CounterCurrents: Will Joseph and Mary be allowed to travel to Bethlehem today ?, How To Face A Trump Presidency: Resist, Reconnect, Renew

Dear Friend,

President-elect Donald Trump sent out a tweet on Thursday that sent shock waves around the world. The tweet said, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.” If this is going to be the nuclear policy of the new government we all have a lot to worry about. 

Temperatures in the Arctic are currently about 20C above what would be expected for the time of year, which scientists describe as “off the charts”. Sea ice is at the lowest extent ever recorded for the time of year. Canadian Climate activist Bill Henderson calls on PM Trudeau to wake up to the greatest threat that humanity ever faced or step down. 

Respected journalist P. Sainath reports, with the note-ban crippling money orders, migrant workers in Maharashtra are unable to send cash home to hungry families. In Adul, Aurangabad, labourers from five states are struggling with a bank system they don’t understand and which doesn’t work for them.

Mirza Yawar Baig has a facinating story from the jungles which says if you observe the jungle law closely, you will understand that humans have  a lot to learn from it.

Also other stories from around the world. 

I'm going home to visit my 93 year old mother this Christmas. Sorry, no update for two days. 

Jesus was the greatest Palestinian ever borne. Will Joseph and Mary be allowed to travel to Bethlehem today to give birth to baby Jesus? No. The apartheid wall will stop them. If Mary were to give birth this Christmas, it is very likely that she would die in one of those Israeli check points, like many other Palestinian women. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




Trump’s Tweet And The Danger Of Nuclear War
by James Cogan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/trumps-tweet-and-the-danger-of-nuclear-war/

A tweet sent Thursday by President-elect Donald Trump advocating the expansion of the US nuclear weapons arsenal has become the top news story around the world. Trump wrote: “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”





Trudeau Sleeping While The Arctic Melts In Winter
by Bill Henderson 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/trudeau-sleeping-while-the-arctic-melts-in-winter/

Our PM is a dead man walking. Trudeau and his government have already done lasting harm to our country by failing to respond effectively to the foremost issue threatening Canada: climate change.





Black Snake Bleeding Out: How DAPL Is Duping Investors
by Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/black-snake-bleeding-out-how-dapl-is-duping-investors/

The Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) is yet another violent variable in the equation of environmental racism that plagues the United States, and the world—to the peril of Indigenous and low-wealth communities of color everywhere.





BPL XI: They’re Mobile, Their Money Isn’t
by P. Sainath 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/bpl-xi-theyre-mobile-their-money-isnt/

With the note-ban crippling money orders, migrant workers in Maharashtra are unable to send cash home to hungry families. In Adul, Aurangabad, labourers from five states are struggling with a bank system they don’t understand and which doesn’t work for them





All Money Should Be Used For Public Good
by Marcin Gerwin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/all-money-should-be-used-for-public-good/

Interview with Christian Felber Author and activist on issues of social justice, democracy and economics. Initiator of the projects “Economy for the Common Good” and “Bank for the Common Good”. Co-founder of the Austrian branch of Attac. His most recent book is “Geld. Die neuen Spielregeln”.






How To Face A Trump Presidency: Resist, Reconnect, Renew
by Sarah van Gelder 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/how-to-face-a-trump-presidency-resist-reconnect-renew/

We are the ones to build the world we want, starting in our communities. We can build democracy, inclusion, love, new sources of energy, and locally rooted economies. And doing so will feed our souls and build relationships that sustain us. The work is ours to make the revolution where we live.






Road Blocks To Data Retention: Invalidating The Snoopers’ Charter
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/road-blocks-to-data-retention-invalidating-the-snoopers-charter/

Deemed by the Home Office an exemplar of legislation balancing security and freedoms, the UK Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA), otherwise known as the Snoopers’ Charter, did not impress the EU Court of Justice.    The case had been brought in 2014 by two MPs, David Davis and Tom Watson.  Davis had since evacuated from the brief, leaving Watson to savour the proceedings






Super Fund Sites: Home Facts For Concerned Citizens
by Richard Oxman 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/super-fund-sites-home-facts-for-concerned-citizens/

What are teachers teaching? The ones I’ve crossed paths with lately not only don’t know about the location of such threats in their communities, they don’t seem to care to learn about them (so that they can spread the word). The former has to do with ignorance, the latter with stupidity, not wanting to know about something one is ignorant about.






American Muslim Groups Welcome Decision To End Program Once Used To Track Muslims
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/american-muslim-groups-welcome-decision-to-end-program-once-used-to-track-muslims/

American Muslim civil advocacy groups Thursday (Dec. 22, 2016) welcomed President Barrack Obama’s decision to permanently dismantle the regulatory framework behind the National Security Exit-Entry Registration System (NSEERS) also called “Special Registration.”






Who Is President Duterte, Really?
by Andre Vltchek 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/who-is-president-duterte-really/

But who is he, really? Who is this man who is threatening to close down all US military bases, to reach permanent peace with the Communists and Muslim insurgents, to realign his foreign policy and ideology with China and Russia, and to save the lives of tens of millions of poor people of the Philippines?





Respect Earns Respect
by Mirza Yawar Baig 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/respect-earns-respect/

If you observe the jungle law closely, you will understand that humans have  a lot to learn from it






Accommodating Persons With Disabilities In Jobs
by K Bharathi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/23/accommodating-persons-with-disabilities-in-jobs/

Disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Poor people are more likely to become differently abled and people with disabilities are among the poorest and most vulnerable group of population mainly due to the lack of access to education, skills and employment opportunities. To break this vicious cycle of poverty and to make PWDs included in the mainstream, it is important for all institutions of the society to be more inclusive and accommodative.