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NEW CONTENT MOVED TO MIDDLEBORO REVIEW 2

Toyota

Since the Dilly, Dally, Delay & Stall Law Firms are adding their billable hours, the Toyota U.S.A. and Route 44 Toyota posts have been separated here:

Route 44 Toyota Sold Me A Lemon



Showing posts with label Occupy Hong Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Occupy Hong Kong. Show all posts

Saturday, October 18, 2014

RSN: Bernie Sanders: Purchase of Election by Chevron Shows We Have 'Oligarchy.'




It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News


$30. DONORS HELPING, $100. HERE AND GONE: The $30. donors have remained consistent, however the $100. donors have ducked out again. What really accelerated this week's donation surge was the arrival of a few but very important donors at the 100 dollar plus level. It wasn't many, but it really helped to move the process forward. RSN is unique, we really do have a wide spectrum of donors. We need to keep that going. / Marc Ash - Founder, Reader Supported News




Bernie Sanders: Purchase of Election by Chevron Shows We Have 'Oligarchy.'
Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I) spoke to a crowd of 500 at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium on Thursday. (photo: Bonnie Chan/Richmond Confidential)
Jon Queally, Common Dreams
Queally writes: "The Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders was in the city of Richmond, California on Thursday and said local elections in the city have become prime examples of how U.S. politics, at all levels, have become corrupted by the unlimited amount of money wealthy corporations and individuals can spend on campaigns."
READ MORE

Supreme Court Green Lights Texas Voter Suppression Law
Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Hananel writes: "The Supreme Court said Saturday that Texas can use its controversial new voter identification law for the November election."
READ MORE

Inside the Sleazy Business of Cashing In on Americans' Ebola Fears
Sam P.K. Collins, ThinkProgress
Collins writes: "In his book The Science of Fear, author Daniel Gardner writes that widespread fear can generate profit for those in the business of protecting the distressed from whatever causes panic. That's the hope of manufacturers marketing products as effective forms of protection against the Ebola virus."
READ MORE

Pope Ousts Top Vatican Judge Known for Incendiary Anti-Gay Comments
Timmian Massie, TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com
Massie writes: "American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a darling of conservative Catholics who is virulently anti-gay, has confirmed to BuzzFeed what rumors from Rome have said for weeks. He will be demoted by Pope Francis."
READ MORE

Secret Space Plane Lands at US Air Force Base After Unknown Two-Year Mission
Guardian UK
Excerpt: "A top-secret space plane landed Friday at an air force base on the southern California coast. The plane spent nearly two years circling Earth on a classified mission. Known as the X-37B, it resembles a mini space shuttle."
READ MORE

Hong Kong: Violence Flares Again as Protesters Reoccupy Streets
Donny Kwok and Yimou Lee, Reuters
Excerpt: "Hong Kong pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone from police early on Saturday after hours of turmoil that the city's police chief warned undermined order and jeopardized public safety."
READ MORE

Conor Kennedy | 500 Years After Columbus, Cuba's Gardens of the Queen Still Pristine
Conor Kennedy, EcoWatch
Kennedy writes: "We spent three days exploring rich, varied undersea bottom topography with its melange of deep canyons, steep cliffs, coral ledges and lofty pillars rising from sandy bottoms 60 feet deep."
READ MORE

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

DemocracyNOW! : Migrant Women, Children Allege Harsh Conditions, Sexual Assault at For-Profit Texas Immigration Jail




Stories


We broadcast from San Antonio, which is now the last outpost for legal abortion in southern Texas. Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a provision requiring abortion providers ... Read More →

Broadcasting from San Antonio, we look at a new family detention center just south of the city that holds more than 500 immigrant women and their children as they await deportation. The for-profit ... Read More →

Broadcasting from Trinity University, we speak with Graciela Sánchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, which is going on its 28th year as a community gathering space ... Read More →






WEB EXCLUSIVE


 
 
 

WEB EXCLUSIVE

 
 
 
 
 
 

