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28 February, 2014
US, Europe Step Up Threats Against RussiaOver Ukraine
By Stefan Steinberg
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stepped up pressure on the Russian government after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday. "We expect other nations to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and avoid provocative action," Hagel declared. "That's why I'm closely watching Russia's military exercises along the Ukrainian border, which they just announced yesterday."
Ukraine Was A Playbook CIA Coup d'état
By Prof Francis Boyle
According to Professor Boyle what happened in Kiev was a playbook coup d'état by the CIA. Victoria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, working with the US Ambassador, were instrumental in carrying out the coup d'état, as it has been proven they were working with "the brown shirts": Svoboda, the right sector, the Bandera Nazis and skinheads
Ukraine Crisis: How Cooler Heads Can Prevail
By Institute For Public Accuracy
"Now is the time for serious political compromise, not for ratcheting up the rhetoric. I don't think Secretary Kerry's remarks about 'Rocky IV' are helpful. We need to get out of this zero sum thinking of Russia vs the West and navigate these shark infested waters and allow cooler heads to prevail and achieve an interim political accommodation."
Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Declare That Power Comes Out Of The Barrels Of Their Guns
By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Reality on the ground in Ukraine contradicts the incompetent and immoral Obama regime's portrait of Ukrainian democracy on the march. To the extent that government exists in post-coup Ukraine, it is laws dictated by gun and threat wielding thugs of the neo-Nazi, Russophobic, ultra-nationalist, right-wing parties
Ukraine: The Lies Of Empire And The Smokescreen Of Democracy
By Colin Todhunter
What the US is doing in Ukraine represents the brutality and lies of Empire attempting to hide behind the smokescreen of democracy
Return To Seyeda (Lady) Zeinab— Now Secured And In Protective Hands
By Franklin Lamb
Visiting Seyeda Zeinab is a wonderful, solemn, exhilarating and inspiring ecumenical experience—one highly recommended to all tourists planning to come to the Syrian Arab Republic as improving security conditions begin to allow for the return of international visitors
'After 3,000 Years Of Pain': Women's Liberation At Barefoot College
By Kathy Kelly
"The caste system gave us 3,000 years of pain," Ram Niwas told us. "But slowly, slowly, we are moving beyond it." He then began to tell me about women who are still subjected to the manual labor of cleaning dry toilets. They load slop from the village latrines and toilets into jars which they then carry, on their heads, to a dumping ground outside the village. The job is as dangerous as it is demeaning. People who do this work suffer infections and other illnesses. From age 13 - 15, this was how Ram Niwas earned a living
Netanyahu: "Peace? No Thanks But I'll Accept The Box Of Chocolates"
By Alan Hart
I have long thought that Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the PLO's Executive Committee and the Palestine Legislative Council, is the most articulate spokesperson in Israeli occupied territory for her cause. Her latest comment is a bleak assessment of the prospects for getting a real peace process going
AAP, Aapponents And Apne Aap
By Satya Sagar
There is probably no other new political formation in modern Indian history that has managed to offer so much hope and also upset so many people in as short a time as the Aam Aadmi Party. The key to AAP's future may well lie in how creatively it handles the conflicting tasks of building a movement and being a political party at the same time, while sticking to the principles that have attracted the kind of support it has got today from the people of India today
Traders And Soldiers: Mr Narendra Modi Speaks
By Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd)
"Narendra Modi: Traders have more risk-taking capacity than soldiers". This statement of Mr.Narendra Modi can demoralize the rank and file of our soldiers and young officers, who are the actual risk-takers. Mr.Narendra Modi needs to publicly apologize to the Indian soldier for having made that statement, even if made out of ignorance. Considering Mr.Narendra Modi's opinion regarding soldiers, one can only wonder what priority he will give to soldiers and soldiers' problems if he comes to political power in the general elections
The Anatomy Of Self-Immolation
By Rupam Sindhu Kalita
Pranab Boro a commonplace hill-dweller, in Guwahati, Assam, shocked everyone. He doused himself in petrol, struck a match and lit himself. He swerved, tottered and finally fell as a contingent of security personnel helplessly tried to wrap him in blankets. He died in hospital
Dear Cow
By N. Jayaram
"RUN, COW, RUN," I felt like telling you. "Walk away as fast and as far as you can. Seize the freedom that ought to be yours. Go away from this Brahminical, Casteist, Speciesist hellhole, where hundreds of generations of your forebears have been enslaved, tied up in confined spaces and tortured, your calves spirited away soon after birth, to be butchered if male, your milk stolen for years on end …"
27 February, 2014
After Pro-EU Putsch In Ukraine, Russia Puts Military On Alert
By Alex Lantier
The Kremlin carried out large-scale military exercises along its border with Ukraine yesterday, amid rising tensions with the Western-backed Ukrainian regime that seized power in Saturday's fascist-led putsch in Kiev. The military alert was billed as a "surprise comprehensive interoperability test" of armed forces in Russia's western and central military districts and its air force command. Some 150,000 soldiers, 90 warplanes, 120 attack helicopters, 880 tanks, and 90 ships reportedly participated
The Geopolitical Dimensions Of The Coup In Ukraine
By Peter Schwarz
"When the Soviet Union was collapsing in late 1991, Dick wanted to see the dismantlement not only of the Soviet Union and the Russian empire but of Russia itself, so it could never again be a threat to the rest of the world," wrote former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in his recently published memoirs. Gates was referring to the then-Secretary of Defense, and later US Vice President, Dick Cheney. The statement sheds light on the geopolitical dimensions of the recent putsch in Ukraine. What is at stake is not so much domestic issues—and not at all the fight against corruption and democracy—but rather an international struggle for power and influence that stretches back a quarter of a century
Remembering Chokwe Lumumba
By Laura Flanders
Can you be a revolutionary and a mayor? Chokwe Lumumba—who spent eight months as mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, before he died this Tuesday—did his best to be both
Is Weird Winter Weather Related To Climate Change?
By Fred Pearce
Scientists are trying to understand if the unusual weather in the Northern Hemisphere this winter — from record heat in Alaska to unprecedented flooding in Britain — is linked to climate change. One thing seems clear: Shifts in the jet stream play a key role and could become even more disruptive as the world warms
MADURO! Please Remind Obama! MLK Condemned US Atrocities
And Covert Violence On Three Continents
By Jay Janson
Dear President Maduro, slanderous Western media, promoting war and violence for capital gains of the mercilessly amoral automaton functioning speculative interest banking industry, has put you in their spotlight to better target you with defamation. This is then your opportunity to be heard a bit world-wide. In telling the truth about the USA, you will be protecting all of us, Venezuela included
Omar And The Checkpoint: The Essential Story That Is Rarely Told
By Ramzy Baroud
Trauma of Palestinians at Israeli check points told through the experience of seven year old boy, Omar
Stifling Discussion About Palestinian Human Rights
By Ron Forthofer
Despite the highly biased mainstream media reporting and Hollywood's negative role , awareness is growing and views are changing. The many excellent sources of more objective information available on the web play an important role in this change. People traveling to Palestine, meeting with Palestinians and sharing their experiences, as well as an increased number of human rights activists speaking out, also help to change perceptions. There is finally a glimmer of hope for a just resolution of this one-sided conflict
Nazis, Islamists, And The Making Of The Modern Middle East
Book Review By Dr. Ludwig Watzal
After having read the book, one gets the impression that the authors want to pursue a political agenda by establishing a close connection between the Nazi ideology and Islamist thinking. Some quoted material is heavily biased against Islam like the work of Bernard Lewis, Ephraim Karsh and others
Guns, Deaths And The Power Of Money In The US
By Fazal M. Kamal
Consider these stats as provided by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in the United States . In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour . 73,505 Americans were treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds the same year. Firearms were the third-leading cause of injury-related deaths nationwide in 2010, following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents
Pakistan And India: Looking Beyond
The Obvious Horizon To Future-Making
By Mahboob A. Khawaja
If there are any two nations with enriched common interests overriding the gruesome perpetuated animosity cluster that is Pakistan and India - the outgrowth of British imperialism? What went wrong with these poverty stricken emerging nations that they could not cleansed glued hatred of the past and fear of the unknown future? The problem rests with breaking the past and opening up new avenues for creative manifestation and encouraging people of new and educated generations on both sides to assume leadership with new imagination and vision for a conducive and sustainable future
26 February, 2014
Attempts Of EU, Far-Right Opposition To Set Up Ukraine Government Collapse
By Alex Lantier
Attempts to set up a government by the Western-backed Ukrainian opposition forces that seized power in Saturday's fascist putsch have collapsed amid rising demands for social attacks on the working class from Washington and the European Union (EU), and military tensions with Russia
Partitioning Ukraine? Threats To Jews And Others; Does Brzezinski Want To Partition Russia?
By Institute for Public Accuracy
Brzezinski wants to do to the Russian Federation what was done to the Soviet Union — crack it up into pieces
Israel's Role In Ukraine
By Alois Philby
Ukraine is today a veritable den of russophobic Israelis. On the one hand, Israel's interests coincide with those of the West in the sense that they both wish to limit the Russian sphere influence, whereas on the other Israel is advocating the agenda of oligarchs with dual or multiple citizenships jealously clinging on to assets stolen from the people of Russia
A Lesson From Ukraine
By John Spritzler
To the extent that egalitarianism has little or no organized presence in Ukraine, then to that extent Ukrainians will continue to be oppressed by inequality, by the rule of the few haves over the many have-nots. The haves may be Russian speaking or Ukrainian speaking, desirous of being in the Russian or European sphere of influence, liberal or fascist. But no matter what nationality the haves are, their goal is to make sure that the have-nots remain dominated, exploited and oppressed by the haves
National Endowment For Democracy (NED) In Venezuela
By Kim Scipes
NED and its institutes are not active in Venezuela to help promote democracy, as they claim, but in fact, to act against popular democracy in an effort to restore the rule of the elite, top-down democracy. They want to take popular democracy away from those nasty Chavistas, and show who is boss in the US Empire. This author bets they fail
Time To stop Inflating Israel's Huge Bubble Of Denial
By Jonathan Cook
Both Merkel's diplomatic niceties and her shouting matches have proven utterly ineffective. It is time for her and her western colleagues to stop talking and to start taking action against Israel
Who's Going To Lead The Way To A Sustainable Economy?
By Rob Dietz
It takes sensitivity to recognize social and environmental problems. It takes insight to understand the systems from which those problems emerge. It takes integrity to align actions with values in an effort to change the systems. It takes courage to confront the mainstream point of view. And it takes sacrifice to put aside comfort and convenience to strive for something more elusive. Doesn't it make you smile to know that students like William Miao are on such an honorable path?
Interpreting The Climate Impasse: A View From Indo–America
By Subhankar Banerjee
The two countries I know best are India and the US. I spent the first 22 years of my life in the former, and the following 24 in the latter, where I continue to live. Recently I returned home, after spending three months in India. The combination of what I saw there in plain view, and what I see here in America, may shed some light on—why we have arrived at the climate impasse
Debate Creationism Vs Evolution: Why Bother?
