CounterCurrents: Australia Blows Israel’s Credibility On Its World Vision Sham Sky High, As Yemen War Enters Third Year, Pentagon Moves To Escalate Slaughter

Dear friend,

Countercurrents.org completes 15 years of existence today. Thanks to all the readers, writers, supporters and well wishers. Without you this journey would not have been possible.

In solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org

Dear Friend,

I hope you all had a  welcome break from the daily dose of gloom and doom from CC! It's not my fault. I try to represent world as it is. Yea, gloom and doom  would be an exaggeration. I try to balance it with hope, resistance and search for counter solutions to the problems we collectively face. 

Anyway, I had to take a break because of a bit of travel and then I decided to spend some time with my family. I hope we all are rejuvenated for more battles ahead. 

In the meantime, CC celebrated one and a half decades of its existence.  Without you this journey would not have been possible. Yes, we have  a long way to go. To that light at the end of tunnel!

If you don't mind, and 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/news-letter/.

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org






As Yemen War Enters Third Year, Pentagon Moves To Escalate Slaughter
by Bill Van Auken 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/as-yemen-war-enters-third-year-pentagon-moves-to-escalate-slaughter/

The Pentagon has formally asked the Trump White House to lift limited restrictions imposed by the Obama administration on US military aid to the Saudi Arabian monarchy’s near genocidal war against the impoverished people of Yemen.





Hawkeye: Shunner of the Status Quo
by Sally Dugman 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/hawkeye-shunner-of-the-status-quo/

Life story of  a man who traveresed a different path in life, a path less trodden





Disaster As Joy: Cyclone Debbie Strikes
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/disaster-as-joy-cyclone-debbie-strikes/

Here, in Townsville, the thirsty punters were crowding and ready: they knew that Dan’s would be off the radar of purchase for some days. The cities of Mackay, Townsville, and Bowen would be hitting the bottle hard.  Truly, cities driven to drink.





Marx, Gandhi, And The U.S. After The 2016 Elections
by Doug Allen 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/marx-gandhi-and-the-u-s-after-the-2016-elections/

Both Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Mohan Karamchand (“Mahatma”) Gandhi (1869-1948) would be very alarmed by the U.S. elections of 2016 and what we are now facing with President Donald Trump and the Trump Administration. They would be alarmed by the campaigns and elections, the language used, the power relations, the role of money, the role of the media, and the situation today





Monsanto In India: The Sacred And The Profane
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/monsanto-in-india-the-sacred-and-the-profane/

Foreign capital is dictating the prevailing development agenda in India. There is a deliberate strategy to make agriculture financially non-viable for India’s small farms, to get most farmers out of farming and to impose a World Bank sanctioned model of food production. The aim is to replace current structures with a system of industrial (GM) agriculture suited to the needs of Western agribusiness, food processing and retail concerns.





Australia Blows Israel’s Credibility On Its World Vision Sham Sky High
by Dr Vacy Vlazna 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/australia-blows-israels-credibility-on-its-world-vision-sham-sky-high/

“The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says an internal review into World Vision funding in Gaza has uncovered nothing to suggest any diversion of government aid funding to Hamas.” The blow to Israel’s credibility is colossal 







The Curious Case Of Justice C.S.Karnan: Contempt Notice versus Convoluted Condensate of Corruption in Higher Judiciary
by Dr Buddhi Kota Subbarao

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/the-curious-case-of-justice-c-s-karnan-contempt-notice-versus-convoluted-condensate-of-corruption-in-higher-judiciary/

One obvious question that arises from this case is, even if the self-destructive adventurism of a High Court Judge fails to penetrate the convoluted condensate of corruption in the higher judiciary, whether the contempt notice and bailable warrant against Justice Karnan should ultimately result in pushing the issue of corruption under the carpet. Whether it is the right occasion to undertake thorough investigation into the corruption in the higher judiciary, in order to preserve and promote the health of Indian democracy and the rule of law in the country mandated by Indian Constitution?





Will Jantar Mantar Offer Any Solution To The Farm Crisis Of Tamilnadu
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/will-jantar-mantar-offer-any-solution-to-the-farm-crisis-of-tamilnadu/

They are in Delhi for last 15 days for demanding compensation and relief as Cauvery water supply in Tamilnadu is drying up resulting in massive drought. Over 250 farmers have committed suicide since October 2016 as their loans piling up and they are unable to pay the huge debts which they have taken to survive. Most of them grow rice and have been from the districts like Trichy.






