Dear Friend,
If you think the content of this news letter is critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It's time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/subscribe.htm. You can also follow us on twitter,http://twitter.com/countercurrents and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/countercurrents
In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org
Palestinian Hunger Striker Muhammad al-Qiq In “Struggle Against Death”
By Ali Abunimah
http://www.countercurrents.org/abunimah080216.htm
Israeli doctors say that Palestinian hunger-striker Muhammad al-Qiq could die at any minute. The 33-year-old journalist remained on hunger strike in the HaEmek hospital in Afula, in the north of present-day Israel, for the 75th consecutive day on Saturday. Hiba Masalha, an attorney for the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, visited al-Qiq on Friday evening in the hospital where he is being kept under an Israeli court order
The Urgent Need For Complete Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons
By John Scales Avery
http://www.countercurrents.org/avery080216.htm
We know that war is madness. We know that it is responsible for much of the suffering that humans experience. We know that war pollutes our planet and that the almost unimaginable sums wasted on war prevent the happiness and prosperity of mankind. We know that nuclear weapons are insane, and that the precariously balanced deterrence system can break down at any time through human error or computer errors or through terrorist actions, and that it definitely will break down within our lifetimes unless we abolish it. We know that nuclear war threatens to destroy civilization and much of the biosphere. The logic is there. We must translate it into popular action. The peoples of the world must say very clearly that nuclear weapons are an absolute evil; that their possession does not increase anyone's security; that their continued existence is a threat to the life of every person on our planet; and that these genocidal and potentially omnicidal weapons have no place in a civilized
society
Please Do Not Poison My Brain With The US Elections!
By Andre Vltchek
http://www.countercurrents.org/vltchek080216.htm
It was done for ages, that paper insertion. The same thing, when slaves were being chained and shifted from Africa to that “New World”, when hundreds of millions were exterminated by Western colonialism, when the Chinese people were brought to North America for horrible labor, and treated like animals. It was done when the first and the second generation of Europeans were annihilating almost the entire native population of North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean
I am consecutively stuffing my ears with various airline earplugs, in order not to hear the news blasted on the radio.
I am closing my eyes when the topic appears on TV, even on RT or Press TV.
I skip newspaper headlines.
I beg my friends, comrades and relatives not to bring up the subject in front of me.
I don’t want to know anything about the US Presidential elections!
It is not some sort of pose or “rebellion”; it is just an honest, powerful fear of having my brain damaged, my thoughts derailed from searching for alternative humanistic and political concepts.
I see no need to know who, from all those already pre-approved by the Regime and therefore allowed to “compete”, is going to get nominated by his or her political gang, and who will be finally mounting the saddle of that static wooden horse which is as a rule galloping nowhere, inspires no one and only jumps around crushing with its heavy murderous horseshoes everything and everyone who dares to demand true freedom.
Go and follow elections; even participate in them! If you believe in Western multi-party “democracy”, good for you! Or bad!
Decades, in fact centuries, of the terrible stagnant political scene in North America and Europe has taught you nothing? Then go for it and stick those pieces of marked paper into a carton box!
It was done for ages, that paper insertion. The same thing, when slaves were being chained and shifted from Africa to that “New World”, when hundreds of millions were exterminated by Western colonialism, when the Chinese people were brought to North America for horrible labor, and treated like animals. It was done when the first and the second generation of Europeans were annihilating almost the entire native population of North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
The West created elections. So that the elites from within the white race, as well as the white race in general, could justify the brutality with which they have been ruling the world. They need to feel that they are fulfilling the wishes of the world, or at least of their own citizens.
The moneyed and bellicose clans always get elected; there are ways to assure it.
Several Greek philosophers protested: they were defending direct democracy, the direct “rule of the people”. They were sidelined, or silenced altogether.
*
During the previous US Presidential elections I was in Nairobi, Kenya, where my good friend, an Indian bookseller at Yaya Center, was pushing on me several Greek classics.
“Why?” I asked him.
“So you see even clearly what is happening across the Ocean.”
“And what is happening?”
He mentioned the elections. I had no clue ... I had been blocking them successfully from my mind.
While filming in the Democratic Republic or Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, while writing intensively about Zimbabwe, South Africa, Egypt and Somalia, I was developing an extremely clear picture of what the Empire was doing, and how it was liquidating tens of millions of innocent people.
I did not need elections to understand. There was no necessity to know who is actually warming the chairs with their buts inside the White House.
I knew plenty about Obama’s Kenyan connection (I even knew, personally, his grandmother), including his father’s deadly involvement in Kenyan politics, when he was acting on behalf of the West and helping to destroy the African Left. I knew about his Indonesian stepfather, a military officer who was participating in the horrendous purges of 1965/66, right after the US-backed military coup, which killed between 2 and 3 million people.
Obama or Clinton, one Bush or another... Could someone still honestly believe that it matters who is the President?
