Mine: Story of a sacred mountain - Survival International

The Dongria Kondh are one of India's most remote tribes. They live in Orissa state's Niyamgiri hills and worship a mountain as a God. As Vedanta Resources, a London-based mining company prepares to destroy their forests and sacred mountain... to build a vast open-cast mine, Survival's new film asks... What will one tribe to do save everything they know? Watch the film and take action here: http://www.survival-international.org/films/mine

Gujjar agitation

If you thought Gujjar agitation was only about 5% OBC quota and that they just wanted a piece of pie it's because you did not know the complete story.

Vandana Shiva, in her latest interview on Alternative Radio explains.

From:Vandana Shiva on Gandhi for Today’s World

The Gujjars are a pastoral tribe in Rajasthan. Over the last few years, as part of globalization, the pastures have been enclosed. This land makes up about 70 percent of Rajasthan, which is a desert state where only about 30 percent is used for agriculture. The Rajasthan government passed a law making the pastures available to grow jatropha, a biofuel crop used for cars. As a result, the pastoral economy has absolutely gone. The Gujjars have lost their livelihood base. They came out in a very, very strong way, and they blocked the rails and roads of India for about two months. Parts of the country could not function, and the government was brought to its knees. All they were seeking was a few jobs, because they’ve lost their livelihoods in grazing.

I did a quick google news search putting Gujjars and jatropha together and the above website is the only news site currently that connects the dots.

Read the rest of the interview to get an interesting analogy between terrorism and weeds(as applied to agriculture).

Bhopal, 25 years on.

Safreen and Satinath(Sathyu) who were available for panel discussion after the screening of Secrets and Lies left a lasting impression on me. Their optimism and dedication towards the goal of obtaining justice for Bhopal victims is commendable. These are some of the many heros who we rarely come to know of. There is another chance for Seattle folks to meet them this evening(See below for details). I will have more to write after today’s meeting but I would like to share the Sathyu’s poem that he recited to us with as much optimism and passion in his voice as the poem talks about. In a way this is his reply to those who ask him why he is still clinging on to an issue of past or why he doesn’t give up even after 25 years.

Sathyu Sarangi

A RABID OPTIMIST
Yes I'm a rabid optimist
For me every tree that continues to stand
Every stream that continues to flow
Every child that runs away from home
Is an indication that the battle is not only on
It is being won
You may tell me about the nuclear arms race
And all I can tell you is that an unknown child held my hand with love
You will try to draw me
Into the plato of practical life
Tell me that not only god
But all the religious and irreligious leaders are dead
And I will tell you that across the forest lives a young man who calls the earth his mother
You will give me the boring details
Of the rise of state power after every revolution
And I all I can tell you is that In our tribe we still share our bread.
You will reason with me and I will talk nonsense like this
And because the difference between breathing and living life
Is the difference between reason and poetry
I'll recite poems to you
Poems full of dreams
Poems full of optimism
And maybe a poem better than this.

Today's event:

Panel Discussion on "Corporate Crime, Environmental Injustice and Toxic Trespass: Lessons from the 1984 Union Carbide Gas disaster in Bhopal, India."
When: Saturday, May 30, 2009. 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm
Where: Communications 120, Stevens Way E, University District, University of Washington
www.washington.edu/home/maps/northcentral.html?CMU

Who:
Safreen "Rafat" Khan: A 16-year old second-generation victim of Union Carbide's poisons, Safreen is co-founder of Children Against Dow Carbide, a children's group that has committed itself to keeping the fight for justice in Bhopal alive for as long as it takes.

Satinath Sarangi: A long-time Bhopal activist, and founder-trustee of Sambhavna Trust clinic, an award winning free holistic clinic for survivors of the Bhopal disaster.

Dr. Sheela Satyanarayana: Asst Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Univ. of Washington. An accomplished physician with expertise in pediatric environmental health, Dr. Satyanarayana has been a forceful voice of science in advocating for more stringent regulations on toxic chemicals, including Bisphenol A and phthalates.

Local Sponsors: South Asia Center of University of Washington, Association for India's Development, Washington Toxics Coalition, Tasveer, WashPIRG (Students - UW), WashPIRG, SEED (UW), South Asia Students Association (UW), Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Amnesty International, Collaborative on Health and Environment - Washington, Commonweal-Northwest

Austin Lounge Lizards

Pete Seeger Turns 90

Special coverage on DN!: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/4/legendary_folk_singer_activist_pete_seeger

 

The song Get Up And Go comes to mind as I think of Pete strumming his way to the 90s.