By Ernest Partridge
Creationism maintains its hold on approximately half the American population (by some accounts) through its inclusion in a "faith-based" thought world that seals itself off from the reality-based world of science. Encounters such as the Ham/Nye debate expose the faithful to evidence and reasoning that may be new to them
Government's Hypocrisy On Urban Transport
By Vidyadhar Date
The good news is that the government has begun though only in a small way to create awareness about sustainable transport. The bad news is that in reality the government is stabbing people in the back
Condemn The Brutal Police Violence On The Activists of VIBGYOR
By Concerned Citizens
We are shocked at the growing state violence and communal violence on the cultural activists and we demand an immediate action on the guilty police officers. We demand that all the guilty police officers be suspended and legal actions undertaken on them immediately. We appeal to all women's groups, human rights groups, activists and film personalities to strengthen this struggle against police violence on activists immediately. We appeal to all concerned sections to circulate this message immediately
India-Pakistan: Move From Cosmetic To Credible
Nuclear Confidence Building Measures
By Ali Ahmed
Both states must go beyond the desultory nuclear confidence building talks to discuss the doctrinal interaction and its consequences at the round of periodic talks. The aim in these must be to ensure credible Nuclear Risk Reduction Measures such as a jointly manned nuclear risk reduction centre, perhaps located outside the region or in a third country within South Asia. Since the two states are unlikely to do this on their own, believing that doing so will indicate a concern with the state of health of their deterrent, the impulse for this will have to emerge from civil society, and as mentioned, in times of 'peace'
How Not To Read History
By Jayanthi A Pushkaran
Now that the dust has settled over the decision of Penguin India to withdraw and pulp Wendy Doniger's book 'The Hindus-An alternative history' in an out of court settlement with a Hindu group that had protested against the book, one realises that scholarly work on history is increasingly being silenced by communal bullies in the name of national pride. A new intolerance is gripping India, gradually tightening its claws around not just the body politic but the mind of the nation
Liberal Hinduism Vs Sectarian Hindutva
By Ram Puniyani
Doniger talks of liberal Hinduism while RSS wants sectarian Hindutva imposed on the society. The struggle between liberal Hinduism and sectarian Hindutva is in full flow around the debate on this book
Mr. Modi! Don't Discriminate Sufferings On The Basis of Religion
By Ravi Nitesh
Mr. Modi told that any 'hindu' in any country is welcomed in India if they are suffering and when he told that all Bangladeshi 'Hindus' in India must be welcomed and settled by all states of India but Bangladeshi 'infiltrators' need to be detected and deported. With these statements, he perfectly resembled the indecency as he favors 'inequality' and 'biased' for a particular religion. Even this 'biased' view and approach will not help of anyone
Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?
By Sarah Hafeez
In a country like India for instance, much of the scorn and derision meted out to transgenders and bisexuals stems from the fear of anatomical and sexual orientations drastically different from the 'natural' order. It is almost as if one is frightened to look within and is apprehensive about finding the possibility of housing a nature so 'unnatural' to the order of things
25 February, 2014
The Venezuelan Protesters, Who Are They And What Do They Want?
By Alan MacLeod
Washington has been funding and training the heads of these protests for at least 12 years. Indeed, the US government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to overthrow the Venezuelan, Bolivian and Ecuadorean governments. Those leading the protests, Leopoldo Lopez and Maria Corina Machado, are not students, but two of the wealthiest people in South America; Machado is a personal friend of George W. Bush. She was also involved in the last three opposition attempts to overthrow the government: in 2002, 2002-2003 and 2004
Violence In Venezuela
By Farooque Chowdhury
Violence has again placed Venezuela on news headlines. And, it has exposed the source of the violence: vested interests, the rich with imperialist connections. Propaganda based on lies is also being exposed. Politics in Venezuela is polarized by class interests
Western-Backed Ukrainian Opposition Seizes Power In Fascist-Led Putsch
By Chris Marsden
The intervention of the United States, Germany, France and other European powers in Ukraine led to a putsch by far-right forces on Saturday. The negotiated settlement that Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, Laurent Fabius of France, and Radoslaw Sikorski of Poland imposed in Kiev, aiming to provide a semi-legal façade for the opposition's power grab, did not survive for a single day
Barack Obama: International Democracy Destroyer And Fascism Supporter
By Robert Barsocchini
Obama is continuing the democracy-hating USA's eternal policy of overthrowing democracies and replacing them with regimes that are compliant to the fascism, repression, and violent aggression requirements of the hated and feared US empire. These are not democratic uprisings - they are anti-democratic, fascist, violent minority uprisings and coups conceived, encouraged, funded, supported, controlled, and/or overseen by the USA
Apocalypses Everywhere : Is There Any Hope In An Era Filled With Gloom And Doom?
By Ira Chernus
Two clouds of genuine doom still darken our world: nuclear extermination and environmental extinction. If they got the urgent action they deserve, they would be at the top of our political priority list
GMO Industry Puppets In High Places
By Colin Todhunter
Anne Glover recently declared that there is no evidence pertaining to the adverse impacts of GMOs. This is an extremely disturbing statement. It's extremely disturbing because it is not only patently wrong, but also because Anne Glover is chief scientific adviser of the European Commission
The Law Of Unintended Consequences: U.S. Drug "War" Destroys Rain Forests
By Thomas Riggins
It seems that the drug war in Mexico, fueled by the misguided anti-drug policies of the United States and the Mexican government (relying on military action and violence instead legalization and reform) has driven the drug gangs deep into the remotest areas of the jungles of Central America-- especially into supposedly protected regions where they are destroying large areas of the virgin forests to build airstrips, roads, and storage facilities to facilitate their drug activities
The Depressing Paradox Of Bosnian Protests
By Milan Djurasovic
A short review of how Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), with its own genius and the benevolence of the International Community, became a depressing paradox that it is today is essential in order to understand the protests that have been taking place for the past couple of weeks
"How To Jump-Start Your Union" by Labor Notes – A Book Review
By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer
HOW TO JUMP-START YOUR UNION, just released by Labor Notes, is an invaluable book for any union activist. It details the successful 2010 strike by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), starting with the formation of CORE (Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators) back in 2008 when they had only 22 members; their election to union leadership positions in 2010 when their membership had swelled to 400; and their determination to maintain the struggle in the aftermath of the strike. The book is well written, easy to read, and includes all the essential day-to-day tactics as well as the larger strategic vision that were both responsible for the union's resounding success
AgriCrisis In India: The Perilous Design Of Neo-liberal Agenda
By Raj Kumar
Despite diversities, Indian farming system has a three dimensional common binding thread of: geo-culture, ecological ethics, and reciprocal local economy. Unfortunately the systems of governance, policy formulation, and education research have not paid serious attention on these three factors. Vowing to the pressure of new-liberal regime, the country's primary sector has been dragged into a ever looming dangerous zone. As targetted by neo-liberal lobby, this enabled the corporate to amass wealth in a shorter period. On the part of grassroots what is going on is an unimaginable cruel thing
Remembering Kunan Poshpora And The Unchallenged "Collective Conscience"
By Devika Mittal
23 years ago, one of the most shocking and unforgettable memories was entrenched in the minds of Kashmiris. It was February 23, 23 years ago, when the Kunan Poshpora happened. About 53 women were allegedly raped by men of the Rajputana Rifles in the two villages of Kunan and Poshpora in the Kupwara district. Their inhumanity had not even spared minor girls, pregnant women and aged women
Kunan Poshpora: Rape As A Weapon Of Intimidation And Humiliation
By Hameedah Nayeem
KCSDS (Kashmir Centre for Social & Developmental studies), a civil Society group of Kashmir, in a meeting commemorated the Kunan Poshpora rape survivors of 23 feb 1991. Needless to say that rape has been and continues to be used as a weapon of intimidation and humiliation by the powers that be to crush the dissenters both physically and psychologically
India: Hurt, Hunger And Humiliation For The Refugees Of The Republic
Asian Legal Resource Centre's written submission on the plight of the victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots to the UN Human Rights Council
A Knot To Protect Trees
By Anitha S
It felt good to think that the green ribbons on the trees were actually tied on Future's hands so that the green brothers and sisters will spread shade for many more years to come. We felt that more trees and flowering plants should be planted in this magnificient school campus so that many more children can come here, learn and play absorbing the real life skills in the lap of Nature
22 February, 2014
"No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields Of Sri Lanka" To Be Released Online In India
By Countercurrents.org
The documentary "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" has been refused a censor certificate for release in theaters by the Indian Central Board of Film Certification. In response, Callum Macrae, the documentary's director has decided to make it available free online in India – from Sunday 23 February on http://nofirezone.org/watch
Exxon CEO Comes Out Against Fracking Project Because It Will Affect His Property Values
By Rebecca Leber
As ExxonMobil's CEO, it's Rex Tillerson's job to promote the hydraulic fracturing enabling the recent oil and gas boom, and fight regulatory oversight. The exception is when Tillerson's $5 million property value might be harmed. Tillerson has joined a lawsuit that cites fracking's consequences in order to block the construction of a 160-foot water tower next to his and his wife's Texas home
Study Confirms Tar Sands Mining Destroying Local Ecosystems
By Andrea Germanos
A new study puts the spotlight on tar sands' threat to one of the planet's precious and increasingly scarce resources—water. The study by Environment Canada shows that tailings ponds, open 'lakes' that hold toxic bi-products from tar sands mining, are leaching into groundwater and contaminating Alberta's Athabasa River
Ukraine Part Of US/NATO/EU Plan To Break Up Russia
Interview With Prof Francis Boyle
Ukraine has for a long time been a strategic objective of the United States and trying to get Ukraine into NATO. And this EU plan was simply a first step in that direction. The EU wasn't really offering anything to Ukraine. But it was very clear, if they could move Ukraine closer to the EU, that would be a step closer to NATO. In fact, I regret to say over the years, even though I have EU citizenship and carry an EU passport, the EU now has become nothing but an anteroom to NATO
Hypocritical, Decadent US Preaches "Freedom" T o Our Dying World
By Gary Corseri
Gun-crazy, violent America preaches "freedom" to the world, but doesn't begin to understand the word. We worship idiot celebrities and ignore the great teachers—Martin Luther King, Jesus, Mohammed, Lao Tzu, Socrates, et.al. We choke on the polluted air spewing from politicians, corporate criminals and media pimps; freeze in the "polar vectors" of our hearts. In freedom's name, we kill the freedom to think, to question, to contextualize, to challenge the absurd
'Coalition Of The Willing' Promotes No Fly Zone
By Franklin Lamb
If President Obama extends his record of putting American interests first to three key decisions over the past six months, and if he sticks with diplomacy rather than launch all-out war with Syria, and potentially the allies of Damascus, via a NFZ, he just may be on his way to earning his per-maturely awarded Nobel Prize
Syria: Destroying Humanity's Heritage
By Chandra Muzaffar
One of the most tragic consequences of the three year war in Syria has been the destruction of historic architectural sites and the loss of archaeological treasures of immense significance. Severe damage has been caused to all six world heritage sites in the country. Syria is arguably that one place on earth that has more ancient monuments and historic sites than any other country in the world
Book Review: "Wanting" By Richard Flanagan – Exposing
British Imperial Racism And Tasmanian Aboriginal Genocide
By Dr Gideon Polya
The novel "Wanting" by civilized Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan is an historical novel (faction) that exposes genocidal British racism and in particular the Tasmanian Aboriginal Genocide. "Wanting" links on the one hand the merciless, near-comprehensive, 19th century British Tasmanian Aboriginal Genocide
Strike: They Need Us More Than We Need Them
By Mickey Z.