Or is this voting and “following the elections” just some expression of extreme intellectual laziness, of the need for entertainment of the lowest grade? Is gazing at television screens and listening to the debates really so much different from just statically watching baseball or football games? If Mr. Trump or Ms. Clinton wins, it would most likely make the same difference as if the ball flew in between three poles, on the right or left side of the field.
For some people it matters. Tens of millions of fans in Europe, North and South America see their lives revolving around games. Real games or video games... It is a matter of life and death. And so are the elections, even if they are meaningless and change nothing.
*
If I submerge myself into analyses of that entertainment and propaganda farce, the real meaning of what is happening in the world would escape me.
It is simply designed that way: concentrate on games, pop and junk, as well as elections, and forget about the big picture – what the Empire is doing to our World.
I always want to ask my readers in California, New York or Texas: did something significant change in your life just because G.W. Bush ascended to the White House, or maybe Obama? Apart from those irrational and religious whispers like “Yes We Can!”
The Regime has nothing to do with those “elected leaders”; it only produces them, as it produces ISIS, or propaganda or Western supremacist feelings. They are simply screened by the system, then pitched against each other like fighting roosters, then paraded as some religious symbol with hardly any power. They are like some huge advertisement boards promoting the Western Global Dictatorship, and frankly, I hate advertisement.
And so I beg to be spared this appalling circus.
I work in the real world, where millions are dying, actually right now, at this very moment, in order to feed the West - to aliment its corporations, military and citizens.
And their screams and agony resonate in my ears every single day, every hour. I do not want victims to be muted or overpowered by some pre-chewed speeches and advertisement gigs.
Like ancient Greeks, like the Vietnamese or Chinese, like the Cubans, I don’t believe in “representative democracy”, be it in the United States, Europe, Indonesia or India.
In the past, I played that game. I played it long enough. I did not vote, but I wrote about elections.
I finally understood the limitations. I managed to get totally disgusted with the concept. “Democracy” as promoted by the West, is serving just a tiny minority, the few rotten members of the “elite".
The rest has to serve, or suffer, or even die!
Of course in the West people are free to choose which of their “leaders” will be raping Africa, the Middle East or Asia.
Who will be overthrowing the truly democratic governments in independent countries? Who will be whipping the buttocks of the patriots? Who will be looting Congo and Papua?
They can choose the face, like in some violent video game. The engine, the system behind that face (or call it a mask), is permanent. It does not change.
To understand the world, to grasp how it ticks, one has to go to the real countries, talk to real people, and discuss real issues. The answers are not in the pre-election debates. They are buried in Afghanistan, Bolivia, and Papua, Yemen and in so many devastated places.
It is essential to understand how the Empire, the monolith, really rules, loots, rapes and controls.
The color of the surface of the machine of violence, the mask that is glued over its control tower, is irrelevant. Male or female face... Who cares? Republican or Democrat? What difference does it make?
I ignore it, like others who do not believe in some primitive fairytales.
Like my comrades, I have to think about how to get us out of this filthy shit created by the Empire! For that, I cannot waste time on the US elections!
*
Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest books are: “Exposing Lies Of The Empire” and “Fighting Against Western Imperialism”.Discussion with Noam Chomsky:On Western Terrorism. Point of No Return is his critically acclaimed political novel. Oceania - a book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about Indonesia: “Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or hisTwitter.
First published by NEO
Lessons From The Holocaust For Our Times, Part 1
By Dianne Monroe
http://www.countercurrents.org/monroe080216.htm
My grandmother’s parents, (who raised Ulie as a child) did not escape. They were murdered in Hitler’s death camps, along with most of my extended family. Yet, had my great-grandparents not opened their home to this orphan child, my grandparents would not have had an early warning of the necessity to leave, nor the connections to help them do so – and I would not have been born. We truly cannot envision the ripple effects of our actions and the impact they can have on the future
My Unique Perspective Into The Russian-Turkish Crisis
By Ramziya Zaripova
http://www.countercurrents.org/rz080216.htm
The crisis between Russia and Turkey has brought only harm to both countries. Both governments try their best to conceal the simple truth – the conflict will affect common people’s lives - and use all possible means to heat up hatred towards each other
Hungarian Lessons
By Linh Dinh
http://www.countercurrents.org/dinh080216.htm
I was surprised by how grimy and sooty Budapest was. So many of its buildings, once gorgeous, were in an advanced state of decay. This city looked better before World War II, for sure, and certainly a century ago. Since escaping Communism, Budapest is regaining its glories, though not at the same pace as Prague. There’s a peculiar local fad called ruin pubs, where hip types can drink and dance in these half wrecked buildings. Too creaky to boogie, I only glimpsed them from the outside, but they didn’t look half bad
