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World
China struggles with Belt and Road pushback
China, in an implicit recognition that at least some of its Belt and Road-related projects risk trapping target countries in debt or fail to meet their needs, has conceded that adjustments may be necessary. “It’s normal and understandable that development focus can change at different stages in different countries, especially with changes in government. So China can also make some[Read More…]
India
Amidst 2019 political games, BJP is keen for a narrative change
PM Modi at the BJP’s national executive meet coined a new slogan setting the tone of the campaign for Assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha elections; displaying his party’s eagerness for a redecorated narrative. Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the valedictory speech to conclude the two-day national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Sunday. PM[Read More…]
Globalisation
Walmart’s backdoor entry
US retail giant Walmart bought 77 per cent stake in Indian online website Flipkart in a $16 billion deal. India does not allow retail monoplies like Walmart to enter Indian market. Walmart’s acquisition of Flikart is seen as a back door entry which may put thousands of small vendors out of business. Angela Ferrao is an independent editorial cartoonist. https://www.facebook.com/Ferraodesigns
Human Rights
Beating of civilians by Maoists in Phulpad
News of villagers in Phulpad village of Dantewada district being beaten by Maoists emerged a few days ago in the local media. We went to Phulpad on 15 September to ascertain the facts. Soon after we reached, the villagers assembled outside the local school and spoke to us about the incident. Most of them were very poor people who subsist[Read More…]
Imperialism
Yemen and Spain – Destruction and Death – versus Spanish Unemployment
Spain’s President, socialist Pedro Sanchez, canceled a week ago the sale of 400 laser-guided missiles to the Saudis for humanitarian reasons (value of the missile contract € 9.2 million –US$ 10.7 million). A couple of days ago, he reversed that noble decision, reinstating the sale, because the Saudis threatened cancelling their contract for 5 “Corvette” warships to be built[Read More…]
Communal Harmony
Fake Saviors of Hinduism: World Hindu Congress in Chicago
The World Hindu Congress held a conference in Chicago in the first week of September 2018, and it was attended by about 3000 Hindus from around the world. Unfortunately, many speakers fouled, here is an accounting of the two who are divisive and sowed the seeds of ill-will between Indian communities. Every faith group holds similar conferences, as Americans, we[Read More…]
Climate Change
The Woes of Climate Change States
As Australia’s tattered yet new government, led by the increasingly oafish and amateurish Scott Morrison trundled into its post-climate phase, states which see their existence as dependent on the cutting of carbon emissions have been more than a touch concerned. Their reality remains divorced from the paper clip conspiracies of Canberra and the energy cliques obsessed with cutting prices. Morrison’s[Read More…]
![Flooding in New Bern, North Carolina [photo credit: Twitter user @cityofNewBern]](https://countercurrents.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/new-bern-florence-100x75.jpg)
Environmental Protection
Plastic Pollution: The Age of Unsolvable Problems
How bad is the situation with plastic pollution? Rather bad, by all means. Citing from a recent paper by Geyer et al., more than 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s. Of this plastic, 9% percent was recycled, 12% was incinerated, the rest is in part still in use, in part dispersed in the ecosystem. It is this[Read More…]
Counter Solutions
Seven Ways to Build the Solidarity Economy
The solidarity economy is a global movement to build a post-capitalist world that puts people and planet front and center, rather than the pursuit of blind growth and profit maximization. It isn’t a blueprint but a framework that includes a broad range of economic practices that align with its values: solidarity, participatory democracy, equity in every dimension including race, class[Read More…]
Resource Crisis
How the World Elites are Going to Betray us: Lessons from Roman History
The more I study the story of the Roman Empire, the more I see the similarities with our world. Of course, history doesn’t always repeat itself, but it is impressive to note how with the start of the collapse of the Western Empire, the Roman elites abandoned the people to build themselves strongholds in safe places. Something similar may be[Read More…]
Alternative Energy
Exponential Growth Towards a Sustainable Future: the Limits of Solar Panel and Wind Turbine Production
Many people, including myself, fear that the great acceleration (1, 2) of our consumption and destruction of resources such as land, biodiversity, soil, minerals, and fossil energy sources, could lead us into a catastrophe. Other people point out the positive side of near-exponential growth in various fields: renewable energy production, “biotechnology and bioinformatics; computational systems; networks and sensors; artificial intelligence; robotics;[Read More…]
Patriarchy
Historic Strike By Catholic Nuns In Kerala, Against A Rape Accused Bishop
Beset with allegation of sexual abuse of minors by its clergy from around the world, Catholic Church is facing an unprecedented protest in Kerala, India. A group of nuns are on a week long protest in Kochi demanding justice for a fellow nun who was raped by the Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal. It’s the first time in the history of[Read More…]
Palestine
Palestine’s National Treasure, Dr Salman Abu Sitta chronicles war crimes, truth and hope
Dr Salman Abu Sitta is a pragmatic and principled visionary whose unwavering yearning for home has morphed into the Palestinian Land Society, his literal pièce de résistance, that has created the phenomenal Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966 and meticulous plans for the inevitable return home. His every breath and step that began in the 1948 Nakba from Bir as Saba to a refugee camp[Read More…]
Kashmir
Kashmir: Political Uncertainty, the main problem!
(Lack of accountability, lopsided governance, dishonesty and corruption in every field stem from the basic malaise which is the perennial political uncertainty) During last 70 years or so Kashmir has off and on faced one or the other turmoil. In fact, it has seen four wars between its neighbours. There have been some periods of apparent calm but the uncertainty[Read More…]
South Asia
Kashmir in New Power Game
Once again India-Pakistan relations are getting enmeshed in the emergent ‘neo-cold war between Washington and Moscow. Since Donald John Trump took over as President of the United States, it has become more than obvious. The two countries are apparently yet to learn lesson from the past- that it was they joining the cold war politics, which immensely contributed to[Read More…]
Annihilate Caste
How Vedic Brahminism Stunted The Development Of Sciences
After the Bharatiya Janatha Party came to power and ruled the nation for two terms from 1999-2004 and 2014 to present a lot of propaganda by the Brahminic pundits belonging to that ideology clamour that all modern sciences, originated in Europe, America and China and Japan is no match to the Vedic science that the ancient Brahminism has built. Particularly[Read More…]
Life/Philosophy
Plato’s Theory of Education
Introduction “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, consequently also controls at the same time the means of mental production, so that the ideas[Read More…]
Arts/Literature
Curl in dog’s tail
The narrative is the story of a community of people , Dogistan, named after the dogs that its every household owns. The Dogistan’s dogs are of two kinds: tailless and curly tailed dogs. The former are gentle and docile, while latter are very mean and abject. The curly tailed dogs outnumber the tailless dogs. A Dogistani lady, Miss Ruby, does[Read More…]
Book Review
The Fakest Fake News: The U.S. Government’s 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
A Review of 9/11Unmasked: An International Review Panel Investigation by David Ray Griffin and Elizabeth Woodworth If you want to fathom today’s world, absolutely nothing is more important than to understand the truth about the attacks of September 11, 2001. This is the definitive book on the subject. For seventeen years we have been subjected to an onslaught of U.S.[Read More…]
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