Countercurrents Archive June 2013

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30 June ,2013

Thousands Gather In Tahrir Square And
Other Cities Of Egypt,Chanting: Leave, Morsi
By Countercurrents.org

Masses of people are assembling from the early hours of June 30, 2013 in the Tahrir Square in Cairo and in other cities and towns of the country to voice their rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood rule led by president Morsi that signify a deep crisis the country is facing. Protesting people started to assemble since June 29 in major squares in other cities including the country's second city Alexandria , Suez , Port Said , Mahalla, Sharqiya, Menoufia. The situation is tense

Timeline: One Year Of Artists' Struggle For Egypt 's Cultural Identity
By Countercurrents.org

Artists and intellectuals in Egypt are heroically struggling against “brotherhoodization” of Egypt 's culture. It has turned out as their daily struggle. They are joining the June 30 protest in Tahrir Square

Thousands Gather At Taksim Square While Workers March In Istanbul ,
100 Intellectuals Express Concern
By Countercurrents.org

As part of continuing protest against the Islamist Erdogan government thousands of protesters gathered at Taksim Square on June 29 to denounce the government's response to the Gezi Park protests, a week after another demonstration was quelled with water cannons and tear gas

Art And Artists In Resistance In Turkey
By Emrah Guler

Despite the anxiety over Gezi Park , creativity has been on watch. Filmmakers and musicians have been voicing their concerns here and across the globe. Creative visuals, songs and videos have been an integral part of the protests

The Non-Compliant Citizen: Protests And Democracy
By Ranjita Mohanty

Democracy allows people space and freedom to protest. But the non-compliant citizen is an indicator that all is not well inside the otherwise democratic settling. If the governments in these countries want to have the trust of people, they must listen and engage; if they try to close that space, they will only be writing their own obituaries

The Unexpected Results Of Presidential Elections In Iran
By Akbar E. Torbat

It remains to be seen what this election will hold for Iran and the Iranian people including the young, women, the press, the social and political activists, and political prisoners. What the future holds will likely have very significant consequences for the Iranian people in the years to come

Portland's Austerity Resistance Movement Sparks Changes To City
By Solidarity Against Austerity

On June 20, Oregon's Portland City Council unanimously voted to approve a budget that had been one of the most grassroots-contested examples of austerity in recent memory

The Obamas Do Africa
By Glen Ford

No one expects Obama to offer anything on this trip that will reverse America’s declining share of the African market. That’s because the U.S. is not in the business of fair and mutually beneficial trade – it’s about the business of imperialism, which is another matter, entirely. The Americans ensure their access to African natural resources through the barrel of a gun

Brutal Killing Of Adivasis In Bihar
By Jharkhand Human Rights Movement

A letter to president of India requesting an investigation on the brutal killing of 8 innocent Adivasis including 3 minor children in police firing, at Katharwa village in the state of Bihar on 24 June, 2013

29 June ,2013

US Ships Arms To Al Qaeda-Linked Forces In Syria
By Chris Marsden

The United States is to officially begin arms shipments to Syria, after months of doing so through third parties, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. A story placed with the Wall Street Journal cited CIA sources relating plans to start supplying arms directly to the opposition Free Syrian Army “within a month.”

Thousands Begin Gathering In Tahrir As Political Tension Grips Egypt
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of anti-Morsi protesters began gathering in Cairo 's Tahrir Square and other cities on June 29, 2013 as political tension grips Egypt . Fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of Egyptian president Morsi continue to rage into the night in coastal city of Alexandria following a day of rival protests nationwide that left one Egyptian and one US citizen dead

Rallies Continue In Turkey , One Dead
By Countercurrents.org

Gezi protests now continue with relatively peaceful rallies in many cities across Turkey . The governor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakir confirmed that one person had been killed and nine injured as a group of villagers trying to prevent the construction of a gendarmerie facility in Diyarbakır 's Lice clashed with security forces. The victim was identified as Medeni Yıldırım, 18

What Do Snowden And Greenwald Gottuu Do With Gandhi?
By Subhankar Banerjee

Snowden didn't “betray” his country, but his courageous act and Greenwald's journalism—is certainly “inciting people to rebel against the authority of [the] state.” Viewed in this way, their act could be considered as seditious, and they are in good company—with none other than Mahatma Gandhi

Obama’s BFF: The Espionage Act
By Mickey Z.

Prior to Barack Obama's inauguration there were a grand total of three prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act. That's because the statute is so broad that even the U.S. government has largely refrained from using it. But during the Obama presidency, there are now seven such prosecutions: more than double the number under all prior U.S. presidents combined

Why Did Hollywood Cover Up For Hitler?
By John Spritzler

As reported in this Guardian article, Hollywood and Hitler: did the studio bosses bow to Nazi wishes?, a book by a Harvard scholar argues that US producers in the 1930s 'collaborated' with the Nazis with cuts to films and self-censorship

28 June ,2013

Military Deployed Throughout Egypt Ahead of Mass Protests
By Johannes Stern

After a defiant speech Wednesday night, Egypt’s US-backed Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, gave the Egyptian military police powers on Thursday. Gehad El-Haddad, a top advisor to the ruling Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), declared that Mursi had given the police and the armed forces “judicial arrest powers to secure major government buildings” and to ensure law and order

Tents Return To Tahrir: Muslim Brotherhood Faces Mass Resistance
By Countercurrents.org

Anti-government protesters began sit-in in Cairo 's Tahrir Square before mass street protests on June 30 to demand president Morsi's removal, said media reports from Egypt . Some 32 tents were pitched in the middle of the square on June 27- morning and four others were set up near the Egyptian Museum

100,000 Students And Workers March Demanding End To Rich-Poor Divide In Chile
By Countercurrents.org

At Santiago's main Alameda Avenue, some 100,000 protesters gathered peacefully at the Los Heroes central square, but more radical groups, faces covered with hoods or masks, clashed with riot police for several hours, throwing away roadblocks. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds

Slander Propagated By Islamists Refuted By Muezzin In Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

The recent mass protests in Turkey have encountered slanders by Islamists as is done in other countries. But a muezzin in Turkey has exposed the Turkish slander. The “No alcohol consumed in Istanbul mosque during Gezi protests, muezzin insists” headlined report* in Hurriyet Daily News said

India’s Coal Reliance And Global Warming Hypocrisy
By Dr EAS Sarma & Shankar Sharma

An oft repeated statement in recent years is that the continued reliance on coal power is essential to lift the poor people in India from the clutches of poverty. The government and many people in the position of influence have been repeating this statement so often that it seems to be attaining the status of “Goebbels’s Truth”

The White House Threatens To End Aid If Palestine Joins The ICC
By Franklin Lamb

Ramallah is being flooded with threats this month from Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, now on his 5th visit to the Middle East in as many months, Jordan’s King Hussein and reportedly, several others. The message for Mahmoud Abbas is that the Palestinian Authority risks a cut-off of funds and US dis-engagement from any “peace process” as well as the scrapping of the rumored “mega economic & development package” which Kerry aids are currently finalizing, if Palestine goes anywhere near the International Criminal Court

Secrecy Versus Democracy
By John Scales Avery

Can a government, many of whose operations are secret, be a democracy? Obveously this is impossible. The recent attempts of the United States to arrest whistleblower Edward Snowdon call attention to the glaring contradiction between secrecy and democracy

The Surveillance State: Let Us Hold It To Account
By Colin Todhunter

The elite, the oligarchs, the ruling class, the one percent - call it how you will. Yet it is we, the people, who are spied on and monitored by them for their good, to serve their interests and to feather their highly privileged and secretive world, a world built on the stolen wealth of both past and present deeds

Postcard From The End Of America: Camden
By Linh Dinh

Another postcard from Linh Dinh

International Law And Justice
By Francis Boyle & Parasaran Rangarajan

An interview with International law professor Francis Boyle

NYPD Embedded 4 CIA Officials Since 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Amid a growing debate over security and privacy ignited by the National Security Agency whistle blower Edward Snowden and revelation that four CIA officials were embedded with the NYPD, the New York City Council has approved by veto-proof majorities a pair of bills aimed at increasing oversight of the Police Department and expanding New Yorkers’ ability to sue over racial profiling by officers

On Being A Gay Activist In India
By Ashley Tellis

Being a gay activist in India is like suddenly becoming invisible to the world around you and all its inhabitants. You are screaming to your friends and loved ones that they should listen to you, that you are here but they can’t see you or hear you. You turn to your enemies but they can’t see or hear you either. It is not just the state that does not recognize you, to whom you are an illegible subject, everyone around you, friend and enemy alike, erases you

27 June ,2013

Troops Deployed In Egypt As Political Violence Erupts,Two killed, 200 Injured
By Countercurrents.org

Army units have been deployed in Egypt including the capital Cairo as political violence takes 2 lives, and president Morsi has apologized for the fuel shortages and has acknowledged making mistakes. Meanwhile, Tamarod (Rebel), the revolutionary movement, has launched 30 June Front, a coordinating political body to organize planned protests . The Rebel also has proposed a post-Morsi roadmap

Muslim Brotherhood Asked Ex-Spy Chief Suleiman To Run For Egyptian Presidency
By Countercurrents.org

The Muslim Brotherhood asked Egypt's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to nominate himself for presidency in 2011, Hussein Kamal, former head of Sulieman's office, said on June 25, 2013

294 Children Detained During Gezi Protests
By Countercurrents.org

Almost 300 children at least were taken into custody and one child was wounded by a bullet during protests related to the Gezi Park unrest

US Supreme Court Makes History: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
By Amy Goodman

The U.S. Supreme Court announced three historic 5-4 decisions this week. In the first, a core component of the Voting Rights Act was gutted, enabling Southern states to enact regressive voting laws that will likely disenfranchise the ever-growing number of voters of color. The second pair of cases threw out the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the legal travesty that defined marriage in federal law as only between a man and a woman, and effectively overturned California’s Prop 8, which bans same-sex marriage. For those who struggle for equality and civil rights, these three decisions mark one brutal defeat and two stunning victories

Eavesdropping On The Planet
By William Blum

Yes, there was a sign they missed – Edward Snowden had something inside him shaped like a conscience, just waiting for a cause

Edward Snowden In Anne Applebaum's Russia
By Subhankar Banerjee

Instead of vigorous debate about fascism in the US government that Edward Snowden's work has revealed, the dialogue might soon shift toward what the influential left-wing liberal writer Anne Applebaum is suggesting: “the Cold War is back.”

The Wonderful American World of Informers And Agents Provocateurs
By Todd Gitlin

Only Martians, by now, are unaware of the phone and online data scooped up by the National Security Agency (though if it turns out that they are aware, the NSA has surely picked up their signals and crunched their metadata). American high-tech surveillance is not, however, the only kind around. There’s also the lower tech, up-close-and-personal kind that involves informers and sometimes government-instigated violence

PRISM Planet: Obama’s Global Cat And Mouse Game With Snowden
By International Movement For A Just World

The unfolding situation around whistleblower Edward Snowden is perhaps the Obama administration’s most notable embarrassment, but how far will Washington go to get even with the countries offering safe haven to the man they view as a fugitive?

