CounterCurrents: Microbes Of The World, Unite!, Corporate Media, ‘Robo-Citizens’ And Bourgeois Democracy, Will “They” Really Try To Kill President Duterte?

Dear Friend,

The assault on Mosul is underway in Iraq. The coalition forces claim to have captured 9 villages surrounding the city. CNN reports of gunfire and suicide bombings by ISIS. American Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of US and allied forces in Iraq and the de-facto commander of the entire operation, stated yesterday that the siege of Mosul “will likely continue for weeks, possibly longer.” We are already seeing a siege in Aleppo, Syria and the blood bath therein. What's going to unfold in a city of 1.5 million people that includes 600,000 children? The masters of war are winning!

We, 'The Human Beings',  collectively have unleashed a war on our planet. Satya Sagar looks at this war from within our own body and from outside. This is an adaptation of a speech he delivered at a conference of the People’s Health Movement in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He asks what are we 'Human Beings' made of? How we come to be what we are? How we came to dominate the whole earth system? The answers are interesting. He concludes by saying, "What all this points to is the deep connection between the human species, the planet and other species – we are manifestations of each other and our origins and destinies are identical. That is why when we wound the planet grievously by excavating its treasures –the gold, mineral and oil, destroy its ability to breathe by converting forests into urban wastelands, poison its waters with toxic wastes and exterminate other living organisms – we are in fact doing all this to our own bodies."

The fossil fuel industry is getting a subsidy of whopping  $5.2 trillion a year for wrecking our planet and the life forms within it, for which our future generations will never forgive us. Unless we rein in the fossil fuel industry we are doomed, writes    Chaitra Yadavar.

Jon Kofas questions the fourth pillar of democracy, the media, on its integrity. As we all know Mainstream Media is the tool of the elites and the powerful to subdue us commoners by diverting us from real issues and giving us false promises. He says, "This essay examines whether the media undermines social justice in its incessant effort to sustain the bourgeois social order and institutional structure of which it is an integral part. In this respect, the media’s goal the question is whether the media attempts to inform and educate or create robo-citizens and keep them in a zombie-like state."

And also more stories from around the world. 

If you don't mind, and 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 herehttp://www.countercurrents.org/news-letter/. 

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




US-Backed Iraqi Forces Tighten Noose Around Mosul
by James Cogan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/us-backed-iraqi-forces-tighten-noose-around-mosul/

The first 24 hours of the US-directed assault on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-held city of Mosul in Iraq has shed further light on the calculated and murderous character of the operation. Tens of thousands of Kurdish and Iraqi Army forces have begun a slow advance on the city, tightening a noose around the estimated 5,000 ISIS fighters and up to 1.5 million civilians, including 600,000 children, who are trapped inside.




Microbes Of The World, Unite!
by Satya Sagar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/microbes-of-the-world-unite/

What all this points to is the deep connection between the human species, the planet and other species – we are manifestations of each other and our origins and destinies are identical. That is why when we wound the planet grievously by excavating its treasures –the gold, mineral and oil, destroy its ability to breathe by converting forests into urban wastelands, poison its waters with toxic wastes and exterminate other living organisms – we are in fact doing all this to our own bodies.





Your Hard-Earned Money Is Going Towards Subsidies For The Biggest Pollutors- Big Oil companies
by Chaitra Yadavar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/your-hard-earned-money-is-going-towards-subsidies-for-the-biggest-pollutors-big-oil-companies/

Even today, the fossil fuel industry remains one of the biggest contributors to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, raising the temperature of the earth by 1.5 degrees which is lethal for life to survive. For these ‘Big Oil’ companies are bringing about an economic cost for the world in terms of impact of climate change. But these companies are not required to pay that cost. The poorest nations, the low lying countries are the ones who are bearing the brunt and paying the costs.






