilians as if their killing were some sort of aberration.
Read more...
Tags: Ukraine, Yemen, US, Russia, War
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Russian and Ukraine
03 Mar 2022; posted by the editor - Opinion


It is NOT OK for Russian President Putin to consider he has any right to invade an independent country on the pretext of lies.
It is NOT OK to ignore this.
Given world opinion on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, humanity has the duty of removing such naligned people from power and of squeezing such corrupt garbage out of existence
Tags: Russia, Ukraine
0 Comments
Today's comment
22 Feb 2022; posted by the editor - Opinion


In times gone by John Lennon said whilst alive that the world, in his opinion, was an insane place run by insane people.
Read more...
Tags: John Lennon, life
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Israel, the world, and true justice
22 Jul 2021; posted by the editor - Opinion


It is time that the democratic world, and any of those who profess to believe in justice, truth and freedom - to take an effective and powerful stand against the hypocritical, discriminate and racist bully policies of the Israeli administration and to no longer give Israel sanction to continue its obscene actions.
Tags: Israel, Palestine, racism, ethnic cleaning, bullying state
0 Comments
Press media watchdog asks ICC to investigate Israeli war crimes
21 May 2021; posted by the editor - Journalism, International


By Reporters Without Borders
The press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders is calling on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate Israeli airstrikes, which it  says it regards as war crimes.
Read more...
Tags: Israeli air strikes, Gaza, Palestine, war crimes
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When algorithms come for journalists
22 Feb 2021; posted by the editor - Journalism


By Freedom of the Press Foundation
Journalists - especially those without institutional newsroom support - rely on tools from major tech companies like Google and YouTube for newsgathering, production and distribution as a matter of course. As these information giants publicly wrestle with controversial content moderation decisions that dominate headlines and Congressional hearings, their decisions also run the risk of stifling routine reporting. When content is removed or an algorithm tweaked behind closed doors, news organizations and journalists are often left without any sort of transparency into the process or a clear path to appeals.
Read more...
Tags: online content removal, online content algorithms
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RSF condemns 'unnecessarily cruel' decision to keep Julian Assange detained
06 Jan 2021; posted by the editor - General, Human Rights, Journalism, International, United States, United Kingdom


In a 6 January hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser considered Julian Assange’s application to be released on bail. She ruled against his release, stating that Assange had an “incentive to abscond,” and “as a matter of fairness” she needed to give the US government the chance to pursue an appeal, which it has indicated it intends to do. Baraitser stated that Assange’s mental health is being managed at Belmarsh prison, and that the prison has its Covid-19 situation under control.
Read more...
Tags: Julian Assange bail, Reporters Without Borders
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Covid-19 and mass inoculation
28 Dec 2020; posted by the editor - Health, Opinion


What is deeply concerning about those expressing views that do not fully support the views of 'authorities' regarding the Covid-19 situation is not what they are saying, but that they are being prevented from saying it.
Read more...
Tags: Covid-19 vaccine
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Julian Assange’s extradition hearing marred by barriers to open justice
10 Oct 2020; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, International, United States, United Kingdom


By Reporters Without Borders
After monitoring four weeks of evidence in the US extradition proceedings against Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates concern regarding the targeting of Assange for his contributions to journalism, and calls again for his release. 
Read more...
Tags: Julian Assange extradition
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Arrest of indigenous Canadian reporter condemned
16 Sep 2020; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Canada


By Reporters Without Borders
An Indigenous Canadian journalist has been arrested and charged with criminal mischief in relation to his reporting on an Indigenous land dispute in southern Ontario. 
Read more...
Tags: press freedom, Haudenosaunee debelopment
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Be Kind to Those Offended By It
16 Jul 2020; posted by the editor - Health, Opinion, International


By David Swanson
"Good Morning! Would you mind staying a safe distance away?"

"Hi! Nice mask! Could you please wear it on your face instead of your chin?"

Helping people reduce the risk of spreading a deadly disease requires being willing to offend them.

And as they long for a return to normalcy, you should be preparing to be a lot more offensive.
Read more...
Tags: David Swanson
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Dismay over Philippine journalist Maria Ressa's prison sentence
15 Jun 2020; posted by the editor - Journalism, Philippines


By RSF.org
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the Phillipine judiciary to overturn a journalist convition and jail sentence following what RSF said was a Kafkaesque court case.
Read more...
Tags: Maria Ressa, Reynaldo Santos Jr, Rappler, press freedom, President Rodrigo Duterte
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COVID-Tech: the sinister consequences of immunity passports
10 Jun 2020; posted by the editor - Features, Health, Human Rights, Technology, International


By EDRi.org
In EDRi’s series on COVID-19, COVIDTech, we explore the critical principles for protecting fundamental rights while curtailing the spread of the virus, as outlined in the EDRi network’s statement on the pandemic. Each post in this series tackles a specific issue at the intersection of digital rights and the global pandemic in order to explore broader questions about how to protect fundamental rights in a time of crisis.
Read more...
Tags: COVID-19, immunity passports, freedom of expression, human rights
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COVID infodemic and the lure of censorship
13 May 2020; posted by the editor - General, Health, Human Rights, Journalism, Technology, Internet news


Article by Chloé Berthélémy, EDRi Policy Advisor
In EDRi's series on COVID-19, COVIDTech, we will explore the critical principles for protecting fundamental rights while curtailing the spread of the virus, as outlined in the EDRi network's statement on the virus. Each post in this series will tackle a specific issue at the intersection of digital rights and the global pandemic in order to explore broader questions about how to protect fundamental rights in a time of crisis. In our statement, we emphasised the principle that states must “defend freedom of expression and information". In this second post of the series, we take a look at the impact on freedom of expression and information that the measures to fight the spread of misinformation could have. Automated tools, content-analysing algorithms, state-sponsored content moderation, all have become normal under COVID-19, and it is a threat to many of our essential fundamental rights.
Read more...
Tags: covid-19, coronavirus, civil freedom, censorship, digital rights, content moderation
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RSF calls on Trump administration to allow free flow of information on coronavirus
23 Apr 2020; posted by the editor - Health, Journalism, International, United States


Journalists covering the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and their journalistic sources have faced access denials and retaliation for their reporting on the virus, press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders reports.
Read more...
Tags: coronavirus, Covid-19, press freedom, censorship
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Bolivia: The Struggle For Democracy Is Not Over
31 Jan 2020; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International, Bolivia


U.S Peace Council Statement
In early January 2020, the Trump Administration's assassination of a top Iranian general in Baghdad, Iraq brought the US and Iran to the brink of a major war. Understandably, that crisis shoved many other crises to the sidelines.
Read more...
Tags: Bolivia, coup, Evo Morales
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You Can Almost Count on Each New Mass Shooter Being a Veteran
02 Jun 2019; posted by the editor - Features, International, United States


By David Swanson
"He enlisted in the Virginia National Guard in April 1996, according to spokesman A.A. Puryear. He was assigned to the Norfolk-based 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team as a 13B cannon crew member. He was discharged in April 2002 and held the rank of specialist at the time, the spokesman said. His records did not indicate overseas deployments." -CNN on latest mass shooter
Read more...
Tags:
0 Comments
Humanitarian Aid Blocked from Entering Venezuelan Embassy in Washington D.C.
09 May 2019; posted by the editor - Features, Human Rights, Journalism, United States, Venezuela


By David Swanson
Two months ago, I heard a story. You heard it too, if you went anywhere near a television or a newspaper in the United States. The government of Venezuela needed to be overthrown because it wouldn't allow in humanitarian aid.

 
Read more...
Tags: Venezuela, Media, anti-war, civil rights
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Myanmar court confirms seven-year jail terms for Reuters journalists
05 Apr 2019; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, International, Burma/Myanmar


By Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urging Myanmar’s highest authorities to end the nightmare of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo after the country’s high court today upheld their seven-year jail sentences on appeal.
Read more...
Tags: Myanmar, Reuters, Wa Lon, Kyaw Soe Oo
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Two U.S. Veterans For Peace Refused Bail, Charged with Trespass at Shannon Airport
18 Mar 2019; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


A group of seven US Veterans for Peace took part in a protest against the U.S. military use of Shannon Airport in Ireland on Sunday 17 March.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Shannon Airport protest
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West Point Tries to Defend the Idea of a Just War
12 Mar 2019; posted by the editor - General, International


By David Swanson
Villanova University is hosting a West Point Military Academy-supported event about “Just War” theory.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, West Point, David Swanson
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New UK counter-terrorism law limits online freedoms
27 Feb 2019; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news, United Kingdom


By Joy Hyvarinen, EDRi observer Index on Censorship, the United Kingdom
The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 became law in the United Kingdom in February, after passing through UK parliament with less debate than many had hoped, while Brexit dominated the political agenda.
Read more...
Tags: Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, censorship, online freedoms
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Concerns remain over UK Counter-Terrorism legislation despite amendment
06 Feb 2019; posted by the editor - Journalism, United Kingdom


By Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said that although it welcomes the inclusion of journalistic protections in specific clauses of the UK Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, it remains concerned about the press freedom implications of a number of problematic provisions that were retained in the final version of the bill. The bill passed after a ‘ping-pong’ debate between the House of Commons and House of Lords, which reached final stages on 22 January 2019.
Read more...
Tags: UK Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, Reporters Without Borders
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What's next for Europe's internet censorship plan?
10 Oct 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Cory Doctorow
In September 2018, a key European vote brought the EU much closer to a system of universal mass censorship and surveillance, in the name of defending copyright.
Read more...
Tags: internet censorship
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UK counter-terrorism bill raises media freedom concerns
27 Sep 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, United Kingdom


By Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship has filed an official notification with the Council of Europe raising concerns about the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill’s impacts on media freedom in the UK.
Read more...
Tags: media freedom, index on censorship, Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill
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Fight continues for jailed Myanmar Reuters reporters
04 Sep 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, Burma/Myanmar


PEN America has pledged to maintain fighting for thr freedom of jailed Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were found guilty by a court in Myanmar and sentenced to seven years in prison
Read more...
Tags: press freedom, Myanmar, imprisonment, Wa Lone, Kyaw Soe Oo
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Belfast arrest of journalists condemned
04 Sep 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, Northern Ireland


Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey in Northern Ireland after the two men were detained on allegations of theft of confidential documents from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, related to the police investigation into the murder of six men in County Down in 1994, widely referred to as the ‘Loughinisland massacre’.
Read more...
Tags: press freedom, Loughinisland
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United States complicit in Yemen atrocity
09 Aug 2018; posted by the editor - International, Yemen


The Pentagon has denied any responsibility in the events in Yemen in which 29 children were among dozens of civilians killed by a US-backed Saudi-led coalition airstrike.
Read more...
Tags: Yemen
0 Comments
International Peace Conference set for Tipperary
08 Aug 2018; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


World BEYOND War, in collaboration with Shannonwatch, is organizing a Peace Conference in Cloughjordan Eco-village, Tipperary, on Saturday the 8th of September, to investigate many aspects of war and militarism in relation to international law and conventions.
Read more...
Tags: World Beyond Way, Peace Conference, Cloughjordan Eco-village, Tipperary
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Russia Is Our Friend
06 Aug 2018; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
Last May I was in Russia when fascists held a rally in my hometown of Charlottesville, not to be confused with their larger rally which followed in August. At the May rally, people shouted "Russia is our friend." I was on a Russian TV show called Crosstalk the next day and discussed this. I also discussed it with other Russians, actual friends in the human sense. Some of them were completely bewildered, arguing that Russia never had slavery and couldn't be the friend of Confederate-flag-waving people whom they saw as advocates for slavery. (Anti-Russian Ukrainians have also waved Confederate flags.)
Read more...
Tags: Russia, United States
0 Comments
A digestible guide to individual's rights under GDPR
31 May 2018; posted by the editor - General, Features, Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news


By edri.org
The General Data Protection Regulation went into effect on May 25th and Privacy Policy updates have been flooding inboxes. GDPR enhances everyone’s rights, regardless of nationality, gender, economic status and so on. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals know very little about these rights and GDPR at large. The following guide is part of the GDPR explained campaign and provides a digestible explanation of individuals' rights and basic concepts in the EU’s new data protection regulation. 
Read more...
Tags: General Data Protection Regulation
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Upload filters endanger freedom of expression
16 May 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, Technology, Internet news


By María Rosón, EDRi intern
In September 2016, the European Commission proposed a controversial draft for the new Copyright Directive that includes de facto mandatory automated upload filters for every internet user in the EU. 
Read more...
Tags: Copyright Directive, Censorship
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IAWM condemns massacre in Gaza and calls for expulsion of Israeli ambassador
16 May 2018; posted by the editor - International


The Irish Anti-War Movement has condemned Israel's killing of at least 58 Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border on 14 May and has called on the Irish Government to expel Israel's ambassador from Ireland.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza, Israel
0 Comments
US, British And French Airstrikes On Syria Will Not Help Syrians
16 Apr 2018; posted by the editor - International, United States, United Kingdom, France, Syria


The Irish AntiWar Movement (IAWM) today condemned the recent airstrikes by the US, Britain and France on Syria which were ostensibly conducted as a response to the alleged chemical attack on Douma last week.
Read more...
Tags: Syria, air strikes April 2018
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Statement on Syria
14 Apr 2018; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson - director World Beyond War
Donald Trump has just committed a murderous immoral criminal action and sought to depict it as law enforcement. Congress has sat on its hands, failed to cut off funding, and failed to move on impeachment. It is to be hoped that those Congress members who said such an attack on Syria would be impeachable will at least find the decency now to act after the fact.
Read more...
Tags: Syria
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Salisbury x-spy poisoning
09 Mar 2018; posted by the editor - Opinion


There are those who believe that they can, with impunity, murder a civilian in public using a deadly nerve agent, as in the recent case of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was given refuge in the UK after caught spying for MI6 and released as part of a spy exchange in 2010.
Read more...
Tags: Sergei Skripal, nerve agent, Salisbury poisoning
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Irish Anti War Movement statement on the slaughter in Eastern Ghouta
21 Feb 2018; posted by the editor - International, Syria


The Irish Anti-War Movement said today that the slaughter that is now taking place in Eastern Ghouta, as a result of the bombing of the civilian population by the Russian-backed Assad regime is utterly horrific and should stop immediately. While accurate casualty figures are difficult to ascertain it is clear that hundreds of lives, among them large numbers of children, have being lost.
Read more...
Tags: Eastern Ghouta, Irish Anti-War Movement
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Champion of Internet and press freedoms dies
09 Feb 2018; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news


A champion of open Internet and press freedoms has been lost with the passing of John Perry Barlow, co-founder of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who has died at the age of 70.
Read more...
Tags: John Perry Barlow, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation
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UN Security Council mandates worldwide air traveller profiling
29 Jan 2018; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Travel, International


My EDRi member Statewatch, the United Kingdom
In the name of “preventing, detecting and investigating terrorist offenses and related travel”, all United Nations (UN) Member States should develop systems for processing and analysing Passenger Name Record (PNR), Advance Passenger Information (API) and “fingerprints, photographs, facial recognition, and other relevant identifying biometric data”, according to a UN Security Council resolution (no. 2396) on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts agreed on 21 December 2017.
Read more...
Tags: Passenger Name Record (PNR), Advance Passenger Information (API), biometric data
0 Comments
Copyright Directive may lead newspapers to become their own censors
13 Dec 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, European Union


By Diego Naranjo, EDRi
Copyright discussions continue in the European institutions. On one hand, Axel Voss, the German conservative (EPP/CDU) Parliamentarian in charge of the dossier in the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is on some sort of a stand-by while the German government forms. On the other hand, the EU Council, composed of the relevant ministers in charge of the copyright Directive proposal, is speeding up.
Read more...
Tags: EU Copyright Directive, censorship machine
0 Comments
Censorship Machine: Busting the myths
13 Dec 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Diego Naranjo and Joe McNamee, EDRi
The European Union (EU) is currently reforming its copyright legislation. In September 2016, the European Commission proposed its controversial draft for the new Copyright Directive, that includes a mandatory “censorship machine” to filter all uploads from every user in the EU (Article 13).
Read more...
Tags: EU Copyright Directive
0 Comments
Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital 'politically dangerous and morally egregious'
06 Dec 2017; posted by the editor - Opinion


