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29 September, 2013

IPCC Report Gives No Reason For Complacency
By Stefan Rahmstorf

The new IPCC report gives no reason for complacency – even if politically motivated “climate skeptics” have tried to give this impression ahead of its release with frantic PR activities. Many wrong things have been written which now collapse in the light of the actual report

Climate Change Report “Gives No Reason For Optimism”
By Fabiola Ortiz

Amidst rumours that global warming has slowed over the past 15 years, the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that each of the last three decades has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850. The warming of the climate is “unequivocal,” says the IPCC. “The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.”

Has The IPCC Legitimised Geoengineering?
By Countercurrents.org

The big surprise comes in the final paragraph of IPCC report, with a mention of geoengineering. In the scientific world, a final paragraph is often the place to put caveats and suggestions for further research. In the political world, a final paragraph is a coda, a big finish, the place for a triumphant, standing-ovation-inducing summary. The IPCC tries to straddle both worlds. The addition of the word "geoengineering" to the most important report on climate change for six years counts as a big surprise

Global Climate Injustice: Massive European Carbon Debt Versus South Asian Carbon Credit
By Dr Gideon Polya

Neoliberals dishonestly claim trickle down benefits for the masses from maximizing freedom for the smart and advantaged to exploit natural resources. The neoliberals ignore the worsening problem of Carbon Debt due to pollution of the world's one common atmosphere with CO2 that can now be estimated at a value of $127 trillion or roughly 2 years of global GDP. Massive European Climate Debt contrasts with the huge Carbon Credit of the major South Asian countries

Climate Change Action Could Save 500,000 Lives Annually, Say Scientists
By Countercurrents.org

More than 500,000 lives could be saved globally each year by 2030 if the world took action to curb climate change, adding up to massive health benefits that far exceed the costs of forcing a reduction in fossil fuel emissions, says a new study. At the same time, observations by farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America confirm reports of rising temperatures and extreme weather

Africa’s Challenge In The 21st Century – Food Security
By Christoph Seiler

Africa as a whole is going to face two major problems in the 21st century: The first problem is how to feed the growing population of the continent, the second is how to adapt to climate change

Syria: UNSC Resolution 2118; What Just Happened?
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

UNSC Resolution 2118 sent a loud and clear message. Terrorist can get away with mass killing – even if they use chemical weapons. The provision to safeguard against future use of chemical weapons is not without its irony: “Underscores that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons;”. Given that that in face of solid indication to the contrary, the Assad government was held responsible for the chemical attacks which resulted in the passing of UNSC 2118 – exonerating the culprits. A new and dangerous precedent has been set amidst the sight of relief

Passing The Torch To A New Generation Of Syrians
By Franklin Lamb

The new generation of officials entrusted with Syria’s salvation and reconstruction appear to be in place and are anxious to be allowed into the war zones. The politician’s duties are to open their paths without further delays

Another Face Of Communal Forces On Development And Religion
By K.P. Sasi

For all we know, we will have to wait and see if Narendra Modi is elected as a Prime Minister of this `secular, sovereign republic’, how many temples will be destroyed as per his advocated model of development under globalization! The question before those who believe in Hinduism is, whether Narendra Modi and the Sangh Parivar represent the `temples of modern India’ (like large dams as per the definition of Jawaharlal Nehru) or the temples of ancient India. It is time now for the Hindus in this country to wake up and decide!

Hyderabad’s Fall And Sunderlal Report
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

There are so many facts that the successive Indian government has hidden from its citizens and one such is the publication of the Sunderlal report that probed the Hyderabad communal flare up, soon after the military action against India’s largest Muslim Princely state in 1948. The report that has been kept in wraps, chronicles the horrendous crime committed against humanity in the aftermath of the amalgamation of the Princely state with the Indian dominion. More than 40,000 people perished in that act of retribution and revenge

Iran Seeks Engagement With The United States
By Akbar E. Torbat

The clerics' repression of the Iranian people civil rights and liberties along with economic difficulties created by the sanctions have weakened the regime. As it appears, in order to prevent losing power under the economic pressures by the West, the clerics in Tehran plan to yield to the US demands

Pussy Riot Revisited (A Tale Of Eastern Farce And Western Hypocrisy)
By Milan Djurasovic

When observed on its own, the punishment of the Pussy Riot girls is undoubtedly harsh and the criticism that it has attracted is often appropriate. However, when it is compared to other similar cases that took and continue to take place in the countries that unabashedly express their indignation and point the index fingers the most, one must ask: why did the Russian incident deserved such disproportionate media coverage?

Right To Reject :Indian Judiciary Guides To executive
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

There is no doubt that Right to Reject may be an eye opener to all major stakeholders to the Indian democracy. All must keep in mind the words of Chief Justice Sathasivam that democracy is all about choices and voters will be empowered by this right of negative voting. Negative voting will send a clear signal to political parties and candidates as to what the voters think about them

Let Rahul Gandhi , Rather Than Moily, Take To Public Transport
By Vidyadhar Date

Petroleum minister Veerappa Moily has done well to declare that from October 9 he will travel by public transport every Wednesday as a step towards conserving fuel. He has also asked bureaucrats of his ministry and public sector oil undertakings to do so. But the initiative in this regard should have ideally come from Rahul Gandhi because the issue is mainly political and he should realize that the government, led by his party, has an extremely poor record on this score

No Terrorism In Islam
By Maulana Wahiuddin Khan

Terrorism has no place whatsoever in Islam. It is not acceptable or justifiable under any circumstances

27 September, 2013

Human Influence On Climate Clear, IPCC Report Says
By Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change

Human influence on the climate system is clear. This is evident in most regions of the globe, a new assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes. It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. The evidence for this has grown, thanks to more and better observations, an improved understanding of the climate system response and improved climate models

Our Planet Is Like 'Overweight Smoker With A Heart Condition': An IPCC Report Q&A
By Jeff Masters

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased."

Destabilization Of Arctic Sea Ice Would Be Game Over For Climate
By Subhankar Banerjee

Many more people—from all across the political spectrum need to join this fight. The disintegration of the Arctic will lead to a devastated earth

Shifting Wind And Rain, Drier Middle East And Wetter Monsoon Asia
By Countercurrents.org

As humans continue to heat the planet, a northward shift of Earth's wind and rain belts could make a broad swath of regions drier, including the Middle East, American West and Amazonia while making Monsoon Asia and equatorial Africa wetter, says a new study

Rethink Misguided Policy Of Promoting Biofuels, Says Scientist
By Countercurrents.org

Policymakers need to rethink the idea of promoting biofuels to protect the climate because the methods used to justify such policies are inherently flawed, according to a University of Michigan energy researcher

‘Staged And Scripted': Mother Agnes Finalizes Chronology Of Damascus Chemical Attack
By Russia Today

An interview with Mother Agnes who in a report has alleged that many videos featuring supposed victims of the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian village of Guta in August were in fact staged and scripted

The United States Of Genocide
By Kieran Kelly

Putting the US on trial for genocide against the peoples of Korea, Laos, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Iraq and elsewhere

Governments Condemn War Crimes When It Serves
Their Political Interests: Charles Eisenstein
By Kourosh Ziabari

A good model for how that might be done can be found in the South African Peace and Reconciliation Committees; also in Rwanda, Liberia, and other places. Negotiated political settlements are a good first step, and quite possible once the United States and other powers stop using Syria as a geopolitical pawn. But we want more than a tense peace with hatred seething underneath

Human/Non-Human Holocausts: Hiding In Plain Sight
By Mickey Z.

The global animal by-products industry not only confines, tortures, and murders 53 billion land animals each year, it also consumes and destroys one-third of the planet’s landbase and is the number one source of human-created greenhouse gases

Replace Third Party Delusions With A Political Boycott
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

This failure of Congress, like so many other circumstances, decisions and events, only further proves just how awful American democracy has become. And it shows just how much we need millions of Americans to fight for what is necessary, rather than think that third party candidates are the answer. Interestingly, third party presidential candidates have not made the Article V convention option a major campaign issue, just as Republicans and Democrats have ignored this constitutional option

Freedom For Trees
By Anitha.S

These are our thoughts after having been part of the FREE THE TREE campaign of Tree Walk which was a successful attempt to save full grown trees in a healthy state in the city. As we parted we read the lines from William Blake quoted in the hand out being distributed “ The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others a green thing that stands in the way” . We feel that there has to be more and more tear filled eyes looking at trees because only such human minds will see the tears in others too

Peshawar Attack On Christians Is Brazenly Un-Islamic
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi

In the light of this evidence from the Quran and the sayings attributed to the Prophet, there can be no doubt at all that the dastardly attack on the church in Pakistan, and other such incidents by self-styled Islamists, is wholly and brazenly anti-Islamic. Wrongly seeking to justify their crimes in the name of Islam only makes their sins even more heinous in God’s eyes

360 Degree Performance Appraisal In Schools: A Means Of Quality Education
By Swaleha.A.Sindhi

For 360 degrees to work, the organization climate should be supportive. In a wrong environment if 360 degree is implemented without providing training to the raters to enable them handle the process effectively, it can have a deleterious effect on the well-being of the organization

26 September, 2013

Homemade Sarin Was Used In Attack Near Damascus: Russia
By Russia Today

Russia has enough evidence to assert that homemade sarin was used on August 21 in a chemical attack near Damascus, the same type but in higher concentration than in an Aleppo incident earlier this year, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said

Still Time Available To Avoid Dangerous Global Warming, Alerts IPCC Co-Chair
By Countercurrents.org

There is a chance that the world can keep below dangerous levels of global warming, said Thomas Stocker, co-chair of the UN's climate science panel on Monday. Opening a weeklong conference in Stockholm , where an IPCC report will be scrutinized by governments and policymakers, Stocker said that the world still had a choice in whether to avoid climate-related catastrophe

Two Billion People Threatened By Worsening Water Scarcity Due To Climate Crisis
By Countercurrents.org 

Less rain and more evaporation in many parts of the world due to climate crisis could worsen water scarcity situation, finds a new study led by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact and Research. The study findings have been published in the journal Environmental Research Letters

China's Future GHG Giants
By Countercurrents.org

Coal-powered synthetic natural gas plants being planned in China would produce seven times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas plants, and use up to 100 times the water as shale gas production, finds a study by Duke University researchers

Coal India’s Allegations On “Sinister Design” To Speed Up Coal Import Bizarre, Says Greenpeace
By Greenpeace India

The response of Coal India's Chairman, S. Narsing Rao to the Greenpeace report on the reduction of the company's reserves is a clear admission that the findings in the Greenpeace report, Coal India running on Empty? are correct

New York Times Fiction: On Obama’s Letter To Rouhani
By Ramzy Baroud

It really matters little whether Obama is a true pen pal or not, the same way that his oratory skills have long been disregarded as extraneous. The issue here has much to do with the political landscape in the Middle East, the failed attempt at war in Syria and Iran’s own alliances, starting with Russia. Obama’s alleged morally-driven expectations from Iran’s leaders and his supposed need for a trustworthy Iranian pen pal is all but mere fiction promoted by the New York Times. This strange logic begins and ends there

Occupy Everything. Did We Ever Give It Back?
By David Swanson

When the Occupy Movement lost its presence on television and therefore in real spaces that are never quite as real as television, it too left a lasting impact. But it was a positive lasting impact, difficult as yet to measure fully, but observable in many areas

De Blasio And The Sandinistas
By Thomas Riggins

According to a recent article in the New York Times two of candidates running for mayor of New York have become alarmed about the worldview of Bill de Blasio the front running candidate of the Democratic Party. They are alarmed because some thirty or so years ago de Blasio supported the Sandinista party in Nicaragua which had overthrow one of the most vile dictatorships in Central America-- the Somoza regime and had carried out land reform and brought a modicum of democracy and freedom to the vast majority of the poor people of this impoverished country

WikiLeaks' Sarah Harrison; The Unsung Hero Of The NSA Revelations
By Nozomi Hayase

When Sarah Harrison decided to accompany Edward Snowden, she aligned herself with his courageous act. She stepped up to unite her fate with this historic deed of conscience. She had a choice, and she chose to risk her own security. Such an act was also heroic. Harrison's brave deed is an example of the significant, yet often missed links that help shape history

There Are No Hot Chicks In Mostar
By Milan Djurasovic

Tourism, sex and exploitation. A real life story

Intervention In Syria: The Inauspicious State Of Perennial War
By Sean Fenley

War may make “good business” for some, but the collateral damage that ensues with each and every strike should ineluctably haunt these warmongers — assuming they are like most else and have consciences (which is unequivocally up for grabs/debate/deliberation!) — each and every hour, and for the rest of their days. Even Nobel Peace Prize winning/festooned warmongers, I dare say, shall not be free from such hauntings!

Thanking Dear Pres. Evo Morales, But Please! PROSECUTABLE "US Crimes Against Humanity
By Jay Janson

Mankind is indeed indebted to the President Evo Morales of Bolivia and President José Mujica of Uruguay for their wonderful addresses to the 68th UN General Assembly. President Morales listed in some detail Crimes Against Humanity and Peace by the USA. However without the menacing adjective 'Prosecutable' before the various "US Crimes cited, this statement of obvious was more a complaint than the warning it could have been

Peshawar And Nairobi Attacks Completely Anti-Islamic
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

It is a well-known fact that non-Muslims in every country have formed an opinion of Islam being a religion of violence. This kind of negative image regarding Islam is absolutely wrong. The real blame, however, goes to Muslim leaders and not to non-Muslims. Attacks such as the ones Peshawar and Nairobi have recently witnessed are bound to show Islam in an even more negative light. The image of Islam is already under fire, and such acts will only worsen its image in the eyes of the world

Hanging In The Mist: Mercury Contamination Kodaikanal
By Colin Todhunter

On the surface, as you take in the sights, breathe in the mountain air and smell the plant fragrances, Kodai may seem like is a pristine paradise. But here, high in the mountains of Tamil Nadu, there lurks a story that is all too common across the world: the shifting of production involving hazardous materials and methods from Western countries to cheap labour economies, resulting in the exploitation of foreign labour, in both financial and health terms, environmental destruction and flagrant criminality, which is never properly held to account

Failure Of National Integration Council: Fault Dear Brutus Lies In Ourselves
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

The government and opposition need to understand that people are the main clients for whom the whole system exists. Hence they need to put things in right manner. The rhetoric in meets like NIC will be of no avail unless the right approach is adopted. The absentees in NIC do not realize that India has a composite culture which needs to be nurtured at every step. The meet has failed to understand that integration of the nation is possible not only by the people but main role is to be played by the political leaders. They need to develop a consensus on every troubled issue which affects the India social milieu

A Message To Readers, Writers And Commenters Of Countercurrents.org
By Francis Allenby

I notice that people are little or nothing involved in things written about the social and political sphere: I noticed it by the lack of comments and by the quality of the few comments that I read. And I also wonder: how much people understand of what is written?

