World People's Blog

Linked with Trident Ploughshares TP.

Angie Zelter is a British peace activist who founded Trident Ploughshares, which seeks to disarm nuclear submarines in Great Britain through nonviolent means. Since the mid-1990s she has been arrested more than 100 times and more than 2200 arrests have occurred all around the world after Trident Ploughshares actions. These arrests help to bring media attention to the cause of nuclear disarmament in order to raise public awareness about the issue. Trident Ploughshares has also presented legal actions to show that nuclear weapons and nuclear armed submarines are a violation of many international laws. Angie Zelter is the author of the 2001 book, « Trident on Trial: the case for people’s disarmament » and that year her organization received the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize) “… for providing a practical model of principled, transparent and non-violent direct action dedicated to ridding the world of nuclear weapons”. She is a Betterworld-heroe.

She says: « I had people in the village who would cross the road rather than speak to me and others who would tell me to go back to Russia ». (edp24).

Trident Ploughshares campaigner Angie Zelter said: « These women are very long-standing campaigners who have devoted a huge amount of their lives to protesting all over the UK, at huge cost to themselves. They command a huge amount of respect ». (full text, January 10, 2008.

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Angie Zelter – England

She founded the group Trident Ploughshares to challenge Britain’s deployment of nuclear weapons (and she) describes her work as a peace activist in Britain and the Palestinian territories. (the 12 principles).

She quotes: « Our planet is dying – both spiritually and physically. Fear, aggression and greed, narrow-minded national interests and immature dominance and control over others is a common theme in most countries. However, there are more and more people who define themselves as global citizens, who know that life is intimately interconnected, and that we can never be fully human whilst others continue to suffer, and who know that love, justice and nonviolence is the very essence of life. And what gives me hope is the very many different ways in which ordinary people are taking responsibility. They are creating the changes needed to pass beyond war and injustice, control and dominance and towards a free, just, loving, and diverse world ». (Betterworld heroe).

One stop shop for justice – JUSTICE in Inverclyde is set to undergo its biggest overhaul in decades, with extra court room, extra powers and the return of the High Court, Jan. 7, 2008.

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Linked with Transnational Institute, with Foreign Policy in Focus FPIF, and with The Climate Corporation.
Walden Bello (born 1945) is a left-wing author, academic, and political analyst. He is a professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines, as well as executive director of Focus on the Global South. Born in Manila, Philippines, he became a political activist following the declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972. In 2003, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award; describes him as « one of the leading critics of the current model of economic globalisation, combining the roles of intellectual and activist. »[1] Bello is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute, based in Amsterdam and is a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus. (wikipedia).

See his personal website.

Little photogallery and more.

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Walden Bello – Philippines

European Commission ploughs ahead with irresponsible agrofuels push, 25/01/2008.

He writes: The American fast food diet and the meat eating habits of the wealthy around the world support a world food system that diverts food resources from the hungry. A diet higher in whole grains and legumes and lower in beef and other meat is not just healthier for ourselves but also contributes to changing the world system that feeds some people and leaves others hungry. (betterworld). See also it’s Vegetarian Quotes.

Social forum proposes alternative to Davos, 23/01/2008.

He writes also: I’m engaged in the global resistance movement because I think that one has to do something worth while with one’s life. There’s nothing heroic about this. It’s just that you have to do it, to be human. It’s something we owe to our fellow human beings. We have a situation in the world in which this sort of exploitation and poverty that we have should not be seen. Human beings should be able to devise more equitable structures. And so one has to be part of that process. Because you either engage in the process and thereby be true to yourself or you disengage from the process and are just an onlooker and that, I think, would be not being true to oneself. So, the answer to the question why does one engage in this work, it’s because that’s the only decent thing to do. There’s no big inspiration and there’s no big heroism, there’s no sort of martyrdom and there’s no glory. It’s just pure decency. I think that’s at least what motivates me. (full text, scroll down).

Poor, Deluded Europeans, January 22, 2008.

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Linked with Rebuilding a Bridge, and with War Crimes Studies Center WCSC, U.C. Berkeley.

Francis (Frank) S. L. Wang ’72, sharpens the contrast of East and West with two quotes, one by Angus Graham – “…The most striking difference between…the two ends of the civilized world is in the destiny of logic. For the West, logic has been central…” – and the other by Liu Shuhsien – “…it is precisely because the Chinese mind is so rational that it refuses to become rationalistic and…to separate form from content”. (full text).

He says: “It’s not as if the two cultures are from different planets, but they do originate from differing philosophies and perspectives. It is not sufficient just to preach about the rule of law; we need to understand that people are different. If we want to bridge the gap between China and the West, we need to learn more about China’s philosophies and culture so as to understand the way the Chinese organize their world view, and as a consequence their society, and the way they think about law” (full long text).

