CounterCurrents: 30 December Day Of Lamentation Over State Crime And State Terrorism - Nuclear Terrorism, Corporate Terrorism, Carbon Terrorism And Climate Terrorism, What’s In Store For Our Freedoms In 2016? More Of Everything We Don’t Want

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In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


Review Of Global Trends In 2015 And Prospects For 2016 
By Jon Kofas

http://www.countercurrents.org/kofas291215.htm

Top events in 2015 that shaped the world and are very likely to continue doing so include the economic slowdown not just in China and India, but in most of the world outside the US. Globalization under the neoliberal model of development continued to devastate the middle class in 2015 as it has in the last three decades, especially in countries where monetarist austerity combined with neoliberal policies took effect. Combined with a fiscal structure that favors corporations and the wealthy, monetarism and neoliberal policies had the effect on a world scale of slowing consumption spending owing to downward pressure on wages, forcing some governments to increase capital spending, especially in the defense sector, to stimulate growth


What’s In Store For Our Freedoms In 2016? More Of Everything We Don’t Want 
By John W. Whitehead

http://www.countercurrents.org/whitehead291215.htm

We in the emerging American police state find ourselves reliving the same set of circumstances over and over again: egregious surveillance, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, etc. What remains to be seen is whether 2016 will bring more of the same or whether “we the people” will wake up from our somnambulant states. The following is just a sampling of what we can look forward to repeating if we don’t find some way to push back against the menace of an overreaching, aggressive, invasive, militarizedsurveillance state


30 December Day Of Lamentation Over State Crime And State Terrorism - 
Nuclear Terrorism, Corporate Terrorism, Carbon Terrorism And Climate Terrorism
By Dr Gideon Polya

http://www.countercurrents.org/polya291215.htm

Humanitarian American scholar Professor William Cook has proposed 30 December as a Day of Lamentation to record the 21st century's ongoing evils of which the worst are existentially threatening nuclear weapons, poverty that kills 17 million people annually, and man-made climate change that threatens to kill all but 0.5 billion of Humanity. However 31 December is New Year's Eve on which we can resolve to help stop the evils of Apartheid, state crime, state terrorism, non-state terrorism, nuclear terrorism, corporate terrorism, carbon terrorism, and climate terrorism by Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against all disproportionately complicit politicians, corporations and countries


Geopolitics, Refugees And A Trade Agreement 
By Chandra Muzaffar & Hassanal Noor Rashid

http://www.countercurrents.org/muzaffar291215.htm

The protracted conflicts in Syria and many parts of West Asia have been a fertile ground for the rise of extreme militants professing their own barbaric distortion of the Islamic Faith. The involvement of two major powers in what can only be described as a cold war of attrition against these militants further highlights the complexity of the issue and the many secret hands that are exploiting the conflict in Syria in particular as a means to their own ends. Whichever side of the fence one may be aligned to, it cannot be denied that these issues are in many ways connected, and even crafted


Freedom Of Dissent Vis-à-Vis Contempt Of Court 
By Biswapriya Kanungo & Trijeeb Nanda

http://www.countercurrents.org/nanda291215.htm

The initiation of criminal contempt proceeding vide an order dated 23rd December 2015 by an Hon’ble single judge bench of Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench, against Booker prize winning writer Arundhati Roy, has again evoked a debate on the laxmanrekha of both freedom of speech and expression and contempt power of the court in our democratic constitution


Is A Democracy A Real Democracy, If I Can’t Say That It Is Not A Real Democracy?
By Anirban, Asawthi, Balakrishnan, Deepti, Komal, Neyaz, Reyaz, Samar, Srilakshmi, Ufaque & Umar

http://www.countercurrents.org/umar291215.htm

The attack on Saibaba or Arundhati Roy is an attack on each and every democratic minded person in the country. We must resist in unison such attempts by the state to silence the voices of dissent. We must strike back at fascism and build a united resistance to safeguard our hard earned democratic rights