By Yousef Munayyer, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Director Trump has just upended decades of US foreign policy by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This effectively hands Israel a blank political check for its illegal annexation of Jerusalem and legitimizes Israel's ongoing displacement and disenfranchisement of the city's Palestinian residents. Trump's move is politically dangerous, and morally egregious.
Read more...
Tags: Jerusalem, Trump, Palestinian rights
0 Comments
Forbidden Stories safeguards investigative journalists' sensitive work
31 Oct 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, International


Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom Voices Network have jointly launched Forbidden Stories, a project that aims to secure the data and information of threatened journalists and, when journalists are arrested or killed, to continue and publish their investigative reporting.
Read more...
Tags: Forbidden Stories, Reporters Without Borders, Freedom Voices Network, investigative journalism
0 Comments
Champion of Internet freedom held in China
11 Sep 2017; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news, China


Press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling for the immediate release of Zhen Jianghua, the director of Across The Great FireWall (ATGFW.org), an anti-censorship website, and condemns the Chinese government’s continuing persecution of citizen-journalists and bloggers. 
Read more...
Tags: Zhen Jianghua, China, media freedom
0 Comments
Daily Mirror and The Sun in contempt over Jo Yeates murder case
29 Jul 2011; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, United Kingdom


by Adam Wagner
The High Court has found that the Daily Mirror and The Sun were in breach of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (1981 Act) in relation to their reporting of the Jo Yeates murder case. The proceedings were in relation to Christopher Jefferies, a school teacher who was arrested early on in the investigation. The court is now to consider penalties.
Read more...
Tags: Daily Mioor, The Sun, contempt, Human Rights
0 Comments
Gaze flotilla - a perspective
03 Jul 2011; posted by the editor - International


The International Criminal Court had plans to include blockades against coasts and ports in its list of acts of war in 2009.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza flotilla
0 Comments
Sabotage of MV Saoirse 'an act of international terrorism'
01 Jul 2011; posted by the editor - International


The Irish-owned ship, the MV Saoirse, that was meant to take part in Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2 has been sabotaged in a dangerous manner in what has been described as an 'act of international terrorism' in the Turkish coastal town of Gcek, where it was berthed.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza Flotilla, MV Saoirse, sabotage
0 Comments
Libya, UN and political motives
19 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


The UN and NATO's goal of disabling Gaddafi's ability to use military violence against the Libyan people deserves merit. Any tyrant who uses military forces to subdue and repress the indigenous population cannot be allowed to continue such despotic methods.
Read more...
Tags: Libya, Gaddafi, UN, NATO
0 Comments
Gaddafi's asinine comment
17 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


Libyan dictator Gaddafi's recent comment that external interference in his country's internal affairs would be 'illegal and immoral' can only be described as asinine when coming from a tyrant who has used live ammunition on his own people.
Read more...
Tags: Gaddafi
0 Comments
Inside Egypt: Nazly Hussein speaks outside military court
14 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - International, Egypt


Nazly Hussein speaks from outside the military courts which this afternoon (Friday 12th March) was supposed to address the people the army harrassed and arrested last Wednesday during a brutal attack on those occupying Tahrir Square. Nazly describes how several hundred plain clothes thugs were deployed against people in the square on Wednesday, who set about pulling down tents and beating people up. The army, under the pretence of ‘protecting’ those remaining in the Tahrir then began beating, arresting and electrocuting people within the the pro democracy movement. Over 170 people where arrested, most of whom where later released without charge. Many had been beaten and tortured with electrocution.
Full story + video
Tags: Egyptian uprising, Tahir Square
0 Comments
Clinton Wants More Propaganda, I Want Less
08 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - International, United States


By David Swanson
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared that other nations are doing a better job of propagandizing the world and that the United States needs to do more. However, we already invest far more in foreign propaganda than in domestic public media, and virtually nothing in domestic media trust busting. The distinction between our domestic and foreign public media is part of what makes them both so weak in credibility (the other part is the size of the lies they tell), and Bob McChesney is right that we should invest in public media at home that actually reports on the U.S. government as on all others, and then share that abroad (if we actually want to model democracy rather than peddle a load of lies).
Read more...
Tags: war lies
0 Comments
Death Sentences and Supervised Chores
08 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - International


By Ann Wright
Army Private Bradley Manning faces a death sentence while an Army Specialist who mutilated the body of an Afghan gets “supervised chores”.
Read more...
Tags: Bradley Manning, Corey Moore
0 Comments
Wikileaks et al. - The Free Flow of Information
08 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - Features, Journalism, United States


Part 5 . Wikileaks vs Western Hypocrisy
By Karl F. Stewart
Objective journalism is a fallacy. The expression is a trite way of saying journalism is scientific, which is nonsense. All reporting is subjective. If a journalist is doing his or her job properly, then the individual is obligated to report the event in as clear a fashion as possible as deduced from one's personal understanding of the event. And a journalist has one of two options. The person can either lie through his or her teeth or try to report the event as honestly as possible.
Read more...
Tags: Wikileaks, journalism
0 Comments
Women with disabilities must be recognised on International Women's Day
07 Mar 2011; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


Moya Brennan, lead singer with Clannad and Goodwill Ambassador for CBM has called for the circumstances of women with disabilities to be recognised on International Women's day. CBM is Ireland's leading disability and development NGO working in the developing world (www.cbm.ie).
Read more...
Tags: International Women's Day, Moya Brennan, CBM
0 Comments
Judicial Commission of Inquiry Into Human Trafficking and Child Sex Abuse
23 Jun 2017; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


Two years have passed since the Inauguration and Ceremonial Seating of the International Tribunal for Natural Justice on 15th June 2015 at Westminster Hall in London. The event marked the momentous occasion of the 800th anniversary of the signing of the western world’s most ancient and cherished legal treasure, the Magna Carta.
Read more...
Tags: International Tribunal for Natural Justice, Human Trafficking, Child Sex Abuse
0 Comments
Masked men with machetes and knives attack four media outlets
19 Jun 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, Gabon


Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores the simultaneous attacks that masked men armed with machetes and knives launched against four radio and TV stations in Gabon’s capital, Libreville, on 16 June in an attempt to get them to broadcast a threatening video message by a former presidential candidate.
Read more...
Tags: Freedom of expression, violence, Gabon, Africa
0 Comments
Ireland elected to Government Body of International Labour Organisation
15 Jun 2017; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


Ireland has been elected to the Government Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a full member in Geneva for a three year term.  It is the first time Ireland has been a full member of the Governing Body of the ILO since joining the Organisation in 1923.
Read more...
Tags: International Labour Organisation
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Corbynize This Trumped Up World
02 Jun 2017; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Making Jeremy Corbyn the Prime Minister of the U.K. would do more for the world and everyone in it than either of the two available outcomes of any recent U.S. election could have done. Here in the U.S. I always protest that I am not against elections, I think we should have one some day. Well, now we have one - only it's across the pond.
Read more...
Tags: Jeremy Corbyn
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UK government pushes for companies to weaken encryption
01 Jun 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, United Kingdom


by Pam Cowburn, EDRi member Open Rights Group, the United Kingdom
The terrorist attack in Manchester on 22 May has led to a relaunch of the encryption debate in the UK.
Read more...
Tags: Investigatory Powers Act, encryption
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Media freedom at 'worst state ever'
27 Apr 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, International


Media freedom is now at its lowest and worst state ever says press freedoms international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF)—which has just released the 2017 World Press Freedom Index—and is in danger of reaching a tipping point in the state of media freedom, especially in leading democratic countries.
Read more...
Tags: Media freedom, Reporters Without Borders
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Monsanto’s activities have negative impact on basic human rights
19 Apr 2017; posted by the editor - Environment, Health, Human Rights, International


On Tuesday 18 April the five international judges of the Monsanto Tribunal presented their legal opinion. They have come to important conclusions, both on the conduct of Monsanto and on necessary developments in international law.
Read more...
Tags: Monsanto Tribunal, ecocide
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Monsanto Tribal to present judgement and recommendations in April
06 Mar 2017; posted by the editor - Environment, Health, International


On 16 and 17 October 2016, more than 30 witnesses and experts from all over the world gathered in The Hague for the Monsanto Tribunal. They presented their testimonies and analyses on the effects of Monsanto’s business practices to a panel of five judges from different continents. 
Read more...
Tags: Monsanto Tribunal, GMOs, glyphosate
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Can the Climate Survive Adherence to War and Partisanship?
16 Feb 2017; posted by the editor - Features, Environment, International


By David Swanson
For the past decade, the standard procedure for big coalition rallies and marches in Washington D.C. has been to gather together organizations representing labor, the environment, women's rights, anti-racism, anti-bigotry of all sorts, and a wide array of liberal causes, including demands to fund this, that, and the other, and to halt the concentration of wealth.
Read more...
Tags: climate issues, anti-war
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UK proposal could jail journalists as 'spies' for obtaining leaks
14 Feb 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, United Kingdom


Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is deeply concerned by new proposals that threaten journalists with jail time of up to 14 years for obtaining leaked official materials, and would make it easy to categorise journalists, whistleblowers, and human rights defenders as ‘spies’.
Read more...
Tags: UK Espionage Act
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Fake news about fake news being news
11 Feb 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news


Joe McNamee, EDRi
We have heard a lot about fake news over recent months. We have heard urgent calls for action from politicians to deal with this new problem – governments should regulate truth, Facebook should regulate truth, new ministries of truth should regulate the truth. 
Read more...
Tags: fake news
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The Next Step in Caring
31 Jan 2017; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
Airport resistance is the biggest step forward by the U.S. public in years.
Read more...
Tags: airport protests, immigration, US travel ban
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For Trump, media is public enemy number one
24 Jan 2017; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


updated 31 January 2017
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is alarmed by the new administration’s repeated attacks on the media and blatant disregard for facts in the first three days of Donald Trump’s presidency. RSF calls on Trump and his team to stop undermining the First Amendment and start defending it. 
Read more...
Tags: Press freedom, Trump presidency
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2017 Peace Essay Contest
17 Jan 2017; posted by the editor - International


The Chicago-based West Suburban Faith-Based Peace Coalition is sponsoring a Peace Essay Contest with a $1,000 award to the winner, $300 for the runner-up, and $100 for third place. Essays have to be directed to a person who can help promote knowledge of the Kellogg-Briand Pact (KBP) and, from whom a response is expected.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Kellogg-Briand Pact
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Snowden: Surveillance is about control
11 Jan 2017; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news


By Zarja Protner, EDRi intern
In December 2016, the 33rd edition of the world’s longest-running annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress, organised by EDRi member Chaos Computer Club (CCC), took place. It featured many insightful lectures and workshops on issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and freedom of speech. When it comes to surveillance issues, a live appearance from Edward Snowden stole the show.
Read more...
Tags: Chaos Communication Congress, Edward Snowden
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Living on the streets
09 Jan 2017; posted by the editor - Opinion, Ireland


The High Court order requiring the eviction of Dublin's Apollo House homeless residents on Wednesday 11 January falls on the day that the big freeze currently sweeping across Europe is expected to reach Ireland.
Read more...
Tags: Apollo House, homelessness
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WorldBeyondWar seeks Peace Advocates in Every Nation
28 Dec 2016; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
“I understand that wars and militarism make us less safe rather than protect us, that they kill, injure and traumatize adults, children and infants, severely damage the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain our economies, siphoning resources from life-affirming activities. I commit to engage in and support nonviolent efforts to end all war and preparations for war and to create a sustainable and just peace.”
Read more...
Tags: anti-war
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Now We Can Finally Get to Work
09 Nov 2016; posted by the editor - Features, Opinion, International


By David Swanson
Dear Democrats,
Are you finding yourselves suddenly a bit doubtful of the wisdom of drone wars? Presidential wars without Congress? Massive investment in new, smaller, "more usable" nuclear weapons? The expansion of bases across Africa and Asia? Are you disturbed by the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen? Can total surveillance and the persecution of whistleblowers hit a point where they've gone too far? Is the new Cold War with Russia looking less than ideal now? How about the militarization of U.S. police: is it time to consider alternatives to that?
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Donald Trump
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IAWM - stop Syria war now
18 Oct 2016; posted by the editor - International, Ireland, Syria


In condemning the continued bombardment of Aleppo, and other Syrian centres of resistance, by Russian and Syrian army forces, the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) is repeating its call to the Irish Government to cease the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military, an act alone which the IAWM says would send a powerful message to western powers that we are sick of their perpetual warfare.
Read more...
Tags: Anti-war, Aleppo, Syrian war, Irish Anti-War Movement, Mosul
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Eight challenges of opening the web
18 Oct 2016; posted by the editor - Internet news, International


Open Web Fellows programme is an international programme designed to link developers, engineers, technologists and programmers with civil society organisations around the world. This article is written by Sid Rao, the Open Web Fellow who is spending ten months with the EDRi office in Brussels, working in cooperation with us to safeguard the internet as a global public resource.
Read more...
Tags: Internet freedoms, Open Web Fellowship
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Chelsea Manning ends hunger strike
12 Sep 2016; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International, United States, World News


Imprisoned US soldier Chelsea Manning has ended a hunger strike after the army said she would be allowed to receive gender transition surgery, the American Civil Liberties Union has announced.
Read more...
Tags: Chelsea Manning
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Call for information about missing journalist
07 Sep 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Burundi


Press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders has launched a petition calling on the Burundi authorities to reveal what happened to Burundi journalist Jean Bigirimana, who disappeared after being arrested.
Read more...
Tags: Jean Bigirimana, Iwacu, Infos Grands Lacs
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British parliament urged to amend 'Snoopers’ Charter'
01 Sep 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, United Kingdom


Press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned about a bill drafted by British Prime Minister Theresa May when she was home secretary that would allow the police and intelligence agencies to intercept, gather and store the communications of tens of millions of people including whistleblowers, journalists and their sources.
Read more...
Tags: Reporters Without Borders, Snoopers Charter
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Turkey: "The worst menace to society" helps to defeat the coup
27 Jul 2016; posted by the editor - International, Middle East, Turkey


By EDRi guest writer
On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état attempt against the Turkish government took place. Although tension in Turkey gradually escalated in the first half of 2016, nobody expected a military coup.
Read more...
Tags: Turkey coup
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A Letter to Ireland from World Beyond War
27 Jul 2016; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Despite Ireland's officially neutral status and its claim to have not gone to war since its founding in 1922, Ireland allowed the United States to use Shannon Airport during the Gulf War and, as part of the so-called coalition of the willing, during the wars that began in 2001.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Shannon Airport, Shannonwatch
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The Martian becomes reality
27 Jun 2016; posted by the editor - International


Wageningen, 23rd of June 2016
Scientists of Wageningen University & Research have just brought life on Mars one step closer. The research group, supported by Mars One, found that vegetables growing on Martian soil are safe for humans to eat.
Read more...
Tags: Mars One
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Mars One reveals new details on Astronaut Selection Round Three
13 Jun 2016; posted by the editor - International


Amersfoort, 6th of June 2016 - Mars One released new information about the third round in the Astronaut Selection Program during a private Mars One event in Amsterdam. The third selection round is designed to trim down the remaining 100 candidates to forty through a series of group challenges. The candidates will compose the groups for the third round themselves.
Read more...
Tags: Mars One
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EU Commission under investigation for EU Internet Forum documents
01 Jun 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Kirsten Fiedler, EDRi
In the past year, EDRi made numerous formal requests to get more information about the EU Internet Forum. This Forum was set up by the EU Commission to persuade companies to do "more" to fight terrorism. After months of obstruction from the European Commission, EDRi made a maladministration complaint to the European Ombudsman. As a result, a formal inquiry has been launched.
Read more...
Tags: EU Internet Forum
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Make-or-break summer for EU Net Neutrality
01 Jun 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, Europe, European Union


By Paddy Leersen, AK Vorrat Austria
Vienna, city of diplomacy and birthplace of countless international deals, will soon host crucial negotiations on the future of the open internet. On 3 June, EU Telecom regulators will gather in Vienna to discuss the implementation of new EU Net Neutrality laws. Following mass mobilisation in India and the USA, the expectations to deliver real net neutrality are high.
Read more...
Tags: Net neutrality, Europe
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Public access to Snowden files broadened
27 May 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, International


The Intercept has announced that it is broadening access to whistleblower Edward Snowden’s file archive.
Read more...
Tags: surveillance, Edward Snowden
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Greenpeace (Holland) releases 'secret' TTIP documents
04 May 2016; posted by the editor - International


By greenpeace - Greenpeace Netherlands
Amsterdam, 2 May 2016
Greenpeace Netherlands has releases secret documents of the EU-US TTIP negotiations on www.ttip-leaks.org where they will be made available for everyone to read, because democracy needs transparency.
Read more...
Tags: EU-US TTIP, secret documents
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25 years Statewatching Europe
25 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Events, Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news, European Union, United Kingdom