Bangladesh-March-1971: Not The Theater Of The Absurd
by Farooque Chowdhury 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/bangladesh-march-1971-not-the-theater-of-the-absurd/

March 25, 1971 dawned on East Pakistan, yet to be christened Bangladesh, with blood and tear. “Pakistan’s first war of 1971 began on the night of 25 March.” (ibid.) It was a state’s war against a people. Pakistan state began the assault with tanks, artillery batteries and machine guns on a population generating surpluses for the ruling classes for years. Was the resorting to military force the last resort to ensure generation of surpluses? Or, was that a failure in politics of regeneration of capital? Was that a class limitation of the rulers in the neo-colony? The answer is in the reality of classes/class fractions contesting for political power. It’s a dynamics of class struggle manifested in politics; and in the March-days, it reached a certain point with certain force exposing limits of a politics: failure to accommodate a people’s aspiration in a neo-colonial state structure with a certain political dynamics.






Anti-Romeo Squads Will Arrest Rule Of Law, Not Sexual Violence
by Samar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/anti-romeo-squads-will-arrest-rule-of-law-not-sexual-violence/

In its current form, the Anti Romeo Brigade is not going to achieve any of that. Alas, they seem to be poised to make life even more miserable for the women they are supposed to protect.






Modi And Yogi: A Trailer Of The Hindu Rashtra
by Dr Anand Teltumbde 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/modi-and-yogi-a-trailer-of-the-hindu-rashtra/

Still the secularists ostrich-like believe India as a secular country and dread the concept of Hindu Rashtra. What are the tangible markers of Hindu Rashtra beyond what exists? Golwalkar had explicated it borrowing the slogan from Nazis, ‘Ein vok, ein reich, ein fuhrer’ by coining ‘one nation, one leader, one language’. Modi has provided its prototype over the past two and half years. Modi as a fuhrer decides everything, communicates directly to the people, his ‘man ki baat’ is supposed to be the government vision, he is not bound by the parliamentary decorum, cabinet is inconsequential, just to carry his writ. This is all done without an iota of change sought in the Constitution.





Killing Of H Farook: Another Sacrifice At The Altar Of Religious Bigotry
by Shamsul Islam 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/killing-of-h-farook-another-sacrifice-at-the-altar-of-religious-bigotry/

Atheist H Farook’s killing at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) is another sacrifice at the altar of religious bigotry. Before this murder, we witnessed gruesome murders of Narendra Dhabolkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi, great rationalist, secular activists and researchers.Indian sub-continent is becoming the most dangerous zone in the world for scientific minded persons who naturally become atheist






ISIS Attacks Bangladesh: Denial, Deceptions, And Delusions
by Taj Hashmi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/isis-attacks-bangladesh-denial-deceptions-and-delusions/

So far so good, but there’s no room for any complacency. We can’t be fully secure without the elimination of the root causes of terrorism. Unaccountable governance, corruption, and massive youth unemployment – around 40 per cent of Bangladeshi youths don’t have any regular employment – lead to social unrest, which is the mother of terrorism. In sum, Bangladesh will have to learn to live with terrorism, which is the “new normal” across the world. While hundreds of Bangladeshi youths, including girls, have joined the ISIS in Syria and Iraq – on March 16th one Neaz Morshed Raja of Bangladesh died as a suicide bomber in Tikrit, Iraq – denying any ISIS threat in Bangladesh is an extravagant denial of the truth.





POSCO Withdraws, But Repression Must Stop, Land Must Be Returned

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/posco-withdraws-but-repression-must-stop-land-must-be-returned/

We demand the government of Odisha to - Compensation on humanitarian grounds to the families of the deceased and widow who were killed in the bomb blast and proper medical help for the injured person. Return the land taken from our villagers immediately to their owners without taking any pretext. Recognize our claims on rights over forest land as per FRA 2006. Withdrawal of all fabricated and false cases against our villagers and activists. Compensation to the persons whose beetle vines were destroyed by the government





POSCO Withdraws: The Victory No One is Celebrating
by Subhash Gatade 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/posco-withdraws-the-victory-no-one-is-celebrating/

Big news – at times – go completely unnoticed. (Thanks to the mediatised times we are passing through) And thus it did not appear surprising that the decision by Posco, the South Korean steelmaker, the fourth biggest in the world, to exit the proposed 12 million-tonnes a year steel plant in Odisha did not cause much flutter. Yes, newspapers duly reported POSCO India’s ‘request to the Odisha government to take back the land provided to it near Paradip’ where it was supposed to invest 52,000 croreRs.’ The letter stated company’s ‘failure to start work on the proposed plant’.





Kerala News Channels: “We Sleazed It First”
by Firos BF 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/kerala-news-channels-we-sleazed-it-first/

A news channel launches itself by airing a purported lurid telephone conversation between a minister and a woman. Within hours the 71-year-old minister resigns. Today, television news channels in the state have reached newer levels of hyperbole. In their alacrity to “break” the “news” before their competitors or to come up with an ‘exclusive’, facts become the first calamity





SDGs Should Not Be The Icing On Business-As-Usual ‘Cake’
by Shobha Shukla 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/03/28/sdgs-should-not-be-the-icing-on-business-as-usual-cake/

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is convening the 4th session of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD 2017) from 29 to 31 March 2017, in Bangkok, Thailand. The APFSD is expected to define a regional roadmap to support member States’ implementation of the 2030 Agenda over the next 15 years.

