CounterCurrents: Travel Ban: Time to move the UN, Ship The Statue Of Liberty Back To France

Dear Friend,

After a Federal judge suspended the Muslim travel ban, President Trump took to twitter pour his venom on a "so-called judge". He said "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!"

Dr. Nafees Ahmad of  South Asian University has called the ban a violation of several UN charters. It's high time that the issue is taken up by the UN, if not what is UN for?

Yes, we all know that we are all heading towards doom if urgent action is not taken RIGHT NOW. Bill Henderson, a long time writer on Climate Change for CC, asks if  Justin Trudea, Prime Minister of the world’s fifth largest fossil fuel producer is taking enough leadership role in fighting global warming. 

Andre Vltchek reports from interior Sumatra and warns of catastrophe if the environmental destruction going on out there is not stopped immediately. 

And also more stories from around the world. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org





Trump Furious As Judge Suspends Muslim Ban
by Charlotte Silver

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/trump-furious-as-judge-suspends-muslim-ban/

President Trump has reacted with fury to the court decision. In a series of tweets on Saturday he asserted that Robart’s ruling “takes law enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned.” He also claimed that “certain Middle Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in it’s death & destruction!”






Ship The Statue Of Liberty Back To France
by Eric Zuesse 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/ship-the-statue-of-liberty-back-to-france/

Today’s America is a mockery of it. Lady Liberty weeps now. So, let’s ship her back from whence she came, and maybe Europeans will like the symbolism of it. After all: we got it from Europe, just like we got the immigrants from there.






Legality Of Banning Refugees’ Entry Into United States Under Domestic And International Laws
by Dr. Nafees Ahmad 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/legality-of-banning-refugees-entry-into-united-states-under-domestic-and-international-laws/

While President Trump’s executive order banning refugees in US is discriminatory and counter-productive and bound to isolate US from its allies and governments who have been supporting its “war on terror” project since post- 9/11 tragedy. This discrimination is two-fold, one is discrimination among the states that violates the principle of sovereign equality under Article 1 (2) and Article 2 (4) of UN Charter-1945 and second is violation of equality on the ground of nationality or political opinion under Article-1 (A) of the 1967 Additional Protocol to UNCSR.






Cold War Redux: The “Fake Information Age”
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/cold-war-redux-the-fake-information-age/

But all subject matter is blurred into a series of forces that trouble critics in the West rather than illuminate.  All “weaponised” information, which shape a counter-narrative, is thereby ignored for what it says, dismissed as counterfeit rather than a way of assessing its merits.  One does not examine the blade approaching you in a darkened street as a fact to be admired but a threat to be deflected.






Trudeau:  Climate Leadership Failure
by Bill Henderson 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/trudeau-climate-leadership-failure/

But governing Canada today – the world’s fifth largest fossil fuel producer and a country where fossil fuels account for more than half of export earnings – meant expanding LNG and oilsands production






Welcome To Sumatra, Indonesia, An Environmental Genocide In The Making
by Andre Vltchek 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/welcome-to-sumatra-indonesia-an-environmental-genocide-in-the-making/

Global warming has an undeniably devastating impact on the whole world, including the Palembang area itself. In the short term, palm oil and rubber plantations may bring some profits to the companies, even to local people, but tens, maybe hundreds of millions of lives could be disrupted, even broken as a result. The price is too steep, but in Indonesia, there is hardly any discussion on the subject. Too many powerful individuals are involved, and too much money is being made.






Microfinance Needs To Realign Its Focus
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/02/05/microfinance-needs-to-realign-its-focus/

A central problem is this: most of us see women borrowers as autonomous individuals who make independent choices in the marketplace. But this is not always the reality. It is erroneous to believe that access to credit will necessarily make life honeyed and sweet. Even when they possess marketable, loan-worthy skills, women often find themselves beholden to their husband and male relatives. Women who cannot repay a loan are subjected to public shaming by the entire community of borrowers, who are pressured hard by microfinance institutions to recover or repay the defaulted sum themselves, lest they risk losing access to future loans. A defaulting woman therefore faces the ire of other borrowers who see her as breaking faith with them, and, instead of developing social solidarity, the loans heighten social tension.