For 25 years the UK-based organisation Statewatch has been working to publish and promote investigative journalism and critical research in Europe in the fields of the state, justice and home affairs, civil liberties, accountability and openness. On Saturday 25 June Statewatch will mark the occasion with a day-long European Conference in London.
Read more...
Tags: Statewatch, civil liberties, justice, state home affairs, accountability
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Fear, tension and increased state control - journalism 2016
21 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, International


Just a scant handful of countries fall under the ranking of ‘Good Situation’ in the 2016 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, published this week by RWB.
Read more...
Tags: Reporters Without Borders, Press Freedom Index
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Journalist Austin Tice missing in Syria since August 2012
21 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States, Syria


By Hannah Allam
WASHINGTON
With an urgency driven by President Barack Obama’s dwindling number of days left in office, supporters of the missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice gathered Monday outside the White House calling for the administration to make his release a priority before the president’s term expires.
Read more...
Tags: Austin Tice, Syria
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Egypt continues to fall in media freedom rankings
21 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Egypt


Five years after the 25 January Revolution of 2011, the situation of media freedom in Egypt is extremely worrying, says press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
Read more...
Tags: press freedoms, Egypt
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Film crew ejected from conference on surveillance cameras
20 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union, Sweden


By Peter Michanek, DFRI
Every year about 200 representatives from the Swedish security industry meet to discuss security cameras. This year’s conference was particularly interesting. The Swedish government has appointed a commission to investigate possible changes in existing laws to make it easier to get permission to use surveillance cameras in public spaces, schools and workplaces.
Read more...
Tags: surveillance cameras
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Countering terrorism - biggest human rights threat of 2016
20 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


By Maryant Fernández Pérez, EDRi
United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and Human rights, Ben Emmerson said “the central challenge for human rights in 2016 ensuring governments continue to support a human rights agenda” while seeking to end terrorism.
Read more...
Tags: terrorism, human rights
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Microsoft to be acquired by Mr Binman
01 Apr 2016; posted by the editor - International


Microsoft Corporation is to be purchased by Mr Binman–Ireland’s refuse collection service–for €229.
Read more...
Tags: Microsoft, Mr Binman
0 Comments
Terrorism and its roots
27 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Opinion


It is wearisome to continually read in the western mainstream media that the Muslim world is full of terrorists determined to launch attacks on the West.
Read more...
Tags: Terrorism
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Runaway Train - America's election and its inability to alter the nation's deadly course
26 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Features, International, United States


By John Chuckman
America is engaged in another of its sprawling and costly national election campaigns. A few of the events, such as the New Hampshire primary or the Iowa Caucus, I’m sure have participants seeing themselves as Thomas Jefferson’s sturdy yeomen doing their civic duty. But such humble and misty-eyed tableaux can be deceiving for the big picture is quite disturbing, including, as it does, billions of dollars spent and a lot of noise generated about things which will not change in any outcome.
Read more...
Tags: American election.
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Kazakhstan elections 'not credible'
19 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union, Kazakhstan


While Kazakhstan continues to hound and oppress independent media, the coming election can hold no credibility and is nothing more than a ‘farce’, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said today.
Read more...
Tags: media censorship
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Is 'privacy' still relevant in a world of bastard data?
09 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Features, Internet news, International


By Joe McNamee, EDRi
Should we still be talking about “privacy” in a world invaded by bastard data? We all knew what privacy was when it came to our data. We had our names and addresses, we had our store cards, we had our medical records, we had our insurance, we had our travel tickets, and the list goes on. Some companies and government agencies had that data to carry out some specific tasks and these data needed to be protected to avoid misuse.
Read more...
Tags: Data protection, privacy
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Joint civil society statement on counter-terrorism and human rights
09 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International, European Union


By Theresia Reinhold, EDRi
On 1 March 2016 13 civil society organisations, including EDRi, Amnesty International, Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO), European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (AEDH) and Fair Trials published a joint civil society statement called “Counter-terrorism: The EU and its Member States must respect and protect human rights and the rule of law”. 
Read more...
Tags: Smartphone encryption
0 Comments
Is our atmosphere being poisoned?
07 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Environment, International


Social media is awash with chemtrail articles, comments and photographs from around the world.
Read more...
Tags: chemtrail spraying
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National newspaper Zaman placed under state control
04 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, Turkey


President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has endorsed an Instanbul court decision to place leading daily Turkish newspaper Zaman under state control, a move that has drawn sharp rebuke and criticism from press freedoms organisation Reporters Without Borders.
Read more...
Tags: Zaman, press repression
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Ireland marks World Wildlife Day
02 Mar 2016; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


Ireland will tomorrow (Thursday) mark World Wildlife Day. World Wildlife Day is a United Nations initiative that coincides with the anniversary of the signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments to regulate international trade in wild species of animals and plants to ensure that their survival does not become threatened by such trade.
Read more...
Tags: World Wildlife Day
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Life Monopolists, Illuminati and Truth
31 Jan 2016; posted by the editor - Opinion


Genetically Modified Organisms, illegal wars, chemtrails, enforced vaccinations, secret meetings of world governments, the Georgia Guidestones, false flags, imprisonment of whistle blowers, enforced austerity to protect the wealth of the few . . .
Read more...
Tags: New World Order
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Step back online to Ireland 1916
26 Jan 2016; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States, Ireland


Step back in time to Ireland 1916 and experience the events as they happened in a real-time online exhibition created by Century Ireland.
Read more...
Tags: Ireland 2016 Centenary, Century Ireland
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Nobel Foundation taken to court on Peace Prize
10 Dec 2015; posted by the editor - International


By Jan Oberg, TFF co-founder and director, TFF PressInfo # 351
Lund, Sweden, December 10, 2015
On the day of the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony at Oslo City Hall
Alfred Nobel decided to give one fifth of his fortune for a prize to promote disarmament and resolution of all conflicts through negotiations and legal means, never through violence.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize
0 Comments
Ireland Participates in Demarche to Government of Japan on Whaling
07 Dec 2015; posted by the editor - International, Ireland, Japan


Ireland today joined with a number of other countries in a demarche to the Government of Japan about its whaling activities.   The demarche expresses “serious concern” at the decision of the Government of Japan to resume whaling in the Southern  Ocean under what it calls its “New Scientific Research Whale Programme in the Antarctic Ocean (NEWREP-A)”.
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Tags: Japan, whaling
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Russia's military reveal Turkey/ISIL collaboration
05 Dec 2015; posted by the editor - International


In an RT video Russia's military say Turkey is collaborating with ISIL (Islamic State) to trasnport oil stolen from Syria into Turkey, a collaboration that the Pentagon flatly denies.
Read more...
Tags: Turkey, ISIL, Islamic State, oil, Syria
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War with Russia or with ISIS: Whatever happened to peace?
03 Dec 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
According to the Nation magazine and many others, there are two options available to the U.S. government. One is increased hostility perhaps leading to nuclear war with Russia. The other is a joint U.S.-Russia-and-others war on ISIS.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, Russia, Turkey, US, UK
0 Comments
Global Warming's Unacknowledged Threat-The Pentagon
25 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - Environment, International


By Gar Smith / Environmentalists Against War
During the 15 November Democratic Presidential Debate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sounded an alarm that “climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism”. Citing a CIA study, Sanders warned that countries around the world are “going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you’re going to see all kinds of international conflict”.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, climate change
0 Comments
Culture of Peace Best Alternative to Terrorism
17 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Adams, World Beyond War
As the culture of war, which has dominated human civilization for 5,000 years, begins to crumble, its contradictions become more evident. This is especially so in the matter of terrorism.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, nuclear terrorism
0 Comments
After Paris: Stop the Terror, Stop the Wars
17 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - International


In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the Irish Anti-War Movement has released the following statement.
Read more...
Tags: Irish Anti-War Movement, Paris attacks
0 Comments
Non-French War Deaths Matter
14 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
We are all France. Apparently. Though we are never all Lebanon or Syria or Iraq for some reason. Or a long, long list of additional places.
Read more...
Tags: France, Paris attacks
0 Comments
Reaper Madness: Counterproductive Drone Wars
09 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Doug Noble, Upstate (NY) Drone Action Coalition
“Our entire Middle East policy seems to be based on firing drones,” Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told The Intercept. “They’re enamored by the ability of special operations and the CIA to find a guy in the middle of the desert in some shitty little village and drop a bomb on his head and kill him.”
Read more...
Tags: drone warfare
0 Comments
The TPP: You, Me, Everyone Else, Against the Media
08 Nov 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


By David Swanson
The proposal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a test of whether the people of the United States can communicate something critically important to each other that the major media corporations do not want communicated.
Read more...
Tags: Trans-Pacific Partnership, corporate media
0 Comments
Why I Oppose the Genocide Prevention Act
21 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Only a non-patriot or someone with a bit of respect for the Bill of Rights would have opposed the Patriot Act.
Read more...
Tags: genocide
0 Comments
WikiLeaks releases final text of TPP's intellectual property rights chapter
15 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - International


Last week, WikiLeaks released the final text of the TPP’s (Trans-Pacific Partership) intellectual property rights chapter and and fightforthefuture.org, which is campaigning against the TPP, say it is “absolutely terrifying”.
Read more...
Tags: TTP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, WikiLeaks
0 Comments
What Became of the Vikings?
15 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
When the United States is identified as an empire, albeit of a different sort than some others, it’s common to point to the fate of ancient Rome or the empires of Britain, Spain, Holland, etc., as a warning to the Pentagon or even to CNN debate moderators.
Read more...
Tags: Demise of the Vikings, US empire
0 Comments
Amnesty International Once Again Refuses to Oppose War
11 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
In an online discussion I asked Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, a fairly straightforward question: "Will Amnesty International recognize the UN Charter and the Kellogg Briand Pact and oppose war and militarism and military spending?
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Amnesty International
0 Comments
Nobel Peace Prize for Peace
09 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Alfred Nobel’s will, written in 1895, left funding for a prize to be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Pize
0 Comments
Nobel Foundation sued over Peace Prize awards
07 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - International


The Nobel Foundation is facing a lawsuit against misappropriation of funds through violating the intended antimilitarist purpose of the Nobel peace prize.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Foundation, Nobel Peace Prize
0 Comments
The Incomprehensible Idea: What Opposing All Wars Means
06 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
The world's two big nuclear militaries are in the same war now in Syria and, if not on opposite sides exactly, certainly not on the same side. A primary, if not the primary, goal of the United States in Syria is overthrowing the Syrian government. A primary, if not the primary, goal of Russia is maintaining the Syrian government.
Read more...
Tags: Syria, Russia, United States
0 Comments
Ruminations of an Afghan Girl Burning to Death in a Hospital Bed
04 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Life is a very jumbled mixture. The pain of it, if you're awake and thinking, brings into your mind the happiest moments you can remember and transforms them into agony unless you resist bitterness with every drop of strength you have left, if not more. Physical pain makes clear-thinking and generous thinking more difficult, until death appears in front of you, and then the physical pain is as nothing.
Read more...
Tags: hospital bombing
0 Comments
Hillary Offers Syria a Libyan-Iraqi-Style Paradise
03 Oct 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
Americans may find Syria a bit confusing. David Petraeus, sainted hero, has proposed arming al Qaeda, organized devil. Vladimir Putin, reincarnated Hitler, is bombing either ISIS or al Qaeda or their friendly democratic allies, but he shouldn’t be because he’s against overthrowing the Syrian government, also run by Hitler living under the name Assad. Hillary Clinton, liberal socialist, wants to create a no-fly zone, but wouldn’t that make it hard to bomb all the scary Muslims? Wait, are we against Assad or the scary Muslims or both? Aaaaaarrrrgghh! How does this make any sense?
Read more...
Tags: Middle East, Syria, US military
0 Comments
The UN: Pretending to Oppose War for 70 Years
28 Sep 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
The United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals don't just ignore the fact that development isn’t sustainable; they revel in it. One of the goals is spreading energy use. Another is economic growth. Another is preparation for climate chaos (not preventing it, but dealing with it). And how does the United Nations deal with problems? Generally through wars and sanctions.
Read more...
Tags: United Nations, anti-war
0 Comments
Jeffrey Sterling Latest victim of the US' war on whistleblowers
25 Sep 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, International, United States


By Reporters Without Borders
The jailing of US whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling has brought severe condemnation from press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders which says Sterling is in jail for merely talking to a journalist regularly and was sentenced based only on circumstantial evidence.
Read more...
Tags: whistle-blowers, whistle blowing, James Risen, Jeffrey Sterling, CIA, FBI, Reporters Without Borders, Press freedom
0 Comments
Burkina Faso - Media coverage curtailed after Burkina Faso coup
17 Sep 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Burkina Faso


By Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders today issued a statement raising alarm at the situation in Burkina Faso, where the soldiers who staged a coup d’tat yesterday have silenced most privately-owned radio and TV stations and are controlling the state-owned national TV broadcaster, RTB.
Read more...
Tags: Burkino Faso, coup dtat
0 Comments
Journalists detained in Turkey for using encryption
10 Sep 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, Turkey


by Pierre Christopher, EDRi intern
On 27 August, a British journalist and a cameraman working for Vice News, a news channel that broadcasts in-depth documentaries about current subjects, and their fixer were detained in Turkey while reporting in Diyarbakir, the main city of the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern region. At the beginning of September, the three men were charged by a Turkish judge in Diyarbakir with “deliberately aiding an armed organisation”. The basis for the charge was that the fixer used a complex encryption system on his personal computer that many Islamic State militants allegedly also use for strategic communications.
Read more...
Tags: digital security
0 Comments
Future of War and Peace at Stake in Streets of Japan
04 Sep 2015; posted by the editor - International, Japan


By David Swanson
The United States and its European allies have launched wars on the Middle East that have created an enormous refugee crisis. The same nations are threatening Russia. The question of maintaining peace with Iran is on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Even in Asia and the Pacific, not to mention Africa, the biggest military buildup is by the United States.
Read more...
Tags: Japan, anti-war
0 Comments
1,000+ Black activists, scholars and artists endorse freedom for Palestinians
25 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - International


"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
- Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activists have today welcomed the statement issued by more than 1,000 African American activists, artists and scholars in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice and equality and in support of BDS.
Read more...
Tags: G4S, Palestine
0 Comments
Most Disgusting Game Ever
20 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson 
No, I’m not referring to the U.S. election. I’m referring to Bycatch. The name refers not to fish accidentally caught and killed while trying to catch and kill other fish, but to humans murdered in a game in which the player hopes to murder certain other humans but knows that he or she stands a good chance of murdering some bycatch.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Bycatch
0 Comments
Redemption Remains
19 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
It is possible for people to behave well in a crisis. It is possible for people to maintain their dedication to good and kindness in the face of fear and horrific loss. The loved one of a murder victim can love and comfort the murderer. This fact is going to become ever more crucial to understand and demonstrate as the crises of a collapsing climate engulf us.
Read more...
Tags: 9/11, In Our Son's Name
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Upcoming Bjrn Borg fashion show pays tribute to Mars One
16 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - Events, International


The Bjrn Borg Spring/Summer 2016 (SS16) show at Fashion Week in Stockholm on 27 August will be a tribute to Mars One’s human mission to Mars. The brand aims to create an out of this world experience as their Spring Summer 2016 sportswear collection is showcased.
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Tags: Mars One, Bjrn Borg
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Chelsea Manning denied access to jail legal library
16 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Internet news, International


Two days before being due to present her defence against alleged 'discipline infrigments', whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been denied access to the legal library at the jail where she is serving her wholly disproportionate prison sentence of 35 years for releasing documents which revealed the truth of clandestine government communications, Fight For The Future reports.
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Tags: Chelsea Manning
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Roma people now face same rising anti-Gypsy fascism as back in the 1930s
02 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - International


