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30 August ,2013

British Parliament Votes Down Syria Action As US Presses Ahead With Strike Plans
By Chris Marsden & Julie Hyland

In a stunning setback for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron and the Obama administration in the US, Britain’s MPs voted down a government attempt to secure agreement in principle for military intervention in Syria

Operation Tomahawk With Cheese
By Pepe Escobar

This deafeningly hysterical show of Syria as Iraq 2.0 is only happening because a president of the United States (POTUS) created a ''credibility'' problem when, recklessly, he pronounced the use of chemical weapons in Syria a ''red line''

Mainstream Media Censorship “Disappears” US -Backed
War Plan To Gas Syrians And Blame Assad Regime

By Dr Gideon Polya

The bottom line is that those who attack and devastate other countries without the sanction of the United Nations are degenerate war criminals. As with Nazi war criminals, there should be no place for them to hide on Planet Earth

Obama May Be Walking Into An Impeachment Trap
By Kevin Zeese

Yesterday 163 Members of Congress sent letters to President Obama telling him that under the US Constitution he is required to get congressional approval before beginning a military attack. The letter drafted by Rep. Scott Rigel (R-VA) had 140 signatures, 119 Republicans and 21 Dems. Rep. Barbara Lee also circulated a letter that had 53 signers, that calls on the president to seek congressional approval

A Call To Resist
By George Capaccio

What is the difference between a Syrian father cradling the lifeless body of his son, a victim of some dreadful neurotoxin, and a mother in Iraq delivering a horribly deformed baby? On what scale does one measure the suffering of either parent? Are the perpetrators behind the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria crueler and more deserving of condemnation than the officers who oversaw the destruction of Falluja or a village in Afghanistan? And what of the countless families in Yemen and Pakistan struggling to identify the charred and scattered remains of their loved ones, killed by a US drone? Isn’t their pain just as great, their loss just as devastating?

America’s War On War
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

The drums of war are beating again. No one can imagine that if America makes a war-like strike on Syria, it will help the people of Syria to find a peaceful solution of the crisis. There is no impetus for peacemaking and conflict resolution

Rising Temperature, Rising Food Prices
By Lester R. Brown

Agriculture as it exists today developed over 11,000 years of rather remarkable climate stability. It has evolved to maximize production within that climate system. Now, suddenly, the climate is changing. With each passing year, the agricultural system is becoming more out of sync with the climate system

The Palestinian Genocide By Israel
By Professor Francis A. Boyle

I am respectfully asking the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal to do the same today for Palestine and the Palestinians. Shake up the entire world! Get humanity to act to save Palestine and the Palestinians from further annihilation and genocide by Israel! Make sure that Palestine and the Palestinians are still alive twenty years from now! Convict Israel for genocide!

Amos Yaron Charged For Genocide At Sabra & Shatilla
By Professor Francis A. Boyle

Amos Yaron perpetrated War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide in his capacity as the Commanding Israeli General in military control of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Israeli occupied Lebanon in September of 1982 when he knowingly facilitated and permitted the large-scale Massacre of the Residents of those two camps

Our Democracy?
By Robert Jensen

An edited version of a presentation on the panel “Our Democracy in Crisis: The Rise of the Total Surveillance State and the War on a Free Press” organized by Chicago Area Peace Action at North Park University, Chicago, Thursday, August 29, 2013

Does Quality Assurance In school Education Ensure Transparency And Accountability?
By Swaleha Sindhi

Transparency and accountability in the education system make the basic service delivery more effective. By promoting dialogue and strategic partnerships between school leaders, key stakeholders and civil society, School leadership can promote positive change and reform at various levels, empowering the stakeholders to demand transparent and effective services from the schools

29 August ,2013

US-NATO Campaign To Justify Syria War Disintegrates As Attack Looms
By Thomas Gaist & Alex Lantier

Washington’s campaign to justify war against Syria is disintegrating, as it becomes ever clearer that the war is illegal, and that Washington has no evidence to back up charges that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons in Ghouta. Despite press reports of an imminent US-NATO attack, US and British officials suggested yesterday that they might delay launching the war

‘War On Chemical Weapons’: Obama Traps Himself Into Syrian Combat
By Pepe Escobar

Only a few days before the 12th anniversary of 9/11, Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama might be fighting side by side with… al-Qaeda, as he was foolish enough to be trapped by his own rhetoric on Syria

Syria Is Not The Problem
By Janis Schmidt

Why, oh why is Obama saber rattling with Syria, pretending that Syria has chemical weapons? while forest fires are raging? while we don’t have enough fire fighters to put out the blaze in this country? How stupid is that? This is Iraq and WMD all over again. Is this what the people want? A war with Syria? While teachers and police are being laid off? While people are being evicted from their homes, and their homes bulldozed to make way for new boxed housing such as the warehouses of the 19th century to warehouse the workers? While most jobs are sent overseas to be worked for slave wage labor?

NY Times Gasses Its Own People, re: Syria
By Mickey Z.

If the reports are true or not, I’d never underestimate the horror of chemical weapons (a.k.a. WMD). Rather, I’ll shine a light on the “the scale” of the hypocrisy. The only nation ever to use nuclear weapons -- purposely targeting civilians, no less -- wants us to share their outrage that the Syrian government may or may not have used WMD

Opposition To Iraq War May Save Syria
By David Swanson

Opposition to a U.S.-led attack on Syria is growing rapidly in Europe and the United States, drawing its strength from public awareness that the case made for attacking Iraq had holes in it. A majority in the United States, still very much aware of Iraq war deceptions, opposes arming the "rebel" force in Syria, so heavily dominated by foreign fighters and al Qaeda. And a majority opposes U.S. military action in Syria. But that public opinion is only just beginning to get expressed as activism

Learning To Value Mother Earth
By Suzanne Fisher-Murray

Reducing waste and eating foods that have less of an impact on the environment is this years’ World Environment Day theme. We can all learn lessons from communities living in the Andes

Once Upon A Palestine
A Poem By Mhara Costello

Once upon a distant time, there was a land called Palestine
Is it yours or is it mine, this land they once called Palestine
And who am I to stand and stare, in disbelief at land stripped bare
Banished people, stolen homes, broken dreams, crumbling stones
Of ancient graves and ghostly moans, silenced by Israeli drones

Postcard From The End Of America : Trenton
By Linh Dinh

A note from Trenton, New Jersey

Who Killed Narendra Dabholkar?
By Ram Puniyani

It took Dabholkar’s sacrifice for Mahrashtra Government to pass and bill against blind faith for which Daholkar was struggling from decades. He had collected data that it is women who are the biggest victims of those practicing black magic. He had been talking of taking on the highly rewarding trade of gems and their magic powers, in due course. Alas, that was not to be! Will other state Governments follow suit and try to bring a control on the flourishing trade of blind faith, black magic and its ilk?

“Dronachaya Award”: An Open Letter To The President Of India
By Jharkhand Human Rights Movement

Requesting for suspension of prestigious “Dronachaya Award” under the purview of the Supreme Court’s judgment, which is given for excellence in sports coaching in India

Jal Satyagraha In 3 Districts Of Indira Sagar Area From The 1st Of September
By Narmada Bachao Andolan

Thousands of oustees affected affected by the Indira Sagar dam on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, will commence Jal Satyagraha at Village Badkhalia in District Khandwa, Village Mel Pipliya in District Dewas and Village Unwa in District Harda from the 1st of September 2013

28 August ,2013

US Prepares Military Onslaught Against Syria
By Thomas Gaist

The Obama administration is in the final stages of its longstanding preparations for a massive military onslaught against Syria. President Obama is signing off on one of the various scenarios that have been developed over the past two years by the Pentagon. In all likelihood, the initial stages of the attack will involve the use of cruise missiles fired from US navy vessels and “standoff” attacks launched by US war planes from beyond Syria’s borders

In Rush To Strike Syria, U.S. Tried To Derail U.N. Probe
By Gareth Porter

After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an alleged nerve gas attack, the administration of President Barack Obama reversed its position on Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get the U.N. to call off its investigation

Does Obama Know He’s Fighting On Al-Qa’ida’s Side?
By Robert Fisk

If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida

On United States Intervention In Syria : Remember A Few Things
By Joshua Brollier

With the drumbeats for war building and as US warships are arriving off the Syrian coast , I urge us all to speak out, work together and collectively seek another solution before even more of Syria is destroyed. There are many potential disastrous implications and consequences to increased US involvement in Syria and the region. With the United States hypocritical and self-serving track record, another blunderous intervention will only make things worse

The Subterfuge Of Syrian Chemical Weapons
By Nicola Nasser

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on this August 26 removed the sword of the alleged Syrian chemical weapons from its sheath and let the snow ball of this subterfuge for a military aggression on Syria roll unchecked, raising the stakes from asking whether “it will happen” to “when” it will happen, promising that President Barak Obama “will be making an informed decision about how” to take on Syria and warning not to make a “mistake” because Obama “believes there must be accountability,” making clear that a U.S. – led military action is in the making and imminent

Prince Bandar And Zionist Lobby Partnering To Maneuver Obama
Into Prolonged War With Syria

By Franklin Lamb

The Bandar-Zionist project is still not irreversible. The Pentagon and especially Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, are very concerned and have threatened to resign in protest. For they realize that there is a grave risk that the Syrian response will lead to a clash with one of its neighbors, a US ally. Any scenario is possible from the moment that the first missile leaves American ships in the eastern Mediterranean

The Middle East Is On A Hot Tin
By Dr Salim Nazzal

the possible American strike in Syria, will lead as most observers think, to a wider conflict, which will probably put the region into flames. It’s difficult to know its political consequences, and where it might lead, but it is not difficult to predict that it will be catastrophic for the whole region, and probably beyond

Lies, Lies, Lies And More Lies
By Nesreen Melek

Lies, lies, lies and more lies and more people don’t believe... Lies, lies and more lies and the innocent Syrians will pay the price the Iraqis paid when the killers launched their ugly war on Iraq a few years ago

Fooling The Public Over Syria
By Colin Todhunter

Despite the credible stance by Russia, in Britain, Russia and China are demonised by the media and depicted by many prominent politicians as obstacles to ‘humanitarian' military intervention in Syria. As hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries continue to mount as a result of US-Anglo aggression via various conflicts in the world, such humanitarian concerns ring hollow

Syria And US Foreign Policy: The Constitutionalism Of International Law In The Hermeneutics
By Dr. Nafees Ahmad

Today, US must appreciate that modern international law traversed a multifarious peregrination from 1945 geo-political reality. Any attack on Assad administration must not put aside UN Charter. Today, multilateralism has come to stay and to make international behavior of nation-states accountable and transparent which does not accept any intervention beyond law

The Politics Of Death: Human Lives Devalued In The Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud

Human life has hardly been treated with much sanctity in the Middle East, as dictators ruled with iron fists, and Israeli, US wars carried on with almost predictable succession. But recent wars and revolts have devalued human life even further, for now some are cheering at the misery of others where slaughter is shared on YouTube and social media, with casual comments, similes, and oftentimes utter indifference

Koodankulam NPP Verdict From Supreme Court Requires Review And Recall
By Buddhi Kota Subbarao. Ph.D.

The Apex Court's judgment and order dated May 6, 2013 endorsing the nuclear energy as “clean, safe, reliable and competitive energy source” has affected the legal and constitutional rights of the people of India. This endorsement and such other endorsements from the Supreme Court would come in the way of every High Court to examine afresh the issues that arise from the establishment of nuclear power plants within the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court

Lessons From The American Civil Rights Movement: Some Reflections
On The Defense Of Public Sphere And Right To Protest In Kerala, India

By Dr. Ajay Panicker

In the spirit of social justice and the practice of participatory democracy, the defense of the public sphere is a worthy cause by itself. This is an important lesson that the Civil Rights movement, one of the most significant movements of the last century, holds out for efforts to combat social oppression around the world

Wildlife (Protection) Act Amendments Will Impede Genuine Field Research
By Prof. Nagarathinam & Marianne de Nazareth

We need to encourage research for wildlife conservation in India and safeguard the good work being done by our researchers, not put stumbling blocks in their way. Then indeed, we are looking for an India where our children can only see the Tiger in the zoo and not in its natural habitat, in the near future

The Post- Tahrir Turmoil In Egypt: The Coup And Its Aftermath
By Taj Hashmi

Egypt is going through turmoil and a class war, which is likely to escalate further into an all-out civil war and regional conflict to hard hit American, Israeli and Western interests

Egypt’s Fratricidal Revolution
By Marwan Asmar

Egypt, the harbinger of the so-called Arab Spring in January 2011, today lies in tatters and recrimination. A once-solid populace standing for the removal of long-time president Husni Mubarak, Egypt is now beset by a series of fratricidal leanings from the state and its apparatuses, government, military, political parties and to the different sections of society

Of Ethnic Hegemony And Political Crisis: Understanding Rajapaksa Regime
As A Repressive State Apparatus In Sri Lanka

By Adfer Rashid Shah, Aparna Dixit, Taranum Siddiqi, Reshma Parveen & Rais Khan

Sri Lanka has been grappling with ethnic politics, bloody turmoil and horrors of the civil war even in the contemporary times. The policies of the Rajapaksa Regime along with Sinhala terror and socio-political dominance have virtually posed a formidable challenge to the Tamil ethnicity as well as to other minorities in Sri Lanka. This worries the international community especially India for its bilateral relations and Tamil politics back home. The institutionalized impunity for human rights violations with no space for political dissent has lead to the unceasing socio-political chaos in Sri Lanka without any immediate visible solution .The Rajapaksa government currently seems hell bent to dilute the most significant 13th amendment to erode the provincial powers further

The River Meets Sea
By Anitha.S

Story of two courageous women from Kerala fighting for environmental protection. As the river meets the sea, the voice of Darley and that of Jaseera resounds with this urgent reminder that soon it may be too late

Rape: Let's Unite Against The Enemy, Patriarchy
By Hannah Jayapriya

For all the privileged men, more than responding to something that’s so far removed from your immediate reality or doling out some pearls of wisdom on how women should conduct and protect themselves, please introspect! Walk that extra mile, be a human, be defined not by your biology, but by your humanity! Don’t define a woman or her role or her identity or her ability by her biology, but by her right to exist on this planet as freely and happily just as you do. Maybe then, all of us can be united against the enemy; patriarchy!

Indian Youth Demand Release Of Chelsea Manning
By Concerned Citizens

A group of eight youth activists handedover memorandum today at US Embassy with demand of release of Chelsea Manning, a whistleblower who got sentenced to 35 years in jail by US court for his role in passing classified information of US army to Wikileaks

No More Nuclear Tests In India And Everywhere Else
By People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) commemorates the International Day Against Nuclear Tests on August 29, 2013 by demanding the government of India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to undertake a pledge not to conduct any more nuclear tests in India

27 August ,2013

War With Syria And Its Repercussions
By Shamus Cooke

The whole region is a smoldering tinderbox, and Obama seems intent on pouring fuel on the flames. The many Americans who thought that such a war was impossible will have to think again. And although Obama will hide the war behind a Bush-like "coalition" of Europe, Arab and Israeli allies, the U.S. will be leading this puppet coalition while pushing an already unstable Middle East into full fledged regional chaos, which could instantly take on an international character

Obama Set For Holy Tomahawk War
By Pepe Escobar

No one knows for sure what exactly happened in the chemical weapons saga near Damascus. But that's the pretext for yet another American war - just a few days before a Group of 20 summit hosted by Putin in St Petersburg. Holy Tomahawk! R2A, here we go

America 's Battle Cry: Red Lines and Lies
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Barely a decade has passed since the spin masters lies launched an illegal, immoral, and costly war against Iraq that once again they are bombarding us with propaganda and lies, wanting us to believe that the Assad government used chemical weapon. Even though revelations have been made that such a false flag operation had been in the making , and that the United States backed the plan to use chemical weapons and blame it on Assad, and as skepticism is being voiced in every corner ( HERE ), Washington is planning a “humanitarian” war

Syria And Iran: Automatic Escalation To World War III?
By John Scales Avery

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, we ought to remember that this catastrophic event started as a minor engagement in which the Austrian Empire sought to punish a group of Serbian nationalists. No one involved at the outset of this small conflict had any idea that it would escallate into a world-destroying disaster, which still casts a dark shadow over civilization half a century later

American Holocaust, Millions Of Untimely American Deaths
And $40 Trillion Cost Of Israel To Americans

By Dr Gideon Polya

Zionist-subverted American Government support for Apartheid Israel in circa 2008 dollars totals about $40 trillion, the breakdown being (1) $3 trillion (1948-2003), (2) $4-6 trillion (Zionist-promoted Iraq and Afghan Wars), (3) $0.7 trillion (the VSL-based cost of 88,000 US veteran suicides since September 2001) and (4) about $30 trillion (one quarter of the VSL-based cost of 15.6 million preventable American deaths since September 2001)

Why Mass Marches Still Matter: 2013’s March On Washington
By Mark Vorpahl

In terms of the numbers it attracted, the August 24, 2013 March on Washington was an inspiring success. The question remains, however, how politically effective was it?

