CounterCurrents: Hiroshima And Nuclear Power: The Truth Of The Matter,

Dear Friend,

Today is Hiroshima Day, a blot on human history. We have two thoughtful pieces from Major General S.G. Vombatkere and Jim Hickey. On our common series    Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition Town Movement, discusses Resilience, also a visit to "Farm Hack: A Commons For Agricultural Innovation". We also meet John Francis who after witnessing a catastrophic oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 1971 got out of his car, took a vow of silence, and walked for the next 22 years. Adv Dr Shalu Nigam analyses "Battered Women Syndrome" in the Indian legal context and many more. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org



Hiroshima And Nuclear Power: The Truth Of The Matter
by S G Vombatkere 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/hiroshima-and-nuclear-power-the-truth-of-the-matter/

Opposition to nuclear bombs and nuclear power has been expressed right from 1946 onwards, and the arguments have become more comprehensive, cogent and forceful with the passing years. This has developed into a school of thought and peaceful action which the ruling political class, under thrall of the nuclear industry, pejoratively dubs “anti-nuclear”. However, those who oppose nuclear bombs and nuclear power are primarily concerned with problems of life, livelihood, health and safety of present and future generations of human and non-human life, and thus are pro-life rather than anti-nuclear.




Why the Modern Nuclear Project Will Persist: At Least Until We Focus Action On Why It Is Persisting
by Jim Hickey 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/why-the-modern-nuclear-project-will-persist-at-least-until-we-focus-action-on-why-it-is-persisting/

Capitalism’s continued operation cannot break free of fission and fusion and all the other capital intensive tricks that for a time both cure its contradictions and consolidate its imprimatur.  This link guarantees in time that nuclear war will happen. That nuclear war equals likely extinction is obvious.  Therefore, human survival has as one of its first commandments this: we must end the rule of the bourgeoisie, or we will all burn till all that remains of us is irradiated ash.




Resilience Thinking
by Rob Hopkins 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/resilience-thinking/

“Resilience,” I would argue, is a vitally important additional dimension to the concept of sustainability, or to its oxymoronic offspring, “sustainable development.” Without resilience, the terms do not adequately address the nature of the challenge we face. Let’s take a supermarket as an example. It is possible to increase its sustainability and to reduce its carbon emissions by using less packaging, putting photovoltaics on the roof and installing more energy-efficient fridges. It could stock mostly organic produce and have biodegradable packaging on all its products.




Farm Hack: A Commons For Agricultural Innovation
by Dorn Cox 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/farm-hack-a-commons-for-agricultural-innovation/

In 2011, a community of farmers, designers, developers, engineers, architects, roboticists and open source thinkers came together in Boston, Massachusetts, to explore a simple yet radical idea – that great improvements in agriculture could be achieved by reducing barriers to knowledge exchange. 




Is Globalization Responsible For ANC Decline In South Africa Local Elections
by Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/is-globalization-responsible-for-anc-decline-in-south-africa-local-elections/

African National Congress (ANC) the symbol of South African apartheid movement and widely recognized as the face of African people is all set to lose its control in the South African political landscape. The local municipal elections results have shown that its voting share has declined to 53.83% and the total seats obtained stand at 5,020 (last announcement)




Battered Women Syndrome: Applying This Legal Doctrine In The Indian Context
by Adv Dr Shalu Nigam

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/battered-women-syndrome-applying-this-legal-doctrine-in-the-indian-context/

In the countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States the doctrine of the Battered Woman Syndrome has gained legitimacy in psychological and legal sphere and is applied to defend those women survivors of domestic violence who are held guilty of killing their oppressors under the law. The courts in India have not applied the Battered Woman Syndrome concept until recently when the Delhi High Court in its landmark verdict while applying this doctrine hold a male accused guilty of abetting suicide of his wife. This work looks at this doctrine of the Battered Women Syndrome and its applicability in the Indian context





The Olympic Gold Obsession: An Australian Condition
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/the-olympic-gold-obsession-an-australian-condition/

Obsessions of any sort, notably of a consuming nature, are never healthy matters.  The drive to win gold, laced with a desperation often reflected in steroid consumption and psychological battering, has made the Olympic Games the least of savoury spectacles.




The Biggest Elephant In Our Rooms Stands 5’2” Tall, And Her Name Is Chelsea
by Priti Gulati Cox 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/the-biggest-elephant-in-our-rooms-stands-52-tall-and-her-name-is-chelsea/

Chelsea is the most ignored of them all. In fact, she has herself become as transparent as the transparency she brought the people of this country. So delicate and yet so strong. You can look through her if you want to….and ignore her words if you want to. Or you can do the opposite and maybe take to the streets and demand accountability for our bloody wars and for her freedom.




My Walking Pilgrimage
by John Francis

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/my-walking-pilgrimage/

After witnessing a catastrophic oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 1971, John Francis got out of his car, took a vow of silence, and walked for the next 22 years. 




Clean Energy Revolution In Philadelphia: A Photo Essay
by John Foran 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/clean-energy-revolution-in-philadelphia-a-photo-essay/

On Sunday, July 24, a day before the opening of the Democratic National Convention amid turmoil in Philadelphia, the U.S. climate justice movement seized the moment to convene and march in large numbers for a clean energy revolution.




‘Swachch Bharat Without ‘Untouchability And Caste Discrimination’
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/swachch-bharat-without-untouchability-and-caste-discrimination/

Any effort to suggest that keeping India ‘clean’ drive is just an initiative without any linkage to caste discrimination and untouchability means hiding the dirty reality of India. Frankly, India will only be ‘clean’ the day it will not link sanitation work to a particular community and end up caste discrimination and untouchability. Swachch Bharat is not possible without an honorable rehabilitation of the community of manual scavengers and it will be totally hypocratic without the complete decimation of the caste system and untouchability.




Changing Homelands: Hindu Politics And The Partition Of India
Book Review by Taj Hashmi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/06/changing-homelands-hindu-politics-and-the-partition-of-india/

Neeti Nair’s Changing Homelands: Hindu Politics and the Partition of India (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 2011) another seminal study of the minority Punjabi Hindu community’s important role in the partition of the Punjab between India and Pakistan