Civil-military relations are today at an all-time low and although the decades-long continuity of the bureaucratic hand is obvious in the current NDA-2 dispensation, there is also evidence of the political leadership humiliating the military. Let us begin with CBI’s arrest of Air Chief Marshal S.P.Tyagi, India’s former air chief, in connection with the Agusta Westland helicopter purchase deal. It[Read More…]
Demonetization has left deep scars on the economy and, despite assurances from the government, the journey to normalcy may be slower and more painful than expected. The denudation of India’s vast informal economy, almost entirely dependent on cash, has put the marginalized and economically vulnerable – farmers, daily-wage labourers, street vendors , small businesses, tiny industries, shops, and countless[Read More…]
Clearly rattled by the mounting body of evidence of blatant violations of the rule of law and Constitutional rights under the cover of anti-Maoist operations, the Bastar police has launched a no-holds-barred attempt to silence all those who are calling them to account. Advocate Shalini Gera and her colleagues of JagLAG who were in Jagdalpur in connection with a case[Read More…]
The life that we have built here has taught many how to live a large-scale sustainable, decolonized, anticapitalist lifestyle. I arrived at Standing Rock in the very last days of May, alongside some comrades, at the request of Wiyaka Eagleman, the first firekeeper at Camp of the Sacred Stones and a founding member of the Keystone XL campaign. He had[Read More…]
It was a year blown up by the election results. There are now two very different 2016s—the one before and the one after we learned that Donald Trump would become president of the United States. Before Nov. 8, most assumed that Hillary Clinton would be elected and would lead the nation more or less in the footsteps of Barack Obama.[Read More…]
People early on learn the Golden Rule, essentially to treat others (regardless of differences) as you wish to be treated. This idea is found in many religions as well. For example, love and compassion, not hatred and coldness, are a key part of Jesus’ teachings as well as part of other religions. The outcome of the recent election has served[Read More…]
If there is one document that has proliferated in India more than anything else, it is the Aadhaar card. Touted initially as a technological solution to the menace of corruption in welfare programmes, it has slowly emerged, quite unannounced, as an identification number for all citizens. It has found widespread acceptance and appears to have become the new normal. The[Read More…]
A recent controversy that has erupted is over the construction of 192 metre Shivaji Statue. There has been divided opinion on having such an expensive statue worth Rs. 3,600 crores. Critics are opposing it from four different perspectives. The first one is in relation to excessive costs, the second one from the opportunity cost undergone which could have been used[Read More…]
daak laaya kushi ka payaam kaheen dardanaak laaya daakiya daak laaya …” —From the film Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein’ (1977) The Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini starrer 1977 film was a flop in the Box Office, but the song, penned by Gulzar and sung by Kishore Kumar remains a strong favourite for that generation. The lyric reflects a reality all[Read More…]
I feel like a criminal
trying to score some cash,
going from bank to bank,
whipped by Modi’s lash.
I can’t get access
to my own money.
Millions of people go hungry.
This isn’t funny,
The problem of nuclear waste has yet to be dealt with. There have been numerous plans made, numerous barrel-loads of dangerous waste dumped into rivers, water-ways and oceans, numerous false starts that went nowhere, and numerous failed projects. As cooling ponds around the world near their capacity, spent nuclear fuel rods have become the singular intractable problem for those who operate nuclear power plants. They generate high temperatures that must be controlled for decades. And they hold a mix of highly radioactive fission products that must be kept isolated from the environment for hundreds of thousands of years.
Will you dare do serious independent research and thinking on the matter of Palestine? Will you withdraw from the pact supporting a fake two state solution? Will you challenge Israeli impunity to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity? Will you replace the zionist mouthpiece McCully with a foreign minister prepared to put international law above US and Israel interests? Will you, Bill English, dare to morally defend the Palestinian right to life and their political and human rights?
There was always going to be a good deal of thick drama around Carrie Fisher, by her own confession, a product of Hollywood in-breeding. Her parents, Debbie Reynolds and the crooner Eddie Fisher, provided ample material for the gossip columns in a marriage breakup after Eddie sped away with Elizabeth Taylor. This was the background of an “unfilmable Dynasty”, one[Read More…]
Govt. of India accountable for Najeeb’s continued ‘disappearance’. NAPM condemns institutional impunity to right-wing hooligans in university-educational spaces and increasing repression of politically-articulate students from marginalized communities 27th December, 2016: The National Alliance of People’s Movements condemns the criminal delay and silence of the Government of India, Delhi Police and JNU administration on the ‘disappearance’ of Najeeb Ahmad from 15th[Read More…]
After the Electoral College vote, the Trump presidency is now official. As denial and blame games continue, it becomes clear this was not a foreign government coup d’état. The truth is that democracy in America has been rotten to the core for decades. It is meddled with by corporate lobbyists, Big Pharma, Big Oil and Wall Street –those who are[Read More…]
As he prepares to say good bye to the White House, President Barak Hussein Obama leaves a trail of successes and failures. Notorious among the former are the Iran deal, the US abstention in the December 2016 resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Occupied Palestine, the killing of unarmed Osma bin Laden, the visit to Cuba, the[Read More…]
Every generation feels that it’s living through the worst of times. As do the ones now that are occupying Earth for fleeting moments, as is the eternal law. In times like the present, obviously, there are more than only a couple reasons for conditions to look as dismal as they do. And those are mighty substantive reasons too. The ongoing[Read More…]
One has to be really affluent or be in rich surroundings to walk with ease in India, it seems. I was in a very upmarket gated colony of bungalows in Bangalore last week. There were footpaths on both sides, lined with palm trees, there was little traffic and one could enjoy the walking. This is a highly protected environment. The[Read More…]
CDRO strongly condemns the arrest of a 7 member Fact Finding team by the Telangana police at Dummagudem village of Bhadrachalam district on 25th December, 2016 at 6 pm and in turn handing them over to the Sukma Police (Chhattisgarh State). We also strongly object to the way Sukma Police foisted false cases against the Fact Finding team members under[Read More…]
We are stunned by the temerity of the state to arrest well known civil rights activists while on the way to Bastar for fact finding into the recent encounter killings. While they were detained by Telangana Police they were handed over to Chhattisgarh to be charged under the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). In its characteristic style the[Read More…]
(One may weather a storm but tornados, also called twisters are very difficult to handle!) Kashmiri has most of the time been an unpredictable character. In the middle of an uprising which breaks out like a storm one gets the feeling that the game is over and soon Kashmir would be “free” but then comes a time when one wonders[Read More…]
The right to food campaign is dismayed by the Indian government’s reckless attempt to renew currency notes, known as “demonetization”, without any serious attention to the consequences it may have for poor people. This move serves no clear purpose and is a major attack on the right to food and the right to life. Demonetization was sold to the public[Read More…]
Flatly defying last week’s United Nations Security Council resolution, the Israeli government has announced that it will move ahead with thousands of new homes in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank territories seized by force nearly 50 years ago in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Jerusalem’s municipal government was expected to approve more than 600 housing units[Read More…]
The Christmas season is when people in the Christian world are encouraged to think of those less fortunate, including of course people oppressed for no other reason than being a particular ethnic or national group by birth. And iconic in such misery are Palestinians. Palestinians are both Christian and Muslim. Few in the West know, for example, that the late[Read More…]
Ghulam Reza often plays at the Borderfree Centre. He’s 5 years, 3 mos. On Saturday, he was filling an empty chips bag with water, tying off the top, and pushing it along, atop a roof tile. Zarghuna and I tried asking if it was a ship or a truck, but he generally ignored us and kept on playing quietly. Near[Read More…]
Britain’s nuclear safety regulator has been accused of turning a blind eye to dozens of serious mistakes at power plants and military bases. I initially came across the information given below on Sky News’ Press Review, as part of Monday’s coverage of what that mainstream media outlet considers stories of the day; usually entertainment/celebrity icons dominate the fare, and Monday[Read More…]
There is no doubt that the UN Security Council condemnation of Israel on Friday, December 23, was an important and noteworthy event. True, the United Nations’ main chambers (the Security Council and the General Assembly) and its various institutions, ranging from the International Court of Justice to the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, have repeatedly condemned the Israeli occupation, illegal[Read More…]
Resolution 2334 (2016) of the UN Security Council could have been stronger by condemning the Occupation but it nevertheless condemned other Israeli crimes in the Palestinian Territory that are in gross violation of international law, and was passed 14-0 on 23 December 2016, with the racist, pro-Zionist, pro-Apartheid US Obama Administration remarkably failing to veto and recording an unprincipled[Read More…]
The Anamallai Hills are a ridge that is between three thousand five hundred to six thousand feet high and goes like the backbone of an elephant right down the Western side of India to the tip of the subcontinent. Even though it is not called by this name all along this journey and the name changes to High Range in[Read More…]
In India, most development programmes for poor have been designed on the assumption that the poor need charities and they cannot afford to pay for the services .This is erroneous and we have witnessed how dollops of free money have stifled their initiatives .Several studies have revealed that the poor are keen to have access to proper healthcare ,[Read More…]
One of the major motivations for me to watch Dangal was its poster that featured girls with the ‘boy-cut’. Another one was the associated murmurs that claimed it to be another film that propagates ‘women empowerment’. After watching the film, I felt that the understanding of ‘women empowerment’ in our society is still limited, empowerment is being ‘equal’ or ‘nearly[Read More…]
“The Inheritance” is a compelling fictional narrative of a young man who is sucked up by the whirlpool of caste system. This short fiction depicts with conviction how even educated young people of lower castes are tragically drowned by the inheritance of their own caste. Rahul Pagare, a student of ITI-Electrical believed in Ambedkar’s message of ‘Educate Organise Agitate’. Grown[Read More…]
“We can eat only if we work every day,” D. Narayanappa said after returning to Bucharla from Bengaluru on November 4. Like many other Dalits in this village, he migrates to the city to work on construction sites for most of the year, coming home every now and then for a few days. But in November, the migrants stay on[Read More…]
In the final hours before the Christmas holiday weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday quietly signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law—and buried within the $619 billion military budget (pdf) is a controversial provision that establishes a national anti-propaganda center that critics warn could be dangerous for press freedoms. The Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act, introduced[Read More…]
The loss of Arctic sea ice has already been shown to be part of a positive feedback loopdriving climate change, and a recent study published in the journal Nature puts the spotlight on what appears to be another of these feedback loops. It has to do with soil, currently one of Earth’s carbon sinks. But warming may lead to soils[Read More…]
This Christmas I mourn the long, slow death of our democracy that led to the political ascendancy of Donald Trump. I fear the euphoria of those who have embraced the atavistic lust for violence and bigotry stoked by him. These nativist forces, part of the continuum of white vigilante violence directed against people of color and radical dissidents throughout American[Read More…]
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. . . Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people. You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children,[Read More…]