Headlines →

Sunday, October 5, 2014

CounterCurrents: Ebola A Symptom Of Ecological And Social Collapse, US Exploiting West Africa Ebola Outbreak To Establish Military Foothold, Fundamentalist Theology Is Bleeding Us Dry




Dear Friend,

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/subscribe.htm. You can also follow us on twitter, http://twitter.com/countercurrents and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/countercurrents

In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


US Exploiting West Africa Ebola Outbreak To Establish Military Foothold
By Niles Williamson

http://www.countercurrents.org/williamson051014.htm

Under the guise of a humanitarian mission aimed at containing the spread of the Ebola virus, the Obama administration is exploiting the outbreak to establish a solid military footing on the African continent. West Africa continues to be ravaged by the worst outbreak of Ebola since the first case was identified in northern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976


Ebola A Symptom Of Ecological And Social Collapse
By Glen Barry

http://www.countercurrents.org/barry051014.htm

The surging Ebola epidemic is the result of broad-based ecological and social collapse including rainforest loss, over-population, poverty and war. This preventable environmental and human tragedy demonstrates the extent to which the world has gone dramatically wrong; as ecosystem collapse, inequity, grotesque injustice, religious extremism, nationalistic militarism, and resurgent authoritarianism threaten our species and planet’s very being


Hong Kong Protests: Now The Hard Part, Kick Out The US, Build National Consensus
By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers

http://www.countercurrents.org/zeese051014.htm

When protests in Hong Kong exploded, knowledgeable people looked for US involvement. It was not hard to find. The overt intrusion of the US is available in budgets, documents and websites; the covert involvement has not yet been uncovered but is no doubt there. What does US involvement mean for the credibility of the protest movement and the future of Hong Kong? How should Hong Kong activists respond?


291 Days of ‘Islamic Justice’: Shell-Shocked Syrian Town Freed After Savage Massacre
By Franklin Lamb

http://www.countercurrents.org/lamb051014.htm

Last week’s battle for Adra al-Omalia was a significant turning point. The town is now liberated but the story of what took place here over the past 291 days is presently emerging, and it is a horrifying one


Fundamentalist Theology Is Bleeding Us Dry:
Stop The Transatlatic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement
By Colin Todhunter

http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter051014A.htm

If Cameron really does want to tackle fundamentalism and the assault on the values of ‘fairness' and ‘decency', those much touted ‘British values' he alludes to, he should forget about waging imperialist wars and look closer to home. He should question the interests he serves to protect. Those interests are plundering economies, destroying ordinary people's livelihoods and undermining their quality of life


David Cameron And Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner:
Diverging Voices On Terror And Extremism In The Modern World
By Colin Todhunter

http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter051014.htm

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s recent speech at the UN was a breath of fresh air. She spoke about economic terrorism and the reasons why some people turn to violence and told the audience how a bankrupt Argentina managed to turn away from hard-line economic neoliberal orthodoxy and stimulate growth. She also discussed the need for multilateral approaches to solving the world’s problems as well as the need to regulate ‘vulture funds’ that cripple sovereign states’ ability to function


International Day of Nonviolence in Afghanistan
By Dr Hakim

http://www.countercurrents.org/hakim051014.htm

We cannot wait. Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world!” So, I readily join the APVs' mission: to abolish war. We understand that ‘we are the ones we've been waiting for'. “Wake up! We are not the war generation. We are the generation of love!”


Beyond 935 Lies
By David Swanson

http://www.countercurrents.org/swanson051014.htm

Charles Lewis' book, 935 Lies , would make a fine introduction to reality for anyone who believes the U.S. government usually means well or corporations tend to tell the truth in the free market. And it would make an excellent introduction to the decline and fall of the corporate media. Even if these topics aren't new to you, this book has something to add and retells the familiar quite well


Probibition: A Problem Or A Solution?
By Kandathil Sebastian

http://www.countercurrents.org/sebastian051014.htm

Governments should withdraw from selling and promoting alcohol, but should let private players to do their alcohol business while state sets rules of alcohol trade, just like state regulates other hazardous objects like ‘gun powder’. Prescribing what to eat and drink, based on moral positions is perhaps the job of religions and state may not encroach into their domain