 

Get Up And Go

 

How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
But in spite of it all I'm able to grin
And think of the places my get up has been.

Old age is golden so I've heard said
But sometimes I wonder as I crawl into bed
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
As sleep dims my vision I say to myself:
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But though nations are warring and business is vexed
I'll stick around to see what happens next.

When I was young my slippers were red,
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I was older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night thru.
Now I am older my slippers are black,
I huff to the store and I puff my way back.
But never you laugh; I don't mind at all,
I'd rather be huffing than not puff at all.

I get up each morning and dust off my wits
Open the paper and read the obits
If I'm not there I know I'm not dead
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.

Child Labor

Archiving a link to a Child Labor Photo Journal

http://www.zoriah.net/blog/2009/04/guest-photographerphotojournalist-gmb-akash-child-labor.html

Green Festival this weekend!

Speaker List includes:

See you there!!

Book List

Author and esteemed journalist P. Sainath was gracious enough to send this list of books that he considers as must reads. I am attaching his message and the list below.

Here’s the promised list. There’s a full 100 below in the table. Above the table are 20 which I figure should be fairly easy for you to access, since they are mostly American. The list has no particular order of priority, only the top 20 above are all relatively recent books (with the exception of titles like Now Let Us Praise Famous Men and a couple of others). Allow for a mistake here and there as this was mostly done from memory. Also some of the titles in the top 20 might not be there in the main list. Sorry if that’s confusing.

Will keep updating the top 20 as and when I get idea or remember some other titles and will let you know later suggestions

At any rate, the books are guaranteed to transform you or your money back. (They were chosen for you guys after careful deliberation by a select committee comprising me. Now comes your part of the job - READ).

• Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong By James W. Loewen
• Late Victorian holocausts: El Niño famines and the making of the third world By Mike Davis
• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals By Michael Pollan
• The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict By Joseph E. Stiglitz, Linda Bilmes
• The New Media Monopoly By Ben H. Bagdikian
• Fast Food Nation: What the All-American Meal Is Doing to the World By Eric Schlosser
• Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World's Water By Maude Barlow, Tony Clarke
• Second front: censorship and propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War By John R. MacArthur, Ben H. Bagdikian
• Ida: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching By Paula J. Giddings
• The Jungle By Upton Sinclair
• Imperial Masquerade: Essays By Lewis H. Lapham
• No space, no choice, no jobs, no logo By Naomi Klein
• Confessions of an economic hit man By John Perkins
• Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families By James Agee, Walker Evans
• False Dawn : the Delusions of Global Capitalism: The Delusions of Global Capitalism By John Gray
• One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy By Thomas Frank
• The best democracy money can buy: an investigative reporter exposes the truth about globalization, corporate cons, and high-finance fraudsters By Greg Palast
• A People's History of the United States: 1492-present By Howard Zinn
• IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation By Edwin Black
• Trading with the Enemy: The Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949 By Charles Higham