The sub-freezing temperature was dropping. As the snow began to fall, many felt their hands were too cold to hold signs during the December 17 action. Two dozen had answered the Green Party call to picket the mayor of St. Louis for his efforts to close down New Life Evangelistic Center, the city’s homeless “shelter-of-last-resort.” They knew things would be[Read More…]
Brian Terrell, December 25, 2016: Since Pope Paul VI proclaimed January 1 a “World Day of Peace” in 1967, popes have issued statements for peace for that day. On December 8, in this most perilous of times, Pope Francis published the fiftieth World Day of Peace declaration for 2017, catching the church and the world by surprise with its call[Read More…]
Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement. The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the[Read More…]
Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday (Dec. 23) ordered the expansion of the Russian naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus, according to the Russian media. The expansion of the naval base comes days of the capture of the Syrian city of Aleppo by the Russian-backed Syrian forces. This comes also four days after the assassination of the Russian[Read More…]
George Santayana presciently said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The only difference between the Afghan jihad back in the ‘80s, that spawned the Islamic jihadists like the Taliban and al Qaeda for the first time in history, and the Libyan and Syrian civil wars, 2011-onward, is that the Afghan jihad was an[Read More…]
Apparently, and especially as gleaned from the verbal declarations of the leaders of myriad types and various ranks, the government in Bangladesh has assumed a schizophrenic tendency. It wants its political adversaries to participate in electoral processes yet, simultaneously, they keep up a persistent drumbeat of negative proclamations. And more often than not the edicts are unadulterated confections of the[Read More…]
The PUCL strongly condemns the illegal, unprovoked and malicious arrest by the Telangana police of a 7-member team of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists belonging to the Telangana Democratic Forum and other organisations on 25th December, 2016 at Dummagudam village of Bhadrachalam District of Telangana who were planning to visit Chhattisgarh to enquire into complaints of human rights violations[Read More…]
When I first initiated livelihood finance projects through women collectives called as Self Help Groups, more than two decades back, I encountered stiff resistance from the local elders who couldn’t believe that their women could attend a meeting without a male chaperone. There were some who felt that since I was a male, I had no customary sanction to interact[Read More…]
Yet another minority rights day passed on December 18 and minorities still continue to suffer from discrimination and exclusion. They are even subjected to genocidal attacks in this modern age. The State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples– 2016 published by the Minority Rights Group International, a London based international human rights organization asserts that “the unique cultures of minorities[Read More…]
Dear Friends- I am sure we can all agree that we live in strange times. For most of us, education and intellectual progress were based on hard mental work, the exercise of logic, and the seeking of not only nuggets of truth but the interconnections between these nuggets. We understood the importance of knowledge; to put it in the modern[Read More…]
More recently, the series of incidents that have happened in Kerala is highly alarming about the times we live in. There have been a series of arrests in Kerala under the current CPM Government on the allegations of disrespecting national anthem, supporting the Maoists and on suspicions of Maoist links following the shocking Nilambur fake encounter killing
Najaf, Iraq–A week has passed since my arrival in Iraq. Once again we come desiring to strengthen the bonds of human friendship, bonds which threaten to break as the opportunities to visit each other become less and less possible. A few days prior to my departure, I attended a Veterans for Peace holiday party in New York City where[Read More…]
A tweet sent Thursday by President-elect Donald Trump advocating the expansion of the US nuclear weapons arsenal has become the top news story around the world. Trump wrote: “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.” https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811977223326625792 Trump’s tweet was almost certainly a response to[Read More…]
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign. That’s laughable presently. The Trudeau government is still enjoying an extra long honeymoon; Canadians are still as happy about the change to ‘sunny ways’ as Americans are distraught with the specter of at least four years of slime, sleeze and shame. But our PM is a dead man walking. Trudeau and his government[Read More…]
“This new account you will open for me here,” a terribly worried Dheeraj Rehuwamansoor asks the friendly bank manager, “can I operate it from elsewhere in the country?” Well, says Sanjay Ashturkar smiling, “I will give you an ATM card and you can use that in your own state and town, wherever there is an ATM.” “Of what use is[Read More…]
Disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Poor people are more likely to become differently abled and people with disabilities are among the poorest and most vulnerable group of population mainly due to the lack of access to education, skills and employment opportunities. To break this vicious cycle of poverty and to make PWDs included in the mainstream,[Read More…]
The Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) is yet another violent variable in the equation of environmental racism that plagues the United States, and the world—to the peril of Indigenous and low-wealth communities of color everywhere. Native lands, water, sacred sites, and sovereignty have been sacrificed to “spare” majority white areas north of Bismarck, North Dakota from the myriad risks of this[Read More…]
Interview with Christian Felber Author and activist on issues of social justice, democracy and economics. Initiator of the projects “Economy for the Common Good” and “Bank for the Common Good”. Co-founder of the Austrian branch of Attac. His most recent book is “Geld. Die neuen Spielregeln”. Christian Felber: I would do the same thing that we propose to do in[Read More…]
It’s the solstice, the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. I awaken in the dark and check for news about Standing Rock and about the Trump transition team. It’s almost an epic pairing: the Native Americans, withstanding water cannons and pepper spray, camped out in below-zero blizzards, holding as sacred the water, land, and well-being of the children—and[Read More…]
Deemed by the Home Office an exemplar of legislation balancing security and freedoms, the UK Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA), otherwise known as the Snoopers’ Charter, did not impress the EU Court of Justice. The case had been brought in 2014 by two MPs, David Davis and Tom Watson. Davis had since evacuated from the brief, leaving Watson[Read More…]
“One out of ten Americans live within ten miles of a Super Fund site.” — E.G. Vallianatos I gave a speech to educators a little over two years ago at a Social Forum in San Jose, California. In it I noted that I had conducted a survey a year before targeting academics, community leaders, students and staff at local educational institutions[Read More…]
American Muslim civil advocacy groups Thursday (Dec. 22, 2016) welcomed President Barrack Obama’s decision to permanently dismantle the regulatory framework behind the National Security Exit-Entry Registration System (NSEERS) also called “Special Registration.” CNN quoted Neema Hakim, a DHS spokesman, as saying: “The Department of Homeland Security is removing outdated regulations pertaining to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration Systems (NSEERS) program,[Read More…]
There are ocean people and others who are mountain people; and yet others who are city people. I, am of the forest people. Wildlife, open spaces, mountains and forests have always been a very significant influence in my life. There is an instant connection that I find with forests. And every once in a while I rejuvenate myself by spending[Read More…]
Text and photos by Andre Vltchek From Manila and Davao: When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ascended to power in 1999, almost no one in the West, in Asia and even in most of the Latin American countries knew much about his new militant revolutionary anti-imperialism. From the mass media outlets like CNN and the BBC, to local televisions and newspapers[Read More…]
The currency is the centrepiece of a modern economy, the trust and credibility reposed in it being one of the most precious of national assets. It is not to be trifled with by ignorant tyrants. And this is why fiscal and monetary powers are separated in any modern economy, and the autonomy of the central bank is sacrosanct. This separation[Read More…]
Geneva / Hong Kong: The Right Livelihood Award Foundation has been at the forefront of support for press freedom, globally. This is showcased in the jury decision this year to honour Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, as well as in the selection of recent Laureates Amy Goodman and The Guardian. Awards apart, there are other ways in which the Foundation has looked[Read More…]
After meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, top officials of the Russian, Iranian and Turkish governments issued a joint eight-point statement of principles calling for the extension of a ceasefire throughout Syria and a negotiated settlement between the Syrian government and its opponents. Much of the statement, dubbed by Russian officials as the “Moscow Declaration,” was boilerplate. It declared the three[Read More…]
Outside of Madaya, Syria: It was this past July that ten year old Ghina and six year old Nagham, old sisters of four year old Manal and three year old Mohammad-Kamal, left their apartment near the main street in Madaya, Syria to collect some medicine from the nearby town’s clinic for their mother Sahar. As they left the clinic and[Read More…]
Although the background to Monday’s attack on a Berlin Christmas market remains unclear, politicians and the media are using it to mount a right-wing offensive in Germany and throughout Europe. The attack claimed 12 lives and left 48 people injured. On Tuesday, the police released a 23-year-old refugee from Pakistan because of lack of evidence that he had driven the[Read More…]
One of the notable features of Growthism is the way it takes growth to be entirely normal and, at the same time, understands it as the very recent triumph of humanity over the awful conditions it faced for the first two hundred thousand years of its existence as a species. According to the groundbreaking, if also flawed, work of Angus[Read More…]
The hard-nosed neo-cons were certainly showing little interest in linking arguments, examining evidence, or even considering elementary logic in the aftermath of the Berlin truck attack near the Gedächtniskirche. With the bodies fresh in the morgue, former US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, peered into the mind of the everyday German, and found teeth chattering fear. “Many Germans[Read More…]
An interview with MuslimPress Why did you choose the name “Jatiindia” for your work? What’s the significance of this name? Inequality exists in societies all across the globe. Designed by Brahmanism (which came before Hinduism), the caste system is a uniquely cruel and immutable version of this phenomenon because it has been conveniently sanctioned by the Hindu religion. The Indian[Read More…]
(In spite of a lapse of more than two years, one is still waiting for the execution of the urgent and credible flood protection measures leaving an option open for the next disaster!) The most destructive flood in a century occurred in Kashmir in September, 2014. It was an unprecedented disaster in our living memory. Even though the loss of[Read More…]
On 30th November 2016, the Supreme Court of India issued an interim order laying out seven directives to be followed marking respect for the National Anthem of India. These included the requirement for all to stand whenever the national anthem was played as well the compulsory playing of the national anthem at all cinema halls before every screening. The directives were[Read More…]
Yesterday, top Russian, Turkish, and Iranian officials met in Moscow and signed a declaration they billed as ending the US-instigated war in Syria. Coming after Russian-backed Syrian army units captured the key city of Aleppo from US-backed Islamist fighters, the deal shows that moves to improve ties between the three countries are continuing despite Monday’s assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov.
The orange growers of Nagpur have now joined the fellowship of pain of their peers in the cotton farming community. Demonetization has dented the orange trade in Vidarbha. The orange exporters who export to Bangladesh have suffered the most as the fruit prices have fallen by up to 50%. “Prices have crashed by 50% and the time to harvest the fruits is getting over. We fear that the situation can lead to increase in suicides of farmers,” was written in a memorandum that was given[Read More…]
The demonetisation scheme has put people in the unorganised sector out of work. People don’t have work, money and are barely surviving. One person in the video says “when the note ban happened nobody cared about the plight of the poor people. Think about the families who collected some money for a marriage.” Many marriages have been postponed. Report by[Read More…]
You destroyed the economy
with one colossal blunder.
You’ve brought untold misery
and torn our lives asunder.
But Modi-ji, whatever you do
or say or think is fine.
There’s just one more little thing
you ought to do. RESIGN.