Death Through The Window
By Tahir Ibn Manzoor

http://www.countercurrents.org/manzoor051014.htm

We will meet again in the schools, offices and on the day of Eid in ragged clothes, but hopeful. We suffered; we helped each other in the toughest of the times. I was born in the hospital, I slept in the half cracked submerged homes, I saw my homes collapsed while leaving for the safer area. I am a rich, poor, visitor and the storyteller who knows pain and at the same time what happiness mean to the labour who works hard – he earns for the day to feed his family. The calamity made it worst, but it’s not an end. The life is limping back to normalcy, but it will take more time after the catastrophe made the city literally a stagnant canal for weeks. We the sufferers will stand again

RSN: Hong Kong's Triads Attack Protestors



It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News



Torture Is the New Normal in Tibet
 (photo: Shutterstock.com)
James Tapper, GlobalPost
Tapper writes: "When Xi Jinping became president of China, there were hopes that he might soften his country’s hard line on Tibet. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, said in 2012 that Xi seemed 'more lenient,' and spoke of his personal connection with the new president’s father."
READ MORE

Obama Wanted Out of Iraq, Panetta Did Not
Agence France-Presse
Excerpt: "Former Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has denounced the White House in a new memoir, accusing President Barack Obama's top aides of undercutting efforts to secure a deal in 2011 that could have kept US troops in Iraq."
READ MORE

Hong Kong's Triads Attack Protestors
Ben Leung, The Daily Beast
Leung writes: "For years to come, October 3, 2014, is likely to be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of Hong Kong. Some locals have compared it to riots back in 2005; others to the opportunistic looting in Kowloon around the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre 25 years ago – both of these saw teargas and police being deployed."
READ MORE

In Rare Alliances, Sunnis, Join Shi'ites, Kurds to Repel ISIS Attack
Raheem Salman and Yara Bayoumy, Yahoo! News
Excerpt: "When Islamic State fighters tried to storm the Tigris River town of Dhuluiya north of Baghdad this week, they were repelled by a rare coalition of Sunni tribal fighters inside the town and Shi'ites in its sister city Balad on the opposite bank."
READ MORE

UN Urges Mexico to Find 43 Missing Students
Laurent Thomet, Agence France-Presse
Thomet writes: "The United Nations in Mexico urged authorities to conduct an 'effective' search for 43 students who vanished after a deadly police shooting last week, calling it 'one of the most terrible events of recent times.'"
READ MORE

Coroner Finds Christopher Dorner Committed Suicide
Reuters
Excerpt: "A former Los Angeles police officer who eluded authorities for days following a grudge-driven killing spree fatally shot himself in the basement of a burning cabin, a coroner report released on Friday said."
READ MORE

Russell Wilson: Confessions of an Abuser
Katie McDonough, Salon
McDonough writes: "Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has a piece up on The Players’ Tribune (which has Derek Jeter as its 'founding editor'), and takes on his own experience with violence as a child and the silences within the NFL that allow violence against women to go unaddressed."
READ MORE

DemocracyNOW! : Jeremy Scahill on Obama's Orwellian War in Iraq: We Created the Very Threat We Claim to be Fighting



Stories


As Vice President Joe Biden warns it will take a "hell of a long fight" for the United States to stop militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, we speak to Jeremy Scahill, author of the book, ... Read More →

Ten years ago, six members of the U.S. military came together to break their silence over what they had witnessed during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They banded together and formed the ... Read More →




Headlines →





 
 
 

RSN: Americans Should Be Protesting for Democracy, Too, How Big Coal Makes Us Sick,




It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News



Ayn Rand's Continued Influence Adds a Bizarre Twist to Conservative Politics
Ayn Rand's influence spans 60 years, with Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan, Senator Ron Johnson and Congressman Paul Ryan among her notable acolytes and devotees. (photo: Barnes & Noble Review)
Evan McMurry, AlterNet
McMurry writes: "On Last Week Tonight, perhaps to balance out his less-than-friendly main segment on Obama's drone policies, John Oliver asked a question that has bothered people about Ayn Rand since she first emerged in the middle of the twentieth century: why are people into this dreck?"
READ MORE

