31 March,2013
US Deployment Of Stealth Bombers Escalates Military Standoff In Korea
By Alex Lantier
On Thursday, US officials announced that B-2 stealth bombers had flown from Whiteman Air Force Base in the United States to South Korea. They dropped dummy bombs on a bombing range on the island of Jik Do
Prosecutable US Crimes Against Humanity In Korea
By Jay Janson
Following is a short history of homicidal crimes against humanity bitterly suffered in the Land of the Morning Calm from savage attack, conquest, and manipulation by the most recent of the many mindlessly brutal white colonial empires to one degree or another descendent from the barbaric Goths and savage raid-or-trade Vikings
Easter Resurrection Of Palestine
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
I think what Jesus would do if he was still physically walking in these hills here is that he would join us in protests at the apartheid wall and stand in front of bulldozers uprooting olive trees and destroying Palestinian homes. He would also still be telling us to be hopeful that the Son of Man will be brought to life again and that Palestine will be free again. We Palestinians do have some experience with resurrection.
Easter: As Peter Betrayed Jesus, West And Australia Ignore
Apartheid Israel's Palestinian Genocide
By Dr Gideon Polya
The betrayal of that wonderful Palestinian humanitarian Jesus by fellow Palestinian Peter and his subsequent Crucifixion by Jewish fanatics is mirrored today in the betrayal of humanity by the overwhelming majority of Western citizens, and is well illustrated by overwhelming denial by Australian public figures of the ongoing Palestinian Genocide by Apartheid Israel
Obama’s Top Priority Will Intensify Environmental And Social Crises
By Brian Czech
“Our top priority must be to do everything we can to stabilize our economy and maintain fulfilling jobs for all who need work. This economy has to fit on our planet along with those of other nations, leaving space for other species as well. That has to be our North Star: a steady state economy that is fair, sustainable, healthy and happy.”
Three Glimmers Of Hope For An Economic Transformation
By Brent Blackwelder
The obstacles to a establishing a true-cost, steady state economy are daunting, but now’s the time to get on board with efforts to overcome them. People are responding to the challenge and taking positive actions all over the world. I’ve summarized three of my favorites here, and I’m hopeful that you know of plenty of other efforts to create an economy that will work for people and the planet
Women Protest Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt
By Countercurrents.org
Women in Muslim Brotherhood ruled Egypt are now back on the streets, opposing a new constitution that sweeps away their rights and opens the way for girls of 13 to be married
Fuel From Carbon Dioxide In The Atmosphere
By Countercurrents.org
Researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform the carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping the sun's rays and raising global temperatures
Who’s Playing With The Imam Sadr Case And Why?
By Franklin Lamb
Is Kuwait Trying to Scapegoat the Palestinians?
Margaret Thatcher's Legacy: A Fist Full Of Steel In A Land Of Hypocrisy
By Colin Todhunter
As UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, she changed the face of British society and will remain a socially divisive figure for years to come. For those on the right, she saved Britain from the power of militant trade unionism and created an aspirational society. For others, however, she was instrumental in destroying manufacturing industry, boosting class privilege and eroding the rights of ordinary working people
We Let the Third World Starve – The Disaster Can Be Stopped : Jean Ziegler
Interview With Jean Ziegler
Every five seconds a child dies of hunger – that leaves Jean Ziegler no rest. He calls banks and corporations "mass murderers". And he hopes for a revolt from below
Obama’s Peace Antics In Israel – Four More Years Of This?
By Ramzy Baroud
At the precise moment US President Barack Obama’s Air Force One touched down at Ben Gurion Airport on March 20, persisting illusions quickly began to shatter. And as he walked on the red carpet, showered with accolades and warm embraces of top Israeli government and military officials, a new/old reality began to sink in: Obama was no different than his predecessors. He never had been
Muslim Right : Baring Its True Fangs !
By Subhash Gatade
It is not difficult to understand why Islamists from this side of the border have suddenly woken up to the 'human rights' of all the Jamaatis, those very people who were involved in unspeakable crimes against humanity during that tumultuous period in the nation's history
Cows In Tiger Skin: Lessons From Jaffna 1987 And Geneva 2013
By Karthick RM
Now, the people who welcomed this UN resolution call themselves ‘realists’. And the people who opposed this resolution, which practically is worse than the empty 13th amendment, on conceptual grounds are called ‘leftists’ or ‘extremists’
Re-Redefining Hinduism
By Ram Puniyani
Hinduism as prevails today is a religion in all sense of the sociological characteristics. It is dominated by Brahminism is another matter. To say that Hindus are not a religious community is a wrong formulation to say the least
30 March,2013
Hey Christian: Resurrect This!
By Eileen Fleming
The theistic concepts of a supernatural big daddy in the sky, an errand boy just waiting to fill our desires, and a deity that will punish us and thus motivates behavior is a god that must at least be fired, if not killed
Longer Antarctica Summer Increases Ice Melting And Africa Farmers Face Slashed Yields
By Countercurrents.org
The length of the summer melt season in part of Antarctica has been getting longer, and increasing ice loss, for the last 60 years. The summer melting has been linked to the rapid break-up of ice shelves in the area and rising sea levels, the scientists said
Global Warming Forecasts Proven Accurate
By Countercurrents.org
Forecasts of global temperature rises over the past 15 years have proved remarkably accurate, new analysis of scientists' modelling of climate change shows
'Together, We Can Change The Course Of History': World Social Forum In Tunis
By Jordan Flaherty
Tens of thousands of people marched through downtown Tunis on Tuesday in a spirited march celebrating the beginning the 13th World Social Forum – the first to be held in an Arab country. The majority of marchers were from Tunisia and neighboring nations, but there was substantial representation from Europe, as well as from across South America, Asia, and Southern Africa. An enormous annual gathering that bills itself as a “process” rather than a conference, the WSF brings together by far the largest assembly of international social movement organizations, aimed towards developing a more just and egalitarian world
Look At The World From Behind The Wall
By William A. Cook
Would that the President might take his own advice—“Put yourself in their shoes. Look at the world through their eyes”—he need only open his eyes beyond the wall that imprisons the Palestinians he speaks about
Class Action Law Suit Exposes NYPD Policy: The Illegitimacy Of
Stop-And-Frisk And The System Behind It
By Li Onesto
More than 1.6 million people live in Manhattan, New York. If every single one of these people were detained and harassed, had their pockets gone through and were humiliated.... if all these people had this done to them not only once, but three times... this would be the number of stop-and-frisks carried out by the NYPD since 2004: FIVE MILLION in the last nine years. And it's not just the sheer number that is such an outrage
Third Letter From Endosulfan Victims
By Sisiters Of Kasargod
This is the third letter that we are writing to you in the past month.We know that many of you got together in your areas in support of our struggle for justice and life, wrote letters, signed memorandums and thought and prayed for us. At this important juncture in our life, we need all of you with us as we are attempting to get back to Life
Appeal From Jail: Stand In Solidarity With Us For Justice
By Maruti Suzuki Workers Union
We, 147 workers in total, were thrown behind the bars without any just enquiry, and we are now here for more than 8 months. We are under severe psychological stress inside the jail. Many of us are suffering from diseases like tuberculosis, piles, mental imbalance and several other diseases
Why Delhi Is Wrong On Afzal Assessment
By Bashir Manzar
In the face of the Narendra Modi-blitzkrieg from the BJP, the unnerved Congress government did act hastily without weighing certain important things beforehand. But its inability to answer these questions and doubts have come to haunt Kashmir again and will deepen the already overwhelmingly high alienation in Kashmir. This is certainly not a very good omen, neither for Kashmir nor for the rest of India
Terrorism Will Dilute Domestic Political Stability In Kashmir
By Younus Farooq
The terrorist attack at a CRPF camp on the outskirts of Srinagar on 13th of February that claimed lives of 2 militants, 5 soliders, and injured dozens of civilians will not help but rather deteriorate what is Perceived as an illusory peace into a protracted political crisis
Faulty Spending: Be Careful About The Vested Interests Within
By Raouf Rasool
As has been witnessed, thanks to their conflict ‘over Kashmir’, India and Pakistan have been, or at least trying to matching each-other on military spending. Although it means that both are losing precious resources which could suffice the basic needs of teeming millions living in abject poverty in the both countries, but given the deficit of trust that plagues their relationship, more the one country spends on military, more the other thinks it too has to invest to remain prepared for a possible showdown
27 March,2013
Arctic Sea Ice Extent Sixth Lowest And Tomatoes Grow In The Arctic Circle
By Countercurrents.org
Arctic sea ice extent reached its annual maximum extent, marking the beginning of the sea ice melt season while vegetables including tomato, green pepper and potatoes, which are more fitting for a temperate zone than a land of Northern Lights and glaciers, are growing on the Arctic Circle
Kerry’s Middle East Tour Prepares Endless War In Afghanistan, Syria
By Alex Lantier
US Secretary of State John Kerry left Kabul for Paris yesterday, after a Middle Eastern tour to Jordan and Afghanistan to plan broader wars across the region. In Paris today, he is expected to discuss arming opposition forces fighting Washington’s proxy war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with French officials
What Was Wrong With Obama’s Speech In Jerusalem
By Richard Falk
In my opinion the speech was deeply flawed in three fundamental respects:1. By speaking only to Israeli youth, and not arranging a parallel talk in Ramallah to Palestinian youth, the role of the United States as ‘dishonest broker’ was brazenly confirmed. 2. By speaking about the possibility of peace based on the two state consensus, the old ideas, without mentioning developments that have made more and more people skeptical about Israeli intentions is to lend credence to what seems more and more to be a delusionary approach to resolving the conflict. 3. By endorsing the formula two states for two peoples was consigning the Palestinian minority in Israel to permanent second-class citizenship without even being worthy of mention as a human rights challenge facing the democratic Israel that Obama was celebrating
Coyote Ugly: The NY Times Endorses Speciesism
By Mickey Z.
It’s fascinating to witness the intellectual gymnastics required to rationalize speciesism. So often, when animals are abused, confined, tortured, or killed, the perpetrators and benefactors hide behind lies about the victims’ lack of feelings, awareness, and sentience
Social Control In The 21st Century: Eugenics, The GM Sector And The Ideology Of The Rich
By Colin Todhunter
Whatever the publicly stated aims of the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) sector, and however terrible its impact is on health, the environment and cotton farmers in India , there is a much more sinister side to this industry
Review: “Maps Of Time, An Introduction To Big History”
By David Christian – Ignoring Genocides & Holocausts
By Dr Gideon Polya
David Christian has compounded this immense “apples and oranges” error by extraordinarily deleting the very biggest of avoidable human atrocities (and even the WW2 Jewish Holocaust) from his “Big History”. Some “Big History” indeed. Put succinctly, “Maps of Time” stands condemned from the perspective of human moral compass and rational risk management by the aphorism “History ignored yields history repeated”
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act In North East India
By John Scales Avery
The attention of international human rights groups would help to hasten the repeal of the unjust Armed Forces Special Powers Act. With its repeal, the states of Northeast India could become equal partners in a democratic India. At present they are terrorized and unwilling colonies
Time To Move Beyond Allegorical Jingoism
By Raouf Rasool
Fact of the matter is that politics in our part of the world, Jammu and Kashmir in particular, is yet to grow beyond attention-seeking rhetorical flourish. Indeed so strong is the culture of allegorical jingoism here that even the Friday preachers in our mosques make hollow but loud noises and think they have impressed the God and their audiences both
No Humans In Modi's “Development”
By Mukul Dube
Modi, the glorious Hercules of Development, starves the Muslims of Gujarat and denies them housing, health care and education. Hardly surprising, because he belongs to the tribe which wants free and secular India to become the monarchical Hindu Rashtra which they believe to have existed in an earlier age
26 March,2013
Syria: The Failure Of Our International Community
By Desmond Tutu
The massacre in Syria rages on and yet we stand idle. We must realise that, to millions of Syrians trapped in the country, the virtual absence of humanitarian relief is nearly as arbitrary and cruel as the war itself. Bombs, even ballistic missiles, are tearing homes apart and more than 70,000 people have been killed. Weapons, not blankets, are pouring into the country. The BBC asks a child if he misses playing with his friends and he replies, "they are all dead." God is weeping
Bradley Manning's Nobel Peace Prize
By David Swanson
The Norwegian Nobel Committee can either begin awarding the peace prize to opponents of war or continue on its current course -- one which already has many questioning, not whether Manning is worthy of the prize, but whether the prize is worthy of Manning
Between An Iraqi Woman And An American Man
By Nesreen Melek
What surprised me the most though during all that time, is how come you belong to a nation that watched its government launching ugly wars toward innocent people? Iraqis caused no harm to the Americans so why they couldn’t stop their governments from launching these wars. I kept wondering if the American people were in a deep sleep or they are an arrogant and a selfish nation.