25 September, 2013

Obama At The UN: A Defense Of Unilateral Aggression
By Bill Van Auken

US President Barack Obama delivered his fifth address to an opening session of the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, mixing sanctimonious rhetoric about democracy and humanitarianism with naked threats of US military aggression

Top 45 Lies In Obama's Speech At The U.N.
By David Swanson

President Obama's opening lines at the U.N. on Tuesday looked down on people who would think to settle disputes with war. Obama was disingenuously avoiding the fact that earlier this month he sought to drop missiles into a country to "send a message" but was blocked by the U.S. Congress, the U.N., the nations of the world, and popular opposition -- after which Obama arrived at diplomacy as a last resort

Hypocricy Of Obama And Begging By Abbas
By Mazin Qumsiyeh

President Barak Obama said in the middle of his 40 minutes of lies and hypocrisy at the UNGA as world leaders looked on in dismay: “With respect to Syria, we believe that as a starting point, the international community must enforce the ban on chemical weapons.” (The US and Israel both possess and have used chemical weapons) and added “Although we will at times be accused of hypocrisy and inconsistency [!], we will be engaged in the region for the long haul” [to serve Israel]. Incredibly he also said he believed in American "exceptionalism"

Rouhani Surfs The New WAVE
By Pepe Escobar

"I propose as a starting step... I invite all states... to undertake a new effort to guide the world in this direction ... we should start thinking about a coalition for peace all across the globe instead of the ineffective coalitions for war." So the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, has just invited the whole planet to join the WAVE. How come no "coalition of the willing" leader ever thought about that?

Let Us All Join This "WAVE"
By President Hassan Rohani

The full text of Iranian President Hassan Rohani's address to the UN General Assembly. "In the name of the Islamic Republic oflran I propose, as a starting step, the consideration by the United Nations of the project: "the World Against Violence and Extremism." (WAVE) Let us all join this "WAVE." I invite all states, international organizations and civil institutions to undertake a new effort to guide the world in this direction. We should start thinking about "Coalition for Enduing Peace" all across the globe instead of the ineffective "Coalitions for War" in various parts of the world"

The Future Is Local, The Future Is Organic
By Colin Todhunter

The future is local. The future is organic. Well, at least it could be if we base our food production on an increasing body of evidence that indicates the harmful effects of petrochemical, corporate-controlled agriculture

The Crisis Of Civilization Is An Unprecedented Opportunity: Nafeez Ahmed
By Rob Hopkins

One of the most illuminating voices in the British media at the moment is Nafeez Ahmed, who has been regularly writing about peak oil, climate change, geopolitics and how they all overlap in the Guardian. Rob Hopkins spoke to Nafeez to hear his thoughts on the current state of debates around peak oil and the future of fossil fuels, what we might do about it, and the role Transition might play

SNAKE OIL: Chapter 1 - This Is What Peak Oil Looks Like
By Richard Heinberg

This article is an excerpt from Richard Heinberg's new book SNAKE OIL: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future

The Great Indian Nuclear Liability Scandal: It's More Than What Meets The Eye
By Anuj Wankhede

Why this urgency by the Congress party to amend existing Nuclear Liability Laws to suit the Americans? Analyzing behind the scene REAL reasons for the controversy in India

Uranium Diet: US Nuclear Power Industry Could Face Fuel Shortage
By Ivan Fursov

Russia has been supplying US nuclear power plants with fuel for a dumping price since 1995. But with the HEU-LEU agreement coming to an end, America’s nuclear power generation industry is likely to face a sharp fuel price surge and shortage

South Asia Among World's Most Climate Vulnerable Regions, Shows New Map
By Countercurrents.org

Southern and southeastern Asia, western and central Europe, eastern South Africa and southern Australia will face the greatest threats from climate crisis, finds a new study. The least vulnerable areas include north and southwestern Africa, northern Australia , and southern South America

New Global Commission Aims A More Direct Approach To Tackling Climate Change
By Prof. Nagarathinam & Marianne de Nazareth

As evidence of human-induced climate change mounts, a new global commission has been launched which will analyze the economic costs and benefits of acting on climate change. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate comprises leaders from government, finance and business from 14 countries, and is chaired by former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón. The commission will be based in London and New York, but work will be done around the world – the research institutions and commission members are in more than a dozen countries

Nairobi And Peshawar: The Futility Of Terror Tactics
By Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

The dastardly carnage in Nairobi and Peshawar proves yet again the utter futility of resorting to terror tactics in order to secure one’s political goals

Life On The Line: Can Humanity Survive?
By Robert J. Burrowes

Can humanity survive? The odds are now stacked heavily against us: despite the persistent warnings of visionaries, such as Gandhi, and scientists since the 1940s, we have breached far too many limits that it would have been wise to respect

Why Are The Majority Of Americans Pissed?
By Timothy V. Gatto

The American people stopped Obama from launching another war in the Middle-East. If we all get together again and defend our common interests we can again cross party lines. There are so many issues that need to be addressed and the people in Congress and in the Executive Branch are not going to address them unless you make them. Here is a list of things right off the top of my head that will change the nation for the better

24 September, 2013

The Proxy 'Civil War' In Syria Is About Gas, Oil And Pipelines
By George Venturini

The present 'civil war' in Syria is a misnomer. The war is from the outside, and attacking Syria was intended over twenty years ago to weaken its close allies: Iran and Russia - and indirectly China. Syria is the penultimate on a list of seven countries to be 'taken out' to facilitate the United States access to oil from the Middle-East and other areas. They are the seven countries mentioned by Paul Wolfowitz to General Wesley Clark in 1991. In five of them: Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq and Libya there has been the wanted 'regime change'. If that happens to Syria the next intended target is to be Iran

Mercenaries In Proxy War In Syria
By Countercurrents.org 

Mercenaries from Russia 's North Caucasus region including Chechnya , Arab countries, Europe and Central Asia have been engaged in proxy war in Syria Citing Russia 's Federal Security Service (FSB) first deputy director Sergei Smirnov a RIA Novosti report said: Some 300 to 400 Russians are fighting in the Syrian proxy war as soldiers of fortune

A Crash Course In Somalization, From Syria To Kenya
By Pepe Escobar

The Kenyan invasion managed to fire up Somali popular support for al-Shabaab all over again; people even forgot that for a long while al-Shabaab chose to let Somalis die in droves, victims of famine, instead of accepting Western aid. Thus Kenya acting as a US-France puppet ultimately provoked the Westgate mall blowback. Not to mention that Washington has been droning Somalia non-stop from a base in neighboring Djibouti

World Leaders Release Climate Justice Declaration
By Countercurrents.org

Former presidents, academics and scientists have issued a declaration for action on climate justice. The declaration comes at a time as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is set to issue governments with tough climate change warning

ArcticSea Ice Minimum In 2013 is 6th-Lowest On Record
By Maria-José Viñas

After an unusually cold summer in the northernmost latitudes, Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its annual minimum summer extent for 2013 on Sept. 13, the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder has reported. Analysis of satellite data by NSIDC and NASA showed that the sea ice extent shrunk to 1.97 million square miles (5.10 million square kilometers)

Anti-science, Effective Climate Change Denialist Abbott Coalition
Australian Government Axes Expert Climate Commission
By Dr Gideon Polya

Immediately on taking office, the newly-elected ultraconservative Abbott Coalition Australian Government has taken an axe to climate change action and the meager steps of its Labor predecessor, in particular axing the expert Australian Climate Commission that has been informing Australians about the latest climate change science

Coal India Hiding The Truth About Coal Reserves From Investors:
Greenpeace Files Complaint With SEBI
By Greenpeace India

Research by Greenpeace has found that the world’s largest coal producer, Coal India Limited, is misleading potential shareholders by concealing the true level of its extractable reserves, as it prepares to sell additional shares to international investors

23 September, 2013

Nairobi And Peshawar Carnage: Criminals Under The Garb Of Jihaad
By Shamsul Islam

Last week ended in the horrible bloodshed of innocent people in two separate and faraway parts of the world, Nairobi and Peshawar, the blood of innocent children, women and men was spilled for none of their fault. However, in both the carnages, the perpetrators came from organizations linked to Talibaan and Al-Qaeda

US Presses For UN Resolution To Justify War On Syria
By Peter Symonds

Barely a week after the US and Russia reached a deal to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, the Obama administration is engaged in a new round of bullying to force Russia and China to agree to a UN Security Council resolution that would give the green light for US military action against Syria

Ethics For The Future
By John Scales Avery

The crisis of civilization, which we face today, has been produced by the rapidity with which science and technology have developed. Our institutions and ideas adjust too slowly to the change. The great challenge which history has given to our generation is the task of building new international political structures, which will be in harmony with modern technology. We must abolish war and stabilize the global population. At the same time, we must develop a new global ethic, which will replace our narrow loyalties by loyalty to humanity as a whole

Climate Change Is A ‘Serious Issue Of Human Rights': Mary Robinson 
By Sophie Yeo 

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, speaks to RTCC about climate justice, the UN, and why climate skeptics make her angry

What Collapse Feels Like, Part 2 of 5: Anger: When Rage And Cynicism Aren’t Enough
By Carolyn Baker

Anyone who doesn’t feel angry, make that enraged, about what is being done to the earth community by its human inhabitants and what they are doing to each other has been totally anesthetized by the soporifics of civilization. If you aren’t angry, not only are you not paying attention, as the bumper sticker adage goes, but you really need to ask yourself what you have done with your anger to cause your numbness

“The Oil Is Ours” – But Its Secrets Are The NSA's
By Fabiana Frayssinet

Reported US spying on Brazil's Petrobras oil firm revived the controversy over opening up the company, a symbol of Brazilian sovereignty since the 1950s, to foreign investment

NSA Snooping And India's Sovereignty
By Ravi Nitesh

Whenever it comes to ministries to take a stand on crucial issues of public interest the ministries ignore India's sovereignty and support foreign interests. So this time, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) behaved the same way and justified US National Securtiy Agency's (NSA) snooping over Indian citizens

OWS And The Myth Of Fence Sitters (It's Time To Not Be Nice)
By Mickey Z.

As MLK once reminded us: “When you're right, you can never be too radical.”

Petition Campaign: Repeal The Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act,1958
Petition by North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC)

AFSPA is an anti-democratic act. It enables a junior commissioned officer to arrest anyone without a warrant on mere suspicion that the person was planning a terrorist act. It empowers the security forces to “fire upon or otherwise use force even to the causing of death” without the permission of the civilian government. According to Section 6, no criminal prosecution can be initiated against the security persons who take action under this Act. Can a democratic country tolerate such an Act particularly since the security situation in most areas where the Act is in place has improved enormously? A result of AFSPA is a trust deficit

22 September, 2013

Global Temperature Reconstruction Shows Alarming Trend
By Stefan Rahmstorf

Just looking at the known drivers (climate forcings) and the actual temperature history shows it directly, without need for a climate model: without the increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans, the slow cooling trend would have continued. Thus virtually the entire warming of the 20th Century is due to man. This May, for the first time in at least a million years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has exceeded the threshold of 400 ppm. If we do not stop this trend very soon, we will not recognize our Earth by the end of this century

Women's Knowledge: Three Reasons We Won't Solve Climate Change Without It
By Katrina Rabeler

Women's equality goes hand-in-hand with finding real solutions to climate change. Here are three reasons why

If Overpopulation Isn’t The Problem, What’s The Question?
By David Bergman

We can’t continue infinitely to make more, no matter how imaginative and innovative we are – but moreover, making more is the wrong response. It’s not the route to “creating a planet that future generations will be proud of.” We need to make better – better things, better food, better education, leading to better people — not more

Speciesism: Coming Home To Roost
By Mickey Z.

Humane killing, free range, grass-fed, happy meat, organic meat, and so on. To the ever-growing list of deceptions designed to obfuscate the savagery we can now add this new approach of “pampered” chickens. But the harsh and ecocidal realities of speciesism will reign and ultimately take us down unless each of us hears and processes the ugly facts

US Threatens War While Considering Talks With Syria, Iran
By Alex Lantier

Following Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s statement that he is open to talks with the United States on Iran’s nuclear program, the American press is discussing a broad regional diplomatic settlement to the war drive Washington and its allies unleashed against Syria, Iran’s main Arab ally

US Struggle With Iran's Peace Offensive
By Eric Margolis

Washington has at some point got to accept that Iran is an influential regional power with its own legitimate interests. If Iran truly has no nuclear weapons ambitions, then the only reason for Tehran to suffer punishing sanctions is national pride. Iran needs economic growth, not pride

Ending One War, Ending All Wars
By David Swanson

Anti-war sentiment, at least in some key parts of the world, is at a high point now, relative to other moments in recent decades. We need to direct that sentiment into a movement for abolition. Resisting each new war is not enough. We must be for peace and by peace we must mean, first and foremost, the elimination of the institution of war

Slavoj Zizek – The Dark Conscience of the 21st Century?
By Karthick RM

With Zizek, there is no happy grand solution. No confirmation that a utopia of some sort will be possible. No comforting words for the marginalized and the suffering. No feel-good concepts on which the politically correct can fall back on

Syrian Refugees Suffer As Aid Agencies In Iraq Grapple With Sudden Influx
By Cathy Otten

In this northern Iraqi Kurdish governorate, refugees sit in huddled groups on the floors of local schools and mosques, families separated by a few blankets and possessions. Doctors weave their way through them to treat the sick and injured. An influx of Syrian refugees into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq in recent days left no time to prepare adequate health care for the new arrivals

CIA Is Already Involved In A War Against Syria: David Swanson
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

According to a prominent American author, the world nations should strongly stand up to protest at the U.S. warmongering policies in the region and its illegal calls for war against Syria which is a violation of the UN Charter and Kellogg-Briand Pact that prevent the world countries from unilateral use of force against another sovereign state

Puerto Rico And The Puerto Ricans Versus 115 Years Of Yankee Imperialism And Colonialism
By Professor Francis A. Boyle

Speech delivered at University of Puerto Rico, September 20, 2013

21 September, 2013

The Crisis At Fukushima 4 Demands A Global Take-Over
By Harvey Wasserman

We are now within two months of what may be humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis. There is no excuse for not acting. All the resources our species can muster must be focussed on the fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4. Fukushima’s owner, Tokyo Electric (Tepco), says that within as few as 60 days it may begin trying to remove more than 1300 spent fuel rods from a badly damaged pool perched 100 feet in the air. The pool rests on a badly damaged building that is tilting, sinking and could easily come down in the next earthquake, if not on its own. Some 400 tons of fuel in that pool could spew out more than 15,000 times as much radiation as was released at Hiroshima

Have American Nuclear Companies Trapped Indian Prime Minister?
By Buddhi Kota Subbarao. Ph.D.