Imagine: No one to drive their limos, tutor their kids, do their laundry, landscape their property, walk their dogs, open doors for them, reboot their damn laptops when they crash, and best of all: no one to fight their wars. Ultimately, the 1% can mock us all they want, but they won't be laughing as they watch stock prices and corporate profits take an abrupt nose-dive. How and why? Two words: General Strike
First Anniversary Of 21st February Trade Union Strike:
Workers' Protest Demanding Their Rights
By AICCTU& RYA
Hundreds of workers gathered in front of City Magistrate Office in Noida (India) demanding the release of their fellow comrades falsely arrested during the nationwide trade union strike on February 21st 2013. Many workers belonging to various trade unions are still logged in jail and charged with false cases under the direction of UP Government to protect the vested interests of bourgeoisie industrialists
Trees Speak
By Anitha S
These are my thoughts on a morning after an evening when summer rains cooled the city. I stand in the fading moonlight with my leaves cleansed of the dust all ready to absorb the energy of the rising Sun. I know there are many people in the city who care and love me. I hope they will stand for us, their tall green friends
The 2014 Elections, A Secular United Front And The Aam Aadmi Party
By Concerned Citizens
Left-wing and anti-communal activists who are serious about defeating Modi in the coming elections should stay out of AAP and refrain from campaigning for it (because their support for AAP will help the BJP by further fragmenting the anti-BJP vote and driving right-wing AAP supporters to vote for the BJP), and vote for an AAP candidate if and only if there is no other candidate who has a good chance of defeating the BJP/NDA in that particular constituency. After the elections, there will be time enough for those who have already joined AAP to try and push it to the Left, gender-sensitise it, or whatever – but not now. At present, campaigning against Modi and the BJP, working for a broad secular electoral United Front, and organising strategic voting against the BJP are the priorities
21 February, 2014
Dozens Killed In Ukraine
By Stefan Steinberg
European Union foreign ministers stepped up pressure on the Ukrainian government Thursday as fresh fighting between protesters and police left dozens dead. Estimates of the death toll ranged from 25 to 100, with most reports placing the number at around 70, making Thursday the bloodiest in several days of clashes involving armed protesters and riot police
Ukraine: Another Complex Revolution
By Luke Cooper
Recent events in Ukraine suggest that the movement that erupted at the end of November last year may be undergoing the transition from protest to power. In doing so, it has also given rise to all of the complexity and pitfalls that this inevitably involves. Even more so than in Egypt, Ukraine's #Euromaidan (literally 'Euro-square') movement exhibits little in the way of socialist consciousness, let alone goals – a trend, indeed, hardly unique to these countries either. Yet, like in Egypt, the crippling poverty and levels of inequality that are characteristic of modern capitalism have driven the aspiration for democratic change in Ukraine
Death Toll Rises To Six As Clashes Continue In Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken
The death toll in the week of clashes that began February 12 in Venezuela rose to six Wednesday as President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of fomenting violent upheavals in the country. A stray bullet struck 23-year-old student Genesis Carmona in the head during an opposition protest in the northern city of Valencia Wednesday. Carmona, who was named the state of Carabobo's "Miss Tourism" in 2013, died from her wounds
Egyptian Historic Breakthrough With Russia, Not A Strategic Shift Yet
By Nicola Nasser
The recent two-day first official visit in forty years by an Egyptian defense minister to Russia of Egypt's strongman Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, accompanied by Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, was indeed an historic breakthrough in bilateral relations, but it is still premature to deal with or build on it as a strategic shift away from the country's more than three-decade strategic alliance with the United States
End Wage Slavery And Unemployment – Abolish Money
By Janet Surman
Removing money from the current economic equation would strike most people as impossible, unthinkable, absolutely imponderable. Everything we do, every transaction we make, from posting a letter to sending a space probe to Mars, from birth to death and at every step in between, money has become a necessary part of getting what we require. It has become an accepted, entrenched method of acquiring anything and everything BUT it wasn't always so and in a genuine socialist system money will be shown to have been an unnecessary, wasteful and divisive way of ordering world communities
Operation Nazification
By David Swanson
Annie Jacobsen's new book is called Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America . It isn't terribly secret anymore, of course, and it was never very intelligent. Jacobsen has added some details, and the U.S. government is still hiding many more. But the basic facts have been available; they're just left out of most U.S. history books, movies, and television programs
Australian Communities Living I n A Toxic Plume Of Smoke: WelcomeTo The 'Lucky Country'
By Dr Chris James
A three kilometres fire is roaring out of control in the open cut mine at the Hazelwood Power Station in the Australian State of Victoria. It has been burning since February 9 th 2014. Nineteen fire fighters have been hospitalised after falling ill from carbon monoxide fumes, 200 fire fighters and mine staff cannot stop the blaze in the volatile conditions and nearby residents in the towns of Morwell and Traralgon have been advised to leave. Schools have closed, but the government has not supported a compulsory evacuation. The majority of people in these towns are on a low income and cannot afford to shift
Peace In Plural Societies
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
It is a psychological reality that one generally takes the critique or admonishment of people whom one considers one's own in a positive way, and, accordingly, reforms oneself. On the other hand, one generally takes the criticism of people one does not know or whom one considers as the 'other' as an insult to one's honour, and so it does not have a positive impact. With regard to the issue of communal harmony, it is very necessary to keep this bit of practical wisdom in mind
20 February, 2014
Vicious Global Warming Feedback Loop Worse Than Feared
By Jacob Chamberlain
One of nature's key defenses against global warming—the reflection of the sun's rays away from Earth by Arctic sea ice—has fallen victim to... global warming. And according to a study published Monday, the vicious feedback loop is worse than previously thought. The new research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the ability of the Arctic ice to reflect sunlight—known scientifically as albedo—has decreased dramatically since 1979, with the calculations showing the region's ability to reflect sunlight diminished more than twice what previous studies have shown
The Libyan Bedlam: General Hifter, The CIA And The Unfinished Coup
By Ramzy Baroud
On Friday, Feb 14, 92 prisoners escaped from their prison in the Libyan town of Zliten. 19 of them were eventually recaptured, two of whom were wounded in clashes with the guards. It was just another daily episode highlighting the utter chaos which has engulfed Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011. On that same Friday, Feb 14, Maj. Gen. Khalifa Hifter announced a coup in Libya
Thug State U.S.A.
By Tom Engelhardt
Shadow government has conquered twenty-first-century Washington. We have the makings of a thug state of the first order
It's Him: Zawahiri Asks For An Intifada In Bangladesh
By Taj Hashmi
Bangladeshis should not waste time debating the credibility of the Zawahiri podcast, and blaming each other for "doctoring" the audio for reason X or reason Y. In the backdrop of the Zawahiri message, there is no room for complacency in Bangladesh only because the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi Muslims hate religious extremism. Al Qaeda never terrorises and bleeds nations with the support of the majorities. A handful of al Qaeda activists are more than enough to destabilize a country for decades
Bangladesh: Failing To See The Woods For The Trees
By Fazal M. Kamal
Spurious or not the al-Qaida message makes it even more imperative for the administration and the ruling party to urgently work toward a resolution of the existing political crisis which they themselves have created
Lawrence Lessig's Wrongheaded March To End Corruption
By John Spritzler
Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Constitutional scholar (like President Obama once was), is leading a march against corruption, by which he means the inordinate influence of Big Money on Congress. As well-intentioned as the people following Lessig may be, and as well-intentioned as Lessig himself may be, their proposed solution to the problem of Big Money power in the United States is wrongheaded
Another World Is Possible
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
A visit to the Galilee just emphasized to me that we are on the right track to one democratic state where we live together in equality, peace, and harmony. Another world is coming. As you will see below, there is no difference in colonial settlement activity inside 1948 or 1967 occupied areas but that is all temporary phenomenon. Since my trip was focused on environmental issues and science (biodiversity), I was more concerned about time passage that makes the environmental destruction in the Galilee irreversible
Sri Lanka : "Life Has To Be Designed By Your Intellect And Not By Emotion"
- An Interview with Justice C. V. Wigneswaran
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa
Justice Wigneswaran needs no introduction. He is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, judge and politician. He was in turn magistrate, and then judge of the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. After his retirement he was elected as the Chief Minister of the Northern Province when the Province held its election in 2013
Stuck Between The Politics Of Oppressive Governments And 'Peace' Activists:
The Plight of Pakistani Hindu Refugees
By Devika Mittal
A group of about 100 people are sitting on an indefinite strike on Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. They are organised under a group called Seemant Lok Sanghathan - Universal Just Action Society that has been working for rights of Pak Hindu Migrants since a long time. The head of the organisation, Hindu Singh Sodha, is also a Pakistani Refugees who had migrated in 1970s. While about 100 people were on Jantar Mantar, according to Mr. Sodha, in Rajasthan alone from where they have come, more than one lakh Pakistan Hindu refugees are living. Most of them are farmers and daily wage workers
19 February, 2014
As Fracking Booms, Growing Concerns About Wastewater
By Roger Real Drouin
With hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas continuing to proliferate across the U.S., scientists and environmental activists are raising questions about whether millions of gallons of contaminated drilling fluids could be threatening water supplies and human health
Clashes In Ukraine Signal Escalation of US-EU Intervention
By Oliver Campbell & Peter Symonds
Violent clashes between police and protesters yesterday in Kiev mark an escalation of the campaign by the pro-Western opposition to oust Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The opposition, backed by the United States and German governments, aims to install a far-right regime committed to integrating Ukraine within the European Union and implementing its demands for austerity measures
Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Sues State Dept. For Putting Him On Watch List
By The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of U.S. military veteran and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern against John Kerry, in his capacity as the Secretary of State, and against officers at George Washington University. Lawsuit Challenges Brutal Arrest at Clinton speech. For anti-war beliefs, State Dept. instructed agents to stop and question McGovern on sight
How Studying In Asia Made Me See The Need For A Steady State Economy
By Jan de Graaf
The predicament of the over-consuming countries raises some fundamental questions: how can we call our current economic growth "progress" if it can never be attained by all? And how can we call our current economic growth "progress" if it is based on depleting precious nonrenewable resources? Real progress would take the form of new political and economic models that achieve a sustainable and resilient equilibrium
Celebrate World Social Justice Day – February 20
By Brian J. Trautman
In one of his most famous writings, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said of injustice, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." In other words, the very existence of injustice has implications for us all. Thus, we each have a responsibility to actively challenge unjust power structures wherever they should surface. According to the United Nations, "the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have never been more relevant than they are today."
Why Stopping The Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump Is Worth Remembering...
By Vincent L. Guarisco
On February 8, 2014, I was honored to attend the 16th Annual Ward Valley Spiritual Gathering Reunion. A wonderful event hosted by my local Ft. Mohave Indian Tribe. Thanks to them, each year, we gather together in celebration... and always with an important lesson to all citizens everywhere. The message is quite simple. Regardless of the opposition, victory can and will prevail when enough folks unite as one and actively become engaged for a worthy purpose or cause
Why Anti-Semitism Is An Outdated Pretext
By Kourosh Ziabari
Why is it that any criticism of the actions and policies of the Israeli regime is denounced as anti-Semitism and hate speech, but all sorts of blasphemous insults against the Muslims, their holy book, prophet and other sanctities are vindicated and defended as a matter of freedom of speech?