Peter Maass | Killing Americans on the White House Lawn Is Wrong
Peter Maass, The Intercept
Maass writes: "America's forever war has come to this -- the front lawn of the White House may become a kill zone. That's crazier than whatever prompted Iraq war veteran Omar J. Gonzalez to jump the fence on Pennsylvania Avenue two weeks ago, running for the Oval Office."
READ MORE

Joan Walsh | The End of Scott Walker
Joan Walsh, Salon
Walsh writes: "Given Burke's lack of experience running for political office, you might expect her to stumble on the trail this week, but her message discipline and overall comfort with herself are strangely paying off. It may be that not being a career politician actually helps you endure the partisan scandal machine."
READ MORE

Americans Should Be Protesting for Democracy, Too
Lawrence Lessig, Reader Supported News
Lessig writes: "This week, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents turned out to protest China's plan for bringing democracy to that city. Rather than letting voters pick the candidates that get to run for chief executive, Beijing wants the candidates selected by a 1,200 person 'nominating committee.'"
READ MORE

New Alabama Law Puts Teens Who Need Abortions on Trial. That's Dangerous and Cruel.
Jennifer Dalven, ACLU.org
Dalven writes: "Thanks to a new Alabama law, a teen who can't get a parent's consent has to undergo a gauntlet of questioning to get the abortion she needs."
READ MORE

Gitmo Hunger Strikes Are a Cry for Help. The US Response Is Torture?
Cori Crider, Guardian UK
Crider writes: "Gitmo is still dangerous, nasty, lawless and secretive -- and the evidence just keeps piling up."
READ MORE

How Big Coal Makes Us Sick
Mary Anne Hitt, EcoWatch
 
(illustration: Shutterstock.com)
(illustration: Shutterstock.com)
 

Hitt writes: "Believe it or not, the state is home to some of the worst air quality on the East Coast. The good news is that the state has proposed new protections for this deadly pollution, but we need help from people across the state to get these safeguards over the finish line."
READ MORE
 
 
 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

MoJo: Budget Cuts "Eroded Our Ability to Respond" to Ebola, Says Top Health Official



Ya wanna shrink government....and when government can't respond to a serious public health threat like EBOLA......hmmmmm.....isn't that what you wanted?



By Gabrielle Canon

On Tuesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States; the infected patient was a man who traveled from Liberia to visit family in Texas. It's the latest development in the ever-worsening outbreak of the virus, which so far has sickened more than 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000. The United States government has pledged to send help to West Africa to help stop Ebola from spreading—but the main agencies tasked with this aid work say they're hamstrung by budget cuts from the 2013 sequester. [READ MORE]
 
 
By Andy Kroll
These days, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's presidential dreams are hanging by a thread as he battles for reelection against a political neophyte whose only previous electoral campaign was a self-financed 2012 run for the local school board. Why is he vulnerable? Walker devoted his first term to ramming through a chunk of the modern conservative agenda: He limited collective-bargaining rights, slashed taxes on the wealthy, enacted new voter ID requirements, boosted funding for vouchers at the expense of public schools, curtailed abortion access, and weakened environmental protections.
Mary Burke, Walker's opponent, is running as a McKinsey moderate, the anti-politician with business savvy who will jump-start the state's economy and heal a divided Wisconsin. She believes her pro-business message can win over those key undecided voters. In a nonpresidential year when turnout could decide the election, Burke's strategy is a gamble—and it just might work. [READ MORE]
 