The British government of Theresa May officially adopted on December 12 a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes legitimate criticism of Israel. The definition was adopted earlier in the year by a pro-Israeli group IHRA, although it was considered but abandoned by the European anti-racism agency in 2005. It is also a rather dangerous move which will most likely lead[Read More…]
The media landscape in America is dominated by “fake news.” It has been for decades. This fake news does not emanate from the Kremlin. It is a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry that is skillfully designed and managed by public relations agencies, publicists and communications departments on behalf of individuals, government and corporations to manipulate public opinion. This propaganda industry stages pseudo-events to[Read More…]
Poor Palestine – the major Palestinian players, Fatah and Hamas have degraded and set back the liberation movement by crawling with begging bowls to self-interested, absolutely not Palestine-interested, Arab states, and furthermore both are fickle beggars switching loyalties to conform to the US volatile currents in the Middle East. Arab regimes quarter-hearted support for Palestine goes back to the Nakba,[Read More…]
“They had to kill him to prolong the life of apartheid.” Nelson Mandela Commemorating birthdays in the aftermath of a person’s death tends to be a false exercise. At best, it reminds us about an era that will have, almost certainly, vanished. This goes for whatever that era entailed – brutality, or peace; tranquillity or chaos. Then comes the issue[Read More…]
A fanatic slogan by Hindu fundamentalist group reads “garv se kaho hum hindu hai” (say with proudness that I am a Hindu). Such a sloganeering transforms a religious identity from a set of emotion based on ‘bhakti’ towards ‘supreme’ to that of an inflated ego of ‘religious supremacy’ based on a proud religious identity with ‘hatred’ for others. Displaying ‘chest[Read More…]
Almost every farmer across India’s arid cotton-bearing central plateau is a hostage, in one way or another, of the moneylender. The present demonetization has come as a blessing for the moneylenders For centuries moneylenders have monopolized rural Indian credit markets. Families have lost land, farmers have been asked to prostitute their wives to pay off debts and, when all else[Read More…]
The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot in the back and killed Monday (12/19) by a sacked police officer who shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo” and “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire. The ambassador was giving a speech at an Ankara art gallery. Reuters news agency reported: “A video showed the attacker shouting: “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”[Read More…]
On four occasions in the last year, white acquaintances have extolled their children for being “colorblind,” for not even considering race when speaking of or interacting with other kids. In all four cases, the same “example” of this “post-racial” attitude was brought to the conversation: that when attempting to describe a fellow (minority) student, their children did not use the[Read More…]
An off-duty Turkish policeman shot and killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, Monday in front of a horrified audience at a photo exhibition in Ankara. The gunman was identified as a 22-year-old member of the Ankara riot police, Mevlüt Mert Altintaş. Dressed in a black suit and carrying his police ID, he entered the art gallery where Karlov[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: In demonetised India, when people of the unorganised sector are fast losing jobes, they are finding inventive ways of surviving. A man in Trivandrum has become a hawker of old notes as his business of selling chappals and shoes on the street failed. He says “This is my new business. I’ve become a hawker of old notes. I have[Read More…]
There have been various and repeated references to the suffering of the public caused by the decision of demonetization by the government. The suffering of the ordinary people due to this astounding decision has been criticized even by the High Court and Supreme Court. Around 100 people have died because of it. The supporters[Read More…]
Someone from Tamil Nadu narrated the story that “a person who was cleaning the aircraft and he found a catalogue (it mentions as to how to take off the aircraft) near the pilot seat. He took that and followed the instructions right from starting to take off the flight. He took the flight and got very excited, but the catalogue[Read More…]
Global domination by neoliberal One Percenter climate criminals has meant that a catastrophic plus 2C temperature rise is now unavoidable and that the Paris ideal of no more than plus 1.5C will be exceeded in 4-10 years. The most effective collective action now for decent Humanity to mitigate inescapable climate catastrophe is to promise that all climate criminals will[Read More…]
Yesterday, I was invited to give a talk at a public meeting on the usual themes: climate change, resources, pollution, and the like. This time, a question I received from the audience caused me a small enlightenment that I am describing here as I remember it (h/t Lorenzo Citti for having organized this interesting meeting) Thanks for this question –[Read More…]
Since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, I’ve given daily thought to the more alarming aspects of Trump culture. Conversations among friends have been quite helpful, both here in the U.S. and in far- away Kabul from which I recently returned. It becomes hard to envision constructive responses to Trumpism without a steadfast focus on[Read More…]
It took place in August 2013. It was a hack of unprecedented scale, impetuous, audacious, and, if we are to believe Yahoo, undetected at the time. The result of that effort across 1 billion accounts was a profitable use of material to spammers and cyber criminals operating on the dark web, with some estimates on proceeds coming to $300,000. The[Read More…]
America has always had a love affair with its generals. It started at the founding of the republic with George Washington and continued with (among others) Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. These military men shared something in common: they were winning generals. Washington in the Revolution; Jackson in the War of 1812; Taylor in the Mexican-American[Read More…]
I’ve spent more time in gyms than I can even begin to calculate. I can now recognize how this choice instilled in me a skewed and unhealthy body perception and heavily reinforced my masculine conditioning. However, there were also powerful positive life lessons to be learned within those mirrored walls. Here are a few: Lesson #1: Let the results (or[Read More…]
Christmas Day is the court-ordered deadline to evacuate around 330 settlers from the Amona outpost. The colony is built on the farmland of Palestinian families who still live nearby, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Eighty-year-old Maryam Hamad, who lives in the neighboring Palestinian village of Silwad, owns six acres there, where she once cultivated wheat. She has[Read More…]
After the killing of Hizb commander BurhanWani, loudspeakers in mosques across Kashmir were abuzz with pro-freedom songs. An atmosphere of emotional commotion prevailed and sentiments were high. After Burhan’s killing, Kashmir witnessed one of the longest and largest strikes in her history under Indian occupation (Jean Dreze calls it one of the longest in Indian history, Kashmir’s Hidden Uprising, The[Read More…]
With the meaning of the word “respect” having been defined for us by the Honorable Supreme Court of India, it is pertinent to also look at the ‘’lawfulness’’ of the said judgment. The only reason I feel this is pertinent is because we are talking about a “Court of Law” here. In commonsensical understanding, a Court of Law would be[Read More…]
PUDR notes with concern the intimidation of the residents of Kathputli colony by the Delhi police since the night of 18 December. While Police presence was visible in and around Kathputli colony for the past few days, the police were deployed in large numbers (approx. 250 police personnel) on 18th night and barricades around the colony were erected. The next morning,[Read More…]
One of the least noticed features of the introduction of economic reforms in India 25 years ago was the manner in which addressing a short-term payments crisis on the country’s external accounts became a pretext for the government to introduce – without any debate befitting a supposedly democratic society – sweeping, long-term changes. One need not be a votary of[Read More…]
Fisher people who are dislocated from their homes due to sea erosion are hit hard by the note ban. Women of Valiyathura relief camp tell their woes caused by the note ban. Nobody has work. No money. No food. Who benefited from the note ban? They say, politicians, while the people are suffering.
The extreme southern coastal landscape in India perhaps has been one of the most beautiful regions, despite all human interventions that have taken place so far to destroy it. Strong waves, good beaches connecting hills with coconut trees mark its beauty. This region is also one of the richest aquatic biodiversity. There are twenty wedge banks in the world today,[Read More…]
Demonetization is all about currency and the amount of money with the public. Since the public has no interface with the Reserve Bank of India, they have to deal with the banks for their daily requirements of money. Consequently, demonetization has had a dramatic impact on banks in India and this is likely to persist. Banks and the Public Ire[Read More…]
There is an astounding double standard being applied to the US presidential election result. A few weeks ago the corporate media were appalled that Donald Trump demurred on whether he would accept the vote if it went against him. It was proof of his anti-democratic, authoritarian instincts. But now he has won, the same media outlets are cheerleading the[Read More…]
While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on 25 December, that date was probably originally chosen due to the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar or because of one of the various other ancient seasonal festivals and celebrations around that time. Aside from the date, early Christianity also annexed many traditions (see this and this). Places where pagan gods proclaimed revelations became[Read More…]
It is very interesting to note the judgement regarding the Muslim IAF officer who claimed that keeping a beard is his religious obligation. The Indian Express reported that the ruling given was, “Emphasising the need to “maintain discipline” in the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Muslim personnel cannot keep beards by citing religious grounds.” http://indianexpress.com/article/india/air-force-personnel-cant-sport-beard-rules-supreme-court-as-it-junks-muslim-mans-plea-4427848/ Being[Read More…]
Beyond the orgasms of patriotism and far from the rhetoric of nationalism breathes the real India, an India of flesh and blood. And no matter what amount of chest thumping some among us do, it is getting clearer by the day that it was this real India which bled white following the demonetization drive announced by the government on November[Read More…]
The workers in the unorganised sector are hit hard by the note ban. They can’t find work. With the introduction of new Rs 2000 notes, a new malady is upon them. They can’t find change for these notes. Auto-rickshaw drivers tell their woes of #Demonetisation
A clear cleavage that has occurred since the introduction of Demonetisation is between those who believe that this will act as a magic panacea against black money on one side and those who critic it by questioning its unconvincing logic. The ones in the former consists the Bhakts and also those who are convinced by the propaganda machine and genuinely[Read More…]
Supreme Court Order on national Anthem (November 2016) has asked theatres to play the national anthem before a film show begins “for the love of the motherland”. This has yet again started the debate over the personal freedom and legal obligations in present times. This is in the backdrop of growing intolerance. The point is whether nationalistic[Read More…]
Newly declassified documents pertaining to ‘Operation Condor‘, a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy sentiment in US satellites in Latin America, reveal that the government of Jimmy Carter provided assistance to the US proxy dictator in Argentina that helped him drown thousands of dissidents in the ocean or rivers. The revelations add to Carter’s already bloody legacy, which includes numeroussimilar crackdowns in US[Read More…]
Stealing elections is not new. Most observers can recite examples. It was also clear something was wrong. The size of Bernie Sanders rallies for one in comparison with Hillary Clinton’s even when exaggerated by the main stream media (MSM). It turns out the MSM had been bought in other ways also, printing positive op-eds for Hillary and vice versa[Read More…]
Microfinance continues to thrive despite being under fire from legions of critics. One plausible reason for the lingering faith in the power of microfinance is that it provides a convenient strategy for investors to demonstrate that that they are active fighters against poverty and are trying to save the poor while making a substantial amount of money from them. Microfinance –[Read More…]
It is fourth anniversary of 16 December 2012, the brutal gang rape and murder of a student in Delhi that shook the conscience of the nation and led to unprecedented protests against sexual violence across India. Crime against women has been common in India, as has been the support for such crime in the form of misogynist statements by those[Read More…]
One of the greatest needs today is for us, human beings, to get back in touch with nature. It is not our evil intent but our indifference, ignorance and disconnect that is the root cause behind global warming, environmental destruction, wildlife extinction, pollution of rivers and oceans and the consequent backlash to our own existence. If not altruism, then at[Read More…]
The note ban hit poor people the hardest. Victims of sea erosion living in a camp in Valiyathura School tell their plight. For these people who already lost their homes due to sea erosion the note ban was a double blow.
On Thursday, the global social media giant Facebook announced new measures it said were designed to limit the spread of “fake news” from hoax web sites. The measures, however, are part of a broader corporate media campaign to clamp down on independent and alternative news organizations. Facebook’s announcement is in response to criticism it received from major corporate news outlets[Read More…]
The heroic work of the Standing Rock water protectors represents a defining moment in the long struggle against the institutions of empire and colonial rule. It is fitting that the leaders are indigenous peoples who have come together in an ever-widening circle. As the Standing Rock circle has expanded, it has included nonindigenous participants who reflect the diverse racial, religious,[Read More…]
Over the past few months activists opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline have ramped up pressure on the pipeline company’s financiers, and now the city of Seattle is showing what kind of weight a large municipality can add as it looks at taking $3 billion in city business away from Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is one of 38 banks offering[Read More…]
Hundreds of water protectors gathered in a solar-powered 200-foot geodesic dome nestled on the plains amid tipis and waited three hours to join a traditional Lakota dinner on Thanksgiving. Ancient tradition guided a solemn dinner initiated by prayer and a small offering of food to the spirits. Traditional Lakota protocols guide how food is prepared and served. Elders eat first,[Read More…]
Sasja Beslik, head of sustainable finance at Nordea, one of the largest banks in Europe, recently traveled to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on a fact-finding mission. Originally from Bosnia, Beslik has seen his share of war and says that the Oceti Sakowin Camp reminded him of a war zone. Beslik says Nordea’s customers pressured the bank to investigate the[Read More…]
Dear Professor X, For many years now I have been reading your 0p-Eds, articles in periodicals and academic papers. In my mind you are one Nobel Prize economist who speaks the truth to the weaknesses and strengths of past and present economic theory. With all due respect though; let me suggest that the time has come for you and the[Read More…]
We stand on the edge of the destruction of humanity and our planet, therefore we need Confidence, Courage, Love, Respect, Understanding to comprehend precisely, what human race needs to do in order to achieve real changes for the benefit of all mankind. As long as people do not see this great danger, nothing else matters. Understanding of the strength of[Read More…]
The National Museum, Damascus: It’s a god-awful situation today in Palmyra. How much of our priceless cultural heritage will be destroyed during the expanding re-occupation by Islamic State (IS)? This observer has received more than two dozen emails in the past 72 hours asking for details of what is happening in Palmyra. Many scholars and citizens interested in Palmyra[Read More…]
The note ban has hit the fisher folk and the fish vendors heavily. There is no sale for them. They are desperate. The woman in the video says “those who come to buy fish ask whether we will take old notes? Where will we change it? We don’t’ have mango, jack fruit, tapioca, papaya or anything to eat. We have[Read More…]
Even as columns of green buses were ferrying the last of the Western-backed Islamist “rebels” out of eastern Aleppo Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry took the podium at a State Department press conference to describe the situation in the northern Syrian city as “unconscionable” and to denounce the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for carrying out “nothing short[Read More…]
The Battle Cry: Independence is humanity’s yearning. Independence is humanity’s lifeline. Independence is bud for humanity’s blooming. Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, a poet from Bengal under British boot, affirmed the position with two questions: Shaadheenataa-heenataay ke baacheete chay …? Daashatta-sreenkhal balo ke pareebe pay …, is there anyone liking a life without independence? is there anyone willing to have a shackled[Read More…]
Sam Bliss (author of the wonderfully-named blog ‘The Bliss Point‘) and Aaron Vansintjan recently wrote a blog called Degrowth is Punk as F*ck which defended the term “degrowth” as “a little middle finger to the establishment” and urged the reader to “take your positivity and shove it”. It’s a fiery and passionate defence of degrowth, and contains much, in its[Read More…]
It was December of 1991 and I was serving as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations in Washington DC. The Israelis were stalling,not even negotiating in bad faith, and the Americans under Baker and Ross were doing nothing to get the negotiations started. This had been going on for 3 weeks and Christmas was[Read More…]
Given the convergence of regional interests between Western countries and Iran, the world needs to understand the human rights atrocities committed by the Iranian regime that all too often receive scant attention. Iran’s crimes against the oppressed none Persian nations remain hidden, rarely reported and never addressed. What political prisoners of none Persian ethnicities are subjected to comprises a[Read More…]
A month has passed since Donald Trump was declared president-elect soon to be the 45th president of the United States. Since his win, pundits, analysts, and experts continue to debate the victory – a surprise to most. While the reason/s for this victory depend on one’s perspective, most agree on one thing: Trump is unpredictable. But is he really? There[Read More…]
Intent and causation are important features in the course of history. The former envisages motive and hope, irrespective of outcome; the latter envisages consequence. Often, these get muddled in the jumbled process of reasoning. An intervention in the affairs of another state goes awry; a historical incident goes belly up with ferocious consequences. Suddenly, in the aftermath, we are wise,[Read More…]
While the world is transfixed on the epic tragedy unfolding in Syria, another tragedy—a hidden one—has been consuming the children of Yemen. Battered by the twin evils of war and hunger, every ten minutes a child in Yemen is now dying from malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory-tract infections. A new UNICEF report shows over 400,000 Yemeni children suffering from severe acute[Read More…]
Trump’s Carbon-Obsessed Energy Policy and the Planetary Nightmare to Come Scroll through Donald Trump’s campaign promises or listen to his speeches and you could easily conclude that his energy policy consists of little more than a wish list drawn up by the major fossil fuel companies: lift environmental restrictions on oil and natural gas extraction, build the Keystone XL and Dakota Access[Read More…]
Facebook is adding a new feature wherein a group that the Washington Post calls an ‘independent third party fact checker’ will decide whether stories are real or fake, and flag ones the group decides are fake. WaPo leaves out of its report that the ‘independent fact checker’, the Poynter International Fact-Checking Network, receives funding from a US government-funded group, the[Read More…]
A pair of headlines the past two weeks illustrated the gruesome underbelly of the urban housing crisis. Last Wednesday night in the Bronx two young homeless sisters, aged 2 and 1, were found dead after a malfunctioning radiator in the room they shared caused steam to spew into the room inflicting severe burns on the girls. The building, part[Read More…]
Long before the conflict began, many Syrians complained about high unemployment, widespread corruption, a lack of political freedom, and a state repression under President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-democracy protests erupted in march 2011. Many teenagers painted revolutionary slogans on school walls with which we are quite familiar in Kashmir. What happened next was heartrending, the killing of these peaceful demonstrators.[Read More…]
The portrayal of Muslim women that we glimpse in the media is grim and somber. The public perception of them is one of stubborn stereotypes: supposedly powerless and oppressed, behind walls and veils, demure, voiceless and silent figures, discriminated and bereft of even basic rights. This picture keeps reinforcing itself, largely because this is how the Western media caricatures women[Read More…]
A petition campaign on Avaaz.org ,” Mr Narendra Modi: Say Sorry for the Disaster of Demonetisation and Resign!“, has called for Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s resignation. The petition asks Modi to take responsibility for the hundreds of people who have died as a direct result of his disastrous demonetisation scheme, apologise to the Indian people and resign. The Petition[Read More…]
Today human civilization and the biosphere face two existential threats: catastrophic climate change, and thermonuclear war. Each of these disasters could cause mass extinctions, and each could make large portions of the earth permanently uninhabitable. The hubris of oligarchic leaders in the United States is leading the world directly towards both these threats; and this is particularly true after the[Read More…]
If one examines various aspects of life in Kashmir, a question comes up whether anything works in a straight way here? There is an Arab saying about the Camel. It goes like this, “O, Camel which of your parts is straight?” The saying fits perfectly the life in Kashmir during the present times. Nothing seems to work here in a[Read More…]
John Holdren is the longest-serving presidential science adviser in U.S. history. He’s also probably one of the most influential, having advised President Obama on key energy issues for the last eight years. “Mr. Holdren has this president’s ear,” is how The New York Times put it in 2014. A physicist by training, Holdren is among the chief architects of the[Read More…]
From Morocco to Libya, the desert oases of the Sahara’s Maghreb region are disappearing as temperatures rise and rainfall decreases. Facing daunting odds, local residents are employing traditional water conservation techniques to try to save these ancient ecosystems. The oasis of Dar Oumira, in southern Morocco, was once a lush palm grove before it became the sparse sand patch it is[Read More…]
“Very serious people often tell us that the word “degrowth” is too negative. People like happy, positive, nice things. Sure, the economy is systematically destroying life on earth. But nobody wants to degrow it. Instead, these critics prefer words like “post-growth,” “a-growth,” “re-growth”, even the mythical “green growth.” They want to create a circular economy, a green economy, a new[Read More…]
That particular fighter never had good press. Even before Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strategic Fighter attracted the ire of Donald Trump via his usual, belching medium, Twitter, the project was flailing in a swamp to the value of $400 billion. On Monday, Trump tweeted that Lockheed’s “F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will[Read More…]
When a veteran war reporter like Robert Fisk constructs his argument regarding the siege of Aleppo based on ‘watching’ video footage, then one can truly comprehend the near impossibility of adequate media coverage on the war in Syria. In a recent article in the British ‘Independent’, Fisk reflects on the siege, uprising and atrocious Nazi massacres in Warsaw, Poland in[Read More…]
A woman I know (white, middle-aged, let’s call her D) recently told me about a Muslim family that lives on her block in Queens, New York. One of the family’s daughters (about 11 years old) has recently begun wearing a hijab so I sent D a link about the rapid rise in post-election hate crimes. The next time D saw[Read More…]
Interview with E. San Juan, Jr. by Andy Piascik 1.) Who is President Rodrigo Duterte and who and what does he represent? For 22 years, Duterte was mayor of Davao City, the largest urban complex in Mindanao island, Philippines. TIME magazine dubbed him “the Punisher” for allegedly organizing the death-squads that eliminated drug dealers and petty criminals via “extra-judicial killings”[Read More…]
Nazareth: At first glance, it looked like a generous promotional stunt by Israel to aid the Palestinians’ struggling tourism industry. Israeli military authorities published this month a video on social media publicising Palestinian attractions in the West Bank. Most are Christian, including Jesus’s birthplace in Bethlehem – now the Church of the Nativity – and more obscure locations such as[Read More…]
The Syrian government is reportedly in control of eastern Aleppo, according to news reports on Tuesday afternoon, with a deal having been reached to evacuate civilians and opposition fighters. Damascus confirmed the evacuation deal and the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, reportedly told the Associated Press in a text message that the safe withdrawal of people from[Read More…]
Even for a failed gambling czar, Donald Trump has been surprisingly quick to show his hand as he sets the course of his forthcoming presidency. With a reactionary fervor, he is bursting backwards into the future. He has accomplished this feat through the first wave of nominations to his Cabinet and White House staff. Only if there is a superlative[Read More…]
Many of us are aware that the leading cause of death in the US during the first half of the 20th Century was due to infectious diseases. On the other hand there is a general lack of understanding that these diseases were eliminated for the most part, by Public Health disease prevention strategies, such as clean water, sewage treatment[Read More…]
Richard Seymour’s book “Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics” is a realist assessment of the hopes represented by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as he repurposes the party to oppose the neoliberal state. Writing the book in sympathy with him, Seymour nevertheless warns against Corbyn being “encircled” and “chewed up” by entrenched governing elites even if he achieves state power.[Read More…]
On December5, former vice president Al Gore met with Donald and Ivanka Trump in an effort to convince the president-elect that he should not gut federal policies and agreements dealing with climate change. Three days later, actor Leonardo Di Caprio also paid the Trump duo a visit, urging them to help build a green, climate-friendly economy with lots of[Read More…]