Behind the scenes a great deal of effort is underway to trap Indian Prime Minister to agree to the argument that India's Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Law, which allows the operator of a nuclear plant to seek damages from the supplier in case of a nuclear incident due to supply of equipment with latent and patent defects or sub-standard services, is not consistent with the International Convention on Supplemental Compensation (CSC). Now there is an allegation against Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh, that he has caused steps to dilute India's nuclear liability law with the intention of pleasing the US President Barack Obama during Prime Minister's visit to the United States in the last week of September 2013

31 Years After The Massacre At Sabra-Shatila: Justice Delayed But Gaining Ground
By Franklin Lamb

Shatila camp, Beirut: Each year, during the third week of September, Lebanon and this region, as well as international supporters, pause to reflect upon and commemorate the victims one of the twentieth century’s most horrific and cynical crimes perpetrated by a member state of the United Nations. The Sabra-Shatila massacre took place September 16-19th in Beirut, a well-documented 48 hours of slaughter that saw the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp surrounded and sealed off by the occupying Israeli army, whose intent was to block and force back inside the killing field anyone seeking to escape the predicted orgy of butchery

Where Are Human Rights?
By Francis Allenby

But this is the reason why we need to fight: because every human being needs to preserve the dignity that somebody wants him to lose. This fight will be hard, even more difficult than before, against all odds, but it will be a fair fight

Modi And The Military: Not Quite An Innocent Beginning
By Firdaus Ahmed

Mr. Modi’s political sense was on display at the very first rally on his nomination as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Addressing ex-servicemen at Rewari he laid out his security agenda that would no doubt have been music to the ears of the gathering. Declaring an intent to make Pakistan behave, China back off, the civilian defence sector deliver and have the coffers cough up ‘one rank one pension’, he suggested that since all this would require a ‘strong’ leader, he was the best man for the job. Missed in the deconstruction of his speech has been the more significant aspect: that of politicisation of the military

Syrian Government Has No Motive For Using Chemical Weapons: Jason Hirthler
By Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

American writer and journalist says that the United States has adopted a hypocritical approach by claiming that the Syrian government has crossed a red line after using chemical weapons against the rebels in the Ghouta district of Damascus, and should be punished for this alleged crime

Ethiopian Regime Repression: The Right To Protest
By Graham Peebles

They speak of democracy, but act violently to suppress dissenting voices and control the people through the inculcation of fear: they ignore human rights and trample on the people, they are a tyrannical wolf in democratic sheep’s clothing, causing suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout Ethiopia. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government repeatedly scoffs at international law and consistently acts in violation of their own Federal constitution – a liberal document written by the regime to please and deceive their foreign supporters

Tanzania’s Media Practitioners Call For Editorial Independence
By Nizar Visram

The 2012 report of the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has a different story regarding the state of the media in Tanzania. It talks of a rise in anti-press attacks against a background of “repressive legislations, and indefinite banning of the weekly MwanaHalisi given to investigative reporting” The result is fear and self-censorship among journalists in Tanzania, says CPJ report that documents 10 serious anti-press attacks and threats since September 2012. It includes the killing of a TV cameraman, Daud Mwangosi, by a policeman while covering an opposition rally. No officer has so far been held accountable for the death

Postcard From The End Of America: Atlantic City
By Linh Dinh

The decline of Atlantic City will not be reversed, and its casinos will be imploded or abandoned soon enough. Under the boardwalk, there won't be one but many blankets, quilts, tarps and pieces of cardboard, and on them, folks will even make love as they almost taste french fries and hot dogs. Through it all, though, there will always be the sea, that most beautiful sea to admire as if nothing has ever happened, or to splash into, never to return

Israel’s BDS Harassflies
By Vacy Vlazna

Israel, a leading innovative armament designer, producer and exporter has released worldwide, against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), a new weapon - a mutation of the pesky and potentially lethal horsefly - the harassfly hatched in the Department of Hasbara in the Prime Minister’s Office

The American Jewish Liberals and the Middle East Crisis
By Dan Lieberman

The liberal Zionist Jews are not guided by the realities of present Israel but by a romanticized vision, and they inflict this romanticized vision upon others

Koodankulam Welcomes Ganeshan's Return
By Anitha.S

Today we are happy and relieved that our dear brother Ganeshan from Koodankulam village who disappeared from our midst 180 days back is back with us on conditional bail. 185 days of his life gone, whiling away time and energy in a jail amidst criminals and offenders

No Country For Visually Challenged Persons?
By Subhash Gatade

A recap of the appointments done between the period 1996 to 2008 tells us that only 15 visually challenged candidates have been recommended by UPSC, while almost 6900 vacancies were filled during this period. Among 15, 12 candidates have been recommended or upgraded after court orders

20 September, 2013

Counting The Afghan Dead: America's 'Unconscionable Oversight'
By Jon Queally

Citing the broad aversion among U.S. media outlets, politicians, and the American public at large to grapple with the untold amount of death and human destruction suffered by the civilian population of Afghanistan after almost 12 years of U.S.-waged war, The Nation magazine this week has released an in-depth report on the issue in hopes of correcting "this unconscionable oversight."

From Afghan Youth To Leaders Of Today: Daylight Is Almost Here
By Dr. Hakim

We, the Afghan Peace Volunteers, are finding strength amidst our dark nights because, in the daylight of a global awakening, we see people throughout the world refusing to comply with oppressive systems. We see that we aren't alone in rejecting governments and militant groups that wage wars and make deals at the expense of ordinary people

The Beats And The Bedouins
By Hussein Al-alak

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, day to day accounts of what was taking place, did not come from left or right wing journalists but from ordinary Iraqi writers, who in a style echoing the Beat Generation, gave outsiders a unique insight, which was lacking in both Britain and the United States

Ironies Of The National Security State
By Judy Bello

We live in a society where the expression of free speech, however well reasoned and morally profound is criminalized while the open expression of violence, even by a person who is clearly not capable of reason or any form of social ethic, is a necessary and unchallengeable freedom. Personal behaviors, in many cases private behaviors are under continual social scrutiny and subject to endless debate, while the capacity to deal death at the press of a trigger is an immutable right. Heavily armed military installations fear the word, but not the sword

19 September, 2013

Russia Challenges UN Report On Syrian Gas Attack
By Peter Symonds

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday countered a barrage of claims by the US and its allies that the UN report into the August 21 chemical weapon attack in Syria proved that the government of President Bashar al-Assad was responsible. Lavrov described the report as one-sided and biased, claiming that ample evidence pointed to the involvement of anti-Assad forces in chemical attacks. He said he would provide evidence to the UN Security Council demonstrating that Syrian opposition militias had carried out the attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus

Syria: Whodunit?
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Contrary to the Western media pundits who attempt to pain this as a straightforward case against Assad, without evidence or without thought, one can point the finger to other more likely culprits who stand to gain a great deal from this heinous crime. The only way to narrow down the field is to consider ‘cui bono'. Clearly, Assad is the biggest loser

The Syria Deal: Dangers And Opportunities
By Chandra Muzaffar

If attempts to subvert the deal fail, and the deal holds, it may open up opportunities for peace that go far beyond the deal itself

The Arab Spring Revisited
By Dr Salim Nazzal

Social and political changes are a long process, which goes through phases of progress and failure .This explains why we cannot ignore the fact, that the existing of socio cultural barriers are serious hindrances towards the change towards democracy. However until we get to that stage, I think that the communal and the sectarian conflicts will continue for quite some time

Egypt Joins Israel As Gaza's Jailer
By Medea Benjamin & Pam Bailey

As the military and other opponents of ousted President Mohamed Morsi the interim government of Egypt has increasingly allied itself with Israel in strategy and actions – becoming just as much Gazans’ jailer as its neighbor to the east

Obama, Shifting Style or Altering Policy?
By Amir Barati

This situation gives rise to a number of questions for Iranians: will the scenario of George W. Bush and the Reformist President Mohammad Khatami be repeated in the upcoming talks? Will the US label this Iran, seeking respectful talks, part of an “axis of evil” again? And will this opportunity which was prepared because of the election victory of President Rouhani, who won with the slogan of putting an end to hostile relations with other countries, be seized or will it go to waste again this time because of the flaws in President Obama’s foreign policy shift?

Show Love For Lynne Stewart & All Political Prisoners Act Now!
By Larry Pinkney

After having, for so very many years, fought so hard against the cancers of greed, the surveillance / police state, militarism, judicial injustice, and lethargy on behalf of the downtrodden in this nation, Lynne Stewart is now fighting for her very mortal life. She is now fighting a terrible physical cancer that is steadily eating away and depleting the cells of her body. And she is fighting this from within the deplorable confines and conditions of a U.S. prison-death gulag. The U.S. government has thus far repeatedly refused to grant Lynne Stewart the compassionate release which she needs and strongly deserves. This is not by coincidence. It is by cruel design

The Global Elite's Crimes Against Humanity: The Subversion Of Happiness And Truth
By Colin Todhunter

As societies become hollowed out, with empty echoes of patriotism ringing out, they increasingly resemble boxes. The only thing inside however is a giant, brutal mechanical hand. There is nothing else apart from it. And it's only function is to pull the lid shut if anyone ever dares to tear it open and shed light into the box. If successful, they will see the immorality, the lies, the hypocrisies. The social control based on the subversion of life, liberty and happiness

New Ultraconservative Climate Change Denialist Abbott Coalition
Australian Federal Government Fails Its Four Key Policy Goals
By Dr Gideon Polya

Extreme right-wing Liberal Party-National Party Coalition leader Tony Abbott was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on Wednesday 18 September 2013, replacing defeated Labor PM Kevin Rudd. Australia now has a new right-wing, ultraconservative, climate change denialist, pro-war, pro-Zionist, pro-coal, pro-gas, anti-environment, anti-science, anti-education, anti-equity, human rights-abusing, US lackey Coalition Government for the next 3 years

On Gender, Collapse, And Communities We Can All Abide - Part II:
 A Response To Dmitry Orlov
By Katherine M Acosta

The decline of industrial society and impending collapse of global capitalism is, and will continue to, produce social dislocation and misery, but this rupture with the past also creates the space to build something new; perhaps something more equitable? More freeing? More caring? After all, industrial society produced its own forms of misery: boredom, conformity, stifling of creativity, and alienation to name a few

Rampal Coal Fired Power Plant On Sundarbans: A Project Of Deception And Mass Destruction
By Anu Muhammad

Thousands of people, young and old, women and men, are now preparing for more than 400 km 5 days long march from Dhaka , the capital city, to Digraj a place in Rampal, the extended Sundarbans area, in South west Bangladesh begins from 24 September 2013 . Organized by the ‘National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Port and Power', the main demand for this long march is to cancel ‘Rampal coal fired power plant' and stop all activities that would destroy Sundarban. Why people around the country have become so sensitive, and why they are coming forward to resist this?

Growing Up With Trees
By Anitha.S

I will never forget the incident as we walked over the fallen branches of the small Aal maram, the tender leaves of the Badam and when the two boys from the area kept saying “We are with you. We do not want the trees to be cut. But we are helpless when they come with Police and such bad words”. As this is being written, more trees have been cut.My parents and other friends went to meet the Collector with the detailed Survey Report that showed that none of the trees in that road are going to cause problems in the near future. But there has been no positive response

Polarization With A Difference: Muzaffarnagar Violence
By Ram Puniyani

The Samajvadi party’s gamble will pay or not, time alone will tell. During the reign of Samajvadi party the monster of communal violence has been permitted to come out as is obvious from the observations that during Akhilesh Government every month nearly two acts of violence have taken place. How come during previous regime of BSP, the monster of communal violence had been restrained?

UPA Govt. Seems To Say: “Come Back Mr. Warren Anderson, Indian Life Is Worthless!”
By People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

The Congress Party and its “Mr. Clean, the First” Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi helped Union Carbide chief, Warren Anderson, to flee India in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy in December 1984. The people of Bhopal are still running from pillar to post without getting any liability, compensation, medical assistance and other helps. Now “Mr. Clean, the Second” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offers dilution of key provisions of the Indian nuclear liability law to the United States so that American nuclear suppliers such as the GE and Westinghouse will not be held liable in the event of an accident caused by faulty or defective equipment

18 September, 2013

Russia-France Talks On Syria End In Clash Over Chemical Warfare Claims
By Alex Lantier

While maintaining a professional tone in public, Russian officials have made clear behind closed doors that they see Paris as acting as a junior partner in a war launched on false pretenses by the United States. When French Ambassador to Russia Gérard Araud said he would go public with supposed proof from French intelligence that Assad carried out chemical weapons attacks this spring, a Russian diplomat reportedly laughed and replied: “Gérard, don’t embarrass the Americans.”

Israel Still Angling For Attack On Syria And Iran
By Jonathan Cook

Israel still desperately wants its chief foe, Iran, crushed. And if it can find a way to lever the US into doing its dirty work, it will exploit the opening – regardless of whether such action ramps up the suffering in Syria

Syria’s New Game: The Russian Factor
By Ramzy Baroud

Many US media commentators were fairly accurate in labeling some of the language used by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his recent New York Times article as ‘hypocritical’. But mainstream US media should be the last to point out anyone’s hypocrisy as it has brazenly endorsed every military intervention unleashed by their country since World War II

Seeing Food As A Commons Opens Up Creative New Possibilities
By David Bollier

What would the world look like if we began to re-conceptualize food as a commons? Jose Luis Vivero Pol of the Centre for Philosophy of Law at Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium has done just that in a recent essay, “Food as a Commons: Reframing the Narrative of the Food System.” The piece is impressive for daring to imagine how the world’s estimated 668 million hungry people might eat, and how all of us would become healthier, if we treated more elements of the food production and distribution system as commons. Instead of managing food as a private good that can only be produced and allocated through markets, re-conceptualizing food as a commons helps us imagine “a more sustainable, fairer and farmer-centered food system,” writes Vivero Pol

‘Arab Spring’ Degrades Into Sectarian Counterrevolution
By Nicola Nasser

The blind sectarian rampage, which has been waging a war on worship mosques, churches and religious shrines have become a modern Arab trade mark phenomenon, since what the western media called from the start the “Arab Spring” overwhelmed the Arab streets

Catwalk? Like…Cats Walk Way Better!
By Partha Banerjee

Now I’m writing about it because I have a major problem with the way women’s beauty is sold out. I have a problem with the way beauty itself is now defined by those who only use beauty for making big profit. And nothing else

Thursday Republican Controlled House Scheduled To Vote On Aid To Poor
By Brian Mcafee

On September 19 the Republican controlled House of Representatives are scheduled to vote on a Farm Bill; part of which includes a $40 billion cut in the food stamp program. Of those receiving government help in the form of food stamps or the SNAP program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) 76% are children; disabled or elderly. 57,000 children lost Head Start services because House Republicans voted to keep the sequester instead of choosing a balanced approach to the budget that makes corporations and millionaires pay their fair share

Narendra Modi And The Reality Of Fascism That Haunts Us All:
A Call To All Comrades To Unite!
By V. Arun Kumar

