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20 December , 2012

At The Edge Of The Carbon Cliff
By Stephen Leahy

The most important number in history is now the annual measure of carbon emissions. That number reveals humanity’s steady billion-tonne by billion-tonne march to the edge of the carbon cliff, beyond which scientists warn lies a fateful fall to catastrophic climate change. With the global total of climate-disrupting emissions likely to come in at around 52 gigatons (billion metric tonnes) this year, we’re already at the edge, according to new research

The Role Of Carbon Sequestration In Reversing Anthropogenic Climate Change
By Anandi Sharan

Capitalism and the middle class have thus given humanity a formidable challenge. Not only must we overthrow capitalism, we must introduce in its place scientific social and ecological systems to address the problems the previous world system created

Activists, Lawyers Tortured In Iran
By Countercurrents.org

There are reports of torture and detention of activists, lawyers in Iran. There is also a steady stream of refugees seeking asylum in many countries. A Human Rights Watch report released in mid-December said

Call To Release Report On CIA’s Secret Detention And Interrogation
By Countercurrents.org

There is call to release the report on CIA’s detention, and torture

Syria: Rebel Controlled Yarmouk Palestinian Camp Empties Pending Government Counter-Attack
By Franklin Lamb

The near term will reveal the fate of Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp and who, in the coming battle, are the winners. But it is sure that Souha and all Palestinian refugees ethnically cleansed from their homes in Palestine are once again the losers

The End Is Near: It’s Not Mayan Prophecy, It’s US imperialism
By Colin Todhunter

But, regardless of any prophecy, I can guarantee right now that the world will shortly be coming to an end - for many people. US-backed conflict in Syria will fuel even more death and destruction in that unfortunate country. The US is banking on it

Mali: West Africa’s Gate To Convenient Chaos, Intervention
By Ramzy Baroud

France is insisting on ‘rapid’ military intervention in Mali. Its unmanned drones have reportedly been scouring the desert of the troubled West African nation - although it claims that the drones are seeking the whereabouts of six French hostages believed to be held by Al-Qaeda. The French are likely to get their wish, especially following the recent political fiasco engineered by the country’s strong man and coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo

Pakistan: Ethnic Violence In Karachi Deadliest Since 1994
By Ali Ismail

According to the Citizens’ Police Liaison Committee, a civic organization that works in partnership with the Karachi police force, violence in the city had claimed 1,938 lives as of late November, the deadliest year since 1994, when the organization first began collecting figures. Police tallies put the number of dead at 1,897 through mid-October. Many more people have been killed since the release of these figures

Learning Our Penchant For Mass Murder
By Mike Ferner

As a nation we mourn with the families and loved ones of those so frightfully killed and wounded in Connecticut last week. But as grief is joined by reflection on how this could happen again, I believe we do those close to the victims as well as ourselves a disservice unless “all options are on the table” as we examine Americans’ predilection for killing en masse

A Canadian Gun Owner's Response To New Town
By James Wiebe

If the American establishment genuinely seeks to curb violence in it’s civil society perhaps it would do well to examine it’s actions abroad

Let Independent Dogs Be
By N. Jayaram

Having ousted sparrows, albeit inadvertently, from Bangalore and some other cities, the Karnataka state authorities have set their sights on deliberately banishing another species which too is a source of great delight to vast numbers of humans – independent canines, usually referred to as stray dogs

Human Rights Violations Of Minorities: Effects And Repercussions
By Ram Puniyani

The violation of human rights is the outcome of rising tide of communal violence and the infiltration of communal politics in our body politic. The elements believing in communal politics have found place in different arena of our society as well due to which the divisive tendencies are going up leading to the violation of human rights of religious minorities. These are the processes which supplement and strengthen each other

Need to Agitate Beyond The Biology Of Rape
By Shantanu Mehra

The social context become pertinent and is reflected in responses to the rape cases which get media attention. There was little (if not none) protest against a Dalit widow being raped at around the same time. In this case, there were only few local activists who were advocating for her cause. What were the reasons of the lack of coverage let alone outrage? She being Dalit, or she being in a village? This hints that there is a category of women abuse against which we are more tolerant of as compared to others

Growing Rapes In India - Why Are Our Fathers And Brothers Silent?
By Cynthia Stephen

Friends, Brothers, fellow Indians, will you join your sisters in our struggle to reclaim our humanity - and restore you to yours?

Colombo To Kabul Calling: End Violence Against Women Now
By Pamela Philipose

The statistics tumble out of conflict zones and bedrooms; street alleys and college campuses. Violence against women remains the most common, most persistent and the most ‘accepted’ form of human rights violations that take place in South Asia

India: Giving Birth Threatens Life In Tribal Odisha
By Sarada Lahangir

Health care and transportation support for pregnant women in rural areas is almost non-existent, local PHCs are poorly equipped, the referral chain is weak, and health providers are missing. Add to this the high anaemia levels and poor nutrition of the average Indian woman, and the reason why India and Nigeria together account for a third of maternal deaths globally is not hard to understand

Lessons From Post-Conflict Sudan: Sing Songs, Build Health
By Kamayani Bali Mahabal

How participatory research as well as the development of songs and other communication tools for low literacy communities could be used to improve women’s health all over the world – including in the global north

19 December , 2012

General Prosecutor Confirms Torture And Rape of
Detained Women In Iraq

By Dirk Adriaensens

The chairman of the Iraqi List, Hamid al-Mutlaq, said in a press conference in Baghdad on 18 December: " Iraqi prosecutors have submitted today a report to the Chairman of the Iraqi judiciary Medhat al-Mahmoud that confirms the occurrence of torture and violations and rape of women detained in Iraqi prisons. The report is based on confidential testimonies of female prisoners in Iraqi jails."

Washington Raises Specter Of Al Qaeda Seizing Syrian Chemical Weapons
By Bill Van Auken

Having first issued threats against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad over unspecified intelligence regarding its chemical weapons, the Obama administration is now warning that these arms may fall into the hands of the “rebels” which Washington itself has backed

Veterans For Peace Opposes Military Intervention In Syria
By Veterans for Peace

Veterans For Peace urgently calls on the United States and NATO to cease all military activity in Syria, halt all US and NATO shipments of weapons, and abandon all threats to further escalate the violence under which the people of Syria are suffering

Millions Die From Car Emission In India And China
By Countercurrents.org

Surge in car use in south and east Asia killed 2.1m people prematurely in 2010, says a study published by Lancet

Part Of USA Will Be Warmer, Wetter, More Rain Than Snow, Studies Find
By Countercurrents.org

Eastern United States will be hotter and wetter. The region will experience more severe heat waves. New York will be experiencing the highest hike in heat. There will be greater risk of flooding. Winter in the Northeast United States will be significantly warmer and wetter, with more rain likely than snow

Two Years After The Tunisian Uprising: Strikes And Tension Mount
By Countercurrents.org