1	A Peoples History of the United States	Howard Zinn	24	Against Empire	Michael Parenti
2	A Zinn Reader	Howard Zinn	25	King Leopold’s Ghost	Adam Hochschild
3	One Market Under God	Thomas Frank	26	Global Media	Robert McChesny & Edward S. Herman
4	Manufacturing Consent	Noam Chomsky	27	Rich Media, Poor Democracy	Robert McChesney
5	Trading with the Enemy	Charles Higham	28	Luce & his Empire	A.L. Swanberg
6	IBM & The Holocaust	Edwin Black	29	Politics of Rich & Poor	Kevin Philips
7	Lies My Teacher Told Me	James Loewen	30	The Mind Managers	Herbert Schiller
8	Fast Food Nation	Eric Schlosser	31	Tube of Plenty	Erik Barnouw
9	All Govenments Lie	I.F. Sone	32	The Sponsor	Erik Barnouw
10	The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb	Gar Alperowitz	33	Ending Corporate Welfare	Ralph Nader
11	The Fateful Triangle	Noam Chomsky	34	The Press	A. J. Liebling
12	Palestine: Myth & Reality	Norman Finkelstein	35	The Second Front	John MacArthur
13	American Holocaust	David E. Stannard	36	On Writing	Sol Stein
14	Late Victorian Holocausts	Mike Davis	37	Joe McCarthy & The Press	Edwin Bayley
15	When Corporations Rule the World	David Korten	38	Common Sense	Thomas Paine
16	Jihad Vs. McWorld	James Barber	39	The Rights of man	Thomas Paine
17	The U.S. Presidency	Gore Vidal	40	Citizen Paine	Howard Fast
18	The Media Monopoly (6th ed.)	Ben Bagdikian	41	Spartacus	Howard Fast
19	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Dee Brown	42	Viva Mexico	John Reed
20	The State of Native America	M. Annette Jaimes	43	Ten Days that Shook the World	John Reed
21	Coming of Age	Studs Terkel	44	The Debt: What America Owes Blacks	Randall Robinson
22	Man’s Wordly Goods	Leo Huberman	45	Inventing Reality	Michael Parenti
23	The Press & the Cold War	James Aronson	46	Roughing It	Mark Twain
24	Don’t Blame the People	Robert Cirino	49	The souls of black folk	W.E.B. DuBois
25	Wizards of Media Oz	Cohen & Solomon	50	Black Reconstruction	W.E.B. DuBois
51	Vindication of the Rights of Woman	Mary Wollstonecraft	75	The Cold War & Culture	FranesStonor Saunders
52	The Wretched of the Earth	Frantz Fanon	76	The Suppression of the African Slave Trade	W.E.B. DuBois
53	What Apartheid Means	Jean Paul Sratre	77	All Governments Lie	I. F. Stone
54	The Law of Manu	Anon.	78	Gandhi Autobrography	M. K. Gandhi
55	The First Casualty	Phillip Knghtley	79	The Prince	Machiavelli
56	How the Other Half Dies	Susan George	80	The struggle is my life	Nelson Mandela
57	The Debt Boomerang	Susan George	81	Karl Marx	Francis Wheen
58	The End of Food	Paul Roberts	82	The Trial of Socrates	I.F. Stone
59	Information & Inequality	Herbert Schiller	83	The Communist Manifesto	Marx & Engels
60	Culture Inc.,	Herbert Schiller	84	Imperialism: the hgihest stage of capitalism	Lenin
61	Black Skin, White Masks	Frantz Fanon	85	Fads & Fallacies	Martin Gardiner
62	Through the Media Looking Glass	Normon Solomon & Jeff Cohen	86	A Peoples History of England	A.J.L. Morton
63	Global Parasites	Winin Perira & Jeremy Seabrooke	87	The History	Herodotus
64	History will absolve me	Fidel Castro	88	The Republic	Plato
65	Murdoch	George Munster	89	The Wealth of Nations	Adam Smith
66	Maxwell	Tom Bower	90	The Affluent Society	J.K. Galbraith
66	Passport	Wifred Burchett	91	The Culture of Contentment	J.K. Galbraith
67	At the Barricades	Wilfred Burchett	92	On Colonialism	Amilcar Cabral
68	Poverty & Famines	Amartya Sen	93	On Colonialism	Marx & Engels
69	The Globalization of poverty	Michael Chossudovsky	94	The History of the Standard Oil Company	Ida Tarbell
70	The Geopolitics of Information	Anthony Smith	95	War is a Racket	Gen.Smedley D. Butler
71	A Fate worse than debt	Susan George	96	Seize the Time	Bobby Seale
72	World Hunger	Francis Moore Lappe	97	Profits over People	Noam Chomsky
73	Ecology & Equity	Madhav Gadgil & Ramachandra Guha	98	The Lords of Global Poverty	Graham Hancock
74	All in God’s name	David Yallop	99	The Age of Empire	Eric Hobsbawm
75	Voices of Revolution	Roger Streitmatter	100	The Age of Capital	Eric Hobsbawm

Monsanto Ki Roti

My wife and I follow this weekly ritual of making chappatis on weekends. A kind of bread that is staple diet of north Indians. If Monsanto had its way we would have to apply to Monsanto for a license. Producing chappati's without that may have been a theft of intellectual property. Strange, because it wasn't Monsanto who taught us this art. It's a family tradition that our ancestors have mastered and refined over generations.

Every year millions of Indian couples go out in their farm to produce Nap Hal. The strain of wheat used to make chappatis. If Monsanto had its way they may have to pay royalties to Monsanto. Producing Nap Hal without that may have been a theft of intellectual property. Strange, because it wasn't Monsanto who invented the seeds. They are the result of a collective effort of generations of farmers in India who spent years crossbreeding crops.