My intention of writing this article is to call on to all comrades to unite. The rise of Modi and fascism is a reality which haunts all of us today. Gramsci has pointed out the dangers of rise of fascism, but the lack of larger understanding of this failed to create an effective fight against fascism. Today, the necessity is that all revolutionary forces have to unite and create a strong workers movement against the fascistic elements in the society. And if we fail and the present scenario continues, then India is doomed

Climate Justice To Uttarakhand People
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

Climate justice emphasizes that only compensation is not sufficient to redress the grievances of the affected people but stricter mechanism be devised so that the people who are responsible to manage these affairs are always alert to avert, tackle and manage any such mis happening

Principal's Administrative Role For Quality Assurance In Schools
By Swaleha Sindhi

A cursory look at the various methods of instructional supervision discussed above shows that the principal acts as a change agent for the professional growth of teachers and the improvement of curriculum delivery which is the central focus of instructional supervision

Two Indian Cities Among 75 That Protest Against Oil Drilling In The Arctic
By Greenpeace India

Bangalore and Mumbai rode for the Arctic on September 15, 2013 when hundreds of people gathered for a cycle rally in both cities to challenge oil corporations like Shell who are trying to drill for oil in the pristine Arctic region. The rallies, called Ice Rides, were part of a Greenpeace global day of action that took place in 36 countries and 75 cities with 14,000 cyclists coming together on the same day to stop Shell from drilling for oil in the Arctic. In Bangalore, 150 people participated while in Mumbai 60 volunteers rode for the Arctic. The day culminated with activists unfurling a banner against Arctic drilling outside a Shell outlet in Bangalore and at Juhu Beach in Mumbai

Call From Gaza: Open The Rafah Crossing Permanently And Unconditionally
By Gaza Solidarity Organizations

Petition campaign to open the Rafah Crossing

17 September, 2013

Syria: East Ghouta Chemial Attack Videos Were Forged
By Mother Agnes Mariam

This is a modest study on some of the 13 videos nominated by the US Intelligence community and similar documentation. “From the moment when some families of abducted children contacted us to inform us that they recognized the children among those who are presented in the videos as victims of the Chemical Attacks of East Ghouta, we decided to examine the videos thoroughly. If the studied footages were edited and published to exhibit pieces of evidence to accuse the Syrian State of perpetrating the chemical attacks on East Ghouta, our discoveries incriminate the editors and actors of forged facts through a lethal manipulation of unidentified children

Jihadists Admit Using Chemical Weapons In Syria
By Countercurrents.org

A video finds the jihadists admit using chemical weapon in Syria while a Turkish court indictment by the Turkish prosecutors into the alleged use of chemical weapons by the jihadists in Syria has once again highlighted fears that sarin gas was used by the jihadists

Israel's History Of Chemical Weapons Use
By Dr. Elias Akleh

The UN chemical weapons inspectors, who went to Syria to investigate the use of chemical weapons, should have stopped on their way at Occupied Palestine (Israel), where Israeli government has the largest stockpile of chemical and other WMD in the entire Middle East. They would have found a lot of evidence and witness accounts of Israeli use of chemical, as well as biological and nuclear, weapons against the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors. The attacks started in May 1948 and are still going on in one form or another

Colorado’s Thousand - Year Flood
By Subhankar Banerjee

In the last decade and a half Colorado (and its neighbor New Mexico) has gone through three major assaults—massive tree deaths, massive wildfires, and now massive floods—each in turn has been called “the worst natural disaster” the region has seen. Each in turn has also made the next one worse—millions of dead trees made the wildfires worse, and we are now learning that the wildfires are making the floods worse

Colorado Floods: All Dress Rehearsals Are Over
By Carolyn Baker

It may be that the gift in this painful devastation is an awakening to our predicament and a willingness to call it what it is. We no longer inhabit a bubble. We are living the same heartbreak as the Oklahoma citizen who just had his mobile home swept away by a tornado or the bankrupt farmer who can no longer plant crops on land that has become yet another dustbowl. The only bubbles now are those floating on top of what the media has been calling ‘biblical’ flood waters. The playing field has been leveled, along with our homes, and all dress rehearsals are over

Imperialism By Inspection... And Diplomacy
By Larry Everest

Events—which have been unfolding very rapidly—could bring the "military option" front and center again, and Obama has made clear that military action is still "on the table"—with or without UN authorization

How The American people Stopped A US war On Syria :
Notes Of A Third World Traveller Of The United States Of America
By Karthik Ramanathan

I write this article as the US war machinery that geared up once again to hammer another poor country with deadly military blows in the name of achieving humanitarian goals, has been stopped for the moment in its bloody tracks. This is a unique and historical occasion and would like to accordingly make some observations including very personal ones about the protests and marches against war – a very important factor in making the administration realize that they were facing defeat in the US Congress - that I was a part of

On Gender, Collapse, and Communities We Can All Abide - Part I: A Response to Dmitry Orlov
By Katherine M Acosta

Orlov's post-conference diatribe against women was wildly disproportionate to the response his presentation provoked at the Age of Limits conference and much of it was gratuitously offensive. As the whole edifice of fossil-fueled industrial capitalism and American empire slowly collapses, the public discourse will grow uglier as elites ratchet up divide and rule tactics to keep the 99% from banding together, taking up (metaphorical) torches and pitchforks, and going after the folks who engineered the disaster. Thus we are likely to see ever more divisive rhetoric, pitting men against women and whites against racial-ethnic minorities. However unintentionally, Orlov's inflammatory screed contributes to that river of abuse. It is unworthy of someone who has otherwise made useful and original contributions to the literature on collapse

The Menace Of Israeli Warplanes
By Brenda Heard

As we chase the latest headlines and grow dizzy from the daily crises of the Middle East, sometimes we overlook the persistent problems. Perhaps the element of continuance makes them frustrating, perhaps just boring. But to ignore the drip-drop of Israeli belligerence toward Lebanon is to shrug off the impunity by which it persists

Indian Scientist Behind Pioneering Black Carbon Research
To Be Conferred UN ‘Champion Of The Earth’ Award
By Marianne de Nazareth

Veerabhadran Ramanathan, an atmospheric scientist whose landmark research showed that cutting emissions of ‘black carbon’ or soot can significantly lessen the impacts of climate change, improve the health of millions of rural poor, and avoid crop losses. Ramanathan is to receive a 2013 Champions of the Earth award; the UN ’s highest environmental award in New York

Declaration of Prime Minister Candidate: Is It Violation Of Constitutional Provision?
By Shashikant Kumar

I would request the members of the group/ or concern citizens to think upon the effects on the democratic system. How the parties justified in declaring their PM candidate in advance? If election commission is responsible for the conducting the fair election, intervene and instruct parties to restrain in formal declaration of candidates

Kashmir: Where The Music Failed
By Mohd Ishaq Begh

While Zubin Mehta was playing in the famous Mughal garden Shalimar a parallel concert Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir (the reality of Kashmir, organized by rights activists) was going on just a few miles away

Delhi Gang Rape Case: Futility Of Capital Punishment
By People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Death penalty is the propagation of a culture of hate. It infuses a sense of vengeance in society and reinforces the cycle of violence. PUDR strongly believes that a democratic and just society cannot be envisioned on the idea of retributive justice and disdain for an individual’s right to life. The way forward is the reform of a society infested by a pervert patriarchal psyche, which is the root cause of brutality against women. The attack must be made on such a mentality and not on a life

Why USA Is Destabilizing Egypt
By Thomas C. Mountain

To be blunt, the USA will cause the Egyptian people to wage war against themselves before it will allow any sort of transition to an independent government in Egypt

15 September, 2013

Endless Fukushima Catastrophe: 2020 Olympics Under Contamination Threat
By Dr Helen Caldicott

As the escape of radiation at Fukushima seems virtually unstoppable, there are still steps that governments all over the world should take to prevent worst case consequences. One of them would be canceling the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

The End Of The Age Of Extraction
By Brent Blackwelder

The world economy has been unable to reverse the depletion trend. Without a true cost, sustainable economy, nations are faced with three choices. They can: 1. reject concerns about shortages and environmental decline and proceed for a few more decades with expanded drilling, mining, and harvesting; 2. acknowledge the problem and adopt policies that lead to sustainable resource use and reliance on renewable energy; or 3. treat the situation like a wartime crisis as President Franklin Roosevelt did in World War II when practically overnight he forced Detroit to shift from making cars to manufacturing ships and airplanes

Approaching A Steady State Economy, Part 1 — Getting Around
By Rob Dietz

1. Exploit renewable resources no faster than they can be regenerated. 2. Deplete non-renewable resources no faster than the rate at which renewable substitutes can be developed. 3. Emit wastes no faster than they can be safely assimilated by ecosystems

Bombs, Badguys, And The Brink Of Peace
By Charles Eisenstein

Here we are, all together on a planet where the ecological basis of life is unraveling. And we are still bombing each other? That is insane. It is time to grow up

With Tar Sands Development, Growing Concern On Water Use
By Ed Struzik

Environmental questions about Canada’s massive tar sands development have long centered on greenhouse gas emissions. Now there are mounting concerns about the huge volumes of water used by the oil industry and the impact on the vast Mackenzie River Basin

“Prologue 3”
By Gary Corseri & Victor Ivanovich Postnikov

Conversations On The Arts, Politics And History Between A Russian And An American

Rapists And Mass Rape Instigators: India’s Dastardly Double Standards
By N. Jayaram

None but the most myopic or Hindu chauvinists could have failed to note the supreme irony in the two major events that took place in New Delhi on Friday, 13 September 2013: the sentencing to death of four men for the rape and murder of a woman on 16 December 2012 and the anointing as prime ministerial candidate of the man who is accused of orchestrating mass rapes and massacres of Muslims in Gujarat in February 2002

Namo Namo or Namaste Sada Vastale ..
By Subhash Gatade

While a section of the commentators have refused to comment on the role of the RSS in this coronation of Modi - taking a very legalistic position that it is an internal matter of the party - it is high time that the way things unfolded before us and the way RSS took upon itself the job of 'micro-managing' the affairs of BJP are brought to the fore in greater detail. We can easily discover that all its claims that it is a cultural organization are sheer humbug

Kashmir: Guilty By Association
By Ashutosh Sharma

The women married to militants returning home from Pakistan, as Jammu and Kashmir embraces rehabilitation policy, feel trapped in the vortex of adverse circumstances

Arrest The Culprits, Extend Help To Victims Of Muzaffarnagar Riots: CPI(M) Report
Fact Finding Report By CPI(M)

A CPI(M) delegation comprising of Saidul Haque, Lok Sabha MP, Subhashini Ali, Member Central Committee, DP Singh, member UP State Secretariat, and district party leaders visited Muzaffarnagar on Saturday, 14th September. Since day curfew had been lifted, to visit the homes of Sachin and Gaurav who had been killed on the 27th August and Rajendra Varma, an IBN7 correspondent who was killed on the 7th September; meet hundreds of people in camps who had lost their family members, their homes, belongings and livestock; and visit the Dist. Hospital. It was possible to come to some conclusions and formulate demands at the end of the visit

14 September, 2013

USA Retreats From Bomb Syria Campaign
By Russia Today

Russia and the United States reached a deal on a framework that will see the destruction or removal of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid- 2014. Under the plan, the Assad government has one week to hand over an inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal. If Damascus fails to comply with the plan, a response in accordance with UN Charter Chapter 7 will follow, Kerry said, in a reference to the use of military force. But Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said the agreement did not include any potential use of force against Syria. He however said that deviations from the plan, including attacks on UN inspectors, would be brought to the UN Security Council, which would decide on further action

A Sense Of Relief In Damascus
By Franklin Lamb

Yet as appears to be the case across Syria, there is a palpable sense of relief, even some limited euphoria at the moment, along with hope and optimism, that the United Nations, Russia, Iran, the USA, and Syria can settle this crisis that has destroyed such a great part of Syria and brought widespread death and destruction to so very many of her families

Who Is Listening To The Syrian People?
By Hussein Al-Alak

Throughout the whole Syria crisis, one thing which has been striking, is the clear absence among British political circles, to actually listen to the points being raised by the Syrian people. Ordinary Syrian’s have repeatedly warned both the US and UK about the presence of foreign fighters in their country, which by US estimates alone, number over 10.000 people, who have joined the war against President Assad

Internet S.O.S.
By Tim Karr

Is the Internet on life support? Last week we learned that U.S. and British intelligence agencies have broken the back of digital encryption — the coded technology hundreds of millions of Internet users rely on to keep their communications private

“Israel Wants Peace. Period.” (Just Joking!)
By William A. Cook

“Jerusalem - Israel wants peace. Period. The Jewish people have never held a desire to rule over others and this remains true today. Not only are we ohev shalom ["lovers of peace"], but we are also rodef shalom ["active pursuers of peace"].” So says Israel Kasnett, Magazine editor of the Jerusalem Post, in an opinion piece just published in Al Jazeera. The man is delusional. Lest this illusion of a peace loving Israel pass unnoticed, let me set the record straight. The information below provides evidence that thoroughly discredits the assertion that “The Jewish people have never held a desire to rule over others and this remains true today.”