THIS WEEK'S NEWS ROUNDUP
Ebola made its way to the United States this week, with the bad news that the patient, though he came from Liberia, was released from the hosptial and came into contact with several children. A humanitarian aid worker in Syria got frustrated with ISIS and tweeted the coordinates of one of its bunkers, leading the group to go on the offensive. Protests in Hong Kong has exploded in the last week. And the United States happens to be fighting pirates off the west coast of Africa.
Meanwhile, social conservatives are mad at the GOP for supporting two gay candidates, while Mitt Romney came up with new, crazy excuses for his 47 percent remarks. New Mexico's attorney general is looking into Susana Martinez's missing emails, and police departments across the country told Mother Jones about their (failing) efforts to return surplus military equipment like tanks and grenade launchers to the Pentagon. [READ MORE]
 

Friday, October 3, 2014

CounterCurrents: This War Is Not Aimed At ISIS, But At Assad, Poverty Report Contradicts GDP Claims,




Dear Friend,

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/subscribe.htm. You can also follow us on twitter, http://twitter.com/countercurrents and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/countercurrents

In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


New Steps To Wider War In Middle East
By Patrick Martin

http://www.countercurrents.org/martin031014.htm

The US military has deployed a quick-reaction force of 2,300 Marines to the Middle East, the Pentagon revealed Wednesday, the latest step in a carefully planned escalation of American military power in the region


This War Is Not Aimed At ISIS, But At Assad
By Dan Glazebrook

http://www.countercurrents.org/glazebrook031014.htm

Watching the debate in the British parliament last Thursday, over whether Britain should, yet again, launch aerial attacks against the long-suffering people of Iraq, it was striking just how much admission there was of the failure of Britain's policy in the region hitherto


Poverty Report Contradicts GDP Claims
By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.countercurrents.org/roberts031014.htm

It is amazing how the government manages to continue selling Brooklyn Bridges to a gullible public. Americans buy wars they don’t need and economic recoveries that do not exist


Palestinian-U.S. Relations Head For Stormy Times
By Nicola Nasser

http://www.countercurrents.org/nasser031014.htm

Washington’s response to the speech that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered at the UN General Assembly last September 26 confirms that the bilateral Palestinian-U.S. relations are heading for stormy times


The Downing Of Malaysia Airlines MH 17 Observed From Australia (PDF)
By George Venturini

http://www.countercurrents.org/venturini031014.pdf

The entire Australian political Establishment seized on the tragic deaths of 298 people in the crash of MH17 in Ukraine to ratchet up the escalating U.S.-led provocations against Russia. Before any investigation team reached the disaster site in eastern Ukraine, the Liberal-National Coalition government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, followed by the Labor Party Opposition - the two wings of a decaying sub-tropical Westminster System - accused Russian-supported separatists in eastern Ukraine of shooting down the plane, and called for retribution against the rebels and Russia itself


Sharing a (not so) Living Planet
By Rajesh Makwana

http://www.countercurrents.org/makwana031014.htm

As further evidence comes to light of how our economic systems are decimating the natural world, sharing is fast emerging as the central theme in the discourse on how to ensure prosperity for all within planetary boundaries


An Economics Fit For Purpose In A Finite World
By Herman Daly

http://www.countercurrents.org/daly031014.htm

Causation is both bottom-up and top-down: material cause from the bottom, and final cause from the top, as Aristotle might say. Economics, or as I prefer, “political economy,” is in between, and serves to balance desirability (the lure of right purpose) with possibility (the constraints of finitude). We need an economics fit for purpose in a finite and entropic world


'Haider' Review
By Iymon Majid

http://www.countercurrents.org/majid031014.htm

At the political level the director looks at the tragedy of Kashmir through a definite lens which is Indian. It is not ultra-nationalist but it is more akin to the view of Indian liberal academicians. They decry human rights violations but when it comes to overall Kashmir dispute they believe it is a part of India. Thus Haider becomes a revenge tale so becomes Kashmir


Contestation And Conflict of Ideas: Love-Jihad As A Challenge To Plural Society
By David Dani lal

http://www.countercurrents.org/danilal031014.htm

Idea of love is essential to India of today similar to freedom, rights, justice and equality. Every individual of any gender, caste, religion, ethnicity, creed, race, colour, etc. should have right to choose partner. Love-Jihad hate campaign is no lesser to Manus social laws, fatwas of Taliban regime and diktats of Khap panchayat