Mass Protest, Not A Speech, Is Needed To Address Climate Change
By Chris Williams

Promising to “halt the rise of the oceans,” his swirling rhetoric is a match for the fiercest hurricane. It was impossible not to be moved by Obama’s opening remarks, forcefully detailing the perilous condition of our planet, atmospheric pollution and the changes already wrought by global warming from the unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the resultant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Obama’s actions over the last five years in power—during two of which, the Democrats had super–majorities in both houses of Congress—even to his most fervent supporters, have been a damp squib

Commercial Colonisation of Africa: The New Wild West
By Graham Peebles

Dancing to the tune of their corporate benefactors, governments of the ruling G8 countries are enacting complex agriculture agreements delivering large tracts of prime cut African soil into the portfolios of their multinational bedmates

Brazilian Movement Takes Inspiration From Zapatistas
By Tatiana Farah

The autonomous movement that spearheaded the Brazilian protests took direct inspiration from the horizontal model of Mexico’s Zapatista communities

Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee: The Hindutva Icon
Who Betrayed The Freedom Struggle of India
By Shamsul Islam

As a student of Indian politics and history, I request Advani to reveal his source of information that Dr Mookerjee was a 'great patriot right from his birth' about which no one else knows anything. I have been denied my right to be responded by Advani in latter’s blog but hopeful that this write-up will secure the explanation from RSS patriarch to enrich the nation’s memory about Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Modi, Advani And Sangh’s Agenda
By Ram Puniyani

Today the challenge for secular movement remains quite mammoth. The ‘social common sense’ is heavily biased against religious minorities, their plight is becoming close to second class citizens. The threat of Modi coming to power does not seem imminent but one cannot say what role BJP-RSS combine will play to come to power. Earlier also one has seen that after every communal violence, the communal formations become stronger

Food Security Bill: Time To Act
By Dr. Niranjan Chichuan

Food Security Bill is supposed to transform the national image. But the government is proceeding in the opposite direction and in a hurry to pass the Bill, ignoring the root causes of hunger and leaving untouched the structural roots of malnutrition burden. This clearly implies the government tries to minimising its own obligations

26 June ,2013

Protests Continue In Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

Protests and political incidents are continuing in Turkey. “Bizarre” incidents like beating up of singers and break up protesters’ solidarity are also happening in the country. Thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square on June 25 denouncing the release of a police officer accused of deliberately killing 26-year-old worker Ethem Sarısülük, a demonstrator in Ankara. Gatherings were also organized in other cities across the country to protest the court's ruling

It's Not Easy Being A Woman In Protest In Turkey
By Emrah GÜLER

The photo of the woman in red deserves its place as the ultimate iconic image of the protests in Turkey , as women have been at the forefront since the first days. But it's not always easy being a woman

“Rebel” Moves On In Egypt
By Countercurrents.org

'Rebel' is a signature drive that aims to collect 15 million signatures to outnumber the roughly 13.2 million Morsi garnered in last year's polls. The campaign said last week it had already reached its target of 15 million signatures. 'Rebel' is scheduled for 30 June, which marks the end of Morsi's first year as president, when demonstrators plan to march to the Presidential Palace and call for snap elections

Shale Gas Won't Stop Peak Oil, But Could Create An Economic Crisis
By Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed

A new report out last week from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has doubled estimates of "technically recoverable" oil and gas resources available globally. The report says that shale-based resources potentially increase the world's total oil supplies by 11 per cent

Edward Snowden On The Move, History In The Making
By Nozomi Hayase

History is in the making and we are the primary protagonists in the story. Snowden's story is our own. It is a history of ordinary people uniting to transcend national interests for shared universal human rights. His saga continues within each of us in our quest for a truly just society

Presidential Rule By Deception: Obama, The Master Con-man
By Prof. James Petras

For sheer span of broken promises, of systematic lies in pursuit of wars and financial manipulation in the name of peace and social justice , of consistent and bold aggrandizement of executive power over the life and death of US citizens in the name of security, Obama has set the standard of political deception and demagogy far beyond past and probable future US Presidents

Syria : The Faces Behind The Terror
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

In her extraordinarily bold and direct speech addressed to the Irish Parliament, Clare Daly (TD, Dublin North) called Obama a “war criminal” and “hypocrite of the century” . In describing the fawned reception of Obama in Ireland akin to pimping and prostituting of that nation, Ms. Daly hit the nail on the head

Full Spectrum Dominance: Weaponising The Weather
By Colin Todhunter

The US military is striving to achieve what it calls ‘full spectrum dominance’ of the planet by controlling the weather. But it is not just the US that is involved in climate modification, China and Russia are too. Thanks to people like researcher Dane Wigington, however, we are getting to know a good deal about the massive US programme and how the very essentials needed to sustain life on Earth are being recklessly destroyed

Huffington Post Misguidedly Attacks Rafael Correa
By Sean Fenley

Self-styled Latin America expert Nicolas Kozloff has only just recently attacked the eminently admirable Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. In a column for America Online’s Huffington Post Kozloff describes the laudable Ecuadorian leader as “dubious”, and with (according to Kozloff) “backward tendencies”

Time For An Economy Of, By And For The People
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers

The reaction to Ben Bernanke suggestion that it may be time to wind down the easy money policies which have been injecting $85 billion into the hands of Wall Street each month show that the ‘recovery' has been a fraud

Politics of Aid And Suffering Humanity
By V. Arun Kumar

The news of recent ‘Rambo’ style rescue by Narendra Modi is an example to this. One of the basic and foremost principles of disaster relief is impartiality. If one goes by the claims of Narendra Modi, he and his state machinery only rescued Gujaratis who were stranded in Uttarakhand. The humanitarian principle warns against any adverse distinction of any kind in providing assistance and should only be guided by need basis. Such an act of partiality and selective rescues when humanity is calling for help is shameful and should be condemned

Independent Women: Economics v/s Society
By Ragini Pant

This paper seeks to understand the duality of the Indian society where despite of rampant and hard-core economic race, women are still marginalized and how economic independence plays a futile role in upliftment of level of social relevance to the women in the society

Women In Peace Building In North East India
By Durang Basu Mullick

We have seen that with time several women’s organisations in the north east have come up to protect and promote the rights of tribal people especially the women. These women’s groups have helped the women deal with trauma and agony owing to armed conflicts. They also have worked towards the economic empowerment of the women affected by violence

25 June ,2013

US Issues Threats To China, Russia Over Snowden
By Peter Symonds

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong, appears to be still in Russia after reports that he failed to board a flight to Cuba on which he was booked on Monday. The Obama administration is stepping up its threats and bullying in a bid to press the Russian government to hand Snowden over for trial on charges of espionage for exposing the NSA’s vast electronic surveillance operations inside the US and internationally

Obama Backs First-Strike Nuclear War As U.S. Policy
By Francis A. Boyle

I have now had the chance to read Obama’s Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of the United States, that just came out on Friday, June 21, 2013. The critical passage can be found on page 5: “The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review established the Administration’s goal to set conditions that would allow the United States to safely adopt a policy of making deterrence of nuclear attack the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons. Although we cannot adopt such a policy today, the new guidance re-iterates the intention to work towards that goal over time.”

Hundreds March In Istanbul To Denounce Release of
Police Officer Suspected of Killing Protester
By Countercurrents.org

Hundreds gathered on the night of June 24 in Istanbul 's Asian shores to protest the court ruling to release a police officer suspected of shooting a demonstrator in the early days of the Gezi Park unrest

Climate Crisis, Financial Issues Top Threats, Finds Global Survey
By Jim Lobe

Climate change and international financial instability top a list of seven concerns that publics around the world consider “major threats” to their countries, according to the latest polling of global attitudes by the Pew Research Centre here

Classmates I: First Those Who Came First: The Disappeared
By Subcomandante Marcos

I have climbed the ceiba tree not just because of my fear of being assaulted by an impertinent beetle, a supposed errant knight, or by the melancholic stories of the cat-dog… well, yes also because of this, but most of all because, in order to tell you about those who were invited first, one must look at one’s heart, which is what we the Zapatistas call the act of remembering, making memory

Terror v. Surveillance? Keeping Americans Safe In Two Simple Steps
By Robert Jensen

Let me be clear: I do not want to die in a terrorist attack. But before I am bullied into accepting intrusive government surveillance that is open to politicized abuse, I have another question: Are there other ways we could reduce the risk of U.S. citizens, at home or abroad, being targeted by terrorists? Two possibilities come to mind

A World Without Tigers?
By Mickey Z.

There are currently more tigers living in captivity in the United States (mostly in roadside zoos) than tigers existing in the wild across the entire globe

Stamping Impunity On Israel’s War Crimes
By Vacy Vlazna

Concerned Australians have bombarded the Postal Ombusdman, Australia Post and Minister Conroy with protests against the government’s commandeering of ANZAC and Palestinian history for the whitewashing of Israel state terrorism and demanding the withdrawal of the stamps because young ANZAC soldiers did not sacrifice their lives to give the stamp of approval to Israel’s impunity to daily violate international law and wreak inhuman suffering on Palestinian men, women, children and the elderly

Angola 3's Herman Wallace, Gravely Ill, Still Held In Isolation
By James Ridgeway & Jean Casella

Herman Wallace, 71, has been diagnosed with liver cancer. He is being held in a locked prison hospital room at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center at St. Gabriel, Louisiana. The prognosis is grave, according to persons with direct knowledge of the situation. Wallace is one of the two members of the Angola 3 who, along with Albert Woodfox, is still being held in solitary after more than 41 years

Welcome Back “Double Standards”, TV’s Best
By Thomas C. Mountain

Award winning producer Afshin Rattansi has returned to the airwaves with his cutting edge poli-tricks and comedy program “Double Standards” after a three month hiatus from Press TV

Pathetic Qualifications Produce Pathetic Presidential Performance
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

American democracy has so deteriorated that I can see little hope of its resurrection absent some form of revolution consistent with out Constitution, namely using what our Founders gave us: an Article V convention of state delegates with the legal authority to propose true reform constitutional amendments that still would have to be ratified by three-quarters of the states

Listen - Sh. Manmohan Singh Ji
By Abdul Majid Zargar

Honbl’e Prime Minster - Being the architect of phrase “zero-tolerance”- the men & women of Kunanposhpura, after finishing with their tales , have told me to convey you this message in bold & unambiguous language

Grasping The Current Mood Of The Kashmiri youth
By Aijaz Nazir

Sense of alienation from India is deep rooted among the young generation of the Valley while the protests of 2008 and 2010 may be a distant history for the policy makers they are still a fresh memory for the youth

The Curious Case Of The Tamil Nadu Police Preventing Ex-Maoists’ Return To Electoral Path!
By Concerned Citizens

Tamil Nadu police have arrested Duraisingavel and Ragini who relinquished the maoist path years ago

24 June ,2013

Qatar Conference Opens New Stage In Syrian War
By James Cogan

The “Friends of Syria” meeting in Qatar on June 22 ended with a communiqué announcing that Washington and its allies will “take all necessary practical measures” to arm the right-wing Sunni-based opposition forces, which have served as their proxies in a two-year civil war to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The announcement opens up a new stage in the war, and heightens the dangers of a regional sectarian conflagration

2.5 Million Attended Gezi Protests Across Turkey :
Everyday 50 People Stand Silently In Their City Centres
By Countercurrents.org

Some 2.5 million protestors hit the streets across Turkey since the unrest began on May 31 over the attempt to demolish Istanbul 's Gezi Park . Only in two cities, Bayburt and Bingöl, people did not attend the protests while 79 cities witnessed big protests. A large majority of the protests were staged in Istanbul and Ankara

Murder Made Sexy
By William T. Hathaway

The US Special Forces is a bizarrely gendered world, as I found out when I joined it to write a book about war. This all-male bastion is sexualized in a truly perverted way, particularly in its methods for turning young men into killers on command

100 Reasons Why Australians Must Reject Gillard Labor
By Dr Gideon Polya

Set out here is an alphabetically organized summary of how pro-war, anti-environment, anti-equity, human rights-abusing Gillard Labor has utterly betrayed traditionally anti-war, pro-environment, pro-equity, and pro-human rights Labor voters

The Big Decision
By John Spritzler

The same choice that confronted the ANC (make a deal with Big Money or rely on ordinary people to remove Big Money from power and create an egalitarian society) confronts virtually all people resisting oppression

Our Overcrowded Planet: A Failure Of Family Planning
By Robert Engelman

New UN projections forecast that world population will hit nearly 11 billion people by 2100, an unsettling prospect that reflects a collective failure to provide women around the world with safe, effective ways to avoid pregnancies they don't intend or want

Sustaining The Commons: Review
By David Bollier

It is a real pleasure, therefore, to greet Sustaining the Commons, a new undergraduate textbook that has just been published. The book provides a general overview of the intellectual framework, concepts and applications of Ostrom’s research on the commons and it is free for download

Incongruous Placing Of The Punjab Left With Tribal’s Struggle In Sanjay Kak’s Film
By Jaspal Singh Sidhu