NSA Feeds Raw Intelligence Data To Israel
By Bill Van Auken

A secret memo provided by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden to the British Guardian newspaper reveals that the US spy agency is funneling raw intelligence data, including information from intercepted communications of US citizens, to Israeli intelligence

Lullaby Of Hope
A Poem By Nahida The Exiled Palestinian

Remember soul, remember
The evil you see is not but a foaming froth
Passing away
Soon will be over, it will not last
Only truth, peace and beauty
Will remain

Stay Human… Stay Sane
A Poem By nahida The Exiled Palestinian

Seeds of mercy, compassion and love
Plant everywhere
Watch your heart-songs come to life
Dance to their heavenly tune
Delight as poetry fills you soul

Understanding Muzaffarnagar Riots
By Sazzad Hussain

The growing disregard of Jats in western UP have attracted them towards BJP and all these political chess playing have necessitated a communal riot with the objective of polarizing the electorate

A Whole School Approach In Creating Safe School Environment
By Swaleha Sindhi

‘Safe and supportive schools’ refers to the provision of an environment that protects the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of students. In a ‘safe school environment children are to be protected from verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, including indirect forms of abuse, such as discrimination, exclusion and isolation by their peers. So a safe school is one that is free from danger and possible harm, where non-educators, educators and learners can work, teach and learn without fear or ridicule, intimidation, harassment, humiliation or violence

Election Related Confusion Mounting In Bangladesh
By NJ Thakuria

Political crisis and confusion galore are mounting in Bangladesh over the next general election, which must be completed between October 25, 2013 and January 24, 2014. Before the fiver-year term of the present Awami League led coalition government is over by December 2013, it has to pave way for handing over the political power to a new regime elected by the millions of voters in the populous country

13 September, 2013

Hindutva Marches Ahead As Narendra Modi Named
Prime Ministerial Candidate
By Countercurrents.org

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat and a strong proponent of Hindutwa was anointed by BJP as its candidate for Prime Minister in 2014 Indian Parliament elections. Narendra Modi's role in the infamous Gujarat Pogrom, in which at least 2000 muslims lost their lives is still under legal scanner

Vanzara's Resignation Letter: Further Actions Sought
By R B Sreekumar

Representation to STF Chairman - Justice H.S.Bedi and Director, CBI presented by R.B Sreekumar, former DGP of Gujarat, requesting initiation of an immediate imperative investigation on facts given in the resignation letter by D.G. Vanzara I.P.S, DIGP currently under suspension

Chemical Attack In Syria Was Jihadists' Provocation, Say Former European Hostages
By Countercurrents.org

Serious allegations regarding chemical attacks in Syria are surfacing that include the attack was a provocation made by jihadists and images of chemical attack victims were fabricated. Belgium 's RTL radio station and Italy 's La Stampa carried interviews of a Belgian teacher and an Italian journalist – the hostages – that present these facts

Syrian Rebel Groups Sought To Buy Materials For
Chemical Weapons, Say Turkish Prosecutors
By Countercurrents.org

Eleven persons were arrested late May in Turkey after police received a tip suggesting that some Syrian rebel groups were looking to procure materials that could be used to produce chemical weapons

Obama's September 10 Speech On Syria : More Lies For War From The Liar - In-Chief
By Editors, Revolution Newspaper

The American public is being trained to think in these terms through Obama's speech, and through endless spinning and “debate” among media pundits who are allowed access to maintream media. But people who have the ability to think critically and have the moral sense to look at things from the standpoint of the interests of HUMANITY have to loudly and clearly REJECT THESE TERMS in all kinds of ways, including connecting that outlook with, and encouraging political protests against, any U.S. moves against Syria

"Imperialism - Not Humanitarianism: Why Only Worse Suffering
Can Result From a U.S. Attack On Syria"
By Larry Everest

In this talk, Larry Everest, a correspondent for Revolution newspaper (revcom.us) and the author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda, and of Behind the Poison Cloud - Union Carbide's Bhopal Massacre, exposes U.S. lies to reveal what's actually driving its threats against Syria, why U.S. war moves are escalating now, how any U.S. attack would impact the people of Syria and the region, and why any such military action would be a war crime -- and totally unconscionable and illegitimate

Boulder Flooding: Remembering Warnings From “Weather Report”
By Subhankar Banerjee

So far three deaths have been confirmed in central Colorado . Boulder 's Daily Camera reported that the sheriff's office “feared that more fatalities would be discovered as crews tried to make their way into the mountain towns and heavily affected areas.” There is more rain to come though. USA Today reported that on Thursday morning the National Weather Service “posted a bulletin warning of ‘Biblical' rainfall in some areas, forecast 6 to 10 inches could fall through the weekend.”

Thousands Of Turks Protest In Istanbul , Ankara , Izmir , One death
By Countercurrents.org

Protests and demonstrations are continuing in cities in Turkey including Istanbul , Ankara , Izmir . Ahmet Atakan, 22, died in Antakya 's Armutlu neighborhood during the early hours of Sept. 10 in a demonstration in support of students in Ankara protesting against the construction of a road through the Middle Eastern Technical University

A Dream To sacrifice And struggle For
By Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh

I have the same dream as Martin Luther King. Getting past the European 19th century ideas of ethnocentric nation states towards a a socjety in which citizens share and live in equality and with respect to human rights. A society in which war is a thing of the past, where justice rolls like a mighty stream, where each person is valued regardless of his/her skin color or religion. This is the dream of our world and it is a dream that is worth for us to sacrifice and struggle for

Kashmir Skirmishes Derails India- Pakistan Dialogue
By Zafar Iqbal

There is a growing concern among the civil society groups in both countries that unless lingering disputes are resolved with peaceful dialogue, the lives of innocent people cannot be saved from the disastrous ramifications of violent disputes

Detained journalist Prashant Rahi At Rsk Of Torture In India
By Amnesty International

Journalist and human rights activist Prashant Rahi was arrested on 1 September 2013 on suspicion of having links with a banned organization. He is being held in police custody in Aheri, Maharashtra state, and is at imminent risk of torture or other ill-treatment

Arbitrary Raid Of Prof. G.N Saibaba's House Condemned
By Committee For The Release Of Political Prisoners

In an unprecedented act of terror to terrorise, on the 12 September 2013, around 3 pm, a joint operation of a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), 7 members from the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, 15 member police team from the Aheri police station, Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, 7 member police team from the Maurice Nagar Police Station, Delhi University—all put together 50 member squad—barged into the premises of the quarter in which Prof. GN Saibaba was staying with the family

Action Research In Education: An Instrument Of Injecting
Innovative Approaches To Teaching And Learning
By Swaleha Sindhi

Although some people may critique that action research is an informal research since teachers are not academic researchers, it is widely believed that action research is extremely suitable for education as its main purpose is to help teachers as researchers solve their teaching problems “in action”. It allows teachers to learn about their teaching at the same time that they improve their teaching

12 September, 2013

The Shortest Path To Peace In Syria
By Nicola Nasser

To end the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights and other Arab Israeli – occupied lands is the shortest US – Israeli path to dismantling the Syria – Iran alliance and to peace in Syria and the region. That only would ensure that Syria will shift its outward focus strategically from looking for strategic balance with Israel to liberate its occupied land to the development of its society internally

Syria Researcher Cited By John Kerry And McCain
Fired From Think Tank For Lying About Ph.D.
By Countercurrents.org

Elizabeth O'Bagy, who had penned and op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, made several television appearances, and had been cited by sen. John McCain and secretary of state John Kerry, was let go from her position at the Institute for the Study of War after they learned she didn't have a Ph.D

Giving New Meaning To The Day After 9/11
By Peter Van Buren

By saying no, not again, not this time, the current group of gray men and women who largely make up our Congress have the chance to join some of the giants who have thundered in those chambers in the past. At this moment, that body has the opportunity to choose a new meaning for future anniversaries of 9/11. It could be the day that life went on just as disastrously as previously -- or it could be the day that changed everything, and this time for the better

No One Appointed The United States The World's Policeman: Sheldon Richman
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

Prominent American author and political scientist Sheldon Richman believes that even if the government of President Assad has used chemical weapons, there's no way to justify a possible U.S. military strike against Syria

The Obama-Kerry Dialogue That Averted WW III
By Feroze Mithiborwala

This a fictional conversation between US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry

Tale Of Two Cities: Ramallah, Gaza And The Identity Crisis
By Ramzy Baroud

The fragmentation of Palestinian identity will not cease, but will intensify, if a third way that is born out of the collective will of Palestinians, is not introduced to Palestinian society and advocated with unwavering resolve. This third way cannot be elitist and must come from the streets of Gaza and Ramallah, not academic papers or press conferences. Only then, Gaza and Ramallah can find their historic rapport, once more

No Vengeance No Prosecution Of Deadlier CIA 9/11 Attack On Chile 1973
By Jay Janson

No calls for vengeance or justice for Chileans murdered on the 9/11 arranged, funded, and facilitated in 1973 by the Nixon-Kissinger, administration to benefit and protect vast US corporate investments in that country. No attempts through courts for compensation for wrongful death, injury and suffering. More than 2 million innocent Muslims lives taken and hailed as payback for 9/11/2001. Prosecutable crime against humanity!

Great Feelings Of Love (For ALL Earthlings)
By Mickey Z.

If you're already working to dismantle corporate power, expand freedoms, and create a safer, more sane culture, you already have plenty in common with animal rights activists. Why not take things even further and recognize that the mighty 99% also includes non-human animals -- and the entire ecosystem itself?

Impending Verdict Of Setence: Yet Again Debate On Curbing Death Penalty
By Dr. Sophy K.J.

In the wake of verdict of sentence on Nirbhaya's case, it is interesting to look at restraint policy that Indian judiciary followed in cases of death penalty. However, in contrast to international trend and judicial precedents of restraint in cases relating to death penalty, recently both the Judiciary and Government has succumbed to popular demand as is evident in Afzal Guru's case and Bhullar's case

Pakistan Denies Reports Of Prisoner Swap Ahead Of Talks With Taliban
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

The Pakistan Army has denied western media reports of a prisoner swap ahead of talks with the Taliban. The swap reportedly occurred in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan tribal region. However, immediately Pakistan Army denied the reports. The Inter-Services Public Relations said neither FC soldiers nor militants had been released. Despite the denial by Pakistan's military public affairs office, the Taliban commanders provided the names of the militants who were freed and said the two paramilitary soldiers released were kidnapped by the Taliban in southwest Balochistan province in March 2012

Goodbye Sunila Abeysekara
By Subhash Gatade

On the first day of the 24th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, we have lost one of the most ardent human rights activist, Sunila Abeyasekara, in Sri Lanka. Sunila represented a unique voice from within the majority Sinhalese community. She fought repression of all forms, be it against Sinhalese, Tamils, women, Muslims and youth

10 Persons Hospitalized From Malud Jal Satyagrah
By Narmada Bachao Andolan

On the 12th day, physical health of a lot of satyagarhis continued to deteriorated. 7 women and 3 men from Malud had to be hospitalized. Mulchand, Poonam, Leelabai, Sheelabai, Sumanbai, Savitribai and Sodrabai had to be taken to Community Health Centre. The Jal-Satyagarh at Piplani, Lachora and Nandana continued with the same vigour and enthusiasm. Jal-Satyagarh at Hanifbad in Harda district and Mel-Pipliya in Dewas continued with the same determination

From Jail To Jail! Abdul Nasar Maudany Writes To Abhay Sahu
By Abdul Nasar Maudany

I am deeply concerned about the invasion of the South Korean multinational company on thousands of farmers, adivasis and fisher folk in Orissa. This largest globalization project has already bombed, jailed and attacked thousands of villagers, struggling for the protection of their land and livelihood. Even women, children and old people where not spared

11 September, 2013

In National Address, Obama Presses Ahead With War Plans Against Syria
By Alex Lantier & Joe Kishore

US President Barack Obama spoke on national television last night, presenting to the American people the latest diplomatic tack in his administration’s drive for war with Syria. His rambling 15-minute address notably did not ask Congress to authorize war. Rather, it sought to develop UN negotiations emerging from a Russian-Syrian offer to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons as a political framework for launching a war, in defiance of international law and mass popular opposition in the United States

Al-Qaeda's Air Force Still On Stand-by
By Pepe Escobar

As for that "evil", transnational Terror Inc, it didn't even have a name when Jihad International hopefuls were being recruited in the early 1980s by assorted Islamic charities, and then trained and funded by the CIA and Saudi Arabia. One day the database was finally named - by the US - as "al-Qaeda". Or, more appropriately, "al-CIAeda". They were elevated to Ultimate Evil status. They did 9/11. They reproduced like rabbits from Mali to Indonesia. Now the CIA works side-by-side with them - as it did in Libya. And eagerly they await the US Air Force to clear their road to Damascus. Hey, it's just (war) business

On This 9/11, Remembering Allende
By Farooque Chowdhury

On this day, September 11, people standing for democracy remember Allende, people recollect the tortured, disappeared, and the systematically murdered thousands of citizens of Chile, people recall Victor Jara, the poet-singer-activist. And, on this day, people reiterate their denouncement of Pinochet, the mass murderer, the general leading a gang of killers during the murderous days of Chile

US Imperialism, Egypt, Syria, Gandhi's 9-11 Satyagraha Launch,
US 9-11 & Chile's 9-11 40th Anniversary
By Dr Gideon Polya

On 11 September (9-11) decent people around the world remember Chile's 9-11 in 1973 (3,000 murdered in the US CIA-backed military Coup), the launch of the peace and non-violence Satyagraha movement by Gandhi in South Africa on 9-11 in 1906, and the 2001 US 9-11 atrocity involving 3,000 killed, almost certainly by the US Government with likely Israeli complicity, that was used by the Neocon American and Zionist Imperialist One Percenters as an excuse for the US War on Terror that has so far killed 9.5 million Muslims by violence or violently-imposed deprivation. However on 9-11 Mainstream media exclusively trumpet the lying Bush “official story” of the US 9-11 atrocity. This article attempts to restore the balance

Top Activist Lawyers And Paralegals Group Opposes US Crime Against Humanity?
By Jay Janson

In a atmosphere of acceptance of American immunity from prosecution for crimes against humanity within the antiwar community a great enforcement promoting activist organization states its "opposition' to US murderous crimes already committed and threatened to increase? Crimes must prosecuted, not 'opposed' ostentatiously, war investors made aware of possible imprisonment, seizure of assets to compensate wrongful death-injury

Raghuram Rajan And Other Pied Pipers Of The New World Order
By Shelley Kasli

"As countries grow, agriculture declines. What is special about India is that the exit of people from agriculture has not kept pace. Increasingly, people in agriculture are impoverished relative to those having jobs in industry or service. We managed to move the States together, but perhaps we need to do more on the sectoral side to move people out of agriculture into other areas" - Raghuram Rajan, new governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Gaza Power Outages Soar From Mere 8 Hours Off To 20 Hour Outages
By Eva Bartlett

When I spoke with friends in Gaza a few days ago, they were already saying the power cuts were on the unbearable side. This, from people who know patience intimately. How they must feel, cut off and ostracized from the world, their suffering endless, layers upon layers of misery forced on them. It’s only getting worse

At The AFL-CIO Convention, Leaders Ask: What Direction For Labor?
By Mark Vorpahl

The acknowledgment of Labor's existential crisis and the recognition that something must be done to resolve it is the key issue at the AFL-CIO's four-day quadrennial convention in Los Angeles. The urgency of the situation has compelled Labor's top officials to experiment in a search for solutions

Muzafarnagar Riot Warrant Communal Violence Bill
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

In the wake of Muzafarnagar riot, Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde came out with a statement that the communal situation in the country is going to deteriorate ahead of the general elections due in 2014. He however maintained a stoic silence o how to contain it. He was at a total loss of memory about the Communal Violence Bill and was clueless about the time frame of its tabling it in the Parliament

G20 Economic Meet Gives Clue For For The Future
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

It seems that world leaders are themselves are bereft of any novel ideas to deal with the economic woes. They seem to have given more importance to the political problems rather than the economic ones. Hence the main purpose of the G20 appears to have been defeated

50 US Power Plants Emit More GHG Than South Korea
By Countercurrents.org

Fifty US power plants emit more greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels than all but six countries, said a Christian Science Monitor report. * The CSM report cited a new study report by Environment America

Another Youth Shot Dead By CRPF In Shopian, Kashmir
By Jandk Live

Another youth Rafiq Ahmad Rather (27) alias Rafi of Saidpora village was killed in alleged CRPF firing in Shopain Jammu and Kashmir. The slain youth was a School Bus driver. People protested in large numbers and police opened fire on the people in which at least 8 people were injured. Four youth were killed in the same area in CRPF firing on Saturday

10 September, 2013

Russian Chess Move StallsUS Actions As Al-Qaeda's Air Force
By Pepe Escobar

The frantic spin of the millisecond is that the White House is taking a ‘hard look’ at the Russian proposal for Bashar Assad to place Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal under UN control, thus at least postponing another US war in the Middle East

Kerry’s “Blunder” Delays, But Does Not End, Obama's Drive To War
By Bill Van Auken

Obama administration officials scrambled Monday to preserve Washington’s pretext for war on Syria, after both Moscow and Damascus welcomed an apparently off-hand remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry that US aggression could be avoided if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad surrendered its chemical weapons

Kerry Couldn't Sell A Used Car
By David Swanson

So, to all appearances, Assad has immediately done what Kerry just declared impossible. How reliable, then, are other assertions of which Kerry professes to be certain?

