Dear Friend,
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was arrested again yesterday after being released from hospital. She is on the 15th day of her fast.
Nivedita Dwivedi takes a historical look at the India's tryst with fasts in the context of Medha Patkar's fast.
Kenneth E Bauzon in deeply well reasearched essay supplements the arguments of Mearsheimer and Walt in their pioneering study with an inquiry into the dynamics of the Israel Lobby’s influence on US domestic politics and its predetermination of its outcome.
Also more stories from around the world.
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Medha Patkar Arrested Again
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was arrested again after being released from hospital. She is on the 14th day of her fast. Today after discharged from hospital in the afternoon, Medha Patkar started at 4 PM from Indore after meeting her supporters and resting a little. As their vehicle was moving towards Barwani, her vehicle was intercepted by nearly 35 police vehicles and arrested her again. The vehicle’s driver was forced out and a police man took control of the vehicle.
The Story Of Our Tryst With Fasts
by Nivedita Dwivedi
As Medha Patkar and other Narmada Bachao Andolan activists continue their peaceful and non-violent protest by going on an indefinite fast, for just rehabilitation (as mandated by the Supreme Court of India), to be provided to the 40,000 families affected by the closing of sluice gates of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) dam, the state administration has replied by using violence against the activists and arresting and re-arresting them. The central government has not deemed it fit to intervene in the matter and the mainstream media finds it unworthy of coverage, other than small bits of references here and there.
Media Bias And The Israel Lobby In The United States
by Kenneth E Bauzon
In this essay, the arguments of Mearsheimer and Walt in their pioneering study would be supplemented with an inquiry into the dynamics of the Israel Lobby’s influence on US domestic politics and its predetermination of its outcome. This is supplemented or, otherwise reinforced by,the mainstream media’s manifest bias when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Examples will be cited, and implications for US foreign policy and the long-terms prospects for peace in the Middle East would be assessed.
‘The Palestine Exception’: War On BDS Is Now A War On American Democracy
by Dr Ramzy Baroud
There is something immoral in Washington D.C., and its consequences can be dire for many people, particularly for the health of US democracy. The US government is declaring war on the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The fight to defeat BDS has been ongoing for several years, but most notably since 2014.
The Character Of Russian Communism
by Gaither Stewart
Intellectual asceticism, nihilism and materialism were traits of the nineteenth century Russian revolutionary character among the intelligentsia, qualities superimposed on the inherent sense of social justice among a largely illiterate people. Nihilism cannot be overemphasized in an understanding of Lenin’s generation of revolutionaries. Berdyaev defines Russian nihilism as “a revolt against the injustices of history, against false civilization, a demand that history shall come to an end, and a new life, outside or above history, begin….a demand for nakedness, for the stripping from oneself of all the trappings of culture, for the annihilation of all historical traditions, for the setting free of the natural man, upon whom there will no longer be fetters of any sort.”
People Come Together Against Growing Communalism In Jharkhand
A broad coalition of citizens and organisations came together today under the banner of Sajha Kadam to discuss the menace of growing communalism in Jharkhand and possible responses to it. The threat of communalism, evident in recent lynching incidents, was seen in the context of other threats to the right to life, including attempts to dilute people’s rights to land, work and food.
Globalization’s Blowback
by Alex Jensen
Alex Jensen questions the assumption that countries like China and India are in fact the “worst offenders” in terms of contributing to global air pollution and other environmental ills. He concludes that the blame should instead be placed where it belongs – with transnational corporations and their highly-profitable global trade networks.
Time To Relook At India’s Erstwhile Coal Cess
by Deepak John
In the Indian scenario, the carbon tax or cess has been doubling periodically which augured well for clean energy initiatives in the country. From Rs 50 on every tonne of coal sold in 2010, the cess is currently at Rs 400 per tonne.In the last six years, government of India has collected around Rs. 54,000 crores by levying a cess on every tonne of coal mined or imported.
End of Nuclearism or the End of the World: Utopian Dreams, Dystopian Nightmares
by Richard Falk
We are living amid contradictions whether we like it or not, driving expectations about the future toward opposite extremes. Increasingly plausible are fears that the ‘sixth extinction’ will encompass the human species, or at least, throw human society back to a technology of sticks and stones, with a habitat limited to caves and forests. This dark vision is countered by gene editing designer promises of virtual immortality and super-wise beings programming super-intelligent machines, enabling a life of leisure, luxury, and security for all. Whether the reality of such a scientistic future would be also dark is a matter of conjecture, but from a survival perspective, it offers an optimistic scenario.
Dismantling Tent City
by Dr Binoy Kampmark
The latest focus, however, is on Sydney, and how Tent City will disappear into the ether of an invisible consciousness. The promise of closure, with the euphemistic language of cleaning, is a daily occurrence. Residents are already packing, ready for the quick departure. A community born; a community removed.
STOP the neo-fascist “Freedom Caucus” threats to DEFAULT on The Social Security Program
by Dr Nayvin Gordon
According to the New York Times, 8/7/17, the neo-fascist Freedom Caucus “is fixated on cutting entitlement spending” and if these cuts are not made, “they’ll refuse to vote on raising the debt ceiling”.
Capitalism And Its Discontents: What Are We Living For?
by William Hawes
Aren’t we all tired of capitalism? Haven’t most of us gotten sick of the drudgery, the monotony, the exploitation, sucking up to our bosses and management who pretend to care about the average worker? The drive to consume more and more has degraded all art, values, and sense of community in the US.
U.S. Government & Press Lie Constantly, With Total Impunity
by Eric Zuesse
The U.S. press don’t report this fact, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. The following will document its truth, by recent prominent examples, and will explain how and why this rampant lying by the government and press is done.
Saudi Arabia And Israel Are Best Buddies
by Dr Ludwig Watzal
That the Zionist and the Saudi regime are cooperating very closely and intensively is all over town. They have a common enemy: Iran. So, Israel doesn’t mind supporting the most radical, anti-democratic, fundamentalist, and repressive Islamic regime on the face of the earth. Besides that, both regimes are not that different. In the last decade under the Netanyahu reign, Israel has become so fundamentalist that one can hardly differentiate this government from the Iranian one, not to speak of the Saudi regime
India China Border Conflict
by Mohammad Ashraf
Slowly increasing border problem may be a fore runner of a limited border engagement similar to 1962 clash which had a basis other than the disputed demarcation line!
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