Portraying of the Left in the film as a fighting force , even metaphorically, against the government and presenting them as inheritors of the Gadhar movement is a glaring anomaly and travesty of the historical truth. Such distortion smacked of ignorance of the film maker .But the leftists who indulge in such self-adulation, instead of doing much-needed self-criticism, would not be serving their cause either . And , securing such 'bigger- than-life' depiction by the section of Left is nothing but an outright delusion

Mr PM, Welcome To Jammu And Kashmir: The Pristine Land Of Human Rights Violation
By Ravi Nitesh & Devika Mittal

If possible, please try to visit the Shopian and Kunan Poshpora. Please fix an appointment with the victims or the kin of the victims of the unfortunate but not unavoidable rape cases. But if you do not have time to ‘waste’, stay at Srinagar and try to meet with the families of some 110 persons who lost their lives during the summer protests two years ago

The Curious Case Of The Tamil Nadu Police Preventing Ex-Maoists’ Return To Electoral Path!
By Concerned Citizens

Tamil Nadu police have arrested Duraisingavel and Ragini who relinquished the maoist path years ago

23 June ,2013

Snowden Departs Hong Kong For Moscow
By Countercurrents.org

NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden has flown out of Hong Kong, from where the US was seeking his extradition on charges of espionage. He is expected in Moscow on Sunday afternoon amid speculation he will then fly on to another country

This Really Is Big Brother: The Leak Nobody's Noticed
By Digby

Even before a former U.S. intelligence contractor exposed the secret collection of Americans’ phone records, the Obama administration was pressing a government-wide crackdown on security threats that requires federal employees to keep closer tabs on their co-workers and exhorts managers to punish those who fail to report their suspicions. President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach

Thousands Protest In Mass Rallies In Istanbul, Ankara, Eskisehir,
Clash And Arrests Continue
By Countercurrents.org

Protests by thousands of people in mass rallies and clashes erupted once again in Turkish capital city Ankara , Istanbul , Izmir and Eskisehir over the last few days. In a bizarre volte- face Turkish prime minister Erdoğan announced that a mosque will be built on Taksim Square

UN Says It's Impossible To Determine Syria Chemical Attack Perpetrator
Even With US Evidence
By Countercurrents.org

The UN is still unable to determine which side used chemical weapons in Syria’s conflict, the organization’s investigative committee has said. Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the UN commission’s inquiry into rights violations in Syria, refused to comment on evidence received from the US, UK, and France which, they claim, shows Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces using chemical weapons

Seeing Global Warming Through Gray Braasch’s Eyes
By Subhankar Banerjee

If you live in New England, or visiting there this summer, you’ll have an opportunity to see—varieties of climate change impacts from around the world. The Museum of Science in Boston has just opened an exhibition, Climate Change In Our World: Photographs by Gary Braasch. It will run through September. Even if you don’t get to visit Boston, you’ll still be able to see Gary’s work through other media, as I’ll mention in a minute

The Surprising Role Of CO2 In Changes On The African Savanna
By Adam Welz

Recent studies show that many of the world’s savannas, including famed southern African landscapes, are experiencing significant change as rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere favor the growth of trees over grasslands

Don’t These Lives Worth INR 17 A Day Shame You, Mr. Prime Minister?
By Samar

INR 17, or approximately 30 cents in USD, is what an average poor spends a day in rural India. Their urban friends are no better off either; they have to content with spending INR 27 for seeing a day off. Adjust that amount for the cost of living in urban centres and they are just as worse off as the poor in villages. Unfortunately for the government, this data cannot be rubbished as it comes from National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), a governmental body itself

22 June ,2013

Communications Of Millions Subject To US-UK Spying, Snowden Charged With Espionage
By Eric London

Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed on Friday that the UK intelligence agency GCHQ and the NSA record the content of phone calls, email messages, Facebook posts and browser histories of tens of millions of people. By tapping into fiber-optic cables—the infrastructure through which all Internet traffic must pass—the two agencies have created a systematic procedure for procuring, filtering and storing private communication

On 1 Year, Snowden, Manning And More
By Julian Assange

It has now been a year since I entered this embassy and sought refuge from persecution

The Surveillance State: In Britain, Everything Is Not Okay!
By Colin Todhunter

For many people, personal privacy vs widespread surveillance has been a major issue for decades. However, some thought it might have been happening but chose to downplay it. Others didn't want to know and just didn't care. Edward Snowden's recent revelations indicate it is happening and that we should all care

Dilma Tries To Compromise: Reforms Unveiled In Brazil
By Countercurrents.org

In an attempt to make compromise with the people, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has unveiled a series of reforms. Though offering no details, Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities. She reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians

Climate Change Is Like Atom Bomb, Scientists
By Countercurrents.org

The planet has been building up temperatures at the rate of four Hiroshima bombs of heat every second, and it's all our fault, say climate scientists. Hurricane Katrina and superstorm Sandy are just two examples of how extreme weather will intensify, it was reported in Australia's Climate Action Summit

As Extreme Weather Increases, Bangladesh Braces For The Worst
By Brian Fagan

Scientists are predicting that warming conditions will bring more frequent and more intense extreme weather events. Their warnings hit home in densely populated Bangladesh, which historically has been hit by devastating sea surges and cyclones

Hezbollah’s Palestinian Problem
By Franklin Lamb

Many Lebanese and Syrian supporters of this regions Resistance culture, increasingly led by Hezbollah, are chastising, for a number of reasons, their former Islamist ally Hamas. Pillorying them with accusations that the latter are ingrates who are creating a host of problems for Hezbollah and its support for the Syrian regime, during the continuing crisis. Unnecessary problems, it is frequently asserted, that inure to the benefit of their mutual arch enemies, the Zionist colonizers of Palestine and their American and Arab enablers

Imagining A Superman Of The Left
By Karthick RM

There is nothing essentially fascist about Heroes and heroism, and the Hero ideal cannot be abandoned to liberals or fascists. The Left needs its Men and Women of Steel. If they don’t exist, they should be invented

21 June ,2013

Panic Deepens On World Financial Markets
By Andre Damon

Global stocks plunged Thursday in the biggest one-day sell-off so far this year, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank might consider paring back its cash infusions into the financial markets within the next six months

Million Protesters Demonstrate In 100 Brazilian Cities
By Countercurrents.org

More than a million protesters have taken to the streets in Brazil as demonstrations over a range of social issues grow. Demonstrating people flooded into Rio de Janeiro and more than 100 cities. Violence and clashes erupted in many places and an 18-year-youth died when a car drove through a barricade in Sao Paulo state

Resist!
By Subcomandante Marcos

Solidarity Message From Subcomandante Marcos to the resisiting masses in Turkey

NSA Monitoring US Communications Without A Warrant, Documents Show
By Thomas Gaist

Classified top secret documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by US Attorney General Eric Holder, published by The Guardian on Thursday, show that US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) judges have approved sweeping general orders authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor US communications data without individual warrants

Understanding The Latest Leaks Is Understanding The Rise Of A New Fascism
By John Pilger

Snowden’s revelation that Washington has used Google, Facebook, Apple and other giants of consumer technology to spy on almost everyone, is further evidence of modern form of fascism – that is the "abyss". Having nurtured old-fashioned fascists around the world – from Latin America to Africa and Indonesia – the genie has risen at home. Understanding this is as important as understanding the criminal abuse of technology

Edward Snowden's Wake Up Call: Cyber Security, Surveillance And Democracy
By S.G.Vombatkere

Edward Snowden, in his courageous, principled expose, has brought out how USA's National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying on most nations in the world. This spying is clearly to establish or strengthen USA's political, economic and military global clout. India is the fifth-most spied-upon nation, even more than China and Russia. Considering that India is USA's strategic partner, spying on India is breach of faith

Them And US
By Subcomandante Marcos

In a new series of essays, Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN lays out the differences between those in power and those who choose to organize from below

One In Three Women Suffers Violence, Finds WHO Global Study
By Countercurrents.org

More than a third of all women worldwide – 35.6% – will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, usually from a male partner, says the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the first comprehensive study of its kind

The Central Intelligence Bureau or Immunized Bureau
By R.B Sreekumar

Strangely the blatantly illegal act of Union Home Secretary convening a meeting of Director Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Director CBI reportedly for influencing CBI from doing anything affecting “image and morale” of IB personal in the investigation of fake encounter cases in Gujarat, did not evoke adequate discussion in the media

Is IB A Holy Cow?
By S.R.Darapuri

Now the question arises as to what is the sanctity of being an officer of IB and claiming immunity in the name of national security and the alleged demoralisation of IB officers if they are prosecuted for their criminal acts. Our law of the land lays down the dictum of equality before and the due process of law. In the present case can Rajinder Kumar claim to be above law of the land?

Gorakhpur - The Killing Fields Where Only Thing Worse Than Death Is Survival
By Samar

Encephalitis killed 1256 children in 2012, as per the government’s own admission. The most conservative independent estimates pegged the number at above 1480, gingerly warning that the actual numbers could be much higher as the estimates have only been culled from those children fortunate enough to make it to hospitals, even if only to die

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Is An Assault On Democracy
That Will Undermine The Economy
By Kevin Zeese

There is a battle building between the people of the planet and transnational corporations. The battleground is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It is a battle the people can win if we act in solidarity

Quis Custodiet?
By Gary Corseri

A poem by Gary Corseri

Prisons Full of Innocents
By David Swanson

There are probably more innocent men and women in prison in the United States now than there were people in prison here total -- innocent and guilty -- 30 years ago, or than there are total people in prison (proportionately or as an absolute number) in most nations on earth

The False Flag "War On Terror"
By Timothy V. Gatto

The recent revelations about government intrusion into everyone's privacy are alarming. More alarming however, is the justifications that the government uses for invading its citizens privacy. The entire argument that we must balance our liberty against our security is a pernicious falsehood based on lies and propaganda

Big Racists vs Little Racists: How Israeli Apartheid Is Coming Unstuck
By Jonathan Cook

Nazareth: One incident of racism, though small in relation to the decades of massive, institutionalised discrimination exercised by Israel against its Palestinian Arab citizens, has triggered an uncharacteristic bout of Israeli soul-searching. Superland, a large amusement park near Tel Aviv, refused to accept a booking from an Arab school on its preferred date in late May. When a staff member called back impersonating a Jew, Superland approved the booking immediately

20 June ,2013

War By Another Name In Syria
By Franklin Lamb

An 18 month old US-led Plan B has been dusted off by the Obama administration according to Washington Congressional and Beirut diplomatic sources. If successful, there is growing confidence among pro-Zionist neocons in Congress that while Syrian regime-change has failed for several reasons that thwarted the Gulf funded military campaign, Syria can still be brought to heel through an economic campaign dressed to look, well, down right “humanitarian.”

10 Problems With The Latest Excuse For War
By David Swanson

If you own a television or read a newspaper you've probably heard that we need another war because the Syrian government used chemical weapons. If you own a computer and know where to look you've probably heard that there isn't actually any evidence for that claim. Below are 10 reasons why this latest excuse for war is no good even if true

Hundreds Of Thousands Rise Against Rich-Poor Gap And Corruption In Brazil
By Countercurrents.org

Brazilian authorities have failed to halt nationwide protests despite reversing the public-transport fare increases that sparked the unrest. Crowds blocked main roads in Sao Paulo and Brasilia , and protesters confronted police in Rio de Janeiro state shortly after the U-turn was announced

Poorest Will Feel Brunt Of Climate Crisis, Warns World Bank
By Countercurrents.org

Millions of people around the world are likely to be pushed back into poverty because climate change is undermining economic development in poor countries, the World Bank has warned

Spying By The Numbers: Hundreds Of Thousands Subject To
Government Surveillance And No Real Protection
By Bill Quigley

Thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden many more people in the US and world-wide are learning about extensive US government surveillance and spying. There are publicly available numbers which show the reality of these problems are bigger than most think and most of this spying is happening with little or no judicial oversight

FBI Director Acknowledges Use Of Surveillance Drones In The US
By Eric London

FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged in Congressional testimony on Wednesday that his agency has used aerial drones for surveillance purposes within the United States. The revelation came in the midst of more efforts to justify the Obama administration’s unconstitutional domestic surveillance programs under the banner of the “war on terror.”

