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29 June, 2015

"Shah Commission Report - Lost And Regained":
The Dark History Of 'The Emergency' Republished

By Countercurrents.org

On this 40th anniversary of Emergency, a silent emergency is prevailing in India. Thousands of under-trials are wallowing in prison while criminals found guilty by the courts of the land roam free. A war is declared on the Adivasis and farmers who are trying to protect their forests and farms. Their forests and farms are forcefully taken away and given to industrialists at a pittance. Thousands of farmers are committing suicide every year and nothing is being done by the government. The right to freedom expression is being violated. Even the 'Iron Man' of Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L.K.Advani recently said that the recurrence of Emergency can not be ruled out. In this context we are republishing the Shah Commission report in full

15 March, 2015

Is A Hindu Science Possible?
By Ankur Betageri

There were astronomers like Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, mathematicians like Bhaskara I and Baudhayana, physicians like Charaka and surgeons like Sushrutha in ancient India, but the work of these men of science has nothing to do with Hinduism or Hindutva. It is absurd, therefore, of Hindutva politicians to associate the work of these scientists with “Hinduism” or “Hindutva” and quite disgraceful of them to claim credit for the ingenuity, hard work and courageous assertions of ancient Indian scientists, many of whom, like the astronomer Aryabhata, had to face the ire of Brahminical orthodoxy to make these assertions

10 October, 2013

Peak Oil: It's Time For Change
By Countercurrents.org

An article in Malaylam calling on Kerala to adapt to Peak Oil scenario urgently (PDF)

31 October , 2012

Koodankulam Could Be Another Bhopal Disaster
In Waiting: Noam Chomsky

Press Release By Koodankulam Solidarity Group

Internationally acclaimed academician Noam Chomsky of Massachussets Institute of Technology of the United States has said that Koodankulam could be another Bhopal disaster in waiting. He expressed this grave warning as part of the poster campaign being organized in Countercurrents.org as a solidarity gesture to the struggling people of Koodankulam, against the nuclear power plant

23 August, 2012

When Gods Come Down To Be Sold- Analysing The Politics Of Tourism
By K.P. Sasi

Tourism expansion in its present form violates the human rights of a large section of people in India , predominantly fishing communities, adivasis and farmers. It threatens the right to livelihood and causes displacement of local communities. It strips the environment to make money and destroys local culture. It steals the very dignity of women and children

31 July, 2012

Can You Pass The Hezbollah Quiz?
By Jeffrey Rudolph

The purpose of this quiz is to understand the roots and evolution of Hezbollah, a sophisticated organization that effectively combines pragmatism and militancy, social services and religious faith

30 July, 2012

Bill McKibben Is Wrong, We Must Not Forget That
"We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us"

By Nicholas C. Arguimbau

A critique of Bill McKibben's Rolling Stone article "Warming's Terrifying New Math: Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is"

16 July, 2012

The Government of Violence:A Massacre In Dandakaranya
By Kamal K.M

A pictorial story by an Indian film maker on the massacre of 17 adivasi people, including 5 children, in three villages in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state, India

21 March, 2012

Capitalism: A Ghost Story
By Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy tells the story behind the much hyped "Indian growth'' and how protest movements are muffled, so that the ruthless Indian coporate juggernaut move ahead unopposed

28 February, 2012

Can You Pass The US Christian Right Quiz?
By Jeffrey Rudolph

This quiz seeks to explore the political influence of the Christian Right, and to highlight the threat its radical fundamentalists pose to the majority of Americans who value pluralism and tolerance. To paraphrase the philosopher Karl Popper, liberal tolerance should not be an excuse for passivity in the face of intolerant fundamentalists pursuing an illiberal America

20 February, 2012

Limits To Growth And Fractional Reserve Banking
By John Scales Avery

We are approaching the moment in history where industrial growth will no longer be possible. If no changes have been made in our economic system when this happens, we will be faced with massive unemployment. We have to make urgent policy changes to counter this. To carry out these reforms will require the dedicated and courageous efforts of civil society - the 99 percent

13 January, 2012

What’s Really Going On In The Straits Of Hormuz
By David Malone

I think the stand-off with Iran in the Straits of Hormuz over sanctions is as much to do with the moves to replace the dollar as anything else. The stand off is as much with China and its allies as it is specifically with Iran. The US is testing China’s nerve and the solidity of its network of bilateral currency settlement agreements. We are seeing military power deployed to counter economic power. I think the US will lose. Depending on the nature of its loss we could see a precipitate decline in the standing of the dollar as global reserve currency

31 August, 2011

Jan Lokpal Bill Is Very Regressive: Arundhati Roy
Sagarika Ghose Interviews Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy on Jan Lokpal Bill, corporate funding, NGOs and the role of the media

22 July, 2011

Historic Judgement By Indian Supreme Court Against Arming Civilians
By Justice B. Sudershan Reddy &
Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar

Full text of the Supreme Court judgement by Justice Sudershan Reddy and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar declaring the use and arming of SPOs as well as state support for Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh state of India unconstitutional and directing the state to disarm SPOs, stop using them in counterinsurgency operations, as well as file FIRs and prosecute them vigorously

15 June, 2011

Lying Down For Justice: The POSCO Satyagraha In Pictures
By POSCO pratirodh Sangram Samiti

Jagatsinghpur district administration has temporarily halted forceful land acquisition for POSCO project. The government will restart the process from 17th June 2011. The officials illegally demolished betelvines at Gobindpur village. The people are now rebuilding it. Here are some pictures from the historic Satyagraha

29 May, 2011

Massive Cover Up In Mangalore
Air Crash Investigation

By Jacob K Philip

The investigation about the tragic crash of Air India Express IX-812 at Mangalore that killed 158 people is the story of a planned attempt by a committe appointed by the Government of India to subvert the truth; to let atleast three agencies - Air India, Airports Authority of India and Boeing Company-off the hook

10 January, 2011

Peak Civilization
By Ugo Bardi

I’ll try to say something about a subject that I am sure you are all interested in: the decline and the fall of the Roman Empire. It is something that has been discussed over and over; it is because we think that our civilization may follow the same destiny as the Roman one: decline and fall. So, the Roman Empire offers us some kind of a model. We can say it is the paradigm of collapsing societies. And, yet, we don’t seem to be able to find an agreement on what caused the collapse of the Roman Empire

01 December, 2010

Will Irom Sharmila Meet Her Mother?
By K.P. Sasi

Sakhi Devi never visited Sharmila after the fast. There was a deep fear that her emotions after seeing the daughter would break Sharmila's determination. As per the words of Sakhi Devi `I am weak hearted. If I see her, I will cry. I do not want to erode her determination, so I have resolved not to meet Sharmila till she reaches her goal'. A long period of ten years have passed. The question before us today is: `Will Sakhi Devi meet her daughter?'

29 November, 2010

Hope, Real Hope, Is About Doing Something
By Chris Hedges

On Dec. 16 I will join Daniel Ellsberg, Medea Benjamin, Ray McGovern and several military veteran activists outside the White House to protest the futile and endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of us will, after our rally in Lafayette Park, attempt to chain ourselves to the fence outside the White House. It is a pretty good bet we will all spend a night in jail. Hope, from now on, will look like this

"They Can File A Charge Posthumously Against
Jawaharlal Nehru Too"

By Arundhati Roy

My reaction to today's court order directing the Delhi Police to file an FIR against me for waging war against the state: Perhaps they should posthumously file a charge against Jawaharlal Nehru too. Here is what he said about Kashmir

23 November, 2010

Indian Media Discredited
By Binu Mathew

Indian media's credibility is at an all time low. The recently released audio tapes involving a major corporate house publicist and reputed journalists and the subsequent black out of the news by almost the entire Indian mainstream media puts a huge question mark over the integrity and credibility of the Indian mainstream media

13 November, 2010

The End Of Growth
By Richard Heinberg

This article is an excerpt from Richard Heinberg's new book which has the working title 'The End of Growth' and is set for publication in July 2011. The central assertion of this book is both simple and startling: Economic growth as we have known it is over and done with

05 November, 2010

Zombie-Marxism Part II: What Marx Got Right
By Alex Knight

This is part of an essay critiquing the philosophy of Karl Marx for its relevance to 21st century anti-capitalism. The main thrust of the essay is to encourage living common-sense radicalism, as opposed to the automatic reproduction of zombie ideas which have lost connection to current reality. Karl Marx was no prophet. But neither can we reject him. We have to go beyond him, and bring him with us. I believe it is only on such a basis, with a critical appraisal of Marx, that the Left can become ideologically relevant to today’s rapidly evolving political circumstances

04 November, 2010

Indigenous Native American Prophecy
(Elders Speak-Part I)

 

View all the 5 parts here

01 November, 2010

The Peak Oil Debate Is Over
By Dr. James Schlesinger

A transcription of Dr. James Schlesinger’s keynote address ASPO-Washington on Friday, October 8, 2010.: "The Peak Oil Debate is Over." Dr. Schlesinger served as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1971-73), Secretary of Defense (1973-75), Director of the CIA and was the first Secretary of Energy (1977-79). He says peakists had won the intellectual argument, except for some minor details about precise timing. But acceptance by knowledgeable people is not enough. The political order should respond. Nonetheless, our willingness, let alone our ability, to do anything serious about the impending inability to increase oil output is still a long way off

Why Marxism Has Failed, And Why
Zombie-Marxism Cannot Die – Part 1

By Alex Knight

This essay is not meant to be an attack on any particular Marxist, or even on sectarian groups as a species of organization, but rather on a mindset, which uncritically carries forward Marx’s ideas into present circumstances where they no longer fit