A Time For Creative Suffering
By Ariel Dorfman

Martin Luther King’s Words in a Surveillance World

Killed By Convenience: Dabholkar’s Murder And The Pattern Of
Political Compromises In Maharashtra

By Siddharthya Roy

The death of Dr Dabholkar has become an allegory to his own work. After all it took him as a human sacrifice to get the powers that be to wake up and kindly take note and some action in the right direction. Of course being true to Dabholkar’s legacy of scepticism, one wonders how far the promise will bear fruit

Mapping The Army-Civilian Dichotomy in Kashmir
By Adfar Shah

I am hopelessly waiting for the day when a local feels honored while meeting an Indian Jawan (Soldier) in any conflict zone be that Kashmir, Northeast or any other place. The army-civilian dichotomy can be abridged by working on the binding threads between the two like ensuring the principal of ‘ Awaam and their safety first' , preparing a common platform where two can meet and discuss without any fear, increasing the interaction between the two, accepting the past mistakes sincerely, learn to listen against each other, avoiding display of big brotherly attitude, checking verbal abuse, treating the local with respect, understanding the local culture and sensitivities and above all checking any HR violations

What Are Trees For?
As told to Anitha.S

Thoughts of a few children on watching a photo exhibition on Trees called the Tree Land marks of Thiruvananthapuram

26 August ,2013

Israeli Forces Kill 3 Palestinians In Occupied West Bank
By Ma'an News Agency

Israeli undercover forces killed three Palestinians overnight Sunday in Qalandia refugee camp in Ramallah, in occupied West Bank. Robin al-Abed, 32, was shot in the chest and died instantly, medics said. Younis Jihad Abu al-Sheikh Jahjouh, 22, was also shot dead. Jihad Asslan, 20, died Monday morning from his injuries after being pronounced brain dead at a Ramallah hospital. All three men were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd during clashes with camp residents following an arrest raid

Roger Waters Replies To ADL Director Foxman's Open Letter
By Roger Waters

Just to reiterate my position, I am anti-war, anti-apartheid, anti-racist, pro human rights, pro peace and pro self-determination for all peoples. I am not anti-Israel or anti-semitic

Social And Economic Justice Precede Peace: Has John Kerry Studied History?
By Dan Lieberman

The Palestinian masses that have had no peace for more than six decades don't expect peace from these discussions or desire an unsupportable state. Disbursed in enclaves and refugee camps throughout the Middle East, and not just the West Bank, they want social and economic justice. Justice precedes peace and peace precedes a gathering of the dispossessed into forming a representative government. And what is this social and economic justice? A book of the size of the Bible could barely contain and explain the injustices done to the Palestinians

Syria Intervention: Generals To Meet In Amman
By Countercurrents.org

Syria intervention is moving towards wider conflict. Citing a Jordanian high command official an Amman datelined Middle East Online report [1] said: Top military commanders from Western and Muslim countries including the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada are to meet in Jordan to discuss the impact of the Syria conflict

Syria And The West: Morality Is Skin Deep
By Colin Todhunter

And here we go again. In Syria, things were getting desperate for Washington. It needed a major made-for-TV, cross-the-red-line incident involving chemical weapons. Unsurprisingly, by hook or by crook – probably crook– it got it. The BBC, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and a multitude of other media outlets and politicians now clamour, or at least strongly imply the need, for direct military action to bolster the illegal ‘indirect’ military intervention from the West and its allies that has already been taking place for a long time

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Appeals Against Attacking Syria
By Warisacrime.org

Mairead Maguire, Nobel peace laureate, today appealed to the Rt. Hon. William Hague, British Foreign Minister, and M. Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister, to stop calling for military action against Syria which, she said, will only lead the Middle East into even more violence and bloodshed for its people

Climate Crisis To Harm All Forms Of Marine Life
By Countercurrents.org

Scientists have found: Rising levels of carbon dioxide are harming all forms of marine life because the oceans are acidifying as they absorb the gas. Scientists claim current rate of change is likely to be more than 10 times faster than it has ever been in Earth’s history

Some Peace Education Initiatives In Denmark
By John Scales Avery

This paper will discuss some Danish peace education activities, especially those of the Danish Peace Academy, the Danish National Group of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (Nobel Peace Prize, 1995), and the Grundtvigian adult education colleges

NSA Used Decryption Technology To Spy On The United Nations
By Thomas Gaist

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that documents supplied by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden prove the NSA spied on internal communications at the United Nations headquarters in New York City during the summer of 2012. The NSA has also targeted the European Union and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to Der Spiegel

Why Our Rulers Killed MLK, Jr. And Malcolm X:
By John Spritzler

The ruling class assassinated King because he led the Civil Rights Movement to oppose the Vietnam war as well as Jim Crow, and because he rejected his initial racial analysis and adopted a class analysis. The latter fact is less well known than the former. Here are some King quotations that tell the story

Waiting For The South African October?
By Shaun Whittaker

At the recent Neville Alexander Memorial Conference, Pallo Jordan, a prominent member of the African National Congress (ANC), presented the keynote address entitled ‘Waiting for October’. Jordan’s title, taken from Leon Trotsky’s letter to the Workers’ Party of South Africa (WPSA), implied that South African Trotskyists – as embodied by Alexander – ineffectually waited for a social revolution, while it was the Congress Movement that actually engaged in struggle and overthrew the apartheid regime. This reasoning epitomizes the on-going and wide-spread misrepresentation of the South African Left. So, to mark the anniversary of Alexander’s death on 27th August, it is perhaps appropriate to set the historical record straight

Security Of India Put At Risk In The Russian Roulette!
By M.G.Devasahayam

Air Force, Navy and now the mass of people themselves on whom the ‘Russian roulette’ is being played. Potential victims are soldiers, sailors, airmen and millions of farmers and fisher-folk living in the vicinity of KKNPP. The questions that arise are: who is spinning the cylinder, who is placing the muzzle and who is looting the exchequer even at the risk of national security and human lives? Also in the manner of Bob Dylan singing in ‘Blowing in the Wind’ one would ask: How many more men should die and billions looted before India stops becoming victim of Russian roulette?

Madras Cafe: Intercept The Half-Truth
By Karthick RM

Selective history, grand conspiracy theory, not-so-subtle Indian patriotism all go into the making of a movie that principally exonerates India from all culpability of the brutal war crimes committed against the Tamils by the IPKF. From the start till the end, the subtext of the movie is to project India, a nuclear power state with the fourth largest army in the world, as a victim of the LTTE. For the record, at the height of the IPKF-LTTE war, over 100000 Indian soldiers armed to the teeth confronted about 3000 LTTE cadres. Despite this, India lost

The Paid Journal Trend: A Roadblock To Quality Higher Education
By Adfer Rashid Shah, Mohd. Rais Khan, Swaleha A Sindhi & Aparna Dixit

The aim of this article is to emphasize upon the menace of racketing journals and proliferation of low standard publications that publish everything and thrive on payment basis without caring for the research quality or research methodology adopted. Currently such journals are being published round the globe turning the intellectual exercise of knowledge production (publication) merely into a business venture. Such a devastating trend has negative ramifications on the quality of research and higher education itself

25 August ,2013

In 90 Minutes, Enough Sunlight Strikes The Earth To Provide The Entire Planet's
Energy Needs For One Year

By International Energy Agency‌

In 90 minutes, enough sunlight strikes the earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year. While solar energy is abundant, it represents a tiny fraction of the world’s current energy mix. But this is changing rapidly and is being driven by global action to improve energy access and supply security, and to mitigate climate change

Kandhamal, Five Years Later: Why The Silence?
By K.P. Sasi

On this day of August 25, 2013, which rightfully should have been observed as a Khandamal Day nationally and internationally and unfortunately being ignored by this largest democratic, secular and sovereign State called India, it may be more appropriate to begin with our own limitations – our own silence which became the cause and effect of any large scale violence expressed in history

Five Years On From Kandhamal Violence, Victims Await Justice, Rehabilitation, And Peace
By Christian Solidarity Worldwide

The Christian community in Kandhamal district, Odisha state (formerly Orissa) is this weekend marking the fifth anniversary of a wave of violence in which an estimated 90 people were killed and at least 54,000 displaced. Much of the violence was brutal in nature, including sexual violence and burning or burying victims alive

US Prepares Military Assault On Syria
By Barry Grey

US officials have outlined a series of options that are being considered for a direct assault by American and allied military forces against Syria, using Wednesday’s alleged chemical weapons attack as the pretext. The stepped-up military preparations make clear that the events on Wednesday are part of a provocation to justify yet another neo-colonial war in the Middle East

Tunisia: Thousands Of Protesters Demand Resignation Of Islamist Led Government
By Countercurrents.org

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Tunisia’s capital Tunis on August 24 for the first day of a planned week-long campaign to pressure the country’s ruling Islamist party Ennahda to step down from power. At the same time, opposition members have rejected dialogue with Tunisia’s ruling Ennahdha party, saying the current government must resign before any negotiations begin

Roger Water's Calls On Musicians to Boycott Israel
By Countercurrents.org

Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has published a long-awaited open letter calling on his fellow musicians to boycott Israel. The letter published in his Facebook page explains that Waters has been part of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for seven years, and has been mulling the letter over for some time. He condemns Israeli human rights violations and explains the reasons to act

Heroine Of Israeli Hasbara
By Vacy Vlazna

As its daily violations of international law, war crimes and settlement expansion flatline Israel’s international reputation, its desperate public relations (hasbara) efforts, scrambling for message control, have revived and slammed, yet again, Palestinians with the old catchall shibboleth of ‘terrorist’. As luck would too conveniently have it, from a recently published book, a new heroine of hasbara has risen, Christian American, Anne Speckhard; propaganda princess, and wanna be femme fatale

Victims Of Forced Labor: 21 Million
By Countercurrents.org

Almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor – 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys, said a International Labor Organization (ILO) issue brief headlined “Forced labour: Facts and figures”. The numbers – 21 million, 11.4 million and 9.5 million – are more than total population of many countries

A KKNPP Subcontractor Hurled Country-Made Bombs At Idinthakarai
And Fabricated Cases Charged Against Struggle Leaders

By People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

On August 24, 2013 around 10:30 pm, four identified men hurled three country-made bombs at Idinthakarai and near the Tsunami Nagar. Disregarding the complaint filed by the local people the Koodankulam police filed an FIR holding 50 of the Koodankulam struggle committee (15 named accused including S.P. Udayakumar, Pushparayan, Mi.Pa. Jesuraj, Muhilan, Rajalingam, Milton, Kebiston and 35 unnamed accused) responsible for the bomb explosions

Biometric Data Collection For Home Ministry’s National Population Register (NPR)
And Planning Commission’s Aadhaar Number Is Illegal And Illegitimate

By Gopal Krishna

Proposed Convergence of Census, NPR, Adhaar Number, Family Identification Number under SECC, NATGRID, NCTC and Voter Identity Card has genocidal ramifications under Nazi Party like regime. Claims of NPR’s creation under Citizenship Act and Rules is flawed, biometrics not mentioned in the Act & Rules. Data collected for Census is confidential under Census Act, 1948, Data under NPR is not confidential but the collecting authority is Census Commissioner who is ex officio Registrar General for NPR. Biometric data collection for Aadhaar Number is without any legal basis, Parliamentary Committee rejected the Bill meant for its legalization

Community Supported Agriculture As A Strategy For Sustainable Living
By Aparajita Sengupta

This is the video of a talk delivered at the International Conference on Environment and Its Impact on Society organized by J D Birla Institute, Kolkata on 19th August 2013. The talk looks into the relationship between food and the environment through a discussion on community supported agriculture farms. It touches upon the issues of toxic food and waste and suggests chemical-free, sustainable, community-based local food systems as alternatives to a culture of consumption

23 August ,2013

Growing Calls For Attack On Syria Follow
Chemical Weapons Claims

By Bill Van Auken

The report of a chemical weapons attack in the eastern suburbs of Damascus has been seized upon by the Western powers and their regional allies as the pretext to push for direct military intervention. Government denunciations combined with massive media coverage indicting the government of President Bashar al-Assad—before there has been any independent confirmation of the nature of the attack or a shred of evidence linking it to the regime—all point to a filthy, stage-managed provocation

Fear Spreads Through Palestinian Camps In Syria
By Franklin Lamb

Yarmouk Palestinian camp, Damascus: Close to 50,000 children from Yarmouk Palestinian camp in Syria have fled Syria, being among the more than one million other children according to Palestinian Popular Committees in the Damascus-Homs area and head of U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, Anthony Lake, said in a statement. Roughly 75% of the Palestinian youngsters fleeing Syria are under the age of 11

Fracking Boom Slouching Toward Bust
By Richard Heinberg

Recently Shell took a $2 billion write-down on its liquids-rich shale assets in North America. While no details were released, it’s likely the company was simply acknowledging the unprofitability of leases in non-core regions, purchased back when shale plays were being advertised as “manufacturing operations” in which companies could successfully sink a drill bit virtually anywhere. The oil industry itself is starting to learn that the shale revolution just ain’t all it was fracked up to be

Fukushima, Climate Change, Near-Term Extinction: Resignation Vs. Surrender
By Carolyn Baker

What we all need now is not another permaculture course or another bucket of barley but rather, the soft touch and locked eye contact of each other. We need our hearts to be broken open and our tears to water and soak the earth and wash away the encrusted filth of civilization that pollutes and paralyzes our souls. That, dear reader, is not about giving up, but choosing to rise to the unprecedented, Herculean challenge of healing and transformation that the current catastrophes have thrown in our faces

Capitalism Cannot Be Reformed
By Mickey Z.

