CounterCurrents: New Study ‘Sounds Alarm’ On Another Climate Feedback Loop, Under Cover Of Christmas, Obama Establishes Anti-Propaganda Agency That Threatens Press Freedom

Dear Friend,

Hey, I'm back with another News Letter. 

I was with my 93 year old mother for Christmas. Other than that her eye sight is failing, she is healthy.  She is a wealth of wisdom and stories. She is aware of things happening around us and is really concerned. She told me that another garndmother in our village, one of her friends, had saved some money. When demonetisation happened she gave the money to her son to change it into new notes. The money never returned to her! Perhaps it's a story that happened in thousands of homes around India. Women were the hardest hit by demonetisation, especially old women. Their savings for a hard day or an insurance from drunkard husband or son wafted into thin air overnight. 

Another section of people hit hard by demonetisation are the dalits. As Rahul M reports today many are staying half-hungry due to lack of money. Since they are dalits no one would lend them money or provisions. 

In the final hours before the Christmas holiday weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday quietly signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law.  The law authorizes grants to non-governmental agencies to help “collect and store examples in print, online, and social media, disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda” directed at the U.S. and its allies, as well as “counter efforts by foreign entities to use disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda to influence the policies and social and political stability” of the U.S. and allied nations. This law can be interpreted in any way and can curb press freedom. 

A recent study published in the journal Nature warns that if global warming goes unchecked, the soil will become net emitter of carbon, rather than a sink. This is a feedback loop we should all worry about. 

In a move that can change the geopolitical equation of the region Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 23 ordered the expansion of the Russian naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus. It seems that this move has the silent approval of Turkey, not to speak of Iran. 

Finally, as the new year arrives, we all know that we are going to have a hard year ahead. Clarissa Pinkola Estés re-assures us in her wonderful article in a calming voice, "You Were Made For This". Plz read the article in its entirety. These words are profound "ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale"

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 here http://www.countercurrents.org/news-letter/. 

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




Staying Half-Hungry Due To The Demonetisation ‘Drought’
by Rahul M 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/9341/

When poor Dalit migrants of Bucharla in Andhra Pradesh returned home in November to celebrate an annual festival, they found no work on local farms hit by the cash scarcity on top of poor yields – forcing them to eat less during a festive time





Under Cover Of Christmas, Obama Establishes Controversial Anti-Propaganda Agency That Threatens Press Freedom
by Lauren McCauley 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/under-cover-of-christmas-obama-establishes-controversial-anti-propaganda-agency/

In the final hours before the Christmas holiday weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday quietly signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law—and buried within the $619 billion military budget    is a controversial provision that establishes a national anti-propaganda center that critics warn could be dangerous for press freedoms.






New Study ‘Sounds Alarm’ On Another Climate Feedback Loop
by Andrea Germanos 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/new-study-sounds-alarm-on-another-climate-feedback-loop/

The loss of Arctic sea ice has already been shown to be part of a positive feedback loop driving climate change, and a recent study published in the journal Nature puts the spotlight on what appears to be another of these feedback loops. It has to do with soil, currently one of Earth’s carbon sinks. But warming may lead to soils releasing, rather than sequestering, carbon.






In The Time Of Trump, All We Have Is Each Other
by Chris Hedges 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/in-the-time-of-trump-all-we-have-is-each-other/

This Christmas I mourn the long, slow death of our democracy that led to the political ascendancy of Donald Trump. I fear the euphoria of those who have embraced the atavistic lust for violence and bigotry stoked by him. These nativist forces, part of the continuum of white vigilante violence directed against people of color and radical dissidents throughout American history, are once again being groomed as instruments of mass intimidation and perhaps terror






You Were Made For This
by Clarissa Pinkola Estés 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/you-were-made-for-this/

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale






Attack On St. Louis Homeless Foreshadows Things To Come
by Don Fitz 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/attack-on-st-louis-homeless-foreshadows-things-to-come/

The roots of homelessness are much deeper than cold blooded insensitivity of Republicans.  It reflects a bi-partisan attack on the poorest of the poor.  Efforts to shut down New Life are spearheaded by Francis Slay, the Democratic Party mayor who has championed charter schools over public ones, stymied efforts to create a meaningful Civilian Oversight Board for police violence, and always finds millions upon millions of dollars for sports stadiums while funding for homeless shelters are never adequate.