Why Do We Fear The Truth?
By Robert J. Burrowes
The most important impediment to understanding and resolving any problem or conflict is our fear of knowing the truth. We spend a lot of our time trying to deal with problems and conflicts by deluding ourself about the cause and/or the solution necessary
Caste Society: A Pan-Africanist View In A Technologically Advanced 21 st Century
By Tsungai Chipato
As a foreigner when reading about Dalit history, I have marveled at the similarities between other disenfranchised ethnic groups such as mine; and that of Dr Ambedkar's . It became surprising to me, that the Dalit were not discussed as much as Black people were, especially since; for an ethnic group the Dalit had over 3 500 years of consistent subjugation in evidence
On Why Caste Based Reservation Is Necessary
By Umakant
With regards to the question as to how long should caste based reservation continue there can only be one answer. Until and unless the attributes of the caste system vanishes how could people belonging to different castes as arranged in an iniquitous relationship be treated equal. It is only the complete annihilation of the caste system that would justify the need for doing away with the caste based reservation. Those who believe in political democracy must also believe in social and economic democracy or else the goal of establishing an egalitarian society based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity would remain meaningless
Omar Abdullah In Chair But Not In Command
By Abdul Majid Zargar
Omar Abdullah may be in chair but he is not in command of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. This is evident from his tweet that on February 9, internet was blocked by security agencies without his knowledge and consent. Admittedly he was not even consulted on the issue. Permission is a far cry
What We Want From Our Members Of Legislatures
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
It is a very difficult task to build the institutions but it is easier to dissolve these. Perhaps same is taking place in the country in present time where sanctity of the institutions like legislatures both at centre and in the states is exhibiting a serious decline. This decline is taking place in continuous manner.
Revolutionary Sparks In The Air Of Zanzibar
Book Review By Sarbjit Johal
The threat of liberation – Imperialism and Revolution in Zanzibar written by Amrit Wilson is all about the people who dared to organise for an independent socialist Zanzibar, the conditions in which they struggled and about how that flame of resistance continued to burn and will never be extinguished
Lenin On The "Withering Away'' Of The State And Violent Revolution
By Thomas Riggins
Lenin discusses these two topics in section four of chapter one of The State and Revolution (1917). This section begins with a long quote from Engels' 1870s work Anti-Dühring. The quote begins with " The proletariat seizes state power and turns the means of production into state property to begin with. But thereby it abolishes itself as the proletariat, abolishes all class distinctions and class antagonisms and abolishes the state as state."
18 February, 2014
Over One Million Petition For Brazil To Grant Asylum To Snowden
By Bill Van Auken
Supporters of Edward Snowden have handed in to Brazil's Foreign Ministry a petition signed by more than 1.1 million people calling upon the government of President Dilma Rousseff to grant the US National Security Agency whistle-blower asylum in the country. The petition, begun last November on the Avaaz web site, gathered support from throughout Brazil and around the world, providing a powerful expression of the immense popular support for Snowden and hostility to the global spying operations of the NSA
We Demand An Investigation: NSA And GCHQ Spying On WikiLeaks
By Julian Assange
Julian Assange calls for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the NSA, after documents show US spying on WikiLeaks and its supporters
Going With The Wind - Understanding Decadal-Scale Departure
From The Longer-Term Global Warming Trend
By Matthew England
A new paper in Nature Climate Change out this week by England and others joins a number of other recent papers seeking to understand the climate dynamics that have led to the so-called "slowdown" in global warming. A very consistent understanding is emerging of the coupled ocean and atmosphere dynamics that have caused the recent decadal-scale departure from the longer-term global warming trend. That understanding suggests that the "slowdown" in warming is unlikely to continue, as England explains in his guest post
The Keystone Principle And Canada
By Bill Henderson
No new fossil fuel infrastructure: every cent is an investment in death for our kids. This is the emerging line in the sand dictated by the carbon budget science if we are serious in protecting our kids from climate change
How America Was Lost
Book Review By Dr. Ludwig Watzal
Review of Paul Craig Roberts' book "How America was Lost. From 9/11 to the Police/Warfare State''
Judaism And Zionism: A Divorce In The Making…?
By Alan Hart
Why should Judaism unshackle itself from Zionism? One part of the short answer is that the credibility of Judaism is being undermined by Zionism's contempt for its moral values and ethical principles, In that sense there's a case for saying that Zionism is a threat to survival of Judaism
Understanding Modern Israel: Why It is Driving The World Towards madness
By John Chuckman
Nothing that Israel does in its affairs would be of quite such great concern to the world were it not for the fact that Israel drags along, willy-nilly, the world's greatest power, much like some impressive-looking but feeble-willed, dazed parent stumbling along behind a screaming toddler demanding yet another goody. The threat of serious wars has grown exponentially in recent decades precisely owing to this fact, and not just wars but wars reflecting neither justice nor principle
The Do Nothing Peace Machine: Why Zionism Negates Peace
By William A. Cook
In bringing this ancient mindset into their midst, the Zionists have created a fearsome and loathsome nightmare not unlike Kafka's "Burrow" where "unseen enemies crawl through the dark tunnels" and the narrator, Kafka's only first person tale of horror, feels "threatened not only by outside enemies, but enemies within, in the earth's entrails," and they are legendary, and "I believe in them."
Drone Killing The Fifth Amendment
By Peter Van Buren
How to Build a Post-Constitutional America One Death at a Time
Occupy This Book (excerpt)
By Mickey Z.
Genetic DNA can often be tough to challenge, but cultural DNA can be redesigned. In fact, our cultural DNA can be reinvented at any time, as often as we choose. You don't need a college degree, a big bank account, or permission from the powers-that-be to make the choice to see with new eyes
US-EU Free Trade Agreement: More Secrecy And More Duplicity Revealed
By Colin Todhunter
Current bilateral free trade agreement negotiations are shrouded in secrecy and are closed to proper public scrutiny. This is because they effectively constitute part of the ongoing corporate hijack of democracy and the further restructuring of economies in favour of elite interests
AAP And Medha Patkar
By Joe.M.S.
It would be opportune for people like Medha to understand the complexities of the situation because racial equality should go hand in hand with ecology . Then only can a new progressive ecological politics garner the support of the subaltern all over the world
A Home Away From Home
By Anitha.S
I am Irshad. I am 12 years old and study in the Attakulangara Central High School in the East Fort area of Thiruvananthapuram city. Yesterday afternoon, me and my classmates along with many other students in the school had a different experience. We were taken out into the school compound to see trees, know their names and learn more about them
Presidents Day! USA Honors 12 Commanders-in Chief Prosecutable
For Wrongful Deaths In 26 Nations
By Jay Janson
Eminent historian Prof. Noam Chomsky, has said over and over again, without provoking much negative outcry, "If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged." U S Chief Prosecutor Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg trials of Germans in 1945, felt obliged to point out that "these laws are not meant only for Germans, but for the citizens of all nations." Why do Americans not get it?
Do We Care About People If They Live in Bahrain?
By David Swanson
For three years now people in the little island nation of Bahrain have been nonviolently protesting and demanding democratic reforms. For three years now the king of Bahrain and his royal thugs have been shooting, kidnapping, torturing, imprisoning, and terrorizing nonviolent opponents. An opponent includes anyone speaking up for human rights or even "insulting" the king or his flag, which carries a sentence of 7 years in prison and a hefty fine. For three years now, the U.S. government has been tolerating the abuses committed by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, continuing to sell weapons to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and continuing to dock the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain
Pakistan: Taliban Peace Talks How To Make Sense, Out Of Nonsense?
By Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja
Nawaz Sharif has no vision of the future or leadership role to help Pakistan as daily bloodbath continues under one or another media headlines; nobody can predict how these unknown and halfhearted talks will change the political landscape for peace when the Nation's own future is at stake
Recent Incidents of Targeted Violence in Karbi Anglong District
Fact Finding Report
This report presents our findings as a fact-finding team (FFT) that went to Karbi Anglong district mid-January to inquire into a series of targeted attacks and the retaliatory violence that followed. As a team, we sought to fully comprehend the factual record and the specific political context within which these incidents occurred. We have found that perpetrators of violence have not been identified, far less brought to book. This has allowed for rumour to flourish and mutual suspicions to mount. A deepening estrangement between the Karbis and Rengma Nagas living in the district could be the outcome. The multiple armed groups that operate in the district and the wider region with agendas that remain unclear, often using methods of terror and extortion, could become bolder as a result
16 February, 2014
Second Round Syria Peace Talks End In Failure
By Countercurrents
A second round of peace talks between Syria's warring sides broke off on Saturday without making any progress and without a date being set for a third round.The UN-Arab League mediator of the talks, Lakhdar Brahimi, issued an apology to the Syrian people after the negotiators parted ways once again
How Not To Get Aid Into Homs, Yarmouk, And To 9.3 Million Syrians via A UN Resolution
By Franklin Lamb
The starving victims besieged in Syria, and all people of goodwill, are demanding immediate, non-politicized humanitarian aid without further delay. Virtually every American voter is in a position to pressure his or her congressional representative, and would possibly achieve much good by making the White House aware of their demands to end playing international 'gotcha' politics, and to cooperate to end the needless deaths by starvation that continue today
On Reading Morani Kornberg Weiss' "Dear Darwish"
By Vacy Vlazna
When I received your book of poetry, Dear Darwish, I was excited with the possibility that here could be another welcome Israeli voice to join respected Israeli dissidents like Gila Svirsky, Miko Peled, Maya Wind, Ilan Pappe, Tali Shapiro, Amira Hass, Rami Elhanan, Yehuda Shaul, Avigail Abarbanel, Jeff Halper, Dorothy Naor, Guy Butavia to name but a few. However the poems in your collection reveal that your 'transformation' has some way to go before you reach the place, where, for example, Peled and Pappe, free from Zionist brainwashing, speak, neither 'for,' nor 'to' but 'WITH' the Palestinians against injustice
Today's Egypt In A Song: Rima Is Back To Her Old Ways
By Mamoon Alabbasi
The song 'Rima' is not only a work of art in the aesthetic sense but it is also a noble act of bravery. It sings truth to power without compromising on 'form' for the sake of 'content'. There is cohesion between the melody, lyrics and video clip, which are tied up together by a folkloric flavour
USA's Efforts For A New Election To Restore Democracy In Bangladesh
By M Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury
Bangladesh cannot avoid world's pressure to dissolve unaccepted parliament and will have to organise a new parliamentary election, which is obviously a manifestation in favour of mass people of Bangladesh. The sooner the government of Bangladesh understands this reality, the better for the country and its people
A Low In Bangladesh-US Relations
By Farooque Chowdhury
Dan Mozena, the US ambassador in Bangladesh, has recently told Dhaka journalist: "The US relations with Bangladesh are not usual". He said: The US interaction with the present government is not business as usual. No doubt, the publicly made observation is part of public diplomacy. Purpose of public diplomacy is known to all. However, at least a part of a reality has come out to public view
Bangladesh: Where Have All The Molotov Cocktails Gone?