Hindutva Politics And Islamist Politics Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin - Part III
By Shamsul Islam
http://www.countercurrents.org/islam080216.htm
Both stand for abrazenly sectarian, discriminatory and ruthlesstheocratic state
Organic Agriculture, Capitalism And The Parallel Reality Of The Pro-GM Evangelist
By Colin Todhunter
http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter080216.htm
Consider that India had for generations sustained one of the highest densities of population on earth, without any chemical fertilisers, pesticides, exotic dwarf strains of grain or ‘bio-tech’ inputs. And it did it without degrading the soil. That is according to the evidence provided by Arun Shrivastava. What is truly impressive, however, is he then goes on to demonstrate that in the 18th and 19th centuries India achieved better productivity levels with organic methods than those of the 'green revolution'. For all these considerations, what we witness from powerful interest groups is an on-going campaign to denigrate and marginalise organic-based farming and systems based on it
Rohith Vemula’s Death: A Noose Around The BJP’s Neck
By Anand Teltumbde
http://www.countercurrents.org/teltumbde080216.htm
Rohith’s death exposed the multilayered injustice of the saffron establishment. Entire student community, barring of course the ABVP, came out spontaneously condemning the hindutva hooliganism. It exposed the dalit leaders who failed even to speak out against their political patrons in the face of such monumental injustice. The dalits who were fooled by them into voting for the Hindutva forces have slowly woken up to see their folly
Of Rohith Vemula And Yashica Dutt : Dalit Identity Assertion
As An Instrument Of Resistance
By Narendra Kumar Arya
http://www.countercurrents.org/arya080216.htm
Success matters, but it also matter, how you achieve it. Act of individual success and its social repercussions to the whole society, matter even more. Here lies the iconic symmetry between the Dalit movement and Rohith Vemula, and ends the relevance of Yashica Dutt’s individual story of success to Ambedkarite ideology. Ambedkarite movement does not value individual emancipation at the neglect of entire community left for suffering
Stand Up For Justice For Dalit And Marginalized Groups
By Indian Christian Women’s Movement
http://www.countercurrents.org/icwm080216.htm
We call upon all right thinking citizens to stand up and oppose any kind of acts of violence and injustice meted out to Dalit and marginalized groups. We call upon all Indian citizens especially those who profess to represent us in parliament to take an oath to put an end to violence against Dalits and marginalized groups and ensure that they enjoy all the rights that are enshrined in the constitution of our country on an equal footing with others
Rewriting History of Partition: Narratives Of Four Generations of Pakistanis And Indians
By Yasir Bashir
http://www.countercurrents.org/bashir080216.htm
The memories of partition are not just traumatic for its survivors, but are also still capable of reviving old biases and igniting violence. The fact is that those memories are not dead. They are handed down from one generation to another. The probing questions posed by Anam during the interviews might have helped these survivors of the partition to revisit their past and negotiate with their memories. Memories should never be suppressed. So it is necessary to remember the bloodbath of the partition- not to revive old religious prejudices and animosities, but to use it as a corrective catalyst to pre-empt its recurrence
India-Pakistan Peace: Breaking Kashmir Impasse
By Arshad M Khan
http://www.countercurrents.org/amkhan080216.htm
On the subcontinent, where the old grammar of discourse on the central issue has become a dead-end alley, peace and a prosperous future require protean attitudes and an abandonment of ossified stances. "[W]e know what we are, but know not what we may be ...". The devolution model offers a non-violent prospect and its possibilities
Does Bangladesh Need Development Before Democracy?
By Taj Hashmi
http://www.countercurrents.org/hashmi080216.htm
Liberal democracy isn’t an impediment to development, rather democracy is development; it’s the epitome of human achievement and development, it’s the “End of History”. Liberal democracy is the most powerful weapon against terrorism. Leading counterterrorism experts believe, denial of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and human dignity are the main factors behind the rise of terrorism, Islamofascism, and anarchy in the Muslim World. Turbulent Bangladesh no longer can afford to wait for the elusive “development”, before it becomes a fully-fledged liberal democracy
President Obama's Visit To Mosque And Presidential Race
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
http://www.countercurrents.org/ghazali080216.htm
The seven million strong American Muslim community has welcomed the visit of President Barrack Obama to Maryland mosque where the President called on Americans to embrace their common humanity and reject the inexcusable political rhetoric emanating from the presidential campaign trail
10 Signs That America Is the Most Corrupt Nation
By Gary Corseri
http://www.countercurrents.org/corseri080216.htm
A poem based on an article by Juan Cole—at Truthdig
Is Egyptian Youth Scared Of Another Revolution?
By Shubhda Chaudhary
http://www.countercurrents.org/sc080216.htm
Scared or not scared, the frustrations of the Egyptian youth and piling up and only time will reveal if they have matured enough to have a thought leadership in their actions so that Arab Spring does not fail again in their country
No comments:
Post a Comment