Pope Francis And The Style Of Politics For Peace
by Brian Terrell 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/pope-francis-and-the-style-of-politics-for-peace/

Since Pope Paul VI proclaimed January 1 a “World Day of Peace” in 1967, popes have issued statements for peace for that day. On December 8, in this most perilous of times, Pope Francis published the fiftieth World Day of Peace declaration for 2017, catching the church and the world by surprise with its call for nonviolence, never before so forcefully stated as an imperative rather than a personal option for some.






Cities Of Death: History, Pollution And China’s Smog
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/cities-of-death-history-pollution-and-chinas-smog/


Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement.  The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the corner.






Putin Orders Expansion Of Russia’s Naval Base In Tartus, Syria
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/putin-orders-expansion-of-russias-naval-base-in-tartus-syria/

Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday (Dec. 23) ordered the expansion of the Russian naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus, according to the Russian media. The expansion of the naval base comes days of the capture of the Syrian city of Aleppo by the Russian-backed Syrian forces. This comes also four days after the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov on December 19.






Syrian Civil War Is The Reenactment Of Soviet-Afghan Jihad
by Nauman Sadiq 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/syrian-civil-war-is-the-reenactment-of-soviet-afghan-jihad/

It’s very unfortunate that the haughty and myopic politicians and diplomats do not learn any lessons from history, otherwise all the telltale signs are there that Syria has become the Afghanistan of the Middle East and its repercussions on the stability of the energy-rich region and the security threat that the Syrian militants pose to the rest of the world will have far reaching consequences for many decades to come.





Iraq: Signs Of Hope In Desperate Times
by Cathy Breen 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/iraq-signs-of-hope-in-desperate-times/

As evening descended, word had spread that we were there. A man with a faulty prosthesis came seeking help. He said he had been hit by a US bomb. Another two men came who’d been injured by car bomb explosions. One soft-spoken gentleman was blinded in one eye and could only ambulate by using a walker. I asked if we could have our picture taken and he agreed. I told him I would tell his story. We could have stayed on and on as people were eager for a visit. When we left, we didn’t feel like strangers. We bade one another heartfelt goodbyes. I felt grateful for being welcomed, and the people we met appreciated that we had listened to them. In each place I assured people that they are not forgotten, that many people want to hear their stories and long to end all wars.






Bangladesh: The Truth Is Right Here
by Fazal M. Kamal 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/bangladesh-the-truth-is-right-here/

It’s high time the noxious political atmosphere was purged for the greater good of the nation. It doesn’t have to be self-aggrandizement all the time and perhaps forever. Clearly, it does not require knowledge in nanotechnology to appreciate these axiomatic truths. The ethos of having it all for all time must cease to function, simply because it’s the right course.






Illegal Arrest Of Human Rights Protectors In Telangana
by People's Union For Civil Liberties 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/illegal-arrest-of-human-rights-protectors-in-telangana/

The PUCL strongly condemns the illegal, unprovoked and malicious arrest by the Telangana police of a 7-member team of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists belonging to the Telangana Democratic Forum and other organisations on 25th December, 2016 at Dummagudam village of Bhadrachalam District of Telangana who were planning to visit Chhattisgarh to enquire into complaints of human rights violations suffered by adivasis villagers of Chhattisgarh at the hands of security forces





How Women Are Remaking Their Destiny
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/how-women-are-remaking-their-destiny/

Godavari’s humble story, at first, strikes little interest. However, played out over and over again in markets, slums, villages and  finally in halls of academe ,It shines as a compelling and inspiring story of resolute perseverance, of the power of the human spirit, and of the dignity of so many people struggling to escape the enduring grasp of poverty.






Taking Minority Rights Seriously
by Aftab Alam 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/27/taking-minority-rights-seriously/

The continued infringement of the rights of minorities in South Asia is a matter of particular concern. The neglect and indifference of the most states towards their minorities is common to most states of the region. Despite constitutional guarantee of life and security to all there is a significant surge in violence against minorities in the sub-continent by both state and private actors as highlighted by the South Asia Collective in its first South Asia State of Minorities Report 2016. The Minority Rights Group in its annual Peoples under Threat Index of 2016 also lists two South Asian countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – where minorities have serious threat, and Sri Lanka as posing a middle level threat.