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World
Turkey two years after the abortive coup
Turkey last week commemorated the second anniversary of an abortive coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that left nearly 290 people dead and hundreds wounded. On July 15, 2016, renegade factions within the military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters in an attempt to overthrow President Erdogan. Clashes took place in Istanbul, Ankara and Marmaris, where Erdogan was on holiday and[Read More…]
India
Cooperative farming is the only solution to the present agriculture crisis
On July 8, 2018 An eminent economist opined in Times of India that the Central government made a mistake by enhancing the MSP of paddy crops because it goes against international competition and the laws of demand-supply. It further says that European Economic Community once made the same mistake by enhancing crop prices, for which it later had to pay[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
Ecuador’s Agenda: Squeezing and Surrendering Assange
It is perhaps typical in a time where a star of the fleshy celluloid wonder Baywatch, heavy in bust and known for her sexual adventures, should feature as a political voice. Pamela Anderson’s views are treated with judicious seriousness – at least in some quarters. Her association with Julian Assange has given needless room for columns on what, exactly, their[Read More…]
Imperialism
American Democracy And ‘So Say I’ Genres
In America, where a union of bankers run a system promoting private initiative ahead of public interest, the President has adopted a ‘so say I’ approach to trade and worldly issues that would not be out of place in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. What can be observed in his approach as ‘leader of the free world’…a very American delusion…[Read More…]
Communal Harmony
Constructing Muslim Enemy: RSS/BJP Campaign for 2019 Elections
The next Indian parliamentary elections slated for the first half of 2019 (though some political commentators believe that this election may not take place if Modi finds that he would not win) are going to be held on the issue of the persecuted ‘Hindus’ versus appeasement of minorities, specially, ‘Muslims’, if the Hindutva juggernaut continues its bloody run as per[Read More…]
Climate Change
On the flooded Thai cave and the Hiroshima deluge
The heroic rescue of 13 young people from the flooded Chiang Mai cave in Thailand represents everything which is wonderful about humans cooperating and helping each other, and where they are at their best.By stark contrast the cover-up by the authorities and the media of the underlying reasons for the unfolding tragedy of the Hiroshima deluge, in which to-date more[Read More…]
Environmental Protection
A Short History ofthe Costs of Military Air Shows- Squandering the Planet’s Increasingly Scarce Fossil Fuels for our Amusement
“Knowledge is power; but who hath duly Considered the power of Ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down. Knowledge, through patient and frugal centuries, enlarges discovery and makes record of it; Ignorance, wanting its day’s dinner, lights a fire with the record, and gives a flavor to its one roast with the burned souls of[Read More…]
Counter Solutions
Systems Thinking and How It Can Help Build a Sustainable World
In Brief Humanity stands at a precipice. Overpopulation, resource scarcities, degraded ecosystem functioning from pollution and biodiversity loss, and anthropogenic climate change are damaging the life-supporting capacity of the planet. Diminishing returns on fossil fuel energy investments, combined with their dwindling availability and environmental harm, threaten industrial civilization. Many people recognize the need to transition to sustainable, resilient ways of[Read More…]
Resource Crisis
A Seneca Collapse for the World’s Human Population?
This is a condensed and modified version of a paper of mine that appeared on “The Journal of Population and Sustainability” this year. The image above is the well known “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” by Albrecht Durer – 1498. Yes, I know it is catastrophistic, but it is not my fault if biological populations do tend to collapse![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
It is Not Just patriarchy ….Misogyny …. Atrocity ….. It is more than that !
‘I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection’ Sigmund Freud Condemning rapes and harassment of women has become a routine with increase of these cases over the years. Among the ten countries reporting incidents of rape, nations like America, Canada, Sweden and UK appear in the list ( wonderlist.com ,Ejaz Khan).[Read More…]
Palestine
Israeli sniper deliberately killed medic Razan al-Najjar, investigation finds
An Israeli sniper deliberately targeted Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar, an investigation by the human rights group B’Tselem has found. Al-Najjar, 21, was killed on 1 June, as she and her colleagues treated Palestinians taking part in Great March of Return protests in Gaza, near the boundary fence with Israel, east of Khan Younis. According to B’Tselem, al-Najjar “was fatally shot by a member of the security forces[Read More…]
Kashmir
Kashmir: Tourism gets low priority
(In spite of the fact that one and all claim Tourism to be back bone of Kashmir’s economy, yet the government does not seem to accord it the priority it deserves!) Almost all the governments have been declaring from various pulpits that the Tourism is the backbone of Kashmir’s economy. Unfortunately, so far there is neither an approved “Policy of[Read More…]
South Asia
Countering Terrorism in Bangladesh and Beyond
Since terrorists mostly outsmart law-enforcers and their victims, counterterrorism (CT) is an arduous tightrope walking. Effective CT requires governments, law-enforcers, and all potential victims of terrorism to understand what terrorism is all about. However, false flag operations, cry wolves, and politically motivated persecution of wrong people, and even invasions of the wrong countries have become very challenging to successful CT[Read More…]
Annihilate Caste
BJP Targeting Reservation
The BJP government’s continuous assault on reservation policies in the higher educational institutions must be exposed and opposed tooth and nail. The current leadership has given clear indication to its brahmanical chums to hit at the heart of these communities and their intellectual leadership that emerge from these institutions. It is important to understand why the government has chosen to[Read More…]
Life/Philosophy
The Philosophical Discourse on ‘Death’
Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night. Stand[Read More…]
Arts/Literature
Church and state only applicable to some
Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Felipe Neri Ferrao’s pronouncements about the Indian Constitution being in danger created a furor in the media. Apparently the Catholic church in Goa is only supposed to boost tourism. Angela Ferrao is an independent editorial cartoonist. https://www.facebook.com/Ferraodesigns
Book Review
Practical Utopia- Replying to Scipes
First, I thank Kim Scipes for his review of a recent book of mine- Practical Utopia – and for the many kind things he had to say about it. While I might enjoy rehashing our agreements on strategy, underlying ideas, vision, and the motives and methods of writing, I will only comment on his disagreements. Scipes notes that regarding goals,[Read More…]
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