US-EU Free Trade Agreement: A Corporate Stitch Up By Any Other Name
By Colin Todhunter

The Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) between the US and EU is currently being negotiated. The deal plans to create the world's largest free trade area, 'protect' investment and remove ‘unnecessary regulatory barriers’. All well and good for big business, but the treaty poses a serious threat for ordinary people as it could weaken labour, social, environmental and consumer protection standards. Given the issues at stake, just how much transparency and democratic accountability is there regarding these negotiations and who is driving the agenda?

Detroit’s Retired City Workers In The Crosshairs
By Ann Robertson & Bill Leumer

With Detroit’s finances looking increasingly dire, the city’s creditors are beginning to face off with one another, each trying to minimize their losses. The city’s pension fund, which supports retired city workers, has found itself in direct conflict with a formidable opponent, the bondholders, individuals and institutions that gave the city money in order to enjoy the interest on the loan

The Revolution Must Be Accessible: Reject Able-ism
By Mickey Z.

When seeking to create social change, we can never forget that inclusion is universal and solidarity is a powerful way to lead by example. The main lesson of all these teaching moments: Surrender the privilege of able-ism… now

Why Do People Lie? And Why Do Other People Believe Them?
By Robert J. Burrowes

People always lie for the same reason: fear. But the precise fear that makes a person lie in one circumstance might be different from the fear that makes them lie in another

19 June ,2013

Congress, Intelligence Officials Join In Attacking NSA Whistleblower Snowden
By Eric London

Government and intelligence officials appeared before Congress yesterday as part of the cover-up of the Obama administration’s massive international surveillance programs. The meeting was convened as a joint effort to attack whistleblower Edward Snowden and downplay the assault on democratic rights that he has made public

Bye, Bye Ms. American Spy
By Satya Sagar

So hey! People of the World! What are we going to do about these thievin', lily livered Americans pilfering the last things that remain with the rest of us - our fertile imagination? Is it not time to strike back and teach these guys a lesson they will never forget? Let us do something that will spook not just their frigging spy software but also meltdown the minds of their frigging spooks! Here are five ideas to get the process rolling

Laughing Matters: US Government v. Voices Of Conscience
By Subhankar Banerjee

With courage, integrity and articulation Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald have exposed the enormous apparatus of fascism in the US government. The US spying threatens our civil liberties. More importantly though, by suppressing climate change and other environmental activism—for the benefit of corporations—it threatens the survival of—future generations of human and nonhuman biotic communities. The US government and voices of conscience are now engaged in a war—not a Laughing Matter. We can only hope—to make sense of this ongoing war—there will be humor

Massive Protests In Brazil
By Countercurrents.org

Massive protests errupted in Brazil yesterday. The protests began with demands for bus fare hikes to be revoked. It has turned into a nationwide demonstration against bad governance. In Sao Paulo, about 65,000 people took to the streets. The largest march was in Rio de Janeiro, where some 100,000 people marched peacefully through the city centre

Hundreds In Turkish Towns And Cities Stand As The “Standing Man”
By Countercurrents.org

The non-violent protest inspired by the performance artist Erdem Gündüz spread across Turkey as it was imitated by hundreds in towns and cities

Turkey : Fight Against Authoritarianism
By V. Arun Kumar

Though Taksim square has been made now a police bastion, the resistance refuses to die down. A new wave of protest has gripped the city, inspired by performance artist Erdem Gunduz, who stood silently for hours in Istanbul's central Taksim Square

Walker Tells The Truth, The ADL Avoids It
By William A. Cook

Alice Walker’s new book, The Cushion in the Road, spends over eighty pages on the Israeli state and its treatment of Palestinians. Apparently the ADL took umbrage to her free expression of ideas about the Zionist ideology that has managed to imprison the Palestinians in their own land while stealing most of it. This they call Anti-Semitism

Khadamas For Sale: Child Exploitation Bonanza
By Ramzy Baroud

We must not wait yet another year to make a passing mention of the tens of millions of exploited children, nod our heads in predictable tandem about how unfair the world is, and how lucky we are to be spared such injustice. Child laborers would not exist if it were not for the many more millions of willing exploiters, seeking khadamas, fine cigars and brand name garments. The world, after all, is made up by us, so we'd better take responsibility for it and its exploited children

18 June ,2013

Snowden Issues Defiant Response To Government Threats And Media Lies
By Eric London

Whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke publicly yesterday for the first time in a week and issued a defiant response to denunciations of his actions by both corporate-controlled parties in the US. He declared, “All I can say right now is the US government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me. Truth is coming and it cannot be stopped.”

The Deeper Meaning Of Mass Spying In America
By James Petras

Even as President Obama and his Democratic and Republican partners boast and bluster about their police state and its effective “security function”, the vast majority of Americans are becoming aware that fear instilled at home serves the interest of waging imperial wars abroad; that cowardice in the face of police state threats only encourages further cuts in their living standards. When will they learn that exposing spying is only the beginning of a solution? When will they recognize that ending the police state is essential to dismantling the costly empire and creating a safe, secure and prosperous America ?

The Conscience Of Edward Snowden, Courage Is Contagious
By Nozomi Hayase

We are standing at a truly significant moment in history. From Ellsberg to Manning to Snowden; whistleblowers that stand up for the public interest show how courage is contagious. We now have a great opportunity to open the court of public opinion. In the end, fear will never prevail

The Making Of A Global Security State
By Tom Engelhardt

The Five Uncontrollable Urges of a Secrecy-Surveillance World

Civil Disobedience In Turkey, While Minister Threatens With Army Intervention
By Countercurrents.org

Turkey witnessed an heroic act of civil disobedience while ministers threatened striking workers and of military intervention

Sapping Assad’s Strength: Israel Stirs The Pot In Syria
By Jonathan Cook

In recent weeks Israel has moved from relative inaction to a deepening involvement in Syrian affairs. It launched two air strikes on Syrian positions last month, and at the same time fomented claims that Damascus had used chemical weapons, in what looked suspiciously like an attempt to corner Washington into direct intervention

From Afghanistan, Thank You Bradley Manning!
From Dr. Hakim and the Afghan Peace Volunteers

An appeal from Afghanistan to whistle-blow on war

Democracy In The Islamic State And Iran's New President
By Judy Bello

It is clear that Iranians are moving forward and seriously working with their democracy, imperfect though it may be, to improve their society and their lives

Green Shadow Cabinet Joins Critical Struggle To Defeat The Trans-Pacific Partnership
By Green Shadow Cabinet

The Green Shadow Cabinet stands united in opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and is committed to defeating this Obama administration effort to enrich and empower global corporations at the expense of people and planet

The U.S. Military And The Unraveling Of Africa
By Nick Turse

In the wake of 9/11, Pentagon officials were hard-pressed to show evidence of a major African terror threat. Today, the continent is thick with militant groups that are increasingly crossing borders, sowing insecurity, and throwing the limits of U.S. power into broad relief. After 10 years of U.S. operations to promote stability by military means, the results have been the opposite. Africa has become blowback central

Divide And Rule; Western “Democracy” In Africa
By Thomas Mountain

The dishonor roll of “African Democracy” a.k.a. bought, rigged or stolen elections must begin with Ethiopia, where the ethnic minority regime declared themselves victors 12 hours after the polls closed with 99.6% of the seats in parliament

Hey Radicals: Veganism Is Much More Than An 'Option'
By Mickey Z.

Surrender the privilege of speciesism, embrace empathy for all sentient beings, re-imagine your relationship with the natural world, and allow revolutionary compassion to guide your choices

Postcard From The End Of America: Philadelphia
By Linh Dinh

Yet another post card from Linh Dinh

Exposing The Real Ralph Nader
By Rosemarie Jackowski

There are a lot of things people don't know about Nader

I Have A Right To Know The Complete Truth –
Who Killed My Daughter Ishrat Jehan
By Shamima Kauser

Statement by Shamima Kauser mother of deceased Ishrat Jehan

Malleswaram or Hubli 2 ?
By Subhash Gatade

Any peace loving person would vouch that the cause of justice would be better served if fresh investigation is conducted in Malleswaram bomb blast case and the real guilty are apprehended. Mr Siddharamaiah, the new incumbent to the chief minister's post has promised to provide a clean and transparent administration. Perhaps he can make a beginning by asking the law and order people to revisit the case

16 June ,2013

Thousands March In Ankara, Istanbul; Police Attacks Protesters,
Call For Mass Demonstration
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of people took to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul to express support to the protests, and the protesters have announced that they would stay at Istanbul’s Gezi Park. They have called for a demonstration to commemorate their fallen comrades while police launched fierce attacks on protesters in Istanbul and Ankara

Turkey Threatens Doctors And First Responders, Violates Medical Neutrality
By Margaret Flowers, MD

The Turkish Health Ministry issued a threat to take medical licenses to practice away from doctors who have been providing treatment to the protesters in Istanbul. They are also demanding the names of all medical volunteers including Emergency Medicine Technicians. This threat constitutes a violation of the human right of the protesters to receive treatment and the principle of medical neutrality

Gezi Park: Between Democracy And Kemalism
By Wilhelm Langthaler

The old left had failed facing the AKP challenge – because they read them erroneously as a linear prolongation of the military dictatorship. As the authoritarian and culturally repressive tendencies of Erdogan are coming to the fore, a new chance is being offered to social revolutionary democrats. But there is one condition: not to tap into the trap laid out by Kemalism which already had seemed to be moribund

Democrats Spearhead Campaign Against Snowden
As Evidence Of Illegal Spying Mounts
By Thomas Gaist

The US government, abetted by the media, is intensifying its campaign against former intelligence employee Edward Snowden for leaking evidence of massive and illegal spying. The Obama administration is preparing to file criminal charges and is pushing for Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong. Snowden has said that he fears for his safety and has fled his hotel for an undisclosed location

Defying Downpour Hong Kong Blows Whistles For The Whistleblower Snowden
By Samar

The organisers had erred in judging the popular mood in support of Snowden which had just asserted it through the huge turnout. Not that they were complaining. This was an error all activists want to make, after all. By making Chatter Park bursting at the seams Hong Kong had spoken its heart out for Snowden

The Fascist State Of America
By Dr. Glen Barry

Edward Snowden has revealed the extent to which America has become a total surveillance police state – with wholesale spying upon its own citizens – adding to revelations since 9/11 of the murder of U.S. citizens as well as torture, indefinite detention, and pursuit of drone perma-war, terrorizing entire nations. All of these acts are occurring upon the basis of suspicion alone – without due legal process, violating international law and the U.S. Constitution – in an unprecedented expansion of government powers in the name of a war on terror, when in fact they are being used to control dissent and access oil

Israeli Death Merchants And Palestinian Guinea Pigs
By Gilad Atzmon

“The Lab” is a new groundbreaking Israeli documentary film that redefines our entire understanding of the Jewish state, its aims, its identity and its global destructive role. It is a fundamental and most important commentary on Israel

UN Justice Champion Richard Falk Targeted (Again)
By Stuart Littlewood

The US ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, has branded Richard Falk as “unfit to serve in his role as a UN Special Rapporteur.”

Avoiding False Alternatives
By Robert Jensen

If a healthy political culture is rooted in conversation and based on honest argumentation, then one of the most corrosive rhetorical tactics is the use of false alternatives

High Oil Prices Are Starting To Affect China And India
By Gail Tverberg

The US Energy Information Administration recently released its report showing oil consumption by country updated through 2012. Based on this report, it appears that at current high oil prices, demand in both China and India is being reduced. Thus, for those who are wondering how high oil prices need to be, to be “too high,” the answer is, “We are already there. In fact, continued high oil prices are a big reason behind the recessionary forces we are now seeing around the world.”

15 June ,2013

Why Obama Is Declaring War On Syria
By Franklin Lamb

The short answer is Iran and Hezbollah according to Congressional sources. “The Syrian army’s victory at al-Qusayr was more than the administration could accept given that town’s strategic position in the region. Its capture by the Assad forces has essentially added Syria to Iran’s list of victories starting with Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, as well as its growing influence in the Gulf.”