Iraq: Living With No Future
By Dahr Jamail
Back then, everybody was writing about Iraq, but it’s surprising how few Americans, including reporters, paid much attention to the suffering of Iraqis. Today, Iraq is in the news again. The words, the memorials, the retrospectives are pouring out, and again the suffering of Iraqis isn’t what’s on anyone’s mind. This was why I returned to that country before the recent 10th anniversary of the Bush administration’s invasion and why I feel compelled to write a few grim words about Iraqis today
10 Years Later, U.S. Legacy in Iraq : Death, Disease, Devastation, Displacement
By Larry Everest
Ten years ago, on March 19-20, 2003 , the U.S. invaded Iraq , overthrew the Saddam Hussein regime, and then occupied the country for the next eight and a half years. President George W. Bush said the U.S. went to war to liberate Iraq and “free its people.” This March 19, President Barack Obama issued a statement saluting the U.S. military for their service and giving “the Iraqi people an opportunity to forge their own future...” What did this U.S. war mean for Iraqis? What does it mean for their future?
Arctic Sea Ice Loss Creates Frozen Spring In Europe And North America
By Countercurrents.org
Climate scientists have linked the massive snowstorms and bitter spring weather now being experienced across Britain and large parts of Europe and North America to the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice
Firebombing Eritrean Centers In Sweden
By Thomas Mountain
On Sunday night February 24 three Eritrean community centers in Stockholm, Sweden were firebombed and burnt to the ground following a vicious attack on the Swedish Eritrean population by a program broadcast by Stockholm television station SVT
The Mostly Mainstream Foreign Policy of Rand Paul: Washington Can Sleep Easy
By Steve Breyman
Rand Paul's foreign policy is a relatively deft dance around the edges of the consensus, with just enough novelty to worry hawks, but not enough to excite doves
Bangladesh Workers' Struggle Toward Liberation
By Farooque Chowdhury
Verdict that the people of East Pakistan gave in the 1970 election was unequivocal: Get free from hunger, deprivation, repression; have a democratic life. Living condition of the industrial workers and political environment taking shape through conflicting interests were shaping the mass psyche. The industrial workers were no exception
A True Place For A Just Human
By Anitha S
Meet Thenga Ganeshan of Koodankulam village, a dedicated anti-nuclear activist
25 March,2013
US Steps Up War Against Syria After Obama’s “Peace” Trip To Israel
By Johannes Stern
After US President Barack Obama's trip to Israel last week the US and its allies are moving ahead with plans to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and install a pro-Western regime. CIA operations and calls to arm the Syrian opposition are escalating, amid a US diplomatic offensive in the Middle East to isolate Assad, and the collapse of a pro-Syrian government in Lebanon
CIA Increases Military Aid To Syrian Interventionists
By Countercurrents.org
Arab nations and Turkey, helped by the CIA, have dramatically increased military aid to Syrian rebels in recent months, The New York Times reported
7 Sins Of Dams
By Countercurrents.org
On World Water Day, WWF criticizes dam projects worldwide that continue to violate fundamental sustainability criteria
Henry David Thoreau, We Need Your Voice Today!
By John Scales Avery
In the 19th century the American writer, Henry David Thoreau pioneered the concept of a simple life, in harmony with nature. Today, his classic book, Walden, has become a symbol for the principles of ecology, simplicity, and respect for nature
10 Catastrophes: Iraq 10 Years After
By Chandra Muzaffar
Ten years after the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq a number of analysts have come to the tragic conclusion that the most immoral and unjust war in recent years has generated nothing but a series of catastrophes. The 10 catastrophes that we have outlined below represent only a small portion of a horrendous tragedy that continues to unfold to this day
Drone Warfare Is Neither Cheap, Nor Surgical, Nor Decisive
By William J. Astore
Fantasies about the certain success of air power in transforming, even ending, war as we know it arose with the plane itself. But when it comes to killing people from the skies, again and again air power has proven neither cheap nor surgical nor decisive nor in itself triumphant
Will Development Goals Ever Be Enough?
By Rajesh Makwana
Governments must accept that the root causes of poverty, inequality and climate change will never be addressed without substantial reforms to the global economy. In the meanwhile, the post-2015 development goals need to be much more ambitious about preventing avoidable poverty-related deaths within an immediate timeframe
Florida's Vote "For" The Death Penalty
By Mary Hamer
The Purpose of this article is to Investigate the Florida House of Representative’s Criminal Justice Committee’s NO Vote on HB #4005
Who Will Make Manik Sarkar PM?
By Sazzad Hussain
Sheila Dixit, Navin Patnaik, Tarun Gogoi, Nitish Kumar all fall to the same rank of Nraendra Modi of wining successive assembly polls. Latest of them is the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. Sarkar has won the assembly polls for fourth consecutive term on a camping of good governance and welfare of the people. Does this not make him eligible for the post of premiership on the same logic as attributed to Modi?
Aadhaar For Birth, Marriage And Death
By S.G.Vombatkere
Civic authorities demanding a UID-Aadhaar number (which is not covered by any extant law) as a pre-condition for issue of a primary civic document which is mandated by law, puts bureaucratic ignorance and callousness on display. The political executive which is finally responsible cannot plead ignorance. The coercive mission of UIDAI is being pushed to ridiculous lengths by political-bureaucratic incompetence
Kashmir: Faulty Economics’ Talk
By Raouf Rasool
Corruption is rampant, inefficiency galore, there is general lack of accountability and popular culture in terms of service to people too is in shambles. Capping it all is the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor, powerful and the weak, instead of shrinking is increasing with each passing day. May God bless this land and its people!
Pakistan: Sectarian Divides
By Ram Puniyani
South Asia has been in the grip of sectarian violence since fairly long. During last three decades and more particularly during the last decade this violence has been intensifying in degree and spread. It was sad news to hear that the Christian Community of Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh Lahore was the victim of one such violence recently
24 March,2013
Geoengineering Is A Dangerous Solution To Climate Change
By Rachel Smolker
As the realities of global climate change become ever more alarming, advocates of technological approaches to "geoengineer" the planet's climate are gaining a following. But the technologies that are promoted -- from spraying sulphate particles into the stratosphere, to dumping iron particles into the ocean, to stimulate carbon absorbing plankton, to burning millions of trees and burying the char in soils -- are all fraught with clear and obvious risks, and are most likely only going to make matters worse. Yet zeal for these approaches continues unabated
Can A Divestment Campaign Move The Fossil Fuel Industry?
By Brooke Jarvis
U.S. climate activists have launched a movement to persuade universities, cities, and other groups to sell off their investments in fossil fuel companies. But while the financial impact of such divestment may be limited, the campaign could harm the companies in a critical sphere — public opinion
Three (more) Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism
By Jules Peck
Professor Ha-Joon Chang’s best-selling book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism is a timely and important addition to the most crucial debate of our age. But Chang’s book is both an incomplete picture of the problematique and a flawed vision of the future. It fails to take us beyond the desperate attempts to shoehorn the needs of people and planet into the fundamentally broken and misconceived economics of capitalism
The First International Day Of Happiness And The Importance Of Wellbeing
By Josh Malkin, Florence Scialom & Larch Maxey
Wednesday 20th March 2013 was a historic day for global wellbeing, because the United Nations declared it the first ever International Day of Happiness. This signifies recognition of the relevance of happiness and wellbeing as universal goals in people's lives around the world, and acknowledgement of the importance of these goals in public policy objectives
The Pain Of The Ogaden Somali People
By Graham Peebles
The shocking accounts of violence and abuse are endless. The situation is clearly extremely critical and demands the immediate attention of Ethiopia’s main benefactors – America and sister donor nations, the European Union and Britain. To continue to ignore the evidence of state criminality and to blindly support the Ethiopian government in the face of such persecution, is to be complicit in the murder and violent abuse of the innocent people of the Ogaden region
World Powers Not Negotiating With Iran In Good Faith: James Corbett
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari
American radio host and journalist James Corbett believes that the group of six world powers have not ever been sincere and honest in their negotiations with Iran and constantly used the opportunity of talks to put more pressure on Iran over its nuclear program
Endosulfan Crisis: Write A Letter To Chief Minister Of Kerala
The next discussion in which the decisions of the Government will be finalized will take place on Monday the 25th of March. Please show the initiative to endorse the following letter and reach it to the Chief Minister of Kerala before Monday morning
22 March,2013
Obama Talks “Peace” In Israel While Preparing War
By Bill Van Auken
In a speech delivered in Jerusalem on Thursday, US President Barack Obama identified US interests unconditionally with Israel while reiterating war threats against both Syria and Iran
Obama's Israel Speech Ignores Palestinians, Endorses Racist Zionism And Apartheid Israel
By Dr Gideon Polya
American President Barack Obama made a speech on his recent arrival in Apartheid Israel that completely ignored Palestinians and gave US endorsement of racist Zionism and Apartheid Israel “forever”
Fortune's Fools: Individual Calling At The Cusp Of Ecological Catastrophe
By Phil Rockstroh
At this critical juncture, one's individual calling will be interwoven with the fate of the earth and the collective destiny of all of humankind. The age of elitist narcissists is drawing to a close. The time for dreamers, visionaries and activist has arrived, and their time of arrival is long past due
Adding Fuel To The Fire: The Climate Consequences Of Arctic Ocean Drilling
By Kiley Kroh & Howard Marano
Taking serious action to curb the devastating effects of climate change means we must aggressively deploy clean technologies, internalize the actual price of pollution by putting a price on carbon, and make major investments in climate resiliency. The time for piecemeal solutions has passed and there is no room in the equation for major expansions in fossil-fuel production
A Draft-Dodging, Zionist Friendly, Right-Wing Texan Islamist To Lead Syria?
By Franklin Lamb
For the past year, a plan C or D, depending on how one numbers the failed US-Israel projects in Syria was badly needed for those presuming to topple the Assad government. And this week, according to Congressional staffers, both Tel Aviv and the White House are pinching themselves in disbelief over their good luck with installing republican leaning conservative Dixie businessman, the congenial, Ghassan Hitto, as Syria’s new interim Prime Minister
Fallujah's New Nuclear Weapons And Petrodollar Warfare In Iraq
By Mary Hamer
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes of severe medical problems witnessed in Fallujah citizens after the Fallujah battles of 2004. Are these health problems the result of Traditional weapons of war?, Depleted Uranium? or were New Nuclear Weapons used in the Fallujah battles of 2004? I will discuss Professor Busby's research regarding Fallujah's medical problems & the possible causes of these health findings
Making Connections: From Shock And Awe To Wall Street
By Margaret Flowers & Kevin Zeese
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the "Shock and Awe" US invasion of Iraq. The ravages of that invasion continue at home and in Iraq, the US is still at war in Afghanistan (troops and contractors remain in Iraq) and unofficially waging war on countries like Pakistan and Yemen, is aggravating aggression with North Korea as part of an Asian pivot encircling China, is putting more military into Africa and Obama is in Israel where he sings a duet for war with Netanyahu against Syria and Iran . Meanwhile, poverty, unemployment and homelessness continue to grow in the US with threats of austerity for everything except the national security state
Death To Peace Keepers
By Steve Dustcircle
Someone close to me has this bumper sticker and it bothers me. Not that certain bumper stickers bother me to the point to where I write about them. This one bothers me more than others because I don't know if the owner of the car realizes exactly what they're insinuating. The sticker: “If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them.”