02 October, 2014


What 35,000 Walruses Forced To The Beach Tell Us About Global Warming
By Sarah Lazare

http://www.countercurrents.org/lazare021014.htm

As sea ice recedes amid warming oceans, Pacific walruses crowd onto beaches to rest and forage for food. The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic


As The Globe Warms, So Does The Climate Movement
By Todd Gitlin

http://www.countercurrents.org/gitlin021014.htm

Nature and history have talked back. In a few short centuries, the carbon-based fuels of the industrial breakthrough have come to threaten the entirety of a civilization they made possible. In the People’s Climate March is the suggestion that civilization might rise to the challenge, perhaps in time to avert total catastrophe. After the march, the four-letter word I heard most was: hope


Hong Kong: Obama And Occupy Share An Umbrella?
By Mickey Z.

http://www.countercurrents.org/mickeyz021014.htm

This is not say that none of the protestors are sincere or have valid reasons to hit the streets but here’s how the “left” media is explaining all this: “Protesters are united around one central issue: They want to be able to choose their top leader, the chief executive, without interference from China.”Taken at face value, this motivation is hardly revolutionary so how can we additionally get global support from those who seek more than reforms? Easy… call it “Occupy Central” and you’ll have Twitter ablaze, Facebook pages gobbling up traffic, solidarity rallies in cities across the globe, and innumerable declarations of the inevitable Occupy rebirth. Give the proceedings a color (yellow) and a symbol (umbrella) and Instagram will do the rest!


Why Hong Kong Matters
By N. Jayaram

http://www.countercurrents.org/jayaram021014.htm

What is unfolding in Hong Kong now matters because it is a democratic challenge to the entirely undemocratic nexus between crony and monopoly capital and the cynical monarchs in Beijing, something that is also being witnessed in the United States, India and many other parts of the world


USA Illegally Shuts Off Water To Own People
While Illegally Spending 1 Trillion On Nuclear Bombs
By Robert Barsocchini

http://www.countercurrents.org/barsocchini021014.htm

Monday, a US federal judge ruled that water will continue to be cut off to disadvantaged residents of Detroit, Michigan. Water has been cut off to “50,000 low-income households since January 2013 and continues at the pace of 400 households a day.” Shutoffs will continue, the judge said, because there is no such thing as a “fundamental right” to water. He added that access to water is “based on ability to pay.”


What If ‘Islamic State’ Didn’t Exist?
By Ramzy Baroud

http://www.countercurrents.org/baroud021014.htm

What if the so-called Islamic State (IS) didn’t exist? In order to answer this question, one has to liberate the argument from its geopolitical and ideological confines


The Futility of Asking Congress To Block The Next Gate
By Judy Bello

http://www.countercurrents.org/bello021014.htm

There are those who want to support emerging bills in Congress that would limit the administration's ability to put 'boots on the ground' and give Obama an authorization for the current air war with an expiration date. I very much disagree with this strategy and believe that even promoting it is counter productive. Sometimes, instead of supporting a new law that does not do the whole job, and which will cause the current 'status' to become 'quo' and to be taken for granted, we should encourage people to stand up and say 'no' 'no' 'no' to the whole initiative


The 3 Stooges of “Liberal Democracy”: Bill Maher, Obama, Netanyahu
By Gary Corseri

http://www.countercurrents.org/corseri021014.htm

Let’s recall the words of Samuel Huntington, who wrote in the 90s, foreseeing our present “clash of civilizations”: “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”


New European Commission Set To Serve A Corporate Agenda
By Colin Todhunter

http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter021014.htm

In the images courtesy of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Attac Austria, basic insight is provided into the backgrounds of some of the prospective members of the new Juncker Commission, which will be in office from November 2014 to 2019. The information reveals serious conflicts of interest


Creating a World Culture That Is Nonviolent
By Robert J. Burrowes

http://www.countercurrents.org/burrrowes021014.htm

As we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on 2 October, the International Day of Nonviolence, we have the chance to reflect on our progress in creating a nonviolent world