Ankara Stands Solid, Kuğulu Becomes Symbol Of Resistance
By Countercurrents.org

Ankara 's Kuğulu Park has become the scene of the grandest rallies organized in solidarity with Taksim Gezi Park , and has also become a symbol of the resistance

Permafrost: Is A Sleeping Climate Giant Stirring In The Arctic ?
By Countercurrents.org

Permafrost soils are warming even faster than Arctic air temperatures - as much as 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius) in just the past 30 years. As heat from Earth's surface penetrates into permafrost, it threatens to mobilize these organic carbon reservoirs and release them into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, upsetting the Arctic 's carbon balance and greatly exacerbating global warming

Has The World Turned Less Peaceful?
By Countercurrents.org

The world has become a less peaceful place, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The institute's this year's report reinforces a longer term pattern: Since 2008 levels of peace have fallen by 5%. The annual Global Peace Index 2013 report ranks 162 countries by measuring security in society, the extent of conflict and the degree of militarization, and shows the way world peace has changed over time

Paul Krugman: A Smart Man Paid To Say Stupid Things
By John Spritzler

Mr. Krugman used the Luddites of 18th century England to make a point in his Opinion piece. The Luddites were part of an anti-capitalist tradition that included the 17th century Diggers, who explicitly aimed for a free and equal society based on mutual aid, in which "The earth [would be] a Common Treasure House for all." We need to create a world based on their vision, and to start Thinking about Revolution

Whither Justice: Fabricated Cases And State
By Ram Puniyani

Rihai Manch, a forum for getting justice to the falsely implicated youth in the cases of acts of terror has currently (June 2013), held a protest Dharna (sit in) to demand the arrest of police and IB officials responsible for the death of Maulana Khalid Mujahid, to implement the R.D. Nimesh Commission report and to release the innocent Muslim youth implicated in acts of terror. This campaign is getting broader support from more human rights groups and affected community. This is the major effort by a civic society group to democratically protest against the insensitive and biased state machinery, to pressurize it to come to the path of justice

14 June ,2013

Pretext For A New War: Obama Lies About Syrian Chemical Weapons
By Peter Symonds

In a statement issued Thursday, the Obama administration has declared that the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad has violated “international norms” by using chemical weapons on multiple occasions over the past year. The claim is a transparent lie that will be used by the US and its European allies, Britain and France, as the pretext for arming their right-wing Islamist proxies and for military intervention

Syria: Pros And Cons
By David Swanson

Mr. President, if I were a professional con artist paid to give you the pros and cons on engaging in a war in Syria, here's what they would be

US To Supply Heavy Weapons To Syrian "Rebels"
By Timothy Gatto

It seems that our corrupt, lying leaders in Washington are at it again. Just moments ago, the Administration said that Syria “Has crossed the Red Line” by using chemical weapons against the opposition. That isn’t what is driving this train

Erdogan's Dramatic U-Turn And Mothers Join Protesters In Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

In a dramatic U-turn, Turkish prime minister Erdogan met members of a group opposed to the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul on the night of June 13, 2013. Although only hours before the Turkish PM warned his patience had run out and those occupying Gezi Park to leave. The referendum idea, floated by one of Erdogan's associates, seemed to have gone by the wayside

Snowden Defends Actions As Obama Administration
Pushes For Prosecution Of Whistleblower
By Thomas Gaist

Edward Snowden, the former intelligence employee, is facing extradition and prosecution by the US government for his actions in exposing the National Security Agency's massive police-state surveillance system. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Snowden asserted that the US government has been “trying to bully” Hong Kong into extraditing him. “I am not here to hide from justice,” he said from an undisclosed location in Hong Kong. “I am here to reveal criminality.”

Daniel Ellsberg Blazed The Path For Manning & Snowden
By Mickey Z.

June 13, 2013 marks 42 years since the New York Times published an article by Neil Sheehan called, "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces 3 Decades of Growing U.S. Involvement."

Are We Living In Orwell’s1984 Oceania Surveillance State?
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Perhaps, Georg Orwell's worst nightmare has come true in the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden's startling revelations of secret government surveillance. Writing under the title, “So Are We Living in 1984?” Ian Crouch of New Yorker argued that Edward Snowden, sounded, in the Guardian interview in which he came forward, like he’d been guided by Orwell’s pen

Warming Ocean Causing Most Antarctic Ice Shelf Mass Loss
By Countercurrents.org

Ocean waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves are responsible for most of the continent's ice shelf mass loss, a new study by NASA and university researchers has found

“Expert Witness Testimony To Stop Gas-Fired Power Plant Installation”
By Dr Gideon Polya

Despite the worsening global warming crisis due to ever-increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution, the world is paradoxically experiencing a gas boom and a gas a rush throughout the world. While the world urgently needs to implement 100% renewable energy and concomitantly decrease and eventually cease GHG pollution, massive corporate spin falsely asserts that “gas is clean” and that a first step to a clean energy future is to replace coal burning for power with gas burning

Honey Bee Collapse: A Lesson In Ecology
By Rex Weyler

Furthermore, wild bee habitat shrinks every year as industrial agri-business converts grasslands and forest into mono-culture farms, which are then contaminated with pesticides. To reverse the world bees decline, we need to fix our dysfunctional and destructive agricultural system

Spray, Poison, Eat: Glyphosate (Roundup) In Our Food
By Colin Todhunter

Historians may look back and write about how willing we are to sacrifice our children and jeopardize future generations with a massive experiment that is based on false promises and flawed science just to benefit the bottom line of a commercial enterprise. So said Don Huber in referring to the use of glyphosate and genetically modified crops. Huber was speaking at Organic Connections conference in Regina , Canada , late 2012

What Permaculture Isn’t — And Is
By Toby Hemenway

Permaculture is notoriously hard to define. A recent survey shows that people simultaneously believe it is a design approach, a philosophy, a movement, and a set of practices. This broad and contradiction-laden brush doesn’t just make permaculture hard to describe. It can be off-putting, too

Seeds Of Change In Ethiopia: Thousands March In The Capital
By Graham Peebles

A single demonstration as seen in Addis Ababa on Sunday 2nd June, rightfully calling for justice – long overdue and the release of political prisoners, whilst highly significant and encouraging, will have little effect unless it serves as the beginning of a coordinated, strategic movement

What Is Causing Delay In Implementing Commodity Transaction Tax?
By Kavaljit Singh

In an apparent policy u-turn, New Delhi has deferred the official notification that will pave the way for the implementation of the long-awaited commodity transaction tax (CTT) in India. The official notification was expected on June 1, 2013 so as to enable commodity futures exchanges to undertake necessary changes in the trading system before its due implementation from July 1

Kashmir: Forgetting History
By Abdul Majid Zargar

In response to controversial revelations of Historical events made by A.G.Noorani at the Silver Jubilee Function Of Daily “Greater Kashmir”, many columnists wrote articles, some in denouncement and few in praise. But there has been an another class of writers, who without taking a definite stand, have advised us to forget history and take care of the future. Only. This write-up is essentially a rejoinder to such writers. It makes an attempt to evaluate the argument that individuals and nations must forget their history

13 June ,2013

Turkey Protesters Defy Erdogan's Warning
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of protesters defied Erdogan's warning and again gathered to Gezi Park on June 12-night, accompanied by a heavy presence of riot police. The protesters peacefully also gathered in Taksim Square on Wednesday evening. It was the 16th day of the protests, a night after violent clashes at the Taksim Square

Workers Defy Public Broadcasting Closure In Greece:
Unions Launch General Strike
By Countercurrents.org

A general strike is going on in Greece in protest at the conservative government's move to shut down state broadcaster ERT, Hellenic Broadcasting Corp, with the loss of nearly 2,700 jobs.

US-Backed “Rebels” Carry Out Sectarian Massacre In Syria
By Bill Van Auken

At least 60 people, including women, children and the elderly, were killed in a massacre of Shia Muslims by US-backed “rebels” in eastern Syria Tuesday

Who Killed The Syrian Peace Talks?
By Shamus Cooke

The long awaited Syrian peace talks — instigated by power brokers Russia and the United States — had already passed their initial due date, and are now officially stillborn. The peace talks are dead because the U.S.-backed rebels are boycotting the negotiations, ruining any hope for peace, while threatening to turn an already-tragic disaster into a Yugoslavia-style catastrophe...or worse

Sectarianism And The Irrational New Discourse: Why Arabs Must Worry
By Ramzy Baroud

Resurrecting Nasser’s and Aflaq’s Arab nationalism might no longer be possible, but there is a compelling need for an alternative discourse to the type of intellectual extremism that justifies with disturbing lucidity the butchering of the inhabitants of an entire village in Syria because of their sect or religion. My friend Hanna has every reason to worry, as all Arabs should

Palestine Game-Changers
By Vacy Vlazna

Swaggering precariously on his defunct divine right of peace-broker at the American Jewish Committee annual love-fest for Israel, US Secretary of State Kerry, regurgitated with braggart aplomb the tiresome ultimatum on the Palestinian/Israel peace process, “If we do not succeed now, we may never get another chance.” Seems Kerry is the last to know that the US’s stint as ‘honest broker’ is beyond passé as is his ultimatum. We know that there are many game-changers that can set in motion a genuine peace process with just outcomes for Palestinians and Israelis

The Anointment Of Modi And Yet Another Resignation Drama By Advani
By Dipankar Bhattacharya

Regardless of the electoral future of the BJP/NDA under Modi, it is a fact that Modi has emerged as the most authentic and aggressive face of rightwing politics in India. He enjoys the backing of the RSS and the Sangh Parivar, but more importantly he is an organic product of the economics and politics of a neo-liberal policy regime

Narendra Modi On Sardar Patel: Putting Goebbels To Shame
By Shamsul Islam

Narendra Modi claims to love Sardar Patel. It only shows that Modi has no qualms about resorting to deceits for selfish gains. Sardar Patel is a ready-made heroic figure. Modi does not have to manufacture him. He and the RSS have only to hide the fact that the man was opposed to their organization and had acted against it, and then, by what can only be called theft, proceed to make him one of their own. This defiance of historical fact is characteristic of the strategy of the Hindutva camp. Goebbels is dead, long live Modi

India In The Early Twenty-First Century Is Not 1930s Germany
By N. Jayaram

A spectre appears to be haunting India if media coverage following the recent conclave of the main opposition grouping, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is to be believed. It is the spectre of a genocidal Hindu fanatic leader assuming power, Hitler-like, as Prime Minister when general elections are called next year or earlier

BRAI Bill Offered For Public Consultation, Crop Circles Appear Opposing The Bill
By Greenpeace India

The controversial Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in April has been released for public consultation on June 11. Once tabled in Parliament, BRAI will be a regulatory authority for all Genetically Modified Organisms including controversial genetically modified (GM) crops in the country

Memories Do Not Fade Away
By Faisal Magray

A young Kashmiri journalist recounts a horrific experience when he was beaten up by security forces

Republican Congressman Broad-Brushes American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

The American Muslim community was alarmed by Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo’s statement that the Muslims here have not condemned acts of terrorism against the U.S. and therefore are complicit in those and any future attacks

12 June ,2013

Battle Rages For Taksim Square
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of Turkish riot police again used tear gas, water cannon and volleys of rubber bullets against protesters in Istanbul 's Taksim Square in sporadic clashes. Bulldozers were sent in to clear barricades and shelters. Arcs of water cannon were spewed towards protesters. All through the day, the game of cat and mouse continued as police repeatedly cleared the square, only for thousands of demonstrators to return. Many protesters moved to nearby Gezi Park , where unrest continued into June 12, 2013-morning . It's been a long day of clashes

Learning The Wrong Lessons From Tahrir Square:
Erdogan Assaults Taksim In Bid To Break Up Protests
By Juan Cole

Erdogan is taking a big gamble, that Turkey’s crisis can successfully be dealt with through iron fist tactics. He may win in the short or medium turn. But it seems to me that it is possible he is awakening a dragon, the disgruntled urban youth, who have time and again in recent years showed themselves not a force to be trifled with, and who may go on to have a significant impact on Turkish politics in the coming decade

"The Economy Is Doing Fine, But The People Aren't":
Some Facts On The Economic Background Of The Protests In Turkey
By Eren Buğlalılar