Footage Of Chemical Attack In Syria Is Fraud,
Says Mother Superior Of St. James Monastery In Qara
By Russia Today

There is proof the footage of the alleged chemical attack in Syria was fabricated, Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St. James Monastery in Qara , Syria , told RT. She says she is about to submit her findings to the UN. In her interview with RT, Mother Agnes doubts so much footage could have been taken in so little time, and asks where parents of the supposedly dead children are. She promises to send her report to the UN

Iran Cautioned US Months Ago That Syrian Rebels Possesd Chemical Weapons
By Countercurrents.org

More than a year ago, Iran warned the US: The Syrian interventionists possess chemical weapons. Citing leaked diplomatic correspondence a Christian Science Monitor report said: Iran has been warning Washington since July 2012 that Sunni rebel fighters have acquired chemical weapons, and called on the US to send “an immediate and serious warning” to rebel groups not to use them

Brief On The Political Economy Of U.S War Preparations Against Syria
By Dr. Peter Custers

The reasons why the US is preparing a new aggression, are of course not only economic in kind. Yet in opposing the threat of war strikes against Syria, the world’s peace movement would do well to keep in mind the three issues spelled out above, meaning: the U.S.’s lasting desire to keep control over Middle Eastern oil; the Western drive to globalise their sales of armament systems; and the overwhelming threat posed by an M.I.C. which over the last 15 years has gone transatlantic

Global Peace March To Damascus Planned
By Marinella Corriegga, Vanessa Beeley, Feroze Mithiborwala & Roohulla Rezvi

This time, we are going to be there with the people of Syria. This time, for the sake of global peace and justice, we are going to March to Damascus from across the nations of the world, to bring the message of peace & stand in solidarity with the Syrian nation, which is one of the most ancient human civilizations

Our Fossil-Fueled Future
By Michael T. Klare

What sort of fabulous new energy systems will the world possess in 2040? Which fuels will supply the bulk of our energy needs? And how will that change the global energy equation, international politics, and the planet’s health? If the experts at the U.S. Department of Energy are right, the startling “new” fuels of 2040 will be oil, coal, and natural gas -- and we will find ourselves on a baking, painfully uncomfortable planet

Why I Had Protested: A Protest Letter To Zubin Mehta From A Non Kashmiri
By Ravi Nitesh

I am completely blank in understanding that when you (with the help of the Government) are trying to use this concert to convey a message for peace for local people but these 'local' people are not interested in listening to you, rather they find peace through sloganeering, protest songs and all, then what is the meaning of your concert? Is it not true that peace should come from within? And if it is true, then let it come from the heart of kashmiris through their protest songs. Is it not ironical that you are trying to 'define' and 'distribute' the 'peace' for the people without knowing their consent? Are you 'imposing' and 'enforcing' peace?

09 September, 2013

European Union Signals Support For Military Strike Against Syria
By Johannes Stern

Following a meeting of the European Union foreign ministers with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the Latvian capital of Vilnius on Saturday, the European Union issued a statement supporting the US war preparations against Syria. The EU’s representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, read a statement calling the alleged chemical attack in Syria a “blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.” Without presenting any further evidence, Ashton echoed the Obama administration’s claims, declaring that there is “strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for these attacks, as it is the only one that possesses chemical weapons agents and means of their delivery in a sufficient quantity.”

No Irrefutable Evidence, Admits White House: Assad Not Involved, Finds German Intelligence
By Countercurrents.org

The White House has admitted it has no "irrefutable" evidence of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's involvement in the August gas attack, but said a "strong common-sense test irrespective of the intelligence" suggested his government was responsible. Moreover, citing high-level German security source a German press reports said: Assad did not personally order chemical weapons attack

Pentagon Expands War Plans Against Syria
By Patrick Martin

While the Obama administration reiterates claims that its forthcoming attack on Syria will be a limited one-off affair, Pentagon planning envisions a much broader effort, according to a report Sunday by the Los Angeles Times . The newspaper cited unnamed military officials who said the Pentagon “is preparing for a longer bombardment of Syria than it originally had planned, with a heavy barrage of missile strikes followed soon after by more attacks on targets that the opening salvos missed or failed to destroy…”

Can You Pass The Qatar Quiz?
By Jeffrey Rudolph

Qatar , once one of the poorest Persian Gulf states, has become one of the region's wealthiest countries and also one of the most active in regional affairs. However, Qatar , like the other Gulf states , faces meaningful internal and external challenges, which require more than energy wealth to address. The purpose of the following quiz is to examine the evolution of Qatar to an increasingly autonomous regional player in social and political affairs, and to relate this evolution to wider Middle East developments

‘Humanitarian’ Missile Strikes Against Syria?
By John Scales Avery

A large-scale war in the Middle East would cause immense suffering to the people of the region, and it might turn into a Third World War. It would be a criminal act to initiate such a war, violating both the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles

The Hill To The Rescue On Syria?
By Andrew J. Bacevich

Now, in effect, Obama was saying to Congress: I’m keen to launch a war of choice. But first I want you guys to okay it. In politics, where voluntarily forfeiting power is an unnatural act, Obama’s invitation qualifies as beyond unusual. Whatever the calculations behind his move, its effect rates somewhere between unprecedented and positively bizarre -- the heir to imperial prerogatives acting, well, decidedly unimperial

Obama's War Grows As Support Shrinks
By Shamus Cooke

The conflict in Syria would have ended — and tens of thousands of lives spared — without Obama and his allies — especially Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan — fueling the carnage with foreign fighters and massive arms trafficking. To think that Obama's current projected bombing campaign can somehow be separated from the previous two years of regime change foreign policy is the height of political naivety

Obama: Shrewd or Just Stupid?
By Timothy Gatto

The United States needs to learn a hard lesson. We just can't be the arbitrator of every violent conflict in the world. We helped start this mess by supplying the "Syrian" rebels that are, by and large, mercenaries from all over the Arab World. We stand back and wonder how al Nusra and al Qaida got involved and now realize that we are seeing a playback on how the war in Afghanistan got started. The United States government, in its eternal wisdom, recruited and supplied the "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan led by none other than Osama Bin Laden. So how did that work out for the U.S

Modi’s ‘Vanzara’ Moment: Encounter Killings As State Policy?
By Subhash Gatade

Resignation letters of suspended officers - who are in jail under serious charges- are never a cause of concern for the powers that be. But with Dahyaji Gobarji Vanzara, suspended DIG of Gujarat police and head of its Anti Terrorist Squad, who once happened to be very close to the powers that be and has the potential of further embarrassing them, situation is entirely different. It is not for nothing that the government led by Narendra Modi has decided to reject the said resignation by not forwarding it to the Central government

08 September, 2013

Protests Across US Ahead Of Syria Vote In Congress: Prayer, Fasting, Vigils Across The Globe
By Countercurrents.org

Anti-war protesters gathered outside the White House on Saturday to voice their opposition to a US military strike in Syria, calling their picket line one that Congress shouldn't cross as it prepares to vote on the issue. Grass roots level anti-war protests have also been held in many other US cities. Pope Francis has made an impassioned appeal to avert a widening of Syria's conflict, urging world leaders to pull humanity out of a "spiral of sorrow and death"

Striking Russia Through Syria
By Linh Dinh

A war on Syria , then, is an attack on Russia itself, and that's why Russian warships are patrolling the Mediterranean . Countering the American menace, Russia will certainly be no silent spectator, and to show support for Russia and Syria , a Chinese warship has also shown up, with more coming. Though Washington talks of a “warning shot across the bow” or “tailored strike,” a quickie hit and run that won't distract too much from the exhilarating start of football season, World War III might just erupt, for we haven't been this close to universal calamity in half a century

This War Too Is A Lie
By David Swanson

The deepest lie at the route of this drive for war is perhaps the lie that a nation can prepare for war, dumping its energies and resources into every possible plan for every conceivable war, and yet manage to avoid those wars unless they are forced upon it as a "last resort." This next dishonest, immoral, illegal, unpopular, murderous, atrocity-laden, uncontrollable, environment-destroying, rights-eroding, money-wasting war will come relentlessly, ineluctably, it will come . . . unless we compel our government to consider other possible courses of action, including that of actively working for peace through a posture of respect for others that would require a bit of truthfulness

Syria: Colonization Redux
By Rana Bose

As the world waits to see how Obama, the Butler in the White House, pulls off his cavort—let us remember that the entire Syria episode (irrespective of how these Arab nations have replaced one nasty dictator with another, one after the other) was scripted several years ago, not because there was a humanitarian crisis, but because the neocon-neoliberal entente had it on their colonial sights to rule this region by any means necessary

AIPAC, Syria And The Return Of The Golems
By William A. Cook

To understand AIPAC’s press statement to the US Congress and the American people, we must understand what is not said: “urges” means “demands”; “protect America’s national security interest” means “protect Israel’s national security interests”; “dissuade” means “destroy”; “Syrian regime’s further use of unconventional weapons” means “prevent by total destruction Syria’s use of the weapons Israel uses against Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and the Palestinian people”; “civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons” means “Israel, which does use these barbaric weapons even against children as in the Christmas devastation of Gaza in 2008/9, calls itself civilized knowing the truth that it acts in a barbaric manner but doesn’t want the world to think that is true.”

Syria Expedition
By Farooque Chowdhury

Should the legitimate international institutions be overlooked? Should international law be devalued? Should the Security Council be ignored? Should military intervention outside of UN process be carried out? Shall not that be an aggression? And, does democracy allow aggression? In democracy, people prevail. And, people are not aggressive

One Democratic State In Entire Historic Palestine – A Socialist Viewpoint
By Tikva Honig-Parnass

The very struggle for a one-state solution constitutes a challenge against the imperialist order in Middle East of which the Zionist colonial state is its cornerstone. Hence as socialists, we cannot stay neutral to the issue of the resolution of the conflict. Joining the movement for one secular democratic state in Historic Palestine should be perceived as part and parcel of our struggle against US imperialism and the Zionist settler state of Israel and for socialism in the Middle East

The Other 9/11: How U.S. Interventions Evolve
By Mickey Z.

Since September 11, 2001, there has been a marked increase in the comfort with which those in power openly discuss military interventions -- both current and pending. This shift is particularly obvious when examining the "other 9/11."

4 People Killed In Shopian: Protests In Kashmir
By JandkLive

Three of the slain youth have been identified to be as civilians,the identity of the fourth one is yet to be revealed by the police.However sources say that the fourth deceased is also a civilian, a labourer from Bihar. Three of the deceased have been identified as Tawseef Ahmad Bhat, 18, son of Gulam Muhammad Bhat, resident of Baba Mohallah Shopian, Muhammad Yousuf resident of Durpora, Zainpora (a labourer) and Tariq Ahmad Mir son of Ghulam Nabi Mir, a resident of Okay, Kulgam

Pakistan: Asif Ali Zardari Retires
By Riaz Ali Toori

Today Asif Ali Zardari is retiring from the post of President of Pakistan. The author argues that in the history of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari’s era should be written in golden words for his services for strengthening democracy, federation of Pakistan and the poor oppressed sections of Pakistani society

Unravelling The Jesus Of History
By Countercurrents.org

Reza Aslan's "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" is a biography of Jesus of Nazareth, an effort to unravel the Jesus of history. The picture that emerges is both fascinating and may be a little unsettling for the 'true' faithful Christians

07 September, 2013

Obama On Syria In St Petersburg : Hitting All The Right Notes For All The Wrong People
By Colin Todhunter

In an attempt to play the global audience for fools, while attending the G20 meeting in St Petersburg Barak Obama stood in front of the TV cameras and read from the script. He told the world how Uncle Sam should stand up and act against Assad for using CWs and killing 1,400 people, of whom 400 were children. He tried to appear adamant, however, that debate and consultation should take precedence before military action against Assad prevails

Stopping Barry O’Bomber’s Rush To War
By Ralph Nader

If and when the people and Congress turn you down this month, there will be one silver lining. Only a Right/Left coalition can stop this warring. Such convergence is strengthening monthly in the House of Representatives to stop future war crimes and the injurious blowback against America of the wreckages from Empire. History teaches that Empires always devour themselves

The Repetition Compulsion For War -- And How It Might Fail This Time
By Norman Solomon

This is a pivotal juncture of history in real time, an “all hands on deck” moment to exert enough public pressure to prevent a war-on-Syria resolution from getting through Congress. Such an outcome would thoroughly delegitimize any order from Obama to attack Syria. In the process, we would make real progress against the masters of war

11 Reasons Why We Should Not Attack Syria
By Sarah van Gelder

Here are 11 reasons the United States should stay clear of military action

The Bill Congress Should Pass Instead Of War
By David Swanson

Here's a preliminary draft of what the United States Congress could pass this week if it were sincerely interested in human rights, international norms, the rule of law, and peace in Syria

Syria, Democracy And International Law
By John Scales Avery

A US attack on Syria would unambiguously violate not only Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, but also the Nuremberg Principles. Does President Obama really want to turn himself from a Nobel Peace Prize winner into a war criminal?

Washington Not Really Concerned About The Syrian People's Rights: Binoy Kampmark
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

Australian university professor and political scientist believes that the United States and its allies have been looking for an excuse to launch a military strike against Syria for many years, and the recent allegations that the government of President Assad has used chemical weapons against the civilians has given them the pretext

Extreme Weather In 2012 Directly Linked To Climate Crisis
By Countercurrents.org

New analyses find evidence of human-caused climate crisis in half of the 12 extreme weather and climate events analyzed from 2012

Challenging Nuclear Energy In India And EROEI
By Countercurrents.org

In all the discussion about Nuclear Energy and the construction of new plants across India, one crucial fact missing from the debate is EROEI (Energy Returned On Energy Invested). There is no conclusive estimate on EROEI of nuclear energy. It varies from an optimistic 11:1 to a negative EROEI. This means that if every thing goes well, for one unit of energy invested 11 unit of energy may be returned. Some researchers believe that Nuclear is a total energy loss

American Muslims 12 Years After 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

* The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorist enterprises, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing. * A covert national security programme gives the FBI and US immigration authorities power to indefinitely delay immigration benefits to Muslims and those from Muslim countries, according to an investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union. * North Carolina became the seventh state to adopt the so-called anti-Sharia legislation

Let's Have A 'Beef Onam’
By K.P. Sasi

It is high time that Mahabali, the Dalit King, must be freed from the appropriation of the `savarnas’ and feed Him properly with a `Beef Onam’. I request all my friends to celebrate Onam on September 16th with good beef curry, beef chilly, beef fry, beef soup or any other dish which a Dalit king can enjoy. Please publicise with photographs of your celebration in the face book and all other platforms. Happy Onam!