18 October, 2010

Revolution And American Indians: “Marxism Is
As Alien To My Culture As Capitalism”

By Russell Means

The following speech was given by Russell Means in July 1980, before several thousand people who had assembled from all over the world for the Black Hills International Survival Gathering, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is Russell Means’s most famous speech

29 September, 2010

Energy Security: An Annotated Military/Security Bibliography (2010 Update)
By Rick Munroe

A selected list of studies of various aspects of energy security (including peak oil) which have either been conducted by members of the military/security research community, or which raise issues with direct military/security relevance

27 September, 2010

Historical Reasons Against UID//Aadhar Project
By Gopal Krishna & Prakash Ray

UID/Aadhar project gives a sense of déjà vu. It is the same path which IBM (International Business Machines) traversed with the Nazi Germany for targeted asset confiscation, ghettoisation, deportation, and ultimately extermination with its punch card and card sorting system

23 September, 2010

The End Of The World As We Know It In 10 Years?
By Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed

While we may not be able to stop various catastrophes and collapse-processes from occurring, we still retain an unprecedented opportunity to envisage an alternative vision for a new, sustainable and equitable form of post-carbon civilization.The imperative now is for communities, activists, scholars and policymakers to initiate dialogue on the contours of this vision, and pathways to it

22 September, 2010

What The Zapatistas Can Teach Us
About The Climate Crisis

By Jeff Conant

While political forces have conspired to make the Zapatistas largely invisible both inside Mexico and internationally, their challenge has always been to propose a paradigm of development that is both just and self-sustaining. It seems fair, then, to see if Zapatismo can shed any light on the muddle of politics around the climate crisis. Can the poetic riddles of Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos serve as signposts on the rough road toward just climate solutions?

18 September, 2010

‘Peak Oil’ : Jimmy Carter’s Secretary Of Energy
Sounds The Alarm

By Matthieu Auzanneau

James Schlesinger, President Carter’s Energy Secretary, wrote the foreword to a book written by Dr Robert Hirsch, a former US official who predicts a fall of the oil production within 5 years. Never before has a high-ranking political figure like Schlesinger gave his support to such a prognosis

13 September, 2010

Wake Up, Freak Out,Then Get A Grip- Video
By wakeupfreakout.org

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip is a short, animated film about climate change by Leo Murray. It tells we are now dangerously close to the tipping point in the world's climate system; this is the point of no return, after which truly catastrophic changes become inevitable

13 September, 2010

The Trickledown Revolution
By Arundhati Roy

The first step towards re-imagining a world gone terribly wrong would be to stop the annihilation of those who have a different imagination—an imagination that is outside of capitalism as well as communism. An imagination which has an altogether different understanding of what constitutes happiness and fulfillment. To gain this philosophical space, it is necessary to concede some physical space for the survival of those who may look like the keepers of our past, but who may really be the guides to our future. To do this, we have to ask our rulers: Can you leave the water in the rivers? The trees in the forest? Can you leave the bauxite in the mountain? If they say cannot, then perhaps they should stop preaching morality to the victims of their wars

The Pressure To Modernise
By Helena Norberg-Hodge

I believe that the most important reason for the breakdown of traditional cultures is the psychological pressure to modernise. I have come to this conclusion through almost two decades of close contact with the people of Ladakh, or ‘Little Tibet'

08 September, 2010

Goldstone Report Dramatized
By Goldstonefacts.org

Goldstonefacts.org has dramatized several chapters of the Goldstone Report on Israel's attack on Gaza resulting in the death over 1400 Palestinians

30 August, 2010

Kerala Media: A Macabre Dance Of Death
By K.M Sebastian

The media hunt down people even in death in Kerala in search of TRP ratings and higher circulation figures. Death becomes a double tragedy for the dear and near ones. This is called “ Macabre Dance of Death by the Kerala Media”. MN Vijayan, OV Vijayan, Lohitadas, Kamala Suraiya and many more were the victims of this “macabre dance of death.”