RSN: North Dakota Issues Warrant for Amy Goodman's Arrest, Fifteen Years After 9/11, Neverending War

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

THIS WEEK 1.7 MILLION PEOPLE VISITED RSN - 114 Donated. If 1,000 had donated, this fundraiser would now be over. We have never had greater moral support or less financial support. No choice but to address that. / Marc Ash, Curator Reader Supported News

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North Dakota Issues Warrant for Amy Goodman's Arrest

Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "An arrest warrant has been issued in North Dakota for Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman. Goodman was charged with criminal trespassing."
READ MORE

Former Senator Bob Graham | Release More 9/11 Records
Bob Graham, The New York Times
Graham writes: "As we approach the 15th anniversary of the most heinous attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, it is time for our government to release more documents from other investigations into Sept. 11 that have remained secret all these years."
READ MORE

Fifteen Years After 9/11, Neverending War
Alex Emmons, The Intercept
Emmons writes: "In the days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when Congress voted to authorize military force against the people who 'planned, authorized, committed, or aided' the hijackings, few Americans could have imagined the resulting manhunt would span from West Africa all the way to the Philippines, and would outlast two two-term presidents."
READ MORE

Appeals Court Blocks Voter ID Laws in Three States
Nikita Vladimirov, The Hill
Vladimirov writes: "The U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that Alabama, Georgia and Kansas cannot force their voters to present proof of U.S. citizenship in order to exercise their right to vote."
READ MORE

John Hinckley Leaves Mental Hospital 35 Years After Reagan Assassination Attempt
Daniel Politi, Slate
Politi writes: "John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was freed from a mental hospital in Washington, D.C. on Saturday and arrived at his elderly mother's home in Williamsburg, Virginia. He will be living with her now that a federal judge has ruled he is no longer a threat to himself or the public."
READ MORE

After Hunger Strikes, Israel Punishes Imprisoned Palestinians
Budour Hassan, teleSUR
Hassan writes: "Karajah, 31, is one of dozens of prisoners in Ofer military prison who are banned from receiving family visits. Israel's ban came as a punishment for the hunger strike held by those prisoners in solidarity with their comrade Bilal Kayed. The ban is especially heart-wrenching as the families desperately wanted to see their loved ones during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha."
READ MORE

Vandana Shiva | Monsanto and the Poisonous Cartel of GMOs in India
Vandana Shiva, EcoWatch
Shiva writes: "India is steeped in a synthesized controversy created by Monsanto on the first GMO crop, supposedly approved for commercialization. Engaged in litigation on many fronts, Monsanto is trying to subvert our patent laws. It is behaving as if there is no Parliament, no democracy, no sovereign laws in India to which it is subject. Or it simply doesn't have any regard for them."
READ MORE

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CounterCurrents: Israeli Racism Unmasks Netanyahu Goodwill Video, Turkey Says Obama Lies — U.S. Was Behind Failed Coup, Hiroshima Day – ” A Call For Sustaining Life On Earth “, More Airstrikes In New US War In Libya

Dear Friend,

Countercurrents.org will be celebrating the month  of August as the month of The Commons. We'll be publishing a series of articles on the commons for you to understand the concept of the commons, ponder over and act upon.  As a first installment we are publishing "My Rocky Road To The Commons" by Jacques Paysan. Watch out for more of these in the coming days. 

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/news-letter/. 

In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org



My Rocky Road To The Commons
by Jacques Paysan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/my-rocky-road-to-the-commons/

So: what are commons? A pasture where shepherds jointly graze their sheep? No? The social relationship that manages the access of the sheep to the pasture? At that point, I groaned and tore my hair. What was that supposed to be: a social relation­ship that sheep graze on? The light went on when I considered an example of the commons that has little to do with politics and sheep: rock climbing!




More Airstrikes In New US War In Libya
by Peter Symonds 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/more-airstrikes-in-new-us-war-in-libya/

US airstrikes on the Libyan coast city of Sirte, which began on Monday, continued yesterday as part of what American officials have made clear will be an ongoing military campaign. While nominally directed against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militias, the fresh eruption of American militarism is more broadly aimed at ensuring US dominance in the region.




Monsanto In India: Meet The New Boss – Same As The Old Boss?
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/monsanto-in-india-meet-the-new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss/

Given the history of the US in using agriculture as a tool to leverage global influence, in India on 15 August, we would do well to remember that patriotic sentiments have always been used by the powerful to help disguise the true nature of power.