06 September, 2013

No Syria War: Protests Rage Around The World
By Countercurrents.org

Protests against planned Syria War were held in countries around the world. Anti-Syria War demonstrations and Syria solidarity marches were held in Palestine, Turkey, Venezuela, Greece, Ukraine, Turkey, France, the UK and the US

Damascus Notes: Late Night ‘Town Meetings’ Common Before The American Attack
By Franklin Lamb

The people of the Syrian Arab Republic are politically very sophisticated and amazingly well informed about the details of the current crisis and with specifics about external players and their plans. One can only wish the Syrian people well and join with them and all people of good will, as many Christians and, reportedly more Muslims will do, for the day of fasting and prayer that his Holiness Pope Francis has called to be observed on September 7, 2013

Syria: Six Alternatives To Military Strikes
By Sarah van Gelder

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's approval of military force in Syria makes military strikes against that country more likely. But key questions remain unanswered. Will military strikes help ordinary Syrians or harm them? Will more violence deter the use of chemical weapons and other war crimes in Syria and elsewhere, or exacerbate the problem? Have all other possibilities been exhausted, or are there peaceful solutions that haven't been tried? A quick review of the options suggests there are at least six strategies that could hold wrongdoers to account, deter war crimes of all sorts, and build peace

The War On Syria And Noam Chomsky
By Ghali Hassan

A critique of Noam Chomsky's position on Syria

Syria War: On The Rotten Rope Of Zionists
By Dr. Ismail Salami

While opposition to an unwarranted war against Syria for an alleged use of chemical weapons in the Middle Eastern country is by slow gradations gaining momentum in the world as well as in the United States, some 250 Jewish leaders and the so-called activists affiliated to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) will be reportedly flocking into the halls on Capitol Hill early next week in order to “persuade lawmakers that Congress must adopt the resolution or risk emboldening Iran's efforts to build a nuclear weapon.”

Customary International Law, Humanitarian Interventions and Syria
By Nikhil Shah

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the U.S. intervention in Syria being justified as a humanitarian intervention with the Kosovo war as a precedent. Many international commentators in the U.S. have stated that as the U.S. is unable to get Security Council authorization for a strike against Syria, international law must ‘evolve' to allow for a humanitarian intervention to avoid prohibited chemical weapons from being used or from further atrocities from being committed by the Asad regime. All these discussions about humanitarian interventions have conveniently avoided a discussion of whether they have been accepted as part of customary international law

Why Oppose A New War?
By Jack A. Smith

A war can still be stopped. But all this is happening in a matter of weeks. Time is extremely short and while the majority of Americans want peace, most seem unaware of the facts and all too prone to being influenced by the pro-war media and Congress members of both parties. It will take a mighty effort by the antiwar forces to stop this war

I Am Not 'War- Weary'
By Kelly Rae Kraemer

I am not 'war-weary'; I'm hungry for peac

Necessary And Unnecessary Wars
By Carolyn Baker

At this moment in history, legitimate wars cry out to be fought, but they have nothing to do with fossil fuel energy or political triumph. Rather, they have to do with the termination of industrial civilization and its living arrangements and the acquisition of food and water on this planet

A Voice From The Other America
By Muhibb Dyer

It is in this spirit of truth and freedom for those who have not, that WE, the founders of the I Will Not Die Young Campaign, boldly declare that unless we change our present course, 100 years from now our descendants will bring our very humanity into question. They will wonder with all of our accolades and accomplishments, all of the wealth and resources that were at our disposal, all of our intellectual prowess and political might, how sick we were, to sit back and let black children annihilate each other and be perfectly fine with it, as long as it stayed on the other side of our white picket fence and two car garage American dream

Shinzo Abe – A PM Without Conscience, Wisdom or Compassion :
Cotton In The Ears And Sawdust In The Skull
By Anuj Wankhede

Even as the situation at the crippled Fukushima-Daichi Nuclear power plant rapidly goes out of control, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to have his goal set on winning the bid to host the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo! All that the 2020 Olympics will do is divert the nation’s attention from the impending doom to create a fake temporary feel good atmosphere. Unfortunately, if the Japanese government does not accord the priority deserved to tackling Fukushima, then Japan as we know may well not exist to host the 2020 Olympics. Are you listening Mr. Shinzo Abe?

Questions Raised Over Tanzanian Peacekeepers In Darfur
By Nizar Visram

U.S. companies controlling the pipelines in Chad and Uganda are looking for the ways to displace China through the US military alliance with states such as Uganda, Chad and Ethiopia, which are not too friendly with Sudan. Darfur, a western region of Sudan, borders on Libya and Chad, with their own vast oil resources. So it is a likely pipeline route. The West is thus pushing for ‘peacekeeping’ mission in Darfur in order to pursue its own agenda. That is why in the end the whole exercise may result into another Iraq or Afghanistan

India's Open Secrets: Effects On Sovereignty And Democracy
By S.G.Vombatkere

American spying challenges comprise three categories, namely, friends, enemies and problems. The top two challenges are Brazil and Egypt. That India is No.3 challenge to U.S intelligence is strange, considering that India's PM Dr.Manmohan Singh is known to be submissive to U.S policies and pressures

Children And Women For Sale:Trafficking In India
By Graham Peebles

It is the Indian government that must act to implement the plethora of regulations outlawing trafficking and associated criminality in the country including Police and official corruption. Such urgent and essential measures would certainly help to reduce the epidemic of trafficking in India. However for there to be fundamental lasting change, the extreme levels of inequality and social injustice within Indian society need to be addressed, and, (as the visionary Brandt Report made clear), the most effective way to do this is through the equitable sharing of resources, knowledge and wealth

Human Rights Progress And Trends
By Prahlad Shekhawat

Based on the frequency and nature of most complaints the Indian National Human Rights Commission divides the cases in the following categories: Custodial deaths, Police excesses (Torture, Illegal detention\ unlawful arrest, false implication etc. Fake encounters, Cases related to Women and Children, Atrocities on Dalits\Members of Minority community\ Disabled, Bonded labour, Armed forces\ para military forces. The recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission need to be binding and selection of its members has to be independent of government’s control

4000 People Strong Rally Against The Diversion Of 10,000 Acres Of Amritmahal Kavals
By Jahnavi Pai

People from around all three kavals – Ullarthi Kaval, Khudapura Kaval, Varavu Kaval came in thousands and gathered at Challakere to protest against the diversion of 10,000 acres of Amritmahal Kavals to DRDO, BARC,ISRO and various agencies

Continuous And Comprehensive EvaluationIn Schools:
An Urgent Need For Capacity Building Of Teacher Competencies
By Swaleha Sindhi

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation has been fruitful in improving the evaluation skills of the teachers which is a very important competence expected of them to raise the standards of achievement in pupils by constant feedback, remediation, and improvement of classroom instructional strategies based on the evaluation results, this in turn resulting in improvement of quality of education. It is important to equip the teachers with required skills and competencies of evaluation so that they would be able to integrate evaluation well with their teaching- learning process, assist students in the attainment of required standards through proper guidance, feedback and remediation

Jal Satyagraha Continues In Several Villages
By Narmada Bachao Andolan

A large contingent of police personnel was sent to arrest Satyagrahies at the ongoing Jal Satyagraha at Malud village in the Khandwa district. When they arrived, more than 400 men and women descended into the water and walked deeper and deeper - forcing the police to return empty handed. Fresh Jal Satyagrah has begun in Nandana village in Khandwa district and Hanifabad Tola village in Harada district. Affected persons from nearby villages joined the jal satyagrah in large numbers by descending into the waters

Sardar Sarovar: Submergence And Rehabilitation
By NAPM

Hundreds of Oustees gherao Kukshi, Manavar, Dharampuri Tehsil Offices. Oustees issue Legal Notice to authorities: Demand Compensation and Rehabilitation

05 September, 2013

Senate Resolution Authorizes War For Regime Change In Syria
By Barry Grey & Thomas Gaist

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution backed by the Obama administration that grants the president a free hand to carry out a devastating war against Syria in order to “change the momentum on the battlefield” and strengthen the US proxy forces seeking to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad

Ex-World Leaders Urge US To Forego Military Attack On Syria
By Thalif Deen

The United States, which is preparing to launch a military strike on Syria, is being cautioned by several former world leaders and Nobel Peace laureates to seek a political solution to the ongoing crisis – and forego armed intervention in the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation

Nobel Peace Prize Winner And War Criminal?
By John Scales Avery

Does President Obama really wish to turn himself from a Nobel Peace Prize winner into a war criminal by initiating a world-destroying war? Does he really wish to disgrace his name throughout all future history?

Who Really Used Chemical Weapons?
By Dr. Elias Akleh

This Zionized American administration, with its Peace Prize winner President; Barak Hussein Obama, does not have the morality neither the legality to bomb Syria

The Existential Risk To The Planetary Life Support System Where Does Responsibility Lie?
By Andrew Glikson

In a keynote paper titled “A safe operating space for humanity” a group of 26 prominent scientists, including Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, former Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate scientist James Hansen and the German Chancellor's chief climate adviser Hans Joachim Schellnhuber has indicated three of nine interlinked planetary boundaries have already been overstepped. These include 1. Climate change 2. Biodiversity loss 3. The biogeochemical cycles

Why Global Warming Will Be Far Worse, Far Sooner, Than Forecasts Predict
By John Atcheson

To the untrained or uncritical eye – which is to say most of the press which has been gutting cutting back on environmental coverage -- the IPCC’s AR5 report could also be seen to reinforce the idea that global warming is “slowing down” or “stopped.” The AR5 notes an “observed reduction in surface warming.” The key word here is surface warming. The reality is, at the moment, because of oscillations in the Pacific, more heat is being absorbed by deeper ocean layers. The oceans account for about 93% of all warming, so a slow down in the rate of surface warming is relatively insignificant. On net, the Earth is still warming and, if anything, the rate of warming has accelerated

As Noose Tightens, Palestinians In Gaza Face Darkest Days
By Ali Abunimah

Since the 3 July military coup against Egypt’s elected president Muhammad Morsi, the military regime has destroyed almost all the vital underground supply tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. This week, Egypt began demolishing houses along its side of its border with Gaza, a futile and criminal Israeli-style tactic, that is seen as a prelude to establishing a “buffer zone” to further isolate Gaza

Oslo Dead But Still Matters: Abbas’s Village Leagues And Palestinian Silence
By Ramzy Baroud

The Palestinian delegation did return to real recently renewed peace talks after Israeli forces' raided a refugee camp in north Jerusalem on August 26, killing three. This was not the only lethal Israeli attack to take place during "peace talks", and it will not likely be the last

AFRICOM's Gigantic "Small Footprint"
By Nick Turse

The Startling Size, Scope, and Growth of U.S. Military Operations on the African Continent

What Can We Learn From 25 Years Of Jobs With Justice?
By Mark Vorpahl

It’s no secret that the last 30 years have seen a brutal corporate assault on U.S. workers. Incomes and union membership rates have plummeted, unemployment is soaring, and the two corporate parties have joined forces to go after our previously untouchable historic gains. This class war has largely been one-sided—but not entirely. The organization Jobs with Justice, for one, demonstrates that the workers’ movement is still lively, innovative, and capable of resistance. A well-organized, tantalizing, and frequently inspiring new collection of interviews and essays, Jobs with Justice: 25 Years, 25 Voices, traces the group’s history and points toward what could be a promising future

With Truce At The UT Factory, Time To Face Tough Choices
By Robert Jensen

A truce seems to have been negotiated in the long-running skirmish between the University of Texas and its conservative critics. The Board of Regents' new chairman has toned down the rhetoric and signaled he wants to reduce tensions that have built over the past two years, which suggests that UT president Bill Powers may keep his job, at least for now

A Curator Of Paddy Seeds
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

Bada Bagh is located in Kirugavulu village at Malavalli taluk in Mandya district of Karnataka. With paddy panicles of different colors, size and shapes, each lined up next to each other, the view of the lush paddy fields is amazing. It’s a real visual treat for urban dwellers grown up in the concrete jungles. Bada Bagh is managed by an organic farmer Syed Ghani Khan who has collected over 600 varieties of paddy seeds and is spearheading the message of ‘Save our Rice Campaign’

India And Pakistan: NJ 9842 And Beyond
By Ravi Nitesh

Whosoever was responsible for this, the name doesn’t matter anymore. What matters are the lives of the soldiers. Think about the thousands of families who pride that their sons are defending the ‘land’ of their country, a land that is not fit to live, even for vegetation, a land that was not important till 37 years of separation (of Indian and Pakistan in 1947) and became important some 29 years ago (in the year 1984), a land that takes and will continue to take hundreds of sons every year without any declared war

Vedanta Talks Of "Pride" Post Shame
By Prerna Bakshi

On the 19 of August, NDTV and their partner group Vedanta announced the launch of their 'Our girls Our pride' campaign with Priyanka Chopra as the campaign ambassador. This happened on a day when Vedanta suffered a huge blow to its mining operations in Odisha. The launch of this initiative comes at a time when the whole world is witnessing the great triumph of the Indigenous and Tribal communities of Odisha, who by rejecting Vedanta's bauxite mining operations have set an unprecedented example for the rights and sovereignty of all Indigenous peoples around the world

04 September, 2013

US Congress Lines Up Behind Drive For War Against Syria
By Andre Damon

Leading members of the US Congress have moved quickly to declare their support for President Barack Obama’s proposed resolution enabling the use of force against Syria. The move to get a congressional authorization is aimed at providing a fig-leaf of legitimacy to a unpopular war that is based on lies. In this way it is similar to the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force, which became the rationale for sweeping military attacks and domestic repression

The World Should Join In Call To Stop US War In Syria
By Mairead Maguire

I would like to add my support Pope Francis’ appeal and pledge to pray and fast for peace on September 7th. I encourage people of all faiths and none to join that global day of fasting and prayer for peace, and to act for peace and against U.S. military intervention by the United States in Syria

Which Americans Will Arrive First To Syria?
By Franklin Lamb

Will 1000 American ‘human shields’ stop another criminal war?

Iraq All Over Again!
By William Blum

Found at last! After searching for 10 years, the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have finally been found – in Syria!

