CounterCurrents: TPP: Top Lobbyist Says TPP Will Probably Become Law Soon After Nov. 8th, #BlackLivesMatter And The Conspiracy Of Privilege In America, Hooked! The Unyielding Grip Of Fossil Fuels On Global Life

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Binu Mathew
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www.countercurrents.org

80 Killed As Truck Ploughs Through Crowd In France

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/80-killed-as-truck-ploughs-through-crowd-in-france/

A lorry struck a crowd after Bastille Day celebrations in the southern French city of Nice, killing at least 80 people. About 50 people were injured, 18 of them critically. The driver was shot dead and guns and grenades were found inside the lorry. President Francois Hollande said the attack was of a “terrorist nature”. He said he was extending a state of emergency by three months

Unicef Report Reveals 250 Million Child Victims Of War
by Elisabeth Zimmermann 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/unicef-report-reveals-250-million-child-victims-of-war/

According to estimates made by Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency founded 70 years ago, there have not been so many children suffering the consequences of conflicts, crises and natural catastrophes since the Second World War. The report points out that some 250 million girls and boys, one in nine children, are forced to grow up in conflict zones.

Death Of A Nation?
by Linh Dinh 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/death-of-a-nation/

A hundred-and-fifty-one years after the abolition of slavery, America has a half white, half black president, a black Nobelist in literature, whites who attribute not just every form but instance of black dysfunction to white racism, blacks who demand reparations, the mainstreaming of innumerable black slang terms, including “diss,” a new phrase “negro fatigue” and the bumper sticker, “IF I HAD KNOWN THIS, I’D HAVE PICKED MY OWN COTTON.”

What We As A People Can Do
by Richard Heinberg 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/what-we-as-a-people-can-do/

This is Chapter 10 of Richard Heinberg’s and David Fridley’s new book, Our Renewable Future, now available from Island Press. Post Carbon Institute’s companion website,ourrenewablefuture.org has also just been launched and contains additional content not in the book.

Another Exit Strategy?
by Ashish Kothari 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/another-exit-strategy/

The Brexit earthquake, possibly the biggest since the 2008 financial collapse, provides another opportunity to question the economic and political structures that cause such quakes. I’ve heard only a handful of voices amidst the high-pitched cacophony of the Brexit debate that have gone beyond the the narrow and racist nationalism of the dominant ‘leave’ voices, and the free-trade nationalism of the ‘remain’ camp. There is really not much to choose between these two, if you believe in basic social justice and environmental sanity. Are there other options?

Clean Solar Energy, Brings Light To Kenya’s Villages
by Marianne de Nazareth 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/clean-solar-energy-brings-light-to-kenyas-villages/

So it is heartwarming to write about  M-KOPA, a firm in Nairobi, Kenya,  which apparently is the world’s leading ‘pay-as-you-go’ energy provider to off grid homes, like these village homes. They have developed a smart way to provide affordable, safe and clean energy to millions of people who are off the grid and too poor to afford expensive connections.

Hooked! The Unyielding Grip Of Fossil Fuels On Global Life
by Michael T Klare 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/hooked-the-unyielding-grip-of-fossil-fuels-on-global-life/

Here’s the good news: wind power, solar power, and other renewable forms of energy are expanding far more quickly than anyone expected, ensuring that these systems will provide an ever-increasing share of our future energy supply.  According to the most recent projections from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy, global consumption of wind, solar, hydropower, and other renewables will double between now and 2040, jumping from 64 to 131 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs).

Boris Johnson And Anti-Diplomacy
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/boris-johnson-and-anti-diplomacy/

The foppish Johnson is the sort of character who gets away with a lot, exhibiting what can only be regarded as a historical aversion to diplomacy.  In terms of insulting a good number of people across a number of continents, he typifies that form of British humour that combines casual racism with political critique.  Not perhaps the best resume for a foreign secretary.

#BlackLivesMatter And The Conspiracy Of Privilege In America
by Zarefah Baroud 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/blacklivesmatter-and-the-conspiracy-of-privilege-in-america/

The Black Lives Matter movement has the social resource, strength, and tenacity to stand on its own; however, it requires the genuine solidarity and support of everyone to achieve its rightful objectives – regardless of class, race and privilege. There is a great need for change in the way the ‘white community’ perceives the pain, struggle, and sacrifices of their brothers and sister in the Black community. If they remain silent, real change will never come.

