31 July, 2015
U.S. vs. Iraq: 25 Years And Counting
By Mickey Z.
While Aug. 6, of course, marks the 70th anniversary of the nuking of Hiroshima, it also marks a quarter-century since the U.S. war against Iraq was initially launched. For most people -- particularly willfully ignorant anti-war activists -- the starting date for the war in Iraq is March 19, 2003. However, to accept that date is to put far too much blame on one party and one president. A more accurate and useful starting date is Aug. 6, 1990 when -- at the behest of the United States -- the United Nations Security Council imposed murderous sanctions upon the people of Iraq
Retributive Justice Is Injustice, Your Lordships
By Samar
Yakub Memon is dead and gone. It is just that his death has brought the debate on capital punishment back on the table and it is time the civil society makes a final push for its abolishment. If it fails, there will, from time to time, be dramatic midnight hearings that make the system look superficially like a just one. And the legal murders following pretentious hearings will not stop
Execution To Satisfy The ‘Hurt Ego’Of A Divided Society
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Seriously speaking one has to understand whether retribution has ever helped any one or not. In the criminal justice system focus is too much on the ‘accused’ but no effort is made to help the ‘victims’. It is the victims who suffer and have to endure the pain for life but for the power it is the shortest route that once you ‘punish’ the ‘accused’ justice is done and case is closed. Ordinary people will not ask so many questions as an atmosphere is created around the accused hence forgetting their own pain they too feel once retribution is done, justice is done
Obama's “Safe Zone” In Syria Will Inflame The War Zone
By Shamus Cooke
The road to war is paved with a thousand lies. A fresh fib was tossed on the lie-cluttered war path to Syria, when it was announced that the U.S. and Turkey would create a “safe zone” inside of Syria — supposedly to be aimed against ISIS. This “safe zone” is a major escalation of war, but it was described in soft tones by the media. In reality a “safe zone” is a “no-fly zone,” meaning that a nation is planning to implement military air superiority inside the boundaries of another nation. It's long recognized by the international community and U.S. military personnel as a major act of war. In a war zone an area is made “safe” by destroying anything in it or around that appears threatening
Revolting World
By Robert J. Burrowes
There is much that is revolting about the current world and Andre Vltchek, Christopher Black and Peter Koenig are well placed to document it, which they have done in their new book 'The World Order and Revolution! Essays from the Resistance'
Paradise Burning: Why We All Need To Learn The Word “Anthropogenic”
By Subhankar Banerjee
The wettest rainforest in the continental United States had gone up in flames and the smoke was so thick, so blanketing, that you could see it miles away. Deep in Washington's Olympic National Park, the aptly named Paradise Fire, undaunted by the dampness of it all, was eating the forest alive and destroying an ecological Eden. In this season of drought across the West, there have been far bigger blazes but none quite so symbolic or offering quite such grim news. It isn't the size of the fire (though it is the largest in the park's history), nor its intensity. It's something else entirely -- the fact that it shouldn't have been burning at all. When fire can eat a rainforest in a relatively cool climate, you know the Earth is beginning to burn. And here's the thing: the Olympic Peninsula is my home. Its destruction is my personal nightmare and I couldn't stay away
Roaring Nature: A Call For Personal Change
By Mir Faizan Anwar
Everything that surrounds us has purposeful balance. From tiny organisms that go unnoticed to giant mammals, microflora to mighty trees, deep oceans to towering mountains, there is a manner and framework. Space with unimaginable celestial bodies, the sun and the moon have perfection. In this puzzling universe, humans curiously have a significant position, top among creatures’ list, the cream and jugular vein. However, this wayward human has openly defied nature, looted its resources and left it screaming. It looks difficult to come out of bars and cages of greediness unless we introspect and understand the purpose of life
Obama And The Sheep Dog Syndrome
By Thomas C. Mountain
Barack Hussain Obama represents a text book case of the Sheep Dog Syndrome, as in a well trained dog used to control the American Sheeple, leading them either to a sheering or worse case, the slaughter
Poverty And Child Brain Damage
By Thomas Riggins
When it comes to how USA treat children, it's telling to find out that UNICEF ranks the U.S. at 34 out of 35 industrialized countries (we beat out Romania but eight other former east European socialist countries take better care of their children than we do)
A Juvenile Response By Elected Representatives
By Emarine Kharbhih
There is little substance to the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, 2014. With little sense of direction, the Bill seems to have been made under political pressure and public outcry in order to calm the outrage and maintain the ideological balance of power in politics. The functions of the Juvenile Justice Board and the Child Welfare Committee is evidently low on performance, with 175 million children in India still marginalised, 144 million deemed to be destitute, 25 million orphaned, and 40,000 juveniles in conflict with law, living in institutes. The government needs to reflect on its own shadow and understand that the Bill should be more proactive rather just being a well-articulated piece of legislation
What About Innovating Beyond The Growth Trap?
A Challenge To The Ecofiscal Commission’s Growth Fixation
By James Magnus-Johnston
A new voice has emerged recently in Canada called the “Ecofiscal Commission,” which could have the funding, clout, and determination to steer the country in a more promising direction. The group includes high-profile economists, former political leaders, and high-powered financiers. They define “ecofiscal policy” as something that “corrects market price signals to encourage the economic activities we do want (job creation, investment, and innovation) while reducing those we don’t want (greenhouse gas emissions and the pollution of our land, air, and water).” There seems to be a semblance of steady state thinking among this otherwise rather conventional lot
How #AllLivesMatter And #BlackLivesMatter Can Devalue Life
By Sam Husseini
It may be possible to honor the noblest possible intent in #BlackLivesMatter: That we should rush to aid those lives that are disregarded by many. Likewise for #AllLivesMatter: We should be universal and apply the principle of veneration of the value of life truly to all. Both impulses in their best form would argue to seriously scrutinize the U.S. government's role as global rogue cop -- a "cop" more dangerous than the most violent, racist police operating in the U.S. today
Viet Nam A Half Century Later
By David Swanson
Nine leaders of the U.S. antiwar movement of the 1960s have put their current thoughts down in a forthcoming book called The People Make the Peace: Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement. Those contributing to this book, and who recently returned to Vietnam together, are Rennie Davis, Judy Gumbo, Alex Hing, Doug Hostetter, Jay Craven, Becca Wilson, John McAuliff, Myra MacPherson, and Nancy Kurshan. Their insights into the war, the Vietnamese culture, and U.S. culture, and the peace movement are priceless
Darker Horizons Ahead: Rethinking The War On ‘IS’
By Ramzy Baroud
As much of the Middle East sinks deeper into division between competing political camps, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (‘IS’) continues its unhindered march towards a twisted version of a Muslim caliphate. Many thousands have lost their lives, some in the most torturous ways, so that ‘IS’ may realize its nightmarish dream
The 1965 War: An Army Wife Remembers
By Asha Vombatkere
I realize that I am one of the really fortunate wives who got her husband back intact, and we have just celebrated our Golden Wedding Annversary. For me, it is a time to pay homage to all the brave soldiers who laid down their lives for their country, and to those wives and mothers who carried on bravely after those dearest to them had left forever
Kerala Rise Up In Defense Of Teesta Setalvad
By Countercurrents.org
Solidarity Youth Movement of Kerala held a protest rally in front of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Kochi against the blatant misuse of power against human rights defenders Teesta Setalvad , her husband Javed Anand and others
The Politics Of Panopticism In Kashmir
By Ghulam Mohammad Khan
To understand the amount of truth and practicality of the Foucauldian assertion, an analysis of the anatomy of social and political system in Kashmir would be considerably a better option. If Kashmir be the ‘enclosed, segmented space’, the nature of its political power, historically a hegemonic institution of social oppression would be it’s, what Foucault calls ‘disciplinary mechanism’. Every Kashmiri unwittingly participates in this mechanism, which had over the period of time produced a powerful discourse of knowledge of its own in the form of laws, of policies and manifestoes
Kodaikanal Won't: Chennai-Born Rapper Takes On
Unilever For Mercury Contamination
By Countercurrents.org
Written by Chennai-born rapper Sofia Ashraf and set to Nicki Minaj's “Anaconda,” the video takes an undisguised jab at Unilever for its failure to clean up mercury contamination or compensate workers affected by its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal
Hidden Agenda Behind Amendment To Statistical ACT
By Abdul Majid Zargar
New Delhi has proposed to amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as Central Act )so as to enable it to bring within it’s ambit the State of Jammu and Kashmir. If the amendment goes through, New-Delhi will be able to collect & process data relating to statistical subjects falling in the Union List as applicable to Jammu and Kashmir State under the Constitutional (Application to J&K ) Order 1954
30 July, 2015
Our Humanity Is Hanged In Installments: R.I.P Yakub Memon
By Saswat Pattanayak
Yakub Memon has been killed by the Indian State. And it is our humanity that is hanged in installments. It is not an Afzal Guru, or a Yakub Memon alone
Execution Of Yakub Memon: An Act Of Revenge or Justice?
By Shamim Zakaria
Hanging Yakub Memon makes killers of us all. While the 1993 blasts or any unlawful killing is extremely lamentable, the state awarding capital punishment is simply another act of killing! The mere difference is this is under the legal frame work and is an organized killing; therefore we are bound to accept it. But, the process barely justifies the result, for a killing is a killing, be it legally or illegally!
GMOs, Agriculture And Independence: Hypnotic Trance In Delhi
By Colin Todhunter
We are about to enter August. And that's a special month in India. Each year, on the 15th, the country commemorates the anniversary of independence from Britain. To mark the occasion, official public celebrations take place in Delhi with flag waving and fly-pasts, and the corporate media is awash with patriotic sentiments. Behind the scenes, however, agriculture, the very heart and soul of the nation, will continue to be restructured for the benefit of foreign interests, raising the question: just where does the notion independence sit with such a policy?
No Warlords Need Apply, --A Call For Credible Peacemaking In Afghanistan
By Kathy Kelly & Buddy Bell
A second round of peace talks between Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives, expected to begin before the end of July, 2015, suggests that some parties to the fighting want to declare a cease fire. But even in the short time since the first round on July 7th, fighting has intensified. The Taliban, the Afghan government forces, various militias and the U.S. have ramped up attacks, across Afghanistan
Hiroshima Spring
By Gary Corseri
Author's Note: UNESCO declared 1979 “The International Year of the Child.” Fatefully, I found myself in Hiroshima that spring, surrounded by ghosts…. On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of civilians in a prostrate, defeated Japan—the greatest act of “terrorism” in history, not to end a war, as has been told, but to establish imperial hegemony-- let us look around our world today and consider-- to what end?
Is Zimbabwe Ready For America’s Global Shift On Foreign Policy?
By Tsungai Chipato
With both Iran and Cuba entering historic agreements in 2015; it is now official that geopolitics is back and in the forefront of global affairs. President Obama’s administration soon will be remembered for when a shift in global foreign policy for the United States of America began in unison with its domestic policy shift, which is rare in American politics. For a country built on disagreement; this symbiosis is no small task and doesn't happen a lot, often occurring during traumatic events such as wars or great economic depressions
Incongruities In The News
By Paul Craig Roberts
Jonathan Pollard, a paid spy for Israel described by Michael D. Shear as “one of the country’s most notorious spies,” has been pardoned from his life sentence. It strikes me as hypocritical for the US government to sentence anyone to prison for spying when the government itself spies on everyone everywhere. All Americans including members of the House and Senate, congressional staff, military officers, foreign governments including the leaders of Washington’s closest allies, and foreign businesses are spied upon. No one is exempt from Washington’s spying
Take-Aways From Iran Deal
By Kashoo Tawseef
If this deal is a success then that might give some credit to the nobel prize that Obama received even before doing anything for peace besides his efforts in the resumption of relation with Cuba will add to the legacy of Obama when he leaves the office as his second term is in its last phase. While as some are suggesting that US secretary of state, John Kerry and Iran’s foreign minister, Jawad Zarif deserve the Peace Prize as they stopped another war
Dulat’s Dulatti!
By Mohammad Ashraf
Punjabi word “Dulatti” describes a very strong kick with hind legs given by a horse while drawing a cart when its driver whips the horse violently. This may sometimes even topple the cart! The way the disclosures about Kashmir’s leadership given in the book by Mr. Dulat, the former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief have been hyped up by the media, it is alleged that the intention is to topple not only the cart of the Kashmiri leadership but also discredit its entire society
29 July, 2015
NATO Backs Turkish/US Regime-Change Offensive In Syria
By Jean Shaoul
NATO on Tuesday gave President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unanimous support for Turkey joining the US-led military offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is being used as a cover to escalate Washington’s intervention against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The quid pro quo secured by Turkey involves US support for attacks on Kurdish forces that, until last week, were being hailed by Washington, Berlin and other NATO powers as the bedrock of the anti-ISIS struggle
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam: The Death Of A Dreamer,
Well Before His Dreams Became Nightmares To Millions
By VT Padmanabhan
One of the most controversial judgment made by Kalam in the recent past was his certification of Kudankulam reactor as the safest after an 'inspection' of the plant for a couple of hours. Anyone with some knowledge of complicated machines like a nuclear reactor knows that such certification cannot be done in a 'walk-around' inspection. It is done by complicate instruments operated by technicians and the experts – several of them – look a the computer printouts. Kalam was doing the job of a poster boy. And it helped as the mainstream media celebrated his expert judgement
Goodbye Dr Abdul ‘Strangelove’ Kalam
By Satya Sagar
I am a bit upset with the way Dr Kalam, finally left Planet Earth – not on the frontlines of the imaginary or real battlefields he built all his bombs and missiles for but in the safe confines of a lecture hall in Shillong delivering a pious sermon on ‘youth empowerment’ and ‘innovation’. Of course, by dying in this way Dr Kalam maintained a golden rule of our age– that, men of science and technology are never supposed to meet their end in any actual war anywhere- whatever their personal contribution to its lethality and loss of life
A President And A Yogi: Abdul Kalam’s Symbolism
By Farzana Versey
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor paid tribute by tweeting, “Abdul Kalam ignited minds, inspired young people, and embodied the potential in every Indian. A Muslim steeped in Hindu culture, a complete Indian.” This statement embodies what the Indian nation expects of a Muslim in a position of power; to be a complete Indian a member of the minority community should be steeped in Hindu culture. No other president had such a burden to bear to effectively prove that he is above reproach
The Legacy Of Abdul Kalam
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
While one can appreciate Kalam not using his religious identity for his political purposes and he could have promoted humanism and passion with his convictions. He was a popular man and could have promoted towards developing scientific spirit as per article 51A of our constitution and yet he chose not to do so. Instead, we found him bowing to Sai Baba and many other Babas and Shankaracharyas which gave them legitimacy. Kalam lost his science at the feet of Sai Baba and therefore promoted irrationalism and religiosity
A Necrology For APJ Abdul Kalam
By Abdul Majid Zargar
Most of the commentators have adhered to the accepted societal ritual of speak- good -of-deceased in respect of former president APJ Abdul Kalam. But one will be doing injustice to history, if the failures & shortcomings of a deceased person, especially when he held a high public position, are not brought to fore. Two such failures stand out in case of APJ Abdul Kalam
Gurdaspur Terror Attack: Anti-Sikh Forces Find An Excuse
For Criticizing Sikh Struggle For Human Rights
By Surjit Singh Gopipur
While the attack has caused grief across Punjab, it also hit Sikh struggle for human rights deeply. Although investigations are yet to take place, anti-Sikh forces have found the excuse to criticize the on-going peaceful struggle of the Sikh community
Never Forget, Never Forgive Us Yakub Memon
By Samar
Hang a Tiger Memon, my lordship, if his role is proven- not in the least because of the evidences provided by Yakub- but please do not extinguish a human life to satisfy mobs, that has once been wrongly identified as the collective conscience of the nation in Afzal Guru’s case. Do not listen to we, the laymen my lordships. But try, at least, to form a bench of the retired justices of Supreme Court and High Courts to listen to their views on why they are opposing death to Yakub
An Open Letter To Yakub Memon
By Sukumaran C. V.