Two years after the uprising against the autocrat Ben Ali, the present day Tunisia is increasingly gripped with socio-political tension. The Islamist president and speaker in the country were stoned. The president was heckled by the people in another incident. At the same time, assaults on non-Moslems are on the rise

Thousands Of UK Households To Fall Into Fuel Poverty
By Countercurrents.org

It’s winter and new energy price hikes could push about 300,000 UK households into fuel poverty within weeks. The number will be nine million within 2016

Sustainable Planet? The Silent Crisis
By Brian McGavin

Today there is a ‘Silent Crisis’ in our midst. The crisis, still largely unrecognised, is potentially greater than all the other problems that transfix our policy makers. For many decades now there has been a wilful blindness in recognising that relentless human population growth is one of the pre-eminent problems we face

No! She Did Not "Ask" For It!
By Devika Mittal

Even when it is not a “punishment”, rape is not considered a crime in our society. It is a “mistake” and a “fault” of the rape victim. She had “provoked” the rapist through her “indecent” dress, behavior or because she was of a “Loose” character. The farce about “indecent” dress is barbaric and illogical

The Rape In Delhi And The Neglect Of Public Transport
By Vidyadhar Date

The horrible gang rape and assault on a girl medical student in New Delhi on the night of December 16 has led to calls for hanging and castration of the criminals. But the incident needs to be seen more critically in the wider social context of the neglect of public transport and people’s basic needs of mobility. Unlike other rapes this has taken place in a public transport vehicle, though it is privately owned. The authorities are as responsible as the culprits

Breaking Bad In Newtown
By Michael Robeson

Newtown, like Aurora and Columbine, demonstrates the extremes to which youths can be driven to - youths whose lives have been made desperate by the lies and hypocrisies of desperate adults who know how to act as if their charades were perfectly normal and that anyone who thinks otherwise is cynical or nuts, or simply not a grown up

Tensions Between Iran And The U.S. Will Not Exist Forever: Stephen Eric Bronner
By Kourosh Ziabari

Noted U.S. political scientist says that although the United States and Iran have some differences and disagreements on regional and international issues, they will finally put aside the conflicts and move toward reconciliation and rapprochement because they have certain common interests

IPBES: An Unbearable Burden
By S.Faizi

Surplus income of some countries and under-employed experts when combined together can create global havocs. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one such havoc. It is an unnecessary duplication of existing organisations and can do more harm than good in furthering the triple objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Perhaps that is what it is meant to be

Kol’s Struggle For Their Identity In Uttar-Pradesh
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

There are hundreds of communities in India particularly those who are indigienous but have become victim of our political system. Kol is an aadivasi community but the governments in Uttar Pradesh have not considered it fit to give them the recognition of an aadivasi community under Scheduled Tribe category. This demand for identity has long been raised by the community in Bundelkhand but the governments so far have remained mute

Children Of Forlorn
By Sethu Nezeer

A poem that depicts the plight of the children whose mothers are detained in jail for their struggle against Koodankulam nuclear power plant and are forced to shed their childhood and take up the Armour of men to fight the system without even having the luxury to moan over their loses

CRPF Kills Unarmed Villagers And Terms It ‘Encounter With Maoists' In Odisha
By Coordination Of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO)

Following an outcry against the alleged killing of five tribals/Maoists in an ‘encounter', near Bhaliaguda village of Gajapati district of Odisha, a six-member team of individuals representing CDRO and Women against Sexual Violence and State Violence (WSS) visited Odisha from 8 December to 9 December 2012. Here is the fact finding report

Shattering Myths Can Be Dangerous
By William T. Hathaway

A review of Gaither Stewart's new novel, Lily Pad Roll

18 December , 2012

Israel Considering Attack On Syria
By Jean Shaoul

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has twice asked Jordan for its support to bomb Syria’s alleged chemical weapons facilities. Citing intelligence sources in Israel and Jordan, The Atlantic wrote that, while Israel could attack without Jordanian approval—as it did when it bombed an alleged nuclear installation in September 2007

Obama's War On Syria And Its Implications
By Shamus Cooke

The Obama administration has already declared war on Syria, even if it isn't "official" yet. Consider the facts, all of them acts of war: The U.S. now recognizes a group of Syrian exiles to be the official government of Syria; the U.S. is providing direct support for rebels attacking the government; the U.S. has coordinated with NATO to place advanced missile systems — and 400 U.S. troops — on Syria's border with Turkey

Syria: The Descent Into Holy War
By Patrick Cockburn

The world decided to back the rebels last week, but this is no fight between goodies and baddies

Could You Survive On $2 A Day?
By Gabriel Thompson

Nearly 1.4 million American households live on that much per person. Gabriel Thompson reports from one of the nation's poorest areas

Understanding Hamas At 25: Beyond The Tired Language
By Ramzy Baroud

At 25, Hamas has morphed in its status and importance, and within that prominence lays its strengths and weaknesses. In order to maintain a level of power and to safeguard its political evolution, it has no other option but to become even more dependent on other parties, Egypt notwithstanding, whose prospects for stability are receding by the day

Boycott Israeli Products, Calls The Palestine PM
By Countercurrents.org

Salaam Fayyad, premier of Palestine, has called on Palestinians to boycott Israeli products in protest against Israel's withholding of funds to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority

Muslim Brotherhood Claims Victory
By Countercurrents.org

Recriminations have broken out over Egypt's constitutional referendum even before the two-stage vote has been completed, with the Muslim Brotherhood claiming victory and the opposition complaining of rigging and insisting the no camp has triumphed

Gaza Is No Longer Occupied. Really?
By Roger Waters

Roger Waters address at The United Nations 29th November 2012 on behalf of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine

The Massacre Of Children
By Chandra Muzaffar

It is only if we are prepared to overcome the underlying causes of violence that we would be able to eliminate one of the most horrific crimes against humanity --- the massacre of children

What's Behind America's Gun Violence?
By Jack A. Smith

The main culprit, of course, is the late killer, Adam Lanza, 20. But such events occur within a context of shared responsibility for the unparalleled number of mass and individual shooting deaths that take place in the United States every year. This includes the political system and politicians, the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbies, and federal, state and local governments. Each has played an indirect role in the latest and earlier slaughters

Neoliberal Americans Are Killing Children From Occupied Afghanistan
To Newtown , Connecticut , USA

By Dr Gideon Polya

We are all shocked by the latest American gun massacre. Not reported is the awful reality that each year 8 million under-5 year old infants die out of 104 million children born in the Developing World (minus China), 90% avoidably, and ultimately due to deprivation in a World under neoliberal American hegemony

IMF Bullies Argentina
By Countercurrents.org

Argentina is the latest case of bullying tactics by the world finance bosses. The country, one of the fastest growing economies with unemployment falling from around 22% to 7%, faces sanctions including exclusion from G20 by the IMF as the country's inflation rate appears at odds to the international boss