Soraya Post, presently the only Romani MEP in the European Parliament, says Roma people face the same rising anti-Gypsy fascism as back in the 1930s.
Read more...
Tags: Roma, Zigeunerlager
0 Comments
A Campaign to Save Egypt
02 Aug 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Message to The United Nations, European Union, United States, and all Democratic and Free countries
There are growing concerns that the government of Egypt intends to execute Egypt's first ever democratically elected President, Mohamed Morsi in the coming weeks. Mr. Morsi along with hundreds of political opponents received the death sentence following what major international human rights organizations described as a hopelessly flawed and politically motivated trials that ignored acceptable minimum international standards.
Read more...
Tags: Egypt
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Only thing that we did right was the day we refused to fight
28 Jul 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By CJ Hinke, WorldBeyondWar.org
Excerpted from Free Radicals: War Resisters in Prison by CJ Hinke, forthcoming from Trine-Day in 2016.
The lines of resistance to war take many forms as these stories of resisters in prison in World Wars I (“the Great War”, “the war to end all wars”) and II (‘the good war”), the Cold War, the undeclared Korean “conflict”, the ‘Red Scare’ of the McCarthy period, the 1960s and, finally, the US war against Vietnam, demonstrate. There are as many reasons and methods to refuse war as there are refusers. The Department of Justice classified WWII resisters as religious, moral, economic, political, neurotic, naturalistic, professional pacifist, philosophical, sociological, internationalist, personal and Jehovah’s Witness.
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Tags: anti-war
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Golden Rule sets sail for a nuclear free world
23 Jul 2015; posted by the editor - International


The historic Golden Rule peace boat, restored by Veterans For Peace and many friends, sets sail from the Eureka marina at noontime on Thursday, July 23, on its way to San Diego.
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Tags: anti-war, Veterans for Peace
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Desertion: A Long, Proud History
20 Jul 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Excerpted from Free Radicals: War Resisters in Prison by CJ Hinke, forthcoming from Trine-Day in 2016
There are as many reasons to desert military service as there are deserters. All countries’ militaries like to snatch young men when they are uneducated, inexperienced, and unemployed. It takes a soldier far greater courage to throw down his weapon than to kill a stranger.
Read more...
Tags: Military desertion
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Lyme Disease under an embarrassing spotlight
16 Jul 2015; posted by the editor - Health, International


By David Swanson
Climate change is apparently encouraging the spread of Lyme disease, and a report by NBC News dares to say so. This may seem like a fresh breath of honest sanity in a media context in which even the weather reports usually avoid the topic of human global destruction.
Read more...
Tags: Lyme Disease, Plum Island, germ warfare
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Call for Sanity on 60th Anniversary of Russell-Einstein Manifesto
09 Jul 2015; posted by the editor - International


By , Foreign Policy in Focus
Sixty years after Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell issued their manifesto about the growing threat of world war, the globe continues to face the prospect of nuclear annihilation - coupled with the looming threat of climate change.
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Tags: anti-war, Russell-Einstein Manifesto
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Ireland 2016 Global and Diaspora Programme launched
29 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Events, International, Ireland


The Ireland 2016 Global and Diaspora Programme, an exciting international programme of creative, community and commemorative events to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising, has been launched by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Charlie Flanagan and  Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Ms Heather Humphreys.
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Tags: 2016 commemoration
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Rightwing Radicalization, Militarization and the Boomerang Effect
22 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
Throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia, rightwing governments have increasingly adopted extremist socio-economic policies, slashing social expenditures, labor and welfare legislation, while increasing corporate subsidies and reducing taxes for the elite.
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Tags: Radicalism, Militarization
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Noah's Ark campaign to tackle apocalyptic global warming
13 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Environment, International


By The Noah's Ark Campaign
“And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be” – Paul McCartney
A UK-based environmental group is planning to sail an ocean liner to the South pacific islands in a bid to globally highlight the extent of global warming and the consequences if it is left unchecked.
Read more...
Tags: global warming, climate change, earth aid campaign
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Petition calls for release of detained Kazakhstan journalist
13 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, East European States, Kazakhstan


Press freedoms organisation Reporters Without Borders has condemned investigative reporter Yaroslav Golyshkin’s arbitrary detention for the past month in a prison in the northeastern city of Pavlodar and calls on the judicial system to guarantee his right to due process.
Read more...
Tags: Kazakhstan, Yaroslav Golyshkin, change.org
0 Comments
Senator Pushes Edge of Skin-Tight Envelope
11 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - International, United States


By David Swanson
Democratic-Party-based activist groups are urging each other to praise and support Senator Chris Murphy (Democrat, Connecticut) for laying out a better-than-average foreign policy and setting up a website at http://chanceforpeace.org.
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Tags: US foreign policy
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Over 40 countries to mark Yeats Day with cultural events
11 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Arts, International


More than 40 countries are marking Yeats Day on Saturday 13 June with cultural events taking place in cities such as Melbourne, Vienna, Montreal, Berlin, London, New York, Singapore, Shanghai, Paris and Madrid and including a range of concerts, readings, talks and screenings with a host of well know personalities taking part, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Adrian Dunbar, Joanna Lumley, Edna O'Brien, Orla Kiely, Gabriel Byrne, Colum McCann and many more.
Read more...
Tags: William Butler Yeats, Yeats Day
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Future of open Internet at risk?
03 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Diego Naranjo
Current EU developments creating the risk of allowing large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to make the internet less open and less free
“Startups for Net Neutrality” believes that the beauty of the Internet is that everybody with a laptop and an Internet connection can change the world. All great ideas get an equal chance at success because everyone can communicate with everyone on a broadly equal basis. This is guaranteed by the principle of net neutrality, because it ensures that all data are treated equally. Failing to protect this principle will hurt the Internet ecosystem and hinder the success of current and future startups. This will hinder innovation and the creation of new businesses and new jobs.
Read more...
Tags: net neutrality, Internet freedom
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Future of open Internet at risk?
03 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Wienke Giezeman
The future of our open Internet is at risk. Current EU developments creating the risk of allowing large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to make the internet less open and less free.
Read more...
Tags:
0 Comments
Turkey blocks political websites
03 Jun 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Turkey


By Edri.org
Engelli Web is an independent monitoring website that lists websites blocked by the Turkish government. Currently it lists over 80 000 domains and the number keeps rising. The real figure is probably much higher, because the government does not disclose the exact list of banned sites.
Read more...
Tags: Internet censorship, Turkey
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Denis O'Brien hides behind media gag
29 May 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Ireland, Irish political


Denis O'Brien, owner of Ireland's main newspapers, has used a court injunction to prevent remarks made in the Dail being reported in the Irish media.
Read more...
Tags: Denis O'Brien, Irish media, Catherine Murphy
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Is Al Jazeera Trying to Be CNN or Fox?
26 May 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


By David Swanson
Some weeks back I got a call from Al Jazeera wanting me to be on a show, but insisting that I couldn't do it from a local studio via satellite or from my computer via Skype. No, I would have to fly to New York and back, and they would pay for the flight and pay a “per diem” as well (they didn't specify how much). I was not eager to take a whole day out of my life to fly to New York and back, but they sold me on it. This, they told me, would be the premier edition of a new Sunday morning news program to compete with the existing ones. And it would include different perspectives.
Read more...
Tags: Al Jazeera
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Techno-Financial Capital and Genocide of the Poorest of the Poor
01 May 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
‘The war and its results have turned Yemen back a hundred years, due to the destruction of infrastructure . . . especially in the provinces of Oden, Dhalea and Taiz.’ —  Izzedine al-Asbali, Yemeni Human Rights Minister

‘Yemen is devastated. There are no roads, water or electricity. Nobody’s left but thieves.’ — A resident of Sana (Yemen)
Read more...
Tags: genocide
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The Video That Could Indict the Pentagon for Murder
10 Apr 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson  
As Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting points out, until a video surfaced of South Carolina policeman Michael Slager murdering Walter Scott, the media was reporting a package of lies manufactured by the police: a fight that never occurred, witnesses who didn't exist, the victim taking the policeman's taser, etc. The lies collapsed because the video appeared.
Read more...
Tags: video of police, antiwar
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Sean Lynch to feature prestigious Venice Art Biennale
10 Apr 2015; posted by the editor - Arts, International, Ireland


Sean Lynch has been selected as the artist to represent Ireland at the International Art Exhibition, Venice Art Biennale 2015, with a new artwork entitled Adventure: Capital.
Read more...
Tags: La Biennale di Venezia, Venice Art Biennale, Sean Lynch
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Plea to Mikhail S. Gorbachev to initiate a World Peace Conference
08 Apr 2015; posted by the editor - International


Former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev is being urged to initiate a world peace conference as the dark shadow of a new Cold War looms over the globe.
Read more...
Tags: antiwar
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'Predator of press freedom' holds onto power in Uzbekistan
30 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Uzbekistan


by Reporters Without Borders
President Islam Karimov did not even bother to amend the constitution, which limits him to two terms. After yesterday’s sham election, he is preparing to begin his fourth term without batting an eye. Uzbekistan faces many uncertainties but one thing is sure—this 77-year-old “predator of press freedom” will continue censoring and ruling with an iron hand until he breathes his last.
Read more...
Tags: Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov
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NUJ and CIJ Submit damning critique of proposed Code of Practice on remote access to computers
26 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, United Kingdom


The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and  the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) have submitted to the Home Office a damning  critique of the proposed Code of Practice which would allow remote access to any computer anywhere in the world: NUJ and CIJ joint response to the interception of communications and equipment interference: draft codes of practice (pdf). Both express concern about the implications for press freedom if the UK intelligence and security agencies are permitted  to access journalist's computers remotely and break encryption codes (both inside and outside the UK)..
Read more...
Tags: surveillance
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Patriot Act la franaise: France to legalise unlawful surveillance
25 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, Internet news, France


by Christopher Talib, La Quadrature du Net, France
In recent years, France has increasingly tightened its laws on crimes committed on the Internet. From the LOPPSI law voted in 2012 to the latest anti-terror law voted in November 2014, the bill on Intelligence announced on 19 March by the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, is fully consistent with a history of repressive Internet legislation.
Read more...
Tags: surveillance, Internet censorship, Internet control
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Mars One responds to criticism of mission feasibility
19 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Science, International


Amersfoort, 19th March 2015
Mars One has published a video in which Bas Lansdorp, CEO and Co-founder of Mars One, replies to recent criticism concerning the feasibility of Mars One's human mission to Mars. The video and the transcript of the interview can be found below.
Read more...
Tags: Mars One, Bas Lansdorp
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The Washington Post Will Kill Us All
16 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States, Iran


By David Swanson
“War with Iran is probably our best option.” This is an actual headline from the Washington Post.
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Tags: anti-war, Iran, United States, nuclear weapons
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A Blueprint for Ending War
15 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson, originally published by Truthout.org

Excerpted from *A Global Security System: An Alternative to War 
In On Violence, Hannah Arendt wrote that the reason warfare is still with us is not a death wish of our species nor some instinct of aggression, “. . .but the simple fact that no substitute for this final arbiter in international affairs has yet appeared on the political scene.” The Alternative Global Security System we describe here is the substitute.
Read more...
Tags: Anti-war, war alternative
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Which Party Do You View Iran Through?
13 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Most people in the United States have little contact with Iran or its culture. Iran comes up as a scary threat in the speeches of demagogues. A range of debate is offered between obliterate it and pressure it into compliance with our civilized norms, or at least the civilized norms of some other country that doesn’t obliterate or pressure people.
Read more...
Tags: United States, Iran, Venezuela, Ukraine, Russia, Kellogg Briand Pact
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Reporters Without Borders strikes back against web censorship
12 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news


Today, 12 March World Day against cyber-censorship, Reporters Without Borders is launching the "Collateral Freedom" operation, one of the largest counterattacks ever undertaken against censorship online, and is unblocking 9 websites in 11 countries.
Read more...
Tags: Web Censorship, Enemies Of the Internet, Reporters Without Borders
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Man With No Criminal Record Facing Life in Prison for Facebook Post
10 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Journalism, United States


Republished from thefreethoughtproject.com
San Diego, Calif
In an almost unbelievable case, a man with no criminal record, Aaron Harvey, is facing the possibility of life in prison for allegedly benefiting from the crimes of a gang.
Read more...
Tags: repression, state control, Aaron Harvey, Free Thought Project
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U.S. Standing Alone Against Children
08 Mar 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Lawrence Wittner points out that the United States will soon be the only nation on earth that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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Tags: Convention on the Rights of the Child, child protection
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Journalists and online activists, did GCHQ or NSA spy on you?
27 Feb 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news


By Reporters Without Borders
A recent historic ruling by an independent British tribunal that handles complaints about surveillance has made it possible for individuals to ask the British signals intelligence agency GCHQ if it spied on them. Reporters Without Borders is inviting journalists, bloggers and online activists to participate in a campaign that will help them to discover whether they were the victims of illegal spying.
Read more...
Tags: surveillance, GCHQ, NSA, spying
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Under the shadow of nuclear war
25 Feb 2015; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
No Weapons to Ukraine—An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate
The United States is the leading provider of weapons to the world, and the practice of providing weapons to countries in crisis has proven disastrous, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Expanding NATO to Russia’s border and arming Russia's neighbors threatens something worse than disaster. The United States is toying with nuclear war.
Read more...
Tags: US, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, nuclear war
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Dublin Astrophysicist in 100 Round Three Mars One Candidates
16 Feb 2015; posted by the editor - International, Ireland


Amersfoort, 16th February 2015
A 29-year-old Dublin astrophysicist is among the 100 shortlisted candidates selected for the planned one-way trip to Mars with Mars One. From the initial 202,586 applicants, 100 hopefuls have now been selected to proceed to the next round of the Mars One Astronaut Selection Process. These candidates are one step closer to becoming the first humans on Mars.
Read more...
Tags: Mars One
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Benjamin Netanyahu "an Existential Threat to Too Much of the World"
15 Feb 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By William Wraithwrite
Benjamin Netanyahu is an Existential Threat to Too Much of the World: And now he wants to speak to his war crime corroborators: U.S Congress! Baby-bib Bibi is brazen as are his blatant war crimes that were carried out this summer in Palestine—as many people already know. 
Read more...
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu
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Digital Rights orgs call on world leaders to uphold human rights in wake of Hebdo
11 Feb 2015; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Internet news, International


by Raegan MacDonald, EDRi-member
Over 30 digital and civil liberties organisations from around the world have endorsed a joint statement calling on the world’s governments not to expand surveillance measures in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. In addition to European Digital Rights (EDRi), signatories include Article19, digitalcourage, IT-pol, Vrijschrift, La Quadrature du Net, Panoptykon, Initiative fr Netzfreiheit, FITUG e.V., Alternative Informatics Association, ORG, EFF, Effi, APTi, and Access.
Read more...
Tags: Charlie Hebdo, surveillance
0 Comments
Students Save Palestine
30 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
In proposing that Congress Members boycott or walk out on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress, expected to push for sanctions if not war on Iran, activists are drawing on actions engaged in by college students in recent years, as they have boycotted or walked out on or disrupted speeches by Israeli soldiers and officials on U.S. campuses. Netanyahu's noodle-headed move—oblivious, apparently, to the U.S. government's effective evolution into a term-limited monarchy—may provide a boost to both the movement to free Palestine and the movement to prevent a war on Iran.
Read more...
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, anti-war
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French Patriot Act: Do we really need more surveillance?
28 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - International


On 21 January, only two weeks after the attacks in Paris, the French government announced a big bundle of new security measures, a “general mobilisation against terrorism”. But does the country need more surveillance?  
Read more...
Tags: anti-terrorism, France, surveillance
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Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016
19 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - International


The combined wealth of the richest one percent will overtake that of the other 99 percent of people next year unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked, Oxfam warned today ahead of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
Read more...
Tags: inequality
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CIA on Trial in Virginia for Planting Nuke Evidence in Iran
15 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


By David Swanson
Since Tuesday and continuing for the coming three weeks, an amazing trial is happening in U.S. District Court at 401 Courthouse Square in Alexandria, Va. The trial is open to the public, and among the upcoming witnesses is Condoleezza Rice, but—unlike the Chelsea Manning trial—most of the seats at this somewhat similar event are empty.
Read more...
Tags: Jeffrey Sterling, James Risen, whistleblowers, Iran, nuclear weapons
0 Comments
Paris attack: Imagine if political leaders were leaders
14 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By Joe McNamee, EDRi
Imagine if our political leaders were leaders. Imagine if our “leaders” defended our freedoms by defending our freedoms. Imagine if, instead of dragging another set of restrictive measures from the shelf where they sat waiting to exploit the next atrocity, Europe's leaders decided that the principles that Charlie Hebdo defends are actually worth defending.
Read more...
Tags: Charlie Hebdo
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Legal Service Opinion on CJEU Data Retention ruling
14 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, European Union