Corporate Media, ‘Robo-Citizens’ And Bourgeois Democracy
by Jon Kofas 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/corporate-media-robo-citizens-and-bourgeois-democracy/

In this brief essay, I examine the degree to which the media as a guardian and promoter of the status quo hinders the broader public interest in favor of the elites. Although this ought to be self evident because the very rich own media corporations, it is far from the case. The media’s self-ascribed role as the ‘Fourth Estate’, guardian of truth and public welfare, presents the image of neutrality. This essay examines whether the media undermines social justice in its incessant effort to sustain the bourgeois social order and institutional structure of which it is an integral part. In this respect, the media’s goal the question is whether the media attempts to inform and educate or create robo-citizens and keep them in a zombie-like state.





Will “They” Really Try To Kill President Duterte?
by Andre Vltchek 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/will-they-really-try-to-kill-president-duterte/

Rodrigo Duterte, the outspoken President of the Philippines has by now, most likely, joined the concealed, prestigious and permanent hit list of the Empire. The hit list isvery long; it hasalready been long for several decades. One could easily lose count and get confused: how many personalities have been marked and secretly condemned to death? How many of them actually died? It reads like a catalogue of illustrious world leaders:from Patrice Lumumba (Zaire), Mohammad Mosaddegh (Iran), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Sukarno (Indonesia),Juvénal Habyarimana(Rwanda), Salvador Allende (Chile) to Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), Al-Basheer(Sudan) and Fidel Castro (Cuba), to name just a very few.






WWF: Stop Greenwashing Capitalism, Start Holding Corporations To Account
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/wwf-stop-greenwashing-capitalism-start-holding-corporations-to-account/

In a recent open letter (containing all references to the following reports/sources) to Acting Chief Executive of the World Wild Fund for Nature-UK (WWF-UK) Glyn Davies, campaigner Dr Rosemary Mason states that instead of curbing the use of such chemicals, the agrochemicals industry seems to be under the impression it is the government’s role to maximise their use. She adds that the UK still uses aerial spraying as an exemption from EU recommendations.





Canada Goes To War – Trudeau Postures For The UN
by Jim Miles 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/canada-goes-to-war-trudeau-postures-for-the-un/

For Canada and Trudeau to attempt to corral the western Mainstream media message into the UN is simply political posturing. Whether it comes from wilful ignorance and arrogance, simple ignorance, simple stupidity, or a pretty boy posturing as the good guy Canadian mediator is difficult to discern. But it is definitely posturing – it is the U.S. that has created the mess in the MIddle east, it is the U.S./NATO that has created the belligerence towards Russia, it is the U.S. military/industrial/political/financial complex that has created a world of fear and terror in order to attempt its global hegemony. 





Neither War Nor Peace: Shimon Peres, Israel And History
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/neither-war-nor-peace-shimon-peres-israel-and-history/

Political figures in the Middle East tend to be highly evolved chameleons, adeptly changing colours in far more skilled fashion than clumsy tigers hiding spots they can never remove.    This adjustment saw Peres morph from dedicated war maker and military builder to agent of reconciliation, though few were fooled by this change of heart. Those with sufficiently long memories recall the firm backer of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the 1970s.





Promoting Enmity On Grounds Of Religion Is A Corrupt Practice
by Anandi Sharan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/promoting-enmity-on-grounds-of-religion-is-a-corrupt-practice/

When conducting an enquiry when charges of corrupt practices under section 123 (3-A) of the Representation of People Act 1951 are levelled, judges should remember that the law means that it is illegal for someone to promote or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language when trying to get themselves elected to public office. And once they are in public office it is illegal for them to engage in such deeds.  The day may come soon when we convict Narendra Modi for the corrupt practice of promoting enmity under the Act.





First Anniversary Of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule And Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Educational Circle
by Tata Sivaih 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/18/first-anniversary-of-mahatma-jyotirao-phule-and-krantijyoti-savitribai-phule-educational-circle/

Towards the cause of spreading the ideology of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule and so as to take forward their struggles & legacy,    the Mahatma Jyothirao Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Educational Circle was founded on 10th October 2015 after five to six years of observation, reading, discussion with friends and contemplation