Most probably, you are going to be hanged within a few hours. The political ambience of our country, which claims to be the largest democracy in the world, is such that it needs your blood to hoodwink the people, to make them forget about the Acche Din and the corruption free government they have been promised, and to make them feel that they are having a ‘patriotic’ government
TADA Is Dead, Will Memon Live?
By Manisha Sethi
Why must Yakub hang? There is little evidence of his direct involvement in the blasts. The former Intelligence officer B. Raman’s article in a web portal – published posthumously – has given credence to the rumours that have circulated for years: that Yakub struck a deal with the Indian agencies for his return. Raman laments that this mitigating circumstance seems to have been hidden by the prosecution in their urge to secure death penalty. The Indian state, with all the might and force of law at its disposal, continues to insist that Memon’s life must be terminated. Someone must expiate for the loss of lives caused by the bombs in Mumbai in 1993
CPDR Protests Against The Unjust Death Penalty To Yakub Memon
By Anand Teltumbde
The Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) planned demonstrations to protest against the government’s plan to hang Yakub Memon on 30 July at the Nagpur Central Jail. The demonstrations were planned today (28 July 2015) at 5 pm Near Dadar Railway Station (East). There was a significant support from youth organizations and students to the demonstrations and we expected a good turnout of activists and public support. During the entire day the Police repeatedly phoned up the CPDR activists, whose numbers were given on the CPDR pamphlet and kept asking the details about demonstration and about the police permission, clearly to spread scare among the activists
Pope Francis Demands “Fully Borne” Cost of Pollution (Carbon Price)
To Prevent “Millions Of Premature Deaths”
By Dr Gideon Polya
Pope Francis in his 2015 Encyclical Letter “Laudato si” demands that a “fully borne” Carbon Price be emplaced on greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution in order to prevent “millions of premature deaths”. Armed with this authoritative moral advice, the billions of Humanity must save themselves and the Biosphere by demanding that the polluters must pay in full by a Wealth Tax (for historical GHG pollution) and a Carbon Tax (for ongoing GHG pollution)
The Possibility For Nuclear Non-Proliferation
By Fritz Tucker
If Iran is to be trusted to live up to its end of the bargain, the other signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty–in particular, the world’s 9 nuclear powers–should be made to live up to their end. If the majority of humans are to have their wishes for nuclear disarmament fulfilled, they have only themselves to look to for help
Scott Walker's Big Lie
By Eric Zuesse
I have written lots of articles about Barack Obama's lying. To expose lies by Republicans is not at all a partisan matter for me; it's about my only commitment, which is to the truth; and here is the truth about Scott Walker: Like Obama, he's a liar; he plays the public for suckers, in order to get their votes. This isn't democracy, serving the public; it's theft of power away from the public, by means of fraud
Sri Lanka: Replacing The Primitive 1978 Constitution With A Modern One
By Asian Human Rights Commission
The Prime Minister’s announcement for the need of a new constitution, one that will be in keeping with those found in developed countries, is quite welcome. The 1978 Sri Lankan Constitution is primitive. It is a shame on the nation. And, a change is certainly needed
Cut 'em Off At West Scranton's Deception Pass!
By Chuck Orloski
Come September, Pope Francis plans to visit prisoners during his Fall visit to USA, and I humbly suggest that Scranton-based Lackawanna County jail would be a perfect setting for the Holy Father to meet three 17-year old kids gone very bad. Tonight, July 27, 2015, I try to grow up, and at least recognize the clever deceptions and enticements which accumulate inside our nation's Las Vegas Express, quicksand pass. Pray both the Federal “Lung and Heart” program and Wilding family survivors will enjoy a good long life, and Patrolman John's final bicycle ride will never be put to historical rest, along with complicated “Jim” Lassiter in Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage
Vedanta AGM: Angry Protests In India, Africa And London
Press Release
Boxing match between company execs will be staged during major protest at Vedanta's London AGM. Parallel protests in Zambia, and Hyderabad, Udaipur and Korba in India, on Global Days of Action against Vedanta. Vedanta shares slipping as their merger attempt with oil and gas subsidiary Cairn India tries to grab cash reserves to pay $8.5 bn net debt.
27 July, 2015
US-Backed Saudi Strikes In Yemen Kill 120 Civilians
By Thomas Gaist
Saudi war planes killed at least 120 civilians in a series of airstrikes in the city of Taiz late Friday night. The strikes destroyed buildings that were serving as workers’ quarters as well as a nearby agricultural facility. The attack was only the latest instance of mass killing of civilians in the bombing campaign waged by the Saudi-led, US-backed coalition that began in March
Turkey’s New “War on Terror” Mainly Targeting Kurds
By Juan Cole
What was at first announced as a new Turkish turn toward attacks on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Friday has quickly become largely a campaign against Kurds instead. It is being alleged that the Turkish Air Force launched dozens of strikes against bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party over the border in Iraq on Saturday, and just 4 against Daesh positions in Syria
Israel Sees Nazism In Mirror It Mistakes For Window
By David Swanson
Israel is trying to expel the population of a village for the crime of not being Jewish, the same crime for which Israel bombs the people of Gaza for a month or so every few years and blockades them in between these bursts of violence. Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee declares that making peace with Iran amounts to marching Israelis "to the door of the oven." Guess which of the two stories will get more coverage!
The Need For A New Economic System
By John Scales Avery
In the future, the only way that we can avoid economic collapse is to build a steady-state economy. There exists much literature on how this can be achieved, and these writings ought to become a part of the education of all economists and politicians
The Poverty of America’s Two-Party System
By Jon Kofas
The dominant political parties have the party machine tools at the local, state and national levels to bring any dissident movement into the mainstream. Otherwise, with the help of the media, they destroy it. Therefore, I do not see a viable third-party movement or movements until the next deep recession in America later this century, perhaps in the 2030s or 2040s. Because deep recessions or depressions cause economic polarization, the inevitable result will be social and political polarization, the ingredients which we see present in American society today that is much more polarized just beneath the surface than the “consensus-oriented” political, economic and media elites would have the public believe
UN Document Platform For Action And Its Recent 20 Years Celebration:
A Few Critical Reflections On Its Stance On Poverty And Inequality Of Women
By Dr. Zeenath Kausar
The United Nations has recently celebrated the 20 Years Anniversary of one of its world known documents on women’s rights, Platform for Action, which is referred to as Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, BPA, which was passed in Beijing, China, in September, 1995. In this write-up, we would present few critical reflections on this UN document, Beijing Platform for Action, BPA and on some important reports which throw light on important discussions that took place during the 20 Years Anniversary of the document, from 8th to 20th March, 2015, in New York, at the UN Headquarters
Kargil War Remembered, Heroes Forgotten
By Abdul Rashid Agwan
The national leaders couldn't even remember the exact day of the 'Vijay Diwas'. These instances may be found illustrious enough how the national leaders take “supreme sacrifices” of war heroes in a disingenuous way. They are even not publically sure about the date of the sacrifice, then what much should be expected of them. May their act was inadvertent but it gives a message of oblivion. The American poet Richard Watson Gilder hoped in his composition, “The ballads of martyrs be sung/at each anniversary of martyrdom/so that generations to follow value/the sacrifice of our Heroes./....Lest we forget.”
Is CBCS In India Narrowing The Role Of Education From Promoting
All Round Development To Training Marketable Skills?
By Dr. Swaleha Sindhi
The UGC has always initiated measures to bring efficiency and excellence in the Higher Education System of India but as far as CBCS is concerned it is too early to say if this system will be successful in the Indian Universities or not. The basic motive is to expand academic quality in all aspects, right from the curriculum to the learning-teaching process to examination and evaluation systems but the CBCS seems to narrow the role of education from encouraging the development of well-rounded individuals to training for marketable skilled workforce
26 July, 2015
Hiroshima And Nagasaki: Contemporary Reflections
By Romi Mahajan
Nuclear bombs have already done their ghastly work- if not on the entire world (Armageddon hasn’t happened) then certainly on our collective knowledge and culture. This is as true today as it was in 1945
Sandra Bland's Killing Exposes The Impunity Of US Police More Starkly Than Ever
By Justin Podur
I found out about Sandra Bland's death after I watched the video of her arrest and abuse by Brian Encinia. When I watched it, I thought it was another routine example of police abuse and violence against black women in the US, like the crazed attack on a 14-year old girl in a swimsuit by Eric Casebolt in June. Instead, it turned out I was watching the beginning of a long, drawn out sequence of torture and murder
Non-Proliferation Dynamic: American ‘Soft Containment’ Of Iran And India
By K.M Seethi
Contemporary debates on the ‘decline’ of American power in the global political landscape, initiated by some scholars and think tanks, tend to underestimate the pervasive-dynamic of the ‘techno-legit’ order which makes the United States ascendency in international relations an indispensable factor in the decades to come
The Iran P5 + 1 Nuclear Deal, Marks The Shift In The Changing
Regional And Geopolitical Balance Of Power
By Feroze Mithiborwala
The Nuclear Deal between Iran and the major global powers raises many complex political, strategic and economic issues in a warring world under transition to a post-colonial era of international relations
India-Israel: Increasingly Birds Of A Feather
By Firdaus Ahmed
India and Israel today have ‘common values' as can be expected of majoritarians and Zionists. The danger is in the strategic fallout for India and the region
They Say Paraguay Is In Africa: Mosaic Of Horror
By Andre Vltchek
I have always liked this country of red earth, mighty rivers and rough cobblestone streets. I have liked its bougainvillea, its long silent nights, and its endless open spaces. But almost everything that could went wrong for the Paraguayan people, or at least for its indigenous majority. Before Evo Morales became the President, Bolivia had been the most destitute country in South America. Paraguay was slightly “above it” – the second poorest nation. Now, most likely, it is the most deprived
Postcard From The End Of America: Lisa From Clayton, NJ
By Linh Dinh
An American who's at the bottom is no less representative than Steve Jobs, though only Jobs' biography is scrutinized. In fact, since the ratio of American “losers” to “winners” has become so askew, with the losing camp swelling to include just about everybody by now, one can understand nothing by ignoring the bottom. Let's meet, then, Lisa from Clayton, NJ (population 8,216). I found her sitting on Walnut Street near the Holiday Inn. At the time, Lisa had been homeless for 10 months. It was a gorgeous spring day, warm and sunny. Freezing temperatures would not return for at least four months
Debating Colonial “Hang-over”
By K.M Seethi
Why should Shashi Tharoor seek Britain's moral acknowledgement to atone for the depradations of its 200-year-rule over India? Many would repeatedly ask this question. It can safely be argued that it was just a debate at Oxford Union! Good, Tharoor's side won the debate 185 votes to 56! But the media seized the occasion to further debate on it. Even Prime Minister Modi found his views and performance ‘marvellous’ enough to bring back honour for India! But no one sees the danger of uncritical acceptance (if not celebration) of such reading of history
Public Hearing On the Hounding of Teesta Setalvad And other Activists
Press Release
A platform of democratic groups and activists is organizing a public hearing on the hounding of Teesta Setalvad and her colleagues, and the wider implications such a witch-hunt has for the health of our democracy on 27 July (Monday) at Press Club, New Delhi, 2 pm – 6 pm
Ecological Homage To Kashmir’s Sacrifices
By Mir Faizan Anwar
Kashmir is undoubtedly facing serious environmental challenges. Looking around, gloomy pictures catch our sight. The tattered Valley, looted of its resources, its encroached water bodies, polluted streams, logged forests, mined mountains, barracked and picketed meadows are now defining present-day Kashmir. One can better imagine the grave environmental crisis and climate change by the September flood fury, recurrent flood threats and prevalent strange weather pattern. Such calamites and misfortunes are our own sown seeds illustrated by miserable stories of Dal, Nigeen, Aanchar, Mansbal , Wular and other wetlands which have lost their potential soaking capacities
From The Humane Vision Of Charles Correa To The Vision Of Aditya Thackeray
By Vidyadhar Date
Only the rich can afford to live in Mumbai. This is no city for the poor. A documentary film, directed by celebrated architect Charles Correa made this point in 1975. And it is much more true now, 40 years later, of the present times
Ghalib’s Poetry In Dushambe Minaret
By Sazzad Hussain
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Central Asia is going to be remembered as a landmark one as it was the first highest level visit from India after the five former Soviet Republics attained independence in the wake of the breakup of the USSR in 1991. Though the presidents of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other neighbouring states did make official visits to India in the first, it was not reciprocated by any governments in New Delhi till this year. From that perspective Modi’s visit completed a much overdue diplomatic initiative. Besides, this five nation trip by the Prime Minister bears much significance as it re-established the shared heritage that India has had to Central Asia for the last one thousand years
25 July, 2015
The Need For A New Economic System
By John Scales Avery
The wisdom of our ancestors, their respect for nature and their hospitable traditions of sharing, can help us to create a new economic system founded on social and environmental ethics
Five Myths About Economic Growth
By Brian Czech
It seems like all the talk of economic growth was overblown, more the result of Wall Street excitement and political rhetoric than sober thought. Maybe what we really want is economic slenderizing
Netanyahu: Unserious Leader Of A Fearful Nation
By Jeffrey Rudolph
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be taken seriously when he talks about Iran. While Netanyahu is a master at exploiting fear in a particularly fearful society, the following points demonstrate that thinking people can ignore his claims dealing with Iran
Hiroshima: 70 Years Of Lies And Propaganda
By Mickey Z.
“Why did we drop (the bomb)?” pondered Studs Terkel, two decades ago. “So little Harry could show Molotov and Stalin we’ve got the cards,” he explained. “That was the phrase Truman used. We showed the goddamned Russians we’ve got something and they’d better behave themselves in Europe. That’s why it was dropped. The evidence is overwhelming. And yet you tell that to 99 percent of Americans and they’ll spit in your eye.” Let the spitting begin
Hindutva In Hurry
By Shamsul Islam
Political arm of the RSS, BJP could secure only 31% of the total votes polled in the 2014 parliamentary elections. This clearly showed that 69% of the Indians; 80% of whom were Hindus did not vote for BJP. However, overlooking this reality the masters of BJP; the RSS top brass boasted that BJP’s victory put “an end to 800 years of slavery” and by 2020 “entire country will be Hindu”. The VHP patron Ashok Singhal went to the extent of declaring that by “2030 the entire world will be Hindu”. With this frame of mind RSS is getting more myopic and accelerated its game of turning a democratic-secular India into a Hindu theocratic polity. After getting political power they seem to be in hurry and resorting to all kinds of tricks to capture national institutions specially belonging to the realms of art, culture and academia. This clique knows that time is running out fast and they need to bulldoze
Unanimous Rejection Of Land Acquisition Bill 2015,
Joint Forum To Intensify Opposition
By Bhumi Adhikar Andolan
Representatives of people's movements, peasant unions and farmers’ organisations from across country reject the bill as anti-farmer and undemocratic at public hearing. Strong message to JPC to oppose anti-constitutional Land Bill
23 July, 2015
Greek Parliament Rubber-Stamps New EU Austerity Plan
By Christoph Dreier & Alex Lantier
After discussion and debate dragged on into the early morning hours, the Greek parliament overwhelmingly adopted a vast new set of cost-cutting measures and legal “reforms” dictated by the European Union
Representative Democracy Is A Waste Of Time
By Fritz Tucker
The logical countermovement to expansive representational democracy was one that advocated a return to local, participatory governance. In the twenty-first century participatory democracy is not just desirable, but feasible. Digital, electronic communication is essentially instantaneous, recorded in abundance, and easily searchable
What, Really, Is Netanyahu’s Game Plan For America?
By Alan Hart
He could order a false flag operation – an attack on American interests somewhere which with manufactured/false evidence he would blame on Iran. That could, probably would, give American neo-cons the pretext they would like for war on Iran
Reviewing Trashy Hasbara Against BDS
By Vacy Vlazna
Boycotting Israel is Wrong: The progressive path to peace between Palestinians and Israelis by Philip Mendes, Nick Dyrenfurth is a slipshod diatribe against the principled efforts of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. It beggars belief that this silly book, riddled with hasbara and anti-arabsemitism, is written by academics with research skills: Monash University’s Philip Mendes and Nick Dyrenfurth who, once wrote that Australia’s exPrime Minister John Howard “speaks fluent spin”- Dyrenfurth should know!
Ukrainian News Service Says Standard Of Living Is Plummeting
By Eric Zuesse
The plunging economy of Ukraine has evidently become so bad that Ukrainians now can even feel safe to call publicly for stopping the war against the separatist Donbass region of the country, and for reallocationg those military expenditures so that Ukrainians in the non-rebelling part of the country won't starve to death
How China And Russia Are Running Rings Around Washington
By Pepe Escobar
Let's start with the geopolitical Big Bang you know nothing about, the one that occurred just two weeks ago. Here are its results: from now on, any possible future attack on Iran threatened by the Pentagon (in conjunction with NATO) would essentially be an assault on the planning of an interlocking set of organizations -- the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union), the AIIB (the new Chinese-founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank), and the NDB (the BRICS' New Development Bank) -- whose acronyms you're unlikely to recognize either. Still, they represent an emerging new order in Eurasia
The Saudi Proxy In The 21st Century
By Judith Bello
The United States relationship with Saudi Arabia is, on the surface, a mystery. Saudi Arabia has been a U.S. proxy and a protectorate for nearly 100 years, yet it remains a very foreign entity, which consistently engages in activities uncomfortable for US public sensibilities. Wahabism, the state religion of Saudi Arabia, deeply meshed with the government, is the narrowest and most radical fundamentalism in the Muslim world. Strict social limitations on women and a particularly harsh form of Sharia law are maintained by the Saudi regime
Yakub Memon's Blood Is On Us Too
By Samar
Those who planted the bombs have got their death sentences commuted to life, while Yakub, who did not plant a single one, is being sent to the gallows. And, this is where the death sentence starts looking like the revenge of a system frustrated with its failure to catch and punish the real culprits that is killing Yakub on the flimsiest of grounds
Civil Society Comes Out In Support Of Teesta Setalvad And Javed Anand
By Concerned Citizens
Romila Thapar, Admiral Ramdas, Naseeruddin Shah, Mahesh Bhatt, Nandita Das, Githa Hariharan, Aruna Roy, Jayati Ghosh, Rajmohan Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, Vivan Dundaram, Nilima and GM Shaikh, Henri Tiphange and hundreds of other prominent artists, intellectuals and activists protest against witch hunting of Teesta and Javed
Adv P A Sebastian, The Doyen Of Civil Rights Movement Passes Away
By Anand Teltumbde
Our friend and comrade P A Sebastian, who was the face of Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) for decades, has passed away this morning around 10 am. Sebastian, Sabby for his friends, was an integral part of the radical movement in Maharashtra
Splitting Jammu & Kashmir
By Mohammad Ashraf
Attempts on both sides of the border to take away certain areas of the erstwhile state of Jammy & Kashmir may result in the restoration of the ancient Kingdom of Kashmir!
Early Diagnosis Of Drug Resistance Is Crucial To Ending TB
By Shobha Shukla
Despite being treatable, TB remains a major global public health problem. As Dr Mario Raviglione, Director Global Tuberculosis Programme of WHO, informed, in 2013, 9 million people fell ill with TB in; 1.5 million men, women and children died from it; 480,000 people developed multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), with 210,000 associated deaths. Also, 60% of all MDR-TB cases can be attributed to India, China, Russia, Pakistan and Ukraine
22 July, 2015
World's Oceans Could Rise Higher, Sooner, Faster Than Most Thought Possible
By Jon Queally
If a new scientific paper is proven accurate, the international target of limiting global temperatures to a 2°C rise this century will not be nearly enough to prevent catastrophic melting of ice sheets that would raise sea levels much higher and much faster than previously thought possible
Israel’s Endless Misery For Gaza Is No Policy At All
By Jonathan Cook
So what’s going on? Does Israel want Hamas weakened or strengthened? The uncertainty reflects Israel’s increasingly convoluted efforts to “manage” Gaza faced with the fallout from its series of attacks on the enclave beginning in late 2008 with Operation Cast Lead and culminating in last year’s Protective Edge
A Chance For Arab-Iranian Reconciliation: An Opportunity In The Iran Nuclear Deal
By Ramzy Baroud
To appease angry Netanyahu, the US Government has reportedly agreed to provide Israel with $1.5 billion of additional weapons and military supplies per year. This is an indication that the US regional policies have not changed in the least, and it is up to the region itself to confront the US militaristic and conflict-driven policies
We Are All Grexit Now
By Jeff Berg
On the whole it seems obvious that this relentless pursuit of advantage with no recourse to the calibration that comes out of the concern for the common good cannot continue. The seeds of its own destruction are sown into its every action. Most especially at this juncture in history. I.e. The reformation of the petroleum age
Arab World And The Remaking Of Global Politics
By Mahboob A. Khawaja
Are there any global leaders to extend moral and intellectual security to the beleaguered mankind? Global political affairs are fast becoming a theater of absurdity. In a rational spectrum, leaders are not leading; large segments of the global mankind are enduring unthinkable moral and intellectual sickness as political problems are pilling up to crush the human soul and body. All wars affect people. The global community wonders where to look for change and peacemaking that is nowhere visible on the political horizon
India’s War On Naga Peoples:Wuzu Firing
Fact Finding Report
Fact Finding Report on Wuzu Firing and the killing of two students by the Assam Rifles
Gujarat Civil Society Comes Out In Support of
Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand and Others
By Concerned Citizens
We, the undersigned, express their profound dismay and disquiet at the continued official harassment of human rights defenders Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand by the Central Government. Since installation of the BJP led Government in Delhi in May 2014, the country has witnessed open strenuous official efforts to foist a large variety of charges of financial irregularity on them, to harass them, to tarnish their reputations, and to secure their arrests. Fortunately, the interventions of the higher judiciary have protected them so far. However, the latest raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation into their home and offices in Mumbai on 14h July 2015 are signs of continuing open misuse of official bodies to harass these human rights defenders
The Joys And Benefits Of Reading
By Romi Mahajan
With regard to reading, there is an important point to make here- even outside of important notions of “informed citizenry, ““the responsibility of knowledge” and other serious constructs-- reading is enjoyable and frankly beautiful. I robbed myself of that beauty for years. What a mistake. So I encourage teenagers to read, read, and read. Read deeply and widely. Give up your device and grab a book. Find new worlds to enjoy in the pages of books. Perhaps these are all the dying gasps of a soon-extinct worldview. I hope not
21 July, 2015
UN Security Council Approves Pact On Iranian Nuclear Programs
By Peter Symonds
The UN Security Council yesterday voted 15-0 to approve a resolution putting in place key elements of the nuclear agreement reached last week between Iran and the P-6 group—the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany. The resolution paves the way for the lifting of most UN sanctions on Iran once it has implemented severe restrictions on every aspect of its nuclear programs
Israel, Iran And The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
By John Scales Avery
I do not wish to say that Iran's present government is without serious faults. However, any use of violence against Iran would be both insane and criminal. Why insane? Because the present economy of the US and the world cannot support another large-scale conflict; because the Middle East is already a deeply troubled region; and because it is impossible to predict the extent of a war which, if once started, might develop into World War III, given the fact that Iran is closely allied with both Russia and China. Why criminal? Because such violence would violate both the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles. There is no hope at all for the future unless we work for a peaceful world, governed by international law, rather than a fearful world where brutal power holds sway
Socialist Argentina Helping People In Fascist Paraguay
By Andre Vltchek
Argentina is socialist, with free medical care and mostly free education. It has progressive government. It sent creditors, World Bank and IMF packing.It defaulted its debt, which was accumulated during the right wing andpro-Western governments (Greece should study and follow Argentina’s model). Paraguay is a divided country. Even according to the BBC, fewer than 2% of the landowners are said to control 70% of its arable land. Other sources put the number to 75% and higher. Periodically, indigenous people demand their land back, and periodically, they get murdered
“Christmas In July” In Absurdityville, USA
By Gary Corseri
Perhaps during this “Christmas in July,” we would be wise to wipe the snowflakes from our eyes and consider this old algorithm from the Book of Proverbs: “Then I saw and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.”
Postcard From The End Of America: Bella Vista Of Philadelphia
By Linh Dinh
I'm here today not to see Don but Stephanie Potter. The artistic impulse is more pervasive than one might think. In this unassuming neighborhood bar, there's Felix the painter and sculptor, Jimmy the cook at Anastasi Seafood who also paints regularly, almost compulsively, and Tim, the lead singer for Hired Guns Blues Band. Even more than jazz, blues has collapsed into a mannerism. Stephanie, though, is a real sculptor and a real poet. She's certainly bold and loony enough, but in a controlled way
Hacking Team And Colombia: How Surveillance Helps A Violent State
By Justin Podur
The Colombian state didn't need HT's software to murder peasants and dress them up as guerrillas. But to anticipate and prepare for human rights criticism? To stay one step ahead of the FARC at the negotiating table? To target and surveil the country's many remarkable unarmed movement activists - and put targets on them for murderous paramilitaries? For any of these - all proven tactics of the Colombian regime - HT's systems sure would come in handy
Stop Yakub Memon’s Hanging
By People's Union For Demoratic Rights
On 15th July, the Maharashtra government announced that it has initiated the process for hanging Yakub Memon. On 30th July, 2015 ‘he is to be hung by the neck till dead’. The announcement seemed inevitable after the Supreme Court had rejected his review petition on 10th April this year. Except that Yakub Memon has still not exhausted all legal remedies as he has a curative petition due to be heard in the Supreme Court on 21st July. While the state government is treating the matter as already dried and dusted and making a mockery of the justice system, there are some very valid reasons for drawing attention to Yakub’s case for upholding our faith in the judicial process
20 July, 2015
Biosphere Collapse: The Biggest Economic Bubble Ever
By Dr. Glen Barry
Newspapers are full of disastrous warnings if economic growth does not return to Greece, or if it drops a couple points in China. Rarely in human history have so many been so fundamentally wrong about a matter of such importance as the desirability, and even the possibility, of perpetual economic growth. The real threat to human well-being is not that there is too little economic growth. Rather, it is that there is too much, and that we have overshot how much growth can occur without collapsing our shared environment
"Decline Of Earth's Plant Life Threatens Human Life As We Know It"
By Thomas Riggins
A recent scientific study comparing the role of plants in the sustainability of life on Earth and the current rapid destruction of such life has convinced many scientists that human civilization and well-being will be placed in jeopardy. Rain forests and grass lands around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate to make room for palm oil plantations, commercial crops of no intrinsic value (tobacco), and the practices of illegal logging for the furniture and lumber trades, and industrialized agriculture
Straight Talk On The Pope And Climate Change
By Raymond Lotta
Many within the environmental movement, including some of its most prominent leading figures, have jumped on the encyclical as a “game-changer.” People are making the argument that one of the world’s most powerful religious-moral voices is now sounding the climate alarm, that he is opening Church discourse to the science of global warming, and that the pope is uniquely capable of inspiring and moving public policy in the right direction. And this document, the argument goes, may be part of our best hope to stop the destruction of the planet before it is too late: to appeal to and pressure the world’s leaders to take decisive action. So we should welcome the pope’s encyclical on climate change. To which our reply is... WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
The Real Reasons For The Iran Agreement
By Paul Craig Roberts
If you can free yourself from the brainwashing from the presstitute media, three BIG reasons jump out at you. One is that the neoconservatives’ perception of the threat has shifted from “Muslim terrorists” to Russia and China. Unlike Muslim terrorists, both Russia and China are constraints on Washington’s unilateralism. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Washington has grown accustomed to being the Uni-Power, able to exercise its will unchallenged in the world. The rise of Russian strength under Putin and Chinese strength under the new policy has destroyed Washington’s Uni-Power privilege. Washington wants the privilege back
Review: “Go Set A Watchman” By Harper Lee -
Zero Tolerance For Racism Or Constructive Engagement?
By Dr Gideon Polya
Harper Lee has followed her “To Kill A Mockingbird” (1960) with a sequel “Go Set A Watchman” (2015), actually written before the first novel but set 20 years after the events of the first novel. This novel raises the key issue of how decent people should respond to racism - with zero tolerance or constructive engagement from within. Continuing African-American and Palestinian disenfranchisement, inequality and segregation in the 21st century demand zero tolerance for racism
Agency To Enslave Greeks Is Established
By Eric Zuesse
Late on Thursday, July 16th, German Economic News headlined “Greece: Debt Restructuring Through the Back Door,” and reported that, “The majority of Greece's national debt is to be moved in the next three years gradually to the euro bailout fund ESM [European Stability Mechanism], so that the IMF will continue to remain as a lender. The euro zone countries will thereby provide Athens a longer grace period [a temporary postponement of payments, while the 18% annual interest-rate soars Greece's debt even higher], and longer repayment periods.” The super-secretive European Stability Mechanism was set up in 2012, in order to handle Greece's anticipated virtual receivership, which it now will do
Did Muslim Murder 4 Marines In Payback For Iraq Libya Syria Somalia Afghanistan?
By Jay Janson
Another killing of GIs by a Muslim American. Most Americans will confine their judgement and emotions to this one specific quadruple murder, and this will be helpful to those, who have invested in profitable genocides from Korea onward in their continuing to stay under the radar. Insidious US media will make sure the deaths of the four Marines and Abdulazeez play out well for its ISIS hoax and Christian-Israeli hate Islam campaign
Concentrated Wealth + Widespread Stupidity = End Of Democracy
By Eric Zuesse
The American Revolution overthrew Britain's aristocracy here. But now, the American people need to overthrow America's own aristocracy, or else simply accept fascism (rule by an aristocracy). If America, under that condition, will be peaceful, then it can only be the peace of the graveyard — democracy's graveyard
Global One Percent Celebrate At The Bohemian Grove
By Peter Phillips
On the surface, the Bohemian Grove is a private place where global and regional elites meet for fun and enjoyment. Behind the scene, however, the Bohemian Grove is an American version of building insider ties, consensual understandings, and lasting connections in the service of class solidarity. Ties reinforced at the Grove manifest themselves in global trade meetings, party politics, campaign financing, and top-down corporatism
Every. Four. Years. (But What About Bernie?)
By Mickey Z.
Are you making the big connections? How are you working to challenge deeply entrenched privilege and hierarchy to create new coalitions? Are you willing to do the work it’ll take to end male supremacy, white supremacy, and class supremacy? What are you doing -- each and every day -- to help bring down this global system of oppression and exploitation before there’s nothing left? How much time do you believe we have? Reminder: If you think Bernie Sanders is the answer, you’re asking the wrong questions…
RSS & Politics: Marriage Of Convenience
By Shamsul Islam
It needs no corroboration that Narendra Bhai Modi was chosen as PM on the behest of RSS and BJP (and the Bhartiya Jana Sangh earlier) is run by RSS cadres loaned to the BJP. It enjoys the fame when credited for BJP’s victory. RSS loves power as any other theocratic organization but also wants to be looked as sagely while faced with controversial decisions of its creation; the BJP. In good times the RSS is BJP but in rough times in order to save itself from embarrassment resulting from certain actions of the BJP government, the RSS declares itself to be apolitical
Dear Sisters, Please Help Us To Protect Athirapally River And Forest
By Geetha and friends
This urgency has arisen because the Ministry Of Environment and Forests is convening the Expert Appraisal Committee for River valley and Hydroelectric Projects on July 20th and 21st to reconsider giving Environmental Clearance to the Athirapally Project which has been denied clearance thrice! I request you to write to the Chairman [email protected] asking him to restrain from giving clearance to a project that has been proven by accredited agencies to be unviable economically, energy-wise, ecologically and socially too
Ambedkar’s Vision Of Secular Socialist India
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
In the business of politics people diametrically opposed to Ambedkar’s vision of a ‘prabudhha bharat’ or ‘enlightened India’ which we cannot accomplish without an inclusive vision with participation of religious and linguistic minorities and socially and economically marginalized communities including their women, are trying to appropriate Ambedkar for their own purposes
Stop Attacking Human Rights Defenders
By Bangalore Citizens' Initiative
Bangalore Citizens Statement against State Sponsored Intimidation of Human Rights Activists and Civil Society Organizations
India: Government Dumps The Court’s Order In A Sewer- AHRC
By Asian Human Rights Commission
A total of 180,657 rural households continue to engage in manual scavenging in India, despite the inhuman practice being repeatedly outlawed by the Parliament and Judiciary. This is the state a year after the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), a flagship scheme of the incumbent government, covering 4,041 statutory towns, aiming to clean the streets, roads, and infrastructure of the country. It remains a reality, two and a half years after the Supreme Court last outlawed the practice, fixing command responsibility with the chief executive officer (or equivalent authority) of civic bodies for continuation of the practice
Who Killed Kishenji ?
By Nisha Biswas
The statement of Abhishek Banerjee is important not only in the case of killing of Kishenji or Azad but raises question on all the encounter killings that has happened and are happening in Junglemahal as well as in other parts of the country, be it Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or any other state. It is high time that impartial inquiries should be undertaken and state must be stopped from murdering its own people
California’s North Coast Wine Industry: How “Sustainable” Is It?
By Shepherd Bliss
Sonoma County Winegrowers bought an expensive, full-page, color ad, using tax dollars, in the July 12 daily Santa Rosa Press Democrat and in various weeklies, such as the North Bay Bohemian and Sonoma West. The ad ignited a firestorm of protest with angry letters to editors and online comments from the community storming local publications that ran the ad. As someone who practices, writes about, and teaches college students at Sonoma State and Dominican Universities about what “sustainable” really means, the ad offends me. It is blatant propaganda of false advertising to hoodwink readers
19 July, 2015
Right Sector Threatens Violence Throughout Ukraine
By Andrea Peters
The Ukrainian neo-fascist militia, Right Sector, has announced it is preparing for “widescale actions” and the holding of an “emergency Congress” in Kiev, after a violent standoff with a rival gang and government authorities in western Ukraine last week. The primary fighting force behind the US-backed coup in February 2014 that led to the installation of the current regime in Kiev, Right Sector is now challenging the government of President Petro Poroshenko and demanding his resignation
Climate Change And Our Historic Calling
By Kathy Kelly
This is an historic time, posing a perfect storm of challenges to the survival of our species, a storm we can’t weather without “all hands on deck.” Whoever arrives to work beside us, and however quickly they arrive, we have heavy burdens to share with many others already lifting as much as they can, some taking theirs up by choice, some burdened beyond endurance by greedy masters
Abdulazeez And Abdulaziz
By Robert Barsocchini
The Tennessee shooter is quoted in his high school year book as saying that his name, Abdulazeez, “causes national security alerts”. This is now literally true, but is dependent on circumstances. One attack by an Abdulazeez is saturating US headlines and receiving stark condemnation from the US government/oligarchy (Obama called it “heartbreaking”), while an incomparably worse attack by an incomparably worse Abdulaziz, raining down on thousands of people, including US Americans abandoned by their oligarchy, is met with media silence and extreme support and participation from Washington
The Iranian Nuclear Deal: Will America And Israel Scuttle It?
By G. Asgar Mitha
After 20 months of negotiations in Lausanne and 18 days of meetings in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 (US, France, UK, Russia and China and Germany), a deal was finalized on July 14, 2015 to end the Iranian weapons nuclear program and lift sanctions. It is a deal which is win-win for the US and Iran and a path towards peace but does Israel and its far right Republican cohorts want it?
By Never Calling For Prosecution ‘Left’ Journalism Protects
Investments In Continuous Genocide
By Jay Janson
Western society’s progressive writers leave their readers with the impression that citizens of the US and allied nations will never be prosecuted for their mega massive crimes against humanity. Legal and moral implications and future ramifications are discussed and contrasted with ongoing litigation and warnings Martin Luther King gave
What Former Chadian Dictator Hissène Habré's
July Trial in Senegal Means For His Victims
By Jacqueline Moudeina
On July 20 former president Hissène Habré, who ruled my native Chad from June 7, 1982 to December 1, 1990, goes on trial in Senegal, in a special tribunal set up by the African Union. Habré’s reign was one of absolute terror. He created the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), which quickly developed into a machine of repression. According to the report of an investigation ordered by the Chadian government in 1992, 40,000 people were killed in the prisons of the DDS
Introduction To The Political And Social Structures Of
Democratic Autonomy In Rojava
By Zanyar Omrani
What goes on in Syrian Kurdistan cannot be reduced to the war against the ISIS, and in order to understand the events in Rojava, one should look into the newly established institutions which under the title of the Movement for a Democratic Society (KCK, called MED-VET in Rojava) are organizing all the events and fields in Rojava. The lack of research and study resources and the narrow literature of field studies, has made it difficult to fully define and pathologically explain the democratic autonomous system of the three cantons. In this report, the aim is to give a general view of the necessity of the social and political institutions and how they really function
Farmers Seek Permission To Die In Order To Live
By Samar
Seven farmers have recently sought the governments’ permission to end their lives. They have drafted applications and submitted them – as per protocol in any “normal” application – to the Office of the Tehsildar (local revenue officer) in Wardha District, Maharashtra
Stop Hounding Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand And Others
Press Release
Demonstrations are being held in different cities in solidarity with Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand and their colleagues. Intellectuals, academicians, students, artists, activists, teachers and ordinary people are coming out outraged by the blatant misuse of state machinery to hound and persecute a group of courageous human rights defenders
Chhattisgarh PUCL Condemns The Abduction And Killing Of Four Constables
By People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Chhattisgarh
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Chhattisgarh condemns in no uncertain terms the abduction and killing of four constables belonging to the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Force (erstwhile SPOs) attached to Police Station Bedre, district Bijapur by the Maoists
17 July, 2015
Another Gaza War Looms
By Max Blumenthal
Before homes are even rebuilt in the ruins of the Gaza Strip, another war looms.
The Palestinian Question And The US-Iran Deal
By Jon Kofas
No matter where one stands ideologically and politically, the Iran deal has sent a very strong signal across the world that the US and its EU partners finally acknowledge that Iran is the most important regional power in the Middle East after a power gap created by the US-led overt and covert military destruction of Iraq and Syria. After decades of trying to contain Iran and undermine it in every possible manner from economic sanctions to military action in surrounding countries, the US and its EU partners have finally acknowledged that Iran is the catalyst to the regional balance of power in the Middle East
India: Make-Or-Break Player For Climate Change
By Sajai Jose
When India and other developing countries accuse rich nations of double standards on climate change, they are right. However, the emphasis on historical inequities ignores the cumulative nature of the impact of emissions on the climate. India’s sheer size and the accelerating rate of its emissions, which defy a global trend of decline, appear to make India the make-or-break player when it comes to climate change
Climate Change And India: The Way Ahead
By Kashif Islam
Climate change mitigation strategy provides us the opportunity to both reduce our resource consumption before it reaches the unsustainable levels of the developed countries, and also ensure sufficient stocks of resources for the coming generations. For that, however, there is a need for the decision makers to free themselves of the hold of traditional economists, predicated entirely upon increasing national income. Perhaps, it will be seen in hindsight that the danger from the dogma of economic growth be no less than climate change and environmental degradation in general
Greed Is Driving Us Towards Disaster
By John Scales Avery
Greed, in particular the greed of corporations and billionaire oligarchs, is driving human civilization and the biosphere towards disaster. The greed of giant fossil fuel corporations is driving us towards a tipping point after which human efforts to control climate change will be futile because feedback loops will have taken over. The greed of the military industrial complex is driving us towards a Third World War that might develop into a catastrophic thermonuclear war. The greed of our financial institutions is also driving us towards economic collapse, as we see in the case of Greece
Who Will Bail Out Humanity If The GMO Evangelists Win?
By Colin Todhunter
Just like with the mega banks and the swindlers behind them, we are witnessing another systemic and politically well-connected, corrupt enterprise that is 'too big to fail'. Spitznagel and Taleb are right to ask: who will be there to bail out humanity once it does fail?
The Constitution Of The EU's Dictatorship
By Eric Zuesse
The EU's dictatorship is by the aristocracy, against the public. It's just like the U.S. dictatorship — competing parties, both or all of which represent the aristocracy, against the public; none representing the public, against the aristocracy. Conservatives support it, because they support the aristocracy
Iran Nuclear Deal: The Devil May Be In Interpretation
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Anyone seeking an ideological rationale for the Iranian motivations in signing the agreement can also find it in the fact that it indeed may prove, from the Iranian standpoint, that the country's revolution has gained legitimization, international recognition and even a chance for preservation since from this point on, the life of the accord is dependent upon that same revolutionary regime. That’s no small accomplishment for a regime that up to now had been such an abomination, Zvi Bar'el concluded
India Should Pay Attention To What Narayana Murthy Says
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy has said that there is no significant innovation in last sixty years in country and no Prime Minister except Pt. Nehru has concentrated much on the science. He said "Is there one invention from India that has become a household name in the globe? Is there one idea that has led to an earth-shaking invention to delight global citizens? Folks, the reality is there is no such contribution from India in the last 60 years." There has been some criticism of his statements in some quarters which is unwarranted. He is absolutely correct at his point. He has in fact brought in the open space the real status of the Indian scientific and research community
16 July, 2015
Greek Parliament Endorses EU-Dictated Austerity Programme
By Chris Marsden
Greek Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras secured the backing of parliament early Thursday for the savage programme of austerity he agreed with eurozone officials last weekend. Obtaining passage of the programme was never in doubt. The legislation was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 229 to 64. There were six abstentions. Three openly pro-austerity parties—New Democracy, PASOK and To Potami—supported the Syriza government’s bill. The “no” vote included MPs from the Communist Party (KKE) and the fascist Golden Dawn, along with 32 Syriza MPs
AIPAC: Anti-Iranian Propaganda At Congress
By David Swanson
Demanding a deal you'll never get is how wars have been started through history, including in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, not to mention the demand that Iraq hand over the WMD it didn't have. We're not falling for it again, guys
Islamist Terrorism: The Underlying Politics
By Ram Puniyani
During colonial period the politics came in the label of religions; different religions. In these areas the colonial powers chose to let the feudal powers persist even when industries were coming up. Now since the major inhabitants of the oil rich zones are Muslims, Islam has been used for the political goals and paradoxically Muslims have become the victim of their own wealth, the black gold!
Eat Local
By Dr Vandana Shiva
Rebuilding the broken food system, its ecological cycles and the broken links between the city and the countryside means creating food-smart citizens who know what they are eating
Condemn The Repeated Persecution Of Teesta And Javed Anand
By National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
NAPM Condemns the Repeated Persecution of Teesta and Javed Anand and the Abuse of Investigative Agencies by their Political Masters. Calls upon the Apex Court to direct CBI to investigate only as per law. Parliament must pass a Comprehensive Human Rights Defenders Act to safeguard the rights and interests of the HRDs from state and non-state actors
CPDR Condemns The Hounding Of Teesta Setalvad & Javed Anand
And Demands For A CBI Scrutiny Of Foreign Funds Received By VHP
By Committee For The Protection Of Democratic Rights (CPDR)
CPDR condemns the targeting of NGOs and activists like Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand and demands that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad be brought under the scrutiny of the FCRA for the crores of rupees of unaccounted for foreign funds that they are the recipient of
Interfaith Science Of Ramadan: The Essence May Be Traceable In Your Faith
By Mike Ghouse
Whether you are an Atheist, Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Native American, Pagan, Shinto, Sikh, Wicca, and Zoroastrian or from any other tradition, you may feel a sense of connection with the spirit of Ramadan
15 July, 2015
Obama Promotes “Historic” Nuclear Deal With Iran
By Keith Jones
After 18 days of intensive negotiations, Iran and the P-6—the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China—have reached a final agreement to “normalize” Iran’s civil nuclear program over the next 15 years. Yesterday’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) enshrines the sweeping concessions Iran made under the “framework” agreement reached in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 2, as well as introducing further conditions and stipulations highly advantageous to Washington. Iran must either dismantle or roll back and freeze the key elements of its nuclear program and must submit to the most intrusive nuclear inspections regime ever devised
My Congressman Is Wrong On Iran, Yours Might Be Too
By David Swanson
The time has come to remove the "missile defense" weaponry from Europe that was put there under the false pretense of protecting Europe from Iran. With that justification gone, U.S. aggression toward Russia will become damagingly apparent if this step is not taken. And the time has come for the nations that actually have nuclear weapons to join and/or comply with the nonproliferation treaty, which Iran was never actually in violation of
New IMF Report On Greece Says Projections Are Unrealistically Optimistic
By Eric Zuesse
The persistent and ongoing deceit here is hard to square with widespread allegations that the EU is at all democratic. The origin of this loan and earlier loans to Greece (euphemistically called ‘bailouts,' as if it weren't the banks which were being bailed out by the taxpayers, instead of the Greek public, who had never received the benefits of those loans anyway) had been private investors in Greek government bonds, receiving high interest rates on these junk bonds, which turn out to have been guaranteed by Western publics bailing out Western banks
Greece: Sound And Fury Signifying Much
By Paul Craig Roberts
All of Europe, and insouciant Americans and Canadians as well, are put on notice by Syriza’s surrender to the agents of the One Percent. The message from the collapse of Syriza is that the social welfare system throughout the West will be dismantled
Why Palestinians Fight Back: The Logic Of Life And Death In Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud
Another row is brewing between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, over the release of Avraham Mengitsu, an Israeli citizen who, according to Israeli military sources, ‘slipped into Gaza’ on September 7, 2014. The circumstances of Mengitsu’s entry into Gaza remain unclear, especially since Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Mashaal, denied that the military wing of Hamas is holding the Israeli citizen. According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, another Israeli is also being held in Gaza. A gag order on Mengitsu’s disappearance was just lifted, but another remains in effect regarding the other, allegedly, detained Israeli
MH 17: The Questions Remain One Year After
By Chandra Muzaffar
Tears flowed freely at the memorial held in Kuala Lumpur on 11 July 2015 to remember the victims of the MH 17 tragedy --- the Malaysian airline that was blown out of the skies a year ago on 17 July 2014. The tragedy remains deeply etched upon the collective memory of the Malaysian nation, as it continues to wrench the hearts of all those who lost their loved ones from so many different countries, notably the Netherlands and Australia. The families of the victims from all these countries and indeed, people everywhere want those responsible for this heinous crime to be punished severely. They yearn for justice
Australian Coalition Government & Labor Opposition Trash Human Rights,
Child Rights, Free Speech & Medical Ethics
By Dr Gideon Polya
Australia has invaded 85 countries, with 30 such invasions associated with genocidal atrocities, and has an appalling record of child abuse both at home and abroad, with as many as 25% of Australians suffering sexual abuse as children. Now on top of draconian anti-terrorism laws grossly violating human rights, Australian doctors, nurses, teachers and care-givers face 2 years in prison for reporting ongoing physical, psychological and sexual abuse of children and other inmates of Australian refugee concentration camps
Yoga’s Pose: White Supremacy
By Mickey Z.
Yoga is created by a non-white culture which is then conquered, occupied, and colonized. Fast forward a few centuries and now rich white people are the “experts” -- sanitizing, commodifying, and selling yoga back to other rich white people as self-improvement
Modasa - It Is Just A Beginning
By Subhash Gatade
Whether investigations into Hindutva terror related cases are changing course? A series of apparently unconnected developments definitely strengthen the belief. Close on the heels of renowned public prosecutor Rohini Salian's revelations that she is being pressurised to go slow on the Malegaon bomb blast case (2008) and news of no of witnesses turning hostile in the Ajmer bomb blast case (2007) and sudden decision of the NIA to shift the Sunil Joshi murder case back to M.P, has come the news that the NIA has finally decided to close the Modasa bomb blast case citing 'insufficient evidence'
Craze For Foreign Travel And Neglect Of India’s Tourism
By Vidyadhar Date
If you are travelling abroad, better travel to Greece. It is the best way to show solidarity with the people deeply hit by the financial crisis caused by capitalism. We could help revive the economy there. This was the theme of an article by Alex Andreou in the Guardian recently. That made me think again what I always felt. Most parts of India are in the same financial crisis as Greece. Why on earth don’t we travel more within our lovely country where there is so much to see ? Think about the great boost the rural economy would get if more and more of us travelled there and shared our lives with the people in other parts of the country
CBI Raid At The Premises Of Teesta Setalvad & Javed Anand Vindictive
By People’s Alliance For Democracy And Secularism
PADS strongly condemns the CBI raids of 14 July 2015 at the premises of social activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand, Gulam Mohammed Peshimam and office of Sabrang Communications and Publishing in Mumbai. These raids are undertaken for purely vindictive reasons given the assurances of complete cooperation and submission of thousands of pages of documents to the CBI. It is by now an open secret that activists working for justice and truth with regard to the pogrom called ‘Gujarat Riots’ have earned the hatred and animosity of the Modi government; which does not hesitate to employ official state power to indulge in a witch-hunt
14 July, 2015
Greek Bailout Deal Highlights Monumental Scale Of Syriza’s Betrayal
By Chris Marsden
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has signed up to an agreement that transforms Greece into a de facto colony of the European Union and places the country under the dictates of Germany. What remains of the Greek economy, above all its most valuable assets, is to be pillaged so that Athens can continue to pay back loans from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Greece is to be placed under the direct control of EU officials. The function of Greece’s parliament will be to rubber-stamp the transfer of real authority to Brussels and Berlin. It has until Wednesday to pass a series of laws implementing the demands of German imperialism and the EU
The Problem Of Greece Is Not Only A Tragedy, It Is A Lie
By John Pilger
The leaders of Syriza are revolutionaries of a kind - but their revolution is the perverse, familiar appropriation of social democratic and parliamentary movements by liberals groomed to comply with neo-liberal drivel and a social engineering whose authentic face is that of Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance minister, an imperial thug. Like the Labour Party in Britain and its equivalents among former social democratic parties such as the Labor Party in Australia, still describing themselves as "liberal" or even "left", Syriza is the product of an affluent, highly privileged, educated middle class, "schooled in postmodernism"
Our Nuclear Heritage: The Fukushima Catastrophe, Too Clever By A Half-Life
By Robert Snefjella
Has the Fukushima nuclear disaster, beginning in March 2011, been extremely harmful and is it extremely ominous? Or will the Fukushima 'problem' have negligible health impact, as offered by various 'experts' and 'prominent' institutions and commentators. On the one hand, massive numbers and large varieties of lifeforms in the North Pacific Ocean, in the post-Fukushima period, are already extensively destroyed, dead or dying, or deformed
Pakistan, India Join The Strategically Important
Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)
By G. Asgar Mitha
I've drawn blanks searching the western media coverage of the rather very important SCO summit hosted by Russia. Why there has been no coverage is beyond understanding
Arabization Of Bangladesh: An Asset, Liability Or Threat?
By Taj Hashmi
Since the late 1970s, Arabization of the popular culture has become synonymous with the Islamization process in Bangladesh. This synonymy is ominous. It has long-drawn implications for the country. Moderate Muslims, liberal/secular Bangladeshis, and the friends of Bangladesh need to understand the long-term consequences of this slow and steady transformation of the popular culture of Bengali Muslims. Cultural transformation of people is a major step towards their political orientation and makeover. The apparently innocuous Arabization process has all the potentials to nurture Islamist extremism. In sum, Arabization is a Trojan’s Horse to usher in Islamism or political Islam as the only political alternative in a Muslim-majority country. Pakistan is a glaring example in this regard
“Orphaned” Kashmir!
By Mohammad Ashraf
The attempt at establishing a Guinness/Limca world record by holding the longest Iftar party for “orphans” truly conveys the present “Orphaned” status of the state of Kashmir!
Not Simply Lauding But Sania Owes Modi’s Apology!
By Shamim Zakaria
More than anything else what intrigued me to write this piece was a comment by one of my social media follower who hammered Indian hypocrites stating, ‘just because Sania has won she is India’s daughter and need not prove her nationalism, but losing Wimbledon would have made her daughter-in-law of Pakistan.’ After Sania’s victory among the congratulatory messages from various bigwigs included that of our PM Narendra Modi, who tweeted: Well played @mhingis & @MirzaSania. You played wonderful tennis & registered a fantastic win at @Wimbledon. We are proud & very happy
13 July, 2015
Blackmailing Bankers Now Stage A Coup In Greece
By Farooque Chowdhury
Strangulated Greece now experiences a coup by blackmailing bankers. It’s a show of bankers’ democracy, a worst form of democracy in the Age of Crises. It’s an invasion by bankers
The Perpetrators Become The Victims Of Drone Warfare
By Pratap Chatterjee
The myth of the lone drone warrior is now well established and threatens to become as enduring. So much for the myth. In reality, there's nothing “lone” about drone warfare. Think of the structure for carrying out Washington's drone killing program as a multidimensional pyramid populated with hundreds of personnel and so complex that just about no one involved really grasps the full picture. Cian Westmoreland, a U.S. Air Force veteran who helped set up the drone data communications system over southeastern Afghanistan back in 2009, puts the matter bluntly: “There are so many people in the chain of actions that it has become increasingly difficult to understand the true impact of what we do. The diffusion of responsibility distances people from the moral weight of their decisions.”
Gaza Writes Back
Book Review By Gary Corseri
A Review of GAZA WRITES BACK: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza
Only An Insane Police Can Use A Teen Rape Survivor As 'Bait'
By Samar
The police in Maharashtra state of India sent a 17-year-old rape survivor back to her assaulters as “bait”, not once but twice. The insensitivity of placing a minor in this situation is manifest. The girl must still have been struggling with the trauma. But, the police also went ahead and botched up the ploy by following the girl too closely the first time around and then being nowhere close the second time. The policemen thus ended up getting the minor raped again
12 July, 2015
How Fascist Capitalism Functions: The Case of Greece
By Eric Zuesse
There is democratic capitalism, and there is fascist capitalism. What we have today is fascist capitalism; and the following will explain how it works, using as an example the case of Greece
No Sign Of A Coherent Strategy For Defeating
Perverted And Barbaric Islamic Fundamentalism
By Alan Hart
In Western political and mainstream media circles the great debate about what must be done if perverted and barbaric Islamic fundamentalism (PBIF) is to be contained and defeated is heating up. But nobody participating in this debate (be it President Obama or Tony Blair or whoever) wants to come to grips with the real issue. In my view the question that takes us to the heart of it is the following. What could and should be done to address the prime causes of Arab and other Muslim hurt, humiliation, anger and despair which open hearts and minds to PBIF's propaganda?