Follow the links to these news

Monsanto's Chappati and Nap Hal Patent:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2004/jan/31/gm.food

EPO revoked the patent after Greenpeace filed a legal opposition.
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13582831

On sixth anniversary of the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie

DN reports:

An American activist from Oakland, California was critically injured Friday when Israeli soldiers fired a tear gas canister directly at his head at the close of a weekly nonviolent protest against the wall in the West Bank village of N’alin. Thirty-seven-year-old Tristan Anderson underwent brain surgery on Saturday, and parts of his right frontal lobe and shattered bone fragments were removed. He remains in critical condition.

Here is a video of another American casualty of Israeli violence. Contrast the coverage these Americans recieve with the others who get killed/wounded due to action of the "bad" guys.

NYT article on chid hunger in India

The idea of starving Indian kids is not new to the West. In earlier days western moms are said to remind their kids of starving Indian kids when they did not eat ther veggies. I have written about depressingly high rates of malnutrition among Indian children a few times. Every time I have encountered a weird sense of denial among many Indians to acknowledge this fact. The same people who would otherwise hail the Western policies around the world and swear by their news paper/channels claim that there is a Western bias or denial to accept India's shining. This is not surprising as the Indian media itself props this notion. They celebrate any western collaboration that would benefit a few of their advertisers and comfortably forget to followup of western reports that point at the real issues that infest the country. Analysis of how the policies of the country might be affecting the poor in the country and providing a thorough understanding to a well fed Indian reader is missing from the media. This once-in-a-while reporting and citing some report (even an Indian report) has almost become a regular drama. Even though we are hailed as democracy(and we are quite democratic) its a shame that there are still people who have more control over the policies than the rest. The Indian media has been severly restricting their access to these analysis and allowing them to disregard a truth as vital as this.

One such report that will meet the same end has been just released by NYT. It is a good report but as usual, the policy analysis is minimal and the implementational inefficiencies take bigger blame. ( Read these article by P Sainath called "It's the policy stupid" Part I and Part II )

NYT Report: As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists

In India, by contrast, despite robust growth and good government intentions, the comparable number is 42.5 percent.....

India’s public expenditure on health remains low, and in some places, financing for child nutrition programs remains unspent. ...

Others point to the efficiency of an authoritarian state like China. India’s sluggish and sometimes corrupt bureaucracy has only haltingly put in place relatively simple solutions — iodizing salt, for instance...

as the [Chinese]government safety net has shredded with its adoption of a more market-driven economy. ...

AT&T's public channel "censorship"

For those like us who prefer to watch community/public channel and news from Democracy Now AT&T may not be a good choice.

When someone's tragedy is another's fun

Coming up.. commentary on

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_on_bi_ge/landlord_nation

International Women’s Day

Sometimes I wander over to Times Of India website to check their coverage on some important events. Not surprisingly, on IWD they were conducting this poll to choose the “Absolute Woman”. Here are the shorlisted candidate:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/4239388.cms

The nominees for the Absolute Woman are... Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Chanda Kochar, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Gandhi, Farah Khan, Ritu Beri, Sania Mirza, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Saina Nehwal

I wondered why Times Of India did not mention some names that I would expect to be on that list. Perhaps TOI could not fit these other ladies in their print. Perhaps its because these women are not just two dimensional, rather they possess certain depth of character. Perhaps because these other ladies think that true women liberation lies beyond the freedom of wearing skimpy clothes, freedom to hop bars or to hold/kiss their valentines. Not that there is anything wrong with that!(Sorry Seinfeld).

Disheartened, I have only one option left. To release my addition to this list on this 100 hits a month webpage. But before we do that it might be a good idea to understand the concept of IWD.

History of IWD:

According to the UN website : http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2008/history.shtml

1909: The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America(Yes, America) designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.

Following years saw some anti war protests by women and further protest for better working conditions and right to vote(!) on March 8th.

1975 was International Women’s Year and since then UN has celebrated March 8th as the IWD.

Here is the UN General Assembly’s observance on the need for IWD:

Two reasons:

human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security. For the women of the world, the Day's symbolism has a wider meaning: It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.

So without further ado, I present my nomination list. Since these exceptional ladies or their work rarely make it to print/screen it might be a good idea to put in a few good words for them.

The Nominations Are:

1) Irom Sharmila Chanu: This brave woman continues her 9 year fast to persuade the Indian govt and people to dispel the repressive and dread law called AFSPA act. Here is the latest news on her.

