December 2004 Archives

Scientists Say Tsunami Could Hit Pacific Northwest if 680-Mile Undersea Fault Ruptures

Dec 29, 2004 — Tsunami scientists and public safety officials are closely watching an earthquake-prone nation with thousands of miles of crowded coastlines for signs of an imminent disaster. Indonesia? Japan? Try the United States. Experts say the West Coast could experience a calamity similar to the one they have been watching unfold half a world away.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- The death toll in Acheh, the region worst hit by last Sunday's tsunami, may exceed 400,000 as many affected areas could still not be reached for search and rescue operations, Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia Drs H. Rusdihardjo said Thursday.

Mangrove trees grow where no tree has grown before. They are able to survive inundation by salt water twice a day, and in "soil" which is unstable and poor in oxygen (anaerobic). They also have to deal with swollen rivers carrying silt during the wet season, as well as violent storms that hit the coasts.

PROUT Editor's note: Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, in His discourse on Contai Basin Planning (on file) said clearly that a one-mile-wide radius of trees must be planted along the entire coastline of Bay of Bengal, specifically to minimize the danger of such climatic disasters.
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By G. Venkataramani

CHENNAI, DEC. 27. "Tsunami is a rare phenomenon. Though we cannot prevent the occurrence of such natural calamities, we should certainly prepare ourselves to mitigate the impact of the natural fury on the population inhabiting the coastal ecosystems. Our anticipatory research work to preserve mangrove ecosystems as the first line of defence against devastating tidal waves on the eastern coastline has proved very relevant today.

from the ANSWER Coaliation

The world has witnessed the greatest natural disaster in the lifetime of most of the people now living. The expressions of human solidarity, stretching across countries and continents, is the one bright light. But even that light is dimmed by the reports and images of growing human suffering and loss that nearly defies the imagination.

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

The CIA is quietly funding federal research into surveillance of Internet chat rooms as part of an effort to identify possible terrorists, newly released documents reveal.

23 Dec 2004

Source: AlertNet
By Katherine Arie

LONDON (AlertNet) - Fresh fears that Haiti could be headed for civil war have surfaced as political and criminal violence continues to escalate. Some 200 people have been killed since September. Experts warn that unless all groups are disarmed, Haiti could become a permanently failed state and spread instability throughout the entire region in the form of an overflow of refugees, violence and drugs.

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

21 December 2004

The grave situation in the North-Kivu province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should not divert the transitional government and international community from implementing essential reforms aimed at protecting civilians and building greater security, Amnesty International said today.

by Shrii Prahbat Ranjan Sarkar

History moves in rhythmic waves -- in a systaltic flow. It moves and moves, then there is a galloping jump. Again it moves and moves again, then there is another galloping jump, and so on. All of a sudden there are galloping jumps -- epoch-making eras. We are now at the threshold of this jump. We are not only at the threshold, we have just crossed the threshold of a new era. We are now at the threshold of something new -- of the new age -and we are now passing through such an age. Do you realise it? We are no more at the threshold. You should be ready for great changes, otherwise balance will be lost.

Dec 21, 2004

By Khadija Abdul Qahaar, JUS And Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice

At approximately 12:25pm on Saturday, resistance fighters waged an unprecedented assault on the Abu Ghraib prison camp south of Baghdad. The assault was sparked by a letter from a female prisoner named Fatima that fueled some Muslim fighters into action.

by Jessica Azulay

Without offering any solutions or accepting accountability of their own, an organization of the nation’s big city mayors released its annual report showing poverty and homelessness continue to rise.

Dec 15 - A national mayors’ organization released its annual report on hunger and homelessness yesterday, documenting a staggering 14 percent increase this year in the number of requests for emergency food assistance and a 6 percent rise in requests for emergency shelter. The survey, which included information from 27 US cities, also found that families with children asked for help at a substantially higher rate this year and that a large portion of those who needed help did not receive it.

by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

There are many attractions in society, and it is the nature of human beings to run after these attractions. Communism exploited this human tendency by promising to give equal wealth to all. But the mundane resources in the world are limited, so is it possible to provide equal wealth to all? No, and the attempt to do so is nothing but a dazzling ostentation. Now communism has met its end. Communism was nothing but a "bogusism" -- a mere ostentation of verbose language and nothing else.

by Warren P. Strobel, John Walcott and Jonathan S. Landay

12/17/04 (Knight Ridder) --WASHINGTON - The CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department have warned President Bush that the United States and its Iraqi allies aren't winning the battle against Iraqi resistance who are trying to derail the country's Jan. 30 elections, according to administration officials.