By Taj Hashmi
Unless the country adopts democratic methods to run its government, desensitized people may be lured into adopting Molotov Cocktails and even more deadly weapons as their only means to live with dignity and honour. As India should not take Bangladesh for a ride, the Government should not consider the people too stupid to understand its cry wolf jingles, "Islamists are coming" and "After us the deluge". Sooner the Government comes to its senses, the better
Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide And Aboriginal Ethnocide
By Politically Correct Racist Apartheid Australia
By Dr Gideon Polya
Decent Australians should (a) inform everyone they can, and (b) vote 1 Green and put the Coalition last. Decent folk around the world should urge and apply Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against all those complicit in the ongoing Australian Aboriginal Genocide, just as they urge and apply BDS against Apartheid Australia-backed Apartheid Israel's ongoing Palestinian Genocide
Pro-Israeli Bill Threatens US Academic Freedom
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Congressman Roskam, the Chief Deputy Whip and co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, and Democratic Rep. from Illinois Dan Lipinski have recently introduced the so called "Protect Academic Freedom Act" that would deny federal funding to colleges and universities that participate in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars
How To Remove The Rich From Power And Abolish Class Inequality
By John Spritzler
These steps focus on the United States. The same steps need to be taken by people in other countries as well. The more globally this happens, the less able the ruling class in one country will be to remain in power because of help from the ruling class in another country
Dancing With Death At Death Cafes
By Shepherd Bliss
Each death is unique and personal. We can recover from them. Death Cafes are not grief groups where people get counseling. They exist to talk and listen to stories about death, without judgment. They can be more fun than I would have imagined
14 February, 2014
NSA Spying Poses Direct Threat To Journalism
By Kate Randall
Massive spying by the National Security Agency (NSA) poses a "direct threat to journalism," according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released Wednesday. The CPJ is warning, in particular, that the agency's dragnet of communications data threatens to make it "next to impossible for journalists to keep sources confidential."
Victory To People: "Ocean of Tears" Screened, Despite Hindutwa Hooliganism
By Countercurrents.org
The screening of the documentary film "Ocean of Tears" by Bilal A. Jan went ahead as scheduled in the face violent effort by Hindutwa fascist elements to prevent the screening in VIBGYOR documentary film festival being held in Thrissur, Kerala. Some fascist elements barged into the venue and damaged the office of VIBGYOR. They tried to man handle viewers present. But people resolutely resisted the fascist forces. In the meantime police intervened and the miscreants were forcefully removed from the venue and the screening went ahead as planned
In The Carbon Wars, Big Oil Is Winning
By Michael T. Klare
The gravitational pull of carbon is immensely powerful. It cannot be overcome by symbolic gestures or half measures. The pressures to keep burning fossil fuels are too great to be overcome in piecemeal fashion. Rather, these forces must be met head-on, with the institutionalization of equally powerful counter-forces that make fossil fuels economically unattractive. We humans have a choice: we can succumb to carbon's gravitational pull and so suffer from increasingly harsh planetary conditions, or resist and avoid the most deadly consequences of climate change
Income Inequality In The US And Its Shameful Impact
By Fazal M. Kamal
For a country that's now producing the almost inconceivable quantum computer---the so-called Infinity Machine---and which has the world's largest economy, and in brief is the richest nation in the known universe, it isn't merely a crying shame but downright unjust that hundreds of thousands of its citizens should be in such an economic state that they simply cannot afford to have health insurance
Australia's Thieving From The Poorest Neighbour: Timor-Leste
By George Venturini
In May 2004 the Howard government's foreign minister sent agents of the Australian overseas spy, pretending to be officers of AusAID, to plant listening devices inside the wall of the Timor-Leste government cabinet room while the two countries were negotiating a lucrative oil an gas treaty. The operation was designed to favour a private commercial adventure. Timor-Leste believes that, given the circumstances, it was short-changed in the treaty. It is morally repugnant for a big, wealthy country such as Australia to take advantage of a tiny, poor country. To excuse such actions as being in the national interest, as the Abbott government claims, is breathtakingly cynical and dishonest
The Tide Turns Against Israel: Pariah Status And Isolation Lie Ahead
By Jonathan Cook
These negotiations may not lead to an agreement, but they will mark a historic turning-point nonetheless. The delegitimisation of Israel is truly under way, and the party doing most of the damage is the Israeli leadership itself
Corner Stone Of Israel Is Propaganda
By Dr Salim Nazzal
Israel has become a state with propaganda as the cornerstone of its policy. Its leaders know very well, that the daily oppression in the occupied Palestine is a violation not only to international laws, but also to the basic civic human norms. Furthermore, Israel knows very well that the world gets more and more sickened by the extreme human right violations such as seeing its solders handcuffing a six year old Palestinian child!
American Heart Month: Heartbreak And The Happy Heart
By Carolyn Baker
So why allow heartbreak and embrace our grief? Isn't this self-indulgent at best and psychologically dangerous at worst? In fact, it is neither. Grief work is the work of responsible, mature women and men. Moreover, as predictably as day follows night, when our hearts are broken open, the very natural and innate joy which is the lifeblood of our humanity is liberated
Apology For The Copenhagen Zoo's Killing Of Marius, The Baby Giraffe
By Mary Hamer
I Mary Hamer apologize to the World community, to the children & to the animals of the planet Earth for the Copenhagen Zoo's killing of the healthy baby giraffe Marius on Sunday February 9 th , 2014
Humans vs. Rivers
By Mickey Z.
If you take things to a global stage and contemplate that 80 percent of the rivers in China can no longer sustain life, well, you'd have a damn good idea of how some humans choose to perceive (and treat) rivers
A Simpler Way Of Doing Things, Abolish Money!
By Janet Surman
Those who work - those who produce the useful things and provide the useful services - are the lynch pin, the vital component. They are the indispensable ones. The capitalist, the employer, is dispensable. Removing layers of unnecessary top-heavy bureaucracy, removing any necessity for taxation by removing the blight of money is the far simpler way. The nurse will tend the sick, the plumber will ensure no leaks, the farmer will provide food and the unemployed will no longer be unoccupied for there is much to be done cooperatively within all our communities. And plenty enough, too, for all to partake of the fruits of our collective labour
Tea Slaves
By Alan Johnstone
The abusive conditions for Amalgamated Plantations workers are consistent with conditions in the sector as a whole. They are rooted in the colonial origins extremely hierarchical social structure, the compensation scheme, and the excessive power exercised by management. The compensation scheme originally developed for the colonial plantations and their migrant workers – low cash wages, supplemented with housing and social benefits has remained unchanged. As in the colonial period, the plantations function as a parallel governance structure, with little active involvement by the state, whether in setting wages or in monitoring working and living conditions. This places workers and their families in a relationship of total dependence on the plantation
Inequality, Disorder, Indifference
By Graham Peebles
There is however a change of heart sweeping the world, a new consciousness of synthesis, tolerance and cooperation is sighted: the people, the oppressed 99.9% have had enough. Change from a divisive system that concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few whilst oppressing billions to an alternative, just model based on equity, social justice and freedom is the need of the time and the rightful cry of millions protesting around the world
Southern Africa: Towards A Mass Workers' Party
By Shaun Whittaker
The conference of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), held in December 2013, was indisputably a momentous occasion in the struggle in South Africa. It epitomizes an extraordinary separation not only from the African National Congress (ANC), the oldest organisation of conservative 'black' nationalism, but also from the South African Communist Party (SACP), one of the last so-called communist parties from the Soviet era. The political pronouncement by the largest trade union in South Africa - that it would depart from the tri-partite alliance - generates political space for more independent political formations to emerge and signifies the intensification of the working class politics that was initiated by the Marikana massacre in August 2012
Rahul Gandhi As The New King In Congress' Tragedy :
2014 Elections As A Cathartic Ritual Of Sacrifice
By Anuj Gupta
What the Congress seems to be doing now strategically is that it is offering Rahul Gandhi as a new leader that is drastically different from the older Manmohan Singh led UPA 1and UPA 2, in order to draw in all the anti-incumbency votes against the Congress party back into the Congress itself, instead of them going outwards towards either the BJP or the AAP. In an almost Machiavellian move, the tragic "old king" is being replaced by a "new king" to satisfy the public's need for a cathartic ritual of sacrifice, but in the background, Congress will continue to remain as the over-arching power that controls both these leaders. I offer now an analysis of Congress's media campaign in the last few weeks to highlight this strategy of the Congress party
Women In Zero Toilet Valleys Of Assam
By Sazzad Hussain
The suffering of women's in the absence of toilet is affecting women's lives as well as the worst victims of poor sanitary situations in both rural and urban areas. Inadequate sanitation facilities in rural and urban India endanger the safety and health of girls and women as well as force them to drop out of school and quit their jobs.Women without toilets only go out to relieve themselves in the dark, because their gender ideology tells them that they cannot take the risk to be seen
Indian Mass Media: What Lies Beneath
By Malyamita Bandyopadhyay
Content is the final outcome of the different influences that govern the functioning of the media. Thereby imposing regulations on content will be a superficial solution to handling problems like inferior standards of reportage and sensationalization of news. It is important to look deeper at the underlying malaise that afflict the news media and impose regulations on the system that govern its functioning, rather than concentrating merely on the end result
Dealing With Differences In Inter-Religious Dialogue
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
A major purpose of what is called 'interfaith' or 'inter-religious' dialogue (or, more properly, dialogue between members of different religious communities) is for dialogue partners to understand and learn from each other. What, then, should be the scope of such dialogue? Should it focus on trying to understand each other's religions? Or should it also include trying to understand each other's economic, social, political conditions and problems, which are often a major cause for inter-community conflict? In other words, should such dialogue be theological, or sociological, or both?
12 February, 2014
Obama Renews Threats As Syrian Talks Remain Deadlocked
By Mike Head
As this week's second round of talks in Geneva remained at an impasse, US President Barack Obama yesterday renewed talk of possible military intervention against Syria, on the cynical pretext of "humanitarian" concern for the Syrian people
Preserving The Abu Ghraib Culture: The Harrowing Abuse Of Iraqi Women
By Ramzy Baroud
"When they first put the electricity on me, I gasped; my body went rigid and the bag came off my head," Israa Salah, a detained Iraqi woman told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in her heartrending testimony. Israa (not her real name) was arrested by US and Iraqi forces in 2010. She was tortured to the point of confessing to terrorist charges she didn't commit. According to HRW's "No One is Safe" - a 105-page report released on Feb 06 – there are thousands of Iraqi women in jail being subjected to similar practices, held with no charges, beaten and raped
Playing Al-Qaeda Card To The Last Iraqi
By Nicola Nasser
No doubt revolution is brewing and boiling in Iraq against the sectarian government in Baghdad, its U.S. and Iranian supporters as well as against its al-Qaeda sectarian antithesis
On Founders And Keepers Of Occupy Wall Street
By Justin Wedes
Last week, a power struggle within an Occupy collective emerged into the public realm when one member took sole ownership of the @OccupyWallSt twitter handle and began to issue calls to action and reflections on the history of the movement. As the controversy ricochets across our still-vibrant networks, I write here to offer my own perspective on what immediate lessons can be learned from the debacle
The Purposely Confusing World Of Energy Politics
By Richard Heinberg
As energy issues become more critically important to society's economic and ecological survival, they become more politically contested; and as a result, they tend to become obscured by a fog of exaggeration, half-truth, omission, and outright prevarication
A Critical History Of The Olympics: Beyond Sochi
By Paul Gottinger
It's 2014 and once again the Olympics are underway. This time around Sochi, Russia is the host location for the games. In the run up to this Olympics there has been no shortage of criticism in the U.S. media for Russia's human rights abuses in Chechnya and Dagestan, the country's crackdown on civil society, and most visibly, Russia's recent laws criminalizing gays and lesbians. While the U.S. media is right to criticize these very serious human rights abuses, it has continually failed to scrutinize the Olympics when the games take place in a Western country, or in a country of a U.S. ally
Know And Punish US War Crimes
By Robert Barsocchini
We need a mass movement in the USA to arrest and prosecute war criminals, so that US politicians and officials have something to be afraid of (namely jail) when they make their decisions. War crimes, genocide, and the like, would then have definite consequences and be sharply reduced
Black History Month, Zimbabwe Black Indigenization And Race, The Struggle Continues
By Tsungai Chipato
This Black History Month keep this in mind, according to the rest of the world; black people and other ethnic minorities are free. Although we are economically impoverished from the legacies of slavery and colonialism we should at least be happy at the fact that we can vote and have seen the day that America had a Black President
How NaMo Has 'Disappeared' Untouchability In Gujarat ?