A Modest Proposal For Syria
By David Swanson

We in the United States have a responsibility. Syrians are not less worthy of proper deaths than ourselves. We need spare no financial expense due to prejudices of religion or ethnicity. It is time for us to step up as the International Community, while the rest of the world's nations fail. We can make sure Syrians meet a proper end

Towards The Vindication Of Syria Invasion
By Dr. Ismail Salami

In a stern tone, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday not to indulge any one-sided military action against Syria amid increasing fears that Washington is preparing to put this sinister idea into practical shape in cahoots with regional puppet regimes

Jordan Invites US Targets For Syrian Retaliation
By Nicola Nasser

Located at the crossroads of several regional crises, including the Palestinian – Israeli and Iraqi conflicts, Jordan has been in the eye of the Syrian storm for more than thirty months, and managed to navigate safely so far, but the reportedly imminent US strike is pressuring the country between the rock and the hard place of the antagonists of the war on Syria

The War Dynamics On Syria
By Marwan Asmar

The Arab Spring has for the most part unleashed a new psychological barrier where the Arab street is no longer afraid as can be seen by the mass demonstrations that gripped the Arab nation from its far western part to its extreme eastern, its north and south from Syria, and to a lesser extent Lebanon and Jordan to Yemen and Oman. All these factors make this region highly volatile. Unlike any other previous conflicts, this time it is states, parties, people who are polarized and split down the middle along with their international supporters. Such factors are obviously continually being assessed before the alarm bells of missile will be hurled into a very cloudy situation

10 Reasons Why The US Needs An Intervention In The US!
By Gary Corseri

They are winding up their war toys once again; these old, perverted men who hate the young. If hypocrisy were a syrup, their snouts and mouths would drool it

Overcoming 'Overburden': The Climate Crisis And A Unified Left Agenda
By Naomi Klein

Why unions need to join the climate fight

Dream Anniversary Celebration Shrouds King's ‘Beyond Vietnam'
Nightmare Sermon, His Martyrdom, Syrians
By Jay Janson

As US threatens Syria - 2013 ‘I Have a Dream' anniversary. No mention of the 1967 King, condemner of America's 'atrocity wars', who belatedly wanted to include the poor being slaughtered overseas for US investment profits in his dream of a just America. War investor owned conglomerate media promotes a patriotic war disinterested King, continues black out martyred King's fiery condemnation of atrocity wars for investments

$1.5 Trillion: Cost Of Syria Devastation
By Countercurrents.org

The cost of the devastating conflict in Syria has topped the $1.5-trillion mark, said a study published in Syrian daily Al-Watan on September 3, 2013

Day 59 Of California Prison Hunger Strike: “Their Spirits Are High, Their Bodies Are Weak"
By Sal Rodriguez

The hunger strike is now eight weeks in, with 40 on hunger strike all 58 days as of yesterday. An additional 88 hunger strikers are still on hunger strike

Normalising Israel- The Almond Tree Book Review
By Vacy Vlazna

Jewish American, Michelle Cohen Corasanti’s The Almond Tree should be retitled, The Normal Tree, because, as Shahada, the tree is witness, since 1947, to the normal daily atrocities by the Israeli occupiers of Palestine, and mainly because the author’s overall purpose is the normalisation of the illegal occupation through the turning of every Palestinian cheek

Barack Obama Is Perpetuating The Foreign Policy Of George W. Bush: Victor Thorn
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

American author and investigative reporter believes that with the enormous support offered to Israel by the United States government and the Congress, there's no reason for the Israelis to hold anti-American sentiments or be dissatisfied with the Americans. He also says that the financial and political institutions of the United States are dominated by the Israeli lobby

Psychoanalysing Psychiatrists And Psychologists Who Torture
By Robert J. Burrowes

Torturers, including those who are psychiatrists or psychologists, need our understanding and support: they are people who are badly emotionally damaged as a result of the torture/violence inflicted on them when they were children. But their violence, inflicted on behalf of their political masters, needs to be nonviolently resisted as well

Greenpeace Announces Revolutionary Electricity Model In Bihar
By Greenpeace India

Greenpeace today announced a one of its kind rural electrification model based on a smart micro grid in Dharnai village in Jehanabad district of Bihar. This ambitious solar powered micro-grid is being installed to showcase that the real solution for rural electrification lies in Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE)

Arrest Of Asaram Bapu: Business Of Faith
By Ram Puniyani

One knows that a section of population treats them like God; a section does need them to allay their mental pressures. One also knows that they have emerged due to the rising insecurities in the society due to the economic and political factors. They all operate under the garb of religion and faith so it becomes difficult to question their methods. Such a garb of faith lifts them above the ordinary and gives them some immunity from the laws of the land. The need for respecting people’s faith and knowing its limits without denigrating reason and law of the land was never felt more desperately

03 September, 2013

Obama Steps Up Drive To War Against Syria
By Peter Symonds

While the majority of the American people oppose war on Syria, this finds no reflection within the political establishment. Leaders of both political parties in Congress have declared their backing for the administration’s plans. As was the case a decade ago with the invasion of Iraq, the US Congress is preparing to rubberstamp an illegal war of aggression to prosecute the interests of American imperialism in the Middle East

Syria And America Exchange Messages As Both Peoples Breathe More Easily….For Now
By Franklin Lamb

The morning following President Obama’s announcement he would not bomb Syria immediately, the streets of Damascus were packed with shoppers and employees heading to their jobs. Several reasons for this were mentioned by my friend, Eyman. Some Damascenes who had fled their homes last week had returned, and a palpable sense of at least temporary relief pervades much of this capital city

Obama's Speech On Syria : Lies To Justify An Immoral War
By Larry Everest

Obama's speech was a move to impose a very warped, distorted, and false framework on discussion and debate over a U.S. attack on Syria . It situated a U.S. attack within a big lie about the benevolent role the U.S. has played and is playing in the world today. A U.S. attack on Syria would be another war crime in the long annals of U.S. war crimes. And, such an attack has the potential to spin out of control in unpredictable ways. Obama's speech was aimed at manufacturing public opinion within the U.S. for the war, but also at hammering out unity within the U.S. ruling class for an assault on Syria

US Diabolical Design For Syria
By Dr. Ismail Salami

In all this murky diabolical design is some degree of pleasant optimism: Washington no longer enjoys the support of other western countries in its military adventurism. It should act solo. The US is desperately alone now

Letter To A Syrian Friend
By Vijay Prashad

Syria deserves better. But now the cord of Syrian nationalism is wrapped around the neck of the Syrian people, asphyxiating your dreams of sovereignty and freedom. A mediated peace alongside a process for genuine democratization guaranteed by your neighboring states would strengthen the chances for the renewal of your national ambitions. Anything else will simply lead to the destruction of your country, its history, and its future

Iran Has Resisted The World's Most Powerful Forces
For Three Decades: American Pastor Dr. Randy Short
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

American pastor, historian and human rights activist Dr. Randy Short believes that the military expeditions of the United States and other imperial powers in the world have a common ultimate goal, that is, to exploit the vast energy resources of the oil-rich Middle East countries and bring independent nations such as Iran under their dominance and control

Tamils Stand With Rojava Kurds And Condemn Ethnic Cleansing By Islamists
By Karthick RM

We received the news of the horrible ethnic cleansing of Kurdish civilians in Rojava with great anguish. It is reported that Islamist thugs affiliated with the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra front carried out this brutal massacre in Rojava/Western Kurdistan, located in Northern Syria, over the last few days. It is also reported that civilians were butchered inside their homes, women and children were raped, and that there were also beheadings

Once Upon A Time
By John Spritzler

Once upon a time there was a country ruled by a small number of rich and evil men and women. The rulers led the country into one evil war after another. To get The People of the country to go along with the wars, the rulers told them Big Lies. Some people believed the lies and some didn't. But whether they believed the lies or not didn't matter very much because The People were not in power, only the evil rulers were

Delusional Thinking In The Age Of The Single Superpower
By Tom Engelhardt

Such a world should be fantastical enough for the wildest sort of dystopian fiction, for perhaps a novel titled 2014. What, after all, are we to make of a planet with a single superpower that lacks genuine enemies of any significance and that, to all appearances, has nonetheless been fighting a permanent global war with... well, itself -- and appears to be losing?

The Necessity Of Speaking
By Rakhshan Rizwan

I know that even poetry is not apolitical, nothing is. That, this carefully balanced world of controlled conversations and ritualistic avoidance is held in place by silence. And silence is political. It is where injustice festers, where genocide sows its poisonous seeds and where the laws of race, class, and ethnicity are laid out. We must all step into the whirling vortex of ‘noise’ and let it swallow us whole. We must speak

A Tree Friend For Jaseera And Her Children Fighting Sand Mining In Coastal Kerala
By Anitha S

I am Rizwana. I am 13 years old. Me, my sister Shifana and baby brother Mohammed have been here in front of the Trivandrum Secretariat along with our mother Jaseera for nearly a month now. I am sure you are wondering why. It is because our home and the sea shore of the village Madayi in Kannur District is in real danger

02 September, 2013

Hands Off Syria: Protests Around The World Against The Planned Assault
By Countercurrents.org

As US president Barack Obama announced that he will seek congressional authorization for a military intervention in Syria, protesters from around the world rallied against any war against Syria. Polls in the US, UK, France and other countries show strong opposition against the possible war

Take Action Against A War On Syria
By David Swanson

We who reject arguments for war are a majority now. We are a majority in Britain, where Parliament has already voted "No." We are a majority in Germany, which will not take part. We are a majority in France, where Parliament will be heard from soon. And we are a majority in the United States. Let Congress hear from you now!

Syria: A 12 Point Case Against Military Intervention
By Chandra Muzaffar

The House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of America should reject any form of US military intervention in Syria. Rejection would be a clear statement against war. It would be a lucid message on behalf of peace. There are at least 12 reasons why the US Congress, and the people of the world, should adopt such a stand

How The U.S. Left Is Failing Over Syria
By Shamus Cooke

There are four pieces of information that all left groups have a duty to report about Syria, but they have either ignored or minimized: 1) Obama presented zero evidence to back up his main justification for war: that the Syrian Government used chemical weapons against civilians. 2) A top UN investigator, Carla Del Ponte , blamed a previous chemical weapons attack on the U.S.-backed rebels. 3) Any attack on Syria, no matter how “limited,” has a high risk of expanding into neighboring countries if Syria exercises its right as a sovereign nation to defend itself. 4) A war against Syria will be a violation of international law, since it is not approved by the UN, and therefore will make President Obama a war criminal

The World Is Changing; The Middle East Must Too
By Dr Salim Nazzal

What is clear is that the time of absurd intervention has gone .And this is a clear defeat for those who still believe in the Tomahawk policy. They need to open their eyes to realize that the world has changed. And if the world is changing, the Middle East must change too. The efforts must now be focused on stopping the civil war in Syria to reach a political solution, which allows Syria to change towards democracy. In addition, it is by the time to address seriously the root of the problems in the middle east, which is the Zionist occupation of Palestine

Understanding Syrian Chaos: A Muslim Lens
By Adfar Shah

Assad should win the people back and connect to his public. He should not just deliver sermons in his house to his favorites but understand the mass suffering and compensate the victims properly. He should analyze the problem accurately and accept his mistakes but he is too confused at the moment. He should regulate his army and check any human rights violations further .Lastly, instead of fighting or killing the opposition (genuine groups), he should start negotiations for peace building

Why India Need A Federal Law Against ‘Miraculous Claims’ Of God Men
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

A strong federal law against superstition is essential and for that it is important that our health services must be easily accessible to rural poor but also our school and college curriculum should inculcate the spirit of ‘spirit of inquiry’ and humanism. It is also important that charitable status from such institutions which are religious and making billions must be withdrawn and they must be taxed and this tax could be used for the benefit of the poor. It is time to put a tight noose over such obscurantist forces that violate our rights and thwart the process of law

01 September, 2013

Syrian Rebels In Ghouta Report Chemical Attack Was A Rebel Mistake
By Countercurrents.org

As the clamour for an attack on Syria gathers momentum, Syrians in Ghouta say that Saudi supplied rebels were behind the chemical attack. Dale Gavlak who has been covering the Middle East for several years for several agencies including Associated Press , interviewed several people including rebels and their relatives in Ghouta where the deadly attack took place and quote several of them that the weapons may have been supplied by the Saudi intelligence and they went off accidently due to mishandling

Kerry on Syria : The Absurdity Of Certainty
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

There are far too many unanswered questions and potential possibilities - all of which underscore the absurdity of Kerry's certainty on Syria . As oft repeated on this topic - qui bono (who benefits)? For now it seems that Mr. Kerry's attention been redirected from the ‘peace plan' to war planning - at a ludicrously high cost to Syria and at the expense of America 's credibility

A View From Tehran
By Franklin Lamb

Truth told, it’s a bit intense these days in Tehran as in most other countries in this region, and this observer fairly soon may be on what just might be the last Tehran-Damascus flight for some time in light of what could occur in the coming days

The Significant Defeat
By Farooque Chowdhury

A setback precedes the Syria intervention plan as the British parliament brought a defeat on a treasury motion – MPs voted against immediate military intervention in Syria. It’s historic. And it carries a lot of messages for many

Propelling One Crime Against Humanity To Cause Another:
The Logic Of The Pathological Mind
By William A. Cook

Only the “vanquished know war” Chris Hedges weeps, but few will confront the victors that vanquish truth with lies pretending to be civilized. Thus does ignorance and might control our lives

Possible Consequences Of A U.S. Military Attack On Syria
By Ann Wright

Remembering the Marine Barracks destruction in Beirut, 1983

German Sun Beats Swiss Water
By Ray Smith

Water power is the backbone of Alpine countries' energy supply. Despite its important role in Europe 's energy shift, further development of hydroelectric infrastructure in Austria and Switzerland is on hold. On sunny, windy summer days in Germany , when millions of solar panels soak up the sun and wind turbines run at full speed, the German electricity network can't cope with the overcapacity. Especially on Sundays, production often exceeds demand. The result is low prices, at times even negative ones; which means customers get paid for buying electricity

NYPD Declares Mosques As Terrorist Organizations
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

The seven-million strong America Muslim community was shocked to know that the New York Police Department (NYPD) has secretly designated mosques as “terrorist organizations.” The Associated Press reported on August 28, 2013 that the designation allowed the police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, even without any evidence of criminal activity. According to the Associated Press report, designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance

Modi Goes To London
By Subhash Gatade

In an important write-up 'Narendra Modi, British Invitation And Universal Jurisdiction' a leading journalist N Jayaram tells us why 'for human rights groups, the prospect of Modi's London visit is not a crisis but an opportunity.'

Sexual Assault On Women: Two Cases, Where The Victims Denied Justice
By Forum Against Oppression of Women

As a feminist collective that was formed in the aftermath of the historic Mathura rape case in 1980, in which two police men had sexually assaulted a tribal girl within the police station, two recent cases of sexual assault (in Mumbai) have become matters of grave concern for us. These were filed by women against medical professionals who had committed the crime within their clinic or hospital

The Tales That Pictures Tell: Body Language In Strategy And Negotiations
By S.G.Vombatkere

Body language can complement and supplement spoken words. When the spoken words are unknown as in most meetings at high levels, interpreting the body language of leaders in media pictures, can be interesting and informative

 

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