Sharmila Released, Resumes Stir

2) Krishnammal Jagannathan: The winner of year 2008 Right Livelihood Award and the founder of LAFTI (Land for Tiller Freedom). I met this incredible woman during her Seattle visit and in her singing tone she narrated her story to us. Curious I read her biography called “Color Of Freedom” and discovered how this tireless woman has been constantly fighting for “equality, peace and development”. Here is a short video from democracy now(please follow to part II)

3) Dayamani Barla:

Tribal activist and journalist from Jharkhand, Dayamani Barla has won several prestigious awards for her coverage on displacement of tribals due to Arcelor Mittal’s steel plant. Born to parents who were cheated out of their land she paid her way to University by working as maid and sleeping at Railway stations to save money. Here is BBC coverage on her: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7610127.stm Here is another interesting article on her work. http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/dec/ksh-steel.htm

4) Women of Khabar Lahariya:

Khabar Lahariya - Bundeli for ‘News Waves’ - is a fortnightly rural newspaper written, edited, illustrated, produced and marketed by a group of women - most of them from marginalised Dalit, Kol and Muslim communities - in Chitrakoot and Banda districts of Uttar Pradesh in north India.

Checkout these clips on the newspaper: http://www.nirantar.net/khabar_taaza.htm

5) Arundhati Roy: Thanks to her best selling novel and activism she does not need an introduction here. I nominate her for her continued activism and her articles like "9 is not 11" and "Listening to the Grasshoppers". Some good writing from her is on http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/arundhatiroy

There are many more like Vandana Shiva, Medha Patkar and those others who are never talked about in the mainstream media. Forget about getting an hour’s worth of coverage like Amrita Arora got on her wedding on Star Plus. This list, therefore, will remain incomplete.

PS: Here is TOI's last year IWD winner: http://onethoughtcriminal.blogspot.com/2008/12/meanwhile-in-wonderland.html

Short film

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.

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.

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..

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

Obama Speech

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

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.

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.

And the banks laughed all the way to the banks

That's a quote from P. Sainath's latest article titled: The Free Falling Economy.

http://www.counterpunch.org/sainath01232009.html

Excerpts:
According to the Government Accountability Office, two-thirds of corporations in America paid no federal income taxes at all between 1998 and 2005. This includes a fourth of all large US companies. (That is, those with at least $ 250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts). And this, despite all these corporations collectively reporting trillions of dollars in sales.

Indeed, corporate profits were on record highs. By 2006, they made up a historic 14.1 per cent of the nation's total income. Yet, as the New York Times says: "the percentage of these profits paid out in taxes is near its lowest since the 1930s." (An earlier GAO report showed that 61 per cent of US corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1996 and 2000 - also a period of high growth and huge corporate profits.) Enough to have one wit declare that America had moved from the historic slogan of "No taxation without representation" to "Representation with no taxation."

Now a war on begging.

Excellent Harsh Mander article in The Hindu

http://www.hindu. com/mag/2009/ 01/25/stories/ 2009012550090300 .htm

The war against begging

BY HARSH MANDER

Being destitute in our country has been made a crime. And the punishment is often inhumane…

Padma Shree to Akki and Ash.

Somedays I imagine its all just a bad dream and I can't wake up.

http://movies.ndtv.com/newstory.asp?section=Movies&id=ENTEN20090081420

It is a proud day for Bollywood. The 60th year of the Indian republic saw top
civilian honours awarded to two immensely popular actors.
Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were awarded the Padma Shree by the Government of India.

Apparently Barkha Dutt is a winner too. No not in the Arts category (I thought so too).

Gaza attack analysis

For extensive context, history, and analysis,

Please Read:

Shalom: Q/A on Gaza
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched its brutal assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead. The aim here has been to collect in one place the most frequently-asked questions and to offer answers and sources.

Chomsky: Gaza 2009 ...

Hamas is regularly described as "Iranian-backed Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel." One will be hard put to find something like "democratically elected Hamas, which has long been calling for a two-state settlement in accord with the international consensus" -- blocked for over 30 years by the US and Israel, which flatly and explicitly reject the right of Palestinians to self-determination. All true, but not a useful contribution to the Party Line, hence dispensable.

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" is well known and very inspiring. But there is another MLK speech that is just as powerful and awesome. On MLK Day I spent some time re-reading it.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

War Mentality.

I came across this Forbes magazine article on google news today. Some Tunku Varadarajan was lamenting India's "misfortune" that they could not "do a Gaza" on Pakistan. The main reasons he cites are

1) Logistics
2) Rationale not enough just yet.
3) Israel's alliance with US.
4) Pakistan's alliance with US.
5) Israel's defiance of international court/opinion.

I sincerely believe that Mr Tunku accidentally forgot to mention the fact that "doing a Gaza" is an act of aggression and is illegal.

