TFF Blog

20. oktober 2020 Det er nok så tænkeligt at du aldrig har hørt om Arne Nielsen Hansen – men han er en uhyre interessant og mangfoldig nordjyde på 81 år. Du kan læse mere om ham hér. Jeg vil gerne fortælle dig at Arne er en af Danmarks mest betydende mediepersonligheder – igennem flere år end de fleste – en fremstående humanist og landets eneste freds- og global-journalist (læg mærke til kombinationen). Og så sidder han på en lokal-radio – den i Frederikshavn. Han er primus motor bag den righoldige side, Flygtninge og Fred, hvor han producerer alt materiale selv. Og det handler om et bredt spektrum – udover flygtninge og fred også demokrati, klima, miljø og menneskerettigheder. Og han har gjor det i over 20 år. Sådan hér ser manden med de levende, nysgerrige øjne ud. Han er et meget beskedent menneske og ville sikkert helst have sig frabedt...

“Den norske forvaltningen av Nobels fredsvisjon er et totalhavari” sier Fredrik S. Heffermehl. I sin nye bok “Medaljens bakside. Nobels fredspris – hundre års ubrukte muligheter” tar han et kraftig oppgjør med hvordan Nobelkomiteen har forvaltet arven etter Alfred Nobel. Mere om bogen på the Nobel Peace Prize Watch hvor du også kan bestille den. Omtale og anmeldelser Journalisten Bistandsaktuelt Fagpressenytt And Heffermehl’s criticism of the 2020 Peace Prize to the World Food Program as he expresses it on the French public radio RFI

Introduction Below is a long interview from Konrad Stachnio with Richard Falk – TFF Associate – on a wide-ranging set of questions, which stretched by knowledge past its breaking point, especially in assessing where the technological innovations on the horizons will lead us.It is one of 17 conversations published by Clarity Press under the title, Civilization in Overdrive: Conversations at the Edge of the Human Future.Preface by Stachnio after interview.The book is recommended strongly.It can be ordered here Originally published on Richard Falks blog on September 12, 2020 Civilization in Overdrive, edited by Konrad Stachnio “If a digital Fukuyama tells the world that ‘the end of history’ has been reached, he should be scorned this time around.” KONRAD STACHNIO: Do you know what is the role of the so-called Black Budget in building the power of the USA as a global security state? RICHARD FALK: It is not possible for someone without access...

Fredrik HeffermehlThe Nobel Peace Prize Watch and TFF Oslo & Gothenburg, October 9, 2020 To the mediaCOMMENT – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2020 – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WATCH: We recognise the great value of the World Food Program, but the 2020 prize is much less ambitious than Nobel’s idea of “conferring the greatest benefit on humankind”. The committee again deals with arbitrary, single aspects of the war problem, and never addresses the root causes that Nobel wished to remove. (See his will here). TFF Associate David Swanson, World Beyond War, has this to say: The Nobel Peace Prize Avoids Peace Again With this addition – in English, Norwegian, Spanish, German, French, and Russian: We had hoped the Norwegian committee this year would have formulated the idea of Nobel and committed to promoting his visionary plan for peace. As long as it fails to do so, the committee is handing out its own...

“Crystal Opalescent” by Jan Oberg 2020 Jan Oberg October 8, 2020 The discourse about, or for, peace has mostly disappeared over the last 2-3 decades. It applies to research (and its non-governmental funding possibilities), to politics in general and to the media.  In foreign and security politics, the intellectual level is now such that it does not even seem strange to decision-makers that they never obtain peace advice or consult peace experts. The fantasy-assumption is that if only there is enough military’ security’ means applied to enough societal problems, peace will automatically come about.  I can’t remember having heard a parliamentarian or minister mention or conceptualise peace beyond the level of the state dinner speech – that is, devoid of theoretical and factual content as well as of meaning.  Originally published as an editorial on the Transcend Media Service, TMS. The mainstream media have no one who can focus on...

Fredrik Heffermehl, born on November 11, 1938, in Norway is Vice President of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and was president of the Norwegian Peace Alliance, as well as Vice President of the International Peace Bureau. Heffermehl holds law degrees from the University of Oslo (1964), from New York University (1970), and the College of Public Administration in Oslo (1976). He has worked as a judge and attorney and in consumer protection. Since 1982, he is a writer, lecturer, and peace organizer. He ran the association of Journalists for Peace, the Norwegian chapter of IALANA, and for years the Oslo secretariat for the International Peace Bureau. Heffermehl edited a groundbreaking book Peace is Possible, 31 prominent peacemakers explaining successful work for peace in a concrete and non-academic way. This book was translated into 18 languages. Since 2007 he has worked to secure that the Nobel Prize...