It appears that over the past 18 months or so we have pushed the earth into an irrevocable spiral. The accumulating feedback loops cannot now be contained, though with concerted effort we may be able to diminish them. Dr Thomas Crowther wrote “It’s fair to say we have passed the point of no return on global warming and we[Read More…]
My name is Shantha. I work as a domestic help. My granddaughter fell ill on Sunday. She had to be hospitalised. We had no cash at home. Banks were closed for three days. I tried to borrow money from friends. They too had no cash. At last, our neighbourhood shop owner lent us money. I have to give him back[Read More…]
The bank has “decided to use Gandhigiri to try and recover the loans [from you]. For this the bank has decided to do one of the following: 1) Put up a tent opposite your house to protest, 2) Make use of a band, 3) ring bells. “Due to these actions, your standing and image in society are likely to be in danger.”[Read More…]
President Obama’s final foreign policy speech at MacDill air force base in Tampa, betrayed its purpose through the venue. The Tampa, Florida, base is home to Special Operations Command and Central Command — Special Operations playing an ever increasing role in counter terrorism. The gist of the speech seemed to assert that the US is and should stay true to[Read More…]
1. Dah! It’s true! Every time I come upon some clever turn-of-phrase, they’re in my brain, they’re at my screen— hacking, hacking, hacking! Every metaphor I write they claim is Dostoyevsky’s! Every simile is Tolstoy’s! Every irony—you guessed it! Chekhov’s! They turn my language inside-out. I write moon-June love poems, and they turn them into treatises[Read More…]
by Frank Barat & Vidal Cuervo With the announcement that the Dakota Access Pipeline will be re-routed, the water protectors at Standing Rock might have won a battle but they have not yet won the war. Despite blizzards and deadly temperatures, they are still at the camp and many more are pouring in to help. In this interview, Eryn Wise,[Read More…]
Co-Written by Kate Cave, Shianne McKay In Brief Water is life and needs to be respected. For the Indigenous people in Canada, there is a reciprocal and unique relationship with water. In particular, Indigenous women share a sacred connection to the spirit of water through their role as child bearers, and have particular responsibilities to protect and nurture water. The[Read More…]
A week or so ago, it hardly matters when, I heard an NPR business update announce that economists were predicting “a healthy holiday shopping season.” Such reports are a near-daily happening, and their words of praise, sometimes warning, have come to be accepted with little question, for they are more mesmerizing than thought-provoking, a spellbound drumbeat which keeps the rhythm[Read More…]
The Design Museum in London opens at its new home this week with, as its centrepiece, an exhibition called Fear and Love curated by Justin McGuirk. I contributed the following text to the book. Why we need a new story In 1971 a geologist called Earl Cook evaluated the amount of energy ‘captured from the environment’ in different economic systems.[Read More…]
In of itself, technological development is benign. But behind every use is a human agent, and behind that agent is a motive, an inspiration, an agenda. Monitoring one’s employees has become the great mainstay of what companies claim is a productive exercise. The watched employee will have incentives to behave, to prosper, and to fulfil the ethos of the company.[Read More…]
During the Apollo 13 space flight in 1970, US astronaut Jack Swigert spoke to the command center in Houston, Texas, indicating a “slight problem” for the three astronauts—actually their lives were in jeopardy—and although changed somewhat for a movie, it is used here as an understated response to a severe situation. It is argued here, likewise, that we face a[Read More…]
“Unless we address overpopulation and development anew, neither gorillas nor giraffes will be able to co-exist with humans. And life will not be worth living for human beings.” — Spokesperson for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, December 10, 2016 Just learned from Sky News that the world’s tallest animal might be on the way out. That’s got to be a[Read More…]
On November 30th, I walked into the historic building housing the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was getting cold and it was drizzling. Several Vietnamese guards stood silently at the entrance. Flowers were everywhere and a big black photo of Comandante Fidel was facing a busy street. I explained who I was, and an embassy official first let[Read More…]
Over the last 17 days since the death of Fidel Castro on the 25th of November 2016, I have been trying to assess how far sections of the mainstream media (MSM) would go in their vicious campaign to denigrate and demean a leader who had defied the world’s sole military superpower just 145 kilometres from his small island –state.[Read More…]
My name is Muneer. I am a shoe shop owner. After the note ban I hardly sell anything. Many shops have closed down. I don’t know how long can I continue. If things persist I too will have to close down. If you have such #HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia picture stories do send it to editor@countercurrents.org
Usually, Sunday evening is peak business time for local super markets. On last Sunday, 11 December evening, many customers in super bazaars and malls had come back empty handed as credit cards were not accepted – the reason – bank servers were down and there is still Monday ahead, which happens to be a bank holiday. On Sunday morning many[Read More…]
An engrossing sketchbook of the The Great Indian Demonetisation saga. It asks, what’s black mone, where it is hoarded, who will benefit by this whole demonetisation exercise, what will be the consequences for the common people. The sketchbook is in PDF
While the horror of barbaric incident of October 28, when militants aided by the Pakistani Army had mutilated the body of 30-year-old sepoy Mandeep Singh is still fresh in our memory, yet in another gory instance on November 22 the body of another Indian soldier, Prabhu Singh of 57 Rashtriya Rifles, was found in savagely mutilated state in Machhil sector along[Read More…]
The long national nightmare that was the 2016 presidential election is finally over. Now, we’re facing a worse terror: the reality of a Trump presidency. Donald Trump has already promised to nominate a segregationist attorney general, a national security adviser who is a raging Islamophobe, a secretary of education who doesn’t believe in public schools, and a secretary of defense whose sobriquet is “Mad Dog.” How[Read More…]
The film The Battle of Russia, produced in 1943 by the US War Department (which was renamed the Defense Department in 1949), illustrates a respectful and favorable US elite view of Russian history, the Soviet/Russian people, and Stalin for defeating Hitler in World War II and proving that the German reich (empire) was not invincible. The film was originally intended[Read More…]
The death of Fidel Castro, for those of us living in the belly of the beast, has meant being forced to endure non-stop lies and hypocrisy from the mass media about Fidel. According to our “free press,” Fidel was a “brutal dictator” who would not allow “democratic” elections like we have here. Two words put the lie to the story[Read More…]
The results of a search for “climate hoax” on Google Trends Google Trends shows a remarkable spike in the interest for the coupled terms “climate” and “hoax”. Does that mean that people are becoming more skeptical about climate science? Or simply more interested in the subject? On this point, Google Trends tells us that there has been no special[Read More…]
40 yrs after Prez Teddy Roosevelt gave Korea to brutal Jap Empire in return for its recognition of Philippines as US Territory, US invaded Korea long AFTER Jap surrender, overthrowing its Korean gov., cutting it in two parts, installing a US dictatorship in its south now documented to have murdered 100,000 of its own citizens What Western media calls ‘Communist[Read More…]
During the last couple of months, two very similar military campaigns have simultaneously been going on in Syria and Iraq, while the Syrian offensive with Russian air support against the militants in east Aleppo has been reviled as an assault against humanity, the military campaign in Mosul by the Iraqi armed forces and Shi’a militias with American air support has[Read More…]
My name is Josy. I’m a fish vendor. After the currency ban my sales have gone down drastically. I now sell only 1/4th of what I used to sell earlier, that too on credit. Yesterday, I tried to sell 5 kg of sardine at Rs 120/kg. Managed to sell only 3 kg. Nobody has cash. People are not willing to[Read More…]
Since the election, a variety of attitudes towards the future have emerged of which one is particularly pernicious, though stemming from a place of decency and grace. I call this attitude the “’Optimist’ Conundrum.” For a host of liberals and even some Leftists, the election has brought a “wait and see” attitude in which “hoping for the best” has[Read More…]
“This war has been in full swing in Europe and the U.S. for a long time. Governments plan to use negative interest rates, confiscatory taxes and other techniques to rob savers of their wealth. In order to do this, they have to force savings into digital accounts at large government-controlled banks.As long as[Read More…]
Some people, mainly friends and family, have repeatedly wondered if there was a police state in India. I disagree, of course. Not a police state. No. Rather, it’s life under a supreme central leadership like in North Korea, Syria or Russia. Few may call it dictatorship. Those to their views, I argue. Nowadays, it’s mandatory to stand like a zombie[Read More…]
Quite some years ago, and as he described in a talk to the Club of Rome in 2011, David Wasdell had concluded along with John Schellnhuber, – and taking Hansen’s and other people’s work into account -, that 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is where we are at today, has irreversibly committed the biosphere[Read More…]
Steve Thornton has been an activist in Hartford since moving there in the 1970’s after graduating from the University of Connecticut. He worked for many years[Read More…]
At the Oceti Sakowin camp there were celebrations into the night when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision was announced. Fireworks lit up the sky, which is normally dominated by police searchlights, and there were songs, prayers, and dance. And tears. The decision to halt work on the Dakota Access pipeline may be the victory that the Standing Rock[Read More…]
The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) was founded in September 2011 to defend climate scientists from harassing and invasive attacks via the legal system. Five years in, we’re expanding our efforts to reflect the new challenges scientists face, including increasing education and outreach work. Now more than ever, it’s important that scientists prepare themselves for how best to deal[Read More…]
President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Department transition team has reportedly been asking for the names of civil servants that have worked on environmental policies under President Barack Obama, sparking fears of a coming “climate purge” by the incoming Trump administration. A “document circulated by the Energy Department,” first reported by Bloomberg Thursday and later by Politico, lists 65 questions posed by[Read More…]
What bothers me is not that we are unable to find the solution to our problems, what bothers me more is the fact that neoliberals are so utterly unaware of the real structural issues that their attempts to sort out the tangential issues will further exacerbate the main issues. Religious extremism, militancy and terrorism are not the cause but the[Read More…]
My name is Sabu. I am an auto rickshaw driver from Perumbavoor, Kerala. Perumbavoor is the capital of migrant labourers in Kerala. A lot of migrant workers used to work near this town. After the note ban, a lot of them have lost jobs and left for home. Sunday is their holiday as well their shopping day. On a typical[Read More…]
Washington’s long-term plan has been to restructure indigenous agriculture across the world and tie it to an international system of trade based on export-oriented mono-cropping, commodity production for the international market and indebtedness to international financial institutions (IMF/World Bank). This result has been the creation of food surplus and food deficit areas, of which the latter have become dependent on[Read More…]
There was a popular Bollywood movie a few years back titled “I am Khan. I am not a Terrorist”. The movie tries to depict the act of branding a name associated with a certain religion as a potential Terrorist. Following the Demonetization announcement and through the Prime minister equating those standing in ATM and Bank queue with Black Money, everybody[Read More…]
One month after the demonetization decision, things have become more complicated and messy. The Aam Aadmi who was suppose to benefit from it still finds herself bemused in all walks of life. Whether the move has any long term benefits is something that is fiercely getting debated. At the same time, the average Indian news consumer has also been infantilized[Read More…]
“Long live Trump, long live Putin, long live Le Pen and long live the League!” Matteo Salvini, Lega Nord leader Demagogic in parts, simply irreverent in others, the populist wave that seized the White House last month continues to inflict its casualties across the Atlantic. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, known as Il Rottamatore or Demolition Man, had to[Read More…]
Persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar is continuing with impunityand without a break. Dieng and Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, have confirmed these atrocities and “requested independent UN investigations on the alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ and other mass atrocities in the Rohingya region of Rakhine State”. But Aung San Suu Kyi has remained defiant to an extent[Read More…]