On The Shahbagh Movement Against War Criminals Of 1971
By Badruddin Umar
The leaders of the Shahbagh Movement have declared that their movement would continue until all the war criminals are hanged. But no movement like this can retain its steam for long. It now seems that the Shahbagh Movement is losing its steam and has already begun to peter out
India: Breaking The Silence Finally On Child Sexual Abuse
By Anjali Singh
Child Sexual Abuse has been a reality that children in India have been facing continuously irrespective of their gender or societal strata they belonged to. A fact that a recently released report by Human Rights Watch confirms in a report they released in Lucknow in February 2013. One look at the report on child sexual abuse termed, “Breaking the Silence-Child Sexual Abuse in India” and the horrifying reality would become more than evident
Water Activists Need To Get Main Space In Policy making For A Better 'Waer Policy'
By Ravi Nitesh
Government must look towards suggestions given by water activists and experts who are working for community welfare and not for revenue
21 March,2013
Iraqi Resistance, American Dirty War,
And The Remaking Of The Middle East
By Dirk Adriaensens
The crippling devastation of Iraq today overwhelms all else. It is difficult, given the facts on the ground, to recapture the imperial vision that was to make Iraq an exemplar of American sponsored democracy and a model for the American remaking of the Middle East. Iraq, after all, was to be a test case for the display of American pre-eminent power. That imperial vision is in ruins and Iraqi nationalism has reasserted itself - Part I (PDF)
Eliminating The Iraqi Middle Class
By Dirk Adriaensens
Running parallel with the massive corruption and destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure, including electricity, potable water and sewage systems, merciless repression led to the mass forced displacement of the bulk of Iraq’s educated middle class — the main engine of progress and development in modern states. Iraq’s intellectual and technical class has been subject to a systematic and on-going campaign of intimidation, abduction, extortion, random killings and targeted assassinations. The decimation of professional ranks took place in the context of a generalized assault on Iraq’s professional middle class, including doctors, engineers, lawyers, judges as well as political and religious leaders. Let’s have a closer look - Iraqi Resistance, American Dirty War, And The Remaking Of The Middle East - Part II
Dirty War As A Key Strategy To Subdue The Iraqi People
By Dirk Adriaensens
The American forces recruited the most criminal layers of the Iraqi population. Pentagon-hired mercenaries, like Dyncorp, helped form the sectarian militias that were used to terrorize and kill Iraqis and to provoke Iraq into civil war. Iraqi Resistance, American Dirty War, And The Remaking Of The Middle East - Part III (PDF)
Arab Spring In Iraq: Continuing Resistance Against The Ongoing Occupation
By Dirk Adriaensens
Despite the immense high levels of trauma that the Iraqi people have endured during the violent occupation of their country, despite all the killings, ethnic cleansing and enforced displacement, their will to resist has not been broken. Iraqi Resistance, American Dirty War, And The Remaking Of The Middle East - Part IV (PDF)
Sustainable Development Goals Must Sustain People And Planet
By Countercurrents.org
In the wake of last week's meetings at the UN on the definition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a group of international scientists have published a call in the journal Nature, arguing for a set of six SDGs that link poverty eradication to protection of Earth's life support
Of Hope And Pain: Rachel Corrie’s Rafah Legacy
By Ramzy Baroud
Immediately after her painful death, crushed beneath an Israeli army bulldozer, Rafah embraced her legacy as another ‘martyr’ for Palestine. It was a befitting tribute to Rachel, who was born to a progressive family in the town of Olympia, itself a hub for anti-war and social justice activism
Delhi Residents, Unorganised And Informal Workers Face Biometric Profiling By Aadhaar/UID
By Gopal Krishna
A Sheila Dikshit’s budget speech ignores Punjab & Haryana High Court order, ongoing case in Supreme Court & Parliamentary Committee recommendations. Adhaar/UID is an assault on privacy and citizens rights, it should be boycotted
India: Santhal Tribals Put Khijri On The National Map
By Sonal Kellogg
How Khijri panchayat in Teesri block of Giridih district, populated largely by Santhals, came to occupy pride of place on the national map makes an interesting story. This nondescript village proved to the country that it was possible to successfully provide employment to a large numbers of workers within a short span of time
India: Now, Free Legal Aid To Andhra's Women Farmers
By Usha Turaga-Revelli
In collaboration with the State Legal Services Authority, whose mandate under the Legal Services Act (LSA) includes offering legal support to the poor even in land litigation, though it has not been doing it, and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Landesa has recently launched a free legal aid clinic in Warangal
20 March,2013
10th Anniversary Of US Iraq Invasion:
2.7 Million Iraqi Deaths
By Dr Gideon Polya
This week it is exactly ten years after the US , UK and Australia illegally invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003 on the utterly false and illegitimate excuse that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The invasion occurred after over 12 years of deadly sanctions, war and bombing that had devastated the infrastructure of Iraq , violently killed 0.2 million Iraqis in the Gulf War and killed 1.7 million Iraqis through war-imposed deprivation. The subsequent US-led invasion and occupation was associated with 1.5 million violent deaths and an estimated 1.2 million avoidable deaths from war-imposed deprivation
An Illegal Anniversary
By Robert Jensen
On the 10 th anniversary of the United States' illegal invasion of Iraq, we can expect the war's supporters to argue that military action seemed necessary at that moment, while critics will remind us of the suffering that resulted from that tragic miscalculation. But amid the rationalizations and critiques, we should linger on this uncomfortable term: “ illegal invasion.”
The Iraq Invasion, America’s Voodoo Diplomacy And Profits Of War
By Taj Hashmi
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 21, one wonders, if in accordance with the neo-con philosophy, America will be invading more “crappy little countries” in future in the name of “War on Terror”. Neo-con guru Michael Ledeen not only justifies punishing “crappy little countries” like Iraq, but he also confirms that America’s foreign policy hinges on “creative destruction” and “total war”; and that America needs to invade countries “every ten years or so”. We find Senator Fulbright’s “Voodoo Diplomacy” and Wesley Clark’s “Profits of War” theories that explain American military adventurism
US, NATO Prepare Syria Intervention
By Bill Van Auken
The top US commander in Europe told a Senate hearing Tuesday that the US military and NATO are drawing up plans for direct military intervention in Syria. Adm. James Stavridis, head of the Pentagon’s European Command, speaking at a hearing by the Senate Armed Service Committee, said that the US military is “looking at a variety of options” and is “prepared if called upon to be engaged.”
2.8 Billion People Face Water Shortage
By Countercurrents.org
Some 1.2 billion people—almost a fifth of the world—live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, and inefficient use of existing resources restrict the amount of water available to people, according to Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs report
Obama Comes To Bless Israel's Government Of Settlers
By Jonathan Cook
Those who hoped that Barack Obama would be arriving in Israel to bang Israeli and Palestinian heads together, after four years of impasse in the peace process, will be sorely disappointed. The US president’s trip beginning today may be historic – the first of his presidency to Israel and the Palestinian territories – but he has been doing everything possible beforehand to lower expectations
Obama's Still Shopping For A Grand Bargain
By Shamus Cooke
President Obama's recent closed-door sessions with Republican congressmen to reach a "grand bargain" has roused suspiciously little attention in the mainstream media. What scant reporting has occurred presents the following narrative: President Obama is a "middle ground" politician attempting to breach political divides with erstwhile Republican opponents. In reality these meetings are not between political opposites, but kindred spirits; perfectly matched ideologies that differ only in implementation, and only by degrees
The Plague Of Wall Street Banking
By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers
The economic news this week highlights what happens when governments are unable to confront the root cause of the financial collapse – the risky speculation and securities fraud of the big banks. What happens? They blame the people, cut their benefits, tax their savings and demand they work harder for less money
Papal Complicity Will Be Unmasked When US Is Indicted For Crimes Against Humanity
By Jay Janson
During the internationally empowered grand jury proceedings that will eventually investigate the astounding number of US crimes against humanity the Papacy will not escape attention for not only having been accessories after the fact, but also collaborators in innumerable cases of homicidal use of US Armed Forces and CIA on four continents
In Defence Of Kashmir's Self Determination
By Younus Farooq
The obvious fact is that people in Kashmir want to spread their language more frequently or widely among their people, educate their children in their own customs. The people want to keep alive their religion. They believe their culture is in peril, or maybe they face persecution, attack or economic constraints. They want to recover their independence
Nagas: Imagining The Forbidden
By Lakpachui Siro
The recently concluded elections in Nagaland gave a sense of hope and belief in the regional political party that was advocating the rights and voice of the Nagas
Women In Conflict Zones
By Ravi Nitesh
Governments and organizations were filled with trepidation when they observed International Women Day this year, they made it vindicated that realization of root cause of problems that is uncivilized minds, descriminatory behavior of a person/organization/law must be criticized but sadly, their celebrations are still lacking the demand for same status and equality for women in conflict zones
Mr Patnaik Apologize To The Women Of Govindpur, Patana And Dhinkia
By Concerned Citizens
On the eve of the women’s day we learnt that the women gave the most desperate threat to the district administration as a last ditch effort. “If the police forces are not withdrawn they will protest naked in front of the police”. This news sent a chill down our spines as this was a confirmation of your wanton behaviour in the area and continuing attempts at escalating completely unjustified violence against agitators. You have proved that you are the biggest enemy of the women of Odisha. Instead of removing the police you charged women with indecent exposure and arrested them
19 March,2013
Iraq War's Legacy Of Cancer
By Dahr Jamail
Two US-led wars in Iraq have left behind hundreds of tonnes of depleted uranium munitions and other toxic wastes. Birth defects in Falljujah amounts to a rate more than 14 times the rate experienced by Hiroshima and Nagasaki
War Without End
By Kathy Kelly
A civilized country would demand heartfelt reparations to the people of Iraq and cease to interfere in their internal affairs, would secure freedom and official praise for whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, and would rapidly begin to liberate itself from subservience to warlords and war profiteers
Who Did You Rape In The War, Daddy?
By Nick Turse
Maybe it’s time to start asking questions of our veterans. Hard questions. They shouldn’t be the only ones with the knowledge of what goes on in armies and in war zones. They didn’t get to Vietnam (or Iraq or Afghanistan) on their own and they shouldn’t shoulder the blame or the truth alone and in silence. We all bear it. We all need to hear it. The sooner, the better
The Future Holds Ten Times More Hurricane Surges, Finds Research
By Countercurrents.org
New research from the Niels Bohr Institute shows that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees Celcius warmer
Mahatma Gandhi, We Need Your Voice Today!
By John Scales Avery
If humans are ever to achieve a stable global society in the future, they will have to become much more modest in their economic behavior and much more peaceful in their politics. For both modesty and peace, Gandhi is a useful source of ideas. The problems with which he struggled during his lifetime are extremely relevant to us in the 21st Century, when both nuclear and ecological catastrophes threaten the world
Maintaining Mental Health In The Age Of Madness
By Carolyn Baker
We maintain our wholeness in the madness by joining with others to begin making the kind of world we want our children and the next seven generations to live in. If you yourself are a helping professional of any kind, embrace your deviance and commit to proliferating the deviance! The opportunities for re-imagining, sharing, cooperating, and partnering with kindred hearts are endless. In fact, never have so many humans had so many opportunities to resiliently re-fashion their lives and their communities
Detroit Citizen's Prepare To Fight Their Corporate Master
By Mark Vorpahl
Fresh from shoving his "Right to Work for Less" legislation down the throats of Michigan's workers, Governor Rick Snyder has grown bolder in pursuing a corporate agenda. He has now appointed Kevyn Orr of Jones Day law firm to act as an Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) of Detroit
At What Price Silence?
By Gaither Stewart
In this article Gaither Stewart discusses the Argentinean writer, Jorge Borges, and the newly elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in order to illustrate the role of some intellectuals of the middle class and more importantly the role of the Catholic Church in what happened in Argentina in those unforgotten and unforgettable seven years
An Open Letter To The College Students And The Non-student Youth Of India
By S.P Udayakumar
All the 12 crore Tamils around the world look forward to your support and solidarity against the genocidal regime of Mahinda Rajapakse and to your call for an international inquiry into the 2008-2009 genocide against the Tamil people in Lanka
18 March,2013
Record Radiation Found In Fukushima Fish
By Lauren McCauley
A fish with record levels of radioactive cesium was caught in the waters outside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, officials announced Friday. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said they detected 740,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in a greenling fish caught the port adjacent to the nuclear site, Kyodo News reports. The amount is 7,400 times the state-set limit deemed safe for human consumption
Fukushima: It Isn't Over
By Alex Smith
It isn't over. Danger to women, children, wildlife. Selections from symposium "The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident" New York March 11-12 by Helen Caldicott Foundation & Physicians for Social Responsibility
Iraq War Among World's Worst Events
By David Swanson
Iraq lost 1.4 million lives as a result of OIL, saw 4.2 million additional people injured, and 4.5 million people become refugees. The 1.4 million dead was 5% of the population
Climate Crisis Shortens Korea’s Winter
By Countercurrents.org
Korea's winter has gradually shortened by up to 14 days over the last 30 years due to global warming while summers grew by 10.3 days, according to an analysis by the Korea Meteorological Administration
Privatization Leads To Catastrophic Loss Of Cambodia’sTropical Flooded Grasslands
By Countercurrents.org
Around half of Cambodia's tropical flooded grasslands have been lost in just 10 years according to new research from the University of East Anglia
AIPAC’s Anti-American Resolutions
By Dr. Elias Akleh
The latest anti-American resolution is the Senate Resolution S.R. 65 authored by the pro-Israel Senators Lindsay Graham and Robert Menendez that was introduced to the Senate in February 28th. The resolution urges the US that “if the Government of Israel is compelled to take military action in self-defense, the United States government should stand with Israel and provide diplomatic, military and economic support.” This is actually a declaration of war against Iran dependent on Israeli whim. This resolution basically states that if Israel starts a war against Iran for any reason, the US must automatically support it including the use of its own military and naval forces
Second Letter From Endosulfan Victims Of Kasargod
By Sisters of Kasargod
We, as mothers have been unable to move freely since the babies have been born. Some need to be fed with masticated food, others might hurt themselves while trying to move, and still others have their minds wrought with unspoken fears and nightmares. There are some among us who have not attended a social function for years- we have not visited our parents even in their death beds. To live with children who are unable to walk, call us mother or father is the biggest curse that has befallen us. Why us? Why anybody?