"He who is meek and contented, he who has an equal vision, whose mind is filled with the fullness of acceptance and of rest;

He who has seen Him and touched Him, he is freed from all fear and trouble.

To him the perpetual thought of God is like sandal paste smeared on the body, to him nothing else is delight;

His work and his rest are filled with music: he sheds abroad the radiance of love.

Kabir says, "Touch His feet, who is one and indivisible, immutable and peaceful; who fills all vessels to the brim with joy, and whose form is love."

Kabir

by William Fischer

published by Informed Comment

Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe performs a genuine public service by calling our attention to yet another screw-up in America’s war against the Axis of Evil.
This one can only make us wonder if the government’s right hand knows what its left hand is doing.

by Danny Schecter

published by MediaChannel.org

It is that time of the year again, the time for closing out the news year, a time of summing up, and looking ahead. A year ago, at this time, I wrote:

"You know the drill. Every network assigns someone to create a master reel with their hottest video and most poignant moments, usually brought to a close with a collage of well-known personalities and politicians who bit the big one and are no more set to teary music. In that moment, news becomes nostalgia and the present belongs to history."

The enormity of the global black economy is the main reason why the US. dollar still hangs in there.

A ProutWorld Commentary
(PNA/ProutWorld, Dec. 20, 2004) - Finance, like stable marriages, is based on trust. As soon as that trust is gone the stability of financial relationships is threatened.

President and Congress Thwart Judicial Independence

(Washington D.C., December 17, 2004) The Ecuadorian Congress has
violated the principle of judicial independence by purging nearly all of the
Supreme Court justices, Human Rights Watch said today. In a special
session called by President Lucio Gutiérrez last week, 52 members of the
100-seat Congress voted to replace 27 of the 31 justices with their own
political allies.

"We are proceeding from darkness towards effulgence, from imperfection along the golden steps to perfection. No obstacle on the way will be able to stop our advancement. Pushing aside and smashing all obstacles and impediments we will move along our destined path. Our ideological rationality is our valuable asset, the blissful glow of Macrocosmic effulgence is our goal and the inherent desire to bring well-being to all creatures is our way.

Moving ahead is the very wont of life. Wasting valuable time in lethargy is nothing but inertness; hence we must keep moving. the chant of our forward movement will be our vocal expression, the very pulsation of our life."

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

By Helen Thomas

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon claims that American forces and Iraqis are not at risk from contact with depleted uranium, which is used in armor-piercing munitions and protective tank plating.

By Shrii P. R. Sarkar

The universe is just like a joint family. Peace and tranquillity depend upon a well-knit socio-economic structure. The moulding of the socio-economic structure depends upon ideological outlook. First we should have a constructive ideal. The ideal should be not only the culminating point but also the starting point, which will always be supplying us with vital juice. We want a Cosmic society, a Cosmic tie of fraternity. Now, for the sake of Cosmic fraternity, we should encourage all common factors and discourage all fissiparous tendencies. Regarding local variations, we should keep mum.

An Iranian woman charged with adultery faces death by stoning in the next five days after her death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court last month. Her unnamed co-defendant is at risk of imminent execution by hanging. Amnesty International members are now writing urgent appeals to the Iranian authorities, calling for the execution to be stopped.

by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

While trying to fight against any sort of exploitation, first we must have a clear understanding of the nature of the exploitation. Today human society is subjected to ruthless exploitation by capitalists. Capitalist exploitation has brought humanity to the brink of disaster by spreading its exploitative tentacles into every aspect of human life.

By Garda Ghista

Journalist Paul Roberts tells the story of how he went to Saudi Arabia’s “Empty Quarter” – that vast, mystical desert filled with dune upon dune of brilliant-red sand stretching beyond the horizon. Roberts visited Shayba, where he was told that as soon as it was tapped, oil just flowed out “like a black fountain.” It is called natural pressurization. Roberts then asked his Arab hosts about Ghawar. Tapped in 1953 by American engineers, Ghawar oil fields once held a seventh of the world’s known oil reserves. Ghawar was the mother of all oil fields. But, Roberts was told that today in Ghawar, water must be injected into the field to force the oil out of the ground. The water cut at Ghawar oil field is 30 percent, they told him. It means, Ghawar has passed its peak and is on the descent.

The environment is in trouble and the religious right doesn't care. It's time to act as if the future depends on us – because it does.