To be a capitalista is to act as if we are the last generation of humans. To be an anti-capitalista is to re-imagine our relationship with the natural world. Which side are you on, comrades? The future is waiting on your decision

Egypt’s Foreign Relations On Tightrope
By Nicola Nasser

The internal crisis in Egypt has indulged the country in its most critical foreign relations test since these relations were shaped by the U.S. sponsored Camp David accords and the peace treaty with Israel in 1979

U.S. Economic Hegemony: Consolidation And Deepening Of The Pacific Alliance Trade Bloc
By Dana Gabriel

In Latin America, there is a growing divide over the future of continental political and economic integration. Some countries have banded together to resist U.S. imperialism and any attempts to destabilize the region. There is also a move to end the destructive cycle of investment treaties and replace it with an alternative economic structure that better respects the sovereignty of nation states. The Pacific Alliance stands as a counterbalance to some of the other regional integration efforts that are trying to protect against the dangers of globalization

RSS/Hindutva Versus India/Indian
By Shamsul Islam

This chart is an attempt to unmask the anti-national ideology and deeds of the Hindutva camp vis-a-vis India; a land inhabited by people of many religions, cultures and creeds of which majority being of Hindus. This chart ‘RSS/HINDUTVA VERSUS INDIA/INDIANS’ is self-explanatory as each issue of concern for India and those who love India (both in pre and post- Independence period) is tagged with the Hindutva camp’s official stand. This chart makes it easy to comprehend the gravity of anti-national character of the ideology and misdeeds of the Hindutva camp led by RSS

Monstrous Propagandists
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

If politics became the symbol of change even if it might have been negative at many places, the media, judiciary and academia are the biggest obstacle to social change and propagandist for status quo. They are simply pushing their casteist, communal agenda in the absence of a political consensus on major issues of saving the democracy. Democracy is endangered today as it will only create more problems and isolation for the marginalized and those who believe in freedom of expression and political thoughts. We must be careful of those propagandists who are using this political vacuum to strengthen their sinister fascist designs

Dabholkar Is Done A Gandhi
By Anand Teltumbde

Who killed Dr Narendra Dabholkar may remain possibly an unsolved riddle like who killed Hemant Karkare and like rather numerous other such earlier cases despite the Maharashtra government exhibiting its keenness in this case to catch the culprits by announcing a Rs 10 lakh prize to anyone who provides information on them. As I write more than 24 hours have already passed and there is no clue to the police as to who killed him. Aren't there really any clue? Even a casual reader of this article can get sufficient clue as to who are behind the culprits. The finger behind the trigger might belong to anyone, but there is not much doubt whose brain has been behind it

Over 4 Lakh People Demand The Withdrawal Of The BRAI Bill
By Greenpeace India

As the deadline for public feedback on the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill closes on August 25, a delegation from the Coalition for a GM free India and Greenpeace India, delivered petitions from over 4 lakh people demanding the withdrawal of BRAI bill to the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Science and Technology, Environment and Forests

22 August ,2013

Syria Chemical Warfare Claims Aim To Provoke Western Intervention
By Bill Van Auken

The unsubstantiated charges that the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad carried out a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus killing large numbers of civilians have all the hallmarks of a staged provocation aimed at provoking Western intervention

Syria Gas Attack Story Has Whiff Of Saudi War Propaganda
By William Engdahl

The reports of massive chemical attacks in Syria might become the “red line” for the US for active military intervention. But even rudimentary analysis of the story shows it is too early to believe its credibility

#FreeChelsea: Outpouring Of Support Follows Manning Announcement
By Jon Queally

Support for Bradley Manning continued to grow on Thursday following a statement read by Manning's lawyer on the TODAY show announcing that going forward the whistleblower, sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday, would like to be regarded as a woman

Sometimes You Have To Pay A Heavy Price To Live In A Free Society
By Bradley Manning

The following is a transcript of the statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning as read by David Coombs at a press conference on Wednesday after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison

Fukushima Follows The Ghost Of Chernobyl
By Countercurrents.org

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster spread significant radioactive contamination over more than 3,500 square miles of the Japanese mainland in the spring of 2011. Now several recently published studies of Chernobyl, directed by Timothy Mousseau of the University of South Carolina and Anders Møller of the Université Paris-Sud, are bringing a new focus on just how extensive the long-term effects on Japanese wildlife might be

Leadership Concerning The Commons
By Omar Rashid Chowdhury

Protecting the commons is a part of the historic struggle raging under the social surface between contentious classes. The effective leadership to organize the people to claim the commons must develop from the ranks of the people. A leadership founded on the bases of the classes that will play historically progressive role in upholding people’s cause only can be justified to have the people’s trust. And only then can the commons be claimed successfully by the people

Rabaa Al-Adawiyah And The End Of Secular Liberalism
By Shaheen Mohideen

Leading to the final days of the sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya, I came across a Facebook post by eminent American intellectual, political scientist and author of the book ‘What Gandhi Says About Non-violence, Resistance and Courage” among many others, Dr Norman Finkelstein; his honest observation being “Are sustained Muslim Brotherhood protests despite murderous provocation the single greatest example and test in history of Gandhian non-violent resistance?”

Modi Phenomenon: An Attack On Indian Democracy
By Ram Puniyani

Ram Puniyani was a professor in biomedical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and took voluntary retirement in December 2004 to work full time for communal harmony in India. He is involved with human rights activities from last two decades.He is associated with various secular and democratic initiatives like All India Secular Forum, Center for Study of Society and Secularism and ANHAD

As Pastor Terry Jones Prepares To Burn Quran US Muslims Appeal For Peace
By Mike Ghouse

We as Muslims plan to respond to pastor Terry Jones' planned burning of 3000 copies of Quran on September 11, 2013 in positive terms

21 August ,2013

Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison
By Kevin Gosztola

A military judge at Fort Meade in Maryland sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison.Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday. Guards quickly escorted Manning out of the courtroom as supporters in the gallery shouted, “We’ll keep fighting you, Bradley,” and also told him he was a hero

International Alarms Go Up As Fukushima Alert Level Raised
By Jon Queally

By elevating the severity status from level 1 to level 3 on the eight-level International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), the NRA has made a clear indication that the situation is worsening more than two years after the initial disaster and following recent reports of newly discovered leaks of highly radioactive water from several sources

The Post-Fukushima Nuclear Industry: A Case Study In Institutional Self-Deception
By Dennis Riches

The nuclear industry is at that point in the play where Macbeth declares, “It will have blood they say: blood will have blood” (III.IV.122), or “I am in blood stepped so far that I should wade no more. Returning were as tedious as go o'er” (III.IV.136-138). Nuclear industry promoters are not killers like these fictional villains. Day-to-day life in the nuclear industry must be as banal as in any other profession. But the effects of institutional deception with nuclear technology can be just as devastating as those of deliberate crimes

Humanity Has Exhausted The Earth's Natural Resources
By Sophie Yeo

August 20 was Earth Overshoot Day – the day when use of the planet's resources outstrips supply. According to Global Footprint Network, the world had yielded up all the resources it can afford for the year by 20 August, meaning that for the remaining four months, the planet is operating in overdraft: the resources being drawn upon can no longer be replenished

Guardian Editor Says Newspaper Forced To Destroy Hard Drives
By Thomas Gaist

In a comment published Monday, Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger wrote that he and other Guardian journalists were faced with unofficial threats of legal action by the British government, and therefore were forced to destroy hard drives containing material from whistle blower Edward Snowden

Now, It’s Alan, The Guardian Editor
By Farooque Chowdhury

Alan’s experience, since the Snowden syndrome is, most probably, exceptional. And, the incident he revealed – pulverizing of computers in the basement of the Guardian office to stop Snowden story – are also exceptional. Even, a precedent in the Third or Fourth World is difficult to find out

On Egypt’s Class-Struggle: Rabias Of The World Unite
By Ramzy Baroud

Rabia’s 12- centuries- old legacy will not vanish even after the mosque was burnt. Many of the dead were witnessed and filmed raising their forefingers to heaven in one last prayer as they let go of their last breath. The images from Egypt were gory to say the least, but the faith of Egyptians remains strong

To Be A Palestinian, Especially In Gaza
By Eva Bartlett

Aside from being essentially locked-down by the occupying Zionist regime since at least 2006 (closures began way back in the 90s), leaving the vast majority of Gaza’s Palestinians unable to freely travel from their tiny, overpopulated, suffocating Strip (not all is bad about the lovely Gaza Strip, but it is extremely difficult and impossible for the majority of the 1.7 million living there), every facet of life in Gaza is either in ruins or devolving towards ruin

Who Killed Dr Narendra Dabholkar?
By Subhash Gatade

Dr Narendra Dabholkar's untimely death has been a severe blow to the rationalist movement in this country. This movement, which is facing tremendous challenges with the ascendance of rightwing forces in the society, has lost one of its commanders today. And it is a loss to everyone concerned with progressive change in India. It remains to be seen how all of us together are able to turn the tremendous grief which has come our way into new determination and resolve to fight the forces of ignorance, irrationality and reaction - a cause celibre for which Dr Narendra Dabholkar lived and died

Reminder Of Unfreedom On Independence Day: Atrocity On Dalits In Bihar
Fact Finding Report

For Dalits in India, freedom is still a far cry. The atrocity perpetrated on Dalits in a Bihar dalit hamlet on Independence Day this year brings home this stark reality. A Fact-finding Report by a CPI(ML) team comprising All India Kisan Mahasabha General Secretary Rajaram Singh and Arun Singh, former MLA from the Karakat assembly constituency, follows

Australia 's New Anti-Semitism: Censorship And Defamation Of
Anti-Racist Jews By Zionists And The ABC In Neoliberal Australia

By Dr Gideon Polya

The virulent racism and bigotry of the Zionists has meant that a further type of publicly accepted anti-Semitism has arisen in Australia, namely defamatory anti-Jewish anti-Semitism directed against anti-racist Jews

Supporting Terrorists Is Not A New Policy For The U.S.: Prof. Lawrence Wilkerson
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

My prediction for the upcoming talks is that because of Iranian intransigence and U.S. obduracy—and, with regard to President Obama, a decided lack of political and moral courage—no meaningful success will be achieved. There is simply too much mistrust and there are too many people—on both sides—who are heavily invested in the failure of negotiations. There are people in Iran and people in the U.S. who do not want a diplomatic solution. There are also such people in Tel Aviv

Marx And The Muslim Brothers
By Thomas Riggins

How should one respond to the claim, made by Sheri Berman a political science professor at Barnard College, that Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are "Marx's contemporary successors"? [Oped- New York Times 8-10-13: "Marx's Lesson for the Muslim Brothers"] This seems like an outrageous assertion and I doubt that there are many Islamist madrasas where hadiths from the life of Karl Marx are discussed. Lets take a closer look at professor Berman's article to see the reasoning behind this statement

20 August ,2013

A Movement For A New Planet: Movements Without Leaders
By Bill McKibben

What I do sense, however, is that it’s our job to rally a movement in the coming years big enough to stand up to all that money, to profits of a sort never before seen on this planet. That won’t happen thanks to a paramount leader, or even dozens of them. It can only happen with a spread-out and yet thoroughly interconnected movement, a new kind of engaged citizenry. Rooftop by rooftop, we’re aiming for a different world, one that runs on the renewable power that people produce themselves in their communities in small but significant batches. The movement that will get us to such a new world must run on that kind of power too

Waging Peace
By Leah Bolger

And when it seems like our voices are being ignored by our government, then we must double our efforts to be heard. We may never be able to buy the kind of influence and access that the military-industrial-media complex has, but what we have on our side is righteousness. We have compassion. We have humanity. We have love. And our power can never be defeated

Niyamgiri Mining Plan Gets A 12-0 Drubbing
By Countrercurrents.org

The Dongaria tribes of Jarapa village in Rayagada district today rejected the Niyamgiri mining plan, which was conceived to secure raw material for Vedanta Aluminium at Lanjigarh, Odisha, India. 11 other villages earlier rejected the mining plans of Vedanta in similar Gram Sabha

Clinging To Mass Violence
By Lawrence Wittner

Is the human race determined to snuff itself out through mass violence? There are many signs that it is

Mutual Aid Vs Social Darwinism
By Milan Djurasovic

There is an alternative to Social Darwinism and it is called Mutual Aid. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a book by Peter Kropotkin , a Russian evolutionary theorist, philosopher, scientist, geographer. In this work, which is rich with first-hand observations and historical evidence, Kropotkin argues that it is cooperation rather than vicious competition that is the driving force behind a flourishing society

Egypt: From Anarchy To Insanity Needs Global Intervention
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

The daily planned massacres of the people cannot go unabated and unchallenged; otherwise, it is a burden on the civilized human conscience. After all, what is the role and importance of the UNO and its Council responsible for global peace and security matters. Those occupying the five major powerful seats in the UN Security Council must initiate immediate actions to stop this bloody unwarranted human carnage

Egypt : A Nation Bleeds
By Chandra Muzaffar

The long-term consequences of suppressing Ikhwan will continue to challenge the nation and Muslims everywhere. Islamic groups and even states will conclude that democracy does not offer any hope. If their aspirations cannot be achieved through the democratic process, it would be better for them to resort to other means, including violent methods to realise their goals. This is why it is so important for a democratic experiment in a major Arab-Muslim state like Egypt to succeed. For now, that experiment has suffered a colossal setback

Being Honest About The Dominant Zionist Narrative
By Neve Gordon

Mayor of Upper Nazareth exposes the logic of exclusion that defines the current Israeli political and social landscape

CIA Admits It Masterminded Iran’s 1953 Coup! Will US Face Prosecution?
By Jay Janson

Is that it? No mention of a law broken. Will Americans call for justice for Iran, compensation for wrongful death, injury, destruction of property, theft of natural resources? Will Iran sue under the Nuremberg Principles Law on Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes Against Peace? Will America offer Iran compensation? Will Antiwar journalists raise such a disagreeable thought for fellow Americans?

Antonio Santiago: Geography And Justice
By Rosemarie Jackowski

The killer of Antonio is no more innocent and no more guilty than those who kill unarmed civilians in other countries. US citizens who support and enable the Drone killings are every bit as guilty as whoever murdered Antonio Santiago. That includes voters, taxpayers, and those who design, manufacture, and operate the Drones

The Humanity Of The Prisoners vs. The Inhumanity The System
By Larry Everest

Sunday, August 18, marks Day 42 in the intense, life-and-death struggle California prisoners are waging for their humanity and basic rights—especially an end to long-term, indefinite solitary confinement, which is a form of torture—and widely labeled as such by international legal and human rights groups. Right now, the lives of hundreds of hunger striking prisoners are on the line due to the vicious response of prison authorities to this struggle—refusing to grant the prisoners' just demands and instead retaliating against them

Bleeding Zambia Dry
By Thomas C. Mountain

In the past decade the central African country of Zambia has exported some $30 billion of copper yet remains so deeply in debt to western banksters that it spends more in interest on Zambia’s debt that on health and education combined

High Cost, Casualised Academics, Corruption, Dumbing-Down,
Racism And Censorship – Why Study In Australia?

By Dr Gideon Polya

Overseas students from Asia have made Australian universities their destination for many years. Currently about 240,000 overseas students worth $16 billion per annum are a financial mainstay of the grossly underfunded Australian university system. However greed, anti-intellectualism, parsimony, dumbing down, corruption, racism and censorship are making Australian universities much less attractive to overseas students

Personalised Political Dissent In Social Web
By Biju. P. R.