Ethiopian Migrants Abused And Unwelcome In Yemen
By Graham Peebles

In accordance with the responsibilities of office, the Ethiopian government must take all necessary steps to safeguard its citizens.Appropriate consular support is essential in offering protection, advice and sanctuary to migrants, no matter their political affiliation or ethnicity

Policy Making Provides A Recipe For Structural Hegemony
By Dr. Sylvia Karpagam

The health section of the 12th five year plan is irrefutable proof of the structural hegemony within the country. It shows unequivocally that Indians do not intrinsically believe in equality

The Koodankulam Struggle: Why We Fight
By S. P. Udayakumar

We fight for our children and grandchildren, our progeny, our animals and birds, our land, water, sea, air and the skies

How Shall We Overcome?
By Leena Manimekalai

Kodagaari and Megala and Chennamma and Aathimoolam and Joseph and Rathnam and Selvam and Suresu and Sarasu and hundreds of the affected hamlets live in their half burnt uninhabitable houses with their tears frozen in trauma. They are still not able to forget the night they had spent on the day of attack hiding in the thorn bushes and sugarcane fields quenching their children's thirst with the urine of siblings

Excluded From Gender Majority: Tales Of The Third Gender Community
By Ravi Nitesh

This marginalized section of society needs a process of social inclusion. There are many things that can be done in this regard. We must not leave this section. Their interaction with the present/"mainstream" society will be viewed as a process in making of an equal and just society

Rapists: “The Terrorists” Within
By Shura Darapuri

Four to five men beating a lone girl brutally, raping her and then throwing her off on the road without clothes in the cold? A well qualified medical student who could have helped the society with her expertise now left in ‘unbearable pain’ to struggle for life!

16 December , 2012

Iraqi Red Crescent Society Under Attack
By Dirk Adriaensens

It's time for the truth. It's our duty to expose ALL the war crimes committed during this illegal imperial war. Our countries were involved. Its our responsibility to demand accountability and justice for Iraq

$20 Billion Qatari Money: Price of “Yes” Vote In Egypt?
By Countercurrents.org

The Qatar-based Egyptian Islamic preacher Youssef Qaradawi called on Egyptians to vote 'yes' in the constitutional referendum. Qaradawi, who heads the International Union of Muslim Scholars, said during the Friday prayer’s speech that voting ‘no’ in the polling would cost the country a ‘big loss’ as the attraction of investments will be hampered especially, $20 billion from Qatar

Climate Crisis Denier’s Dirty Tricks In The Name Of Sun God
By Countercurrents.org

Climate crisis deniers are keeping on dirty tricks alive. Very-recently a denier distorted UN climate science panel's AR5 report and claimed the sun is causing global warming. But the dishonesty got exposed within a very short time. The incident should be referred as wide as possible to keep people updated and them aware of the deniers’ dirty hands

World Bank Hypocrisy: Warn About global Warming And Then Finance Coal Plant
By Countercurrents.org

The World Bank warned about global warming. Only days ago, the bank said 4C of global warming 'simply must not be allowed to occur'. But, a recent report said the bank is considering financing a new coal-fired power plant in Mongolia

Cynthia McKinney Held Briefly On Return From Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

On December 12, former six-term Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was detained briefly at Atlanta airport while entering the United States on her return from a visit to Pakistan where she campaigned for the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who is serving 86-year imprisonment for her alleged attempt to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan

The Struggle For Land Rights Near The Gaza Border
By Joshua Brollier

Yesterday in al-Faraheen, Gaza , Israeli Occupation Forces shot and wounded an unarmed 22 year old farmer, Mohammed Qdeih, from behind. Mohamed and nine others went out to their fields in the early afternoon, walking approximately 250 meters from the Israeli border

Ten Really Fascinating People of 2012
By Rosemarie Jackowski

There are some who really do deserve recognition. They have earned respect because of their accomplishments. Actually there are many who would qualify for the list. Here are ten with very fascinating stories to be told

Why Not Warmth In Afghan Duvets?
By Dr. Linda Sartor

Because of rampant corruption in Afghanistan, the Afghan Peace Volunteers believe that donations always come with attachment to special interests and thus they do nothing to raise funds for themselves. Yet they had voluntarily provided for a sewing course for poor women in Kabul who could come to the house. Out of this sewing course project grew the idea of paying a living wage to the women for sewing duvets and then giving those duvets away to the very poor in the Kabul area

The U.S. And Israel Have Made A Joke Of The Security Council: Glenn Greenwald
By Kourosh Ziabari

An interview with prominent US journalist Glenn Greenwald

Corporate Tax Breaks And Jobs
By Ann Robertson & Bill Leumer

When workers compete against one another for corporate jobs by accepting lower wages or supporting tax breaks for corporations, it triggers a race to the bottom. The only way workers will succeed in defending jobs with decent pay lies in workers standing together and embracing the principle that the labor movement was built on — solidarity

End Of A Long Wait
By Anitha S

A seven year old from Idinthakarai, Koodankulam shares his joy of having his mother home after her three month detention in jail

Constitutionalism Of The Dominating Interests In Bangladesh
By Farooque Chowdhury

Incidents of plunder in the Bangladesh society narrate the state of the labor and the dominant capital in the land. It’s neither the creation of a person or a group of persons nor of a particular party or parties, but of the dominant capital dictating the terms of incidents in economy, society, culture, education and ideology, governance and politics

Ecological Intelligence—The Coming Age of Radical Transparency
Book Review By Yoginder Sikand

The ecological crisis that contemporary humanity collectively faces is truly of frightening proportions, as study after study testifies. Yet, it has not really sent the alarm bells ringing. With the exception perhaps of a relatively small circle of environmentally-conscious people, most of us still turn a deaf ear to warning signs of looming ecological disaster

The Curious Case of Binayak Sen
Book Review By Mahtab Alam

The book is an important addition in the available literature on Binayak Sen case, the issues of public health and state of democracy in India and its institutions. However, one strongly feels that the language and presentation could have been much simpler than one adopted in this book. Nevertheless, it deserves to be widely read

Babri Demolition: Two Decades Later
By Ram Puniyani

This whole exercise of Babri demolition has been the one of attempts to break the national unity, in a serious way. To put salt to the wound the communal forces are getting more legitimacy, one hopes that the lessons of Babri demolition are taken seriously by the society and state to reverse the trends initiated by this ghastly tragedy

15 December , 2012

School Shooting In Connecticut Leaves 27 Dead, Including 20 Children
By Kate Randall

Whatever the immediate personal circumstances of each perpetrator, and such circumstances—psychological alienation, mental illness—of course play a role, the regularity of these mass killings expresses the profound sickness of American society, afflicted by social tensions that can find no progressive outlet

Chickens Always Come Home Armed Americans Have Killed Millions of Children Abroad 
By Jay Janson

Another school shooting massacre. Of course everyone is shocked and saddened. But why is it not expected that occasionally an armed American will turn on his own?