By Diego Naranjo, EDRi
The European Parliament (EP) legal services last week presented an opinion on the Court of Justice of the EU’s (CJEU) ruling on the Data Retention Directive (DRD) and its implications. The opinion, after restating the principles that are essential to permit any interference on fundamental rights (proportionality, justification and necessity), answered specific questions raised by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
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Tags: Data Retention Directive, mass surveillance
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PEN report reveals writers' concerns about mass surveillance impact
14 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, International


On 5 January 2015, PEN American Center published a report “Global chilling: The impact of mass surveillance on international writers”. The report introduces the results of a survey of writers, to investigate how mass surveillance influences their thinking, research and writing, as well as their views of government surveillance by the US and its impact around the world. In total 772 writers from 50 countries completed the survey.
Read more...
Tags: mass surveillance
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If Paris Killers Had Western Media on Their Side
11 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Some killings are reported on in a slightly different manner from how the Charlie Hebdo killings have been. Rewriting a drone killing as a gun killing (changing just a few words) would produce something like this: 
Freedom Fighters Gun Strike in Europe Is Said to Have Killed 12 Militants 
PARIS, France
At least 12 foreign militants were believed to have been killed in a freedom fighter gun strike in the North Paris tribal region on Wednesday morning, a Liberation security official said.
Read more...
Tags: Charlie Hebdo
0 Comments
Presidents Are Gods
05 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
A former Governor of Virginia is expected to be sentenced to a long stay in prison. The same fate has befallen governors in states across the United States, including in nearby Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia. A former governor of Illinois is in prison. Governors have been convicted of corruption in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Connecticut, and (in a trumped-up partisan scam) in Alabama. The statewide trauma suffered by the people of states that have locked up their governors has been . . . well, nonexistent and unimaginable.
Read more...
Tags: Presidential power, Presidential immunity
0 Comments
The Atlantic Can't Figure Out Why U.S. Loses Wars
05 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Features, Journalism, United States


By David Swanson
The cover of the January-February 2015 The Atlantic asks "Why Do The Best Soldiers in the World Keep Losing?" which leads to this article, which fails to answer the question.
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Tags: anti-war, The Atlantic
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America Stumbles Through Another Year, Spreading Chaos And Trivia Everywhere In Its Path
01 Jan 2015; posted by the editor - Features, International


By John Chuckman
The Palestinians are seeking a vote in the United Nations’ Security Council on a resolution favoring their statehood, unquestionably a reasonable proposal in the minds of most of the world’s people. Of course, the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, would automatically veto such a resolution, as it vetoes all efforts to restore order to the chaos of the Middle East. And of course, were such a resolution somehow miraculously to pass, Israel would simply ignore it, as it has ignored a long list of binding UN resolutions. But a veto and certain contempt are not enough for an upright, God-fearing Southern gentleman like US Senator Lindsey Graham. He busied himself recently with threatening America’s withholding funds from a United Nations that gets involved in the “peace process.” Imagine, the United Nations getting involved in peace? That is a chilling thought. Since the United States has a history of withholding its UN dues against its solemn treaty obligations to bully its way to certain changes, such threats do carry weight. 
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Tags: John Chuckman
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Supreme Court rejects New York Times reporters appeal
22 Dec 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


Reporters Without Borders says it is deeply worried by the United States Supreme Court’s rejection of an appeal by New York Times reporter James Risen on 2 June 2014.
Read more...
Tags: James Risen, New York Times, whistleblowers
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Justice Department backs off James Risen
13 Dec 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


RootsAction.org co-founder Norman Solomon praised the U.S. Department of Justice's apparent decision to drop its threat to imprison author and journalist James Risen unless he reveals his source in reporting the story of Operation Merlin.
Read more...
Tags: James Risen, Jeffrey Sterling, Daniel Ellsberg
0 Comments
Rand Paul Declares a Non-War War
08 Dec 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Senator Rand Paul wants Congress to Declare war on ISIS. Some, like Bruce Fein, are willing to ignore the UN Charter and the Kellogg Briand Pact, and write as if a war would be legal if Congress would just declare it.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, Rand Paul, Bruce Fein
0 Comments
War by Media and the Triumph of Propaganda
06 Dec 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, International


The Following is John Pilger’s address to the Logan Symposium, “Building an Alliance Against Secrecy, Surveillance & Censorship”, organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism, London, on 5th December, 2014
By John Pilger
Why has so much journalism succumbed to propaganda? Why are censorship and distortion standard practice? Why is the BBC so often a mouthpiece of rapacious power? Why do the New York Times and the Washington Post deceive their readers? 
Read more...
Tags: media propaganda
0 Comments
Ransom Payment for Beau Bergdahl
24 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Bergdahl had a legal responsibility to walk away from an illegal war. It's not completely confirmed that he did so, but he's blamed for it, when he should be praised for it.
Read more...
Tags: Beau Bergdahl, ransom payments
0 Comments
Sweden refuses to rescind Assange warrant
20 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


A Swedish appeals court rejected on Thursday an appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to revoke a detention order issued by prosecutors in 2010 over allegations of sexual assault.
Read more...
Tags: Julian Assange
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US supplying ISIL with weaponry?
19 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - International


It is being reported that Iraqi forces have found out that the US aircraft usually airdrop arms and food cargoes for ISIL militants who collect them on the ground, Asia news agency quoted Iraqi army’s intelligence officers as saying.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, US, arms supply
0 Comments
The World Gets the Wars Americans Deserve
15 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Having been on the road, I have two brilliant insights to report.

1. No matter what sort of fascist state were ever established in this part of the world, Amtrak would never get the trains to run on time.

2. Respecting people and giving them credit for being smarter than the television depicts them is vastly easier when you stay home.
Read more...
Tags: US wars
0 Comments
ISIS Beheadings Work Well As Red Herring Hiding Away Israeli Summer War Crimes
06 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By William Wraithwrite
It may very well be coincidence that just when Israel was starting to take some heat for its atrocious war crimes and policy in Gaza at the end of this summer of 2014 along comes a newly name-minted entity engaging in sensational beheadings for news-grabbing attention.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, Israel, Gaza, Palestine
0 Comments
Myth of the "English Speaking Peoples" a.k.a the UK-USA "Special Relationship"
05 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Nu'man Abd al-Wahid
Whether one is critical of the alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States or in favour of the so-called "Special Relationship" it is perceived to be an amicable, natural and trans-historical partnership between two nations who share the same language and whose global interests are more or less the same. Over the last fifteen years these two nations assumed the lead in their continuing support of the colonialist state of Israel and waging war on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and calling for more military intervention in Syria and Iran. So it is no surprise that many find it hard to accept that this alliance is a recent advent rooted in geo-political exigencies of the historical moment at hand. British imperialism was animus, if not outright antithetical, in the first 150 years of the Republic.
Read more...
Tags: UK, US, special relationship
0 Comments
Climate change - time not on our side
03 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


The world faces "severe, widespread and irreversible" effects if moves are not made to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new climate change report.
Read more...
Tags: Climate Change, IPCC
0 Comments
Ballots or Bullets: Democracy and World Power
02 Nov 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
The principal reason why Washington engages in military wars, sanctions and clandestine operations to secure power abroad is because its chosen clients cannot and do not win free and open elections.
Read more...
Tags: World Power, democracy
0 Comments
Around the Nightmare in 60 Days
15 Oct 2014; posted by the editor - Health, International


60 Days to contain Ebola
The World Health Organisation and the United Nations have warned that if the current Ebola outbreak is not contained within the next two months, the world will face an unprecedented crisis for which no effective plan exists.
Read more...
Tags: ebola, airborne virus
0 Comments
The Tragedy of Modern Democracy
15 Oct 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By John Chuckman
I read and heard about Hong Kong’s students putting themselves at risk demonstrating for democracy, and my first instinct was sympathy, sympathy for their passionate idealism, but sympathy in another sense too, for their sad illusions. I ask myself, and it is not a trivial question, what is it exactly that they believe they fight for? Democracy has become such a totemic word, we all are trained to revere it, unquestioningly, almost the way 16th century people were expected to behave in the presence of the Host during Communion. But just where in the West do we see countries who call themselves democracies behaving in democratic ways, indeed where do we see genuine democracies? And if it is such an important concept, why should that be? 
Read more...
Tags: Hong Kong, democracy
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Urgent: Right-Left Alliance Needed to Stop This War!
11 Oct 2014; posted by the editor - International, United States


By David Swanson
Last year, public pressure played a big role in stopping US missile strikes on Syria. The biggest difference between then and now was that televisions weren't telling people that ISIS might be coming to their neighborhood to behead them. There were other, smaller differences as well: Britain's opposition, Russia's opposition, and the difficulty of explaining to Americans that it now made sense to join a war on the same side as al Qaeda.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, US Congress
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Again the Peace Prize Not for Peace
10 Oct 2014; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
The Nobel Peace Prize is required by Alfred Nobel's will, which created it, to go to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." The Nobel Committee insists on awarding the prize to either a leading maker of war or a person who has done some good work in an area other than peace.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize, Kailash Satyarthi, Malala Yousafzay
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Operation Odysseus' Butcher Shop
06 Oct 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
The phrase "war myths" these days is generally taken to mean such nonsense as that war will make us safe, or civilians won't be killed, or surgical strikes will kill more enemies than they produce, or prosperity and freedom will follow war-making, etc. But I wonder whether "war myths" shouldn't be taken more literally, whether we don't in fact have a bunch of warmakers believing that they are Odysseus.
Read more...
Tags: war propaganda, Odysseus
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Imagine There're No Countries
30 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
A serious case has been made repeatedly by unknown scholars and globally celebrated geniuses for well over a century that a likely step toward abolishing war would be instituting some form of global government. Yet the peace movement barely mentions the idea, and its advocates as often as not appear rather naive about Western imperialism; certainly they are not central to or well integrated into the peace movement or even, as far as I can tell, into peace studies academia. (Here's a link to one of the main advocacy groups for world government promoting a U.S. war on ISIS.) All too often the case for world government is even made in this way: Global government would guarantee peace, while its absence guarantees war.
Read more...
Tags: World Government
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Parliament and Congress Have No Power to Legalize War
27 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Congress has fled town to avoid voting for or against a new war. Many of the big donors to Congressional campaigns would want Yes votes. Many voters would want No votes, if not immediately, then as soon as the panic induced by the beheading videos wears off, which could be within the next month.
Read more...
Tags: war, ISIS, US Congress, UK Parilament
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ISIS and the USA: Expansion and Resistance by Decapitation
26 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
In order to overcome massive US and world public opposition to new wars in the Middle East, Obama relied on the horrific internet broadcasts of ISIS slaughtering two American hostages, the journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff, by decapitation. These brutal murders were Obama’s main propaganda tool to set a new Middle East war agenda—his own casus belli bonanza! This explains the US Administration’s threats of criminal prosecution against the families of Foley and Stoloff when they sought to ransom their captive sons from ISIS.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, James Foley, Steve Sotloff, Mexico
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Thematic Session on Climate Science
25 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


The UN Climate Summit brought together a hundred Heads of Governments, alongside the financial world, business and civil societies to give new momentum to the search for answers to the challenges posed by climate change.
Read more...
Tags: climate change, World Meteorological Organization
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The Conquest Of Europe
25 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By John Chuckman
Russia’s President Putin is reported to have said in a conversation a while back that he could be in Kiev in two weeks. In our press, this was reported as yet more evidence of aggressive intentions, but, given even a moment’s thought, that is a patently false interpretation. It is also further evidence, as if more were needed, of the level of desperation American propaganda around events in Ukraine has reached. It is almost as though America’s intelligence/news media alliance started mimicking the almost forgotten Soviet apparatchiks of decades ago. 
Read more...
Tags: Ukraine, Russia, United States
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ISIS: Bush Was Right
22 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Finally, somebody commenting on the state of Iraq thinks George W. Bush got something right. Turns out it's ISIS. In the new hour-long ISIS-produced film about how nice it is to die for ISIS—*Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun—Bush is quoted: "You are with us or against us." Video shows him saying "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." A graphic in the upper corner of the screen reads: "Bush spoke the truth, although he's a liar.”
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, Bush
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Turn Left for Earth
21 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International, United States


By David Swanson
I appreciate that there's more happening than just a march for the climate today on the International Day of Peace and I get the idea that keeping the safe and obedient march-to-nowhere separate from protests actually at the United Nations where our corporate overlords are determining the rate of the earth's demise is intended to please all of the people some of the time, but I can't help wishing that the march would just turn left instead of right when it reaches 42nd Street, in order to march to the United Nations rather than to nowhere.
Read more...
Tags: Climate change, United Nations, International Day of Peace
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WMO: Still Time to Act on Climate Change
19 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


Need for Action on Greenhouse Gases Backed by Scientific Evidence
Geneva, 19 September 2014 (WMO)
There is still a window of opportunity to prevent dangerous climate change and preserve the planet for future generations. But it is closing fast, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which says that the urgent need to cut greenhouse gases is based on overwhelming scientific evidence.
Read more...
Tags: Climate change, global warming, World Meteorological Organization
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Scotland : independence
19 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International


http://newsmedianews.com/Music/independence.mp3
Tags: Scotland, independence
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Current greenhouse gas control insufficient
18 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International, Ireland


An Taisce is calling on the world’s leaders to agree and enforce a cap on global Cumulative Total Emissions at the UN summit in New York next week. Climate science is now clear that Cumulative Total Emissions (CTE) is the essential measure that must be used when calculating the needed reductions—not delayed percentage targets as presently used. Cumulative Total Emissions (CTE) are critical to climate action that ensures local and national efforts are not undermined anywhere now or in the future.
Read more...
Tags: IPCC, climate change, climate control, greenhouse gas, Cumulative Total Emissions
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43 Million People Kicked Out of Their Homes
17 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
War, our leaders tell us, is needed to make the world a better place. Well, maybe not so much for the 43 million people who’ve been driven out of their homes and remain in a precarious state as internally displaced persons (24 million), refugees (12 million), and those struggling to return to their homes.
Read more...
Tags: war refugees
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Laughing Our Way to Destruction
16 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International, United States


By David Swanson 
If members of the U.S. public were ever to wonder what the other 95% of humanity thinks about them, would it be better to break that harsh truth to them gently or just to blurt it out?  I'm going to go with the latter.
Read more...
Tags: anti-war, US foreign policy
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9/11 After 13 years
15 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Paul Craig Roberts
The tragedy of September 11, 2001, goes far beyond the deaths of those who died in the towers and the deaths of firefighters and first responders who succumbed to illnesses caused by inhalation of toxic dust. For thirteen years a new generation of Americans has been born into the 9/11 myth that has been used to create the American warfare/police state. The corrupt Bush and Obama regimes used 9/11 to kill, maim, dispossess and displace millions of Muslims in seven countries, none of whom had anything whatsoever to do with 9/11.
Read more...
Tags: 9/11
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Ireland supports Demarche to Icelandic Government on Whaling
15 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


The EU's Ambassador to Iceland, Matthias Brinkmann, today delivered a demarche to the Government of Iceland expressing strong opposition to Iceland's continuing and increased commercial harvest of whales, particularly fin whales, and to its on-going international trade in whale products. Ireland supported the Demarche, which was made on behalf of the EU, its 28 Member States and the governments of the United States, Australia, Brazil, Israel, New Zealand, Mexico and Monaco.
Read more...
Tags: whaling, Iceland
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UkraineTruce or Trojan Horse: Retreat, Re-Armament and Relaunch
14 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International, Ukraine


By James Petras
The NATO proxy war in the Ukraine started with the violent US-EU-sponsored overthrow of the elected government via a mob putsch in February 2014.  This was well financed at $5 billion, according to President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland.
Read more...
Tags: Ukraine
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James Foley Is Not a War Ad
14 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson 
To the extent that the U.S. public is newly, and probably momentarily, accepting of war—an extent that is wildly exaggerated, but still real—it is because of videos of beheadings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Read more...
Tags: James Foley
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Greenhouse gas levels at all-time high despite warnings
11 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013, propelled by a surge in levels of carbon dioxide. This is according to the World Meteorological Organization’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change.
Read more...
Tags: weather, climate, water
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Warning to War Supporters
10 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, Opinion