Anna Hazare movement, Shaheen Dada, Ambikesh Mahapatra, Subrata Sengupta, Ravi Srinivsan, Aseem Trivedi, S. Manikandan, Jaya Vindhayala and a fleet of social media related episodes in India proves the symbiotic relationship between life style politics and digital media and it proves that a new social space has born in the trajectory of discursive practices and cyber culture

16 August ,2013

Murdering The Wretched Of The Earth
By Chris Hedges

What is happening in Egypt is a precursor to a wider global war between the world’s elites and the world’s poor, a war caused by diminishing resources, chronic unemployment and underemployment, overpopulation, declining crop yields caused by climate change, and rising food prices

Over 100 People Killed On Egypt's Day of Rage
By Countercurrents.org

Violence erupted across Egypt again on Friday after the Brotherhood and other groups, under the banner of the Anti-Coup Alliance, called for protests in defiance of a military crackdown on sit-in demonstrations that left hundreds dead on August 14. In the worst of Friday's violence, at least 95 people were killed and hundreds injured in Cairo's Ramses Square as anti-coup protesters were fired on by government forces

Human Activity Is The Cause Of Global Warming, Scientists Now Surer Than Ever
By Countercurrents.org

Reuters reported that drafts by the UN panel of experts, due to be published next month, say it is at least 95 percent likely that human activities – chiefly the burning of fossil fuels – are the main cause of warming since the 1950s. This was up from at least 90 percent in the last report in 2007, 66 percent in 2001, and over 50 in 1995

Syrian Interventionists Move HQ From Egypt To Turkey
By Countercurrents.org

The headquarters of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) is being transferred from Egypt to Turkey , as the new administration that toppled Morsi has limited the movements of the Syrian opposition, according to the coalition's Turkey representative

Targeting Hezbollah In Beirut
By Franklin Lamb

Attack on Hebollah office in Beirut in which 27 presumed killed (a father and three of his children remain unaccounted for). More than 340 are reported wounded

Regardless Of Screeching Media Banter, Whistleblowers Are Our Bravest Heroes
By Vincent L. Guarisco

It takes a brave soul (with thick skin) to step forward and selflessly expose a wrongdoing or in some cases, expose many layers of corruption on a grand scale -- at the highest level -- often delivering shocking revelations that sometimes has the potential to pierce the national and/or international psyche with truth that no one can deny. Like many whistleblowers before him, such is the case with "Bradley Manning."

Torture By Design: Saying No To The Architecture Of Solitary Confinement And Cruelty
By Angola 3 News

An interview with Raphael Sperry an architect and President of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR). He is a Soros Justice Fellow and advocates for architects to engage with issues of human rights in the built environment, especially in U.S. prisons

Modi's 'Singur': The Other Independence Day
By Subhash Gatade

Independence day celebration in Hansalpur, Gujarat which was attended by around 15,000 people men and women, old and young where the Maruti Suzuki plant is supposed to come up The celebration was attended by delegations from other groups waging a struggle against land acquisition in their areas, such as from Mahua (against the Nirma cement plant), from Mithi Virdi in Bhavnagar (against the nuclear power project), the Junagadh by-pass road etc. who came there to show their solidarity

Without Passion, Life Becomes Senseless: Prof. Richard Ernst
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

Interview with Prof. Richard Ernst, winner of Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the year 1991. According to the Nobel Committee, Prof. Ernst was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.”

Hijacking America's Mind On 9/11
By Dr. Ludwig Watzal

The author provides persuasive evidence that the official narrative is riddled with contradictions, anomalies, puzzling coincidences, lies, forged and planted evidence; that witnesses were intimidated; and that news were fabricated. A substantial chunk of his book is devoted to an analysis of the telephone calls made between passengers and crew-members with their colleagues or loved-ones on the ground. It is actually the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of these phone calls undertaken to this date

Poverty Porn: When Politicians Start Insulting The Citizenry
By Samar

Raj Babbar was not quite off the mark. Neither was the war reporter who had thrown one of the most notorious questions ever asked in the history of journalism at the hundreds of just rescued European survivors of a siege at Stanleyville in eastern Congo in November 1964. “Anyone here been raped and speak English?" was the question if you must know

16 August ,2013

One Killed 60 Injured On Independence Day Attack On Dalits In Bihar
By Kavita Krishnan

A dalit villager was killed and at least 60 people were injured, eight of them seriouslyon 15th August, India's independence day, in Badi village of Rohtas district of Bihar state by feudal forces. 12 of the injured are now admitted in PMCH, Patna. The deceased was identified as Vilas Ram.

Egypt's "Day of Rage" Turned To Bloodshed
By Countercurrents.org

Egypt's "Day of Rage" turned to bloodshed as dozens of anti-coup protesters were reported killed while marching in defiance of the military-led regime. Clashes were reported on Friday in the capital, Cairo, and the cities of Samietta and Ismailia, on a day of protests that were called following the deaths of hundreds as police cleared anti-coup camps on August 14

'Bloodbath That Is Not A Bloodbath': Why Egypt Is Doomed
By Pepe Escobar

Egypt's ‘bloodbath that is not a bloodbath’ has shown that the forces of hardcore suppression and corruption reign supreme, while foreign interests - the House of Saud, Israel and the Pentagon - support the military's merciless strategy

Narendra Modi, British Invitation and Universal Jurisdiction
By N. Jayaram

Some British MPs have invited an Indian politician widely accused of having committed crimes against humanity in his Gujarat state more than a decade ago. It is not a crisis but an opportunity: Universal Jurisdiction may be invoked to get the wheels of justice, which have failed to catch up with him at home, get moving abroad

Heat Waves To Quadruple By 2040, Regardless Of Emissions Cuts
By Countercurrents.org

Extreme heat waves will increase over the next 30 years, regardless of the amount of carbon emitted between now and then. The second half of 21st Century is likely to be seriously affected by rising levels of greenhouse gases

Which Side Are You On?
By Mickey Z.

How much more are we willing to tolerate before we take direct action? What is our personal pain threshold? When will we decide that we are less afraid of the State than of living on a planet without trees, without drinkable water, without arable land, without a hint of justice?

Day 39 Of California Prison Hunger Strike: Governor Jerry Brown Remains Silent
By Sal Rodriguez

According to the latest figures from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), yesterday, 252 inmates in eight institutions were on hunger strike, of whom 125 have been on continuously since July 8. The figures provided by CDCR indicate that, over the past few days, significant fluctuations have been occurring. In the last three days, the number of facilities participating in the hunger strike grew from six to eight

The Obama Regime’s Fabricated “Terror Conspiracy” In Defense Of The Police State
By James Petras

Representative democracies and autocratic dictatorships respond to profound internal crises in very distinctive ways: the former attempts to reason with citizens, explaining the causes, consequences and alternatives; dictatorships attempt to terrorize, intimidate and distract the public by evoking bogus external threats, to perpetuate and justify rule by police state methods and avoid facing up to the self-inflicted crises. Such a bogus fabrication is evident in the Obama regime’s current announcements of an imminent global “terrorist threat”

Bangladesh: Adil, The Man I Know
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Adilur Rahman Khan is the secretary of the Odhikar which is one of the major local rights groups in Dhaka documenting human rights violations. He was arrested by the security forces in Bangladesh on Saturday (August 10). News immediately spread across the world and many urged for his release. However, the government is in a hurry to prove the guilt of the subject they have targeted

15 August ,2013

A Carnage In Egypt: Morsi Supporters Defiant
By Countercurrents.org

Egypt may be heading for another showdown between the military led Egyptian government security forces and the supporters of Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi. Morsi supporters reiterated that they are committed to peaceful struggle one day after hundreds of their supporters were killed in a bloody crackdown. "Marches are planned this afternoon from al-Iman mosque to protest the deaths," a coalition of Morsi's supporters said in a statement on Thursday

Death Dominates Democracy Egypt
By Farooque Chowdhury

Deaths question democracy’s journey in the land of the Nile. Questions of democracy remain unresolved. Violence has now widened the gap between aspiration and actions for democracy further. And, fundamental aspects related to democracy have once again been reiterated by the bloody, brutal incidents in Cairo and across the country

Bradley Manning’s Statement: A Forced “Confession” Concludes A Drumhead Tribunal
By Eric London

Army PFC Bradley Manning addressed the military tribunal at Ft. Meade, Maryland yesterday in the eleventh day of post-trial sentencing hearings. The 25-year-old whistle-blower was found guilty last month on 19 counts, including six charges of espionage. He faces up to 90 years in prison. Manning’s comments yesterday reflect the tremendous element of coercion in the entire proceedings. In all, the episode more closely resembled a Stalinist show trial than a democratic court of law

Screaming In Bradley Manning's Trial
By David Swanson

I sat in the courtroom all day on Wednesday as Bradley Manning's trial wound its way to a tragic and demoralizing conclusion. I wanted to hear Eugene Debs, and instead I was trapped there, watching Socrates reach for the hemlock and gulp it down. Just a few minutes in and I wanted to scream or shout

A Roadmap To A Just World -- People Reanimating Democracy
By Noam Chomsky

Transcript of June 2013 Noam Chomsky speech in Bonn, Germany, DW Global Media Forum, Bonn, Germany, June 17, 2013

Civil Disobedience As Law Enforcement
By Jeremy Brecher

The legal obligation of governments to protect the public trust can play a role similar to governments’ obligation to protect human rights and eschew war crimes. Those who perpetrate climate change, and those who allow them to do so, should not be able to claim that the law is on their side. Those who blockade coal-fired power plants or sit down at the White House to protest the Keystone XL pipeline can — and should — insist that they are simply exercising their right and responsibility to protect the atmospheric commons they own along with all of present and future humankind

Saudi Rulers Pour Money Into Arming Militants
In The Middle East And North Africa Regions

By Finian Cunningham

If Saudi rulers had more brains, they might be formidably dangerous. Even with lacklustre intelligence assets, they are already causing enough havoc and bloodshed across the Middle East and North Africa regions, pouring millions-of-dollars-worth of weaponry into Al Qaeda and other Takfiri networks that are destroying once proud civilizations in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Libya through nihilistic sectarianism

Teenagers In Space
By Tom Engelhardt

Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Rambo, Red Dawn, and How a Tale of American Triumphalism Was Returned to the Child’s World (Part 2)

Presenting Pro-Palestinian View Impossible In The Western Mass Media: Greg Felton
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

Canadian columnist and political author believes that the new round of proposed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will ultimately fail and lead nowhere as the Israeli regime is continuing to insist on its illegitimate demands and also is not ready to engage in talks on equal footing

India: The Burning Train
By Satya Sagar

Over six decades ago Pandit Nehru, the country's first Prime Minister, famously declared India’s 'tryst with destiny' and promised to make Independence a vehicle of future peace, prosperity and democratic rule for all his countrymen and women. But for millions of Indians living in this vast and diverse land it is as if Independence never arrived and our colonial rulers never left. There are two simple questions they pose that nobody seems to have an answer for. Who exactly got the freedom that India is supposed to have achieved? And WHO does this country really belong to?

India: Democracy Has Survived, Will The Optimism?
By Avneesh Kumar

If there is one achievement India can boast about, it is the persistent sustenance of democratic political system in the face of failures. But the country has reached a stage where the fragility of governance and the political system seems enormous. There will not be a complete breakdown even in the near future but the crisis in governance is deepening. The country is going through a leadership crisis. The divide is growing, based on different lines, including religion and caste. The alarming rate of increase in inequality and rampant corruption are also perplexing, including many other grave issues

Need Of Introspection Of Indian Defense
By Ravi Nitesh

The two recent cases, the death of five soldiers on LoC and the blast in INS Sindhurakshak, though in different set of circumstances, with different angles and different branches of security, raises questions for the whole defense system of the country, international reputation and loss of life, material and money. These recent incidents reflects need of introspection by Indian defense to overhaul it screw by screw

The INS Sindhurakshak Catastrophe And The Koodankulam Prayers
By People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

Why does the Indian government keep losing our Indian citizens’ hard-earned tax money on subsidizing the Russian economy by buying all the brittle and fragile Russian fighter planes, ships, submarines and nuclear power plants that suffer time overrun and cost overrun? Nobody knows! The Mumbai tragedy makes the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to sit up and look up to the sky. What is in store for us? Nobody knows!

Kandhamal Carnage: Aftermath
By Ram Puniyani

Kandhmal is yet another reflection of the impact of communal forces within our system, the difficulty in rehabilitation for them and the lack of adequate justice for riot victims. This is what is the major phenomenon eroding our democratic plural ethos. More and urgent efforts need to be put in for these hapless victims of the carnage

14 August ,2013

Dozens Dead As Egypt Cracks Down On Sit-Ins
By Al Jazeera

At least 40 people were reportedly killed as security forces started an operation to clear pro-Morsi protesters who have been camped out on the streets of Cairo since the Egyptian president was deposed by the military last month

Secular Women Rally In Tunisia
By Countercurrents.org

Around 40,000 secularists rallied in Tunis on August 13, 2013 to call for the departure of the Islamist-led ruling coalition

Libyan Oil Workers’ Strike Pushes World Oil Prices Up
By Countercurrents.org

Reports on disruption in Libyan oil supply lead to rise in world oil prices. New strikes by oil workers in Libya compelled to shut down the country’s two biggest export terminals in Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. The workers’ strike has increased concerns about a disruption to global oil supply. Jobless people have joined the striking workers

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

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

Whither Shale Oil? Interview With David Hughes
By Steve Andrews

" If you believe the new estimates from the EIA in terms of available drilling locations in the Bakken and Eagle Ford—which I’ve discounted somewhat—I would see a tight-oil peak in the 2020 to 2022 time range. If you look at the background declines of other traditional sources of oil, the EIA could be fairly close with their 2019 estimate for a secondary peak of all US oil, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s sooner than that"

Soil Biodiversity Crucial To Fight Climate Crisis
By Countercurrents.org

Maintaining healthy soil biodiversity can play an important role in optimizing land management programs to reap benefits from the living soil, said scientists at the University of Manchester and Lancaster

Palestine: The Killers Of Peace
By Nicola Nasser

The Israeli Jewish settlers of the Palestinian territory, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, are dictating unilaterally the demarcation of the borders with any future Palestinian state, thus rendering its creation impossible; holding the Israeli decision-making process hostage, they have become the real killers of peace, who brought the twenty –year old Palestinian – Israeli peace process to its current stalemate

Futile Peace Talks - Again
By Jonathan Cook

There are many flies waiting to spoil the ointment of the Middle East peace talks, not least Israel's recent announcement of a rash of settlement-building. That triggered an angry letter to Washington last week from the Palestinian leadership, though it seems Israel’s serial humiliation of Mahmoud Abbas before the two sides meet was not enough to persuade him to pull out

The Un-Revolution: Yemen’s Mediocre Transition
By Ramzy Baroud

Considering the off-putting reality, one fails to imagine a future scenario in which Yemen could avoid a full-fledged conflict or a civil war. It is true that much could be done to fend off against this bleak scenario such as sincere efforts towards reconciliation and bold steps to achieve transparent democracy. There should be an unbending challenge to the ongoing undeclared US war in the impoverished nation

Postcard From The End Of America: Cherry Hill
By Linh Dinh

With its detached homes and no central square, park or even downtown, Cherry Hill is your quintessential American Dreamscape

Sangama Wins Lesbian Case In Kerala High Court
By Praja Rajakiya Vedike

The Kerala High Court today dismissed a writ petition against a Lesbian represented by Sangama, after the honourable court inquired and proved false the allegations made by her mother and Sruthi was set free to make her own decision

13 August ,2013

Nature's Wake Up Call And Climate Change In India
By Prahlad Shekhawat

The recent cloudburst in the Kedarnath region in the Himalayas where over thousands are known to have died so far, may not be a freak weather event. The frequency of such heavy and concentrated rainfall in a short period has been observed to have increased. In the same region such heavy rainfall was observed in Ukhimath in 1998. Then a series of such events followed in Mandakini Valley, Kumaon and Bhianagar Valley. In 203 it was the turn of Tehri. Further north Ladakh witnessed unheard of heavy rain causing huge landslides and 255 deaths in 2010. In neighboring Pakistan the abnormal rainfall in 2010 lead to massive flooding affecting 20 million people

Irrigation In Arid Regions Can Increase Malaria Risk For A Decade
By Countercurrents.org

New irrigation systems in arid regions benefit farmers but can increase the local malaria risk for more than a decade -- which is longer than previously believed -- despite intensive and costly use of insecticides, finds a new University of Michigan-led study in northwest India

US Continues Drone War Against Yemen
By Thomas Gaist

Since July 28, the US has launched nine drone strikes against targets in Yemen, killing at least 3 dozen people. The US carries out operations from bases surrounding Yemen, including installations in Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and the Seychelles. Washington has carried out 79 drone attacks against Yemen since 2002

The Rule Of Law: Unjust And Violent
By Robert J. Burrowes

The common phrase is 'law and order' but does the legal system deal with dysfunctional social behavior in ways that keep us safe?