Syria: Western Smoke-and-Mirrors Terrorism
By Finian Cunningham

Barack Obama, America’s Conjurer-in-Chief, is trying to entertain the world with a new smoke-and-mirrors trick, with the announcement that his government is recognizing the Syrian National Coalition as “the sole representative of the Syrian people”. The chemical weapons trick seems to have fizzled like a damp squib. So, now it’s time for another illusion – the “worthy Syrian opposition”

Damascus Street Notes
By Franklin Lamb

Syrian Students Condemn American Led Sanctions currently inflating Food Prices…

Fracking’s Lure, Trap And Endless Damage
By Ralph Nader

Countries with minimal fossils fuels are leading the way with renewables. Post the Fukushima disaster, Japan is upping the ante on conservation and renewables. Climate changes and natural disasters will wake up the rest of the world. Let’s act to make it sooner rather than later

What To Do about Global Warming: "Austerity," Not On A Global Government Scale
But An Individual Private Scale?

By Nicholas C. Arguimbau

The point of all this is that we ALL have responsibility for global warming, and if everyone keeps pointing the finger at everyone else, we are doomed

The Sharing Economy: Our Sustainable Future
By Rajesh Makwana

If we believe that the sharing economy has a role to play in creating a fairer and more sustainable world, then we need to look broadly at how the principle of sharing applies to all aspects of policymaking – particularly on an international scale

Poest's Talk: Linh Dinh, Jackson Browne, Betty Davis, et. al.
By Gary Corseri & Charles Orloski

What's worth holding onto in a world of accelerating change?

Dr. Oz and Big Ag Represent the 1% Exploiting the Rest of Humanity
By Gary Null

A Conversation with Vandana Shiva

Santa Is A Dissident
By Rosemarie Jackowski

Many years ago Virginia, an eight-year-old girl in New York City, wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper. She asked if there was really a Santa Claus. Those were simpler times. In today's complex world, children might write and ask if Santa approves of protesters

Pakistan: Lessons From Egypt
By Maryam Sakeenah

One can detect symmetry and overlapping between societies in Egypt and Pakistan. Both post-colonial lands with a history of authoritarian rule and dynamic publics labouring under unpopular regimes, have evolved in similar directions

Ravi Shankar And The Sitar: The Muse of Strings
By Farzana Versey

He had the most beautiful fingers. With head bent slightly tuning the sitar, he looked like a mother putting a child to sleep. Ravi Shankar is asleep forever. He died on Tuesday, December 11, at 92

Betrayal Without Remedy: The Case Of The Missing Wages
By Thomas Riggins

Monday's Wall Street Journal tell's the story of how Hostess Brands, Inc., took its workers wages and used them to cover its own expenses

Caste, Religion And Untouchability
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Condition of manual scavengers in Jammu & Kashmir

The Dance Of The Cosmic Cells
By Goldy M. George

Review of M.C. Raj's novel "Blissed Out"

14 December , 2012

Bring Peace To Afghanistan
By Mairead Maguire

Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire Goes to Afghanistan to Join Afghan Peace Volunteers' Demand for Cease Fire and Negotiation

Iran Dialogue or US Diplomatic Detour?
By Ismail Salami

Iranian officials are pessimistic about any upcoming dialogue with the US as they almost unanimously believe that Washington is not consistent in its policies and that it should first show some good will instead of resorting to an unacceptable bullying attitude

Everything I Need To Know I Learned In The Forest
By Vandana Shiva

My ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. My father was a forest conservator, and my mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India and Pakistan. It is from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that I learned most of what I know about ecology

Internal Colonies: Pine Ridge, South Dakota; Camden, New Jersey
By Vince Emanuele

Interview with Chris Hedges

Grappling With Phantoms: The Financial Cliff, The War On Christmas,
And Other Dim Tidings Of Political Disconnect

By Phil Rockstroh

The Soul of the World's tears are endless. And that is a fortunate thing. Because if the weeping ever ceased -- the rage of all things wounded would rise

American Students Are Educated To Be Only Consumers: Prof. Henry A. Giroux
By Kourosh Ziabari

American philosopher and cultural critic Henry A. Giroux believes that under the influence of the government, the higher education system in the United States has moved toward silencing progressive and alternative voices which try to challenge the U.S. militarism and its expansionistic policies. He also believes that the American students are not trained to be critical thinkers

Book Review: “Whackademia” Reveals Parlous State of Australia 's Censored,
Under-funded & Dumbing-down Universities

By Dr Gideon Polya

Richard Hil's “Whackademia. An insider's account of the troubled university” is a passionate description of the sorry state of Australian universities by a UK-born Australian academic

13 December , 2012

Failure Of The Doha Climate Conference
By John Scales Avery

Despite clear and unanimous warnings from the scienti c community, the United Nations Climate Conference in Doha (Cop 18) failed to reach an agreement sufficiently strong to avoid dangerous climate change

No Alternative To Atmospheric CO2 Draw-Down: A Geological Perspective
By Andrew Glikson

The scale and rate of modern climate change have been underestimated

Nothing Can Justify Torture: Chomsky
By Eric Bailey

An interview with Noam Chomsky

Death By Stupidity
By William Blum

Nuclear, ecological, chemical, economic — our arsenal of Death by Stupidity is impressive for a species as smart as Homo sapiens

The True Costs Of Empire
By David Vine

How U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying the Pentagon to Occupy the Planet

Anti-War Industry Naked 'Accessory After The Fact' To US Crimes Against Humanity
By Jay Janson

No calls for prosecution of US wars, invasions, bombings, covert violence in defenseless nations, only protests against mistaken gov. policies and claims that the citizenry is innocent. "Whoever, knowing an offense was committed, hinders or prevents apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact." King held all citizens, including himself, responsible for US atrocity wars on three continents for investment

The Political Prisoners Of Rafael Correa
By Satya Sagar

Ecuador has won praise from liberals around the world for granting refuge at its embassy in London to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, to help escape possible abduction by the US government. It is time for the international supporters of Rafael Correa to demand that his government stop imitating the US government and allow the spirit of freedom of speech represented by Wikileaks to flourish within Ecuador’s own borders too

Letter To Florida Governor Rick Scott: 10 Reasons To Abolish Death Penalty
By Mary Hamer

Mary Hamer presents 10 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty in Florida

Defeating "Right To Work"
By Mark Vorpahl

The passage in Michigan of the anti-worker legislation grotesquely misnamed "Right to Work" (RTW) should be putting the entire nation on red alert. The downward pressure on the standard of living such bills unleash on the vast majority extend well beyond the union ranks. The bill’s success in Michigan, a pivotal state for organized Labor, indicates the unfolding of a national campaign by RTW's backers

The U.S. Economy And Military Are Fading Gradually: Prof. Francis Shor
By Kourosh Ziabari

The signs of the decline and weakening of the U.S. global hegemony and its political and economic dominance have begun to emerge and such serious and powerful contenders as Brazil, Russia, China, Turkey and Iran are gradually contributing to the diminishing of the uncontested power and authority of the United States as the world's number one superpower