29 August, 2010

ClimateStoryTellers.org Launched
By Subhankar Banerjee

ClimateStoryTellers.org, a gathering place for stories on all things global warming has just been launched. We have wonderful activist groups like 350.org and others, we have great sites like Grist, ENN, and others for environmental news and opinions, no one place dedicated to climate stories. The objective is not to present just a story as a short news or opinion, but "in-depth", which means all stories will have a central focus perhaps a local issue, but it'll also explore the issues connection to regional, national and global relevance

28 August, 2010

Checkpoint: A Video Documentary
By Yoav Shamir

Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir once served his army reserve duty as a checkpoint guard, which was what inspired him to make this documentary, Checkpoint. For 80 minutes, Shamir simply shows us videotape of what happens at the various checkpoints that the Israeli government operates, which are in place to regulate the travel of Palestinians, purportedly in an effort to combat terrorism

27 August, 2010

Could This Be A Crime? U.S. Climate Bill
Is Dead While So Much Life On
Our Earth Continues To Perish

By Subhankar Banerjee

Global warming is a crisis: for all lands, for all oceans, for all rivers, for all forests, for all humans, for all birds, for all mammals, for all little creatures that we don’t see... for all life. We need stories and actions from every part of our earth. So far, global warming communications have primarily focused on scientific information. I strongly believe that to engage the public, we need all fields of the humanities. It is to this end that I founded ClimateStoryTellers.org

25 August, 2010

CounterMedia.in Launched
By CounterMedia

CounterMedia is a civil society initiaitive that will offer voices of dissent and help improve the quality of news in Kerala. As the first point of action a website www.countermedia.in is launched. The website is edited by the eminent journalist BRP Bhaskar

10 August, 2010

Grisly Photos Reveal The Genocide Of Tamil People In Sri Lanka
By Muthamizh Vendhan

Peviously banned photos from May 2009 Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka is published with this report: they are EXTREMELY GRAPHIC, not appropriate for kids

08 August, 2010

Can You Pass The Terrorism Quiz?
By Jeffrey Rudolph

Misconceptions about terrorism, regularly promoted by the mainstream media, have facilitated harmful US government actions—two wars, domestic legislation that curtailed civil liberties, excessive national security spending. That basic, factual information about terrorism is so rarely reported thus serves to reinforce the power of those who benefit from a fearful population. To counter such inadequate journalism, Jeffrey Rudolph has prepared the following quiz

22 July, 2010

The Story Of Cosmetics
By Annie Leonard

Ever wondered what's in your shampoo, anyway? Annie Leonard explores the toxins in our bathrooms, and what to do about them

30 June, 2010

Kashmir In Turmoil: The Boys vs The State
By Inshah Malik

The year 2010 has been marked as the ‘year of teenage killing' in Kashmir for the reasons that are obvious to people. Since January 2010, 16 children have been killed by the Indian troopers so far

28 June, 2010

Pictures That Turn A Generation; Armies That Lie
By Trevor Selvam

Let this picture then tell the lie about India shining. Let this picture be the turning point of the struggle for genuine democracy. Let this picture be carried around in every demonstration to show the world how G20 Manmohan’s India follows the Geneva convention

25 June, 2010

Can You Pass The Hamas Quiz
By Jeffrey Rudolph

A quiz on Hamas from Jeffrey Rudolph, author of the widely distributed “Can You Pass the Israel-Palestine Quiz” and “Can You Pass the Iran Quiz”. This quiz is intended to provide needed context to the reporting on Hamas in the mainstream media

For Whom Are The Forests Turning Red ?
By M Suchitra

A journey through Chhattisgarh, the heartland of maoist- government conflict

04 June, 2010

India's War On People
By Gautam Navlakha & Arundhati Roy

Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights held a public lecture by Gautam Navlakha and Arundhati Roy on the 2nd of June in Mumbai. This was purportedly Arundhati Roy's first public meeting in India after her visit to Maoist controlled territories in Dantewada. She outlines her views and clarifies a lot of her 'controversial' opinions and paints it in the larger canvas of the nation and the globe as a whole. Gautam Navlakha, another writers and a passionate opponent of state brutalities on people and who has also lived amongst the Maoists and written a beautiful essay, puts across his views.- A Video Series

25 May, 2010

How The Global Oil Watchdog Failed Its Mission
By Lionel Badal

Peak Oil researcher Lionel Badal reveals how the IEA team working on the World Energy Outlook discovered that Peak Oil was a real threat, 12 years ago, how the team issued a “coded warning” in the 1998 World Energy Outlook Report , how the message was uncovered in a 1999 article published in Prospect magazine, how the IEA team who made the discovery was “knocked down” under pressures from the US, which didn’t like the message the 1998 WEO contained. and how Dr. Fatih Birol, the current Chief-Economist of the IEA, secretly confirmed in 1999 that global oil production would start to decline around 2014 (in other words, Peak Oil)

23 May, 2010

We Will Not Leave Our Village
Video By K.P Sasi

This song describes the present day exploitation of tribal land and forests in the name of development in India

13 May, 2010

Unanswered Questions About Mumbai Terror Attacks
By Raveena Hansa

From murder mystery to spy thriller: The continuing saga of ohe Mumbai terror attacks

03 May, 2010

Am I A Maoist?
By Gladson Dungdung

I’m neither a Maoist nor a Gandhian but I’m an Adivasi who is determined to fight for his own people, whom the Indian State has alienated, displaced and dispossessed from their resources and is continually doing it in the name of development, national security and national interest even today