Protest In Toronto For Abdul Wahid Baloch
by Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/protest-in-toronto-for-abdul-wahid-baloch/

The   atrocities of Pakistan in the  Balochistan are well known at the global level. To save its skin it has shifted the blame n the neighboring   country like India. Its coercive methods have adversely impacted the local Baloch leaders and the common fellows along with the human right activists and all those who protest against such atrocities. The recent incident comes in light when on 26th July the human right activist and the editor of a newspaper Abdul Wahid Baloch was taken away allegedly by the Pakistan security forces and his whereabouts are still unknown. The abduction was not registered in the local police station, Gadap.




Hiroshima Day – ” A Call For Sustaining  Life On Earth “
by Vimal Bhanot 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/hiroshima-day-a-call-for-sustaining-life-on-earth/

By remembering the  victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki who died and suffered the innumerable health hazards because of the atomic bombing by USA on August 06, 2016 and August 09, 2016 respectively, we pledge to work for spreading the awareness especially among young friends about the devastating consequences of their use.     If we forget such horrifying events from our memory, the chances of their reoccurrence will increase.




My Response To Bill Clinton: On (My) Liberty And (Your) America
by Dr Ramzy Baroud 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/my-response-to-bill-clinton-on-my-liberty-and-your-america/

This is what Clinton said at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on July 26: “If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together, we want you.”




Climate Change Is Here And Now, Dire NOAA Report Warns
by Nadia Prupis 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/climate-change-is-here-and-now-dire-noaa-report-warns/

Environmental records of all kinds are being shattered as climate change takes effect in real time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) released its annual State of the Climate report with the dire warning that 2015 was the hottest year on record since at least the mid-to-late 19th century, confirming the “toppling of several symbolic milestones” in global temperature, sea level rise, and extreme weather.




The Washington Vaccination Ploy: Puerto Rico And The Zika Quandary
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/the-washington-vaccination-ploy-puerto-rico-and-the-zika-quandary/

The local populace distrusts the material coming out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), thinking such figures an embellishment of authority.  A lingering battle between federal and local health officials over how to cover the problem in the 78 municipalities has also put pay to any systematic response. Given that the CDC, while sermonising about the high figures of Zika contractions, has bungled on such matters as approving the use of the insecticide naled, suspicions are entirely understandable.




Turkey Says Obama Lies — U.S. Was Behind Failed Coup
by Eric Zuesse 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/turkey-says-obama-lies-u-s-was-behind-failed-coup/

U.S. President Barack Obama has been resisting the demands of the Turkish government to extradite the person that Turkey alleges was behind the failed July 15th Turkish coup-attempt, and the Turks are now stepping up pressure against Washington by implying that Obama has been lying about Washington’s advance knowledge regarding the coup.




Unity With Ideological Clarity Is The Only Way To Defeat Hegemonists
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/unity-with-ideological-clarity-is-the-only-way-to-defeat-hegemonists/

A true political activist will remain dedicated to his ideals but if politicians play with his sentiments, chances are there that he or she too will become like that. And those are the worst things happening. For the Dalit Bahujan movements, Buddha-Ambedkar-Periyar the most potent weapons to break the hegemony of the brahmanical system. It is important our political people learn it and dedicate themselves for the bigger cause




Israeli Racism Unmasks Netanyahu Goodwill Video
by Jonathan Cook 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/israeli-racism-unmasks-netanyahu-goodwill-video/

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media to apologise for last year’s notorious election-day comment, when he warned that “the Arabs are coming out to vote in droves” – a reference to the fifth of Israel’s population who are Palestinian. In videos released last week in English and Hebrew, Netanyahu urged Palestinian citizens to become more active in public life. They needed to “work in droves, study in droves, thrive in droves,” he said. “I am proud of the role Arabs play in Israel’s success”.




An Essay On Cow
by T Navin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/an-essay-on-cow/

The lesson on Cow is a popular lesson among School children. If School Children were asked to recite an essay on Cow in present times, it would go like this




A response To “Gate Of The Sun” By Elias Khoury
by Gaither Stewart 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/08/03/a-response-to-gate-of-the-sun-by-elias-khoury/

On this hot Italian late afternoon, after over a week inside the literary work entitled Gate of the Sun, I am still wandering in the gossamer framework of the novel constructed by a great writer and storyteller, Elias Khoury, a 531-page “story” consisting of the stories, incidents, histories, lives and deaths narrated by the author’s canvas of countless characters. I am still not certain if I have read a hymn to the courage of the Palestinian people, its men and women, or a dirge to their ceaseless suffering and death. Or, perhaps, the Lebanese author and activist in the Palestinian liberation movement intended his stupendous work of art as both.