Cindy Corrie Speaks At Gaza Rally

Cindy Corrie ( Rachael Corrie's mother) speaks at Gaza Rally in Seattle on 1/10/2009

Obama and Gaza

Finally Obama breaks his silence and utters a few words of sympathy. He has yet to make any statement condemning the Gaza attack. Why? Because..

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/washington/05diplo.html?hp

“President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the
situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time,” said Brooke Anderson, chief national security spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, repeating what has become a mantra for the incoming administration.

But then Mr Obama got involved with the economy.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i5YPdJqW_fJxyVWKPuw1UxhkBREwD95H8V8G1

Obama, who takes office two weeks from Tuesday, has said there can be only one
president at a time — and he repeated that principle Monday "when it comes to
foreign affairs." But when it comes to the floundering economy, he clearly feels
he cannot sit by until the swearing-in.

Breaking his silence today he repeated this line.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28404637/

President-elect Barack Obama, breaking his silence about the Gaza conflict,
said the loss of life in Gaza and Israel "is a source of deep concern for me."
But Obama otherwise said he would adhere to his principle that only President
George W. Bush would speak for American foreign policy at this time.

However, when it came to terrorist attacks on Mumbai, apparently America had a different consitution?

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/president_elect_barack_obamas_statement_on_the_terrorist_attacks_in_mumbai/

"President-elect Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in
Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and
the people of India. These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate
the grave and urgent threat of terrorism. The United States must continue to
strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out
and destroy terrorist networks. We stand with the people of India, whose
democracy will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to
these attacks," said Brooke Anderson, Chief National Security
Spokesperson.

The Tank Man (continued)

Refer here for the original post

Fares Odeh from Gaza, age 13, throws a stone at an advancing Israeli tank sent to disperse demonstrators with live ammunition. Nine days later, as Fares was throwing stones at another Israeli tank, he was shot in the neck by an Israeli sharpshooter and killed. Photo by Laurent Rebours of the Associated Press, 2000.

Gaza Attack Protest in Seattle

Terrorism.

Is it not terrorism if you use helicopters, planes and tanks?

Some pictures of the recent Gaza massacre by Israeli forces are here: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=49933&s2=27

Hungry Kya?

Arundhati Roy in her article points out thus,

 

a small box on the top left-hand corner in the inner pages of a national newspaper (sponsored by a pizza company, I think) said, "Hungry, kya?" ("Hungry eh?"). It, then, with the best of intentions I'm sure, informed its readers that, on the international hunger index, India ranked below Sudan and Somalia.

 

No news channel bothers to chase this issue like I would like to see.  Here is BBC on th International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) report.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7669152.stm:

Twelve Indian states have "alarming" levels of hunger while the situation is "extremely alarming" in the state of Madhya Pradesh, says a new report

....

"When Indian states are compared to countries in the Global Hunger Index, [the central Indian state of] Madhya Pradesh ranks between Ethiopia and Chad," it says. 

 

The report, released as part of the 2008 Global Hunger Index, ranks India at 66 out 88

 

Here is the chart and how Indian states are ranked.

 

 

 

 Arent you a bit surprised that Modi's "Top investment destination" state is ranked worse than Orissa?

 

Here's an article by corporate spokesman Suhel Seth titled "Why India needs Narendra Modi":

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/why-india-needs-narendra-modi/375103/

The passion for development; the passion for an invigorated Gujarat; the passion for the uplifting the living standards of the people in his state and the joy with which he recounted simple yet memorable data-points. For instance, almost all of the milk consumed in Singapore is supplied by Gujarat; or for that matter all the tomatoes that are eaten in Afghanistan are produced in Gujarat or the potatoes that Canadians gorge on are all farmed in Gujarat.

 

Hmm, so now you know?

 

 

 

 

India Shining? Think again.

Next time you are worried about India's superpower status, remember this report from the Govt. of India website: (Let it be known that governments seldom accept their failures).

 

http://nceus.gov.in/Report_on_NCEUS_NAFUS.pdf

(Report submitted to Prime Minister on 5th November' 2007)

 

says:

Such a buoyancy in the economy did lead to a sense of euphoria by the turn of the last century. However, a majority of the people, who did not have even Rs. 20 a day for consumption,were not touched by this euphoria. At the end of 2004-05, about 836 million or 77 per cent of the population were living below Rs.20 per day and constituted most of India's informal economy.  About 79 per cent of the informal or unorganised workers belonged to this group without any legal protection of their jobs or working conditions or social security, living in abject poverty and excluded from all the glory of a shining India

 

...