Gun Patriotism or Hypocrisy?
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Puzzling me for a long time is the inconsistency between two claims by gun and Second Amendment supporters. One is that what they worship is critically needed to defend themselves against a government that they would view as oppressive and unacceptable. The other is their belief that the US government has already become awful, stealing their liberties

Facebook Fears: Government Of India Is Out On Virtual Patrol
By Samar

Two girls were held under custody for more than 14 hours and, believe it if you can, even managed to have a judge that would give the girls judicial remand for two weeks for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ and ‘hate speech’ among other charges. Two weeks judicial remand for a Facebook comment! The future of justice in India is in rather safe hands it seems

Koodankulam: The Right To Live, Feel, Think And Be Free
By Anitha.S

We feel it is our right to live in this land as our forefathers have done, in our homes built and maintained over the years, going to the sea and eating fish we bring ashore with joy and pride. After joining the struggle to ascertain this basic human right to live in dignity and health, we have realized that there are more rights that humans need and should be aware of

Direct Cash Transfer Violate The Federal Values Of Constitution
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The Direct Cash Transfer is a dangerously populist move which can boomerang as its implementation would be difficult. It is nothing but running away from responsibilities such as strengthening the existing institutions of public welfare rather than dismantling them

Tibetans Shows Strength For A Free Tibet
By Nava J. Thakuria

Tibetans across the globe celebrated the 64th World Human Rights' Day on December 10 with a different flavour. The exile Tibetans in various parts of the world had commemorated the 23rd anniversary of Tibetan’s spiritual leader His Holiness Dalai Lama’s receiving the Nobel Peace Prize

11 December , 2012

Sanctions Are Destroying Iranian Society
By Mehrnaz Shahabi

Economic sanctions are not only shattering the lives of the Iranian people but also strangling Iran’s social and cultural development. Iran is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe unless steps are taken to avert it

Doha Climate Summit Concludes Without Agreement On Emission Reductions
By Patrick O’Connor

Another international climate change summit, this time in the Qatari city of Doha, has concluded without a binding agreement reached on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions

Gazan Farmers At Work In Kuzaa
By Joshua Brollier

Today, Gazan farmers from Kuzaa, a small village near Khan Younis, worked on their land in defiance of Israeli military harassment. Farmers ploughed approximately seven dunams and then sewed wheat in a plot that they had previously been denied access to before the November 21st, 2012ceasefire

Global Crisis And Humanity's Responsibility (PDF)
By John Scales Avery

The global crisis of the 21st century has given each of us an enormous responsibility We cannot merely leave things up to the politicians, as we have been doing. The future is in our own hands - the hands of the people, the hands of civil society. All of us have the duty to work actively, to the best of our abilities, to save humanity's future and the biosphere

Self-improvement For A Civilization
By Jim Taylor

Not long ago, as history goes, we in the western world burned heretics at the stake, tortured suspected traitors, stoned adulterers, disembowel criminals or cut them in half, and tore offenders apart with teams of horses. We don’t, any more. In that sense, we are indeed getting “better and better”. From that perspective, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights marks a milestone in our collective self-improvement

Navigating Egypt's Revolutionary Crisis
By Shamus Cooke

The opposition's shallow version of democracy cannot be won by ignoring President Morsi's recently won democratic election. The revolutionary youth in the anti-Brotherhood coalition should strive for an independent path for working people, far away from those associated with the last dictatorship and with those trying to tie Egypt's economy to the short leash of the U.S. corporate-run IMF

Paul Krugman Discovers Marx (and Misses The Point)
By Ann Robertson & Bill Leumer

Krugman is basically arguing that large corporations use their power to override purely economic trends and simply demand that their employees work for less. But this is precisely the point of Marxism, although from the other direction

The 'Ungodly' Sarafand Massacre And Cover-Up
By Vacy Vlazna

After an orgy of blood,137 (or more) innocent village men (innocent fathers, innocent brothers, innocent husbands, innocent uncles, innocent cousins, innocent friends) lay dead among the smoke and glowing ashes or thrown in the village well; the distraught and grief-ravaged women were newly widowed, children fatherless, all homeless....

The Demise Of Free Thought In The Indian Society
By Subit Chakrabarti

The current socio-political situation in India is not an isolated downward spiral or some temporary retrogression, but a complete breakdown of order and basic societal values

10 December , 2012

Human Rights Day: The 30 Points Of Dignity
By PDHRE

Moving From Charity To Dignity - Free from fear and free from want. Summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Recognizing the humanity of the other as our own

The Condition Of Human Rights At The International Setting
By Francis A. Boyle

Speech delivered at Puerto Rican Summit Conference on Human Rights , University of the Sacred Heart San Juan, Puerto Rico December 7-10, 2012

Universality Of The UDHR
By N. Jayaram

Ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948, detractors from the right and left have sought to chip away at, if not torpedo, the conviction that the 30-article document represents the universal aspirations and affirmation of all of humanity

The Most Important COP Briefing That No One Ever Heard |Truth, Lies, Racism & Omnicide
By Cory Morningstar

350 ppm is a death sentence … The safe level of CO2 for SIDS (Small Island Developing States ) is around 260 parts per million …" CO2 buildup must be reversed, not allowed to increase or even be stabilized at 350 PPM, which would amount to a death sentence for coral reefs, small island developing states, and billions of people living along low lying coastlines

From The City Of Destruction To The Promised Land
By William A. Cook

The path to the Promised lands is the path that avoids wanton destruction of the kind the United States and Israel have wrought in the mid-east, where cooperation, compassion and concern for all is the peace all deserve

The United States And al-Qaeda: Strange Bedfellows?
By Hassan N. Gardezi

The US and al-Qaeda while at war in Afghanistan have found it expedient to gang up in a last ditch battle to eliminate their common enemies in Libya and Syria

Raiding Consciousness
By Lewis Lapham

Why the War on Drugs Is a War on Human Nature

Western Powers Have Lost All Sense Of Morality: E. Michael Jones
By Kourosh Ziabari

A U.S. author says Western states influenced by Israel have lost all sense of morality and are behaving in a criminal way that is dangerous to world peace

Responding Personally And Powerfully To The Climate Catastrophe
By Robert J. Burrowes

The Flame Tree Project is an invitation to ask the deep questions about how we go about creating a new and higher phase of life on Earth: a shift from violent civilization to nonviolent planetization. You are welcome to consider joining

American Nuclear Hypocrisy
By Dr. Elias Akleh

Hypocrisy is the most prominent characteristic of the successive American administrations. The observer could easily detect this hypocrisy when it comes to administration’s policies towards the Middle Eastern countries generally and towards the Palestinians specifically. One of the administration’s latest hypocritical acts was the cancellation of the Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone conference that was scheduled mid this month in Helsinki, Finland

Solidarity At The Oakland Airport: Union And Non-Union Workers Fight Side-by-Side
By Marc Norton

Workers at the Oakland Airport in California rallied on Thursday, December 6, at the Port of Oakland in Jack London Square, threatening to strike in the week before Christmas. Both union and non-union airport workers attended the rally, which came on the heels of a major job action at the airport by several unions

The Ashes of Dharampuri
By Subhash Gatade

Burned houses, smashed household items, bicycles, motorbikes, television sets. Torn schoolbooks, records, certificates and ration cards. This was the scene immediately after the attack on the three dalit colonies of Natham, Kondampatti and Annanagar in Naikkankottai, Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. Of the 500 houses in the three colonies, over 268 were damaged/burnt

09 December , 2012

World To Exceed Pollution Budget To Avoid 2C Temperature Rise In 5 Years
By Dr Gideon Polya

The world is badly running out of time to deal with man-made climate change and keep temperature rise to within 2 degrees Centigrade (2oC) - but how much time have we left? Answer: 5.3 years

Military Voyeurism or Invasion Of Syria?
By Ismail Salami

As part of the sinister plan for Syria at work, French military agents have recently held face-to-face meetings with the foreign-backed militants inside the country in a bid to “assess the situation on the ground.”

An appeal To The Voters Of Gujarat State
By R. B. Sreekumar

Do you want to live in an atmosphere of fear of a domineering government which does not give any room for culture of democracy, tolerance to diversity of opinion, and different socio-religious cultures?

Lebanese Politicians Continue Playing The Palestinians
By Franklin Lamb

Do the refugees in Lebanon need a civil rights intifada?

Demolition Of Babri Masjid – A Turning Point For The Indian Polity
By Raghavan Srinivasan

For all men and women of conscience, the 20th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid is an occasion to dedicate ourselves to see that justice is done; that the guilty of communal violence are punished; and that our polity is cleansed of communalism and communal violence, through radical political reforms to empower the people

Funding A Foreign Agenda
By Chandra Muzaffar

In the midst of all the talk about integrity and democracy in Malaysia, a practice which is of tremendous significance to both has not received the attention it deserves. This is the funding of political parties

08 December , 2012

Climate Justice Advocates Slam Doha's Emerging 'Sham Of A Deal'
By Jon Queally

With terms like "sluggish" "tough-going" and "extremely sour" used to describe the tone and progress of the UN climate talks in Doha on Friday, the hope for an agreement that could actually meet the ever-escalating challenges of global warming caused by human pollution was seemingly at an all-time low

Corporate Push For GMO Food Puts Independent Science In Jeopardy
By Vandana Shiva

Independent scientists, along with the bees and biodiversity of our plants and seeds, could well become a species threatened with extinction if we do not stop the GMO drone

The Bonn Challenge : Landscape Restoration Movement Approaches 50 Million Hectares
By Marianne de Nazareth

At last it seems like the worlds scientists and policy makers are moving in the right direction. The global movement to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, known as the “Bonn Challenge” has happily gained further momentum at the UN Climate Talks in Doha, as Costa Rica and El Salvador each have committed up to 1 million hectares

Syria And Chemical Weapons: Fabricating An Excuse For Invasion
By Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

If we have any integrity or dignity in us as human beings and as citizens of the world we should not allow ourselves to be duped by yet another nefarious lie

Palestine’s New Status: A History Rerun or A New Palestinian Strategy
By Ramzy Baroud

It is not the new status that truly matters, but rather how it is interpreted and employed. While history is not exactly promising, the future will have the last word

Inequality And Poverty America style
By Graham Peebles

More people are living in poverty in America now, than at any time since 1959 when data was first collected, with around 43 millions (August 2012 figures) a 70% increase in five years, relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Food Stamps for their meals

Nuclear Safari In Deutschland:A Waste Story
By S. P. Udayakumar

A horror story of how nuclear waste is managed

India-Palestine Solidarity Takes A Leap Ahead At The Mumbai conference
By Bindu Desai

A report on ‘India Palestine Solidarity Forum’held in Mumbai recently

Dalit Blood Taints Modi’s Claims
By Anand Teltumbde

The Thangadh episode surely refutes the negative characterization of Dalits of Gujarat that they patched up with the rightist forces. It also exposes the hollow claims of Narendra Modi that his regime takes good care of Dalits, Adivasis and even minorities

Gujarat: Who Will Muslims Vote For?
By Ram Puniyani

The core question dodging the Muslim community is that they have been effectively relegated to the status of second class citizenship in Gujarat. It is a part of their daily experience. Politically marginalized, economically pushed back and facing the step motherly treatment from state, it is unlikely that Muslims can even think of voting for Modi

Looking At Kautilya Beyond The Realm Of Realism
By Atul Bhardwaj

The blurring of lines between the nationalist and Comprador Bourgeois

05 December , 2012

Muslim Brotherhood Unleashes Bloody Crackdown In Cairo
By Johannes Stern

Muslim Brotherhood (MB) forces supporting Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Mursi are carrying out a bloody crackdown in Cairo. Amid intensifying mass protests in the past two weeks against Mursi, the Islamists are mobilizing their forces to try to crush strikes and protests

A Carbon Tsunami In Doha
By Amy Goodman

From Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines to Superstorm Sandy in the United States, the web of climate activists is not tangled, but growing stronger, leading the way. If only the politicians would follow

U.S. Failure To Act Swiftly On Global Warming Imperils The U.S. And The World
By Sherwood Ross

America’s failure to get serious about Global Warming recalls the story of the German bureaucrats who, as the Soviet tanks rolled into Berlin in April, 1945, were busy working on Hitler’s paperclip requirements for the third quarter of the year. If they had only looked out their window they would have known the Third Reich was kaput

Another Drone Captured: Washington Feels Trepid
By Kourosh Ziabari

Iranian media reported on Tuesday, December 4 that the naval forces of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have successfully hunted down an American Scan Eagle surveillance drone which had violated Iran’s airspace while on an espionage mission over the Persian Gulf island of Khark on the southern coasts of Iran

Washington’s Iranian Future
By Pepe Escobar

Somebody, it seems, has yet to break the news to Washington: we are in an increasingly multipolar world in which Eurasian powers Russia and China, and regional power Iran, simply won’t subscribe to its scenarios. When it comes to the New Silk Road(s) linking South Asia, Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and China, whatever Washington’s dreams may be, they will be shaped and constructed by Eurasian powers, not by the United States

Iran: Washington’s Hardest Case or Troubled Dream?
By Ismail Salami

Aye, Mrs. Clinton, Iran is your hardest case and can be your worst nightmare as long as you keep imposing your brutal sanctions on the Iranian population and keep refraining from engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the Islamic Republic

Left Speechless: Doctors And Medics Operate Under Fire And Siege In Gaza
By Joshua Brollier

Doctors and medics operating under fire and siege put painfulness of situation beyond words

Israel’s Doomsday E-1 Settlement
By Nicola Nasser

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has definitely crossed an international red line to vindicate a swift and firm rejection from Israel’s closest allies when he announced plans recently to build a new settlement on a corridor of occupied Palestinian land in East Jerusalem, which will render any prospective Palestinian contiguous state territorially impossible

Justice And Peace As Defined By The Jewish State
By William A. Cook

International Law and the creation of a world body to aid in the direction of nation states to live in peace and justiceunder defined conditions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charters of the UN suggests that Israel must change, it must recognize that it is not the sole determiner of world events, that it has lifted its beliefs beyond those that exist elsewhere in the world and it must, therefore, reverse its direction to become one with its neighbors and all the nations of the UN

Attack On Dalits Of Dharmapuri: A Fact Finding Report
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

The root cause for this incident needs to be located in the statements of Kudavatti J Guru and subsequent endorsements of PMK Supremo Ramdoss against the inter-caste marriages. These statements being unconstitutional, these persons should be charged for whipping inter-caste hatred and disharmony; instigating violence and criminal conspiracy under appropriate articles

Tamilnadu’s Party of Shame
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

In Tamilnadu, PMK, the party of Vanniyars is on a dangerous path as it want government to set up a commission to find why love marriages are happing between Vanniyars and Dalits. The Party also want to campaign against SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Can anyone imagine that such rhetoric’s are coming from a responsible political party in world’s largest democracy?

On Seeing The Film Garm Hava For The Third Time
By N. Jayaram

Reviewing the film Garm Hava on the 20th anniversary of Babri Masjid destruction

The Kaveri Water Dispute: A solution Is possible
By S.G.Vombatkere

Both states to the Kaveri dispute need to tailor their agricultural economy not merely to available water, but to the almost certain future scenario of severely reduced rainfall due to creeping climate change

05 December , 2012

Mass Anti-Mursi Protests, Clashes With Police In Cairo
By Chris Marsden

Protests Tuesday against the dictatorial powers assumed by Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on November 22 and his efforts to ram through a new constitution via a referendum scheduled for December 15 culminated in a massive march on the presidential palace. Outside the presidential palace protesters cut through a barbed wire and police fired tear gas in response. Mursi quit the palace amid fighting between protesters and hundreds of police

The Demographic Success Of Israel's Settlement Project
By Yinon Cohen & Neve Gordon

The numbers suggest that President Mahmoud Abbas's bid to the United Nations General Assembly was too little, too late

Israel And Palestine: Man In Search Of Humanity
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

Would the new generations of educated and intelligent leaders on both sides view the future as promising to make peace rather than wars? Would the Israeli occupation end soon and Palestinian be able to establish an independent State of Palestine? If they continue to follow the past dead-ended polices and practices, what narrations would the story tellers compile for the future children

Australian Armed Forces Are Still In Afghanistan, But Why? Part I (PDF)
By George Venturini

Australian troops were sent into Afghanistan by the Howard government, probably even before the official day of invasion,7 October 2001, as an act of loyalty to a ‘Great and Powerful Friend’, as the United States is referred to by Australian politicians. There was no connection between the 19 Saudi hijackers of 9/11 and Afghanistan, and no certainty as to who directed them. All is known is that there was an apparent act of revenge by a Texan simpleton (“Smoke-them-out-of-their-caves”), which opened the way to the longest Australian war. It was entered into without knowledge of, and/or debate in, parliament, on ‘grounds’ which have been constantly revolving, for which successive governments in Canberra have blindly followed ‘an ally’ which is presently attempting to restart moribund peace talks with the Taliban. There is a word to explain that Australian attitude: sycophancy, and another to contemplate the end of that aggression on one of the poorest countries in the world: defeat. But there are reasons for that premeditated aggression: oil, opium, minerals and “America’s global interests’. They are explained in Part 2.

Australian Armed Forces Are Still In Afghanistan, But Why? Part II (PDF)
By George Venturini

As anticipated in Part 1, the official reasons for the aggression on Afghanistan by the United States, with the complicity of N.A.T.O. and Australia, have hardly anything to do with the attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001, which were planned from the nervous centre of the operation in Hamburg, Germany. The exclusively United States reasons are simply: the desire of American multinationals to take possession of oil from the Caspian area (and in the process to establish a ‘base’ from the underbelly of China and Russia), to continue the trade in opium, and the possible exploitation of Afghanistan mineral wealth. All the rest is nothing but lies, rhetoric, clichés and myths. Australia has accepted and made its own all of such propaganda tools as if it were the truth

From Banana Republic To Chilly Chicken Democracy: The Tales And Travails Of
The Largest Democracy Of The World

By Samar

These are the questions, at the same time, Indian citizenry can afford to ignore at its own peril. Question like where does the money for these quintals of chickens and petrol for thousands of vehicles come from must not only be asked, they must be asked in such venomous tones as unprecedented in the life of democracy of our nation. The reason behind this is simple, we don’t only need the answers, and we need them now

On The Death Of Bal Thackeray And The Grief Of Athavale
By Dr Anand Teltumbde

Ramdas Athawale, who had left all the dealers of Dalit interests in Maharashtra far behind when he managed to sublimate himself straight from a dingy room in the Siddharth Vihar in Wadala to a regality of the Sahyadri, the state guest house in Malabar Hill in 1990 as a cabinet minister of Sharad Pawar, has come full circle from his radical Ambedkarism symbolized by his association with the Dalit Panther to the most anti-Ambedkarian version of Fascism of the late Bal Thackeray

Armed Forces Special Powers Act: Who Wants The Military For Internal Security?
By S.G.Vombatkere

While no government may ever propose to Parliament to repeal AFSPA, it would certainly be open to amending it. An amendment to cap the applicability of AFSPA to a total of say, 60 days in any calendar year, will allow governments to retain their (albeit undoubtedly coercive) option of military deployment when civil administration fails to maintain law and order. This will spur governments to rediscover ways of providing a troubled society with honest politics and good governance. It will also enable the army, one-third of which is engaged in IS duties, to focus more on securing India's borders

04 December , 2012

Washington Floats Chemical Weapons Charge As Pretext For Syria Buildup
By Bill Van Auken

The Obama administration and the corporate media have cited unspecified “intelligence” about the movement of chemical weapons to issue new threats of direct intervention in Syria, where Washington and its allies have been backing so-called “rebels” in a bid to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad

The Dark And Secret Dungeons Of Iraq: Horror Stories Of Female Prisoners
By Wijhat Nadhar

When women in Iraq are arrested, they routinely go through three gruesome phases, starting with humiliation, followed by torture, and often ending with rape. I have received disturbing information from two different, well informed sources: one from qualified social workers in Al-Kadimiyah Women Prison, the other from three national guards officers who worked in the prison

Legal Protection Of Children In Armed Conflict: The Iraqi Children Genocide
By Francis A. Boyle

This is the text version of a speech delivered by Francis A. Boyle at The International Conference on War-affected Children Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 22, 2012

How Come Israeli Warmongers Become Global Thinkers?
By Kourosh Ziabari

The Washington Post Company-owned American bimonthly magazine “Foreign Policy” published in its December issue the list of world’s top 100 global thinkers. The right-wing magazine this year came up with a striking innovation and named Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as the co-winners of the 13th berth of the top 100 global thinkers!

