CounterCurrents: Avaaz Petition Campaign Asks Modi To Say Sorry And Resign, From Obama’s Top Scientist, Words Of Caution On Climate, A Drive To Save Saharan Oases As Climate Change Takes a Toll

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A petition campaign on Avaaz.org  has called for Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s resignation. The petition asks Modi to take responsibility for the hundreds of people who have died as a direct result of his disastrous demonetisation scheme, apologise to the Indian people and resign.

An insightful interview with E, San Juan, professorial lecturer at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila on President Duterte, his war on drugs and his politics.

An interview with John Holdren, the longest-serving presidential science adviser, on the difference between “dangerous” and “catastrophic” warming, the incoming Trump administration, and how to talk to people who deny the existence of climate change. 

Also more stories from around the world.

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www.countercurrents.org


Avaaz Petition Campaign Asks Modi To Say Sorry And Resign

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/avaaz-petition-campaign-aks-modi-to-say-sorry-and-resign/

A petition campaign on Avaaz.org ,” Mr Narendra Modi: Say Sorry for the Disaster of Demonetisation and Resign!“,  has called for Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s resignation. The petion asks Modi to take responsibility for the hundreds of people who have died as a direct result of his disastrous demonetisation scheme, apologise to the Indian people and resign.

Europe Must Not Be A Vassal To Trump’s USA
by John Scales Avery 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/europe-must-not-be-a-vassal-to-trumps-usa/

Donald Trump’s proposed Cabinet is heavy with aggressive retired generals, and for Secretary of State, he has picked Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. In his campaign speeches, Trump promised that of elected, he would pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. As President-Elect he has said that he would end NASA’s climate research, and he has threateningly demanded a list of all scientists who worked with the Obama Administration on the issue of climate change.

From Obama’s Top Scientist, Words Of Caution On Climate
by Elizabeth Kolbert 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/from-obamas-top-scientist-words-of-caution-on-climate/

John Holdren is the longest-serving presidential science adviser in U.S. history. He’s also probably one of the most influential, having advised President Obama on key energy issues for the last eight years. Holdren spoke to Yale Environment 360 about the difference between “dangerous” and “catastrophic” warming, the incoming Trump administration, and how to talk to people who deny the existence of climate change. “Part of the reason that I retain some optimism about the future is that there are these fundamental forces pushing us toward doing the right thing,” he said.

A Drive To Save Saharan Oases As Climate Change Takes a Toll
by Emma Bryce 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/a-drive-to-save-saharan-oases-as-climate-change-takes-a-toll/

From Morocco to Libya, the desert oases of the Sahara’s Maghreb region are disappearing as temperatures rise and rainfall decreases. Facing daunting odds, local residents are employing traditional water conservation techniques to try to save these ancient ecosystems.


Degrowth Is Punk as F*ck
by Aaron Vansintjan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/degrowth-is-punk-as-fck/

Here’s what degrowth naysayers don’t seem to get: degrowth is actually punk as f*ck. We’re nonconforming, anti-establishment, DIY punks. And we’re not trying to sound nice. Take your positivity and shove it

Dumping On The F-35: Trump, Waste And The Military Industrial Complex
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/dumping-on-the-f-35-trump-waste-and-the-military-industrial-complex/

That particular fighter never had good press.  Even before Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strategic Fighter attracted the ire of Donald Trump via his usual, belching medium, Twitter, the project was flailing in a swamp to the value of $400 billion. On Monday, Trump tweeted that Lockheed’s “F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.” But the stock prices of the company were already falling, providing a faint whiff of insider trading. 

Navigating War: Has The War In Syria Also Destroyed Journalism?  
by Dr Ramzy Baroud 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/navigating-war-has-the-war-in-syria-also-destroyed-journalism/

When a veteran war reporter like Robert Fisk constructs his argument regarding the siege of Aleppo based on ‘watching’ video footage, then one can truly comprehend the near impossibility of adequate media coverage on the war in Syria.

In 2017, What Will YOU Do To Resist Trumpism?
by Mickey Z 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/in-2017-what-will-you-do-to-resist-trumpism/

Have you ever wondered what you would’ve done had you lived in 1930s Europe? Now’s your chance to find out. You can continue virtue signaling to your insular social media hive minds — desperately seeking likes, shares, and followers. Or you can follow D’s lead and get busy, on the ground, in your town. On your block. Wherever you are needed. If that’s the direction you choose, the rest of this article is for you!

President Rodrigo Duterte’s Killing Fields And People’s War In The Philippines
by Andy Piascik 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/president-rodrigo-dutertes-killing-fields-and-peoples-war-in-the-philippines/

An insightful interview with E, San Juan, professorial lecturer at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila on President Dutertes, his war on drugs and his politics

Israel’s West Bank Tourism Drive Makes Palestinians Invisible
by Jonathan Cook 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/israels-west-bank-tourism-drive-makes-palestinians-invisible/

Israeli military authorities published this month a video on social media publicising Palestinian attractions in the West Bank. Most are Christian, including Jesus’s birthplace in Bethlehem – now the Church of the Nativity – and more obscure locations such as the monasteries of Mar Saba and Wadi Qelt, in mountainous desert terrain few pilgrim coaches ever reach.Except that is precisely not where COGAT’s video invites them. Instead it beckons tourists to visit “Judea and Samaria”, the Biblical names Israel uses to justify the illegal Jewish settlements that dominate much of the West Bank.


Is Anything Straight In Kashmir?
by Mohammad Ashraf 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/15/is-anything-straight-in-kashmir/

If one examines various aspects of life in Kashmir, a question comes up whether anything works in a straight way here?