By Subhash Gatade
You can have a look at a Gujarat government sponsored report titled "Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat", authored by Centre for Environment Planning and Technology University (CEPT) University scholars led by Prof R Parthasarathy, which calls caste discrimination a matter of "perceptions". In his blog 'True Lies' senior journalist Rajiv Shah has provided detailed critique of this study
On the Suicide Of Dr Khurshid Anwar, Director ISD
By Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression
We are dismayed and deeply concerned at the content and tone of the discussions on Dr Anwar's death in social media and in various public forums, where aspersions have been cast on the complainant. Questions have also been raised about the role of feminists who have stood by the complainant and upheld the feminist principles evolved in the course of the long and ongoing struggle against sexual violence in our patriarchal and misogynistic society
Pulping Intellectual Freedom: Academics Will Not Bow Down To Vigilantism
By Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association
It is an abject shame that Penguin will pulp Prof. Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History . That this decision was reached in a deal with the petitioners, with no consultation with the author compounds the folly
11 February, 2014
'Today We Fight Back': Global Action Against Mass Surveillance
By Jon Queally
Today—Tuesday, February 11th, 2014—is the day the people across the world are "fighting back" against mass, unwarranted surveillance. With an online campaign designed to galvanize supporters of privacy and the open internet against the troublesome trend of government spying, more than 600 hundred organizations from around the globe are participating by posting banners on their websites and urging their members to endorse a set of 13 Principles for privacy protections
A Faux "Humanitarian Pause" In Homs?
By Franklin Lamb
As two delegations, one representing the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, led by Bashar Assad, and the other claiming to represent the popular opposition which is seeking its overthrow, arrived in Switzerland this morning to continue with Round Two of Geneva II, there is uncertainty over the agenda and whether to extend this weekend's 36 hour "Humanitarian pause" to allow aid into the Old City of Homs. Such a deal, which could come at any time, would bolster confidence ahead of the Round Two of the peace talks
Is A Policy A Law? Is Murder Murder?
By David Swanson
Associated Press reports, "An American citizen who is a member of al-Qaida is actively planning attacks against Americans overseas, U.S. officials say, and the Obama administration is wrestling with whether to kill him with a drone strike and how to do so legally under its new stricter targeting policy issued last year."
Stay Hydrated, Challenge Corporate Power, Defend All Earthlings
By Mickey Z.
The time is perfect -- right here, right now -- for us to: 1. Fight to save the children dying as a result of poor sanitation. 2. Reject an animal-based diet that's threatening all life on the planet. 3. Unite to bring down the dominant corporate culture. 4. Occupy our inner doorperson and break open the gates to a more compassionate, equitable, and sustainable future
Logic In The Face Of Sea Level Rise
By Brent Blackwelder
Relocating people, especially in the wake of a disaster, is a difficult thing to do. But what is more humane? Finding a different but safe home for families or setting them up over and over again directly in the path of catastrophe? A true-cost economy would provide a much kinder response by assisting victims of weather disasters and avoiding the repetition of past mistakes
BDS Needs To Counterattack
By John Spritzler
There should not be a Jewish state: it is bad for ALL ordinary people, gentiles and Jews alike; it is only good for the privileged ruling elites who take advantage of the anger between Jews and gentiles, that a Jewish state foments, to keep elite rulers in power over ordinary people. Until we make this argument aggressively and proudly, Zionists such as Roger Cohen will be able to persuade good Americans to side with Israel and its ethnic cleansing projects. Let's not let them get away with it!
Swami Aseemanand And Art Of 'Statement Withdrawal'
By Ram Puniyani
Now the whole thing will lapse in the quagmire of the authenticity of the interview, the forensic test of the tapes and what not. If Swami could retract the statement given to the Magistrate, disowning the interview is no big game. This aspect of alleged RSS related activities need to be thoroughly and professionally investigated irrespective of the stature of those directly or indirectly involved in the acts of terror
10 February, 2014
In Solidarity With The Prison Hunger Strikers, You Are Not Alone !
By Students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai
Since January 26, 2014, close to 500 prisoners in the jails of Jharkhand, Nagpur and Odisha have been on hunger strike to highlight gaps in India's criminal justice system. They are demanding the basic right to bail, for speedy trials and to be produced physically in court for trials. On Monday, 169 prisoners in Maharashtra's Nagpur Central Jail awaiting trial completed the fifth day of their indefinite hunger strike. More than 200 fellow inmates joined them in a rotating chain strike
The Folly Of Arming Israel
By Chase Madar
Washington's Military Aid to Israel: Fake Peace Process, Real War Process
Atoms For Peace?
By John Scales Avery
"Atoms for Peace", the title of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, may be regarded by future generations as being tragically self-contradictory. Nuclear power generation has led not only to dangerous proliferation of nuclear weapons, but also to disasters which have made large areas of the world permanently uninhabitable because of long-lived radioactive contamination
Legalizing Oppression
By Chris Hedges
The lynching and disbarring of civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart, who because she has terminal cancer was recently released from prison after serving four years of a 10-year sentence, is a window into the collapse of the American legal system. Stewart—who has stood up to state power for more than three decades in order to give a voice to those whom authorities seek to crush, who has spent her life defending the poor and the marginalized, who wept in court when one of her clients was barred from presenting a credible defense—is everything a lawyer should be in an open society. But we no longer live in an open society. The persecution of Stewart is the persecution of us all
Australian Coalition Government Sacrifices Key Industries
While Committing Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars To Carbon Pollution & War
By Dr Gideon Polya
The neoliberal, pro-war, pro-Zionist, anti-science, pro-fossil fuels, US lackey Coalition that rules Australia is happy to commit hundreds of billions of dollars in total annually to war, state terrorism, genocide, human rights abuse, fossil fuel burning subsidies, greenhouse gas pollution, ecocide and terracide but has refused to give a $25 million subsidy to keep Australia's last remaining fruit cannery, SPC-Ardmona, open in Shepparton, the main town in Victoria's rich Goulburn Valley that is described as the "fruit bowl of Australia"
Drugs And Guns: US Foreign Policy For The Caribbean Rim And Latin America
By JP Miller
The United States (US) is the largest importer/consumer of illegal drugs in the world. The value of this trade is around 320 billion dollars annually. And, the US is the largest exporter of weapons in the world (66.3 billion annually). These two ugly and seemingly unrelated conditions have become a fortuitous nexus for US policy makers. And, with the excuse that has become the War on Drugs (WOD); the US has used these conditions as the backbone of a foreign policy aimed at destabilizing and dominating the Caribbean basin and the larger nation-states in Central and South America
US Dirty Modus Operandi In Middle East
By Dr. Ismail Salami
The post-9/11 era provided the US government with a pretext to wage a war on terror or to put it more precisely, to wage a crusade against the Muslim world and to accelerate and vindicate their efforts in destabilizing regional strategic governments, thereby drawing nigh to their monstrous objectives
The Conscripted Prostitutes
By Alan Johnstone
During the days of Empire when Britain ruled India there were licensed brothels for the use of the occupation troops. Each regiment had at its disposal from twelve to fifteen native women, who dwelt in what were called "chaklas." These women were allowed to consort with British soldiers only, and were registered with the local magistrate. If a woman tried to escape from the chakla, she would be punished with fine or imprisonment
The Secret Of Progress
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Suppose members of a certain religious community take out a procession on the streets. The processionists begin to raise provocative slogans that members of another community take offence to. Often, this triggers off a deadly communal riot, in which dozens of innocent people lose their lives. But the intelligent way to respond in a situation like this is for the community that feels insulted by the slogan-shouting processionists not to make it into a prestige issue, a question of honour. It must not rush out to confront the processionists or throw stones at them or stop them or insist that they change their route—which is often what actually happens. Rather, the way to solve the problem of the procession is to ignore the procession, and not to confront it
Afzal Guroo's Hanging: A Political Murder It Was
By Abdul Majid Zargar
The hanging of Afzal Guroo on Feberuary 9, 2013 illustrates a massive failure of institutions in India committed to so-called democratic & secular values of Indian Constitution, the media, the judiciary, the executive, the human rights commissions and the political parties. It also reflects the indifference of a partisan global community both individually as well as collectively under United Nations
A Year After Afzal Guru Hanging
By Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal
People perceive Afzal Guru in different ways – a man who didn't get a fair trial, a pawn, a victim or a hero. Whichever way he is looked upon at, his execution is a memory that has had a scarring effect and will go down in history of Kashmir as one of the most ghastly memories ever
Who Were Those 'Bad Elements' Mr Bhagwat?
By Subhash Gatade
Anybody can notice that the more RSS is trying to wriggle itself out of the 'terror turn in Hindutva politics' one finds that it is getting enmeshed in it further. Perhaps it is easier for them to debunk a story which has appeared in a magazine, but slowly they should realise that unless and until they come clean on different nuances of the whole 'saga' it will come back to haunt them again and again
A Birthday Bouquet
By Anitha S
I am so glad I woke up early today. I decided that eating at KFC or getting an expensive gift would not have given this free, happy joy. This bouquet of flowers- pink, lilac, red, yellow, violet and cream that Nature gave me also brought along with fragrance, color and joy. Is it not a nice way to start a birthday?
08 February, 2014
The Secret To Survival: We Need More Honesty, Harmony, And Happiness
By Lionel Anet
Those three qualities of (HHH), in individuals and therefore society, are the essence that glues people together under almost all circumstances. The importance of those assets have for us is due to their compatibility with our genes as they evolved together harmonising our interaction between ourselves and other species. Our cooperative approach combine with our body assemblage made us universally adaptable to live and be master anywhere
Climate Disasters – Ending Congressional Stupor Now!