By David Swanson
I know you mean well. I know you think you've found a bargain that nobody else noticed hidden in a back corner of the used car lot. Let me warn you: it's a clunker. Here, I'll list the defects. You can have your own mechanic check them out below.
Read more...
Tags: world beyond war, US wars
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Is there still hope for peace in Ukraine?
03 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Patrick Boylan
The Ukrainian government, like Israel in Gaza, relentlessly goes on bombing residential areas in the eastern regions “to kill the terrorists hiding out there” (but also the civilians living there). The separatists, called “terrorists”, are in a siege; to break it, they have launched a bloody counteroffensive to the South, with civilian casualties there, too. Tension has spiked with rumors (later debunked) of a full-scale Russian invasion underway. And yet, in spite of it all, a glimmer of hope for peace has finally appeared. Or is it just an illusion?
Read more...
Tags: Ukraine, peace
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World Beyond War alternative Peace Holiday Calendar
01 Sep 2014; posted by the editor - International


Worldbeyondwar.org has published an alternative calendar promoting the furtherance of peace and the abolition of war and the military industrial complex.
Read more...
Tags: Peace Holiday Calendar, worldbeyondwar
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Pineapple whistle-blower faces tough punishment
31 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International, Thailand


Whistle-blower Andy Hall exposed multiple human rights abuses including child labor in a Thai pineapple factory and now faces up to eight years in prison and a $10million fine.
Read more...
Tags: Natural Fruit Ltd, Andy Hall, pineapple production, Thailand
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Major Internet Freedom Action on 10 September
30 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Internet news, International


On 10 September websites across the world will be joining the fight to retain net neutrality and prevent its control falling into the hands of the corporations providing Internet services.
Read more...
Tags: Internet neutrality, 10 September
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Islamic State militants behead captive Lebanese soldier
30 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International, Syria, Lebanon


Islamic State militants beheaded a Lebanese soldier who was one of 19 captured by hardline Syrian Islamists when they seized a Lebanese border town for few days this month, a video posted on social media showed on Saturday, Reuters has reported.
Read more...
Tags: Islamic State, beheading
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UK terror threat level and climate of fear
29 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, United Kingdom


"We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism. I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police."
Read more...
Tags: UK terror threat, threat level, Theresa May, Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre
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What to Do About ISIS
28 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


 By David Swanson
Start by recognizing where ISIS came from. The U.S. and its junior partners destroyed Iraq, left a sectarian division, poverty, desperation, and an illegitimate government in Baghdad that did not represent Sunnis or other groups. Then the U.S. armed and trained ISIS and allied groups in Syria, while continuing to prop up the Baghdad government, providing Hellfire missiles with which to attack Iraqis in Fallujah and elsewhere.
Read more...
Tags: ISIS, Islamic State
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From Arabian Spring to new Middle East Dark Ages
28 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


Following the uprisings aross the Middle East a new modern Dark Ages has descended over the region as ISIS attempts to capitalise on the regional confusions to expand its empirical domination in much the same way as Hitler's Germany attempted.
Read more...
Tags: Islamic State
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So, I Asked the Russian Ambassador What He Thinks of NATO
27 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International, United States, Russia


By David Swanson
The Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, spoke at the University of Virginia on Tuesday evening, in an event organized by the Center for Politics, which no doubt has video of the proceedings. Kislyak was once ambassador to Belgium and to NATO.
Read more...
Tags: Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, NATO, Cold War
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US bombing of Islamic State forces is no answer to sectarian violence
27 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International, Ireland, Iraq


Bombing Islamic State forces is no answer to the sectarian violence sweeping across the Middle East, the Irish Anti-War Movement said in a statement today.
Read more...
Tags: Iraq, Gaza
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UK rapper named as prime suspect in James Foley beheading
26 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


Former UK rapper 23-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary has been named by MI5 as a prime suspect in the beheading of James Foley.
Read more...
Tags: James Foley, Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary
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Call to end all nuclear testing
26 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test near Semipalatinsk, followed by another 455 nuclear tests over succeeding decades, with a terrible effect on the local population and environment.
Read more...
Tags: nuclear testing, Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
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James Foley tribute page launched
23 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, International


Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders has opend a special tribute page in honour and memory of James Foley, who was taken hostage by members of Islamic State and beheaded.
Read more...
Tags: James Foley, Reporters Without Borders
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Obama Buggers Europe: Sanctions Deepen the Recession
23 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


"...the ascendancy of chaos as a way of life in Western Europe"
By James Petras
The Obama Administration actively pressured Europe to impose harsh sanctions on Russia in order to defend the violent takeover (‘regime change’) in the Ukraine. England, France, Germany and the rest of the European regimes gave in to Washington’s demands. Russia responded by imposing reciprocal sanctions, especially on agriculture goods, and is establishing alternative trading partners and increasing trade with China, Iran, Latin America and Africa.
Read more...
Tags: Obama, Europe, sanctions
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01 Jan 1970; posted by -


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01 Jan 1970; posted by -


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NYT Responds on Torture
21 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


The New York Times has reponded to accusations that it has unfairly covered the issue of malpractice by members of the US armed forces and torture by US forces.
Read more...
Tags: Amnesty International, torture
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Bradley Manning nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
25 Mar 2013; posted by the editor - International


Bradley Manning—a gentle soul who is up against the mighty wrath of America's misguided militaristic warlords—has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read more...
Tags: Bradley Manning
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The continuing attack on civil freedoms
10 Mar 2013; posted by the editor - Human Rights, Opinion, United Kingdom


Any state that deploys mandatory retention of private electronic communications is guilty of sliding deeper into the practice of oppression and repression of its people.
Read more...
Tags: Civil freedoms
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What the Soldiers Did at Christmas 98 Years Ago
18 Dec 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Frank Richards recalled: "On Christmas morning we stuck up a board with 'A Merry Christmas' on it. The enemy had stuck up a similar one. Platoons would sometimes go out for twenty-four hours' rest—it was a day at least out of the trench and relieved the monotony a bit—and my platoon had gone out in this way the night before, but a few of us stayed behind to see what would happen. Two of our men then threw their equipment off and jumped on the parapet with their hands above their heads. Two of the Germans done the same and commenced to walk up the river bank, our two men going to meet them. They met and shook hands and then we all got out of the trench...."
Read more...
Tags: Christmas 1914
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Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities ?
10 Dec 2012; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


By David Swanson
A group working for the abolition of war has published its own Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities as they say that the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities is not self-enforcing and is being ignored.
Read more...
Tags: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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Nobel Laureates repeat request for clarrification on unlawful EU Peace Award
01 Dec 2012; posted by the editor - International


Nobel Laureates have sent a second request to the Nobel Foundation requesting clarrification over the award of the 2012 Peace Prize to the EU.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize
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Apple blocks Drone strike app as 'objecdtionable'
08 Nov 2012; posted by the editor - International


Apple Inc., which has received over $9 million in Pentagon contracts in recent years, has rejected from its App Store, and therefore from all iPhones, a simple informative application.
Read more...
Tags: drone warfare, Drones+, Apple
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Who's Been Right and Who's Been Wrong
07 Nov 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
From 1856 to 1860 Elihu Burritt promoted a plan to prevent civil war through compensated emancipation, or the purchase and liberation of slaves by the government, an example that the English had set in the West Indies. Burritt traveled constantly, all over the country, speaking. He organized a mass convention that was held in Cleveland. He lined up prominent supporters. He edited newsletters.
Read more...
Tags: Elihu Burritt, slavery, peace movements
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Nobel Peace Prize award to EU 'unlawful'
05 Nov 2012; posted by the editor - International


One of the largest peace networks in the world is demanding that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the European Union is rescinded. In a letter to the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, the International Peace Bureau (IPB)says the award of the prize to the EU is unlawful and cannot be paid.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize, Europe, International Peace Bureau
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01 Jan 1970; posted by -


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This is Why Israel is Accused of Apartheid
19 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


by
Earlier this week, Israeli Defense Forces destroyed the homes of two Palestinians—Amer Abu Aysha and Hussam Kawasme—and sealed up the home of another, Marwan Kawasme. The three men are suspects in the deaths of three Jewish seminary students—Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah—who were killed in the West Bank in June.
Read more...
Tags: Israel, Gaza, Palestine, apartheid
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01 Jan 1970; posted by -


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Danny Schechter Dissects the Latest Iraq Lies
15 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


Back In Iraq: We Only Want To Save You
By Danny Schechter
New York, New York: Welcome back to Iraq—complete with our ever present WMD's—Weapons of Mass deception
Suddenly, the country we never wanted to have to think about again is back in the news and on our military agenda. So, after a few denials that troops would not, never, and no way be sent, sure'nuff, U.S, boots are back on the ground, but to play a very different "mission".
Read more...
Tags: Danny Schechter, Iraq
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Local Police and Much Else Will Be Militarized As Long As Federal Government Is
14 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
Groups on the ground in St. Louis are calling for nationwide solidarity actions in support of Justice for Mike Brown and the end of police and extrajudicial killings everywhere. As they should. And we should all join in.
Read more...
Tags: St Louis, Mike Brown, police violence, social justice
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Top 9 Reasons to Stop Bombing Iraq
13 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Features, Opinion


By David Swanson
1. It's not a rescue mission.
The U.S. personnel could be evacuated without the 500-pound bombs.  The persecuted minorities could be supplied, moved, or their enemy dissuaded, or all three, without the 500-pound bombs or the hundreds of "advisors" (trained and armed to kill, and never instructed in how to give advice—Have you ever tried taking urgent advice from 430 people?).  The boy who cried rescue mission should not be allowed to get away with it after the documented deception in Libya where a fictional threat to civilians was used to launch an all-out aggressive attack that has left that nation in ruins.  Not to mention the false claims about Syrian chemical weapons and the false claim that missiles were the only option left for Syria—the latter claims being exposed when the former weren't believed, the missiles didn't launch, and less violent but perfectly obvious alternative courses of action were recognized.  If the U.S. government were driven by a desire to rescue the innocent, why would it be arming Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain?  The U.S. government destroyed the nation of Iraq between 2003 and 2011, with results including the near elimination of various minority groups.  If preventing genocide were a dominant U.S. interest, it could have halted its participation in and aggravation of that war at any time, a war in which 97% of the dead were on one side, just as in Gaza this month—the distinction between war and genocide being one of perspective, not proportions.  Or, of course, the U.S. could have left well alone.  Ever since President Carter declared that the U.S. would kill for Iraqi oil, each of his successors has believed that course of action justified, and each has made matters significantly worse.
Read more...
Tags: Iraq, US, weapons, bombing
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Obama announces Iraq air strikes
08 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - International


The White House has released the following transcript of President Obama's remarks on Thursday, 7 August:
"Good evening. Today I authorized two operations in Iraq: targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel, and a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death. Let me explain the actions we’re taking and why.
Read more...
Tags: Obama, Iraq air strikes
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Gaza-through a looking glass
07 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


Since the 1967 invasion and annexation of Gaza by Israel 27,000 Palestinian homes and other structures (livestock pens and fencing for example) crucial for a family’s livelihood, have been demolished in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including East Jerusalem. —See more.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza, Palestine, West Bank, annexation, Israel
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If a Genocide Falls in the Forest
06 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion, Middle East


By David Swanson
There's a wide and mysterious chasm between the said intentions of the Israeli government as depicted by the U.S. media and what the Israeli government has been doing in Gaza, even as recounted in the U.S. media.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza, genocide, Israel
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What happened to peace on earth?
01 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
Among those who cheer when a cease-fire ends and killing resumes are those who want more Palestinians slaughtered as a form of mass punishment for fictional offenses.  Also among those cheering are certain mainstream U.S. newspaper columnists.  In fact, at least one person is clearly in both of the above categories.
Read more...
Tags: peace on earth
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Stop the Wars, Stop the Warming
01 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Features, Environment, International


by David Swanson
We are at a crossroads, faced with a climate crisis that threatens to end our world as we know it. The signs of climate change are all around us. They include: increasingly severe weather everywhere (floods, heat waves, droughts, cyclones and wildfires), as well as melting polar ice and glaciers, rising acidic oceans, and thawing of Siberian permafrost, which threatens release of huge, devastating, methane gas emissions.
Read more...
Tags: climate change
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US surveillance damaging journalism, law & democracy
01 Aug 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


Human Rights Watch and ACLU have compiled a report detailing how current United States policies are harming journalism, law and democracy.
Read more...
Tags: US surveillance, Human Rights Watch, ACLU, NSA
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Does the European Union deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?
30 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Ben Hayes
It’s easy, with the benefit of hindsight, to ridicule the awarding of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to Barrack ‘Drone Wars’ Obama. But let’s give the Nobel Committee the benefit of the doubt and accept that they were simply rewarding Obama’s inspiring oratory—ridding the world of nuclear weapons, repairing US relations with the Middle East etc.—with deserved political support.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize, Europe
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Editor Who Exposed Racism Faces Extradition From UK
22 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news, United Kingdom, Bulgaria


By Grattan Puxon
The editor of internet news forum DeFacto, Toma Nikolaev Mladenov, who has exposed gross anti-Roma racism in Bulgaria, this week faces possible extradition from the UK. It appears prosecutors want to get him back behind bars to keep him quiet.
Read more...
Tags: Roma, DeFacto, Toma Nikolaev Mladenov
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Dear UNESCO: You're Going to Honor Shimon Peres? Really?
17 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


A Human Rights activist has written an open letter to UNESCO criticising its decision to give an award Shimon Peres
Read more...
Tags: UNESCO, human rights
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Nobel Peace Laureate Opposes Awarding the EU
15 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - International


By Mairead Corrigan Maguire—Nobel peace prize (1976)
Nobel Peace Prize 2012 Awarded to European Union
Alfred Nobel was a visionary who believed in a demilitarized peaceful world. In his Will he left his Nobel peace prize to those who would work for 'fraternity among nations','abolition or reduction of standing armies', and 'holding and promotion of peace congresses'.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Corrigan Maguire
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Peace activists hinder F16 warplanes departures to NATO nuclear weapons exercise
15 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - International


Peace activists are using non-violent means to try and stop the departure of F16 airplanes from the base in Kleine Brogel. Starting today, Belgian pilots are training for the deployment of nuclear weapons together with their NATO-partners. Small groups of activists are going onto the runway to stop the taking off of the F-16s. Meanwhile, the main gate of the base is being blocked. In this way, Vredesactie and Action pour la Paix hope to prevent the preparation for war crimes.
Read more...
Tags: NATO, anti-war protest, Kleine Brogel, Bchel
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All War Is Local
13 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - Features, International


By S. Brian Willson
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time To Break Silence," April 4, 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
On a recent visit to my neighborhood library in SE Portland, Oregon, I was asked outside the entrance if I would sign a petition to place a public school bond measure on the fall ballot. Though I support full funding of public schools, I balked. Knowing that Portland libraries are also planning to place a taxing district on the same ballot, I felt fury building up inside of me at how obscene lawless military spending is sucking our nation's resources dry. I told the person asking for my signature that I would only sign such petition when and if the Portland School Board, Portland City Commissioners and Mayor, and all other City and County entities become part of an active anti-war movement to stop the looting of our Commons by the Military-Industrial-Banking-Congressional-Presidential Complex.
Read more...
Tags: US war
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Why Europe Did Not Deserve a Nobel Peace Prize
12 Oct 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Yes, indeed, it is a little-acknowledged feat of miraculous life-saving power that Europe has not gone to war with itself—other than that whole Yugoslavia thing—since World War II. It's as clear a demonstration as anything that people can choose to stop fighting. It's a testament to the pre-war peace efforts that criminalized war, the post-war prosecutions of the brand new crime of making war, the reconstruction of the Marshall Plan, and ... and something else a little less noble, and much less Nobel-worthy.
Read more...
Tags: Nobel Peace Prize, Europe
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Lies, Damn Lies, and Nuclear Lies
22 Sep 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Remarks at protest at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the International Day of Peace, 2012
Our government likes to lie to us about nuclear weapons. This poor impoverished nation halfway around the world is about to nuke us. No, that one is. The result, of course, is mass murder. But there's another result potentially even worse. We begin to think there's something wrong with being terrified of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. There isn't. This stuff should scare the hell out of us. And the arrogant lunacy of imagining that even an honest and accountable authority, much less our government, could set up a commission to regulate the winds of hell and deadly substances with a half-life as long as the age of the Earth must give us serious pause.
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Tags: International Day of Peace
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International Peace Day from Kabul, Afghanistan
21 Sep 2012; posted by the editor - International, Afghanistan


