Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Bhagat Singh's Jail Notebook
It is always inspiring to read the notes Bhagat Singh kept in jail before he was hanged to death. Bhagat Singh's greatness is usually restricted to his heroic hanging. The fact that this young 24 year old was a great thinker is always missing from the narrative. Read his notes keeping his age in mind.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?linkid=30
My favourite entry in his notebook:
Child Labour:
No fledgling feeds the father bird !
No chiken feeds the hen,
No kitten mouses for the cat -
This glory is for men.
We are the Wisest , Strongest Race -
Loud may our praise be sung !
The only animal alive
That lives upon its young !
[ Charlotte Perkins Gilman ] { now C F J p442}
Coming close is this quote on Democracy
Democracy : ----
Democracy is theoratically a system of political and legal equality . But in concrete and practical operation it is false, for there can be no equality , not even in politics and before the law , so long as there is glaring in equality in economic power. So long as the ruling class owns the worker’s jobs and the press and the schools of country and all organs for the moulding and expression of public opinion; so long as it monopolise all trained public functionaries and disposes of unlimited funds to influence elections , so long as the laws are made by ruling class and the courts are presided over by members of that class, so long as lawyers are private practitioners who sell their skill to the heighest bidder and litigation is technical and costly , so long will the nominal equality before the law be a hollow mackery.
In a capitalist regime the whole machinary of democracy operates to keep the ruling class monority in power thrugh the sufferage of working class majority, and when the bourgeois goverment feels itself endangered by democratic institutions, such institutions re often crushed without compunction.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?linkid=30
My favourite entry in his notebook:
Child Labour:
No fledgling feeds the father bird !
No chiken feeds the hen,
No kitten mouses for the cat -
This glory is for men.
We are the Wisest , Strongest Race -
Loud may our praise be sung !
The only animal alive
That lives upon its young !
[ Charlotte Perkins Gilman ] { now C F J p442}
Coming close is this quote on Democracy
Democracy : ----
Democracy is theoratically a system of political and legal equality . But in concrete and practical operation it is false, for there can be no equality , not even in politics and before the law , so long as there is glaring in equality in economic power. So long as the ruling class owns the worker’s jobs and the press and the schools of country and all organs for the moulding and expression of public opinion; so long as it monopolise all trained public functionaries and disposes of unlimited funds to influence elections , so long as the laws are made by ruling class and the courts are presided over by members of that class, so long as lawyers are private practitioners who sell their skill to the heighest bidder and litigation is technical and costly , so long will the nominal equality before the law be a hollow mackery.
In a capitalist regime the whole machinary of democracy operates to keep the ruling class monority in power thrugh the sufferage of working class majority, and when the bourgeois goverment feels itself endangered by democratic institutions, such institutions re often crushed without compunction.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Modi's vibrant Gujarat
Even TOI is now covering how cuts in health spending has impacted Gujarat.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/BIMARU_Gujarat/articleshow/4157934.cms
Beneath the hype of a prosperous state dispelling the global gloom is an ugly underside, that of a decaying health infrastructure which puts Gujarat in the league of the worst performing states
...
Out of 100 affected persons, 29 have died of suspected hepatitis B, most of them children. It has taken quite a while for the doctors to figure out what had actually hit the patients flooding the government hospitals in the area over the last one week.
...
the epidemic has once again exposed the rickety health infrastructure put in place in the countryside of Gujarat which otherwise boasts of prosperity. Compared to the huge revenue collections in Gujarat, spending on health has been low.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/BIMARU_Gujarat/articleshow/4157934.cms
Beneath the hype of a prosperous state dispelling the global gloom is an ugly underside, that of a decaying health infrastructure which puts Gujarat in the league of the worst performing states
...
Out of 100 affected persons, 29 have died of suspected hepatitis B, most of them children. It has taken quite a while for the doctors to figure out what had actually hit the patients flooding the government hospitals in the area over the last one week.
...
the epidemic has once again exposed the rickety health infrastructure put in place in the countryside of Gujarat which otherwise boasts of prosperity. Compared to the huge revenue collections in Gujarat, spending on health has been low.
This for a state whose chief minister has been endorsed by Sunil Mittal and Anil Ambani for PM of India post!
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anil-ambani-sunil-mittal-endorse-modi-as-pm/410621/
Speaking at the valedictory session of the Fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, Ambani said, "Narendrabhai has done good for Gujarat and what will happen if he leads the nation."
"Gujarat has seen progress in all the fields under his leadership. Now, imagine what will happen to the nation if he leads the nation," he said and added, "Person like him should be the next leader of the country."
One can only imagine what will happens if he leads the nation..
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Because being in the cold is not that nice
Today's Democracy Now show had coverage on Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The group is taking matters into its own hands and finding housing for homeless people in foreclosed and vacant homes.
DWAYNE CUNNINGHAM: Well, it’s like this. I’ve been homeless for a while, so I’m just going to cut this short. But the home I just was blessed with by the homeless association, I couldn’t have got no better, because I’m outside of the cold, and being in the cold is not that nice. And trying to get in to talk to landowners or people who may foreclose their own homes, I can’t get in no doors. I have no numbers. I can’t get no door. So the best number I have and the best door I can walk through is this door right here....And I know it’s going to help me
More here: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/18/as_obama_unveils_foreclosure_plan_activists
This reminds me of the the famous song "This land is my land" which was played at the Obama inauguration ceremony by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. Included were lyrics that are seldom played.
There was a big ole sign there
Said "private property"
but on the other side
it didn't say nothing
That side was made for you and me
DWAYNE CUNNINGHAM: Well, it’s like this. I’ve been homeless for a while, so I’m just going to cut this short. But the home I just was blessed with by the homeless association, I couldn’t have got no better, because I’m outside of the cold, and being in the cold is not that nice. And trying to get in to talk to landowners or people who may foreclose their own homes, I can’t get in no doors. I have no numbers. I can’t get no door. So the best number I have and the best door I can walk through is this door right here....And I know it’s going to help me
More here: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/18/as_obama_unveils_foreclosure_plan_activists
This reminds me of the the famous song "This land is my land" which was played at the Obama inauguration ceremony by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. Included were lyrics that are seldom played.
There was a big ole sign there
Said "private property"
but on the other side
it didn't say nothing
That side was made for you and me
What's in a Name
Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning the brand name that has been tarnished by its work in Iraq, settling on Xe (pronounced zee) as the new name for its family of two dozen businesses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/us/14blackwater.html
And in other news from Democracy Now
Guatemala has issued a formal apology to Cuba for taking part in the US “Bay of Pigs” invasion of 1961. The Kennedy administration used Guatemalan soil to train the group of militants used in the ultimately failed attack. On Tuesday, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom said he wished to “officially ask Cuba for forgiveness.” The US has never apologized for the Bay of Pigs invasion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/us/14blackwater.html
And in other news from Democracy Now
Guatemala has issued a formal apology to Cuba for taking part in the US “Bay of Pigs” invasion of 1961. The Kennedy administration used Guatemalan soil to train the group of militants used in the ultimately failed attack. On Tuesday, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom said he wished to “officially ask Cuba for forgiveness.” The US has never apologized for the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Cuts in Obama's Stimulus Package
In case the mainstream media did not make it clear.
The Senate is expected to vote to end debate today on a compromise version that will cut more than $100 billion from President Obama's economic stimulus plan. The cuts include $35 billion for education, $5 billion for jobless workers' healthcare and $8 billion to refurbish federal buildings.
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