27 April, 2010

I Want To Tell The World
By Nahida

A poem for Palestine, illustrated with pictures

24 April, 2010

Can You Pass The Iran Quiz
By Jeffrey Rudolph

The quiz is an attempt to introduce more balance into the mainstream discussion of Iran

23 April, 2010

The Imminent Crash Of Oil Supply:
Be Afraid, Very Afraid

By Nicholas C. Arguimbau

A graph drawn by the United States Department of Energy, and the United States military's Joint Forces Command indicates that world oil supply is going off a cliff. Not in the distant future, but in a year and a half. Production of all liquid fuels, including oil, will drop within 20 years to half what it is today

20 April, 2010

Anybody's Son Will Do
By Bill Willers

In 1983, the National Film Board of Canada produced a 57-minute film, "Anybody's Son Will Do". Arguably the best anti-war film ever made, and tailored for public television, it scared the hell out of the U.S. military machine, which has done its best to "disappear" it. For years it has been nearly impossible to find a copy, but some kind soul has posted it on YouTube where it can be seen in six segments

19 April, 2010

Peak Ego And The Ego Descent Plan
By Bob Banner

For me it appears to be a logical result to speak of peak ego, especially since cheap oil gave rise to affluence which in turn gave rise to more separation, separation in the meaning that affluence has offered us NOT to need each other the way tribal communities in the past did but a lifestyle that separates us from the inherent wisdom of interdependence. When we have reached the ultimate separation perhaps we have reached peak ego. How more separate can one become? How much more ego can we have before the level of “happiness” runs out?

17 April, 2010

A Letter To Janet About Sabra-Shatilla
By Franklin Lamb

Dr. Franklin Lamb is an American who has dedicated the best years of his life and more to the service of Palestinians. This is a letter to his wife Janet, that was published in Counterpunch, on the anniversary of the Sabra & Shatila Massacre, on Sept. 14, 2007

15 April, 2010

Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States. “I’m just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler’s speeches on the radio,” he said, “and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering” here at home

06 April, 2010

Collateral Murder In Iraq
By Wiki Leaks

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded

05 April, 2010

Israel Is Illegitimate
By Alan Hart

It can be said without fear of contradiction (except by Zionists) that what de-legitimizes Israel is the truth of history. And that is why Zionism has worked so hard, today with less success than in the past and therefore with increasing desperation, to have the truth suppressed

02 April, 2010

There Really Is Only One Kind Of sustainability
By Tim Murray

Like the word “green”, “sustainable” or “sustainability” has become the buzzword of the millennia. Corporations and governments of the left or right feel compelled to dress up the most ecologically invasive development proposal or economic activity with assurances that it is “sustainable”. But there is ultimately only one “sustainability”. The sustainability of the whole, not its constituent parts

30 March, 2010

Is America ‘Yearning For Fascism?’
By Chris Hedges

As I was told by Fritz Stern, a scholar of fascism who has written about the origins of Nazism, "In Germany there was a yearning for fascism before fascism was invented." It is the yearning that we now see in America, and it is dangerous. If we do not immediately reincorporate the unemployed and the poor back into the economy, giving them jobs and relief from crippling debt, then the nascent racism and violence that are leaping up around the edges of American society will become a full-blown conflagration

29 March, 2010

The Story Of Bottled Water
By Madeline Ostrander

Should you be worried about your tap water? Yes, but not for the reason you expected

28 March, 2010

In Defence Of The Bitch… 
By Trevor Selvam

One can dispute many of the tactics of the Maoists and one can critique many of their actions, but it is time for India’s intellectuals to comprehend that diminishing and ridiculing the stand taken by Arundhuti Roy will be a permanent scar on the evolving history of this nation. She is merely stating that the regular channels for genuine change in India are exhausted. Someone has to state this very clearly. That those who are attempting alternate methods are being violently suppressed. And it is their story that she wants to tell

25 March, 2010

The Collapse Of Journalism/The Journalism Of Collapse: New Storytelling And A New Story
By Robert Jensen

There is considerable attention paid in the United States to the collapse of journalism. But there has been far less discussion of the need for a journalism of collapse -- the challenge to tell the story of a world facing multiple crises in the realms of social justice and sustainability. In this essay I want to review the failure of existing systems and suggest ideas for how to think about something radically different, through the lens of journalists’ work

22 March, 2010

Walking With The Comrades
By Arundhati Roy

Last month, quietly, unannounced, Arundhati Roy decided to visit the forbidding and forbidden precincts of Central India’s Dandakaranya Forests, home to a melange of tribespeople many of whom have taken up arms to protect their people against state-backed marauders and exploiters. She recorded in considerable detail the first face-to-face journalistic “encounter” with armed guerillas, their families and comrades, for which she combed the forests for weeks at personal risk