By Johnny Barber
On this International Day of Peace I am sitting in Kabul, Afghanistan with a handful of youth that want nothing but peaceful coexistence in their lives. This in some respects is like a dream because their entire lives have been surrounded by war, death, corruption, and struggle. Peace has been in short supply. For three years the Afghan Peace Volunteers have worked to develop friendships across ethnic lines in Kabul and various provinces throughout Afghanistan. The work has been difficult, trust is hard to come by in this war torn land, but they are adamant that non-violence is the only way forward. I have sat with similar groups in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, America and Israel. Rarely are their voices heard over the drums of war.
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Tags: Afghan Peace Volunteers
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Nuclear Roulette
18 Sep 2012; posted by the editor - International, United States


By David Swanson
As the Coalition Against Nukes prepares for a series of events in Washington, D.C., September 20-22, including a Capitol Hill rally, a Congressional briefing, a fundraiser at Busboys and Poets, a ceremony at the Museum of the American Indian, a rally at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), a film screening, and a strategy session, the time seems ideal to take in the wisdom of Gar Smith's new book, Nuclear Roulette: The Truth About the Most Dangerous Energy Source on Earth.
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Tags: Nuclear roulette, Gar Smith
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It's Us-or the Nukes
16 Sep 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor was about to wake him up in the middle of the night to inform the President that 220 Soviet nuclear missiles were headed our way, when he learned that someone had stuck a game tape into the computer by mistake.
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Tags: nuclear mistakes, lost nuclear weapons
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America's head in the sand
15 Sep 2012; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


The true head in the sand attitude of the current US administration is now very clearly illuminated by that administration's utter stubbornness in continuing to doggedly blame a scarcely known film for the motives behind current anti-US sentiments being expressed through protest and violence around the world, particularly in the Middle East.
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Tags:
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How Small Abused Nations Could End War
23 Jun 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
An urgent plea to the nations that my nation likes to kick around. The U.S. State Department has a list of the treaties it believes are in force and the United States a party to. 
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Tags: Peace Pact of Paris, Kellogg-Briand Pact
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The new American freedoms
21 Jun 2012; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


So America's administration seems to have successfully convinced the majority of it subservient sheep that they are embarked on a crusade to bring freedom to the rest of the world—the rest of the world that doesn't kowtow to their ideas anyway.
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Tags: New American Century
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Klepetromilitatorship
19 Jun 2012; posted by the editor - Features, International


By David Swanson
Which came first, the oil business or the war machine that protects it? Who started this madness, the military that consumes so much of the oil or the corporations that distribute and profit from the filthy stuff? An answer of sorts can be found in Timothy Mitchell's book, "Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil."
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Tags: Timothy Mitchell, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil
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Bradley Manning Faces WikiLeaks Court Martial
05 Feb 2012; posted by the editor - International


The US Army has confirmed that Bradley Manning, the US soldier charged with passing thousands of secret documents to WikiLeaks, will face court martial and the risk of life imprisonment.
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Tags: Bradley Manning, Wikileaks
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The Betrayal of the Nobel Peace Prize
05 Feb 2012; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
Alfred Nobel's will, written in 1895, left funding for a prize to be awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
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Tags: Nobel Prize, Theodore Roosevelt
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Who Does Our Government Represent?
17 Jan 2012; posted by the editor - Opinion, Ireland


By Declan Cullen
Could someone please tell me who the present government serves? They have attacked people on social welfare, on low pay, the middle class, small businesses, the blind, the old and their pensions and carers, the disabled, children with special needs, old folks homes. They have closed and degraded Hospitals.
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Tags: Declan Cullen
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The Big Myth and Lies of the Financial 'crisis' and modern day slavery
10 Aug 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


People invented money in the 6th Century BC—though bartering with goods and possessions existed long before that, according to historical record. Since the invention of money itself—said to have originated in Lydia—we have enslaved ourselves to it. Human existence itself now inescapably revolves around money.
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Tags: Money, slavery
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Truman Lied, Hundreds of Thousands Died
05 Aug 2011; posted by the editor - Features, International, Japan


By David Swanson
On August 6, 1945, President Harry S Truman announced: "Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British 'Grand Slam' which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare."
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Tags: nuclear weapons, Nagasaki, Hiroshima
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Obama's Libya Defense Makes Bush's Lawyers Look Smart
16 Jun 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


By David Swanson
The arguments made to "legalize" war, torture, warrantless spying, and other crimes by John Yoo and Jay Bybee and their gang are looking rational, well-reasoned, and impeccably researched in comparison with Obama's latest "legalization" of the Libya War.
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Tags: war legality
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Washington Post Wants Endless War
14 Jun 2011; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States, Afghanistan


By David Swanson
The Pentagon Washington Post has yet to mention Section 1034 of the Defense Authorization Act of 2012, but you can expect it—if it passes the Senate—to show up in many a future editorial, as it will give presidents the "legal" (although unconstitutional) power to launch and continue wars, something the Washington Post adores.
Read more...
Tags: Afghanistan, Washington Post
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What If Britain Drops Out of All US Wars?
12 Jun 2011; posted by the editor - International, United Kingdom


By David Swanson
LONDON
Before long public pressure might just lead Britain to drop out of participation in US wars, a move that would seriously damage future pretences of acting as an international coalition.
Read more...
Tags: David Swanson, George Galloway
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Of Humans and Rights
15 May 2011; posted by the editor - Human Rights, International


By David Swanson
U.S. newspapers sometimes print what they call the total death count from one or more of our wars, and all the dead who are listed are Americans. They aren't all the Americans. They don't include contractors or suicides or various other categories of dead Americans. They certainly don't include those who died for lack of basic needs while we dumped half of our public treasury into wars. But they also don't include anyone from that 95% of humanity that's not from the United States. In our current wars, well over 95% of the dead, even in the short-term, are from the countries where the wars are fought. Some get labeled combatants and some civilians, but they're all left out of most body counts, and when they are counted they are counted low. Our government pretends not to count them at all, and only thanks to Wikileaks do we know otherwise, that the military has counted some of them.
Read more...
Tags: Arab Spring, Wikileaks
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Osama Bin Laden: unasked and unanswered questions
07 May 2011; posted by the editor - International


By Fazal Rahman
There have been many reports of Bin Laden's death in the past. The recent report of his alleged killing-an illegal and unethical murder, by any authentic standards, if it actually took place-and murder of some other innocent Muslims, by the US Navy SEALs, on the attacked compound in Pakistan, raises some fundamental questions that are briefly examined in this article.
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Tags: Osama Bin Laden
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What Osama bin Laden, Troy Davis, and You Have in Common
05 May 2011; posted by the editor - International


By David Swanson
So, the United States invaded Mexico, lied about it, killed, raped, pillaged, and stole half the country for the cause of expanding slavery in our growing continental empire. Then a devastated rump Mexico was invaded by the French who wanted their debts repaid, but the Mexicans won a big battle against the French on the Fifth of May, leading Americans to buy several tons of tacos and thousands of gallons of beer every Cinco de Mayo.
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Tags: Troy Davis, Osama bin Laden
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TV, Newspapers, Congress Apologize for Claiming War Not About Oil
19 Apr 2011; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States, Iraq


By David Swanson
In the wake of the latest revelations of what everyone always knew,  the largest press conference in the history of the United States has been planned for tomorrow in the Nationals Park baseball stadium in Washington, D.C. The powerful people lining up to apologize for having claimed the ongoing War on Iraq has had nothing to do with oil were deemed too numerous to gather in any indoor facility.
Read more...
Tags: Iraq war, Oil
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America - you have become an insult
03 Apr 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


America you have become an insult to me. I was born in the UK, as was my father. My mother was born in the Greek isle of Chios, my bother was born in Eritrea. It used to be part of Eygpt—where is it now?
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Tags: America
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Meet the new boss ...
27 Feb 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion, Ireland, Irish political


With the ousting of Fianna Fail, the political party that dominated government in Ireland for the past 30 years, and the election of Fine Gael, the song by The Who comes to mind: "Meet the new boss - same as the old boss...".
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Tags: Ireland political
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China - the next uprising?
24 Feb 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion, China


China boasts by far the largest population of any country. As Chinese authorities implement yet greater censorship over news and information regarding external events, the question must be asked: Will China become the first far eastern country to rise and rebel in the wake of the Middle East uprisings? Despotic censorship of information by those who fear its impact on their own security of tenure is nothing less than dictatorial tyranny, regardless of any professed 'well intent' of the repression.
Tags: China, uprising, censorship
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Col Gaddafi's final mistake
23 Feb 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


In his televised broadcast, Colonel Gaddafi made what might well bethe final mistake of his domination of the Libyan people.
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Tags: Colonel Gaddafi
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When the eagle comes home to roost
13 Feb 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion, United Kingdom


The mainstream media in the west has made much hullaballoo over the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and more recently in Algeria.
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Tags: Tony Blair
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60 Minutes: Putting the BS in CBS
31 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - Journalism, United States


By David Swanson
The reason people in Tunisia, Egypt, and other parts of the world have been influenced to some extent by the work of Wikileaks is that they have read or heard about the material that Wikileaks has helped to make public.  The CBS program "60 Minutes” has just published video of an interview with Wikileaks' Julian Assange—with the video focused, of course, on Assange himself, with almost no substantive content related to the massive crimes and abuses that have made news around the globe.
Read more...
Tags: 60 Minutes, CBS, Julian Assange
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Bradley Manning - a vision of American freedom
23 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion


The latest developments by those enforcing the Draconian imprisonment and treatment of Bradley Manning are beyond contempt [see details].
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Tags: Bradley Manning
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Wars Are Not Fought on Battlefields
20 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - International


by: David Swanson, t r u t h o u t | Book Excerpt
We talk of sending soldiers off to fight on battlefields. The word 'battlefield' appears in millions, possibly billions, of news stories about our wars. And the term conveys to many of us a location in which soldiers fight other soldiers. We don't think of certain things being found in a battlefield.
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Tags: battlefield, war
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America - the land of the free & the brave ?
11 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States


Although this is an opinion column, the content of this piece requires no comment.

Go here
Tags: Julian Assange
0 Comments
Booming Aerospace Industry to Fuel MRO Market
05 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - Business, International


The global MRO market is forecasted to surpass US$ 45 Billion by the end of 2013, says RNCOS.
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Tags: RNCOS, aerospace industry
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Networks of Empire and Realignments of World Power
04 Jan 2011; posted by the editor - Features, International


by James Petras
Imperial states build networks which link economic, military and political activities into a coherent mutually reinforcing system.  This task is largely performed by the various institutions of the imperial state.  Thus imperial action is not always directly economic, as military action in one country or region is necessary to open or protect economic zones.  Nor are all military actions decided by economic interests if the leading sector of the imperial state is decidedly militarist.
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Tags: empires
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Online News Bureau - Connecting Journalists & Publishers
27 Sep 2010; posted by the editor - Journalism, Internet news


NewsCollective offers exciting new approaches to sourcing content online bringing together Journalists and Publishers worldwide, empowering them to create, share, aggregate, publish and transact. For more details log onto http://www.newscollective.com and our blog www.newscollective.com/blog 
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Tags: NewsCollective
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Times is a changing
02 Jul 2010; posted by the editor - Journalism, Opinion, Internet news


As from this week, the UK-based Times Newspapers has started charging for access to its websites. No news can be accessed on any of the Murdoch-owned news websites unless a fee is paid for access.
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Tags: The Times, web news fees
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Israel - time to cal the shots
05 Jun 2010; posted by the editor - Opinion


Israel is a country that owes its very existence in modern times to the adherence to and acceptance of international law, as poor or undeveloped as that law might have been at the time of post world war two years.
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Tags: Israel, Gaza
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Should Israel Teach the Holocaust Less?
31 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Humans almost invariably imagine humans to be far more imaginative and original than they are. But most of our ideas come from (often imperfect and improvised) imitation. And even more powerful than our tendency to imitate is our inability to refrain from imitating, to shake an idea out of our heads once it's there, to "not think of an elephant".
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Tags: Israel, Gaza, holocaust, peace studies
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The Middle East bully
30 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


A bully can only be stopped and educated through resolute and firm action. Israel's actions in Gaza are the actions of a bully supported by other, bigger bullies.
Read more...
Tags: Gaza, Israel
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Australia bans reporting of multi-nation corruption case involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam
30 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam


On Tuesday, 29 July 2014, WikiLeaks released an unprecedented Australian censorship order concerning a multi-million dollar corruption case explicitly naming the current and past heads of state of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, their relatives and other senior officials. The super-injunction invokes "national security" grounds to prevent reporting about the case, by anyone, in order to "prevent damage to Australia's international relations". The court-issued gag order follows the secret 19 June 2014 indictment of seven senior executives from subsidiaries of Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The case concerns allegations of multi-million dollar inducements made by agents of the RBA subsidiaries Securency and Note Printing Australia in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries.
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Tags: Wikileaks, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam
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The Emperor's Rage: Let Chaos Envelop the World!
29 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
Chaos reigns and spreads as enraged leaders in the US, Europe and their clients and allies pursue genocidal wars. Mercenary wars in Syria; Israel's terror bombing on Gaza; proxy wars in the Ukraine, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia. Tens of millions of refugees flee scenes of total destruction. Nothing is sacred.  There are no sanctuaries.  Homes, schools, hospitals and entire families are targeted for destruction.
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Tags: James Petras
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If We Dislike War Like We Dislike Cancer
28 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Health, Opinion


By David Swanson
War and cancer are among our leading causes of human death around the world.  They can't be strictly separated and compared since war is a major cause of cancer, as is war preparation.  (And a small fraction of the U.S. budget for war preparations could fund cancer research well beyond all the money raised by public and private funding and by all the 5-K races for a cure and other activities we've become familiar with.)  War and cancer, by their nature, also can't be addressed with the same sort of responses.
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Tags: World Beyond War, cancer
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Foundation of the US Empire: Axes of Evil
21 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
Empires are not easy to sustain given the multiple enemies that they provoke:  at the international level (imperial rivals and emerging new powers), at the national level (national resistance movements, unreliable clients and untrustworthy 'Sepoy' armies) and at the local level (boycotts, sabotage and strikes). Imperial difficulties are multiplied when an empire is in economic decline, (loss of market shares with growing debt), facing domestic unrest as the economic costs to the taxpayers exceed the returns by a substantial margin; and when the political elite is internally divided between 'militarists' and 'free market' advocates.
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Tags: Axis of Evil, James Petras
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If Iraq Were in Central America
17 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


By David Swanson
Just as in discussions of bombing nations for women's rights it's hard to bring up the subject of the right not to be bombed, in discussions of shipping so-called illegal children away from the border where you've been terrorizing them in reenactments of Freedom Ride buses it's hard to bring up the subject of not having your government overthrown and your nation turned into a living hell.
Read more...
Tags: Honduras, Iraq, Syria
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Channel 4 broadcasts details of Israeli beach killings
17 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - International


Channel 4 news has broadcast details of the Israeli attacks on Gaza that killed four children playing on a beach and injured many others.
Tags: Gaza, Channel 4, Israel
0 Comments
The Real Purpose Of The IMF
13 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Luke Eastwood
To much trumpeting the IMF have kindly agreed to help out desperate and war torn Ukraine. How wonderful they are we are all meant to think, but the truth couldn’t be more opposite.
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Tags: International Monetary Fund. Luke Eastwood
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No excuse for thuggery by police
06 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


Comments to the world media by Micky Rosenfeld, national spokesperson for the Israeli police, claiming that video footage of the alleged attack on Tariq Abu Khadair was "edited" and "biased" in that it fails to shows the sequence of events leading up to the incident, shows the twisted and perverse thinking of the current Israeli administration.
Read more...
Tags: Israel, Tariq Abu Khadair
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Positive Thoughts on Dark Times
06 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By James Petras
There is no question that over the past decade and a half, Europe, the US and Israel have engaged in a series of bloody wars, inequalities have increased throughout the globe, economic crisis has become endemic and, more recently, right-wing military and civilian regimes have swept to power throughout Asia, North Africa, Europe and Canada.
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Tags: warfare
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Irish media failing to accurately report Israeli response to killings
04 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - Journalism, Ireland, Middle East


The Irish Anti-War Movement has accused the Irish media of biased and inaccurate coverage of the Israeli response to the killing of three Israeli teenagers.
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Tags: Gaza, West Bank, Israel, Palestine
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Israel must be held accountable for collective punishment of Palestinians
04 Jul 2014; posted by the editor - International, Middle East


Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activists are urging governments and international civil society to take action to hold Israel to account for its continued collective punishment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza following the disappearance and death of three Israeli settlers.
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Tags: Gaza
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Why exporting fracked gas from US is inviting disaster
29 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Environment, International