I am not saying the protests in Turkey began only because of these economic problems. No, that would be reductionism. But I am also sick and tired of the CNN-style "culture war" theories that paint an illusory "successful-economically-though-politically-restless" image of Turkey

Brave New Turkey
By Tuba Eldem

Against this backdrop of the AKP’s growing authoritarian tendencies, this uprising is a test case for both Turkish and Western governments, if they are indeed in favor for a liberal democracy or an authoritarian political stability in Turkey and the broader Middle East

Obama Administration Prepares Charges Against NSA Whistleblower
By Andre Damon

The US Justice Department is preparing to file criminal charges against Edward Snowden, the intelligence contractor who has revealed the existence of vast and unconstitutional domestic spying programs, according to media reports Tuesday

Move To Crush Protest Against Carnival Of Capitalism
By Countercurrents.org

Riot police raided the central London headquarters of anti-G8 protesters on June 11, 2013, and hundreds of officers were deployed throughout central London as protests took place against next week's G8 summit

CO2, Earth “Greening” And The Shift In Climate Zones
By Andrew Glikson

Global warming involves an expansion of the tropics, greening of bordering savannah regions, a shift of arid zones into fertile temperate zones deleterious for agriculture, and migration of rain belts into the tundra regions. The increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in every climate zone is deleterious to agriculture

Remembering Satyajit Ray's Hirok Rajar Deshe: On Edward Snowden,
Resistance And Inverted Totalitarianism
By Subhankar Banerjee

We are being asked to choose: “Is Edward J. Snowden a hero or a criminal?” asks a Los Angeles Times poll; the Slate magazine asks , “Is Edward Snowden A Traitor?”; the U.S. News and World Report asks if he is a: “Traitor or Hero?”; and the Yahoo! News asks , “Is Edward Snowden a hero or traitor?” In The New Yorker one writer opines Snowden is a “Hero” while another charges he is a “No Hero.” Blowing whistle against the United States government is not a spectacle

Don't Worry About Surveillance: In Britain, Everything's Okay
By Colin Todhunter

In the name of ‘humanitarian intervention', a ‘war on terror', fighting for ‘democratic freedoms' or whatever the script happens to be this week, British Foreign Secretary William Hague can be relied on to sell US-British militarism to a public fed up with constant wars and (increasingly less) ignorant of their underlying reasons

European Social Contract Betrayed
By Thomas Riggins

The austerity regimes being imposed on the European working class and some elements of the middle classes by the the IMF and the central banks of several large European countries, especially Germany has resulted in millions of working people rejecting the traditional mainstream capitalist parties and voting for parties labeled by the mainstream media as "fringe."

Corporations: Enemies Of The People
By Chaitanya Davé

Of the 100 largest economies in the world today, 41 are corporations, not countries. Their enormous wealth carries immense impact on our lives. These incredibly wealthy and powerful multinationals through their activities can harm our health, determine our working conditions, decide to neglect the hazards we face as workers or consumers and devastate our natural environments

Limbaugh Mocks Freedom Of Speech
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Limbaugh does not just extrapolate from some facts to an extreme, far right fantasy. He uses the public airways to shout obscenities, sheer crazy assertions that are totally disconnected from reality. I would be so pleased to learn that Limbaugh has a major brain tumor. Preferably inoperable. Otherwise, the logical interpretation is that he is just evil

On Religious Unity And Uniformity
By Hazrat Inayat Khan

Religious differences have caused endless wars and disasters for the human race. The reason of this is that the spirit of unity has not been recognized, while undue regard has been paid to uniformity

Withdraw Fabricated Cases Against Activists In Kerala
By Concerned Citizens

We the undersigned strongly condemn the blatant attempt by the Kerala police to intimidate five colleagues from the field of film and media by filing fabricated cases against them on account of protesting against the concept of capital punishment and the summary execution of Afzal Guru

11 June ,2013

Police Attacks Turkish Protesters
By Countercurrents.org

Protesters supporting the Gezi Park demonstrations were subjected to police attacks overnight in cities, with tension especially rising in Adana and Ankara . In Ankara , the protesting people suffered a harsh police barrage, with officers using water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters. The protesters had to retreat to side streets as police forces attempted to empty the square

Obama Administration Initiates Criminal Prosecution Of NSA Whistleblower
By Thomas Gaist

National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Joseph Snowden’s release of classified documents detailing massive government spying has provoked a chorus of threats and denunciations across the US political establishment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a manhunt to find Snowden, who left his hotel room in Hong Kong out of concern for his safety. The Justice Department has commenced a criminal investigation into the leaks, confirmed spokeswoman Nanda Chitre over the weekend

It's The Corporations, Stupid
By Juan Cole

Snowden upheld the Constitution and our basic Fourth Amendment rights. But there’s no corporation in his corner, so he is up the creek. Meanwhile the Santa Monica Massacre has already faded from the news cycle

Bradley Manning Has Done More For U.S. Security Than SEAL Team 6
By Chase Madar

The young private’s act of civil defiance was in fact a first step in reversing the pathologies that have made our foreign policy a string of self-inflicted homicidal disasters. By letting us in on more than a half million “secrets,” Bradley Manning has done far more for American national security than SEAL Team 6 ever did

Climate Crisis: Waiting Will End Hope
By Countercurrents.org

The world cannot afford to wait for a new global climate change agreement to come into force in 2020, because doing so will mean an end to hopes of limiting global warming to moderate levels, International Energy Agency Warned

White House Convenes Meetings On Syria Escalation
By Bill Van Auken

The Obama White House is convening meetings this week to discuss measures to escalate the US-backed war for regime-change in Syria and prop up the flagging fortunes of the so-called “rebels” fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad

The West To Pay A High Price For Targeting The Syrian Government, Security Experts Claim
By Franklin Lamb

A number of analysts and security experts who specialize in intelligence and security subjects in Lebanon and France have expressed this week shock at the way many Western authorities, including several in Europe and the United States, are avoiding engagement with the Syrian authorities and thus missing important avenues to help end the crisis in Syria

From Nightmares To Revelations
By William A. Cook

I offer what might be the only positive way to comprehend Israeli deceit and it comes in the form of a dream, a mode of understanding that may reveal what should be while the reality does the opposite

10 June ,2013

NSA Whistleblower Reveals Identity, Exposes
US Government’s “Architecture Of Oppression”
By Thomas Gaist

Former CIA employee Edward Joseph Snowden announced on Sunday that he is the source of recent leaks to the Guardian and Washington Post exposing systematic police-state surveillance conducted under the Obama administration by the National Security Agency

Exposing The Turnkey Tyranny, NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Stands Tall
By Nozomi Hayase

Edward Snowden, the leaker of the National Security Agency top-secret PRISM surveillance program has voluntarily stepped into the public limelight. The 29-year-old former technical contractor for the CIA and system administrator for defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton had a good family, girlfriend and comfortable living in Hawaii. What made him risk this privileged life to be on the run or possibly end up in Federal prison?

The Judicial Lynching Of Bradley Manning
By Chris Hedges

The military trial of Bradley Manning is a judicial lynching. The government has effectively muzzled the defense team. The Army private first class is not permitted to argue that he had a moral and legal obligation under international law to make public the war crimes he uncovered

Cities Nationwide Demonstrate In Turkey , Clash In Ankara
By Countercurrents.org

Turkish cities nationwide continued to demonstrate in support of the ongoing protests, and Istanbul 's Taksim Square remains the heart of the movement as thousands of people gathered in a massive rally on June 9, 2013 despite Ankara clashes that had occurred in the morning hours. People filled squares and parks in cities including İzmir and Ankara

Thank You, My Chapuller Son
By Belgin Akaltan

Thank you for being so brave… Thank you for being so clever... Thank you and your friends for having taught us so much over the course of the past few days that we have difficulty catching up. Yes, I'm talking about my son and all the other young people staging the Gezi Park resistance in Istanbul , now in its 12th day

Ganga, Nile, Amazon To Flood More As The World Warms
By Countercurrents.org

Climate crisis is likely to worsen floods on rivers including the Ganga, the Nile and the Amazon this century while a few including the now-inundated Danube may become less prone to flood, said a study

Arctic Melt Spurs Global Spread Of Disease
By Kieran Cooke

A cow grazing on the lush pasturelands of Cornwall in southwest England and a seal swimming in the ice cold waters of the Arctic might not appear to have much in common. The link between the two is tuberculosis, with a strain of the disease threatening cattle populations in Britain and elsewhere now showing up among seals in the high Arctic. Dr Claire Heffernan, a trained vet and a specialist in global health and disease interaction between animals and humans, says that as the climate warms in Arctic regions, more and more diseases from Europe and elsewhere are spreading there, threatening both animal and human populations

How To Pre-Convict And Pre-Punish An American Muslim
By Victoria Brittain

A four-month hunger strike, mass force-feedings, and widespread media coverage have at last brought Guantanamo, the notorious offshore prison set up by the Bush administration early in 2002, back into American consciousness. Prominent voices are finally calling on President Obama to close it down and send home scores of prisoners who, years ago, were cleared of wrongdoing

The Arrogance Of Power
By John Scales Avery

There is strong evidence, available to everyone who is willing to look at it on the Internet, which shows that the official version of 9/11 is untrue, and that the US government made the disaster worse than it otherwise would have been in order to justify not only an unending “War on Terror”, but also the abridgement of civil liberties within the United States. But very few people wish to challenge the official version of the attack on the World Trade Center

CODEPINK, Leftist Blues, Political Theater, ‘Annoying' Cops, Cyber Wars:
The Question of ‘Relevance' in Our Fracked-up World
By Gary Corseri

Jack Random is a fine writer whose works pay handsome dividends to those investing a bit of time and energy in their perusal. That said, I note that a recent Web article of his, “The Struggle for Relevance: Obama, McCain, and Medea Benjamin,” especially piqued my interest

09 June ,2013

Police Attacks Protesters In Ankara, Clashes In Istanbul
By Countercurrents.org

As anti-government protests in Turkey get into a second week police used tear gas and water cannon to quell more than 10,000 protesters on June 8 in Kızılay Square at the center of capital city of Ankara . Police also clashed with protesters in Istanbul , Turkey 's largest city. Protests continued amid a surging tide of opposition against conservative prime minister Tayyip Erdogan's rule. Demonstrators defied his call for an immediate end to protests

Urgent Call For Active Solidarity Action To Stop Police Brutality In Turkey
By Cigdem Cidamli

This is an urgent call for more active international solidarity actions with people who are fighting for their democratic rights in all cities and towns of Turkey

Kurdish Communities Union Extends Support To Gezi Park Protests
By Firat News Agency

Kurdish Communities Union (KCK ) Executive Council said that the Gezi Park protests, which began as social resistance, have sent a message calling for a new, democratic Turkey. The KCK called on the Kurdish people to take initiative, saying that the Kurds should fulfill responsibility by working with the democratic forces in Turkey so that the Democratic Solution Process will develop on the right track

One-Third Of Turks Are Poor or Needy
By Countercurrents.org

Nearly one-third of Turkish people, 23.6 million, are poor or needy and more than 6.3 million people from 2.1 million households are receiving social assistance. 2012 social assistance statistics released by the Family and Social Policies Ministry reveals deep crisis in Turkish economy

Mall-Free Planet: Finish What Occupy Gezi Started
By Mickey Z

At their root, all protests and demonstrations are the result of systemic issues—and the current uprising in Turkey is no different. However, one of the original sparks for Occupy Gezi was a government plan to remove Gezi Park—a rare green oasis on the European side of Istanbul—to not only rebuild the Ottoman-era Taksim Military Barracks but also to erect a shopping mall

US Zionist Lobby Reels From Resistance al-Qusayr Victory
By Franklin Lamb

Although al-Qusayr may not be the decisive battle for Syria, it is irrefutably an important turning point in the crisis which has given the regime much sought military momentum. Plenty of adjectives and some clichés are being bandied about from Washington to Beirut to describe the al-Qusayr battle results and significance. Among them are game-changer, mother of all battles, a new regime approach to fighting, altered balance of power, critical turning point in the civil war, and so on

Black Ops, False Flags And Rehearsals For Coup d’etats
By Trevor Selvam

The Salafi-Zionist-Neocon axis is in full bloom internationally and America’s shadow neocon new world order is in dress rehearsals domestically. And Israel sits on its haunches, cooking up incidents—sometimes quite bizarre, to muscle-in its segregationist rule in West Asia, through black ops, false flag incidents and assassinations

The Secret Fukushima Poisoning The Bread Basket Of The World
By Margaret Flowers & Kevin Zeese

Thousands of open uranium mines excavated beginning in the 1950s continues to release radiation today. There have been inadequate measurements but the limited measures done show ongoing leaks larger than Fukushima. How did we get here?