The Secret History Of G.I. Joe
By Tom Engelhardt

Barbie, Joe, Darth Vader, and Making War in Children’s Culture (Part 1)

From Stop And Frisk To Ecocide: Revolution or Reform?
By Mickey Z.

If we choose instead to recognize the urgency of the myriad global crises, work collectively to dismantle the system, and commence creating new models, we must start doing a whole lot more than putting out fires and cooperating/collaborating with our oppressors

Same Nations, Same Challenges: 66 Years of Indo-Pak Independence
By Ravi Nitesh

After these 66 years, both the government must have a grand celebration in their countries, as well as some grand strategies for each other towards a better future, a future of love, trust and harmony, a future of people’s desire. We must now work for years of being together

Endangered Peace In Jammu & Kashmir
By Adfar Shah

This Eid was observed again not like a holy festive occasion but as simply as yet another day of clashes, stone pelting, police bashing and slogans as usual. The new issue in the chain of issues is Kishtawar and the problem is communal tension and high handedness of VDC's (village defence committees) this time. Who are after this blatant violence and what actually happened that triggered so much of the communal violence killing three people or what has been done in reality is not exactly still known but given a general label of communal tension among the Hindus and Muslims.(Who knows?)

PROLOGUES: Conversations On Politics And The Arts Between A Russian And An American
With Gary Corseri and Victor Postnikov

CYCLE Two, Round One, July and August, 2013

12 August ,2013

If Peace Is Prized, A Nobel For Bradley Manning
By Norman Solomon

Now, the Nobel Committee and its Peace Prize are in dire need of rehabilitation. In truth, the Nobel Peace Prize needs Bradley Manning much more than the other way around. No one can doubt the sincere dedication of Bradley Manning to human rights and peace. But on Henrik Ibsen Street in Oslo, the office of the Nobel Committee is under a war cloud of its own making

Lebanon Offers Palestinians Fleeing Death In Syria Ramadan Greetings
By Franklin Lamb

“Eid Mubarak, dear brothers and sisters! Yalla! Go back where you came from!”

Tunisia’s Tamarod Collects 1.6 Million Signatures
To Press Islamist-Led Government's Resignation

By Countercurrents.org

Tunisia's Tamarod (Rebel) movement has collected 1.6 million signatures demanding the dissolution of the country's constituent assembly and resignation of the government. The Tamarod made this announcement on Sunday. The figure would amount to some 15 percent of the country's population

Glaciers Feeding Ganga And Indus Will Decrease
As Himalaya Glacial Melt Set To Peak By 2070

By Countercurrents.org

The size of the glaciers in the watershed of the Indus and the Ganges will decrease during the 21st century as Himalaya glacial melting will peak around 2070, said scientists. The phenomenon will impact Bangladesh , China , India , Nepal and Pakistan

Be The Change
By Tim Gatto

This "Prism" program is indefensible. Surveillance of Americans is indefensible. The Obama administration has committed two impeachable offences. The American people need to wake up and do something about it before it will become impossible to change the all-powerful state

GMOs: Nip This In The Bud
By Aruna Rodrigues

The final report of the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on field trials of genetically modified crops is packed with revelations on what is wrong with institutional governance and regulation in India when it comes to GMOs (genetically-modified organisms). The report’s release late last month came days before biotech giant Monsanto decided not to submit any further applications for GMOs to the European Union; a decision forced by non-acceptance on scientific grounds and rejection by civil society

One Woman's Fight To Protect A River
By Anitha.S

Darley started protesting slowly and then her voice gained momentum and volume. The authorities were amazed at the steadfastness and commitment with which Darley walked the offices with her innumerable complaints, submissions and reports. The sand mining mafia were irritated and intimidated by her presemce in their vicinity as a watch dog.They tried all the age old tricks to get her out of the way- stone pelting, verbal abuse, character assassinations, isolation and direct attack.Her house was looted, her dear pet dogs killed one by one, her cats kidnapped

Celebrating August 15: Are We Really Free?
By Aamir Habib & Adfar Shah

Let us listen to Adivaisis, let us listen to Manipuri’s and Kashmiris, let us understand the policing in this country, let us ponder over the plight of women and children in this country, let us return honour to our nation by working honestly, earning rightfully, respecting human dignity and above all let us not get caught in identity and personality crisis. Let us not malign each other’s religious or ethnic identities but learn to coexist with harmony, love, peace and brotherhood

UN Public Service Awards 2013 For The Office Of
The Kerala Chief Minister Misused For Political Gains

By S. Faizi

This well-meaning gesture of the United Nations has, however, been misused by the Chief Minister Mr Oommen Chandy to serve domestic political ends. And for that reason the award has been a subject of ridicule by the Opposition and a large section of the public here

11 August ,2013

Four Ways To Escape The NSA Dragnet
By Nick Pearson

Start by switching to an alternative search engine, using an alias on Facebook, and supporting allied nonprofits. This article was written by Nick Pearson, the CEO of IVPN. IVPN is a privacy platform, and Electronic Frontier Foundation member, committed to protecting online freedoms and online privacy

Survival Of The ... Nicest? Check Out The Other Theory Of Evolution
By Eric Michael Johnson

New peer-reviewed research by Michael Tomasello, an American psychologist and co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has synthesized three decades of research to develop a comprehensive evolutionary theory of human cooperation. What can we learn about sharing as a result?

Arctic Sea Ice Reflectivity Declining For Three Decades
By Countercurrents.org

The albedo or reflectivity of the Arctic sea ice has declined over the past three decades, finds a study done by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The study findings have been published in the journal Nature Climate Change on August 4, 2013

What Is Actually Revealed In The California Prisoners Hunger Strike?
By Joe Veale

Four weeks ago, 30,000 people in prisons in California and surrounding states went on a hunger strike to protest their conditions, in particular in Security Housing Units (called SHU's). Currently, there are hundreds still going without food, they are losing weight, being sent to the hospital and one has even died since this began

Can Paleoconservatives, Libertarians, And Leftists Unite Against The Neocons?
By Roger Copple

Though I consider myself a radical egalitarian, who (as a retired teacher) takes a decentralist, non-hierarchical, grassroots approach to the public schools, I was surprised that a recent article of mine entitled “Bring Back the U.S. Peace Movement” was posted at more paleoconservative or libertarian websites than liberal or progressive ones, which gave me the idea that the three groups could form an effective coalition against a government that represents corporations instead of the American people

The Shia Issue In Perspective
By Chandra Muzaffar

For more than three weeks now, the Bahasa Malaysia media has raised the spectre of a Shia threat to Islam and Muslims in the country. Day in and day out articles speak of Shia proselytization among Sunni Muslims

10 August ,2013

100 Ideas For Climate Change Activists Trying To Save The Biosphere And Humanity
By Dr Gideon Polya

We are badly running out of time to tackle the steadily worsening climate crisis. The worsening climate crisis appears daunting but while there is life there is hope, but what can decent people do individually or collectively? Here in 23 Sections is a collection of about 100 useful ideas for climate change campaigners trying to save the Biosphere

We All Have A Job To Do
By Mickey Z.

Even if every activist was jobless and even if every activist immediately found fulfilling paid work in a non-exploitative position, do you realize it wouldn't do a damn thing to rescue our dying ecosystem?

Edward Snowden Has Awakened The Sleeping Giant
By Vincent L. Guarisco

There's no denying Mr. Orwell was a visionary before his time. However, if George was with us today, he would surely cringe (even in darkness) and blush three shades of red if he knew about today's night-vision technology. The following information should send goose bumps rippling across your skin. It did for me. This essay is no science fiction novel. It is real. All societies are in big trouble. We are facing a most egregious situation that extends much further than Orwell's large fictional country -- "Oceania." This is worldwide and, once again, it's real

Seven Of Syria’s Thirteen Palestinian Camps Now Controlled By Salafi- Jihadists
By Franklin Lamb

Homs Palestinian Camp, Syria: Jihadists are entering Syria at an accelerating pace, according to Syrian, UNWRA, and Palestinian officials as well as residents in the refugee camps here. For the now-estimated 7000 imported foreign fighters, Palestinian camps are seen as optimal locales for setting up bases across Syria. “Syria’s Palestinian camps have become theaters of war,” said UNWRA Commissioner Filippo Grandi

A 3rd World Review of Finian Cunningham's US; The Real Global Terror Alert 
By Jay Janson alias Majoría Humanidad

A voice from neo-colonized majority Mankind adds to this inexpressibly wonderful article: leaders within the sick, suffering US materialist society of amoral, usurious, and homicidal speculative interest banking WILL one day soon be "locked away for life" or hung, and the names of those US leaders who will have died beforehand, will forever appear in history books as murderers owing for wrongful death, injury, destruction and theft

Religion, Atheism And Secularism
By Ram Puniyani

Now comes a book which predicts that religions will become a minority vis a vis the practice of secularism in the decade of 2040s. The book is “Why Atheism will replace religion: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie in the sky” written by Nigel Barber. This book relates the rise/fall of the religion with economic power and makes an observation that atheists are much more in developed countries

Durga Shakti Nagpal And The Problems Of Higher Bureaucracy
By Vidyadhar Date

The suspension of young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal has deservedly evoked nationwide protests. But not enough notice is taken of employees in humbler positions doing their job, questioning wrong doers. The higher bureaucracy has done little, or not done enough to enforce rules and laws and resist pressure from politicians. It is not difficult to resist politicians as is seen from the career of former Maharashtra bureaucrat Arun Bhatia

09 August ,2013

The Third Carbon Age:How To Fry A Planet
By Michael T. Klare

When it comes to energy and economics in the climate-change era, nothing is what it seems. Most of us believe (or want to believe) that the second carbon era, the Age of Oil, will soon be superseded by the Age of Renewables, just as oil had long since superseded the Age of Coal. The result is indisputable: humanity is not entering a period that will be dominated by renewables. Instead, it is pioneering the third great carbon era, the Age of Unconventional Oil and Gas

The New Climate “Normal”
By Andrew Glikson

To the extent that misleading pseudoscience of this nature continue to help governments and vested interests to promote the combustion of fossil fuels (cf. ‘the future of coal’, at the expense of the future of the atmosphere, the unthinkable consequences of 4 degrees Celsius and higher on the terrestrial atmosphere-ocean system have already commenced through a series of extreme weather events, reflecting the rise in energy/temperature of the atmosphere/ocean system – the “new normal”

Arctic Ocean More Vulnerable ToClimate Change Than Antarctic Ocean
By Countercurrents.org

The Arctic Ocean is more vulnerable to human-induced changes than the Antarctic Ocean according to a study done by a team of scientists. The results were published in Nature's Scientific Reports

Dust Accelerates Melting Of Himalayan Glaciers
By Countercurrents.org

Ramesh Singh at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Chapman University in California said: Dust enhances water vapor and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere resulting in the warming up of the troposphere, especially in the western parts of the Himalayan region accelerating the melting of glaciers

Israel Blocked Me From Going To My Own Wedding
By Mohammed Kartoum

After five hours, they informed me that I would not be allowed into the country. I was shocked and confused. I asked them why. What did I do wrong? All I wanted was to get married

Warren Burger And Bradley Manning
By Charlotte Scot

"The very least one should expect from elected officials is the truth.” More than 3200 of us will proudly serve Pfc.Manning’s sentence

About The Image Of Jews Among Elderly Palestinians Experienced
The 1948 (Nakhba) Catastrophe!

By Dr Salim Nazzal

In 1995, I conducted a number of interviews with elderly Palestinians expelled from their homes in 1948. All absolutely agree that Palestinians view the Jewish minority in Palestine as friendly people. None of them say anything negative about Jews. But all make a clear distinction between Palestine Jews living alongside Palestinians (Palestine Jews are like us in everything: food, music, language!). And, between the terrorist Jews who came mostly from Eastern Europe. Most of them expressed their shock to the level of brutality and immorality, of the East European Jewish terrorists. One of them, literary said he could not believe that Jews are capable to be that brutal to this extent

Ethiopian Development Destroying Lives
By Graham Peebles

In order to develop the rich and fertile land of the Omo Valley region of Ethiopia, and honour leasehold agreement with foreign companies, the government is evicting indigenous people from their homes and driving them into settlement camps where, “the government promises us paradise, but we know that we are going to hell,” says one of the aggrieved Bodis, “Between tribes we have always found a solution, when a land conflict has arisen, but with the government it's impossible”

The Way People Democratize
By Farooque Chowdhury

In a journey towards a democratized tomorrow, initiating motions for democratizing spheres around include: (1) producing literature; (2) expanding publicity; (3) organizing exchange of experiences; (4) making demand for fair price shop; (5) organizing cooperatives; (6) planning and implementing environmental programs; (7) organizing programs for mitigating effects of climate crisis; (8) formulating demands to democratize credit giving societies/groups, re-/construction work groups, bodies managing educational institutions, storage facilities, health facilities, local government and projects; (9) claiming other commons

Past Wars On Indians Aren't Even Past
By David Swanson

Hammer in hand, one sees nails everywhere. Successful unpunished genocide at home in hand, the Pentagon sees Indian Country on six continents. But don't imagine the U.S. military is finished with the original Indian Country yet, including Native American reservations and territories, and including the places where the rest of us now live

Egypt Coup: Progressive or Regressive
By Jack A. Smith

There is still time to pursue the progressive course of revolution that began in January of 2011. The millions who took to the streets for democracy are still waiting for the political mechanism that will propel them to attaining their goals. As long as the masses remain active and prepared to take to the streets, and as long as there are forces that recognize the necessity for building an organization to take power, the revolution continues

Where Are The Emile Zolas' Of Our Times? On Minority Rights And State Violence
By Subhash Gatade

Friends ask me why you insist on deepening of democracy and strengthening of secularism. The only simple reason is that the moment we lose these polestars the day is not far off when we can follow in the footsteps of our neighbour which decided to have religion as the basis of nationhood and is said to be imploding today under various internal contradictions

Human Rights Violations Against A Lesbian Couple In Kerala, India
By Countercurrents.org

Lesbian couple from Kerala, India, Sruthi and Saranya, both aged 21 years, are denied their rights to live together and to make their choice. They are abused, intimidated and are separated by court order

Justice For Soni Sori And Lingaram Kodopi Demanded
By Concerned Citizens & Groups

Criticizing the denial of interim bail to Soni Sori for performing the last rites for her husband Anil Putane who died last week, various organizations in Delhi issued a call for unconditional release of adivasi activists, Soni Sori and Lingaram Kodopi

Protesters Demand Withdrawal Of Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill
By Greenpeace India

Thousands of citizens demand that the BRAI bill be withdrawn and India be GMO free. PMO accepts Indian flag made from organic cotton which did not come from Monsanto's cotton seed

08 August ,2013

State Of The Climate Report Reveals A World On The Brink
By Countercurrents.org

Worldwide, 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record according to the 2012 State of the Climate report. In 2012, conditions in the Arctic region experienced unprecedented change and broke several related records. Sea ice shrank to its smallest “summer minimum” extent since satellite records began 34 years ago. In addition, more than 97 percent of the Greenland ice sheet showed some form of melt during the summer, four times greater than the 1981–2010 average melt extent

With Suspended Constituent Assembly Political Crisis Takes A New Turn In Tunisia
By Countercurrents.org

Political crisis in Tunisia has taken a new turn as the activities of the National Constituent Assembly have been suspended

Obama Cancels Summit, Escalates Tensions With Russia
By Joseph Kishore

The US decision to cancel a planned summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin is a major escalation of US pressure on Russia and a ratcheting up of tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries. The immediate issue behind the move is the decision by the Russian government to grant temporary asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden

Jailbreaks New Phenomena In Political Struggle?
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Interpol issued a global security alert on Saturday (August 3) advising its members to increase their vigilance against attacks after a series of prison breaks in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan that the agency is investigating to determine if they were linked. The Lyon, France-based Interpol said given that al-Qaeda was suspected to be involved in some of the incidents of jailbreak in nine countries, including Pakistan, it was asking its 190 member countries to watch out for information connected to the prison breaks, with an aim to determine whether they were coordinated and also locate the escaped prisoners

Fast Food = Ecocide: Not All Worker Strikes Are Radical
By Mickey Z.