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Francis S.L. Wang – China & USA
Professor Wang is a Professor of Law at the Kenneth Wang School of Law of Soochow University and is a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a visiting professor and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the University of the Pacific / McGeorge Law School, (Courses: International Intellectual Property, Concepts of Chinese Law). He is one of the founders and the Senior Counsel of the U.C. Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center. He is one of the founding members and serves on the Board of Governors of the International Association of Law Schools IALS. He is the Executive Director of the Wang Family Foundation (named in SuperPages.com). He has testified before the United States Senate, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Commission, as well as the United States Trade Representative’s Office. He has published widely and lectures frequently in the U.S. and Asia on selected aspects of international law and related issues. (full text).

Find him on FindLawyer.cn (a chinese website).

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Linked with Shirin Neshat – Iran & USA, with Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in IRAN CASMII, with The Lost Children of the Revolution, and with The American Muslim TAM.

Born in 1936 in Teheran, Bahman Nirumand studied German Studies, Philosophy und Iranian Studies in Munich, Tübingen and Berlin. In 1960 he received his PhD on the basis of a dissertation on Brecht. After his studies, he returned to Iran, and worked as a Lecturer for Comparative Literature at the University of Teheran, and also as a writer and journalist. He soon came into conflict with the Shah-Regime and fled the country in 1965 in order to escape his imminent arrest … (full text).

Bahman Nirumand (* 18. September 1936 in Teheran) ist ein iranischer und deutscher Publizist und Autor (wikipedia.de).

He writes: « The more the regime manages to mobilize the masses for its foreign policy aims, the easier it is to increase pressure within the country. The nuclear conflict, the threat of sanctions by the USA and the EU in an attempt to force Iran to forego its internationally given right to the enrichment of uranium – a right that has in the meantime be elevated to a matter of national honor, along with the general demonization of Iran by the West and similar developments, give the radical Islamists just the ammunition they need to bring the masses into line in terms of ideology, religion and nationalism and to demand their solidarity with their country. This is the context in which Ahmadinejad’s invective against Israel and denial of the Holocaust must be seen ». (full text).

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Bahman Nirumand – Iran & Germany

Media Darlings of the Unenlightened Masses.

Bahman Nirumand calls on the West to take a closer look at Iran: « There are also moderate forces at work within the government. Even conservatives reject President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s confrontational policies. The signs of Tehran’s adopting a softer tone which could be observed over the past few weeks throw light on a power struggle that has become increasingly fierce since Ahmadinejad made his radical statements. It’s thanks to the moderate forces within the government that Tehran described Russia’s offer to produce nuclear fuel in Russia as ‘positive’ and as a ‘possible way out of the crisis’, and that just last Monday an Iranian delegation tried to prevent Europe from making ‘rash decisions’. The question now is which faction within the Iranian parliament will win the battle. The answer depends to no small extent on the West’s response. Threats, sanctions or a military attack will only serve to strengthen the radicals’ position and silence the voices which today rise in opposition to Ahmadinejad’s policies. (euro topics).

Bahman Nirumand, born in 1936 in Tehran, is an Iranian-German writer. (The following article appeared in Taz in german). Here the english translation by Yoshie Furuhashi, on 17 November 2007.

The Danger of War Grows: The Scenario Reminiscent of the Iraq War (texts on this site are in english AND in german). (critical montages, Nov. 17, 2007).

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Linked with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and with Dream Change DC. Also linked with John Perkins of 3rd November 2006 on this blog.

John Perkins (b. 28 January 1945 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an activist and author. His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, an insider’s account of the exploitation or neo-colonization of Third World countries by what Perkins portrays as a cabal of corporations, banks, and the United States government. His 2007 book, The Secret History of the American Empire, makes further claims about the negative impact of global corporations on the economies and ecologies of poor countries, as well as offering suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens … (full text).

He says: « When you look at the world we humans have created you may conclude that it was created by sleeping people, because awake, aware, conscious people would manifest a very different world. We have entered one of the most important periods in human history…We have the opportunity to lift ourselves to new levels of consciousness » … (full text).

Listen his video: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 53.34 min, June 21, 2007.

Look at his own website.

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John Perkins – USA

He is the Founder of DREAM CHANGE.

Listen his video: John Perkins – America’s Secret Empire, 5.30 min, August 13, 2007.

He says: « Basically what we were trained to do and what our job is to do is to build up the American empire. To bring—to create situations where as many resources as possible flow into this country, to our corporations, and our government, and in fact we’ve been very successful. We’ve built the largest empire in the history of the world. It’s been done over the last 50 years since World War II with very little military might, actually. It’s only in rare instances like Iraq where the military comes in as a last resort. This empire, unlike any other in the history of the world, has been built primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life, through the economic hit men. I was very much a part of that » … (full interview text).

John Perkins spent three decades as an Economic Hit Man, business executive, author, and lecturer. He lived and worked in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and North America. Then he made a decision: he would use these experiences to make the planet a better place for his daughter’s generation. Today he teaches about the importance of rising to higher levels of consciousness, to waking up – in both spiritual and physical realms – and is a champion for environmental and social causes. He has lectured at universities on four continents, including Harvard, Wharton, and Princeton. (full text).

Self-Described Economic Hit Man John Perkins: “We Have Created the World’s First Truly Global Empire”.

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