Manu Reloaded ! Brahminism Yesterday, Hindutva Today ?
By Subhash Gatade
The official biography of Hedgewar, written by C. P Bhishikar 'Sanghvriksh Ke Beej' throws light on its emergence. It is known that Dr Hedgewar alongwith B. S. Moonje, L.V. Paranjape, B.B. Thalkar and Baburao Savarkar who were all ardent advocates of Brahminical revivalism - founded Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925. Explaining the need to start RSS, Hedgewar is reported to have given two reasons : one, Muslim threat and second, assertion of the lower castes. 'Conflicts between various communities had started. Brahman-non-Brahman conflict was nakedly on view. ' One, can easily notice he has shown lower caste assertion on par with Muslim threat
Dynamics Of Kansi Ram’s Movement
By Vivek Kumar
It is believed by many that Kanshi Ram proved that politics of socially marginalized and poor people can also succeed without the help of literate, intellectuals, business houses and urban gentry. He single-handedly changed the mainstream politics of the most populated state Uttar Pradesh and thereby, the Indian polity itself
Reject Anything Less Than A Nuremburg Like War Crime Trial For Tamil Eelam Genocide
By IIT Students - Chennai
Pamphlet released by IIT Students - Chennai during a protest and hunger strike demanding A Nuremburg Like War Crime Trial For Tamil Eelam Genocide
17 March,2013
Counting Species: What It Says About Human Toll On Wildlife
By Verlyn Klinkenborg
By analyzing mitochondrial DNA, scientists now can make more accurate estimates of the numbers of individual species that existed centuries ago. What does it tell us about our impact on the natural world and about our own future?
President Chavez: A 21st Century Renaissance Man
By James Petras
President Hugo Chavez was unique in multiple areas of political, social and economic life. He made significant contributions to the advancement of humanity. The depth, scope and popularity of his accomplishments mark President Chavez as the ‘Renaissance President of the 21st Century’
Letter From The Mother Of A Sexually Abused Child To UN commission On The Status Of Women
By Suja Jones
Full text of a letter by the mother of a sexually abused child sent to 57th session of the UN commission on the Status of Women which met at at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 4 to 15 March 2013
Zion—The Promised Land—Too Little, Too Late
By William A. Cook
The Promised Land of Zion is a fabrication of the tribe that is beneficial to the few at the expense of the many; that is true of America’s Israelites that stole the land from those who lived in New England, and it is true of the new world order that declares it America’s responsibility to bring God’s gift to all, when it declares it alone has the right to decide what is the right
Harare: Is It Really The Worst City On Earth?
By Andre Vltchek
‘The world’s least livable city on earth’, ‘The worst city on earth’. There were expat surveys, surveys by The Economist, and at some point surveys that ‘leniently’ depicted Harare as the 4th worst city on earth, not the worst, in 2012. Andre Vltchek finds out is it really the case
Why The Peace Movement Will Continue To Fail
By Rosemarie Jackowski
There is no light at the end of the war tunnel. Peace will not come until the people want it. Maybe US citizens need to have it explained in simpler terms - maybe in pictures drawn with crayons. Maybe set to music with scantily clad women dancing in the background. Maybe we are waiting for the next 'Blowback', and then we will ask: "Why do they hate us?" In the words of comedian Ron White: "You just can't fix stupid"
Going Back To Davos As Questions Haunt
By Farooque Chowdhury
Gloomy crisisphere covering the last few WEF summits was absent in the 2013-summit. But there are questions that are haunting the system – world capitalism – the summit participants represent
Justice On Leave
By Ravi Nitesh
When you know the list of holidays in our courts and the purpose of it, probably you cannot justify the same. Our judicial system is very old and many of its working structure and system that were made during British reign still continue. British were quite fond of leisure and thus they found it useful to sanction leaves for the ‘majesty' and ‘lords'. And this has been continued, like several other traditions, in the post-independent India
16 March,2013
Geoengineering Could Create Unforeseen New Risks
By Countercurrents.org
Geoengineering, the use of human technologies to alter Earth's climate system -- such as injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to scatter incoming sunlight back to space -- has emerged as a potentially promising way to mitigate the impacts of climate change. But such efforts could present unforeseen new risks
Atmospheric CO2 And Mass Extinctions Through Time:
Implications Of The PETM ForGlobal Warming (PDF)
By Dr Andrew Glikson
Throughout the Phanerozoic (542 million years ago to the present) major mass extinction of species closely coincided with major rises of atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean acidity (pH), at rates to which species could not adapt. These events, triggered by asteroid impacts, massive volcanic activity, eruption of methane and ocean anoxia bear direct implications to the current rise of CO2, at rates unprecedented over the last 65 million years
Stronger Hurricanes, Somalia Drought Are Climate Crisis Ceations, Say Scientists
By Countercurrents.org
Scientific consensus is emerging that stronger hurricanes and droughts are the result of rapidly changing climate
Sustainable Low Carbon Transport In India
By Marianne de Nazareth
In 2006, the Ministry of Railways adopted a long-term strategic plan to develop six high capacity, high speed dedicated freight corridors (DFC) along the “golden quadrilateral” that connects India’s four largest cities, and their diagonals. In addition to efficiency improvements, the DFCs would contribute to substantial energy savings and significant reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These, in turn, could provide additional revenues to the Indian Railways through mechanisms such as carbon credits
UN Says US Drone War In Pakistan Violates International Law
By Alex Lantier
UN officials admitted on Thursday that strikes launched by unmanned US drone aircraft in Pakistan over the objections of the country’s government violate international law. This was announced in a statement by UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights Ben Emmerson from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad
What An Animal You Are!
By Carolyn Baker
How often have we heard “what an animal you are!” or “you’re such an animal” from someone teasing another person about his or her animal instincts? While these kinds of comments are meant to be humorous, we seldom reflect on the literal truth in such utterances. We are animals, but our intellectual knowledge of this fact rarely translates into a visceral awareness of our other-than-human origins
Allowing Women To Travel And Work Could Destroy Society, Claims Muslim Brotherhood
By Countercurrents.org
Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood warns that a UN declaration on women's rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband's approval and letting her control family spending. The document, “End Violence Against Women,” is planned to be ratified by the UN Commission on the Status of Women and is now being negotiated as part of the 57th session
Kashmir: Listen, See And Say Unpleasant Too!
By Raouf Rasool
Indeed the reasons why nobody in Kashmir protested (or protests) the killing of CRPF (or any other forces’) personnel is what lies at the heart of the problem. It needs to be deconstructed to know what plagues the relationship between Srinagar and New Delhi. So this question must have been asked to the ‘experts’ representing the Indian armed forces in the show
Preliminary Report On The Fact Finding In Bijapur District, Chhattisgarh
By Democratic Students’ Union
In the three weeks from mid-January till the first week of February, several villages in the Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh experienced the terror of the armed forces of the Indian state. The CRPF, Chhattisgarh state police, erstwhile SPO’s of the Salwa Judum along with various coercive arms of the state orchestrated a systematic targeting of villages, burnt down hundreds of homes, ostensibly in random, further, burnt down the schools built by the people, picked up villagers, young and old, and physically tortured them while their homes burned to the ground
15 March,2013
Study Reveals Coal Power Emissions Killed Over 100,000 Indians In 2011-2012
By Greenpeace India
A new study by Urban Emissions, commissioned by Conservation Action Trust and released in partnership with Greenpeace has estimated that in 2011-2012 upto 1,15,000 people died prematurely as a result of emissions from coal-fired power stations in India. The report further reveals that apart from the premature deaths, there are millions of cases of asthma, respiratory distress and heart disease attributable to emissions from coal power plants. It also estimated that the cumulative monetary cost of this health crisis is between Rs 16,000 to 23,000 crore annually
Without Urgent Environmental Action Extreme Poor Could Rise To 3 Billion
By Countercurrents.org
The number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to tackle environmental challenges says Human Development Report
US Cost For Iraq War Could Reach $6 Trillionn;
Try Tony Blair As War Criminal, Finds A Poll
By Countercurrents.org
More than half of Britons believe Tony Blair was wrong to invade Iraq, while 22% say he should be tried as a war criminal. A poll conducted to mark the 10th anniversary of the war find
Pakistan Begins Construction Of Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline
By Vilani Peiris & Sarath Kumara
Amid US threats to impose sanctions on his country, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari joined Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a ceremony breaking ground on construction of the Pakistani portion of a planned Iran-Pakistan pipeline on Monday
The Third World War Rages On (from oil fields to city streets and beyond)
By Mickey Z.
Yet another black teenager lies bleeding on the sidewalk—having become the target of 11 shots fired by two soldiers in Mayor Bloomberg’s Private Army™. The wounded teen’s request of “Please don’t let me die” brings a stark reply: “Stay down, or we’ll shoot you again.” This is what war looks like
Australia's Maltreatment Of Asylum Seekers And Refugees (Part III) (PDF)
By George Venturini
This work trace the history of Australia's shameful treatment of asylum seekers and refugees to date. Since 1992, every person who arrives in Australia by sea without a valid visa is immediately jailed
Promethean Hubris And The Ruining Of Rongelap
By Vincent Di Stefano
This post offers both an audio presentation and a substantive essay detailing the events leading up to and following on from the nuclear weapon testing program conducted by the US in the Marshall Islands from June 1946 to August 1958. Special attention is given to the effects of Castle Bravo, the first of six thermonuclear tests that were conducted as part of Operation Castle between 1st March and 22nd April 1954
The Emergency Financial Manager: What Happens In Detroit Doesn't Stay In Detroit
By Billy Wharton
It is not everyday, though it is increasingly more common, that an “election” in the People’s Republic of China is more democratic than a political event in the United States. The appointment of Kevyn Orr as the Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) of Detroit is one such moment. Orr becomes the 14th such emergency manager appointed in the state of Michigan since 1988. Once installed, he will wield the kind of nearly unlimited decision making power that is all the rage in Beijing and Pyongyang
The Forgotten Women
By Rosemarie Jackowski
The new liberation movement must place less emphasis on gender and more emphasis on the common humanity that we all share. Those who need liberation most are those whose voices are not heard ... the economically disadvantaged, the homeless, the disabled, and especially the children
Are We All Idiot Dolts?