Not all workers or jobs are created equal. Sure, in a culture likes ours, the vast majority of jobs directly or indirectly contribute to the inherent brutality. But some gigs are more violent than others. In particular, any job supporting the global animal by-products industry is part homicide, part suicide, and all ecocide

When There Is No Terrorism, There Is Terrorism Of Wars
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

Terrorism originates from the Western imperialism and military aggressions against the poor and helpless people. Time and encompassing opportunities warrant New Thinking, New Leaders and New Visions for change and the future-making. The informed and mature global community looks towards those thinkers, educated and honest proactive leaders enriched with coherent unity of moral, spiritual and intellectual visions and abilities to be instrumental to rescue it from the planned encroachment of the few sadistic warlords

The Wounded Women Of Kashmir
By Ashutosh Sharma

Largely ignored in post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Jammu and Kashmir by the government, many women severely affected by conflict have been fighting a tough battle for existence

07 August ,2013

The Criminality Of Nuclear Deterrence
By Professor Francis A. Boyle

The human race stands on the verge of nuclear self-extinction as a species, and with it will die most, if not all, forms of intelligent life on the planet earth. Any attempt to dispel the ideology of nuclearism and its attendant myth propounding the legality of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence must directly come to grips with the fact that the nuclear age was conceived in the original sins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945

Palestinian In Hiroshima
By Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh

Speech by Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh in Hiroshima on the 68th anniversary of the First Atomic Bomb

Fortress Australia , For Some
By Ghali Hassan

Despite the rhetoric of “fair go” for everyone, Australia 's approach to immigration is biased in favour of people from certain racial and ethnic groups. This approach also applies to vulnerable refugees who risk their lives to come to Australia

Kerry’s Success Worse Than His Failure
By Nicola Nasser

The critical issue of the ever expanding illegal Israeli colonial settlements on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the West Bank (WB), which are peace killing in eastern Jerusalem in particular, will make or break the newly resumed Palestinian – Israeli negotiations

Reasons For Palestinian/Israeli Futile Talks
By Dr. Elias Akleh

One more time Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams play the charade of peace talks under the auspices of the biased pro-Israel American broker. Everybody knows, even the politically naïve average man of the street, and especially the three involved parties that this round of talks, like the many previous talks throughout the last 20 years, will not reveal any tangible success. So why negotiate again?

Stop Running After Illusions In The Negotiating With Israel
By Dr Salim Nazzal

The fact remains that unless Palestinians stand firm in their position towards the UN resolutions as a framework for any negations with Israel the whole thing is a repeated corrupted show

The Arab Turmoil: Where Do We Stand?
By Ramzy Baroud

Seasons come and go, yet Arab countries are in ongoing turmoil. They called it an ‘Arab Spring’, but even if that ‘spring’ had ever existed in the shape and form that the media portrayed it to be, it never really lasted. It has now morphed into something far more complex

A Formula For Survival In Damascus
By Franklin Lamb

For more than a year Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, one of nine in Syria, has been a war zone between supporters of the Syria government and those seeking its overthrow. But the number of camp pre-crisis residents actively engaged in fighting on either side is negligible according to Dr. Hamed Mouad author of the first book on Yarmouk camp history and sociology and himself with many of his relatives, camp residents until they had to flee Yarmouk eight months ago. Yarmouk residents overwhelmingly refused to join either side despite great pressure put on them from both sides to “liberate” Yarmouk from the other side. They paid a big price for insisting on neutrality and non-involvement

Welcome To Post-Constitution America
By Peter Van Buren

One by one, the tools and attitudes of the war on terror, of a world in which the “gloves” are eternally off, have come home. The comic strip character Pogo’s classic warning -- “We have met the enemy and he is us” -- seems ever less like a metaphor. According to the government, increasingly we are now indeed their enemy

Progressives Only Protest and Satirize Own Government
As Friends And Fellow Citizens Commit Genocide

By Jay Janson alias Majority Humanity

Regarding American progressives writing light satire while their friends and fellow citizens both in uniform and business suits go on butchering children as before

The Rebirth of Detroit
By Tom Stephens

“Restructuring' is a necessary process. More than a feel-good alternative corporate word for bankruptcy, it should include regional social justice, racial reconciliation, reality-based economic theories and development strategies, and universal accountability to the ‘triple bottom line' of equity, ecology and economic benefit. It will only happen in the context of what the Civil Rights Movement came to call The Beloved Community. And that lies beyond the dominant paradigm and beyond capitalism

Warming Oceans Impact Breeding Patterns And Habitat Of Marine Life
By Countercurrents.org

Warming oceans are causing marine species to change breeding times and shift homes with expected substantial consequences for the broader marine landscape, according to a new global study

Imran Khan Tells Kerry Drones Helping Terrorists
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Pakistan Tahreek Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, in a one-on-one meeting in Islamabad Thursday, told visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry that US drone attacks in Pakistan's volatile tribal territory were helping the terrorists

David Low's Legacy And Sigmund Freud
By Anil Gokhale

History will recognize Sir David Low, not only as Humanitarian Humorist and cartoonist with extra ordinary wit but more importantly he was essentially an ‘anti war' activist! He used all his powers as humorist against ‘war-mongers' and against the dictators

What Replaces The "Free Market" In A Sharing Economy?
By John Spritzler

The sharing economy as described in Thinking about Revolution is based on sharing, according to need, among those who contribute to the economy reasonably according to ability

Letter From A Woman Fighting Sand Mining In Coastal Villages Of Kerala
By Jaseera

I will stay in the rain holding on to my children till I get assurance from the authorities concerned starting from the Chief Minister that my just demands be fulfilled. For me this is not a fight for my personal gain- it is so that we will still have land to live in, beaches to play and haul our boats and nets, the sea as a friendly presence in our lives

Fact Finding Team Confirms Police Brutality In Kathikudam
By Fact Finding Team

Interim report of the Kathikudam Fact Finding Commission

AFSPA: In The 'Aid' Of Civil Power?
By Ravi Nitesh

AFSPA should not be required to exist in any civil area. It must be made sure that no law should be above humanity and justice; no law should exist if it can permit unlawful or inhuman activities. It is unfortunate and shameful that justice has closed her eyes. It is shameful that inhumanity is being proliferated in the name of aiding civil power

TV Series Objects Way Of Conducting Not Politics Behind Operation Blue Star
By Jaspal Singh Sidhu

A TV serial produced and anchored by Kanwar Sandhu former Managing Editor of Chandigarh-based ‘Day & Night’ T.V. channel on the Indian Army attack on Golden Temple, Amritsar in June 1984 largely questions the way of conducting the Operation but slips the basic politics that led to the storming of the holiest place of the Sikhs. And the serial which, obliviously, finds fault with Army general’s military strategy does not unravel why the Indian State chose to suppress the political dissent of a minority with mammoth use of the force knowing well the Operation would entail serious repercussions

Pradeep Deshpande: Passing Away Of A Quiet Crusader
By Ram Puniyani

Pradeep Deshpande, the well known writer, translator and activist passed away in a Mumbai hospital, after a prolonged illness on 4th August 2013

Low Intensity Communal Riots In North India
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

There is a series of communal riots of low intensity happening in north India. The latest was in Tonk Rajasthan; where one person died due to police firing. In Merrut some mischievous elements tried to tease Muslims at evening prayers of Ramazan, playing loud music in front of the mosque leading to communal tension. In Allahabad, event like kite flying by kids vitiated communal atmosphere. In Lucknow communal tension is smearing for long. So are some other cities in north that’s on boil

02 August ,2013

Bradley Manning Prosecution Pushes For Maximum 136- Year Sentence
By Matthew MacEgan

The sentencing phase of the court-martial of Private Bradley Manning began Wednesday, following an eight-week trial in which Col. Denise Lind, the presiding judge, found Manning guilty of 20 charges, including six under the Espionage Act. On the first day of the sentencing proceedings, the prosecution maintained its vindictive posture, urging the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 136 years on the 25-year-old whistle-blower

An Open Letter To General Buchanan, Bradley Manning's Judge
By Peter Hollings

Major General Jeffery S. Buchanan is the Convening Authority for Bradley’s court martial. The convening authority can reduce the sentence after the Judge makes her ruling

New York Times: Guilty Of 'Aiding The Enemy'
By Mickey Z.

With all due respect to both Manning’s courage and the criminal treatment he’s endured, the story at “the center of the case” is not his personality, upbringing, or political leanings. The story cleverly but predictably obscured by the Times is all about the Home of the Brave™ sanctioning war crimes as policy and throwing the full weight of its legal (sic) might at anyone crazy enough to expose such global criminality

7 Days To Reach A Deal, Tunisia's Biggest Union Warns Islamist-Led Government
By Countercurrents.org

Tunisia's powerful trade union said on August 2, 2013 that the embattled Islamist-led government had one week to reach a deal for creating a new technocrat government, otherwise it will be "forced to consider" other options. Despite efforts to reach a deal, both sides appeared to harden their stance on August 1, 2013 as they have called for rival "million-man" marches over the weekend

Climate Crisis Increases Risk Of War And Civil Unrest 56 Percent
By Countercurrents.org

Violence will rise with climate crisis, increasing between now and 2050 with warmer temperatures and extreme rainfall patterns, said scientists. The incidence of war and civil unrest may increase by as much as 56 percent in the next four decades due to warmer temperature and extreme rainfall patterns predicted by climate change scientists, they said

Reviving The Israel-Palestine Negotiations: The Indyk Appointment
By Richard Falk

Appointing Martin Indyk as Special Envoy to the upcoming peace talks was to be expected. It was signaled in advance. And yet it is revealing and distressing. Martin Indyk, was a former ambassador to Israel (1995-97; 2000-01), onetime AIPAC employee, British born, Australian educated American diplomat, with a long list of pro-Israeli credentials

The Flawed Logic Of Israel-PalestineTalks
By Jonathan Cook

t may not have reached the level of fevered expectation unleashed by that famous handshake between Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the White House lawn in 1993, but the sense of hope inspired by the long-awaited revival of peace talks is both tangible and deeply misplaced

Isarael Is An Apartheid State
By Professor Francis A. Boyle

If you take a look at the definition of apartheid here found in Article 2, you will see that Israel has inflicted each and every act of apartheid set out in Article 2 on the Palestinians, except an outright ban on marriages between Israelis and Palestinians

Secrets Of The Rich
By Victor Postnikov

Apparently, civilizational collapse cannot be avoided. It is witnessed by many who have not yet lost their sense of reality. For a normal person, this should provoke a natural protest and a desire to do something. At least, not to hide their heads in the sand. But normally a person cannot express this desire. He/she has to hide this “truth”. But to hide truth is to tell a lie. It means to do the dirty work of government—and do it for free

Ethiopia: Lives For Land In Gambella
By Graham Peebles

Since the ‘ food crisis in 2008' agricultural land in developing countries has been in high demand. Seen as a sound financial investment by foreign brokers and agrochemical firms, and as a way to create food security for their home market by corporations from Asia and the Middle East in particular. Ethiopia is a prime target for investors looking to acquire agricultural land. Since 2008 The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government has leased almost 4 million hectares, for commercial farm ventures. Land is cheap – they are virtually giving it away, tax is non-existent and profits (like the food grown) are smoothly repatriated. Local people are swept aside by a government unconcerned with human rights and the observation of federal, or international, law

Postcard From The End Of America : Chester
By Linh Dinh

Martin Luther King spent three years in Chester , and graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, and outside the Crozer Library, there's a large bronze bust of King

Sufism, The Muslim Brotherhood, And The American Intifada
By Joshua Seraphim

Without understanding the esoteric roots of the Sufis, we cannot understand the origins of contemporary political undercurrents in the Middle East. For radical fundamentalists like the Saudi Wahhabiyya and the Taliban, the Sufis are deadly enemies. For many mainstream Muslims and Muslimahs, Sufism is simply part of the air they breathe. Engineering global peace is not contingent on a decline or secularization of Islam, but a renewal and strengthening of the antique faith, safeguarded by evanescent Sufis

Communal Violence: Who Is To Be Blamed?
By Ram Puniyani

Notwithstanding the fact that communal violence is a multi-factorial phenomenon, two wrongs don’t make a right, Congress needs to tighten the total link from bottom to top, and rectify the factors which have been leading to communal violence. The communal propaganda, the laxity of laws, the impunity with which the guilty officers get away. It needs to bring in anti communal violence bill to see that this sub human phenomenon is put to rest. The propaganda emerging from RSS combine stable is totally misleading to say the least

01 August ,2013

Snowden Granted One Year Asylum In Russia, Leaves Airport
By Russia Today

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and is allowed to enter the country’s territory. The whistleblower has been granted temporary political asylum in Russia, Snowden's legal representative Anatoly Kucherena said, with his words later confirmed by Russia’s Federal Migration service

Guardian Newspaper Reveals Wider Internet Surveillance
By Andre Damon

The British Guardian newspaper, which first carried National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s revelations of massive and illegal government spying, on Wednesday published a report by journalist Glenn Greenwald detailing the NSA’s “widest-reaching” program for internet spying. The program, called XKeyscore, allows the intelligence agency to carry out everything from dragnet surveillance to the reading of the contents of individual emails

Climate Change And Our Children
By Dr. Frederica Perera

If we don't do something now, children will bear the brunt of the diseases, droughts, and disasters brought on by a warming planet

Gigantic Cost Of Requisite Climate Change Action Threatens Massive
Intergenerational Inequity And Intergenerational Injustice

By Dr Gideon Polya

The climate criminal older generation still refuses to act and accordingly young people must seize their future by rejecting the terracidal neoliberals dominating Western politics and by boycotting all corporations, countries, people, politicians, parties and policies linked to the worsening climate genocide. In practice, at the ballot box, that means that young people must vote 1 Socialist or vote 1 Green to help save Humanity and the Biosphere. The world is badly running out of time to act on the worsening climate emergency

Planting Trees In Arid Regions Could Mitigate Climate Crisis
By Countercurrents.org

When it comes to sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, the team shows that Jatropha curcas does it better. This small tree is very resistant to aridity so it can be planted in hot and dry land in soil unsuitable for food production. The plant does need water to grow though, so coastal areas where desalinated seawater can be made available are ideal

Dams Contribute To GHG Emissions
By Countercurrents.org

With the "green" reputation of large hydroelectric dams already in question, scientists are reporting that millions of smaller dams on rivers around the world make an important contribution to the greenhouse gases linked to global climate change. The study report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. The study shows that more methane than previously believed bubbles out of the water behind small dams

Zimbabwe: A New Economic Model For Africa
By Garikai Chengu

A bloodless revolution is silently taking place in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe’s Indigenisation of the land and the economy will set a precedent for the creation of a forerunning, economic model for Africa. Consequently, a victory for Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s election is a resounding victory for the future of the African continent

Manning Verdict Risks Freedom Of The Press If The People Do Not Act
By Kevin B. Zeese