By Bill Moyers

Recently the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School presented its fourth annual Global Environment Citizen Award to Bill Moyers. In presenting the award, Meryl Streep, a member of the Center board, said, "Through resourceful, intrepid reportage and perceptive voices from the forward edge of the debate, Moyers has examined an environment under siege with the aim of engaging citizens." Following is the text of Bill Moyers' response to Ms. Streep's presentation of the award.

Premeditated Death and Destruction Unleashed Against a Sovereign Nation and People

by Niloufer Bhagwat

Opening statement before the Iraq tribunal hearings at Tokyo

11 Dec 2004

Honorable Judges , Prosecutors , Amici Curiae , witnesses of the satanic death and destruction of the people of Iraq , of homes and livelihood , of hospitals , schools and places of worship; concerned citizens of Japan .

by Lila Buckley

The average global temperature for the first 11 months of 2004—14.60 degrees Celsius (58.28 degrees Fahrenheit)—makes it the fourth warmest year since recordkeeping began in 1880. February, October, and November of 2004 were the second warmest of those three months, and March and April were the third warmest on record.

An International Conference on Making Renewable Energy a Reality - Nigeria, 2004

Energetic Solutions was a conference held in Calabar, Abuja and the Niger Delta in Nigeria from November 21 to 27, 2004. This conference included representatives from Africa, the Americas and Europe, and was a follow up to the WSSD and Bonn Renewables conference to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and issues of energy and development. The Energetic Solutions conference was a success with over 100 participants in Abuja and 65 for the conference's duration. The overall success of the conference can be judged by three main outcomes: the creation of the Council on Renewable Energy in Nigeria - a multi-stakeholder network hoping to build on the momentum developed at the conference, a political declaration with several proposed solutions and next steps agreed to by consensus on Friday evening, and the case studies on renewable energy in Nigeria.

PROUT Editor's note: Please paste the URL below in your browser, and listen, and then if you are unsure, try to decide who are the Iraqi Resistance, what do they want, what are they fighting for.
==========================================

Video: A Message In English From "Iraqi Resistance" Movement :

"We are simple people who chose principles over fear."

Watch the video online now! Windows media

http://207.44.245.159/article7468.htm

By Dahr Jamail in Sadr City, Baghdad

The Sunday Herald Weblink: http://www.sundayherald.com/46543
12 December 2004

EYEWITNESS: Iraq's civilian body count may go officially undocumented but the widows and the orphans know the true extent of the toll

The Sadr City area of Baghdad is a sprawling slum of nearly three million people. Predominantly Shia and the most poverty stricken area of the capital, most residents here celebrated the fall of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni dominated Baathist regime. For it was the Shia people of Sadr, perhaps more than any other group in Baghdad, that suffered the most under his brutal regime.

By Inger Sethov
Reuters / Common Dreams
December 10, 2004

OSLO - Saying the planet is at risk from human activity, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai urged democratic reforms and an end to
corporate greed when she collected the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

PROUT Editor's note: Wangari Maathai, a 64-year-old Kenyan woman, has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004. It is the first time in the history of the Nobel Committee that a Prize was given for environmental work. Shrii Prabhat Sarkar, founder of PROUT, gave big importance to environmental work and protection of all animals and plants. He provided humanity with what should become the fundamental principles of the future world government. Those principles are:
(1) A guarantee of complete security to all plants and animals
(2) A guarantee of purchasing power adequate to secure the minimum requirements of life to all citizens of every country. These requirements include food, clothing, housing, medical care and education.
(3)The recognition of four fundamental rights:
(i) spiritual practice
(ii) cultural legacy
(iii) education
(iv) indigenous linguistic expression
Certainly, Wangari Maathai spent her entire life attempting to guarantee the complete security of animals and plants. Below is her acceptance speech at the Nobel Awards ceremony.
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By Wangari Maathai
New York Times
December 10, 2004

NAIROBI, KENYA - When I was growing up in Nyeri in central Kenya, there was no word for desert in my mother tongue, Kikuyu. Our land was fertile and forested. But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common. So it should come as no surprise that I was inspired to plant trees to help meet the basic needs of rural women. As a member of the National Council of Women of Kenya in the early 1970's, I listened as women related what they wanted but did not have enough of: energy, clean drinking water and nutritious food.

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people
for a purpose which is unattainable."