We Want It To Stop
By Kathy Kelly

We asked the young workers, most of whom were relatives of the Nasser family, and most of whom had known Fares Basyouni, if they had any messages they’d like us to convey to people who might see the photos we’d taken or read our account of what happened to this neighborhood on November 15th. Mohamed Shabat, age 24, who hopes one day to become a journalist, quickly replied: “We want to stop the killing of Palestinians.”

Stories From The Gaza Border, Where Donkeys And Carts Are
Potential Threats To Zionist Security

By Eva Bartlett

As is often the case in Gaza with border region injuries , Palestinian ambulances cannot usually reach the wounded: Israeli soldiers also attack medics and ambulances

Urgent Action Needed To Combat European Climate Change
By Thomas Riggins

What we have to do is force political actions that reign in the oil, gas, and coal industries and others who want to increase and further develop the uses of carbon based fuels. What we need is binding international agreements that reduce and eliminate the use of all chemicals that endanger the lives, health and well being of human beings and other life forms making up the biosphere. The climate change meeting in Doha this week will show how seriously the governments of the world take this challenge

Why UN Climate Agreements Fail
By Shamus Cooke 

Those in power only respond to power, and the only power capable of displacing corporate power is when people unite and act collectively, as was done in Egypt, Tunisia, and is still developing throughout Europe. Replacing our destructive economic system with one not profit-based is the first real step in combating climate change. All other roads lead to a scorched planet

Muddying The Waters With NWO Conspiracy Theories Part Two: Diversions And Deceptions
By Colin Todhunter

By ignoring this type of research and writing (maybe because it’s all part of the great Zionist conspiracy), prominent proponents of conspiracy theories are happy to make assumptions about world issues being the result of an Illuminati plot. Unfortunately, such notions serve to divert attention away from the real nature of the problem: capitalism. Furthermore, by wholly misrepresenting terms like 'socialism', a genuine and radical alternative is cheaply and deceitfully discredited in the audience's mind

From Rajapaksa Economics To Rajapaksa Justice
By Tisaranee Gunasekara

The regime, which has the wherewithal to own a satellite and is planning to build a network of express-ways crisscrossing the island, cannot spare any money to provide basic rail gates for unprotected railway-crossings. That is Rajapaksa governance – irrationally inane; concerned only with the interests and needs, whims and fancies of the Ruling Family and their kith and kin

Questionable Nature Of UID-NPR Initiatives Merit Probe By Media
By Gopal Krishna

Media houses ought to consider deploying legal minds to examine the questionable nature of world's biggest biometric database (UID-NPR initiatives). If it is not done it will bring disrepute when students of journalism will undertake content analysis of the reporting of the issue which has seminal importance for the present and future generations

Credibility Of Indian Media
By Abdul Majid Zargar

Indian media's credibility is at an all time low. The arrest of two senior journalists of Zee TV on charges of blackmailing & extortion has put a huge question mark over integrity and credibility of the Indian mainstream media. Naveen Jindal, Congress MP & owner of Jindal Steels has accused the two newsmen of demanding huge sum of Rs. 100 million to block publication of news adversely effecting his business interests

Codemn The Attack On Swami Agnivesh
By All India Secular Forum

We strongly condemn the attack on Swami Agnivesh by communal forces in a meeting organized by Garima Abhiyan in Bhopal. The meeting was called to make the members of Balmiki community take a pledge that they will not be carrying the night soil (human excreta) on their heads. Swamiji was attacked when he came forward to touch the feet of an old lady from Balmiki Community

True Chingaris
By Anitha S

The women involved in the struggle against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant are awarded the prestigious “Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime”

Persistence Of A Sore: Communal Violence Today
By Ram Puniyani

The events taking place in different parts of the country in October-November 2012 have been very disturbing to say the least. It is the continuance and recurrence of communal events, communal violence in different parts of the country, in UP, Assam and Hyderabad in particular

01 December , 2012

Palestine Wins
By Countercurrents.org

Palestine wins in the UN. In an implicit recognition of sovereign state of Palestine by the UN, the world community has overwhelmingly stood by the Palestine people

138 Nations Supported Palestinian Statehood - Anti-Racists Must Boycott
9 Opponents & 41 Abstainers

By Dr Gideon Polya

9 countries that voted No: Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Panama, and United States of America

Historic Victory For Palestine: Another Rejection Of Occupation
By Franklin Lamb

The UN action allows the Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates and de facto grants recognition of Palestinian statehood on the pre-1967 ceasefire lines while re-enforcing the wide international consensus that the pre-1967 lines should form the basis of a permanent peace settlement

With Apologies From Canada - Congratulations Palestine
By Jim Miles

Once again Canada has assumed its sycophantic role of supporting the U.S. and Israel in their determination to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian territories. Is it possible that one citizen or two or a dozen can compensate for Canada’s official stupidity by apology alone?

A Different War In Gaza, And The War Ahead
By Ramzy Baroud

Certainly, something big has changed. Not that Palestinians managed to narrow the imbalance of power, but that they succeeded in imposing their resistance as a factor in Israel’s ‘security’ equation that was exclusively determined by Israel

Truth And Trauma in Gaza 
By Kathy Kelly

In the afternoon on Sunday, November 18, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet fired a missile at the 4-story house belonging to 52-year-old Jamal Mahmoud Yassin al-Dalu. The house was completely destroyed as were all inside. Civil Defense crews removed from the debris the bodies of 8 members of the family, four women and four children aged one to seven

Israel Bombed The Stadium Where Disabled Athletes Train
By Eva Bartlett

Perhaps the Israeli war-machine didn’t like the relative success of two of Gaza’s paralympians? Or perhaps the bombing of a place of entertainment for Gaza youths and adults alike was just another Zionist act of spite

Refusing To Acquiesce In Gaza: Observations After Operation “Pillar of Cloud”
By Joshua Brollier

The past few days have been harrowing, yet still deeply inspiring in Gaza as people in the strip must carry on with their lives after the Israeli army's deadly 8 day offensive operation “Pillar of Cloud” which killed at least 160 Palestinians and left over 1000 wounded, many of them severely

Cameron Hopes Latest Syrian Bloc Will Serve As A Figleaf For Syrian Invasion
By Dan Glazebrook

The formation of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) was announced two weeks ago to much fanfare, replacing the discredited Syrian National Council as the latest front organization for the ongoing war against the Syrian government

Fir-Free Xmas
By Mickey Z.

It almost seems to go unnoticed that the enduring symbols of winter’s two most celebrated holidays are the annual targets of human killing sprees. You can sing “O Christmas Tree” until you go hoarse, but that once-vibrant flora you just bought is dying before your eyes

 




 

 


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