Let’s welcome our new Commander in Chief by demonstrating how little he knows about the Constitution of the United States. Each incoming president is required on inauguration day to take the oath of office, affirming to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” But Trump proved his ignorance of this document when he recently wrote, “Nobody should be allowed to burn[Read More…]
Introduction: Is the EU Integration Model Viable? Alessandro di Battista, deputy of Italy’s Five Star Movement that helped to defeat the government’s Constitutional reform proposal in December 2016, has hinted that voters decide a possible exit from the euro-zone during the next election for prime minister. This may or may not take place, but Italy remains a possible candidate for[Read More…]
The recent summoning of Chhattisgarh officials by the National Human Rights Commissions (NHRC) for abuse of power is significant due to the expectations from human rights protection institutions in the country to deliver on their mandate. However, concerned officials may never appear before the commission to explain their conduct indicating a steep decline in human rights protection regime in the[Read More…]
December 10th marks the U.N. Human Rights Day, celebrating and upholding the indispensable and crucial declaration of universal human rights.On the eve of this event, I visited a refugee camp housing 700 families in Kabul. Conditions in refugee camps can be deplorable, intolerable. Here, the situation is best described as surreal. As I approach the entrance to the camp with my friends[Read More…]
Co-Written by Shobha Aggarwal & Dr. P.S. Sahni 11 August, 1992: ABVA organized the first ever protest demonstration in India condemning police atrocities on gay people, at Police Headquarters, New Delhi Twenty-five years ago in November-December 1991, the AIDS BhedbhavVirodhiAndolan (AIDS Anti-discrimination Movement, ABVA) brought out the first Report titled ‘Less Than Gay’ on the status of homosexuality in India,[Read More…]
John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962. It was the start of the adventure that led to the lunar landing in 1969; only seven years later. It was an age of enthusiasm and of great expectations; a time that, today, looks remote. The conquest of space may have been made possible by the high energy[Read More…]
Physicians for Human rights (PHR) is a New-York based, nobel peace prize winner, international organization which attempts to use Science & Medicine to prevent human rights violations around the world. In its report of December 2016, Kashmir has found a special mention with respect to latest intifada post killing of Burhan Wani in July 2016. The relevant extracts of the[Read More…]
My name is Vanaja. I am a 46 year old domestic help. I have been working as a domestic help for the past 22 years. They say there’s enough cash in banks for everyone. But all we get after standing in winding queues is Rs 2000 notes. What are we supposed to do when most shops are reluctant to tender[Read More…]
Before the NODAPL Sioux Protest passes into the next phase of America squarely addressing the larger issue of Climate Change and how to more quickly convert from fossil fuels to renewable energies, it’s important to reflect upon what exactly happened over the past several months that the NODAPL Protest raged. President Obama is being widely-applauded for finally showing the courage[Read More…]
2016 will be remembered as the year Donald Trump—a wealthy, narcissistic political novice with a strong authoritarian bent—was elected president of the United States after campaigning against economic globalization. The events are fresh enough in many people’s minds that feelings are still raw and the implications are both unclear and, for many, terrifying. For those who have spent years, in[Read More…]
Over the past eight months, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota have been joined by more than 200 allied tribes and tens of thousands of non-Native activists for a nonviolent resistance campaign against Energy Transfer Partners’ (ETP) $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The pipeline, which has been projected to transport at least 470,000 barrels of oil per[Read More…]
“Every day that we stop Adani digging that coal is a day this planet is free from its pollution.” Paul Sinclair, Times of India, Dec 5, 2016 The relationship between the mining sector and the Australian government has been traditionally that of complicity and acceptance. Touch this sector at your peril. Changes in prime ministers, rumbles in cabinet, and the[Read More…]
Given his cabinet picks so far, it’s reasonable to assume that The Donald finds hanging out with anyone who isn’t a billionaire (or at least a multimillionaire) a drag. What would there be to talk about if you left the Machiavellian class and its exploits for the company of the sort of normal folk you can rouse at a rally? [Read More…]
As 2016 draws to a close, we appear to be living in a world that is increasingly defined by its illusions, where the truth is a matter of subjective interpretation or argumentative debate. Indeed, following the United States election and Brexit referendum there is much talk of a new era of post-truth politics, in which appeals to emotion count more[Read More…]
There is a clear parallel between the results of the Italian constitutional referendum of Dec 4th, 2016 and those of the Brexit referendum and the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the US. In all cases, we saw devastating failures for the mainstream media. People refused to listen to the messages beamed to them. They had the feeling of being swindled[Read More…]
Our economy is a mystery to almost everyone, including economists. Let me explain the way I see the situation: (1) The big thing that pulls the economy forward is the time-shifting nature of debt and debt-like instruments. If we want any kind of specialization, we need some sort of long-term obligation that will make that specialization worthwhile. If one hunter-gatherer[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: My name is Stella. I’m a fish vendor at Shangumugham, Trivandrum, Kerala. I’ve been selling fish for the past 27 years, and never before have I gone back home after a day’s business with any leftovers. But now things are different. With the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, my daily sales have nosedived from a decent[Read More…]
The government of Odisha has failed to check deaths of children due to an outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the district of Malkangiri. A total of 136 children have succumbed to JE over the past three months but the government’s response has been pathetic. This is not for the first time that we have been witness to gross governmental[Read More…]
Fake news propagated by the US government and collaborating organizations such as the New York Times and Washington Post helped create an environment in which the US was able to illegally invade Iraq in 2003, killing at least one million and possibly upwards of two million people, including the deaths of some 4,500 US soldiers, according to a meta-study by[Read More…]
The best of you are those who are the kindest to their wives. Prophet Muhammad The Allahabad High Court has finally got the clock of judicial activism ticking by saying that triple talaq is unconstitutional. It was no surprise and the liberal strands in Muslims thought had already stood out clear. Indeed, one of the reasons triple talaq has[Read More…]
Co-Written by Rachel Olivia O’Connor and Richard Martin Oxman “Cleopatra’s nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.” — Pascal One year before meeting with Tycho Brahe in 1600, Johannes Kepler had determined to make use of the Danish nobleman’s highly valuable astronomical instruments. He revealed his game plan in a letter to his mentor: “Any single[Read More…]
As you all know, I tried the “activism” thing. I really tried. But now, I’m ready to focus my energies on two things desperately needed in the Trump Era: cultivating serious resistance and providing support for the most vulnerable. I also want to do something specifically for the largest oppressed group on earth: females. With those last two goals in[Read More…]
On December 7th, was posed the biggest test so far of the mettle of America’s President-Elect, Donald Trump. He had said several times during his campaign, that if elected as President, he would seek a new, less-hostile, relationship between the U.S. and Russia. Now the moment has come when he must either make his first move forward with that historic commitment,[Read More…]
Last month, the Washington Post gave a glowing front-page boost to an anonymous online blacklist of hundreds of American websites, from marginal conspiracy sites to flagship libertarian and progressive publications. As Max Blumenthal reported for AlterNet, the anonymous website argued that all of them should be investigated by the federal government and potentially prosecuted under the Espionage Act as Russian spies, for wittingly or[Read More…]
About a year ago, I wrote about the degradation of journalism inherent in the turn to digital; I emphasized not only the corporate greed for advertising revenue at the expense of real journalism but the consumer apathy and lack of desire to pay even small amounts of money for sensible content that helps us navigate the complex world. The[Read More…]
Many people in the United States- almost all in fact- have benefitted from the work Ralph Nader has done in promoting the rights of consumers while blunting the power, avarice, and mono-maniacal stress on profits that define the corporate world. Just as most of us have benefitted, so few of us realize the kind of planning, work, determination, and desire[Read More…]
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced yesterday it will nominate retired Marine General John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Kelly is the third ex-military general slated for a top cabinet position. His nomination follows those of James Mattis for Secretary of Defense and Michael Flynn for National Security Advisor. The unprecedented prominence of the military in[Read More…]
On 24 November 2016, two Maoist leaders were killed by Kerala’s Thunderbolt police in Nilambur forest area. Kuppu Devaraj, a senior member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and Ajitha, a woman leader of the group’s Karnataka wing were those killed. They do not have any cases registered against them in Kerala state. However, the[Read More…]
Prime Minister, in your speeches following the Demonetization announcement you have been talking about India moving to a cashless society. You are talking about India transforming into a state where every money transaction would be made through usage of technology such as Smart Phone, e-payments, Aadhaar cards. You have been trying to sell the dream that moving into this world[Read More…]
The entire demonetisation story has been parsed, discussed, analyzed and commented upon in detail, by its supporters and non-supporters alike. There is not pretty much left that can be contributed to the debate, however, I wish to attempt a Gandhian analysis of the move in the following paragraphs. Why did I feel the need to take up such an analysis?[Read More…]
I discovered a new word: Mitron. It means, ‘A large group of unsuspecting people about to be hit by something they will take a long time to recover from.’ Ironically it comes from the Hindi word – Mitron (Mitr = friend. Mitron = of friends). I believe we are in a Mitron moment; the discovery of a word and an[Read More…]
In July 2003, the then Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat, described Mahmoud Abbas as a ‘traitor’ who “betrayed the interests of the Palestinian People.” Arafat loathed Abbas to the very end. This particular outburst was made during a meeting with the United Nations envoy, Terje Larsen. The meeting took place a few months after Arafat was coerced, by the US,[Read More…]
This important article is by the Colombian economist and activist Héctor Mondragón and argues that Colombia’s landowning elite are not interested in peace, even though negotiators have gone to great lengths to placate them. Originally in Spanish – translated by Justin Podur. To understand what is happening with the Colombian Peace Accords, it is necessary to identify the enormous political[Read More…]
Here in Kabul, I’m generally an early riser at the home of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, but I’m seldom alone. Facing exams, my young friends awaken early and then stay up late to study. Before sunrise this morning, eighteen year old Ghulamai sits in the kitchen, poring over his textbook. His efforts have made him number one in his[Read More…]
From Manila and Davao: There is a sense of change in those narrow and desperate alleys of the Baseco slum in the Philippines’ capital Manila. For the first time in many years a beautiful, noble lady visited; against all odds she decided to stay. Her name is Hope. Baseco is a tough, crime-ridden region built from cartons and metal sheets, even[Read More…]
In order to understand the hype surrounding the phenomena of Islamic radicalism and terrorism, we need to understand the prevailing global economic order and its prognosis. What the pragmatic economists forecasted about the free market capitalism has turned out to be true; whether we like it or not. A kind of global economic entropy has set into motion. The money[Read More…]
TANGLA ,ASSAM December 7 – Rapid shrinkage and degradation of the grasslands of the Barnadi Widlife Sanctuary of Udalguri of Assam pose a serious threat to the long-term survival of the critically-endangered pygmy hog that was reintroduced to the sanctuary six months back that were captive breeded in state capital Guwahati. It is to be mentioned that the Durrell Wildlife[Read More…]
(Peace is slowly returning to Kashmir but it is debatable whether it is in reality a return to “Normalcy” or the people have been subjugated into apparent submission, temporarily?) According to government spokespersons in J & K and New Delhi, Kashmir is returning to normalcy and peace. It is true that the intensity of the uprising which had shut down[Read More…]
My name is Nabakishore Pradhan. I am a farmer from Odisha. My family is dependent on our agricultural produces and now is suffering due to demonetization. I cannot get loan from the banks to tend to our farming needs. My relatives do not have money to avail medical facilities. In every field of life, we are suffering. Life has come[Read More…]