Here is ABC News report about it. Washington-obedient mainstream media have made little or no mention of it, Washington Post being an exception. On October 6, 2020, we discussed the proposal in the UN on PressTV. The basic idea is expressed here – “26 countries urge Western sanctions lifting to ensure an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” And here the link to the discussion. In passing, you may note that Iran’s PressTV is on the urmedium platform. Google-owned YouTube has unilaterally and without any explanation close down its channel there quite some time ago. The reason? Probably a) because of its being there could be judged (far out) as a violation of the sanctions we talk about here, b) because the West is clamping down on everything that is in the receiving end of or problematizes Western/US policies. Normally that sort of thing is considered censorship and a tool...

Erni & Ola Friholt TFF Associates och Fredsrörelsen på Orust 5:e oktober 2020 Sedan urminnes tider anses försvar bestå av motvåld mot en erövrare eller ockupant. Och våldet har fungerat till priset av ett stort antal döda, betecknade som hjältar och hjältinnor, som offrat sina liv för de efterlevandes frihet. Med det moderna bekväma livet ter sig hjältedöden mindre lockande. Nu motiveras militär upprustning med begreppet avskräckning. Det ska bli för dyrt för en fiende att försöka inta Sverige. En beväpnad fred skall råda. Det har övats krig på Gotland under förevändning av ryska hot. Att Ryssland känner sig hotat av NATO:s närvaro vid dess gränser faller ingen in. Avskräckning gäller mot en utmålad fiende, demoniserad till omänsklighet. Även för avskräckningsstrategin blir priset högt. De tekniska samhällsfunktionerna blir alltmer sofistikerade och sårbara. De är nu så omfattande att militär avskräckning kräver skyhöga försakelser av ekonomiska resurser och nära samarbete med...

Image from Wikileaks Jan Oberg September 30, 2020 The unique, dominating position of the United States in the post-1945 world is well-known. It maintains this position thanks to both a very large historical goodwill capital and former glory in the eyes of generations around the world – and thanks to rampant militarism and imperialism that has destroyed the good ‘America’ that it used to be. The world’s major division the next few years will be this: Are you on the side of continued US global dominance or do you want to see a new multipolar world with more balance and the US in the role of a partner among equals? In my view, the US no longer has the capacity to lead itself effectively and find solutions to its own multi-dimensional crisis be it the economy, democracy, climate change, warfare addiction, social polarization, racism and on top of it all...

Evelin Lindner TFF Associate September 21, 2020 What We Can Do We humans have dug ourselves into a multitude of perilous crises, both despite of and because of what we call progress. Still, few people seem to realize that we live in a historic moment of unparalleled promise. For the first time, humankind has the capacity to bring about the changes we need for a Great Transition. Unlike our forebears, we have the privilege of growing awareness of the planet-as-a-whole and the understanding that we humans are one species living on one tiny planet. The conditions are in place for nurturing mutual trust and solidarity as a global species, and acting to humanize globalization and reap the benefits that flow from our interdependence. What We Do Instead of realizing this potential, we continue to shred our relations with our habitat and with each other—ecocide and sociocide. We degrade our sociosphere and our...

John Scales AveryTFF Associate September 16, 2020 Why the 2020 election is so important Why did Prof. Noam Chomsky call the US Republican Party “The most dangerous organization in the history of the world”? He did so because the party is characterized by climate change denial and by support for giant fossil fuel corporations. According to the 2018 IPCC Report, the world has only a very short time left in which to stop the extraction and use of fossil fuels. If we collectively fail to do this within a decade or so, feedback loops may be initiated which will make human efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change useless. Much of the world could become uninhabitable, and a very large-scale mass extinction could be initiated. Although the worst effects of global warming lie in the long-term future, children alive today are at risk. We give our children loving care, but it...

TFF 35th Anniversary on September 12, 2020 And why are we there and still alive and kicking? Because TFF is like a gourmet restaurant and not like research institutes and think tanks that emulate fast-food chains. TFF doesn’t count success in media attention, followers, fame, or funds. We chase quality results, productivity and constant innovation within our mission. Finding our job the most meaningful on earth, we chase radical alternative thinking – and do research and public education on what we believe in – brain, heart and soul: • Make peace by peaceful means! • All kinds of violence must be reduced for humanity to survive! • Sooner rather than later warfare must be abolished as a legitimate social institution! • Learn to solve unavoidable conflicts with knowledge, intelligence, practical skills and empathy. • A true global human and common security is possible and so is global governance in partnership...