To Believe or Not To Believe---That Is The Question---Dawkins, Hedges And Human Nature
By Tim Murray

Most of the time, we actually think or behave as if we were not going to die, and that our civilization will endure. But in our sober moments, we know that all good things must come to an end . Nothing you ever accomplished will survive the passage of time. So why then are you happy? Because you are, at some level, delusional. You 'got religion.' You are a true believer. "Positive thinking", as it is called, may be the recipe for personal success, but applied collectively, it has transformed us into blind sleep-walkers racing to the precipice. Nature does not care about our morale, or whether we feel good about ourselves. It only cares if we can limit our numbers and our appetite within its ability to carry us. So far, we flunked the test. Big time. It is my contention that unless we can reform our brain structure, we will not survive for much longer. We are just too dumb to live

19 March, 2010

Zero Point Of Systemic Collapse
By Chris Hedges

All resistance must recognize that the body politic and global capitalism are dead. We should stop wasting energy trying to reform or appeal to it. This does not mean the end of resistance, but it does mean very different forms of resistance. It means turning our energies toward building sustainable communities to weather the coming crisis, since we will be unable to survive and resist without a cooperative effort

03 March, 2010

'Empathic Civilization'
By Jeremy Rifkin

By reimagining faith and reason as intimate aspects of empathic consciousness, we create a new historical synthesis -- the Age of Empathy -- that incorporates many of the most powerful and compelling features of the Age of Faith and the Age of Reason, while leaving behind the disembodied story lines that shake the celebration out of life

28 February, 2010

Yemen: USA Are Fighting Against Democracy,
Not Against Al-Qaeda

Interview With Mohamed Hassan
By Gregoire Lalieu & Michel Collon

A pair of trousers catches fire in an aeroplane close to Detroit and missiles rain down on Yemen. Is this is what is called the butterfly effect? Mohamed Hassan explains what is really at stake in Yemen: i.e. undermining democracy in the Gulf in order to keep control over its oil

North-South Divide And Tackling Global Warning
By Helena Norberg-Hodge

As signs of climate instability increase, radical and rapid action is becoming ever more urgent. One of the biggest obstacles to global collaboration, however, has been the foot-dragging and obstructionism of the US government, much of it based on the fear of giving Southern economies a ‘competitive advantage’ if they are permitted to emit greenhouse gases at higher rates than the North. Yet even within the environmental movement there is no unanimity on this thorny question: should the countries of the South have the right to increase their emissions as they industrialize and ‘develop’?

27 February, 2010

Going Local
By Helena Norberg-Hodge

Today, the planet is on fire with global warming, toxic pollution and species extinction, with fundamentalism, terrorism and fear. The most powerful solutions involve a fundamental change in direction - towards localizing rather than globalising economic activity. In fact, “going local” may be the single most effective thing we can do. Localisation is essentially a process of de-centralisation - shifting economic activity back into the hands of local businesses instead of concentrating it in fewer and fewer mega-corporations

26 February, 2010

The Economics Of Happiness
By Helena Norberg-Hodge

Global warming and the end of cheap oil demand a fundamental shift in the way that we live. The choice is ours. We can continue down the path of economic globalisation, which at the very least will create greater human suffering and environmental problems, and at worst, threatens our very survival. Or, through localisation, we can begin to rebuild our communities and local economies, the foundations of sustainability and happiness

25 February, 2010

Mainstream Media Questions Inaccuracies
In 9/11 Story

By Tim King

The mainstream press is showing interest in a taboo, however glaring subject; the inconsistencies in the Bush White House 9/11 account.The Washington Times published yesterday a story questioning official account

24 February, 2010

The Darfur Crisis: Blood, Hunger And Oil
By Mohamed Hassan

Is the first genocide of the 21st century happening now in Darfur? This Sudanese province is the theater of a conflict on which the international opinion is rallying. As for any struggle on the African ground, we receive the same images of misery: men are tearing, children are crying and blood is flowing. Africa is however the richest continent in the world. Mohamed Hassan unveils the origins of the African paradox and remembers us that if Sudan shelters different ethnics and religions, it has above all an abundance of oil

12 February, 2010

The Coming Oil Crunch
By Jeremy Leggett

Warnings of a crash in oil production are no longer limited to a prescient few individuals - major British companies and oil CEOs are now sounding the alert

11 February, 2010

The Economics, Politics,
And Ethics Of Non-Violence

By Radha D’Souza

Are we prepared to be party to an economy founded on cheap labour and confiscated land? Are we going to allow our land and people to be auctioned in the global bazaars? Are we people-of-the land? Or, are we not?

09 February, 2010

Take Back Your Education
By John Taylor Gatto

More and more people across America are waking up to the mismatch between what is taught in schools and what common sense tells us we need to know. What can you do about it?