U.S. historian Howard Zinn

By Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar

As you know, physical pabulum is limited, so the mind continually runs from one thing to another. This process goes on in a never-ending order. But in the realm of intuition the goal is infinite. When aspirants come into this realm, their desires, their longings, are fully satisfied. Thus the controlling point is the spiritual order. Because the spiritual order is infinite, human beings have no control over it, but as the physical realm is finite, human beings can increase their sphere of activity in this realm. The attempt to do this is a never-ending process, and there are infinite permutations and combinations in this endeavor, but the latent hunger in human beings will never be satisfied in this realm. The quest to satisfy this hunger can at best only lead to the threshold point of spirituality. As human beings progress towards the realm of spirituality, they are helped on the one hand by Prout, which guarantees minimum requirements and maximum amenities, and on the other hand by neo-humanistic outlook, which removes disparities. These two approaches help human beings in their progress and elevation. Finally the existential faculty merges in the Supreme.
Whenever we are thinking of implementing a theory we should feel that we are living in the present, then we should implement the theory. The order of Shiva was to march ahead maintaining association with present reality. Marxism completely violated this fundamental principle, which is why Marxism has been broken into pieces under the impact of the present circumstances.

by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

In nearly all countries of the world economically privileged or advanced groups are mercilessly exploiting other economically backward groups and sucking their vitality, gagging their voice and closing all the doors of their future progress. To overcome this tyranny and exploitation, movements will have to be launched for those suppressed people so that they can stride boldly forward, fight against all exploitation and attain economic independence. Nobody can deny the need of such an approach, of such movements, because such an approach is truly humanistic. If such an approach is not adopted, it be something unnatural and anti-human. In fact, to oppose such movements amounts to working as an agent to protect the interests of the exploitative and reactionary forces.

There is certainly a moral imperative to ensure that all in our human family have sufficient food and a well-balanced diet. This is a goal we all desire and which the World Summit on Sustainable Development urged us to make steady progress toward achieving. It is a goal repeatedly emphasised in encyclical letters and statements from Pope John Paul II.

The Niger Delta

PORT HARCOURT, 6 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - Hundreds of angry villagers, including women and children, overran three facilities operated by oil giants Royal Dutch/Shell and ChevronTexaco in southern Nigeria, shutting off more than 90,000 barrels per day of production, officials said on Monday.

Rio de Janeiro, December 7, 2004

Youths face abuse and inhumane conditions in Rio de Janeiro’s state juvenile detention centers, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. One year ago this week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched a still-unfulfilled action plan to address children’s rights, including the needs of youths in detention.

The Scotsman
November 26, 2004

Young girls born in Europe to immigrant families from Africa are being ubjected to ritual genital mutilation, and authorities are doing little to discourage it, a leading women's rights activist warned.

"O my friend, my companion.
In which far-off land have You been for so long?
Seeing You and loving You, O Lord,
All the embankments of my heart are broken.
You exist, so I also exist.
With Your vibrations, I keep dancing,
Leaving all behind today.
Why do You come to me with a benign smile?
I merge my life flow in Your melody today and keep floating in joy."

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

"This song will not stop.
This suppression will not continue.

PROUT is the illuminated path to follow.

We have endured suffering for eras.
The limits of tolerance have now broken down.
Up to the present day,
the demons are browbeating.
The moralists are in unrest.

The sun rises in the east.
The era of darkness is about to end.
Light falls after pain;
We cannot bear any further delay."

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

PROUT Editor's note: In this article, as in other articles on this site, the total impotence, the inability of the United Nations to bring order and peace to any area of the world is evident. It means, the suffering people of the world are knowingly or unknowingly crying for relief from their sufferings, which only a world government, with a strong moral force and military force, can provide. By the grace of God such a world government will be formed in the near future!
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Source: Human Rights Watch
December 4, 2004

Rwandan troops have invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo twice in the last decade. Press reports indicate that Rwandan troops have again crossed into Congo. Violence and instability in Congo have claimed the lives of three million people in the last five years and the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Congo has not brought stability to the region.

by Kazi Nazrul Islam

Translated from original Bangla by Kabir Chowdhury

O poverty, thou hast made me great.
Thou hast made me honoured like Christ
With his crown of thorns. Thou hast given me
Courage to reveal all. To thee I owe
My insolent, naked eyes and sharp tongue.
Thy curse has turned my violin to a sword.

December 3, 2004

By Anna Melnichuk
The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine - Russian President Vladimir Putin injected himself directly into the election crisis in this former Soviet republic on Thursday, strongly attacking the opposition's central demand for a new presidential runoff and cautioning the West against getting too involved.