On July 13th a rally in Washington D.C. will seek to prevent the opening of a first U.S. facility to export gas from fracking. One of the rally organisers, progressive social change movement veteran Ted Glick explains in a radio interview with David Swanson why the export of fracked gas from the US must be prevented.
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Tags: fracking, fracked gas, Ted Glick
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A Brief History of Iraq for Westerners
19 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - International, Iraq


By David Swanson
Iraq was saved from ignorant subhuman barbarism by a gentlewoman named Gertrude at the time that the civilized nations of the world were, in a quite advanced and sophisticated manner, slaughtering their young men in a project now called the First World War.
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Tags: satire, David Swanson
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The perverse reality of state executions
19 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Opinion


State executions resumed this week in the United States despite the botching of some earlier executions. States that condone and practice the execution of convicted criminals are openly defying their own written law.
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Tags: death penalty, capital punishment
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Genocide, Great Wars, And Other Human Depravity
19 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By John Chuckman
The word genocide, coined in 1944 in an effort to describe what the Nazis called "the final solution" and what today we call the Holocaust, attempted to distinguish the crime of killing people of a certain identity in such great numbers that you tried eliminating them as a group. Earlier in that century, there had been the mass murder of Armenians by the Turks, an event Hitler once cynically reminded associates was not even remembered only a few decades later.
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Tags: Genocide, John Chuckman
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Report on Snowden-Government apathy but increased public concern
19 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Internet news, International


by Simon Davies, EDRi
In the wake of the first anniversary of Edward Snowden's first revelations, a global analysis was published, assessing  the international impact of those disclosures.
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Tags: Edward Snowden
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The Legacy of World War II
12 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Elliott Adams
June 6th came once more. D-day was a long time ago and I didn't intend to make anything of it. I was surprised by the emotional turmoil I felt, by how I felt about that day in my gut. I realized that while I was born after the war was over, D-day and World War II were a real and tangible part of my childhood. It was part of my family's life, my teachers lives, my friends parent's lives. It wasn't just old men who remembered it, every adult in my youth had stories from that war. It was amputees on street corners selling pencils and people all around me still dealing with it. It was part of my life and it played a role in my enlistment for Vietnam. Of course I felt this day in my guts. Why did I think it would be otherwise?  The stories were part of the world I grew up in; stories of D-day, of every counter-espionage agent for a year saying the first attack will be a feint, of the phantom 1st Army with decoy tanks, fake radio chatter and empty tents looking like an army poised for an imminent invasion, of Omaha Beach, of Utah Beach. The death, the military blunders, the maimed, the successes, the 'discovery' of the concentration camps, the Battle of the Bulge, these stories were tangible and a part of my childhood. Many of the stories were told after I was in bed, at breakfast they were alluded to quietly by my parents, and we children were told never to ask the adults about them.
Read more...
Tags: WW2, Elliot Adams
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The Lies Grow More Audacious
07 Jun 2014; posted by the editor - Features, International


By Paul Craig Roberts
June 07, 2014 "ICH"
"In America hate and the cultivation of hate is alive and well. But not a single moral virtue is."
If there were any doubts that Western "leaders" live in a fantasy make-believe world constructed out of their own lies, the G-7 meeting and 70th anniversary celebration of the Normandy landing dispelled the doubts.
Read more...
Tags: D-Day, Normandy landings, Paul Craig Roberts
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Friday, January 14, 2005
Leading Human Rights Solicitor "Shut Down” by Law Society
Society claims ‘substantial history of complaints going back ... years’
Exclusive report by Sean Mc Aughey
Sources and friends close to lawyer Padraigin Drinan are saying the official reasons behind an enforced closure by the Law Society of the offices of Ireland’s foremost human rights defender and solicitor remains wide open for damaging speculation.

Former clients who contacted the Law Society say they were immediately re-directed to a voice mail inbox belonging to the Deputy Secretary; Suzanne Bryson who was unavailable.

On Wednesday a Law Society spokesman was asked if Ms Drinan’s certificate to practice been fully revoked. The spokesman described the measures against Ms Drinan as a “removal of her provision to practice.” and added that a full Law Society press statement on the matter would be available.

In a statement released on Friday, January 14, 2005, the Law Society said: “Ms Drinan has a substantial history of complaints going back a number of years. These have led to a series of decisions by the Law Society to bring proceedings against Ms Drinan before the Disciplinary Tribunal, established for this purpose by the Solicitors (NI) Order 1976, as amended. The Disciplinary Tribunal operates independently of the Law Society.”

However, no clarrification of the substance or nature of the ‘complaint’ was given. The statement continues: “Complaints against Ms Drinan came before the Disciplinary Tribunal in May 2004. On considering the evidence presented by the Law Society, the Tribunal found that the complaints had been duly substantiated. It may be helpful to explain that in addition to imposing certain fines and costs penalties, the Tribunal Order records as follows; ‘The Tribunal noted with regret the Respondent’s (Ms Drinan) previous history of proven complaints before the Tribunal which were all similar to the complaints today. They formed the view that the Respondent was not functioning at any acceptable level as a single practitioner and that in the interest of the public and the Respondent herself, they are ordering that she is restricted from practising on her own account or in partnership. She may accept employment from another solicitor provided they have at least seven years post qualification experience. The Tribunal also orders that she shall not work in any practice using her name on the title or as one of the principals.’ The Tribunal were prepared to defer the implemantation of the Order for a reasonable period to allow Ms Drinan to make alternative arrangements. This deferment initially applied until September 2004 with a subsequent deferral to a date than fixed by the Tribunal at 6 January 2005.

“As and from that date, Ms Drinan is not entitled as a matter of law to practise on her own account. If she continues to do so, she will not only be in breach of the Order of the Tribunal, but will also be committing a criminal offence. In these circumstances the Law Society is under an obligation to see that the terms of the Tribunal Order are complied with.

“Ms Drinan is not inhibited from practice as an employed solicitor.

“The inability of Ms Drinan to continue in practice on her own account is not an action taken by the Law Society but is a function of an Order made by the Disciplanary Tribunal. Ms Drinan has not to our knowedge at any time sought to contest or appeal the Orders made by the Disciplinary Tribunal.” The statement was signed by Don Anderson, for the Law Society.

An informed source close to Ms Drinan said it was believed that as a result of her civil rights involvement she was seen by the establishment as an embarrassing and troublesome ‘thorn in the side’ who had done nothing wrong other than to try to provide legal advice to those who could not otherwise afford it.

IRSP spokesperson, Terry Harkin described Ms Drinan as “someone who was on par with James Connolly especially in terms of helping the poor and the voiceless all over Ireland” and he asked “where will the most vulnerable in our society get legal help now ”?

“Padraigin Drinan,” he continued, “is a once in a lifetime heroine who ought to be recognized and elevated for her tireless work and not punished, bullied and intimidated by some of her colleagues, who have left her open to a humiliating whisper campaign. ”

A Spokesperson for the Anti Racism Network described The Law Society’s actions as “questionable” and she asked where was the Law Society’s energy when legal immigrants were imprisoned with their children, being bombed from their home or loosing their legs due to frostbite. The immigrants she said are only a small example of the many communities throughout Ireland who are indebted to Padraigin Drinan. ”

Padraigin Drinan speaking from her Belfast office said: “At this stage it appears that I am accused of being a poor business manager but not guilty of any financial impropriety. I have been instructed also that I must amalgamate with other solicitors. ”

But she added: ”I am heartened by the hundreds of calls from well wishers and supporters from all over the world including a call from among others, Gareth Pierce.”
          background items

 

 

Thursday, 28 October 2004
Féile an Phobail, West Belfast
By Sean Mc Aughey
The West Belfast community was demonised for many years by both the establishment and the media and this reached fever pitch in March 1988 as a result of the tragic events which followed the SAS killings of three unarmed IRA volunteers in Gibraltar. In reaction to this unparalleled negative and damaging portrayal of the West Belfast community, local groups and their MP, Gerry Adams, decided to organise a festival. Its purpose was to celebrate the positive side of the community, its creativity, its energy, its passion for the arts, and for sport. And it aimed at providing events and entertainment at a price that the majority of the community could afford.

*1 The West Belfast Féile which is entering its 17th year is the largest community (people) powered festival in Europe. It is internationally regarded as a ten day long festival "on par" with the best community festivals in England and Ireland. The Féile includes, a colourful carnival parade, discussions, debates, concerts, exhibitions, children's events, i.e street parties, bouncy castles etc, sports, literary and drama events, Féile radio, widespread community events on a street to street, pub to pub basis and various political, cultural or historical tours and walks.

The Festival aims to provide events of interest for everyone at a price that the majority of the community could afford while simultaneously serving also to elevate a positive West Belfast self image contolled by its people despite the forces acting against the people and the official resources denied them. The Féile continues to grow into a major tourist attraction. The August Féile continues also to easily attract "top of the range" participation from local and International entertainers, artists and commentators. This year's Féile line up included, Arthur Scargill leader in 1984 of the National Union of Mineworkers presenting The 10th Annual Frank Cahill Memorial Lecture and The P.J. McGrory Memorial Lecture - Long Road to the Truth delivered by Mrs Geraldine Finucane who was shot and wounded at the time of her husband Pat's, assassination 15 years ago. Top British band Big Brovaz, Irish Traditionalist singer/songwriter, Donal Luney and Andy Irvine, Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott, novelist Roddy Doyle, comedian Rich Hall and Bob Marley`s band, the Wailers demonstrating that the Feile is going from strength to strength and most definitely growing in popularity not only among the audience but the artists, as well. The choice of August for the Féile by the West Belfast Community and many other Republican communities like Ardoyne and New Lodge is pertinent. Because, August 9th 1971, brought a re-introduction to nationalist areas of widespread house raids, arrests and imprisonment without trial or a release date. The yearly anniversary of Interment was previously marked in the community by a display of bonfires of defiance. But, the bonfires provided the RUC and British Army with the ideal opportunity for provaction and delivered in British terms "a fool proof" excuse for the entire "Mechanism of the State" to "justify" any injury or death perpetrated by State violence and especially the use of plastic bullets, when framed within the same context of a nationalist bonfire.

Teenager shot dead returning home from Internment night bonfire.
The DPP refused to initiate proceedings on the grounds that it was impossible to establish which RUC officer fired the fatal shot. The jury found that at the time of Seamus' killing that he was not engaged in any rioting and that there was no rioting at the time of his killing.

*2 "The fatal shot" that killed 15 year-old Seamus Duffy from the Oldpark area was fired from a passing RUC patrol on August 9th 1989. The plastic bullet crushed his heart and tore a four-inch laceration in his left lung.

*3 Seamus Duffy was returning home from an internment night bonfire and there was no rioting in the area. The initial RUC response indicates according to The Relatives for Justice group, the RUC believed Seamus Duffy did not die as a result of being hit by a plastic bullet and that they would appoint a 'top policeman' to investigate the exact circumstances of the death.

*4 Secretary of State, Peter Brooke said: 'There are no grounds for suggesting their use (Plastic Baton Rounds fired by RUC officers) last night was other than in accordance with the law'.

*5 Darkness
Over a very short period of time, bonfire culture in most Republican communities has been easily transformed to the community-orientated ethos that permeates participative festivals. Bonfires were already long since stigmatised as negative and destructive by the collective wisdom and experience of the community and most especially by those members of the community who vividly recall how life once was before the bright lights and colour of the Féile. A time, when, West Belfast was in darkness because the various combatants shut down the streetlights and fear was a way of life. The local dogs barking were for those of us making our way home hoping to avoid a beating from the British Army patrols, a most welcomed concert of sorts, alerting with pin point accuracy the exact location of the four, eight, 16 or 32 blackened faces of the British Army foot patrols in the area.

“Riddles' Field" - Daddy Makes A Dream Comes True (Thanks to the Féile)
When I reflect on the quality of life my teenage children are currently enjoying and compare this to my teenage days, I owe a lot to the efforts of the many people behind the West Belfast Féile who are continually raising the esteem of our people and enhancing our quality of life. There is clearly a massive gulf between my teenage days and that of my teenage children today in terms of confidence, opportunities and simply attending a concert by their favourite "pop stars" in West Belfast. This in itself remains a source of immense joy and pride. Especially, when I think about what used to be -"Riddles' Field", (Beechmount Leisure Centre) and look at the here and now concert venue, where teenage dreams are fulfilled. My daughters were in seventh heaven a few years ago at the Féile in "Riddles' Field" during a Westlife concert and then the Atomic Kitten concert. My teenagers' expectations are obviously higher today and undoubtedly more realistically obtainable thanks to the Féile. My children's confidence is part of the vibrancy that makes West Belfast Féile buzz. This buzz has been harnessed, channelled and most importantly of all, encouraged by the various F éile projects and events.

A Teenage Nightmare I hold by comparison to my children, a teenage tale of woe. One of my favourite Rock n' Roll bands in 1975, Showaddywaddy had agreed to play in Belfast at the ABC. I was all set for my face to face with my teenage "Top of the Pops" idols and unfortunately this was as near as I got. Showaddywaddy pulled the plug on the Belfast tour when news surrounding the murder of the Miami Showband reached their agents. I was shattered. The people responsible for killing the Miami Showband musicians were pro-British and some were also members of a British Army Regiment. Showaddywaddy were a Sheffield Band.

On the 31st July 1975, a Loyalist gang murdered three members of the Miami Showband. Tony Geraghty (23), Fran O'Toole (29), Brian McCoy (33). Two of the UVF gang were also killed, Harris Boyle, described as a UVF Major from Portadown, and Wesley Somerville, described as a UVF Lieutenant from Caledon, Co Tyrone. Two men from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were jailed for 35 years in connection with the murders of members of the Miami Showband. The Miami Massacre, a part of our past, had also a lasting impact for many engaged in the Arts and for one Belfast man the Miami murders would bring about his film debut.

Angel - Galway Film Fleadh Michael Dwyer: The thing that triggered Angel was the murder of the Miami Showband musicians...
Neil Jordan: Kind of. I was playing in a band and we used to travel up and down to Belfast and Derry and places like that and we'd be driving back late at night. It was in the 1980's when all those sectarian killings were happening. It was very black; you always presumed it wouldn't happen to you - that you were safe - and when the Miami were shot it seemed quite shocking. They were innocent and I felt totally numb I suppose and that put images in my mind. I like to write things with people in mind and I had written Angel with Stephen Rea in mind

*6 How are ye Jeffrey? - West Belfast Féile Talks Back
During the Féile Talks Back debate, a former IRA POW, Seanna Walsh—who was sentenced to twenty-two years when he was caught making explosives and mortar bombs— courteously welcomed The DUP's Jeffery Donaldson to the Féile debate. Mr Walsh then asked: “Jeffrey, when you talk about the IRA's capacity to make war, I can go out of here tonight with a couple of hundred pounds in my pocket and purchase the equipment to make Baltic Exchange/Canary Wharf type bombs. How are you going to remove that capacity? "

*7 The DUP man addressed the question in repetitive mantra. Seanna Walsh also said: "The point I was making was that I can produce homemade explosives and mortars. You cannot decommission that knowledge. What is more important is our commitment to peace and to politics. But all of the initiatives taken by the IRA to date have had absolutely no effect on the unionist community. Trust is a two-way street. We suspect that at the root of it unionists cannot deal with equality and sharing power and that the idea of republicans being in government was a bridge too far for them. Everything else is an excuse not to go there. ”

*8 The IRA and its weapons is being used as an excuse
About 24 hours after the Festival debate, Mr Gerry Adams, The West Belfast MP and President of Sinn Fein told PA News:
“ While I would not like to minimise what may be genuine fears and concerns within unionism, I do think the issue of the IRA and its weapons is being used an excuse.” The Sinn Fein president commended Mr Donaldson on his appearance at the festival and paid tribute to his colleagues on the committee, which organised the event. Mr Adams also said he would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area.

*9 Community Empowerment
Mr Adams sums up the spirit of the Féile in a sentence by saying he = would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area. Community festivals bring as in this case politicians face to face with the voter in the voter's home territory. The Shankill Road and East Belfast "Think Tanks" did likewise to enpower the community and expose the politicians. The voice of the community can be best heard at festival time.

References and sources used in this article:
*1 http://www.feilebelfast.com/ourhistory/
*2 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*3 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*4 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*5 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*6 http://www.iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/fleadhjordan.htm
*7 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*8 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*9 http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3D3300413

by Sean Mc Aughey

 


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