Vladimir Putin States Russia's New Strategy
By Eric Zuesse
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented, on July 3rd, to Russia's Security Council, the nation's new National Security Strategy, which encompasses not merely military, but especially economic, agencies within the Russian Federal Government
The Greece And Eurozone Crisis Made Simple
By Brian Davey
One can go into long convoluted explanations but, as I see it, there are two basic problems, one leading into the other. The more superficial problem is that in a single currency zone without the option of devaluation purchasing power will drain to the more competitive countries. To continue buying in the common currency people, companies and governments in less competitive (and poorer) countries have to borrow but this is a temporary solution for the obvious reason that they must pay back with interest so pretty soon borrowing makes this problem worse
An Interview With Agroecologist Jairo Restrepo
By Juanfran Lopez
Jairo Restrepo is a passionate educator and activist in the field of sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. He campaigns for a return of self-determination, knowledge and autonomy for the farmer in the face of powerful agribusiness. He has been a consultant on sustainable agriculture for many years, working with the UN, Unesco, the FAO and the International Labour Organisation, among others. Originally from Columbia, Restrepo is a strong advocate for agroecology and regenerative farming. He is unique in that he not only argues passionately for the rights of farmers, but he also teaches an array of practical technologies and preparations to increase soil fertility and transform cropping. He offers tools and inspiration for farmers, smallholders and activists
"Opinion Against The Ongoing Indefinite Curfew In Manipur"
By Concerned Citizens
The curfew has imposed a big burden on those who are dependent on the Imphal market for their daily consumption. It seriously affected the petty traders who are dependent on the local market for commodity exchange. The marginal labourers who are in search of daily work are badly affected because of the restrictions to free movement. Who will compensate for the loss incurred on the family income due to the obstructions caused by the curfew? If these burdens of the people have not been addressed by those who accumulate huge money through corrupt means and who are enjoying the blessings of the authoritarian regime; it only obviates the fact that they are profiting from oppressing the people and are never for their welfare
AFSPA Extension In Nagaland Is A Failure Of Government
By Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign
Recently , AFSPA was extended for another term in Nagaland. It is not only unfortunate and condemnable, but it also shows that how much incapable government is
11 July, 2015
Pew Report: 84 Percent Of World Population Subsists On Under $20 Per Day
By Andre Damon
Despite significant advances in communications, agriculture and bio-technology over the past 15 years, the overwhelming majority of the world population continues to live in economic privation, according to a report on global incomes published this week by the Pew Research Center. The report, entitled “A Global Middle Class is More Promise than Reality,” classifies 71 percent of the world population as either poor or low-income, subsisting on less than $10 per day. The report concludes that 84 percent lives on less than $20 per day, or $7,300 per year, an income level associated with “deep poverty” in developed countries
The Greek Tragedy! The Left Won The Battle On The Streets,
But Lost The War To Troika In European Parliament
By Xekinima (CWI Greece)
July 9th was a black day for the Greek left. SYRIZA’s leading team, around Prime Minister A. Tsipras, subordinated itself completely and absolutely to the demands of the Troika lenders. The Greek working class finds itself in a tragic position. They voted for SYRIZA in order to find solutions to their problems and to escape from the Memoranda (austerity packages). Yet after five months in government the only thing that SYRIZA was able to deliver was another catastrophic Memorandum which finishes off the pro-austerity policies of the previous governments of New Democracy and PASOK
Why The Cash Economy In Greece May Be Ending
By Jan Lundberg
Out of necessity, perhaps triggered by an oil supply cut-off, sail power and the connecting of local economies will quickly re-emerge. Perhaps 80% of the once-farmed land on the islands is fallow, due to migration to the cities. This offers potential for local production and short-distance trade. The vast volumes of corporate products shipped today via polluting oil, from thousands of miles away, will wither and even come to a quick end
Postcard From The End Of America—Ashley, PA
By Linh Dinh
Across this sinking nation, how many are buoyed by lottery dreams, casino hopes, stock fantasies, increasingly desperate prayers or, as Chuck is convinced in this one instance, miraculous grace? With legal means diminished and magical odds unlikely, many are turning to shadier or bloodier tactics. This month taken care of, there is still the next. Attacked by Goldman Sachs monsters, spaced out children on earth island have reached outer limits of twilight zone
Journalists' Complicity In Hiding Those Guilty For MH17
By Eric Zuesse
Robert Parry headlined on July 9th, “MH-17 Case Slips into Propaganda Fog,” and he wrote: "Many investigative journalists, including myself, have been rebuffed in repeated efforts to get verifiable proof about the case or even informational briefings.”
The Noose Is Tightening Around Syria’s Palestinians
By Franklin Lamb
The deterioration of conditions of Palestinians in Syria could stop if the rival parties, with support from their regional and international sponsors, could arrive at a political settlement that preserves the Syrian state and its unity as well as the central cause of people of good will in this region. The cause of Palestine
The New President Of The UN General Assembly
By John Scales Avery
The election of Mogens Lykketoft as the new President of the United Nations General Assembly has opened the door to the solution of several of world's most pressing problems. For example, it may now be possible to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention by a direct majority vote
Sardar Sarovar Project Affected Person Commits Suicide
By National Alliance of People’s Movements
on 9th July 2015, in the village Chimalkhedy, barely 10 to 12 kms away from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, Tembhrya Kutarya consumed poison and committed suicide. This news reveals the actual dire reality underlying the false tall claims of rehabilitation by Maharashtra Government. While this press note is being drafted the dead body of the old man Tembhrya Kutarya is decaying on the banks of the river Narmada in the village
Repeating A ‘Big Enough Lie’
By Anand Teltumbde
The APSC victory has inspired students in many campuses to start similar study circles and resist hindutva overtures. Another campus of a prestigious Film and Television Institute of India is already aflame in protest against one more such hindutva appointment. Bravo students, only you can bring truly acche din for India!
10 July, 2015
Greek Government Approves Brutal Austerity Measures In Proposal To EU
By Alex Lantier
Greece’s Syriza-led government agreed to a massive new €13 billion (US$14.34 billion) package of austerity measures yesterday evening, less than a week after Sunday’s landslide “no” vote in a referendum on European Union (EU) austerity. The proposal would be the deepest package of cuts since the EU austerity drive began in Greece in late 2009. It goes well beyond the proposed €8 to 9 billion in cuts initially demanded by the EU in talks with Syriza
Pentagon Concludes America Not Safe Unless It Conquers The World
By Paul Craig Roberts
This report tells us that war with Russia is our future unless Russia agrees to become a vassal state like every country in Europe, and Canada, Australia, Ukraine, and Japan. Otherwise, the neoconservatives have decided that it is impossible for Americans to tolerate living with a country that makes decisions independently of Washington. If American cannot be The Uni-Power dictating to the world, better that we are all dead. At least that will show the Russians
Document Shows CIA Reaction To Finding No WMD In Iraq
By David Swanson
The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military
As New US History Books Downplay White Supremacy,
“Bible Defence Of Slavery” A Top Downloaded Book
By Robert Barsocchini
In Texas, the latest State Board of Education history books “downplay slavery’s role” in the Civil War, and entirely “omit [the] KKK” as well as Jim Crow segregation dictates, which remained in place until 1965, with “de jure segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States, while Northern segregation was generally de facto“
President Obama Accepts Slavery In Order To Win TPP Trade Deal
By Eric Zuesse
So that U.S. President Barack Obama can end a roadblock and win the agreement of other nations for his proposed Trans Pacific Partnership, he has decided to remove one of the nations, Malaysia, from the U.S. State Department's official list of countries that allow slavery. Malaysia, which recently found over a hundred graves of discarded slaves, has been on the U.S. State Department's “Tier 3” list of slave nations, along with North Korea, Zimbabwe, Syria, and Iran, but, unlike those other countries, Obama wants Malaysia to be included in his Trans Pacific Partnership; so, he has decided to remove Malaysia from that official list
Jeb Bush: “People Need To Work Longer Hours.” Media Soften It
By Eric Zuesse
Jeb Bush, on July 8th: “My aspiration for the country, and I believe we can achieve it, is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours, and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That's the only way we're going to get out of this rut that we're in.”
A Reflection On Pope Francis’ Clarion Call To #sharetheplanet
By Adam Parsons
The Catholic Church has embraced a radical position on sharing the world’s resources, one that we would all do well to heed and ponder. But the real significance of Laudato Si’ is its powerful message on the centrality of ending poverty for healing the wider crises of climate change and environmental degradation
Messiah Politics or Grassroots Movements? Synoptic Description of Messiah Politics
By Jon Kofas
In 2001 throughout the Western World, the Middle East and North Africa, grassroots movements challenged mainstream politics, in which category belongs 'Messiah politics' - I would also characterize it as 'Savior politics' or 'hero-worship politics'. This is not to suggest that the choice in “social contracts”, as Enlightenment thinkers defined the concept, is between 'Messiah politics' - salvation from a Savior acting as a benevolent master of the masses - or grassroots movements invariably linked to protest, dissidence and /or revolution - salvation from below with the masses' participation
Child Rights And Death Of Young Mind In ILPS (Inner Line Permit System)
Agitation Of Manipur
By John Gaingamlung Gangmei
The tragic incident of 8th July 2015 is very disturbing, indigestible and unacceptable, a 16 year old boy Sapam Robinson of Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School of Imphal East was killed hit by a tear gas shell and many school going children (minor) were injured by the state force
Because Life Is A Gift
Book Review By Roshan
This awe-inspiring book tells the stories of 15 people from across India whom the author has encountered who have refused to let the severe physical disabilities and accompanying traumas that they have suffered make them give up on life. They have chosen to respond to the enormous pain they have undergone in amazingly positive ways, bringing hope and cheer to themselves as well as to many others. For us, who often feel overwhelmed by the challenges that life inevitably throws up at almost every corner, these ‘disabled’ or ‘differently-abled’ people have a powerful and compelling message of hope: Never give up, no matter what the odds, for life is a beautiful gift!
09 July, 2015
China Share Rout Hits Global Markets
By Nick Beams
Chinese financial authorities have banned major shareholders, corporate executives and directors from selling their shares in listed companies for a period of six months. The ban is the latest in a series of increasingly desperate moves to try to halt the crash of the Chinese stock market, amid indications it is beginning to impact on the rest of the world. The move was announced in the wake of a further decline in share prices yesterday, which saw the key Shanghai Composite Index close down by 5.9 percent, after losing as much as 8 percent during the course of the day. The Shenzen index also lost 2.5 percent. For more than a week, the government and financial authorities have unveiled a series of measures to try to boost markets, but all have failed
Are Big Banks Using Derivatives To Suppress Bullion Prices?
By Paul Craig Roberts & Dave Kranzler
We have explained on a number of occasions how the Federal Reserves’ agents, the bullion banks (principally JPMorganChase, HSBC, and Scotia) sell uncovered shorts (“naked shorts”) on the Comex (gold futures market) in order to drive down an otherwise rising price of gold. By dumping so many uncovered short contracts into the futures market, an artificial increase in “paper gold” is created, and this increase in supply drives down the price
The Pope Francis Encyclical And Its Economics
By Brent Blackwelder
The Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis is attracting extraordinary attention for its message on global warming, deforestation, loss of biological diversity, and other pressing environmental issues. What is less well known is the extensive critique of the global economy found in his 184-page Encyclical. This blog highlights some of the significant points that Pope Francis makes about the need for systemic economic change
Peace Lessons
By David Swanson
I just read what may be the best introduction to peace studies I’ve ever seen. It’s called Peace Lessons, and is a new book by Timothy Braatz. It’s not too fast or too slow, neither obscure nor boring. It does not drive the reader away from activism toward meditation and “inner peace,” but begins with and maintains a focus on activism and effective strategy for revolutionary change in the world on the scale that is needed. As you may be gathering, I’ve read some similar books about which I had major complaints
Wikipedia As Propaganda Not History — MH17 As An Example
By Eric Zuesse
Wikipedia's English-language article about the 17 July 2014 shoot-down of the MH17 Malaysian airliner is a shameless propaganda-piece by the U.S. Government and its agents. Its (at present) 320 footnote-sources don't include any of the many reports (virtually all in the foreign press) that present evidence the Ukrainian government shot down this airliner. Among the important issues that aren't even raised, are: why was the Ukrainian government given veto-power over any final report which will be issued by the official four-nation MH17 investigating team: Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Ukraine? Why was Ukraine even included in this team to investigate a crime in which one of the two main suspects is the Ukrainian government itself?
Dirty Energy vs. Clean Power : The Past Battles The Future At Seneca Lake
By Ellen Cantarow
There's a battle brewing between the burgeoning clean-energy future embraced by this region and the dirty energy sources on which this planet has been running since the Industrial Revolution. Over the last six years,Crestwood Midstream Partners, a Texas-based corporation, has been pushing to build a gas storage and transportation hub for the entire northeastern United States at Seneca Lake
President Bernie Sanders: What Would It Mean?