07 February, 2010

Education For The New Economy
By David Korten

A new economy requires a new approach to education. David Korten discusses how we can rethink our goals, reskill ourselves, and teach Spaceship Management 101

06 February, 2010

Education For The New Economy
By David Korten

A new economy requires a new approach to education. David Korten discusses how we can rethink our goals, reskill ourselves, and teach Spaceship Management 101

21 January, 2010

Dial ‘P’ For “Encounter”
By Prabhat Sharan

The recent arrest of police inspector Pradeep Sharma is a case in point of the mediocrity that has seeped inside the media. The rise of Sharma and his ilk were not due to their achievements. It was purely because post-1993 serial bomb blasts period- the mid-nineties witnessing the collapse of organized crime- gave a section of police officers play with silly underworld stories lifted from C-grade novels and films, and dole them out to gullible and by-line crazy scribes, desperate to fill space and time slots

Story Of Stuff
A Must Watch Video

08 December, 2009

The Climate Denial Industry Is Out To Dupe
The Public. And It's Working

By George Monbiot

Think environmentalists are stooges? You're the unwitting recruit of a hugely powerful oil lobby – George Monbiot presents the proofs

Seven Answers To Climate Contrarian Nonsense
By John Rennie

Evidence for human interference with Earth's climate continues to accumulate

29 November, 2009

It's Possible To Avert The Climate Crisis
By James Hansen

Science reveals what is needed to stabilise atmospheric composition and climate. Geophysical data on the carbon amounts in oil, gas and coal show that the problem is solvable, if we phase out global coal emissions within 20 years and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands and oil shale

Climate Change: The Role Of Flawed Science
By Peter Laut

Peter Laut, Professor (emeritus) of physics at The Technical University of Denmark and former scientific advisor on climate change for The Danish Energy Agency puts to rest the hypothesis that solar activity dominates the global warming trend. It’s worth noting that he sent this letter to Realclimate.org before the “CRU email” controversy broke out, so his criticism of the IPCC for being too even handed, is ironic and timely

20 November, 2009

Bantustans And The Unilateral Declaration Of
Statehood

By Virginia Tilley

The Ramallah PA's suddenly serious initiative to declare an independent Palestinian state in non-sovereign territory must surely force fresh collective realization that this is a terribly pragmatic question. It's time to bring closer attention to what "Bantustan" actually means. The Palestinian national movement can only hope someone in its ranks undertakes that project as seriously as Israel has undertaken it before it's too late

19 November, 2009

Should We Prop Up A Dying Economy?
By Richard Heinberg

Rather than attempting to prop up banks and insurance companies with trillions in bailouts, it would probably be better simply to let them fail, however nasty the short-term consequences, since they will fail anyway sooner or later. The sooner they are replaced with institutions that serve essential functions within a contracting economy, the better off we will all be

17 November, 2009

Too Late To Prepare For Peak Oil?
By George Monbiot

It’s probably too late to prepare for peak oil, but we can at least try to salvage food production

Peak Oil: IEA Knew It Long Ago
By Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell's Response To The Guardian IEA Reporting

14 November, 2009

Huge Rise In Birth Defects In Falluja
By Martin Chulov

Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting

10 November, 2009

Key Oil Figures Were Distorted By US Pressure,
Says Whistleblower

By Terry Macalister

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying

08 November, 2009

We Cannot Fight Climate With Consumerism
By George Monbiot

Small actions allow people to overlook the bigger ones and still claim they are being environmentally responsible

07 November, 2009

India's Defining Moment
By Trevor Selvam

This is now imperative, that what the Maoists have raised through sometimes irrational activities be understood as Constitutional Issues. Never before in the post-independence period has fundamental constitutional issues been brought to the forefront with such intensity, as now. The PM knows that very well. He knows that the Naxalites have exposed India’s chancre, in his own words, the “poorest of the poor.”He has to either change the Constitution or he has to engage in settler colonialism. Those are his historic choices

06 November, 2009

My Memories Of Fort Hood
By Stephanie Westbrook

Over three years have passed since I was at Fort Hood. At the time, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Now the Democrats have the majority. But I feel certain that if I were to go stand in front of the base with the same sign, the scene of three years ago would repeat itself

05 November, 2009

Citizens Initiative For Peace
And The Maoist Challenge

By Nandita Haksar

Nandita Haskar's response to the resolution adopted at the National Convention of the Citizens Initiative for Peace held in New Delhi on October 20, 2009

04 November, 2009

Israel's Right To Exist?
By Alan Hart

The truth of the time was that the Zionist state, which came into being mainly as a consequence of pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist UNLESS … Unless it was recognised and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved

03 November, 2009

Situation In Sri Lanka Absolutely Grim:
Arundhati Roy

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa

That the Indian government armed and trained the LTTE is well known. But then it switched sides. India has done everything it can, including blocking the demand for an investigation into the possibility that the Sri Lankan government might be guilty of having committed war crimes in this war against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka

02 November, 2009

The Lungs Of The Earth
By Andrew Glikson

The recent warning by Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact: “We are simply talking about the very life support system of this planet” is consistent with the lessons arising from the history of the Earth’s atmosphere/ocean system. A rise of CO2-e above 500 ppm and of mean global temperature toward and above 4 degrees C would transcend the conditions which allowed the development of agriculture in the early Neolithic

31 October, 2009

The Heart Of India Is Under Attack
By Arundhati Roy

To justify enforcing a corporate land grab, the state needs an enemy – and it has chosen the Maoists

25 October, 2009

Operation Saffron Hunt?
By Satya Sagar

As the UPA government embarks on its ‘Operation Green Hunt’ against the Maoists maybe what it should really be carrying out is an ‘Operation Saffron Hunt’ - against Hindu extremists who pose a far greater threat to the internal security of India

26 August, 2009

Video Evidence Of Extra-Judicial Killings In
Sri Lanka

By Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

A video clip released by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) has revealed extra-judicial killings being conducted in Sri Lanka. Although You Tube subsequently removed the video for violating terms of use, you can View the video here

India's UID And The Fantasy Of Dataveillance
By Binu Karunakaran

According to one estimate Rs. 150,000 Crore (US$ 30.9 bn) of taxpayers' money will flow out into the gargantuan task of making our lives similar to that of aquarium fish and no less secure. Imagine that kind of money and political will power going into healthcare and sanitation or basic education and poverty alleviation

05 August, 2009

Oil Supplies Are Running Out Fast
By Steve Connor

The first detailed assessment of more than 800 oil fields in the world, covering three quarters of global reserves, has found that most of the biggest fields have already peaked and that the rate of decline in oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago. On top of this, there is a problem of chronic under-investment by oil-producing countries, a feature that is set to result in an "oil crunch" within the next five years which will jeopardise any hope of a recovery from the present global economic recession

02 August, 2009

Terrorism At Where There Is
No Road To Afghanistan

By Dr. Khurrum Shaukat Yusafzai

Excellent report from eyewitness in Peshawar, detailing precisely the criminal negligence of both Pakistani and American governments in their transshipment of hazardous materiels (fuel, explosives and weaponry) through the narrow crowded back roads of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not only is Pakistan forced to submit to American demands upon it, but the people of Pakistan are paid in the currency of suffering and death for their peaceful acceptance of these outrages

24 July, 2009

A Day In Gaza
By Viva Palestina Delegation

The Viva Palestina delegation of solidarity activists from the U.S. was allowed to enter Gaza on July 15 with truckloads of desperately needed humanitarian supplies--but under the condition that the convoy leave again within 24 hours. This is a diary of the 24 hours in Gaza by Tom Arabia, Karen Burke, Ream Kidane, Brian Lenzo, Khury Peterson-Smith, Eric Ruder and Martin Smith

"Breaking The Silence:" Testimonies Of
Israeli Soldiers

By Stephen Lendman

"Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects anonymous testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifada." They recount experiences that deeply affected them, including abusing Palestinians, looting, destroying property, and other practices "excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases." Its new booklet features 54 damning testimonies from 30 Israeli soldiers on their experiences in Operation Cast Lead. They recount what official media and government sources suppressed

20 July, 2009

We Are Neurologically Fucked
By Tim Murray

Less immediate threats are beyond human comprehension while immediate gratification commands our attention

19 July, 2009

Investigate Peak Oil Urgently
By Phyllis Sladek

An online petition calling on national academy of sciences to study peak oil urgently

Earth Egg
By Guy R. McPherson

The very notion that we can rely on other planets for resources after we trash this one is ignorant and offensive. I'll start with the offensive part before discussing the ignorant part

17 July, 2009

Unratified India And Tortured People
By NM Salih

In the wake June 26, which marked the International Day against torture, the Asian Centre for Human Rights released a report named ‘Torture in India 2009’, compiling the true facts of ill-treated human rights in India. This report has zeroed in on custodial tortures especially by the police, armed forces and armed opposition groups etc. It reveals several accounts of atrocities by the so called law enforcement officers from all over India. The panoptic narrative of deaths in the police custody with detailed state wise account of such incidents rules the roost in this report

15 July, 2009

Peak Oil And The Remaking Of Iraq
By Michael T. Klare

Has it all come to this? The wars and invasions, the death and destruction, the exile and torture, the resistance and collapse? In a world of shrinking energy reserves, is Iraq finally fated to become what it was going to be anyway, even before the chaos and catastrophe set in: a giant gas pump for an energy-starved planet? Will it all end not with a bang, but with a gusher? The latest oil news out of that country offers at least a hint of Iraq's fate