From The Trojan Horse To The Golden Calf—The Power Of Deceit
By William A. Cook

When we consider what might have been, we may weep for the innocents slaughtered in the fulfillment of the Zionist dream that took America to war against Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and Syria, and the ultimate goal of Israel, Iran, we will understand that our youth fought to save Israel's soldiers from facing the death that awaited them on these battlefields while we watched the people of the world turn against the American values that gave us credibility throughout the world and lashed us t o the mast of Zionist madness

Nuremberg Principles Trial Of Americans WHEN?
Multiple Choice Question For Antiwar Journalists
By Jay Janson

Blaming policy, politicians, media, corporations, but never holding America, Americans, responsible as MLKjr did, antiwar journalists expose mass-homicide for thievery by Americans in dozens of poor nations beginning with America's bloody overthrow of democratic governments in Greece, Guatemala, Congo, Korea, Vietnam and Laos through today's crimes in Syria Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and murderously occupied Afghanistan

The Craziest Person In The Room: Reflections On
How A Mediocre White Guy Can Try To Be Useful
By Robert Jensen

By avoiding the stark reality of our moment in history we don't make ourselves safe. All we do is undermine the potential of struggles for justice and sustainability and guarantee the end of the human evolutionary experiment will be ugly beyond our imagination. We must remember, as Baldwin said, “that life is the only touchstone and that life is dangerous, and that without the joyful acceptance of this danger, there can never be any safety for anyone, ever, anywhere.”

Arab Triangle: How The Prosperity Bubble Destroyed Arab’s Moral And Intellectual Culture
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

The Arab people live in a fantasy bubble being floated by the transitory oil revenues, controlled and managed by the Western nations. Oil revenues are not the outcome of Arab’s hardwork but a planned scheme of things carried out for several generations to distract from the real problems. The aim is to destroy the Arab culture and civilization with delusional prosperity instead of poverty

Why We Protested Against Narendra Modi
By P. K. Vijayan & Karen Gabriel

In the heart of Delhi University, we found a quick, small replay of what happened in Gujarat in 2002: the police joined hands with the supporters of Modi to wreak vengeance against the protestors. This is the sign of the India that will unfold under Modi, and this is what we were protesting against. What is at stake is the idea of India itself, and if that is an idea worth protesting about, then many more of us should be protesting against Narendra Modi

Kashmir Vs Global Community
By Abdul Majid Zargar

So India, Pakistan & the Global Community need to take a fresh look at Kashmir. Like a festering wound that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light. Injustice must be exposed and options of a final settlement discussed & explored. The global community can ignore the problem at its own peril. If Kashmiris have been suffering for decades, it may take only minutes for the whole world to suffer & suffer irretrievably

07 June ,2013

Turkey: Erdogan Defiant
By Alex Lantier

Speaking yesterday in Tunis before returning to Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to continue with plans to destroy Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul, which triggered large-scale protests against his regime last week. His speech came as trade unions and business groups tried to wind down continuing protests, issuing a joint statement calling for “peace and stability.”

Venezuela’s Maduro Reaches Out To Big Business And Washington
By Bill Van Auken

After three months in office, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the handpicked successor of the late Hugo Chavez, has put aside left rhetoric to seek accommodation with Venezuela’s biggest capitalists as well as with the Obama administration in Washington

Voices From Dadaab: Ogaden Refugees Fleeing Government Persecution
By Graham Peebles

The Ethiopian military and paramilitary forces, operating in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, are, it is alleged, carrying out extra judicial killings and gang rapes; falsely arresting and torturing innocent civilians; looting and destroying villages and crops in a systematic attempt to terrify the people. This is the consistent message coming out of the region and from those who have fled persecution and are now in the world’s largest refugee camp, in Dadaab, Kenya

Government Spying Aims To Silence Us
By John Spritzler

Today's NYT editorial, "President Obama's Dragnet,' which condemns Obama's routine collection of data on all phone calls that Americans make, is followed on the NYT web site with an insightful comment, by a "Scott W" in Chapel Hill, NC

How Do They Identify Maoists From The Adivasis?
By Samar

They have lost faith in the system and its capacity to give them justice. This is the disillusionment that the Maoists are taking advantage of. In other words, this is the disillusionment and not the almost anarchic ideology of violence that is pushing guns in their hands. They are hardly fighting for an ideology, their fight is for survival

EU-India FTA: Access All Areas – But Only For Corporate Lobbyists
By Colin Todhunter

What we are seeing with the EU-India FTA (as is the case with India's nuclear energy sector and the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture) is democracy being sidelined for the blind pursuit of an unaccountable corporate driven agenda

On World Environment Day, A Bike-A-Thon Calls On
Delhi To “Switch On The Sun”
By Greenpeace India

Hundreds of people on 25 stationary bicycles switched on the sun on World Environment Day on June 5 at Dilli Haat in Delhi. Delhites came together and pedalled away to claim their right to sustainable energy in a first of its kind bike-a-thon organised by Greenpeace in association with 92.7 BIG FM. The event was an attempt to highlight that Delhi residents have the capacity to generate their own uninterrupted and clean supply of electricity by installing solar panels on their rooftops

Kerala Police Charge Cases Against Activists For Protesting Against Afzal Guru's Hanging
By ViBGYOR Film Collective

Kerala police has charged cases against K.P Sasi, the renowned Film maker and activist, I Shanmukhadas, a well known Film Critic, Prasannakumar T N, a film activist, Shafeek, a young Journalist and Deepak, a Filmmaker and Film Society activist for 'rioting', 'unlawful assembly' and 'public obstruction' (IPC Sections 143, 147, 149 and 283 ) for participating in a peaceful protest

06 June ,2013

Thousands Of Striking Workers, Teachers,
Doctors March In Turkey, Death Toll 3
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of striking workers took to the streets of Turkey 's cities on June 5, 2013 , joining calls for prime minister Tayyip Erdogan to step down as mass protests against his rule intensified. In Istanbul , thousands of striking workers held banners addressed to Erdogan reading: "This nation will not bow to you!" and " Taksim Square is everywhere!" As anti-government protests enter their ninth day, Turks continue to stream into public spaces in their thousands

The Hopes Of The Working Class Will Be Fulfilled
By The Communist Party Of Turkey

Statement by the Communist Party Of Turkey

Bradley Manning’s Supervisors Testify In Third Day Of Court Martial
By Naomi Spencer

The court martial of Army private Bradley Manning continued Wednesday, with lawyers for the Obama administration calling on witnesses to testify into the former intelligence analyst’s “erratic behavior” while serving in Iraq

Land Use Intensity Doubled In 20th Century
By Countercurrents.org

The growing global population and its increasing hunger for resources gives cause for concern for various reasons, in particular with regard to the sustainability of the current and future use of natural resources

Measuring Ecological And Human Development
By Prahlad Shekhawat

More than $150 billion are being spent annually on development worldwide, but almost no one is tracking whether the achieved progress can be sustained, or whether development and rapid economic growth is becoming progressively fragile without the essential access to nature’s resources

The Alternative To Cockroaches
By Colin Todhunter

The current wholly corrupt system is edging humanity towards the precipice of oblivion. When that happens, we (if we are still alive - if anything is still alive, apart from cockroaches) will say 'we told you so'. If there is to be any hope, if there is to be anything better, we must remain 'unreal' and true to our beliefs

The Psychology Of Denial
By Robert J. Burrowes

Despite conclusive evidence, some people deny the ongoing climate catastrophe. Why do they do this?

Rohingya Population Control: The Onslaught In Burma Continues
By Ramzy Baroud

On April 21, the BBC obtained disturbing video footage shot in Burma. It confirmed extreme reports of what has been taking place in that country, even as it is being touted by the US and European governments as a success story pertaining to political reforms and democracy

Reimagining Independence
By Satya Sagar

There is a need to be flexible in defining citizenship and go beyond traditional criteria such as ethnicity, language, religion or even shared culture. Throughout Europe today people have multiple identities without giving up their primary identities as French, German, Italian or Dutch people. Many countries around the globe allow multiple-citizenships too. Any new nation, wanting to be born, needs to formulate a policy on citizenship that is on par with the most cosmopolitan and advanced concepts that have emerged globally so far

Ignore Those Who Love To Hate: Hate Speech And Communal Politics
By Ram Puniyani

Javed Akhtar in one of his lively poems writes. Bhul ke Nafrat Pyar ki koi baat karein (Lets Forget hate and talk of love). One wishes we take this vision seriously. While on one hand these negative things, the Hate speech byVarun Gandhis, Owaisis and Togadias are there, there are also many a friends in the society who have been taking out peace marches and singing the songs peace and spreading the message of harmony in different parts of the country. It is friends like these who will lay the foundation of national integration overcoming Hate, Hate speech. It is time that we as a society reject those who are harping on hatred for the ‘other community’

Cold Blooded Killing Of Eight Adivasis Including Four Minors
Fact Finding Report

Brief Report Of The Killing of Adivasi Civilians by CRPF at Edesmeta in Bijapur District, Chattisgarh

05 June ,2013

Turkey Protests Intensify
By Countercurrents.org

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters gathered in Istanbul for a fifth night. It followed a government apology for "excessive violence" against protesters during the deadly unrest. Fresh violence erupted early Wednesday in Istanbul , Ankara and Hatay as protesters defied a government plea to end days of deadly unrest, the biggest challenge yet to prime minister Erdogan's decade-long rule. The violence came after a second major trade union confederation announced it would join protests against the government, calling a strike for Wednesday

Turkish Protesters Reject Neo-liberalism Not Islamism: Ozan Tekin
By Nadeen Shaker

Turkish author and activist Ozan Tekin is editor at Marksist.org – a Turkish leftist news site. Ozan describes to Ahram Online the dynamics of the ongoing anti-government protests in Turkey and similarities and differences between the Turkish process and the Arab Spring

Think, Eat, And Save: World Environment Day 2013
By Countercurrents.org

Today, June 05, is the World Environment Day (WED). The theme of this year's Environment Day is: Think, eat, and save . But news related to environment and climate are not good: US forest service chief said hotter, drier conditions mean wildfire season lasts two months longer than it did 40 years ago while analysis has suggested that changes in the atmosphere will lead to more frequent conditions favorable for severe thunderstorms

Exceeding The Limit
By Farooque Chowdhury

Painting a gloomy picture of the state of the world environment the UNEP report released in the run-up to the Rio+20 conference, said: The earth’s environmental systems are being pushed towards their biophysical limits. Several critical global, regional and local thresholds are close or have been exceeded. “Abrupt and possibly irreversible changes to the life-support functions of the planet are likely to occur.” The changes include rising oceans, increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts, and the collapse of fisheries

CFCs And Global Warming: The Latest Misrepresentation Of Climate Science (PDF)
By Dr Andrew Glikson

One has to admire the persistence of those who try to disprove the effects on the Earth’s atmosphere of more than 560 billion tons of carbon emitted since 1750. The latest “news”, spread over the media and blogs, regards the effects of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) (or halocarbons) on the atmosphere

Bradley Manning: Prisoner Of Conscience
By Prof. Francis A. Boyle

American citizens and soldiers such as Bradley Manning possess the basic right under international law and United States domestic law, including the U.S. Constitution, to engage in acts of civil resistance designed to prevent, impede, thwart, or terminate ongoing criminal activities perpetrated by U.S. government officials in their conduct of foreign affairs policies and military operations purported to relate to defense and counter-terrorism. If not so restrained, the United States government could very well precipitate a Third World War

Bradley Manning Is Guilty Of “Aiding The Enemy”—If The Enemy Is Democracy
By Norman Solomon

From many walks of life, our messages will become louder and clearer as Bradley Manning’s trial continues. He is guilty of “aiding the enemy” only if the enemy is democracy

A Modest Proposal
By William Blum

It’s worth noting that Iraq, Syria, and Libya were the leading secular states of the Middle East. History may not treat kindly the impoverishment and loss of freedoms that the US-NATO-European Union Triumvirate has brought down upon the heads of the people of these lands

04 June ,2013

Strike In Turkey As Workers Extend Support
To Occupy Taksim, 2 Dead
By Countercurrents.org

As protests and clashes with police continued into the night on Monday and riot police fired more tear gas at protesters on a night of violent clashes in Ankara and Istanbul , public sector workers in Turkey start a two-day strike to support the continuing anti-government protests

Solidarity For Turkish Protesters From Around The World
By Countercurrents.org

Progressives around the world are expressing solidarity with the people opposing the authoritarian regime in Turkey

Bradley Manning’s Court Martial Begins
By Naomi Spencer

After 1,100 days in prison, Army private Bradley Manning faced a military court martial Monday. Day one of the trial, like the months’ long series of pre-trial hearings before it, was characterized by government secrecy, vindictiveness and lies

Leaving Truth Outside At Bradley Manning's Trial
By Medea Benjamin & Ann Wright

Manning's trial, which is slated to last three months, is the most stark example of the Obama administration’s relentless stance against whistleblowers. “This president has tried to prosecute six whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, twice as many as all previous presidencies combined,” said Cornell West. “President Obama is determined to stop the public from knowing about government wrongdoing.”