By John Spritzler
If there ever is a President Bernie Sanders, all of the evidence indicates that within a few years the people who voted for him will be as angry at him and regretful of being decieved by him as people who voted for Barack Obama are today angry at him and regretful of being deceived by him. Because the fundamental role of the federal government will continue to be to serve the Billionaire class, its policies will continue to anger most people, despite the presence of a Bernie Sanders in the Oval Office. The choice for Americans will remain what it has always been: either suffer to live as wage slaves in a dictatorship of the rich that gives a bit more one day only to take it back the next, or make an egalitarian revolution to live as free and equal citizens in a genuine democracy
Pakistan In Search Of Political Change
By Mahboob A. Khawaja
It is hard to expect the National Assembly as is to act against Sharif, only to reaffirm its irrelevance and incompetence being a stooge of the rulers and unable to provide workable democratic option for change - when facts of life warrant a change, the responsible institutions must respond to facilitate change to safeguard the national interests, freedom and integrity of the country
08 July, 2015
Euro Zone Summit Rejects Emergency Funds For Greece, Issues Austerity Ultimatum
By Barry Grey & Chris Marsden
Leaders of the 19 euro zone countries on Tuesday rejected appeals from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for “bridge” loans to avert a collapse of the Greek banking system. Instead, they gave the Syriza-led government two days to submit a plan for the implementation of austerity measures decisively rejected by Greek workers and youth in Sunday’s referendum
Greece And The EU Situation
By Paul Craig Roberts
The first response of most EU politicians to the Greek referendum outcome was to bluster about Greece exiting Europe. Washington is not prepared for this to happen and has told its vassals to give the Greeks a deal that they can accept that will keep them within the EU. Washington has a higher interest than the interests of the US financial interests who purchased discounted sovereign debt with a view toward profiting from a deal that pays 100 cents on the dollar. Washington also has higher interest than the interests of the European One Percent intent on using Greece’s indebtedness to loot the country of its national assets. Washington’s higher interest is the protection of the unity of the EU and, thereby, NATO, Washington’s mechanism for bringing conflict to Russia
Germany's Per Capita Government Debt Plus Carbon Debt
Greatly Exceeds Greece's
By Dr Gideon Polya
The pro-One Percenter Eurozone and IMF demand timely repayment of Greece's Government Debt but ignore the huge Carbon Debt of major industrialized countries like Germany that measures huge and deadly global environmental damage. The per capita Government Debt plus Carbon Debt is much greater for Germany than for Greece which should insist with indebted Developing Countries that Carbon Debt is also put on the repayment and global action discussion table
What Greece, Cyprus, And Puerto Rico Have In Common
By Gail Tverberg
We all know one thing that Greece, Cyprus, and Puerto Rico have in common–severe financial problems. There is something else that they have in common–a high proportion of their energy use is from oil
Slogan Choices In A White Supremacist Culture
By Mickey Z.
As I made my way through a jam-packed Athens Square Park with my camera, I encountered a large banner that read, in part: FROM NEW YORK TO GREECE WE REVOLT BECAUSE WE CAN’T BREATHE. I’m aware of the Frantz Fanon reference (“When we revolt it's not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe”) but um… the last time I checked, Greece is in Europe and HELLO, this is 2015 NYC, where: “We can’t breathe” = Eric Garner = Black Lives Matter. Translation: I am not downplaying the crisis in Greece when I ask: WTF?
Greece: It All Seems So Clear – And So Complicated
By Siv O'Neall
We, the progressives in Europe, are so fed up with the total lack of democracy and transparency in this Big-Corporation run EU that we would rather see it fall apart. It was created to be a vassal to the Empire and its ruling Corporatocracy, and it has managed to bring austerity and increased economic inequality to most European countries. We are all suffering, retirees and the young the most, and the southern countries are the worst off of all. We all see the Greek No to further slaving under the money lending tyrants as a sign that we too can stand up and say NO
Why Does The West Hate Mugabe?
By Tsungai Chipato
In reviewing the man we will need to engage in the difficult and unpleasant issue of separating domestic politics from the actual man in order to understand how he as Mugabe; ended up influencing the very same domestic policy he is now known for worldwide. Ground zero to understanding this man should start with the year 1924, the year he was born and the generation into which he was born to
U.S. Wealth-Concentration: The Most-Accurate Current Estimates
By Eric Zuesse
Wealthiest Tenth (10%) of Americans Own 75% of America; They Draw 40% of All U.S. Income.
Wealthiest Hundredth (1%) of Americans Own 43% of America; They Draw 20% of All U.S. Income
Wealthiest Thousandth (0.1%) of Americans Own 22% of America; They Draw 8% of All U.S. Income.
Wealthiest Ten-Thousandth (0.01%) Own 11.2% of America; They Draw 5% of All U.S. Income.
Most Attitudes And Beliefs Are Outcomes Of Fear
By Robert J. Burrowes
We cannot terrorise individuals into reaching their evolutionary potential. But we can listen, deeply, to assist them to travel their unique path in the fulfilment of their destiny
AFSPA: After 25 Years The Dark Shadow Still Continues In Kashmir
By Shamim Zakaria
As I pen down this piece Jammu and Kashmir completes 25 dreadful years under the purview of the draconian law Arms Forces Special Power Act and this law has just given enough room for numerous horrendous incidents as above! Enforced in the northern Himalayan state in 1990, according to reports AFSPA officially became active from July 5. 25 years of painful presence, 25 years of relentless objection, 25 years of opportunistic politics, 25 years of gruesome bloodshed yet the grim hue continues to hover over the majestic grandeur of the valley
Kashmir: Democracy or Autocracy? Even At Highest Institute Of Learning
By Imran Khan
Indian Government, J&K government, Army and J&K police need to remind themselves the preamble of Indian constitution and the fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens. Student and scholars hold books and pens in their hands. They are the future and cream of our society. They deserve full respect, free and peaceful space for learning and research. If denied all of that, then such a day may be the darkest day for Kashmir. For GOD sake at least allow them to breathe freely
Charges For “Mercy”!
By Mohammad Ashraf
If Delhi really cares for Kashmiris and considers them Indian nationals, they should immediately take up on war footing the flood prevention measures through resourceful global agencies on a turnkey basis within a definite time frame regardless of the state government’s own administrative lethargy. Other programmes can wait! Kashmiris are very resilient and patient. But there is a saying “Beware of the fury of a patient man”!
The Radical Responsibility Of Knowledge
By Romi Mahajan
When opinions are backed with facts, data, experience, and studied intuition, they are the most powerful force in the world- they can liberate, push us to innovate, and impel change. When they stem from intellectual laziness or abundant self-interest, they are the forces that shackle progressivism. Knowledge comes with a radical responsibility. Knowledge is welcome
07 July, 2015
The Greeks Have Spoken: What Happens Next?
By Kavaljit Singh
There are two possible scenarios that stand out, at this critical juncture. First, a new deal is feasible if the European leaders realize the true importance of ‘No’ vote. The message of Greek referendum is loud and clear: harsh austerity measures imposed by the EU lack democratic legitimacy. And the debt relief should not be treated as a taboo. The second scenario revolves around a Grexit. There is no denying that the prolonged stalemate may lead to more defaults in the coming weeks, thereby increasing the chances of a Greece exit from the Eurozone which would have grave consequences for both sides
In Ecuador, Fight For Mankind; In Greece, Fight For Greece!
By Andre Vltchek
If Ecuador will get under direct fire, I will go back, and I will stand by it, doing all I could to support it. And if the Western Left will do nothing to help, I will break, fully and categorically, all my ties with it! As many wrote: Greece will survive. “It is, after all, in Europe”. Even when it is down, it is, somehow, up. We, “down here”, will not have another chance. And if we fall, entire non-Western world will fall with us!
Debt Slavery
By John Scales Avery
At the moment, the issue of debt slavery is very topical because of the case of Greece; but it is an issue that has a far more general significance
Israel’s Army Of Spin-Doctors Is Doomed To Defeat
By Jonathan Cook
The Israeli government believes it is locked in an epic struggle to save Israel from the growing movement calling for an international boycott. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Israel must quickly “rebrand” itself to avoid pariah status. Ordinary Israelis are therefore being conscripted into an army of spin-doctors in a campaign termed “hasbara” – Hebrew for “public diplomacy”, or more literally “propaganda”
Unions Must Act Now To Survive Supreme Court Deathblow
By Shamus Cooke
Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.”
Workers’ Guide To Health And Safety
Book Review By Kim Scipes
Health and safety is about as boring a subject there is for most workers: they don’t want to hear about this “crap,” they just want to get the job done. Yet we now have a new book, published in May 2015—based on 10 years of work, field-tested by workers in a number of countries around the world, and with an enticing cover—that not only advances health and safety in workplaces, but does it from a worker-centered, pro-union, organizing perspective
Neoliberalism, Fukushima, And The Pope’s Letter
By Mateo Pimentel
Unless the history, politics, economics, and ecological elements of nuclear energy and entities like Fukushima all garner attention, there is no way of telling what the resultant half-life of the poor’s oppression will be
I Love GMO: The Warped World Of The Pro-GMO Lobbyist
By Colin Todhunter
There’s a massive spike in cancer cases in Argentina that is strongly associated with glyphosate-based herbicides. These herbicides are a huge earner for agribusiness. But don’t worry, Patrick Moore says you can drink a whole quart and it won’t harm you. Who needs independent testing? He says people regularly try to commit suicide with it but fail. They survived - just. So what’s the problem? Perfectly safe. Patrick Moore says he is ‘not an idiot’. So he must be right. Right?
Wrong Development Priority In Spite Of Socio-Economic Census
And National Sample Survey Findings
By Dr Rahul Pandey
Partial results of two important official surveys were released recently. They point to dismal living standards of India’s rural population and rising cost of health and education beyond the means of ordinary citizens. In spite of this reality the Modi government is undermining the public health and public education sectors among other social infrastructures, as reflected in its funding priorities. This does not bode well for future living standards of India’s ordinary citizens who are already struggling with meeting basic needs
Does It Matter How An Average Indian Lives?
By Romi Mahajan
How then do we reconcile our affirmative answer to the question with the paucity of effort we expend actually spending time with the average Indian, learning about her life, and helping her with her needs? Is this reconciliation simply a fundamental part of privilege or is there something deeper afoot? Can we ever hope to live responsibly if we continue to live with the dissonance between what we profess and what we do?
The World Forum Of Fisher People’s (WFFP) International Meeting Will Be Held
From 14th July To 19th July, 2015 At Pondicherry, India
By National Fish Workers Forum
The World Forum of Fisher People’s (WFFP) was the outcome of the meet of the leaders of the International fisher communities held at New Delhi in 1997.The World Forum of Fisher People’s (WFFP) International meeting will be held from 14th July to 19th July, 2015 at Pondicherry, India. The fisher community leaders from 30 countries including USA, UK, France, Italy, Canada, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Spain, Kenya, Denmark, Argentina, Brazil and Mauritania will participate in the meeting
Dolls Also Have A Story To Tell
By Priyanka Dass Saharia
Stringed marionettes; a riot of colours, sparkling sequin jackets, maroon pleated skirts and kohl rimmed eyes - all add to a certain candour. The dolls come alive. The intimate lives of the diverse communities in this spatial polyglot; the everyday and the ordinary come together with the ethereal and extraordinary in these embodied artefacts
06 July, 2015
People In Greece Say No To creditors: Democracy With Dignity Wins
By Farooque Chowdhury
With their decisive voice – No to cruel creditors – the people in Greece have stood for democracy with dignity. It’s a victory for people; it’s a victory for democracy; it’s a victory for dignity. It’s a victory in people’s political fight against the brutal bankers who were bleeding Greece white. It’s a verdict against austerity, poverty, loot of public property. It’s historic
Ukrainian Govt. Acknowledges Some Of Its Leaders Are Nazis
By Eric Zuesse
On July 3rd, the Ukrainian newspaper Vesti headlined “The Ministry of Justice Acknowledges UNA-UNSO Collaborated with Nazis,” and reported that, “Ukraine's Ministry of Justice has officially recognized that the members of the Ukrainian nationalist organization UNA-UNSO fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War.” It went on to note that, “On Ma22 of last year, the State Registration Service renamed the party of UNA-UNSO as the Right Sector Party, which is led by Dmitriy Yarosh.”
“Islam” As A Conduit For Western Terrorism
By Ghali Hassan
Terrorism is an instrument used by powerful Western governments to justify violent aggression and geopolitical domination. If the U.S. and U.S. allies really want to defeat terrorism, including ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria, they would stop arming and financing the terrorists and stop participating in terrorism
David Attenborough Desperately Needs To Catch Up On Pope Francis
By Lionel Anet
We need factual information almost immediately, that’s generally available to enable an interconnected change to be in time to avoid the high possibility of billions of deaths. It’s a matter of the wealthy few to realise their defencelessness in the face of global warming and associated danger, and that money may even be a liability for them. Presently we tend to see those people as our enemies, but if we are to influence the wealthy ones, which is the first step to our survival, we must see them like everyone, as potential friends for our survival
Jamaica’s First World Heritage Listing
By Marianne de Nazareth
The Blue and John Crow Mountains has become Jamaica’s first World Heritage site with immediate effect, following advice from IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, responsible for evaluating the site’s natural values. Extensions of South Africa’s Cape Floral Region Protected Areas and Viet Nam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park were also approved by the World Heritage Committee, as recommended by IUCN. The announcements were made at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting taking place in Bonn, Germany
A Far Fetched Feminist Demand
By Sushmita Verma
Women do not live in their vaginas and hence feeding into the mass rhetoric of sexual violence being graver than other forms of violence that women endure, we, as feminists contradict our own arguments. While demanding law reforms we need to prioritise civil remedies like shelter homes, healthcare, counseling which provide an alternative strutcture to the women. Strong campaigns to salvage the DV Act from impending dilution would be a parallel step. Only then can we demand other amendements within the act itself. Moreover, the bigger question that we need to answer would be, whether the normalization of domestic violence is okay with us while we raise a certain kind of violence to the pedestal ?
04 July, 2015
Mass Demonstration Opposes Austerity In Greece
By Robert Stevens & Christoph Dreier
Athens: Ahead of Sunday’s referendum a massive protest took place in Athens Friday evening, in opposition to the austerity programme of the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund. In a show of defiance, tens of thousands of people packed Athens’ central Syntagma Square in front of the parliament building. The main sentiment expressed by the crowd was a determination to end years of austerity. Among them were many young people
Greece And Other Musings On July 4th
By Paul Craig Roberts
If Greeks are unable to discern their own interests when they vote Sunday, Americans have no right to say anything about it as Americans have proven over and over that they are incapable of knowing their own interests
USA Celebrates Profitable Genocide: Enslaving Africans To
Destroying 6 Muslim Nations!
By Jay Janson
Independence Holiday in the USA becomes a time when citizens tend to reflect on the nations 238 year history. It is a history typical of six European empires in the areas of genocide and plunder. Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. plural: genocides; review of USA's; update on present and future prosecution thereof
Ecuador Fights For Survival – Against Its Elites
By Andre Vltchek
Leaders of the “opposition” will wait until arrival of Pope Francis, or perhaps they will wait bit longer, until his departure from Ecuador. Then they will hit. And they will hit hard. The mayor of Quito leads the anti-government forces in the capital. The government should not follow the path of President Allende. It has to counter-attack, before it is too late! Treason is serious crime in all societies. And treason is exactly what Ecuadorean elites are now committing!