Mahatma Gandhi’s Ideals Are More Relevant Today Than Ever! Tribute To A Great Soul!
By George Abraham

http://www.countercurrents.org/abraham021014.htm

On 15 June 2007, United Nations passed a resolution to observe International Day of non-violence each year on the birth anniversary date of Mahatma Gandhi who helped lead India to its Independence and inspired movements of civil rights across the world. What it shows is that UN recognizes that ultimately it is not discussion and dialogue but an inner awakening of the soul will only make a real difference from the impasse of scores of issues that are confronting the world today. Martin Luther King, a great follower of Gandhian method of non-violence once said “If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable; we may ignore him at our own risk”


How Power Holders Failed Gandhi
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

http://www.countercurrents.org/srivastava021014.htm

The day of 2nd October is not the birthday of Gandhi. It is a day of fight between Gandhian values and Hobbesian truths. More responsibility lies on the political world. They must reflect what harm they have done to India. They must look inside and ponder over the vast masses which still live in deficiencies of many counts. Gandhian message was , when you have to decide anything ,look the poorest person as your benchmark, whether your decision and actions will help the destitute. That is main base of Gandhian decision making. Do political leaders pay heed to it?


Of Money-In-The-Blood And Blood-Money
By Ravi Sinha

http://www.countercurrents.org/sinha021014.htm

Recently, the Indian Prime Minister had occasion to report to the Japanese on his genealogy and haematic chemistry. Addressing a house-full of corporate honchos in Tokyo he declared, “I am a Gujarati, money is in my blood”. One does not know what percentage of Gujaratis would feel insulted by such a description. It can be asked, perhaps more meaningfully, if great civilizations are created by money-in-the-blood types and one may wonder if Gujarati greats such as Narsi Mehta, Narmad, Govardhan Ram or Gandhi, too, had money flowing in their blood


Encourage Inter-Religious Marriages: An Open Letter To PM Modi
By Ankur Betageri

http://www.countercurrents.org/betageri021014.htm

It is only by encouraging inter-religious marriages, that is, marriages between Hindus and Muslims, that we can create an atmosphere in which rational scrutiny of religions can take place. Inter-religious marriages will destroy the religious insularity of Muslims and Hindus and help them face the realities of a changing world with a rational and open mind. It will also create a new generation of youngsters who will be capable of inheriting the true syncretic culture of India


Gondi Adivasi Language To Be Standardised, To Get A Dictionary Soon
By Aishik Chanda

http://www.countercurrents.org/chanda021014.htm

You may get to refer to a Gondi dictionary soon. That too in Devanagari script! Bhopal-based NGO CGnet (Swara) is working with top Gondi language specialists from 5 states to formulate a standardized Gondi language and bring out a dictionary

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

VOTE! No Excuse! RSN: The Election Is a Month Away. F---ing. Vote.




It's Live on the HomePage Now: 
Reader Supported News

FOCUS: Carl Gibson | The Election Is a Month Away. F---ing. Vote. 
 (photo: Shutterstock) 
Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News 
Gibson writes: "If tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong are bravingpepper spray, tear gas, batons, and mass arrests, and are even willing to take over a major highway, sleep on it overnight, and refuse to leave in the middle of a tropical downpour just for the right to have free and fair elections, then we have no excuse here to not participate in our elections." 
READ MORE

RSN: Corporations and the Rich Viscerally Oppose the Common Good



North Dakota sells its ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION to Dirty Energy.....curious trade!