"COWARDICE. (noun) A charge often levelled by all-American types against those who stand up for their beliefs by refusing to fight in wars they find unconscionable, and who willingly go to prison or into exile in order to avoid violating their own consciences. These 'cowards' are to be contrasted with red-blooded, 'patriotic' youths who literally bend over, grab their ankles, submit to the government, fight in wars they do not understand (or disapprove of), and blindly obey orders to maim and to kill simply because they are ordered to do so—all to the howling approval of the all-American mob. This type of behavior is commonly termed 'courageous.'"

Chaz Bufe

"War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder."

Alexander Berkman

"In the silent hours, in the core of my heart,
Who keeps calling me in the language of songs?
He says, come, come, sit beside me.
Why do you remain away at this odd hour?

So much time has passed away.
Many a crimson dawn, many a radiant evening,
Vibrating with the surging waves of life, have passed away.
How is it that You did not come, did not sit beside me?
Why did You not respond to those who really long for Your response?
O Lord who has gone afar, with that magic You bind
me today with the bond of flowers.
I am baffled about what to do now.
I have decided to garland You."

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

Despite Reforms, Women Suffer Discrimination under Legal System

December 1, 2004
Human Rights Watch

Egypt’s divorce system discriminates against women and undermines their right to end a marriage, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. In October, the government established family courts but, like no-fault divorce introduced four years earlier, these have failed to tackle ongoing discrimination against women.

by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

In this world, in this entire universe, the wind is blowing in our favour. It is the most opportune time to do some thing for the present and future humanity. At this critical juncture one moment of time has the value of 100 years. Utilise the present position -- utilise the situation. Do your duty with more zeal. Let your speed be accelerated. It deserves more acceleration.

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found a way to serve."

Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965)
Humanitarian, Theologian, Philosopher, Physician, Nobel Peace Prize 1952

PROUT Editor's note: Certainly the article below reflects the continuing very primitive mentality of human beings towards animals. According to Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, and according to PROUT, animals have as much right to live as do human beings. They do not want to die before their time. They do not want to suffer and be in pain. Numerous tests over the past several decades have provided undeniable proof that animals do feel both agonizing fear- mental pain (before their slaughter) and unbounded physical pain while being slaughtered. It is the height of arrogance and crudeness of human beings who think they have a moral right to inflict so much pain and suffering on other species of life - and all to satisfy their palate!!

"I'm not from the East, not from the West - my place is placeless - a trace of traceless."

Jalaluddin Rumi

Prout Editor's note: Has anything changed since the time of Aristotle?

"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side."

Aristotle

PROUT Editor's note: This old letter of Victor Hugo still rings true today. Long ago, he called for a united states of Europe and a united states of the world. In the Preface to his famous book, Les Miserables, he stated:

"So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century -- the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light -- are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world; -- in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Miserables cannot fail to be of use." 1862.

"Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion -- and who, therefore, in the next instant (when it is evident that the minority is the stronger) assume its opinion ... while Truth again reverts to a new minority."

Soren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855) Danish philosopher

"We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent."

Abraham Flexner
(1866-1959)

"To know that little children will no more drudge and wither away in factories and mines, that women will not slowly coin their heart's blood over their needle, while starvation eternally stares in at the door; that strong men will not waste their lives in abject slavery or unwilling vagabondage, and that constant fear of cold and hunger and homelessness that so petrifies and stupifies the heart and soul will be banished forever, that woman will be freed from the black clinging trail of the serpent winding through all ages, the selling of herself for bread or splendor; that genius will, no longer crushed in the narrow, suffering limits of neglect and poverty, rise to heights unknown before -- is it not worth working, living and dying for?"

Albert Parsons
American anarchist leader
Executed by the US government in 1886 for fighting for all the above

By Shrii P. R. Sarkar

In democratic countries the party in power tries to propagate their party ideals through the educational system. They prescribe only those text books which coincide with their party ideals. The universities are forced to surrender before the government because of their financial dependency. The Proutist movement will have to make the universities and educational institutions free from dirty party politics, otherwise the educational system will go on changing according to the rise or fall of different party governments. The duty of the government is to finance the universities and not to interfere in their internal affairs. The broadcasting system, too, should be free from government control. For a good and healthy society there should be good, healthy and well-educated citizens. Politicians are unable to rectify the defects of the present society. Their course of action is detrimental to the growth of a healthy society.

"PROUT always stands for the cause of exploited people, irrespective of race, nation, religion etc., and always opposes all types of exploitation. But as poverty is the main problem in the world today, PROUT gives top priority to opposing economic exploitation, as this affects the livelihood and existence of the people."

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
Founder of PROUT