By Ralph Nader
Omnicidal as it is, climate change has been taken off the table on Capitol Hill. Yes, there are some bills languishing in the hopper, some statements in the Congressional Record, but overall for different Democratic and Republican reasons, Congress has gone AWOL since the energy bill was blocked in the Senate seven years ago
Did The Shin Bet Just Hack My Computer?
By Jonathon Cook
That too might help to explain the arrogance of ransacking my computer while I looked on. If they do that to a journalist who has at least the odd feeble tool (like this blog) to fight back, what are they doing to desperate, vulnerable Palestinians who need permits to get emergency medical treatment outside Gaza? I think we know the answer
Full Spectrum Peeping Tomism
By Linh Dinh
A government that feels itself vulnerable will naturally increase suppression. Look for a heavy crackdown on voices of dissent as our society becomes more unstable from the impending financial collapse, and as our economy deteriorates further from its already wretched condition. That, my fellow targets, is our true state of the union
Some Reflections On The Last 100 Years
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Having been born in 1925, I have personally witnessed almost a whole century of the history of the Indian subcontinent. The last 100 years was a period of momentous developments for this part of the world. This period saw the emergence of many 'towering' personalities, but in terms of helping the people of the region progress on constructive lines and in a positive way, they, by and large, miserably failed
Blood At The Root: Billie Holiday And "Strange Fruit"
By Mickey Z.
Holiday's passionate interpretation of "Strange Fruit" introduced white audiences to powerful images of racism, inequality, and hate crimes… images that were now impossible to ignore
From Postmodernism To Postsecularism- Re-emerging Islamic Civilization
By Jim Miles
In his introduction, Eric Walberg states, "The main purpose of this book is to help the reader to understand the alternative map which Islam offers." This is both a literal and figural map, an alternative to the imperial and neo-colonial boundaries that divide the Islamic world, and an alternative viewpoint to that of the imperial driver of capitalism. This offer includes "realigning ourselves with Nature, and rediscovering humanities'' spiritual evolutionary path...without abandoning the vital role of reason."
The Long Term Goal of P.A.D.S.
By Mukul Dube
A dozen or so people met on 20 October 2013 to speak of the recent violence against Muslims in Muzaffarnagar and to discuss the possibility of preventing such violence. That was the first meeting of what was named the People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism or P.A.D.S. The word "democracy" was added to "secularism" because it was thought that the forces behind religious violence in India are essentially fascist; and it follows that there can be no democracy without secularism
Aam Admi And Dalits
By Rahul Sonpimple
The rhetoric of Aam Admi by AAP is limited only to urban upper caste-middle class. With such an exclusionary ideology and attitude, AAP and its leaders have already formed a Dalit-Bahujan hostile camp
07 February, 2014
Mass Layoffs Hit North America, Europe And Japan
By Kate Randall
A wave of layoff announcements over the past week has exposed the reality of the economic "recovery" touted by the Obama administration and governments worldwide. Deep-going job cuts are hitting the manufacturing, pharmaceutical, technology and retail sectors across North America, Europe and Japan
Lifting The Siege Of Yarmouk One Food Parcel & One Polio Vaccination At A Time
By Franklin Lamb
Up to this morning, approximately 5,300 food parcels have been allowed into Yarmouk or an average of 800-1,000 food packages daily. Aid has been entering sporadically and sometimes chaotically, with perceptible but slight increases over the past week
Fukushima's Future
By Bob Stilger
When communities are devastated by disasters like earthquakes and nuclear explosions, how can they recover? In Fukushima, Japan, transformation may be the only option
Oily Hijack: Corporate Hegemony And The Keystone Pipeline EIS
By Joanne Knight
The oil industry has corrupted the Keystone XL environmental assessment process just as it has hijacked the climate change debate and interfered with action on climate change. Reading the Department of State Environmental Impact Statement, it is clear whose interests are served by this report. The confluence of arguments presented in the report with the arguments of the American Petroleum Institute is stunning. Environment Resource Management, the company contracted to produce the report, is being investigated by the Department of State for conflict of interest in producing the EIS
Moving Beyond The Corporate Vision Of Sustainability
By Rajesh Makwana
In light of ongoing global negotiations on pressing environmental issues, it's time for efforts to curtail the excessive influence of multinational corporations over public policy to be strengthened and scaled up at all levels – especially at the United Nations
The Deceptions And Falsehoods Of The GMO Lobby:
Acquiesce Or Europe Will Become " Museum of World Farming"
By Colin Todhunter
British Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is a staunch supporter of the GMO sector. Despite mounting evidence pointing to the deleterious health, social, ecological and environmental impacts of GMOs, Paterson has a blind spot that lets him ignore reality and allows him to lend unconditional support to the biotech conglomerates, the very concerns that regard Europe as a massive potential cash cow from which their GM crops have till now mostly been barred or restricted. Paterson recently told the Oxford Farming Conference that Europe is likely to become "the museum of world farming" because of its failure to embrace genetically modified crops
Mass Graves Discovery Gives A New Twist To The Issue Of Baloch Missing Persons
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Discovery of three mass graves in Khuzdar has given a new twist to the issue of the missing persons in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The Deputy Commissioner of Khuzdar Abdul Waheed Shah on Tuesday confirmed the discovery of the three mass graves
06 February, 2014
US Threats Mount Against Journalists, Snowden
By Patrick Martin
Congressional leaders and representatives of the US military-intelligence apparatus have stepped up their threats against Edward Snowden and the journalists who have worked with him to expose massive illegal spying by the National Security Agency (NSA). At a hearing Tuesday of the House Intelligence Committee, Chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, repeatedly suggested that journalists who received leaked NSA documents from Snowden and wrote articles about them were guilty of criminal acts
Iraq Near Implosion: The 'Bad Years' Are Back
By Ramzy Baroud
Iraq's 'bad years' seem to be making a comeback. This time the US has little leverage over Iraq to control the events from afar. "This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis," Kerry said in recent comments during a visit to Jerusalem. Indeed, with little military and diplomatic presence, the US can do very little. In fact, they have done enough
Sectarian Conflict Eroding The Crisis-Hit Syria
By Kourosh Ziabari
The fact that takfiris, salafists and other fundamentalists who don't accept as Muslim whoever is politically opposed to them are now gaining power and contributing to the Balkanization of Syria is really disturbing, and it seems that nothing worthwhile comes out of the negotiation rooms in Geneva that can help Syria see the face of peace and tranquility once again; however, experience has shown that whenever the decision-making is entrusted to the people themselves, they make the best choices. It's up to the Syrian people to decide whether they want Bashar al-Assad to remain in power or not. Killing and terrorizing will not help find an answer to the dilemma
Bias By Omission In American Mainstream Media
By William Blum
An exchange in January with Paul Farhi, Washington Post columnist, about coverage of US foreign policy
The Invisible World Of Software Backdoors And Bounty Hunters
By Pratap Chatterjee
If you own and use a mobile device on a regular basis, you owe it yourself to turn off as many of the location settings and data-sharing options as you can. And last but hardly least, don't play Farmville, go out and do the real thing. As for Angry Birds and Call of Duty, honestly, instead of shooting pigs and people, it might be time to think about finding better ways to entertain yourself. Pick up a paintbrush, perhaps? Or join an activist group like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and fight back against Big Brother
Bum Rap For The Rapa Nui
By Thomas Riggins
A new report in Science News Magazine (1-25-2014) by Bruce Bower details a reevaluation of the view that the Rapa Nuians, the native inhabitants of Easter Island ( Rapa Nui ), were responsible for the collapse of their population and society due to over exploitation of natural resources and the destruction of the rain forest on their island, a view recently popularized by Jared Diamond in his book Collapse (2005)
The Unending Amnesia Over Hindutva Terror
By Subhash Gatade
..[A]seemanand's description of the plot in which he was involved became increasingly detailed. In our third and fourth interviews, he told me that his terrorist acts were sanctioned by the highest levels of the RSS—all the way up to Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, who was the organisation's general secretary at the time. Aseemanand told me that Bhagwat said of the violence, "It's very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh."