Let the legacy of Manning's courage be a rallying cry for all of us. It as an opportunity to push back on the U.S. security state and demand that the First Amendment protecting ourrights to Freedom of Speech, Assembly and to a Free Press, be re-invigorated. It is an opportunity to build a movement against U.S. empire and militarism and a complete re-thinking of U.S. foreign policy

Rights Groups React To Bradley Manning Verdict
By Mary Shaw

It's not just journalists and whistleblowers who should be worried

Diplomacy Around Morsi: US-UK-EU Has Not Abandoned Muslim Brotherhood
By Countercurrents.org

Diplomacy moving around Mohammad Morsi, the Egyptian president overthrown by the country's army, shows the US-UK-EU have not abandoned Muslim Brotherhood and the army is not the sole ally of the axis

Egyptian Revolution Derailed, Contained
By Nicola Nasser

A fourth wave of the Egyptian revolution seems inevitable, until the revolution changes the regime or the regime emerges victorious, pending another revolution

The Sunni – Shiite Split Is Being Used To Divide Syrians: Dean Henderson
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

American columnist and environmental activist Dean Henderson believes that the Western powers are using the religious and ethnic diversity in Syria to create a deep and long-life sectarian conflict in the Arab country

Peru’s Culture Ministry Blocks Expansion Of Camisea Gas Project In The Amazon
By Forest Peoples Programme

Peru’s Vice-Ministry of Inter-Culturality (VMI) has issued a critical report temporarily blocking the expansion of Peru’s biggest gas project and claiming that two ‘isolated’ indigenous peoples living in the region could be made extinct if it goes ahead

Look Beyond Hyderabad For The Growth Of Telangana
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The power need to go to the rural people of Telangana, understand their issues and problems and implement the policies like comprehensive land reform, people’s access to water and forest resources. The development of a people is not just ‘investment’, real estate and capital cities but more of the people who have struggled for long. They felt betrayed by others but now they need justice. Will our leaders show some statesmanship as their real test lies ahead

The Discredited Prime Minister’s Unloved Visit To Tamil Nadu
By People’s Movemenmt Against Nuclear Energy

If the Prime Minister takes time off to open a 350-crore project in Tamil Nadu, the PMANE and the struggling people in and around Koodankulam would like to know why he does not want to come down and open the 18,000-crore Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP)

Batla House Shahzad Verdict Is Perverse And A Mockery Of Justice: JTSA
By Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association

Calling the verdict by a Delhi court holding Shahzad Ahmad guilty of murder and many other offences in controversial Batla House encounter case as “perverse and a mockery of justice” , the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA) has expressed shock over the flagrant violation of settled principles of criminal jurisprudence in the case

31 July ,2013

The Conviction Of Manning: A Travesty Of Justice
By Barry Grey

The guilty verdict handed down Tuesday in the court-martial of whistle-blower Bradley Manning is a travesty of justice. The judge, Col. Denise Lind, found the 25-year-old Army private guilty of 19 of the 21 counts lodged against him, including five counts under the 1917 Espionage Act

Manning Verdict: Slow Death For Democracy
By David Gespass

There are two ways in which any government can seek to control security leaks. The first is by honesty and transparency, by allowing the public to know enough to make democratic decisions about how far is too far. The second is by threatening draconian consequences to anyone who exposes questionable policies and practices to the light of day. That is the path the United States, and this administration, has chosen with the prosecution of Bradley Manning and others. No amount of sophistry can hide that truth, try as the administration might. The result, for Bradley Manning, is many years in prison. The result for democracy is a slow death

Is 1.5C Warming Target Still Within Reach?
By Ed King

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre industrial levels is possible but requires rapid investment in biomass, energy efficiency and carbon capture technologies says a new study

Confessions Of A Climate Change Denier
By Yotam Marom

The "Armageddon Complex" says that climate change will cause a biblical cocktail of hurricanes, floods, famines and wars. This creates a culture of climate denial among activists: without the capacity to drop other struggles, we do nothing. But our political movements are connected

Resign! Tunisia 's Largest Trade Union Tells Islamist-Led Government
By Countercurrents.org

Tunisia 's largest trade union called on July 30, 2013 for the dissolution of the Islamist-led government and the interior minister offered to resign as a political crisis deepened. Calls for the ouster of the government are continuing

Hated In Egypt: How The Palestinian Bogeyman Resurfaced Like Never Before
By Ramzy Baroud

The anti-Palestinian sentiment in Egypt is no laughing matter. Many Egyptian media commentators, known for their affiliation with the state, are having unlimited space to renew their hate-filled campaigns by unabashedly inciting violence against Palestinians. A fascist-like discourse has been brewing for years, but has morphed into ways unprecedented since the coup against President Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian military on July 3

Do We Want School or Education?
By Robert J. Burrowes

Each child has the potential to achieve self-realisation and to define this, simply, as the capacity to reach its full potential. To do this, it will need to develop a powerfully integrated mind in which mental functions such as sensing, thoughts, feelings, memory and conscience work together seamlessly so that the child can act with initiative, conviction and courage. And, of course, this can only happen in an environment in which the child is nurtured as a whole person

Marxism, The Taliban And Plato
By Thomas Riggins

Recently Simon Blackburn, the well known British philosopher, reviewed "Knowing Right from Wrong," the new book by Kieran Setiya, in the TLS ["Taliban and Plato" TLS July 19, 2013]. The essay deals with Setiya's attempt to defend ethical realism (objective moral knowledge is possible) which Blackburn rejects in favor of ethical pragmatism (useful moral knowledge is possible). I think neither of these positions are tenable and the best way to approach ethics is from a Marxist perspective

Our Amma Desecrated
By The Women of Idinthakarai

We are shocked to know that these effluents and water will be reaching the sea through an open effluent channel out of the compound wall of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has issued license for this open discharge to Units 1 and 2 of the KKNPP. The discharge will be not into another planet but into the beaches and the sea water close to our homes

Dongrias’ Resounding ‘No’ To Vedanta Mine Ahead Of London AGM
By Survival International

British mining giant Vedanta Resources has been humiliated in the run-up to its London AGM on Thursday, after a series of tribal villages in India voted against the company’s plans to build a bauxite mine on their sacred mountain. Eight villages have voted so far – and all have voted unanimously against the mine

Taksim To India Gate: Reclaim Your Democratic Spaces!
By V. Arun Kumar

From Taksim to India Gate, there lies a common story. A story of eroding democratic spaces, a story of people being stopped from speaking truth. While Turkey rose against the ploy by establishment to destroy the Gezi park and silence truth, India still has not woken up against the anti democratic act of Delhi police imposing prohibitory orders around India Gate. Delhi police, since the massive movement against the rapes and for women freedom has imposed prohibitory order around India Gate

Save RTI Act: Online Petition
By Bharat Dogra, Shekhar Singh, Shailesh Gandhi, Harsh Mander & Aruna Roy

We appeal to you for your help and support. An online petition has been created to oppose the proposed amendments and SAVE RTI. Please sign and share the petition

30 July ,2013

Protect Whistleblowers
By John Scales Avery

The world urgently needs a system of international laws for protecting whistleblowers. There are many reasons for this, but among the most urgent is the need for saving civilization and the biosphere from the threat of a catastrophic nuclear war

A Nuclear Free World
By David Swanson

August is Nuclear Free Future Month . Take a look at what Fukushima is like two years after. Here's a hint: its former residents have to visit it by Youtube too

Night Of The Living Permafrost
By Mickey Z.

Imagine a lethal global menace lurking beneath the icy depths of a Siberian swamp. Living organisms frozen in time for 30,000 years -- now re-emerging to threaten all life on earth. This might sound like a typical evening on Netflix but here's the catch: The melting of the permafrost is not science fiction and it's not gonna go away unless we provoke major changes… right fuckin' now

The Soon Return Of The Peace Movement
By Roger Copple

The insanity of US foreign policy, the emergence of the Surveillance-Police State, and the destruction of the planet by corporate capitalism necessitate a return of the anti-nuclear, anti-war, nonviolent Peace Movement

That Most Charming Of Couples: Nationalism And Hypocrisy
By William Blum

American officials can spout “American exceptionalism” every other day and commit crimes against humanity on intervening days. Year after year, decade after decade. But I think we can derive some satisfaction, and perhaps even hope, in that US foreign policy officials, as morally damaged as they must be, are not all so stupid that they don’t know they’re swimming in a sea of hypocrisy

Political Crisis Deepens In Tunisia As Jihadis Kill 8 Soldiers
By Countercurrents.org

Jihadis killed at least eight Tunisian soldiers on July 29, 2013, staging the biggest attack on the security forces in decades as political tensions rose between supporters and opponents of the Islamist-led government. The political crisis in the country has deepened with anti-government protests, the resignation of Education Minister Salem Labiadh and a walkout by 70 lawmakers

Towards An Arab Cultural Spring!
By Dr Salim Nazzal

It is hard to imagine the possibility of the fulfillment of the Arab spring without structural changes in the culture, which is the environment of the religious and pre modern thinking .This change is an inevitable for the success of the political and social spring. Otherwise we will be witnessing more brutal and senseless violence without any politically rational horizon, which makes of the Arab countries a grand Afghanistan

Poll 2014 -- Manifesto From The Margins
By John Dayal

This belief of the poor in democracy, this over all commitment to peaceful means for change and this refusal to remain silent, makes the General elections so important even if there is an undertone of frustration and just a hint of cynicism in the educated and the working class among them. The agenda list, the demands, the hopes and the aspirations, are not in an order of importance. Each one of them is equally important. These are not strands, but the fabric of a needed safety net in the country whose Constitution claims it to be a “secular, socialist republic”. This, then, is a 25-point People’s Manifesto from the Margins:

NaMo: Only A Corner Of India
By Sazzad Hussain

But the way NaMo speaks acts and idealizes represents only a fringe element of India , a corner of the vast Indian space. The success of the traditionally business doing Gujaratis with a two century old diaspora in a globalized neo-liberal economy and a corporate friendly policy attracting investments does not represent whole India which has so many geographical, climatic terrain related adversities with people with so many different problems and issues

A Personal Tribute To Prof. Obaid Siddiqi, A Renaissance Man
And Father Of Modern Indian Biology

By Sukant Khurana

The late Obaid Siddiqi, who many rightly consider the father of modern Indian biology and the last of the giants of the South Asian science scene, was one such rare individual. While risking the shallow deification of the late protagonist of this article, I write this piece, hoping that a few people would understand that it is not the person but the vision that this is a personal tribute to and they would strive to pick up the torch where the last generation left it

29 July ,2013

Let Us Now Sing About The Warmed Earth
By Subhankar Banerjee

On July 25 the journal Nature published an article about the “Economic time bomb” that is slowly being detonated by Arctic warming. Gail Whiteman of Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and Chris Hope and Peter Wadhams of the University of Cambridge suggest—based on economic modeling that the “release of methane from thawing permafrost beneath the East Siberian Sea” would come with an “average global price tag of $60 trillion.” The news should have sent a shock wave through the media. But instead, predictably, the public were encouraged to celebrate—again and again, and again—the birth of the royal son

Whistleblower Gentleman
By Jack Clancey

Snowden realized that a gentleman should not spy on his fellow citizens and innocent people around the world. Hopefully, the strong response to Snowden’s revelations, will lead President Obama to reconsider his ungentlemanly attitude

We Steal Secrets: The Character Assassination Of Assange
By Jonathan Cook

I have just watched We Steal Secrets, Alex Gibney’s documentary about Wikileaks and Julian Assange. One useful thing I learnt is the difference between a hatchet job and character assassination. Gibney is too clever for a hatchet job, and his propaganda is all the more effective for it

Protesters Ask Muslim Brotherhood To Leave Libya
By Countercurrents.org

Protesting people in the eastern city of Benghazi asked the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood activists to leave Libya after assassinations of political leaders including a secular popular politician and critic of the Islamist party. People also ransacked the office of the Islamist party in Tripoli

Tunisia Turning Tense As 70 MPs Boycott Assembly
By Countercurrents.org

The number of MPs who have decided to boycott the Constituent Assembly since Brahmi's murder has risen to 70 -- nearly a third of the 217-seat strong parliament

The Morning After Blacklisting Hezbollah: Is the EU Experiencing ‘Buyer’s Remorse’?
By Franklin Lamb

It may well have seemed like a fine idea at the European Union’s Foreign Ministers cocktail reception in Brussels, where ample alcohol freely flowed the night before last week’s vote to blacklist the “military wing” of Hezbollah. But shortly after the vote the EU appeared to be experiencing a severe hangover as the stark reality of its impetuous decision began to soak in

The Old “Story” Of Poverty
By Farooque Chowdhury

Poverty in the poor part of the world is not an exclusive case. It’s globe-encompassing. Societies touting as rich and prosperous are failing to escape the devastating “aroha”-touch of poverty. An exclusive Associated Press report by Hope Yen once again presents the fact. It’s an old fact with new data that reaffirms capitalism’s incapacity to eradicate poverty

Student Debt In The U.S.
By Kimberly Green

Today, the average outstanding student loan balance per debtor is roughly $30,000, though one recent study by Fidelity Investments put the figure as high as $35,200. Approximately 20% of U.S. households currently owe student loan debt, as do 40% of people younger than 35. This means an increase of nearly 200% of overall student loan debt (public and private) over the last 20 years. As of 2012, total student debt surpassed $1 trillion

Crisis Of 4GW In Kashmir: The Soldier’s Side
By Adfar Shah

This write up is in continuation, to my earlier article titled, ‘Are Armed Forces Really Winning the 4GW (Fourth Generation War) In Kashmir’, because the article evoked a quick response from readers that further motivated me to highlight some hidden themes further especially of the soldier’s side to balance the argument

When Lady Liberty Wept
By Gary Corseri

A poem

27 July ,2013

Bloody Clashes As Military Moves To Break Up Pro-Mursi Rallies In Egypt
By Alex Lantier

Deadly clashes erupted across Egypt yesterday, as tens of thousands protested in dozens of marches supporting either deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi or the military that ousted him in a July 3 coup. Security forces moved Friday night to break up the pro-Mursi rallies, firing live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at protester

Arctice Methane Time Bomb And Emission Economy
By Omar Rashid Chowhdury

As the Arctic is agonized with thawing permafrost and a probable resultant release of methane with an economic cost the size of the 2012 global economy (1) a storm is likely brewing in both environmental and global economic offing. A largely unexplored reserve of methane resides within the binds of the Arctic permafrost. The sheer economic effect of the released methane can be both devastating and radical

The Trial Of Bradley Manning As Seen By A Career Soldier
By Tim Gatto

It is Bradley Manning that will suffer for these actions. The American military is using this to issue a warning to their soldiers that conscience and adherence to the laws of war will no longer be tolerated. This is what the trial of Private First Class Bradley Manning means

UN Criticizes Israel's Plan To Displace Bedouins
By Countercurrents.org

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has criticized an Israeli plan to demolish dozens of Bedouin villages in the Negev Desert in southern Israel and move up to 40,000 Arab residents to Israeli-built settlements

U.S. Exercising Double Standards On Iran's Nuclear Program: Michael Parenti
Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

I would urge the Iranian people to do their utmost in getting their side of the picture before the world, speaking not to the U.S. government but to U.S. student groups, anti-war groups, and others, along with people around the world, telling them about the human costs and injustices of U.S. policy

‘Aman Chaupal’ Forges Friendship Between India Pakistan
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

In a rare gesture towards mending India Pakistan ties, a new peace initiative called Aman Chaupal was organized in New Delhi with the aim to enhance people-to-people contact between the two countries

26 July ,2013

Leaving Our Descendants A Whopping Rise In Sea Levels
By Fen Montaigne

German scientist Anders Levermann and his colleagues have released research that warns of major sea level increases far into the future. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he raises important questions about how much we really care about the world we will leave to those who come after us

The Brief, Tragic Reign Of Consumerism—And The Birth Of A Happy Alternative
By Richard Heinberg

Happiness indices may constitute a collective adaptation that could ease the transition from one economic mode to the next, reducing the trauma that will likely accompany the demise of consumerism. GNH or HPI may be effective packages in which to “sell” sufficiency to policy makers and citizens; they may also be pathways to a genuinely superior mode of human existence

Al-Qaeda Unleashed Against Syria And Iraq With Acceptance Of The West
By Pepe Escobar

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – the official denomination of al-Qaeda in Iraq – does not even pretend to be not responsible for the relentless bombing, political assassination and mostly sectarian horror unleashed across Iraq during Ramadan. But this is exactly what they’re doing, with relish; throwing arrays of crude bombs made with fertilizer enhanced with ball bearings, manipulating a small army of foreign suicide bombers. Most of these, by the way, crossed the desert from Syria

General Strike In Tunisia : Thousands March To Protest
Assassination Of Progressive Politician

By Countercurrents.org

Tunisia goes through a general strike and thousands march to protest assassination of Mohammed Brahmi, a leading progressive politician of the country. As anti-Islamist protests have erupted in Tunis and Sidi Bouzid protesting people have raised slogan: "Down with the rule of the Islamists". The assassination has set off violent protests against the Islamist-led government

Palestine Peace Talks: A New Chapter In An Old Book
By Robert Jensen

New negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians may begin next week, with much talk of a “new chapter” in the seemingly intractable conflict. A new chapter, perhaps, but who is writing the book?

Kerry Uses Arabs To Bully Palestinians
By Nicola Nasser

A new tactic by US Secretary of State John Kerry is causing a split within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) ranks regarding further talks with Israel. Kerry is apparently using the Arab League’s Follow-Up Committee on the Arab Peace Initiative (FCAPI) to bully the Palestinians into accepting new ground rules for the talks to which they had objected in the past

Spying Control And Freedom
By Graham Peebles

As millions take to the streets demanding political participation, social justice and freedom, opponents to change - governments and reactionary forces worldwide – centralise power, tighten control of civil society and the media and trample on democratic ideals

Help Publish Emergency Call Supporting CA Prisoner Hunger Strikers
By Larry Everest

There is a campaign going on requiring your immediate help in signing, circulating and raising $15,000 to publish the “Emergency Call! Join Us in Stopping Torture in U.S. Prisons!” as a full-page paid ad in the Los Angeles Times as soon as possible. Thiswill give broad, crucial public support to California prisoners, now on the 18th day of their hunger strike against long-term solitary confinement and other abuses, whose health and lives hang in the balance

The Fall Of Empire
By William T. Hathaway

"The Indian Uprising" by Donald Barthelme is an iconic short story of the 1960s heralding the defeat of the US empire and the end of white male dominance. Written as the USA was mired in a hopeless war, as Native-Americans and African-Americans were rebelling against oppression, and as women were breaking out of the traditional roles they had been confined to, the story predicted the victory of these insurgents over the feeble old order. Its experimental style full of dislocations and dissolutions captured the postmodern zeitgeist

Batla House Judgement: A Travesty Of Justice
By Syed Ali Mujtaba

The judge should have taken the cops and may have asked them to escape before believing them. Unfortunately, it did not happen, and the judgement was based on what was told by the police. It’s really a travesty of justice. The second point in this case that requires consideration is that the input to do the Batla House encounter came from the same infamous IB special director Rajinder Kumar who has provided the fake inputs that were used for 17 fake encounters in Gujarat and that are now being probed

Celebrating India 's Independence Day:
Independence For Whom And From What?

By Colin Todhunter

The reality is that, in the name of ‘economic development', what is currently happening in India constitutes the biggest land grab since Columbus and the biggest forced removal of peoples from their lands in history . Elite interests and supporters of their agenda in the media imply that the victims are unfortunate ‘collateral damage' on the road to the promised land

Kashmir: A State Overloaded With Orphans And Half Orphans
By Jaffer Latief Najar

Jammu and Kashmir, famously known as Kashmir, a state once acknowledged as Paradise, has transited its history of picturesque and now is a heavan of disappeared, raped, stone pelting young bloods, mass graves, half widows and indeed, a playground of orphans and 'half orphans'. Half orphans in Kashmir, often, refers to those children whom parents (mostly father) have been disappeared during the saga of political struggle akin to half widows and are living their life in a twilight zone. They can not be pronounced as orphans since they are still unaware that whether their parent is alive or not

Death Of Ethics
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

There has been no news from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Art regarding the deaths of three sanitation workers who died in the campus on July 14th while cleaning the sewage line near to AC plant

25 July ,2013

Snowden Remains In Airport As Russian Officials Send Mixed Messages
By Eric London

Whistle-Blower Edward Snowden has been granted a certificate that will allow him to depart the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, Russian authorities said yesterday. But later that day, officials also barred Snowden from leaving the transit zone under bureaucratic pretenses

Cost of Arctic Methane Release Could Be $60 Trillion, The 'Size of Global Economy' in 2012
By Countercurrents.org

The Arctic is carrying an “economic time-bomb” with a price tag of $60 trillion, the size of the world economy in 2012. Researchers have warned of this "economic time-bomb", following a ground-breaking analysis of the likely cost of methane emissions in the region

Another World Is Possible... Except At Mealtime?
By Mickey Z.

If you call yourself a human rights activist, I’d urge you to examine how your food choices detrimentally impact the working class you claim you want to help. Inside the slaughterhouses, for example, the animals are not the only ones suffering. The meat industry, along with its low wages, long hours, and dehumanizing work, has the highest job-related injury rate and by far the highest rate of serious injury -- and at least half the workers are women

For Whom The Cock Crows
By Thomas Riggins

This day will come, following Marx, when scientific philosophy finds its material weapons in the working people and they find their spiritual weapons in scientific philosophy. But whether it will be the Gallic cock or some other whose ringing call proclaims this day remains to be seen

What Slavery Cost
By David Swanson

As I head off to a rally for Trayvon Martin, I notice a column by Bob Koehler in which he says the unpaid work of slaves in the United States is now estimated at $1.4 trillion. Oddly, that's not terribly far from the $1.2 trillion or so, possibly more now, that we spend each year preparing for and fighting wars

Using Science For Bad...Where Do We Draw The Line On GMO's
By Nichole Fabbro

Genetically modified crops once seemed like a dream come true for agriculture. Plants that resist pests without needing to be sprayed by pesticides, which can resist drought and disease, could have resolved significant problems with economic stability for farmers and food insecurity. However, the reality of genetically modified organisms (known as GMO), is proving to be more of a nightmare

Fabricated: Screening Of The Film Planned All Over India
By K.P Sasi

I am planning to travel to Dellhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Orissa, Lucknow, Jharkhand, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, etc. and screen the film and initiate discussions on this grave issue. The plan is to organize a screening at a central place in a city where everybody can get together, involving all supportive organizations and then screen the film in institutions/colleges/universities. If we can do all this in 3 to 5 days, it would be good. We need your support

Sri Lanka: C.V. Vigneswaran - The New Pop Star
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa

There is much ado on the selection of former justice C.V. Vigneswaran, as the chief ministerial candidate by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the Northern Province in the forthcoming provincial council election if, indeed, it is held as scheduled by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The dream is ongoing and a fresh topic of debate has arrived

24 July ,2013

Towards Lok Sabha 2014: Putting The Concerns Of People's Movements Back In The Frame
By Kavita Krishnan

What we urgently need to do, is to unpack the official, superficial discourse of ‘governance’ and ‘secularism’, which empties these terms of any democratic content – and define it in terms that are compatible with the highest, most consistent democratic norms, with the goals for which people’s movements are striving

US Military Plans Direct Intervention In Syria
By Alex Lantier

The Pentagon is planning a major escalation of the US-led war against Syria, involving direct US military involvement to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

11 Reasons To Divest From The Fossil Fuel Industry
By Chuck Collins

There is no good reason why we should remain invested in the fossil fuel industries, not when we can continue to powerfully advocate with corporations and maintain sufficient returns. We can and should find ways to shift our investment capital to the socially and environmentally attuned institutions and enterprises of the new economy

64 Turkish Journalists Now Under Arrest
By Countercurrents.org

In Turkey , 64 journalists are now under arrest and another 123 are facing trial on charges of terrorism, informed the Republican People's Party (CHP). The party's leader also mentioned that Turkey ranks 154th out of 179 countries in media freedom

Livni Squeals, Kerry Deals And The EU Picks Up The Tab
By Franklin Lamb

It was reportedly a hectic and intense past weekend in Washington and London according to an emailed report from a Capitol Hill source, as the Obama and Cameron administrations tracked down and button-holed the leaders of the 28 European Union delegations gathering in Brussels to finally vote on whether Hezbollah’s ‘military wing’ should be sanctioned, by labeling it a “terrorist” organization. Several conversations took peace between Israel’s Tzipi Livni and the US State Department

Back To Square None: Netanyahu, Abbas To Resume ‘Peace Process’ That Never Was
By Ramzy Baroud

The political peddlers, think-tank experts and media professionals are all back in full force. They want us to believe that US Secretary of State John Kerry has done what others have failed to do. On his sixth trip to the Middle East during his post, and following intense shuttle diplomacy likened to that of Henry Kissinger, Kerry managed to create a modest common space between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority (PA), thus securing their agreement to resume the so-called peace process

Immutable Egypt – Gaza Bonds
By Nicola Nasser

Implicating the Palestinians in Egypt’s currently divisive scene is neither to the benefit of Palestinians nor Egyptians. But it is good news for Israel

Full Employment Versus Jobless Growth
By Herman Daly

The question is, does further growth in GDP really make us richer, or is it making us poorer by increasing the uncounted costs of growth faster than the measured benefits? That simple question is taboo among economists and politicians, lest we discover that the falling benefits of growth are all going to the top 1%, while the rising costs are “shared” with the poor, the future, and other species

Time To Decide: Concentrated, Privatized Wealth
Or Shared Prosperity And Economic Democracy

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers

One of the major conflicts of the era that is not often highlighted for public debate is whether we want an economy that privatizes government services and public resources and continues to concentrate wealth; or whether we want to develop an economic democracy that invests in the public interest and creates shared prosperity

Majority Mankind Lives The Racial Profiling Feared In Trayvon's Death Every Day
By Jay Janson

Inescapable historic connection between the fear that racial profiling led to Trayvon's being killed by an overly zealous volunteer law enforcer and two centuries of racially profiled genocide within non-white Majority Mankind constantly under attack for economic plunder by US firepower and covert homicide. Needed: International non-white solidarity! Stoping America's overseas crimes against humanity will end those at home

Hindu Nationalism versus Indian Nationalism
By Ram Puniyani

Hindu nationalism, does not subscribe to the affirmative action, so the term appeasement of minorities has been floated. For Hindu nationalists, the proactive supportive action for vulnerable religious minorities is a strict no, while for democratic nationalism, this is the norm. One has to see the clever ploy of the Prime Minister aspirant, to call himself a Hindu nationalist. This is one more attempt to indulge in dividing the Indian society along religious lines

The Hindu Right And English Language Imperialism
By Vidyadhar Date

The BJP president Rajnath Singh has condemned English language and lauded Sanskrit .The statement deserves the criticism it has met. However, critics of such statements often have a very narrow perspective. The real issue with regard to language is that the regional languages are criminally neglected in India and similar is the trend in many other developing countries. This is seldom taken into account by our elites obsessed with the English language

Kathikudam To Kalakudam: A Pipeline Distance To Disaster (PDF)
By Jananeethi

Jananeethi report on pollution of Nitta Gelatin India Ltd.

23 July ,2013

One Person Killed In Police Firing Protesting Land Acquisition In Hazaribagh
By Countercurrents.org

One person was killed in police firing against villagers protesting against land acquisition by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for its upcoming plant in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand state, India . According to Deepak Das, of Karanpura Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, Tarkeshwar Mahto, 30 died in the firing. Five others are critically injured and admitted to hospital

US Expands Global Drone Warfare
By Thomas Gaist

In what the Washington Post describes as the “next phase of drone warfare,” the Obama administration is set to “extend the Pentagon’s robust surveillance networks far beyond traditional, declared combat zones.” According to the Post, Washington is set to deploy the drone fleet to new areas across the globe, where it will be used to monitor drug runners, pirates and “other targets that worry US officials.”

Leaked Pakistani Report Confirms High Civilian Death Toll In CIA Drone Strikes
By Chris Woods

A secret document obtained by the Bureau reveals for the first time the Pakistan government's internal assessment of dozens of drone strikes, and shows scores of civilian casualties. The United States has consistently claimed only a tiny number of non-combatants have been killed in drone attacks in Pakistan – despite research by the Bureau and others suggesting that over 400 civilians may have died in the nine-year campaign

Depleted Uranium Used By US Forces Blamed For Birth Defects And Cancer In Najaf, Iraq
By Countercurrents.org

The US military's use of depleted uranium in Iraq has led to a sharp increase in Leukemia and birth defects in the city of Najaf – and panicked residents are fearing for their health. Cancer is now more common than the flu, said a report by Russia Today

Action (And Organizing) Is Better Than Hope
By Mickey Z.

No matter what bullshit you hear from Wall Street-funded, ecocide-perpetrating war criminals, remember this: Action is always better than hope

A Critical Look At Oppression: The Exoneration Of Trayvon Martin's Killer
By Timothy Dwight Smith

Trayvon Martin’s life remains an open book. What will we write on the pages? Will we close it unfinished? This moment in time, in this place called America, a land of disparate cultures and desperate people, collectively, will we choose to stand up and fight to ensure every child has an opportunity to honor their Creator by fulfilling the fullness of their potential? Or will we allow this young man’s death to be a mere footnote in the exhaustive volumes of unlearned lessons in human history?

Flaw In The Law
By Cathy Stripe Lester

if you’re black and the person attacking you is white, the percentage of successful stand-your-ground defenses is very, very small. Post-racial society, anyone?

Copperhead
By David Swanson

Copperhead was a name for Northern Democrats opposed to the Civil War. Now it's also the name of a remarkable new film: CopperheadTheMovie.com . This is not the first film about a family opposed to the Civil War

U.S. Arctic Ambitions And The Militarization Of The High North
By Dana Gabriel

The U.S. has significant geopolitical and economic interests in the high north and have released a new national strategy which seeks to advance their Arctic ambitions. While the region has thus far been peaceful, stable and free of conflict, there is a danger of the militarization of the Arctic

What Price Our Future, Our Communities: A Bulging Swiss Bank Account?
By Colin Todhunter

It's the type of small-scale enterprise India that many a politician would readily wrench from neighbourhoods in return for a pocket full of Walmart gold. India 's education system, healthcare system, infrastructure and welfare system has already been sacrificed for many a burgeoning Swiss bank account. Why not the rest of India too? It's called accumulation by dispossession. It's called stolen wealth

Ban On Caste-Based Rallies: An Elitist View Of The Society
By Ravi Nitesh

The Allahabad High Court verdict has proposed to limit the very scope of social integration, interaction of communities, formulation of mixed policies, expression of political will of caste-communities and shifting of caste-based politics into all-caste politics. It also violates Article 19 of Indian constitution where everybody has right to meet or gather peacefully

Breathe In… Breathe Out…
By Carolyn Kavita Tauro

Air has been taken for granted far too long. Everyone has a right to breathe in clean and safe air and so every person has the responsibility to provide themselves, their families and their communities this right. Along with legislations that aim to reduce indoor as well as outdoor air pollution, let each one of us do our bit to contribute toward a cleaner and safer environment

 

 

 




 

 


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