By Tim Gatto
I just read the most blatant and insidious transformation of this “Progressive” President since he signed the NDAA. Not only does this man claim the right to execute Americans overseas and right here in the United States (under exceptional circumstances), now he’s agreeing with the GOP that this country needs to start cutting “entitlement” programs like Medicare
Mr. Modi, You Are Not Welcome: Wharton Debate
By Ram Puniyani
This invitation being taken back just reflects that Modi’s propaganda has been punctured and a reminder that the violation of human rights violation of the weak cannot be exonerated at any cost
The Non-Return Of The Italian Gunmen: A Subversion Of International Laws
By S Faizi
An open letter to Daniele Mancini, Ambassador of Italy to India on the non-return of the Italian gunmen accused in the killing of two Indian fishermen
Greenpeace India Brings People-Powered Campaigns To Its 10 Lakh Supporters
By Greenpeace India
GreenpeaceX allows users to create and promote their own campaigns on any local issue
14 March,2013
New Pope Elected As Catholic Church Tries To Stem Crisis
By Patrick O’Connor
The US and international media conglomerates have largely ignored the serious questions that have been raised in Argentina about Bergoglio’s role within the Church during the military’s rule between 1976 and 1983. During this time an estimated 30,000 left-wing opponents of the junta were “disappeared” in a US-backed “dirty war”. The Argentinian Catholic Church enjoyed intimate relations with the military, both in the lead up to its seizure of power and under the junta
Don’t Ignore Individual Action To Fight Climate Crisis, Suggest Scientists
By Countercurrents.org
Perform your small part to adapt to climate change and stop it in its tracks, or a global problem could continue to get worse. That was the primary message from a panel of five Northern Colorado scientists — all of whom helped author the 2013 National Climate Assessment
Parts Of USA Experience Increased Heavy Rainfalls
By Countercurrents.org
Heavy rains have become more frequent in the US upper Midwest over the past 60 years, finds a study by the University of Iowa. The trend appears to hold true even with the current drought plaguing the region, the study's main author says
Phoenix In The Climate Crosshairs
By William deBuys
Phoenix’s pyramid of complexities looks shakier than most because it stands squarely in the crosshairs of climate change. The area, like much of the rest of the American Southwest, is already hot and dry; it’s getting ever hotter and drier, and is increasingly battered by powerful storms
Chavez Succeeded Where Obama Failed
By Shamus Cooke
The late President Chavez, on the other hand, steadily increased the crowds of people who came to hear him speak, year after year, election after election, rally after rally. The secret? Whereas President Obama could only speak about “hope” and “change,” President Chavez actually delivered
Global Peace And Security: America Needs Soul Searching
By Mahboob A. Khawaja
The 21st century’s new age and opportunities for peace and global unity of the mankind warrant New Thinking, New Leaders and New Visions for change and the future-making. But change and creativity and new visions will not emerge out of the obsolete, redundant and failed authoritarianism of the few insane leaders
...and Only Kashmiris Die!
By Raouf Rasool
Once again our worst fears came true on Monday night when a load-carrier (auto) driver Riyaz Ahmad Khanday died at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science (SKIMS) Soura. 23-year-old Khanday of Mattan Anantnag was not killed in “police action”, but he was left critically wounded when a group of men objected to his defiance of the separatists’ shutdown call in the evening of March 8 and pelted a stone at him. What is really pathetic is that nobody from the political class – either from the mainstream or the separatist camps deemed this tragic death worth a comment and condemnation
13 March,2013
China To Begin Commercial Voyage Through Arctic This Year Itself
By Countercurrents.org
A Chinese shipping firm is planning the country's first commercial voyage through a shortcut across the Arctic Ocean to the United States and Europe in 2013, a leading Chinese scientist said
The Future Of Our Grandchildren
By James Hansen & Subhankar Banerjee
World renowned climate scientist James Hansend in conversation with Subhankar Banerjee
6 Ways The US Supreme Court Has Defiled Our Constitution
By Gary Corseri
It's well past time to exercise our First Amendment (while we still can) to speak out against the abuses and myopia of our very flawed Supreme Court!
Obama’s Evil Empire
By Sean Fenley
Obama should know it will only be for infamy, and for evil that he will ultimately go down! And so therefore his current praxis/strategy is without question; undeniably, one that must be fully, utterly, and entirely rebuked/curtailed
A Tale Of Two Women
By Rosemarie Jackowski
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Prize winner for her work for the elimination of land mines, have been in the news promoting their books. Both women are brilliant, hardworking, dedicated, focused and very accomplished. They have much in common - but it appears that they have very different world views. They hold opposing philosophical belief systems
Funding And Denouncing Israeli Occupation: Hypocritical EU Must Make A Stand
By Ramzy Baroud
While Israel should be held responsible for its own behavior, the EU and other countries should not finance the occupation while decrying the settlements. This hypocrisy can no longer be tolerated
Anti-Iran Sanctions Are Warfare Without Military Involvement: Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
Interview By Kourosh Ziabari
Public policy scholar and researcher Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich says that the sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and its allies have no moral grounds, are equivalent to collective punishment and illegal under the international law
Stop The War Coalition – Droning Into Irrelevance?
By Nu'man Abd al-Wahid
Stop the War Coalition (StW), Britain’s main anti-war movement held an anniversary commemoration on the 9th February 2013. The main problem with the event was the analysis. StW’s analysis revolves around two basic presuppositions. Firstly, StW continues to rehash the same erroneous reason on why the British state went to war in 2003 and secondly there is an adamant refusal not to acknowledge the changes in the geo-political landscape since the NATO intervention in Libya in March 2011
Italy Must Honour It's Obligations
By Thomas Kocherry
The announcement of Italian Mariners, who allegedly killed our two fishermen in the sea are not coming back is shocking. The Italian Ambassador stood as a security in the Supreme Court. If Italians do not stand by their promise in the SC , Government of India (GOI) should suspend all Diplomatic Relations with Italy
12 March,2013
Fukushima Two Years Later: Lessons For India
By Nityanand Jayaraman
The Independent Commission appointed by the Japanese parliament to investigate the accident observed that while natural disasters may have triggered the nuclear events, the meltdown itself was “profoundly manmade.” The Commission concluded that “The. . .accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO, and the lack of governance by said parties.” The same unholy alliance rules the Indian nuclear establishment too
As The Globe Warms, Trees Grow In Frozen Tundra
By Countercurrents.org
Trees and shrubs are taking hold in what was once frozen tundra. A new study of 30 years of satellite data shows vegetation moving northward as climatic conditions shift.
Just Staying Alive
By John Scales Avery
Of course we have our ordinary work, that we need to do to stay alive. But staying alive in the long run, and giving our children and grandchildren a world in which they will have a reasonable chance of staying alive, means that we have two jobs: our ordinary work, and the job of actively confronting the multiple challenges that we face in the 21st century. No single person can achieve the needed reforms, but together we can do it. In the last analysis, who has power if not the people?
Enough Is Enough (Excerpt)
By Rob Dietz & Dan O’Neill
An excerpt from the first chapter of Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, by Rob Dietz & Dan O’Neill
Thorough Investigation Needed On The Circumstances Of Hugo Chávez's Death
By William Blum
Long-term readers of this report know that I’m not much of a knee-reflex conspiracy theorist. But when someone like Chávez dies at the young age of 58 I have to wonder about the circumstances. It is well known that during the Cold War, the CIA worked diligently to develop substances that could kill without leaving a trace. I would like to see the Venezuelan government pursue every avenue of investigation in having an autopsy performed
The Economy: Happy Days Are Here Again! For Whom?
By Thomas Riggins
The resurrection and coming again of the DOW is only one expression of the economy. The fat cat expression. What about people at the other end of the economic blight-- how are they faring. While the bankers and speculators who caused the Great Recession are partying on Wall Street the nation's homeless are increasing in numbers. After reading the front page of the same issue of the Wall Street Journal celebrating "recovery" we find a quite different story on page 6: "New York City Leads Jump in Homeless."
My Lai, Killing Ideology And Disobeying Orders: 45 Years Later
By Mickey Z.
The heroic disobedience Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr. who evacuated injured victims of My Lai
Ashamed To Be An American?
By Timothy Gatto
What in the world is going on in the west? I’m talking about Europe and America and all the players in the Middle East and Africa. The entire scenario smells like rotten fish (more like decaying bodies). I’m tired of holding my tongue and reading the drivel and watching the charade on television. The truth is that everything you are hearing is a lie and lies of the greatest magnitude
Sabah: A Convergence Of Motives?
By Chandra Muzaffar
Some foreign media reports on the tragedy in Sabah have given the erroneous impression that Malaysia is faced with “an armed invasion.” This is ludicrous, given the scale and scope of the attacks that began on 1st March 2013. The local media is more accurate in describing the rag-tag band of perhaps 200 people who have killed eight Malaysian police personnel as “armed intruders from Southern Philippines.” In spite of these killings, Malaysia remains a relatively peaceful country
Kilpatrick Conviction A Reminder Of Neoliberal Corruption
By Billy Wharton
Today, Detroit offered a not so subtle peek into a future that should be avoided at all costs. Former Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted on multiple charges of fraud and racketeering for doling out no-bid contracts in exchange for kickbacks. This is not a moral failing of Kilpatrick nor just business as usual in Detroit, a city that has been circling the drian for decades nor is it a powerful message that will curtail future corruption. Shakedowns, racketeering and extortion are standard practice in a neoliberal state
AFSPA: Misconceptions And Ground Realities
By S.G.Vombatkere
Major General S.G. Vombatkere (retired) argues that an amendment to limit the applicability of AFSPA to an aggregate of, say, 90 days in any calendar year, will allow governments to retain the admittedly coercive option of military deployment when civil administration fails to maintain law and order. This limitation will spur governments to rediscover ways of providing a troubled society with honest politics and good governance. It will also enable the army, one-third of which is deployed for internal security due to governance failure, to revert to its primary external security role on India's borders
Angry Kashmir Needs Direction
By Raouf Rasool
Kashmir's angry youth are at a cross roads, but who is to guide them?
Poonch Rebellion And Tribal Incursion Of Kashmir
By Abdul Majid Zargar
Christopher Snedden’s new Book- "Kashmir-The unwritten history" claims that it was the Muslims of Poonch region who instigated the Kashmir dispute and not Pashtun tribesmen invading from Pakistan
Abolish Blasphemy Law And Protect Dalits In Pakistan
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Christian minorities in Pakistan are on the receiving end as anti-blasphemy law is easily used against them but a close scrutiny of it reveals that basically it is the Sweepers or Bhangi community who are being targeted in Pakistan for their faith. They face regular caste discrimination and untouchability and yet there is no mechanism to protect their interest. Pakistan must enact laws to protect its Dalits
Ad Breaks In An Indian Dream: Cementing Social Control
By Colin Todhunter
If you ever get the chance, try to watch satellite TV in India, especially the English language channels which are aimed at the creamy layer of Indian society. The more you watch, the wearier you will become. It's guaranteed. The lying, cheating commercials are almost carbon copies of the lying, cheating commercials in the West, in terms of the products and the shiny Coca-Cola lifestyles they promote. The advertisements and the game-shows that interrupt the commercial breaks are exponents of the kind of self-seeking materialism that now all too often passes for news and entertainment
11 March,2013
Can Civilization Survive Capitalism?
By Noam Chomsky
In future, historians (if there are any) will look back on this curious spectacle taking shape in the early 21st century. For the first time in human history, humans are facing the significant prospect of severe calamity as a result of their actions—actions that are battering our prospects of decent survival. Those historians will observe that the richest and most powerful country in history, which enjoys incomparable advantages, is leading the effort to intensify the likely disaster. Leading the effort to preserve conditions in which our immediate descendants might have a decent life are the so-called “primitive” societies: First Nations, tribal, indigenous, aboriginal
Climate Crisis Has Already Altered Arctic Seasons
By Countercurrents.org
Climate change has already altered seasons in the Arctic to make them more like southern regions, says newly published researc. While tundra plant communities are already becoming shrubbier, scientists behind the paper say there's no way to predict what's going to happen as the change continues
65 Years Ago: The Green Light For Zionism’s Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine
By Alan Hart
On 10th March 1948, two months before Israel’s unilateral declaration of independence in defiance of the will of the organized international community as it then was at the UN, Zionism’s in-Palestine political and military leaders met in Tel Aviv to formally adopt PLAN DALET, the blueprint with operational military orders for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine
A Kairos Moment In Palestine
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
We Palestinian Christians following in the footsteps of Jesus say this is a moment of truth, a Kairos moment. The truth is that the Birth place of Jesus, Bethlehem has 180,000 native Christians and Muslims squeezed into only 13% of the land of the district of Bethlehem. 87% of the land of Bethlehem is now off-limits to our development and open for expansion of 23 colonial settlements built on our land. And this canton of Bethlehem is increasingly surrounded by a wall and I as a Palestinian Christian am not allowed into Jerusalem, my Church of the Sepulcher
“5 Broken Cameras’” Strange Trip To The Oscars
By Uri Avnery
This does not happen every day: a Minister of Culture publicly rejoices because a film from her country has not been awarded an Oscar. And not just one film, but two. It happened this week. Limor Livnat, still Minister of Culture in the outgoing government, told Israeli TV she was happy that Israel’s two entries for Oscars in the category of documentary films, which made it to the final four, did lose in the end
Women Farmers Can Reduce Hunger
By Countercurrents.org
Giving women farmers more resources could bring the number of hungry people in the world down by 100 - 150 million people
Attack On Christian Homes In Lahore And The Murder Of Human Empathy
By Maryam Sakeenah
Following the reprehensible attack on Christian homes in Lahore, a spine-chilling, grotesque image of an arsonist cheering over the burning flames went viral. One wonders what sort of man thumps his chest over destroying innocent lives and how human beings can become capable of such naked, audacious sadism that seeks justification in a faith that decrees ‘Whosoever harms a non Muslim citizen of a Muslim state, I shall be the complainant against him on the Day of Judgement.'
