CounterCurrents: Britain’s Scramble For Africa: The New Colonialism, We Are The Empire Of U.S. Military Interventions, Alien Disaster Movies, and Star Wars,

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In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org

Britain’s Scramble For Africa: The New Colonialism
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/britains-scramble-for-africa-the-new-colonialism/

Africa is facing a new and devastating colonial invasion driven by a determination to plunder the natural resources of Africa, especially its strategic energy and mineral resources. That’s the message from a damning new report from War On Want ‘The New Colonialism: Britain’s scramble for Africa’s energy and mineral resources’ that highlights the role of the British government in aiding and abetting the process.

South China Sea Verdict: A New Era In China ASEAN Cooperation?
by Dr Chandra Muzaffar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/south-china-sea-verdict-a-new-era-in-china-asean-cooperation/

The decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague on the China- Philippines territorial dispute announced on the 12th of July 2016 may well emerge as a turning-point in the long-standing wrangles over islands in the South China Sea.

How Growing Sea Plants Can Help Slow Ocean Acidification
by Nicola Jones 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/how-growing-sea-plants-can-help-slow-ocean-acidification/

Researchers are finding that kelp, eelgrass, and other vegetation can effectively absorb CO2 and reduce acidity in the ocean. Growing these plants in local waters, scientists say, could help mitigate the damaging impacts of acidification on marine life

What We Need To Do To Survive And Have A Good Life
by Lionel Anet 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/what-we-need-to-do-to-survive-and-have-a-good-life/

We must confront, as soon as we can, the full extent of the situation we will encounter in a decade or two. Overpopulation, decreasing supply of oil, a hotter more violent climate, and a rising sea level, this situation is now on our doorstep, it was predicted decades ago, but ignored. It was ignored because it would interfere with the economy, an economy that’s producing the disaster

We Are The Empire Of U.S. Military Interventions, Alien Disaster Movies, and Star Wars
by William J Astore 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/we-are-the-empire-of-u-s-military-interventions-alien-disaster-movies-and-star-wars/

Consider it an irony of alien disaster movies that they manage to critique U.S. military ambitions vis-à-vis the “primitive” natives of far-off lands (even if none of us and few of the filmmakers know it). Like it or not, as the world’s sole superpower, dependent on advanced technology to implement its global ambitions, the U.S. provides a remarkably good model for the imperial and imperious aliens of our screen life.

The Delusion ‘I Am Not Responsible’
by Robert J Burrowes 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/the-delusion-i-am-not-responsible/

Despite everything presented above, it should not be interpreted to mean that we should all take responsibility for everything that is wrong with the world. There is, obviously, a great deal wrong and the most committed person cannot do something about all of it. However, we can make powerful choices, based on an assessment of the range of problems that interest us, to intervene in ways large or small to make a difference. This is vastly better than fearfully deluding ourselves and/or making token gestures.

Can The United States Transcend White Supremacy?
by Robert Jensen 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/can-the-united-states-transcend-white-supremacy/

No one I know wants to go back to 1962. The accomplishments of the freedom struggle, anti-lynching campaigns, the civil-rights movement are not insignificant. The fact that a black person sits in the White House is not trivial. But that doesn’t change the white-supremacist roots and contemporary reality of the United States, and the entrenched resistance to change in the fundamental distribution of wealth and power.

Being Black Palestinian: Solidarity As A Welcome Pathology 
by Dr Ramzy Baroud 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/being-black-palestinian-solidarity-as-a-welcome-pathology/

Suddenly, being Palestinian and Black was the most natural feeling. It was not a calculated decision, but an innate feeling driven by the common struggle for justice and a shared history of pain.

A Love Story With Kashmir The Land But Not Kashmiri The People
by T Navin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/a-love-story-with-kashmir-the-land-but-not-kashmiri-the-people/

Kashmiris are reduced to just a game of cricket which either India or Pakistan have to win. A game is not human and has no emotions and hence can be ignored. So goes the argument and this is what is happening with Kashmiris. Indian audience continues to see an irrationality in Kashmiri behavior but not themselves.


Urgent Action Needed To Bring Back Normalcy In Kashmir

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/urgent-action-needed-to-bring-back-normalcy-in-kashmir/

CITIZENS’ STATEMENT ON KASHMIR

The Two Child Norm Conundrum
by Vasudha Rao

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/the-two-child-norm-conundrum/

There was a small news item in the Times of India dated 3rd July, 2016.It related to Bhopal .It read , ” 3 peons breach MPs-2 child norm ,sacked.” It stated that they were removed from service at Damoh District Court as the year long enquiry determined that they had more than two children. This news item is very revealing. It depicts what we have known all along.And that is ,commoners like you, me & us have to follow all rules, by -rules ,orders, laws,etal .And our netas,even Panchayat level ones & above ( which includes all …MLAs, MPs ) who are our law makers can flout all of them. And then there is BJP MP ,Sakshi Maharaj who opines that each & every Hindu women must give birth to a minimum number of four children.This is a must, to protect Hindu religion ,states Sakshi Maharaj

Euro Cup Final: A Neutral Point Of Happiness.
by Suraj Kumar Thube 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/13/euro-cup-final-a-neutral-point-of-happiness/

It might not have been the most amazing final ever to have happened but it surely gave us much more. Does it mean that a hardcore fan lost out on these minor moments of magic, especially of the opposition team? Can that be even thought of when victory is hands down the ultimate aim after 90 minutes? Or is there a possibility of a fan of the French team to acknowledge the beauty with which Portugal played even when his team was arguably the better competitor?