One Pound Capitalism, A Pinch Of Democracy Under A Cold Sky 
By Priti Gulati Cox & Stan Cox

http://www.countercurrents.org/cox291215.htm

Demolition of people’s neighborhoods and workplaces by local governments in the name of modernization is a regular occurrence in cities across India, including New Delhi. Shakur Basti has seen more than its share of such assaults over the years, and this one would have received no more media attention than previous ones were it not for the death of a six-month-old baby. Her family says she was killed in the demolition, while the railway claims she was already dead when the bulldozers arrived. Either way, her loss was enough to draw the media spotlight to the plight of the thousands of residents stuck out in the December cold


Indian Farmers: A Bitter Harvest 
By Moin Qazi

http://www.countercurrents.org/qazi291215.htm

The agricultural sector is still India's largest employer: 58% of rural households depend on it for their livelihood. And yet, since the early 1990s, India has seen a spate of headlines highlighting farmers' suicides. According to government data, 14,000 farmers killed themselves in 2011--this was 47% higher than the national average of all deaths caused by suicides. In fact, since 1995 when the government began keeping records, nearly 300,000 farmers have taken their own lives until 2014


Committee For Protection Of Democratic Rights Formed In Tamil Nadu
Press Release

http://www.countercurrents.org/pr291215.htm

A group of intellectuals, activists, and trade unionists, including Dr. Nandi Joseph, Scientist Gopal, Prof. Karunanandan, Prof. Thirumavaalavan, Dr. Thangaraj, Dr. Lakshmanan, Adv. Shanmuganathan, Dr. Dhiman, Sugumaran , Adv. Gurunathan , Ms.Revathi and others, came together on December 21, to form the democratic rights organisation "Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights -- Tamil Nadu" (CPDR-TN), in the context of rising violations of democratic rights by the state machinery and an undeclared emergency-like situation prevailing in the country

RSN: Nuclear Reactors Make ISIS an Apocalyptic Threat, The Farce Awakens, Anne Frank and Her Family Were Also Denied Entry as Refugees to the US

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Paul Krugman | The Farce Awakens 
 
Paul Krugman, The New York Times 
Krugman writes: "These days, panic attacks after something bad happens are the rule rather than the exception, at least on one side of the political divide." 
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Turkey Shoot: Why the Downing of the Russian Warplane Will Make Peace in Syria a More Distant Prospect 
Fred Kaplan, Slate 
Kaplan writes: "With one stray stroke of violence, the chances of peace in Syria are diminished, and the chances that this multiplicity of wars might trigger mistakes, miscalculations, or affronts that spiral out of control are heightened." 
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Before Bernie Sanders: A 19th Century Populist's Run for the Presidency 
John Collins, In These Times 
Excerpt: "We are nearing a serious crisis. If the present strained relations between wealth owners and wealth producers continue much longer they will ripen into frightful disaster. This universal discontent must be quickly interpreted and its causes removed. It is the country's imperative Call to Action, and cannot be longer disregarded with impunity." 
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Should the Phrase 'Islamic Extremism' Be Used? It's Debatable 
Jessica Taylor, NPR 
Taylor writes: "There's a big divide in how Republicans and Democrats are talking about terrorism - and it's one unlikely to be solved anytime soon." 
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Americans Become Disenchanted With Black Friday 
Cole Mellino, EcoWatch 
"REI made waves last month when it announced that it would be closing all of its 143 retail locations, headquarters and two distribution centers on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday." 
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Anne Frank and Her Family Were Also Denied Entry as Refugees to the US 
Elahe Izadi, The Washington Post 
Izadi writes: "Among the many who tried - and failed - to escape Nazi persecution: Otto Frank and his family, which included wife, Edith, and his daughters, Margot and Anne. And while the story of the family's desperate attempts ending in futility may seem remarkable today, it's emblematic of what a number of other Jews fleeing German-occupied territories experienced." 
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Harvey Wasserman | Nuclear Reactors Make ISIS an Apocalyptic Threat 
Harvey Wasserman, Reader Supported News 
Wasserman writes: "As you read this, a terror attack has put atomic reactors in Ukraine at the brink of another Chernobyl-scale apocalypse." 
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