I Cannot Tell Shazia Her Son Died In A Blast, Can You?
By Anwar Iqbal
She goes to bed with her son’s teddy bear. During the day, she locks the bear in a cupboard. In the evening, she takes it out; cleans it, combs it and then says to the bear: “Come, let’s go. It is time to go to bed.” This has been her routine ever since her son died, killed in a bomb blast. He was only six
Judicial Enquiry Demanded On Bomb Attack Against POSCO Resisters
By Fact Finding Team
In view of our discussions with all the affected persons, and the clear attempt of the police to blame the deceased persons in a premeditated manner, we demand a high level judicial enquiry into the bomb blast incident resulting in the death of three persons and injury to one person, to ascertain the truth of the matter
Protest Against Killing of Anti – POSCO Activists And Forcible Land Grabbing In Odisha
By Countercurrents.org
On 2nd March, hired musclemen of POSCO with the full complicity of Odisha Police threw bombs at anti-POSCO activists in Patana village, in which 3 activists were killed and several others were seriously injured
Kashmir's Wait For A True Leader
By Younus Farooq
Kashmir freedom movement needs an exceptional leader, well educated, rational, problem solving, who can coordinate a divided Kashmir movement into a one whole organized ideology. The freedom movement of Kashmir needs a more political, ideological and less sentimental leader who can inspire masses and be able to coordinate and sustain them. It is important to rid people of wrong ideas and bring about a great change
Narendra Modi And The Re-Defining Of Indian Secularism
By Siddharthya Roy
News says, as part of Narendra Modi’s PM campaign (there isn’t enough reason as yet to call it a BJP election campaign) he has defined secularism in his own way. He says for him secularism means putting India first. Like everything else about Modi, mainstream media has given this ample space. Yet again a section of India’s net savvy are tweeting, retweeting, posting and reposting all about it
09 March,2013
Earth Hurtling Towards Temperatures Not Seen In 11,000 Years
By Andrea Germanos
"Under all plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios," the world is on track to surpass temperatures not seen since the dawn of civilization, according to new research. Confirming "unprecedented" global warming, the new study published in Friday's issue of the journal Science shows that the earth's temperatures catapulted in just the last century at a rate that had previously taken 4,000 years
Currency Concerns Under Uncertainty: The Case Of China
By Sunanda Sen
Changes in China’s external payments in relation to changing expectations, reminds us of the need for the re-regulations that arise with destabilising expectations and rising uncertainty, which is not one of a piece with perfect information. As formulated by Keynes in 1936 with the publication of The General Theory, “About these matters there is no scientific basis on which to form any calculable probability whatever. We simply do not know.”
Venezuela After Chávez
Nilantha Ilangamuwa Interviews Patrick O'Donoghue
What will happen to Venezuela after an uncertain death of the President Hugo Chavez? Here is Patrick O'Donoghue to discuss present political trends in the country. He is former news editor of VHeadline.com and London correspondent for Las Verdades de Miguel (Venezuelan) weekly newspaper based Caracas
Damascus University Students Resist US Civilian Targeting Sanctions
By Franklin Lamb
More than 200,000 full-time and ‘open-learning’ students at Damascus University, the 6th largest in the World and founded in 1901, are feeling some effects of the harsh Obama Administration’s civilian targeting sanctions. Iran’s millions of students are also increasingly in the cross-hairs of the “humanitarian sanctions which Washington and Brussels claim “exempt food, medicines and medical supplies” and therefore “should be considered humane.”
Secret Israeli Torture To Death Of Jewish Australian Ben Zygier Exposes Australia-Israeli Links
By Dr Gideon Polya
Dual Israeli and Australian citizen and Jewish Australian father of 2, Ben Zygier, was secretly imprisoned for 11 months in solitary confinement by the Israelis in 2010 until he was either killed by the Israelis or, as alleged by the Israelis, committed suicide in a suicide-proof cell
Understanding The Anger And Frustration Of Muslim Youths In Uttar-Pradesh
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Those who killed Zia ul Haq physically might have wanted to eliminate him but in his death Zia will become a rallying point for Muslim youths who will raise their voice against injustice and for their fair share in India’s development and power structure which nobody would be able to ignore
08 March,2013
39,000 Child Marriages A Day, Time To Act
By Countercurrents.org
With the background of widespread violence against women the world celebrates the International Women’s Day. A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women is the official UN theme for International Women's Day 2013. Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to UNFPA. If current levels of child marriages hold, 14.2 million girls annually or 39,000 daily will marry too young
Under Siege, Palestinian Women Call For Human Rights On International Women’s Day
By Eva Bartlett
A 2009 Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) report highlights the suffering of Palestinian women under the illegal Israeli-led siege imposed on Gaza for the past seven years, and under the 23 days of Israeli attacks in 2008-2009 which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including 112 women. The report, ‘Through Women’s Eyes’, notes Gazan women’s continued struggle “as they attempt to come to terms with their grief and their injuries; with the loss of their children, their husbands, their relatives, their homes, and their livelihoods.”
All Work And No Pay: Recognizing Women’s Unpaid Labor In The Global South
By Michelle Chen
Imagine being asked to work seven days a week, for free, without breaks or even a thank you. Those conditions might seem outrageous in any workplace, yet they are typical in our homes, where women are regularly expected to serve as faithful unpaid caregivers. Our recognition of the first scenario as a serious violation of labor rights, while the second can be brushed off as “tradition,” is a measure of the sexism still embedded in our thinking about economic equity in the US and around the world
All Women To Become Mentors Of Human Rights As A Way Of Life
By People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning
This step-by-step process of women mentoring communities…--women and men participating as equals in making the decisions that determine our future... --guided by human rights as a way of life is the most important forward-looking initiative of the 21st century: In five years all women to be human rights mentors!
Women Must TakeThe Lead In Organising To End All Exploitation And Oppression!
By Communist Ghadar Party of India
Call of the Communist Ghadar Party of India on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8th March, 2013
Her Name Is Rachel Corrie
By Eileen Fleming
"My Name is Rachel Corrie" is based on the writings and journals of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old Evergreen State College student, who traveled to the Gaza Strip in 2003 and was run over and killed by a USA MADE Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer which was operated by Israeli Forces, on March 16th, which was just a few days before President Bush began the bombing of Baghdad
The Indian Land Grab In Ethiopia
By Graham Peebles
Ancestral land that for generations has served as home and livelihood for hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in Ethiopia is being leased out, on 99-year renewable contracts at nominal sums to foreign corporation. India, China and Saudi Arabia were all courted and along with wealthy Ethiopians have eagerly grabbed large pieces of land at basement prices; rates vary from $1.10 to $6.05 per hectare (HA), comparable land in India would set you back $600 per ha
Unsubsidized 'Grid Parity Has Been Reached In India', Italy –
With More Countries Coming In 2014
By Climate Progress
Deutsche Bank just released new analyses concluding that global solar market will become sustainable on its own terms by the end of 2014, no longer needing subsidies to continue performing. The report said “Grid parity has been reached in India even despite the high cost of capital of around 10-12 percent,” and also despite a slight rise in module prices of [3 to 5 cents per kilowatt] in recent months
There’s No Place Like Homeless
By Mickey Z.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, homelessness in NYC has, in recent years, “reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.” In January 2013, for example, there were an “all-time record 50,100 homeless people, including 12,000 homeless families with 21,000 homeless children, sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system. Families comprise more than three-quarters of the homeless shelter population.”
Mithi Virdi Public Hearing: NPCIL Asked To Do The Homework Well
By VT Padmanabhan, R Ramesh & V Pugazhendi
No to Mithi Virdi nuclear power park – Over 5,000 women and men from 24 villages walked out from an illegal act staged in the name of environemntal public hearing by the district administration of Bhavnagar, Gujarat seeking peoples approval for construction of the Gujarat Nuclear Power Park (GNPP) in villages of Mithi Virdi and Jaspara, on 5th March 2013
07 March,2013
Obama Administration Claims Right To Assassinate Citizens Within The US
By Joseph Kishore
According to the Obama administration, the president has the right to assassinate American citizens within the United States, without charges or any legal process. This claim, contained in a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder, constitutes the most far-reaching abrogation of constitutional rights and is aimed at establishing the pseudo-legal framework for military rule
International Women's Day, Past And Present
By Anuradha Ghandy
Squeezed between these two extremes, women, today, more than ever before, feel the need for assertion, for self-respect and equality with their male counterparts. 8 March has, therefore, an even greater significance today
Democracies Don’t Strip Their Women, India Does
By Samar
The article looks into the desperation that forced women of the Govindpur village of Jagatsingpur district in Odisha to go for a naked protest in front of the policemen against forced acquisition of their lands that too on the eve of the International Women's Day
Life Of An Unorganized Woman Labourer
By Soheb Lokhandwala
On this woman's day meet Gangu Bai, a representative of millions of unorganized women labourers of India
Climate Crisis Causes Australia’s Angry Summer And The Worst Is Yet To Come
By Countercurrents.org
Australia’s Angry Summer is related to climate crisis. The country’s independent Climate Commission in a report – “Angry Summer” – now unequivocally links Australia’s extreme weather and global warming, and says the worst is yet to come
3,000 Great Apes Lost Annually To Illegal Trade And Organised Crime
By Marianne de Nazareth
When you see one baby Orangutan on the International pet market,or in a picture wrapped around a celebrity, just remember it took ten or more apes to die, to get that one animal.Its mother was the first one to get shot and a number of the others in the family group. It is an utter shame that we as humans are allowing this to happen to apes which are closest to us in their DNA
Gang Green or New Green
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
This is not the time for compromise. It is not a time to be restricted by foundations or for partnerships with corporate polluters and the Democratic Party. The stakes are too high. The health of the planet is at serious risk from extreme corporate capitalism's voracious appetite. It is time to cut off the gang green and start new
Why The Invasion Of Iraq Was The Single Worst
Foreign Policy Decision In American History
By Peter Van Buren
And so, happy 10th anniversary, Iraq War! A decade after the invasion, a chaotic and unstable Middle East is the unfinished legacy of our invasion. I guess the joke is on us after all, though no one is laughing
Chavez's Triumph
By Andre Vltchek
Yesterday, the President of Venezuela and one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of mankind – Hugo Chavez – passed away, and the world is still moving by inertia. Buildings did not collapse, continents did not sink, and the wars and misery ravaging many parts of the world did not stop. Yet something changed. Three beautiful muses that have been inspiring so many millions all over the world, turned into widows, at least for one day or two. Their names are: Love, Faith and Hope
Chavez Cannot Be White-Washed
By Sukant Chandan
When he was alive they white-washed him, now he has passed, this will intensify
Viva Chavez
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
The death of Hugo Chavez is a great blow to movement against imperial world order unleashed by powerful and greedy corporates. As Venezuelan president, Chavez instilled sense of self respect and dignity in the masses of Latin America. After Fidel Castro, he was the most influential leader of Latin America who inspired people world over
Adios Chavez
By Sazzad Hussain
Chavez was a defining figure in Latin American politics for fifteen years—for which the whole world got inspirations for an alternative. Adios Chavez
Ignoring Genocide: Rohingya People Deserve To Live
By Ramzy Baroud
The perpetual suffering of the Rohingya people must end. They are deserving of rights and dignity. They are weary of crossing unforgiving seas and walking harsh terrains seeking mere survival. More voices must join those who are speaking out in support of their rights
Corporatism Or The True Face Of Terrorism
By Siv O'Neall
While the U.S. and Canada are fracking and filling the earth with thousands and thousands of deep-drilled wells, our environment is being ruined. Nothing will survive after the continent has been transformed into a Swiss cheese and the entrepreneurs have gotten their last drop of shale gas out of the earth, just to restart drilling new wells the next day. The Corpocrats have no idea of where they are going, where the world is going. They can only think of the next billion they are going to add to the other useless ones. What for? Not even they know
Is The US An Imperialist Nation?
By James A. Lucas
This article contains information which shows that the US, as an empire, exerts tremendous influence over many nations based on a number of factors
Democrats And Labor: A Tale Of Abuse
By Shamus Cooke
The Democratic Party’s participation in the recent national “sequester” cuts is yet another big dent in their love affair with organized labor. But break-ups are often a protracted process. Before a relationship ends there is usually a gradual deterioration based on irreconcilable differences, until the split becomes inevitable. The decades-long marriage of labor unions and the Democratic Party is nearing such a divorce. Labor unions are becoming frustrated as the Democrats flaunt their affair with corporate America and Wall Street
Iran's Problem Is Its Independence And Disobedience: Saul Landau
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari
Prominent American journalist, filmmaker and former university professor believes that Iran is targeted by the United States and its allies not because of its nuclear program but because of its independence and disobedience toward the big world powers
Spew Venom, Enjoy Life: Who Scripted Mr Varun Gandhi's Acquittal !
By Subhash Gatade
With more than eleven communal riots in a period of less than a year, under a government which has received fullsome support from the minorities, Akhilesh Yadav led government has exhibited its ineptness in handling communal elements. If justice is to be done in the hatespeech case it is incumbent that the state government challenge this decision by moving a fresh application in the high courts
Bangladesh: Resurgence Of Communalism
By Ram Puniyani
Communalists are adept at creating the tempest of hysteria in the name of their religions, and can do the intense breast beating that the secular democratic efforts are a threat to their ‘religion. The task to save or promote democracy in the subcontinent is a mammoth one. Can those elements yearning for a freedom and democracy in the sub continent come together on this agenda?
NO – Echoes Koodankulam
Book Review By Veena M.
The book ‘No echoes Koodankulam’ by Anitha S brings out the concept of life and living from the side of women who nurture children and from the children themselves who are the future’s hope. The full book which has 125 pages, is brought out with direct and indirect interviews done by Anitha, over the last two years 2011-12, and during her visits to Koodankulam, to stay with the women to share comfort and solidarity
Afzal Guru: Victim Of Farce Investigation?
By Abdul Majid Zargar
Consider the fact that the so-called comprehensive investigation of the attack on Parliament was completed in 17 days flat by the investigating Agency — the Special Cell of the Delhi Police team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajbir Singh. Since the quality & outcome of investigation depends much on the character of the investigator as also the tools & methods employed by him during the process of investigation, it is, therefore of importance to know who this Rajbir Singh Was?
06 March,2013
Chávez Won't Go
By Farooque Chowdhury
Chávez won't go. Class conflict ridden history shall not allow Chávez to go. He is part of history, part of people struggling against dispossession, exploitation and poverty, part of people struggling for democracy and dignity. “Those who die for life, can't be called dead,” said Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan vice-president. This makes Chávez live for ever among the people
The Revolution Within The Revolution Will Continue
By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers
If the United States and the oligarchs think the death of Chávez means the end of the Bolivarian Revolution he led, they are in for a disappointment. This revolution, which is not limited to Venezuela, is likely to show to itself and the world that it is deep and strong. The people-powered transformation with which Chávez was in solidarity will continue
Seeing Chavez Inside Ourselves
By Billy Wharton
Ultimately the life of Hugo Chavez challenges us to look at our own lives. To see in ourselves, as he saw in himself and other common people, the spark of humanity capable of changing the world. If Chavez initiated a new kind of socialism for the 21st century, he did so with the implicit understanding that it was not his movement to complete. He merely offered a glimpse into a future where the needs and desires of the people, regular people like us, are more important than those of the 1% who seek to rule the world. The world changing message offered by Hugo Chavez is that another future is possible and that future begins with us
On The Legacy Of Hugo Chávez
By Greg Grandin
Over the last fourteen years, Chávez has submitted himself and his agenda to fourteen national votes, winning thirteen of them by large margins, in polling deemed by Jimmy Carter to be “best in the world” out of the ninety-two elections that he has monitored
Dramatic Rise In CO2 And Possibility Of More Superstorms Like Sandy
By Countercurrents.org
The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012, making it very unlikely that global warming can be limited to another 2 degrees as many global leaders have hoped, new US federal figures show
Uncertain Future For African Elephants
By Marianne de Nazareth
We are in the 21st century and still, populations of elephants in Africa continue to be under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows, with double the numbers of elephants killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized, over the last decade. According to a new UN report entitled “Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis”, increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously areas where the populations were secure in West, Southern and Eastern Africa
The Strategy In Syria Has Failed
By Sean Fenley
The US and NATO need to call off their running dogs (Turkey too has been in this sordid mix as well); let clearer heads prevail, and not simply rush to expel a regime that is independent of them, but that they may not like fully 100%
Sanctions On Iran Are Illegal And Ineffective: Senator Mike Gravel
Interview By Kourosh Ziabari
"The sanctions are purely illegal. There’s no reason to sanction Iran. Iran has not gone to war with anybody; Iran is a peaceful nation. They are pursuing their own line of self-interest and for them, being sanctioned by the United States and the European countries is really preposterous and there’s no logic in the sanctions. I hope that eventually this will be corrected, but right now, I can’t believe how bad it is"
The Soul Of Community
By Carolyn Baker
It is a desire to be connected with something greater than the egos of other people and the projects in which we might engage with them. Fundamentally, a successful human community is the unfolding of a spiritual dynamic. It cannot be contrived or made to happen. Rather, it erupts from our desire for the depths, and that desire is certain to constellate the shadow in ourselves and the other
Stealing Back The Commons: Citizen Economics Beyond Capitalism
By Jules Peck
There is reason to be optimistic. Growth long since has failed to deliver increases in life satisfaction for those in the rich-world. We need not fear the end of growth and a new post-capitalist economics. It’s an exciting time to be alive – truly revolutionary changes are afoot
Is Using The Internet As Carbon Heavy As Flying?
By Sara Ayech
A book published last year, ‘Greening the Media’, reports that in 2007 emissions from electricity consumed by information technology were 2.5-3% of the total, and comparable with aviation
05 March,2013
Washington Steps Up Africa Intervention
By Bill Van Auken
The Obama administration is “markedly widening its role” in the escalating French-led neo-colonial war in Mali, according to a report published Monday in the Wall Street Journal. According to unnamed French officials cited in the report, US Reaper drones have been utilized to track down alleged Islamist fighters in the Ifoghas mountain region of northern Mali, supplying targeting information for some 60 French airstrikes in just the past week
Melting Arctic To Increase Geopolitical Tension
By Countercurrents.org
The loss of sea ice in the Arctic will allow ships to navigate freely across the North Pole by the middle of the century and could lead to unprecedented geopolitical tensions between countries that have territorial claims in the region
Humanitarian Crisis Looms Across Somalia
By Somali Media For Environment Science Health And Agriculture
The Somali Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (SOMESHA) concerns the current Food security crisis exist across Somalia though the humanitarian situation remains fragile and gains could reverse without continued humanitarian assistance
68 Years Ago: Greatest Generation Firebombs Tokyo (What We’re Up Against)
By Mickey Z
On the night of March 9-10, 1945, General Curtis LeMay, head of the Twenty-first U.S. Bomber Command, brought an all-American brand of hell into the Pacific theater as his bombardiers laid siege on Tokyo. One Japanese doctor recalled “countless bodies” floating in the Sumida River. These bodies were “as black as charcoal” and beyond identification. The total dead for one night was an estimated 85,000, with 40,000 injured and one million left homeless
Cowboy Capitalism: The Curious Case of Reliance KG Basin Gas Business
By Rahul Varman
Perhaps the most appropriate interpretation of this Reliance story is that it is all about profits with markets and regulations being only a smokescreen in the sense that, whenever market distortions are pointed out the ideologues claim a failure of regulations (and therefore that of the government) and when a regulating body tries to do its job scrupulously (like the CAG in this case), the market zealots cry foul and claim that this will distort the market! Welcome to the cowboy country of Reliance: nature, people and public institutions be damned!
Rethinking South Africa
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
Witnessing the miseries of slums like Diepsloot (lit. Deep Ditch) and Soweto (South West Township), I realize that apartheid is not ended here but mainly changed shape and this provides us with lots of lessons for Palestinian struggle against Israeli apartheid
How The War On Terror In England Became A War On Women And Children
By Victoria Brittain
When the Global War on Terror was still relatively new, it was common for audiences to react similarly and with shock to a play in which fathers and brothers describe their bewilderment over the way their relation had disappeared into the legal black hole of Guantanamo Bay. In the years since, we have become numb to the destruction of lives, livelihoods, futures, childhoods, legal systems, and trust by Washington’s and London’s never-ending war on terror
The Sanctions On Iran Are Against International Law: Thierry Meyssan
Interview By Kourosh Ziabari
Sanctions are an act of war, and this is an aggression. They have also prohibited trade for medicine and it’s obvious that this is an attack on human rights and there’s no question about that. It’s very shocking to note that in the Western countries, the people don’t react to such aggressions
The Choice In Portland: Austerity Versus A People's Budget
By Mark Vorpahl
It's no secret that most cities, counties, states and school districts in the U.S. are facing big deficits. What is less understood is the extent to which austerity cuts have become politicians' bi-partisan response to the situation. The dramatic measures being implemented in Portland, Oregon are no exception
Letter From Endosulfan Victims
By Sisters from Kasargod
Hope this letter finds you all well. We, from Kasargod do not claim to feel so well. How can we when some of us are holding our physically and mentally challenged children in our hands? How can we when we know that many more are going to be born so? Also when many of us have unknown and frightening ailments haunting our bodies day in and day out?
