CounterCurrents: U.S. Gov’t. Refused U.S. Entry To Jihadist It Employs For Overthrowing Assad, UK Parliament Endorses Terracidal Nuclear Terrorism

Dear Friend,

Today the Olympics  is opening in Rio. Dr. Binoy Kampmark asks this important question at What Cost? Is it worth keep the Olympic flame burning at so much social and economic cost? In our Commons series we have an article  by Friederike Habermann "We Are Not Born As Egoists". Yes we are not. But under the current socio-political-economic-financial system we are doing exactly opposite to our human nature. We have a clear cut example to it today. The CAMPA bill passed by Indian parliament puts a price tag to our forests and will be sold to the highest bidder. At peril are the Adivasis of India for whom the forests are their life blood, more generally the environment, our ecosystems at a global level it will expedite the Climate Change crisis. It's a tragedy for us all who see the forest as The Commons. All the more reasons to understand The Commons, protect our Commons and devise startegies to stop this run-away train. 

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/news-letter/. 

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org



Rio Olympics Overshadowed By Social Crisis
by Rafael Azul 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/rio-olympics-overshadowed-by-social-crisis/

The 2016 summer Olympic games will open today, Friday August 5, in Rio de Janeiro at 8:00pm (local time), when the Olympic flame will be lit in Rio de Janeiro’s prestigious Maracanã Stadium.



Fires Of Illusion: Guarding The Olympic Flame In Rio
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/fires-of-illusion-guarding-the-olympic-flame-in-rio/

The hideous mess that is the Olympic spectacle is about to be charged at the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Its lead-up has been tumultuous, suggesting that any ideal of peaceful reflection by states, participants, and observers about the broader values of Olympism should be best forgotten.



We Are Not Born As Egoists
by Friederike Habermann 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/we-are-not-born-as-egoists/

If we have understood that we humans exist only if we are interwoven with our environment, then we also understand that new horizons for thinking and acting emerge only in interplay with the changed environment, that is: with an altered material-economic way of life.



CAMPA Has Greed Written All Over It
by Souparna Lahiri 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/campa-has-greed-written-all-over-it/

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, also known as the CAMPA bill, which was passed last week by the RajyaSabha (Upper House) of the Indian Parliament will not just lead to more cutting offorests, but also compromise forest and indigenous communities rights. That the fund has accumulated a whopping Rs 42,000 crores during the last decade is worrying enough considering the huge amount of deforestation that this fund legitimizes




CIC’s Autonomous Projects Of Collective Initiative #5: Calafou
by George Dafermos 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/cics-autonomous-projects-of-collective-initiative-5-calafou/

One of the most interesting autonomous projects associated with the Catalan Integral Cooperative (CIC) is Calafou, the self-proclaimed “post-capitalist colony” which settled in 2011 in the ruins of an abandoned industrial village in the Catalan county of l’Anoia, about 65km away from Barcelona.




The Decay Of American Politics
by Andrew J Bacevich 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/the-decay-of-american-politics/

The thicket of unreality that is American politics has now become all-enveloping.  The problem is not Trump and Clinton, per se.  It’s an identifiable set of arrangements  — laws, habits, cultural predispositions — that have evolved over time and promoted the rot that now pervades American politics.  As a direct consequence, the very concept of self-government is increasingly a fantasy, even if surprisingly few Americans seem to mind.




UK  Parliament Endorses Terracidal Nuclear Terrorism  
by Dr Gideon Polya 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/uk-parliament-endorses-terracidal-nuclear-terrorism/

The UK Parliament recently overwhelmingly supported renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system, with a psychopathic    new UK PM Theresa May declaring her preparedness to kill vast numbers of people with nuclear weapons. Total nuclear disarmament can and should happen. On the eve of the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, decent people around the world must declare a peaceful war on nuclear terrorist supporters and countries    by Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) that are most likely to be    effective when applied to small nuclear powers like the UK , France, North Korea and Apartheid Israel.