 

what is quite significant is that 79 per cent of the informal or unorganised workers, 88 per cent of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 80 per cent of the OBC population and 84 per cent of the Muslims belong to the poor and vulnerable group. They have remained poor at a bare subsistence level without any job or social security, working in the most miserable, unhygienic and unliveable conditions, throughout this period of high economic growth since the early nineties. There have been some inter se changes within this total group, such that the proportion of the Extremely Poor and the Poor has come down, while the number of marginally poor and the Vulnerable gr

groups have increased. But the percentage of population suffering from poverty and vulnerability has remained substantial.

 

...

 

Since data from the 61st Round of the NSS are now available we are in a position to compare our estimates  of the 55th Round (1999-00) with those for 2004-05

....... What this means in simple terms is that the entire increase in the employment in the organised sector over this period has been informal in nature i.e. without any job or social security. This constitutes what can be termed as informalisation of the formal sector, where any employment increase consists of regular workers without social security benefits and casual or contract workers again without the benefits that should accrue to formal workers.

 

....

 

While the percentage of population below the poverty line has come down, albeit at a slower rate during the nineties and until recently compared to in the eighties, the movement is within the group of broadly poor (41 per cent) or the poor and vulnerable (77 per cent) of the population. 

....

 

It is quite evident that the Indian growth story has been characterized by a rapid growth of middle class and the rich, expanding their consumption of non-food, non-essential and durable items and thereby providing a huge market of 253 million people that includes imports of these items from the global market. There is no doubt that this "Shining India" has expanded in the past and is still expanding at a very high rate. But this picture is spoiled by a virtually stagnant consumption expenditure and miserable working and living conditions of the 77 per cent of our population who are poor and vulnerable.

This group includes the overwhelming population of the dalits and adivasis, OBCs and Muslims. This is the other world which can be characterised as the India of the Common People, constituting more than three-fourths of the population and consisting of all those whom the growth process has, by and large, bypassed.”

....

 

 

So much for the piss on (err trickle down) economy!!!

Enuf said!

 

PS: Thanks Sainath for pointing out the document!

David Rockefeller Quote

"We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years."

"It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite  and world bankers is surely preferable to the national  auto-determination practiced in past centuries"

chomsky interview.

http://www.alternet.org/audits/101290%20chomsky%3A_%22the_majority_of_the_world_supports_iran%22/

GM

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/news/greenpeace-uncovers-illegal-gm

 

http://www.greenleft.org.au/1999/362/18737

 

Today Pillsbury food products are made from genetically engineered crops. Other genetically engineered foods include Crisco, Kraft salad dressings, Nestle's chocolate, Green Giant harvest burgers, Parkay margarine, Isomil and ProSobee infant formulas and Wesson vegetable oils. Fritos, Doritos, Tostitos and Ruffles chips -- and chips sold by McDonald's -- are genetically engineered.

By next year 100% of the US soybean crop will be genetically engineered. Eighty per cent of all the vegetable oils in US foods are derived from soybeans, so most foods that contain vegetable oils will contain genetically engineered components by next year or the year after.

 

http://gmoguide.greenpeace.ca/shoppers_guide.pdf

Get ready for more "reforms"

 

With the Left off its back, the government is all set to initiate major reforms, especially in the financial sector, are expected in the coming months. Labour reforms too are long awaited, but the government knows that this is much more politically fraught, and is unlikely to do anything on which there is no consensus among UPA allies.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Get_set_for_major_reforms_by_UPA/articleshow/3276690.cms

 

 

So what really are these reforms and who is asking for them? You dont have to look very far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news

http://living.oneindia.in/cosmopolitan/cosmo-trends-n-style/expensive-gifts-241107.html

Mukesh Ambani India's richest man and owner of Reliance Industries Ltd Gifted his wife a Luxury Jet with entertainment cabins, a sky bar and fancy showers for her birthday, He gifted $60 million Air Bus on her 44 th birthday. Rumours are that he is planning to gift her $1 billion home on her next birthday which is a 27 storey home with a helipad, health club, and six floors of car parking and 600 staff

 

Jerk!

 

 

Vandana Shiva

Here is an interesting observation from Dr Vandana Shiva*.