Economic Terror And India's Surveillance State
By Colin Todhunter
There are people who want to do us harm. We need to be protected. There are extremists and wrong doers who want to bend the system for their own narrow agendas against the interests of the many. There always has been. Unfortunately, they have hijacked the machinery of state(s) and are increasingly to be found in positions of authority implementing surveillance and economic terrorism 'for our own good'
North East: A Neglected Crisis
By Arindam Majumder
The Nido Taniam incident is an example of the negative mentality the 'mainstream India' possesses towards the North Easterners. The truth is till today Indian nationalism has no place for the north-eastern mongoloid culture. They have been intentionally kept as a 'stranger.' North East has been included as a part of India for geographical, colonial and strategic interests, but no effort has been made to make it a part of the Indian conscience. The fact that they are Indians and equal part of India's success story is often forgotten by the mainstream Aryans and Dravidians
Kangaroo Court And Women In Rural India
By Ajay Kumar Ranjan
A series of rapes in India over the past years has sparked widespread concern about sexual violence and government failures to protect women. The recent incidence in Subalpur village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in which 20 years-old tribal women was gang raped by a dozen men as punishment for alleged immoral conduct is the paradox of the 21st century. The order by a kangaroo court known as 'Shalishi adalats' led by village headmen is proof that a section of rural India is outside the pale of the country's constitutional values and judicial system
Higher Education In India Needs Proper Policy
By Dr. Syed Arshad Hussain
The undergraduate education in India is booming (Nature, vol 472, 24 – 26, 2011) and government is increasing investment towards research and higher education. However, lack of quality education as well as proper policy remains the major concern till today. Accordingly, Indian science is lagging behind not just developed nations, but also newly industrialized countries such as China
Forging A Socialist-Islamist Alliance
By William T. Hathaway
Review of Eric Walberg, From Postmodernism to Postsecularism: Re-emerging Islamic Civilization
05 February, 2014
Myth Of Clean Chit: Gujarat Carnage And Narendra Modi
By Ram Puniyani
There has been some justice in few cases of Gujarat. And that is due to yeomen struggle for justice launched by the victims and human rights defenders. The process of justice needs to be pursued. The state of Gujarat has created all possible obstacles in the justice being given to the victims. The claims of clean chit hold no water, we need to look beyond the propaganda and the truth will show the blood tainted hands of Modi
Salt And Terror In Afghanistan
By Kathy Kelly
Panic and revenge among far more prosperous people in the U.S. helped to drive the U.S. into a war waged against one of the poorest countries in the world. Yet, my Afghan friends, who've borne the brunt of war, long to rise above vengeance and narrow self-interest. They wish to pursue a peace that includes ending hunger
Cornering A Brave Palestinian Man Of Peace
By Nicola Nasser
Unmercifully pressured by both Israeli negotiators and American mediators, the elusive cause of peace stands about to loose in Abbas a brave Palestinian man of peace-making of an historical stature whose demise would squander what could be the last opportunity for the so-called two-state solution
Making Iowa Into A War Zone - National Guard Poised To Attack From Des Moines Airport
By Brian Terrell
Drone warfare is based on the lie that war can be made more exact, limited and humane through technology. Our civilian and military authorities, by bringing drones to Des Moines , are acting recklessly and in defiance of domestic and international law. They are acting without regard for the safety and wellbeing of our troops, of the people of Iowa or of people in faraway places who otherwise would mean us no harm. Rather than being an answer, drones perpetuate and multiply the horrors of war and bring them home into our communities
'Declaring Victory Wherever We Can'
By Robert Jensen
An Interview With Cynthia Kaufman On Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope
Edge-Dwelling: A Social Ecology For Our Times; Part 3: Middle School, Misfits, And The Milky Way
By Dianne Monroe
This work of re-visioning our humanity and our place within the web of life (as part of rather than in control of) is already begun. Joanna Macy calls it The Great Turning. Thomas Berry calls it The Great Work. We each have only to add our unique voice to visioning and building the bridge that can bring us from now to the regeneration that can arise beyond our crumbling civilization's far edge
Boredom Is Counter-Revolutionary
By Mickey Z
Imagine if the majority of us woke tomorrow morning and suddenly recognized all forms of life – including ourselves – as part of one collective soul. If so, how could we not defend that collective soul… by any means necessary? With all due respect to the Situationists, I'll let you in on the real secret: All our grievances and all our solutions are connected – and we are the ones the planet has been waiting for
Egypt's Dictatorship For The Digital Age
By Justin Podur
Seven months later, we have the new Egyptian dictatorship's answer to the internet: monitor its users, jail its journalists in Egypt, and use it to broadcast messages of hate and misinformation about political opponents. So far, it is working, but it won't work forever. Not because of the internet, but because of the people. Dictatorships are overthrown when people lose their fear, and the Egyptians have lost their fear more than a few times in recent years
The Global Elite Is Insane
By Robert J. Burrowes
As anyone who pays even the slightest realistic attention to the global elite already knows, the elite's efforts to maximise its political and economic clout, and hence its wealth, at the expense of everyone else and the Earth itself, are carefully crafted. And this is not going to change on our recommendation or because we talk to them, or even because we listen to them. Moreover, the reason is simple. The global elite is insane. And it is incredibly violent
O! Teacher Stop Teaching
By Mirza Yawar Baig
Our present methods of teaching which are inflicted on by far the vast majority of children the world over are the single biggest cause for killing the imagination that every child is born with and making them into square blocks which fit our own frightened, constrained and slavish worldview. Those who comply we 'pass' and those who challenge it and refuse to succumb, we 'fail'. The occasional among those we 'fail', go on to great fortune. The vast majority disappear, never to be heard from again. Destroyed by the education system they didn't deserve or ask for
The Lynching Of Nido Taniam
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
This is not the first incident of racial violence against the people from North East and Delhi is not the only state where such incidents are happening and despite all the media coverage and importance being given to the incident, this would not be the last of its kind as prejudices in our minds against those who do not look like us and have same kind of 'characteristics' are rampant. Frankly speaking, it is not just a law and order issue, it reflect the deep-rooted prejudices in our mind and need a long term solution
Documenting Causes
Acceptance speech By Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan was awarded the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival today. Here is his acceptance speech
Reverencing The Past
By Anitha.S
The crescent moon and the stars, the bats flying overhead, the feelings of all those who joined in the signature campaign all echoed one thing- Let this green lung be conserved for posterity, for children to play and learn, for the public to breathe in pure air and let us be a generation that has reverence to the past
We Want Peace: Condemnation Of The Protest Against Pakistani Band In Mumbai
By Aaghaz-e-Dosti
It has been reported that a group of 50 people hailing from political party Shiv Sena had barged into the press conference of Pakistani Sufi band Mekaal Hasan held in the Mumbai Press Club today and demanded that the musicians return immediately to their country. They were carrying placards with anti-Pakistani slogans and saffron flags
03 February, 2014
After Failed Geneva Talks,US Steps Up Threats Against Syria
By Bill Van Auken
In the wake of last week's failed talks in Geneva, Washington and its allies are escalating pressure on Syria over chemical weapons and professed "humanitarian" concerns. The shift toward a more aggressive posture toward the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad only underscores the fact that the Western powers remain committed to an agenda of regime change, whether by means of United Nations-brokered talks or outright military aggression
Ending The World The Human Way: Climate Change As The Anti-News
By Tom Engelhardt
This is the road to hell and it has not been paved with good intentions. If we stay on it, we won't even be able to say that future historians considered us both a wonder (for our ability to create world-ending scenarios and put them into effect) and a disgrace (for our inability to face what we had done). By then, humanity might have arrived at the end of history, and so of historians
Judge Rhodes To Detroit: DON'T Pay The Banksters!
By Tom Stephens
On Thursday, January 16, 2014 in the Detroit federal bankruptcy court, Judge Steven Rhodes issued a decision that promises a measure of justice in the face of Wall Street banks' toxic threat that they are supposedly "too big to fail" (or jail). Judge Rhodes denied payments of over $169 million to Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch (BAML) and UBS. The motion to pay the banks was filed by Jones Day lawyers, supposedly representing Detroit and working in our best interest. The judge's decision against the payment proves otherwise
The Republic Day Charade
By Satya Sagar
For a brief exciting moment it looked as if Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal would actually go ahead and carry out his threat to disrupt the Republic Day parade to mark the 63rd year since the adoption of the Indian Constitution. Kejriwal's comment that for millions of Indians, such 'celebrations are meaningless if we look at the current state of affairs" drew flak from across the political spectrum. And yet, in my opinion, two key historical figures who made the creation of the Indian Republic possible, Gandhi and Ambedkar, would have certainly concurred with Kejriwal's observation and even actions
02 February, 2014
India's Racial Hatred Kills Nido Taniam In Delhi
By Richard Kamei
The death of Nido Taniam in the capital of India- New Delhi is not shocking going by how New Delhi treats people from the northeast India. The number of crimes against north eastern people reported every year; especially in New Delhi is a testimony of the racial discrimination against north east people. The way how Nido Taniam died shows the inefficiency of authorities in dealing with the case of Nido and more importantly it affirms how racial hatred can lead to such crime
The Continuing Deterioration Of Women's Rights In Iraq
By Haifa Zangana
Presentation in the European Parliament on 29th Jan 2014
An Accident Waiting To Happen
By John Scales Avery
In the perilous situation in which we find ourselves today, the only way that we can ensure that our children and grandchildren will live to enjoy our beautiful world, is to get rid of nuclear weapons entirely. To do so is the ardent wish of the vast majority of the world's peoples
On Trial, Drone Protester Proves Wrong People Charged
By Judith Bello
Closing Argument presented on Janurary 31, 2014, by Judith Bello on trial as of those who protested at Hancock Air Base in New York State on October 25, 2012
Ed Kinane Tells Judge Why He Protests Drone Killing
By Ed Kinane
Ed Kinane, CLOSING STATEMENT, Charges: trespass & disorderly conduct, Trial of the "Hancock 17," Judge David S. Gideon presiding, De Witt, NY Town Court, 31 January 2014
Where'd All The Damn Money Go?
By John Spritzler
Wher'd all the damn money go? From 1959 to 2013 American economic productivity rose three fold. But who among us feels three times more economically secure and comfortable?
F**K Your SuperBowls While Afghani Kids Freeze And Starve To Death
By Jay Janson
Pathetic heartbreaking photos of tiny Afghani children in rags freezing without enough food to survive, every winter of US occupation. Sports distracted Americans pay no mind, as they didn't to photos of dead Korean babies or Vietnamese napalmed children running naked down burning village streets, or piles of Iraqi dead — children's cadavers without heads arms. Ignorant criminal patriotism is displayed at these sporting events
Pete Seeger: Character, Personality, Intuition And Focus
By Ralph Nader
Pete Seeger overcame most of his doubters and adversaries. On his famous five string banjo, he inscribed the slogan, "This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender."
Militant Movie Making: 'Salt of the Earth'
By Mickey Z.
That early 1950s motion picture with a union theme would be the criminally neglected but crucially essential 1953 film, Salt of the Earth
State Of The Labor Movement In USA
By Joanne Knight
Coming from Australia with its proud history of labor representation, the sense of labor being an integral part of the economic and political system reflected in a liveable minimum wage of $15 per hour and a reasonable welfare system, it was a big shock to be exposed to the disempowered position of labor in the US. Jeremy Scahill called the corporate takeover of the US a "silent coup". The history of labor in the US is one of attempting to avoid its complete annihilation by capital
"Safe Passage…, with A Big If : A Review of Paul Craig Roberts'
The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism "
By Gary Corseri
Roberts' book is a singular warning. He recapitulates, implicitly or explicitly, arguments about the nature of the state and democracy that have been with us since the time of Jefferson and Hamilton—and long before then in the Roman republic and in Greece's brilliant, but tragically flawed, ancient democracy. These are arguments about the consolidation of power, the privileges of power, the efficiencies of the state and the community, and the sovereignty and dignity of individuals
An Open Letter To University Of Maryland President, Dr Wallace Loh
By William James Martin
I have read your response to the ASA boycott of Israeli academic institutions. In fact, if reports are correct, you said: "We firmly oppose the call by some academic associations—American Studies Association; Asian-American Studies Association—to boycott Israeli academic institutions. Any such boycott is a breach of the principle of academic freedom that undergirds the University of Maryland and, indeed, all of American higher education. " Like most high ranking western leaders, you have ignored the Palestinian people altogether
Overpowering "Ershad Syndrome"
By Taj Hashmi
It is time to get rid of the "Ershad Syndrome", which has become an indispensable part of Bangladesh's "dynastic democracy". The country needs to try Ershad and his cronies – academics, bureaucrats, professionals and generals – to attain what Germany, Italy and Japan accomplished by exterminating the last vestiges of authoritarianism after World War II. Once the last remnants of the "caste system" and pre-capitalist values are eliminated, people become free. And as Washington believed: "Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth"
Ready For The Home Run In Bangladesh
By Fazal M. Kamal
Unfortunately for Bangladesh the signs were all there even during the last five-year tenure of the Awami League. If those five years were utilized for setting the stage and getting into the mode of a virtual one-party system, measures so far taken after its triumph in the January non-election clearly indicate the government's intention to embark on a process of consolidation
The Joy Of Walking On A Road Without Cars
By Vidyadhar Date
It was a joy to find the road free from cars. One could walk with dignity and freedom. I experienced this on Republic Day on B.J Road on the sea front at Bandra in Mumbai after the school students' parade. Thousands and thousands of children and their parents returning from the parade seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the freedom from cars. The whole road of some 2 km was closed to motor cars. There was not a single policeman around and there was no need for the cops. There was perfect peace and human bonding
Jan Jagaran Yatra Reaches Delhi On 17th Day In A Mass Protest Demonstration
By Maruti Suzuki Workers Union
Sixteen days across cities, towns, villages of Haryana and through Gurgaon and Delhi, marching with our bare but united voice of anger and struggle against injustice, we organized a Protest Demonstration in Jantar Mantar today 31st January 2014. We marched from in front of the Parliament House, Delhi, also sloganeering in front of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda's residence before reaching Jantar Mantar
Protest Organised Against The Closure Of Pathribal Fake Encounter Case
Press Release
On 1st February 2014 , at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, voices were raised against the closure of Pathribal fake encounter case of J&K. The protest was jointly organised by Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign, All India Students' Association (AISA), Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Jamia Students' Solidarity Forum, New Socialist Initiative (NSI) and People's Campaign against Politics of Terror. The protest was supported by several other organisations and human rights' activists
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