Political analyst Devinder Sharma tweeted that angry farmers in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh are dumping tomato on highways. The reason? They are getting 50 rupees for a 100 kg batch of tomato. That means they are getting 50 paise for a kilogram of tomato. Ironically, 50 paise is practically out of circulation in India. Angry farmers in Ramgarh dist in[Read More…]
It is early winter and a thick, grimy fog, black and white tinged with grey, hangs over Delhi much of the day. Morning visibility is bad, clears up a bit with a dull sun in the afternoon, before darkness descends again on the city. A month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his demonetisation policy, the gloomy weather in the[Read More…]
On the day that you read this article, 200 species of life on Earth (plants, birds, animals, fish, amphibians, insects, reptiles) will cease to exist. Tomorrow, another 200 species will vanish forever. The human onslaught to destroy life on Earth is unprecedented in Earth’s history. Planet Earth is now experiencing its sixth mass extinction event and Homo sapiens sapiens is[Read More…]
The sudden thaw in Turkey’s relations with Russia and latent hostility towards America is partly due to the fact that Erdogan holds the US-based preacher, Fethullah Gulen, responsible for the July coup plot and suspects that the latter had received tacit support from certain quarters in the US; but more importantly Turkey also feels betrayed by the duplicitous American policy[Read More…]
Prince Ea, rapper and spoken-word artist and social justice advocate, has a soliloquy on YouTube with a surprising title: WHY IM HAPPY TRUMP WON. How could he think that, as he has passionately called for recognizing the dignity in all people? He’s happy, he says, because he sees this election result as a wake-up call. It forces us to recognize[Read More…]
Khuloud Abu Qamar spoke quietly but her words still shocked. “Israel is killing me slowly,” she said. “And it is killing my children, too.” After undergoing surgery for breast cancer last year, Abu Qamar requires further treatment which she has not been able to receive in Gaza. She has asked Israel for permission to travel. Her applications have so far[Read More…]
In the wake of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory, both of which the majority of the establishment media clearly did not want to occur, there has been a great deal of talk that we have entered an age of “post-truth politics.” So much so that the Oxford English Dictionary crowned “post-truth” its word of the year. There is[Read More…]
Perumbavoor in Central Kerala is a mini India. Migrant workers from all over India come to this place looking for work. Workers from many states who get paid around Rs 200 for a day’s work in their home states, get around Rs 1000 as wage here. Sunday is a busy day in Perumbavoor. Workers who get their weekly pay and[Read More…]
My name is Ittiyavirah. I am a petty trader of spices. When the note ban was announced all the money I had with me from that day’s trading became useless. Bank is not giving me money. After standing long hours in queue they give 4000 rupees. Farmers who come to sell me one or two kilo grams of their produce[Read More…]
In her classic book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein unmasks the practitioners of what she calls Disaster Capitalismfor profiting from human misery, and often precipitating and promoting it to spread their influence globally.In a scathing critique of Milton Friedman’s role in inventing “economic shock treatment” as advisor to Pinochet’s regime, Klein says, he advised Pinochet[Read More…]
The federal government on Sunday denied the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access pipeline’s route under the Missouri River. The announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers came as veterans streamed into the camps over the weekend in cars and buses to offer their support to the tribe in its months-long battle. The veterans event had raised more than[Read More…]
We still don’t have any sort of apology or retraction from the Washington Post for promoting “The List” — the highly dangerous blacklist that got a huge boost from the newspaper’s fawning coverage on November 24. The project of smearing 200 websites with one broad brush wouldn’t have gotten far without the avid complicity of high-profile media outlets, starting with the Post. On[Read More…]
There was much tittering in the US-China fraternity over the casual, yet infuriating engagement US President elect Donald Trump had with Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen. A reading of the reactions suggested meltdown, a terrifying, imminent apocalypse. An outrageous booboo, or an typically uncharacteristic move hardly worth a mention? There are no covering laws on this, though international relations theorists attempt,[Read More…]
Anyone who says she admires Hillary Clinton, as Angela Merkel has said, plainly invites revulsion if not contempt. The lack of judgment broadcast by such words strikes the mind like a grating noise. Clinton’s record of behavior literally stinks to high heaven, much as a pile of corpses left to rot in the hot sun, and, as it happens, there[Read More…]
TANGLA, ASSAM December 5: Can animal and people co-exist sharing land, water and food and live peacefully?Perhaps it is a million dollar question in today’s world where human animal conflict is a burning issue that seeks immediate attention. A village in Bhutiachang TE of Udalguri district of has shown a novel experiment to resolve the elephant-human conflict that started about[Read More…]
Why are we failing at communicating the danger of climate change? Maybe people don’t have enough information? (This is the “information deficit” model). Or maybe they have too much information? (This is called the “cultural cognition” model). Or maybe they are not getting the right information? Or there is something else that’s wrong? Without going into the details of the[Read More…]
William Carroll (with Elaine Coburn and J.P. Sapinski).2016. Expose, Oppose, Propose: Alternative Policy Groups and the Struggle for Global Justice. London: Zed Books. 2016. Introduction This is a book on such an important subject, carried out with such serious theoretical underpinnings and such an original methodology, that it might seem churlish to take issue with what it fails to deal[Read More…]
Once upon a time there was a beautiful land in which clear rivers flowed through lush forests. Birds flocked to the trees which were heavy with fruit until one was almost deafened by the cacophony of their cries. And if one dared to walk under the trees, then one needed an umbrella which quickly changed color and became white with[Read More…]
Politics always has been considered as dirty game. But this ‘always’ is actually very new. If one will try to find how politics was decades ago, it would be seen in the history where on the appeal of politicians, people kept fast. It would be seen in the time where on the appeal of politicians, people donated even their jewellery[Read More…]
Obesity is a major health problem arising out of excessive overeating with less outcome in terms of physical activity. Its prevalence has dramatically increased in the last few decades. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) equal to or higher than 30 kg/m2 resulting in a number of medical disorders, including metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: My name is Mallika Lohar. I am a daily wage earner from Ruppur, Birbhum, West Bengal. Demonetisation has only been inconvenience for us. Our payments have been delayed, and now there are Rs. 2000 notes only. Wherever we go, there is no change for Rs. 2000. How can we go on without change? The grocery-store person is saying I[Read More…]
The former chairman of the Austrian Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen, yesterday won the presidential election against his rival from the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), Norbert Hofer. The 72-year-old won by a projected 53.4 percent of the vote to Hofer’s 46.6 percent. The projection takes account of the 700,000 postal votes that will only be counted today. Van der Bellen’s[Read More…]
At a time when the whole of India is busy standing in ATM and Bank queues for few quantities of currency notes, South Koreans are out on the streets protesting against their scandal-mired president. The wave of protest has grown over the last few days. More than 1.5 million people thronged on the streets demanding the resignation of the President.[Read More…]
“The Iraq Inquiry Report (2009-2016) documents how Tony Blair committed Great Britain to war early in 2002, lying to the United Nations, to Parliament, and to the British people, in order to follow George Bush, who had planned an aggression on Iraq well before September 2001. Australian Prime Minister John Howard conspired with both reckless adventurers, purported ‘to advise’ both[Read More…]
Usual interpretation of the Indian Apex Court verdict on ‘Jana Gana Mana’, the National Anthem on 30 November, 2016 as curbing of individual’s freedom could hardly fathom the real intention behind the judicial overreach which is meant to serve a larger purpose. The verdict is in tune with overall political-moral ethos of the time. And it lends an unambiguous support[Read More…]
My name is Rakesh. I am from West Bengal. I came to Kerala looking for work. When I landed in Kerala on 5th November demonetisation struck me like a thunder bolt. I can’t find work. Factories are closing. All the money with me is gone. I haven’t eaten today. I just want to go back home. I don’t have money[Read More…]
Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Cannon Ball, North Dakota (Oceti Sakowin or Council of the Seven Fires Camp) – Today, the people won a major victory in the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The US Army Corps of Engineers sided with the Water Protectors and refused the final permit that would have allowed Energy Transfer Partners[Read More…]
Co-Written by Rachel Olivia O’Connor and Richard Martin Oxman We won’t state the obvious points about what was accomplished, or anything concerning who should be praised. Rather, below, I give you sentiments not being discussed much, if at all, related to the work to be done now that a monumental victory as been won in North Dakota at Standing Rock.[Read More…]
In a long-awaited victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has denied a permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline, tribal leadership announced late Sunday. The agency will not allow the pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a reservoir near the tribal reservation, without a full environmental impact assessment that examines alternative routes for[Read More…]
Prime Minister, you said that in India even Beggars are going Cashless. You are absolutely true. I keep seeing the Whaatsapp message that you work for 18 hours a day, haven’t taken a single leave for the last many years, left your family. All these sacrifices you are making to take India to a digital world. Then why poor should[Read More…]
The number of veterans traveling to North Dakota to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline has swollen to over 3,000, an astonishing show of solidarity that aims to shield the water protectors from police violence. Fellow veteran and prominent progressive Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) traveled to join the peaceful action late Friday,[Read More…]
A major issue in climate economics is whether it is possible to halt the growth in carbon emissions and to achieve, instead, a rapid reduction. It concludes that carbon emissions will never fall at a sufficient rate in a growth economy. Unfortunately, the EU operates a climate policy framework, the EU Emissions Trading System, that was designed by BP and[Read More…]
As a theoretical physicist based in Cambridge, I have lived my life in an extraordinarily privileged bubble. Cambridge is an unusual town, centered around one of the world’s great universities. Within that town, the scientific community which I became part of in my twenties is even more rarefied. And within that scientific community, the small group of international theoretical physicists[Read More…]
Written to a friend: Look — no sweat about the particulars of here and now with Trump (vs.Clinton) being the winner in the US Presidential election contest. Either way, there’s no big difference when one looks at the bigger, long-term picture. You personally know about where the world is going with increasing human overpopulation, climate change (which according to[Read More…]
There is no greater single human rights dilemma facing the Australian parliament at the moment: refugees, declining, mouldering, decaying in detention centres in carceral conditions, being shifted, carted, moved from one base to another, from one nation state to another. Camps funded with Australian tax payer dollars. Camps run by privatised security firms and brutal local police forces. The message[Read More…]
Professor Noam Chomsky is one of the most cited scholars in history. His work continues to be prominently taught in classes at top US universities like Yale. He teaches classes on US government at MIT, and has written some 100 books on political and social science topics. He has been voted in multiple polls as the world’s most important public[Read More…]
Common wisdom says that after Donald Trump got elected in the United States, Vietnam should be in panic. True, there could be some ‘objective’ reasons for alarm, if one is truly obsessed with the ‘free’ trade agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership may soon go to the dogs and at least onesizeable part of the Vietnamese leadership was counting on it, hoping[Read More…]
US president-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) ahead of an evacuation order, due to go into effect on Monday, against thousands of people protesting the oil pipeline project. Trump’s transition team released a statement reaffirming his support for the $3.8 billion project and claiming that this position is not related to[Read More…]