 

http://www.aislingmagazine.com/aislingmagazine/articles/TAM24/Masculinisation.html

The war mentality underlying military-industrial agriculture is evident from the names given to herbicides which destroy the economic basis of the survival of the poorest women in the rural areas of the Third World. Monsanto's herbicides are called "Round Up", "Machete","Lasso". American Home Products which has merged with Monsanto calls its herbicides "Pentagon", "Prowl", "Scepter", "Squadron", "Cadre" ," Lightening", "Assert", "Avenge". This is the language of war, not sustainability.Sustainability is based on peace with the earth

 

 

*Dr. Vandana Shiva is one of the world's most dynamic and provocative thinkers on the environment, women's rights and international affairs. A physicist, ecologist and activist, she won the alternative Nobel Prize in 1993

TOI bats for Monsanto

Was I amazed that the news outlet that generally presents a rosy picture of "India" was prophecising a dark future when I read the following headline?

 

By 2020, India a 'chronic' importer of foodgrain?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/By_2020_India_a_chronic_importer_of_foodgrain/articleshow/3161680.cms

 

Well almost, until the smoking Chekhov's* gun appeared in the fine prints.

 

A yet-to-be-released report of ASSOCHAM has warned that India could become a chronic net importer of rice and wheat by 2020 if the trends are not reversed.

 

Ah the ASSOCHAM (stands for Chamber of Ass-os).. werent these guys the same people who said (my emphasis)

 

http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/biotech_news.asp?newsid=nr20070711&yr=2007

 

With adoption of BT cotton technology, farmers engaged in cotton cultivation earned additional income of Rs. 7,039 crores in 2006¹; saved Rs. 1,600 on pesticides use in their one hectare of farm land compared to farmers growing conventional cotton hybrids; and had higher access to social services important for family health and welfare, according to two studies on "BT Cotton Farming in India" released today by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

 

Yeah right, and because of the improved conditions and more money they weren't happy with life anymore and started commiting suicides? Yes?

(my emphasis)

 

In the year 2007, 1095 farmers committed suicide in Vidharbha, that is one in every eight hours.  

Vidharbha in Maharashtra has emerged as an epicenter of farmers suicides over the last decade  

Vidharbha is also the region where Monsanto sells most of its genetically engineered Bt. Cotton.

http://www.navdanya.org/articles/articles2.htm

 

also see: http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111253911100.htm

 

 

So you see, this is just the ground work to convince people to eventually support more GMO/BioTech enhanced agriculture.  Nothing wrong with that, unless you realize that its only going to work for them not us!  For, we will either pay with our lives or thru our noses.

 

 

*"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

GE(Genetically Engineered) Crops in India

>

Bush Lies media buys. As usual.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1806579,00.html?imw=Y

President Bush has never been known for his eloquence, but his comment earlier this month that India's growing middle class was demanding "better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up" was neither particularly mangled nor, at first flush, offensive. .....

But Bush was not completely wrong, either. There's no doubt that China and India's growing middle classes are consuming more and different types of food. As people get richer they tend to eat more meat and dairy products, for instance, and that's exactly what's happening in China and India.

We all know how Indian press reacted to this news.  Most of them blaming the US for eating more instead and asking them to stop policing.  Over all readers may have been left with an impression that things are much better off in India and they are now eating more, thanks to globalisation.  The response that was metted out did not correct that impression and instead showed that US folks ate even more and that they should not bully.

Some like TOI even reacted thus:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Now_White_House_says_bon_appetit_to_India/articleshow/3028933.cms

While the Indian government, including the Prime Minister, maintained a dignified silence on the matter, it was mostly the media, his headline seeking colleagues, and Left politicians who feasted on the controversy and made a meal of it in the end.

Only a few had the courage to show that it was not just a dumb statement out of Bush's potty mouth, but a blatant lie!  And for that lie, Sir, I DO take offense.

http://www.countercurrents.org/kavita090508.htm

But in India, since the entry of globalisation, the average per capita consumption of food grain has actually gone down from 177 kg per person to 155 kg per person: which is the same as the hunger levels seen during famine in times of the British Raj. And in India, foodgrains absorption is rising fast for the (mainly urban) middle class, which boosts the national average. A large section of rural poor are actually reduced to as low as 136 kg per capita per year – which is the same as that of starvation-hit sub-Saharan Africa. Bush grudges the 350 million-strong Indian middle class its improved diet: he is blithely silent about over 350 million rural Indians who are below the average food energy intake of sub-Saharan African countries! Studies have shown a long-term tendency towards declining per capita calorie consumption, especially in rural India – that is, Indians are growing hungrier year after year. Deaths by hunger are an all-too common phenomenon which Indian rulers are united in denying.