It's Live on the HomePage Now:
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Noam Chomsky | Corporations and the Rich Viscerally Oppose the Common Good
Prof. Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and activist.
Noam Chomsky, AlterNet
Chomsky writes: "Whether public education contributes to the Common Good depends, of course, on what kind of education it is, to whom it is available, and what we take to be the Common Good."
READ MORE

CDC Confirms First Ebola Case in U.S.
Javier E. David, CNBC
David reports: "The United States now has one confirmed case of Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday, marking the first domestic appearance of the deadly virus that has ravaged swaths of continental Africa."
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Hong Kong Democracy Protests Swell as Chinese Celebrate National Day
Tania Branigan, Guardian UK
Branigan reports: "Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests will hit their highest numbers yet as China celebrates its National Day, the student leader who helped precipitate the demonstrations has said."
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White House Exempts Syrian Airstrikes From Tight Standards on Civilian Deaths
Michael Isikoff, Yahoo! News
Isikoff reports: "The White House has acknowledged for the first time that strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq."
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An Environmentalist's Calculated Push Toward Brazil's Presidency
Paulo Prada, Reuters
Prada reports: "Once considered a leftist radical, the pioneer of Amazon conservation and icon of the global environmental movement has over the years marched steadily to the political center."
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North Dakota Considers Using $5 Billion in Oil Revenue to Provide Free College Education to Residents
Neil Carlson, Valley News Live
Carlson reports: "Could free college tuition for students be in North Dakota's future?"
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Amazing Drone Footage of Hong Kong's Uprising




US Uncut
Amazing drone footage of Hong Kong residents bringing the city to a standstill. Occupy Central announced the beginning of a civil disobedience campaign intended to disrupt Asia’s largest financial center until its demands for free elections are met. The campaign is riding a wave of momentum following a sit-in over the weekend where televised clashes between police and students, some of whom were pepper sprayed, prompted city residents to rally in support of the students. 
‪#‎OccupyCentral‬ ‪#‎HongKong


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Sunday, September 28, 2014

RSN: Wisconsin Will Enact Voter ID Law Denounced as 'Recipe for Chaos'




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Andy Borowitz | Republicans Air Early Attack Ad on Newborn Clinton
The Clinton family. (photo: Craig Ruttle/AP)
Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "A Republican Super PAC defended the broadcast, on Saturday morning, of an attack ad highly critical of Hillary Clinton's newborn granddaughter, Charlotte, who was born on Friday."
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Wisconsin Will Enact Voter ID Law Denounced as 'Recipe for Chaos'
Zoe Sullivan, Guardian UK
Sullivan writes: "A controversial voter ID law in Wisconsin, which critics fear will disenfranchise thousands of voters in the November midterm elections, must be implemented after a federal appeals court turned down a request to re-hear a legal challenge."
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Holder Departure Clouds Fate of Civil Rights Cases
Jesse J. Holland, Yahoo! News
Holland writes: "Moments after making fresh demands that Attorney General Eric Holder open federal investigations into police shootings of unarmed black men, a cluster of civil rights activists learned, courtesy of whispers and a shared e-tablet, that the nation's first black attorney general was stepping down."
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Police Clash With Occupy Hong Kong Pro Democracy Demonstrators
James Pomfret and Yimou Lee, Reuters
Excerpt: "Violent clashes between Hong Kong riot police and students galvanized tens of thousands of supporters for the city's pro-democracy movement and kick-started a plan to lock down the heart of the Asian financial center early on Sunday."
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ESPN Journalists Ignore the Biggest Sports Story of the Last 24 Hours
Joaquim Moreira Salles, ThinkProgress
Salles writes: "Mum's the word for ESPN employees when it comes to discussing Bill Simmon's three week suspension. According to TMZ, ESPN's on air talent were told explicitly not to discuss the issue: 'On a corporate level, they told us not to talk about it,' a source at ESPN told TMZ."
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A Battle to Keep Trees, Or an Industry, Standing
Michael Wines, The New York Times
Wines writes: "Conservationists, crying betrayal, are in court again, trying to force a reappraisal of the auctions in the world's largest temperate rain forest."
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'His Life Is Our Life': Tribal Elders Want Buffalo Back in the Ecosystem
Nate Schweber, Al Jazeera America
Schweber writes: "But buffalo are not just a figment of the imagination. Inside a large white teepee rising from a grassy hill nearby Ervin Carlson, president of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, told a crowd gathered for a treaty ceremony that bringing buffalo herds back to North America was a vital task for Native Americans."
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