As tensions grow in North Dakota, with multiple eviction orders facing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, U.S. military veterans on Friday began arriving at the Oceti Sakowin protest camp. The 2,000 veterans, which include Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), plan to act as an unarmed militia and peaceful human shields to protect the[Read More…]
Even if you can’t show up at the wintry encampments, you can join water protectors in other ways: from calling the North Dakota governor to breaking up with your bank. The timing couldn’t have been more awful. The day after Thanksgiving, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that people camped at the Oceti Sakowin[Read More…]
At the very end of an interview on RT News focused on the two thousand military vets who are slated to act as human shields for the protesters at Standing Rock this coming week, Erick Lizandro Marroquin, organizer of the vets’ movement in solidarity, responds to the interviewer’s question about whether the vets have a Plan B in case the militarized police[Read More…]
I write these words on what’s a cold night in my city, and a much colder night where my heart is—with my friends in Standing Rock. My writing, which typically centers movements, often sways between news and analysis. My coverage of #NoDAPL has been no exception. But this piece is neither news nor analysis, because these words are for you,[Read More…]
Dakota Access pipeline could be stranded asset in the making. Heavy snow and winter cold settled this month on thousands of Native Americans and their supporters encamped on the banks of the Cannonball River, some 30 miles south of Bismarck, North Dakota. Nearby, the Missouri River slipped past. The river’s clean waters serve as the wellspring in what has steadily[Read More…]
In 2015, a major study of 24 indicators of human activity and environmental decline titled ‘The Great Acceleration’ concluded that, “The last 60 years have without doubt seen the most profound transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in the history of humankind”.[1] We have all seen aspects of these trends, but to look at the study’s 24[Read More…]
The Washington Post (11/24/16) last week published a front-page blockbuster that quickly went viral: Russia-promoted “fake news” had infiltrated the newsfeeds of 213 million Americans during the election, muddying the waters in a disinformation scheme to benefit Donald Trump. Craig Timberg’s story was based on a “report” from an anonymous group (or simply a person, it’s unclear) calling itself PropOrNot[Read More…]
Co-Written By Joseph Kishore and Jerry White In a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday night, US President-elect Donald Trump outlined the right-wing program of extreme “America First” nationalism of the incoming administration. The Cincinnati speech was unlike any delivered by a president or president-elect in US history. It was a combination of blatant contradictions, exaggerations, wild hyperbole, empty demagogy[Read More…]
“The old ladies at the bingo club wouldn’t carry on as much as the politicians have about this whole backpacker tax.” Fiona Hall, ABC News, Dec 2, 2016 The morning news on the ABC network featured blondes, and more blondes, riding a derelict van along a non-descript street in sunny Australia. It did not matter who they were, or even[Read More…]
Donald Trump’s election win has been illusion shattering. In a swoop, Trump’s win has bayonetted the credibility of America’s powerful East Coast media, pollsters, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party and the idea of globalisation. Moreover, it has scarred the psyche of liberal Democratic voters known for deriding Republicans: Democrats who underrated Trump’s appeal with the recession-battered white underclass. Trump’s triumph[Read More…]
Mr Arun Kumar, General Secretary, Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations ( FABO), UK and Ambedkar Mission Society, Bedford in conversation with Vidya Bhushan Rawat VB: When did you arrive in UK? What were the reasons of coming to UK? AK: I came to UK in 1977. In India, after Matriculation, I joined government service in the Punjab Civil Secretariat[Read More…]
Best known as a post colonial theorist, Gayatri Spivak was born in 1942 Calcutta, West Bengal to a middle class family. Described as a “para-disciplinary, ethical philosopher”– though her early career also included “applied deconstruction”, Spivak rose to fame after she wrote the preface and translated Derrida’s ‘Of Grammatology’ in 1976. Since then she has applied deconstructive strategies to various[Read More…]
Because the fertiliser shop in Tadimarri village of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh accepts old notes, even drought-hit groundnut farmers are queuing up to clear their credit – while jobless agricultural labourers are finding that the easiest way to change their few old notes is by buying alcohol at the local liquor stores “A farmer’s 500 rupee note is always[Read More…]
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘demonetisation’ drive at the launch of his e-payment wallet Jio Money, yesterday. Ironically it was also the first pay day after ‘demonetisation’ that is for the salaried class which makes up about 20 % of India’s population. Still it was total mayhem. Long queues, no cash in[Read More…]
The currency shortage in the country following the demonetisation of 500 and 100 rupee notes on 8 November has become so bad, there is real danger today of all law and order breaking down very soon. The patience of the Indian public is running out, after three weeks of standing in queues and denied their own cash for making basic[Read More…]
In this report, I will try to give you a sense of what being at Standing Rock is like. Tonight completes my third day here. The weather has been mostly cold but very sunny. The colors, the sky, but most of all the people are startlingly calm and beautiful. The Standing Rock encampment is defined as a prayer site, a[Read More…]
Co-Written by Michael Lazarus & Harro van Asselt The World Energy Outlook 2016, released last week, is just one among an increasing line of studies showing how nations need to slow and, ultimately, phase out investment in new fossil fuel supply infrastructure – from oil fields and pipelines to coal mines – if they are serious about keeping warming to[Read More…]
Years ago, a professor told me of a situation at her university in which a colleague of hers broke down while describing the massacre at Nanking to her students. The professor remarked not about the break-down but about the complete lack of empathy her colleague’s students had shown to their teacher. Worse, still, many students laughed, poking fun at[Read More…]
For many people- even for some of those who voted for him- the election victory of Donald Trump and the ensuing clustering of a motley crew of hawks, white supremacists, economic hitmen, and science-deniers came as a shocking knock on the reality door. The Presidential (system), stable since the country’s founding, was pushed over and a bombastic businessman with no[Read More…]
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Georgia Congressman Tom Price as his secretary of health and human services makes clear his intention to carry out a fundamental attack on Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs for the elderly, the handicapped and the poor that cover a combined total of 130 million people. Trump announced the appointment on Tuesday, calling[Read More…]
An unequal society is like tinder, dry and just waiting for a match to set it off. In the US case, add multi-ethnicity, a surfeit of guns, joblessness resulting in the blame game, and the environment is not only virulent but dangerously explosive. Early last Sunday morning in New Orleans one man was shot and killed and nine injured in[Read More…]
A true nationalism never remains restricted to national boundaries but goes beyond it. It is contagious and spreads like a harmless virus which is helpful. It only lays the foundations of internationalism and builds solidarity of people rather than place restrictions on human differences. This breaking of national barriers is not defined by geography but bonded by humanitarian commonness and[Read More…]
We, in India, are living in a state of anesthetized anarchy. We seem to have lost it in more ways than one. In the days of the sabretooth tiger mankind needed to be totally in touch with reality if it wished to avoid being the tiger’s next meal. Since we made the STT extinct we seem to believe that being[Read More…]
Vale Fidel Castro (1926-2016). Despite decades of illegal US sanctions, and an average per capita GDP of only circa $7,000 as compared to $56,000 for the US, Cuba has good primary health care, 100% literacy, a Western life expectancy, and an under-5 infant mortality of 6 deaths per 1,000 live births, the same as for the US. True democracy fundamentally[Read More…]
(Why should the fate of Kashmiris be tied up with the establishment of Indo-Pak friendship?) There are some very common refrains in regard to the solving of the most intractable and the longest pending political problem of Kashmir. In the global context, it is the necessity for a peaceful dialogue between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan, to solve[Read More…]
So, the USGS comes out with a press release that the media immediately diffuse in terms of a great discovery: 20 billion barrels, somewhere in Texas in a place called “Wolfcamp”. Bloomberg multiplies the number by the current oil price and comes up with a title that reads: “A $900 billion Oil Treasure,” for a piece that tells of “bonanza”[Read More…]
Standing Rock is an unpredicted history lesson for all of us. More than any moment I recall since Wounded Knee, the Vietnam War, or the time of Martin Luther King, this moment stands as a crossroads in the battle for social justice. It is also an economic issue, in a time of economic system transformation, and profoundly a question of[Read More…]
The election of Donald Trump reflects the unraveling of the centre-left across the West, and with it a fragile consensus on climate change. For two decades parties of the centre-left have created narratives about climate change that they do not really believe. They have done this to try and convince their fragile coalition of supporters and to try to bring[Read More…]
One of the most compelling charts I have ever seen is the “Growing Gap” chart that used to appear in every ASPO Newsletter. This is the one from the last ASPO Newsletter, written by Colin Campbell and published in April 2009. Since then, more than seven years have passed, and peak oil has disappeared from the mainstream press headlines–almost. On[Read More…]
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has designated the week, November 25 to December 3, as the ‘biggest-ever campaign’ aimed at boycotting Israeli products and those of companies that contribute to the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. In a recently issued press release, the civil society-led group highlighted “99 actions that will take place across the world to highlight what they described[Read More…]
Union of crowds and noise lead to chaos; not to any form of solution. Kashmir-movement is a victim of noisy crowd. This noisy movement sponsored by misinformed and unorganised crowd can deteriorate even the existing order, if at all it exists at the first place. The dust gathering Kashmir issue is of phenomenal proportions—is a massive headache paining the whole[Read More…]
Thoughts for World Environment Day – The global economy – threat to life on the Planet 
Drug Shortage In The U.S. Approach All-time High 
Siddaramaiah: A Rational Shudra/OBC With A Commitment To Agriculturism 
Karnataka Elections: Role of Grassroots campaign in election results 
A Note to the Debate on a People’s Development Paradigm 
Five Questions the War on Drugs Should Answer 
Israel is failing to force Palestinians into submission 
Weaknesses of the National Security Strategy 2022 – Part 4. USG makes ludicrous claims to oppose “aggression and coercion in all its forms” 
Proterial(Hitachi) contract Workers struggle succeeds in re-instating 30 workers and 2 Union Leaders 
Sri Lanka: Dilly-Dallying Tactics To Keep The Ethnic Problem Alive And Kicking 
Nita Ambani Cultural centre is opulent but not professional 
Why Intergenerational Thinking Is Essential to Heal the Planet 
U.S. Mainstream Media Faces Criticism From Barack Obama And Lindsey Graham 
A Government Without Ministers (GWM) is the need of the hour 
BJP red-carded in Karnataka 
Dr Navsharan Singh is being mercilessly targeted 
Inquiring into the action taken and justice delivered on the matter of police firing on protestors in Tuticorin 
Imperialism is Inherently Incompatible with Peace, Environment Protection and Happiness 
Most Americans Oppose Killing Horses for Food—Here’s How to End This Brutal Practice Weaknesses of the National Security Strategy 2022 – Part 3. A century of greed for China’s markets drives USG war cries and propaganda 
Belsonika Workers hartal enters 12th day 
Wildlife Photography For Creating Conservation Awareness 
A Few Least Discussed Curious Aspects re: Karnataka Elections 
A Timely Call for Peace in Ukraine by U.S. National Security Experts 
China and the Axis of the Sanctioned – How America’s Divide-and-Rule Strategy in the Middle East Backfired 
NATO Is Creeping Into Asia, Warns North Korea 
Apartheid Israel Among World’s Leading Countries For Militarization, Violence, Abuse And Genocide 
The Day Arrived 
Open letter to the Prime Minister 
Proliferation of fake Aadhaar Cards and false Jandhan bank accounts pose a serious threat to proper use of the Centre’s expenditure under Centrally Sponsored Schemes 
The Path of Change—Principles and Priorities, Agenda and Mobilization 
Has the government allowed private refiners to profiteer on Russian crude imports at the cost of CPSE oil companies and domestic consumers? Calls for an inquiry Weaknesses of the National Security Strategy 2022 – Part 2 False equating of the USG with a golden vision and China with a “darker vision” 
North American Colonization of Indigenous People, Cultures, and System of Social Welfare 
The Theoretical Concept of Geopolitics in International Relations and Global Politics 
This is NO Democracy!! 
Exceptionism in US Empire 
The Coca-Cola-ization of ‘God Bless America’ 
Karnataka Elections 2023: Defeat of Hate 
Revitalizing Tourist Transportation: Shared Taxi Services as a Solution for Mobility in Western Sikkim 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