Humanity Imperiled : The Path To Disaster
By Noam Chomsky

For the first time in the history of the human species, we have clearly developed the capacity to destroy ourselves. That’s been true since 1945. It’s now being finally recognized that there are more long-term processes like environmental destruction leading in the same direction, maybe not to total destruction, but at least to the destruction of the capacity for a decent existence. And there are other dangers like pandemics, which have to do with globalization and interaction. So there are processes underway and institutions right in place, like nuclear weapons systems, which could lead to a serious blow to, or maybe the termination of, an organized existence

Today’s World Environment Reflects Crisis Of Capitalist Civilization
By Farooque Chowdhury

The state of today’s global environment reflects the contradiction between the ownership of the world resources by a miniscule group and billions of resource-producing, but resource-starved humans, the contradiction created by an ever accumulating economy, the contradiction between ever greedy capital owners and humanity in chains

Open Borders And The Tragedy Of Open Access Commons
By Herman Daly

“Open borders” refers to a policy of unlimited or free immigration. I argue here that it is a bad policy. If you are poor and your country provides no social safety net, you move to one that does. If you are rich and your country makes you pay your taxes, you move (or at least move your money) to one that doesn’t. Thus safety nets, and public goods in general, disappear as they become both overloaded and underfunded. That is the “world without borders,” and without community. That is the tragedy of open access commons

Kerry’s Plan: Palestinians To Ce Cast As Fall Guys - Again
By Jonathan Cook

Nazareth: Under heavy pressure from the US, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has paid grudging lip service over the past four years to the goal of Palestinian statehood. But his real agenda was always transparent: not statehood, but what he termed "economic peace". The US secretary of state, John Kerry, flanked by the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian Authority chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, at the World Economic Forum in Jordan, revealed an economic programme for getting peace talks on track

Obama War Criminal? What About Investors, CNN, Clergy, Soldiers, You & I?
By Jay Janson

David Swanson, of War Is A Crime.org, although endorsing, along with almost every serious antiwar journalist and organization, the King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign, wrote recently: US Presidents Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes and Military Aggressions" Readers in nations bombed, invaded and murderously occupied by America and Americans will sense or suspect a ‘fall guy' trick to absolve everyone else

Reclaiming The Jihad: A Response To Tarek Fatah
By Maryam Sakeenah

Incidents like Woolwich as well as the great wrongs that engender such sickness: stemming from both Western policy as well as Muslim degeneracy- are to be rejected and actively opposed. The underlying logic of wars of powerful Western nations against “terrorism" and terrorist attacks provoking or provoked by them is the same: both punish human beings for the actions of their governments or of individuals or groups sharing religious or ethnic identity

03 June ,2013

Mass Protests Shake Turkish Government
By Alex Lantier

Protests in cities across Turkey shook the Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday and over the weekend, amid rising discontent with his domestic policies and his support for the US-led proxy war in neighboring Syria

Protests Continue Around Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

Taksim Square has remained calm for the second straight night following days of tension, but clashes between police and citizens protesting the demolition of the square’s park have continued in Beşiktaş, Ankara, İzmir and elsewhere in Turkey

Occupy Taksim: The Struggle Is Ideological
By Countercurrents.org

The metamorphosis of the Occupy Taksim protests has been giving signals in the recent months with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) staging political campaigns with its conservative agenda on different colors of Turkey. Taksim was a symbolic venue of the silent quarrel with its traditional meaning of being both the city's political and cultural centers as well other attractions irking the conservative values

The Syrian Conflict: Qaradawi's Incitement To Violence
By Chandra Muzaffar

Any human being who abhors violence and bloodshed would be shocked by remarks made by a leading religious personality, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, on the 1st of June 2013. At a rally in Doha, he urged Sunni Muslims in the region to go to Syria and fight the Bashar al-Assad government and its supporters, the Hezbollah and Iran. He regarded it as a “jihad.” He claimed that Iran and the Hezbollah want to exterminate, to “devour” the Sunnis. Between Sunnis and Shias, he insisted, there was no common ground

June 6 Is D(isinformation) Day: The “Good War” Lie
By Mickey Z.

June 6, 2013, marks 69 years since the fabled Allied invasion known as “D-Day.” Lost amid the annual self-congratulatory orgy is the minor detail that by the time of the D-Day invasion, the Soviets were engaging 80 percent of the German Army on the Eastern Front

Why Cooperative Businesses Are Not The Answer
By John Spritzler

Class inequality and the capitalist system that creates, enforces and is based upon this inequality, are a Big Problem that requires a Big Solution. It is not possible to abolish a social and economic system based on inequality by "sneaking" in a different system without confronting and defeating the plutocracy whose wealth, power and privileges depend on keeping the present system. But this is essentially what many advocates of the "coop" model suggest

Monsanto: Contamination By All Means Necessary
By Colin Todhunter

What happens when you allow commercial interests free rein over a nation state's food and agricultural policies? Consumers and farmers end up paying the price. Take the current predicament of wheat contamination in the US . Genetically engineered (GE) wheat is not approved to be grown for commercial use in the US or anywhere else in the world. Yet t he US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that unapproved GE wheat has been found growing in an Oregon wheat field

The Sinicization Of Tibet
By Devika Mittal

In 1950s, China incorporated Tibet into its territory and since then, it has began a major reform of all aspects of Tibetan life - social, religious, political and economic

Amruthmahal Kaval: A Unique Ecosystem Under Threat
By Jahnavi G Pai

10,000 acres of Amruthmahal Kaval have been alienated from dependent communities without their consent. In the article, Jahnavi gives details on the illegal means of land transfer and the struggle of the shepherding communities in their fight against some of the biggest names in research in India such as Indian Institute of Science, Defence Research and Development Organisation and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

02 June ,2013

Protests Spread Across Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

In Turkey , the police forces retreated from Taksim in Istanbul . The retreat was ahead of a march by the Republican People's Party (CHP). But before the police withdrawal a brutal crackdown targeting demonstrators protesting the demolition of the Gezi Park went on for over a day. Clashes broke out in Istanbul 's symbolic İstiklal Avenue, the Beşiktaş and Harbiye districts. Police have clashed with protesters in the capital Ankara . Officials said more than 90 protests had taken place across Turkey . The protests have spiraled into widespread anti-government unrest and anger over the perceived "Islamisation" of Turkey

Chomsky Condemns Turkish Crack Down
By Countercurrents.org

Outspoken American linguist and political philosopher Noam Chomsky has condemned the brutal police crackdown on the Turkish protesters denouncing the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park , saying it recalled "the most shameful moments of Turkish history."

Global Sharing Day 2013: Let's Talk About Food
By Adam Parsons

Today is Global Sharing Day 2013, the second annual event that is dedicated to sharing more of everything in our lives as part of a solution to our most complex global problems. As pioneered by The People Who Share, this is notably the first worldwide event to hail the importance of sharing in relation to food, which to some people might seem a curious thing to highlight

The Serious Challenge Of Our Time
By Wes Jackson

This is the text of Wes Jackson's Commencement Address at University of Kansas, from Sunday, May 19, 2013

The Sky Gods Of Unintended Consequences
By Doug Griffin

This article explores the underlying significance of the breakdown of our most critical systems like the economy, climate and environment. It posits that this is a time of extraordinary importance, which requires the urgent understanding and action of humanity as a whole. And, most crucially, points to the Universal Laws, which underpin this unravelling process

Victory As British Columbia Government Opposes Northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline
By Ecological Internet

British Columbia gave a thumbs down to northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline. The decision virtually guarantees that the flow of filthy tar sands oil from Canada's interior to China will not commence through a Western Pacific route any time soon

01 June ,2013

Syrian Opposition Fighters Arrested With Chemical Weapons
By Bill Van Auken

In a series of raids in the capital of Istanbul and in the southern provinces of Mersin, Adana and Hatay near the Syrian border, Turkish police rounded up 12 members of Syria’s Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front along with chemical weapons materials. The Turkish media initially reported that police recovered four and a half pounds of sarin, the deadly nerve gas which had earlier been linked to chemical weapons attacks inside Syria

Anti-Capitalism Blockupy Blockades Bank s In Frankfurt , Revolution Feared
By Countercurrents.org

Protesters from the anti-capitalist "Blockupy" movement blockaded the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt on May 31, 2013. And, the German finance minister feared: Failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could bring "revolution, not tomorrow, but on the very same day."

The United States Of Whatever: Ecocide And The Soul Of A Nation
By Phil Rockstroh

The reality of and the outward toll inflicted by greenhouse gas engendered Climate Change is clearly evident (to all but the corrupt and devoutly ignorant) e.g. increasingly destructive and deadly tornadoes and hurricanes, destruction of marine life, severe droughts and rapacious wild fires -- landscapes of death, scattered debris and shattered lives. But what are the psychical affects of chronic denial, noxious indifference and compulsive prevarication as related to a matter as all encompassing and crucial as our relationship with the climate of our planet?

Devastating Earthquake Predicted In Himalayas
By Zafar Iqbal

A devastating earthquake has been expected in Himalayan region stretching from Indian Administrated Kashmir to Northern Pakistani areas, a latest scientific research has revealed

Can Sharif Pull Pakistan Out Of Terrorism Quicksand?
By Gul Jammas Hussain

One thing working in Sharif’s favor this time is the support expressed by all his rivals for him provided he shows a willingness to solve Pakistan’s key problems, the most pressing of which is terrorism. As a result, he now has been granted a golden opportunity to prove himself to be the capable and truly patriotic leader his supporters claim him to be. Or, he may just remain another self-seeking industrialist who was pushed into politics by a former military dictator, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Only time will tell

Water Meant For Drinking And Irrigation Goes To Power Plants In Maharashtra
By Greenpeace India

The state of Maharashtra is reeling under one of its worst droughts in 40 years. But even during this socio-economic crisis, water meant for drinking and irrigation is reserved for coal power plants by the state government. In an effort to demand that the Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan change these allocations, on May 22, Greenpeace activist climbers unfurled a 250 foot banner on the Upper Wardha dam in Amravati. The banner read: ‘Water for Farmers not Power Plants’

Unending Spiral Of Violence: Darbha
By The People’s Union for Democratic Rights

As the war is being scaled up it is also turning ugly. PUDR, therefore, urges all people to bring pressure on the ruling parties at the Centre and the nine state governments currently carrying out this war, to de-escalate the militarisation of this region and show a commitment towards dialogue. We hope that the deaths of 30 persons in the present instance and of hundreds of people in the past eight years are sufficient reason for people to recognize the absurdity of this war

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