If ISIS Doesn’t Liberate Palestine… Who Will?
By Franklin Lamb
Young, fit Palestinians are at last being offered a job in a country where they are forbidden by law to work or own a home. Da’ish is reportedly paying an average of $300 a month, promising two and sometimes three days off each week to visit one’s family, cash bonuses for marriage and one-time child subsidies of $400 per child. Subsidies for food of $70 a month are also being offered, in the face of the fact that UNWRA has just reduced monthly cash for food stipends to a mere $30 per month. One can imagine what some of the camp residents are thinking: which horse is the best bet for an improved life and for full return to our own country? Based on conversations with recently-arrived Palestinian refugees from Syria, as well as old friends in Lebanon’s camps, this observer is confident that today only a small percentage of Palestinians are responding to the siren-call of ISIS. But tomorrow?
From Satyabhama To Satyabhama
By K.P. Sasi
This Satyabhama in Kandhamal was again a poor woman like the Satyabhama in Chattisgarh. Both expressed immense courage in different contexts. What is more important for us is to recognise that Satyabhama in Kandhamal is alive and we must know more about all such Satyabhamas in this country, if we have to understand the words lke `secular India’ enshrined in our Indian Constitution. It is on this living Satyabhama that I would like to share some words with you
Can’t Forget What You Didn’t Know- Fred Branfman’s
“Voices From The Plain Of Jars” And The Question Of Responsibility
By Romi Mahajan
“Voices from the Plain of Jars” helped me cure myself of ignorance on one slaughter. It’s a step on the path to a responsible life
Not So Intellectuals…
By Nazir Gillo
The illegal detention of Muzamil Farooq, a PG student of Kashmir’s University’s English Department and its follow-up left a blot on highest seat of learning in Kashmir. The incident, which not only triggered huge demonstrations by students but also exposed how our intellectuals and premiere institutions are being overshadowed and trespassed by military might in Kashmir
03 July, 2015
Greece: Sunday’s Vote Will Determine Liberty Or Serfdom
By Paul Craig Roberts
The greatest and most successful propaganda scam in history is the one that convinces the world that they are nobody if they are not part of The West, the indispensable peoples, the exceptional peoples. If you are not part of The West you are nobody, nonexistent, a nothing. This prevailing propaganda might prevail in Greece on Sunday, in which case a fearful and intimidated Greek population might vote against the only government that, instead of accepting a payoff from Greece’s enemies, fought for the welfare of the Greek people
The Artificiality Of Greek Debt And Its Odious Nature
By Ilias Bantekas
The measures imposed against the Greek people were wholly antithetical to fundamental human rights as these stem from customary international law, multilateral treaties and the Greek constitution. Consequently, these ‘loans’ were held to be odious, illegal or illegitimate. The recommendation of the Committee was that Greece was not only entitled but obliged to unilaterally repudiate such illegal, odious and illegitimate debts on account of its international human rights obligations and economic self-determination
The Never Ending Saga Of Greece’s Debt Crisis
By Kavaljit Singh
Everyone agrees that Greece’s current public debt is unsustainable. Hence, a debt relief should be the starting point for negotiating a new program. The Eurozone creditors should write off at least half of its debt to Greece while the Greek government needs to tackle massive tax evasion by country's oligarchs besides streamlining its public finances in a time-bound manner. The Sunday’s referendum will be keenly watched by the world. Irrespective of its outcome, however one thing is certain: the Greek debt crisis saga is not going to end very soon
Good Health Requires Different Economics
By Dr. Trevor Hancock
For the past three years, I have been leading an important project for the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), which led to the release on May 25th of our Discussion Paper and a 100-page technical report on global change and public health. In these documents, we identify what we call the “ecological determinants of health”: clean air and water, food, materials, fuel, the great cycles of water, nitrogen and phosphorus, detoxification of wastes, climate stability, and others. These determinants of health come from the Earth’s natural ecosystems, and they are threatened by the massive and still growing human-induced global ecological changes now underway. These changes thus represent the greatest threat to the health of the public in the 21st century
Will The Real Issues Be Discussed In 2016?
By John Scales Avery
Let us fervently hope that in 2016 the real issues will be discussed with depth and honesty. Much depends on it, not only in the United States, but also throughout the world
The Surreal Quality Of American Racism
By Romi Mahajan
I was recently on a business trip in a major city and was walking back to my hotel when two white homeless men got into a scuffle in front of me. They exchanged words, a minor blow or two, and started yelling all manner of insults at each other. Finally, one of them (the lighter skinned one) called the other “Nigger.” He meant this as an insult. The darker-skinned (but white) man responded by saying that he was not a “Nigger.” This exchange went on in that vein (“You are an N”..”I ain’t an N.”….) for some time until the men separated and went their own ways
Amnesty International Should Break Its
Public Silence On Christine Mehta’s Deportation
By Ramesh Gopalakrishnan
Curiously, both Amnesty International’s International Secretariat and AI India remain silent on Mehta’s deportation even after she published her account. This is very unlike Greenpeace India, which has consistently raised the issue of sudden travel bans on its local staffer Priya Pillai (who was attempting to visit the UK for advocacy purposes) or international staffers (who was attempting to visit India with proper visas) over the last six months. As for Christine Mehta’s deportation, Amnesty International clearly owes her a public apology
Kashmir University: The Oppressed Voice
By Sajad Rasool
The episodes which have been taking place in Kashmir University for more than a week now are truly disturbing. The arrest of a student and the breakout of protests for his release by the fellow students is a very common reaction and genuine. This is not the first episode that took place at this highest seat of learning, but there are certain examples from the past, wherein state tried to oppress the student voices. From banning the Kashmir University Students Union to the arrest, thrashing, manhandling of various scholars and students at different occasions
The Other Side Of Gujarat Carnage
By abdul Majid Zargar
There is also another side to the Gujrat carnage- the story of humanity, brotherhood & compassion which also needs to be brought to fore . It is penned down by Harsh Mander in his book “Looking away- page 354” and I am reproducing it for the benefit of readers
'Pehchan' Has Given Transgender People A New 'Pehchan' (Identity)...
By Shobha Shukla
"Government recognition and societal acceptance of us--both are very necessary. My request to society is that please stop seeing us as only sex dolls-- a change in your attitude will do miracles"
02 July, 2015
Tsipras’s Surrender Rejected As Berlin Pushes For
Regime-Change In Greece
By Chris Marsden
Tsipras’s problem in securing his rotten agreement is that Germany, the leading imperialist power in Europe, is seeking nothing less than regime change in Greece and the installation of a government strong enough to impose, by force of arms if necessary, whatever attacks it demands on the working class
The Superpower Conundrum : The Rise And Fall Of Just About Everything
By Tom Engelhardt
The rise and fall of great powers and their imperial domains has been a central fact of history for centuries. It's been a sensible, repeatedly validated framework for thinking about the fate of the planet. So it's hardly surprising, when faced with a country once regularly labeled the “sole superpower,” “the last superpower,” or even the global “hyperpower” and now, curiously, called nothing whatsoever, that the “decline” question should come up. Is the U.S. or isn't it? Might it or might it not now be on the downhill side of imperial greatness?
CNN: Obama White House Lied ‘We Didn't Know About Hillary's Private Email'
By Eric Zuesse
On July 1st, CNN reported that "President Barack Obama's top aides, including David Axelrod, communicated with Hillary Clinton at her private email address while she was secretary of state,” and that, "Obama officials — including Axelrod — had said they were unaware Clinton was using a personal email address.”
Long Distance Running: An Interview With Veteran Peace Activist Doug Allen
Interviewed by Andy Piascik
Anyone who has done organizing on a college campus knows the difficulty of sustaining such work. Faculty come and go, students enroll and graduate, and even the most vibrant campaigns come to an abrupt end. In the best of circumstances, organizations, particularly activist ones, seldom last more than a few years. When Doug Allen arrived at the University of Maine in 1974, he helped found the Maine Peace Action Committee (MPAC) even though he had just recently been fired for his activist work by Southern Illinois University. Remarkably, 41 years later, MPAC is still going strong, continuing, among other things, to publish its newsletter, sponsor events, tackle campus issues, and participate in broader campaigns. A contingent of MPAC members, for example, participated in the Climate Justice March in New York this past September. Over those 41 years, Allen, Professor of Philosophy, has been the one MPAC constant. His work well illustrates how someone can devote their life -- long distance running -- to building a better world. He’s also a long-distance runner, literally, who, about to turn 74, still runs five days a week
Another Global Warming: A Rise In The Hate Temperature
By Arshad M Khan
Cloaking whole peoples, religions, races with the smear of anonymous undesirability epitomizes a bigotry one would have hoped might have disappeared in the twenty-first century. Yet it is on the rise, not just here but in Europe also. To be anti immigration and asylum seekers and all the they-are-not-us refugees, often from wars initiated or instigated by the West, is a popular stance, given gains in recent elections including the win this week in Denmark by the right wing party ousting Social Democrats. So it is. And I thought the world would be a happier place by now
Jihad-e-Ramzan
By Sazzad Hussain
The armed groups that presently galore in the Middle-East and West-Asia have not spared the holy month to be free of violence and bloodshed for their mad rush to establish the Kingdom of God which they call Jihad. Recently the dreaded IS attacked 38 innocent British tourists in Tunisia, attacked a factory in Lyon France, Shia mosque attack in Kuwait during Friday prayers and military check posts in Sinai, Egypt. Its daily atrocities on innocent civilians, prisoners and foreigners continue in occupied Iraq and Syria. On 25th June, the beginning of the second week of Ramzan fasting IS militants massacred 140 civilians, including women and children in the besieged Syrian city of Kobani on the Turkish border
Wikipedia’s Remaining Authenticity At Stake
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
As the Congress accused that there were some wrong pieces of information added in Wikipedia on the First Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru; the issue has become relevant again about the authenticity status of the Wikipedia. Among the educational community world over; Wikipedia content does not carry mush esteem due to authenticity deficit
Police Brutality In Kashmir University
By A Student Of Kashmir University
I am writing this today on 28th of June, using my left hand, as my right hand was injured in a brutal lathicharge by the armed forces. Kashmir University saw one of the most inhuman and unforgivable faces of occupation on 25th of June, 2015. With the unanimous decision of students, this day will be commemorated every year as a Black Day in Kashmir University. Why did the students decide to call it a Black Day? What happened on 25th, and who will decide the authenticity of the day’s narrative?
01 July, 2015
Greece Defaults On Debt As Syriza Offers Alternative Austerity Package
By Chris Marsden
Eurozone finance ministers rejected Tuesday yet another offer from the Syriza-led government in Greece to impose austerity measures in return for a new €30 billion bailout from the European Union (EU). Without any additional funding, Greece missed repaying the latest tranche of its loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Greece Again Can Save The West
By Paul Craig Roberts
This would begin the unravelling of the EU and NATO and save the world from armageddon. Most likely, Italy and Spain would follow Greece out of the EU and NATO, as these countries also are targeted for merciless looting. The EU and NATO, Washington’s mechanism for creating conflict with Russia, would unravel. The world would be saved and would owe its salvation to the ability of the Greeks to realize what really is at stake. Just as they did at Marathon, Thermopylae, Plateau and Mycale. It is difficult to imagine another scenario that would save us from World War III. Pray that the Greeks understand the responsibility that is in their hands not merely for liberty but also for life on earth
Baskin’s Generous Offer: Making Peace With Israeli Occupation
By Ramzy Baroud
In the article, Baskin offers a way to manage the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem. Not an end to the occupation, but a gentler way to sustain it, if not profit from it. The co-chairman of ‘Israel Palestine Creative Regional Initiatives’ is indeed being ‘creative’, the kind of creativity that brought about the Village Leagues, Oslo and the Geneva Initiative without truly delving into the heart of the matter – the illegality and brutality of Israel’s occupation, sieges and wars
Iraqi Voices Are Screaming From Far Away
By David Swanson
Ali Issa's new book, Against All Odds: Voices of Popular Struggle in Iraq, collects interviews he's done of key Iraqi activists, and public statements made by Iraqi activist movements, including a letter to the U.S. Occupy Movement and similar messages of global solidarity. The voices are hard to hear because we haven't been hearing them all these years, and because they don't fit with lies we've been told or even with overly simplistic truths we've been told
Media Uncritical Of Justifications For Shooting Escaped Convict
By Matt Peppe
After nearly a month on the run after breaking out of a maximum-security prison in Upstate New York, convicted murder David Sweat was shot on Sunday by a New York State trooper and apprehended. Two days earlier fellow convicted murderer and escapee Richard Matt was shot dead by a federal agent nearby. While Governor Andrew Cuomo was quick to label Sergeant Jay Cook, who shot and captured Sweat, a "hero" - a claim that was repeated by CNN, the Daily News, Time and many other outlets - there was no serious analysis about whether Cook's use of lethal force was legally justified
All Houses In Mandala, Mumbai Demolished; Hundreds In Police Custody
By NAPAM
At 10.30 am today, hundreds of police people along with MMRDA officials, private security-people and half a dozen bulldozers demolished all the houses that people had re-built as part of the Ghar Haq Satyagraha in Mandala ten days ago
Next Generations Of Okhla May Be Genetically Defective!
By Abdul Rashid Agwan
Thanks to the dioxins, emitted by the so-called Okhla Waste-to-Energy Plant, the next generations taking birth in Okhla area may be genetically deformed. By definition, dioxin is “a highly toxic compound produced as a by-product in some manufacturing processes. It is a serious and persistent environmental pollutant
Why The FTII Strike Matters
By Shini J.K
The people who asks how the appointment of FTII chairman affects the public, and those people who asks, where FTII was when saffronisation, right wing agenda and the financial repercussions of neo-colonialist interests, existed alongside, our conversation is with them
All Aboard The P (For Patriarchy) Train
By Mickey Z.
If you’re a man who rides the NYC subway, you can help in two ways: 1. Don’t sexually assault anyone. 2. Call out and confront men who do
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