The Way Pedestrians Are Treated In England And In India
By Vidyadhar Date
Mr Terence Bindixson, 78, is perhaps the most senior among campaigners of pedestrian rights in England. It is because of dedicated people like him that England is more walker friendly than several other countries
The Theatre Of Hindutva
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
The BJP’s national executive meeting obtained nothing but carefully projected Narendra Modi as the leader of the party for next general election. In a way, it was a replica of Congress’s chintan shivir in Jaipur which did no chintan except projecting Rahul Gandhi as the future of the Congress Party. Fortunately India is huge and diverse and hence cannot be dictated through planted shows through TV
04 March,2013
Climate Change As History's Deal-Breaker
By Tom Engelhardt
Something somewhat analogous might be said of climate change. Perhaps it’s time to put your wager on the reality of climate change, on its paramount importance to us and our children and our children’s children, and to bet as well that your efforts (and those of others) will in the end make enough of a difference. Then, if you win, humanity wins everything; if you lose, well, there will be hell to pay
An Orwellian Climate (PDF)
By Dr Andrew Glikson
In an Orwellian world the science itself would be deemed to constitute a ‘thoughtcrime’. Currently much of the world is either denying, or not acting on, the ultimate warning science has ever issued to humanity, namely, that any major interference with the atmosphere-ocean-land carbon cycle threatens to erode the very life support system of the planet
Global Warming Over The Last 16 Years (PDF)
By Dr Andrew Glikson
Continuation of global warming trends would eventually lead to collapse of the North Atlantic Thermohaline Current, related to advance melting of the Greenland ice and major sea level rise, analogous to events in the history of Earth ~12.9-11.7 and 8.2 thousand years ago
We Must Not Fail Wikileaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning
By Kevin Zeese
This will be a long term effort, and as we pursue that work, we should never forget the young man who put his life and liberty on the line to give the world a glimpse of US foreign policy, a person who was failed by a country that talks about its concern for the young but does not do enough for them. Now, it is our job to pick up the materials Bradley has provided and work to create the better world we urgently need and he sought in his own patriotic way
Israel/Palestine: Why "Peace" is NOT The Solution
By John Spritzler
The "peace" advocated by Dennis Ross and virtually all of the world's governmental and corporate leaders (the so called "world community") is a peace based on Palestinian refugees accepting, as a fait accompli, their ethnic cleansing, meaning the denial to them of their right to return to the land from which they were violently driven
West Bank Rises In Protest
By Countercurrents.org
A hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner whose detention without charge in Israel has sparked violent protests across the West Bank has called on the British government to force Israel to abandon its practice of administrative detention
Against The Institution Of War
By John Scales Avery
Today we look with horror at drawings of slave ships, where human beings were packed together like cord-wood; and we are amazed that such cruelty could have been possible. Can we not hope for a time when our descendants, reading descriptions of the wars of the twentieth century, will be equally amazed that such cruelty could have been possible? If we use them constructively, the vast resources now wasted on war can initiate a new era of happiness and prosperity for the family of man. It is within our power to let this happen. The example of the men and women who worked to rid the world of slavery can give us courage as we strive for a time when war will exist only as a dark memory fading into the past
‘We Are Those Two Afghan Children’
By Hakim & The Afghan Peace Volunteers
Two young Afghan boys herding cattle in Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan were mistakenly killed by NATO forces yesterday. They were seven and eight years old
America's Death Penalty Is Barbaric
By Mary Hamer
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Barbaric nature of America's Death Penalty. I will give examples of several Death Row prisoner's Executions to illustrate the Savage & Sadistic nature of Capital Punishment
Organized Labor And U.S. Foreign Policy: The Solidarity Center In Historical Context (PDF)
By George Nelson Bass III
Dr. Nelson Bass examines the work of the Solidarity Center (SC) since it’s origins in 1997. He knows of, and quickly reviews, the AFL-CIO foreign policy program before the development of the SC. His research question is whether the SC program is a qualitative change from the earlier work or if it is a continuation of the earlier foreign policy program
Dozens Shot In Bangladesh Protests Against Death Sentence For Islamic Leader
By Wimal Perera & K. Ratnayake
As of yesterday, at least 62 persons were dead after a crackdown by security forces on protests led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) party against the death sentence issued by Bangladesh’s International Crime Tribunal (ICT) against JeI Vice-Pesident Delwar Hossain Sayedee. Several people also died in attacks by JeI activists
Kerala: Misogynistic Punctuation Of Our Collective Conscience
By C. V. Sukumaran
It seems that the general conscience of the highly literate Keralite society is punctuated with the traditional misogynistic notions. Three recent incidents show the terrible rot within
When Washing Car Is A Crime
By Noor ul Haq
A satirical take on Jammu & Kashmir Police Bill 2013
03 March,2013
US May Face Inevitable Nuclear Power Exit
By Countercurrents.org
The Obama administration injected significant funding into two new nuclear reactor projects in Georgia in 2012. But this investment -- the first of its kind in three decades -- belies an overall dismal US nuclear power landscape. Where Japan and many European countries responded to the Fukushima disaster with public debate and significant policy shifts in the nuclear arena, the US has scarcely broached the subject. According to former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner Peter Bradford, current market forces challenge the economic viability of existing nuclear power plants, with new reactors representing an extremely unattractive investment prospect
AFL-CIO’s Own Oil Disaster
By Ann Robertson & Bill Leumer
With less than transparency, the AFL-CIO just issued a statement endorsing “expanding the nation’s pipeline system.” Although it did not explicitly endorse the Keystone XL pipeline, the labor federation nevertheless managed to extend its blessing to the project while hiding behind vague generalities
Voline’s 1917
Book Review By David James
Libertarians may find nothing new in 1917, just a familiar critique brilliantly made, but for those on the other side, or those as yet undecided, this book is a must-read. The chapter entitled “Why the revolution failed”, whether or not one agrees with Voline’s conclusions, presents the issues clearly, issues we should all come together and discuss pragmatically and in comradely fashion. There are valuable lessons to be learned, ones that might avert a repetition of the errors of the past. We need to do this because the Left is in a pitiable state, and we need a way forward
The Ex-Pope And The Holiness Myth
By Mary Shaw
So now Pope Benedict XVI has retired, and the cardinals will be choosing a new leader. Meanwhile, sentimental Catholics and others have been praising the now-former pontiff. They call him a holy man. However, in looking back through his record, I see much that is downright unholy
Bangladesh: Letting Shadows Fall Behind
By Maryam Sakeenah
Maryam Sakeenah argues that it is not vengeance but clemency that Bangladesh needs. Violence begets violence and sets off a vicious cycle. That vicious cycle needs to be broken
State Terror On POSCO Resisters
By Concerned Citizens
State is Sponsoring and Promoting Violence not the PPSS Punish the Criminals Halt Land Acquisition
Dilsukh Nagar, Hyderabad Blast: Rein In The Police
By Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee
Open letter to Prime Minster of India- Don’t be silent spectator on Atrocities, you must act and intervene immediately to stop Abduction, Harassment and Illegal Detention of Muslim Youth. Hand over the investigation to NIA immediately
An Anti-ConstitutionalAnd Totalitarian Order By The “Big Brother”
By Advocate S. Sathiachandran & Dr. Iniyan Elango
The Chennai police commissioner passed an order on 03.03.2012 under section 144 of Criminal Procedural Code ordering the landlords and house owners under the jurisdiction of the Greater Chennai City to furnish full particulars of their tenants to the SHO (Station House Officer) of their jurisdiction and continue to furnish such particulars in future as well This essay critically analyses this totalitarian and ultra-authoritarian police order that infringes on civil liberties, constitutional rights, personal freedom and the right to privacy
02 March,2013
Three POSCO Resisters Killed In Bomb Attack
By Countercurrents.org
Three villagers who are on a historical struggle against land acquistion for a POSCO steel plant in Patna village, Dhinkia , Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa state, India, died after a group of people threw bomb at the villagers. Manas Jena (32) died on the spot. Two injured persons, Nabanu Mandal (35) Narahari Sahoo (52) died after waiting for half an hour for an ambulance to take them to hospital. Another villager, Laxman Paramanik is critically injured and is admitted to a hospital. The attack took place around 6.30 PM today evening
"I Leaked Documents To Show True Costs Of War"
By Bradley Manning
Pfc. Bradley E. Manning's Statement for the Providence Inquiry. This statement was read by Bradley Manning at a providence inquiry for his formal plea of guilty to one specification as charged and nine specifications for lesser included offenses. He pled not guilty to 12 other specifications. This rush transcript was taken by journalist Alexa O'Brien at the Article 39(a) session of United States v. Pfc. Bradley Manning on February 28, 2013 at Fort Meade, MD, USA
Some Tough News On Keystone XL
By Bill McKibben
On a Friday afternoon, with Secretary of State John Kerry half a world away and D.C. focused on the budget fight, the State Department released a new environmental impact statement for the pipeline. Like the last such report, it found that approving a 800,000 barrel-a-day fuse to one of the planet’s biggest carbon bombs was “unlikely to have a substantial impact” on the tar sands or the climate
The Third Intifada?
By Uri Avnery
Is this the third intifada? This question was raised this week by a number of Israeli security experts. And not only by them – their Palestinian colleagues were almost as perplexed. All over the West Bank, Palestinian youth threw stones at Israeli soldiers. All the 3500 Palestinians in Israeli prisons took part in a three-day hunger strike
The Oft-Predicted Fickle Syrian ‘Tipping Point’ Has Tipped
By Franklin Lamb
But not the tipping point that the rebel promoters were hoping for, including the NATO countries. But rather the momentum here has tipped in favor of the current regime due to its capacity to maintain a slowly rising level of popular support, and good relations with key foreign supporters during the current run up to next year’s Presidential election. Then, it will be up to the Syrian voters to decide who stays, goes, and/or joins in their next government
Obama Wades Deeper Into Syria's Morass
By Shamus Cooke
Obama's recent strides in Syria end with a logical conclusion: U.S. direct military intervention. The stage is still being set, waiting until optimal conditions are met for a Libyan style U.S./NATO mass-bombing mission to finish off the Syrian government. In the eyes of Obama the resulting disaster will be worth the mess, since a non-compliant regime to the U.S. will have been toppled, thus clearing the path for the long term plan of crushing Iran
Federal IDs For All U.S. Workers: A Trial Balloon?
By Thomas Riggins
According to an article in last Thursday's Wall Street Journal (2-21-13) the Senate is considering a bipartisan plan to require all working people in the United States, citizen as well as non-citizen workers, to carry a biometric ID card with their finger prints or other markers in order for them to "prove" they have a right to work in this country
The End Of The Shale Bubble?
By John Michael Greer
I don’t think anybody knows exactly how big the shale bubble has become, but it’s been one of Wall Street’s few really large profit centers over the last three years. It’s quite possible that the bubble is large enough to cause a major financial panic when it bursts, and send the United States and the world down into yet another sharp economic downturn
The Ugly Reality Of Gujarat
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
The Dalit priest theory of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is an aim to deflect the attention from the real issues of the Balmiki community which is isolated and face severe untouchability. Modi has rarely spoken against caste discrimination and the historical injustice done to Dalits hence it is nothing but plain hypocrisy to grab positive headlines
Past And Present Of Violence In Mumbai
Book Review By Mahtab Alam
"Riots and after in Mumbai: Chronicles of Truth and Reconciliation" By Meena Menon
Americaroopam: Kamal Haasan’s Flawed Scripting
By Ram Puniyani
Films like Vishwaroopam have their own right to be screened without any cuts but are disgusting for the poverty of their research and regressive values, which in turn strengthens the Islamophobia, being perpetuated all round, and is serving the Western powers to dominate the oil zone primarily and also other areas. It strongly helps the communal thinking also
01 March,2013
I Leaked Documents To Show "True Costs Of War": Bradley Manning
By Naomi Spencer
In a statement in military court Thursday, Army Private Bradley Manning pleaded not guilty to “aiding the enemy,” the most serious of 22 charges against him for his part in allegedly leaking classified documents to whistleblower organization WikiLeaks. Through his lawyer, David Coombs, Manning offered guilty pleas to 10 of the charges related to disclosing evidence of war crimes
Bradley Manning: The Face Of Heroism
By Glenn Greenwald
Heroism is a slippery and ambiguous concept. But whatever it means, it is embodied by Bradley Manning and the acts which he unflinchingly acknowledged today he chose to undertake
The Uncommon Courage Of Bradley Manning
By Marjorie Cohn
Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 charges including possessing and willfully communicating to an unauthorized person all the main elements of the WikiLeaks disclosure. The charges carry a total of 20 years in prison. For the first time, Bradley spoke publicly about what he did and why. His actions, now confirmed by his own words, reveal Bradley to be a very brave young man
Loss Of Wild Insects Hurts Crop Yield
By Countercurrents.org
Researchers studying data from 600 fields in 20 countries have found that managed honey bees are not as successful at pollinating crops as wild insects, primarily wild bees, suggesting the continuing loss of wild insects in many agricultural landscapes has negative consequences for crop harvests
Environmental Awareness Drops To Lowest, Finds A Global Study
By Countercurrents.org
Level of public concern about environmental issues including climate crisis were lowest since 1992 in 12 countries. It has dropped dramatically since the financial crisis, a global study finds
The Sanctity Of Food: Conscious Eating As A Spiritual Practice
By Carolyn Baker
While eating is a political and an economic act, it is also a sacrament. How we eat matters not only to ourselves but to everyone else, or in the words of Peter Bolland, “The way we eat is the way we live. How we eat is who we are. Let us affirm that which is best in us and in each other through the sacrament of food.”
Argo Apostasy… History As Myth (Again!)… And, The Need To Occupy The Media!
By Gary Corseri
Let the Occupy Movement emerge from its long winter hibernation and focus its admirable energy on our spurious media—this “entertainment industry” that has cast a vail over common sense and decency for the sake of promoting Zionists, billionaires and corporatists (and let's throw in the decadent, pederast Catholic Church Establishment, too!). That is the real story that needs to be told!
Displacement, Intimidation And Abuse Land Loyalties In Ethiopia
By Graham Peebles
With the coming of industrial-size farms in Ethiopia, local people, villagers and pastoralists (deemed irrelevant to the Government’s, economically-driven development plans) are being threatened, and intimidated by the military; forcibly displaced and herded into camps, their homes destroyed
Theocracy via ‘Democracy’
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Consolidation of ‘majority’ community after careful vilification of minorities at different places have resulted in massive mandates both at the Centre in 1985 as well as in Gujarat post 2002. Such trends are dangerous but continuously being used by political parties for their own purposes. India cannot afford to repeat them as it would only be at the cost of peace and stability of the country
On Modi's Social Engineering
By Subhash Gatade
Whether Shit Collection or cleaning of gutters - which has condemned lakhs of people to a life of indignity since ages - could be considered a 'Spiritual Experience.' Definitely not. Everybody would yell. Well, Mr Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, has a different take on this, which he mentions in the book 'Karmayog'
India Is Not For Sale : Foreign Investments Can't Be The Bedrock Of Indian Economy
By Medha Patkar
In his budget speech, lasting for 2 hours, Mr. Chidambaram, the finance minister, with undoubted eloquence talked much about the poverty to equity, churned out thoughts and principles of taxing the rich, empowering women and youth, enabling the children, including the poor. However, if one looks at his principles and promises on one hand and the plans, projects and allocations on the other, one finds a very limited redressal of grievances and no fulfillment of dreams of the toiling sections of India
Film Writers Can Defy Big Money
By Vidyadhar Date
Writers are not there just to make money. They want to express ideas. They should not be dictated to by big business. This was the contention of several participants in a three-day conference of film and television screen writes and writer directors from different parts of India organised by the Film Writers Association in Mumbai from February 25
Comments are moderated