Still The Political Project Calls To Us
by Mateo Pimentel 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/still-the-political-project-calls-to-us/

Rather rather than dread the Democratic Party’s penchant for totalitarianism this year, they would see that they simply doubt it. And they would come to understand that should anything other than a rigged election put Hillary in the White House insteadof her competitors, it will be their doubt.




U.S. Gov’t. Refused U.S. Entry To Jihadist It Employs For Overthrowing Assad
by Eric Zuesse 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/u-s-govt-refused-u-s-entry-to-jihadist-it-employs-for-overthrowing-assad/

On April 19th, the U.S. State Department had blocked entrance into the United States by Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, and refused to say why. Saleh had been invited to receive in NYC an award by USAID and NGOs that the U.S. government finances, but he was barred at the airport, apparently because the FBI had placed him onto its no-fly list as a known terrorist.




Is Democracy Consistent With Islam?
by Nauman Sadiq 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/is-democracy-consistent-with-islam/

Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are incompatible. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam, as such. Though, I admit, that there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake which is a serious logical fallacy.




New York Times Calls Modi’s Silence “Shameful”
by Samar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/new-york-times-calls-modis-silence-shameful/

One doesn’t often see a respected international media house asking a democratic republic’s prime minister to break his silence in an editorial. Even more rare is it to see this “silence” tagged with the adjective “shameful”. The New York Times did exactly that on 8 August 2016. The editorial forewarns Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, of the bleak future awaiting him and his political party if he “does not break his shameful silence on cow vigilantes, and reset his political compass on a course of economic opportunity, dignity and justice.”





History And Nation Making
Book Review — by Dr V Krishna Ananth 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/indian-nationalism-vs-hindutva-nationalism-politics-of-the-rss-combine/

Ram Puniyani, Indian Nationalism versus Hindu Nationalism: Politics of the RSS Combine (with and Introduction by Richard Boney), Pharos Media, New Delhi, 2016. Price Rs. 250.





Abdul Nasar Maudany: Fifteen And Half Years In Prison As An `Under Trial’
by Hameed Saleem

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/abdul-nasar-maudany-fifteen-and-half-years-in-prison-as-an-under-trial/

On August 17, 2016 Abdul Nasar Maudany will complete six years in jail as an under trial in the Banglore blast case in which he is the 31st `accused’. Before that Maudany had to spend nine and a half years as an under trial in the Coimbatore blast case and ultimately found innocent by the court





Mann ki Baat 2: A Speech By Narendra Modi
by T Navin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/mann-ki-baat-2-a-speech-by-narendra-modi/

A parody version of the policies by the current Modi regime.





Armed Struggle Is Not Terrorism
by Abdul Majid Zargar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/armed-struggle-is-not-terrorism/

The more I read or listen to the debates & discourses on Indian media, both print & electronic, the more I am bemused at the ignorance or deliberate attempt to ignore the fundamental question of Kashmir dispute. That question is simply a political one created by an international promise of right of self determination to people of J&K upon partition of British India in two domains India & Pakistan. The two successor states have duly accepted to implement this promise in letter & sprit. Indian Writers or debaters, with few honorable exceptions, would simply like to skip    or  reduce this question to terrorism which  reared its head after Nineties around the same time when Kashmiris started their armed struggle.





Land To The Tiller: Revisiting The Unfinished Land Reforms Agenda
by Ashish Singh 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/05/land-to-the-tiller-revisiting-the-unfinished-land-reforms-agenda/

ActionAid India has recently come up with a report on the issues of Land Rights in India. Land, forest and water being three major issues for the larger part of the world, the report is an important document to be read and discussed at multiple levels. Titled as “Land to the Tiller: Revisiting the Unfinished Land Reforms Agenda”, was an outcome of the research on land reforms and the recommendations for implementation of the land reforms in 11 states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh).