CounterCurrents: Once Unstoppable, Tar Sands Now Battered From All Sides, Netherlands To Begin Bombing Islamic State In Syria

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In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


Netherlands To Begin Bombing Islamic State In Syria 
By Josh Varlin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/varlin030216.htm

Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s announcement on January 29 that the Dutch cabinet had decided to begin bombing the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) in Syria marks a dramatic escalation of the Netherlands’ involvement in the US-led campaign. Six Dutch F-16 planes based in Jordan started bombing IS in Iraq in October 2014, although only four are currently engaged in bombing runs


Israel Spying And Harassing Human Rights Groups 
By Shubhda Chaudhary

http://www.countercurrents.org/chaudhary030216.htm

In order to prevent further damage to the image of Israel, it is now harassing its human rights groups. A recent revelation by award-winning British author and journalist Jonathan Cook delves deeper into how Israel is silencing the voices of human rights groups


Once Unstoppable, Tar Sands Now Battered From All Sides
By Ed Struzik

http://www.countercurrents.org/struzik030216.htm

In the summer of 2014, when oil was selling for $114 per barrel, Alberta’s tar sands industry was still confidently standing by earlier predictions that it would nearly triple production by 2035. Companies such as Suncor, Statoil, Syncrude, Royal Dutch Shell, and Imperial Oil Ltd. were investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new projects to mine the thick, highly polluting bitumen. What a difference 18 months makes. The tar sands now has no takers!


Food In A Not Too Distant Future 
By Wayne Roberts

http://www.countercurrents.org/roberts030216.htm

The report identifies 16 benefits of reorganizing food production around self-reliant (as distinct from self-sufficient) and mutually-enriching (symbiotic) regions. My proposed addition of 17 more benefits reveals my excitement for what I’ll call “complementary regionalism” where needs of one group are matched by the strengths of another and vice versa, starting with the fact that a city population needs a lot of food and a nearby countryside produces a lot of food. Together, if I do say so myself, the two lists add up to a pretty impressive catalogue of 33 strong reasons for food advocates to endorse this “complementary foodshed” direction for a future that’s not-too-distant


Caste Is The Cruellest Exclusion 
By Gail Omvedt

http://www.countercurrents.org/omvedt030216.htm

Caste is a form of social exclusion that is firmly entrenched because it is justified by religious scriptures. Brahmanic theory gave religious sanction to an unequal society. This article traces both the history of caste and the history of opposition to it


Why I Support Gay Rights.. 
By Parvin Sultana

http://www.countercurrents.org/sultana030216.htm

The sexual minorities continue to be a community pushed into the shadows, forced to live a double life which has affected many other lives as well when homosexual individuals are forced to enter heterosexual relationships. Right to a dignified life and right to love cannot be denied and decided on the basis of ideas of popular morality, culture, tradition and religious principles. An outdated law that does not take into account consent and agency of individuals, and apparently has nothing to do with protection of women, children and public health has long past its utility and is no more than a colonial legacy as well as baggage which a modern democracy should shed off


Government Should Listen To The Local People: 
A Case Of Khandadhar Hills, Odisha 
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

http://www.countercurrents.org/vks030216.htm

As the globalisation is on march and the marginalized people are at the receiving end. The impacts are uncountable and unbearable. The recent impacts are being born by the tribals of the Khandadhar area in the state of the Odisha where mining can be done by the big companies


Sri Lanka: A Suggested Overall Framework For Reconciliation Discourse 
By Basil Fernando

http://www.countercurrents.org/fernando030216.htm

The author is sharing this writing, with a suggested over all frameworkfor reconcilation discourse in Sri Lanka. It is meant to provoke thought and discussion. Responsiblity for this view is the author’s alone

Realising Rohith Vemula's Vision

http://www.countercurrents.org/rohithmr.jpg


Rohith Vemula: Hindutva Politics And Dalit Question Today 
By Ram Puniyani

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani030216.htm

The death of Rohith Vemula has been projected as suicide by some and murder by others, depending on their political orientation. Rohith’s being dalit and his participation in Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and active contribution to this politically vibrant dalit group is the major cause of his death. Apart from issues directly related to dalits, this association did raise the issues related to democratic rights which are relevant today, like beef eating, opposition to death penalty; as was given to Mumbai blast accuses Yakub Memon and went on to screen the film Muzzafarnagar Baki hai. This film on Muzzafarnangar violence (2013) exposes the role of communal forces


From Khairlanji To Hyderabad: What Post-Outrage? 
By Samar

http://www.countercurrents.org/samar030215.htm

Rohith Vemula’s suicide will not be just another suicide in the statistical records of the National Crime Records Bureau. It will not be so in the same way the 2006 massacre in Khairlanji was not. These two cases separated by almost a decade, are far more than a statistic of ordinary crime, such as that committed in a fit of rage or planned in cold blood; they are a comment on the very body politic of the republic. They expose the lies that the Republic has repeated so many times that it has started believing in them. They expose the myth that India has a functioning – even if inadequate – justice system, capable of delivering what it promises. They betray the fact that all Indians are not equal in front of the law, definitely not the ones condemned to live at the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy created by the caste system