TPP: Top Lobbyist Says TPP Will Probably Become Law Soon After Nov. 8th
by Eric Zuesse 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/tpp-top-lobbyist-says-tpp-will-probably-become-law-soon-after-nov-8th/

Rufus Yerxa, the top lobbyist for the National Foreign Trade Council, told World Trade Online, on July 12th, that he believes “there is enough time and congressional support to get TPP passed during a lame-duck” session of Congress, meaning the session between November 9th and January 3rd, which would be in time for U.S. President Barack Obama to sign it into U.S. law before leaving office. (It would be done basically the way Bill Clinton deregulated Wall Street and ended AFDC — just as he exits the White House, and with overwhelming Republican support in Congress.)

Veteran Communist Revolutionary  DV Rao  Remembered
by MK Adithya

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/veteran-communist-revolutionary-dv-rao-remembered/

July 12 is the death anniversary, and 2016 marks the beginning of the centenary,  of  Com DV Rao. Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao (Born 1917 June 1- died on 1984 July 12),  prominent communist revolutionary (CR) of India ,  known for his unique role in leading the Telangana People’s Armed Struggle (1946-51), was the youngest member of the Central Committee of  the undivided Communist Party of India and closely associated with the authorship of the Andhra  Communist  Party  Provincial  Secretariat’s  Andhra Thesis 


My Encounter With Dr. Zakir Naik
by Raju Rajagopal 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/my-encounter-with-dr-zakir-naik/

I have no idea what Dr. Naik’s sermons are like these days and whether he may have inspired terrorists in Bangladesh. But it is interesting to note that anti-Naik views are coming in equal measure by the Hindu Right and Left as well as from mainstream Muslim organizations. All I can say is that if Dr. Zakir Naik is to be censured or indicted for peddling hate, I hope that our media will have the courage to present his views side by side with those of Dr. Subramanya Swamy, Togadia, Yogi Adityanath, and other RSS/VHP/BJP luminaries and let the people decide for themselves who is inciting communal hate on a regular basis.

The Specter Of Naxalism: The Neo-McCarthyism In India
by Ish N Mishra 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/the-specter-of-naxalism-the-neo-mccarthyism-in-india/

The raising the scare of the specter of Naxalism by the ruling elite of the country and arrests, prosecution, and imprisonment of civil rights activists and opponents     of Corporate-oriented anti-people policies under various draconian extra-ordinary laws, reminds the state of affairs in the USA in 1950s. This phase of American history is known as the Second Red Scare, the first being immediately after Russian Revolution. In 1918 it unsuccessfully tried to attack the USSR 

Arunachal Pradesh Verdict: Decline Of Institutions And Role Of Political Parties
by Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/arunachal-pradesh-verdict-decline-of-institutions-and-role-of-political-parties/

A five judge  Supreme Court bench has given a decisive verdict    on Arunachal Pradesh that Government of  Nabam Tuki should be restored. The ruling also points several deficiencies on the part of the Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa . The decision also lays down norms to be followed by the constitutional position holder, the Governor.


Kashmir: An Impasse In Collective Conscience
by Suraj Kumar Thube 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/kashmir-an-impasse-in-collective-conscience/

One more uprising in the Kashmir valley, one more scenario where people suddenly realize the gravity of the issue is here. The political ferment is ubiquitous, the ham handed approach of the State is self evident and the multiple local stakeholders have found themselves in a state of profound chaos and bewilderment. The lack of a genuine platform for a robust, feasible discussion and debate is nowhere to be seen

Oktoberfest In Palestine
by Eileen Fleming 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/07/15/oktoberfest-in-palestine/

Today, Taybeh is also the site of Palestine’s only annual Oktoberfest celebration, which will be celebrated on September 24 and 25, 2016. Taybeh’s Oktoberfest was established in 2005 after Maria’s husband; David Khoury became the first democratically elected mayor of Taybeh.